Everything GardeningRotoplast & Self Watering Planter Systems

Do you have to draw plans and grafts.

Is agriculture simply a case of sticking a seed in the ground or is there more to it? Is there any formal training required? I’m considering a career change.

I need to know which soil i need and exactly in details, how i should garden and which methods are needed to plant tomatoes and grow them in south florida, in a tropical, hot, and humid climate what methods, soil, where to buy, how to till the soil, etc

I live in Chicago, IL.

Do you have any plans to become Self Sufficient ?

I am new to this gardening thing and I want to have a vegetable garden so that we have vegetables and fruit from early summer through late fall. I know that each vegetable has it’s own PH requirements. How do I prep the soil for all the things I’m wanting to plant? Is there a fertilizer that I should use that would be good for a wide range of veggies? I live in northern Ohio. When should I start prepping the soil? When should I plant? Should I plant a second time during the season to ensure that I have veggies into the fall? What should I plant? The area I want to plant is roughly 15 X 20 ft.

Homeschooling in the GardenBy Nancy CarterDo you already find yourself dreaming of working in the soil this spring? Of getting your hands dirty and watching for those little green sprouts to magically appear? Why not use your garden planning time as the ultimate homeschool unit study? Don’t think of gardening as something that takes away from your academics time. Think of it as something that can enrich it.

Involve the children in your research. Gardening will provide wonderful hands-on activities that can truly bring learning to life for your children. It’s something that both boys and girls can enjoy. You don’t have to live out in the country to have a garden. You can start with just a small spot in your yard, containers on your porch, or even a small herb garden in your windowsill. When I was a little girl, I had a wonderful grandmotherly type babysitter who kept a garden in her backyard. My mother often commented about how when she’d pick me up at the end of the day Mama Linda would have all of us kids sitting under a shade tree snapping green beans. We thought it was a wonderful treat to “get” to work in her garden.

Create a garden notebook with all of your plans together in one spot. Start by working together to create a list of all the fruits and vegetables that you eat or enjoy. Don’t feel like you have to grow a patch of squash if your family won’t eat it. Spend your time on things that you all will actually use! Keep it simple. Assign different children to be in charge of certain plants. Narrowing their focus will help keep the tasks from seeming too overwhelming, while also helping your child to really research the best way to care for their plants. Children can find helpful growing information on the Internet, in books and magazines, and from experienced gardeners to put in their notebooks. Practical projects often help encourage even the most reluctant readers and writers. It gives learning purpose and brings satisfaction from a job well done. Watching those first little sprouts develop into an ear of corn, a watermelon, or giant sunflower can really make an impact on a child’s life.

Gardening helps mind, body, and spirit. Researching and planning for your garden involves reading, math, and science and encourages higher level thinking skills. You’ll also be able to use your notebook to journal when and where you plant things. Track the temperature and rain, fertilizing, how much you have to water them, and their growth.

Being outdoors in the sunshine is great for the body. Breathing in the fresh air and eating items straight from your garden can go a long way toward a healthier lifestyle for your family. Gardening provides nutritious food and exercise for growing bodies during those impressionable years. Likewise, the peace and quiet of working with your hands in the garden is good for the spirit, and gardening can help bring many Bible truths to life. The parables of the farmer in Matthew 13 truly come to life when children see how important preparing the soil is when they are trying to grow something.

Consider different types of gardens: • Traditional Garden—Grow plants directly in the soil in your backyard. One big advantage is how economical this type of garden is. It can be as large or small as you want.

• Lasagna Garden—Grow plants without digging by planting in soil covered with a barrier layer (such as newspaper), compost, and mulch. The advantages are that there is no need to dig, it conserves water, there are fewer weeds to pull, it prevents erosion, and it improves the soil.

• Container Garden—Grow plants in containers rather than planting directly into the ground. Advantages are that there is no digging in your yard, your garden is portable and decorative, and it is susceptible to fewer weeds and soilborne diseases.

• Raised Bed/Square Foot Garden—Grow plants in raised beds enriched with compost about one foot deep and 3-4 feet wide. Advantages with this type of garden include that the close planting creates a microclimate that conserves moisture and reduces weeds; it is easier to maintain; the soil is not compacted by walking on it; and higher yields are obtained.

A subject within gardening that’s interesting to study with your children is companion planting. Companion planting is the method of planting certain pairs or groups of crops in closer proximity because they benefit each other. Native Americans planted the “Three Sisters” together—corn, pole beans, and squash—so that they could benefit from each other. The corn provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants need, and the squash spreads along the ground, monopolizing the sunlight and thereby preventing weeds. The squash leaves act as a “living mulch,” creating a microclimate that retains moisture in the soil. The squash also deters pests with its prickly vines. Companion plants can benefit each other by repelling pests, encouraging beneficial insects, providing shelter or structure for each other, improving flavor, and enriching the soil. Carrots Love Tomatoes, by Louise Riotte, is a wonderful handbook for learning more about this method.

Also do some research on succession planting. Succession planting helps maximize your garden season’s potential. You can either plant different varieties of the same crop so they’ll mature at different rates, stagger when you plant crops so that they’ll mature at different times, or plant one crop and then another in the same space. Succession planting is a great way to increase your harvest by maximizing your use of space and timing. Often you can start off with a cool season crop like lettuce, follow it up with tomatoes that thrive in the heat, and then finish off the season with a third crop that grows well into the fall, such as spinach.

Now is the time to start planning, though. Select your plants. Draw out a design of your garden. Gather the materials you’ll need. If you’re planning on a container garden, keep your eye out for containers that you can use. If you’re going to do a lasagna garden, start saving your newspapers and cardboard boxes. If you want to use compost in your garden, start your own worm bin or compost pile to discard your kitchen waste and improve your soil quality. Start building raised beds or gathering materials so you can start seeds indoors. You can also incorporate history into your studies in the garden. Study the Victory Gardens of World War II and discover how Americans grew 40 percent of their vegetables, allowing the War Department to purchase the mass-produced vegetables for the troops overseas. During that time, emphasis was placed on making gardening a family or community effort—not a drudgery but a pastime and a national duty. We can learn a lot from history. As Cicero once said, “If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.” Do a little gardening with your kids this year. No green thumb is required, just a love of learning and a willingness to get your hands dirty! Copyright 2008. Originally appeared in TheOld Schoolhouse Magazine, Winter 07/8.Used with permission. Visit them atwww.TheHomeschoolMagazine.com.For all your homeschool curriculum needs visit the Schoolhouse Store.

When you are ready to mix ingredients for your container garden, be sure the soil is damp and workable. To determine this, take a handful, squeeze it and allow it to drop. If water comes out, it is too wet; if it breaks apart, it is too dry. But if the lump of soil retains its shape or cracks just a little when it is dropped, it is in good condition to work into your gardening pots.

Be certain your garden containers are clean when you start. Soak used or new clay gardening pots overnight so they will not draw moisture from the soil after planting. This is a very important step when you are beginning your plants life. If the pot draws off the moisture the new plant will be deprived. Clean dirty clay pots with a stiff brush and hot, soapy water. Clean gardening pots will be much more attractive in your container garden.

Though redwood, cedar, and cypress gardening pots may be left natural, they may also be stained or painted. First clean the surfaces then apply one or two coats of stain or paint. Let dry completely before planting. Concrete, metal, plastic, fiberglass, and similar materials all need cleaning before planting your container garden.

Suiting plants to garden pots is very important in container garden design. Consider the shape of each container, its color, and texture in relation to the color of flowers and foliage, as well as the ultimate size of each plant in your container garden. Don’t choose material that is too small, and if you want a group of plants for a large container, select one tall specimen for the center to give height and scale. Don’t forget that you can plant vegetables in container gardens; try to incorporate them into your container garden design. And, for a tasty addition to your container garden plant herbs in garden containers or even hanging baskets, your recipes will become marvelous.

In low pots or bulb pans and in tubs, use low-growing plants like fancy-leaved caladiums, petunias, verbenas, Iantanas, ageratum and wax begonias. Hyacinths, tulips, and daffodils are also appropriate. In tall containers, plant specimens of geraniums, heliotropes, coleus, balsam, dwarf dahlias, fuchsias, and marguerites. Reserve the larger container pots and boxes for trees and shrubs or roses.

As a gardener, keep in mind the form of plants, particularly the evergreens which stand out boldly in winter. Rounded types, as clipped yews or globe arborvitae, look well in angular containers. Hollies or yews, sheared into squares or pyramids, look better in circular tubs. This contrast of the curving with the straight always gives interest to the garden and those guests that visit your container garden.

The first step in potting for a gardener is to place sufficient drainage material in the bottom of each garden container, allowing the water to pass through freely, but not so much as to interfere with the roots. An inch or two of flower pot pieces (rounded sides up), or chips of brick or flagstone, pebbles, gravel, small stones, or cinders can be used. The larger the container, the larger the pieces should be. Some gardeners spread a piece of coarse burlap and a layer of sand over large drainage pieces. A layer of Vermiculite or sphagnum moss over the drainage material is also fine to keep soil from clogging holes. If the holes clog the roots will drown in their gardening pot.

Above the drainage, spread a layer of soil, the amount depending on the size of the container and the root ball of the plant. Place the plant in position so that the surface of the soil will be an inch (more for big plants) below the rim of the container. This space is needed to hold water.

Fill soil in around the roots, firming gently with your fingers or a piece of wood so as to eliminate air pockets. Add more soil and firm, but do not make the soil too tight for fine feeding roots must be able to penetrate it with ease.

Finally, water your garden container plants well, let them drain. If water passes through the gardening pot very rapidly, press soil again to firm it; that means there are air pockets. If the soil holds water too long, loosen it a little.

Place the container garden in a sheltered spot out of sun and wind for the first week while they make new root growth and adjust to new conditions. This also helps to avoid shock. Once your plants have settled in, you ready to arrange your container garden according to your original container gardening design.

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Mary Hanna is an aspiring herbalist who lives in Central Florida. This allows her to grow gardens inside and outside year round. She has published other articles on Cruising, Gardening and Cooking. Visit her websites at http://www.GardeningHerb.com http://www.CruiseTravelDirectory.com and http://www.ContainerGardeningSecrets.com or contact her at mary@webmarketingreviews

As a group,flower bulbs are outstanding plants—colorful, showy, and generally easy to grow for container gardening. Many have evergreen foliage; with others, the leaves ripen after flowering and the bulbs are stored and started again, year after year. Some flower bulbs are hardy, others, tender, though what is, and is not hardy, in a particular area is a matter of winter temperature averages. In cold regions, tender types—tuberous begonias, gloxinias, and calla lilies—can be treated like summer in container gardens. This gives the gardener a wide variety to grow from earliest spring to late fall.

Dutch flower bulbs include crocus, snowdrops, eranthis or winter aconites, chionodoxas, scillas, grape hyacinths, leucojums or snowflakes, Dutch hyacinths, daffodils, and tulips, the pride of northern spring gardens. Though hardy, they are not adapted to garden containers outdoors where temperatures drop much below freezing. They require the protection of a shed, unheated cellar or cold frame. Gardening Pots can also be dug into a trench in the ground for the winter and covered with a thick blanket of marsh hay or straw. Where temperatures do not go below freezing, Dutch flower bulbs can be left outdoors in gardening pots over the winter.

For best results in a container garden, start with fresh, firm, large-sized flower bulbs each fall. Insure good drainage in the bottom of each garden pot and use a light soil with bone meal added. If in clay pots, plunge during the rooting period in damp peat moss to prevent rapid drying out. If this occurs too often, roots will be injured and flowers will be poor. When weather permits, after the danger of freezing passes, put your container garden outside where they are to flower or in a nursery row until they reach the bud stage. After blooming, move your container garden where foliage can ripen unseen.

For fragrance, concentrate on Dutch hyacinths, excellent for bedding large planter boxes or raised beds. Daffodils look well grouped around trees or large shrubs, as birches and forsythias. Tulips, formal in character, combine delightfully with pansies, violas, wall flowers, forget-me-nots, marguerites, English daisies, and annual candytuft in container gardens.

As already indicated, in cold areas, Dutch flower bulbs cannot be potted or planted in small window boxes and left outdoors unprotected for the winter. They can, however, be set out in large planters and boxes, deep and wide enough to contain plenty of soil. The garden pots should be one and a half to two feet deep and about two feet wide. Set flower bulbs, with at least six inches of soil above them, planting them early enough in the fall so that they can make root growth before soil freezes hard. In penthouse gardens in New York City, Dutch bulbs have been grown successfully in this way, but it is always a risk. It makes no difference whether garden pots are made of wood, concrete, or other material; it is the amount of soil they hold that counts.

Actually, it is not the freezing of the soil that injures flower bulbs (this occurs in open ground), but it is the pressure and counter pressure exerted by frost on the sides of containers, which are firm and do not give. As a result, flower bulbs are bruised and thrust out of the soil, their roots torn. Where there is no hard freeze, but sufficient cold weather, hardy flower bulbs can be grown successfully in garden containers of small size.

Here is a partial list of flower bulbs that thrive in container gardens. They will help you with your container garden design

Achimenes are warmth-loving trailing plants with neat leaves and tubular flowers in blue, lavender, red and white. Related to gloxinias and African violets, they are nice in hanging baskets and window boxes or in garden pots on tables, shelves, or wall brackets. Start the small tubers indoors and give plants a sheltered spot with protection from strong sun and wind. Achimenes, an old standby in the South, is worthy of more frequent planting.

Agapanthus or Blue Lily of the Nile is a fleshy-rooted evergreen plant, with strap leaves, often grown in tubs and urns on terraces and steps during the summer, when the tall blue spikes unfold. Culture is easy, but plants require a well-lighted, frost proof room or greenhouse in winter. This is an old-time favorite, often seen in the gardens of Europe. It is a perfect flower bulb for container gardening.

The Calla Lily is Showy, and outdoors in warmer regions, but a tender pot plant in the North. Most familiar is the white one with large, shiny, heart-shaped leaves. Start bulbs indoors in February or March in rich soil and, when weather settles, transfer to large gardening pots and take outdoors. Calla lilies do well in full sun or part shade, are heavy feeders and need much water. There is also a dainty yellow one with white-spotted leaves. Rest your flower bulbs after foliage ripens and grow again.

Colorful and free-flowering Dahlias provide bounteous cut blooms. Tall, large-flowering kinds can be grown only in large planters and boxes, but the dwarfs, even freer flowering, are excellent in small garden containers. Attaining one to two feet tall, they grow easily from tubers in average soil in sun or part shade. They may also be raised from seed sown indoors in February. If tubers are stored in peat or sand in a cool, frost proof place, they can be grown for years. Check bulbs during winter, and if shriveling, sprinkle lightly.

Gladiolus, the summer-flowering plant has spear like leaves and many hued spikes. Corms can be planted in garden containers outdoors after danger of frost is passed. Set them six inches apart and four to six inches deep. The best way to use these in container gardening is to planting a few every two to three weeks, giving you a succession of bloom in your container garden. Stake stems before flowers open. After the leaves turn brown, or there is a frost, lift corms, cut off foliage and dust with DDT to control the tiny sucking thrips. After dusting, store corms in a dry place at 45 to 55 degrees F for future planting.

Gloxinias, another Summer-flowering plant and tender with large, tubular blooms of red, pink, lavender, purple, or white, and broad velvety rosettes of leaves. Start tubers indoors and don’t take outside until weather is warm. Since the leaves are easily broken or injured by wind or rain, put plants in a sheltered spot. The low broad eaves of contemporary houses, with restricted sun, offer an appropriate setting for rows of pots or window boxes filled with gay gloxinias.

Now you have some great ideas for your container garden design. It’s time now to start planting your flower bulbs.

Happy Container Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

Gardening and caring for the different rose types WATERING Roses are deep rooted and once they are well established are more capable than most plants of surviving mild drought spells. The first spring and summer directly after planting your rose is very important. During this period if the soil around your rose seems to be drying out give your roses a good soaking. Each rose could get about 2 gallons of water. In following years you will only need to water them if drought seems iminent. FEEDING YOUR ROSES As with all plants that provide us with beautiful blooms they need plenty of the correct nutrients. Give roses a good helping of blood, bone and fishmeal in early April, about two handfuls to each rose. In June a handful of specially prepared rose fertilizer will give your roses a huge lift. The magnesium and potash gives the rose a great kick. Just work the fertilizer in gently around the soil at the base of the plant. MULCHING YOUR ROSES. Mulching is a very simple task with great benefits. Mulching retains moisture, smothers weeds and generally boosts the health of your roses. Well rotted manure is best but garden compost or bark mulch can also be used. DEADHEADING YOUR ROSES. Deadheading spent blooms not only tidys up the rose but actually saves the plants energy and thereby encourages more bloom flushes. A light pruning of hybrid teas will encourage a second flush. WATCH OUT FOR ROSE SUCKERS. Shoots that emerge from rootstocks are known as suckers. These will be different in coloring and often by the amount of leaves, than what grows from the stems over ground. Gently scrape away the soil until you can see where the sucker is growing from the rootstock, tear the sucker away cleanly. CONTROL OF WEEDS. Mulching is the most effective method of controlling weeds and also the less back breaking. Hoeing is not as effective and you must take care not to damage the stems. Sowing other plants underneath the rose is also an option. The least favored option is the application of a rose-bed weedkiller. This will eventually damage the soil and thus your rose. ROSE DISEASES AND PESTS. This is an area that turns people off growing roses and really it shouldn’t. Roses have diseases and pests particular to them and as such regular treatment is very effective. The main problems are greenfly, mildew and blackspot. There are plenty of products that treat these main three problems in one treatment. Performing a regular maintenance schedule starting in April will leave you with very few problems. Do make sure to follow exactly the manufacturers recommendations. Your roses will respond brilliantly to a little regular maintenance and once you have started your routine there will be very little work attached. Issues will only arise once you neglect your routine and this is what often deters people from growing roses.