If somebody wants to grow their own vegetables and have limited space, vegetables can still be grown in containers. Herbs and vegetables can be grown in containers . Some people who have a big area for their vegetables garden, they also like to use containers. Maybe they have try certain vegetables in their soil and it does not grow good in their soil, but they grow good in their containers. A lot of people like to grow herbs in containers, so they can have them real close to their house.
There are many different kinds of containers that can be use for growing vegetables, fruits, and herbs. Some of the different kinds of containers are plastic, clay, or terra-cotta pots. Window boxes and hanging baskets can be used for the same purpose of growing different types of plants. Plastic containers are light and inexpensive, and they come in any style or shape you will want to use. These plastic containers are very good to use for growing vegetables and fruits.
If a clay or terra-cotta pots is use, it will need to be line with plastic because they will lose moisture rapidly. If you decided not to have the pot permanent fixed somewhere, you will need to make sure you can move the pot because it will be very heavy because of all the soil. If you will be moving the heavy pots, you will probably need to invest in a caddy or another device on wheels, that are used for moving large containers. Window boxes are good for growing herbs and leafy lettuce crops. Hanging baskets can be use to grow herbs, small bush tomatoes, and also trailing varieties such as strawberries.
The bigger the containers is the better,because a container will be about the size of a bucket which is about a two gallon and twelve inches diameter and this will be fine for most vegetables. If you are planning on growing larger plants like squash, cucumbers, and melons these vegetables will need to have a container twice the size of the containers that I just talk about. The depth of the container is also important. The depth of the containers should be at least twelve inches deep to allow a good root run and a reservoir of moisture. Deeper pans will retain water but will need more potting mix for this one. Shallow pots will dry out real quick.
The best one to use as far as, potting soil goes is to go and buy your potting soil from a garden center or store. Any stores that sells garden supplies. Using store brought potting soil it will be weed free and free drainage and it will retain moisture and the right nutrients to give your plants a real good one. If you make your own compost you can used it if it is completely decomposed and when you are looking at it the soil needs to look like rich soil. If you are using compost and do not want to start having problems with weeds or diseases, only fill the bottom half with compost and put the store brought potting soil in the top half. When the end of the season comes, do not throw the contents of your containers away, because you can recycle the contents by putting it in a vegetable patch as much, reusing it again in your containers or adding it to the compost pile if you have one. If you are reusing your containers always fluff it up and fill the container halfway, then filled the containers up with fresh mix. Because blueberries and currants have to be in their pots for a longer time, always use a soil-based potting mix instead a soils mixes. Blueberries are real easy to grow in containers with the soil they need to grow. Blueberries has to have acidic soil to grow. For a long-term plants, you can start with smaller pots, then move to a large one when the roots fill the small one. Always have your container in a warm, sheltered place and the soil is kept moist, you can sow all vegetables directly into your containers. For crops that are closely spaced such as lettuce, onions, or greens can be sow, allowing a few spaces. Cover with potting mix and always keep the surface moist. When you thin the seedlings in stages do this where you will have an even distribution of plants. If you are planning on planting large plants, like cucumbers, eggplant, tomatoes, and peppers are best planted individually. Plant these plants in a large container with at least a 2-gallon volume or 12- inch diameter. If you are harvesting vegetables you will need to move your containers into a greenhouse, garage, or a well-lit room. The potting soil should last about four weeks. After that vigorous, vegetables will need to be fed regular, so use a general purpose or balanced fertilizer for leaf and root crops and a high-potassium one for fruit-bearing vegetables such as tomatoes, eggplant, and peppers. Watering is the biggest chore when you are growing vegetables or other edible crops in containers. Mid-morning and late afternoon are the best time to water your plants.
Some of the vegetables that are good to grow in containers are beet, pepper, potato, radish, spinach, and all greens, summer squash, sweet potato, okra, onions, lettuce, turnips, carrots, and scallion. Blueberries, currant and strawberry are the fruits that you can grow in containers. Grow herbs in containers are a good choice for containers. Grow herbs in a medium size pot.If you are growing herbs for aesthetic reasons, grow several perennial herbs in a large containers.Sold herbs that match with the same growing conditions. Summary Using vegetables in different sizes containers is really a great idea especially if you don't have the space to grow a regular size gardens. Different types of herbs can also be planted in containers.
Usually when a person think of fall colors, trees comes to many people's mind, like the beautiful leaves on a sugar maple, but there are many shrubs that have very beautiful leaves on them. Shrubs not only have beautiful leaves, they also have fruits and berries on some of the shrubs.
Shrubs have many advantages over trees. Most of the shrubs will cost less money than trees. Shrubs mature more quickly and they provide good color the first fall after they are planted. Some good reasons to have shrubs in your yard are they do double duty by providing barriers, screens, ground covers or spring flowers. All the shrubs that I will be talking about in this article are easy-maintenance plants. They also offer great fall color and they are for all over the country. There may be many other shrubs that would be available in your area that I want be talking about in this article. Always talk to your negibos or garden centers where you are living in. Cranberry bush has red autumn fruit. In the spring it has flat, lacy clusters of white flowers. In fall their leaves range from yellow to red-purple. It is hardy to 50 degrees F. and this shrub reaches up to 15 feet high and wide. Cranberry cottoneaster is a low wide-spreading shrub that reaches up to three feet high and three to six feet wide. It has dark, glossy green foliage in the summer and it turns to red or purple in fall. These shrubs has bright red berries, and they usually fast for several months. This shrub is hardy to 30 degree F. Dwarf fothergilla is grown mainly for its intense yellow and orange-red fall foliage. In the spring, its bears clusters of honey-scented white flowers. This shrub prefer acid soil and it is hardy to -30 degrees F. Witch hazel grows very high and very wide something like 15 feet. The winter flowers range from yellow to orange to red. Some of the fall foliage will be a single color or a mixture of red, yellow, and orange on the same plant. Rugosa roses are very hardy shrub roses that has prickly stems that will grow as high as 3 to 8 feet. This shrub also provides fragrant 3 to 4 inches blossoms and their colors are pink, white, and purplish red. In the fall, you will have bright red tomato-shaped fruit, about one inch or more across. It is real hardy to the degree of -50 degrees F. Winterberry has crops of bright red fruit that ripen in fall and can last all winter. It is hardy to -30 degrees F. Firethorns has large, dense clusters of pea-size fruits range from red to orange to yellow, depending on which type of shrubs you get. Fragrant sumac has attractive three inch glossy green leaves that release a fragrance when you touched or crushed. It is hardy to -40 degrees F. Heavenly bamboo has white flowers in midsummer and in the fall this shrub has orange-red pea-shaped fruit. It is hardy to 0 degrees F. Summer sweet grows 10 feet tall. In the summer this shrub has white flowers on the branch tips. The 2 to 4 inches leaves turn yellow to golden in the fall. This shrub is -40 degrees hardy. Burning bush has red fall foliage. The plant grows 15 to 20 feet wide and high. It is -30 degrees F hardy. Japanese maples has delicate deeply cut leaves that grows 2 to 4 inch long. They are hardy to -20 degrees F. This spring growth is red, the summer leaves are soft green and the fall foliage is scarlet. Oak leaf hydrangea has large, showy, cone-shaped clusters of white flowers in early summer and in the fall this shrub has eight inch oak like leaves that are either crisom or bronze. It is hardy to -20 degrees F. Purple beaautyberry has clusters of 1/8 inch fruits in an unusual lilac violet color. In cold winter areas, these shrubs may freeze to the ground, but do not worry, it will come back from the roots. It is hardy to -20 degrees F. Japanese barberry has small rounded leaves that turns yellow, orange, and red in fall. It is hardy to -30 degrees F. Red choke berry grows up to six to eight feet high. In the summer this shrubs has bright red fruits in late summer and it does well into winter. Fall leaf color on this shrub is a bright red-purple that lasts for several weeks. Black choke berry has ripe fruit that it is blacklist purple. It is hardy to -30 degrees F. Summary There are many different shrubs that you can put in my yard to have so much pretty color for the fall.
There are a few basic skills that I will need to learn to become a good gardener. Most of these skills will become second nature to everybody once I have learn the skills of being a good gardener, then gardening becomes easy. Planting Planting is the most important skill that I can learn. Some different ways that I can learn on how to plant are watching a very experienced gardener or to volunteer to get hands on experience. To plant my newly purchased plants, dig a hole larger than the pots that the plants are in. I will need to turn the pots upside down with one hand and put my other hand underneath to catch my plants. Always try to get the plants out very slowly. Do not yank or pull the plant out by the stems. Always plant them at the same level that they was growing in the pot, but in a slight depression. Then I will need to pack the soil around the plant, this is done using only my hands. As I plant each plant I will build up, a mud wall about two inches high around each plant. This will help to keep the moisture in. Then I will have to water each plant with a water hose very slowly until each plant thoroughly saturated. If you live in a cold winter area, you will need to fertilize every couple of weeks until July and then you will need to stop now so the plants can get ready for the cooler fall weather. With perennials you do not fertilize them when they are in their second year. Transplanting When I have a perennial that I want to divide and transplant it is best done in the early spring, just as the plant emerges. I can basically do it anytime expect during the summer heat. Dig the plant up and cut it in half or in several pieces depending on its size. I can use a spade or a kitchen knife. to do this. Transplanting is like planting except I sometimes would like to shape up my plants. This means cutting back the top growth so the roots do not have to much to support while they are getting establishing themselves. This plant needs to end up at the same level that it was growing before it was started. Also I will need to create an earthen dam around the base to catch and hold the water. I will need to thoroughly soak the soil right after I plant them. Growing From Seed Sowing seeds is a whole lot less work , than planting. Some of the seeds, not all kinds of seeds, can be sprinkled over the soil I can either do this in fall or late winter with annuals such as poppies, bachelor's buttons, and larkspurs. Vegetable seeds are always planted in rows at the time that they are suppose to be planted. Take your rake, and dig and level the soil to create a furrow or so deep. Then I will plant my seeds like beans, corn, and peas or whatever I choose to plant now. I will cover the seeds about a 1/4" to 1/2" deep. I will need to space the seeds a few inches apart, knowing this is they germinate and grow, I will need to thin them so this will allow them room to grow. Different vegetables mean different ways to thin them. Sowing seeds inside is easier to do because you will be able to sit down and do this part. Next the container needs to be fill with a soil mixture that is made for the seedlings. Plant a few seeds into each cell and cover them exactly as the directions say on the back of the seed packet. Always water from the bottom by soaking the containers in their trays. Do not water from the top, because this will move all the seeds that I have planted. Seed plants will also tell you when to plant which is four to eight weeks before the average frost-free time in your area, always count backwards from that time. A good thing to do during the winter is to get it your garden down on paper. Spacing Plants I will need to know some information on how to space my plants. For example, for trees and shrubs will need different spacing. Trees need a lot of space so the trees will have pl entry of room to grow. For perennials and annuals, I can always check with nursery centers or a garden centers. Feeding Plants Once everything is planted and growing , now is the time to start feeding my plants. There is no set example in feeding my plants. Some plants are heavier feeders than other plants. Some do not want or need any extra fertilization at all. Be generous with bulbs, roses, most annuals, vegetables, and containerized plants. Most herbs, trees, shrubs, perennials, and vines can get along pretty well on their own. If perennials are overfed, they will come up with a bunch of lax, floppy plants. If this happens, they will have to be stalked. Plant Supports Some plants need to have support, and one of the flowers that has to have support is dahlias. To stake a plant I will need to stake a sturdy bamboo pole, as tall as the plant is suppose to be I can use twine., yarn, or twist-ties every 10" attaching it first to the stake and then around the plant stem. Deadheading, Shaping, And Pruning Deadheading is when I cut or pinch off faded blossoms and their stems. Deadheading encourages plants to keep blooming rather than them putting all of their energies into seed production. Some plants have to be cut back about 1/2 and then other plants will have to be cut all the way down. Plants that are included in this are lupine, cat mint, daisies, meadow page, and columbine. In the early spring, this is the best time to cut out dead branches on trees and shrubs and also do minimal shaping. It is time also to cut back perennials and ornamental grasses. Summary There are many different basic skills that a good gardener needs to know. They are planting, transplanting, growing from seed, spacing plants, feeding plants, plant supports and deadheading shaping and pruing.
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My family and I live here in the South and in the fall, one of the South's favorite vegetables, comes under the name of 'greens'. Down here in the south, the 'greens' consists of collards, mustard, turnip, and other greens grows real good in the vegetable garden, and it is an excellent time to plant them.
Greens are real good for the home vegetable garden, because they are very easy to grow and they produce a lot of greens for the family, friends, and neighbors. Another good reason to grow greens in the winter, is because this is a great way to keep the vegetable garden producing through the winter.
Turnips and mustard are very fast-growing greens, and I can harvest them as early as five or six weeks after I plant them. I can either harvest the whole plant or I can just crop, which means I am just going to remove the lower, larger leaves. When I crop my green plants, I am harvesting some of the plant's leaves and this allows the plant to continuing growing. This allows me to be able to extend the harvest. Sometimes, we have a mild winter, and when we do, I can cropped my turnips and mustard and have them in late winter or early spring.I have to remember that cropping my turnips, it will reduce the size of the root, so I reserve a portion of my turnips for root production. On these plants, I will not harvest any leaves.The leaves use photosynthesis to produce food that is transferred to the roots for storage. That storage root develops into nice-size turnips ready to harvest in eight or nine weeks.
Collard greens can be grown year-round, but fall is the best time to plant collard greens and when they get a frost on them, this will make them sweeten, so they are more tastier. I plant the seeds two inches apart, and then I will thin the plants out to a space of ten to twelve inches between plants. I then harvest them by cropping the older, larger leaves. Collards tolerate higher temperatures, better than any of the other types of greens. They are very cold tardy and they can survive temperatures in the 20 degrees without damage. When I was growing up here, we always had gardens year-round.
These two ornamental shrubs you can find in yards all over the world. Azaleas has a signature characteristic and it is the vibrant displays of color. The signature characteristic of the rhododendrons is their spectacular and dramatic flower clusters.
These two plants grow in a variety of shapes and sizes. They also have handsome foliage with diverse, texture, and they have good versatility in landscapes, does not matter whether they are in beds, borders, and containers. Rhododendrons and azaleas are similar in many ways. The two have similar cultural requirements and their landscapes uses are the same. The two plants have differences in their adaptability, history, and physical characteristics of development, size, leaf texture, and flower type. The similarities which includes that they all like humus-rich moist, slightly acid, well-drained soil, and they require some shade for best performance. If you want your plants to performed good, plant them by established trees that provide afternoon shade. They also look alike from afar with their glossy, dark green leaves and shrubby habit. They look very good together. Native species of azaleas, and rhododendrons are found in a triangle of Asia, including Nepal, parts of southwestern China, and northern Burma. There are differences between rhododendrons and azaleas. The leaves of the rhododendrons are leathery, and the flowers are in large clusters at the ends of the stems. Azaleas have small leaves and profuse flowers scattered over the entire shrub. Both of the plants have small leaves. The difference between the two plants are the undersides of their leaves. Lepidote rhododendrons are covered in tiny scales, whereas, the azaleas have no scales.
The leaves of rhododendrons are thicker, darker green and more robust appearing. The flowers of azaleas are smaller than the rhododendron's. They both have very pretty flowers. Differences between rhododendrons from azaleas.
AZALEAS Azalea s leaves are small,, narrow, and painted. The undersides of leaves have small hairs and the leaves are easier, thinner, and softer than those of rhododendrons. Flowers are flatter than rhododendrons. Flowers are on the sides and on the sides and on the tips of the stems. Flowers has five lobes and five stamens.
RHODODENDRONS The leaves are broad, long, large, and leathery leaves. They have smaller leaves than azalea leaves. The leaves are heavier in texture, and usually hairless. Flowers are more bell-shaped and they are larger than azalea flowers. Flowers have large clusters of each blossoms at the ends of the branches. Flowers have five to seven lobes and ten or more stamens.
