Some people believe that gardening is difficult or that it takes a certain type of magic or wizardry to produce a beautiful garden. Actually, though, gardening is quite easy once you learn a few basic techniques. Let us help remove the mystery of gardening so that you can begin to create the garden of your dreams.
Our entire nursery is a reflection of what we call "Common Sense" gardening. What this means is that we have 15 years experience in xeric gardening and landscaping, and our selection of plants demonstrates this.
Soil conditions in Reno and surrounding areas vary greatly. Gardeners with yards and gardens around homes in new developments often must contend with the lack of established topsoil. In comparison, gardeners with yards and gardens in older neighborhoods work with more than 50 years of soil building. Talk to us about your soil. We can help you figure out exactly what needs to be done to make your soil the perfect home for happy plants.
Knowing what is needed for planting relates to a broader understanding of what makes a good soil for a particular plant. We have online instructions for planting trees and shrubs. If you have any questions about the proper way to plant, call us at 775-851-0353.
Common Sense Gardening is all about proper watering techniques, and we find the subject of water to be very interesting, especially as it relates to plants that thrive with very little water. Since we live in a simi-arid part of the world, the meaning of water here takes on a rather urgent importance. We find it very interesting.
There are nearly one hundred common and not so very common flowers that can be used for this most ancient of gathering practices. If you haven't tried drying some of your summer flowers, it's about time.
Pepper plants grow very easily here in our region. They are beautiful to look at and amazingly delicious and nutritious. But often their pepper pod production is stopped short by our early frosts. It's easy to dry the season's remaining peppers for winter use.
For many reasons, autumn is a great time for planting. While the soil is still warm, the air temperatures begin to cool, creating a perfect atmosphere for planting trees, shrubs, all perennials and even many types of seeds. In fact, planting in the fall can actually give your plants an entire year's worth of growth.
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Teachers know that gardening is an excellent educational activity that anticipates many questions that will be addressed more formally in other types of classes down through the years of the curriculum. For a kid, a little bean sprout growing in a paper cup is ontology, physics, biology and the earth sciences all rolled into a single lesson.
Scientific studies have actually shown that gardeners experience similar brain wave states of consciousness that the ancient art of meditation brings. Such research reiterates what we gardeners have known all along: well designed gardens have the power to actually improve human health and well-being.
Hardening-off is usually defined as an assisted process of adjustment conditioning for a plant that has been newly germinated or raised indoors or in some highly controlled space. The gardener helps the seedling or plant make the harsh transition between its initial, protected environment and the dynamic realities of its intended destination.
One approach to garden and landscape design is to anticipate the effects of color. But color should not be isolated from other aspects of the design.
