Flowers Of Happiness

By SlowWorm

 This form of gardening has additional benefits to those of traditional gardening. Handicapped and elderly gardeners for instance, can gain access to their plants much easier. Most raised beds are no more than 4 feet wide, this makes the plants easily reachable. But the beds can be designed any height, width and shape to suit the individual who is going to use them.

The soil that the plants are grown in can be improved more easily. If you live in an area that has very sandy or heavy clay soils it can be a constant struggle to get your plants to flourish. With raised beds you can import a quality soil from elsewhere, or fill them with a proprietary compost brand.

Raised beds are also very productive for food crops. By using a raised bed you could double or even triple the harvested crop, than you would get from the same space in a conventional garden. As everything is within easy reach, you can divide up the beds into grids and plant a specific plant type in each grid section. This allows you to make maximum use of every inch of the bed.

Weeds are less of a problem in raised beds than they are in normal gardens. Any weeds that do germinate are more easily spotted and removed. As everything is within easy reach, your soil wont become compacted due to you walking on it to remove weeds and perform other tasks.

Watering is also a lot easier, and as you have a smaller area to cover. You won’t waste water on paths between your crops or flowers that have nothing growing in them. You could also quite easily set-up a drip irrigation system that will deliver a slow stream of water throughout the day.

Pest control can also be a lot easier with raised beds. The base can be covered with a poultry wire to prevent burrowing animals ruining your plants. Low fences can also be placed around the top of the beds to prevent animals from hoping up on to them.

It doesn’t matter what sort of plant you want to grow, as raised beds are suitable for all types of plants. As raised beds aren’t reliant on the soil in your area you can create beds for any type of plant by using filling them with different soil variations. You could create one bed for alpines, line another with a pond liner or waterproofing compound and grow bog plants, and have another for vegetables.

Raised beds can look extremely attractive as well as being productive, and can be used to create focal points in the garden if executed well.

Written by Paul Stone owner of

UK Gardening Community

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You Can Start Bedding Your Seedlings And Seeds In Good Order
By Vin DeWolfe

 Once you’ve selected a purpose for your garden, and determined the plants you want it’s time to sow. Each seed packet or starter plant you buy will have guidlines for planting. Keep in mind the other plants you’ll be adding and take into account the space they need as well.

Seeds are easy to lose track of so mark courses where you’ll be planting. The easiest way to accomplish this is with a piece of twine and two sticks. Just place a stake at one end of the row, tie the twine to it and run it to the other end of the row. Tie off the twine and your row is obvious. Do this before planting for all your rows and you’ll be able to plant easily. It also makes it much easier afterwards to see what’s sprouting and keeps you from walking on the row.

Plant the entire row of seeds and cover with a thin layer of earth. After planting, lightly water the seeds. A light sprinkler or hand held wand sprayer on a mist adjustment works well. Don’t over-water or you will wash the seeds right out of the soil. The effect could be no plants growing in your garden, or a pumpkin growing in the yard. Rather, water softly, yet often. Keeping the seeds damp is the best way to get them going so water a couple of times a day for the beginning few days.

When planting seedlings, begin in early morning or in the evening. Never plant in mid day with the sunshine beating down. Dig a hole sufficient for the plant root to fit in. Don’t sink it too deep and don’t leave the roots exposed to the air. Pack dirt firm around the root area and supply mulch about the base of the plant. Then, water thoroughly. The mulch will help to keep the humidity around the plant higher and help it get acclimated. It also keeps the root area dampish, keeping the plant from drooping.

If you are planting seeds, hold off until the plants are a few inches tall and then add mulch around them as well. Straw works peachy and is rather easy to obtain from a local farmer. Just distribute the straw round the plants in a two to four inch thick layer. Keep it from covering the plants themselves, just make them a little hole to poke out of. Water the straw heavily once layed down. The straw will work to keep moisture in and screen out weeds and it makes a decent surface to walk or kneel on too.

Many people are unsure of how to properly water their garden plot and water way too much, too little or at the incorrect time of day. The best time to irrigate your garden is in the evening as the sun fades or really early in the morning. Never water with a sprinkler or spray the leaves directly. You could burn your plant leaves. Sounds strange, but it’s dead on, water drops on plant leaves magnify sunlight like a magnifying glass. The results are brown, dead, burnt spots on leaves. Early morning sprinkler watering allows the water to evaporate and not bake the leaves. Nights are best for slow, drip watering as it permits the plant to soundly soak up the moisture.

Add compost to your garden patch to help fertilize your plants as they develop. Also think about employing other organic fertilizers such as cow or horse manure. They add a boost of nitrogen to your soil and encourage robust plant growth and high rewards at harvest.

Throughout your growing season, check your plants for dead foliage and other problems. Keep the weed population down by pulling them and adding them to the compost heap. Keep your plants from drying out by adding mulch as required. Water on a regular, logical schedule and keep your plants fertilized. Your garden plot will show you just how happy it is by growing strong and producing a good harvest at the end of the season.

For Lots More Info About How To Grow A Great Garden Patch, visit: http://biblioflip.com

The Benefits of Organic Gardening
By Paul Hata

 Organic Gardening is gardening without the use of man-made chemical pesticides or chemical fertilizers. It is said by some of its supporters to be more in harmony with nature. An organic gardener strives to work in harmony with natural systems and to minimize and continually replenish any resources the garden consumes.

Organic Revolution - The organic revolution is a global phenomenon witnessed in every part of the world. Global organic food market was about USD36.7 billion in 2006 and over 30 percent or USD13.6 billion of the global demand stems from the US, according to Datamonitor.

Organic Food - Organic food refers to food items that are produced, processed and packaged without using chemicals. Organic food is increasingly becoming popular due to its perceived health benefits over conventional food. Droves of people are turning to organic produce as a way to feel safer about the foods they eat. People are worried about the foods they put into their bodies. With all of the reports of food poisoning from fruits and vegetables, many people are worried about what they are eating.

Organic Cosmetics - The organic concept is not limited to food items. Due to excessive usage of harmful chemicals in cosmetics, people are turning towards organic cosmetics also . One can often see organic skin care products, organic shampoos, organic soaps, and organic make up products on the shelves of organic stores.

Organic Chemicals - We now know just how dangerous all of those chemicals that we spray plants on can be, too. Many chemicals have been banned because they were shown to cause cancer! But some of these dangerous chemicals have not yet been banned, and there may be plenty of hidden dangers that have not yet been discovered.

Organic Gardening - When you garden organically, you can feel safer about the food you eat. You all know that the food you are feeding your family is safer and healthier than the questionable stuff you find in the grocery store. You and your family deserve to eat food that will not give you all cancer!

For example, organic carrots are widely known for being much sweeter than traditionally-grown carrots. They do not have the same bitterness that other carrots can have. This is a very good reason to grow your produce organically, even if you are not worried about the chemical effects to your body and the environment.

There are obviously a few drawbacks to gardening organically, too. You have to deal with pests differently, and it can be a longer and more complex process to rid your plants of certain pests. Instead of picking up some chemicals, you have to pick off insects by hand and drop them into soapy water.

You have to spray your plants with solutions made of things like hot peppers and garlic to prevent some bugs from eating them. It can be difficult. You also have to stick to organic fertilizers, rather than using easy chemical fertilizers.

Then anything that depends on the second species for food might start to die. This could spin out of control if the problem became too widespread. This is unlikely, but it is not impossible. Organic produce is also known for its superior flavor.

Organic Fertilizers - Organic fertilizers can actually be cheaper, because you can make them yourself. Fish emulsion is a common organic fertilizer. It is a sort of tea made from dead fish. Seaweed fertilizer is another tea-like fertilizer that many organic gardeners swear by.

And of course there are natural compost that can help you make use of your kitchen waste! The benefits of organic gardening far outweigh the few drawbacks. It may be a bit more work, but it is so rewarding!

Wildlife Protection - Organic gardening is also extremely beneficial to the environment for several reasons. For one thing, every time you spray your plants with chemicals, those chemicals wash off of your plants and onto the ground. From there, those chemicals wash down into the ground, and eventually make it into the groundwater!

Chemical fertilizer kills too many species of insects that can cause an imbalance in the local wildlife. If you and your neighbors kill off a large portion of the population of one insect, then anything that depends on that insect for food might also start to die off.

When the insects on your plants are poisoned, they can be eaten by birds or other animals. These animals can then become sick and die. If the toxicity was high enough, any animals that eat those animals might also perish. This can have a very strong environmental impact.

As you can see,the advantages and benefits of organic gardening far outweights its disadvantages and costs. Organic gardening not only protects us and our families, but also future generations.

Paul Hata is active in various social and community programs aimed at providing equal access to education,health and jobs to all.Paul has over 10 years experience in managing a multi-million dollar advertising company.Paul can be reached at - EarlyPlanet.com

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