Want Help With Horticulture? Try These Ideas

TIP! Properly put down your sod. Get your soil ready before you lay the sod.

Horticulture can be very useful, rewarding and fun. Regardless of what you grow, cultivating and caring for plants brings a special kind of satisfaction. This article can lend you a helping hand, and give you important pointers about gardening and growing things.

TIP! Keep an eye open for stink bugs in your garden, especially during the fall months. These bugs like to eat beans, peppers, tomatoes, and many kinds of fruits.

Create useful rulers from your tool handles. Tools with long handles, such as a shovel or rake, are absolutely perfect for this job, and make your workload a little bit smaller. Lay the tools down on the floor, then place a measuring tape along the handle. Use a bright permanent marker and label the distances. When you are gardening next, you’ll have a ruler beside you at all times.

TIP! Always take the time to get the weeds out of your garden. A vibrant garden will be overrun with weeds if they are left alone.

Use biennials and annuals to add color to your flower beds. Fast-growing annuals and biennials can brighten up a flower bed, and allow you to change the look from season to season and year to year. In addition, they work well as gap fillers between other areas, as long as those areas receive plenty of sunlight. The most popular varieties to use include petunia, zinnia, cosmos, snapdragon, marigold, hollyhock, and sunflower.

Baking Soda

TIP! Mint is a very tasty herb that has a tendency to run wild in the garden if not kept in check. You can slow their growth rate by planting them in a garden container or large pot instead.

If powdery mildew appears on your plants, don’t purchase expensive chemical solutions. Combine a bit of liquid soap and some baking soda with water. Spray this onto your plants about once per week or until it subsides. Baking soda won’t harm your plants, and takes care of the mildew efficiently and gently.

TIP! There are natural steps you can take to keep garden pests at bay. Slugs can be kept at bay with a patch of marigolds or pungent vegetables.

The correct soil can make a big difference in how your garden grows. The soil that is already in your garden might need amending, depending on the particular plants that you want to grow. You could also isolate a certain area, and fill it with just one kind of soil.

TIP! Try placing evergreens that grow berries around your garden. These year-round berries will give the rest of your yard a much-needed pop of color, especially in the winter.

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. Ask about this service at a local university or the county Cooperative Extension office to improve the soil and insure fruitful crops.

TIP! Controlling pests in your vegetable garden can be extremely difficult to deal with. It is important not to use harmful chemical agents, because you are growing produce that is intended to be eaten.

If you are growing vegetables in your garden, it is important that you have them in a spot where they can get at least six hours of sun a day. Most vegetables need at least that much sun exposure to grow properly. Some flowers also have the same needs.

TIP! Gardening can be hard on your knees. It is not good to bend from a standing position for a long period of time.

If you want an organic way to weed your garden, try “boiling” them. Boiling water is an excellent, organic substance for use against weeds. Carefully pour boiling water right on the weeds, but be careful not to pour it on the plants you want. The roots of the weeds are damaged by the boiling water which, in turn, inhibits further growth.

TIP! If you can’t wait for a cut to heal before digging in the dirt, then at least protect your cuts from exposure. If grime gets into the cut, it could become infected.

Gardening is a hobby that is healthy for you and a hobby that is truly rewarding. The benefits of a garden are obvious and many, whether it be because of the fresh vegetables or the beautiful flowers grown. You can advance your horticulture skills greatly by just using the advice in this article.