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Posts Tagged ‘Gardening’

Should I use a special Bonsai soil or just normal soil?

The increased popularity of growing Bonsai trees and plants has brought with it many more specialist shops; the Internet being virtually awash with Bonsai supplies. As a beginner, it is usual for people to go out and buy everything they think they could possibly want to ever grow a Bonsai. However, there is a good chance you may not need it. You can buy Bonsai soil at very reasonable prices now, and this soil is mixed to a perfect combination of nutrients, soil and grit that will help your Bonsai grow, but many practitioners of the ancient art of Bonsai would probably consider this cheating.

As a beginner, it is important that you do what you can to make your first Bonsai as successful as possible. Many people will throw in the towel after just one failure, and when you consider how long a Bonsai can take to reach maturity this really isn’t an overnight hobby. You must get into a regime of regular watering, annual potting and plenty of care and attention in order to be able to enjoy a beautiful Bonsai for your troubles.

Is Bonsai soil expensive?

Bonsai soil shouldn’t be costing you very much more than normal potting compost or bags of nutrient rich soil that you use in your garden. A good Bonsai soil, however, may contain a long list of ingredients including clay, soil and even bark. Some of these ingredients are loaded with the nutrients that your Bonsai will thrive on, and paying that little extra can certainly promote good healthy growth from your beloved project.

Whether you decide you want to use bags of Bonsai soil or make your own soil there are certain things you need to make sure of before planting your Bonsai in the soil. A good Bonsai soil needs to have excellent drainage to make sure the water can seep to the roots and out of the bottom of the soil and through the holes in your pot. It is a good idea to have two different soils, one coarser than the other. This way, the screened soil acts as a sort of irrigation for your plants.

As well as this, you may want to consider buying nutrient supplements that you can add when repotting or mix with the soil that you use. However, if you are growing your Bonsai in a suitable area this isn’t always needed.

Questions and Answers on Gardening

Question #1
How to Test Soil For Magnesium Level

This question is in response to last month’s emailed gardening tip. You mentioned to make sure to do a soil test to see what your magnesium level is before adding any Epsom salt to outdoor plants. You said, “Without knowing your current magnesium levels, you shouldn’t apply Epsom salt at all to outdoor plants. Many areas have almost toxic proportions of magnesium present in the soil, and continually adding more will end up poisoning the plants and the soil.” That’s great, but how do I test for Magnesium levels?

Jim Trueman, UK

ANSWER:
Hi Jim! Great question. Since most home “do-it-yourself” soil testing kits only test for pH, Nitrogen, Potassium, and Phosphorous, in order to find out your calcium and magnesium levels you’ll have to take a sample to a local soil testing lab. Every county has one, and the cost is usually around $10 (£5). It’s fast and very accurate.

The weekendgardener…

Question #2:
Out Of Control Weeds

We have recently moved into our house, and the gardens are full of weeds. We have tried pulling them out, we have tried both chemical and organic weed killers, and tried solarization. Is there any other way. We just can’t seem to contain them.

Brad Martin, Lismore, NSW Australia

ANSWER:
Hi Brad! I can hear and understand your frustration. Nothing is worse than a battle of the weeds. Unfortunately, the best advice I can give you is diligence, and try mixing up your techniques a bit more.

The problem with a lot of chemical weed killers is they do a great job of killing what’s there, but if you simply leave that area bare, and don’t do anything else, new weed and grass seeds can blow in and take root in the now clean and open area.

You also have to realize there are perennial and annual weeds, which means that at any time of the year, some kind of weed will be growing. The trick is to keep after it year-round and in a season or two, you will see a huge decrease in the problem as you kill each weed’s growing cycle and start to get the upper hand.

So what I would suggest is to pick a general weed killing method, I like solarization because it’s chemical free, but many people opt for RoundUp or another systemic weed killer.

Once you have killed everything back, come back in and put down some corn gluten, I mentioned this up on question # 6, see above if you didn’t read it.

Corn gluten is great because it will keep any new seeds from germinating. Keep in mind, it will keep all seeds from germinating, so if you are planning on starting a vegetable garden from seed, this will be a problem.

If that is the case, and you can’t put down a pre-emergent, put down a good layer of mulch, 2 to 3 inches (5.1 to 7.6 cm) to keep any new weeds smothered.

Hang in there, you have the right idea, and in time, your garden is going to look great.

The weekendgardener…

Question #3:
What Is Heavy Soil

I want to start a water garden. I went and bought a Papyrus plant. I was told to repot plant and to use “heavy soil” and water plant fertilizer. Can you tell me what “heavy soil” is? And what type of fertilizer to use that can be used with fish in pond?

Ramona Diorec, Honolulu, HI, USA

ANSWER:
Hi Ramona! Good question. Soils come in various “textures” meaning there sandy, loam, and clay soils, which some people can refer to as light, medium, and heavy soils.

Heavy soils (the same as a clay soil) are called that because they contain more clay, are sticky, and have little pore space, drain slowly and retain water and nutrients longer, which tend to make them more fertile than other soils, and are ideal for pond plants.

A medium soil (the same as a loam soil) which is considered the ideal garden soil (not for pond plants, but general gardening), because it has a nice balance of 3 particle types, clay, silt, and sand, giving it a combination of large and small pore spaces allowing it to have air for healthy root growth, and to drain well and lose nutrients at only a moderate rate.

Lastly, a light soil (the same as a sandy soil) contains particles that are fairly large and irregular, and have large pore spaces between the particles giving the soil lots of air, which drains very quickly losing nutrients and water. That’s why plants in sand need watering and feeding more often.

In your situation, you will want to use a heavy clay soil, and there are such soils packaged specifically for aquatic plants, so ask for that. In a pond situation, using the wrong type of soil can cause numerous problems, so start your plants out correctly with the right soil.

Now, just a few extra tips for you. One of the problems with ponds is that they can get a brown tinge to the water. This is because the soil has come out of the pot, which can happen in a high wind when the pot blows or falls over spilling soil into the water, or the soil washes out of the bottom of the pot. To avoid this problem here are a couple of things you can do:

1. Use a shorter wider pot (sometimes called a “pan”) because it is less likely to blow over than a taller pot, especially if it is a taller growing plant (like some Papyrus); and make sure that you add some medium sized stones on top of the soil to keep the soil in the pot. The stones will also add extra weight which will keep the pot from tipping over in the pond in the wind.

2. Line the pot with burlap, weed barrier mat or a few layers of damp newspaper. After the bottom of the pot is lined then add your soil and plant. This helps keep the soil from washing out the drainage holes into the pond. Once the plant is potted up, soak the entire pot in a bucket that is large enough to cover the top of the pot for about 24 hours. This will allow any loose soil to be washed off into the bucket of water and not in your pond.

3. When you are putting the plant in the pond make sure that you slowly lower the pot into the water rather than just plunge the pot into the water. By lowering the pot slowly this will keep the force of the water from washing the soil out of the pot and into the water.

The final part of your question was about fertilizer. There are many made especially for ponds, just ask for fertilizer for Pond Plants. It will be safe for all aquatic life, and it won’t turn water green from algae growth.

The weekendgardener…

Question #4:
Leafminers on Tomatoes

I have 5 pots of “patio” tomotoes growing in large pots on my balcony. All 5 plants have tan “schrigely” marks on them, as you can see in the picture. Not all leaves have these marks. Also, the newest growth leaves on top of plants do not have these marks (yet??). Any suggestions as to the problem? Thanks.

Bob Coyne, FL, USA

ANSWER:
Hi Bob! First of all, thank you for sending a picture with your question. It always is so helpful to be able to see exactly what you are talking about.

What you have are called Leafminers. They like to feed on bean, beet, cabbage, chard, lettuce, pepper, tomato, and other vegetables; also many ornamentals, especially chrysanthemum and nasturtium.

The larvae tunnel through the leaf tissue making hollowed-out, winding mines. They can kill seedlings, but the good news is that on older plants, such as your tomatoes, the larvae are more of a nuisance, and a cosmetic issue, than a serious problem.

There are a few things you can do:

1. Handpick and destroy mined leaves.

2. Remove any egg clusters you may see on the undersides of the leafs as soon as they are visible in the spring.

3. You can also spray neem oil. Read more about neem oil.

The weekendgardener

The backyard in itself is a pleasant place. But no garden is ever so perfect without a water fountain. They add beauty and serenity to you’re garden The sound of the water will give you much relaxation.

The kinds of water garden fountains

There are a lot of different garden fountains You have them in all kinds of sizes, for instance you have wall fountains that are installed on the wall and are mostly used in small gardens or patio’s and you have pond fountains that are used mostly in the bigger garden,but there are pond fountains special build for smaller gardens.

The materials used to make garden fountains are: stone, ceramic, wood, copper, concrete, and I have also seen some beautiful old bronze garden fountains, though they are really expensive and much harder to maintain, the best materials for a fountain would be concrete and ceramic, those materials are low maintenance and have a long durability.

Garden fountains with sculpted carvings are adding to the beauty and serenity of you’re backyard, choosing the right kind of garden fountain is a important decision, you need to think of a view things like: budget, how much is this going to cost me, where in the garden am I going to place it, where do I get my water and electricity from, this take’s up a lot of planning, I would recommand to get some professional advice about all this stuff.

Maintenance

There are some things that you need to think about when maintaining your garden fountain.
-Fist when you have your water fountain in the garden you need to make sure that you clean in on a regular basis, because if you don’t do that on a regular basis the water will be populated with algae and turn into a green dirty slum, and you don’t want that do you?

-Use a algae treatment that is save for the environment, it would be a shame if you cleaned out your fountain and all of the sudden all the wildlife in you’re garden go belly up, there are a lot of greet products that are completely save fore the environment to use.

The right planning is the main requirement to install, maintain and own a garden fountain, there are a lot of recourses on the internet and in magazines that you can use to plan and designing your garden with a fountain, belief me there if no better way then to relax in your own backyard with sparkling fountain

Is your lawn mower tearing of the lawn grass blades instead of cutting it? Does your lawn look like it has been eaten by a goat, in spite of being cut by the lawn mower? Wait; do not pull your hair by the root. Help is at hand. We will teach you how to sharpen the lawn mower blades at minimum price and effort.

Your Manual Lawn Mower ? The Faithful Walk Behinds

Tools: The tools that your will require for doing this job are

- You and your time of about 2 hours or less

- A bastard file of about 12″ long

- A small crow bar to prevent movement of rotor of lawn mower.

- A worktable will be useful for dong the job comfortably.

Procedure: You can use the following procedure as a general guide and make changes to it to suit you. Remember the procedure is not sacrosanct. The results are important, not the procedure.

1. If possible, remove the handle of lawn mower and place lawn mower on the table.

2. Secure it if possible in the clamps. If you do not have clamps, do not bother, secure it against any block, so that the movement away from you is restricted.

3. Fix the crowbar in the blades so that it will not rotate

4. With the help of the bastard file, file the edges of blades so that they look sharp. Work at an angle of 45 degrees

5. When one blade is sharpened, remove the crowbar and turn the rotor to work on another blade. Repeat the procedure until all blades are sharpened.

6. If you have a flexible shaft grinder in your DIY workshop, you will be able to complete the work within 5 to 10 minutes per blade. Make a template of blade profile before you start your work and compare frequently. This is necessary to ensure that you do not over cut at a place.

Safety Tip For You

While sharpening the blades ensure that the stroke is not too long otherwise, you may injure yourself.

Sharpening Blades Of Power Mower

Depending upon the lawn mower the procedure may vary. We have included general statements in this procedure; you would have to change the procedure slightly. Keep the maintenance manual of lawn mower handy if you have one.

Tools required.

- Siphon hose and clean container

- Heavy work gloves and goggles

- Double-cut (medium-rough) flat file

- Lumber scrap

- Socket wrench set

- Rubber mallet*

- Bench vise or C clamps

- Rotary blade sharpener accessory

- Electric drill*

- Screwdriver, or 1/4-in. rod or bolt*

- Blade balancer

- Replacement blade*

* Only if required

The list may look formidable, but tools are generally available with every DIY enthusiast.

Procedure:

The procedure is given for the simple single blade lawn mower, but the same will apply to all types of blades, whether single or double

- Wear hand gloves and clean the engine and the gasoline tank from outside

- Remove spark plug from the engine

- Remove all the fuel from the tank of the gasoline engine. Use the siphon hose so you do not spill gasoline on floor.

- Completely empty out the oil from gearbox if you have one

- Invert the engine and have access to the blade.

- Clamp the engine so it does not move and clean the blade area thoroughly

- With help of a box spanner, remove the nut holding the blade. Usually the nut will be unlocked in the reverse to direction of rotation of engine. You may engage the screwdriver in the cooling fan of engine to stop rotation of engine.

- If you find that you are using too much force to unlock the nut, put one or two drops of rust removing chemical, and try after 30 minutes

- After you remove the blade, clamp it in the bench vise and sharpen it with a file or a grinder. Sharpen only the outer 2 to 3 inches. The area to be sharpened will be known if you see the blade.

- Sharpen only to the required extent. Too much sharpening is not necessary. This is not the knife. It works at the speed of the engine

- After sharpening, check with your thumb. Be careful not to cut thumb. If you have done sharpening before, or seen some one doing it, you will know what we mean by this.

- Balance the blade with help of a small balancing tool on VEE blocks, or even on two foot rulers placed side by side

- Refit the blades, refill engine oil and gasoline and test the sharpness of blades on uncut portion of your lawn

Safety tips:

- Always use safety goggles and hand gloves when working with power tools.

- Be sure to remove the spark plug before starting. Serious accidents can happen if you do not do this.

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Most every gardener strives to grow the best, most stunning flowers around, but that goal is hard to get hold of. Whether you want to raise prize-winning blooms or just have a home garden filled with of beautiful flowers, there are some things you can do in order to ensure your garden is in the best shape possible.

Soil chemistry counts
The chemical make-up of the soil is one of the biggest factors that contribute to the success or failure of your garden. If the soil in your planting beds is poor in nutrients, it is unlikely that your plants will thrive or produce those beautiful flowers that you want until you enrich the soil with the nutrition the plants need.

Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the soil chemistry is the same all over your yard. It is important to test the soil in each area of your property that you plan to plants, especially if the areas are away from each other. This can be important if part of your property is on a slope, or if it has been used for other things in the past.

The slope of the land and the soil type in your area are important considerations to make. A complete analysis of the soil in your yard will give you a good place to starts and a help you to monitor the quality of the soil as your garden matures.

Know what your plants will need to thrive
You probably already have an idea about what you want to plant in your garden, so it is important that you understand what those plants will require in order to grow and flourish. Although many types of annuals, perennials, and bulbs can grow and thrive in a broad range of soil and weather conditions, others can have special requirements for food, water, and soil conditions.

For example, if you are interested I n cultivating roses in your garden, you will need to know the pH level of your soil, and adjust it if you need to. Roses are commonly acid loving plants, and therefore they will not thrive in soil with a higher alkaline level. Getting some humus and tilling it into the soil can amend alkaline soil. If the humus does not do the job, adding sulfur to the soil can raise the acidity level.

Keeping an eye on nutrition
The nutrients in the soil will dictate the health and vitality of your plants and flowers. If the phosphorus and nitrogen levels, as well as the presence of other types of organic matter are not sufficient, your plants may be malnourished, and not thrive at all. Nutrients can be added to poor soil by suing humus or any number of good-quality fertilizers.

Now you understand why the chemistry of your garden soil is so important in growing your ideal garden. Having the best flowers around is a big task to fulfill. Make sure that your garden soil is ready for the duty.