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Tips For A Beautiful Garden This Summer

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Tips for a Beautiful Garden This Summer

Summer is the perfect time for relaxing in the garden and refreshing your landscape with lots of pretty flowers and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Most plants will flourish during the summer months, though the dry weather and variation in wildlife means that you may have to take extra care when planning your summer garden.

Plan your garden out before you do the work

Many of your plants will need to be exposed to sunlight for all daylight hours, so making sure they are in an optimum position will ensure that your plants last for as long as possible. Arranging your plants by their colours will also create an attractive landscape, as well as arranging by scents and textures. Creating a story with your flowers and plants can really heighten the pleasure gained from simply wandering around your garden and getting hit by different smells and sights.

You should also experiment with using pots as well as planting in the soil, as this adds height to your garden and some plants are better suited to pots. Of course, adding some ornaments around your garden also adds a greater sense of beauty, and lining your garden with lights or bunting can be a nice touch for a summer’s evening.

Reuse and recycle where possible

As summer nears many councils impose a ban on hose pipes, so reusing water is an environmentally friendly option and a great way of getting around any bans. Watering your plants with leftover kettle water or boiled vegetable water is a good start, and installing a water butt in your garden can be a great way to maintain water levels in your plant pots and beds over the summer months. It’s important to ensure your water butt is covered properly to prevent any wildlife from getting inside. Additionally, putting coffee grounds or tea leaves on your garden maintains the acidity of your soil without having to make a full-blown compost heap.

Tending to your lawn

The lawn can be a forgotten area of care, but it soon becomes apparent when it goes brown and starts fading away! When you mow the lawn make sure you don’t remove more than a third of the height of the grass as it can stress the roots of the grass. It’s also a good idea to leave the clippings on the grass as the remains can restore nutrients into the lawn. Mowing your lawn in the evening means that the grass has had a small chance to grow back before the heat of the midday sun, and this also helps to prevent it from browning.

As your lawn will undoubtedly be the victim of the summer heat, it’s also important to feed your lawn as often as possible, by watering it and giving it specially designed lawn feed. You should also be vigilant and remove any moss build ups and have some grass seeds to hand for any persistent bald patches of grass.

Beware of the insects

Summer is peak time for insect infestations and many delicate plants can be ruined by pests. Aphids and white flies in particular can be damaging for flowers such as roses, so inspecting your plants as often as possible is a must. To avoid using chemicals on your plants, you can order ladybirds and other “good” insects online to ward off any bad bugs on your plants.

Ursula Jones writes about gardening tips and Virginia Hayward hampers. For more information visit www.virginiahayward.com






Mistakes You Should Avoid While Practicing Landscaping In Your Backyard

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With the onset of spring or summer, most of the people pull out their gardening kit and start sprucing up their backyards. Landscaping the yard becomes essential not just to make the house look more beautiful but also because most of the family functions are held in that particular area of the house. A well built and maintained landscape can be a considerable source of satisfaction and enjoyment. Maintaining a landscape is easier said than done. Landscaping efforts will only be fruitful if they are done in a proper manner.

Prime and most perfect time for landscaping is the fall and winter season. During this time of the year, you can consider taking up all the landscape renovation or build up plans. To enhance your knowledge on what is good and what would look the best, you can consider watching some gardening programs on the television or go visit some home and garden show. But all these learning and know-how has little relevance when spring fever hits in. The inspiration to get on to those beautiful looking backyards, leads the person to take some hasty decisions, which messes with the whole landscaping efforts. Don’t fall prey to such mistakes even unknowingly. Below are some the most common landscape mistakes that gardeners usually make. Read it and avoid it!

Using excessive lawn ornamentation

In the context of landscaping, the concept of more the merrier just do not apply. Many people generally commit the mistake of installing too many decorative pieces in their backyards which instead of adding to the beauty, mars it. So, before buying any decorative item your lawn, first try and figure out how you will position it and if it is necessary. At times it is better to have just one small whimsical statue than having ten. Think, consider and re-consider before you decide to include some of the statues in your backyard.

Planting trees just too deep

Many people are of the impression that adding more soil in and around the tree is just like giving it more support. But is this true? No! More soil only chokes the tree and just does not produce the required results. Hence to avoid such issues, ensure that you test the main stem and the tentacles before planting it on the ground. Best and easiest way to solve this issue would be to dig out a hole up to the height of the bag of the tree.

Many people think that by cutting their grass short, they will need to mow it less. But this myth again is far from the reality. If the grass is cut just too short then you are doing nothing but inviting the insects. One of the best ideas would be to cut the trees into varied lengths on different seasons. During winters, you can consider cutting it too short so that the sunlight well penetrates into the soil. In summers, you can leave the blades standing up tall as this would act as a shelter to the soil.

Fertilizing properly is essential

Over fertilizing or no fertilizing at all, both are bad for your landscape. Consider visiting your garden centre and drawing some tips on what are the best fertilizers for your yard. This would not only ensure a healthy growth of your plants but will also give your yard that amazing look which you always craved for.

Today’s article is contributed by Chase Cullen. He is a writer who has written articles for many popular magazines and newspaper. He is also working on a novel. His hobbies include gardening and painting. He says for lush, green landscaping and lawn, people have to put in time and effort in its upkeep.

How To Protect Your Garden From Pests During The Winter Months

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Humans are not the only ones who get to enjoy winter. Many garden pests and diseases also thrive during the winter months causing serious harm to our gardens. There are a variety of plants and flowers that can tolerate the cold weather but they often get infested by annoying insects. It is such a shame to allow these pests and diseases to destroy a garden that gives life to a home during dreary winter months. If you want to protect your garden during the winter and keep it healthy for the arrival of spring, then learning more about these pests and diseases and how to prevent them is your best solution.

Snails And Slugs

There are creatures that are able to survive the cold and snails and slugs are among them. They find shelter from the cold and remain dormant until the temperature rises a little. Though they may hide during the day, they come out at night in search for food when the weather is moist and cool. The best way to protect your garden from snails and slugs is by scattering crushed eggshells around your plants and flowers. You can also use copper tape around potted plants to keep these pests away as they avoid having their bellies come into contact with it. Another method is by applying salt or lime around the plants to effectively deter snails and slugs.

Root Rot

This is a common problem with plants during winter as it can make leaves turn yellow and plants wilt. If a plant is affected, it will be mushy and black, while the roots may fall off the plants. To get rid of root rot, simply take the plant and wash the roots, then trim the roots with a sharp scissor. Once clean and trimmed, you can replant it in a pot.

Aphids

Aphids are a common problem in gardens and they can infest plants throughout the year so you must always keep an eye out for them. They can survive the colder weather by overwintering on hedgerows and ornamental plants without being seen until ants begin to infest the plants as well. The best way to keep aphids off your garden is by picking them off by hand to prevent them from multiplying. Another pest that can infest your garden similar to aphids is the Cabbage White Butterfly that overwinters in gates and fences.

Cutworms, Carrot Fly, Onion Fly And Beet Leaf Miner

If you have vegetables growing during the winter then you must be cautious about a handful of pests thriving in your garden as they can overwinter in the soil. The beet leaf miner, carrot fly, cutworms and onion fly can seriously damage your vegetables and make your garden look poorly cared for. To get rid of these pests during the winter, you can dig up the soil and expose them to birds and the cold weather. To protect your garden from carrot fly larvae, you need to dig up all the roots and burn the roots that have been infested.

Caring for a garden during the cold weather can be a challenge, but it is essential if you are determined to have a healthy garden next season. Since pests are the primary concern in a garden, it is better that you consult with a professional to determine the best treatment for your garden.

Citations:
  • Photograph by: LittleJack.
Attached Images:
  •  License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://mrg.bz/CO2iWc

Valerie Williams is a freelance writer specializing in gardening and natural forms of Preventive Pest Control in gardens. She also provides information about natural pest control methods during the winter months, how pests can affect plants and how beneficial plants and insects can help keep pests away.

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