Gardening

What you want to know about gardening.

Small Garden Pond Ideas

People often use landscaping and flower gardens to beautify their yard. Perhaps you’d like to use something different. Why not try some of these small garden pond ideas and see how distinct they can make your yard appear.

Designing Your Own Irrigation System

Do you get tired of dragging out the water hose whenever the flowers in your yard look droopy? You may be wondering if designing your own irrigation system is a good idea. The fact is that you can install an irrigation system on a budget if you take the time to learn more about it and do the work yourself.

Companion Planting Explained

One of the secrets to successful organic gardening is something called companion planting. When chemical herbicides and pesticides aren’t allowed, as they wouldn’t be if you’re gardening organically, then companion planting is an excellent solution.

How to Get Rid of Slugs in the Garden Naturally

Slugs can be a big problem when it comes to plants and vegetables. Many gardeners have been reduced to near tears after seeing the fruits of their labor eaten by slugs. If you’re gardening organically this makes the task of getting rid of slugs that much harder. But don’t despair because there are some things you can do to naturally get rid of slugs from your garden.

Selecting Gloves

Some people garden and perform lawn care their whole lives using no gloves at all. But apart from the calluses and the dirt, some of us mere mortals require a little help from technology. Fortunately, the technology of gloves has come a long way in the past 50 years.

A Hose For Your Garden

Selecting a Hose

A hose is indispensable for nearly every lawn and garden. Even in areas that get regular rain, there are often dry spells that can be dangerous for plants. No matter how good your automatic sprinkler design, there are usually areas that don't get enough, causing dry spots. And, there's no good substitute for cleaning up spills or mud run-off from the patio.

Selecting a Watering Can

Consider the weight. Water weighs about 8 lbs (3.6kg) per gallon (~4 liters). If the watering can itself weighs a pound that's over 12% of the total if you're dispensing a gallon. Why add the extra weight? Plastic containers today are strong, rust-proof and come in a variety of attractive styles.

They may or may not have all the features you want, though.

Basic Tools for Lawn Care

A lawnmower is the most basic. It's odd to think of a living organism as needing to be sliced to stay healthy, but as a professional gardener acquaintance once said 'Grass likes to be cut'. To accomplish that, a good lawnmower is a necessity. Though among the more expensive items in the tool set, if maintained well it will last forever.

Keep the blade sharp, the spark plug clean and (if it has one) the air filter changed. Change the oil as you would on a car, every season.

Organic Chemical Free Gardening

Every year, thousand of chemicals are poured into the environment and millions of gallons of water are needlessly wasted. How? By growing plants. Sure, most of this is done by large agricultural producers, but some of it is still done in personal gardens. And that means that you can make a difference by changing your gardening practices. There are many agricultural producers who have done it, and you can use the same tricks to help your own garden, and the planet.

Composting 101

As people begin to be more environmentally and economically conscious, composting is becoming more and more popular. However, for many it’s still a new concept.

What is Composting?

Composting is essentially decomposing. The leaves that collect in the corner of your yard decompose. If you facilitate the process, then it’s called composting. Composting involves mixing your yard and household organic waste, like food scraps, in a container and providing conditions that encourage or facilitate decomposition.

Gardening