Gardening Alternatives

by | Mar 13, 2012 | Business And Finance

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Starting a garden in a difficult economy can be a wise move, but growing your own food also brings its own satisfaction. If you intend to start a garden, you may need to break up your soil first, which may involve resources such as tool rental services in Coatesville. Some of the supplies and equipment you can get, but will likely not need to use repeatedly, include tool rental items such as a ground tiller or tractor to fully till and prepare your soil.

An alternative, however, to tilling your soil and planting directly into the ground is the use of square foot gardening. This type of vegetable and plant growing is sometimes also called box gardening because you put all your soil in a container that holds it in order for your seeds to grow. There is no need to till or break up the underlying soil.

You can make a square foot garden yourself consisting of several homemade boxes which provide raised beds for your plants to begin to grow. Many of the materials are available at home improvement stores, but you may want to use a tool rental store in Coatesville to obtain a drill, and possibly a table saw. According to the square foot gardening expert Mel Bartholomew, the best size of lumber to obtain should be measured in increments of four feet. So for one box, you will want to cut four pieces each four feet long in order to have a garden with an area of 16 square feet.

If you are unsure about how to have the wood cut, or how to use a power drill to put the boxes together, consultants at local tool rental stores in Coatesville are there to advise and make suggestions. Keep in mind that if you want four boxes to comprise your square foot garden, you will need to buy 64 feet of lumber, appropriate screws, and enough soil and compost to fill them by volume. If you do not own a compost machine, it may be a good investment, and these are often also available at tool rental stores in Coatesville for purchase. You can be more efficient with waste while providing a rich resource for your garden at the same time.

Square foot gardens are very easy to manage, and are not dependent upon the native soil on your property to nourish your plants. This takes a lot of effort out of some of the initial tasks any gardener is faced with, as well as eliminates the cost for renting a tiller from a tool rental store in Coatesville, as well.

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