Steal from the neighbors

Riker — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 01:40:12 +0000

OK, let me clarify. I am not suggesting you pick Mrs. Brown’s prized begonias. What I am suggesting is that you take a look around the neighborhood to get ideas as to what works where. It is likely that you and your neighbor’s share similar soil conditions and weather patterns. Your plants will likely thrive if you take note where things are placed in your neighbor’s yard.

I had a bougainvillea that was just miserable. It was because I had placed it where I wanted it instead of where Mother Nature intended. Don’t fight Mother Nature, she always wins. My neighbors on the other hand had vibrant lush bougainvilleas. So, I placed my plant in the same western exposure as the happy plant next door. All of a sudden it was happy, go figure.

Take a walk around your neighborhood. Notice which plants are thriving, where there are placed, when do they get sun, etc. Then consider similar placement in your yard. With a little trial and error, you will have a wonderful, thriving green thumb and a luscious garden.

Happy Gardening!

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Earth Friendly: 10 Things You Shouldn’t Compost (blisstree.com)
Healing Gardens (findmeacure.com)
My Lawn – The Axis of Evil. (thinkspin.blogspot.com)

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Steppin’ into the Garden

Riker — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 11:27:04 +0000

: Image via Wikipedia

Basic Garden Tips

When life gets crazy – an unending list of chores – work projects, volunteering, stuff around the house – I head off into nature.

My escape has always been go hug a tree. But sometimes getting away isn’t so easy. Load up the truck, corral the dogs, prod Husband off the couch – you get the point. So, I brought nature to me. I started gardening. It started off easy enough – a houseplant here, a few herbs over the sink – and soon I’m rototilling the back forty. Well, we live in SF, so it’s more like the back 15×12 – but I digress.

Gardening is simple, if you remember –

Basic Garden Tips

· “I’m thirsty!” – Well, I heard you can over water, but I’ve yet to see it. The trick is to insure that your plants aren’t in standing water. When you are potting a plant, line the bottom with pebbles to insure there is plenty of drainage.

· “No critters!!” – Even the most diligent green thumb battles bugs. Fight nature with nature – Marigolds give off a smell that aphids don’t like, so plant them around your rose bushes. Garlic does, too!

· “One woman’s garbage” – is another woman’s compost. There are many good resources on how to compost, check them out. After a few months, your trash transforms to nutrient rich supplement for your garden.

· “Worms poop, and that’s a good thing” – Worm poop (castings) provide wonderful nutrition for your plants; drop a few in your compost heap. In their travels, they also help aerate the soil.

· Be Nice to the Little Ole Ladies - There IS a garden club in your area. In it there are little old ladies and lanky old men–and an occasional gardening stud–who, if you are nice and bring a covered dish to their meeting–will clue you into EVERYTHING you will ever need to know about growing things in your microclimate. And if your dish is tasty, they just might supply you with bulbs and cuttings from their imposing yards and all the tips you need to eventually out-green them.