Written by: Andrea Carneiro • February 21, 2020• In the Community

Green Scene

If you want to take up gardening, you need to make sure you’ve got the basics before you can start attempting harder landscaping goals. For example, you need to make sure the standard equipment you have is reliable and does a good job. For example, badly cut grass is never going to look good so take a look at these Top 4 electric lawn mowers if your current one is on its last legs. Only when you’ve got nice grass, a weeding system, and can be efficient at watering should you try anything else, otherwise you’re just buying a bunch of new plants that will ultimately die or look out of place. Here’s how to take advantage of South Florida living and create the ultimate home garden in your backyard.

You can buy tropical plants to staple fruits and veggies from our favourite online garden centre and get started on your newest landscaping project. When people think about their garden landscape, plants are usually the first thing that comes to their mind, and in the midst of it all, they forget about everything else that comes with it. In particular, something like this Gresham stone and landscape supply can help them to extenuate their plant and other garden features even more, giving them a garden that they can be proud of. As well as that, South Florida’s sunny climate gives homeowners the option to create the backyard (or windowsill) of their farm-to-table dreams. But how to get started? Here are the tips, tricks and products the experts use to make their garden grow.

Expert Tip

Garden Zoo

A decent pair of gloves, a proper set of pruning shears and a tough garden trowel are the best basics for beginner gardeners, says Emma (aka Lady Greenfingers) of GardenZoo.org. “Watering cans and sunhats are also good additions and, if you’re going to be doing a little more heavy-duty work, then you can’t go wrong with the Sun Joe SPX3000 for all your pressure-washing needs,” she says.

Product Pick

Gardener’s Soap

Getting down in the dirt means getting down and dirty… literally. When it comes to cleanup try Bee Lovely Botanicals’ Gardener’s Bar Soap, which is formulated to be gentle, yet cleansing for working in dirt and grime. Pumice and finely ground rosemary give the bar extra scrubbing ability and it boasts the fresh scent of pure rosemary and litsea cubeba fruit essential oils. Plus, it’s created by a family-run, honeybee farm. beelovelybotanicals.com

Hot Trend

Dwarf Plants

Floridian-owned PlantOGram makes gifting plants easier than ever (even to yourself) and founders Vicky & Mickey Popat say their celeb clientele are jumping on board a new trend – the dwarf plant. Able to grow indoors or out, the plants produce full sized fruits while freeing up space for more garden goodies. The Popat’s say their bestseller (“the new Fiddle Leaf Fig”) is the Choc-Anon mango, or “Miracle Mango,” known for producing more than one crop and dedicated to the mango lover. $99.80; plantogram.com

Expert Tip

Epic Gardening’s Kevin Espiritu

Featured in Better Homes & Gardens, Family Circle, Family Handyman, and many other publications, as well as the author of the book “Field Guide to Urban Gardening,” Espiritu’s mission is to teach people how to grow their own plants and live a healthier, more sustainable life. After trying hundreds of products here are his favorites:

Birdies Raised Metal Beds – These are the #1 raised bed in Australia, and for good reason. They’re made from galvanized powder-coated steel, so they look amazing and don’t rust or rot out like a wooden bed. Come in multiple heights and configurations.
Grow Bags – These are fabric pots that are foldable, endlessly reusable, and lightweight for moving around to different spots in the garden. Great for beginners as they often don’t have a lot of space, or want something that’s easy to grow in.
Renegade Broom – It’s designed like a rake, but works like a broom. Works really well to scoop up lawn or garden debris from corners and crevasses.
Vegepod – A fantastic standing, self-watering garden bed with a pest protection cover. Those 3 features alone remove most of the failure points for new gardeners (don’t want to work in the garden, don’t know when or how to water, and plants get eaten up by pests).

Product Pick

Fiskars Deluxe Stand-up Weeder

Kevin Rodrigues of Gardeningmentor.com says this stand up weeder helps alleviate the pain of bending of over to weed and clean the garden. “Its claws dig deep and have a firm grip that can help you uproot the unwanted plants,” says Rodrigues, who notes the lightweight feel of the product and durability of the aluminum. “It has a button that you can press to clear the weeds uprooted without having to bend and get rid of them by hand. This feature makes cleaning more comfortable and quicker.”

Bookshelf

Organic Gardening for Everyone

Loaded with practical advice and step-by-step guidance, the book is a first-class primer on organic vegetable gardening. With detailed information and sound advice on growing the most popular edibles, author CaliKim shows that growing organically is not difficult, even for today’s time-challenged lifestyles. $20.99; amazon.com

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