Tag Archives: Gardening

Gardening

How To Identifying Soil Requirements?

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Gardening is an art. It takes more than space to declare a green thumb. To this end it is imperative to know not only the equipment that helps in the endeavor but also the basics like soil types, fertilizer and of course watering patterns. The resources all over the internet and available in real time help you sort the information required and benefit from the right information. Different types of soils are required for growing different types of shrubs and trees. As the soil required for different types of plants is different identifying soil requirements as well as types of soil becomes necessary.

Improve the quality of soil:

While planting a flower bed, one should dig at least two feet deep while planting the lawn. Besides identifying soil requirements see if there are any lumps in the soil these should be broken first. Next ash, cinders, sand and soil should be spread well in the bottom soil. The top layer of the soil needs to be prepared for planting. A layer of good loam like peat moss, leaf mould, humus and green manure can be used to layer the top soil. As and when required you can even use ash as well as sand.

Lime helps in loosening the soil which can be used whenever required. The bottom soil can be enriched more with peat moss, grass clipping, compost as well as manure. It is a good habit to use sand, wood ash and lime also to improve the quality of the top layer of the soil. This is not actually necessary, but can be done as and when required for the soil.

Use soil testing kits:

For identifying soil requirements use kits for soil testing. These soil testing kits can be used to test soils. The soil is considered to be more acid if it ranks below 7 on the PH scale, and if it is above 7 it means that the soil is alkaline. Some plants do require acidic soils, which should be kept in mind while identifying soil requirements.

Growth of the plants depends greatly on the acidity or the alkalinity of the soil. Specific amounts of potassium, nitrogen and phosphorus is required by plants to grow. It is necessary to know the type of soil you have as these are absorbed directly by the soil. To make absorption of these minerals possible it may be necessary to add peat or leaf mould to the soil.

So you are you interested on soil testing kits, Phil Caxton is a syndicated editor and writer of lawnmania.com. A focused website that offers the articles on garden soil preparation.

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Gardening

Garden Deck Or Patio Layout

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After you have finished getting in your garden patio furniture and you have set it out as you like, it is time to park yourself in one of your new patio chairs with one of your favourite drinks and maybe a pen and paper, and take stock of the state of affairs.

Is your garden patio a bit crowded or do you have plenty of room? Are there other things you would like to have out there? How about plant life? Do you have enough plants and bushes – eye candy? Will you be using it only in the daytime or in the evening or even at night too? Will you need lighting, for instance?

This is where your own personal stylishness can be added to your shop bought furniture to make the patio truly your patio. So, if you live in a house that only has a small garden, you might want to think about things that hang rather than things that must be sited on the ground, which will take up walking space.

If you do not have much room, but you want to grow plants with edible fruit such as strawberries or tomatoes, you could get some hanging baskets. You can hang them from bushes or standard lamps or fix them to a boring wall. Similarly, you could grow herbs or other small flowers in a window box which has been fixed to a wall or placed on top of it. Or put shelving up and put boxes and pots on that.

If your patio is too sunny, you could grow sunflowers or put up a trellis or an arbour and grow vines or clematis up it. Bamboo grows quickly too. If it is too shady, plant lots of bright yellow and white flowers and maybe paint the walls white or pink, if you are not keen on glare.

If your garden patio is a much larger, you could add garden accessories in order to further your enjoyment. For instance, you could construct a barbecue area out of stone slabs or bricks. You could add a fountain too. A fountain makes the very soothing sound of running and splashing water and fish are a delight to watch.

For the colder months, you could construct a fireplace, if local bylaws permit or get a patio heater. They are very efficient and can keep a fair radius warm, depending on the ambient temperature.

You will probably need some type of lighting as well, if you plan on spending some evenings on your patio. I suggest a few spotlights to highlight your favourite plants and the fountain and a broader beam light that you can read by. Do not put these lights near where you intend to sit because they will attract flying insects. However, they make a good distraction from you and will keep all but the blood sucking insects away.

For parasites such as mosquitoes, you should get some form of mosquito light. Some are very good and claim to keep a quarter or even half an acre clear of mosquitoes and other such nuisances.

For all these extra accessories you will need power points. Therefore, if you plan your garden with pen and paper as I suggested at the beginning of this article, then you will be able to show the electrician where you want the points and what-not in your new garden patio layout.

Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

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