Home gardening is a general term that covers not only plant cultivation but landscaping, lawn mowing, watering and soil fertilizing too. There are many reasons why gardening is such a popular hobby: some people want to go organic, others consider gardening a relaxing activity and a smaller percentage turn it into a lucrative occupation. There is much more to be said about motivation, but it usually differs from case to case.

Home gardening equals with more earth-friendly attitude because lots of those growing their own vegetables are not interested in saving money but rather prefer to consume food that is clean and natural. Without chemicals, insecticides and pesticides, food will be tastier and healthier. As for flowers they are usually planted for their beauty.

You can find equipment for home gardening in any local department store. You don’t have to buy all the tools imaginable. It is actually comfortable and pleasant to keep the activities simple. There are no more important aspects. Even shoes and gloves have their role in protecting the gardener by enhancing the comfort level. Choose your methods and equipment depending on what you grow.

Many of the supplies can also be ordered online if you don’t find them in the regular department store. For landscaping design you may have to shop around and get the best offers possible. Magazines, web sites and online forums could make viable recommendations for home gardening, and it doesn’t hurt to take a look. On the average, such materials also provide solutions to your dilemmas as well as answers to pressing questions.

Home gardening can be as simple or as complex as you choose. You can have just one bed to look after or you can cultivate the entire garden. Yet, not every house owner chooses to garden on the property. You can hire someone to trim the hedges and cut the grass as you may not have the time or the disposition to ‘get dirty’. These being said, the only conclusion here is that home and gardening is something you do because you love. Whether productive or enjoyable, gardening could be your refuge from a stressful world.

Because most Georgia soils are rather heavy, the Father of Georgia Dalhia growing Conrad Faust went to great length to incorporate quantities of humus into his garden. Over the years he built up an ideal soil by adding leaf-mold, stable manure and peatmoss, in addition to which he plants his entire plot to a green cover crop after the tubers are dug in the fall. The cover crop, which may be of rye, vetch or Austrian winter peas, is plowed under in the spring in time to rot and mellow before dahlia planting time.

Moisture conservation is one of the phases of soil management that Mr. Faust stresses. He digs his soil thoroughly to a depth of 12 inches, breaking up any hardpan that may form in the subsoil. This permits an unrestricted growth of the dahlia root systems.

A strict fertilizing schedule is also advocated. Starting with the initial preparation of the soil just before planting time. “A fertilizer of 3 or 4 per cent nitrogen, 10 per cent phosphate and 5 or 6 per cent potash is ideal. When planting, two good handsful of bonemeal together with a small amount of the commercial fertilizer (say a level tablespoonful) should be added to the soil in a radius of at least 2 feet where the dahlia will be planted – or this can be broadcast over the soil.”

Fertilizing does not stop with this initial planting preparation, however, for supplementary feedings are very important for developing the giant prize blooms Mr. Faust famous. When the plants begin to show buds, some commercial fertilizer is worked into the soil, preferably just before a rain. This is repeated every two weeks, the quantity being increased as the plants grow larger.

But to return to the spring planting season, it is a revelation to watch Mr. Faust’s planting technique. In the first place, he does not set out his tubers until late May or June – he prefers June. His first step is to set out the stakes in perfectly straight rows 3-1/2 feet apart each way (he says 3 feet apart is all right where garden space is limited). He has tried bamboo and wood stakes but found them too susceptible to rot, and his answer to the problem is stakes made from sections of heavy steel concrete-reinforcing rods. Each one is driven well into the ground before actual planting commences.

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If you’re looking for a wonderful resource for gardening tips, then look no further than www.gardenguides.com. According to their mission statement, this site aims to be the best online resource for gardening enthusiasts.

The site has been a popular internet resource for many years, due to their collection of top-quality gardening information, including gardening how-to’s by top garden writers, plant fact sheets and guide sheets, seasonal tips and garden techniques, garden recipes, and much more.

You’re probably looking at the sunny areas and shady areas and wondering what will do well in each spot.

You may be wondering about the beautiful gardens that win garden contests or you might be looking for a garden video to show you how to plan and create your own dream garden.

At www.gardenguides.com, you can read about orchestrating the perfect garden lighting, about installing proper drainage and about integrating walkways or artwork into your cozy backyard habitat. You can read about a number of different garden styles, including Alpine, Cottage, English, French, Family, Forest, Fragrant, Japanese, Kids, Zen and more.

You will also learn about landscaping, creating edible gardens, planting flowers or creating water gardens. You will gain insights on how to attract butterflies, birds and helpful insects, while keeping pests out. You can also learn how to garden by color, light, season or type of space.

Other garden tips revolve around plant species and varieties. Beginners may want to read about getting started with perennials or annuals.

For instance, if you click on the tab for perennial flower gardening, you’ll learn how to choose the right flowers, how to plant and grow them, how to cut and dry them, how to prepare the perennials for winter, how to propagate and troubleshoot them, and you’ll get lists of perennial flowers and plants.

Visitors to the site can read about rose gardening tips and caring for cacti, or read up on spreading moss and ivy covers. Even if you’re just curious about planting some new grass, you’ll find valuable information here.

In addition to providing you with great rose gardening tips articles, you can also check out some of the resources that www.gardenguides.com has compiled for you. For instance, you can type in your city, state and country to find a local Garden Walk or Botanical Garden nearest you.

You can look up regional growing guides to let you know what works best in your geographic area. You can look up bulb stores, nurseries and landscapers in your state.

You’ll learn about various methods of weed control, from flaming, spraying and mulching to digging, pulling and home remedying.

Like every other garden flower, the dahlia has its special pests, and reknowned Dahlia grower Conrad Faust has been fighting them every year. During past seasons he found malathion spray to be very effective against most dahlia pests. He reported, however, that there was a serious outbreak of red spider in many dahlia gardens in the Atlanta area. Sprays seemed to be ineffective, but upon recommendation of the state entomologist the plants were sprayed or dusted with sulfur and this brought the trouble under control. Mr. Faust says this same sulfur is also excellent for the control of mildew which often attacks dahlia foliage in hot, humid weather.

Conrad is always being asked how he digs and stores his dahlia tubers.

The clumps are dug very carefully so as to avoid breaking or injuring the tubers. He then washes all the soil off them with a hose; next he cuts off all the fibrous roots from the tubers, and after that he allows them to dry for a day or two in the garden. Ho is very careful, of course, to label each clump as it is dug, using an indelible pencil for this purpose. Some of Mr. Faust’s clumps are too large and cumbersome for storing, and so he cuts the largest ones in half and dusts the cut portions with sulfur before putting them away for the winter. The smaller clumps are turned upside down to allow all the moisture to drain from the stems.

When there only a few clumps to be stored, Mr. Faust suggests keeping them in boxes of dry sand. When the number is large, however, they are more easily handled when stored in peatmoss. He always advises dusting any injured portions with sulfur to prevent rot.

Although some dahlia growers complain of their tubers shriveling during winter storage, Mr. Faust says that if the plants are well fertilized and grown right the tubers will never shrivel. He inspects his clumps several times during the winter, not for shriveling, but for any signs of stem rot. If he finds any, the rotted portion is cut away and the clump is dusted with sulfur again and returned to the peatmoss.

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You will need to know the proper soil, lighting and temperature for the plant you want to grow, as well as devote time and commitment to the project, in order to enjoy the hobby of growing plants indoors. In addition, there are several methods for growing plants in pots.

Inspect the area in which you plan to grow your plants before you do anything else. The potted plant must be placed in an area where it will receive natural light several hours a day. You can also use artificial lighting if you have the budget for it. Special indoor lamps and lights that you can use to replace natural sunlight are on the market. Ensure that your home’s temperature is ideal for the plant, since this is the easiest factor to control.

Match your potted plant with an appropriate container. If a plant is large or will grow large, your container should be able to accommodate it. Putting a big plant in a small pot can result in the plant not being able to breathe properly or the roots’ growth being stunted. Similarly, using a large pot for a small plant will look odd — although the plant may eventually grow to fit the pot. Instead, you should start your plant in a small pot, transplanting it to a larger one when it outgrows the smaller size. Various styles and sizes of pots are also available. The diameter of the container should ideally be half the plant’s height. Make sure there are drainage holes in the bottom of the pot so the roots will not drown.

The next step is to look for the proper soil or growing medium. Because it is unable to drain properly, garden soil is typically unsuitable. It might also contain insects or fungi that can be harmful to your plant. To retain moisture and aerate the roots, choose a packaged potting soil.

Several factors can affect when the plant should be watered. These factors include wind, rain, sun, heat and the plant type.

You should regularly water most plant, although not to the point of drowning. That said, desert plants like aloe vera and others tend to do better when they’re allowed to dry out rather than being flooded with large amounts of water. This makes some desert varieties ideal for people who have a hard time remembering to water their plants regularly. The amount of water any plant needs can vary each day.

Plants grown in pots dry up more quickly than those that grow in the ground. You can determine if the plant needs to be watered by sticking your finger into the soil. If it is dry, then it needs to be watered.

Potted plants generally require fertilizers every two weeks. When you water a plant, it flushes the nutrients from the growing medium. If you have children or pets in the house, are growing edible plants, or are growing plants for personal care or medicinal purposes, your best bet is to use organic fertilizers.

As a note, some plants are poisonous to animals or humans. Before you bring a plant into your home, thoroughly research it if you have children or pets in your home. (See Pets and Plant Poisoning for more information on this.)

When you grow a plant in or around your home, you should do what you can to protect it from destructive pests. Insects can enter your home and destroy your plant even if you house it indoors. Use one of the organic pesticides on the market to combat this problem.

Growing potted plants can be worthwhile and rewarding whether you grow them in a window box, on a balcony or patio, or in an outdoor garden. Whether for decoration or fragrance, as edible fruits and vegetables, or for teas and natural remedies, potted plants have endless uses.

As is the case with any gardening project, growing indoor plants does require a bit of study and application of standard practices and proper growing techniques, but this will become easier with practice, and will be well worth the trouble.

About the author: Megan Barlow helps others learn how to live greener and more environmentally friendly lives. Find out more about sustainable living at her blog on Green and Resourceful Living.

This article was originally posted at Grow Plants in Pots Easily.

You’ve probably seen pictures of other people’s magnificent rose gardens, but would you be able to produce such roses from your own flower gardening efforts? If you research and pay attention to the multitude of rose gardening tips that are available to you, it’s very likely that you can do this.

You can’t learn rose gardening in just a few paragraphs, but getting some information about fertilizer, pruning and even winterizing can help you start.

In addition to regular watering and good soil, you’ll also need proper fertilizer for whichever types of roses you have. Start around March or early April, and then do another feeding in May, and another in June or early July.

The nitrogen-phosphorous-potassium ratios vary. For hybrid teas, floribundas, grandifloras, climbers and polyanthas, each bush needs half a cup with a 10-20-20 ratio for each feeding.

Miniature rose bushes, on the other hand, need a slightly different combination of 1 tablespoon of 10-20-20 sprinkled the first time, then one cup of a 20-20-20 ratio of soluble fertilizer for the second and third feedings.

Shrub and old garden roses only need the 20-20-20 mix in the spring, or possibly again after the first blooming. Following these tips can help the plants to grow strong.

Pruning roses is done when the plants are dormant, such as in the spring just before they start to grow again. To encourage lush growth, cut all but the healthiest stalks, leaving no more than five, and cut those remaining stalks to between 12 and 24 inches.

One exception is when you first plant a rose bush, as you are encouraged to remove all new flower buds for the first two months, so the energy goes into making the plant strong. For other rose gardening tips, you need to research the different rose types you have in your garden, to find out their particular needs.

You might value a couple of rose gardening tips as well, when it comes to preparing roses for winter. For most, in all but the coldest zones, it’s likely enough just to strip all foliage off, tie the canes together, and pile mulch and extra soil around the base.

But in colder zones, for container and climbing roses especially, you can dig a trench and lay them on their sides, covering them with soil and a deep blanket of leaves. These methods will keep your types of roses safe until early spring, when it’s time to start the process all over again.

Strawberries may be planted at various times. Home gardeners often plant in August, but this is not the best time. Commercial growers, who must obtain high yields, usually plant in early spring, as soon as the soil is workable. Early planting is very important, as the plants then get off to a good start under favorable moisture conditions during the cool weather of early spring and produce early runners, which are more productive than those growing in late summer and fall.

Late fall planting also has something in its favor. For several years I have compared late fall (October 20 to November 10) planting with spring planting, and in most cases the fall-planted beds have outyielded the spring-set beds. Plants set out in the fall get off to an earlier start and produce more early runners that bear the heavier crop a year later.

Fall-set plants must be mulched the first winter. In the spring the mulch is raked off and the planting managed the same as one set in the spring. The blossoms should be picked off and the bed allowed to fruit the following spring.

There are many good varieties of strawberries. Generally speaking, the high-quality sorts do not produce the highest yields, but they do produce enough to be satisfactory for the home garden. Dessert quality and reliability are most important in a home garden variety.

Strawberry plants should be purchased from a specialist, preferably one nearby. Although plants shipped early from growers usually arrive safely, plants ordered late and shipped long distances during a hot spell may overheat, with disastrous results.

If the plants arrive before the ground is ready for planting, the bundle should be opened and the plants heeled-in in a moist, shady place in the garden. Each bundle of plants should be opened and the roots spread out so they are in contact with the soil.

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Growing plants from seed and then to plant and then back to seed allows you to follow your plants through the entire life cycle. Being there for such a unique process is enough reason to give any grower a great sense of accomplishment.

When you harvest your tomatoes from your very own heirloom seeds, you will be bursting at the seams with pride and accomplishment when they are ripe on the vine.

Although all plants need some light to grow, young growing seedlings will need more intense light than adult plants. You can start your garden seeds on a sunny windowsill or shelf and achieve good results. You will have healthier plants if you can provide them with more light.

Typically, planting seedlings thrive with cycles of 12 hours of light and 12 hours of dark in one twenty-four hour period. It all depends on the plants you are growing. Be sure to turn them every now and then, as they will bend towards the light.

Keep your seedlings moist, but not wet, when caring for them, as they can be very susceptible to mold. An overabundance of water can cause mold to grow. Outside, of course, spring usually comes with rain, but that doesn’t mean plants outside stay saturated, and neither should yours.

Don’t fertilize your seedlings and organic seeds unless you are using the hydroponic method. The seed and the soil you use supplies all the nutrition the plant needs. Fertilizers can kill your plants, if they are overused. They create a situation where the plant cannot get water from the soil, and without water, there is no photosynthesis.

As outdoor planting dates nears, young plants raised indoors are not used to outside weather. They need to be toughened up or as some call it, hardened off. Set your plants outside in a sheltered spot, preferably in the shade.

Set them out for a half a day to begin with, and gradually leave them out longer. You can slowly move them into windier and sunnier spots to get them used to life outside.

Follow this routine for at least a week or two before you transplant them into the garden. When they are finally outside to stay, protect them on cooler nights with a sheet or some type of covering.

By taking the time to start your seeds indoors and to nurture them into lovely little seedlings can only be described as a labor of love. The satisfaction you gain from such an activity cannot be measured!

Seed starting is a simple process that only requires a tiny portion of your time, yet will reward you with an abundance of vegetable and/or flowers.

There are lots of challenges to overcome for anyone who tries to create an organic vegetable garden. The process could take several seasons, but when you finally get results you’ll be able to enjoy homegrown veggies that are not only tasty but very healthy too. From a technological point of view, organic gardening is a return to traditions and to the old agricultural practices present in any culture worldwide.Click through here for additional info relating to garden cultivator.

The size of the organic vegetable garden is not important: it can even range from a few feet on the house roof or balcony to several acres. The first step to take in the organic gardening direction is the purchase of organic seeds that are presently scarce on the market. The problem is that in order to have a real organic vegetable garden, you have to begin with seeds that are completely free of chemicals or irradiation residues. Therefore, if you can’t find organic seeds in your neighborhood, try on the Internet.

One can think of many advantages to an organic vegetable garden. Firstly when there are no pesticides or herbicides included in the plant cultivation, the crops will not suffer because of the chemicals, the soil preserves its quality for several years and the specific fauna will contribute to the regeneration of the garden. Furthermore, the organic vegetable garden presents the advantage of covering the family needs in a very safe, cheap and easy way. Whenyou run a farm in parallel with an organic vegetable garden things get even more profitable.You can obtain extra worthwhile info relating to garden hoe here.

The manure from the animals can be used as a natural fertilizer that makes the crops even more profitable. Moreover, everything one needs for an organic vegetable garden should be available from local stores; the costs are definitely not high and the necessary items come for very decent prices. You can find all sorts of gardening tips in books on natural gardening and learn the tricks of the trade specific to tradition. Just a relevant example here: it’s practical to grow beans and corn together; you won’t need any sticks for the beans because they will climb on the corn stalks.

The seeds, the soil and the organic compost will all play an important role in the evolution of the organic vegetable garden. Do not overlook any of these aspects and your home production will be a success and a reward for all the work involved in the process.You will gain oodles of supplemental worthwhile info on garden hoe here.

If you want to plant a new fruit tree, several points need to be considered. First you need to decide on the kind of tree and the place of growing. In case you buy the young tree in a nursery think carefully about the way of transport: I know of a man who had an accident on the way home with his truck. His tree was divided into two parts.

As soon as you safely arrive at your home, you can start with the preparation. First you need to examine the clump of roots, because the hole you have to dig should be bigger and deeper in size than the roots. This sounds like a lot of work, but it is important to get all of the soil back to the hole. You do not want to have a heap of useless dirt in your yard! In a second step you need to put some compost or fertilizer in the whole, so that your tree will grow well. After these steps you can put the fruit tree into the hole spreading its roots out evenly. Only then the tree will be stable and strong.

When the tree is set in the hole you need to put the soil back into the hole and fill it up to the edge. The soil can be a little higher than the rest of your yard, it will be compressed when watered. It is important that the tree is vertical and stable, only then you should firm up the soil in a gentle way.

The trunk may be unsteady and bendy. In that case you tie the tree with a rope to a stake, but not too tightly because the trunk needs room to grow. As soon as the new tree is sturdy and can withstand windy and rainy weather, you may untie the rope. Finally you should mulch the soil around the tree and, if wild animals can access your yard, put a fence around it. This is necessary because some animals like to eat the bark especially of young trees.

If your tree is successfully planted it will bear its first fruits after three to five years. In case your tree is carrying many fruits, pick some of them off, otherwise the branches will be too heavy. The branches can even break off if the fruit gets too thick. It is also possible that your tree will not carry any fruit in some years. This is a normal reaction of a healthy tree and a kind of pause. In the following year it will probably bear fruits again.

If you have any problems with pests, watch out for decaying leaves at the base of your tree. Rake away old leaves regularly so that harmful bugs get no chance to breed and to harm your tree.

Remember to prune your tree in wintertime and spring, so that it will be healthy for a long time. During dry times, you should water the tree every two weeks. Avoid hitting the tree with your lawn mower or weed eater or anything that could disturb the process of growing. The best you can do for a great growing experience is to give your new tree plenty of water and sun.