Entertainment | 08/12/2009 11:00 pm

What Is Your No. 1 Gardening Tip?

From planting organic matter to spreading mulch, here are simple steps to a beautiful, green landscape.

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Renowned garden bloggers answer wOw’s most digging questions …

Hire Gardening Help

Get some help — whether a designer, a coach or a good gardener in your neighborhood (barter with a neighbor). —Susan Harris, GardenRant and Sustainable-Gardening

Have Fun in the Yard

Have fun. If what you’re doing isn’t fun, scale back, recognize that fixed perfection is not what gardening is all about and look for the joy in small things, like the opening of a bud or leaves waving in the breeze. The pleasure of observing seasonal changes and watching a garden evolve makes the work of gardening worthwhile. —Pamela Penick, founder of Digging and Penick Landscape Design.

Mulch, Mulch, Mulch!

Mulch, mulch, mulch! It keeps weeds down, keeps the soil cool, helps conserve water and amends the soil as it decomposes. For a few bucks a bag, mulch is the best gardening buy out there, and the difference it makes as far as plant health and vigor are concerned is really remarkable. —Patricia Blais, creator and author of Gardensablaze.com

"Plants are Like People"

Be realistic about the “performance” of your garden plants and cultivate patience and appreciation for plants in all their life stages. Plants are like people- sometimes they look pretty, sometimes they look ugly. A plant can also can “get sick” and then recover. Don’t expect your garden to look “House Beautiful” everyday or you will be spending needlessly to replace plants that are perfectly fine but going through the off season for blooming and growth. —Shirley Bovshow, garden design expert and blogger at ShirleysGarden.com, EdenMakers.com and GardencenterTV.com

Mulch, Much, Mulch! - Can’t Stress Enough

The best tip I could ever offer when it comes to gardening would be to mulch, mulch, mulch! It is the No. 1 — not to mention the easiest — practice a gardener can do to improve their garden immensely. —Cynthia Thompson, founder of Brambleberries in the Rain

It’s All About Soil

It all starts with the soil! Your soil is your foundation. Without a strong foundation, your garden will fall. Feed your soil by adding organic matter to your garden so it can retain both moisture and oxygen. By adding organic matter (leaves, compost and manure), you are feeding both your soil and your plants. — Jennifer L. Scott, aka "Miss Daisy," executive assistant for Fusion-io and founder of Gardening With Miss Daisy

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7 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

I have 11 acres of land, and have about 3 under cultivation. First find out your soil type. Scoop up some, mix it with some water, and you can take it to the local agricultural extension. (Who will probably say, mulch, mulch, mulch! And add amendments.) If you live in a development, chances are your top soil has been scraped off and dumped. You need to replenish the soil. Well-aged horse manure is good, as is steer manure, I use horse and chicken manure since I have renewable resources :-) on both.

Be careful of fertilisers: Too much is not good for your plants.

My land around the house was so bad I built raised vegetable beds. I use a lot of clean straw as much as it cuts down amazingly on the weeds, and straw is terribly cheap.

But I guess my best advice is have your soil tested. When you know what your soil needs, you can do something about it. When you don’t, you are trusting to a lucky guess!

Constance

By Constance Plank on 08/13/2009 12:36 am

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My mother always said, "You cannot be a true gardener unless you are out there every day checking on things—even if it is just to pick up sticks." Gardening is hard work: hoisting around tons of dirt, mulch, stonework, heavy plants, chopping roots. You can nurse plants along, have a drought, and it’s all wiped out. You don’t give up.

By Washington Cube on 08/13/2009 8:33 am

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Constance: You have 14 acres? In my dreams I would have that much land! Your advice regarding having soil tested is on target. A garden is only as healthy and viable as it’s soil. It sounds like you have an effective and cost efficient plan for your garden using clean straw.

Enjoy your garden!

Washington Cube: Your mother said it well. The act of gardening is very similar to the act of mothering- nurturing, looking after, correcting (wayward stems). In order to stay on top of things, you should check your garden everyday. I agree, "don’t give up!"

I believe that gardening isn’t really work when it is a labor of love!

Shirley Bovshow

www.EdenMakers.com

By Shirley Bovshow on 08/13/2009 10:43 am

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All the practical tips very true. I would say love your plants, talk to them, try to understand what they are saying. I once named seven juniper sprouts after the Seven Dwarves, as a joke…I wanted them to grow very tall. Be happy when they are happy and give them showers or baths when they need it.

By F Fox on 08/13/2009 12:33 pm

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I agree with you Washington Cube. Being out in the garden every day helps you be on top of bugs or disease that might be creeping into your garden. And deadheading a little each day helps keep those blossoms blooming! Right on Shirley and F Fox! Gardening IS a labor of love!

www.GardeningWithMissDaisy.com

By Jennifer Scott on 08/13/2009 3:37 pm