Many American families take pride in a lush, green lawn. But a lawn doesn’t necessarily stay healthy on its own; it needs care and #maintenance even as it starts to go dormant in the #fall. Keep cutting it until it stops growing, says Provision RPM, and aerate it once a year. Then, add some fertilizing material by mowing over fallen leaves, spreading compost or buying a store-bought blend. Fill in any bare patches with a quality seed that grows well in your area and the amount of light expected. And if the #autumn weather doesn’t provide it naturally, give your lawn a good soak from time to time. #FallGardening
Tag: container gardening
Plant Garlic Now as the Perfect Overwinter Crop
While it’s too late to plant most vegetables, there’s one crop that can go in the ground right now: garlic. Get a seed head from a local grower’s supply or farmers market and plant the individual cloves six to eight weeks before the first frost, Almanac says. Plant the cloves 6 inches apart in an area that gets full sun, at a depth of 2 inches and in the “upright” (pointy end facing upward). If you’re expecting a hard freeze, mulch the beds heavily with straw or leaves. Fertilize, water, feed and weed as the shoots come up in the spring. Generally speaking, plants’ leaves will yellow when they’re ready to harvest, usually in early July. #FallGardening
End-of-Season Gardening Tasks to Tackle Now
With fall’s chill in the air, avid #gardeners and casual growers alike may be wondering what to do now to guarantee a good season next year. After you harvest any last-minute #produce such as green tomatoes, clean up your pots and garden beds. Pull weeds and add them to the compost heap, Garden Betty advises; trash any diseased plants. Otherwise healthy and pest-free plants can be cut down and used as mulch to nourish next year’s crops. You may wish to test your soil for nutrients and amend it over winter to ensure success in the #spring. Now is also a good time to dived and thin perennials and prune trees and shrubs. #FallGardening
Prepare Your Garden for Planting
In many hardiness zones, March is the best month to prepare your #garden for the #growing season. Tackle maintenance and preparation tasks such as cleaning out beds of debris, raking up mulch and pruning trees and shrubs, Better Homes & Gardens says. Divide #perennials before #spring growth begins to keep them healthy while adding to your garden or sharing extras with friends. Perform any needed upkeep on infrastructure such as edging and walkways, and clean and reintroduce outdoor furniture. By the end of the month, you should be able to safely #plant many cool-weather vegetables such as radishes, peas and potatoes. #GardeningTips
Gardening Season Has Begun
An unusually cold and rainy spring has finally given way to warm and sunny weather in most of the country. If you haven’t yet planted your summer #vegetable or #flower #garden, there is no time like the present.
While starting seeds indoors is the #thriftiest option, you’ll likely need to turn to the local garden center for plants that are ready to go into the ground. Now is the perfect time to plant summer-maturing plants such as corn and tomatoes.
All is not lost if you start a little late, Gilmour says. You can plant a couple of weeks late in the season, or choose vegetables, fruits and flowers that thrive and produce late in the growing season.
You’ll need to prepare the soil for whatever plants you pick. Vegetables grow best in rich, crumbly, loam soil, says Family Handyman. Tilling and amending sandy or clay soils with compost, peat, manure and other soil builders can help plants thrive.
After planting, press the soil surrounding your seedling firmly in place and water as needed. You may need to support plants such as tomatoes (which grow too tall to support their own weight) or send out vines (like grapes and beans).
Why do all of this? Because you can often get a much more flavorful and nutritious end product than you’d ever be able to buy at the grocery store at a fraction of the price. We at The Organizing Blog plant a variety of tomatoes every year for that simple fact. Is there anything better than a #homegrown tomato?
If you prefer decorative gardening, a perennial garden only requires a little bit of thinning each year. That said, you’ll want to weed and tend any beds soon, and help new plants get established to fill in any bare spots.
Container gardens, too, are an excellent option for those low on space. To slash the cost of getting started or adding to a container garden, shop the #thrift stores supplied by generous donations to ClothingDonations.org for lightly used pots and window boxes.
Whatever you decide to grow, gardening can be a relaxing and rewarding hobby that requires only a little bit of attention each week. And the time to get started is now!