All these instructions on how to get a green lawn and other gardening advice depends on where in the world you live, what climate you have, temperature, sun, rain, snow and so forth. The recommendations is for the nothern part of the world such as Canada, Usa, Europe etc etc where there are “real” winter, spring, summer and autumn. Talk to your garden store about what product to use in your part of the world.
Spring If you have moss in your lawn, never use a machine to get rid of the moss because you actually risk more moss in your lawn the following year. Instead you can use a pesticide. There are environmentally friendly products to buy. And it is of cource possible to use some other water-soluble iron sulphate. When the moss is dead it moulders away by itself and is gone in a couple of weeks.
Fertilize - If you have moss it’s because your lawn haven’t receive adequate nutrition and therefore regular fertilizing is important. When the temperature is about 50 F (10 C) spread out a lawn fertilizer. There are fertilizer for all growing seasons and you can read how often and how much you should use on your lawn. It is often better to use a little more expensive product. You often don’t have to fertilize that often with a good product.
Weeds - If you have weeds - There are products that takes care of deep-rooted weeds and at the same time fertilize the lawn. Also here you should be able to find environmentally friendly products in your country. Use the pesticide on your lawn when the temperature is steady over 60 F (15-16 C). The weeds will disappear after about a month and your lawn will get more green and free from the weeds. The treatment often should take place when the weeds are in good growth and the grass is dry and the soil moist. Talk to your garden store about products and how to use them correct.
Weeds - Before And After Once the weeds have died, after 4-5 weeks, you should mix grass seed and “lawn dress” (soil). Rake out the “soil-seed-mix” over your whole lawn. It will give your lawn even more nutrition and the grass will be even more green, thicker and stronger. You will see results after about 2 weeks. Don’t worry about the soil. Both the old and new grass will take over. Also here ask your garden store about these soil products. You can also use a vertical cutter before you spread out the grass seed and soil. Your lawn will love the extra air. If it is necessary make sure you water your lawn. A real “root soaking” (about 30 mm).
Summer Once again spread out a lawn fertilizer. Water the lawn when necessary (about 30 mm). The lawn should be cut at least once a week during the growing season. Do not cut more than a third of the height at a time. The grass can be yellow or brown if you cut it to short right away.
Always use a grass collector when you cut your lawn. Don’t leave the clippings on to provide more nutrients to the soil. If you leave all that clippings on your lawn the whole season it will only give you more problems like weeds the following year. Experts often say that the grass should be maintained when you cut your lawn because it fertilizes the lawn. Don’t listen to them. Much of the weeds disappear with regular mowing and where you collect the grass and weeds. Spreadings of weeds in your lawn is almost not possible if you use a collector and in this program we already use a lawn fertilizer product so we don’t need more.
Edge Your Lawn In May - June, it’s also time to edge your lawn with a lawn edger or a shovel. It will improve the beauty of your lawn and garden. It’s well worth the time and effort. Edge your lawn as often as you want but about two times in the summer or under the growing season often is enough.
Autumn Use a moss product again/water-soluble iron sulphate on your lawn. This is if you have any new moss. You will also get some protection against fungal diseases. Give you lawn a “fall fertilizer”. (See products in your garden store). This will make your lawn stronger and will manage the winter much better.You should add lime about every two year to replace important calcium and magnesium washed away by heavy autimn and winter rain. Many types of lime can be used to correct this situation. You can use lime in spring or autumn. It is important that you properly rake your lawn in the fall. Try to have the lawn as clean as possible when the winter /snow comes.
If you follow this program, you will be amazed what your lawn will look like in august/september and the next year.
Year Two - Maintain Your Lawn Follow the same program again. But of course you can skip the moss and weed products if there are no moss or weeds in your lawn. Also you don’t have to mix grass seed and soil and rake it out on your lawn every year but it shure is recommended if you have the determination (and strength) to maintain your lawn green and beautiful.
Want to learn more about how to get a green lawn. You will also find other gardening advice from professionals here. Head online and learn more today.
Putting the decision to grow herbs and vegetables organically into practice may look like an overwhelming task, but you will quickly see that growing without artificial fertilizers or pesticides is very rewarding, and also easier than it may seem at first glance.
If you already eat some organic herbs and vegetables, you will surely appreciate the better taste, the health benefits and also the lack of harmful residual substances. Imagine how great it would be if you had an organic garden that would furnish you wit a plentiful supply!
Unless you have no space to spare at all, one of the first steps to an organic garden is to set up a composting box, which will allow you to fertilize your herbs and vegetables, while also getting rid of kitchen waste. Even if you live in a flat you can compost, as it’s an odorless procedure if done right.
In fact compost will also help your garden to retain moisture, so you won’t have to water much compared to non-organic gardens. Most of your food waste can be composted as well as some animal waste, but for your first compost heap be sure not to add human or pet (cat or dog) manure to your compost as these need special treatment to eliminate some potentially nasty bacteria that you won’t want near your edible plants.
The next step is to get organic seeds for gardening. You need to avoid most seeds and address yourself to a specialist, as most industrial seeds may already be contaminated with pesticides, or may be genetically modified.
There probably are specialized shops that sell organic seeds for gardening in your area, but you can also buy them through an online shop and have them mailed to you. Online is probably better for most users, as you get the convenience of choosing from home from a bigger catalogue, and as for all mailed products you can return organic gardening supplies if they are not up to your expectation.
To begin seeding, don’t start your organic garden outdoors right away! Use a glasshouse or put your seeds inside the house, where it’s warm. Let them sprout on a piece of damp cotton or paper and then transfer them to small pots and let them grow a bit.
Once there are two little leaflets on your seedlings, put them into bigger containers. The best are pots made of plant material, as you can plant these straight into soil and let them biodegrade. If you are planting organic herbs, you can put them outside or in window pots next to your kitchen.
Vigorous, organic soil is fundamental for organic vegetable and herbal gardening. Like compost, good organic soil will not only grow healthier plants that taste better, but will also act as a natural pest controller. If you’ve had a non-organic garden before, it may take some time to clean the chemical laden soil, or you can dig it all out and start anew with organic soil.
Once you have some good compost, spread it over your soil. The layer should be about two inches thick. If done correctly, the compost alone will contribute all the necessary nutrients and minerals that your organic vegetable and herbal garden needs to grow and flourish.
Whether you want to find the right organic herb for each dish or learn how to save on your cooking, here is the place to start: OrganicHerbalGardening.com covers all your organic gardening needs, with tips and information. Just follow a link to find out more.
Organic herbal gardening is a topic that had been gaining prominence, especially on the context of growing your own plant-based and natural medicines. A growing number of people are considering alternatives to a health system that is completely based on chemically derived pharmaceuticals.
Herbal remedies are plant-derived concoctions that have been prepared (either in the home, or professionally) to have a therapeutic effect. The practice of using herbs by professionals is sometimes called herbalism or herbal medicine. This tradition has a long history stretching back hundreds of years in Europe.
Herbal medicine and organic herbal gardening are not complete substitutes for modern medicine, and there are many cases where you will be better served with industrially synthesized medicines. But there are a great number of common ailments that can be cured and even prevented through less harsh plant-based recipes.
Often, people who turn to organic herbal gardening to cure ailments such as colds, headaches or menstrual pain already grow their own vegetables at home, but this is not a necessary precondition. You can simply grow medicinal plants, which usually take up less space than vegetables.
Whether you are an experienced organic gardener or just starting out with natural medicinal herbs, you will probably share the wish to control the origin of foodstuffs and other bodily intakes with people with the same interest.
In fact organic gardening is going through a renaissance, but not many people are yet aware that the same principles that can be applied to organic food are also valid for plant-based medicines. And fewer yet know how easy it is to grow herbal remedies at home!
It is possible to find organic plant-based medicines that have been grown commercially, but the discerning user will prefer to grow his own organic plants on a windowsill or in one’s garden. This is far easier than it may sound!
There are several ways to consume organically grown medicinal plants. The easiest one is simply to eat them, whether raw or cooked, and many therapeutic plants are part of normal kitchen usage, such as garlic or pepper.
They can also be used for more topical applications, after having been mixed and made into pastes, creams or lotions, e.g. for applying to the skin. Herbal teas are another popular way of consuming herbal remedies, with chamomile being the most common and well known.
Organic herbal gardening for medicinal purposes is a fun and fulfilling pastime, and it will also increase your and your family’s wellbeing. You can find is valid information on the subject in bookstores, libraries, and also on the Internet.
Check out OrganicHerbalGardening.com for comprehensive resources on how to organize your herbal garden. Click on a link to find all the information that you may want about organic gardening at your fingertips.
You may have heard about the new White House vegetable garden, or maybe you have already thought about organic vegetable gardening for a while. In any case, if you too want to get rid of some or all of your labor-intensive, environmentally unfriendly lawn, here’s how to do it.
Don’t be put off by the idea of organic vegetable gardening being a strenuous and unrewarding physical activity involving lots of tilling. If you follow this easy guide and some easy principles, you won’t have to do any tilling and you’ll turn your lawn into a garden with real ease.
First, delimit the lawn area for your organic vegetable garden with some thread, or with chalk. You can make it as big as the White House veggie garden patch, thirty by thirty feet, or smaller. Water this area generously, making sure that the ground is thoroughly soaked.
After that, you need to add a first layer of organic material that will let the grass die off and will form a healthy and fertile base for your herbs and crops. This layer should consist of earth, lawn cuttings, some gravel or sand, and organic compost. The latter is available commercially if you don’t yet have a compost heap. Cover everything up with cardboard.
Next you have to build a frame that will hold your growing soil. The best material for this is cheap building planks, which you can get in any hardware shop. Make sure that they are untreated and unpainted, to keep with the organic theme of the vegetable garden. Stick the frame on top of the paper layer, making sure that the latter sticks out a bit at the edges.
Now fill the frame or frames with organic compost and topsoil. In the beginning you will have to buy the compost, but after your organic vegetable garden has gotten underway you will be able to make your own. Add some porous pebbles or vermiculite to the mix for aeration.
You are now done with the preparation of the organic vegetable garden patch. Leave it be for three or four weeks so that small burrowing insects have the time to come back and to turn the former piece of sterile lawn into a rich patch of good quality soil.
Now you can start your kitchen garden, either using seedlings from other plants or from a nursery, or by growing vegetables from seed. In the latter case, it is best to use certified organic seeds. There are several online retailers that sell them if you can’t find them in your area.
To make sure that you’ll enjoy the produce don’t just pick the most typical plants for an organic vegetable garden, go for the ones that you like and that often turn up in your kitchen, and don’t be afraid to leave any popular plants out. But make sure that you plant according to season.
It’s recommended to involve any kids that live in your area in the planning of the organic vegetable garden. This should of course include your own children, but also any other kids in your neighbourhood that your family is on friendly terms with. They will be engrossed in the activity, and you will get some help to transform that lawn into a garden.
While you’re at it, you should start a compost heap. You can use a plastic composter, which are often available for free from local government, or build a couple of wooden frames to start two compost heaps. This will allow you to supply your organic vegetable garden with fresh soil and nutrients by recycling kitchen waste and lawn clippings.
More cool stuff onorganic gardening is available at OrganicHerbalGardening.com - click a link and you will be in the right place to start for all herbal gardening related queries.
The success of next year’s garden depends on proper preparation of your vegetable beds this fall. Clearing out dead plants, turning in some nice old compost for soil regeneration, and even planting some early spring crops is the perfect way to ensure the success of next year’s garden.
Insect Free: Taking all old leaves and plant debris off of your garden is the best way to prevent insects from overwintering in your garden. Old leaves on the soil surface provide a nice hiding place for insects, such as squash bugs, grasshoppers, and aphids. If you clear out old leaves and stems and compost them, insects have nowhere to hide. Freezing temperatures will help control next year’s insect population, and reduced debris on the soil surface will ensure freezing temperatures for insects on the sol surface.
Leaf and vegetable litter provides a place for other problems to reside also, such as tomato or potato wilt. Many gardeners had difficulty with tomato blight, or wilt this past year. Collecting and throwing away diseased plants in the garbage or landfill will help keep diseases from reestablishing themselves next season. Most spores from the tomato wilt can be thrown away with the plants and fruit. It is especially important to clear off all plants and fruits from this past season if this was the case in your garden.
Preparing your garden bed: Next, spread one to two inches of well-decomposed compost on the surface of your garden bed and turn into the soil well. Organisms in the soil will have time over the winter to decompose this material and distribute nutrients to the soil for next year’s vegetables.
Planting your spring garden now: After preparing your soil bed, you can plant some spring vegetables for early harvest in the spring. Sowing spinach seeds, and planting your first couple rows of peas will allow for the earliest harvest. These seeds will not germinate until soil temperatures warm enough for them to grow. If you like you can also plant your garlic bulbs, although you should probably plant your garlic in a drier bed than your peas and spinach.
No one ever said gardening is easy, but spending a little time preparing your garden beds this fall can help you reap big rewards with next year’s garden!
Betsy Woodworth gives help on garden help and on gardening tips.
This Universal Lawn Care Tip covers correct watering systems and how watering correctly is an imperative part to the healthiness of our grass, we’ll look at watering to gain the best benefit and see how getting it wrong can cause an infestation of disease.
Methods and watering times change depending on lawn varieties climates and regions, so precise we are going to stay with our universal lawn care truths that are fitted to all lawn varieties and in all regions of the Earth. Fortunately, there are many set truths that have an application to all grasslands that just need minor adjustments relying on circumstances.
1 ) Water infrequently and awfully - the key here is to push a deep root system that will bear hot weather, and has water generally available to the roots below the evaporation level in the soil. Customarily two times a week for 20-30 minutes is acceptable in warmer weather for warm season varieties such as Bermuda (couch) and St. Augustine (buffalo), and three times per week for cool season bunching grasses such as Fescue and Kentucky Bluegrass.
2 ) Water in the morning - watering in the morning gives water to our gardens at exactly the one time the turf can take water into it’s system, in the day! The vascular system of lawns circulates water and nutrients throughout the grass plant, the vascular system draws power from daylight - therefore lawns cannot absorb water at night. Whenever lawns are watered at night, a huge quantity of that water is drained away deep into to the soil and water table and wasted, the turf now requires more water to stay healthy, and we’ve just wasted one of our most valuable resources.
Night time watering also promotes fungal illnesses on lawns when water is left sitting on the lawn leaf overnite, the difficulty is compounded in hotter regions when hotter nights create a warm clammy environment on the turf which promote fungal expansion and disease.
3 ) Never water daily - daily watering and over-watering promote a shallow root system which can simply kill a lawn in warmer weather, and a lawn which is water logged from absence of oxygen in the soil. Lawns like these are frail and simply damaged from wear and tear.
4) Adjust watering as needed - Keep an eye on watering times and adjust as obligatory depending on temperature and rainfall. We want to adjust to give enough water, and adjust not to give too much, both extremes are similarly damaging to turf.
5 ) Wetting Agents - these are an amazing addition to every lawn and garden across the globe today. Wetting Agents break down the waxy coating on grains of soil like dishwashing liquid breaks down grease from a frying pan, the result’s a more even distribution of water throughout the soil profile, decrease in dry patches that can sometimes occur in grasslands, and most importantly is the capability of the turf to hang of water for longer periods of time, which allows for far more water being available to the grass, providing proofing against heat stress and a decrease in the quantity of water needed for a healthy lawn.
Our next Universal Lawn Care Tip debates Lawn Manure , which talks about why we want to use fertilizers, how we should use them and the way to select the right one for our lawn and our region.
Consumers are becoming more aware of the circumstances that their food is grown under, which has led to a surge in interest for organic herbal gardening. Plus, there is now a growing awareness of the health and medicinal remedies possible with organic herbal gardening.
The viewpoint of herbal medicine is one of considering the whole organism and not just the symptoms. As a result two people who visit a practitioner and have similar symptoms, may be suggested to take quite different remedies.
Overall, while herbal remedies have their critics, they provide a valuable complement to modern medicine for many ailments and its emphasis on prevention and balancing is liked with many who are striving for a more harmonic way of life.
People who turn to organic herbal gardening to grow natural medicines are usually highly aware of their bodies and also of their surroundings, and place a lot of importance on the quality and provenance of the food that they consume.
Many people now choose to grow part of the food that they consume through organic herbal gardening. Organic herbal remedies are in fact a natural progression from deciding to emphasize organic food for one’s own wellbeing.
Often herbal remedies have been grown commercially under organic conditions, but the enterprising gardener can add a series of curative plants to the produce in his backyard, garden or windowsill and, armed with a good treatise on the subject, self-administer the results.
You can also prepare herbal teas and brews. Plus, ingesting organic herbs is not the only way to consume them. You can also prepare balms and creams with many organically gardened herbs, and use them to relieve aches and inflammations.
To start organic herbal gardening for the purpose of improving your health, you can either start from seeds or buy seedlings from specialist shops, either by going there in person or by buying over the internet.
Working on organic herbal gardening inside a building is a great way to provide your family with fresh produce and also with beautiful greenery. In fact the sweet-smelling herbs not only look and smell good; they are also great for adding flavor to your cooking.
Organic herbal gardening in the house has certain advantages over outdoors growing. You are much less season-dependent, and you can have a plot of plants that is just the size you need it to be within constant reach of your kitchen.
Regarding the herbs that you can use, most of the varieties that you can grow outdoors are also good indoors. There are many themes around which to plan indoor organic herbal gardening, and of course you can combine these. Here is an example.
For instance, for a fragrant note you can grow angelica, bergamot, catmint, chamomile, thyme, lavender, lemon balm, and mint. This organic herb garden is also a great organic air freshener, ideal for indoor gardens in small flats.
Another thing you should focus on quickly is the kind of containers that you want to use for your plants. Not all plants grow equally well in small pots, so you should have an awareness of the minimum pot size for your chosen organic herbs.
It is generally better to choose slightly larger pots, since as a result you will end up with more of the same herb and will thus be able to use it more often. Forget about any tiny pots you may find in a supermarket, and start on the right footing with dome decent containers acquired from a specialist gardening shop.
Container size is important, so begin with those that are a bit larger than those in which the live nursery plants were purchased. This will give your plants room to start growing. Once your herbs are stabilized and growing well, transplant them into larger containers. This is important to ensure growth and so that nutrients make it from the soil into the plant.
To garden organically, it is important to only use earth that is organically certified. The soil should not be too alkaline or too acid, a medium acidity is just about right. And any fertilizers you choose to use should be organic too.
In most cases, available natural lighting will be enough, although some growers may want to try out electric growing bulbs. But in normal circumstances, these won’t be needed. Check if your chosen plants prefer sun or shade, and then place the sun-lovers on a south-facing window. The others should go where there is plenty indirect sunlight.
You will find that indoors organic herbal gardening is both useful and pleasant. Herbs are generally easy to grow, and require little safeguarding. Simply give them the right food, water, and sunlight, and you will have lots to cook with.
It can seem daunting to begin with an organic vegetable or herbal garden for the first time, but there are few better ways to be good to the planet while also being good to yourself and enjoying yourself.
As you may know organic herbs and vegetables are a better alternative than industrially grown ones, but they can be quite expensive. By setting up your own organic garden you will be able to have a fresh supply for a fraction of the price!
Te first thing that you should do, as it will take a little while for this to be ready, is to separate your kitchen waste from the rest and build a compost heap. This can also be done indoors. Compost will prove a great boon as it is the best natural fertilizer for an organic garden and its vegetables and herbs.
Besides eliminating the need for fertilizer, compost retains moisture and therefore allows you to use less water on your organic garden. You can put all kind of kitchen refuse and garden cuttings on your compost heap, just make sure to avoid big quantities of meat or fish, and don’t add human or pet dung! These are too acidic and also the wrong kind of bacteria.
If you can’t find them in your local area, there are plenty of places where to get them online. Online usually mean more choices and flexibility as well as the convenience of home delivery, so we recommend this method to make sure that you are starting with organic vegetable and herbal gardening the best way.
Once you have the organic seeds, don’t plant them outdoors right away but let them sprout inside the house, using organic soil in small pots. There isn’t much that can go wrong at this stage, but avoid giving your seedlings them too much water or they will drown.
Once your little plants have grown two leaves, you should repot them into biodegradable pots and later bury these in your garden. You can of course also go for an indoor window garden for your herbs. These make additions to windowsills and beautify the house.
You like the beauty of the flowers, but you don’t like the upkeep. You’re proud of your yard, but you wonder if the hours of back-breaking labor are worth the effort. Perhaps you don’t mind a little work, but you don’t want to spend all weekend doing it. Here are 7 suggestions that can help you achieve a low-maintenance yard:
1. If you like roses, grow roses. The last thing you want is to look at gardening as a time-waster. It should bring you pleasure. So grow those lilies if they’re your favorite. The point is that if you stick with what you like, you’re less likely to view the upkeep as a mundane chore. That’s not what you want.
2. Be aware of the varied aspects of your yard. Plants that don’t need a lot of water will not grow in an area that’s low-lying and collects standing water when it rains. Likewise, a plant that requires fertile soil will not thrive where the soil is more sandy. If plants are incorrectly placed throughout the yard, they’re just not going to do well.
3. Work Smarter, not harder. You’ve heard this countless times, and it certainly is true for gardening as well. If you don’t like to cut grass, don’t have a lawn. If you absolutely must have one, hire somebody to mow. Why would you want to incorporate tasks that you simply don’t like? It makes gardening a chore rather than a pleasure.
4. Plant lots of perennials. This will save you countless hours. If you know you don’t have to replace plants year after year, you can spend more time enjoying than planting. If you feel the need to use annuals, use them to fill open areas of the yard.
5. Plant things together that require similar tasks. If you do, in fact, plant annuals, place them together so it saves time when you need to clear them out. If you have a number of plants that require more water than others, plant them together as well. If you have plants that grow more quickly and need constant trimming, plant them together. You get the idea. The more time you save with maintenance, the more time you have to enjoy the fruits of your labor.
6. Don’t use plants that need staking and constant pruning. If you’re spending most of your time trimming the ivy, you’re not enjoying the rest of your yard. Choose plants that require less work to maintain. Nature can do the work for you here.
7. Container planting is good. Not only does this add color, but also you can place the plants exactly where you want them. And if you ever get tired of a pot in a certain part of the yard, just move it.
None of us ever seems to have enough time to do the things we want to do. Maintaining your landscaping doesn’t have to be a time-consuming task that you look to avoid like the plague. These tips will save you that time and allow you to enjoy that very little bit that is necessary to have a beautiful yard.
