I try to take daily walks with my two dachshunds: Rocko and
Maggie. If you ever see a guy getting pulled along by two weenie
dogs, I’m your man.
Anyway, one benefit of walking these two monsters is that I get
to see neighbor’s gardens.
I try to take daily walks with my two dachshunds: Rocko and Maggie. If you ever see a guy getting pulled along by two weenie dogs, I’m your man.
Anyway, one benefit of walking these two monsters is that I get to see neighbor’s gardens.
While I admire a great many and am even tempted to take a cutting or two of the unusual specimens, I also see what can be improved.
Thus, here is my list of the top three easy and simple garden tasks to improve local gardens:
Weed, weed, weed
Get rid of those nasty weeds that are sprouting up within concrete driveways and sidewalks. This is what contact weed killers like Round-Up were made for!
Simply buy a ready-to-use spray bottle of Round-Up and start spraying.
Your driveway and sidewalk in front of your house is the first thing visitors see.
I’m especially amazed when I see houses that are for sale – with seeds sprouting in the front of the house. C’mon real-estate agents, advise your clients on a simple way to improve first impressions!
If you don’t want to spray chemical weed killers, consider these organic methods of controlling weeds in cement:
n Scraping: Use an old flat head screwdriver or putty knife and scrape the weeds out.
n Boil ‘Em: Good ‘ol hot water will kill weeds, too. Simply boil a kettle of water and pour boiling hot water on weeds.
n Kill ‘Em with Kindness: Too much of anything is not a good thing. The same goes with fertilizer. Put a partial handful of fertilizer on those weeds and they will shrivel and die.
I especially like to use sulphate of ammonia (22-0-0) because the high nitrogen content kills quickly and the stuff is cheap ($4 for a 20-pound bag).
Prune, prune, prune
Get your pruning shears out because I see a lot of overgrown shrubs, hedges and especially suckers that are growing out of the base of trees and bushes.
Those crepe myrtle trees that are so popular these days aren’t supposed to have suckers growing out of their bases.
Agapanthus or lily of the nile are very common plants, but those beautiful blue or white heads of flowers look especially ugly when they’re through blooming. Cut them off at the base of their long stalks.
Don’t be afraid to trim or prune. Novice home gardeners are especially hesitant to prune, but plants actually perform better after a haircut.
New growth will burst forth as the plant’s energy goes into making up for the trim they just received.
Green Things Up by
Fertilizing
I see a lot of light green lawns and not-especially-healthy plants out there. Break out the Miracle-Gro, Scott’s, Best, Ortho or any other fertilizers you have.
Dry, granular fertilizers are easy to apply with hand-held Whirlybird devices. Liquid fertilizers like Miracle-Gro are easily applied with spray-bottle attachments to the hose.
The good thing about liquid fertilizers is that they’re fast-acting and plants receive fertilize through their leaves, stems and branches rather than their roots.
There you have it. Get improving your gardens with these simple recommendations.
And don’t forget to say “hi” when you see my two weenie dogs pulling me past your house!
