Fine Gardening

Archive for October, 2009

Pot Gardening

A lot of people consider a great herb garden as a part of fine gardening but sadly there are some who do not have the requisite space available to grow their garden. Well instead of a plot to put your herbs in how about pot gardening? To a lot of people pot gardening for their herb garden is gardening at its best. There are a variety of different reasons why people choose creating their herb gardens in pot versus a plot.

If you live in a city, apartment, or you are small home owners you can still have some fine gardening with great herbs through pot gardening. You can place small compact pots on balconies, window sills, even on your living room it does not matter as long as your herbs will still get adequate sun. But do not fret if you do not have a lot of light for your pot gardening you can always create artificial light through use of artificial sun lamps. It will be just like having your very own farm and what’s even better is that it is portable.

pot garden

Your pot gardening will also be able to offer you flexibility, portability, and even longevity. You can start your herb garden in pots either indoors or outdoors. Also since almost all of the herbs return year after year you will always have fresh herbs on hand. Just think if you would have planted your herbs in a plot outdoors you would have to wait till spring to get fresh herbs again. While in pot gardening, you can get them any time you want.

Another reason why a lot of people choose pot gardening for their herbs is that they give them the ability to keep their herbs under control. Herbs will grow just like weeds if you let them. Your pot gardening gives your herbs the ability to stay contained but at the same time you have to make certain that they are given ample room to grow. See that pot used is at least 1.5 times bigger than your herb plant itself. If your plants outgrow their current pot all you need to do is simply plant them in a bigger pot. Also see that you use large containers for herbs which grow extensively like mint. Mint can actually run rampant and can take over the entire plot. Basically put such kind herbs in separate containers. Alternatively for dwarf variety of herbs like rosemary, you can choose small pots.

Beautiful flowers in pot

Pot gardening will give you the ability to move your herbs to a critter free area as needed. You should avoid leaving them on the deck in areas where bugs and other critters can nibble and damage your herbs.

An essential component of this kind of gardening is that don’t let the pots to sit in water. But do sprinkle water on them during the summer days. This will increase humidity and allow you to get rid of dust. Additionally, good drainage is important if your herbs are in a pot.

Seed gardening

Seed gardening is a wonderful hobby for anybody who loves gardening. The pleasure and excitement you get when you see the seeds germinating and throwing out small leaves from the womb can leave anyone bereft.

In seed gardening there are a variety of seeds available. It is good if you follow some tips from fine gardening processes. These include:

• Arranging your saplings and organizing them neatly.

• When you plant the seeds, you have to take care of the spacing to be given between each seed. This space can vary for different seeds.

• Some seeds are planted in clusters and are replanted when they sprout. While some other seeds in seed gardening require to be planted with wide spacing around them. This is due to the expanse of roots or branches and leaves that may be developed when the sprouts appear.

• Also enough light must pass between the plants for the healthy growth.

Seed gardening does not require too much of space. You can use recycled jars, pots, and even your old pen holders for the purpose. This is indeed one of the important concepts of fine gardening. You may have to keep these jars or pots on the window sills or by the door steps for getting enough sunlight. Also take enough measure to pour adequate amount of water. As the jars is small and do not lose water easily like the wide mouthed pots, less watering may be required for these seeds to sprout.

You can buy the seeds from the nurseries or markets. Even the seeds from the fruits or vegetables you throw away can be used for the purpose of seed gardening. But you may have to research on the plants that grow from seeds and that propagate by other methods. Certain nurseries sell their products online. So you can browse through the seeds in the nurseries, compare the prices, research on the growing conditions, and order them online. There are catalogs available which you can use for the purpose also. There are even certain books available in the nurseries, offering tips on gardening. You can implement these tips and techniques when you start your seed gardening.

During certain seasons, you can get discounts on the seed costs. As a matter of fact, buying discounted seeds is much better than buying a sapling of the same plant which may be very costly. Also, you will never more have the problem of disposing the used up plastic containers, broken glasses, and even polythene bags. Use them all in your seed gardening!

You can browse the internet and find tips on gardening and implement those in your garden. The seed gardening business indeed requires less or no investment. But the gains you reap out of this can be awarding. Additionally not much effort is needed in the process. But yes, you need to check that ants do not carry away the seeds you plant. Just keep an eye on the rodents too and your seed gardening will thrive.

Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden

Some top level gardening can be found while tropical gardening.  This is an incredibly daunting task whether you are trying to grow blooms outside in a tropical environment or indoors in a hothouse environment.  Either way, you need to make sure that your plants receive just the right amount of sunlight, water, and nutrients.  Too much or too little either way can cause your garden to wilt.

A tropical environment is very hot and humid all year round.  Therefore, no matter where you are going to do your tropical gardening, you need to mimic that environment.  You should also make sure that your plants can tolerate constant heat and moisture.  As the British colonized the globe, British women would lament that they couldn’t get their English Impatients and roses to grow the same way in a tropical climate as they do in moderate England.  Fine gardening in the tropics comes from picking the right plants, such as hibiscus, ginger, and orchids.

Tropical gardening, just like any gardening, starts with the right kind of soil.  Because of the constant rainfall in the tropics, tropical soil quickly leaches out its nutrients.  Therefore it is essential that you keep your garden well fertilized.  Using a typical chemical-based nitrogen fertilizer, as one would do in a northern climate, is not good for tropical gardening.  That fertilizer will actually pull more nutrients out of the soil as it runs off, therefore causing you to put on more and more fertilizer as the years go by.  Instead, you should take advantage of Mother Nature’s fertilizers and put compost, manure, and dead plant parts into your soil.  Decomposition takes place very quickly in tropical gardening, so you should find your soil is naturally replenished in no time.

As you grow your tropical garden, you might want to consider growing some trees as well as flowers, if space permits.  Again, northern gardening principles usually separates flowers, vegetables, and trees, but in order for many of your flowers to survive you need to create some shade.  Banana trees add a nice touch; live oaks provide a lot of cooling shade.  Because the sun’s rays are so much stronger in the tropics, your flowers should still do well in semi-shaded conditions.

Most of the time the weather will do all of your watering as you engage in tropical gardening.  If you happen upon a day that isn’t rainy, you’ll need to do the watering yourself.  Tropical plants like a good dousing, but make sure that the soil is well-drained.  If water starts to pool in your garden, or if you find your soil is perpetually damp, you should see if you can’t landscape in a small slope to help the water drain.  Otherwise, you might find your plants’ roots rotting and their leaves turning yellow.

Your tropical gardening experience should fill your backyard with wild colors and lush vegetation.  All the sun and water make plants grow faster than you would ever expect in a northern climate.  As long as your pair your plants to your environment, you should have an amazing tropical garden in no time.