A Gardener's Guide To Rakes & Hoes(GARDEN)

If you are a homeowner with a garden , then you simply cannot avoid rakes and hoes. These two tools are the most basic but crucial tools in any garden. Yet, we hardly give think about them while buying. All that we need is a good price and a strong looking device and we buy it. But there is much more to it than the price and the construction. Here is a guide that will help you choose a good rake.

Rakes
(garden)
Rakes can be further classified into leaf rakes, snow rakes and root rakes. A root rake is used mainly to separate small and medium sized capillary roots during repotting or transplanting. Most root rakes have a single prong that makes it easier to separate the roots without damaging it. A snow rake is effective in clearing snow off a tractor trailer or the roof of your home. The handle of the snow rake can vary in length depending on your use. The leaf rake and the lawn rake are used primarily in the garden and are an effective part of maintaining the cleanliness and hygiene in a garden. Not only are they useful in collecting the leaves, but they are also used for light weeding, leveling the garden and loosening the soil. Make sure that the rake isn't lying teeth up on the ground though.

The rake that you choose should have strong tines, a light handle and some springs so that the tines can be maneuvered around without exerting too much pressure on the back. Look for tines made of steel and a powder coated handle in a rake.
(garden)
Shaping the garden

Over grown hedges are a gardens worst enemy and you need to trim them from time to time to maintain the look of the landscape. Hence you can do with a pair of edgers.

Hoes

Weeding is extremely important to the proper growth of your plants for weeds can rob the plants of all the nutrients and food. Many plants become stunted owing to weeds. Hence you need hoes to scrape out the weeds from the soil. There are several different types of hoes available. They are square, v shaped, bar shaped etc. Depending on the kind of work that you do and your comfort level while handling it, you can choose from one of them. The garden scuffle hoe is a weeder with a push pull mechanism. It hardly requires any lifting on the part of the gardener and hence is easier to use.
(garden)
About The Author: Jonathan Goodman is the owner of Market Merchants an online retailer specializing in home and garden products. My passion for bbq grilling and fireplaces is the core focus of Market Merchants. I am a member of the Hearth Patio Barbeque Association (HPBA), the National BBQ group (NBBQ), and the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS). We sell these products because we love them and are passionate about consumer living needs. So whether its furniture and decor, home improvement, kitchen and dining, or outdoor living Market Merchants brings a dedicated commitment to the customer and a passion for high quality products. Visit the Market Merchants website: http://marketmerchants.com

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What You Need to Know About Planting Roses

What You Need to Know About Planting Roses
When spring arrives, and the ground is thawed, it is time to start planting your rose garden. Roses date back to biblical times and have been a considered a cherished aphrodisiac then and still are today. Roses hold particular mystery and fascination, not to mention the fact that they just look and smell good!

Roses require 4 to 6 hours of sunlight everyday. It is preferable not to plant too many trees or other plants around the rose bush because most of these are likely to either mix with the rose or stifle its growth. If you are replacing an old rose bush, approximately 1 1/2 cubic feet of old soil should be removed and fresh soil added to replace it.

When positioning your rose in the garden or landscape, consider the growth habit of the rose. For example, place climbers and ramblers along fences, trellises, or next to arches or pergolas. This location offers them free range of growth, and optimal potential for the biggest and showiest blooms.

Roses also look beautiful in island beds mixed with perennials. Miniature roses make great edging plants in front of their taller cousins. Planted singly, shrub roses make excellent specimen plants or they can be clustered to make a flowering hedge. You can also use them to camouflage unsightly garden objects.

Dig a hole large enough for the root mass and loosen the bottom of the hole. You should add bone meal, which is a slow acting source of phosphorus that leads to healthy root growth in the rose plant. Special care should be taken with the planting depth. It varies according to the climate you live in. If you live in a colder area, plant a bit deeper and consult with the people growing roses in your area. If you are buying potted roses, you should plant them about 1 inch deeper than their potted level.

The plant should be placed in the hole carefully, and the hole refilled with soil, covering the roots completely. Before making the final covering, water the rose plant and let it absorb the water. After this, water the plant more and mound the soil about 6 inches high. The dome will keep the stems from drying out until the plant is rooted. Gradually remove the excess soil as the leaves open.

The best time to plant roses varies depending on the winter temperature. Where temperatures do not drop below -10 degrees F; either fall or spring planting is satisfactory. If you live in an area where winter temperatures go below -10 degrees F, spring planting is preferred. Plants should be planted in a dormant condition if purchased bare root, but container-grown plants may be planted throughout the growing season.

Spacing of the rose plant is highly influenced by the temperature. In regions where winters are severe, the rose plant does not grow as large as in mild climates. Taking this into consideration, hybrid tea roses should be spaced 1 1/2 to 3 feet apart. Large vigorous growers, such as hybrid perpetual need 3 to 5 feet of space, and the climbers need from 8 to 10 feet of space.

If the winter temperature is below 10 degrees F, roses can grow healthy if proper care is taken. The gardener must prepare for that cold, wet reality as he revels in the summer air conditioning.

In zones 7 and colder, the roses enjoy their last fertilization of the season by August 15 to limit the emergence of new rose canes, which will almost certainly not survive the winter.

For more information about roses, visit http://www.rosegardenanswers.com or http://www.gardencenterinfoguide.com



Article source : www.articleworld.net

Vegetable Gardening on Hard Clay

Vegetable Gardening on Hard Clay
Vegetable gardening can be one of the most rewarding experiences in life. Eating your own fresh vegetables picked straight off the plant or fresh from the ground with the real taste still intact beats store brought produce every time.

I grew up in Auckland, New Zealand and gardening on the slopes of One Tree Hill, an extinct volcano, with perfect dark volcanic soil, it was merely a matter of chucking some seeds onto the ground, raking it over with soil and coming back and harvesting the bounty. With very regular rainfall there was little need to irrigate, abit of pest control to keep down the snails and abit of weeding was about it.

What a shock to come to the Gold Coast, Queensland and attempt to create a vegetable garden here. The soil is poor and solid clay with a rock not far below with little or no top soil.

Clay is one of the most difficult mediums to grow plants in. The particular mix is so fine that oxygen and water have a hard time getting to the roots of any plant. Hard as concrete in the dry and waterlogged in the rainy season. Without special preparation you will be lucky to even get weeds to grow.

As you can see in the picture above success can be achieved but work is required.

To prepare the garden a maddock was used to break up the clay into smaller pieces. It is actually better to do this when the clay is dry, rather than waterlogged. Its just heavier when wet and sticks to the maddock. This is time consuming back breaking work. But take a small patch at a time and come back after a rest. Take several days to complete the vegetable patch, gardening is to help build the muscles, not destroy them. Whilst doing this task many times rock was hit, however most rock on the Gold Coast shatters when hit and breaks into smaller pieces. While many of these were removed pieces smaller than half the size of your fist were left in on the advice of garden manuals. Why? It is said that small rocks help drainage and add minerals to the soil over time. So long as the don't make up more than 5%-10% of the soil, leave them in. Eventually a base of the patch was layed out.

To further soften and break up the clay store brought clay breakers were added. Easily available at your gardening or hardware store they are added to water and sprayed on the garden though they work best over a period of time.

Next Gypsum was added. This comes in large bags and is easy to spread out by hand, mix in with the clay and it too will further help 'relax' the clay.

Some would say, why not just buy a bunch of topsoil and dump it down. Well for a couple of reasons, firstly I have yet to find a good provider of topsoil in Queensland. Most just provide sand with a minimum of organic material mixed in - just enough to darken the sand. The sand is actually poor draining because it is much too fine. Some argue that you can help clay soil by adding sand. But unless the sand is a fine to small gravel I believe you are wasting your time. Sand that is too fine, acts just like a clay soil, it repells short spells of rain or irrigation or becomes waterlogged during a tropical downpoor or solid irrigation. The second reaason why I don't just buy the topsoil is because if the topsoil is not mixed in and bound to the subsoil it will just wash away.

To really bring the clay soil up to grade you need to add bio matter. Quality top soil is made of plant and animal materials decomposed or in the state of decomposing. Compost made of of shredded leaves, wood, grass clippings and vegetable/food rubbish is good. But the best material I had available for this garden was straw and chicken waste. With a pen of twenty chickens plenty of nitrogen rich matter was produced. Every three months the coup was cleaned out, the straw smelling strongly of ammonia. However once put on the garden the smell quickly went and the straw and its 'added' contents quickly broke down into the soil. I can reccommend nothing better to add to the soil. If you must add something else to quickly create a topsoil and can't wait for compost or have no chickens then I recommend products such as worm castings or 6 in one products (includes blood and bone, fish compost, etc), they come in 20kg plus bags and range in price between 5 and 15. Several of these, or if your budget handles it 10-20 of these really help to condition the soil.

Now the garden is ready for sowing. In the garden pictured above sweet corn, snow peas, peas, beans, garlic, tomatoes, pumpkins, potatoes, beatroot, lettuce, cabbage and much more were grown in such abundance it meet our needs. A small vege patch with good soil, well planned can add to massively to your diet.

Unfortunately this garden no longer exists as we moved on from my parents lifestyle block. But as testament to the quality of the soil and the work put into it this small area needed mowing twice as much as the rest of the lawn with quality, healthy, green grass growing quicker with more water in the soil than the rest of the lawn. Showing the truth in Queensland and hard clay soils that if the effort is put in the results will live on for years and decades. Poor soil in Australia is just an excuse for laziness. Yes with have drought conditions at times. But if we prepare the soil well we need less water. If we work with our environment, keeping back water in the times of plenty and molding the environment correctly wonderful results can be achieved.

Poor soil should not hold you back, it merely presents a challenge.

For full blog go to http://www.gardening-on.blogspot.com

Article source : www.articleworld.net

Gardening Herb Indoor

by: Tracy Ballisager



As winter sets in, you usually start getting worried about the plants that you have in your garden because they might not be able to fight the frost or resist the chilly winds. This holds true especially for herbs because they are delicate. Indoor herb gardening is the answer to all your worries regarding your garden. And you don't even have to renovate your home to start growing herbs indoors. A widow that faces the South or West direction and allows sunlight for 5 hours in a day will suffice your need for indoor herb gardening. If you are staying in a high-rise apartment and the only greenery that you get to see is the distant park, then indoor herb gardening is good for you and your apartment too.

Thyme, rosemary and mint are good options as starters for your indoor herb garden. You can grow them from cuttings or buy them from a florist. You can get these plants from a supermarket as well. If you want to start your indoor herb garden this way then you need to initially grow the herbs in a soil-less mix of perlite, peat and vermiculite. You get the directions for use on the package or the greenhouse from where you bought the mix.

If you prefer staying away from all that shopping, then you can start your indoor herb gardening with the seeds. To start, you need to get some pots in which you can grow your herbs. A pot with good drainage, especially terracotta or a clay pot is preferable. Small pots of 6" diameter are perfect for indoor gardening as they are small enough to grow compact plants and allow enough growth as well.

You should have pots of same material, shape and size to bring symmetry in your indoor herb garden. The contrast that you desire can come from the colors and shapes of herbs. Also you should plant different herbs in different pots, rather than 2/3 in the same one so that mint and basil do not taste the same. Herbs that can be directly grown from seeds are basil and Greek Oregano. You need to be careful while choosing the seeds. Buy the ones that are specified as 'compact' as the regular ones are difficult to grow indoors because of their size.

To grow your herbs indoors from seeds you need to fill the pots with potting soil that you can get from any florist or greenhouse. Then tuck the seeds in soil to a certain depth as specified on the packet and spray them with water. These pots should be kept on the window shelf facing the southern or western direction to soak up enough sunlight. You should also keep the soil damp, especially if you live in a dry or overheated apartment. You should not over-water your herbs once you see the sprouts, as the roots may rot.

If you have started your indoor herb gardening with cuttings or via transplant, you should allow the soil to dry out a slightly. Your indoor herb garden should get plenty of light but should not be exposed to extreme heat.

Source : www.articlecity.com

Create a Comfortable Home and Garden

By Caitlina Fuller
Do you look in magazines and see homes and gardens that are simply exquisite? Are you wondering about how you could make your yard and home décor look a little better? Fortunately, it is not that difficult to design a look for your home and garden décor. In fact, when you use the assistance of online stores like Online Discount Mart you will find everything you need to make your plan a reality.

The great thing about shopping online is that you can save a lot of money. What you need to do first is sit down and make a plan. If you want your garden to have fountains and hammocks or if you would prefer stones and garden furniture it is up to you. What you do have to do is complete a design that looks good and incorporates your home and garden's best elements. So, focus on what you want to play up and the areas you want to play down. Once you have identified all these areas and have an idea of what you want then you may begin purchasing the necessary items to complete the look.

For example, you may decide that you want beautiful wicker patio furniture. Once you decide on this then you need to come up with ways to play up the new outdoor furniture. This includes buying new potted plants to create a beautiful area in your garden. You can plant grass and other flowers so that they will bloom in the spring and summer and look beautiful. Consider the colors you want to plant and the way they will look with your new furniture. Creating an overall design is the idea here.

And, the same goes for the interior of your home. Focus on creating a special place. Buy rich fabrics and paint the walls rich colors that will match. You should look through magazines and find rooms that you like. Notice the colors, fabrics, and arrangement of furniture. Try and figure out how you could copy a particular look all the while staying on your budget. Many times you can find used furniture that will work great and save some money not to mention painting yourself in order to save money. When you do things on your own it is amazing how much money you can save. When you use these ideas in no time you will have created a special place in your home and garden that is not only comfortably but beautiful as well!

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. Are you wondering about how you could make your yard and home décor look a little better? Fortunately, it is not that difficult to design a look for your home and >garden decor. In fact, when you use the assistance of online stores like Online Discount Mart you will find everything you need to make your plan a reality.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/

How to Create a Welcoming Garden

By Caitlina Fuller
If you have just moved into a new home then the garden is probably pretty bare. In fact, most yards are lacking serious landscaping and few have any shrubs or bushes to speak of. So, when you move in to a new home you will want to put forth a lot of effort to make your home look better and more welcoming. One way you can focus on the outdoors is to add lawn ornaments. You may not think you are into yard art, but you would be surprised at everything that is available today. You should visit your home and garden center and you will see all that is offered and just what a great selection there really is. Even the most conservative gardener will notice some garden gifts to buy and add to the garden to spruce it up a bit.

These products could be as conservative as a bird feeder and an outdoor clock to as visible as a large fountain and fishpond. If you want to be ultra conservative then you may prefer buying some stepping-stones and creating the rest of the ambiance with plants and flowers. It is completely up to you how you design your garden but you will find there are many items that will make your garden more welcoming and a more enjoyable place to spend time.

For example, you will most likely want to buy a nice bench or a patio set. Anything like this will make your garden more welcoming because it is inviting and a great place to sit and enjoy the flowers and plants. You can easily have dinner parties in the garden or else just take a nightly stroll to enjoy the view. It is completely up to you because it is your garden. The best piece of advice is for you to come up with a plan and then put that plan into motion.

If you know more or less what you want to do but you do not know how to go about planning it then you ought to buy a garden design book. This book will help you determine where you need to place certain plants and how you should strategically place furniture and other design elements. It is quite amazing but a book can help you take an everyday idea into an amazing idea in no time! So, let your creative juices flow and start designing your own garden today so come summer time it will be welcoming and beautiful.

Caitlina Fuller is a freelance writer. One way you can focus on the outdoors is to add lawn ornaments. You may not think you are into yard art, but you would be surprised at everything that is available today. You should visit your home and garden center and you will see all that is offered and just what a great selection there really is. Even the most conservative gardener will notice some garden gifts to buy and add to the garden to spruce it up a bit.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com

Basic Landscape Gardening Tips

By Daniel D Junior
The process of creating a complete scene through the growing of bushes, trees, shrubs, flowers, and other plants in strategic locations is called landscape gardening. The first thing you need to do is envision what you want your yard to look like several year down the road. If you do not have much ideas, you can get some from gardening magazines.

The first part of your landscape will be the things that do not need to be grown. Let say for instance a rock patch, or a mulch area, this should be taken care of first, before looking at the longer term project. Trees that are place well, can add a lot to the overall aesthetic of your yard. You can make a choice of a single tree or a cluster of trees.

Choose a tree which has an attractive shape, bark and leaves and flowers that would not bother you in the future. Fruit trees that will thrive in your local area can be planted. Not only will you have beautiful trees in your landscape, but you can get some delicious fruits every season.

Another important part of your landscape should be shrubs. There are a variety of shrubs in any given region, so you can do some research for the ones you want for your yard. You should consider the season in which the bloom. If you plan right, you can find the type shrub so that a least one group is blooming almost year round. Shrubs can be used to provide focal points for your yard, or even use them to form a hedge.

So make a plan of the shrubs, trees, and flowers you will use before hand, and gradually grow a beautiful landscape yard. You should think about the technical aspects, such as what you will use to build your flowerbeds and what you will use as a drainage.

Daniel D Junior is a freelance writer and contributor for this website Basic landscape gardening tips and benefits

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