Learning The Tricks Of The Horticulture Trade

If you dream of having green, beautiful, and healthy plants in your very own garden, there are lots of things you should probably think about in order to achieve that goal. There is much fun and much work involved in horticulture. The following article will provide you with advice to make horticulture entertaining.

Make sure that your sod is laid properly. Before you use sod, you need to prepare the soil. Pull out any weeds and break up the soil. Flatten the soil back into place, gently but firmly. Now make sure the soil is thoroughly dampened. Sod must be arranged in staggered rows; each joint should offset one another. Make sure the sod is firmly placed to ensure a surface that is sufficiently flat and even. Also, make sure to use soil to fill the areas where there are gaps in the sod. The sod requires water on a daily basis for two weeks, then the roots will have taken hold and ready to be walked on.

It is important that you give your plants the chance to gradually adjust to the change in temperature and conditions, or you risk shocking them. On the first day, place them in the sun outside for only an hour or so. Slowly, day after day, you can leave your plants outside for a little longer. After a week’s time, the plants should be fine staying outside.

If you want flowers in spring and summer, plant bulbs in the garden. Bulbs will grow every year and are easier to take care of than seeds. Various bulbs do not all bloom at the same time, and if you employ this knowledge wisely, your garden can provide freshly blooming flowers for half the year.

Grow some wheat grass or catnip for your cat to eat instead. You can also put something on top of the soil around the plants that has an offensive smell to cats, such as mothballs or citrus peel.

If your soil is highly alkaline, try mixing used coffee grounds into the soil. Basically, the grounds resupply the soil with acid. This is one of the most inexpensive ways to achieve this result. This solution will make the vegetables you grow healthier and more flavorful.

Fresh mint is a wonderful addition to a herb garden, but it can quickly take over your entire yard. You can slow their growth rate by planting them in a garden container or large pot instead. By using a separate containment unit, you are limiting the plant’s ability to spread its roots and subsequently grow like wildfire. You can even plant the entire pot so that it still looks just like another plant in your garden.

When gardening, try not to use broad-spectrum pesticides. It’s true these pesticides kill the pests you don’t want, but they also lay waste to the advantageous insects that make those same pests a regular meal. Beneficial insects are more susceptible to toxic pesticides than their annoying counterparts, so a broad-spectrum pesticide could kill all of the good bugs first, allowing the population of bad pests to multiply. This may then lead to using even more pesticides to eliminate this new problem.