In my last article on front yard landscaping I discussed laying out driveways and sidewalks as your starting point and how it could possibly help create the entire framework for your front yard design. So assuming that you’re to that point, we’ll move on to a few considerations of a major secondary element. Plants.

When choosing and setting out plants in the front yard or any landscaping for that matter, you need to consider more than just how things will look. You should also consider other factors such as sun or shade, duration of sun or shade, soil type, purpose, the elements, and what specific plants will require or do in the future. There are also a other considerations such as how close to plant to the home and its foundation.

When setting out plants in the front yard, place small shrubs and bushes 4 to 6 feet away from the home. If set closer than this, they could be deprived of sunlight or rain because of a wide overhang from the roof. They could also get fried from intense heat reflecting off of the wall. Placed away from the home in a wider staggered row rather than a narrow row, they also add a 3d effect to the landscape that makes the home seem more substantial.

Another consideration that most folks don’t think of is the long term effects of planting around the foundation of the home.

Keep in mind the space that plants and their roots will occupy at maturity. Roots are a powerful force that can find their way through rock. They also don’t seem to have much trouble with foundations.

Most plants, of course, require water. Watering, and especially flooding plants and beds around foundations creates a potential for a damaged foundation. This doesn’t always happen but it does happen. If you’re going to have plants close to the home, spot watering individual plants, a drip system, or even a low profile spray is safer than flooding the entire area.

Lime leach from concrete is a problem that I see quite often. It’s such a common problem because it takes a long time to show up. Over time, lime leaches out of the concrete into the soil causing the soil to become alkaline. If the ph of the soil gets too high, plants will start to look sick and yellow. Usually, keeping the beds tilled with a lot of organic matter will buffer and prevent this problem. Adding sulfur and organics to beds that are already affected will help turn the problem around.

The main thing to keep in mind when setting out landscaping plants, along with how they’ll look, is what they will do in the future. Whether it’s front yard landscaping, backyard landscaping, or any other part of your landscape, keeping these main points in mind could possibly save you a lot of frustration and money in the future.

Steve Boulden
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/ideas-for-front-yard-landscaping-foundation-planting-82818.html

Technorati Tags: 3d Effect, Beds, Concrete, Drip System, Driveways And Sidewalks, Duration, Foundations, Front Yard Landscaping, Intense Heat, Leach, Lime, Low Profile, Maturity, Overhang, plants, Roots, Shrubs And Bushes, Soil Type, Suc, Sunlight

Every spring, whether northern or southern hemisphere, many people begin to think about gardening. Some have been gardening every year since they were old enough to help in the family garden back of the house. Others have begun gardening only recently. Most have questions, though.

How to make an organic garden is a question that arises more frequently these days, as people become more concerned about health issues. They want to know that the produce they are eating is good for their health and safe for their families to eat. They want to begin an organic garden.

Many books have been written about how to make an organic garden, and we cannot compete with them in one article, but we offer here 7 basic steps for beginners.

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #1

Begin your organic garden by learning your plant hardiness zone. You will need to know your climate, and what organic produce will grow best there. If you live in the United States, you can access the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map on many gardening sites or seed websites. Planting directions on seed packets are based on the average last frost date. The last frost date for your area will be the last spring day when you might have a killing frost.

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #2

After you have determined your local climate, it is time to choose a location on your property for your organic garden. The area most convenient to your back door may not be the best for an organic garden. Look for a location that never has standing water. Your plants need good soil drainage. Check to see if the plants will be protected from the wind. Will your organic garden be close to water so you can easily care for it?

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #3

Next, you will need to test the soil for your organic garden. In the U.S., check online for your county or state Home/Agricultural Extension Service. They will guide you in taking soil samples from different areas of the location you chose for your organic garden. Be sure you label each sample of soil as to part of the garden, and send it to be analyzed. This analysis will help you know what to add to the soil for a great harvest. Remember, one of the basic things you will do in your organic garden is to feed the soil so the soil can feed the plants.

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #4

Order seeds, using information about your climate and soil. Be sure you order certified organic seed so that you can have an authentic organic garden. A good online seed supply source is Main Street Seed and Supply. You can buy as little as a teaspoon of seed for a small organic garden, or pounds of organic seed for farming. While ordering seeds, be sure to include onions, garlic, and marigold flowers. These plants can be a first line of defense in an organic garden’s pest control program.

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #5

While you wait for your seeds to arrive, you need to prepare the organic garden bed. If there is grass growing in the location, removed it first. Use a sharp, flat-edged spade to slice out the sod. Shake off as much soil as you can, and remove the grass from the area. Till the soil to a depth of about 12″, and work in organic fertilizer, checking your soil analysis to know what amendments are needed.

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #6

If you have organic seedlings to plant, water them well the day before you intend to plant them in the organic garden. The best time to set them in the garden is a still, overcast day. If you must plant on a sunny day, take care not to stress the plants more than necessary. Use the seedlings’ pots to determine how deeply to plant them.

If you are planting seeds in your organic garden, follow instructions that come with each type of seed.

How to Make an Organic Garden – Step #7

Apply organic mulch soon after planting. Mulch conserves water, cools soil, and keeps weeds at bay. If you use compost, chipped bark, shredded bark, shredded, shredded leaves, or straw, your mulch will also improve soil quality in your organic garden. Apply 2 to 4 inches of mulch, being careful not to get it too close to the plant stems. Mulch can rot the stems. It can also become a hideout for nibbling little garden mice.

Organic Garden Tip:

Label your plant rows and keep a record of your garden’s progress. Save seed information for everything in your organic garden. A garden journal, with photos throughout the gardening season, will help you know what you want to repeat or change in next year’s organic garden.

Anna Hart
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/how-to-make-an-organic-garden-134179.html

Technorati Tags: Agricultural Extension Service, Back Door, Climate, Garden Books, Good Soil, Health Issues, Killing Frost, Last Spring, Organic Garden, Organic Produce, Plant Hardiness Zone, Plant Hardiness Zone Map, plants, Seed Packets, Soil Drainage, Soil Samples, Southern Hemisphere, Spring Day, Usda Plant Hardiness Zone, Usda Plant Hardiness Zone Map

Organic Tomato Magic Review, A Look At How To Grow Delicious Organic Tomatoes

I can remember as a child, going out into the garden with a shaker of salt and eating fresh tomatoes straight off the vine as a treat. Those tomatoes had such a sweet taste and juicy texture, it was amazing. Sadly, the tomatoes we buy in stores today are a far cry from those wonderful fruits of years ago.

Part of the reason is the way the tomatoes are raised and fertilized. Yet, even the tomatoes from our own garden had lost that magical flavor that I remembered. Then, I discovered Organic Tomato Magic by Kacper M. Postawski. This Organic Tomato Magic review will look at some of the secrets lost between my childhood and the reading of this book that brought back the magical flavor of the tomato.

Mr. Postawski has taken the tomato growing secrets of his grandfather, a one armed farmer in Poland, who was able to grow enough tomatoes in two simple greenhouses to support his family, without all the chemicals and pesticides used on today’s tomato plants.

In those days, organically grown was the only type of produce available. Despite the way chemicals have increased yields, there are many ways in which they have damaged the quality of the foods we eat in ways that would frighten many people.

Using the secrets revealed in Organic Tomato Magic, it is possible to increase yields to the point that one would have to give tomatoes away in order to keep them from going bad. This will be an easy feat because the tomatoes will look, smell, and taste better than anything that comes out of a supermarket.

This book reveals how to properly prune tomato plant leaves, leaving only the ones necessary for the life of the plant, so that all the energy and nutrients going into the plant goes directly into the fruit. In addition, proper pruning of the plants will prevent most types of fungal infections that affect tomato plants and kill them off.

The knowledge made available also helps to prevent illnesses and damage that can result from pruning the plants improperly, just as important a consideration as not pruning them at all.

The current price of this book is only 19.95 USD. Following the advice outlined will result in savings of far more than this on one’s grocery bill and the quality of tomatoes will be so much higher than you are used to. In addition, you will likely be able to make back your investment and then some by selling the excess tomatoes that you are unable to use fast enough when your plants start producing.

If you’re  frustrated with plants dying from disease, waiting months and ending up with  bushes with sour red balls…, then visit http://yourrockgarden.com/joyfultomato to discover the most over-looked secret that grows you   organic tomatoes in half the time, with less effort, and doubles your harvest … without  losing your plants to disease, using steroids or damaging chemical additives, all with simple age-old gardening wisdom.

Technorati Tags: chemicals, energy, fertilize, food, fruit, fruits, garden, gardening, green, greenhouses, grow, growing tomatoes, harvest, house, market, nutrient, organic, organic tomato, organic tomatoes, pesticides, plant, plants, rock, tomato plant, tomato plants, types of fungal infections

My Grape Vine Review, A Look At A Step By Step Guide To Improving Grape Growing

Grape vines are some of the most sensitive food producing plants in the world. If they are not handled in exactly the proper manner, they will not produce the way they should at all. Pruning, trellising, and fertilizing are all important aspects of grape vine care.

This “My Grape Vine – The Art of Growing Grapes” review will look at some of the secrets revealed in this book about providing proper care for grapes no matter where you try to grow them.

The name of the book is The Complete Grape Growing System. It includes a 120 page fully illustrated book that covers all of the details of the grape vine and its parts as well as and mp3 formatted audio book that can be listened to anywhere.

Vital information included in this book includes choosing the best site for planting grapes and how to prepare the soil for the cuttings. It also includes information about how to handle the cuttings properly to ensure they are not damaged before they even get a chance. You can even learn how to create your own cuttings and create new vines for your vineyard.

It also shows, in pictures and descriptions written in layman’s terms, the proper way to construct a trellis or an arbor for your vines and how to train the vines to the trellis in as little as one year. The simple design shown even makes it easier to perform future pruning.

You will also learn why it is important to prune grape vines and how to do it in the proper manner. The book also includes information on how to manipulate the vines to make them more resistant to diseases and fungi that can decimate a grape crop. No chemical sprays are needed.

Following all of the steps in The Complete Grape Growing System will even make it possible to bring your vines into production in as little as two years, half the time most vines take to produce their first grapes.

As someone who has tried for many years to grow grapes with little to no success, I found the information in The Complete Grape Growing System to be easy to understand and useful for improving my vines and doubling the production of my vines.

This book is full of information that makes growing grape vines and harvesting large, sweet grapes look easy, even in areas where grapes do not normally want to grow. 

If you feel it’s time to stop leaving your grape growing success to chance and learn how to take care of your grape vine the correct way, visit http://yourrockgarden.com/grapegrowing today.

Technorati Tags: care, chemical sprays, design, food, garden, grape crop, grape growing, grape vine, grapes, grow, growing grape vines, growing grapes, harvest, plant, planting grapes, plants, rock, soil, trellising, vineyard, yard

In my Organic Tomato Magic review, you’ll how to properly prune tomato plant leaves, leaving only the ones necessary for the life of the plant, so that all the energy and nutrients going into the plant goes directly into the fruit. In addition, properly pruning your toamto plants will prevent most types of fungal infections that can affect and kill them off.

Click here to read my link:Organic Tomato Magic review.

Technorati Tags: chemicals, energy, fertilize, food, fruit, fruits, garden, gardening, green, grow, harvest, house, market, nutrient, organic, pesticides, plant, plants

In my My Grape Vine review, you’ll learn why this book makes growing grape vines and harvesting large, sweet grapes look easy, even in areas where grapes do not normally want to grow.

Click here to read my My Grape Vine review.

Technorati Tags: care, design, food, grow, harvest, plant, plants, soil, yard

Expert: Gale Gassiot
Bio: Gale Gassiot makes her own organic compost or “gardener’s black gold.”

Duration : 0:1:18

Technorati Tags: aerate, carbon, chemicals, compost, composting, fertilizer, flow, flowers, fruit, fruits, garden, gardening, heap, making, mix, mulch, nitrogen, organic, pesticides, pile, plant, plants, recipe, soil, turn, vegetables

Expert: Gale Gassiot
Bio: Gale Gassiot makes her own organic compost or “gardener’s black gold.”

Duration : 0:1:22

Technorati Tags: design, flowers, garden, gardening, grass, landscaping, mosaic, outdoor, pathway, plants, stepping, stones, trees, walkway, yard