5+ Vertical Vegetable Garden Ideas

: finecraftguild.com

Vertical gardening has many advantages. If you have a small garden you can make the most of the space you have. In any garden, a vertical garden requires less bending and stooping. In this article, the Craft Guild shares some creative vertical gardening methods. I counted 7 different vertical gardening ideas.

Here’s one example. You can make a vertical vegetable gardening trellis out of wood. It works for climbing roses, veggies or gourds.

Click on the 5+ Vertical Vegetable Garden Ideas link below to see all of the vertical garden ideas.

5+ Vertical Vegetable Garden Ideas

[Read more…]

How to Read a Seed Packet

: blackfoxhomestead.com

This Is a really helpful article for beginners in gardening. Jenny decided to explain all of the things that you normally find on a seed packet.

She explains the following:

Seed Depth or Planting Depth
Row Spacing and Plant Spacing
Days in Germination
Germination Temperature
Packaging Date
And More

She also includes some valuable additional tips and information that’s normally included on the packet.

How to Read a Seed Packet

How to Make a DIY Garden Swing

livedan330.com

Garden swings are fun for both kids and adults. Dan of the Live Dan330 website has collected a variety of different garden swings. Most are easy and can be done as a weekend DIY project. Some of the garden swings include detailed tutorials.

If you decide to make a wooden pallet swing (which looks awesome!), please read this article about How to Tell if a Wooden Pallet is Safe for Reuse. http://diyhomesweethome.com/how-to-tell-if-a-wooden-pallet-is-safe-for-reuse/

Click on the How to Make a DIY Garden Swing link below to check out this interesting article.

How to Make a DIY Garden Swing

Garden Microclimates – What You Need to Know to Improve Your Garden

theherbgardener.blogspot.com

Most gardeners have plotted the sun flow in their gardens either manually or with a sun calculator. In addition to that, a gardener also knows the windy portions of the garden, where the soil is dry or where it’s overly wet. The fact is there are often microclimates in any garden.

In this article, the Herb Gardener explains hardiness zones and what they really tell us. He then shares a lot of suggestions that will help to identify the microclimates in your garden. Once you have a clear idea of your garden, you may find you have areas of your garden where you can grow plants you never considered before.

Click on the Garden Microclimates – What You Need to Know to Improve Your Garden link below to read this very useful article.

Garden Microclimates – What You Need to Know to Improve Your Garden

Butterfly Garden Flowers & Plants by Region

: www.wayfair.com

Butterfly gardening is the practice of planting flowers and plants that attract butterflies to a garden. The butterflies are pretty, fun to watch and fun to photograph. Some people also try to attract butterflies that are rare or threatened and try to help them to multiply and survive.

Jessica of the Wayfair site sent me a link to their wonderful website. It’s a map of the United States. Click on your region and you’ll see pictures of all of the butterflies native to your region. For each butterfly, you’ll find the name, the nectar plants it likes and the host plants it looks for to lay eggs.

There is also a link on their guide to starting a butterfly garden. It’s a WONDERFUL resource for the gardener or butterfly enthusiast. Click on the Butterfly Garden Flowers & Plants by Region link below to read the article.

Butterfly Garden Flowers & Plants by Region

How to Make DIY Paper Seedling Pots

: theprairiehomestead.com

Do you want to some easy-to-make pots for starting seeds this spring? Well Jill has a great solution.

In this article, she shares a tutorial for DIY paper seedling pots. They are both frugal and a snap to make. She provides step-by-step directions that include photographs.

Click on the How to Make a DIY Paper Seedling Pots link below to see the complete tutorial.

How to Make DIY Paper Seedling Pots

Container Gardening: The Best 16 Plants for Your Home Garden

: livedan330.com

Container gardening is a fun way to grow plants. However, some plants are easier to grow in containers.

Dan has collected the best 16 plants for a home container garden. He describes each plant and includes helpful links and some great recipes. For example, basil is on his go-to list of best plants. He also includes a recipe for homemade pesto and s SuperGREEN salad. Very nice article.

Click on the Container Gardening: The Best 16 Plants for Your Home Garden link below.

Container Gardening: The Best 16 Plants for Your Home Garden

3 Different Types of Soil and Natural Fixes for Soil Problems

: diynatural.com

Do you know how to resolve soil problems in your garden? If not, this article will help you.

Debra first describes the three main types of soil. She also includes a fourth option you can use in certain gardens. One type of soil is optimal and doesn’t need any fixes. For the other soil types, Debra explains what you can add to the soil to improve it. She discusses compost, mulch, cover crops, and biochar.

There are also some inexpensive tools that will help you to easily analyze the composition of your soil. The Luster Leaf 1601 Rapitest Soil Test Kit is a very good product.

To read Debra’s article, click on the Types of Soil and Natural Fixes for Soil Problems link below.

3 Different Types of Soil and Natural Fixes for Soil Problems

Vegetable Gardening 101: 5 Gardening Basics for Beginners

: Vegetable Gardening 101: 5 Gardening Basics for Beginners

Whether you’re container gardening, raised bed gardening or gardening in a small or larger plot of land, this article will help you. Nicole discusses the 5 basics of gardening in detail:

Soil

In addition to tilling, Nicole discusses soil analysis and things you can do to improve your soil. There are a lot of tools available that will help you to test your garden soil. This is the #1 soil PH tester on Amazon: Oakton EcoTestr pH 2 Waterproof pH Tester I also like the Luster Leaf Rapitest Soil Tester 1609CS It includes 10 total soil tests – 4 tests for pH levels, 2 tests for Nitrogen, 2 tests for Phosphorus, 2 tests for Potash Carded.

Water

Nicole discusses when and how much to water your garden. In my experience overwatering kills more plants than anything else. Long ago, I got a soil moisture meter that I use on houseplants, my container garden and my outdoor garden. You can buy an expensive one if you like. But I use this model. It’s reasonably priced and it works. Luster Leaf 1820 Rapitest Soil Moisture Meter

Sun

Nicole provides a nice list of vegetables that grow well in partial shade (4-6 hours of sun a day) and Full Sun (6+) hours a day.

Again, I like to take the guesswork out of gardening. There are reasonably priced sun meters like the Luster Leaf 1875 Rapitest Suncalc Sunlight Calculator (my favorite) or the SunCalc – Bonsai Tree Sunlight Calculator from BonsaiOutlet that will tell you if your proposed garden site (container garden or in-ground) gets full sun, partial sun, full shade or partial shade). Then you just plant the appropriate vegetables.

Care

If you garden then you know you’ll get weeds. But Nicole has some tips on what you can do to minimize weeding. She also discusses when to fertilize and which fertilizers you can use.

Time

It’s important to know when to plant your veggies. There are cool weather veggies (spring and fall) and there are warm weather veggies (summer). She includes some helpful links to help you here.

Click on the Vegetable Gardening 101: 5 Gardening Basics for Beginners link below to read a fantastic article.

Vegetable Gardening 101: 5 Gardening Basics for Beginners

How to Start Planting, Sow Seeds and Maximize Garden Space

: commonsensehome.com

Dan features an article by Amy Pennington who has extensive gardening experience. Amy discusses two different ways to sow seeds, transplanting techniques and Intensive Gardening.

Intensive Gardening is the practice of producing and harvesting as much as you possibly can in a given space (vertical gardening, intercropping, succession planting, and crop rotation.) It’s a really interesting article.

Click on the How to Start Planting, Sow Seeds, and Maximize Garden Space link below to see the entire article.

How to Start Planting, Sow Seeds, and Maximize Garden Space

« Previous Page