The Simple Garden Life

When it comes to maintaining healthy plants and weed-free flowerbeds, mulch is the answer. There is little doubt that it has tremendous benefits for the flowers growing in your flowerbeds – especially when it put down correctly.

But let’s face it, the number one reason gardeners put down mulch is to stop weeds. And unfortunately, for many who go through the expense and effort of mulching their beds each year in hopes to finally put an end to their weeding chores – their mulching process actually only helps their weed problems multiply!

So how can you avoid all of that hard work and heartache? Jim & Mary look at the three most common miscues gardeners make when mulching, and how to put down your mulch perfectly for weed free and care free flowerbeds!

Are you using egg shells correctly in your garden and flowerbeds?
Egg shells are one of the most commonly recommended organic ingredients for powering up garden soil and plants. And for good reason! Egg shells are rich in calcium, which happens to be a critical nutrient for strong plant cell walls. Calcium is also vital for overall plant health.

Calcium also plays a critical role in the formation of fruit. In fact, when there is a lack of available calcium, common garden ailments like blossom end rot on tomatoes and peppers can be a big issue.
For all of the reasons above, egg shells, which are made up of over 90% calcium carbonate, can certainly help provide calcium to your plants and the soil they grow in.

But here’s the issue – most gardeners don’t use them in a way that maximizes their benefits. Today - Jim & Mary cover the best ways to use egg shells to give your plants and the soil the power it needs!

Jim & Mary discuss early spring daylily care - and how to best fertilize them for bigger blooms! The best time to fertilize daylilies is in early spring – and with one simple and easy application, you can set your daylilies up for bigger and better blooms than ever this year!
Daylilies are one of the most popular of all perennial plants for home gardeners. Not only are they easy to grow and establish, they also happen to be extremely drought tolerant as well. Even more, they require little in the way of yearly maintenance to keep them growing strong and healthy.
But if there is one thing that you can do for your daylilies to really maximize their blooming potential, it’s to give them a yearly dose of power in late winter or early spring, right before they begin to take off and begin to grow!

If you are looking for the best way to support your tomato plants this year without spending a fortune - today's episode covers how to create the perfect DIY solution that can hold the biggest of plants without worry!

Tomato cages have been around for years, but they can be expensive. Not only that, many cages simply grow out of the ground when plants get too big.

Tomato stakes are another option, but they too have issues. Not only are they hard to tie tomato plants to, they easily snap if plants get too big and heavy. And whether you use cages or stakes – the real issue is that they don’t last for long. In fact, most don’t make it past a season or two without needing to be replaced.

Jim and Mary walk listeners through the simple steps to build strong and sturdy tomato supports that make growing tomatoes easier than ever. And best of all - not only will they last for years and years, they are quite inexpensive to build too!

In this season's first episode, Jim and Mary walk listeners through the four simple steps to planting and growing cucumbers. See how with just a few simple tips and tricks, you can grow your best crop of cucumbers ever!