Please help me with this, i also need a list of gardening equipment..or where i can find them..
I would call a hoe, a shovel, a rake a gardening tool. A tiller, a mulcher, garden hose would ge gardening equipment. All of these can be found at any hardware store, most nurseries or WalMart, Sears, etc
Compact gardening does not mean second rate gardening, in fact, creative gardeners can have amazing compact gardens, even container gardens for those with no land to cultivate. Compact gardening is especially proper in big cities. So if you live in a big city or urban area, don’t worry, you can still have a nice beautiful garden.
Living in a city does not mean you have to give up having a great garden, including a flower garden, vegetable garden, herb garden or any combination of them. People who live in large cities have learned to enjoy compact gardening and container gardening.
Maximizing the space you have available is the key to success for this type of gardening. Knowing how large things grow, how big their root structure is and things of that nature will help you plan your garden.
Compact gardening requires advance planning. Knowing as much as you can about what you plan to grow, how fast it grows, how it grows, what kind of light it needs, etc., will help you choose the right things to plant in your garden. The last thing you want to do is go into it without planning and have to restart your whole project!
Many people have maximized space by using vine gardening, water gardens, container gardens and herb gardening in order to keep their green thumb in use while having only a limited space available to garden in.
The only limits compact gardening has are the limitations of your imagination. With the right level of creativity and advanced planning you can have an incredible compact garden no matter where you live.
Many stores carry items specifically for compact gardening in order to help you maximize your available space. The use of the right equipment will go a long way towards helping you maximize your garden. Smaller equipment makes your work more efficient when you have a limited space to work in.
There are many resources, books and discussion groups about compact gardening, water gardens, vine gardening, container gardening and related subjects that are all geared towards the person looking to have a great, yet compact garden.
Rather than lamenting over the lack of space, start thinking about all the great things you can do in the space that you do have and you will be well on your way to having a great compact garden. So stop wasting your time worrying about it and go out there and start it!
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What do the terms grafting and budding mean?
Budding is a form of grafting. Grafting is the art of
attaching a piece of one plant to another plant, creating a new
plant. Grafting is usually done because the desired plant is
extremely difficult if not impossible to propagate through other
means. Dogwoods, for example, are easily grown from seed,
however, it is next to impossible to grow a Pink Dogwood from
seed. The seeds from a Pink Dogwood will produce seedlings that
are likely to flower white.
The most common method for producing Pink Dogwood trees is to
remove a single bud from a Pink Dogwood tree and slip it under
the bark of a White Dogwood seedling. This process is known as
budding, and the seedling is known as the rootstock. This is
usually done during the late summer months when the bark of the
White Dogwood seedling can be easily separated from the tree,
and the seedling is about 1/4″ in diameter.
A very small “T” shaped cut is made in the bark only, and the
bud is slipped in the slot. The actual bud itself is allowed to
poke out through the opening and then the wound is wrapped with
a rubber band both above and below the bud. By the following
spring the bud will have grafted itself to the seedling, at
which time the seedling is cut off just above the Pink Dogwood
bud, and the bud then grows into a Pink Dogwood tree.
Budding is usually done at ground level, and often times the
rootstock will send up shoots from below the bud union. These
shoots, often called suckers, should be removed as soon as they
appear because they are from the rootstock and are not the same
variety as the rest of the plant. Flowering Crabapples are also
budded and are notorious for producing suckers. When removing
these suckers don’t just clip them off at ground level with
pruning shears, they will just grow back. Pull back the soil or
mulch and remove them from the tree completely at the point
where they emerge from the stem.
Most people clip them off a couple of inches from the ground,
and then they grow back with multiple shoots. This drives me
crazy! Get down as low as you can and remove them completely and
you will keep them under control. On older trees that have been
improperly pruned for years I take a digging spade and literally
attack these suckers hacking them away from the stem. Sure this
does a little damage to the stem of the tree, but when a plant
is let go like that I figure it’s a do or die situation. The
trees always survive and thrive.
Other plants are grafted up high to create a weeping effect.
One of the most popular trees that is grafted up high is the top
graft Weeping Cherry. In this case the seedling is allowed to
grow to a height of 5′, then the weeping variety is grafted on
to the rootstock at a height of about 5′. This creates an
umbrella type effect. In this case the graft union is 5′ off the
ground, therefore anything that grows from the stem below that
graft union must be removed.
Many people don’t understand this and before they know it they
have a branch 2″ in diameter growing up through the weeping
canopy of their tree. Before you know it there are several
branches growing upright through the canopy and the effect of
the plant is completely ruined.
At my website, gardening-articles.com I’ve got a couple
of photos that show exactly what I’m talking about in this
article. You can clearly see the weeping effect that the
Weeping Cherry tree is supposed to have, but then up through the
middle come these branches that are no more than just suckers
from the stem, or the rootstock as it is known in the nursery
industry.
Looking closely at the photos you can see that these suckers
originate from below the graft union. This problem could have
been prevented if someone had just picked off these buds when
they first emerged on the stem of the tree. Then they would
have never developed into branches.
This tree can still be saved, but there will be a large scar on
the stem when the upright branches are pruned off. But under
the canopy of the weeping tree these scars will never show.
Another interesting plant that is grafted is the Weeping
Cotoneaster. In this case the seedling that is grown to serve as
the rootstock is Paul’s Scarlet Hawthorn, and Cotoneaster
Apiculata is grafted onto the Hawthorn rootstock at a height of
5′. Years ago a nurseryman found through experimentation that
these two plants are actually compatible, and a beautiful and
unique plant was created. I have one of these in my landscape
and we love it.
Once again since the graft union is at 5′, any growth coming
from the stem (rootstock) must be removed. In this case the
growth coming from the rootstock will be Hawthorn and will look
completely different from the Cotoneaster which is what the
plant is supposed to be. The easiest way to keep up with this
type of pruning is to keep an eye on your grafted plants when
you’re in the yard. As soon as you see new growth coming from
below the graft union, just pick it off with your fingernail.
If you catch these new buds when they first emerge, pruning
them off is as easy as that. Walk around your yard and look for
grafted or budded plants, and see if you can find any that have
growth that doesn’t seem to match the rest of the plant. Look
closely and you may find that the growth is coming from below a
graft or bud union.
Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his
most interesting website, www.freeplants.com and sign up
for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by
Don’t be afraid to trim those flowering shrubs and trees that need it. Failure to prune is probably the biggest gardening mistake a person can make. I spent 20 years landscaping homes and businesses, and I watched people make the investment in my services, then they failed to prune when the plants needed it, and before you know it their landscape looked terrible.
If you make a mistake pruning, don’t worry about it. It’s like a bad haircut, it will grow out. Of course use common sense and read the previous articles that I’ve written on pruning.
Along with summertime comes high humidity. High humidity can cause a lot of problems with the plants in your garden and around your house. One of the simple things you can do is don’t water just before dark. Make sure your plants are nice and dry when you tuck them in for the night and you can cut down on the chance of fungus being a problem.
One of the more common fungi that I get asked about a lot is powdery mildew. This appears as a white film on the leaves of ornamental plants. Dogwoods and Purple Sandcherry are often the victim of powdery mildew. Powdery mildew isn’t extremely harmful to the plants, it’s just that the foliage is damaged, and little growing takes place once it sets in. Your local garden center will have a general fungicide you can spray if you’d like to try and control it. Usually once the plant defoliates in the fall the plant is back to normal.
If you have Perennial Rye Grass in your lawn, and you probably do if you’re in the north, you must be careful not to leave your grass wet at night. There is a fungus known as Pythium Blight that appears in very humid conditions. This fungus attacks and kills perennial rye grasses. Here in the north most of our lawns are a blend of fescues, perennial ryes, and Kentucky Blue Grass.
If you have problems with Pythium blight you will lose the perennial rye grass in large areas of your lawn, and even though the other grasses will still be there and fill in, your lawn will have areas that are much darker green than the rest of the lawn because you will then have concentrations of Kentucky Blue Grass.
You can see this fungus in the early morning. It looks like white cotton candy laying on top of your lawn. It usually appears along walks and driveways where the soil is wet if you have been watering. To prevent Pythium blight water as early in the day as possible.
Another nasty little blight that likes summertime is Fire Blight. Fire Blight attacks ornamentals, especially Apple trees, Crabapple trees, Cotoneasters, and Pyracantha. You know you have Fire Blight when a branch on one of your plants dies and turns almost red. The leaves usually hang on but turn reddish brown. The damage usually starts out near the end of the branch and works its way toward the main stem of the plant. There is little you can do except prune out the affected branch, cutting it as far back as possible.
Fire Blight is very contagious to plants so you should burn the branches you prune out. You should also dip or wash your pruning shears in rubbing alcohol after each cut to keep from spreading this deadly fungus.
Unfortunately, I’ve got one more summertime culprit to warn you about. It’s a handy little fungus that grows in mulch. Actually there are all kinds of fungi that tend to grow in mulches, and most of them are really disgusting looking. But this little gem is unique in the fact that as it grows it tends to swell. Then somehow it manages to explode, and it will spatter your house with tiny brown specks. The experts have appropriately named this one “Shotgun Fungus”. Isn’t that a cute name?
These tiny little brown specks will fly as high as eight feet into the air, and once they stick to your house or windows, they stick like glue. I know that right now there are people hollering across the house at their spouse, “Hey, remember those brown specks all over the house? I know what they are. It’s from the mulch!” Tell me I’m wrong, but I know I’m not.
A lot of people are victims of this nasty little fungus, but they don’t know it. All they know is that there are tiny brown specks on the house that look like paint. So far they have blamed everything from spiders to aliens.
There’s not a lot you can do to prevent this fungus. I have found that if you keep the mulch loose so air can circulate it is less likely to grow fungi. Don’t just keep adding layer after layer to the mulch around your house. You should skip at least every other year and just loosen the mulch you already have down. If you loosen it and then rake it flat it will look like you’ve just mulched. Mulch is great, just don’t let it get packed down hard. Loosen it up at least once a year.
Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by http://gardening-articles.com/
With the costs of living rising all the time, it may be possible to save money and increase your family’s health at the same time by growing vegetables in your backyard.
It’s a good idea to choose your favourite vegetables to grow and plan beds for early, middle of the season and late varieties.
Most vegetables require at least 6 hours of sunlight per day, some need 8. Some quick growers like lettuce and radish can be grown between the rows of plants that take longer to mature, like beet or corn, thus making full use of the area available.
Throughout dry periods, vegetable gardens need extra watering. Most vegetables benefit from an inch or more of water each week, especially when they are fruiting.
During the growing season watch for insect pests. If you discover a bug problem early it will be much easier, but be careful to not use pesticides once the vegetable are close to being picked unless it becomes an absolute necessity. Organic gardening is one healthy and environment-friendly option. Once you have reaped your crop, put the vegetable waste into your compost pile so that it can be recycled for next spring.
It is important to protect your vegetable garden from wild animals looking for a tasty treat. Make sure your garden is surrounded by a fence that will keep out dogs, rabbits, and other animals. The harm done by wandering animals during one season can equal the cost of a fence. A fence also can serve as a frame for peas, beans, tomatoes, and other crops that need support.
Protection is needed in order for your vegetable garden to yield a bountiful harvest. Hard work will pay dividends if necessary precautions have been made.
God made rainy days, so gardeners could get the housework done – Gardening can be that addictive and more so if you have the right tools! Selecting the right gardening tools is also important when taking up a gardening project. Opt for tools that are neither too heavy nor too light. Heavy equipments are difficult to use and quite tiresome while lighter ones are poorly made. Good gardening tools have handles made of high quality wood like ash.
Here are some popular gardening tools -
- Garden rake helps to soothe the soil after it is tilled. This tool is helpful in finishing work when making planting beds or a new lawn.
- Cultivators help in cutting the hard compacted soil. Some of them have broader edges while others have narrow ones. These are useful in making the annual beds for vegetable gardens.
- Edger is another gardening tool that helps the flower gardens and shrubs maintain their shape. Gardens lose their crisp lines over time when grass intrudes in the garden. Using the edger will prevent grass roots taking a firm hold in planting beds.
- Pitchfork is a tool used for aerating compacted soil and preparing garden beds. They are also used for dividing grasses and also to spread mulch in spring.
- Reel Mowers are used to cut grass. They give a cleaner cut as compared to other tools. They do not use gas and hence there is no pollution with reel mowers. These are great for small lawns. It is a lightweight and easy to use tool.
- Hand Pruners are gardening tools used for cutting branches. They give cleaner and precise cuts. They have bypass blades that help in cutting the branches neatly.
- Loppers are just like pruners but are provided with long handles and the ability to cut branches of around 2 inches thickness.
- Compact Pruning Saw is a tool useful for cutting branches. It is small enough to fit into the middle of a shrub to cut the branch.
Gardening tools are essential for maintaining your garden but it is not really necessary to spend a lot on buying garden tools. You need not have all the latest tools to give your garden that perfect look. You can just buy some basic tools to start with. With minimum tools, you too can make your garden attractive.
One of the basic gardening tools is a spading fork. This helps to dig down the soil and break the ground. This is very essential since at some point or the other you will need to open and improve the soil. Hoe is a gardening tool useful for weeding and cultivating the soil. This is done to allow the penetration of nutrients and water into the soil. For larger digging projects you will also require a round ended shovel.
A watering can is also one of the important gardening tools. It has long nozzles and allows water to flow gently. A good bow rake is essential to level the soil and also for removing large clods of earth or rocks from the soil. Having a pair of garden shears known as clippers are essential for cutting, shaping and removing foliage or branches.
Give your garden that perfect look just by using the right gardening tools without spending money on expensive professional gardeners!
