How is your garden looking these days ? It really may have a significant effect on your emotions. It can have you smiling, or depressed. Unlike so many things we face today, this is something you can actually control with a little effort and a few dollars carefully spent.
Many of us have lawns, and they can get to be looking rather dead and brown. Their biggest need may be some good fertilizer, but before you add it, make sure you take a rake and pull out all the thatch that has built up. This also breaks the soil. Cut your grass, rake it firmly, and then spread the fertilizer. Finally, use a shower nozzle and soak it by hand so the water doesn't run off, carrying away that new nutrient. Water again by hand a day later, then water every couple of days and watch it spring back to life.
Our plants may have grown a lot, but if they look leggy, its time to prune them back and clean out the dead material. I love to prune the inside of bushes so they can breath. Many gardeners just cut off the tops of the branches, but I like to get inside and get rid of the ones that criss cross each other and just get in the way. The library has some good illustrated books on the way to best prune plants to stimulate new growth.
Sometimes plants overgrow others and you get a nice mess. Your yard will look a lot better if you thin it out so what is growing can stretch out, breath, and have room to develop. While delving into your bushes, make sure to pull out those pesky weeds, and use a hand cultivator to break up the soil. Then give those plants some food.
Finally, your flower beds are filled with dirt, but if you add some colored bark, they will stand out and be quite attractive. Most bark also acts as a mulch which improves the soil quality.
Seasonal ( annual ) color flowers are a great trim and bring a lot of cheer to your yard. You can get flats of them on sale most times at your local nursery. Seeds are also readily available, inexpensive, and will grow into beautiful flowers.
You may be tired after a weekend cleaning up your yard, but you'll enjoy the results for months. Wouldn't it be great to come home after a tiring day in the "world" and be greeted by a cheerful, colorful, bright yard ? Not only can it soothe your soul, but it may thrill your neighbors.
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