Making permanent beds.
Raised beds are popular because they are relatively easy to build, plant, weed, and maintain. Since the soil can drain sooner and warm up faster in spring, they enable you to plant earlier in the season. You can make a garden of permanent or ... [... more]
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Stake a claim.
Gardeners love to share their interest in gardening, and sharing with their children can be particularly rewarding. Even 2- and 3-year-olds can help plant their own little patch, and watch as life unfolds around them. Here are some suggestions ... [... more]
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Remove grass and weeds
A meadow of mixed flowers and native grasses can replace your lawn, cover a slope, or enhance a roadside. Most meadows require much less water and fertilizer than lawns do, and they rarely need mowing. For best results, prepare the soil ... [... more]
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How-To Project: Drawing a Landscape Map
Before you design or improve your landscape, the first step is to inventory what you have. The best way to do that is to draw a base map of the site, accurately recording the size and location of permanent features. On a large notepad, sketch out ... [... more]
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Repellents.
There are quite a few products with flavors and odors offensive to deer that gardeners can spray on plants or spread on the soil. Some (fermented egg yolks) offend deer's sense of smell; others (predator urines) frighten them. More of these ... [... more]
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List your needs.
Landscapes that require minimum time and money to maintain require thoughtful planning and installation. Invest early in planning and structures, and you'll pay (and work) less later. Choose structures, plants, ground-coverings, and systems that ... [... more]
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Assess your needs.
Most of us consider our yards and gardens an extension of our homes, and we look for sanctuary and privacy there. Plants can create living walls, which can be especially important in neighborhoods where homes are close together. Whether you can ... [... more]
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Choose the spot.
Eliminating weeds and getting the soil ready for your flowers and vegetables are important first steps in growing a successful garden. Time spent in preparation reduces the time you'll have to spend maintaining and weeding your garden over the ... [... more]
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Calculate Nitrogen on Bag.
Lawn fertilizers consist of nitrogen, phosphate, potassium (also called N-P-K) and other important nutrients. Of these, nitrogen is the most important for healthy green growth. But applying too much nitrogen damages the lawn, causes pollution, ... [... more]
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Site the Tree.
Buy trees and shrubs bare-root, in containers, or with roots and soil wrapped in burlap. Bare-root plants are the most economical. There's no heavy soil to manage or containers to plant. But bare-root plants, which include only deciduous or ... [... more]
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Test soil pH, and adjust as necessary.
If your garden has heavy clay soil, you know what a challenge it can pose to plants, not to mention gardeners. Heavy clay drains slowly, meaning it stays saturated longer after rain or irrigation. Then, when the sun finally comes out and the soil ... [... more]
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Order the plugs or sprigs.
An inexpensive way to start a new warm-season lawn or patch an existing one is to plant plugs or sprigs in late spring to early summer. Warm-season grasses, such as Bermuda, St. Augustine, and zoysia, spread easily from 2- to 3-inch sections of ... [... more]
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