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Garden Designs
PICKING A TYPE OF GARDEN One of the great things about gardening, is there are many different ways to do it and it can be done pretty much anywhere. The following is a collection of different ways to format your garden depending on your skill level and available commitment.
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EGGSHELL GARDEN
You can start seeds in almost anything these days... peat pots, seed trays, toilet paper rolls, newspaper rolls, paper towels, or even that good old-fashioned thing called the ground. But have you tried to start seeds in eggshells? It almost seems like an urban myth, with rumors that it’s possible, but little proof of people who have actually done it successfully. Well, I can say with absolute certainty that it works, it’s ridiculously easy, and yes, it’s even practical. While you can’t start a whole season of vegetable seedlings in eggshells, it’s handy if you just want to start a few herbs or flowers indoors, and have limited space in your house. An egg carton fits perfectly on a small windowsill, and by the time you’re ready to transplant the seedlings, everything goes back into the cycle by way of planting, composting or recycling.
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Materials
–– Empty eggshell halves, rinsed –– Recycled egg carton –– Seed-starting mix
–– Seeds (small seeds such as herbs and flowers work best) Instructions
1. Start with clean eggshells. It's fine to use unevenly cracked shells, as long as you have at least half the shell intact.
2. Arrange your eggshells in the carton. Using a spoon, fill each "pot" with premoistened seed-starting soil. 3. Place a couple of seeds in each pot according to your seed-sowing instructions. Leave the carton in a sunny south-facing window.
4. Lightly mist the soil with a spray bottle every couple of days as needed. Since there are no drainage holes, take care not to overwater. A fine mist is all that's needed for young seedlings. When your seedlings have emerged, snip the weakest or smallest ones to allow the largest seedling room to grow.
5. After your seedling has developed its first set of true leaves, you can transplant it into a larger pot or directly in your garden. Gently crush the shell and remove a few shards around the bottom. You can plant the whole thing this way, and the eggshell will decompose in the soil, feeding extra nutrients to your seedling. 6. Tear apart the egg carton and toss it into your compost pile, or add it to your recycling bin.
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NEWSPAPER SEED-STARTER POTS
You can grow dozens or even hundreds of new plants to fill your yard and garden with great flavors and bright color for the cost of just a few packets of seed. And you don't even need to pay for seed trays or planting pots. Grab a few sections of newspaper out of the recycling bin, and in just a few minutes, you can turn them into perfect containers for starting seeds.
Gather Supplies and Start Folding You’ll need one sheet of newspaper (each roughly 22” x 12”) for each pot you want to make, one 10- to 15-ounce can, moistened seed-starting soil, and a waterproof tray. Start by folding the sheet of newspaper lengthwise (with the long edges together) to create a strip. Press along the folded edge.
Create a Cylinder Set the can on its side at one end of the strip, with the base about 2 inches up from the cut edge. Roll the newspaper around the can to create a cylinder.
Create the Base Starting at the outer seam, fold the free end of the cylinder inward. Make three more folds inward to create the base of the pot, pressing firmly to make the folds as flat as possible. Remove the Can and Fold Edges Slip the pot off of the can or bottle. Starting at the outer seam, fold the top 1/2 to 1 inch of the pot inward to create a stable rim.
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Add Soil and Plant Seeds Hold the pot with one hand, with some of your fingers on the bottom to keep it closed. Fill the finished pot to the top with moistened seed-starting medium and set it in a waterproof tray. Repeat the steps to make as many “pots” as desired. Plant a seed or two in each pot, then gather all the pots onto a tray and water. When you’re ready to plant the seedlings, dig a hole deep enough to bury the pot so the rim is below the soil surface; exposed newspaper could help wick water away from the plant. In moist soil, the roots will quickly grow through the paper sides of the pot.
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PLASTIC BOTTLE INDOOR GARDENING
These are so great for getting a head start on your garden. They are super easy to make and only take 2 minutes. Also and excellent way to recycle plastic bottles. The best part about these little buggers is that they are self watering, and maintain a humid atmosphere for the seeds.
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How to make your own:
1. Find a plastic bottle (2 liter are great, but you can use any plastic bottle). Peel off the label on your bottle. If you are picky about getting all the glue off of the bottle, Goo Gone, or nail polish remover will do the trick.
2. Sterilize the bottle with a diluted bleach solution (1 part bleach to 9 parts water), swirl the mixture around, and make sure to rinse well afterwards. Just using hot water wont get the hot enough to kill bacteria without melting the plastic. Hot water and plastic also release hazardous BPA's which are not good for us, or our little plants! 3. Cut your bottle about 1/3 from the Neck side. Then trim an additional 2 inches or so from the base side. Your goal is the have the neck of the bottle almost touch the bottom inside the base. 4. Poke several holes in the bottle near the neck to help water seep into your dirt 5. Place a strip of paper towel covering the hole near the neck of the bottle to keep dirt from escaping.
6. Fill your base with water about 2 inches from the top. And your top with seed starter.
7. Plant your seeds (anything you want, lettuce, tomatoes, peas to name a few), spray the top of the dirt to get the ball rolling, and place in a sunny south (or west) facing window.
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BENEFITS OF RAISED BED GARDENS
–– If you have back trouble or any problems bending over, raise bed gardens are the perfect solution. You can even place these on a tabletop or a raised platform to ease the need to bending over. Or, place them on the ground like I have and just put a chair out beside them. –– Raised beds help defeat the problem of burrowing pests and also have less pests in general. Weeds are much easier to control as you are beginning with weed free soil –– If your native soil doesn’t drain well or is not as vegetable friendly (sand, hard clay, etc), raised beds offer up a perfect solution
–– Raised beds allow you to have a productive garden in limited space. You can put a kiddie pool on a back porch, on top of an old table, on a balcony, rooftop, even a sidewalk!
–– These are great for water conservation. Holes are drilled on the sides two inches up from the bottom to allow needed drainage but water is retained longer in the bottom of the pool so that it helps to keep plants from drying out as soon as they would if planted in the ground where water was allowed to seep further down.
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Garden Designs
KIDDIE POOL GARDEN Supplies Needed:
–– Kiddie Pools - There are different sizes. 60 inch pool that is roughly 12 inches deep and a 45 inch pool that is about seven inches deep –– Drill with 1/2 inch or 1 inch bit
–– Bottom material: Mulch, peat moss, or hay ( whichever is least expensive and easiest for you to find. Pine mulch is an option).
–– Good gardening soil. Jungle Growth Gardening Soil is a good option. You will need two forty pounds bags for each large pool and one forty pound bag for the small one –– Little extra fertilizer (optional). Black Kow compost manure is an option, or if you have access to compost. Just stirred about a fourth of a bag into each pool garden.
–– Top soil – is used as an additional filler (saves money) For the large pools you will need two bags and one for the small pool. –– Mulch to go on top - this is where you can use the pine mulch or leftover mulch. You need this to help keep weeds down later but it is also good to put it on top of the plants in case of hard rain to protect them from erosion. You can use 1/2 a bag for the small pool and 1 whole for each of the large pools.
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Garden Designs
How to set up Kiddie Pool Raised Beds:
1. Begin by drilling holes, about two inches from the bottom, around the sides of your pool. Drill them at twelve inch intervals (estimation is fine) and with a one inch bit.
2. Put an inch or two of mulch (or hay or peat moss) in the bottom of your pool. 3. Top that off with your gardening soil.
4. And here is the easy way to do that‌ cut a 40 pound bag of dirt open with a shovel and shovel it into the pool until the bag is light enough to easily lift. Then pour the rest of the dirt in. 5. Then put about 1/4 of a bag of Black Kow compost into the pool.
6. Cut the bag open with the shovel same as before and shoveled a bit in there, then stir it up a bit to distribute it throughout.
7. From there, add about twenty pounds of topsoil. Topsoil is very cheap, and can be found most places for little over a dollar a bag
8. These gardens are so nice because they are easy to manage due to their size.
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VERTICAL GARDENS Vertical gardens are beautiful, space-saving and a sustainable addition to our cities.If you’ve ever been tempted to create one yourself, or just want to know more about this trend in sustainable gardening, read on!
A solution for urban conditions As cities become more crowded and dependent on apartment living (by 2050, almost 80% of the earths population will be living in urban centres!), fewer of us have access to garden space. One creative solution to this has been the development of innovative urban gardens, including rooftop farms, balcony herb gardens and “junglefied” walls in the inner city.
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Garden Designs
Environmental benefits Vertical gardens don’t just look good; they DO good for the planet as well! They help to reduce the carbon footprint of a building by filtering pollutants and carbon dioxide out of the air, which also benefits those living nearby as the quality of the air is improved. Exterior wall vertical gardens also help to The reduce heat absorption, which can result in significant energy savings in areas where people rely on air-conditioning during the warmer parts of the year. Vertical farming In addition to the vertical gardens planted for improving air quality (or even just for their aesthetic merit!), there is also great potential for producing food using vertical gardening techniques.
Making your own vertical garden You might not believe it, but making your very own vertical garden is an achievable DIY project that you can put together in even the smallest balcony space.
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VERTICAL PALLET GARDEN Vertical herb garden design has been famous all over the world these days. The vertical herb garden design is not only a space efficient herb garden design, it can also help in adding vibrance and decoration to any of your unsightly walls. Vertical herb gardens can even accommodate numerous herbs. There are several different ways on how to build your vertical herb garden design, you can even make us of recycled materials, such as plastic bottles, rain gutters, lattice fence, plastic shoe organizer, and many more. There are several advantages and environmental benefits that a vertical herb garden has to offer.
Making use of a recycled wooden pallet can do Mother Nature a very huge favor. Instead of stacking up old wooden pallets in garbage disposals, you can actually use it in making your own vertical herb garden design. You can actually go to supermarkets or grocery stores and find for stacked unused delivery wooden pallets. You can actually find a good delivery wooden pallet stacked up behind supermarkets that are in good condition for you to use in making a vertical herb garden. You will just have to ask permission from the store owner or even manager if you can find yourself a decent wooden pallet that you can get and use. Most of the time owners of supermarkets are more than willing to give you some of their old delivery wooden pallets.
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Garden Designs
Building Your Vertical Wooden Pallet Herb Garden First, you have to find yourself a wooden pallet that is in a good condition. Once you already have one, you will just fix loose parts and you may have to rub sandpaper to smoothen rough surfaces of your wooden pallet.
You will need to cover the bottom, back, and both sides of the wooden pallet with landscape fabric. Fold the landscape fabric twice or thrice just according to the size of your wooden pallet plus a few inches more. Once you have done folding the landscape fabric, you can now start stapling the fabric at the back, bottom, and both sides of the wooden pallet. You will have to leave the top portion and the spaces between the slats, since that is where you are going to plant your herbs later on. Make sure that you are going to securely staple the landscape fabric to your wooden pallet.
Lay the pallet down the floor facing up. Once it is on the floor, slowly fill your wooden pallet with potting mix. After filling it with potting mix, you can now start planting herbs in between slats.
Once you have completed planting your herbs on your wooden pallet, you will have to leave it there horizontally for a couple of weeks to give your herbs enough time to form sturdy and strong root systems. After a couple of weeks, you can now set it upright.
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Garden Designs
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IN GROUND GARDENS
There is something about an in-ground garden that announces to the world that you are serious about your gardening pursuits. Maybe it's because the method has been practiced for thousands of years -- or maybe simply because your flowers and vegetables look like they have sprung from nature. However, beginning your first garden does require careful planning and preparation. Things You Will Need –– Black plastic –– Garden tractor or tiller –– Soil test –– Compost –– Manure, well rotted –– Ruler
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Steps for starting an in ground garden 1. Consider the primary purpose for your garden. What you intend to grow determines the size and location of your garden. An in-ground garden to hold a bed of shade-loving flowers differs from one designed to grow fresh vegetables.
2. Evaluate the available space in your yard. Look for an area that is slightly raised and does not remain soggy in the spring. Ideally, this area already supports lush plant life or a thriving lawn. Areas with sparse vegetation typically indicate poor soil. 3. Observe the amount of sunlight the area receives during the day. Vegetables and sun-loving flowers and herbs require six to eight hours of direct sunlight a day. Light exposure does not need to be consecutive hours of sunlight, but should add up to six or more hours. All-day sun is preferred for many vegetables.
4. Remove existing vegetation from the area, either by using a sod cutter to remove the sod or smothering it with black plastic for a month or two until vegetation dies.
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Garden Designs
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5. Till the area to a depth of 10 to 12 inches with a garden tractor or tiller. Remove large rocks, roots or any other overturned debris.
6. Test the soil to determine the nutrients in the existing soil. Although you can perform a quick analysis of nutrients and pH level with a home test kit available at hardware stores, it is worth the investment to get your soil tested by a soil testing service, as this will provide you with valuable guidance for amending your soil. 7. Spread a 2- to 4-inch layer of organic matter, such as compost or well-rotted manure, over the gardening area. Add any other amendments recommended by the soil test service, such as fertilizer and lime, at this time. Work the amendments into the soil with a garden tiller or hand tools. 8. Dig a hole to a depth of 1 foot and approximately the same width to check the drainage rate of your soil. Fill the hole with water and allow it to drain. Refill and measure the amount of water that drains into the soil in one hour. A drainage rate between 1 and 6 inches is considered good drainage. Amend with more organic matter until the drainage rate falls within this rate. Tip: When evaluating the amount of sunlight your area receives, keep in mind that deciduous trees may allow sunlight to reach your gardening area when they are bare, but once they are in full foliage the area may be shaded. Warning: Avoid leaving weed parts in the soil as weeds can, and do, regrow from the roots. 20
RESOURCES
1. www.apartmenttherapy.com/how-to-start-seeds-ineggshell-152795
2. www.hgtv.com/design/make-and-celebrate/handmade/createnewspaper-pots-for-seed-starting-pictures 3. www.desperategardener.com/2011/03/creative-containers. html
4. www.southernplate.com/raised-bed-gardens-in-30-minutes/
5. www.herbgardendesigns.org/how-to-build-a-vertical-woodenpallet-herb-garden/
6. homeguides.sfgate.com/make-inground-garden-27890.html 21
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