Must Have Equipment For Gardening

Many people take up gardening as a hobby because it helps you to relax and will help reduce the stress in your life. The rewards are great as you watch your harvest flourish right before your eyes. To get the most out of your gardening time you will need some equipment for gardening to help make your hobby enjoyable and safe. Although your needs will probably be simple if you have the normal size city garden, the right equipment for gardening will make all the difference in the world. The first thing you should probably do is to protect yourself. When you expose yourself to nature you may get some harsh results without proper protection. The weather is normally hot during the gardening season so you should make sure your head is protected with a good hat. This will keep the sun from your face and help protect you from sunburn. You will want to invest in a pair of quality gardening gloves to protect yourself from sharp briars, fertilizers and bug bites. You can find gloves made especially for your gardening needs at your local department store or online if you prefer. The clothes you wear while you are in your garden should be something you do not mind getting dirty or stained. You will be dealing with dirt; mud, spray chemicals and nature, so wear clothes that will take the heat. If you choose to use spray pesticides a mask to wear while you are spraying your plants would be wise so you will not breath the fumes from your sprayer. The size of your garden will determine what type of tools you will need to work your soil. A postage stamp garden will not need as much equipment as a large garden. No matter what size garden you decide to grow you will need items such as a shovel, rake, hoe and fork. As your garden gets bigger so will your equipment needs. A tiller is a wonderful addition for most gardeners. Do not forget the everyday common items most people tend to forget. You will need tomato cages or stakes, trellises for your climbing plants to grow on and do not forget the essential garden hose. There are many attachments available to water your plants with. To enjoy your hobby to the fullest it is important to think about the equipment for gardening you will need before the gardening season begins. Take some time to make sure you are prepared and you should have a most wonderful gardening season. Douglas Taylor

How To Mix Soil For A Black Eyed Susan

How To Mix Soil For A Black Eyed Susan

Okay, so now we need to make some soil mix to plant our rudbeckia in. I'm going to take some of this existing soil, which is sort of a sandy mix, along with some of my rich hummus here, which is a nice dark mix. We need to add this to help retain moisture and to put some organic matter in there. It's one part of hummus, one part of your existing soil, and one part peat moss. This is the nice peat moss that is a little bit more lightweight and will help those roots be able to root in better because it's not so heavy and dense. I'm also going to add a little bit of lime. Lime helps take some of the acidicness out of the soil and help sweeten the soil a bit. I'm also going to add some garden gypsum. I like gypsum in all my mixes because it helps loosen up any kind of clay soil that might be in the bottom of my hole, and some phosphorus, about a tablespoon. A little bit of extra is not going to hurt. Finally, I'm going to add some of this terra sorb gel, which helps the soil hold moisture better. It's a crystal powder, and once it gets wet it's going to expand and hold the moisture. You only need a tiny little bit for a hole this size. Once that gets in there, I'm going to combine it all together and really mix it well. I'm going to get out any lumps that might be in there and I'm going to stir it up as best as I can so it's all evenly combined, hence it being mixed.