As the dull dreary winter fades away giving place to bright and cheery summers, it is time to sit back in your courtyard and enjoy the bright sunshine. The backyards can be an ideal place for quite many recreational activities such as picnics, and other outdoor sports. If the space and other conditions permit, you can also evolve it into a lovely blooming garden with myriad variety of flowers, greenery and shrubs.It could easily pass out as a Creative Backyard Project.

Gardening is not an activity for the lazy, who shirk hard work, or are too busy to devote time to it. It demands hard labour and your valuable time. However the benefits of gardening far outweigh the labor and time devoted to it. I would certainly advise you to test your bent of mind, whether or not, you are fit to take up this exhausting but reinvigorating activity. Whether you would enjoy it or consider it to be a dreaded chore.

You can plan your garden in the manner you want. You can test and adopt your creative skills while designing it. It can be your dream come true. It can be an orchard bearing a single type of fruit, or else you can plant all sorts of flowers, vegetables and shrubs in it.

The benefits of having a garden in your backyard are many. The beautiful flowers and the greenery will soothe your tensed out nerves when you return home from a tiring day and sit back to relax. The fresh fruit and vegetables plucked directly from the garden are far more healthier than the artificially ripened ones available in the market. The fresh beets, carrots and tomatoes can be an ideal accompaniment as a salad on your dining table. If you please, you can create a herbal garden, and cultivate some medicinal herbs to cure your common ailments.

Gardening is perhaps the best way of relaxing. Although it involves a lot of physical hard labor, yet it is not considered to be work. Hardcore hobbyists and gardeners consider it to be a good way to relax, be nearer to nature and closer to God. They find it akin to meditation. Seeing your own creation growing and blooming in front of you will elate you to the highest levels and boost your morale.

Children especially love gardening. You can involve them too along with you in the garden. You could allocate a separate bed for them and give them their own tools. They could sow their own plants in that bed, and nurture them. They would love to grow colorful flowers. If they are a fussy lot, they would not be able to deny eating their own home grown fresh vegetables. A lot of gardening paraphernalia especially suited to the children is available in the market and online. Gardening could inculcate a sense of responsibility in them and boost their self ego.

The gardening accessories available in the market are not at all expensive, and can be easily afforded by anyone on a very small budget. It would not be a bad idea to purchase separate accessories for yourself and your children. Most of the retail stores in your neighborhood could offer you these items at a very affordable price. The very basic tools you would be requiring are Weeding Forks, Knee Pads, Shovels and Hoes.

You will find gardening as an ideal activity and vehicle to spend your leisure time, when you notice it’s improving the overall appearance of your surroundings, growing your own food. Especially, you can manage to find the accessories and seeds at an affordable price.

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Most landscape designers utilize similar design methods and tools; prior to the computer age architects designed on paper then to blueprints. Technology revolutionized every area of design including landscape designers making it possible for any amateur to make a professional design with 3D landscape design freeware. There are free and paid options for 3D landscape design software making hi-tech landscape design available to anyone with a computer, some patience and a desire to learn. Once you have the basics of the freeware or software down then it is time to let your creativity run wild. I have seen many people create professional looking patio landscape designs for their condos and apartments that would rival what you see in some design magazines.

Picking 3D Landscape Design Freeware or Software

If you’re a professional designer, or even if you’re just someone who wants to get started designing landscapes, you need to find a 3D landscape design freeware that is packed with quality features and easy to use. The 3D landscape design software should be able to do everything you need it to in a logical manner. Remember that most experts use the best software since it makes the design process that much more fun, easy and in a short time. One way to find out which design software is recommended by pros is to check consumer reports, review customer software ratings and even look for designer forums where likeminded people can share ideas as well as boast about which 3D landscape design freeware programs are in their arsenal.

Hobbyist 3D Landscape Design Freeware

If you’re not an expert, it’s crucial that the 3D landscape design freeware you pick is very logical plus easy to use. You don’t want to get a program that is so complicated you need hours of training just to do simple tasks. Inevitably you will be frustrated by all the lost time trying to figure out a complex software program built for trained experts; not to mention you probably paid for the expert software so that money is flushed away with no gain.

You may want to try Google SketchUp for a free solution or you can go with paid software. There are various price ranges for paid landscape design software including SmartDraw and IDEA Spectrum. Many professional landscapers draft their design as a draftsman then create a CAD 3D representation. You probably don’t need to go this far unless you are a landscaper or architect presenting to customers.

Do it yourself landscape designers will feel like a pro when they utilize quality software that is not very expensive or likely even free. If you use good 3D landscape design freeware you will find that creating a professional front yard, back yard or patio landscape design is only a few creative hours away. The easy & intuitive software might make you want to become a professional yourself but hold that thought until you have completed your landscaping project from the 3D landscape design freeware to a new garden landscape that fits your style perfectly.

You can find more information on garden landscape design to make your perfect enchanted garden landscape design

We encounter insects of different kinds in our daily lives. A guide on insects will provide us the necessary information about the type of insects we see lurking around us.

When we study the various identifications of insects, we get overwhelmed because of its many types. The purpose of insect identification is to guide and make us aware which insects or anthropoids are found.

Identification Guide on Insects

Ants – Super family Formicoidea is the group where all ants belong to. These insects are very distinct in appearance. There are a few other insects that look like them.

Cicadas – This is a group of insects known by its popular name, “harvest flies” or “cicadas”. Sometimes they are called locusts. Cicadae are a group of large insects. It contains many tropical species. The bodies are large with a wide, rounded head, and with prominent eyes on the outer angles.

Cockroaches – This group of insects is very rich in the tropics. Few of them become domesticated. They are abundant in the colder parts of the world also. Cockroaches are the most persistent one. Insects of this family existed in great numbers in geologic period.

Fleas – Pulicidae is the name of the flea’s group. They don’t have wings. Their mouths are formed for sucking. The body is squeezed together from side to side.

Flies – These insects which are true flies have two wings. They belong to the Diptera group. These are the only insects that possess two wings, except for the males of the scale insects.

Grasshoppers – You will find this family anywhere. They are abundant in a number of species and individuals. Grasshoppers belong to the most harmful insect species that devastated lots of countries in the world like:

- Russia

- Portion of South Europe

- Africa

- Algeria

- India

- Cape Colony

- Argentine Republic and

- Some parts of the U.S.

Mosquitoes – These insects belong to the group Culicidae. This is a very important group though it is not a large one. There are a lot of mosquitoes in many localities. They pose as a great irritation to man and animals. This is also because mosquitoes are active agents in the transfer of disease.

Thrips – They belong to the order Physopoda. They are a much differentiated group. Thrips have no close relatives amongst other insects. Their features are:

- slender

- tiny

- four-winged (slender, very short, transparent, no veins wings)

- fringed

- long delicate hairs

- lay along the back of the abdomen when resting

The largest group of all groups is the Arthropoda. The members are found in the:

- seas

- fresh water

- land or

- flying freely

This group has remarkable differences in structure. Other animals taken together are less than one sixth as many as arthropods. Well-known members of this group are:

- lobsters

- crayfish and crabs

- scorpions

- spiders

- mites

- ticks

- centipedes and millipedes and

- insects

In the Hexapoda or insects, the body’s segments are grouped in three distinct sections:

• head

• thorax

• abdomen

The head has antennae. The six legs are joined to the thorax. The four wings are usually present. They use air tubes to breathe. The group is categorically a terrestrial one and in many cases their early life is spent in water.

In our daily lives, we meet insects of some kinds. We are sometimes surprised what these insects are. They are often seen as pests in our garden. Sometimes we see them on:

- flowers

- shrubs

- crops

- pets

Thus, some of these insects are harmful stings. They can give minor to serious health threats to everyone.

For more information on Insect Field Guides please visit our website.

While it may be immaterial where our plants for the rock garden come from, in so far as the effects which we create with them are concerned, their origin does make a difference in regard to the culture to be given them. For this reason, if for no other, it is desirable to know something of the differences in the several classes of plants available for rock garden use.

But in addition to this utilitarian advantage, there is another of quite equal importance. Even though one may know little, and possibly care less, concerning botany, any plant takes on greater interest when we know something of its associations and its history. In fact, it is impossible to dissociate these from the intrinsic qualities of the plant. The edelweiss of the Alps, for instance, “without which no rock garden is complete,” in the opinion of some, is but a tiny flower surrounded by a bract of white woolly leaves, which would be passed by as a modest weed if it grew by the garden path.

But when one has read of adventurous spirits risking limb and life to find it blooming among the snow and ice of alpine heights, it naturally assumes an interest more than commensurate with whatever beauty it may possess as a flower. The more you know concerning your plants, whether in your rock garden or planted amongst your patio statuary, http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=3254, the better you can provide for them and the greater the joy which they may give you.

Alpine Plants:

An “alp” is a high mountain anywhere, not necessarily, as many people take for granted, one of the range in northern Italy and Switzerland; it comes originally from the Gaelic word for mountain pasture.

True alpine plants are mountain plants from any part of the world, native to those altitudes above the timberline, and extending as far upward as any vegetation can survive. They grow where the natural drainage is exceptionally good, but where their roots are constantly supplied with moisture, mostly from melting snow and ice, and consequently nearly ice cold. The season for growth and flowering is brief, often little over one hundred days.

Logically, the nearer one may approximate these conditions in making a rock garden, the better are the chances of success with this particular type of rock plant. Those who live in northern sections, at comparatively high altitudes, especially where the growing seasons are short and snow remains on the ground for months at a time, have an advantage over the rest of us when it comes to alpines.

Subalpine Plants:

Occasionally, in the catalogs or in rock garden literature, we will find the term “subalpine.” This applies to plants of alpine character which grow somewhat farther down the mountain slopes, below the timber line.

Such are more likely to tolerate some degree of shade, and, while absolutely hardy, not so likely to enjoy standing with their feet in cold water. These plants are ideal for gardens with outdoor water features that provide shade.

Mountain Plants:

Still others there are from the lower mountain regions, foothills, and rocky slopes, which possess many of the characteristics of the true alpine plants, but which naturally are still more amenable to such a home as may be provided for them almost anywhere; insisting, nevertheless, upon exceptionally good drainage, and soil which suits their wild nature, and frequently, in ordinary rich garden soil, either going to one extreme and perishing outright, like the trailing arbutus, or to the other and getting so fat, flabby, and bourgeois that their beauty vanishes, as is the case with the wild columbine.

Moraine Plants:

Plants which, in your catalogs, you find specifically recommended for moraine planting, cannot be expected to give equal satisfaction elsewhere. The combination of an almost perfectly dry surface soil and a more than usually abundant supply of moisture at the roots, is not generally to be found unless there is special provision for it. Planting moraine plants near outdoor water falls (http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=1067) is not recommended, due to the need for a dry top soil.

Moraine plants constitute, therefore, a class which the beginner will do well to keep away from, unless he has the means for providing the special conditions they require; even then, it will be better to wait until experience has been gained with plants more easily managed.

Bog Plants:

Most of the bog plants, on the other hand, are very readily handled. They grow in wet places, but not actually in the water, like the aquatics. Note should be made of the fact that there are many alpines and rock plants recommended “for moist situations,” or “moist soil,” which are not bog plants; that is, they will not thrive where there is water standing in the soil, as the genuine bog plants, such as the marsh marigold, or pitcher plant, do.

Many of the bog plants which, in their native locations, are covered with water for several months of the year, will get along nicely in much less moist (but not dry) situations. The native iris and the cardinal flower are examples of these.

The bog garden, however, is not logically a part of the rock garden. Many plants often included in alpine and rock plant lists, which really belong to the bog garden, merely serve to confuse the beginner. If one is starting out to make a rock garden, there is no necessity for wandering frequently or far into the swamps in search of material for it.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She specializes in landscaping, gardening, and enjoys collecting outdoor water features. For an amazing selection of patio statuary and outdoor water falls, please visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/.

In most books on rock gardening, a large part of the space is devoted to the description of plants, and of individual varieties. This is as it should be, and to those who are taking up seriously this fascinating form of gardening, the acquisition of at least one or two of these larger volumes is by all means recommended. Anyone planning a rock garden should conduct more research than simply what this article contains.

Bulbs for a Rock Garden:

To one who thinks of bulbs in terms of Darwin tulips with three-foot stems, and the modern Giant Trumpet daffodils, in the spring garden, or of gladiolus and dahlias throughout the summer months, the rock garden would seem to offer no suitable place of residence for this important group of flowers. Many “complete” catalogs of rock garden plants contain never a whisper concerning bulbs, though often including shrubs, evergreens, and garden fountains (http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=1071).

It may be argued that the bulbous flowers, even when dwarf enough to merit a place in the rock garden, are not sufficiently similar in habit of growth to other rock plants to entitle them to recognition. This, of course, is a matter of taste and not to be dogmatically settled one way or the other. The contention that bulbs are not legitimate subjects for the rock garden has had more weight abroad among the advocates of alpine gardening, pure and undefiled than it has in the states.

In most American rock gardens, bulbs have been made welcome and are likely to be used more rather than less in the future, as knowledge concerning them becomes more widespread. For one thing, they may be successfully grown over a much wider range of climatic conditions than the true alpines.

But the fact that there are some bulbs which may be welcomed into the rock garden, makes it no less necessary to have them qualify as to size, habit of growth, and character. The first point is easily settled. The most extreme novice at rock gardening would hardly think of including Darwin tulips or gladiolus; in general, 12 or 15 inches will mark the limit in height. These types of bulbs fit well with rock gardens with classical garden features, such as those found in the Williamsburg Collection, http://technorati.com/videos/youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9HrZ2bNaiGk.

Failing to pass in habit of growth and character, are such obviously formal things as hyacinths, double tulips, and most of the Early and Cottage varieties—even most of the daffodils are a bit too bulky and stiff and garden-border looking.

But, fortunately, we have left a most gay and companionable little company which includes such things as the smallest of the daffodils, which are lost among their more robust sisters in the garden border, even though they may be grown there; many of the fascinating little tulip species; the trooping company of the brave-hearted “minor bulbs” which come to meet the spring almost before the earliest of the rock plants have opened an eye—the grape hyacinths, snowdrops, scillas, chionodoxas, and dainty little wild crocuses.

One should never want to be without these little treasures in their rock garden, even if located where all the most difficult and rare alpines might be grown. There are many others equally desirable, including numerous native American species which are gradually becoming available, to extend the season of little bulbs in the rock garden from the grape hyacinths, through the later blooming scillas, to the autumn flowering crocuses in the fall.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer based out of San Diego, CA. She enjoys gardening, landscaping, and collecting garden features, such as those found in the Williamsburg Collection. For more great outdoor water features, please visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/.

Are you having problems figuring out some patio ideas due to the fact that your patio door is quite a bit above the ground? There are some very creative and functional ways to tackle this challenge. I will discuss them in this article.

Raised patios are fine. However, there are two main aspects to consider.

The first one is that you do not want a long staircase leading down to your property. Steep staircases are not comfortable. In addition, unless you have sidewalls, if you have more than two or three steps (check with your own building department), you will most likely need railings.

The second issue is that a patio high off the ground needs some type of protection from falling off the patio. Railings are a solution, but perhaps you don’t want railings. An alternative solution is to build wide planters. They should be a minimum of two feet deep.

One more thing to think about is that these types of patios need side walls, which add a considerable amount onto the cost. The higher the walls, the more they cost. The pricing is determined by the square footage of the walls and also the wall material you use. Concrete decorative block is one of the less expensive options, while natural stone will be the most costly.

What I find to be a good solution to many of these problems, is to create a more gradual transition from your room inside the house to the ground level. (It is much more pleasant to step down just a few steps in a couple of different areas than to go down many, many stairs.)

How do you do this?

It depends on how high off the ground you are. If you are extremely high up, you can create patio terraces, or levels. Design your main patio which you will step down to from your house, and them add some steps going down another level. From the second level, you can have additional steps leading to the ground. You can even have a third level.

If the grade difference is not that great, it can be done differently.

Let’s say that altogether you need seven steps. Create a landing out your door, where you have one step down to it. The landing should be at least four feet deep; you can make it as wide as you like. Provide three steps from the landing down to the main patio. I like to add built in planters at the landing edges, so that railings are not needed. You’ll need to leave at least eighteen inches in width for each planter and one foot for the outside supporting wall. Plants that you add will provide both a physical and visual barrier.

From the main patio, create another three steps leading to the ground. Now you have a nice way to get down to your yard.

Raised patios need compacted fill and/or stone beneath them to fill the space. This is a common construction method.

Susan Schlenger is a landscape designer and author of the popular LandscapeDesignAdvice.com – a website born out of her passion. It offers professional landscaping ideas on many topics. Perhaps you have a passion or hobby you’d like to write about. If you would like to see how Susan created her site, visit her page About This Site. You can also watch a video made up of pictures from one of her patio projects at Patio Ideas.

You’ll want to use your savvy shopper’s skills to find the very best home landscape design software to help you with your future landscaping plans. If you’ve recently bought a home, or it’s finally time to spruce up your yard after a few years of making mortgage payments, you’ll probably be interested in all the delights home landscaping has to offer. You can just hire a professional landscape, but if you let them run wild with the project, they won’t necessary provide you with the results that you want or desire. If you leave your yard up to someone else, you might end up terribly disappointed. The right home landscape design software program can help you take control over your yard and make sure you’ll end up satisfied and content.

Where to Get Advice

Really the best place to find advice about which home landscape design software are best is from other homeowners who use this type of software. They are not experts, but they are people who have been in your position, and can offer the best perspective on your situation. A true gardener will tell you exactly what features work best in a home landscape design software to suite exactly what you want and need from this software. You can discover a great deal about what you don’t know that you actually need when you consult a person who already does a great amount of work with home landscaping. This type of consultation can help you not have to pay for fancy features that you really don’t need, while focusing on looking for the features in home landscape design software that is essential to you success.

Look Online

If you don’t personally know any home-landscaping enthusiasts to talk to about home landscape design software, you can search on the internet for review sites and forums to help you glean the information you need. People who are familiar with the software, and can often provide honest reviews and commentary that will help you decided with software package to buy often populate these sites.

What to Consider

You should consider your own priorities when picking out the perfect home landscape design software package. If your more interested in flowers and gardening, then you’ll want to pick up a home landscape design software more geared toward that type of landscaping focus. If you want to do things like build small ponds or gazebos and shrub sculptures, you’ll want to go with software that can help you design your yard using those things. Don’t ever forget that your preference is the most important, no matter what a self ascribed “expert” will tell you. You’re the one who has to live with the landscaping you end up with, so you need to have a strong say in every matter regarding your yard, from the home landscape design software used in the process the finished product. If you do it that way, you’ll be ultimately pleased with the end result, and you won’t have to worry about living with something you don’t really like.

If you need more tips and information about landscape software, you may want to have a look at my landscaping website.

Are you frustrated with deer defoliating your prized plants overnight? Are you ready to learn about some products that others have used that really do work ?

This summer we have tested some products that our local garden center and some catalogs offered to see which deer resistant products worked and which ones didn’t. The following are the deer deterrents that we tried and the results.

The first product we used was Liquid Fence. This is a natural deer and rabbit repellent. It is true what the cover states… “It really works.” Clark Kaskie , the inventor of Liquid Fence, developed this product out of frustration of having his plants eaten by all types of critters. After trying many different kinds of homemade remedies and expensive over the counter products, he decided to make his own repellent. Being a chemical engineer for over 60 years gave him a good idea of where to start. He knew he wanted it to be both environmentally safe and safe for the animals. After a few years of experimenting, he came up with this solution. His friends and wife tried it and told him that it worked “just like a liquid fence,” so that’s what he named it. All you do is spray the liquid liberally onto plants and their perimeter during a dry period. Repeat the process 1 week later and then approximately once per month thereafter. If areas where feeding pressure from deer and rabbits is intense, he suggests spraying it once a week for 3 weeks and then about once per month after that. You are really “training” the deer and rabbits to stay away. We found that this product smells pretty bad when you first apply it, but it really does work. We had some coneflowers that the rabbits where nipping at the stems. After applying this as directed, the nibbling stopped. We also had success with using it on our hibiscus trees and other annuals, perennials, as well as our gourds.

The second product we tested was The Wireless Deer Fence. It works like a baited electric fence but without the wires. Instead, it contains individual posts, 19 inches tall and weighing 6 ounces, that are positioned around plants that deer like and on deer paths into your yard or garden. The deer in your yard are attracted by a sweet smell to touch a post, then the post will deliver a harmless shock which frightens them from the area. It is recommended to use this product along with a deer resistant spray while you are “training” the deer. The idea is to put the post between 5 and 25+ feet apart where the deer will find them. The distance varies widely depending on terrain existing barriers, landscaping, etc.

We used this product mainly to keep the deer away from my new Pinky-Winkie hydrangeas. We still had a little damage while the deer were being trained, but I hadn’t used a deer detterent spray on them at the time. The directions suggest this just while you are “training” the deer. With this product it helps to read all of the directions! I liked The Wireless Deer Fence. My Pinky-Winkies still haven’t been eaten. It gives an added protection to using the Liquid Fence.

We tested these products in our 5 acre garden with a variety of deer resistant perennials, such as coneflowers, grasses, and hellebores. Plant as many of these types of plants as possible. That is your first tactic when gardening with deer. For more information on plants that deer don’t like, visit http://www.flowers-plants-gardening-advice.com/deer-resistant-plants/. Even after you have planted several deer proof plants, you will still need to protect your other vegetation with some type of product.

As reported in the book Deerproofing Your Yard and Garden, by Rhonda Hart, if you take a look at state agricultural reports, you will see that deer do millions of dollars of damage each year. It’s not surprising when you realize that one acre of a healthy environment can support 18-24 deer per square mile. These deer can consume 6 to 10 pounds of greenery per day. This equates to about half a ton of plants over the growing season. So, there goes your yard!

With Liquid Fence and The Wireless Deer Fence, along with planting deer resistant plants, you can at least learn to coexist with the deer and make the damage minimal. Both of these products have a money back guarantee.

Julia is a Master Gardener, floral designer, and garden crafter. Married to a landscape contractor, they enjoy gardening on their 5 acre flower farm and sharing it with others. Visit their web site at http://www.flowers-plants-gardening-advice.com

Watering a Rock Garden

Watering a rock garden is a matter of the utmost importance, which nevertheless is scarcely mentioned in rock garden literature. In England, of course, this is not so vital a matter as with us. With

less sun, more rain, and more moisture in the air, rock garden plants, especially alpines, are as apt to suffer from excessive moisture there as they are from lack of it here.

When speaking of the proper means of applying water, however, it is not in reference to either the watering can or a hose with the usual garden nozzle. The former takes too much time, and the latter applies water so rapidly that it will begin to run on the surface before the soil is saturated clear through.

But it is a simple matter to provide a mist like spray which will saturate the driest soil through and through without spattering mud on the smallest leaves or the most delicate blossoms, or causing the soil to run out from the most precarious rock crevices. There is a special type of greenhouse irrigation nozzle which applies the water in this fine mist like spray.

If this type of nozzle is substituted for the ordinary nozzles in a portable irrigating outfit, the rock garden can be watered with the utmost thoroughness and safety whenever necessary. Such a watering will last two or three times as long as one given with the ordinary watering can or hose nozzle.

Another option available is a short, brass tube fitted with a hose coupling at one end and one of these mist-throwing nozzles at the other—recommended for watering all fine seedlings or delicate plants. The hose, equipped with this nozzle attachment, may be supported in one position and left for a long time without any danger of overwatering.

For a large rock garden, however, a portable irrigating outfit of the nozzle-line type, with greenhouse nozzles in place of the ordinary garden or lawn nozzles, will be found the watering system par excellence. It is supported on metal rods which may be pushed down anywhere along the garden path or between outdoor statuary (http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=1062) without disturbing the growing plants and it may be set up or taken down in a few moments.

There is probably no question connected with rock gardening which is more of a bugaboo to the beginner than that of providing suitable soil, or soils, for the little friends whom he has invited into his garden and intends to do his best to make happy.

To read some of the works on this subject, the layman may easily get the impression that it is really necessary to provide each individual plant with a soil made up according to a special prescription! Nowhere in the whole broad field of gardening is “debunking” required more than here.

The secret of success with rock plants, so far as soil is concerned, is the old, old one of going back to nature and of taking a look at what she provides them with.

Drainage

If you climb up a rocky mountain slope to the timberline, to the bleak and native haunt of the alpines, or search out most of the other rock plants and find where they grow as wildlings, the most apparent characteristic of the soils in which they grow is plainly to be discerned—it is exceptionally excellent drainage.

Drainage not of the subsoil—as we usually speak of it in connection with flower garden, orchard, or field—but quick and complete drainage of the surface. Often the clumps of leaves of the little plant, hugging the ground closely as they must to preserve an existence, rest directly upon shale, gravel, splinters of rocks, or garden fountains, http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=2918.

Our first consideration in supplying a man-made soil for this class

of plants should be porosity, assuring not only good drainage as we ordinarily use the term, but the immediate escape of all surplus water to the lower soil levels.

Moisture

If however, you attempt to pull up one of these tiny, and possibly rather frail-looking, denizens of the plant world, you get a sharp surprise. It is simply anchored fast, and will require much more effort to dislodge it than would many plants in your garden ten times its size.

In fact, if you could succeed in getting it out, roots and all—which would be extremely difficult—the most conspicuous thing about it would be the extreme length of the roots in proportion to the top. This would involve dredging up any soil, earth, rocks, or outdoor water features (http://www.garden-fountains.com/Categories.bok?category=Garden+Fountains) that may be obstructing access to the roots.

If you could follow to where the roots penetrate, you would discover an unsuspected degree of moisture in the stone-filled soil; for stones, in spite of their dry appearance, are among the most efficacious of moisture conservers. Thus, in addition to exceptional drainage, we must add to our analysis an abundant moisture supply.

Plant Food

If we inquire still further into the life secrets of these little plants, and attempt to seek out their food sources of sustenance, we immediately strike a rock, both figuratively and literally. Most of our common garden plants would starve to death in the soil in which they thrive.

Vice versa, many of these little plants cannot long survive a diet of manure and fertilizers on which our garden plants grow lustily—although some of them, it must be confessed, will take to the change like ducks to water. It is apparent that a large supply of plant food, as we prepare it for our long domesticated garden flowers and shrubs, is one of the things that is not essential for the class of plants under consideration.

Sarah Martin is a freelance marketing writer specializing in home improvement, landscaping, and gardening. For a fantastic selection of outdoor water features and garden fountains, please visit http://www.garden-fountains.com.

Instead of chemicals in your soil and on your food, why not try organic gardening? You can start with just a few plants in pots or a small patch, or you can go whole hog and dig up half your yard!

Actually, if it’s your first garden, it’s better to start small. Gardeners have a tendency to plant more than they can reasonably care for – everything looks so great in the catalogs! But even though gardening is a lot of fun and a satisfying pastime, it’s also a lot of work. Half way through the growing season you may wish you’d been a little more moderate in your planting. It’s better to work your way up to that huge garden!

On Location…

Like the real estate agents are fond of saying, “It’s all about location, location, location.” Some plants will grow in the shade, but for most vegetables you need sunshine. An ample amount of sunshine is one thing you can’t provide artificially, unless you’re planning on a huge bank of portable lights out in your garden, and with the price of electricity these days, that’s a definite no-no.

Practically speaking, any garden, organic or otherwise, needs sunshine. Put your pots or garden plot where the plants will get at least 6 hours of sun a day for best results. While it’s nice to locate the garden close to the house for easy access, shade from the house or trees may not make that possible. Sunshine has priority over easy access.

Be sure your garden location not only gets ample sunshine, but drains well so the plants don’t sit in water. Fertile soil is a big plus, but if that’s lacking, you can always add soil amendments.

Down and Dirty

Adding compost will help your soil no matter what type it is. You can also use natural fertilizers and organic materials to improve the soil and help the plants grow. Most vegetable roots are in the top 6 inches of soil, so tilling or double digging will easily mix the materials into the soil where the roots can reach it.

Time to Plant

Seed catalogs and nurseries are brimming with all types of vegetables. Besides taking into account what you and your family like to eat, choose vegetables that will do well in your climate. For instance, some long season crops like sweet potatoes wouldn’t do well up north, while cool climate crops might not fare so well in the deep south.

Mulching your vegetables with organic material helps conserve water, adds humus and nutrients as well as discourages weeds from growing. It’s a great way to improve your garden soil and plants!

Don’t Let Them Bug You

Where there’s lovely young plants, there’s bugs looking for a meal. Hand picking caterpillars or other bugs off is one option, or spraying the plant with soapy water, or even plain water, will dislodge the bugs. There are also some organic products made for bug control.

Not all bugs are bad, and some are even beneficial. Bugs such as green lacewings, ladybugs, praying mantis, spiders and wasps eat the insects that try to eat your vegetables.

Companion planting with insect repellant plants such as marigolds or nasturtiums can also help keep bugs away from your garden.

It also helps to learn to live with a certain amount of imperfections. The vegetable doesn’t have to be perfect to taste good. You can cut off any problem spots before eating it.

Destroy Those Weeds!

Weeds have been defined as “a plant growing in the wrong place.” That pretty much sums it up. If it’s not something you planted, consider it a weed and hoe it out, pull it up, or till it under. However you do it, get it out of the garden. Those extra plants steal nutrients and water needed for your vegetable plants.

Ready, Set, Garden!

A good location, fertile soil, the right plants, and working to keep the garden weed and bug free are the right ingredients for a great garden. Growing an organic garden is a wonderful way to put superior tasting food in your diet. So get out there and get your garden growing!

A gardener for over 40 years, Pat Lyne has plenty of experience to draw on. Come and learn more about organic gardening at Garden Facts and Fun! http://www.gardenfactsandfun.com/