GardenSpotlight

Spring is here and it’s about time to prepare the soil bed for your gardens.    Remember, you don’t have to have a garden so big that you cannot take care of it all.   You can actually be more productive in a smaller, more manageable sized garden.   Begin first by planning out your space.   Select a spot in the garden that gets a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight if you are planning a vegetable garden.   If you are planning for flowers, know the amounts of sunlight your gardens will be receiving, as well as soil type and drainage and choose the types of plants accordingly.    Next, mark out your perimeter and then begin turning the soil over.   Dig down at least 12 inches.   Using a roto-tiller is best as it will break up the soil more thoroughly and deeply.   If you don’t own one, you can usually rent one at a local hardware store.    If one is not available, you can use a shovel and rake.   As you are prep...

Good drainage is essential to planting a successful garden or landscape.   Plants’ roots (and this goes for ALL plants) need oxygen.   If plants are kept in an area that is continuously wet, the roots will be starved for oxygen and the plant(s) will eventually die.   There are many different ways to improve the drainage around your yard and gardens. If you have potted plants or container gardens, make sure you have several drainage holes in the bottom of your pots.   If you have ceramic pots, adding gravel or styrofoam peanuts in the bottom of the pot prior to adding planting mix will also help.   Prior to planting your garden, you should till the soil well.   This will loosen the soil and break up any large clods.   The soil will be better able to drain this way than if it were left hard and compacted.     Rototilling in between the rows of an already established garden not only removes weeds, but also increases drainage and encourage...