Month: April 2016

Gardening is Good for The Soul

Life can be hectic and it can be hard to find much needed peace and sanctuary in our everyday lives. Creating a space specifically for you to separate from the rest of the world and be with your thoughts in solitude is very healthy and beneficial for us to do. One way people decide to accomplish this is by gardening. Applying your focus and efforts into fostering life in a quiet and peaceful environment can be a physical form of meditation, which can be very revitalizing. Creating a barrier between your obligations and doing what you desire is something we should all do because it helps us to not feel like all we do is work or fulfill those obligations. Finding balance in life is a principle that has been held since ancient times. We have always understood that we have a need to retreat within ourselves and explore our own thoughts and feeling in quiet solitude. Meditating has many forms and benefits and its practice is as old as mankind itself. Gardening is one discipline that can be considered meditative as you are usually in solitude operating in a state of peace and tranquility, even if you aren’t actively exploring introspectively

Not only is the act of gardening soothing and healing, once the space has been cultivated for a period of time you will have a beautiful place to escape to and enjoy in peace, even when you aren’t tending to your plants. Most people find great satisfaction and peace when they are more in tune with nature and the levels of satisfaction and peace only increase over time.  If you desire a sanctuary, why not take it upon yourself to create one? Gardening can be done on any scale from small and simple to very large and complex. Gardening can also be good for bond building. Cooperating with a partner toward the common goal of assisting your plants to thrive can be a soothing as well as a catalyst to furthering the bond between you and whoever you decide to share you gardening experience with. As time passes you both will take pride in the fact that you cultivated your new beautiful space as a team and can now enjoy it as such! Gardening really can bring a family closer together. If you have kids, gardening can be a constructive way to instill discipline and diligent work ethic as well as responsibility. There are millions of ways to learn and teach, it just so happens to be that gardening is one of the most effective methods! This will benefit your young ones in the area of producing organic food for themselves in the future as long as growing food is part of the gardening style that you choose. We live in a day and age where food is getting further and further away from being organically produced and it is greatly effecting our health as we are not receiving the nutrients that we once did from the exact same foods. Ensuring that you have organic produce is a measure you can take against this trend and it will set the foundation for practicing healthy living habits. That is the greatest thing you can give to a child!

You can choose to create a space designed to appeal to you visual senses by being more aesthetically dynamic with vibrant and bright flowers and plants. You can also create a more functional garden that can produce food for you and your family, which brings its own version of tranquility and satisfaction. There really are no limits to the creativity you can express in your garden and you may find that you have found a lifelong hobby. If a garden is especially impressive and has evolved into a feature of your home and property, it can actually raise the overall value of your house and the lot that is sits on.  With all of these benefits present, why wouldn’t you want a garden!!!? All you need to do is decide to start a garden and the rest of the steps will follow. Do yourself a favor and develop that bright and shiny green thumb that you have always secretly desired!

Ground Covering Plants Can Free You of Weeds

If you are fostering a personal home garden, you are always looking for ways to improve your garden and the efficiency of its design. The More efficient your garden design is, the more you will be rewarded by your garden with rich and vibrant blooms and fruit/vegetable yields. A great way to both add to the aesthetic of you garden and raise its efficiency is using ground cover plants to control weed growth. There are a variety of ground cover plant types available with beautiful diversity. You can almost completely eradicate the complications created by weeds by planting they ground covering plants along your garden bed. When you are deciding which ground cover plants to place in your garden, understand that the species that work best to eradicate weed growth do so because the grow as aggressively as most weeds do. Not only will your garden bed be free of the ugliness of weeds, the ground will have a lush bed of flowers covering it and giving it a vibrant, aromatic atmosphere.

Some ground covering flowers that are both effective and beautiful include: Vinca Minor, Ajuga, and English Ivy. English ivy can be especially transforming and appealing aesthetically, as it can cascade down hillsides and overtake rocks and structures which will make edges and angles appear to be softer while adding a degree of elegance and sophistication. If you are looking for options that are more colorful than ivy, look at species such as Periwinkle and Vinca Minor which show off vivid shades of blue and purple.  Ajuga, also referred to as bugleweed grows flowers that are about six inches tall and show off pinks and whites along with purple and blue depending on the species.

Adding any of these ground cover plant varieties will help your garden stay out of the clutches of weeds while enhancing its visual allure with the addition of one (or more if you’d like) ground covering plant species.

How to Attract Birds and Butterflies to Your Garden

Gardens are usually visually appealing and atmospherically dynamic when tended to with love and guided intention. Most gardeners develop their green thumbs in order to create a personalized space that can be used as a sanctuary. One way to add another dynamic element to your environment is attracting birds and butterflies to you garden. Birds of all types, especially humming birds, will be attracted to your garden if a few simple steps are taken.

Attracting birds to your garden can be done in several fashions, depending on what kinds of birds you are hoping to attract.

Hummingbirds: Placing feeders filled with nectar and sugar water is a well known method for attracting these fascinating birds into your garden realm. One lesser known tidbit is that 60% of the diet of hummingbirds consists of insects. Spraying insecticide in your garden may actually be keeping hummingbirds away from your garden.

Quail, Doves, Sparrows: These are all seed loving birds, so growing plants that produce the kinds of seeds they prefer will naturally attract these birds. Sunflowers, globe mallow, desert marigolds, ironwood, brittlebush Palo Verde, barberry, desert hackberry, Mexican elderberry and pyracantha are all great choices for this.  Birds enjoy moving water as well, so any form of water feature will raise the frequency of the visits you’ll receive from your feathered friends.

Butterflies: These majestic creatures are attracted to plants like butterfly brush, desert bloom, desert milkweed, verbena, desert senna, fairy duster, lavender, citrus, privet, chocolate flower and butterfly weed. Planting one or more of these plants will ensure you are visited in your sanctuary on a regular basis by butterflies.

Attracting these beautiful creatures to your garden will not only add life to your garden in a very literal sense, it will help keep pests from populating as birds prey on many would-be invaders. Keeping your garden both beautiful and healthy can be accomplished by recruiting some of nature’s more than willing helpers.

Garden Planting Schedule For When & What To Plant In Mesa, AZ

best garden planting schedule mesa arizona

Mesa Arizona’s climate is a lot different than other parts of the United States so of course that means that their garden planting schedules also differ. Unlike other places, gardeners in Mesa can grow things all year long but the best time of the season to plant things in Mesa is November through March. Yes, while others are building snow men, we are planting our gardens.

Planting Schedules In Mesa, AZ

See below to find out the best planting schedule for plant and each season.

Annuals Planting Schedule

Annuals can be planted Oct through Apr

Citrus Trees Planting Schedule

Citrus trees can be planted in the fall or the spring

Bare Root Roses Planting Schedule

Bare root roses can be planted Jan through Feb (Short Window of Opportunity)

Vegetable Planting Schedule

Vegetables can be planted Mid-September through March

Bulbs Planting Schedule

Iris and Daffodil bulbs grow best when planted in November

Best Planting Seasons In Mesa

There are 2 primary planting seasons in Mesa, AZ (Spring & Fall)

Best Harvest Times

Harvest times are best in Jun, Jul, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec. Also, if you cover your plants from frost you can still harvest veggies in Feb & Mar.

Cold Season Vegetables

In the cool season you can plant cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, carrots, peas, onions, potato and radish can be planted in the middle of September.

Warmer Season Vegetables

In the warm season you can plant cucumbers, green beans, pepper, melons, pumpkin, sweet corn, squash and tomatoes (but they have to be covered planted early, grow best if planted in February). Most gardeners in Mesa plant their warmer season vegetables in the middle of February. Plant green beans same time as sweet peas and cover if there is frost.