Building Raised Beds To Reduce The Weeds In Your Garden

TIP! Keeping your garden soil rich and healthy is the best way to discourage garden pests. Healthy soil leads to healthy plants with more strength to deflect those insects and various diseases.

Gardening is a relaxing, rewarding pastime for many and offers a long list of benefits. No matter whether you keep a garden for food or merely for decoration, the sense of accomplishment you get from taking care of plants is like nothing else. Read this article to learn some important tips about gardening, and taking care of your growing plants.

TIP! Soak the seeds and store in a dark area overnight. Place a couple of seeds in a tiny container, and fill it with water nearly to the top.

Do not improperly lay your new sod. Before you use sod, you need to prepare the soil. Pull any weeds and break up any clods of soil. Lightly, but firmly pack the soil down, and make sure that it is flat. Dampen the soil completely. Avoid laying your sod in straight rows with all of the seams lining up. Instead, stagger the rows for a more pleasing visual effect. Pat down the sod and fill any gaps with soil. For the best results, you need to water the sod every day for a two week period. After this time the sod will have rooted into the soil and can be now walked on.

TIP! When you go to mow your lawn, make sure you don’t mow it too closely to the ground. Higher grass sends roots further down, increasing lawn strength and viability.

Try planting seeds in pots, and then transferring the seedlings to your garden. Your plants will be more likely to survive if you do this. This also enables you to close gaps between planting cycles. The seedlings are ready to go, once you remove the mature plants.

TIP! If your soil is highly alkaline, try mixing used coffee grounds into the soil. Coffee grounds are an inexpensive way to increase the acid level in your soil.

Transform your gardening tool handles into clever measurement rulers. Tools that have long handles such as rakes, hoes and shovels can be used in place of a measuring stick. Lay the handles on the floor, then run the measuring tape down next to them. Then, with a permanent marker, you want to label distances. When you are at work in the garden, you will always have a handy measuring device on each and every tool.

TIP! Carefully plan your garden first. This helps you remember where each plant was planted before they begin to sprout.

Before you plant anything in your garden, have the soil checked. Have a soil report done. It is cost effective and you can make necessary adjustments, based on the report, to your soil so it is correctly enriched to encourage plant growth. You can often find Cooperative Extension offices that provide this service, which can help to make your garden flourish.

TIP! Tender deciduous shrubs are very fragile, so protect them. Shrubs that are planted in containers are especially susceptible to frost and must be carefully protected.

Be sure to do some weeding on a regular basis. Weeds can turn a beautiful garden into an eyesore. White vinegar has been known to kill weeds quickly. White vinegar will definitely kill the weeds! A spray solution is much easier to apply than to rid your garden of weeds by hand.

TIP! A set of comfortable knee pads makes a great investment if your garden is full of plant material that stays low to the ground. The amount of time that you spend gardening on your knees can make your knees hurt by the time you are done.

Split up your irises. Try increasing your stock by dividing your overgrown clumps of plants. After foliage is no longer alive, remove the flowers with bulbs. They will literally split in your hand, flowering the next year after replanting. Divide rhizomes with a knife. Cut new pieces from the outside and discard the old center. At the least, each piece will need to have one strong offshoot. All that is left to do is immediately replant the pieces you have created and let the cycle begin anew.

TIP! You should start pea seedlings indoors instead of planting them outside right at the start. Pea seeds germinate better indoors.

As has been noted above, there are many rewards inherent in horticulture. Whether you enjoy a vegetable or flower garden, the rewards are beneficial. By using a few of the recommendations presented above, you can turn your garden into a mini paradise on earth and impress your friends with your new-found horticultural knowledge.