Thursday, March 21, 2002
Grow a Thriving Garden
With the simple instructions that follow, you can have a beautiful thriving garden, even if you have a “brown” thumb.
Check your soil first – if it is compacted, sandy or clay soil, you will have to add to it in order to help the plants grow. Go to your local nursery to pick up some perlite, earthworm casings, good outdoor potting soil and Miracle-gro. Even if you have great soil, check to see if you have beetles, ladybugs and earthworms in abundance. You can buy earthworms and ladybugs at your nursery, beetles may be available – but if not, it’s okay because the better the soil gets, the more you will attrack the beetles.
Here’s a quick explanation of why you need the above items: the perlite is from volcanos, it puffs up and absorbs water, aerate your soil; earthworm casing are very high in nutrients; the potting soil is needed for the areas where you are going to plant; finally, Miracle-gro is wonderful when planting new plants and fertilizing existing ones. Beetles and earthworms aerate the soil working it so that it becomes rich. Ladybugs are vital to getting rid of the bitsy bugs that will kill your plants, especially aphids!
Now that you have to right supplies, pick out some plants that you would like to enjoy in your garden. Read instructions! Some plants want full sun while others want full shade and still yet, others want part sun and part shade. Ensure that you are not getting a sun shade only plant to put in your sun only area!
Find the perfect area and place your plant just right! Stand back and take a look. You will need to dig a hole three times the size of the pot the plant is in. If your soil is rich, just use that. But if it isn’t, take the dirt out and mix it with 2 handfuls of perlite, 3 handfuls of earthworm casings and make the mixture half and half with outdoor potting soil. Three times bigger than the original pot will give the roots lots of room to grow with the proper nutrients – you don’t have to replace the entire garden space with rich soil! Just put a layer of the soil mixture into the hole, then take the plant out of the pot carefully, gently loosen the roots and place it in. Pour and pack in the remaining soil mixture around the plant. Follow the instructions for daily feeding on the Miracle-Gro package, make the mixture and water the plant. Water the plant daily and watch excitedly for new growth – when you see the new growth, you will know that the plant has taken!
Adding the earthworms and the ladybugs is rather fun although it may be slightly slimey and fluttery! Just let the earthworms out in the area where you are planting the earthworms will burrow into the ground within a few minutes. The ladybugs usually come in a package with straw. You need to take a bit of the straw, put it in a shadey spot under a plant and let some of the ladybugs out of the package. Repeat this in several areas.
Watch your garden start to thrive! Once you have plants established, keep a watch for new critters. The more butterflies, birds, hummingbirds, bees and bugs that show up in your garden, the better your garden will do. You can literally take a barren plot and create a magic wonderland of flourishing plants! Have a great time!
With the simple instructions that follow, you can have a beautiful thriving garden, even if you have a “brown” thumb.
Check your soil first – if it is compacted, sandy or clay soil, you will have to add to it in order to help the plants grow. Go to your local nursery to pick up some perlite, earthworm casings, good outdoor potting soil and Miracle-gro. Even if you have great soil, check to see if you have beetles, ladybugs and earthworms in abundance. You can buy earthworms and ladybugs at your nursery, beetles may be available – but if not, it’s okay because the better the soil gets, the more you will attrack the beetles.
Here’s a quick explanation of why you need the above items: the perlite is from volcanos, it puffs up and absorbs water, aerate your soil; earthworm casing are very high in nutrients; the potting soil is needed for the areas where you are going to plant; finally, Miracle-gro is wonderful when planting new plants and fertilizing existing ones. Beetles and earthworms aerate the soil working it so that it becomes rich. Ladybugs are vital to getting rid of the bitsy bugs that will kill your plants, especially aphids!
Now that you have to right supplies, pick out some plants that you would like to enjoy in your garden. Read instructions! Some plants want full sun while others want full shade and still yet, others want part sun and part shade. Ensure that you are not getting a sun shade only plant to put in your sun only area!
Find the perfect area and place your plant just right! Stand back and take a look. You will need to dig a hole three times the size of the pot the plant is in. If your soil is rich, just use that. But if it isn’t, take the dirt out and mix it with 2 handfuls of perlite, 3 handfuls of earthworm casings and make the mixture half and half with outdoor potting soil. Three times bigger than the original pot will give the roots lots of room to grow with the proper nutrients – you don’t have to replace the entire garden space with rich soil! Just put a layer of the soil mixture into the hole, then take the plant out of the pot carefully, gently loosen the roots and place it in. Pour and pack in the remaining soil mixture around the plant. Follow the instructions for daily feeding on the Miracle-Gro package, make the mixture and water the plant. Water the plant daily and watch excitedly for new growth – when you see the new growth, you will know that the plant has taken!
Adding the earthworms and the ladybugs is rather fun although it may be slightly slimey and fluttery! Just let the earthworms out in the area where you are planting the earthworms will burrow into the ground within a few minutes. The ladybugs usually come in a package with straw. You need to take a bit of the straw, put it in a shadey spot under a plant and let some of the ladybugs out of the package. Repeat this in several areas.
Watch your garden start to thrive! Once you have plants established, keep a watch for new critters. The more butterflies, birds, hummingbirds, bees and bugs that show up in your garden, the better your garden will do. You can literally take a barren plot and create a magic wonderland of flourishing plants! Have a great time!
