How to have fun gardening with you kids…

I have never really liked all the work that goes into gardening.  I want it to be fun… not work!  I have friends who spend their evenings and weekends “working” in the garden.  I like to go to the lake on the weekends, but I wanted to introduce our ten-year-old daughter to gardening.  The answer?  She and I started a Square Foot Garden. 

The concept was started in the 1980’s by a fella named Mel Bartholomew.  He even wrote a book about it and you can check out his website by going to the “Cool Links” section of this blog and clicking on “Square Foot Gardening.”  This technique does not follow the “hard work” style of traditional row gardening.  Instead of spending countless back breaking hours trying to turn your soil into a decent growing medium, and then fighting the weeds that invade it if you do, you simply build a six-inch high 4’x4’  box and “make your own great weed free soil!  How cool is that?

It took me about an hour to build the box (because I added a bottom to it and I built one for my mother as well) and to mix the soil.  My daughter had it planted in no time at all.  I just gave her some simple instructions and she did the rest.  It’s about introducing my daughter to gardening and spending time together.  It’s NOT rocket science so let your kid have fun.  DO NOT get out of tape measure and drive your kid nuts making sure everything is perfect.  Have fun… I guarantee stuffs going to come up!

Here’s my daughter working in our new garden…

We had so much fun that I’m going to build a couple more boxes this weekend.  We’ve got a craving for strawberries and it has to be satisfied!

Like I said earlier… I also built a Square Foot Garden for my mother who is retired and, quite frankly, doesn’t have the energy to prepare and maintain a traditional garden.  The Square Foot Garden is perfect for her.  It gives her a nice little hobby and… a salad!

I’ll keep you posted as the season progresses!  Have fun and happy gardening!

Technorati Tags: Square Foot Gardening,Gardening with Kids,Gardening

Thinking Outside the Box: Creating Visual Interest with Your Rock Mulch

Adding rock or bark mulch (or a myriad of other mulches that have come on the market) to your landscape beds can have many benefits including reducing weeds, adding organics to the soil as the mulch decomposes (this would be a benefit of an organic mulch like bark… not rock), and  giving your landscape an overall “finished” appearance.  Here’s a little trick that we have been using in our design studio for years with rock mulch. 

There are many different kinds of rock mulch and they come in many different sizes.  A popular rock mulch here in Reno is 4” river rock.  When using rock mulch people tend to put down only one size.  They’ll spread, say, a uniform cover of 2” or 4” rock over their entire landscape.

We decided to get a little more creative.  Several years ago we started specifying a blend of sizes such as 40% 4” minus river rock and 60% 1 1/2” minus.  First… loosely spread the 4” minus rock over your landscape bed, leaving some areas covered, some bare, some areas thick, and some areas thin (I think you get the point).  Then come back in with your 1 1/2” minus rock and cover up the bare or thin areas.  It is really easy to do and doesn’t really result in any extra work.

You’ll end up with something like this…

I think it creates a more interesting texture then if we had covered the ground with only one size of rock.  What do you think?

Get er’ Green! Fertilizing Your Lawn

It that time of year when your neighbors lawn starts greening up and you wonder to yourself… why can’t my lawn look like that?  Well, the answer is… you can!  There are a few things your lawn needs to look it’s best.  These include:

1. Water;
2. Oxygen (aeration);
3. Regular Mowing; and
4. Food

Today we’re going to talk about food.

Lawn is like  a teenage boy, it always hungry… for nutrients!  And the nutrient that is most lacking in the soil… and the one required to make your grass lush and green… is nitrogen.

When you go to your local home improvement store you are going to see many different makers of lawn fertilizer.  Which one is better?  Well… I can tell you that I’ve used several different brands and I have always been more or less happy with the results… that is, a green lawn. 

Most soils are lacking in the nitrogen needed for a lush green lawn.  There are three numbers on bags on lawn fertilizer.  The numbers are usually on the front of the package in big bold numbers.  But sometimes you might have to look a little more closely. 

This first number is the percentage of nitrogen.  Nitrogen promotes healthy shoot growth and is what makes your lawn nice and green!  It is easily flushed from the soil by your irrigation water which is why it needs to be added regularly.

The second number is phosphorous which promotes strong root growth.  It is not easily flushed from the soil so it is typically found only in small quantities in commercial fertilizers.

The third number is potassium and is the second most important nutrient for your lawn.  Potassium strengthens your lawn against disease and helps it stand up to wear and tear.  It is just as important as nitrogen and is easily flushed from the soil as well.  But unlike nitrogen, potassium is supplied in a considerable amount through the soil so they do not need to add as much to commercial fertilizer.

Personally, I like to use a “Weed and Feed” type fertilizer.  I have found that they do a great job of cutting down on the weeds I find in my lawn… such as dandelions.

Read the instructions on the package for application rates and time of feeding, etc. 

For cool-season grasses that grow actively in the cool weather of spring and fall you will want to fertilize in the spring and fall.  For warm-season grasses that grow actively in the warm summer months you will want to fertilize throughout the growing season.

Here a little trick I’ve discovered with my own lawn:  If you want your lawn to be one of the first to green up in the spring, put down an application of fertilizer late in the growing season.  I’ve found that it really helps come spring!

Tomorrow: Aeration… does it really help?

Technorati Tags: Turf,Fertilizer,Lawn Care,Green Grass