8 Tips - Vegetable Gardening
By admin | August 4, 2008
1. While planning your vegetable garden, consider what and how much you will plant. In selecting a site or plot, consider the exposure to sunlight. It is important to consider also the different sunlight requirement for different vegetables. Leafy vegetables can be grown n partial shades but vegetables with fruits must be grown in direct sunlight.
2. Proper soil preparation provides the basis for good seed germination of garden crops. The ideal vegetable garden soil is deep, well-drained, moisture retentive and has high organic matter content. Soil should not be worked or plowed while it is very wet. Different types of vegetables would require varying degrees of soil acidity and this is measured by pH and must be adjusted accordingly.
2. In buying vegetable seeds, be mindful of the germination qualities, tendencies towards insects , vigour of plants etc. This provides useful benchmarks as you can determine whether the varieties are suitable or not for your gardening style or your area, or whether a particular seed company is not meeting your needs. You will be better prepared for the next planting season.
3. In sowing your seeds , you may want to plant extra seeds in each row in case of failed germination and thinning. It is important to keep soil moist until the seedlings are up. Thin them only after the seedlings have emerged and developed their second or third set of true leaves. The best time to thin is when the seedlings are still small as this will not disturb the roots of the plants.
4. The amount of fertilizer to use depends on the natural fertility of the soil, the type of fertilizer, the crop and the amount of organic matter present. The best way to determine fertilizer needs is to have the soil tested.
5. To manage pest control in your garden, start with ensuring that plants are healthy and growing well. Use plenty of compost, practise crop rotation and ensure adequate drainage. Remove vegetable refuse from the garden. Increase bio-diversity by planting only small quantities of the same vegetable in any one place. Encourage natural controls such as birds, toads and parasitic insects.
6. To ensure success in growing vegetables is to plant or transplant each crop at the best times for each locality. Vegetable crops may be grouped roughly and sown according to their hardiness and temperature requirements.
7. Weed control is essential in successful vegetable gardening as weeds can rob cultivated plants of water, nutrients and light. It is important that the soil is hoed or cultivated after each rain or irrigation to kill the weeds that have sprouted.
8. Regular watering is essential to maintain a healthy garden. Gardens in most areas would require a moisture supply equivalent to about an inch of rain a week during the growing season. An inch of rain is about 28,000 gallons on an acre or 900 gallons on a 30 x 50 feet garden.
Suzana Slemat is an online marketer and she has several web businesses.
For more tips - vegetable gardening, please visit: http://beautifulgarden.nmaskuri.com/?ea
8 Tips Vegetable Gardening
Tags: gardening, secrets, tips, vegetable, vegetable gardening14 Essential Wood Flooring Care and Cleaning Tips
By admin | June 16, 2008
Wood flooring can add value to your home, not to mention it can be a rich and bright touch to your home d
Tags: care, cleaning, decor, floor, flooring, floors, hardwood flooring, Home, tips, wood flooringLandscaping Can Make or Break Curb Appeal for Homebuyers
By admin | June 10, 2008
Homebuyers love an inviting home even before they see the interior. Home sellers can take some easy steps to turn a drive by or Internet photo of their home into a showing appointment. Mark Nash author of 1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home offers easy tips for your readers and viewers to prepare their home for spring market.
-Purchase a seasonal wreath for your front door.
-Place a pair of planters that match the style of your home on the front porch. Fill with blooming flowers or loosen frozen soil with hot water and fill with evergreen boughs and red or yellow dogwood available at your florist or garden center. If you have window boxes duplicate flowers or evergreen look.
-Don’t put silk flowers or plants into any exterior landscape.
-Give buyers a glimpse of your summer gardens when selling a home in the winter. Display a collage of photos of your landscaping in spring, summer and fall.
-Clean up any tree branches, leaves, trash and pet droppings in front and rear yards.
-Position spotlights from home center stores at the base of ornamental trees to up light branches for a dramatic effect.
-Spread decorative bar mulch over flowerbeds and around tree bases for a manicured and professional look.
-Take down any leftover holiday decorations. Resist using clear Italian lights to accent trees or shrubs. Kitsch is out.
-Clear away snow and ice from sidewalks and driveways immediately, to illustrate pride of ownership.
-A fresh application of driveway sealer on asphalt can give it an update.
-Edge sidewalks and driveways, irrigate and mow lawns and prune shrubs and trees. Well-maintained homes attract buyers.
-Spread new decorative gravel to freshen up driveways. Bare spots and irregular levels can distract buyers from the overall look upon arrival.
-House numbers should be easily visible from the street. Make sure they’re lit at night.
-Limit yard ornaments to a favored few. Excess ornaments can make yards look busy and buyers might want them included in a purchase contract.
-Make sure your barbecue grill is clean and operational, especially if you plan to leave it.
-Clear gutters of debris and make sure there are no weeds growing in them. Look for clogged and dented downspouts. Place splash pads or gutter extensions to move rainwater away from the foundation, a typical home inspector complaint.
-All soil should be graded down hill away from foundations. Do it before an inspector red flags it.
-Trim trees and shrubs back around air-conditioning condensing units. Remove covers for home inspection testing.
-Take a good look from the street or road at the front of your home. Look for shrubs that are over grown or dead and remove and replace with shrubs that are to scale to your home. Small inexpensive bushes send the wrong message.
-Add annual flowers in home foundation beds. Select one or two colors to create visual uniformity. White and purple are a good choice to add color punch to a landscape.
-Paint and refresh yard lights, flagpoles, mailboxes, window boxes, fences and trellis. Don’t forget the swing set or play equipment.
-Have pool bottom painted and any deferred pool maintenance performed. Keep water crystal clear and inviting. Keep pool temperature on the warm side when buyers stoop to test the water.
-Lay sod or bare spot grass seed in lawn areas that need attention, near play equipment, dog runs and non-paved pathways. Unkempt lawns are the number one landscape turn-offs for buyers.
-Replace broken bricks on terraces, cracked concrete patios and steps. Eliminate trips and falls on property showings.
-Restore screens on porches and lanai’s. Dirty, rusty and ripped screens limit functionality to homebuyers.
-Have irrigation systems flushed and checked. Don’t overlook outside water spigots.
-Verify that drains in exterior basement stairwells and garages drain properly and are free of debris.
-Hire a landscape designer to make plan to perk up a tired landscape. Professionals can provide a fresh perspective that can appeal to buyers.
-Plant low maintenance plants and shrubs that are appropriate to your area.
-Educated plant lovers are on the rise and they know which plants are winter hardy. High maintenance plants such as roses can overwhelm first-time buyers.
Mark Nash’s fourth real estate book, “1001 Tips for Buying and Selling a Home” (2005), and working as a real estate broker in Chicago are the foundation for his consumer-centric real estate perspective which has been featured on ABC-TV, CBS The Early Show, Bloomberg TV, CNN-TV, Chicago Sun Times & Tribune, Fidelity Investor’s Weekly, Dow Jones Market Watch, MSNBC.com, The New York Times, Realty Times, Universal Press Syndicate and USA Today.
Tags: 1001, buying, Garden, Home, hoses, improvement, mark nash, real estate, realty, selling, tips, trends