Tips From The Garden Patch by Andrew W. Jackson Sr.

A regular column by an expert landscaper, gardener, designer, and all around wise person.

A garden is many things to many people. World wide, humans have spent multiple hours in their magical portion of the earth commonly referred to as a garden. Gardens range from the simplest forms of groups of Annuals and Perennials to the most complex groupings of formal herbs, evergreens, trees, and shrubs. Regardless of its composition, the garden is primarily that special place where on can retire in seclusion to labor and do battle with the opposing elements of nature. Hopefully through the use of his or her own strength and knowledge, the gardener will harvest satisfaction in the form of beautiful flowers, vegetables, herbs or other plant forms that are joined together much as an artist places colors on a canvas in an effort to capture the essence of a fraction of life ’ s many offerings.
Whatever the type of garden there are a few simple steps to follow that should lead to a degree of success in proportion to the time and effort tilled into the foundation of all gardens; the soil. Soil is that place where the plants will place their ever expanding root system in hopes of finding moisture, air and nutrients; those basic necessary elements all plants require in varying degrees and forms.
There is nothing sadder than a gardener who spends hours of hard work and effort preparing their garden, who spends their hard earned money on plants, tools and assorted fertilizers and pest controls and then gathers a poor harvest in return for all their efforts….. Plan before you plant, keep it simple, prepare for the worse, and work with an air of expectancy that your garden will return beautiful results...

To be continued