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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






4 Common Compost Problems And How To Fix Them

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Compost is essential for fertile soil. Compost benefits the soil in various ways including encouraging the soil to hold nutrients, attracting much needed soil insect activity and encouraging a more conducive environment for plant growth. There are some common problems that you may encounter when preparing compost. Below are some solutions on how you can address the problems.

Not All Items Are Decomposing

You may have a varied plant matter to create your compost. However, sometimes the materials in the compost do not decompose at the same rate. This is especially the case if you have included whole plant or animal matter in the compost. To address this, ensures that you chop all the matter in the compost to small pieces. This ensures that all matter is exposed equally to the environment and will therefore decompose at the same rate.

Stink

Compost is made up of decomposing matter and the stench is inevitable. Nevertheless, you may want to manage stink if you want to avoid lawsuits of nuisance from your neighbors or you have a sensitive nose. Compost stink can either be caused by wetness or nitrogen rich matter in your compost material. To address this, you should remake your compost by adding some dry leaves or grass. This will help to take care of the nitrogen content in your compost material. The stink is usually caused by bacteria that usually thrive in wet, damp, and dark conditions. Address this by turning your compost regularly to help manage the wet condition.

Dry and Dusty Compost

While compost that is wet may lead to bacteria breeding, you do not want to have compost that is too dry. Damp conditions are ideal to create a good compost material. If the material gets too dry, the compost will not break down sufficiently and this will compromise the quality of your compost. You will experience the problem of dry compost during summer or if you live in a hot environment. Correct this problem by adding some water to the compost. This should be done with care as you do not want to make the compost wet and soggy. Pour the water in bits and keep mixing the compost as you do this. As the compost gets wet, mix properly to ensure that it is damp but not soggy. Stop adding water when you are sure that the compost is damp enough.

My Compost is Attracting Animals and Insects

At time, your compost may even attract some wild animals that are foraging for food. This is normal considering the amount of possible feed available for these animals. You should be able to prevent this by putting protective mesh around your compost site. This should safely keep away any animals that want to eat your compost. It is also very natural that you will find lots of bugs within your compost material. While this sounds disgusting, bugs will help the compost material decompose. They are therefore good for your compost as they assist in the process.

Denis is a freelance writer that loves to share tips on gardening. You can have a look at his site on wall fireplace if you want to learn more on him.

Damage to Lawns and Gardens Caused by Moles and Voles

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We are most familiar with moles, which are mouse-like creatures that can do so much damage to your lawn. What about voles? Well, their names might sound alike, and voles are also often mistaken for moles. These creatures, however, are different from each other. Whereas voles are rodents, moles are not. They also have different characteristics and food preferences. But both animals can wreak havoc to your garden and lawns.

The Mole – How It Destroys Grounds

Moles are insectivorous. This means that they won’t eat your precious tulip bulbs. Instead, they’ll feed on insect larvae, grubs, and earthworms. So, how do they cause damage to your yard? It is seldom to see moles crawling on the grass. They are always underneath the ground. These creatures create tunnels that they use to get to food sources. Oftentimes, moles create berms or mounded hills when forming their runways. So, while going on their merry way in search for their favorite worms, they also spoil your lawn.

The Vole and the Damage It Causes

Unlike moles, voles are vegetarians. They target seeds, bulbs, and roots. When food is scarce, such as during winter time, it’s also pretty common for voles to eat shrubs and tree bark. Because they like plants, they can cause considerable damage to gardens. Your prized plants are surely not safe if there are voles around. Just imagine all of your hard work going down the drain once voles start snacking on your precious dahlias or your succulent tomatoes. Won’t that make you feel really frustrated?

Voles can make tunnels if they need to. However, they often choose the easy way, and that is exploiting the tunnels that have been created by moles. In case they choose to build underground runways, they do not create berms. Nevertheless, they produce damage under the ground, which could also weaken the integrity of the top soil.

Keeping Out Moles and Voles

Voles

1. Keep grounds well-maintained.

Voles are attracted to lush vegetation, and they grow particularly emboldened when there are tall grasses or deep mulch that keeps them hidden. So, one way to discourage these critters is by ensuring that your lawn is maintained well. Mow grass regularly, and get rid of weeds. When putting mulch, keep the layer thin and not too deep.

2. Wrap tree trunks in metal wires.

Because voles eat bark, it’s best to protect the base of trees. Get some metal wires or mesh wires and put these around the bark of trees. Also, keep mulch and dense vegetation away from the base of trees.

3. Use traps and other methods to eradicate voles.

You can use humane mice traps to catch voles. There are also poisons and other substances that can be used to repel or kill voles.

Moles

1. Control the insect population in your garden.

Since moles are attracted to all sorts of worms and insects, be sure to keep the insect population in your lawn under control. By keeping their food sources scarce, they won’t be encouraged to live in your lawn or to go back to your garden every time they’re hungry.

2. Utilize traps to capture moles.

There are all sorts of traps that you can use, such as harpoon, scissors or choker mole traps. If you prefer a more humane way to get rid of moles, check out the Havahart traps, which are live trapping devices. But you have to be find a place far from your property where you can release the animal you’ve trapped.

Final Note

Critters pose a problem and a challenge to most homeowners. If you want to get rid of pests but you don’t know how, consult a professional. Experts will suggest what sort of methods you can use. They can also propose eco-friendly and safer options so that you won’t have to expose yourself, your kids and your pets to dangerous chemicals.

Attached Images:
  •  License: Creative Commons – Hackworth. “Bloody moles! 3 September 2007”. September 3, 2007. Online image. Flickr. December 5, 2012. image source

Claire Lassiter is a freelance writer who frequently blogs about pest management. She covers many topics, including rodents, roaches, stinging pests, and other damaging bugs. She provides material for Rove Pest Control, a company that specializes in eradicating several kinds of destructive pests.

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