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.
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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
Tags: cucumber, family, garden, harvest, landscape, planting, seeds, summer, vegetablecucumber, family, garden, harvest, landscape, planting, seeds, summer, vegetableShare This
While designing small area gardens does have some of its own special challenges, the opportunity for creativity is multiplied within these small spaces. It is possible to create more atmosphere and impact with less.
And while most people do a great job of creating beautiful gardens within confined areas, balconies, rooftops, and courtyards, the greatest challenge is still in making small gardens feel larger than they really are.
Because most small gardens are surrounded by boundaries, vertical surfaces, and can generally be viewed in a single glance, they have a tendency to feel confined, boxed in, and…small. So some designers use a few techniques and “tricks” to create an illusion of more space. Try one or more of these ideas if you’re challenged by a confined area.
Screen unsightly boundaries and hard vertical surfaces with plants or structures. Not only does this hide the element, but can also create the illusion that there’s more beyond and not just your neighbors wall or yard. Try to hide obvious boundaries.
If your garden is confined by walls, the color of your walls can actually have some impact on how spacious your garden feels. Darker colors alone have more depth. When used behind planting schemes, they blend and help make the boundary seem invisible. Overall, darker color elements help create more depth in confined areas.
Adding curves to your walkways, flower beds, walls, etc. can give the illusion of more distance and travel. The human eye can detect that there actually is more distance involved and so the mind interprets the actual occupied space as being greater.
If you have unused hard corners, make good use of them. An arch or entryway into a corner that otherwise goes nowhere is a nice element and opportunity to frame a focal point in the corner. It also creates the illusion of something more beyond.
Creating levels can give the illusion of more space. It creates vertical surface and appears to create even more horizontal surface. If your floor area is limited, otherwise unused hard corners are a great place to add a second level flower bed or element.
A little creativity might even enlist the use of mirrors. Think about it. A mirror or two placed in the right spots could actually make a garden seem twice as large as it really is.
I hope this helps.
Written by Steve Boulden. Steve is the owner of S&S Designed Landscaping and the creator of http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com For more free landscaping ideas, plans, and pictures, visit his site at http://www.the-landscape-design-site.com
Tags: landscape design, landscaping, small garden design, Small gardens, small space area gardenlandscape design, landscaping, small garden design, Small gardens, small space area gardenShare This
Many people say that we need illegal aliens and illegal immigrants in our country to do the jobs that many Americans will not do. Such as landscaping and gardening. That may be true most Americans will not get up at 5:30 AM in the morning and go wake up all their neighbors using power tools.
I must say I have done a number of jobs in my life as a young man and I have never woken up my neighbors using power tools at 5:30 a.m. in the morning. Personally I think this is inconsiderate and I really do not care if this is what they do in Mexico, as I do not believe this is proper behavior and it really upsets me. First of all they are in our country illegally and if they wake me up at 5:30 a.m. as far as I’m concerned they are guilty of another crime and that is disturbing the peace.
Look, here’s the deal either buy power tools with quieter motors, ditch the air blowers and use a broom or get the heck out of my country. I am sick and tired of being woken up at 5:30 a.m. in the morning by landscapers who I know to be illegal aliens. Additionally when you ask them to; Knock off the Racket out There. They truly have no clue as to what you are talking about or why you are so upset, as they do not speak Enngless.
They believe they have to work at 5:30 a.m. in the morning because it is so hot during the middle of the day. That is just fine and I realize they come from a very hot climate in Mexico and it gets very hot during the middle of the day there. But I do not want to be woken up in the morning when I’m trying to sleep by air blowers and 5 hp Briggs and Stratton lawn mowers thank you very much. Consider this in 2006 and stop hiring these people to do your lawn.
Lance Winslow - Online Think Tank forum board. If you have innovative thoughts and unique perspectives, come think with Lance; www.WorldThinkTank.net/wttbbs/
Tags: gardeners, Landscapers, Wake Up the Neighborhoodsgardeners, Landscapers, Wake Up the NeighborhoodsShare This
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