Simple Butterfly Garden Tips for the Busy Weekend Gardener

The sight of a butterfly adds an irresistible beauty and charm to any garden. If you would like to add more butterflies to your garden, here are some tips to get you started. For the best results, focus on creating a healthy, diverse and colorful garden that will attract butterflies to your home on a year-round basis.

What Kind of Plants Should You Plant to Attract Butterflies?

There are many plants that are known to attract butterflies. Choose a variety of nectar producing plants that will be in bloom throughout the season. For the best results, plant your nectar producing plants in staggered intervals so that something will always be blooming in your garden, and those that you have butterflies in your garden on a year-round basis. For the best results, you will want to have flowers in bloom from mid to late summer. This is the period in which butterflies are most active. Look for flowers that have multiple florets, as these are known to produce more nectar.

Working With Annuals for Optimal Results

Annual plants are known to attract butterflies because they usually have the brightest, most showy blooms. It is no wonder that butterflies are attracted to these plants! Many annuals will bloom continuously through the season. Choose long and continuously blooming annuals so that you have a steady supply of nectar to offer your butterfly population.

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Easy Money Saving Gardening Ideas for Pests and General Maintenance

Although you may be tempted to reach for that broad-spectrum insecticide in order to blow away every pest in sight, you should resist this urge. There are many easy and money saving gardening ideas that can help you control your pest population and provide general maintenance in a way that is safe and effective. Here are some easy ways to control garden pests while saving money by using regular household items and good overall common sense when providing your garden with general maintenance.

Why You Should Avoid Most Commercial Pesticides

Before you decide to start using commercial pesticides around your garden, take a moment to decide if your garden pests are hurting the plant. Why should you consider leaving a few insect populations intact? Insects and other pests are often necessary in order to create a healthy garden. Insects are often responsible for creating organic material, which means that many pests are actually helping enrich your soil matter. It is estimated that of the thousands of insect species in your area, only about three to five percent of these are actually causing the majority of the damage to your flowers, ornamentals or food crops. The crucial thing is to determine which insects are causing problems, and which are just helping to enrich your garden.

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Uncomplicated Cold Weather Plants to Put in your Garden

If you think that gardening is only for people who live in moderate climates, think again. There are plenty of plants you can use in your garden no matter how chilly the weather gets where you live. The key to making your garden thrive when temperatures fall is picking the right kinds of plants for your climate and tending your garden properly. If you follow the right steps, your garden will look alive in the winter weather.

The thing about the cold that damages plants is that it causes the water inside the plant to freeze, which ruptures cell walls and causes the plants to die. When this happens, it is already too late to save your plant. The trick is to stop the freezing of your plants before it starts, no matter what kind of plants you have. There are a few things you can do to give your plants the best chance of making it through a cold snap.

The first thing you can do is choose a fertilizer that is low in nitrogen. These soils encourage plants to produce sugary sap which freezes quickly in the cold. Next, think about where you are planting your plants. If you are going for a few tender plants, make sure you place them in the shade of the house or of a big tree, where they will have some protection from the elements.

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