Flowers Of Happiness

By rwakefield

 You have a prized flower bed, with a wide variety of colours of flowers, timed so that there is always something pretty to look at throughout the year, and it is looking perfect. Why is it that weeds always come to spoil all the hard work that you put in? Weeds are the gardener’s nightmare.

Part of the problem with weeds on a flower bed is that the soil is almost always of very high quality you have used fertilizer and compost to make a great growing environment. Then, you also cleared the area to make way for your new prized flowers and plants. Add to that your daily watering and regular nourishment of the soil and what you get is not only the ideal environment for your geraniums, delphiniums and peonies, but also the ideal area for fast growing weeds too!

Avid gardeners, who are regularly in the garden, will be able to spot the different growths of plants, and can quickly take out the unwanted young growths of weeds in a flower border. However, to the untrained eye, it is very difficult to spot the difference between a weed and the young shoots of your favourite plant. This is made ten times worse if you have gone for a random or un-ordered layout of flowers, or if you have mixed your plant types together to give a stunning flower bed.

What is the gardener to do? Weeds should be removed at the earliest possible opportunity, and this may be when the leaves start to take shape the more common weeds have very distinctive leaves and should be weeded out as soon as possible to allow the wanted flowers to grow through. It is vitally important to remove as much (all!) of the roots as possible, as even the smallest amount of root left in the ground can quickly grow back again.

Many weeds can leave seeds which are able to lie dormant for many years. Disturbing the ground by tilling may loosen these seeds and allow them to grow again. Think twice before digging deeply into the ground on a flower bed which was heavily covered in weed a year ago. One trick is to cover the ground in thick newspaper and then put a thick layer of top soil and compost on top. This way, the weeds underneath are unable to grow up through, yet you have not damaged the environment with any plastic layer.

Sometimes however, weeding by hand just isn’t enough. Once a flowerbed has many weeds in it, your only recourse will be to turn to chemical weed killers. Many of these are advanced enough to target only a specific type of plant you should look for weed killers which are designed for use on the flower bed, as these can leave your prized flowers untouched and yet still remove weeds.

It is important to be as careful as possible when using weed killers ensure that you only spray weeds ,as even the best weed killer will damage a wanted flower if you spray directly onto it.

Try to use a systemic weed killer, as this will help you greatly in the future. Systemic weed killers remove the top growth AND the root systems of weeds. This means that they are not able to grow back.

Fighting weeds is an ongoing task you will never completely win the battle against unwanted plants in the garden. Focus on removing the really damaging plants such as Japanese knotweed and bindweed at all costs, as these will come back year after year, if not dealt with effectively. You should also consider dealing with weeds as they come out. A garden is for enjoyment, and part of this enjoyment is taking a close look at your flower beds if you spot a weed, then out it comes!

Mr R.Wakefield is an author and publisher who writes content for for Japanese Knotweed Solutions, (http://www.jksl.com), specialists in Send Flowers To Someone You Love

Guide To Basic Container Gardening
By Benjamin Brook

 Container gardening can be very convenient for individuals with minimal space in their homes or those who wish to have plants inside their homes. Container gardening enables the gardener to bring in a splash of color to their homes. Compared to single pots, most containers used in container gardening are relatively large and can contain several plants of the same species or of different species.

Choosing A Container For You Garden

One thing that you should consider when choosing a container is the kind of plant you wish to put in the container. Some vegetables require deeper pots for their roots to burrow into while others do not require as much space. Container gardening mediums vary from containers such as plastic pots, terracotta containers and wooden boxes.

Plastic containers for container gardening tend to discolor in time and may also eventually be susceptible to cracks and deterioration. Unglazed terracotta containers will dry up eventually and may be prone to breakage as well as being heavy to cart around. Glazed terracotta containers are ideal since the glaze seals them and protect them from drying up. Wooden containers are prone to rot although choosing wood that is not susceptible to rotting is an option.

One advantage of wooden containers for container gardening is that these can be made to fit the specifications of the area you wish to put your plants in. You must bear in mind that treated wood that you will use for container gardening can affect your plants so ask what chemicals were used to treat the lumber before you buy.

Containers used for container gardening must also have a wide opening for better plant growth. The containers must also have appropriate drainage to prevent root rot and other root damage. For containers with big drainage holes, you can line the bottom inside part of the container with news paper to prevent soil loss.

Most container gardening are for indoors plants so it is best to consider the areas where they are placed. Sunlight is one thing to consider as well as the temperature in the area. Some plants need more sunlight than others so make it a point to ask or find out what kind of care your plants need.

Container gardening can be especially satisfying when you plant herbs or vegetables that you place in your kitchen for fresh use when you are cooking. Live plants can also bring color to any area of your home.

For more information about gardening please visit my website Gardening - Gardening and Moon Phases

How To Make Organic Compost
By Paul Hata

 Compost serves as a growing medium,or a porous, absorbent material that holds moisture and soluble minerals, providing the support and nutrients in which most plants will flourish.Organic compost is the best material to grow your plants in. Compost is the type of soil plants really love to grow in, because it is made from lots of great organic material. It is the safest kind of material to grow your plants in.

How Do Make Organic Compost

1.You need to start with a base of material that is rich in carbon.You will need things like straw, dead flowers, shredded newspaper, and dried leaves. Some people forget to add these brown materials, but the are essential.

2.You need green materials that are high in nitrogen.These materials include things like kitchen waste from plants, animal manure, green garden clippings, and grass clippings. You can use all kinds of fruit and vegetable peelings and leftovers, but no meat!

3.You need a little bit of soil from your garden.It is important for you to remember that you should actually add a bit of natural soil to your compost to get it started. You cab start by putting down a layer of your brown material. This could be straw, dry leaves, or even shredded newspapers if you do not have anything else. On top of that, you can add some of your green stuff, then a layer of soil. Then you add more of your brown material to the top. Finally, you need to add water to these layers. Just moisten them, do not drown them!

4.Continue the above by adding layers until you have a compost pile that is around 3 feet wide and 3 feet high. You should probably have a ratio of about three parts brown material to one part of green material. If your pile is not 3 feet tall yet, just keep adding material to it whenever you have it available.

5.About once every week or two, you should turn your compost pile. This means using something like a garden fork (a pitchfork) to stir your pile. You want to work all of the stuff in the middle out toward the edges, and move the outer material inward toward the middle.

Be sure to keep your compost pile moist. It should never be soggy, but be sure not to let it dry out. If your compost pile gets too dry, it will stop decomposing properly. If you see steam coming up from your pile when you turn it, you can be pretty sure everything is decomposing properly.

You can add earthworms to your compost pile if you want. They find the pile on their own, but you can speed the process up a big by adding some to the pile yourself. You can buy earthworms at a fishing bait store and use those.

6.Build or buy a bin to house your compost pile.This can help keep your pile neat and tidy, so it does not pread out too much. You can also buy rotating compost bins that you can turn in order to mix your compost. These are not necessary, but they can make your job easier.

Once your compost turns into a rich, nearly black material, it will start to smell much better. Your new compost will smell a bit sweet. Once it turns black and starts to smell sweet, it is ready to be mixed with your regular garden soil. In fact, you can use this rich compost as potting soil, usually with nothing else added. You can even replace most of the soil in your garden with this material, or use it in raised beds.

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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