Trouble-free

Lou Holtz, the well-known feisty football coach points out, “Never tell your problems to anyone...20% don't care and the other 80% are glad you have them.” This may be applicable to some areas in life but fortunately, in this world of growing, gardening and designing, it’s usually the total reverse. Whether it’s a few, simple container plantings or large, expansive gardens and terraces, the goal of these blog postings each day is for all to create an enjoyable, trouble-free exterior space.

One thing to stay on top of, specifically with this week’s lingering moisture and rain is your softscape materials (any tree, woody shrub or other newly acquired plant materials) for disease and pest related issues. Most folks want to practice organic measures and a useful tip was shared a couple of weeks ago that you don’t want to overlook when it comes to underground pests. http://blog.bilowzassociates.com/2012/05/annies-thursday-garden-notes.html

Adding a plant like Bergamot serves as a simple measure when deterring pests. Another basic garden rule is to never compost any diseased plant material when you discover it.  One additional reminder - stay on top of deadheading. This keeps all your plants looking fresh, healthy and clean.

So is your outdoor space trouble-free? Aim for that 100% so you can grab your garden hat and enjoy your outdoor living space just like my two favorite characters, Ben and Cokie.

Images of Ben and Cokie (the poser Border Collies) by Ann Bilowz

If you like this blog, hope you check in daily. You can like our fan page at http://www.facebook.com/abilowz or follow on twitter http://twitter.com/annbilowz (where there are even more shared tidbits) or subscribe on the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at annbilowz@gmail.com Happy Gardening. Annie P.S. You can now follow with visuals on Pinterest, too! http://pinterest.com/bilowzassoc/