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Homes: Gardening in Calgary

Gardening doesn't have to be difficult and doesn't require a "green thumb". It just takes patients a few simple rules of thumb.

Pick a spot. Find the best spot in your yard, combining good soil quality with generous moisture and sunlight. Then you can decide what to plant.

Select the plants. All plants have certain conditions which are ideal for them. Don't plant outside of a species' comfort zone. You can event plant vegetable and fruits with the right the shade or sunlight.

Try a vine. Determine if your plant is a vine, for example, pole beans, cucumbers and melons (Not all vines grow UP). Typically, six to eight feet of fence is sufficient area for vining plants to climb. Tie these plants to the fence once they begin to grow, and as they continue. You can even make slings from recycled nylons.

Compost your waste. Its a good idea to build a compost box or heap for your garden scraps, lawn clippings and cooking waste (no meat). You can make containers from barrels create a box with wood posts and chicken wire. Try for a good mixture of mulch, fruit and vegetable scraps. Keep the compost covered and warm, and turn it over every couple of weeks. When turning the compost, use a sieve to extract fine soil particles to use in your garden or lawn.

Save space with window boxes. If you don't have much space, use window boxes for flowers, herbs or vegetables. As long the plants have enough room to grow, get over five hours of sunlight in a day, and have drainage holes in pots, they'll do fine.

Happy planting!