Harnessing Horticultural Prowess: Gardening Insights

Should you find yourself yearning to revel in the warmth of the season, it's high time to breathe new life into your yard and garden. Regardless of whether you're just dipping your toes into gardening or have your hands deeply soiled in the experience, we are eager to share some insights to guarantee your most rewarding cultivation journey yet.

The Importance of Aeration and Soil Enrichment

Soil and dirt — two terms often used interchangeably, yet their differences are vast. Dirt is what you sweep away, what clings to your children and pets, or blots out your windows. Soil, on the other hand, is a living ecosystem brimming with organic materials, beneficial microorganisms, and essential nutrients. A plant will barely survive in dirt but will thrive in healthy soil.

Ensure your garden soil is adequately aerated and enriched. By loosening the soil, you create pathways for water, air, and roots — a process known as aeration. This can be achieved using a pitchfork or a rented aerator from your local gardening center.

Equally vital is the enrichment of your soil. Organic plant food or fertilizers can be bought, or you can choose a more sustainable route and repurpose household waste. Unassuming items like coffee grounds, tea bags, banana peels, eggshells, and ashes offer your garden soil a nutritional boost. Coffee grounds and tea bags enhance the nitrogen content in the soil, while banana peels and eggshells contribute calcium. Ashes add alkaline content, potassium, and calcium. An interesting experiment: sprinkle coffee grounds on one side of a hydrangea bush and ashes on the other. The pH changes in the soil will result in varying bloom colors.

Planting Your Garden at the Right Time

The optimal time to sow seeds or transplant sprouts in your garden largely depends on your plant hardiness zone, as determined by the USDA. These zones are assigned based on average annual minimum winter temperatures. The USDA website provides an interactive map to pinpoint your specific zone. For our readers in Oregon and Washington, you fall into zones six through eight, suggesting that post-frost season is the best time to introduce seeds and transplants to your garden. Some garden vegetables you can start planting now, either as seeds or pre-grown plants, include:

• Beets
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cauliflower
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Peas
• Peppers
• Radishes
• Spinach
• Tomatoes

For these vegetables, you can start seeding indoors before transplanting into the garden over the coming months:

• Beans
• Brussel Sprouts
• Corn
• Cucumber
• Eggplant
• Squash

Addressing Common Garden Pests and Ailments

Every garden, much like every rose, has its pests. But with strategic planning and these pointers from CrossCountry Mortgage, pest management will be a breeze, and you can enjoy your bountiful harvest instead of losing it to unwelcome visitors.

Aphids, powdery mildew, slugs, and weeds — each of these common garden nuisances can be effectively controlled with a blend of tried-and-true techniques and innovative solutions.

Finally, we believe that a flourishing garden should be an attainable goal for everyone. If you're contemplating home financing to kickstart your horticultural journey, we at CrossCountry Mortgage are here to help. Or perhaps you have some gardening tips of your own to share with our community? We'd love to hear from you! Fill out the form below or reach out to us today!