GREEN tHUMBs
| General GREEN Tips For tips covering various categories for living in an environmentally -friendly way. |
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| GREEN Animals For general information & tips on animals and how they are important and helpful to the environment. |
| GREEN tHUMBs For general tips and suggestions on planting and caring for plants & trees. |
| Want to Share tips or links to useful information? Go to Groups & share directly in a group, or contact us, for consideration in adding to a green page. |
| LINKS |
| Tips |
| PRODUCUTS |
 | NWF Org - animal-friendly | |
| gardening | ||
| DIY Network - gardening tips | |
| HGTV Goes Green - gardening | |
| & compost | ||
| HGTV Landscaping - edible | |
| landscaping | ||
| HGTV Easy Veggies - 10 | |
| easiest vegetables to grow | ||
| HGTV Indoor Plants - best | |
| plants for a healthy home | ||
| HGTV Wildlife - attracting wildlife | |
| to your garden | ||
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 | RootBlast - stimulates root | |
| growth, "Bigger roots grow bigger plants | ||
| JoeWashington of HGTV - | |
| video, self-watering planter, & potting mix |
 | Know what climate zone you live in | |
| Know which trees & flowers grow best in your climate, or native to your area | |
| Know how much space is needed between plants, and how big they grow | |
| If growing vegetables in posts, know how big the plant gets so that they can be planted in the appropriate sized pot for | |
| the roots to grow big enough for the plant to grow to be big enough to produce | ||
| Know what minerals are abundant in your soil | |
| Know what animals are common to your area (tags on many plants now include a notation if it is deer resistant) | |
| what to plant? - how to decide |
| When to plant depends on the individual plant, and the temperatures it can tolerate | |
| Knowing your climate zone is helpful in determining when to plant | |
| Knowing the size the plant will typically be at maturity is important to determining where to plant (for example, | |
| Cedar and Magnolia trees get very large, and have extensive root systems, so it is best for them to NOT be planted near a foundation) | ||
| Know whether a plant needs full or part sun, or shade | |
| Know the nutrients needed and emitted from plants that you plant to plant close together. For example, it is | |
| generally not good to plant plants that need a lot of water with plants that need very little water // but on the other hand, plants that pull different nutrients from the soil, sometimes complement each other |
| when to plant? where to plant? how to plant? |
| use pesticides or not? organic growing - work w/nature |
| Using pesticides, is adding chemicals to your plants | |
| Pesticides are designed to kill insects; the use of pesticides could be a cause for the considerable decline in | |
| the number of bees | ||
| Organic growing is growing plants without the use of pesticides | |
| Bird feeders are good to have close to gardens, because birds also eat bugs. By attracting birds, they can help | |
| with insect control around your plants |
| how to plant - help them grow & produce |
| Depth for seeds varies, most are usually about 1/4" below the surface (generally recommended that seeds are | |
| started indoors, especially if you tend to have birds in your yard) | ||
| Plants ready to go in the ground need to have a hole dug deeper and wider, by a minimum of 1/2" to 1", than the | |
| roots of the plant (varies by plant, some require large a hole to be dug) | ||
| Add plant food at the recommended intervals for specific plants | |
| Newly planted plants require more water until the roots are established in the ground | |
| Many plants grow and produce more when pruned/cut back periodically (frequency or timing varies by plant) | |
| Some plants/trees require at least one other of the same type of plant to be planted in a relatively close | |
| proximity to allow for cross-pollination | ||
| To keep squirrels, deer, and other animals from eating fruits, vegetables, or flowers, add feeders or other | |
| plants for them to eat, away from your garden/fruit trees. (Animals will generally eat what is easier to get to, especially if it also has a clear "escape route" if someone were to go outside) | ||
| Bats have a bad "rep," but most bats eat insects (like mosquitoes). They help with insect control in your | |
| garden/yard |
| Recommend Products |
Miracle-Gro, Complete Guide to Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs - Planting - Growing - Harvesting
Miracle-Gro, Moisture Control Potting Soil - for potted plants
Self-Watering Pots
 | Includes clear instructions for planting, growing, and harvesting a very large variety of plants | |
| Includes common problems/pests for the various plants as well as tips to help prevent them | |
| Includes pictures, diagrams and charts | |
| Includes basic tips for gardening | |
| Also, tells which plants are good to grow together, including which flowering plants grow well with them | |
| Excellent, even for beginners! |
| Keeps the soil moist longer - really does work as shown on commercials | |
| Has plant food in the potting mix |
| Has spout on bottom of the pot to pour water, plus still water from the top | |
| Water supply at the bottom helps encourage more natural root growth, roots grow down to find water supply, | |
| while watering from the top simulates a short rain shower | ||
| Helps prevent over/under watering because the roots pull water from the soil as is needed. (Still have to watch | |
| plants that are not accustomed to soil staying moist, for example plants from arid regions, like the desert.) | ||
| If you have plants that do not need a lot of water, they are also helpful if you are someone that does not like to | |
| water everyday, or go out-of-town for a few days at a time. |
