Keeping Soil in Place on a Sloping Lawn

Sloping lawns can present a challenge for landscaping, mowing, and keeping soil healthy and in place. Soil and water runoff from bordering slopes in a lawn can be starting points for mudslides and messy flooding. There definitely exists a need for growth on a slope, if only to prevent erosion, but what are the best choices, and how should the decision be made of what to plant?

A question to ask is how much sunshine the area will be receiving on a daily basis. Often times, homeowners plant according to their taste without keeping in mind what is practical growth provided given conditions. Depending on its daily allowance of sun, your embankment could benefit greatly from plantings of native wild grasses. Because these grasses are indigenous to your area, they will undoubtedly grow and thrive once they have gotten an adequate chance to take root. To give your sloped plantings the best chance possible to flourish, avoid planting them into the bare soil alone. If grass already exists on your slope, it can helpful to kill it, and plant your wild grasses and native plants into it.

This gives the root systems an excellent chance to develop while making sure to avoid erosion during the formative stages of your new plantings' development. Low growing groundcover such as juniper and thyme do extremely well in sun-drenched areas while providing excellent stability for sloping soil. A plant such as periwinkle flourishes in both full sun and full shade, so it is an excellent choice for planting; be careful, however, because flourishing periwinkle spreads in no time and can crowd your other plantings! Sufficient water is necessary to get this new growth off and running, so be sure you have adequate length of garden hose to extend from your hose reel in order to reach this slope; your daily diligent watering sessions will help ensure those burgeoning root systems take hold and prosper.

If finances allow, a terraced effect helps broaden your choices as far as what groundcover you choose to use. Some of the more attractive (relatively speaking, of course) plants and grasses need more gently sloping or flatter areas to really prosper. Terracing your sloped lawn can be quite expensive, so it is not always an option for all homeowners, but its advantages are great including the ability to better use your sloped lawn for entertaining and general enjoyment.

By weighing your options and making informed choices, you can ensure your lawn remains its most beautiful while maintaining excellent soil that eludes erosion, retains rich nutrients, and provides a perfect spot for growing your favorite grasses and plants.

Cultivating Soil

What does it mean to cultivate your garden? You are simply making the soil better. If you walked into your backyard right now, I’m sure you wouldn’t just throw some tomato seeds on the grass and expect plump tomatoes in a couple months by doing nothing else.

When you cultivate the soil, you prepare it for the plants you are going to grow. To begin, let’s assume you are just starting a garden and only have your grassy yard. Ideally, you will use a motorized tiller. A tiller takes all the hard work out of cultivating your garden. You just turn it on and push it across your garden. It will break up all the grass and ground for you.

A tiller is ideal because it is so easy, but they can be expensive. If you are lucky, you can borrow one from someone. If you are serious about gardening and know that you might use it a least every couple of years and have a large garden, it would be worth buying one.

If you don’t have access to a tiller, don’t worry, cultivating your garden is not impossible. First, you will need a shovel and maybe a pickax. At the very least you will need a shovel to begin with. Use the shovel to trace out your garden plot and dig up all the grass. I prefer to remove the grass and add it to my compost so that the garden plot has room to add new fresh soil.

If the grass is really tough, you can use a pickax to help break it up. Once you’ve removed all the grass, you can further use the pickax to break up all the large clumps. Once you’ve got most of the large tough stuff broken up, you can move on to using the garden hoe. A garden hoe has a small plate on the end that you can use to chop up your soil and dirt.

A garden cultivator will then be necessary to finish chopping and breaking up all the rest of the clumps in the soil. It will also be necessary to rake out all the rocks and roots left in your soil.

Once your garden plot is cultivated, you can fertilize it and start planting. Watch your plants grow and continue to cultivate your garden by keeping the soil in between your plants broken up. This way, your soil will drain well and your plants will grow their best.

Sowing Seeds in a Garden

As you start a garden, you must first till the soil, fertilize it, and then plant your flowers, trees, bushes, vegetable plants, etc. There are different ways you can do this, either by planting seedlings, transplanting entire plants, or sowing seeds. If you want to save some money, you can sow seeds. This way, all you have to buy is seeds which will probably only cost you a couple dollars for a large pack.

One way to sow the seeds is by sowing them in trays and growing them first, and then transplanting them into the garden. First, get some planter trays. Fill them with soil, pat it down, and moisten the dirt. Sprinkle the seeds over-top, spacing them according to the directions. Cover them again with a small layer of dirt and pat it down. Soon they will start to grow, and when it’s time to plant, with no dangers of frost, transplant them in your garden. This is a great way because they have a higher chance of surviving and it’s still as cheep as buying seeds with just an added expense of trays.

If you still don’t want to buy trays, or are confident in your gardening skills and soil, you can sow the seeds directly in your garden. First, make sure all of your soil and garden is completely tilled, fertilized and prepared. Read the directions on the back of your seed packets to know what time of year to sow the seeds. They may not be all the same. Some might need to be planted earlier than others.

Make sure you wait until there is no possible danger of frost. For example, if you live in the northeast, it would not be a good idea to sow seeds in mid march. There are still possibilities of frost and cold nights. Wait until the ground is warm and the time is right. When it gets that time, first plan out your garden. If you are planting vegetables, make sure you have rows correctly labeled even before you start planting.

Once you’ve spaced everything out and all your soil is correctly fertilized, begin making shallow holes for your seeds. If you aren’t sure that you soil has all the right nutrients, do a soil test first to make sure you don’t have too much or too little of any nutrient. It can be the difference between dead and alive plants. Continue by placing one or two seeds in each hole, depending on the directions. Cover of the seeds and lightly water the soil.

Soon, you should start see small plants. If you have more than one plant growing in each spot, weed the weaker ones. If are growing flowers and want a full garden, you don’t need to worry about this as much. Continue weeding, watering, and tending to your garden to ensure the most beautiful and robust garden possible!

Water is the Key to Success When Transplanting

Moving plants around in your garden can be tricky. The most important thing to remember while in this process is to water. Always make sure to keep the plant and it roots moist.

Even though it is recommended not to transplant during the summer, most of the time it is in the summer that you want to do this. You are seeing how things have come up and perhaps it has become too crowded in an area for the plants to be healthy. Or one variety may have just taken over an area and needs to be trimmed back. If it is the summer, remember the sun can be very intense especially on exposed roots. The heat from the sun can be relentless so never leave plants above the ground for very long. Summer is never the best time to move or transplant garden plants. You can successfully transplant garden plants during the hot months if you are careful and follow the gardening tips here.

Make sure the whole plant you want to transplant is hydrated when it is time for you to transplant. Water this plant the day before thoroughly, leaves and all. It is best to dig or transplant on a cloudy, overcast day to avoid the heat from the sun. If you can plan this, all the better. Or perhaps you can schedule to do it in the cooler evening hours. Water the plant right before digging or removing from its pot. When you water, soak the root ball. This will make the soil adhere to the roots so that the roots are not bare. Never leave the roots exposed to sun, heat or wind. If you are transplanting several plants at once, do not remove all of them at once. Do it gradually. Guage the process so that each plant can quickly get into the new soil it will thrive.

Again, water is the key. Water the hole that the transplant will be going into before you place it there. After the plant is in the hole, fill it halfway with water. Allow the water to settle the soil around the roots and then finish putting more soil into the hole filling the hole. Lightly firm the soil around the transplant. And once again, water the whole plant, leaves and all.

Since you will be watering so much during this process, a wise investment is a garden hose reel. It makes the task of watering easier by storing your hose properly saving time from unwinding the kinks that inevitably occur otherwise.

For three to five days after you have transplanted, if possible, shield it from any direct sunlight. You can lean a board in front of the new transplant or use a floating row cover to block strong sun from hitting it. You want the effort to be worth it.

When you water can be as important as how much you water. Transplants will need watering every day, if not more, so check the plant daily for the first couple of weeks. If it is wilting, water the plant. Until the plant gets familiar with its new environment and depending on the weather, you may need to water twice a day. Never let it dry out. The time the transplant needs to have to get familiar with its new spot varies. It also depends on the plant you chose to transplant. If it is a hardy one, you will have less concern. General rule is the larger the plant, the more water it will need.

Plants go through shock when they are uprooted and given a brand new home in the earth. They need some tender, thoughtful, extra care to make it through the stressful transition time, especially if it is summer. Remember to water, water, water.

Watering Your Garden

It usually is best to allow the soil in your garden to partially dry out between watering your plants. If you can see your footprints in your lawn or if it lacks overall shine then it's time to water your lawn. Annuals and vegetables should be watered at the first sign of droop. Tougher plants that live several years only need watering when you see they stay droopy after it cools off in the evening.

It is important to reach down to the roots when you water, so water long enough and deeply to help moisten the whole root zone. When plants are watered deeply they build healthier, stronger root systems. To determine if you are watering deep enough to moisten the whole root zone, just dig in with a trowel after watering to check the depth of the moisture.

Of course, sometimes this can be costly or there may be drought condition. There are ways to lower water bills and maintain more moisture to your plants which include the following. Build your soil with mulch and/or compost, to hold water and prevent evaporation. Choose low water use plants which, once established, can often thrive just on rainfall. Using soaker hoses or drip irrigation on beds can save 50% or more of water usage compared to sprinklers. To water just the right amount use a timer that screws right onto the hose end. Water your lawn separately from other plantings or your vegetable garden. They each absorb water at different rates. Ever found out you are watering the pavement instead of the lawn? Make sure sprinklers are set up efficiently. When soil is dry or compacted it won't absorb water quickly. If water puddles, stop watering for a while and then restart, so the water has time to soak into the ground. Water in the early morning or evening. If you water during mid-day half the water evaporates quickly with the heat of the sun. Practicing these simple, easy steps can make every drop count.

A way of making watering easier is to get a garden hose reel. Hoses, especially the longer ones, tend to get tangled or even knotted. This is frustrating and time is wasted trying to get the kinks out in order for the water to flow through the hose. A watering reel eliminates these problems and stores the hose in a compact area ready to use whenever you need it.

There are pros and cons to automatic watering systems. They can either waste lots of water or be a fairly efficient way of watering. It is recommended that every year you should have a professional test, repair and adjust your system. And you should inspect the system while operating it once a month. Look for any leaks, or heads that are plugged or misdirected. This maintenance is important for the system to run efficiently. Install a rain shutoff device. No sense in watering when it is raining. Also, adjusting the watering schedule according to the season helps. In July and August your garden and lawn need much more water than they do in May or September.

How the Experts Look at Dry Gardens

Once upon a time there was only one type of dry garden, one that was naturally so. Nowadays, with the increasing desire to create a number of habitats in which to grow the widest range of plants, many gardeners set out actually to create these conditions. In either case, there are a large number of varied annuals and perennials that suit a dry environment.

What is a dry condition? Just because a garden is dry does not necessarily mean that it receives very little rain. There are many gardens that receive a lot of rain and yet are still dry under foot. The reason for this is that the soil is very free draining and any moisture that falls, either from the clouds or from a watering can, passes quickly through it.

There are mainly sandy or gravely soil, but chalky soils can also be very free draining. As well as losing water quickly, many dry soils are also poor in terms of nutrients. The water passing through leeches out the nutrients, taking the food that plants require well below the level of their roots. Many seaside gardens are of this nature.

So, can we alter the dry conditions? It is possible to increase the water retentiveness of dry soil so that you can grow a much wider range of plants in it. This is done by adding well rotted organic material to the soil when you dig it. Garden compost of farmyard manure are good additives and will improve soil conditions appreciably, especially as they are rich in nutrients.

Mulching with organic materials also helps a great deal. A covering of composted bark, for example, will considerably cut down water loss into atmosphere. It will also gradually become incorporated into the soil, improving the condition.

Unfortunately, most dry soils are hungry, and gardeners need to add material both into the soil and on to its surface on a regular basis.

The Importance of Grass in a Garden

Grass and hard surfaces have an important role to play in informal gardens. In many cases, such a garden will be a family one and grass has the obvious importance as a play area.

But grass and surfaces also have a visual importance. If the whole garden is filled with flowering plants, the eye becomes restless, there is too much to see. An expanse of grass gives the eye a chance to rest and acts as a foil to the liveliness of the borders.

The edge of grass, paving or path also acts as a defining limit to the border by creating an edge, which again, is very important visually. Such an area of grass does not have to be kept pristine, mown with perfect stripes. It can be a hard wearing, everyday sort of lawn, which copes with bicycles and ball games, and still has just the same visual effect.

Is maintenance hard to do? Informal gardens can become rather high in maintenance, particularly if irregular attention is given to them. It is an inescapable fact that garden jobs do not just go away if they are ignored, they just get bigger. So, if you leave the weeding for a few weeks, the effort to rid the borders of weeds can become a daunting task that takes a long time to do.

Similarly, if herbaceous perennials and shrubs are left growing, with no attention paid to them, they will merrily go on growing until the garden becomes almost over run and a major operation is needed to get everything back to the original plan. It is therefore important to do a little bit of work often rather than a lot in sudden bursts.

With a little bit of attention, informal gardens are easy to maintain. Containers can be used just as much in informal arrangements as they are in formal gardens. They are especially useful for providing temporary fills.