Gardening Tips from the Weavings forum

From Garnet: True leaves...okay, when they first sprout, all baby leaves sort of look the same.  They're rounded and tiny.  But as the seedlings grow, then their true leaves will pop up.  You'll recognize them because they look different than the first leaves to appear.  My lemon balm seedlings have just sprouted their first pair of true leaves!! Wait until there are 2 SETS of true leaves before transplanting. 

Anyway, for those who do not know, to find the growing tip, look at the very end of the plant stalk.  They are the uppermost, smaller leaves that are just staring to sprout.  Pinch those off to encourage growth farther down the plant instead of it getting all long and leggy, like mine did. 

From Blackbird: Its always been recommended to me that you buy sprouted cuttings of Rosmary and Lavender since their a bit of a pain to start from seed and grow slowly even if they sprout

Mint is very easy to grow and that's the big problem, keeping it under control the best solution is to plant it in a pot then plant the pot in the ground with part of the pot above the soil

From Kayco: When you plant green pepper seeds, drop a match in the hole before the seeds.  Green peppers like the sulphur from the match head.  They also do not like to be fed plant food like miracle grow, just keep the soil moist and let them grow. 

You can "plant" an amethyst in your garden to make if flourish.  Plant it in the middle of whatever you are growing, and your plants will do very well ( with the right care of course)

From Cuilean: Also remember you'll have herbs that spread.  Sage is one and chamomile is another.  You will find bits of them all over the place so make sure you pull any unwanted starters.  Lemon balm, sage, lavender and chamomile are my basic starter herbs.  All are hardy and impossible to go wrong with.  Tomatoes and peppers in the veggie garden are great starters.  Cucumbers, too. 

I use those little cardboard looking pots that you can plant whole into the ground.  They are biodegradable.  Also you should keep your seedlings warm and moist.  I have a little plastic hothouse I put on top on my dining room table in the sun, so they get a fuzzy sunlight and are kept warm.  I have put them on top of my dryer so they get the heat from it too and keep them very moist. 

I also just read of a spray to make with wormwood to act as an insecticide.  Boil it for 30 minutes.  Use as a spray to help keep insects from your carrots etc.. 

From Dreamer: Herbs: If you've never gardened before, I'd suggest that you rummage around in your local nurseries/Wal-Marts, etc., and find seedlings.  This way you can get a feel for how herbs grow (most like well-drained soil to average soil, plenty of sunlight - although not scorching, and just enough water to keep them happy - depends upon your location.  More plants (with a few exceptions) are killed with over watering than anything else, I think). 

Garden Themes

Here are some links to various garden themes you might want to try out:

• Zodiac Garden http://www.oloughlintradeshows.com/cgi-bin/features.cgi?fid=128&other= 

• Faery Garden http://www.fairylandtrust.org/fairygarden.html

• Moon Garden http://www.hgtv.com/hgtv/gl_plants_other/article/0,1785,HGTV_3609_1390819,00.html 

• Butterfly Garden http://www.butterflyhouse.org/gardening.html 

• Bird Garden http://www.bbg.org/gar2/topics/wildlife/handbooks/birds/3.html 

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Last update: 30 July 2006 .