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Archive for the ‘Raised Garden Beds’ Category
That Poor Drainage Area
Unless you have a yard or garden that has been landscaped perfectly, you may have an area that has poor water drainage. A good example is the area where the rainwater from your roof drains to or collects. Others may be low spots or at the bottom of a slope. Here are a couple of ideas to help with that poor drainage area.
To improve the soil in a poor drainage area, add organic matter. Dig up the area and work the organic matter in to incorporate air into the soil. This will loosen the soil and help it to dry faster. An alternative is to build a raised bed in the area, adding new compost soil to the raised bed. If necessary to help with additional drainage, slope the raised bed slightly or create a tiered set of raised beds. Plant the area with plants that are tolerant of more moisture.
With a little ingenuity and practical application, you can turn that poor drainage area into a new garden.
What Are Companion Plants?
Companion planting is the practice of planting two or more species of plants close together because those species of plants have a relationship whereby one plant will beneift the other plant(s). This can work well for small garden areas and also for organic gardens. There are four basic types of benefits of companion planting.
Trap cropping is the practice of using a plant that attracts pests away from another plant. An example of this is to plant collards to draw the diamond back moth away from cabbage.
Legumes are nitrogen fixating which can benefit plants close to them. Legumes, such as peas, beans or clover are nitrogen fixating because they pull nitrogen from the air for their use that also benefits plants in close proximity. An example is to plant beans intermixed with corn.
Some plants release chemicals that suppress or repel pests which protect neighboring plants. A common example is the marigold that releases thiopene which repels nematodes, making it a good companion for garden vegetables.
Some plants are more shade tolerant and will work well with a taller plant, creating a spatial relationship. The tall plant provides a canopy for the shorter plant that prefers more shade, therefore, making good use of space for both species. An example of this companion benefit is corn planted with squash or pumpkins.
There some plants which are not compatible and can retard the growth or production of other plants. Examples are: 1.onions with beans or peas, 2.cabbage with strawberries, pole beans and tomatoes, 3.beets with pole beans, and 4.potatoes with pumpkin, squash, tomato, cucumber and sunflowers. There more non-compatible combinations not listed here.
If you are planting in a small area such as a raised garden , a backyard garden or in containers, do some research on good and bad combinations of companion plants to get the most out of your garden. Use these combinations for pest control, maximum production and best use of space.
A Children’s Garden
Since vegetable gardening has become one of the hottest new trends, why not get your children involved. Children have such a curiosity and excitement to learn about the environment around them. You can culture those traits, create a lifelong love of gardening and create some wonderful memories by designing a vegetable garden just for them.
When planning a children’s garden, choose a size that is reasonable for a child to handle. An area that is 6ft square up to 15ft will provide them with plenty of planting opportunity, but not overwhelm them. I like to use a raised garden bed so that the children know what their garden bounderies are. Another idea to make a garden easier to plant is to divide it into small sections with either string or small boards. Plant a different variety of plant in each small section, avoiding the necessity of planting in rows. Children love to plant seeds, but do this with varieties that germinate easy. For other varieties, use seedling transplants. Provide the children with a small watering can to use or add a sprayer nozel to your hose that has a soft spray and a shutoff valve.
Good plants for a children’s garden include beans, radishes, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes), squash, peas, gourds, pumpkins and sunflowers. You might add a few easy-to-grow flowers such as petunias or marigolds for some color. You may find that when the children grow their own vegetables, they tend to eat more of them!
Flower And Foliage Fragrance
You can add fragrance to you plantings this year by using a variety of flowers or foliage such as leafy plants, herbs or evergreens. The area where you will be planting nay define what type of fragrant plants to use, but the idea is to maximize the ability to enjoy the fragrance. The motto “the closer the better” is a good thought to keep in mind. Fragrant flowers placed at a level closer to the nose and/or near locations that you frequent will maximize the enjoyment of fragrant plants.
When choosing fragrance, plan carefully to avoid choosing fragrances that conflict with each other. Gardeners have created standard categories of fragrances to help differentiate floral scents from one another. They are as follows:
- Balsamic – found in leaves that contain menthol or minty oils-includes mints, sages, rosemary, lavender, wormwood, balsam and eucalyptus.
- Fruity-found in a wide range of plants-includes flowering fruits, fruit-scented geraniums and roses, grape hyacinth and magnolia.
- Heavy-found in flowers with a strong perfume fragrance-includes gardenia, jasmine, roses and orange blossom.
- Honeyed-found in different flowers-includes hawthorn, barberry and hybrid musk roses.
- Rose-the smell of old European garden roses-includes roses, peonies and honeysuckle.
- Spicy-this fragrance is often combined with other scents and is found in leaves and flowers-includes carnations, pinks, azaleas and nasturtium.
- Sweet-found in flowers, grasses and ferns.
- Unique-even more distinct and refined than the heavy scents-includes lily-of-the-valley, sweet pea, some iris, wisteria and common lilac.
- Violet-only in a few plants such as sweet voilet, Siberian crabapple and orris root.
You can use various gardening ideas to promote your fragrant plants such as in containers at a level “closer to the nose”, in combination with an arch, arbor or trellis, along a path where they will brush your leg to spread the fragrance, in a raised garden or as a landscaping point. Ask your gardening center which plants will produce the fragrance that tantalizes your sense of smell and will grow in the situation you desire. Of our five senses, smell can be one of the most rewarding. Enjoy the fragrance of your plants.
Scientists Find Flowering Enzyme
In an article printed by FOXNews, scientists at the the National University of Singapore have found a plant version of an enzyme that they can use to turn on the flowering “switch” in plants. With this knowledge, they will be able to speed up or regulate the flowering of plants.
I was just wondering what this would do to the world’s food supply or to think a little closer to home, what it would do for individual gardens. Would it help gardeners avoid the stress periods of summer on their plants and, therefore, grow better vegetables to feed their families? Imagine if you had a raised garden bed filled with compost and beautiful soil just brimming with plants scheduled to provide color all summer long. Science always continue to amaze me!
A Garden Bed In Poor Soil
Wow, the garden supply catalogs are really starting to pour in. Looking through them, I find so many things that I want to plant. I know that it is too early, but it is time to start planning now so that I will be ready when warm weather does come.
My problem is that I have a large area that would be perfect for a vegetable and flower garden, but sometime in the past the ground must have been sterilized or sprayed excessively and it still retains that “killing” attitude. I have tried to grow plants there and nothing. My new solution-a raised garden bed! I can choose a decorative design with different layers for style and I can add good soil and mulch for the plants to thrive and grow abundantly. The sooner I get my raised garden in place, the more I can work at creating a proper soil environment for my plants. I can’t wait for spring!