Creating a Raised Bed

If your current planting goals involve plants that require good water drainage, I am sure you know how frustrating it is to have a yard that just won’t cooperate. Some plants can handle the excess water that comes about from being in an area that doesn’t drain properly. In fact, it might just cause them to bloom more lushly. However, other plants don’t cope as well, and it will cause them to die a gruesome, bloated death. You should always find out about the drainage required for every plant you buy, and make sure that it won’t conflict with any of the areas you are considering planting it in.

In order to test how much water your designated patch of soil will retain, dig a hole approximately ten inches deep. Fill it with water, and come back in a day when all the water had disappeared. Fill it back up again. If the 2nd hole full of water isn’t gone in 10 hours, your soil has a low saturation point. This means that when water soaks into it, it will stick around for a long time before dissipating. This is unacceptable for almost any plant, and you are going to have to do something to remedy it if you want your plants to survive.

The usual method for improving drainage in your garden is to create a raised bed. This involves creating a border for a small bed, and adding enough soil and compost to it to raise it above the rest of the yard by at least 5 inches. You’ll be amazed at how much your water drainage will be improved by this small modification. If you’re planning to build a raised bed, your prospective area is either on grass or on dirt. For each of these situations, you should build it slightly differently.

If you want to start a raised garden in a non grassy area, you won’t have much trouble. Just find some sort of border to retain the dirt you will be adding. I’ve found that there is nothing that works quite as well as a few two by fours. After you’ve created the wall, you must put in the proper amount soil and steer manure. Depending on how long you plan to wait before planting, you will want to adjust the ratio to allow for any deteriorating that may occur.

If you’re trying to install a raised bed where sod already exists, you will have a slightly more difficult time. You will need to cut the sod around the perimeter of the garden, and flip it over. This may sound simple, but you will need something with a very sharp edge to slice the edges of the sod and get under it. Once you have turned it all upside down, it is best to add a layer of straw to discourage the grass from growing back up. After the layer of straw, simply add all the soil and steer manure that a normal garden would need.

Planting your plants in your new area shouldn’t pose much difficulty. It is essentially the same process as your usual planting session. Just be sure that the roots don’t extent too far into the original ground level. The whole point of creating the raised bed is to keep the roots out of the soil which saturates easily. Having long roots that extend that far completely destroys the point.

Once you have plants in your new bed, you’ll notice an almost immediate improvement. The added soil facilitates better root development. At the same time, evaporation is prevented and decomposition is discouraged. All of these things added together makes for an ideal environment for almost any plant to grow in. So don’t be intimidated by the thought of adjusting the very topography of your yard. It is a simple process as I’m sure you’ve realized, and the long term results are worth every bit of work.

Gardening Magazines - Some of the Best

Various gardening magazines are available in the market. But would you like to know which stands out from the rest? Here are a selection of gardening magazines that anyone in love with his or her garden will appreciate.

COUNTRY GARDENS often showcases the more unusual gardens around the country. It introduces wonderful new ways to enjoy garden sights and scents. It helps the avid gardener to create an eye-pleasing, fragrance - filled country garden.

This magazine has very useful advice on setting up and caring for your garden. Every issue contains profiles of fascinating people and their gardens, inspiration for gardens and detailed garden plans. Best of all, it's a trusted source of information that's easy to understand. Every season carries a vast harvest of ideas to delight, motivate and guide any gardener.

How about a gardening magazine for those who want to become a better gardener? FINE GARDENING MAGAZINE from The Taunton Press brings you amazing design ideas, beneficial techniques, and the know-how to get the best results from your gardening endeavors.

In each issue you'll find eye-opening bits of advice from the experts, detailed information on all types of plants, effective techniques and time-saving tips, straightforward tool reviews from editors and readers and planting suggestions for specific regions.

But for more intensive information on how to maintain a garden packed with style and color, then you'll want to read GARDEN DESIGN. This gardening magazine brings out eye-popping photos, illustrations and useful recommendations on how to create a picture-perfect garden. It is written and designed for those who are passionate about their homes and gardens. Garden Design is more than just a dig-in-the-dirt gardening magazine; it's for people who enjoy bringing in more aesthetic value for their homes through their gardens.

Garden Design encourages you to create stylish outdoor living spaces and rare gardens through cultivating rare breeds of plants, with updates on the best tools and techniques. It contains magnificent photographs and articles that capture the imaginations of gardeners everywhere.

For passionate gardeners, HOLTICULTURE MAGAZINE is the ultimate guide to gardening. The authoritative voice of gardeners, Horticulture serves as an essential guide and trusted friend, and is a main resource for serious gardeners from every corner of the country.

These magazines aim to instruct, inform, and inspire serious home gardeners. There are gardening magazines for beginners and expert gardeners. Discover or develop your green thumb with their latest gardening techniques and garden design information.

For Australian readers, there is BURKE'S BACKYARD. Springing form a TV series of the same name, Burke's Backyard focuses on gardening décor as well as the all-important garden makeovers that have become so popular.

YOUR GARDEN is another beauty, claiming the prestige of being Australia's gardening magazine, it usually features two or three popular flowers and how best to grow them, with a wealth of tips and information on other plants, tools and products for the garden.

GARDENING AUSTRALIA springs from the ABC's feature of that name it features many wonderful articles by gardening experts and often holds a free catalogue from one of the larger nurseries.

Growing Your Own Herbs

If you’re not the type of person that wants to spend their time managing

an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, you might consider planting and

maintaining an herb garden. While the product might not seem as

significant, you’ll still enjoy the constant availability of fresh,

delicious herbs to flavor your meals with.

First you’ll want to choose the herbs that you’ll plant. You might have a

hard time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. But the

best way to choose is to do what I did; just look at what you have in your

kitchen. By planting your own collection of these herbs, you can save

money on buying them from the grocery store while having the added benefit

of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with include rosemary,

sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.

When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you should remember that

the soil should have extremely good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and

stays completely saturated, you have no chance of ever growing a healthy

plant. One of the best ways to fix the drainage problem is to dig a foot

deep in the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing

all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape, thus saving your

plants.

When you are ready to begin planting herbs, you might be tempted to buy

the more expensive plants from the store. However, with herbs it is much

easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you

can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed packets. Some herbs grow

at a dangerously fast rate. For example, if you plant a mint plant in an

open space then it will take over your entire garden in a matter of days.

The best way to prevent this problem is to plant the more aggressive

plants in pots (with holes in the bottom to allow drainage, of course).

When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have labored so hard over, it

can be fatal to your plant to take off too much. If your plant isn’t well

established, it isn’t healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks

like its not using them. You should wait until your plant has been well

established for at least several months before taking off any leaves. This

wait will definitely be worth it, because by growing unabated your plant

will produce healthily for years to come.

Once you’ve harvested your delicious home grown herbs, you’ll want to use

them in cooking. Why else would you have grown them? Well first the

process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing

them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4

hours. After they’re sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can

consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively

flavor a dish.

If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you should keep them in a

plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard will not work, because it

will absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days of storage,

you should regularly check the container and see if any moisture has

accumulated. If it has, you must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If

moisture is left from the first drying process, it will encourage mildew

while you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.

So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you should probably

consider setting up an herb garden. It might require a little bit of work

at first to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want

to grow. But after the initial hassle, it’s just a matter of harvesting

and drying all your favorite herbs.

Choosing the Best Plants for your Garden

Many times we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Before buying plants carefully examine your garden to see how much sun and shade it gets, whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or windswept. You'll then be equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation; shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas, sun-lovers for the warm spots, drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded, and swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.

But wait! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil's pH level, but it's much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Now you are ready to plant. Well - almost. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy 'one of everything' your garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organised, harmonious and you can vary the color for interest.

Before planting out, place your chosen plants around the garden bed in their pots to see how they will look. Re-arrange them until you are satisfied. Grouping plants in sets of threes or fives usually looks better than planting in groups of even numbers. Be sure that you have an interesting combination of colors and textures of plants. Tall plants should go to the back, or the centre if your garden will be viewed equally from all sides. Try to keep your plants away from trees. The roots of trees are fiercely competitive and will steal all the nutrients and moisture meant for your flowers.

The right color scheme is one way to maintain the harmony in your garden. Imagine the color of the flowers when they are in bloom. Some colors may clash with others, but can still be planted side-by-side if they have a different blooming season. Foliage color is also important. Many flower plants have silver, grey or purplish foliage that is just as attractive as the flower. This means that they are still attractive well past the blooming season and so have added value.

Other Factors in Garden Creation

So now you've picked out what type of garden you will have, what the

location will be, and what kind of fertilizer you need, now is the time to

really get started in choosing your garden environment. First you'll want

to choose what your garden barriers will be. What will separate your

garden from the rest of the world? Next you'll want to choose the

decorations and support for your plants. Often some kind of metal mesh is

necessary to keep your plant standing up. You will also want to choose how

much soil and fertilizer to buy, and how to arrange all the plants in your

garden.

Choosing a border is actually a fairly important step in getting your

garden started. It might not actually affect the well-being of the plants,

but having a garden is a fairly aesthetic ordeal for many people anyways.

So usually you will want to choose between metal and wood. You can stack

up boards around the perimeter of your garden, and give it a rather nice

cabin look. If you're looking for a more modern look, you can obtain some

metal lining at your local home improvement store for rather cheap, and

installation is medium difficulty.

Finding something nice-looking to support your plants can be a little bit

more challenging. Sometimes a short metal pole can work well, but often

for plants such as tomatoes you will need a wire mesh for it to pull

itself up on. You can find these at any gardening store, usually

pre-shaped in a sort of cone shape ideal for plants. The plant just grows

up through it, and usually it will last until the plant is grown enough to

support itself. After that you can take a pair of wire-cutters and just

snip it free.

Deciding how much soil to buy can be slightly easier. Look up information

on your plants and find out the ideal soil depth. Then dig out that much

from your garden, take the measurements, and find out the exact amount of

cubic feet of soil that you will need. Go to the store and buy it,

preferably adding on a few bags just so you can replenish the supply if it

compresses or runs out. If you live in an area where the ground is rough,

dry, and barren of nutrients, then you might even want to add a few inches

of depth to the original recommendation.

Arranging the plants is rather important to the success of your garden.

I'm not talking about some kind of feng-shui thing, but depending on your

watering, some plants might hog all the water and leave the other plants

high and dry. Some plants have longer roots than others, and are more

aggressive in the collection of water. If you place one of these plants

next to a plant with weaker, shorter roots, it will quickly hijack the

water supply for itself, and choke out the other plant.

I hope I've led you to realize that placement isn't the only important

thing about a garden. There are many other factors that might not seem

very significant, but spending a proper amount of time considering them

could change the outcome of your garden. So if you're working on building

a garden, use and reference you can (the library, the internet, and

magazines) to look in to some of the factors I've mentioned.

GARDENING'S MOST VALUABLE ADVICE

Many people may not be aware that gardening can actually harm the environment. A large amount of carbon dioxide can be released through tilling the soil. This contributes to global warming. When you cultivating and compacting the soil, destroys good fungi. Fertilizers like nitrogen and manure often leach out of the soil and pollute the water you drink.

Global warming

Did you know that the earth's soil gives out carbon dioxide in the atmosphere 10 times more than all human activity? This comes from the pill bugs, microbes, fungi and worms when they breathe, digest food and then die. Although in the past plants have been capable of absorbing carbon dioxide caused by small-scale tillages, this isn't the case nowadays.

The increase of the globe's average temperature is because of the carbon dioxide the soil emits when tilled. The good news is that tilling can be minimized by mulching or sheet composting.

Good Fungi

In untilled soil, there is 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 grow a garden without tilling the sooiil at all by mulching heavily until the soil is soft and friable.

Surplus Nitrogen

Many gardeners waste nitrogen and manures; farmers do otherwise. Farmers only need a quarter to a third of nitrogen to mix with an inch of compost, horse, or cow manure. Kate Burroughs of Sebastopol California, uses the same rule for her home-grown lettuce and sweet corns. When it comes to broccoli and pear trees, farmers only need a small amount. Notice that gardeners apply larger amounts of compost and manure than farmers. Obviously, they are not only wasting their fertilizer but also their money.

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 is not healthy. This is the most valuable advice one can have in gardening.