Home Garden Tips

Flowering shrubs make a beautiful addition to a garden.

Home gardens can be enjoyable and produce delicious food, but there is also an element of frustration that can spoil the party. Learning everything you can about the specific plants grown in your garden can help to cut down on the frustration and increase the enjoyment. Produce bigger, better and more appetizing fruits and vegetables by understanding what you may be doing wrong and learning how to solve the problem.

Stronger Cucumbers

You can make your cucumbers produce stronger fruits by allowing only four fruits to grow on a plant simultaneously. Begin thinning the fruits down to four by picking off the extras by hand.

Shady Impatiens

Impatiens are a very popular flower to grow, in part because they don't make lavish demands on location. You can grow impatiens in a partially shaded. Plant your impatiens under a shady tree or in containers that receive sunlight only part of the day and they will still display long-lasting flowers.

Battling Insects with Insects

A consistent problem with insects out to kill your garden may be better solved with plant food sources than with insecticides. Planting angelica or morning glory will attract beneficial predatory insects like ladybugs and lacewings that will devour your unwanted creepy crawlers.

Save Time on Repotting

No necessity for completely re-potting your potted garden plants actually exists. Instead of taking out all the potting mix, you can cut down on your labor by removing just the top inch or two and using a fresh mixture for refill. You should also take this opportunity to place slow-release fertilizer in your pots.

Good and Bad Compost

Composting is a good idea for your garden, unless you are doing it wrong. Several items around the yard and house are ideal for creating compost, but you may be undoing the benefit by including items that are not recommended for making compost. Among the positive additions: leaves, old potting soil, coffee filters, tea bags and mower clippings. Among the negative additions: diseased plants, pet manure, dairy foods, grease and cooking oil.

Best Soil for Vegetables

A good idea for growing vegetables is to know the pH level of your soil. You can produce the best veggies by planting them in soil that runs from neutral to slightly alkaline. Add lime to soil that is too acidic to bring it over to the preferred conditions.

Water Garden Variety

You can add more variety of vegetation to your water garden by designing your pond with various depths. A variety of plants will in turn attract an array of wildlife that can benefit your garden through pollination and the natural destruction of harmful algae. Raising fish in your water garden increases algae growth, however.

Container Garden Camouflage

A container garden can help hide defects and flaws in your paved walkways and steps. Plant a variety of colorful plants in variously sized pots, and use them to cover up things like broken bricks, damaged paver stones and crumbling mortar.

References

• Natural Resources Conservation Service: Composing Tips
• "1001 Hints and Tips for Your Garden"; Fred Dubose, Ed.; 1997
• "1001 Ideas for Better Gardening"; Pippa Greenwood; 2008