Rose Gardening

Roses have gotten a bad wrap over the years for being difficult to grow and maintain.  If you are thinking of rose gardening don’t let this rumor stop you.  While rose gardening can prove to be challenging, once you get the hang of it, it really isn’t that bad.

When you first start rose gardening, you will have to choose what type of rose you wish to plant, and no, I’m not talking about the color.  You will have to choose between bare-root, pre-packaged, and container-grown roses.  Bare-root roses are sold in the winter and early spring.  They should be planted as soon as frosts are over and the ground is warm and workable.  Pre-packaged roses are bare-root plants that are sold in a bad or box with something around the roots to retain moisture, such as sawdust.  Container-grown roses are grown; you guessed it, in containers.  They will be either budding or already in bloom when they become available in the early spring.

Planting in rose gardening is not that much different than any other type of plant.  The most important thing, as always, is good, healthy soil and a prime planting area.  It doesn’t matter whether your roses are bare-root or container-grown, the planting methods are the same as any other shrub.  Make sure the spot you choose has good drainage, gets plenty of sunlight, and will not overcrowd your roses.  Before planting, any dead leaves and thin or decayed shoots need to be cut off.  Any damaged or very long roots also need to be trimmed.  Soak bare-root roses in water about 10-12 hours to restore moisture in the roots before planting and water the soil before planting as well.  Make sure the hole you have dug is large enough for the root growth of the rose.  Also it is a good idea to use compost or mulch.  After all, roses like extra nutrients just like any other plant.

Roses need the same things as other plants; they are just a bit needier.  One of the most important things to remember in rose gardening is that roses are heavy feeders and will need several fertilizer applications.  Fertilizing should be started in early spring and discontinued in early fall.  Make sure not to over-fertilize (fertilize should come with instructions) and water after each feeding.  Roses require large amounts of water; a thorough watering twice a week should be enough.

Pruning is an essential part to flower gardening.  It increases blooms and encourages healthy plant growth.  Different varieties of roses have different instructions for pruning, so you might want to read up on your rose types and see what is suggested.

The main thing to remember in rose gardening is to water, water, and water some more.  One other thing about rose gardening is the amount of fertilizer and nutrients you will need to use, and the pruning that needs to be done to keep your roses under control and healthy.  Even though rose gardening takes a little more time and roses are more work, they are one of the most unique and beautiful plants, and definitely worth the extra work.

Gardening Tips to Avoid Fungus during Summer

June 19, 2008 by bercleg · Leave a Comment
Filed under: fire blight, fungus, gardening tips, plants, watering 

Most of us are ready to invest huge amount for landscaping and gardening to give face lift for our home. But we failed to prune when the plants needed it, and then your highly invested landscape looks terrible than ever. So this is a high time to know about the gardening tips for better maintenance of your lawn. Do follow the following gardening tips for better life of your garden: -

Gardening tips for pruning
As we discussed in the introduction, pruning plays an important role in the garden maintenance. If you commit any mistake while pruning, don’t lose your heart because it’s like a bad haircut, it is going to grow again.

Avoid watering in the evening
During summer, you may experience high humidity, which might result in lot of problems in your garden. To get your plants nice and dry, tuck them in for night. In addition to this watering in the evening may be avoided to prevent damage to the plants.

Get rid of Powdery mildew
Powdery mildew is the common fungus mostly affects your ornamental plants. This will create white film on the leaves of the plants in your garden. Even other ornamental plants such as Sand cherry and Dogwoods are also getting affected with this fungus. Efficient gardening is necessary to curtail the growth of this fungus. You can easily prevent this by spraying general fungicide in the garden centre.

Prevention of Pythium Blight
If you’re in the north and also having perennial Rye grass, then you ought to be very careful not to leave your grass wet at night. A dreadful fungus called Pythium Blight may take its upper hand, if you leave your lawn wet in the night because this fungus love to grow in high humid condition mostly, in the night.

Pythium blight can easily be seen in the early morning. You can easily appreciate the fungus on the top of the lawn as white cotton candy. You can easily notice this fungus mainly along driveways and walks, where the soil is moist. Pythium blight can easily be controlled by watering in the day at the earliest possible time.

Fire Blight
Fire Blight, yet another culprit prefers to grow well during summer than any other season. This fungus prefers to attack Pyracantha, cotoneasters, crabapple trees, and Apple trees. The presence of Fire Blight can easily be visualized once the any one of the branches of the plant turns red and dies. This Fire Blight can be prevented little by pruning the affected branch and removing it from the main plant as far as possible.

It is also important that the cut branches should be burnt since Fire Blight is contagious and also wash or dip the projected shears by using alcohol in order to prevent the spread of the deadly fungus to other parts of the branch.

Shotgun fungus
A little gem like fungus, which prefers to grow in mulch and tends to swell, has been termed as “Short gun Fungus”. This fungus can fly up to 8 feet in the air and will spatter your house with tiny brown specks and once they stick to your house or windows, they stick like glue. Most of us suspect the spiders and aliens for this tiny brown speck. You can’t prevent this fungus, but can do something by keeping the mulch loose so air can circulate inside to keep this fungus out. Although mulch is great, don’t allow them to get packed, try to remove it at least once in a year and also rake it flat as if it will look like you’ve just mulched.

Identification of Good Quality Gardening Supplies

Congratulations! At last you have decided to have a nice garden for your biggest house. Now the big question is how to choose gardening supplies, which are useful for your garden at nominal price but with good quality. Identifying proper gardening supplies is an important thing for a garden lover like you.

Do you know gardening is an art, which requires tender care and deep passion for growing plants? But the part of the art knows how to choose gardening supplies. Just like that of pet care, you pat them on the head, you take them for walks and you talk to them. Your plant also requires same care from you. You should clearly know how to choose gardening supplies- the gardening trade tools.

As you care your plants, you can visually see how they grow? It can be both fulfilling and gratifying and also teach how to choose gardening supplies is a step towards that goal. You should also know that different kinds of garden require different kinds of garden supplies.

In general most of the garden supplies are available in packages, which deals with a particular type of garden. Hence the first and foremost tip on how to select your garden supplies depends mainly on the type of garden you own or envisioned. Some garden requires specialized watering system and not a water sprinkler, and some garden may require held shovel instead of ditch digger. It is also advisable that you don’t spend more money on the garden supplies.

In case if you are going to make a nice garden, you can contact the nearby garden supply store and may ask them to stock your requirement or in some instances gardening supplies can be made by yourself.  But it is necessary to know how to choose your required gardening supplies won’t pinch out much from your budget.

Another important indispensable matter to consider is knowing the garden supply stores that can accommodate your type of garden. There are multi various garden supply stores, which are specialized in rooftop gardens, indoor gardens, and all the other kinds of gardens. Even you can easily identify the garden supplies stores, which offer alternative garden supplies such as ergonomic garden tools, pest control methods, and organic fertilizers.

If you find no time to visit mortar and stone shops of shopping malls to get your required garden supplies, you can browse and get your preferred garden supplies through online. Online shopping helps a lot to the gardeners by the way of comparing the prices of an individual garden supplies for better tools. In addition to this, online shopping helps to order your garden supplies without leaving your homes, and also get to know the latest trends in gardening supplies. It is noted that some online shops offer discounts for your supply of garden supplies in their shops. So go visit the online garden supplies to get a product at nominal price with esteemed quality.

Gardening Products

June 12, 2008 by bercleg · Leave a Comment
Filed under: fertilize, gardening, grow, herbs, planting, seed, vegetables 

Because gardening has evolved into such a popular activity, gardening products are not hard to come by.  You can buy gardening products in various stores or nurseries, or you can order gardening products from catalogues, or even order them online.  Gardening products can range from equipment too fertilize to the actual plant itself.

You will obviously need the basic gardening products no matter what you are planting, such as a hoe, spade, and maybe even a shovel.  You must have watering supplies, like a water hose and perhaps a sprinkler.  Other possibilities include a spade, a pot (if you are pot planting), and a pair of gloves for comfort, some secuturs, or a rake.  When first starting a garden you will definitely want some type of mulch or potting soil to get your dirt ready.  There are a few types of potting soil to choose from, including organic potting mix, seed starting potting mix, cactus potting mix, and root development potting mix, just to name a few.

Once you have your garden planted, you must have gardening products so that you can add nutrients to the soil to ensure a healthy plant life.  Miracle-Gro is one of the most popular growing enhancements for plants.  There are many different types of Miracle-Gro to choose from and what kind you choose will depend on what you are trying to grow.  You will also want to add fertilize, such as 10-20-10 or triple 13, depending on the needs of your soil.

If you are growing vegetables or herbs, you may need different gardening products than regular flower gardens require.  If you are growing tomatoes you will need a tomato cage and ties to protect the plants against the wind.  Many plants, mostly vines, are designed to grow on something and you will have to have a fence or trellis of some sort.

Gardening products are not limited to just the gardening necessities; they can also come in the form of decoration.  There are decorative flower pots, sundials, plastic figurines, stones or bricks for a pathway or looks, and even lawn furniture.  Decoration will add to the charm and uniqueness of your garden and are an excellent way to give it a personal touch.

The winter months will bring a whole new set of gardening products to store shelves.  When the frost hits the prime place to put your plants are in a greenhouse.  However, if you do not have a greenhouse for whatever reason, a tarp of some sorts can be used to cover plants up at night.  You also might need a light source, like a heat lamp, to both keep plants warm and give them extra light.

New and upgraded gardening products are always popping up on the market.  It seems like every day there is some gardening product that claims to be bigger and better than the last.  While many gardening products are not a necessity, they sure make the job a lot easier and more enjoyable.

Gardening Advice

Garden advice is not that hard to come by.  In fact, you can get gardening advice from another gardener, in a gardening catalogue, gardening books, gardening magazines, and even on the Internet.  Although you will have variations with every plant, there is some gardening advice that is universal and that goes for any plant.

For example, the gardening advice given for planting is pretty much uniform.  You must place plants where they will have room to grow so they don’t overcrowd each other.  Good air flow is a plus, and plants must be in a position where they will receive adequate amounts of sunlight.  Advice will always tell you to add some type of nutrients to the soil to lead to better plant growth, such as mulch or compost.

Gardening advice on watering plants is a little more varied, because every type of plant needs different amounts of water.  For example, you wouldn’t want to water a cactus near as much as you water a tomato plant.  How much you water will obviously also depend on where you live, the climate, and how much rain your area receives.

Gardening advice from nearly every source will tell you that your plants not only need fertilize when you first plant them, they will also needed to be fertilized throughout their growing season.  What type of fertilize used will depend on the soil content and pH balance, but fertilize will definitely be needed on most all plants.  Compost can be used instead and it is easy to find advice on how to make a compost pile as well as when fertilize and compost needs to be used.

Gardening advice on weeds, insects, disease, and how to get rid of them is probably the most sought after advice in all of gardening. These pests invade all gardens and if you don’t get rid of them, they will take over and ruin your garden.  There are many different chemicals and pesticides that can be used, and gardening advice will usually clue gardeners in on which chemicals are better, which are harmful, and which ones are easier to administer.

Gardening is not an easy task; you have to fight against many outside forces, such as weather, insects, disease, and weeds.  Even the most seasoned of gardeners will seek out gardening advice once in a while.  Who wouldn’t when there are so many forces that could take a garden out?  There is a lot of general gardening advice on the market that goes for any plant, but if you look a little harder you will find specific advice for that one plant that is the only one giving you trouble.  Gardening advice is relatively easy to find, and while you may come across the occasional bad apple, most of it is relatively sound and will help with any gardening question.