Gardening

I don’t have enough land to own a farm or any large scale cultivation project. My original idea was to grow bonsai trees, but a 4 year old tree goes for $20. I don’t see how anyone in the world can make any sustainable income off of that.

I can grow anything from cacti to flowers to a full blown tree (don’t have enough space for a tree).

Any ideas on how I can turn my gardening ability into a business?

You didn’t say how much space you do have but you might consider herbs. Many of them don’t take a lot of space and fresh ones are very popular.

I tried to get into the hobby of gardening recently. I loved it until one day in my garden after removing weeds I saw the soil move by itself! I’m very superstitious and I fear that my house has being built on an ancient burial ground. I’m very scarred to go out into the garden now and I’m afraid something terrible will happen such as zombies. It makes it hard to sleep at night. I’m being very serious, how can I overcome this?

Sounds like you disturbed an earthworm or some other (very normal/natural) critter in the soil. Best advice is to just get back out there & get to know your local plants & animals. Get back in the saddle, so to speak.

My mom hasn’t really ever gardened before. Last year she tried, but didn’t get into it much. We are into the whole organic foods thing so I thought we should garden to save some money on all the produce we buy. Do you know of any good gardening books for beginners like my mom?

If Square Foot Gardening is still available, it’s a great book for beginners! Not overwhelming at all. There was also a book called something like lasagna gardening……fun but if you don’t have access to the stuff, probably not practical. Gardening for Dummies………?? No offense, just they usually break it down into simple sections.

If you are in the US you can contact your Cooperative Extension Service in your county. They have gardening brochures that may be helpful. Also they have the Master Gardeners, trained volunteers to answer your (many) questions. That’s their job.

I will return home at the end of July and would like to start some sort of gardening project in August. But I have never done any kind of gardening/landscaping. I have no idea what kind to buy and plant. I am completely clueless.

We live in Kansas were we experience all 4 seasons. It gets quite windy in our area. The front of the house is facing the south.

(August is not a good time of year to start gardening in the USA except for states such as south Florida)

You are gonna love gardening, don’t try to do it all in one year. Get to know where the sun shines the most, and where the shaded areas are. Because you will need flowers for the sun areas, and flowers for the shaded areas.

Since you are a beginner, this year start your garden with plants that you get from a garden center or nursery. They are called bedding plants and come in a six pack. Look for a little tag sticking in the six pact showing directions on how to grow the plants. If the tag is not there, ask for one or buy something else. Directions are VERY important.

Seeds are not always easy to grow. And wildflowers are the hardest so don’t be disappointed if they don’t show up.

Two good things to do for yourself is to call your local County Extension Service and ask for all the information that they have about gardening in your area. They usually have a packet/kit of things for the home gardener.

And number two would be to pick up a couple of beginner books. You really do need to know about soil, compost, mulch and etc.

To keep from over watering or not watering enough, buy a water analyzer from a nursery or garden center. Be sure to read the directions. This will be one of your best tools.

Send for some free gardening catalogs and get use to the different types of plants, colors, and when to plant. They are filled with good informtion and pictures. And they will keep you company during the long winter months. Here is a list of just a very few. There are hundreds more:

http://www.waysidegardens.com
http://www.dutchbulbs.com
http://www.jacksonandperkins.com (Roses)
http://www.oakesdaylilies.com (Daylilies)
http://www.caladium.com (Caladiums)
http://www.parkseed.com
http://www.burpee.com

Other catalogs:
http://www.leevalley.com
http://www.gardeners.com
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Container/pots/window boxes needs:

All need holes in the bottem for water drainage,
Potting soil that comes in bags,
Slow release fertilizer for flowers (not for green plants), OR liquid fertilizer that will need to be used more often-read directions,
Water crystals to be mixed into the soil for holding water,
Bedding plants or full grown plants.

Here is an excellent link to check out for color combinations and plants that look good together:

http://www.fernlea.com/awesomeaccents/recipes.html

For centuries, one of the most popular things to do around one’s home was to create a garden. Gardens were filled with flowers, plants, or food, and they provided enjoyment and sustenance for the homeowner.

The tradition of gardening continues to this day as gardens of all types and shapes can be found around nearly every home. Some gardens are small and might even fit on a windowsill. Others are much larger and can occupy a significant portion of the property.

Some gardens are obviously more than a haphazard collection of plants and flowers, they are planned, organized, beautiful, and often thematic; and those gardens are the product of landscape gardening.

Landscape gardening has origins that go back centuries and to different continents. English gardens of the 18th century had many elements that are associated with modern landscape gardening.

English gardens (or landscape gardens as they were known in England) often revolved around a pond, and would have small bridges and pavilions that were used as vantage points.

In the Far East, Japanese and Chinese gardens were prevalent, and remain popular to this day. Eastern gardens typically had stone features, and like English gardens they often feature water, bridges, and a pavilion.

However, landscape gardening is not limited to those styles, and the evolution of the craft has taken many turns through the decades. Modern gardens may incorporate the features of their ancestors, but they can have a personality of their own as well.

Landscape gardening not only embraces elements of gardens past, but also demonstrates many aspects of architecture as well. Attention to color, line, scale, and texture all must come together to create an aesthetically pleasing garden.

Good color schemes typically match similar colors to other similar colors, such as warm reds to warm yellows, and cool blues to cool greens. Warm colors tend to excite the senses and attract attention, while cooler colors are likely to have a relaxing effect (perfect for a mediation garden!).

Another classic element of architecture that gardening requires is attention to the line. The line of a design relates to the way a viewers eye follows the groupings of plants and border areas.

Smooth flowing lines or abrupt straight lines can impart a different feel and elicit a different response from those who are viewing the garden. Texture and form are closely related to the concept of the line.

Form relates to the prevalent shapes in your garden, such as triangular conifers or rounded bushes, and texture is predicated by the way various plants work together to create a look, whether that look is soft, course, or something in between.

Once you have established your selection of plants and flowers, and your textures and forms, you can compliment those items with a hardscape that is fitting with your tastes.

Fences, walls, stonework, fountains, statues, and gazebos, they are all hardscape items that are integral to landscape and they will help provide your theme and focal points. Install those items first and then fill around them to create a wonderful garden.

Landscape gardening remains popular not only because of its beauty but its function as well. Not only can a garden provide solitude and harmony to your home, it can help augment the best parts of your property such as a great view or wandering creek.

A landscape garden can also be used to block out undesirable views, or to cover parts of your property that are not as appealing. Ultimately the direction you go with landscape gardening is entirely up to you.

By adhering to the classic lements of landscape architecture, and finding a theme and texture that compliments your home, your foray into landscape gardening is sure to provide you with enjoyment, relaxation, and added value to your home.

Riley Hendersen
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/bringing-a-yard-to-life-with-landscape-gardening-113772.html

Which gardener would not sit inside in winter with some plant catalogues on their lap as they sip their tea and dream of the next year’s garden? This is simply a good fun especially to get indoor gardening supply and have a little winter gardening fun. You may use it for starting seedlings or simply raise indoor plants; however either way with right indoor gardening supply, one need not wait for the summer to get his fingers dirty again.

Light- let that remain

Perhaps, the most vital thing to address about indoor gardening is regarding the level of light. During the winters, days are shorter which means less light. When the house does not have suitable windows facing south to capture good light, you would continually have to append the light quotient by adjusting the plants around for capturing better sun. It is not optimal solution though. For the winter indoor gardening, apt light sources are among the essential indoor gardening supply stuff. Few people rely upon fluorescent lights, and some others use halogen lights and high intensity discharge lamps. Few even try growing them with the incandescent light, but it doesn’t work very well for every plant.

Any way for that matter, one must be aware about the light requirements of indoor plants which is being grown and should pick the lighting suitable for them.

Earth or Water

There is varied number of ways you could grow plants inside, few are based on the nutrients rich water-based system, and some others rely upon the good Mother Earth. Type of garden chosen would determine indoor gardening supplies one needs. The soil-less systems, generally called the hydroponics are considered as optimal indoor growing system. It reduces damage to the crops from pests and weeds. It is a little more complex to comprehend, but could be learned quite quickly. The indoor gardening supplies often have assortments of hydroponics kits which are available to average consumer.

When you are rooting the cuttings or growing the seeds for transplanting outdoor, then the jiffy peat cups and seedling starter kits become available in the indoor gardening supplies. It would allow you to plant the seeds indoors with minimum mess via soil. They are compact, very easily transported, and peat pots could be planted outside pot!

Indoor gardening is indeed a rewarding hobby. Most people focus on specific plant types. Few like cactuses, while others like tropical. Some other people grow the herbs indoors. Whichever plant you choose, it would have its very own unique growing needs and other optimal environments. Cactuses, apparently, would need a very dry and hot environment whereas the herbs love the hydroponic setups. Hence when you choose the indoor gardening supplies, always ensure about the plants you would grow and try mimicking the environment in which they essentially grow naturally for best results.

Abhishek Agarwal
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/indoor-gardening-supplies-in-winter-celebrate-christmas-with-your-plants-753633.html

The National Home Gardening Club offer many benefits to its members. It is said to be the largest home gardening organization with paid membership. For a nominal fee, various benefits are available.

If you choose to become a member the National Home Gardening club, you will be entitled to the following perks.  1. Members can enter competitions to win free gardening products such as gardening accessories, tools, and other gardening supplies.

2. A coupon will be given to members to claim a free gardening shears.

3. Members can also access a free trial subscription of the Gardening How-To Magazine.

4. They may be eligible to test and keep gardening tools such as pruning shears. These are some of the products tested by members in the past two issues of the Gardening How-To magazine:

- Honda Harmony Lawn Mower

- Miracle-Gro Garden Weed Preventer

- Sunflower Garden

- Cobra Head Precision Weeder and Cultivator

- Preen ‘n Green

5. Members can enjoy a free directory of public gardens, which contains information about lush gardens, arboretums, and conservatories throughout the US.

6. They can interact and talk about tips, ideas and methods with other members.

7. Members can obtain gardening and landscaping tips and plans for the completion of various gardening projects.

8. They have access to the members-only gardening website.

9. Members can also preview gardening books, gardening videos, etc.

Indeed, the for-members-only benefits are that grandiose. They are all for the gardening enthusiasts to grab.

After the 30-day trial, you can continue your membership for only $1 per month.

Many garden-lovers think this is a small price to pay for all these privileges.

Jon Simms
http://www.articlesbase.com/food-and-beverage-articles/learn-about-the-national-home-gardening-club-701988.html

The Internet has had an enormous impact on the way in which information about gardening and horticulture is being published with more and more information being made available in the form of downloadable e-books. Let us look at why you should consider writing and selling your own gardening e-book.

If you have a good knowledge of gardening and you can write book providing helpful information to readers, then publishing it as an e-book is a great way to go. Electronic books or, e-books have changed the publishing world.

The Advantage of Gardening E-books

there are several advantages with e-books. If you write gardening e-book you can get it published far easier and in much less time than for a traditional print book.

Once you have created your gardening e-book once, you can easily copy and email it to your customers, or have them download it immediately following payment. That means almost zero costs for production, storage, and shipping. In other words, your gardening e-book will be a highly profitable product to sell.

Don’t forget that many people search for information online before even go anywhere near a bookstore. A few of the common gardening topics that people search for online include growing flowers, growing vegetables, growing herbs, organic gardening, trees and sustainable living.

How Much Do E-book Authors Make.

Some e-book authors make just a few extra dollars per month. Others make hundreds of thousands of dollars with a single e-book launch. Whether or not you can achieve that with your gardening e-book will depend upon many factors but one thing to keep in mind is that as an e-book author you will get to put more from each sale into your own pocket.

By comparison, readers readily spend around $25 for traditional gardening books such as, New Illustrated Guide to Gardening and The Complete Vegetable & Herb Gardener. But gardening e-books have good ticket prices too. Consider Organic Food Gardening Beginners Manual that sells at Click Bank for $24.

Many traditional book authors only earn a dollar or two for each paperback book that sells, but with e-books you will normally pocket 80% to 90% of the cover price for every copy sold.

Plus an e-book business is open 24 hours. As long as your web site is up, customers from around the world in any time zone can visit your store and make a purchase.

What Makes a Gardening E-book Sell.

Your gardening e-book will sell if it is well-written, if it is helpful to your target audience, and if you promote it effectively.

Be sure to know your target audience and provide information about gardening that is clear, concise and answers real questions that people want answers to.

And remember that your target audience is not limited to flower gardeners, it could also be vegetable gardeners and herb gardeners.

Ultimately sales of your gardening e-book will depend upon you actively and relentlessly promoting it. Use articles. Use advertising. Use a blog or newsletter. Do not let up and you will see sales of your e-book grow.

In closing, a couple of questions. Would you like to be recognized as an expert on gardening and horticulture. Would you like to be able to tell people that you are a published author.

You can take the first step today by deciding to write and sell your own bestselling gardening e-book.

http://www.your-gardening-tip.com http://www.america-gardener.com

Neeraj Walia
http://www.articlesbase.com/ebooks-articles/you-can-write-a-gardening-ebook-sell-it-online-701227.html

If you have a garden in your home, spending a bit more time in it can do you good. And you don’t need to have a large garden to enjoy the benefits of gardening.

Gardening provides the regular physical exercise. It’s just as effective as going to a gym, but much cheaper. All that digging, shoveling, raking, composting, and other garden activities are extremely effective in burning fat and improving blood circulation.

Gardening requires you to use your head and your creativity. The time spent planning the garden and researching different plants is a great brain workout. Gardening gives us a chance to be creative. You can let your personality shine through in your garden.

Gardening is also a great stress-reliever. In the midst of your daily grind, meeting deadlines and the many other tasks that make up your day, try to sit out in your garden and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. This can do wonders for your well being. The beautiful colors found in the flowers may also have calming effects on one’s mood.

Gardening connects you with nature and the rhythm of life. Gardening requires you to live in garden time. We all could use a lesson in slowing down. Studies have revealed just viewing a garden or nature has healthy psychological benefits.

The relationships that develop, between plants, and people, and the basic human need of watching things grow, creates a sense of excitement. In many cases it becomes a source of therapy for people with emotional problems.

Gardening also provides a chance for you to give yourself some “alone time” – time to pray, meditate, and simply clear out your mind. Take in the fresh air, get some sunshine, and commune with nature.

Gardening gives you a sense of accomplishment and independence, as well as a closer relationship with nature that working with soil and its produce so often provide

Growing your own produce is not only more cost-effective, but you are assured of a fresh harvest with something healthy and delicious for every meal. We can not ignore the fact that, in most cases, the produce you buy in most food stores is more expensive then what it would cost you to grow your own vegetables, which when harvested, is a much better product.

As you can see, the benefits of gardening are not restricted to people of a certain age. Anyone from kids to the elderly can reap the benefits of gardening.

sunshine01
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/benefits-of-gardening-674803.html

Garden advice isn’t that tough to come by.  In fact, you can get gardening advice from another gardener, in a gardening catalog, gardening books, gardening magazines, and even on the Internet.  Although you’ll have variations with all plant, there has some gardening advice that is universal and that goes for any plant.

For example, the gardening advice given for planting is pretty much uniform.  You must set plants where they will have room to raise so they do not overcrowd one another.  Healthful flow of air is a plus, and plants must be in a location where they will get sufficient amounts of sunlight.  Advice will always tell you to add some type of foods to the soil to result to better plant growth, such as mulch or compost. 

Gardening advice on irrigating plants is a bit more wide-ranging, as every type of plant needs distinct amounts of water.  For example, you wouldn’t prefer to water a cactus near as much as you water a tomato plant.  How Greater you irrigate will obviously too depend upon where you live, the climate, and how Greater rainfall your area meets. 

Gardening advice from almost all source will assure you that your plants not only require fertilize when you first plant them, they’ll also required to be fertilized throughout their running season.  What type of fertilize applied will depend on the soil content and pH balance, but fertilize will definitely be required with most every plants.  Compost may be be used rather and it’s easy to get advice on how to prepare a compost pile likewise as when fertilize and compost requires to be used.

Gardening advice on weeds, insects, disease, and how to remove them is probably the most desired advice in all of gardening.  These pests occupy all gardens and if you don’t remove them, they’ll take over and destroy your garden.  There are several different chemicals and pesticides that can be used, and gardening advice will typically hint gardeners in on which chemicals are better, which are harmful, and which ones are easier to deal.

Gardening isn’t an easy job; you’ve to fight versus several outside forces, such as weather, insects, disease, and weeds.  Even the most experienced of gardeners will seek out gardening advice from time to time.  Who wouldn’t when there are so many forces that could take a garden out?  There has numerous general gardening advice on the market that applies any plant, but if you look a bit heavier you’ll find particular advice for that one plant that is the only one giving you trouble.  Gardening advice is comparatively easy to get, and while you may come across the occasional bad apple, most of it is relatively sound and will help with any gardening query.

Lauren Rose
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/gardening-advice-692268.html