Posted on Dec 24, 2008 under garden advice |
by Andrew Caxton
DIY lawn care is easy as long as you are willing to invest some time in researching and learning those basic steps on lawn caring. In this article you will get basic information on this topic.
Guide to DIY Lawn Care
Many people think that lawn care can only be handle properly by the professional service providers, maybe you are one of them.Let’s say that you can handled your garden and lawn like a professional if you are aware of some basic factors.
DIY lawn care is easy as long as you are willing to invest some time in researching and learning those basic steps on lawn caring.
DIY Lawn Care Tips.
First tip: mowing. Be sure that you mow your lawn regularly, and also leave the lawn clippings on your lawn after mowing, notice that clippings provides a high source of slow-release nitrogen totally natural and chemicals free, other recommendations on mowing is to do it when grass is dry and never mow too short.thus grass may deplete the nutrients of soil when is mowed more than necessary.
Watering.
Watering play the main roll in maintenance of your lawn.and watering must be according to the soil type, the grass type and the needs of certain season or climates. The best advice on catering your lawn is never water after rainfall. Keep a good drainage on your lawn and this will avoid pests and fungi,in addtion make sure to distribute the water across the lawn evenly, remember excessive watering is as bad as lack of water.
Fertilizing.
A Crucial point of keeping your lawn healthy and beautiful, your first step is to analyze soil. Learn what type is and adjust the fertilizer to your soil needs, maybe it is advisable to use organic or natural fertilizer. Over fertilizing can be harmful to your grass and make so called fertilizer burn for that reason compost is the best available fertilizer for organic lawn care .It add organic matter and nutrients without damaging the environment and your health.
Aeration.
Vital for your grass good health is the proper aearation: compact soil may deprive grass for the feeding that needs, preventing water and nutrients come to the roots and the result: poor and weak grass, so if you decide aerate your lawn , do it when you notice it is particularly hard, compact and thatch is accumulating too much.
Good raking in fall will prevent grass to cover with dead leave and organic material that pollute the soil and aid to development of grass illness and insects, notice that many pests come from the lack of good maintenance, specially mold, they find a favorable climate to grow in a uncleaned area. Clean, free of weed, dead leave and other organic material is vital to prevent insect infestation or other incidents that can be very harmful to your lawn.
Tools.
Tools and their proper maintenance will facilitate your work, your tools must be clean, free of rust or dirt, sharp and keep on a dry place, they are important to lawn caring and if you don’t take the adequate measure they can ruin the whole work. Use the right tools for you, take your time earch what kind your need according to your lawn size and conditions, you can start from basic tools like rake, spades and shear and reach to the most sophisticated lawnmower.
Taking the above rules in mind, you can keep your lawn as a professional may do, without consuming too much time and mony, maybe with the help of used landscaping equipment, and you will proud of showing your work to friends and relatives
Andrew Caxton loves writing for http://www.lawn-mowers-and-garden-tractors.com .A website with tips on used landscaping equipment and type of grass.
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Technorati Tags: backyard garden, Compost, Fertilizer, Garden, Home, Lawn, Organic matter, Soil
Posted on Dec 09, 2008 under garden advice |
I know turnip greens & other greens..what about beets radishes ?what else??
THANK YOU TO ALL THAT ANSWER!!!
I live in alabama
If your ground is tilled deeply and without stones, you can plant beet, turnips, parsnips, carrots and leafy green veggies such as spinach and kales.
Fall planting for germination and then covering the plants with a heavy mulch to prevent “heaving” of the soil and promote easy digging works great! A cold frame placed over you greens will prevent winter “burn” and keep you harvesting well into bitter cold weather.
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Technorati Tags: Garden, Mulch, Plant, Soil, Spinach, Turnip, Weather, Yahoo Answers
Posted on Nov 24, 2008 under garden advice |
By late November, usually following stormy weather, most of the trees in and around your garden will have dumped their leaves over your lawn and flower beds.
Rather than just gather them up and throw them into your brown bin for collection, here’s a handy tip to make use of those leaves next year.
Recycling your autumn leaves is one of the best ways to get free compost.
Here’s all you have to do.
* Take a good sized black bin liner and put a few holes in the side and bottom.
* Gather up leaves and stuff them into the bin liner.
* When almost full, sprinkle with water, shake and tie.
* Store in a shady spot, (most people have some spare room behind a garden
shed or in a corner somewhere), and by next autumn the leaves will have
rotted down into a rich, crumbly mixture that you can use as a mulch around
the base of your plants.
* If you want to use the leaves to add to the soil as growing compost, then
leave them alone for a second year.
More on composting -
Technorati Tags: Compost, Garden, Home, Mulch, Plant, Recycling, Soil, Water
Posted on Nov 23, 2008 under planting a garden |
People generally don’t realise that gardening has an effect on the environment. What I mean by that is carbon dioxide is released through tilling the soil, so there is a small effect on global warming. The soil contains good types of fungi and when you cultivate the soil and compact it, it destroys these fungi. Also fertilisers like nitrogen and manure may leach out of the soil and enter the water table.
In untilled soil, there are beneficial fungi known as the vesicular-arbuscular-mycorrhizae or VAM for short. VAM actually forms a symbiotic relationship with plants. Their filaments increase root hairs and provide nutrients to the plant. They give out zinc, copper, potassium and phosphorus. Plants provide carbohydrates for the fungi in return. It is possible to have a garden without tilling the soil at all just by mulching heavily until the soil is soft and easily crumbled.
Many gardeners through ignorance waste manures and nitrogen by using too much. Always follow the instructions on the packaging because not only is this a waste of money, but it means extra nitrogen may leach into the water table.
The best gardening advice that can be given to those concerned is to do all things with moderation. Keep in mind that too little and too much of something does not usually give the best results. This is probably one of the key secrets to successful gardening.
It’s a little known fact that soil on the Earth’s surface gives out carbon dioxide to the atmosphere at approximately 10 times that of all human activity creates. The carbon dioxide comes from living organisms in the soil, microbes, fungi, worms, and bugs when they breathe; digest food, and when they die. Of course we all know about photosynthesis and how a plant cleans the air, but as we cut trees and extend arable land around the world over, all this ability is diminished.
This can be minimised by mulching or sheet composting where possible.
Technorati Tags: Arable land, Carbon dioxide, Earth, Gardens, Global warming, Manure, Plant, Soil
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