Learn to Garden With a Little Help from the Professionals
Plants are extremely delicate and the smallest changes to their environment can alter their growth in the blink of an eye. Extreme weather, pollutants, invading critters, and dry soil are common problems that gardeners often deal with. The tips below cover solutions to some of these and also provide changes that have a beneficial impact on the plant. Positive changes might be an increase in nutrients within the soil or an increased exposure to the Sun’s warmth.
Pure water may not be the most efficient solution for providing your plants with the nutrients they need. Water remaining from boiled or steamed vegetables contains many healthy minerals that your plants will love to devour. After you prepare some steamed vegetables from the garden, save the water and use it in your garden to see the results for yourself.
Soil is a complex medium that can be influenced drastically via the different substances that break down within it over time. Use additives, such as tea, ground coffee beans, banana skins, and other biodegradable materials to improve the quality of your garden’s soil. The first two items work exceptionally well with plants that crave the acidity they provide. Azaleas and gardenias are prime examples of such plants and a few scoops of ground coffee will make a drastic difference. Apply the solution on a monthly basis, one inch at a time.
Anti-fungal chemicals can be hazardous to the health of your nearby plants, but chamomile tea can control this problem and prevent fungus from reaching your defenseless seeds. Damping-off fungi will directly target your helpless seedlings while they have little means of protecting themselves, yet harsh sprays may make the situation worse. One deposit of tea around the soil where the plant is located each week will shield the herb from its foe.
Years in the garden will teach you tricks-of-the-trade that you won’t hear in the textbooks. Finding a quick spot for lunch might seem inconvenient amongst all of the clutter and dirt, but the bottom-side of an empty clay pot provides an instant table for one when topped with a saucer. A second pot can be utilized as a great seat if large enough and when you are through with the meal, a splash of water can turn the saucer into a birdbath while you are still in the garden.
The Sunday funny-papers across the hood of your car make an excellent drying-rack for any herbs that need to be dried quickly and efficiently. Place your herbs in a single layer of rows and columns. If you have a truck, you can turn the entire bed into an oven, but if you are driving a car, the enclosed innards make a suitable replacement. Roll up the windows, close the doors, and come back in a few hours.
A bit of good luck, good weather, good attitude, and some good advice will turn a good garden into an excellent garden. Each garden is filled with its own unique problems and adventures, but the right information works for anyone who is willing to listen and understands the underlying concepts.