Home Gardening Tips No Matter Where You Live!

This post is provided by Samantha Waites.

Create a perfect home landscape with a garden which feeds your family and beautifies your neighborhood, all while reducing waste.

Twenty years ago, home gardens were relegated to rural plots where your nearest neighbor was 15 miles away and food was expensive. Now, in most urban regions, a processed food supply- better known as a grocery store- is right around the corner and costs less, per capita, than other food options. With so much in chaos and prices rising, people are turning to a home garden to feed their family while providing some stress-free moments puttering around the green.

What gives?

As life becomes more and more complicated in these modern times, more people are returning to nature. And growing your own food is a part of that. The foods which can be grown at home- either in a front yard garden or a tub on the balcony- are varied and can fit any taste or appetite.

How? A home builder of the year awardee suggested these ideas.

Tag your crops

Keep tabs on your garden. Take an old-school notebook, paste in images of each vegetable you plan to grow, and add your plant tags. Then go crazy and make it as detailed as you want. Add information detailing where the plants were bought and where they are in the garden- obviously not a problem if your garden is a steel wash tub on the balcony. Be creative and add your artistic flair with hand drawings of your garden.

Dig easier

Spray your favorite garden tool with silicone or a Teflon-like lubricant. Shoveling and digging will be a snap. A good coating will make any sort of soil slide off a garden tool without leaving a mess.

Lighten the pot

To save your back and take the strain out of lifting large planters, fill the pot one-third full with packing peanuts. Place a piece of landscape fabric on top of the peanuts and then layer in your potting soil. To cut down even more on the weight, use potting mix with lots of peat moss.

Safe transport

Before heading to the plant nursery, line the trunk with a tarp and put a small step ladder on the tarp. The slots between the ladder rungs will serve as compartments to protect the plants and you would not have to worry about spilled dirt or a filthy car.

Rain readout

Add a few drops of food coloring to the bottom of your rain gauge. When the next rainfall comes, the water will blend with the dye and the water level will be easy to read.

Prevent invaders

Plants like gooseneck loosestrife can take over the garden. You can keep that from happening by putting them in a plastic container. Then, cut the bottom off so the roots would not die out, but can grow into the soil.

Root bound

Buying potting plans can be a pain as the plant grows in the pot. The roots do not have room to grow and begin to form tight knots inside the pot. The problem? Tightly curled roots can prevent water and nutrients from traveling to the leaves. Guide the roots outward and carefully make vertical cuts in the root ball.

Protect the bulbs

Tired of furry freeloaders snacking on your flower bulbs? Keep them out with netting staked over the flower bed. When it is springtime, remove the netting or cut holes so the plants can grow through.

Portable pots

Fit a piece of plywood to the back  with wood cleats. The wood creates a flat surface perfect for potting. Now the soil and plants can be wheeled to the garden in one trip.