More on Essential Gardening Tools

Almost every gardener owns a little piece of gardening equipment. In practice, it is quite hard to put up a simple garden without even using at least a single piece of equipment. But, there are important factors to consider when buying gardening tools. First you must know the size and extent of your garden so you know what appropriate size of equipments to use. Next, pick equipments that you will be able to work with easily. Consider also the equipments’ capability of doing works quickly; after all, equipments were made to make our tasks easier. And most important, it must be within your budget.

As I have indicated in my first post on gardening tools, you do not need to own expensive or sophisticated gardening tools to be successful with your hobby. But you must own at least a piece of gardening tools for cultivation. Tools for breaking the soil can be as simple as a hand held trowel or a more high-tech power tools. Basic hand tools include shovels, spading forks, rakes, trowels, and diggers. Beginners and veteran alike must have these tools because they are relatively easy to use and do not require much strength. Other hand held tools also include a wheel cultivator, a pickaxe, and a mattock.

Compared with simple hand held tools, power tools are quite more expensive, but the results are better and faster. Power tools usually require gasoline or electricity to run. The most essential and versatile piece of gardening equipment is the tiller. Tillers will help you to easily break up the ground and get it ready for planting, chop up any debris, and help mix in fertilizer and compost. For amateur gardeners, it is impractical to invest in such equipments. You can hire someone or rent a tiller from time to time. Other examples of power tools are chippers, garden shredders, and chain saws.

You may also need pruning tools to cut off unwanted branches, and to shape up your shrubs, hedges, and small trees. Pruning shears are advisable for cutting small branches of about ¾ inch in diameter, whereas a lopping shear is used for cutting bigger branches. For hard to reach areas, say on top of a tree 15-feet high, pole pruners will make your life easier. And for more serious gardening works you may consider using heavy-duty pruning tools like a hedge shears and a pruning saw.

Plants can’t definitely live without water. Most probably, one of your daily routine is watering your plants, unless you own a cactus garden. It is a must to have a water hose so you won’t have hard times of coming back and forth while carrying heavy buckets of water. You also have an option to purchase watering accessories like sprinklers and drip irrigation hoses but that is if you are willing to shed off some of your savings.

Gardening without proper gardening tools is like a soldier without his rifle. Gone are the days when people use their bare hands in planting. It is advisable to use the appropriate tools that suit your gardening needs. Gardening equipments are good investments, it is as important as the dirt and the seeds in your garden.


LESSON IN LIFE:
“Life offers a lot of challenges, thereby you must equip yourself to withstand them, and make your life as beautiful as a garden in the process.”

More Gardening Advice for Beginners

Advice on this stress-relieving hobby may come from a fellow gardener, from a catalogue dedicated to giving information on taking care of plants, from books on gardening, and of course from the Internet as you are doing right now. The advice may cover a wide range of topic, as wide as the types of garden one can start and keep. One sure thing, though, there are general tips for whatever type of garden you are maintaining.

One such advice is to place plants where they will have enough room to grow and not to overcrowd each other. You must also give them enough air, or breathing space, and enough sunlight so they can produce their own food. It will also help your plants if you will add some types of nutrients to your soil, such as mulch and compost.

Every type of plant requires different amounts of water. Of course you will not water a cactus with as much water as you will give to your tomato plant or orchids. You must also consider the climate in your area to see how much rain your plants can get from nature. Then you must adjust the amount of water you give your plants.

You must know the pH level of your soil to know which fertilizer formula to use. You must remember that plants must be fertilized not only when they were planted, but all through their lives. You may also make your own compost pit to get your organic fertilizer whenever you want. Composting does not only help your plants, it is also a good way of recycling biodegradable materials.

Care must be observed in using insecticides. Insecticides usually contain chemicals that may be harmful to both humans and plants. However, pests will always be there to invade and harm your plants. Pesticides have then become a necessity, not an option. You must therefore choose insecticides that are water-based, if there is any, and those that are easier to administer.

Even gardening experts like me still look for advice from other fellow gardeners, from catalogues, from books, and from the web, because this hobby is evolving at a very fast rate, and the plants as well as their needs are constantly changing, together with our climate. Do not be afraid to ask, for the sake of your plants.


LESSON IN LIFE:
"A humble person who seeks advise will be the wisest person in the crowd."

Essential Gardening Tools to Keep Your Plants Healthy

Basically, plants need sunlight, water and soil to grow and survive, but these essential elements are not enough to ensure the health of your plants. Fertilizers, insecticides and greenhouses greatly affect the health and color of your plants. Furthermore, gardening tools can also spell your success in gardening, although not directly. It is thereby imperative that you choose the right tools for your garden.

Low-quality gardening tools may hurt your plants or even destroy them completely. Standard tools may cost you more than substandard one, but the small additional amount of money may be the life and death of your plants. Here are the important tools you must purchase to help you take care of your garden.

Lawnmower. As I want to give you brand names, let me reserve that for future posts. For now, let me give you the qualities of a good lawnmower. Your lawnmower must give a large top cover to avoid damaging overhanging plants and shrubs. You must also look for a lawnmower that does not emit pollutants.

Garden Shredders. Garden shredders are tools you may use when trimming tree branches up to 40mm thick. Look for one with high power motor and with a silent crushing system. Look also for shredder that is easy to assemble and with wheels for portability. With this tool, you can do shredding with ease.

Cultivators. Cultivator have integrated tines to smoothen compacted soil. Normally, this tool comes with a border edger. Aside from softening the soil, cultivators can also be used to clean off moss, aerating and thatching. This tools is very effective in preparing the soil before planting.

Leaf Sweepers. Sweepers are ideal for small- to medium sized lawns. With its height adjustment and collector that can hold up to 200 liters of leaves and other litters from your garden, cleaning your plots will never be as difficult as before.

Edge Trimmers. This tool is very useful in trimming the hedges to make your garden neat and clean. You can also use this tool to prune plants and small trees.

Spading Forks. When it comes to aerating and transplanting, spading forks are the best tools to use. You can also use this tool to separate perennials from grasses. Furthermore, you can also use this as manure fork, mulch, and sorting hay for smaller gardens.

Mattock. To break sticky clay soil, you will need a mattock. You can also use this to dig around medium to big trees. You can also use this as substitute for hoes and picks. There are also some models that combine pick and mattock.


LESSON IN LIFE:
“Remember that only non-living things can be used as tools; never use a person as tool to your goals.”

Gardening Gloves that Fit

It is nice to feel the warmth and moist of the soil with your bare hands while gardening. However, with this hobby your hands may end up blistered, chapped, or worse scraped. It is thereby advisable to use gardening gloves. If you are a veteran gardening enthusiast you may already know how important these hand protections are. Gardening gloves can protect your hands from hazards you may encounter along the way. Don’t let the pain spoil the fun of growing plants for your garden.

There are different kinds of gloves available in the market nowadays. When purchasing, it is important to consider the nature of work you are doing so you can decide what type of gloves is best to use. Some gloves are specially designed to protect your hands from chemicals, heat, and other corrosive substances. One good example is the leather gloves, which is not practical when you are dealing with chemicals or liquids. There are also a bunch of specialized gloves intended for gardening such as for pruning thorns, whereas some gloves can be used for general tasks such as raking, digging, and weeding.

Once you know what to wear, you must choose gloves that perfectly fit your hands. Just like when you’re buying a pair of shoes, you must buy the size that will fit to you and make your feet comfortable. Remember, too big or too small gloves will only burden you while you work and it will defeat the purpose of wearing gloves. When fitting, try to wear the gloves on your both hands, make a fist, and imitate the movements you make when gardening.

Gardening gloves are available almost everywhere. Different manufacturers offer their consumers a wide array of gardening gloves to choose from. Commercial gardening gloves can be pricy depending on the material it is made. Wash and wear gloves can be washed with cold water, air dried, and used again. Cotton and cotton-polyester are for general purposes. The latter is commonly used for light chores in cool and dry weather.

Leather gloves can be used for chores that require greater protection, such as pruning and pulling out weeds. Protect your hands from oils, acids, herbicides, pesticides, and other substances with a chemical resistant gloves. Some gloves are designed to provide the user with extra gripping power. Others are designed to protect the users against sharp edges.

Gardening gloves are created to protect your hands from accidents. Use gloves, it is better safe than sorry.


LESSON IN LIFE:
“Doing something you enjoy does not necessarily mean you must expose yourself to danger, without any protection.”

Different Types of Gardening Plants

There are thousands of gardening plants available for everyone who will engage in this stress-relieving hobby. However, not all of these plants can be chosen to make your garden beautiful. You must know if the plant will survive your climate and your soil type. Remember that some plants thrive in spring and summer, whereas other types of plants flourish during fall and winter.

Aside from flowering plants, which is the most common plants found in the garden (please see related post); you may also consider planting vegetables, herbs, and fruit-bearing shrubs and trees. Whatever type of garden you are planning to setup, there are a lot of plants to meet your requirements.

Vegetables, herbs, and fruit-bearing plants give an added excitement to gardening. When you know that aside from looking at your garden for stress relief, you will get something after a few months, your motivation to take care of your garden doubles. This type of plants includes spinach, lettuce, peas, squash, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, beets, onions, and carrots.

You may also consider planting some herbs and medicinal plants. As you may well know, some herbs have medicinal properties aside from enhancing the tastes of your foods. They also give exotic fragrances to your garden. Oregano is one such herbs that enhances the taste of your food and can cure coughs and colds. Moreover, you may also consider the following herbs, namely dill, basil, chives, thyme, lavender, and dill. Another advantage of planting herbs is that you can do it indoors.

Flowering plants are divided into two main categories: perennial and annual. You may choose from flowers that bloom many times in a year or flowers that give flowers only once a year. You may also look for their colors. Combining the colors and varieties of different flowering plants can make your hobby more exciting. If you want a flower garden, you may consider planting Christmas rose, Japanese anemone, rudbeckia, and cosmos.

Another option is to plant decorative grasses and shrubs. Monkey grass stands out for sidewalks. Grasses and bushes give layout to your garden especially if you want to make pathways on your gardens.

The best part is you may combine these plants to highlight one portion of your garden. Consider flowers for the main part of your garden, shrubs for sidewalks, herbs to provide nice aroma in your garden, and fruits and vegetables on the side. I know you can come out with better combination as your creativity matches your tastes and needs.


LESSON IN LIFE:
"Variety is a nice option as long as you are open to change."