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Now that you have started a flower or vegetable garden, maintaining your garden is the next step to insure beautiful flowers and a bountiful harvest. Maintaining your garden is just as important as choosing what plants are going to be planted and how to plant them? With all the work that has been put into it to let it go to seed or letting the weed take over would be disgraceful.

One sure way to maintain a garden is by mulching. Mulching will make a huge difference in a garden, why? Mulching not only keeps the soil cool but it also conserves water and blocks weed growth. Shredded or chipped bark (called compost) or shredded leaves and straw will also improve the soil. Mulching will be extremely beneficial to warm season vegetable plants such as melons, peppers squash and tomatoes when plastic mulch is used, it warms the soil around them.

Mulch should be put down as soon as possible after planting before new weeds have a chance to sprout up. Layer your mulch no thicker than 4 inches but a minimum of 2 inches. Too much mulch will only give hiding place for moles, voles, mice and other rodents and may cause the stems to rot if it is piled to high so avoid direct contact with the plant itself.

Keep your plant labels ( from the small pots) or seed packets ( if you planted from seed), they are an excellent source for information if your garden starts to look or do poorly, they usually tell you what the plant will need in terms of care and maintenance, how much sunlight, water, fertilizer etc. If you are not an avid gardener or if this is your first garden don't plant plants that will require a lot of attention do some checking first, garden centers and nurseries are often very helpful.

Remember your name is Smith, so just because it's pretty in Ms. Jones yard doesn't mean that it will be pretty in yours and it won't look like the picture in a magazine photo either. Different regions have different soil qualities and this should always be taken into consideration just like some people have that magical Green Thumb. If your particular region gets a lot of rain, that's well and good, but if it doesn't, don't let your plants get drought stressed. If this happens more than likely they will not recover completely during that growing season.

Weeds come from a variety of places, soles of your shoes and the wind in particular, so there will be plenty of weeding to do. Keep them pulled or they will out grow your plants and or choke them out. If you've planted vegetables, they will produce more if you keep them harvested while they are young. Keep your taller growing vegetables such as tomatoes caged or staked, cucumbers have vines that run and can wrap around other plants choking them so planting near a fence or staking them is also a good idea.

Water, water, water, watering is the most important when gardening. A minimum of 1 inch per week is essential to prevent drought stress and when they get all the water they need they stay lively. Morning watering is best, the humidity is high and you will get less evaporation.

Things you should remember:
- Water slowly and deeply
- Water in the mornings when possible
- Use a long lasting mulch on your perennials ( preferably bark chips) Mulch for your vegetables should be one that will decompose within a few months
- Choose pine needles, hulls leaves or bark chips for your mulches, keep those weeds pulled and your garden should do well.



About the Author
Eudora DeWynter offers tips on Maintaining Your Garden on her blog.

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