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30 Days to Grow a Better Garden – Day 25 Report

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment

This month at AussieGreenThumb.com is ‘So You Want A Better Garden’ Month, which aims to teach you how to garden. As part of that I am running a 30 day challenge. The challenge consists of daily tasks of about 10 minutes each. I guarantee that if you complete each days task, by the end of September you will be well on your way towards reaching your gardening goals and growing better gardens. Will you accept the challenge?

Day 25 Challenge Recap - Spend 10 minutes weeding a garden bed you have not gotten to yet or one which needs it most. Perhaps spend the first couple of minutes quickly picking out any new weeds growing in the beds you already have weeded. Hopefully, depending on the size of your garden, you are started to get the weeding under control. If you still have a long way to go to get to that point, don’t fret. Just keep doing 10-20 minutes of weeding every few days until you get it under control, then work out how often it needs to be.

Report
By now, regardless of how big your garden is you should really have started to make a significant dent in the weeding of your garden. As I have a small place, I have pretty much been able to get completely on top of the weeds around my unit and keep the garden beds I have already weeded, weed free. If I spend 10 mins ever few days now, I’ll be able to pick out any new weeds before they really take root and, most importantly, stop them from reaching floweing stage which should diminish (but it won’t alleviate) future weed outbreaks.

The reason I set this challenge
Find me a gardener who likes weeding and I’ll show you a liar. Ok, that may be a little harsh but in general, people who like gardening don’t do it because they like weeding, they just see it as a necessary evil for their desired outcome. It is ok if you detest weeding. I set the challenge to spend 10 minutes every few days weeding so as to break it up into smaller, more manageable chunks. If you were to spend 10 minutes every 5 or do days throughout the year, you’d start to really control the weeds in your garden as opposed to having them control you. There will be times when they get ahead, especially during early spring and mid to late autumn as these are prime growing time. However, in general, doing a bit here and there will be an effective way or reducing weeds in your garden.

Learn more about common gardening tasks
This challenge fits into the category of common gardening tasks. Intrigued to know more about how getting into a rhythm with common gardening tasks will improve your garden? I recently released an ebook called So You Want A Better Garden. Chapter 5 in my ebook delves into the topic of common garden tasks in a way specifically designed to help beginner and intermediate gardeners learn the natural rhythm of gardening.

You will discover;
1. What the most common tasks you will do in the garden are;
2. How to go about doing tasks such as weeding, pruning, mulching etc;
3. Tips on waterwise gardening.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.

It’s not too late to join the challenge! You can grow a better garden. Start today! The great thing about this challenge is it can run over any 30 day period. Just check out days 1-5 and start from today.

30 Days to Grow a Better Garden – Day 24 Report

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Photo: Elizabeth Evans

Day 24 Challenge Recap – Lightly prune any plants that have finished flowering. Prune any plants that you are trying to keep to a certain shape or size. Small regular prunes cause less stress to plants than big prunes. Some plants, like roses, like a solid prune once a year but over all, most bush or hedge like plants are better of with small, regular prunes to keep them in shape.

Report
As I only have a small garden and use it mostly to grow vegetables I don’t have many plants which need to be trimmed. I do keep an eye on my Bottlebrush and trim off the flowers when they die, as I did yesterday, and this usually keeps my plant in shape. As such, for today’s challenge I actually did a little weeding.

The reason I set this challenge
Not everyone is like me and has a small garden. In fact, I would have a bigger garden if I actually could! However, the point of this challenge is to get you in the habit of doing small jobs more often rather than relying on doing big jobs infrequently. It is easier to spend 10 minutes trimming a hedge lightly every few days than an hour giving it a full work over. Though you don’t usually do too much damage doing a harsher prune, lots of regular, small prunes is better for your plants.

You will discover;
1. What the most common tasks you will do in the garden are;
2. How to go about doing tasks such as weeding, pruning, mulching etc;
3. Tips on waterwise gardening.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.

30 Days to Grow a Better Garden – Day 23 Report

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 27, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Photo: Jorge P

Day 23 Challenge Recap – Continue to remove dead flowers from your plants. Getting in the habit of just cutting off flowers as needed will make this task a far quicker and simpler job than waiting for the whole plant to finish flowering. Sure, at the end of flowering it is recommended that you give your plants a trim, so it could wait till then but your plant isn’t encouraged to flower again.

Report
Even though I have been keeping on top of this task, I had a lot of dead flowers to remove today. At the moment my Bottlebrush is flowering profusely and just over the past few days a lot of the flowers have started to die of. This is usual and natural during flowering season. I used the full 10 minutes and it left quite a pile of spent flowers to put in the bin.

The reason I set this challenge
Getting into a gardening rhythm is what will help you keep your garden under control long term. Ultimately you want the best looking garden that you can and most people agree that a garden looks at its best when flowering. However, garden beds with plants full of dead flowers don’t look great. Spending a few minutes here and there removing flowers will not only encourage your plants to flower again but will also give you a far better looking garden.

You will discover;
1. What the most common tasks you will do in the garden are;
2. How to go about doing tasks such as weeding, pruning, mulching etc;
3. Tips on waterwise gardening.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.

30 Days to Grow a Better Garden – Day 22 Report

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 22, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Day 22 Challenge Recap – Apply some slow release fertiliser to any garden bed you have not gotten to yet. Adding slow release fertiliser is the most time effective method because it will continue to fertilise your garden beds over a period of time. Check the back of the package of fertiliser you get for how often you need to re-apply but you can often get away with applying it once every season.

Report
Today I added some fertiliser to each of my vegetable gardens. I didn’t add too much because I already add water soluble fertiliser every fortnight during growth, just added a small amount of slow release fertiliser to the mix. I just used a general purpose fertiliser because I had that on hand. There are specific vegetable garden slow release fertilisers available but if you have some general purpose fertiliser lying around that will do just fine.

The reason I set this challenge
Some people actually suggest fertilising our gardens is silly because ‘plants don’t get fed fertiliser in the wild’. Though this is true, in the wild not every plant survives and also, a lot of the plants we grow in our gardens now have been changed to such an extent they wouldn’t survive in the wild. Giving plants a helping hand is important.

I like to use slow release fertilisers because it makes the job of fertilising easier. You simply take the fertiliser and gently spread it over your garden. No need to bury them, no need to water in. Over the next few weeks it will slowly dissolve, adding important nutrients to your soil slowly for maximum benefit.

You will discover;
1. What the most common tasks you will do in the garden are;
2. How to go about doing tasks such as weeding, pruning, mulching etc;
3. Tips on waterwise gardening.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.

30 Days to Grow a Better Garden – Day 21 Report

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 21, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Day 21 Challenge Recap – Check your plants for pests and diseases. Is there any sign of plants being eaten? Can you see anything that just does not look like it should be on a plant? If you have roses, are they covered in little black bugs? If you are unsure what the cause of your plant problem is, take a photo and show your local nursery horticulturalist. They are usually willing to help you identify the problem and can give suggestions for solutions and they can usually sell you what you need to fix it.

Report
The main plants that I have to keep an eye on regarding pests are my vegetables. My native plants very rarely, if ever experience any trouble with pests but I have to keep a constant vigil with my vegetables because insects like snails, slugs and caterpillars are always cropping up.

A little while back we had a real problem with caterpillars. They were getting to all my new vegetable seedlings and stripping them bare. Thankfully I know that most caterpillar varieties from my area strongly dislike the smell of marigold plants so I have been able to plant a few marigolds around the most targeted plants. This both repels the caterpillars and makes my vegetable garden even more beautiful.

I’ve also had a few aphids around this season but I treat that with various vegetable garden powders and sprays. This is not an organic approach but is the approach I choose to use. The organic approach is to either use companion planting, like the above marigold example, or make natural sprays. A quick google search should help you find a recipe for an organic pest spray.

The reason I set this challenge
Pests and disease can absolutely ravage your plants if you don’t keep an eye on them. Often times pests actually pick on the ‘weaker’ plants. You might have two lettuce plants and one is full of pests while one isn’t touched. This means pests can be useful in helping you know when a plant needs some tender loving care, but you still need to rid the pests to help them survive. Keeping an eye out as you do your usual tasks is the best way to catch pests or diseases early and treating them quickly is a good idea. If you are stumped, take a photo and ask your local nursery if they can help you identify the problem. Do not take the affected plants in or you could contaminate the nursery!

You will discover;
1. What the most common tasks you will do in the garden are;
2. How to go about doing tasks such as weeding, pruning, mulching etc;
3. Tips on waterwise gardening.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.

30 Days to Grow a Better Garden – Day 20 Report

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment

Day 20 Challenge Recap – Consider buying a weeder to remove dandelions from your grass. If you have a weeder, spend 10 minutes removing as many dandelions and other weeds as you can from your grass. This is a way of removing weeds and minimising the amount of chemicals that you have to use on your garden. Some grasses, like buffalo types, don’t handle the weed and feed poisons and that means the manual method really is your best bet.

Report
Once again I myself have actually had an easy days challenge simply because I don’t have grass. I chose to use today’s 10 minutes to poison the weeds growing between pavers and other various places where nothing is supposed to be growing. A lot of people pave area’s or make other changes to their property along these lines to reduce the garden space but weeds still manage to find a way to grow. I won’t lie, I am all for using poison to keep these under control. I’m sure there are organic alternatives and I’d love to hear them if you have an idea, but for now I stick to using roundup to keep weeds growing in my paved area’s under control.

The reason I set this challenge
A major area of weeding that is often overlooked or neglected is weeds in the grass. Removing weeds from your grass is as important, if not more so, than removing weeds from your garden beds. Why? Seeds. When the weeds in your grass flower, they send seeds all around. You may have finally gotten rid of some weeds in your garden bed only for seeds to blow into it from your grass. Now, it is true you will always get new weeds because you can’t control your neighbours garden but you can control yours. Removing weeds from your grass is another way to minimise the risk of weeds taking over your garden beds.

Learn more about buying gardening tools
This challenge fits into the category of buying gardening tools. Intrigued to know more about how buying the right garden tools will impact on your garden? I recently released an ebook called So You Want A Better Garden. Chapter 4 in my ebook delves into the topic of buying gardening tools in a way specifically designed to help beginner and intermediate gardeners know what to look for when buying gardening tools and getting to know which garden tools are most important.

You will discover;
1. The top 8 tools I believe every gardener should own;
2. What to test on a tool to make sure it is good quality;
3. A rough price range to consider when buying garden tools.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.

30 Days to Grow A Better Garden Part Five

Written by aussiegreenthumb on September 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment

This September at AussieGreenThumb.com is ‘So You Want A Better Garden?’ month. This month I will be focusing on helping you step forward to meet your gardening goals. I realise though that for many people the task of improving your garden seems monumental.

Hopefully you have kept up with the simple challenges so far. My goal is that each challenge will take no more than 10 minutes per day. Connect with AussieGreenThumb.com on Facebook (search for Aussie Green Thumb) or follow AusGreenThumb on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss any tips!

Here are the next 5 tips!

Days 21 to 25 – Common Garden Tasks

21. Check your plants for pests and diseases. Is there any sign of plants being eaten? Can you see anything that just does not look like it should be on a plant? If you have roses, are they covered in little black bugs? If you are unsure what the cause of your plant problem is, take a photo and show your local nursery horticulturalist. They are usually willing to help you identify the problem and can give suggestions for solutions and they can usually sell you what you need to fix it.

22. Apply some slow release fertiliser to any garden bed you have not gotten to yet. Adding slow release fertiliser is the most time effective method because it will continue to fertilise your garden beds over a period of time. Check the back of the package of fertiliser you get for how often you need to re-apply but you can often get away with applying it once every season.

23. Continue to remove dead flowers from your plants. Getting in the habit of just cutting off flowers as needed will make this task a far quicker and simpler job than waiting for the whole plant to finish flowering. Sure, at the end of flowering it is recommended that you give your plants a trim, so it could wait till then but your plant isn’t encouraged to flower again.

24. Lightly prune any plants that have finished flowering. Prune any plants that you are trying to keep to a certain shape or size. Small regular prunes cause less stress to plants than big prunes. Some plants, like roses, like a solid prune once a year but over all, most bush or hedge like plants are better of with small, regular prunes to keep them in shape.

25. Spend 10 minutes weeding a garden bed you have not gotten to yet or one which needs it most. Perhaps spend the first couple of minutes quickly picking out any new weeds growing in the beds you already have weeded. Hopefully, depending on the size of your garden, you are started to get the weeding under control. If you still have a long way to go to get to that point, don’t fret. Just keep doing 10-20 minutes of weeding every few days until you get it under control, then work out how often it needs to be.

Stay tuned for the next 5 tips which will all be to do with Choosing the Right Plants.

Intrigued to know more about how getting into a rhythm with common gardening tasks will improve your garden? I recently released an ebook called So You Want A Better Garden. Chapter 5 in my ebook delves into the topic of common garden tasks in a way specifically designed to help beginner and intermediate gardeners learn the natural rhythm of gardening.

You will discover;
1. What the most common tasks you will do in the garden are;
2. How to go about doing tasks such as weeding, pruning, mulching etc;
3. Tips on waterwise gardening.

And much, much more!

Click Here to learn more.