Garden sheds, as their name suggests, are buildings constructed in gardens to stow various gardening tools and to do simple gardening jobs. Garden sheds need to look good themselves, or they will take away from the appearance of the garden in which they are built.

There are two kinds of gardening sheds. Apex-roof garden sheds have the traditional V-shape pointed roof, while pent-roof garden sheds have an inverted U-shape roof that slopes towards the sides. Apex-roof garden sheds have their doors at one of the ends, while pent-roof garden sheds usually have their doors at one of the side walls. Garden sheds made of metal have flat roofs.

Garden sheds are primarily used to store gardening equipment. Fertilizer packets, seeds, gardening hoes, and trimming scissors are the things that one may find in a garden shed. Garden sheds conceal material that is not eye-appeasing but is needed for garden work. Also, the garden shed can be used to do messy gardening jobs like removing rot of plants and grafting and trimming shrubs by uprooting the plant and transferring it into the shed for its treatment. However dirty the garden shed may inside, it is important that it looks pleasant on the outside since it is a part of the garden.

Wood is the most favored material for building garden sheds. Softwood is cheaper, but it is more prone to rotting when exposed to water. Cedar wood is more expensive and is more resistant to rotting. Wood can be painted in colors that may blend it with the garden. If wood is to be used, it must be recurrently treated with preservatives to protect it from pests and insects.

Poly vinyl garden sheds are a good option since they do not have any of the limitations wood has, but they are not that good in the aesthetic sense. Poly vinyl is a durable and cheap material that is easy to build. Do-it-yourself kits sell mostly sheds made of poly vinyl carbonate.

Garden sheds are also available in metals like steel and aluminum. It is important that these metals be treated for corrosion during manufacture.

Sheds provides detailed information about sheds, how to build a shed, metal sheds and more. Sheds is affiliated with Modular Home Plans.

Asparagus is a perennial plant with erect, edible stems and tiny branches that bear even tinier flowers that become red berries that contain the black Asparagus seed. Formerly in the Liliaceae family, botanists have realized that Asparagus is in a class by itself and have repositioned its 120 species in the Asparagaceae genus. Asparagus is a high-end gourmet food item, but if you know how to grow asparagus, it becomes an inexpensive way to add a delicate flavor to your meals.

Knowing how to grow asparagus dates back 2500 years ago when it was first cultivated in Greece. In fact, asparagus is from the Greek word for stalk or shoot. Long before it was used as a food item, asparagus was lauded for its medicinal properties. There are many reasons to grow asparagus. Once an asparagus bed is established, asparagus is the first vegetable that is table ready in the springtime and will provide your family with a firm and fresh vegetable treat for up to 20 years, each crown in your bed producing up to ½ pound of spears per year. Although supermarkets stock both canned and frozen asparagus, neither compares to the unique flavor you get from freshly harvested and picked asparagus.

As asparagus plants grow, they produce a mat of long, tubular roots that spreads horizontally rather than vertically. This one-year-old root system is called the asparagus crown. Although asparagus can be started from seed, it’s most often begun from transplanting crowns purchased from a reputable crown grower. Those who wish to learn how to grow Asparagus must have an abundance of patience, since it takes an asparagus bed three years to be established from crowns. The second year of growth, asparagus ferns emerge with a few spindly spears. At the third year, although your bed will produce thicker and more robust spears, they shouldn’t be harvested for more than one month to allow roots and crowns to become further established.

Plant asparagus crowns in a trench that is one to two feet wide. Set the crowns up to six inches deep and nine to twelve inches apart. Asparagus grows easily in any well-drained soil. Found growing wild on English riverbanks, the delicate asparagus ferns were nicknamed “sparrow grass”. However, asparagus allowed to stand in water develops root rot, which can quickly destroy a complete bed. Asparagus roots have a tendency to “rise” as the bed matures. Gardeners typically add soil to the rows of a mature asparagus bed to keep the crowns undercover. Asparagus is also susceptible to late spring frosts, which kill emerging spears Take care to keep your asparagus bed covered until frost danger is past.

You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or website, provided credit in the form of an (HTML clickable) hyperlink is given to the author.

Hans is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of the "How To" section of http://www.gardening-guides.com and http://www.patio-furniture-ideas.com

I’ve been fascinated by wild birds as long as I can remember. I started feeding them as a 10 year old boy. That was 41 years ago. Not until my mid 30’s did I really take time to plan and plant for wildlife.

I’ve been a gardener all my life so that wasn’t a problem.

Knowing what to plant, where and why was a learning experience. As a Michigan Certified Nurseryman, I’m still learning.

If you have a small suburban lot or can plan on a grand scale, gardening for birds can be accomplished.

Think like a bird!

No, I’m not calling you a bird brain.

Look at your landscape from a vantage point like a balcony or a deck. Get a bird’s eye view.

Now, what will make your yard attractive to birds?

Do you have mature trees already? Great if you do. What is under the tree canopy? Do you have other native small trees and shrubs planted? What about flowers and ground covers.

Next time you are in a park or take a walk in the woods, take a look at your surroundings. You will notice the different levels of plant life. You will also notice that different birds live at different levels.

This is a wildlife habitat, nature’s way. Now you may want to copy nature or create your own little world. Either way, think native plants and also think of your own eye appeal. Plant some flowers and shrubs that you like as well.

Find plants and trees that are native to your region. If you aren’t sure, ask your local nursery or garden center. Because a plant is zone hardy doesn’t make it right for your area.

Find out what birds live in your area and what will attract them You wont get cardinals or bluebirds no matter how hard you try if they are not in your region or conditions aren’t to their liking.

Plan and re-plan your task on paper. Draw your plants in as mature plants. All to often we buy several little plants and bunch them together. Three years later we are digging them up and moving them or giving the away.

Plant evergreens as well as deciduous. What bears fruits and seeds. What time of year will the bear fruit?

Crabapples (Malus) and Winterberry holly (Ilex verticillata) offer food and color well into winter.

Will there be enough protection from predators? Will the birds find your yard acceptable for raising a family?

Native grasses offer food, protection and nesting materials.

Flowers and ground covers offer up nectar and seeds. They also bring bugs and birds love bugs.

Lose the pesticides, It took me a few years to realize I was doing more harm by spraying for bugs.

Birds add color, movement and sound to our yards everyday of the year.

Few things are more relaxing and make a soul glad then listening to and watching wild birds.

Add a few feeders and some fresh water.

Your wild bird habitat is now your own little nature preserve to enjoy and share.

To learn more about backyard birding and gardening for birds http://www.backyardbirdingtips.com/.

Ron Patterson has been caring for birds since he was a 10 year old boy growing up in rural Michigan. Wanting to do more for birds and wildlife, he became a Michigan Certified Nurseryman. This helps give Ron the Knowledge and experience on planting for wildlife. His expertise helps others to plant and design yards for birds. You can learn more about gardening for birds and backyard birding tips by signing up for Ron’s weekly newsletter at: http://www.backyardbirdingtips.com/

Today there are sprays, scented candles, plug-ins, and even discs that promise to freshen your air by putting a variety of aromas into your home. However, when you know how to grow basil, you can have enough variety of fragrance to package your own potpourri! The most commonly grown basil is the annual, ocimum basilicum that carries a minty fragrance that smells like… well, it smells like sweet basil. In addition to having a wonderful fragrance, sweet basil is an essential ingredient in soups, stews, pesto sauce, and just about any tomato dish. Knowing how to grow basil is a must for every herb gardener. You can grow herbs both indoors and outdoors

Basil comes in over 160 varieties that, in addition to the sweet basil fragrance, offer other aromas like those of lemon, licorice, and cinnamon and foliage colors that range from emerald green to royal purple. Learn how to grow basil and you provide a treat for you eyes as well as an aromatic treat for you nose.

Generally, when just learning how to grow basil, you’ll want to start your plants from seeds. Until basil stems are nearly mature, they are quite fragile and easily broken and bruised so transplanting young basil cultivars can be an exercise in futility. Luckily, basil is one of the cultivars that can be seeded directly into your garden and in fact, if you reseed your basil plot every three weeks, you’ll have fresh basil all summer long.

Basil is a low-maintenance plant. Although it prefers full sun, it will grow in partial shade. Once seedlings are established, basil is also drought tolerant and will actually provide better flavor if you don’t fertilize it! One tip you should know about how to grow basil and preserve its full flavor for culinary use is to pinch off flower spikes as they form.

Part of the fun of knowing how to grow basil is the many different ways to preserve it after harvest. You can harvest your basil anytime by snipping off its leaves as you need them and they turn many ordinary dishes into delicacies when used fresh. Basil can also be dried by snipping some stems and hanging them in bunches together. Air-drying basil in this way is a great way to add its aroma to your kitchen! When your basil bunches are completely dry, you can crumble the leaves and store them in glass bottles. Basil can also be preserved by freezing. Freeze small quantities of fresh basil in plastic bags or chop the leaves and freeze them in water in an ice cube tray.

Basil is an easy-growing herb that is full of possibilities for home décor, fragrance and culinary use. In addition, it’s as well suited for container growing as it is for direct seeding into your garden. Learning how to grow basil is a sweetly satisfying part of gardening, no matter what variety you choose to grow!

You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or website, provided credit in the form of an (HTML clickable) hyperlink is given to the author.

Hans is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of the "How To" section of http://www.gardening-guides.com and http://www.patio-furniture-ideas.com

Is it important to mind your p’s and q’s when you are landscaping or grooming your property? You bet, as there is nothing worse than starting a neighborhood feud. You need to create your landscape your way, but a little etiquette will make the final product much more pleasant. Good neighbors can be hard to come by, so don’t destory a long term relationship because of a short term project. Following are landscape etiquette tips that will keep you in your neighbor’s good graces when landscaping your yard.

1. Don’t grade your yard in a way that pushes your surface water on to your neighbor’s property. Control your runoff on site. It might require the creation of a dry creek bed or a rain garden, but these can become attractive landscape features as well as being functional.
2. Don’t pile all your junk and equipment at the edge of your property so that you don’t have to look at it but yet is in your neighbor’s line of vision. Do you think your neighbor likes it any better than you? Screen it with plants or privacy fencing.
3. Don’t create a noise problem with dogs, kids or loud parties. If you need to, mitigate the noise as best as possible with the use of a privacy fence and a dense landscape barrier. Find other ways to minimize your onsite noise, and by all means invite your neighbors when you have an outdoor party. That is a great way to minimize friction.
4. Don’t install strong lighting that is intrusive. Your neighbors won’t appreciate a flood light beaming in their bedroom window. Be sensitive to their privacy. Many individuals are star gazers and enjoy looking up at the night skies, so be cautious with the use of landscape lighting. Consider installing low voltage path or accent lights that are hooded and cast light downward. They are more than adequate for safety and much more attractive than flood lights.
5. Don’t spray herbicides or other chemicals during windy conditions. Have you ever had plants mysteriously die and then recall that a someone had been spraying weeds in the area earlier that day? Chemicals don’t know where the property lines are.
6. Don’t intrude into your neighbor’s yard. If your contractor needs to enter your property from your neighbor’s, make sure you have permission and give assurances that at the end of your project the property will be just like you found it. Also, know where your property line is. If you are at all in doubt have a survey completed.
7. Don’t allow your contractor and employees to smoke onsite while doing your project. Tobacco mosaic is a virus that is generally transmitted from the hands and tools of smokers and chewers. This can dramatically affect annuals, vegetable plants and some perennials. It’s not worth it.
8. Don’t allow contractors to begin work too early in the morning unless your neighbors are early risers. There is nothing worse than waking at six in the morning to the vibrations of a bobcat or a load of boulders rolling out of the box of a dump truck.
9. Don’t use invasive plants if they can rapidly move to neighboring properties. Only use them if they are contained in planters or by solid barriers.

In the rush to get going on a landscape project, people tend to forget their manners. Don’t let the thought of a beautiful landscape cloud your thinking. A few simple preparations ahead of time and remembering your manners will make sure that you don’t start a neighbor feud.

Donna Evans is co-owner of Gizmo Creations LLC, a landscape design and website design company located just north of Brainerd Minnesota. Their website, http://www.gizmocreations.com has numerous sample landscape plans, landscaping articles and a forum where you can post your gardening and landsaping questions.

Fruit gardening and vegetable gardening is a very exciting venture. Growing Avocado’s was one of the challenges I took on as a hobby fruit and vegetable gardener. When you are not an inhabitant of state with a tropical climate you can grow avocado’s in containers.

So, if you’re a fan of the avocado, chances are you already know how to grow avocado plants. Although the avocado tree is a tropical plant that thrives only in zones 9, 10, and 11, many gardeners grow avocado plants indoors, they grow it as a houseplant. Avocado plants are typically started from the seed in the center of the fruit. Many gardeners begin their avocado plants by piercing the seed with toothpicks and then suspending it (pointed end up) over a glass, vase, or jar of water. You can keep the water sweet by adding some charcoal in the bottom of your container. In two to six weeks, if the seed germinates, you should have a young plant, ready to pot. However, not all avocado seeds will germinate in this way. If your seed hasn’t sprouted in six weeks, toss it out and try again.

Another method of how to grow avocado plants is leave the pit in the sunlight until is begins to split and then potting it in soil partly exposed like an amaryllis bulb or sweet potato vine. Use a four or five-inch pot to start your plant and set it in a nutrient rich potting soil that has good drainage. After your plant is about a foot tall, pinch it back to half. Pinching it back produces a rounder and fuller plant. Once your plant has filled its pot with roots, it’s time to move it to its permanent home.

When you’re learning how to grow avocado plants, don’t expect fruit. Avocado trees take up to ten years to mature enough to bear fruit and indoor grown plants rarely last for that length of time. However, if you provide it with a moist soil, plenty of sunlight, and fertile soil, your avocado plant will be an interesting addition to your home container garden for three to five years.

You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or website, provided credit in the form of an (HTML clickable) hyperlink is given to the author.

Hans is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of the "How To" section of http://www.gardening-guides.com

Container gardening is for everyone. Whether all your gardening is done on a deck, in window boxes, even if you have an eighty by fifty foot garden, plants in containers will always have their place - can always be used to highlight, illuminate, accent and decorate your out-door living areas and places of visual prominence.

Metal pans, clay urns, terra cotta pots, wine tubs, wood boxes, bath tubs, glass bowls, wire baskets, sisal rope planters, cement hollows, hyper tufa hand crafted containers and broken crocks - to mention a few, all work well as planters.

Real wine tubs are excellent because they are already naturally ‘cured’ so resist rot. Redwood and Cedar are the most expensive woods but they last wonderfully well outdoors, need no weather treatment beyond a quick spraying of a preservative and are a pleasure to see, but beware. Many ready made planters are built of solid cedar on the outside but use toxic treated pine on the inside. Look for a sickly greenish yellow color. If it doesn’t look inside like the same wood on the outside, don’t buy it, or put a liner in it.

Liners can be made of metal, fiber glass or plastic, none of which is ideal because they don’t breathe but all of which will work. If you use a liner be sure to provide holes for good drainage.

Redwood planters are often dyed and that dye is questionable, as are those planters’ method of binding, (often flat metal bands which break before the wood has deteriorated.) If you choose a planter of this kind, you will do well to give it extra support before the binding breaks.

When selecting or making wood planters keep in mind that the more soil surrounding the roots of the plants the less tendency there is for desiccation and for freezing so keep them as large as space and pocket allow.

Terra Cotta pots are better than glazed clay or plastic pots because their permeability allows the passage of air. If you have a particularly pretty glazed pot, you’re better off planting in a plain pot and putting that inside the decorative one.

Container Making

With a little labor you can make your own attractive pots and basins. Here’s how:

If you have access to a level of ground: Dig a hole to the desired depth of pot you want. Take a plastic container, ( a child’s bucket, a water jug with the pointed end cut off, etc.) and put a round hole or two in the bottom. Coat the outside with vegetable oil and place it upside down in the hole over a mound of earth leaving, about two inches evenly all around between the container and the surrounding soil, and between the top, which will become the bottom of the pot, and the ground.

Into the holes of the container place snug fitting dowels or sticks extending above ground level. (The cement is going to go over the bottom of the plastic container and the dowels will stick through it, for drainage holes.)

Purchase a bag of sackrete, (a ready mix of sand, gravel and cement), and a small bag of peat moss. Mix a batch of sackrete, (follow directions on the package, making it the consistency of thick soup), adding a couple handfuls of peat, and if you like, of soil for an earthier look.

Pour this mixture into the hole and over the top of the plastic container being sure the sticks are protruding through, and tamp it down. When the mix becomes firm, but not hard, carefully twist out the sticks.

When the concrete is hardened, (there are different kinds of mixes so read the bag label to see when this should be), remove your pot from the ground. The plastic container should slide out readily. Wire brush or hose off the pot and plant it up.

If you don’t have access to a level of ground: Get two cardboard boxes, one of which fits into the other with about an inch or two of space between all around. Unless they are very strong, reinforce them with tape around the sides and over the corners. Smear some vegetable over the inside of the larger and the outside of the smaller. Cut several candles each to two inches in length and fix these to the bottom of the larger box, evenly spaced. Make the mix as described above and fill the larger box to the tops of the candles.

Place the smaller box inside the larger, resting on the candles, and put a little weight in it. Work the sackrete mix between the boxes to whatever height you want the sides of your container to be. If necessary you can put small blocks of wood between the two boxes to keep the spacing right.

When the concrete mix is hardened, pull away the boxes. If the candles don’t easily pull out of the bottom you can drill through them.

Experimenting with these two methods you can fairly easily make a variety of shapes and sizes of attractive containers.

Designing With Containers

If you are grouping containers together, such as on a deck, a variety of sizes gives the best look. Aesthetically, you are better off with say, one large container and two smaller rather than three medium sized pots. In addition, they needn’t all be on the same plane.

Put a few on benches or tables or inverted pots and if possible, use hanging baskets and wall planters as well. All manner of old tubs and basins can be effective design elements in a container garden and as with size, a variety will give a richer look than will a collection of pots all of the same kind. Do have a repetition of textures, however, as overly eclectic can look too busy.

As with containers, a variety of plants, from small ornamental trees through shrubs and vines to perennials and annuals creates the most satisfying container garden. The idea, generally, and if space allows, is to create an environment, an little ecosystem comprised of members from several plant groups. Hanging baskets contribute to this effect too, bringing the garden upward and allowing it to reach downward. A future edition will be dedicated to hanging baskets and wall planters.

TO BE CONTINUED

To Read More Articles by Steve Go to www.landscape-design-garden-plans.com

FREE REPORT ON LANDSCAPE PROFESSIONALS

Keith Davitt is an award winning landscape designer with projects nation-wide and the author of four garden design books. To download a free, comprehensive report on landscape professionals and how to identify which of the seven different categories is best for you and your garden needs go to, http://www.landscape-design-garden-plans.com/landscape-design-report.html

Bamboo is a mysterious and elusive plant that baffles taxonomists who try to contain it within a botanical class and gardeners who try to contain it within a limited garden space as they learn how to grow bamboo. For many years, bamboo was thought to be a primitive grass but recent DNA testing has shown it to be one of the most highly evolved forest grasses. There are over 1200 forms of bamboo that grow in a broad spectrum of color including the familiar green and gold as well as burgundy, blue and even black grasses. Some varieties of bamboo can grow up to a foot a day and ultimately reach 130 feet tall while the smallest bamboo cultivar attains only six inches of growth.

The first step in learning how to grow bamboo is picking a cultivar and beginning to unravel its many mysteries. While most of us picture tall stands of green and golden canes growing in tropical bamboo forests, bamboo cultivars range from the temperate to the tropical. As well as diversity in cultivar, bamboo has over 1500 documented uses that range from use in construction to the making of acupuncture needles and from agricultural fodder to the making of musical instruments. Until they are cut, bamboos stems are properly called culms and not canes. In India bamboo plants are commonly called the "Wood of the poor" and in China the” friend of the people". To add to the confusion, a cultivar commonly sold as “lucky bamboo” isn’t bamboo at all but a type of lily from the Dracaena family!

Unluckily for bamboo, it has the reputation for being an invasive plant, growing from running rhizomes. Although this is true for some cultivars, the most cold-hardy plants don’t run at all, but grow from well-behaved clumps with well-established root systems. One thing that bamboo cultivars do have in common is that they are perennial plants. As noted above, some bamboos varieties are temperate and some are tropical. Because its diversity, it’s easy to find a suitable cultivar when you want to learn how to grow bamboo. Bamboo cultivars range from those that grow indoors to outdoors, in a garden or in a container, in bright light or shade.

Two considerations in knowing how to grow bamboo successfully are water and air. All true bamboos are grasses and won’t grow in saturated soils. They also need air circulation to thrive. In fact, some bamboo growers raise the pots of their small cultivars on chopsticks to provide air circulation under the plant as well as around it. Large pots are often elevated with heavy dowels.

The bamboo is a symbol of long life, strength and versatility for many cultures of the world. Unraveling its mysteries is a continuing source of enjoyment. When you know how to grow bamboo, you’ll find that your love for the plant grows as fast as your bamboo does!

You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or website, provided credit in the form of an (HTML clickable) hyperlink is given to the author.

Hans is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of the "How To" section of http://www.gardening-guides.com and http://www.patio-furniture-ideas.com

Air conditioning for cooling homes consumes 5% of the electricity generated in the U.S. With energy costs on the upswing, many homeowners are looking for options to reduce their cooling bills. Although your first thought on this matter may be buying a more energy-efficient air conditioner, you might want to consider using trees and other landscaped plants to shade your home to help reduce cooling costs.

The heat from the sun which windows and roofs soak up can boost your air conditioner use. Putting shading ideas into your landscape plans can help lessen solar heat gain, thus reducing your cooling costs.

Shading and evapotranspiration (which is what the process by which a plant moves and releases water vapor is called) from trees can reduce temperatures of surrounding air by up to 9° F (5°C). In fact, air temperatures immediately under trees can be as much as 25°F (14°C) cooler than air temperatures above nearby blacktop surfaces, due to the fact that cool air settles near the ground.

Trees can be chosen with appropriate sizes, densities, and shapes for almost any shading application. You first need to know size, shape, and location of the moving shadow that your shading plant will cast. For blocking heat in the summer but letting it in during winter, select deciduous trees. To provide uninterrupted shade year round, use thick evergreen trees or shrubs.

To provide maximum summertime roof shading, plant Deciduous trees with high, spreading leaves and branches to the south of your house. Trees with branches lower to the ground are better suited to the west, since shade there is required from lower afternoon sunlight.

A 6-foot to 8-foot deciduous tree planted close to your home will start to shade windows it’s first year. In 5–10 years the tree will shade the roof, depending on the species and the climate. If you have an air conditioner, shading the unit can raise its efficiency by up to 10%.

Carlo Morelli writes for OnlineTips.Org, where you can read tips on radiant heat flooring, windowless air conditioners, and other home improvement topics.

The versatile cucumber (cucumis sativus) is tasty pickled, in a salad, as a salad, in a sandwich, or just eaten raw. How to grow cucumbers depends largely in part on how you plan to eat them. Cucumbers come in over 120 varieties that range from small picklers to large slicers and from dark green to the yellow of the lemon cucumber. They come “burped” or burpless, seeded or without seeds.

Originating in India where they have been cultivated for over 3,000 years, the cucumber is a quick growing subtropical vine. In fact, many varieties of cucumber are ready to harvest after 50 days. However, some gardeners shy away from learning how to grow cucumbers because of their peculiar pollination habits. The traditional cucumber produces both a male (staminate) and a female (pistillate) blossom. Male blossoms appear first and soon drop from the vine without bearing fruit. However, the vines soon bloom again with both male and female flowers and continue blooming throughout the growing season. Cucumber vines bear fruit in abundance as long as you harvest them before they reach full maturity.

Relatives of squash, melons, and pumpkins, there are a variety of ways to learn how to grow cucumbers. Grow them in hills, in rows along a wire trellis, or train your cucumber vines to climb a wall or wooden trellis. In addition to growing directly in the garden, cucumbers make an attractive container plant. The cucumber is an appealing plant with lovely blossoms that permeate the air with the heady fragrance of — what else? — cucumbers!

When getting ready to learn how to grow cucumbers in your garden, it’s best to prepare the soil about a month ahead of planting them. Cucumbers are not good at competing for space and nutrients. Remove weeds and spade in rich organic material. You’ll have plenty of time to do this, since cucumbers are subtropical vines that prefer the sunny days and balmy nights of summertime. Seeds need about an 80F temperature to germinate, but then will do so in four to five days. Although seeds can be planted directly into the garden, cucumbers can also be started indoors for transplanting. If you use peat pots to start the seed, you can bury the whole pot in the garden lessening the risk that you’ll damage the tender vines.

Once established, in addition to keeping the fruit cleaner, a layer of mulch in your cucumber patch minimizes weed growth and helps your soil retain moisture. Although cucumbers hate wet feet and won’t grow in standing water, the more moisture they can absorb the juicier and sweeter they will be.

Harvest cucumbers at whatever size you like, as long as you don’t wait for them to turn yellow (unless they are a yellow variety). Once they begin to turn yellow, they’re past their prime. Flavor turns bitter and the fruit begins to dry out. Besides, frequently picking your cukes will promote more prolific blossoming resulting in larger harvests.

You are free to publish the above article in your ezine or website, provided credit in the form of an (HTML clickable) hyperlink is given to the author.

Hans is an enthusiast gardener and one of the authors of the "How To" section of http://www.gardening-guides.com and http://www.patio-furniture-ideas.com