Preparing Healthy Soil

If you’re getting ready to go on a new garden venture, you need to prepare

your soil to ideally house your plants. The best thing you can do in the

soil preparation process is to reach the perfect mixture of sand, silt,

and clay. Preferably there would be 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt, and

20 percent clay. There are several tests used by experienced gardeners to

tell whether the soil has a good composition. First you can compress it in

your hand. If it doesn’t hold its shape and crumbles without any outside

force, your sand ratio is probably a little high. If you poke the

compressed ball with your finger and it doesn’t fall apart easily, your

soil contains too much clay.

If you’re still not sure about the content of your soil, you can separate

each ingredient by using this simple method. Put a cup or two of dirt into

a jar of water. Shake the water up until the soil is suspended, then let

it set until you see it separate into 3 separate layers. The top layer is

clay, the next is silt, and on the bottom is sand. You should be able to

judge the presence of each component within your dirt, and act accordingly.

After you’ve analyzed the content of your soil, if you decide that it is

low on a certain ingredient then you should definitely do something to fix

it. If dealing with too much silt or sand, it’s best to add some peat moss

or compost. If you’ve got too much clay, add a mixture of peat moss and

sand. The peat moss, when moistens, helps for the new ingredient to

infiltrate the mixture better. If you can’t seem to manage to attain a

proper mixture, just head down to your local gardening store. You should

be able to find some kind of product to aid you.

The water content of the soil is another important thing to consider when

preparing for your garden. If your garden is at the bottom of an incline,

it is most likely going to absorb too much water and drown out the plants.

If this is the case, you should probably elevate your garden a few inches

(4 or 5) over the rest of the ground. This will allow for more drainage

and less saturation.

Adding nutrients to your soil is also a vital part of the process, as most

urban soils have little to no nutrients already in them naturally. One to

two weeks prior to planting, you should add a good amount of fertilizer to

your garden. Mix it in really well and let it sit for a while. Once you

have done this, your soil will be completely ready for whatever seeds you

may plant in it.

Once your seeds are planted, you still want to pay attention to the soil.

The first few weeks, the seeds are desperately using up all the nutrients

around them to sprout into a real plant. If they run out of food, how are

they supposed to grow? About a week after planting, you should add the

same amount of fertilizer that you added before. After this you should

continue to use fertilizer, but not as often. If you add a tiny bit every

couple of weeks, that should be plenty to keep your garden thriving.

Basically, the entire process of soil care can be compressed into just

several steps… ensure the makeup of the soil is satisfactory, make sure

you have proper drainage in your garden, add fertilizer before and after

planting, then add fertilizer regularly after that. Follow these simple

steps, and you’ll have a plethora of healthy plants in no time. And if you

need any more details on an individual step, just go to your local nursery

and enquire there. Most of the employees will be more than happy to give

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REQUISITES OF THE HOME VEGETABLE GARDEN.

In deciding upon the site for the home vegetable garden it is well to dispose once and for all of the old idea that the garden "patch" must be an ugly spot in the home surroundings. If thoughtfully planned, carefully planted and thoroughly cared for, it may be made a beautiful and harmonious feature of the general scheme, lending a touch of comfortable homeliness that no shrubs, borders, or beds can ever produce.

With this fact in mind we will not feel restricted to any part of the premises merely because it is out of sight behind the barn or garage. In the average moderate-sized place there will not be much choice as to land. It will be necessary to take what is to be had and then do the very best that can be done with it. But there will probably be a good deal of choice as to, first, exposure, and second, convenience. Other things being equal, select a spot near at hand, easy of access. It may seem that a difference of only a few hundred yards will mean nothing, but if one is depending largely upon spare moments for working in and for watching the garden and in the growing of many vegetables the latter is almost as important as the former this matter of convenient access will be of much greater importance than is likely to be at first recognized. Not until you have had to make a dozen time-wasting trips for forgotten seeds or tools, or gotten your feet soaking wet by going out through the dew-drenched grass, will you realize fully what this may mean.

Exposure.

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But the thing of first importance to consider in picking out the spot that is to yield you happiness and delicious vegetables all summer, or even for many years, is the exposure. Pick out the "earliest" spot you can find a plot sloping a little to the south or east, that seems to catch sunshine early and hold it late, and that seems to be out of the direct path of the chilling north and northeast winds. If a building, or even an old fence, protects it from this direction, your garden will be helped along wonderfully, for an early start is a great big factor toward success. If it is not already protected, a board fence, or a hedge of some low-growing shrubs or young evergreens, will add very greatly to its usefulness. The importance of having such a protection or shelter is altogether underestimated by the amateur.

The soil.

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The chances are that you will not find a spot of ideal garden soil ready for use anywhere upon your place. But all except the very worst of soils can be brought up to a very high degree of productiveness especially such small areas as home vegetable gardens require. Large tracts of soil that are almost pure sand, and others so heavy and mucky that for centuries they lay uncultivated, have frequently been brought, in the course of only a few years, to where they yield annually tremendous crops on a commercial basis. So do not be discouraged about your soil. Proper treatment of it is much more important, and a garden- patch of average run-down, or "never-brought-up" soil will produce much more for the energetic and careful gardener than the richest spot will grow under average methods of cultivation.

The ideal garden soil is a "rich, sandy loam." And the fact cannot be overemphasized that such soils usually are made, not found. Let us analyze that description a bit, for right here we come to the first of the four all-important factors of gardening food. The others are cultivation, moisture and temperature. "Rich" in the gardener's vocabulary means full of plant food; more than that and this is a point of vital importance it means full of plant food ready to be used at once, all prepared and spread out on the garden table, or rather in it, where growing things can at once make use of it; or what we term, in one word, "available" plant food. Practically no soils in long- inhabited communities remain naturally rich enough to produce big crops. They are made rich, or kept rich, in two ways; first, by cultivation, which helps to change the raw plant food stored in the soil into available forms; and second, by manuring or adding plant food to the soil from outside sources.

"Sandy" in the sense here used, means a soil containing enough particles of sand so that water will pass through it without leaving it pasty and sticky a few days after a rain; "light" enough, as it is called, so that a handful, under ordinary conditions, will crumble and fall apart readily after being pressed in the hand. It is not necessary that the soil be sandy in appearance, but it should be friable.

"Loam: a rich, friable soil," says Webster. That hardly covers it, but it does describe it. It is soil in which the sand and clay are in proper proportions, so that neither greatly predominate, and usually dark in color, from cultivation and enrichment. Such a soil, even to the untrained eye, just naturally looks as if it would grow things. It is remarkable how quickly the whole physical appearance of a piece of well cultivated ground will change. An instance came under my notice last fall in one of my fields, where a strip containing an acre had been two years in onions, and a little piece jutting off from the middle of this had been prepared for them just one season. The rest had not received any extra manuring or cultivation. When the field was plowed up in the fall, all three sections were as distinctly noticeable as though separated by a fence. And I know that next spring's crop of rye, before it is plowed under, will show the lines of demarcation just as plainly.

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Garden Designers Roundtable: Restoration & Renovation: The Tale of an Unfolding Project

How about a true tale of garden discovery and restoration and renovation to contribute to this day of Garden Designers Round-table postings.   This story is still unfolding.

It started one day when a Yoga teacher friend called a Garden Designer friend; come with me and see a labyrinth that a mutual Artist friend made at a museum.  It might need some work – “I’d like to start using it for my students”.

A twist in the conversation… “do you have an hour you can spare?”…”supposedly, the woman who started this place used to have a meditation garden”…There was a statue of a goddess in it…Guan Yin… no one knows where it was or is now, but we have a picture….lets go for a hike and see if we can find something….

Vistas discovered, garden plants (lilacs, daylilies, clematis, irises, peonies, and other remnants), oddly in the middle of the woods.  And then there are the byzantine columns buried deep in the overgrown shrubbery.

Who is this woman and why did she do all of this?  What are the links that connect?  Transcendentalism, Shakers, Native Americans, Early Yogi’s in America, The Eye of Isis, Black Magic and White Magic, Occultism, Rosicrucians, a garden, a healing place, and a Boston Brahman woman in the early 20th century.

And then there is the modern day research…Love tunnels and affairs, flowers named for mistresses, witches in the garden, a curse, deception and lies, and the serendipitous and purposeful unfolding of clues to the story that seems orchestrated by an incommunicable source.

Where is this going and how is the story going to end?  I can’t wait to find out, each day is a new adventure….

I have been looking forward to this post for a while…

The search for the goddess continues. Sometimes life is stranger than fiction.  And all in the name of garden restoration….does this sound like a trailer for a movie or a best selling novel?….well, actually, maybe it might be….

Other posts from the Roundtable can be read through the links below.

Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA

Carolyn Gail Choi : Sweet Home and Garden Chicago : Chicago, IL

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

View the original article here

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Getting Started in Container Gardening

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances,

such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an

apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t

really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this

problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just

arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or

pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer.

A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move

them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you

think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no

trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the

same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of

the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate

any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where

you place it.

If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of

containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different

heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports.

Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This

is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a

very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space.

If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve

space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step

ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a

beautiful, stylish cascade of color.

The maintenance of container plants takes slightly more time, since you

have to water more often and go around to each individual container.

However, the square footage for container plants is much less than that of

an actual garden, so the time spent on maintenance and watering is more

balanced. It is important that you don’t over-water your container plants,

as this can be just as fatal to their health as under-watering.

When choosing containers for your plants, you’ll want to buy them all at

once along with some extras in case they break or you add more plants

later. You don’t want them to be all the same shape and size, but

definitely the same style so that the compliment each other. Plastic

containers are the best and require the least amount of watering, but if

you want to stick with clay or earthen pots then you should line the

inside with plastic. This helps it retain water more, as the clay will

soak up water.

Another thing to remember when buying pots is the fact that the size of

the pot will ultimately constrict the size of the plant. Make a careful

choice of pots according to what you wish to grow in each one. If you

search for the plant you chose on the internet, you should be able to find

specifications as to how much root space it should be given. This can even

be an advantage for you if you choose a plant that can grow very large. If

you only have a limited amount of space for it, you can constrict it by

choosing a pot that isn’t large enough to support huge amounts of growth.

If the benefits of container gardening sound appealing to you, then you

should start planning out your container garden today. If you write a list

of all the plants you desire to have, you can do the necessary research to

find out what size and shape of pots you should get. After that, it’s just

a matter of arranging them in a way that makes your home look the nicest.

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Growing Your Own Herbs

If you’re not the type of person that wants to spend their time managing

an elaborate fruit or vegetable garden, you might consider planting and

maintaining an herb garden. While the product might not seem as

significant, you’ll still enjoy the constant availability of fresh,

delicious herbs to flavor your meals with.

First you’ll want to choose the herbs that you’ll plant. You might have a

hard time doing this because of the huge scope of herbs available. But the

best way to choose is to do what I did; just look at what you have in your

kitchen. By planting your own collection of these herbs, you can save

money on buying them from the grocery store while having the added benefit

of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with include rosemary,

sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and parsley among others.

When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you should remember that

the soil should have extremely good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and

stays completely saturated, you have no chance of ever growing a healthy

plant. One of the best ways to fix the drainage problem is to dig a foot

deep in the soil, and put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing

all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape, thus saving your

plants.

When you are ready to begin planting herbs, you might be tempted to buy

the more expensive plants from the store. However, with herbs it is much

easier to grow them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore you

can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed packets. Some herbs grow

at a dangerously fast rate. For example, if you plant a mint plant in an

open space then it will take over your entire garden in a matter of days.

The best way to prevent this problem is to plant the more aggressive

plants in pots (with holes in the bottom to allow drainage, of course).

When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have labored so hard over, it

can be fatal to your plant to take off too much. If your plant isn’t well

established, it isn’t healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks

like its not using them. You should wait until your plant has been well

established for at least several months before taking off any leaves. This

wait will definitely be worth it, because by growing unabated your plant

will produce healthily for years to come.

Once you’ve harvested your delicious home grown herbs, you’ll want to use

them in cooking. Why else would you have grown them? Well first the

process begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by placing

them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170 degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4

hours. After they’re sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can

consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using them to effectively

flavor a dish.

If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you should keep them in a

plastic or glass container. Paper or cardboard will not work, because it

will absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days of storage,

you should regularly check the container and see if any moisture has

accumulated. If it has, you must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If

moisture is left from the first drying process, it will encourage mildew

while you store your herbs. Nobody likes mildew.

So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you should probably

consider setting up an herb garden. It might require a little bit of work

at first to set it up for optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want

to grow. But after the initial hassle, it’s just a matter of harvesting

and drying all your favorite herbs.

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