The soil isn’t the type or quality you want?
More often than you may think, poor soil thwarts gardening plans. People just forget or underestimate the importance of having organically rich, welldraining ground to plant in. To tackle this problem, try growing only those types of plants proven to work in your soil. See what the neighbors are growing in their gardens, or check with the local nursery for the best plants to grow in your area. You can also dig into the soil and mix in the materials you want (sort of like making cake batter, only more work). A rototiller is a handy tool to use for this purpose. Remember to work down to a depth of 6 to 8 inches for most garden plants — less for shallow-rooted grass, more for trees and shrubs.
Too many weeds?
You can attack these unwelcome plants any time of the year, but you’ll make faster progress if you start in late fall or early spring and thwart them before or just as they’re sprouting. Use a hoe, smother weeds with plastic or mulch, or carefully use an herbicide (or some combination of these tactics). Then, in midsummer, make sure you don’t let weeds go to seed. Pull them, mow them down, and discard them outside your garden to keep them from coming back.
More often than you may think, poor soil thwarts gardening plans. People just forget or underestimate the importance of having organically rich, welldraining ground to plant in. To tackle this problem, try growing only those types of plants proven to work in your soil. See what the neighbors are growing in their gardens, or check with the local nursery for the best plants to grow in your area. You can also dig into the soil and mix in the materials you want (sort of like making cake batter, only more work). A rototiller is a handy tool to use for this purpose. Remember to work down to a depth of 6 to 8 inches for most garden plants — less for shallow-rooted grass, more for trees and shrubs.
Too many weeds?
You can attack these unwelcome plants any time of the year, but you’ll make faster progress if you start in late fall or early spring and thwart them before or just as they’re sprouting. Use a hoe, smother weeds with plastic or mulch, or carefully use an herbicide (or some combination of these tactics). Then, in midsummer, make sure you don’t let weeds go to seed. Pull them, mow them down, and discard them outside your garden to keep them from coming back.
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