It is summertime and time to start thinking about that dream summer garden that you’ve been meaning to plan for a while. There is nothing more beautiful than a summer garden in full bloom. The thing to remember is that there is some planning required in order for you to get the desired results. Once you decide the area where your summer garden will be, start thinking about what types of plants, vegetables and flowers you want. Don’t forget that in planting a summer garden you will get your hands dirty and some gardeners believe that this is the best part about growing a summer garden. To me, the best thing is the results of a summer garden and watching my garden grow healthy.

Before you start planting, keep a list with the date that each area in your summer garden will be planted as different flowers and vegetables have different growing seasons. Some prosper by earlier plantings while others prosper later in the season. If you are planting a summer vegetable garden then it is quite possible that some of the plants will need a precise number of days between planting and harvesting. Both the plant and harvest days should be noted. This provides an excellent opportunity to plant more of the vegetables and maybe some flowers every two weeks to provide a continuous rotation of the vegetables you love well into the gardening season.

An important thing to remember is that climbing plants can be trained to climb poles that you can easily set up in the garden. This is highly recommended if your garden space is limited. Doing this also provides an opportunity to shade plants that prefer less direct sunlight when planted next to these climbing vines that are climbing vertically. Also make sure you have enough stakes for all the plants that require them for best effect. Be sure to read the planting instructions that are provided with each plant and plant them so that those needing shade get the shade they need and those that require the most water are located on a downward slope so that they get the water that runs off from the plants that require less water.

This is a trick that seasoned gardeners know and it makes the most of sometimes limited resources such as water for the purpose of creating a better environment for optimal growth. At the same time you want to avoid planting vegetables and flowers that require less water at the bottom of these slopes as they are likely to become over hydrated, which can be just as devastating as not getting enough water.

Another important thing is that you need to be sure your soil is healthy so that it can create the healthy plants you are hoping to have. Fertilize the soil where these plants, flowers, and vegetables will be grown. This provides the foundation necessary for optimal performance from your plants and greatest yield from your vegetables. You should also take great care once the planting is done and be sure that the plants, flowers, and vegetables that make up your summer garden are well fed in order to produce even better results.

There are plenty of fertilizers and plant foods from which to choose so be sure to check local laws in order to make sure you aren’t using a combination that is not recommended for your region where you live. This is often overlooked but keep in mind that there are regulations that vary from one state to the next Also, plan your pest control before you begin planting your summer garden. There are some plants, flowers, and herbs that work as natural pest controls. These make an excellent addition to your garden as they offer no harmful side effect and can rid your garden of many of the pests that create problems for you. Another thing you may wish to consider is the use of chicken wire to protect some of your plants from things a little bigger than the average bug. The more humane the methods of pest control and the less you rely on pesticides the better it is to protect our environment.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Simple Guide To Rose Gardening
AOL.com Video - How to Protect Outdoor Flower Pots in the Winter
BBC - Gardening - Gardening Guides - Techniques - Pruning ...
Annuals for Shade | Reference.com Answers
Places to dig a spring flower show - USATODAY.com
Flickr: audreyjm529

Technorati Tags: climbing vines, flowers, Gardening, plant summer flowers, summer garden, Vegetable Garden

If you have the time and the inclination to create an organic summer garden there are few better ways to go when it comes to the potential impact on the planet. A summer garden is a thing of beauty to be enjoyed by all you invite into your garden. That being said, there are certain pests we’d all like to keep out of our gardens as well. The problem is that the pesticides of the past have undetermined side effects that have the potential to cause lasting harm. If we can avoid introducing those chemicals to our own gardens we are protecting our kids from dangers we may not even be aware of yet and protecting the other animals that may innocently come in contact with our gardens such as birds and butterflies from being harmed by the chemicals present in most common pesticides.

What does this mean to gardeners when it comes to efforts directed towards keeping out potential pests? Quite honestly, it means we are going to have to get a little bit creative in those efforts turning to natural solutions rather than chemicals. One way in which this can quite easily be accomplished is by encouraging animals that prey upon the pests to make your garden their home. Of course, this could potentially bring about its own set of problems but from a gardening perspective it is often very sound reasoning.

Use organic mulch. While this isn’t necessarily a means of pest control it is a wise move when it comes to organic gardening. Not only does the mulch provide the very useful mulching properties throughout the growing season but once the growing season has ended can be turned over and used in order to boost the organic material within the soil. This in turns provides nutrients that are important to keeping the soil fit for sustaining plant life in future growing seasons. For great information on going green in the garden with compost visit The Gardener’s Rake site.

Attract birds to your garden. This has a two-fold benefit for the organic gardener. First of all the birds are often natural predators for many of the bugs that make a nuisance of themselves in the average summer garden. Second, birds leave behind their own little fertilizing additions to the landscape of your garden. Don’t you wish all solutions were this simple?

Keep your garden healthy, well fertilized, water regularly and appropriately, and free of weeds. A good offense is the best defense. A good immune system and constant hand washing are the best defense the human body has against catching colds and viruses. The same holds true for gardens and their ability to fight pests. Keep your garden strong and healthy and it will repel many of the pests that may cripple other gardens on its own. It certainly doesn’t hurt to keep this philosophy in mind and you may be amazed at how well it works.

Organic gardening is more than a plan for your garden it is a return to the ways of old in the world of gardening. For centuries before pesticides were created people managed to live off the abundance of their gardens. It makes sense that by returning to those ideals we can also enjoy great food and a bountiful harvest in the modern world. Make the choice today to make your summer garden an organic garden and reap the benefit in better health and greater enjoyment of the gardening experience. To learn more about going green at home visit Our Green Planet Earth site.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

New Seed Supplier Seed Parade Offers Herb Flower and ...
Recession grows interest in seeds vegetable gardening - ABC News
flower gardening | Flickr - Photo Sharing!
Garden-like | Define Garden-like at Dictionary.com
Gardening on a budget? - Yahoo!7 Answers
Purdue University Garden Publications

Technorati Tags: Gardening, Going Green Gardening, Organic Gardening, Organic Summer Garden

If you’re thinking about starting a garden, the first thing you need to consider is what type of garden you will have. There are many different choices and often it can be hard to pick just one, but hopefully you can narrow it down. And by narrowing it down, you’ll make the gardening experience easier on yourself and the plants. If all your plants are similar, then it shouldn’t be very hard to care for them all. So here are some of the main garden ideas for you to choose from.

If you’re just looking for something to look nice in your yard, you’ll want a flower garden. You can easily design a flower garden with perennials and those gorgeous colorful annuals that show up in the spring. Perennial flowers are flowers which stay healthy year-round and are basically called weeds because of their hardiness, only nice looking. Different areas and climates have different flowers which are considered perennials. If you do a quick internet search for your area, you can probably find a list of flowers that will bring your flower garden to life. Breck’s has a great selection of perennials that are of the best quality so be sure to check them out. Perennials usually only require work in the planting stage – after that, you can relax and enjoy them.

Another choice for your garden is to have a vegetable garden which requires a little more work and research than a flower garden, but can be much more rewarding. No matter what time of the year it is, you can usually find one vegetable that is still prospering. You can design your vegetable garden to give you produce almost every day of the year! When starting a vegetable garden, you should build it with the thought in mind that you will be adding more types of veggies in later. This will help your expandability. Once all your current crops are out of season, you won’t be stuck with almost nowhere to put the new crops. A vegetable garden is ideal for someone who wants some produce, but doesn’t want to devote every waking hour to perfecting their garden.

One of the more difficult types of gardens to manage is a fruit garden. It’s definitely the most high-maintenance because when growing fruits, many more pests will be attracted to their sweetness. You not only have to deal with having just the right dirt and fertilizer, you have to deal with choosing a pesticide that won’t kill whoever eats the fruits and hopefully you will consider getting an echo-friendly pesticide. Your fruit garden will probably not produce year-round. The soil needs to be just right for the plants to grow, and putting in another crop during its off-season could be disastrous to its growth process. If you’re willing to put lots of work into maintaining a garden, then a fruit garden could be a good choice for you.

So now that I’ve outlined some of the main garden types that people choose, I hope you can make a good decision. Basically, the garden type comes down to what kind of product you want, and how much work you want to put into it. If you’re looking for no product with less work, go with a flower garden. If you want lots of delicious product, and you are willing to spend hours in your garden each day, then go for a fruit garden. Just make sure you don’t get into something you can’t handle!

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

washingtonpost.com: Style Live: Style
4-H PLUS Flower Gardening
Annual Flowers - Gardening in a Minute
Wild Flower Gardening Video Showcase
SiteSeer Online gardening guides Playing in digital dirt - CNN
Washingtonpost.com: Live Online

Technorati Tags: Fruit Garden, Garden, Gardening, Perennials, Vegetable Garden

Did you know that Peonies are a one-time investment for a lifetime of beauty? And since Peonies roots can be divided again and again, a single planting can provide beauty for many generations to come. As a little girl, I remember that my mother always had Peonies in her garden and so did all the neighbors. That is because mother always shared them with anyone who came to visit so every garden near our home had gorgeous Peonies.

Did you also know that if you order your Peonies now you can save over 60% off the regular price? Peonies are planted in the fall for spring flowering and if you get them now, you can enjoy them right in you garden or yard at very special money saving prices. Very reputable companies like Breck’s are offering special prices for anyone who wants to place orders now for fall shipping of Peonies. So the time to buy Peonies for fall planting is now.

Peonies are long lived perennials that produce large flowers in the spring that actually look like roses and are absolutely beautiful. It comes in many colors but some of my favorites are cream, coral, pink, white, rose, scarlet and yellow. Peonies require winter cold to flower and it is best to plant them in a northern exposure and do not mulch in the winter. They grow best in full sun but can tolerate light shade. Be sure to plant them in well drained soil and preferably in a raised bed for proper drainage. (photo courtesy: Breck’s)

Ideally Peonies should be planted around September or October. Dig a hole about 12 to 18 inches deep and about 18 inches wide. Be sure to space them at least 3 to 4 feet apart. Add some compost to the hole and about a half a cup of fertilizer. Be sure the fertilizer is at the bottom of the hole and not on the soil that will surround the roots. Peonies are deep rooted plants so be sure to prepare the soil properly before planting. Add some regular soil to the hole, about half full, then place the Peonies root with the eyes facing upward and work the soil in around the fleshy roots.

In the spring, you can mulch the Peonies with a 3 inch layer of organic matter to control weeds and conserve moisture. In the fall, remove the old mulch and leave the plants without mulch during the winter months. Remember, Peonies need cold weather to promote flowering and growth. Peonies flowers are very large so it is recommended that you stake the plant to prevent them from breaking or bending over. Select stakes that are at least 12 inches shorter than the plants and sink them in the soil behind the plant. Using a soft cloth or plastic covered wire, tie the stems to the stakes carefully.

There you have it! Follow these simple guidelines and you too can have gorgeous Peonies in your flower garden. The best part is that you will have them for many years to come. Remember to order them from a good company like Breck’s that offers the best quality and will provide planting instructions. And, as I mentioned before, you can save lots of money by purchasing your Peonies now for fall planting.

Here are some other flower gardening sites that I found for you to browse. Thanks for visiting Best Flower Gardening!

Gardening chores help ensure healthy plants - The Washington Post
The Low-Water Flower Gardener
Why gardening is good for your health - CNN.com
Cigar Flower - Gardening in a Minute
William Robinson: Definition from Answers.com
William Robinson (gardener) - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Technorati Tags: Fall Gardening, Gardening, Mulch, Peonies, Soil, Spring Flowers