Before you can start putting plants in the ground this summer, you need to plan out your landscape and garden layout and design. Get some info on lawn fertilizing schedule on our blog site now!

Once you have a line on the things you want to plant, where you want to plant them, and what the needs of your individual plants will be it is time to really dig in and get your hands dirty. Of course, for many gardeners this is the best thing about growing a summer garden (though some will argue that the results are the best thing). Either way, many gardeners relish the idea of getting their hands in the dirt in order to really get their garden underway.

Before the planting begins however you should take a calendar and mark the days that each part of your summer garden will be planted.

Different flowers and vegetables have different growing seasons. Some prosper by earlier plantings while others prosper by later plantings. If you are planting a summer vegetable garden then it is quite possible that some of the plants will need a precise number of days between planting and harvesting. Both the plant and harvest days should be noted. This also however provides an excellent opportunity to plant more of the vegetable (and some flowers) every two weeks to provide a continuous rotation of the vegetable you love well into the gardening season.

So if you want to use shrubs that take up big areas in your garden, you may decide to train them up a wire, pole or lattice area. This will save you some issues in the future.

space is limited, this is highly recommended. Doing this also provides an opportunity to shade plants that prefer less direct sunlight when planted next to these climbing vines that are climbing vertically. Also make sure you have enough stakes for all the plants that require them for best effect.

Plant your plants so that those needing shade get the shade they need and those that require the most water are located on a downward slope so that they get the water that runs off from the plants that require lesser amounts of water. This is a trick of conservationists and seasoned gardeners that makes the most of sometimes limited resources such as water for the purpose of creating a better environment for optimal growth. At the same time you want to avoid planting vegetables and flowers that require less water at the bottom of these slopes as they are likely to become over hydrated, which can be just as devastating as not getting enough water.

Make sure your soil is healthy so that it can create the healthy plants you are hoping to have. Fertilize the soil in which these plants, flowers, and vegetables will be grown. This provides the foundation necessary for optimal performance from your plants and greatest yield from your vegetables.

You should also take great care once the planting has taken place that the plants, flowers, and vegetables that make up your summer garden are well fed in order to produce even better results.

There are plenty of fertilizers and plant foods from which to choose be sure to check local laws in order to make sure you aren’t using a combination that is not recommended for your region or that is not permissible in your reason as this is often strictly regulated from one state to the next.

Oh yeah, you can’t forget about the pest control or the plants, trees and shrubs! Very very important.

There are some plants, flowers, and herbs that work as natural pest controls. These make an excellent addition to your garden as they offer no harmful side effect and can rid your garden of many of the pests that provide constant head aches.

Another thing you may wish to consider is the use of chicken wire to protect some of your plants from things a little bigger than the average bug. The more humane the methods of pest control and the less you rely on pesticides the better.
Organic pesticides are also a big deal these days. Going green and natural is an important way to look out for the environment and your garden. You can get great info on organic fertilizer schedule on our new site!

We all love our summer gardens. Whether our gardens are meant to produce colorful blooms and fragrant flowers that delight the senses or plenty of vegetables that will keep our families fed throughout the long cold winter months, there is much to be said and enjoyed about keeping a summer garden growing and thriving. You might start by learning about best lawn sprinkler.

In fact, many of us look for ways to prolong the lives of our summer gardens in order to get that little bit of extra life from the flowers, plants, and vegetables that we plant in them. Keep reading to discover a few ways that you can prolong the life of your summer garden for a few more days, weeks, or even perhaps an extra month of color or vegetable production.

One thing you can do to prolong the life of your garden is by planting in a raised bed. This is basically planting your summer garden in a specifically designed garden box that rests above ground. These boxes will heat up quicker and cool down more slowly allowing a little extra growing time. For small flower or vegetable gardens these are often ideal allowing flowers to continue flowering and vegetables to continue producing after the initial seasonal frosts that often signal the end of growing seasons for those plants planted below ground.

If raised beds aren’t going to work for you, it is possible to begin the plants in the warmth of the interior of your home or a smaller scale raised bed and then transport them once they have matured a bit and the frost season is over with. This gives your garden a bit of a head start though it will do little to prolong the life of your garden once the first frost hits. For that, raised beds are truly the most effective method for small vegetable gardens. Those with large crops often find alternate heating methods and acceptable expense to prolong the lives of their gardens or to ward off against frosts that occur either early in the fall or after the initial spring planting.

You could also invest in garden row covers to protect your plants and extend their life a little beyond the average growing season or at the very least protect your plants through the first frost or so. These covers keep the plants nice and toasty warm in fact, it is important that you monitor them closely when covered to avoid overheating and do not use the covers when not necessary as this can affect the growth of the plants and the yields negatively as much as it can impact them in a positive manner.

You should understand that there is no requirement that says you must prolong the life of your garden. Many people get what they want from their garden whether it be the enjoyment of beauty from the bright and colorful flowers or enough vegetables to last through the leaner winter months when vegetables come at either a premium price or lack in flavor to some degree. Once you’ve gotten what you want or expect from your garden there really is no reason to prolong its life. There is especially no reason to take extraordinary steps to do so.

That being said there are many families that feel an extra month of color will help get them through the long and drab winter months that seem to be absent of bright and vividly colored flowers and that an extra week or two to harvest their vegetables will provide an extra month of two of food.

These are very valid reasons for making the effort to extend the life of a summer garden. My hope is that the information above will help you do just that. Good luck with your summer garden and hopefully you will be able to enjoy your summer garden well into the fall or at the very least beyond the year’s first frost.
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If you have the time and the inclination to create an organic summer garden there are few better ways to go when it comes to the potential impact on the planet. You may also need a complete lawn fertilizer schedule that is organic too.

A summer garden is a thing of beauty to be enjoyed by all you invite into your garden. That being said, there are certain pests we’d all like to keep out of our gardens as well. The problem is that the pesticides of the past have undetermined side effects that have the potential to cause lasting harm.

If we can avoid introducing those chemicals to our own gardens we are protecting our kids from dangers we may not even be aware of yet and protecting the other animals that may innocently come in contact with our gardens such as birds and butterflies from being harmed by the chemicals present in most common pesticides.

What does this mean to gardeners when it comes to efforts directed towards keeping out potential pests? Quite honestly, it means we are going to have to get a little bit creative in those efforts turning to natural solutions rather than chemicals. One way in which this can quite easily be accomplished is by encouraging animals that prey upon the pests to make your garden their home. Of course, this could potentially bring about its own set of problems but from a gardening perspective it is often very sound reasoning.

Use organic mulch. While this isn’t necessarily a means of pest control it is a wise move when it comes to organic gardening. Not only does the mulch provide the very useful mulching properties throughout the growing season but once the growing season has ended can be turned over and used in order to boost the organic material within the soil. This in turns provides nutrients that are important to keeping the soil fit for sustaining plant life in future growing seasons.

Attract birds to your garden. This has a two-fold benefit for the organic gardener. First of all the birds are often natural predators for many of the bugs that make a nuisance of themselves in the average summer garden. Second, birds leave behind their own little fertilizing additions to the landscape of your garden. Don’t you wish all solutions were this simple?

Keep your garden healthy, well fertilized, watered regularly and appropriately, and free of weeds. A good offense is the best defense. A good immune system and constant hand washing are the best defense the human body has against catching colds and viruses. The same holds true for gardens and their ability to fight pests.

Keep your garden strong and healthy and it will repel many of the pests that may cripple other gardens on its own. It certainly doesn’t hurt anything to keep this philosophy in mind and you may be amazed at how well it works.

Organic gardening is more than a plan for your garden it is a return to the ways of old in the world of gardening. For centuries before pesticides were created man managed to live off the abundance of his gardens. It makes sense that by returning to those ideals we can also enjoy great food and a bountiful harvest in the modern world. Make the choice today to make your summer garden an organic garden and reap the benefit in better health and greater enjoyment of the gardening process.
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