EZ Gardening For Beginners

Almost nothing is as rewarding as spending an afternoon outside, working on the family garden. Gardening as a family is a wonderful way to bond and to teach your children about their environment. Even if you don’t think that you have time to garden with your family, there are many things that you can in fact do to make certain that your garden is always in bloom. Here are some low maintenance gardening ideas for the busy family.

Create a Raised Garden Bed

Need an easy way to teach your kids about gardening? A raised garden bed is an easy way to establish a no-fuss, no-muss garden. Choose a space in your garden, patio, deck, yard or whatever space you have available, and restrict your family garden to this one raised garden bed. Make sure to plant hardy perennials that will not require constant care and attention. Keep a watering can by your raised garden so that you or your children can water the bed at a moment’s notice.

Plant Your Own Windowsill Herb Garden

Want an easy way to teach your kids some gardening basics? A windowsill herb garden is a fun and simple way to learn about the basic growth pattern of plants, and to reap the rewards of your work. Moreover, a windowsill herb garden does not take up a lot of space, nor do you need a lot of time and money to establish a healthy, thriving herb garden. Moreover, you can even enjoy the results together by using your herb gardens in a family mean.

Start Your Own Family Cactus Garden

Here is a fun and creative way to garden together as a family without having to spend a whole lot of time or money. Start a family cactus garden that adds color and texture to your garden, without taking a lot of your time. Start by picking out pots that you and your kids can paint. Let your children express their creativity by using different paint colors and craft supplies to decorate their own pot. Then it’s off to the nursery to pick out cacti. Each member of your family should choose cacti that fit into your pot. Use a soil specially prepared for cacti and help your children pick out cacti. Cacti come in a variety of shape, sizes and colors. When it comes to planting cacti, make certain that you wear thick gloves and handle the plants with care so that you do not get pricked. Cacti do not need daily maintenance, and can create an earthy and fun environment for your children and family to enjoy. Try to choose blooming cacti so you and your family can plan to enjoy seasonal blooms.

Plant a Family Tree

Want a project that the whole family can do together? Why not plant a family tree? You don’t have to wait until Arbor Day to plant a tree. Take a trip to the nursery together and pick out a tree that is suited for your area. Consult with a nursery attendant if you are not sure what kind of tree you should be planting. Let your kid’s help you choose the perfect location and dig the hole. Planting a tree together is a wonderful experience that the whole family will remember for years to come. Set up a periodical watering schedule that works for the whole family. Although it takes a bit of pre-planning, once the tree is planted, this garden project will not take up a lot of your family’s time. With luck, this low maintenance garden project will be enjoyed by future generations of garden-lovers.

Are you new to gardening and want to create a beautiful garden design without shelling out a lot of cash to get it done? Do you need advice on how and where to plant things, but you don’t have the money to pay a professional gardener or landscape architect to help you pull things together. You are not alone. Gardening can be a fulfilling hobby that lasts a lifetime, but if you are not careful, it can also become an extremely expensive one. The good news is that there are tons and tons of bits of free information out there for the taking that can help you get your gardening and planting endeavors off the ground. With all of this information at hand, you can save for money for the things you really want to spend it on in your garden – getting new, unique plants and flowers.

When you are looking for gardening ideas, the first thing you have to do is narrow down your search. There is so much information out there that you will be overwhelmed unless you specifically search for one thing or another. For instance, are you a window box gardener? Then look for resources online that offer tips and tools for gardening in window boxes, like how to make your flowers grow towards your house instead of away by flipping your window boxes every few days and how to use full sun flowers in areas that only get part sun by using the reflective power of light colored buildings around your window.

If you want to re-do your back yard with a great new design, look online for themed garden projects. You can find advice for creating a traditional English garden, a Zen Japanese garden, a garden with a water feature, a garden that is perfect for kids and many more ideas. You can also find tips on pruning and shaping shrubbery or using geometrically shaped raised garden beds to create the look you are after.

Perhaps you want to get your garden growing, but you live in a cold climate and aren’t sure what plants will work. The internet is filled with free information about which plants to use, such as ivy, heather, poppies and witch hazel, as well as how to care for them in the cold weather. Find out how to plant tender flowers in hardy climates by placing them in the shade and how to leave a little snow on your plants to protect them from the elements.

If you are an old hand at gardening, but you are looking for some way to introduce your children into you favorite pastime, use the free gardening advice online to find out what plants easiest for children to care for, and which plants are safe for them to be around. For instance, find out how to plant a sunflower garden your child can easily tend without your help.

Of course, if you are an old gardening pro, or even if you are novice with a natural green thumb, the best free gardening advice may come from you. Hobbyist gardeners often enjoy visiting online chat rooms to swap garden war stories and trade tips and techniques to getting the best bloom in their gardens. Get online and share you know how – you might be surprised how much you really do know!

If you can’t find the free gardening and planting advice you need online, a trip to your local garden center should take care of the rest. These centers are filled with professional gardeners who can be a great resource for getting gardening advice tailored specifically for your area.

Although you may be tempted to reach for that broad-spectrum insecticide in order to blow away every pest in sight, you should resist this urge. There are many easy and money saving gardening ideas that can help you control your pest population and provide general maintenance in a way that is safe and effective. Here are some easy ways to control garden pests while saving money by using regular household items and good overall common sense when providing your garden with general maintenance.

Why You Should Avoid Most Commercial Pesticides

Before you decide to start using commercial pesticides around your garden, take a moment to decide if your garden pests are hurting the plant. Why should you consider leaving a few insect populations intact? Insects and other pests are often necessary in order to create a healthy garden. Insects are often responsible for creating organic material, which means that many pests are actually helping enrich your soil matter. It is estimated that of the thousands of insect species in your area, only about three to five percent of these are actually causing the majority of the damage to your flowers, ornamentals or food crops. The crucial thing is to determine which insects are causing problems, and which are just helping to enrich your garden.

Identifying Your Pest Population

The first thing you have to do is identify your pest population. The last thing you want to do is spray away all of your beneficial insect population. This will only put your garden under more stress and possibly incite further damage. Many people who spot an insect in their garden will spray indiscriminately. In most cases, this is a mistake. Here are some tips on easy and safe ways to control specific insect populations that are making their home in your garden.

Controlling Ants – A Common Pest in Many Gardens

Here are some ideas for controlling ant populations in your garden. Vinegar has been known to keep ants away. Pour vinegar into the anthill in order to control the ant population. Another easy way to control anthills is to use boiling water to tame your ant population. There are certain plants that are also known to control ant populations, including mints, onions, Artemisia, tansy, catnip and lavender.

Beetles in Your Garden – Controlling Plant Damage

Beetles have been known to cause plant damage, and they are often known as leaf-chewing insects. There are many plants that you can use to repel beetles. Plant beans, catnip, tansy, calendula, rosemary, nasturtiums, radishes, parsley and petunias in order to keep beetle populations in check in your garden.

Caterpillars Got You Down? Easy Ways to Keep Them in Check

Caterpillars have been known to cause damage, especially larger caterpillars. If you love butterflies, you may not want to get rid of all caterpillars. However, if you find that they have caused significant damage to your plants, here are some ways to keep caterpillars in check. There are certain plants that are known to repel caterpillars, including mints, Artemisia, marigold, basil, calendula, bay leaves, borage, thyme, nasturtiums, onions, tansy, pennyroyal, sage and rosemary.

When Birds Become Pests

Most gardeners enjoy a healthy bird population in their yard, but there are instances when birds can become pests. Many birds are known to pick fruit trees clean. Here are some tips to keep birds from ruining your fruit harvest. Use reflective material like tinfoil or cassette tape across treetops and plants. Hang fake fruit or Christmas tree ornaments on your fruit trees to train birds that pecking is futile. Finally, there are several commercial nets available at nurseries that are designed specifically to keep birds off fruit.

Does your patio or sidewalk need a good dose of color and texture, but you don’t have the time or money for a full-scale garden? If you want to boost your patio and sidewalk appeal, here are a few easy gardening ideas to brighten up your life and home with the beauty of plants.

Containers, Containers, Containers

It used to be that gardening was restricted to flower beds, but container gardening has swiftly become one of the most popular ways to garden. Why has container gardening become one of the preferred gardening methods? Container gardening has become increasingly popular because it is easy, inexpensive and provides optimal results in a short amount of time. In short, you can create an instant garden through the use of garden containers. If you need a patio that lacks color, construct or purchase a container to fill the area. You can choose to plant bright annuals or less showy but longer-lasting perennials that will bloom on an annual basis. Choose a planter that fits in the area. When it comes to choosing flowers and plants in your containers, consider the following important factors: plant size, color display, plant size, sunlight and watering. Make sure that you have easy access to water. You will be much less likely to keep up your container garden if you have to haul water across the yard. Plant close to a water source, and choose a location that receives an adequate amount of sunlight for the types of plants that you are growing.

A Raised Garden Bed Can Spruce Up Your Sidewalk

If you have an uninspired sidewalk, consider sprucing up the area with a raised flowerbed. It is easy to build your own flowerbed, or you can purchase a ready-made bed that you can install along the sidewalk area. You can use your raised flower bed to plant showy seasonal annuals, adding a splash of color to an otherwise bland and dull area.

Choose a Splashy Color for Your Sidewalk Garden

If you are planting along your sidewalk, this is the perfect location to show off your color and garden design skill. For easy maintenance, choose a bright perennial that is suited for the location and your climate. Or experiment with a ‘two tone’ garden by planting two lines of flowers that are designed to coordinate in color formation.

Add a Decorative Border to Your Sidewalk

Another easy way to add life to a lifeless sidewalk area is to add a decorative border. There are many different designs you can choose from. Pay a visit to your local home improvement store or nursery, and you will find that there are now more border designs than ever before. You can choose between brick and plastic borders, making this a viable option no matter what kind of budget you are working with. You can choose among decorative plastic borders that can provide an eye-pleasing design to your sidewalk garden. This simple touch can add a whole new dimension to your garden. Moreover, adding a decorative border can also be quite practical, as they can help restrict the growth of weeds, and keep pests off of your garden bed.

Deck Out Your Patio with Hanging Planters

Here is an easy way to bring new life to your lifeless patio garden. Add a few hanging gardens and you will see how this simple addition can add a whole new dimension to your garden. If you have a patio, hanging planters can be an easy way to experiment with different plant textures and blooms. There are many plant varieties that do well in hanging planters. Make sure that you have a water can with a long spout for easy watering.