My non-expert gardening tips
Garden Planning
I do not have a 'formal garden'. My plants are located all over my yard, wherever I can find a spot that I think they will work and that they will look 'okay'. One day I'd love to have a cottage garden with winding pathways, hidden corners and benches, etc. In the meantime, I just plant what I like, where I like. If something doesn't work, I move it or toss it.
Where to buy plants
I buy most of my plants at Wal Mart or our local feed & seed store. I have bought some plants at nurseries but I have found that if I take care of the plant as directed, even the 'cheap' ones will do well for me.
Fertilizer and Pest Control
I use Wal Mart's brand of Miracle Gro and Miracid for all my fertilizing. I do also use a brand name of a systemic product for my roses when they have black spot or I spot any bugs on them. Where I live, black spot on roses is a definite problem. I use a spray for bugs and to help with the black spot as well as the systemic product, which is granular and has to be worked into the soil. It's hard on my back to work anything into the soil so maybe the spray will be enough for now. I have tried to plant my roses far enough apart for adequate 'breathing' room and I also try to make sure that I buy the disease resistant variety of plants.
Mulch
I use the Wal Mart brand of shredded pine bark on all my plants except for the azalea bed. That bed has sweetgum balls and pine cones for mulch because our labrador tends to dig in that bed when he's outside. I've had no problems with the pine bark mulch though I've heard of others that didn't care for it. It does lose its color over time but by that time in my yard, it's time to be refreshed anyway. It does work its way into the soil and I just add more. The pine bark mulch I use is actually packaged at a plant right behind my house. They have a deal where you can buy it by the truckload from them at a better rate. I buy it in the bags though as it's easier to store and transfer from storage to my garden cart. After evergreens and roses have become established in the garden, it's not necessary to mulch them in my 7b zone.
Pruning
I have several good gardening books, tons of gardening magazines and spend many hours surfing the web for gardening sites. I use the recommended rules for pruning all my plants. In my zone of 7b, I usually do my pruning right after Valentine's Day. It's easy to remember for me because of the connection between Valentine's Day and roses. Azaleas and spring blooming evergreens get pruned immediately after they flower. I think this gives them time to grow alot more before they become dormant in the fall or winter. So far, this system has worked well for me. My climbing roses only get pruned every 3rd year or so. I prune out dead or problem areas any time of the year.
How much work is it?
I love gardening, I even love mowing the lawn. On a riding mower, of course. We have about an acre of actual 'yard' and it takes a good 2 hours to mow it. That doesn't include weed-eating. I am trying to cut down on the weedeater time as much as possible by making my beds sloped or edged with that plastic edging material that the mower can ride right over the edge of. I am always planning on where I can put another flower bed or archway for a climber. Dear Husband does the weed-eating so I try to make his job as easy as possible for him. Don't want to ask too much of him at one time :-)
Keeping up with it all
I bought a spiral-bound book with blank pages to post plants, when planted, when fertilized, etc. I also keep clippings of things I'd like to try and I keep the tags off the plants I do have planted. I started this journal 3 years ago and am outgrowing it now. Plan now is to incorporate it into a 3-ring binder with pocket dividers. I'll have a place for the clippings and notes to myself. I'll have a garden layout section, future projects section, etc. It's important, in my opinion, to keep some kind of record. It's so easy to look back at last year and see how something did or did not work. I thought I was being obsessive about it when I first started but it's actually a great idea for myself. I have looked back many times to check out the bloom times on certain plants. I jot notes about what did not work as well so I know not to make the same mistakes twice. I guess if you're really dedicated, you can keep your receipts so you'll know how much you spent on garden. As for myself, I don't WANT to know :-)
Why I garden
I want my yard to be as carefree as possible while still being able to enjoy the plants that I love. My husband does the heavy work and I take care of the weeding and general maintenance of the beds. We both enjoy being outside and working together on our home. There is a great satisfaction in looking back at photos of this lot when we moved in and the changed look it has now. The transformation is really remarkable and we did not spend a vast fortune on anything. It did take alot of work, but for us, it's not work at all. It's my time to think, pray, or just zone out and think of nothing at all. Something about getting my hands in the dirt just eases my spirit.
