8 Gardening Blunders and the Ways to Fix Them

We often see fashion blunders on TV. We may even hear ourselves giving opinions about them. But do you actually realize that blunders can even happen right in your front yard? Whether you think that your garden looks good or not, it really doesn't matter. If everything doesn't work, your whole garden will not work. We enumerate top gardening blunders and the ways to fix them:

1. Grass is not greener. This ranks number 1. Why? Most gardens have lawn, but one may be slightly greener than the other. If your lawn looks more than the soil underneath, it is time to reassess your watering, fertilizing and mowing schedule. Think where you have gone wrong and make the necessary adjustments on the areas mentioned. If nothing happens, replacing your entire lawn is a better alternative. Consider other ground covers such as periwinkle and thyme. Ask your local nursery for a possible option.

2. Tools and clutter are everywhere. They may be useful objects, but if they are stacked in your garage because you think they are not worth the storage, they don't just look like junk, they are junk. Go over them one by one and determine whether you want to keep them or not. Your criteria when deciding if they deserve the trip to dump or not is simple: Ask yourself, do you specific plans for them?

3. Your home and garden can be seen from the road. There are several short- and long-term solutions to create some privacy. One quick-fix solution is to build a concrete wall that would separate your garden from the side walk. For a longer, much appealing look, planting fast-growing shrubs is a good idea.

4. Weeds invasion. Weeds problem can be solved by keeping your lawn regularly maintained. Check for weeds as often as you can. Dig the weeds out by hand and keep the weed from re-growing by seeding the empty areas of your lawn.

5. Limited space. If your problem is space, then here's one idea that can definitely help you maximize every square inch of your garden: think vertical. Create a sense of lush greenery by using wall space, arbors and trellises to allow plants to climb upwards.

6. Where's your home? If shrubs have swallowed your home, then a hedge clipper comes in handy. Cut everything that is blocking your way. Seriously, you want a garden, not a house in the middle of the forest.

7. Dry spell in winter. Most garden plants do not survive the winter temperature. Hence they die. When planning for a garden, think of the plants that can grow year round. Or you can always include evergreens and plants with winter interests.

8. Fences are falling apart. Fences are not just to separate your property from your neighbor's. They also add to the overall look of your garden. Make sure that you maintain the looks of your fences like the way you keep your plants.

Gardening Advice For Kids

Gardening is not only for the adults. Children can have so much fun and benefit from it too. If you want your children to learn the art of gardening, you have to be a good example to them. If you are a good gardener yourself, taking fun and responsibility at what it takes for this activity, it would not be difficult for your children to follow. Gardening is a hobby that can provide lots of benefits both to you and your children.

What are the benefits that your children can reap by engaging them into this rewarding hobby? Of course, the first one is the sense of accomplishment they get whenever they see the fruit of their labor. Seeing the fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, and beautiful flowers will boost their confidence because of the accomplishment.

But beyond this accomplishment are the values that you instill in them. It is not only the sense of accomplishment but the responsibility they learn to deal with and the rewards after their actions. These are valuable benefits that your children can use as they grow up and have to make social interactions.

When it comes to gardening, you will decide what method is best for them. You can choose whether it will be soil gardening or hydroponics. It doesn't matter what it is since both can give them fun and exciting time as well as productive labor and fruits. Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages so you might want to research first which one would be most beneficial to you and to your children.

Having the right tools and supplies will give you both an easy start with this project. Whether it is going to be an indoor or outdoor gardening, you must give the children the freedom to choose their own tools and equipments, with your guidance of course.

These things come in kiddie sizes too, so think of how much it is going to be for them as they get to have their own tools. Also, allow them to pick the type of plants they want to grow. As much as possible, let them pick first the ones that grow easily so teach them of what you know about plants.

At first, it is expected that you will have to do the major gardening work. They are learning so give them the best teaching that you could by setting a very good example in the first few days. Children learn in different ways. There are those who are best in visual learning while others do well in sensory learning. Whatever it is, show them the things that need to be done or let them feel the essence of the plants, soil, and the elements of gardening.

As they take care of their plants, always let them know that you are there to guide them should anything wrong happen or if they have questions regarding gardening activities. It doesn't matter if your children get to have the wackiest plant choices or the most mismatched ones, for as long as they are enjoying and having a sense of pride in this activity, you know that the hobby is giving them benefits and valuable lessons.

Herb Gardening: The Many Good Things About It

There are a lot of good things why you should have an indoor gardening. Having an herb gardening in particular can be very practical and rewarding. If you start to have one at the back of your home or at any vacant spot at the yard, you will reap the rewarding results of not having to go to the market to buy some for household consumption.

Culinary uses

Herbs have many uses for different people. The most common is its being an aroma or spice enhanced for a lot of cuisines and dishes around the world. The culinary use of herbs can be traced back to many prehistoric documents. The history even says that it was used for cooking foods back then not only for the ordinary people but more so for the heads of groups or for the royalties.

Therapeutic uses

Herbs are not only for culinary purposes. They were also popular because of the medicinal properties they have. Many people from all over the world have been using herbs to treat or cure certain human illnesses and various ailments. Hundreds and hundreds of years were seen people cultivating and growing herbs specifically for this purpose. Even up to now, herbs are used for medicinal, therapeutic purposes, and sometimes for beauty skin care.

Herbs come in many kinds. And there are those that can be grown at the comfort of your home. Some choices easily grow on a bed of garden. If you are a starter, you can have parsley, oregano, thyme, and basil. These are some of the known most versatile herbs because they are commonly and often used for cooking food and for therapeutic uses.

Where to plant them

In terms of making your own garden, you can easily make a single bed of soil and here you can grow your herbs. If your yard is bigger, you can have several beds to plant them. Just be sure to nurture them so they will grow properly. With a bed of planted herbs, it will be convenient for you whenever you want some spice for your cooking and some stuff when you want to alleviate some sores and pains.

It would be great idea, but if you don't have a wide space at your yard, or if you are living in an apartment or condominium where there is no space for gardening, there is always another option. An indoor gardening is always possible. You can start off with having some pots and planting them with the herbs of your choices. You can place the pots with the planted herbs by the windows on your kitchen and some can even be placed by the windows in your bedroom.

You can also use pots that can be used for decoration of the house without the need to redesign or renovate the place. Just be sure that they have proper drainage holes for the watering. Engaging into this activity not only provides herbs for cooking or therapeutic effects, but having your little indoor gardening can shake off your stress because they can provide air to relax you a bit after working the whole day.

Hydroponic Gardening: The Right Ways To Start It

What is hydroponic gardening? Have you heard about it? If not, this article will enlighten you with some little but useful information and tips on how you can start one on your yard. For a start, it is a kind of gardening popular these days. Hydroponic gardening basically means that you grow plants without using any soil. If you have water, perlite, sand, and even gravel, you can start doing it.

Whatever kind of plant you want to grow is possible with hydroponic. Flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs, and others can be used for this gardening method. But in order for these plants to grow properly, you will need to provide them with the right amount of nutrients, sufficient light, and an exact medium where you can grow them just like what you would on plants grown on soil.

If you are interested in this method of gardening, you can do the right thing by remembering the following tips.

First is by having the perfect medium where your plants will be grown. It is required to be relatively perfect because the plants must have the proper growing anchor so they can store nutrients and water that they need. This is in exception to the plants arranged with their roots in water or air.

Otherwise, if other systems are used, they need a medium that can water and air. Mixing perlinte and vermiculite is one of the good options because it works to retain water as well as keeps the air near the plant's roots.

The second one is by having balanced nutrients. Hydroponic gardening is a popular method these days because the roots of the plants get to consume the nutrients immediately after they were delivered into them. Unlike when they are planted on a soil, the plants need to find the nutrients and will still need to break them down before they get the real benefits.

With hydroponic gardening, the plants get to consume the nutrients more quickly because there is no need to undergo similar process. The result of which is that the plants are allowed to grow faster and may produce even more if correctly administered with said nutrients. It is important that the proper administration of nutrients is provided for hydroponic plants to grow effectively and properly.

And the third requirement is by having enough light. Just like the soil gardening requiring sufficient light, hydroponic plants also require enough amount of light for their proper and effective growth. The lighting will depend on the kind of plants you have as well as the amount of money you are willing to spend.

Some people use fluorescent grow lights while others do away with high pressure sodium bulb lights. High intensity discharge bulb lights are also used as metal halide bulb lights are. The fluorescent grow lights are your cheapest option, but if you want a more effective lighting you can opt for the other ones, which can be more expensive but will provide ample amount of light that your plants will need.

With hydroponic gardening, anyone can grow plants as it is not that difficult to start one. By remembering the above tips, growing your own plants doesn't need to be complicated. In fact, it can be exciting and fun that even your children can do it.

Hydroponic Gardening—You Too Can Try It!

Who doesn't want to see beautiful plants blooming every now and then in her own backyard? Sure enough, plants have a certain power of uplifting one's spirit as well as enhancing the aesthetic appeal of the home. Many housewives are truly into this hobby because it is not only engaging but likewise profitable in more ways than one. So, if gardening is your thing, then, you may want to try the so called hydroponic gardening!

What is hydroponic gardening?

The term hydroponic garden is already a resounding term these days. What is great about this is that one can grow plants even without using any soil. Instead, the plants are grown using gravel, perlite, water, and the most commonly used is the sand.

The indoor hydroponic garden is often utilized to grow herbs, flowers, fruits, and vegetables. However, if you do prefer this kind, you must ensure that they will get enough amount of light, nutrients, and of course the medium to use to grown them in.

What will you get out of this kind of gardening?

You can now say goodbye to soil as you don't need to rely on it in growing your healthy, tasty, and strong vegetables. The hydroponic system also does away with weeding and particularly the insects to combat against. All you have to do is wait for them to grow as you nurture them.

First and foremost, engaging in this type of gardening will save you of all those laborious or intensive tasks. Forget about tending to and worrying about the portable oxygen unit.

Traditional gardening often makes use of chemicals that aid in the fast growth of the plants but with this, you don't need to spend much. One more thing, if you are the kind of person who experiences breathing problems when you catch the smell of certain chemicals, then, this will be a good solution for you.

The hydroponic gardens can also be done indoors which means you don't actually have to get out of your house to pursue your hobby. At any time that you prefer to tend to your plants, there is no reason for you to feel the restrictions because it is just within your home!

What are the important tips to remember for this garden?

First of all, you have to start with the appropriate balance of nutrients for your plants. This kind of garden allows the plant roots to have all the nutrients directly delivered to them. Thus, you have to get to know your plant well by means of doing a careful research. That means finding ways on how your plant will be able to grow well.

Be certain to provide adequate light. It is very important to choose the right kind of light that will be fit for the growing plants. You can choose from the fluorescent grow lights, halide bulbs, high intensity discharge lights, and high pressure sodium lights.

Have the best medium for growing the plants. The right medium means that it can store both the water and nutrients for the plant's benefit.

Overall, hydroponic gardening is not difficult at all. Just follow these tips and have an exciting pastime to work with.

Hydroponic Herb Gardening—What is it about?

Are you into gardening? Do you want to beautify your home and at the same time develop a hobby? You definitely have heard about hydroponic herb gardening or perhaps some of your friends and neighbors have been trying it out for quite a while now. Since you find such a rewarding hobby, you too become interested in it. You begin to wonder about how you can do it and what requirements there are for you to consider.

Hydroponics Defined

As defined, hydroponics is the technique of growing plants less the use of soil. Instead, an inert medium is utilized which therefore accommodates a nutrient solution that bears all of the essential elements which are essential in the normal progression of the plant.

What You will Need for Hydroponic Gardening

For your herb garden set up using the hydroponic method, you will have to prepare the following materials:

A germination tray, closed tube, or seedbed

Either artificial or natural light

The base that may be stone, gravel, or coconut fiber

The seeds and

The nutrients

Though some gardeners prefer to make the addition of air pump oxygen into the nutrients, it doesn't actually fall as a requirement in many cases. You can start your garden as soon as you have gathered the materials.

What to do for Herb Gardening the Hydroponic Way

What are you to do so you can push through with your plans of gardening without the use of soil? Here are a couple of steps to take note of.

Think of the kind of bed that you intend to use. It is best to start out using the medium sized tray so that the roots will be sustained well.

Put in another layer of the coconut fiber that will serve as a support. Don't put any of the nutrients yet. Be sure to have some opened channels where you will place the seeds. As soon as you have them embedded therein, be sure to close the channels.

As soon as you have planted the seeds, water the tray until it is wet.

Gauge the frequency of the adding of the nutrients. Basically, you need to regulate the PH balance which will aid in the plant's proper absorption of nutrients.

Place the tray in a location where it can get enough light.

The Advantages of Hydroponic Herb Garden

Here are the following benefits that you may get out of gardening using the method of hydroponic.

It lets the roots become moisturized all the time.

It doesn't give you the problem of over-irrigation.

It lessens chances of wasting water and fertilizer.

It doesn't give you the problems with diseases as caused by pathogenic soils.

It allows more plant production despite the weather.

Furthermore, hydroponic herb gardening allows you to produce the plants though they are out of season in the greenhouses without having to worry about the use of soil, parasites, weeding, or the unpredictable weather conditions. With it, you don't need to worry much about raising the plants that you want all year round.

Indoor And Organic Gardening: Excellent Ideas How To Start It

Organic gardening is a hobby that can give you many benefits. A supply of chemical-free herbs for cooking, a detoxified air inside the house, added beauty and décor to your home, and significant reducer of stress level, these are all benefits of having an indoor organic gardening. Aside from these, it can be very fun and exciting to tend to your own garden inside your home.

If you want to have an indoor organic gardening, there are many herbs and plants that are easy to grow. You can find them at the local nursery or even through online sites. They can be mail ordered and delivered right at your doorstep. Specifically, the following 8 kinds are great examples of plants that you can grow indoor.

The weeping fig is a plant that is known to survive even with little yet tender care for long periods of time. The chamaedorea palm is a great plant to lend a décor atmosphere inside your home especially if you prefer a tropical theme. The Chinese evergreen is perfect for homes that come with low-light conditions. Just like the two it doesn't require major maintenance, making it great choice for the beginners in gardening.

The Boston fern on the other hand is placed by many inside a bathroom or at a greenhouse as it loves high humidity and doesn't require feeding a lot, once a month will suffice. Another one is English ivy, which can be hang on topiaries or baskets making it very ideal for beautifying to your home. The same with peace lily, but this variety is an excellent air purifier while providing great blooms and greenery to the house.

The cactus combo bonsai is a fantastically unique plant variety that adapts easily to temperature and moisture level changes making it ideal to any home indoor garden. It is also the nature of braided ficus tree, but being an adaptable variety of tree it doesn't need big fuss for it to survive inside the house.

When it comes to indoor herbs, they require a special maintenance care but when you see them grow the rewards are remarkable. For them to thrive properly and healthily, most varieties of herbs will need to be exposed on full sun for six hours everyday. The soil will need to be enriched and the container must have a perfect drainage.

Some of the popular indoor herbs include lemon grass, which you can grow by cultivating a stalk in a container or pot with few inches of water. The mint leaves are excellent tea and must be grown separately from other herbs as this variety of herb can be more invasive than the others.

The chive on the other hand requires lesser amount of light than the others while the parsley and bay tree are both slow growing herbs but always worth your wait as they are great herb to have on hand for your cooking activities. There are other varieties of herbs which you can grow indoor, like sage, thyme, oregano, cilantro, basil, and rosemary.

Organic indoor gardening is such a wonderful and rewarding activity that anyone can have. With the many benefits it provides, there is no reason for you to procrastinate on this idea. You will definitely see it when you start to reap the full benefits.

Indoor Gardening: An Environment-Friendly Thing

Gardening doesn't only make your home beautiful but likewise provides you with an outlet to relieve yourself of worries and anxieties. Men and women alike are engrossed in this kind of hobby whereas some of them earn profits out of growing the best plants in their yards. However, the common problem that gardeners face is that of the weather and climate, weeds, and of course, the parasite attack. Not only that, the use of chemicals may also bring harm to the environment. That is why there is an effective substitute for it and that is no other than the indoor gardening.

The Benefits of Indoor Gardening

Gardening inside your home has lots of benefits. For one, it is eco-friendly. What does that mean? Basically it is a very environment-friendly way of detoxifying the air inside the premises of your home. It also allows you to come up with chemical-free herbs for your use in the kitchen. It acts as a décor to your home. And not to mention that it is truly stress-relieving to find an indoor garden within the confines of your abode.

A lot of people all over the world are so enthused into trying their luck at indoor gardens. When made as a hobby, one can definitely enjoy it while feeling very much productive as well.

Easy to Grow Plants for Your Indoor Garden

There are people whom we usually call the green thumbs. Meaning to say, their lucks are in full swing as they try their level best to grow different plants. This is not however a common talent of many people. Some are termed as black thumbs. Call it luck or coincidence but some plants just die fast with them.

But don't fret because here are some very easy to grow plants or herbs for your indoor garden. You may consider them the latest additions to your home ornaments and natural air cleaners as well.

The Weeping Fig. The plant is basically hardy and will definitely survive even when you don't exert much time and effort in taking care of it.

The Chinese Evergreen. If your home has low-light condition, this is an ideal plant to grow because it doesn't require too much maintenance. It is also ideal for the beginning gardeners.

The Cactus Combo Bonsai. They are unique yet ideal for any kind of climate because they can easily adapt to the changing moisture level and climate condition.

The Chamaedorea Palm. It fits well into homes that have the tropical themes.

The Braided Ficus Tree. It doesn't require much maintenance either and easily adapts to indoor setting.

The English Ivy. This comes as a fantastic choice for topiaries or hanging baskets.

The Peace Lily. It acts as a great air purifier that likewise results to the best blooms and greenery.

The Boston Fern. Ferns don't require much of feeding. You can even do that once in a month and they since they basically love high humidity, they can be placed inside a greenhouse or a bathroom.

So, don't you think it is time you try your hands at indoor gardening?

Know More About Herb Gardening Kits

Perhaps you have been gardening in most of your lifetime yet when it comes to thinking about how you may successfully grow herbs, your heart is not that sure. Definitely, picking gardening as a sort of hobby is both mentally and emotionally rewarding. It tends to relieve you of the stress that you feel after a long day's work. It also never fails to uplift your spirit when you feel down. And most of all, it works best in saving you from boredom. If you are an entrepreneur by nature, you can even be a pro in making profits out of your grown plants. Now, going back to your intentions of growing herbs, you will surely want to know more about the essence of the herb gardening kits.

Garden Kits Explained

Herb gardening is actually very simple for some people but for the beginners it can appear laborious basically because they lack the significant knowledge about the tools to use. A beginner also finds it hard to decipher which seeds to grow at first or how much fertilizer should be used. However, with the garden kits, everything will be made easier. At the same time, guessing will likewise be eliminated.

The Advantages of Using the Herb Garden Kits

Since you have decided to grow herbs indoors, it is a must that you get yourself the appropriate kits to be utilized. As you have acquired the set of kits, it is now time for you to know their advantages.

First of all, you don't necessarily have to make a trip to the garden for some fresh herbs every time you need them.

Then, a kit normally makes it easier for you to preserve the herbs and then harvest them in due time.

There are likewise recipes that come along with the kit together with a couple of pieces of information that will all the more make your herb growing a more wonderful experience to cherish.

Apart from all those ingredients that will be needed for herb growing, the kits available also let you choose a theme. You can take a pick from a wide range of selection such as herbs for medicine, herbs for tea, German herbs, Italian herbs, salsa herbs, international herbs, culinary herbs, and a lot other combinations.

The kits also include the seeds as well as the planters. Other kits come with pellets or soil depending on your choice of where to plant the seeds in. It is then a must for you to decide on which you prefer to work on before you purchase the gardening kits.

What is most important with the herb gardening kits is of course the set of instructions that will serve as your guide as you develop your herbs. Clear enough, a hobby such as gardening will only be fulfilling on your part if you vividly know what you are doing. Doing it indoors is also going to make things even simpler for you. Thus, you can always relieve yourself of uncertainty and become truly successful in your endeavor.

Gardening Tips For Beginners

If you are just beginning with gardening, don't be afraid for it is not meant to be difficult. In fact, it can be so much fun much more than what you think. If you don't know how to start, there is always an avenue of knowledge for you: your grandmother to assist you, informational books and magazines to read, and the internet to browse more information.

It used to be that gardening appeals only to the older folks. But nowadays, people of all ages, children, young adults, adults, and old folks alike, they see gardening as a refreshing and rewarding hobby to take. Why not? With all the benefits that you get, your being a busy, career person should never be used as a hindrance to start growing your own plants indoor or outdoor. You will see the big difference when you get to reap your own fruits of labors.

It doesn't matter what you prefer. Would you like to have a bed of beautiful and colorful flowers, country garden full of wild flowers and shrubs, manicured lawn strategically placed with shrubs and little trees, or just a simple backyard with lots of pots and containers planted with grown plants? It isn't a problem to start one because you can find lots of information on how you can start doing them. You can also ask questions and assistance from the experts.

For a starter, you will need these basic tools: trowel, spade, lawnmower, rake, and plants of your choice to grow. It would help a lot if you have some sort of garden plan based on the space that is available. In this way, it won't be difficult for you to arrange some things like flower beds, lawns, paths, and on your garden bed or space.

The kinds of plants that you will grow will depend on what you want, the availability, and the climate that your location has. There are plants that grow only for the season but there are others too that can be cultivated to grow year after year. If you consider yourself a hobby gardener, then you would want to have plants that do not grow more than two seasons. These are perennial plants that allow you to tend to other things other than mere gardening.

If you don't know what plants to start growing, you can always ask assistance from the local nursery available in your location. The experts from there should know what types would thrive specifically considering the climate in your area. And speaking of the local nursery, it is one avenue to buy plants you want on your garden. It is usually available with packets of seeds or small young plants for the beginners to grow. You can obtain them whether via online or mail order.

The small young plants are great choice if you want to have an automatic decorative display on your garden. Otherwise, choosing seeds to grow and watching them grow will provide great satisfaction from the accomplishment of having to cultivate and care for them. You can have the seeds planted on pots or containers, or you can plant them onto pre-designed bed of soil. Gardening should be this fun and exciting, and of course, rewarding, even if you are a beginner.