Best Habit » Gardening http://www.besthabit.com We are what we repeatedly do... excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit -- Aristotle Fri, 27 Nov 2009 11:06:32 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Making Your Garden Beautiful http://www.besthabit.com/2009/11/24/making-your-garden-beautiful/ http://www.besthabit.com/2009/11/24/making-your-garden-beautiful/#comments Tue, 24 Nov 2009 12:08:44 +0000 Joe http://www.besthabit.com/?p=289 When it comes to having the best garden possible, there are many things to consider. One of the most important items other than the actual plants that you will use is the tools that you will need to keep your garden looking its best. While there are many options available in the search for these gardening tools, one of the most convenient is an online garden center. Here you will be able to find everything that you will need to make this season’s garden a glowing success.

When it comes to deciding between an online gardening center and the more traditional type of center, there are a few advantages to the online center to consider. When it comes to the online gardening center you will have the convenience of shopping from the comfort of your own home and the having your items shipped directly to your door. You will also be able to browse a wider selection than at most local garden centers, with everything you need neatly divided in sections for easier comparison.

There are many more advantages to an online garden center when it comes to purchasing not only the right tools for your garden, but the best plants as well. An online garden center will be able to offer a wider selection and deeper discounts because they do not have the overhead of a more traditional garden center. You will also have the opportunity to purchase specialty items that may not be available in your area. All of these reasons make the online garden center an obvious choice for those who want a truly unique and spectacular garden for their home.

]]> http://www.besthabit.com/2009/11/24/making-your-garden-beautiful/feed/ 0 Time to protect your potatoes? http://www.besthabit.com/2009/07/06/time-to-protect-your-potatoes/ http://www.besthabit.com/2009/07/06/time-to-protect-your-potatoes/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:12:53 +0000 rod http://www.besthabit.com/?p=254 When we think about the damage slugs do to our crops, we mostly think about them eating the leaves of our plants. Brassicas are particularly prone to being attacked by slugs in this way. Slugs will happily munch right through the heart of your cabbages and destroy the head of cauliflowers. But many gardeners forget that slugs spend more time underground than above and are capable of wreaking just as much havoc underground.

Potatoes are frequently badly damaged by slugs later in the season. As the potato haulms die back, the slugs tend to migrate from above the soil to beneath it, whereupon they start to attack the tubers themselves.
Historically commercial potato growers have used metaldehyde based slug pellets, similar to the ones available to gardeners. As these pellets are applied to the surface they are only effective on slugs that emerge above ground. Both commercial and domestic potato growers alike are starting to switch to nemaslug to protect their crops. As the nematodes contained in nemaslug penetrate the soil, they kills slugs underground as well as those above. In fact nemaslug is so effective at penetrating the soil that almost all of the slugs it kills will die underground. For gardeners this is a great bonus as it means that there will be no mess as a result of slugs being killed on the surface.
Nemaslug can be applied to the potato crop at anytime, but it is best to apply it directly to the soil before the haulm starts to die back. Repeat applications every six weeks until mid autumn to ensure your potatoes remain slug free until they are harvested.
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