The aspects of gardening for seniors benefits their health and well being while being therapeutic and allowing them to stay active and productive.

Gardening in itself is an enjoyable pastime and an excellent form of exercise for mobility, flexibility, use of motor skills while helping to improve strength and endurance. This type of physical activity also helps to prevent osteoporosis, reduces stress levels while promoting relaxation to help you rest better at night.

A few good words of advice for seniors who garden is to warm up by doing a few stretches before starting any gardening activities and working with your garden tools. Doing this will help reduce any muscle soreness you may experience later on.

Also, drink plenty of liquids (avoiding alcohol), to keep your body well hydrated.
Be sure to take care of cuts, bruises scrapes and insect bites right away to help avoid infection.
Try and work in the garden early in the morning or late in the day to avoid blazing midday sun and heat which can make even the healthiest senior ill or weary.
Wear comfortable clothes and shoes, and add a hat, gloves to cover exposed skin and use sunscreen to protect against sunburn and sun damage. However, in addition to these tips, it is also important to know your limitations. When you start to feel fatigued, take a break for a few moments. Also, try rotating your gardening tasks every half hour or so, as this will help you to use your larger muscles and be less taxing on those smaller muscles that you really may not be aware that you’re putting stress on until you become uncomfortable later on.

Also avoid using tools that will put you in awkward body positions. If possible, take advantage of the new breed of which are designed to reduce strain and injury because they work in conjunction with your body movements.

These garden tools are pretty near perfect for the senior gardeners, due to the fact that they are lightweight and sturdy, thus giving better control. The shorter handles on ergonomic tools gives better leverage control while the longer tool handles give much better power and are better for jobs requiring full body motion.

Another gardening tip for seniors is to keep your tools sharp, well oiled and in good working condition. This will help avoid resistance when using them and cut down on the manpower needed to execute certain tasks. Remember that proper body positioning will minimize muscle soreness and fatigue.

Here are a few safety tips and easy steps that seniors should take into consideration when gardening to avoid injury and minor aches and pains:

Be careful with power tools because even the smallest ones can become a burden in worn and weary hands.
Bend at the knees and hips to help avoid injury
Try to work below shoulder level when possible and keep tour elbows partially bent while gardening
Definitely avoid twisting the forearm back and forth. Instead, try to work with your hands in a neutral position.
Wear gardening gloves to protect your hands
Plant vertical or raised garden beds to avoid bending or stooping
Use adaptive tools ,garden tools can be modified to suit the needs of older people
Provide yourself with shaded areas for working whenever possible
Finally, if memory abilities are becoming affected, secure gates and fences can be an enormous advantage by helping to keep seniors with memory troubles secure while still allowing them to indulge in gardening.

By: Eudora DeWynter

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Flower gardens are simple to install and easy to care for. They do, however, require a basic understanding of the natural conditions of your garden as well as the specific needs of the individual flowers. Different flowers have different requirements. Annuals, for example, live for only one season, require a bit more maintenance than perennials and, since they die after the first hard frost, need be replanted each year. Perennials, on the other hand, flower for a period each year and grow larger each season. They die back to the ground in the winter but reemerge the following spring.

Determine which flowers do well in your climate and research their sun and soil requirements. Some flowers thrive in the sun while other prefer a little shade. Also, though most plants prefer organic, nutrient rich soil, some will do actually do better in well drained sandy soil.

Perennials bloom either early in the spring, during the middle of summer or late in the summer and into autumn. To achieve a constant bloom throughout the season, plant many different species. Iris, bleeding heart and a variety of bulbs are notable early bloomers. Daylily and hosta bloom in the middle of summer while aster and sedum “autumn joy” are perfect for late season color. Annuals bloom continuously from spring right through the fall up until the first frost. A mixture of annuals and perennials in the garden ensures a colorful garden from spring until fall.

Plan a garden which compliments your house and overall landscape. For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a cottage garden style will give your garden a rustic look which is quite appropriate for a country setting. If you want a more formal feel, consider a rectangular garden with a symmetrical layout.

Planting your annuals and perennials is easy. After you have prepared your garden by tilling the soil and adding some compost and peat moss, arrange your flowers in the new bed according to a design drawn out before hand. Make sure you like the layout and that the plants are adequately spaced. To plant, simply dig a hole about twice the size of the plant’s root system and place the flower in the hole then back fill the hole with the some soil, tamp it down and water. All plants, including perennials and annuals, should be planted at the level of the finish grade of your garden.

In you want a low maintenance flower garden, limit your annuals and plant a variety of perennials. Perennials, though quite adaptable to a number of garden conditions, can benefit from an early spring feeding. Slow release fertilizer is very effective in the flower garden as it provides nutrients over the course of an entire season. Another way to provide nutrients to your flowers is to spread a layer of organic compost on the garden each spring.

Flower gardening is very rewarding. Simply decide what flowers you like, plant them and be sure they receive the proper care. Flower gardening gives people excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.

By: Tim Birch

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Organic gardening is just like regular gardening. The difference being is that there are no pesticides or other chemicals used in the process. The only products used in this type of gardening are all natural, gentle, and safe to use.

Organic gardening has become increasingly popular. In fact, a large majority of people from around the world are now eating organic food, and the benefits that it provides are truly outstanding. It is a complete surprise that we have not all switched to organic food a long time ago.

Whether if you are an experienced organic gardener or if you are just getting started in this new hobby, there are a few tips you are going to want to use when it comes to organic gardening which may prove very useful to you one day.

Compost

One of the best organic gardening tips is to use compost with your plants. The reason why this is considered one of the most important gardening tip is because the compost will affect your plants in a big way. Compost will improve soil structure, texture, and aeration, all of which will greatly affect how well or poorly your plants grow.

Compost is also used in regular gardening and is considered one of the best vegetable gardening tips being used.

Look For Alternatives

Another of the best organic gardening tips is to use natural and organic alternatives to the chemical fertilizers that are being offered on many gardening stores. There are many effective inorganic fertilizers that will do that job just as well as those with chemicals. The difference being is that you will be taking better care of the plants you are growing and of the environment in general.

These are just a few of the vast number of organic gardening tips out there, and the best idea is going to be for you to read as many of these tips as you can. You should get the most education on organic gardening in general to get a better idea on the different things that you can do to have the best of success with your plants.

Organic gardening really a wonderful pastime and more and more people are now getting involved every passing day. As a nation are just starting to realize the importance and incredulous benefits that organic foods offer and how pointless it is to use so many chemicals on such a regular basis that we don’t even need.

By: Sylvia Tanady

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Indoor gardening is a fantastic way to bring nature inside your home and brighten up your rooms. They are not only a wonderful finishing touch when decorating any room but most people find plants and flowers relaxing, beautiful and soothing to look at. They are nature’s natural purifier, as plants cleanse the air by changing carbon dioxide into oxygen. It really does not matter if you choose exotic, common or tropical plants because their natural, fresh beauty makes any room feel cozy and warm. Here are some great indoor gardening tips on caring for your plants that help the plants remain lovely and healthy.

Light to a plant is like food to us. It is a necessary element, that all plants need, or they will gradually die. Every plant requires different lighting to grow properly, so when you are shopping for houseplants, a few indoor gardening tips are, check how much light the plant requires and the best location. Some require bright or direct sunlight so place your plant near a south facing window. For plants requiring indirect sunlight, make sure you place them close to the window but far enough away to keep their leaves from burning. You can place low light plants anywhere in a room as long as there is a little natural light. A few varieties of plants that require medium or low light and look beautiful in any room are African violets, philodendrons and Boston ferns.

Here are some indoor gardening tips on watering your houseplants. People often kill their plants with kindness by over-watering them, which makes the plant more susceptible to disease and insects. This also leads to the roots rotting. Find out the watering needs of each plant and then invest in a water gage that tells you the moisture level of the soil. These are inexpensive and certainly helpful when it comes to deciding whether to water or not. The following indoor gardening tips make a difference on how healthy your plant remains. When you bring a new plant home, such as an African violet, it looks fabulous for a little while and then it stops blooming and the leaves start turning yellow and falling off. Growers and nurseries use fertilizer to encourage the plants to grow quickly to sell them. Most people take them home and do not fertilize them, so the plant does poorly. Find out what each plant needs and fertilize them according, using a good all-purpose fertilizer.

Some plants may require a special fertilizer, such as orchids, so talk to a plant specialist if you are unsure. Following a few indoor gardening tips, your houseplants will remain healthy and happy.

If you would like to know more about indoor gardening, just visit http://www.indoor.thegardeningsupply.com

By: Watson Greg

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Would you like to have a green thumb but are afraid yours may be black? Perhaps you tried to plant a flower garden and where less then thrilled with how it turned out? The following tips will help those that have little experience in flower gardening to grow a garden that they will be delighted with and enjoy showing off.

Watering your flower garden is a very important part of raising healthy plants. Figuring out exactly how much water that your flower garden will need can be a difficult thing to determine. While you don’t want to over water your flowers, you don’t want to neglect them, either. Flowers should be watered lightly so that they don’t sustain any damage. Light watering will also simulate the effect of a light rain shower. A watering can or an attachment for a garden hose with a light setting is a must for any gardener, no matter what their skill level.

Just as you enjoy your own personal space, so will your flowers. While every flower gardener loves the thought of having flowers as far as the eye can see, it is simply not the best plan to keep the flowers healthy. Flowers need to be planted far enough apart to be able to grow to their full potential. If flowers are planted too closely together they can overtake the flowers around them, which is likely to lead to an unbalanced garden. If you have an idea about flowers that would create an aesthetic balance if planted side by side, read the directions enclosed with the seeds to find out much space each of the flower species will need in order to thrive.

Be sure you are planting your flowers in good quality soil. While the soil in the yard may look perfectly fine, it may not be good enough to properly grow the type of flowers you want to plant. This issue can be easily taken care of by purchasing soil that is rich with the nutrients that most all flowers require. This is then mixed with the soil already present in the flower bed area. You will also find that there are flower nutrients that can be placed in water for another way to cultivate healthy flowers.

Keeping these simple yet important tips in mind when beginning a new flower garden will help you to grow a prosperous garden full of healthy flowers.

By: Jeff Dahlberg

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Home gardening can be very rewarding and it really isn’t that hard! Here’s some tips for growing any kind of plant including flowers, herbs and vegetables that are sure to help you develop your green thumb.

There are 3 basic things that you need to know to succeed in home gardening and that is that plants need light, water and soil to survive. If any one of these 3 elements is not adequate, it will result in weak plants. Luckily, it is pretty easy to get enough of all for your plants and the plants themselves usually come with directions on what they need.

Light

In general, most plants need 6 to 8 hours of sunlight. Some more and some less so be sure to read the tags that come with your plants for best results! Study your yard or garden area throughout the day to figure out how much sun it really gets and be sure to place your plants where they will have the best chance of thriving. You can buy plants that like full sun,. partial sun and shade so there are plants that will be happy in every type of yard or garden.

Water

One of the most important home gardening tips has to do with water. Plants need water to survive but too much of it is a bad thing! You want to be sure they get enough water so that the soil is not hard and dry, but you never want to have standing water around your plant. Plants in containers will need to be watered more than those in the ground and more watering is necessary in summer months. When watering try not to splash water on the leaves and petals of your plants as this can promote disease – a garden soaker hose is ideal for this.

Soil

Plants need nutrient which they typically get from the soil. Be sure to use a rich soil that is fortified with fertilizer appropriate for what you are planting. You want your soil to be a bit loose so the roots can easily spread and grow. Nutrients can also be delivered to plants through water which is what hydroponic gardening is based on. With hydropinics you grow plants in a water solution – no soil needed!

So, you see, home gardening is not that difficult – just start off slowly and you’ll be growing lush, vibrant plants in not time!

By: Lee Dobbins

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Many living spaces do not have ample room to plant vegetable gardens. One option is container gardening. Nutritious and fresh vegetables can be grown in containers on a balcony, patio or windowsill.

Crop Selection

Containers are ideal for almost any vegetable that would thrive in a backyard garden. Vegetables that are specifically suited for containers are peppers, green onions, tomatoes, beans, radishes squash, parsley, cucumber, eggplant and beans. Carrots also grow well in containers if the container is deep enough (eight inches).

Ideal Soil For Container Gardening

Container-grown vegetables do best in soil made of woodchips, sawdust, perlite, vermiculite or a variety of other materials. The four most important criteria regardless of the soil mixture are that it 1) be free of weed seeds and disease, 2) can retain nutrients and moisture, 3) can drain well and 4) is lightweight. Many products contain nutrients in the soil so fertilizing is unnecessary.

Containers

You can use just about any container to plant your vegetables including bushel baskets, wooden boxes or containers specifically designed for container gardening. Green onions, parsley and herbs thrive in pots from six to 10 inches in size. Peppers, tomatoes and eggplant are best suited in larger containers.

Adequate drainage is very important for container growing. Place about one inch of gravel in the bottom of the container before adding soil. This will help improve drainage. If your container doesn’t have drain holes, drill them yourself– about 1/4 to 1/2 inch on the bottom.

Seeding and Transplanting

You can purchase transplants from your local garden center or nursery to place in your container, but you can also grow the plants from seed at home. Use a baking pan to germinate your own seeds. Fill the pan with soil and plant the seeds to a depth of 1/4 to 1/2 inch.

Place the baking pan in an area that receives adequate warmth and sunlight about four to eight weeks before planting them in the final container. The general rule is to transplant the seeds once they show their first two or three real leaves. Be careful when transplanting so you don’t injure the root system.

Light

Full sunlight is ideal for almost all vegetables. However, some plants can do well in partial shade: lettuce, greens, cabbage and spinach. Root vegetables actually prefer more shade than those that bear fruit. An advantage to container growing is that you can move the containers as needed.

By: Bill Camarillo

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Hydroponic gardening can be an excellent way to grow a large amount of fruits and vegetables in a limited area. However, it’s much more than just growing plants in a water-nutrient system without soil. There are many variables, all of which depend on the space available, your budget and how much time is available to spend on maintenance. There then are some tips that will help to make your hydroponic experience pleasant and productive.

Number 1: Get Your Plants Off to a Good Start

When seeds first sprout, they are said to be germinating. In hydroponic gardening, this happens within a growing medium, which can be any number of things. The best choices are composted bark, expanded clay, gravel, peat moss or sand. Rockwool, oasis and perlite are less desirable; vermiculite should be avoided at all costs, as it is often contaminated with asbestos fibers that can have grave consequences for one’s respiratory health.

Keep in mind that every type of plant has its own specific needs when it comes to temperature and light. You’ll need to check the seed specification in order to determine the plant’s unique germination requirements.

Number 2: The Right Light

As mentioned above, different plants have different light requirements – and a single plant has different light needs at different stages. In general, a plant that is in the growth stage needs more red spectrum light, whereas a plant that is flowering or fruiting uses more of the blue spectrum. Metal halide (MH) lights are good for the former, while High Pressure Sodium (HPS) lights work better during the latter stage. Some of the newer LED grow lights can actually be adjusted for different kinds of plants and various stages, however these are more expensive than standard types of light.

Number 3: Proper Nutrition

All plants require some sixteen different mineral nutrients in order to reach their full potential. These fall into the category of either micronutrients or micronutrients.

Important macronutrients include nitrogen (N), which aids in the growth of new leaves; phosphorus (P), needed for root growth and bloom; potassium (K) for disease resistance; calcium (Ca), which promotes the growth of new roots and shoots; and magnesium (Mg), the ions of which are an important component of chlorophyll, the substance that aids in photosynthesis. Minerals such as boron (B), copper (cu), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) are micronutrients that are necessary in trace amounts.

Number 4: Preventing Disease and Warding Off Pests

Just as with traditional gardening, hydroponics means battling unwanted insects and plant diseases. The best ways to avoid these problems consist of maintaining a clean growing environment, selecting hearty, disease-resistant plants, proper ventilation and temperature control, and constant monitoring for problems. The latter is especially important; most problems are easily cured if caught in their initial stages.

Number 5: Keeping it Pruned

Discolored, insect-eaten or unhealthy leaves and diseased roots should be removed with a pair of sharp scissors. Judicious pruning of your hydroponics gardens will also help your plants to grow fuller and allow it to concentrate its energy on more productive shoots.

By: Susan Slobac

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