Flowers Of Happiness

By Rachel Yoshida

 It is possible to have a luscious, healthy, green garden while doing your part to conserve water. Water is a precious resource, and we are finding out that we are often in short supply of it, especially during the hot summer months. Plants and grass naturally need water to survive, but it does not mean they need to be drowned in it for optimum growth. Here are some tips you can start utilizing in your yard maintenance.

Watering the lawn can be one of the biggest ways you can waste water if you don’t do it properly. Some homeowners tend to over water their lawn by watering everyday, which can lead to poor root growth in the long run. Depending on the area you live in and how hot and dry it gets, you should not have to water your lawn no more than twice per week, as long as you are watering enough. Usually, 1-2″ of water should be sufficient. If you are wondering how you would go about measuring how much water your lawn is receiving, leave out a can or other container that can capture the water and measure that with a ruler. Most home improvement stores also carry water gauges of some sort to help you measure.

Watering the lawn should be done during the early morning hours, typically between 4 and 8 a.m. This period of time is optimal because there is less wind and heat from the sun that will cause rapid evaporation. Watering at night is also not a good idea because it can actually cause fungus and promote insect activity.

Use fertilizer in your garden only as directed. Using too much fertilizer will cause your plants to demand for more water.

Similarly, adding mulch to your garden helps with moisture, meaning less watering. It also prevents erosion and prevents weeds from growing because the mulch is blocking the sun from reaching the weed.

Keep similar plants together in the same section. Drought-tolerant plants should be put in a different section from plants that need constant watering to survive. Water the plants in your garden according to their type so that just the right amount of water is used.

Consider installing a timing device on your sprinkler system if you have not already done so. Schedule and maintain a regular watering cycle for your plants. Installing a rain sensor will stop the sprinklers from turning on when it starts to rain. That device will come in handy when you are not home to turn off your sprinkler system.

Use paving materials, such as brick, gravel, or granite around your garden areas to keep water in the garden and prevent them from traveling elsewhere.

Rachel Yoshida is a writer of many topics, visit some of her sites, like

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Feeding the Soil - One Vital Aspect of Organic Gardening
By Paul Hata

 There is an important aspect of organic gardening that you can very well relate to. Imagine this. You are hungry. You haven’t been fed. You haven’t taken a bath. You haven’t pampered yourself. You’ve spent so much time working and taking care of others, but you haven’t tended yourself for your own good.

How would you feel? For a time being, you may be able to accept the fact. You may still tire yourself out without asking for anything in return. But as the days go by, you will feel the negative effects of the situation. You will no longer have the kind of energy that you used to. Your body will deteriorate until it can no longer function for the things that it used to do.

How is this related to the organic method of gardening? You can actually compare this to the state of the soil. Soil is a very important aspect in this type and all the other kinds of gardening. This is the base of everything. This will be the bed, or the house of your plants. You must choose the right one in the first place.

Depending on your location, the soils that you may acquire vary on such factor. You should base the decision in picking out the plants on the types of soils that are available in your area. Once you have picked the right kind, you are now on you way to the first steps of your gardening venture using the organic method.

Relating to the sample above, the soil must never be left untended. It must never go hungry. Or else, what happened to the example may also happen to the soil. You have to feed the soil. You have to bathe it. And you have to take care of it just like how you tend to yourself or to the plants situated on your garden.

You may know from your grade school days that the soil needs water, sunlight and air. But you are doing everything organically now. Does it carry out any differences? Yes, a lot. Although you still have to feed your soil and the plants on it enough sunlight, water and air, you have to add something else. You’ve got to have organic matters placed on the soil.

Have you ever heard of composting? This is the process where you culminate decaying matters like leaves, grasses, peelings of fruits or vegetables, even manures and fish heads to act as your soil’s fertilizer. This is organic remember? You cannot resort to anything synthetic. This is one proof that this process entails a lot of hard work than you can ever imagine.

Not only are you going to feed the soil, you also have to attend to it regularly. Mulching is like massaging the soil to keep its shape. This way, you will be able to get rid of the pests that your soil has gotten through the days or months, however long you have been gardening.

This will actually help you prevent acquiring bigger problems. There are many types of soils that need certain care and attention. For example, clay can hold up water better than the sandy kind. You have to know those kind of details to be able to improve on your organic gardening venture.

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