Consider Planting A Vegetable Garden

Undertaking a vegetable garden is a very rewarding hobby, but you can expect some hardwork and frustration on the way. But hard work also means it is good exercise for your body and a way you can relieve any stress that you may suffer from. It will also help you to obtain much needed vitamin d from the sunlight that you will be exposed to. Growing your own vegetables may be an essential part of our future with the concern over dwindling fuel supplies, and the food can taste that much better than the stuff you buy in grocery stores and you can be certain that it is free from pesticides and chemicals.

Vegetables are easier to grow than flowers because they are more resilient in different types of weather. The more space you have is all the better for planning a vegetable garden, but some plants can be grown in plant boxes. If you use canes, poles and stakes to create a vertical garden then more space wil be available to plant on the ground. Your garden needs to be exposed to a minimum of 6 hours of sunshine and it is also advisable to have a source of water close by. To avoid problems with soil erosion and water run-off try to choose a site where the ground is reasonably level rather than on a slope.

The more traditional way to plant vegetables is in neat, organised, straight rows. But more and more gardeners are opting to plant them in beds rather than in rows. These beds have to be small enough so that you can pull out any weeds. A good tip is to build a raised bed to grow your own vegetables. This is better for the plants, but also much easier on your knees and back. You can make a raised bed garden using wood, paving slabs or stone.

Soil preparation is vital for a successful vegetable garden. A good mixture of sand, silt and clay is the best balance for your garden. The soil should not be so hard that it doesn't crumble it when you squeeze it between you fingers, but it must not crumble if you are just picking it up. To improve the quality you can dig manure or compost in to the soil or just place some organic matter on top of the soil. This should be undertaken in the fall.

Easy vegetables you can grow include potatoes, sweetcorn, broad beans, radishes and runner beans. Crops that can be grown in plant pots include chard, rocket, parsley, tomatoes, mint and chives. Herb gardens are also relatively straightforward to plant - particularly if you obtain a pre-planted pot from a shop.

Rotate the vegetables that you plant to help avoid a build up of pests and diseases. Crop rotation is also beneficial when the previous crop helps the growth of a new one. For example, beans put nitrogen in the soil and this will in turn help the growth of broccoli. Whatever you decide to do, don't grow the same crop for more than two consecutive years in the same plot. Experiment by using trial and error, but as always please enjoy your gardening.

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Herb Garden Design Points to Consider

Herb Garden Design need not be something which is for your entire garden it may be an addition to your existing garden or just some pots and containers placed in strategic positions.

When looking at the design my first consideration is always to ask why and what am I doing this for. Simple question but necessary as we often forget why we are thinking Herb Garden Design. Most of us will be looking at our garden and thinking we could put some helps in there, but think what do we want to use them for? What herbs do we use in our cooking and will we get some benefit from growing them here.

No point using up our garden space on a Herb Garden if we are not going to use the herbs, I do realise that a herb garden can in itself look quite stunning and also have some magnificent flowers and fragrances but the point is to use the herb in some practical fashion, mostly cooking but perhaps medicinal.

Once we know what kind of herbs we use in our cooking and want in our garden we need to find out if they will grow in our climate. We need not worry too much about the soil or drainage here as Herb Garden Design lends itself to using containers. A quick visit to our blog site will show some examples of how this can look and be achieved.

Local Garden centres will normally only stock those varieties of herbs which grow in the local area so this is an added safeguard to ensure your project is not a disaster by planting herbs that will not grow.

Containers laid out and spaced with or on some gravel walkways as I have said can make for a quite stunning look and have the very positive advantage of being easy to maintain. Also if you have limited space but want a few herbs this is a great way to fit them in.

A lot of herbs are extremely sturdy and once planted in open soil will spread and can be difficult to manage if not given attention on a regular basis, containers also eliminate this problem by leaving only the area of the container available and also they are very easy to empty and start again.

A practical herb garden design will provide the right amount of the right herbs for you in a short period of time and will provide growth for years to come. For more ideas suggestions and support visit our blog site.

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