With the gardening season beginning for most of us it’s a good time to disinfect your garden tools. Dust, dirt and debris that sticks to your gardening tools will rust your tools and will also spread disease in your garden and to your plants. 
photo credit: The Marmot

To disinfect your tools first clean off the dirt with a clean cloth and remove any rust from the tool.

Next mix one part bleach and nine parts water in a three gallon bucket. Make sure it is mixed well before disinfecting your gardening tools.

After removing the surface dirt, dip your gardening tools into the disinfecting solution and gently swish in the mixture for fifteen to twenty seconds. Remove the gardening tools from the solution and dry.

If you have time oil the garden tool handles to help keep them smooth and prevent splinters. 
photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

You should also sharpen any tools before the season begins. And when cleaning a sharp tool, use extreme care cleaning and drying the item.

Garden tools that are maintained properly will last for years.

Technorati Tags: creative gardening, garden tools, gardening, tools

A great, low maintenance way to decorate your garden is with the use of vines, since they look good on almost anything. If You’ve got a fence that stands out in your lush green garden, growing a vine over it can be a quick and beautiful solution. Depending on what look you want, there are many vines that can meet your needs.
photo credit: DominusVobiscum

Trying to find an alternative to grass? Ground vines are a great way to easily cover ground, and since they are so easily directed, you can use them to make a border around your garden, or even have them weave throughout your plants. Some varieties of the ground vine are resilient enough to survive being stepped on, and even survive dogs!

Along with ground vines, “twining” vines are vines that make their way up a lattice or any equally porous surface by sending out small tendrils that latch on and loop onto whatever is close enough to reach in their search for the sun. While they require a lot of direction at first, once these vines have grown a bit, they require almost no care.

Ivy is a vine that nearly everyone is used to seeing. It is this way because Ivy is one of the most adaptable and resilient types of vines growing, and it can grow pretty much anywhere. Ivy is great to use for ground cover, and it will also grow up any wall you put it near. Over the years, however, people have found that buildings covered in Ivy have been deteriorating because of it.

If you are looking for a natural way to improve the architecture of your home, or simply want to go green, vines are the way to go! A great way is with Virginia Creeper, a “twining” vine that can grow up a wall of any home in a matter of months. Make sure to keep your eye on it, though; while it looks great when its where you want it, it can very easily take over your home.

So no matter what you want to do with a vine, you should have no problem getting it to grow. You should always do your research beforehand and find out about any negative qualities the vine has (such as its ability to destroy buildings, as is the case with Ivy) and researching how fast the vine will grow, especially if you plan on using it on your home.

Technorati Tags: container gardening, creative gardening, decorating, Exterior Design, flowers, gardening, Home and Gardening, home improvement, landscaping, lawn care, plants, thegardenersrake.com, Yard Care

Sunflowers add to any garden with their bright colors and sunny inspiration. Besides being easy to use they make a great cut flower. They come in a variety of colors and grow as small as two foot to as tall as 15 foot.
photo credit: blair_25

Sunflowers are always a part of my gardens. I have planted sunflower mazes, sunflower houses, and sunflower tunnels. These gardens have been favorites in the neighborhood, and with the birds!

Sunflowers also grow great in containers and can be grown indoors the winter for color and to add cheer to the home.

They can be dried for crafts, used for bird feeders and even made into mini furniture and garden art or trellises.

How to Build a Sunflower Stalk Trellis

Once the sunflower season has ended and you have harvested the flowers its time to harvest the sunflower stalks. Use pruning sheers to cut the stalks off at ground level.

Remove any branches or leaves and let dry for a few days. I store them in a dark place lying down with space between each stalk. I turn them over in two days and let dry for another two days.

Select two strong stalks that are about the same size in height and thickness to use as trellis sides. Cut several smaller pieces for cross members.

Next assemble the side poles and cross members so that they resemble a small ladder. You can use string, plastic ties or fishing wire to attach the cross members to the supports. I prefer fishing line myself, unless I use baling twine and give it a rustic look.

Once you feel the sunflower trellis poles are totally dry spray the trellis with clear water seal spray. This will help weather proof it and make it more durable in wet or damp weather.

This will make a small interesting nice trellis with a natural look that will blend into your garden area. Three or four of these ladder trellises can be connected together to make a larger trellis or plant cage.

As you work with the sunflower stalks you will find that can be assembled into small garden fences or arbors. You can either bend a few of the stalks for a creative look or add other types of natural items to the fences and arbors such as grapevine.

It’s a fun project that children will enjoy and that will add character to your garden areas.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Flower Garden, creative gardening, flowers, garden art, garden trellis, how to create a sunflower trellis, sunflower house, sunflowers