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Understanding How to Get Professional Gardening Qualifications

If you like growing plants beautifully, you may want a career as a gardener. Many people like to be gardeners because of their flexible work and ability to work outside. It also offers the opportunity to start a profitable business. However, what skills do they have, and how do they get gardening qualifications? Here is the precise answer that you need to understand.

Gardener’s Job Description

A gardener is a specialist person who deals with plants. In other words, this position must manage and care for various types of plants such as trees, flowers, shrubs, and others. A gardener will optimally take care of the garden as in a community garden. Although gardeners can work in various places and areas, most usually work in outdoor locations.

Responsibilities as a gardener may include monitoring plant health and garden maintenance. This position should be willing to pull out weeds or mow the grass well. Then, they have to grow plants from seeds or cuttings to get fertile crop yields. In addition, planning the layout or aesthetics of the garden is also a major task.

Easy Steps to Become a Professional Gardener

Many wonder how to become a gardener personally with professional gardening qualifications. Actually, becoming a gardener doesn’t need formal qualifications as the primary requirements. However, a position as a gardener is easier if you have the training, education, and experience. That’s why there are five different ways to become a professional gardener.

Enroll in University Courses

Taking a university course in gardening is one of the best ways to become a professional. Some aspiring gardeners decide to take college courses for the safe use of gardening machines. In addition, this education will teach them to identify plants and grow different types of plants.

Many colleges and universities refer to this course as horticulture, which means the science and art of growing crops. You may want to decide to take classes or education in a special subject, such as gardening. In this case, you can get gardening qualifications in Level 1 certificate in Horticultural Skills, a Level 2 Diploma, and a Level 3 Certificate in Practical Horticulture

Looking for an Intern

When taking education or training, you can try to add experience from internships. Some colleges offer internships to gain practical gardening skills, such as designing an aesthetically pleasing garden, growing plants, and helping plants stay healthy. It will help you understand the practice of gardeners well

Search Courses By Professional Bodies

Enrolling in a specialist course from an organization is another option for becoming an experienced gardener. Several horticultural professional bodies provide courses in plant growth. It also includes an understanding of health, planning, and about gardens. Professional institutions will offer gardening qualifications for Levels 1, 2, and 3.

If you are qualified as a professional gardener, you can send your application to a gardener position directly. If you already have the skills and knowledge of gardening, you can use your skills to apply for a job. Check the job posting requirements and qualifications needed before submitting your application materials as a gardener.

Essential Tips For Tomato Gardening At Home with Easy Steps

Tomatoes are often the plant to start a vegetable garden at home. Every tomato lover dreams of growing the best tomatoes with dense, sweet, aromatic, and smudge-free fruit. Unfortunately, some beginners don’t know how to start tomato gardening. That’s why there are some tips that you can apply to ensure tomatoes can be harvested easily.

Things You Can Do to Grow Tomatoes at Home

Planting Tomato Seeds Properly

The first step is to spread the tomato seeds in the right way. Do not crowd the tomato seeds when starting to grow these vegetables. You can give a lot of room to branch optimally. In addition, crowded conditions inhibit tomato growth well. It also stresses them out and causes disease when the tomatoes start growing.

Gives Lots of Light

After planting tomato seedlings properly, do not forget to provide plenty of light. Tomato seedlings need a lot of direct sunlight. The days will be short if it is winter day. So even if you place tomato gardening near a sunny window, it’s likely not giving them maximum natural light. Unless you are growing tomatoes in a greenhouse, give them 14 to 18 hours of artificial light.

Turn on the fan

Tomato plants need a blowing wind to develop strong stems. It happens naturally if you are growing outdoors, but starting a nursery indoors will need to provide artificial air circulation. Create a light breeze by using a fan for five to 10 minutes. Do it twice a day to get a big difference.

Using hot soil

The characteristics of tomato plants are heat-loving. They won’t start growing until the soil and air temperatures have a warm average temperature. You can speed up hot ground by covering the planting area with black plastic. The level of soil warmth will significantly impact tomato gardening in your yard.

Removing the Lower Leaves

If your tomato plant reaches a height of up to 3 feet, remove the leaves from the lower leg of the stem. It is the first leaf to have a serious problem with the fungus. This problem occurs because the undersides of the leaves get the least amount of sunlight. Removing the bottom of the leaves helps prevent fungal diseases from attacking effectively.

Prune for More Tomatoes

You can pinch the tomatoes to make the plants grow well. However, you also have to do it by pruning the rest of the plant. You can thin out some of the leaves to give the sun a chance to reach the ripe fruit. It also helps photosynthesize leaves to create sugars that provide your tomatoes a sweeter taste. Fewer leaves indicate a tomato gardening has a sweet taste.

All in all, there are some tips that you can apply to grow tomatoes at home. No matter where you start your plant project – indoors or outdoors, good care will make fruit growing easier. Don’t forget to water the plants as the last step to start gardening at home easily. With this in mind, you will get a fertile plant with lots of tomatoes.

Perfect For Small Home, Here 5 Recommendations Of Gardening Ideas You Should Adopt

Having a house with limited land is not an obstacle to farming. Small gardens have a lot more potential than you realize. You can apply gardening ideas with a long narrow space behind the house, a private park, or a brownstone garden. You can try various possibilities to create the best garden. Here is the info!

The Best Idea to Make a Garden in Small Space

Balcony Garden

You can outsmart plants in a limited space by choosing a location such as a balcony or a terrace. It can be a challenge for experienced gardeners and an excellent opportunity for creativity for homeowners. You can decide to plant various types of plants, such as urban vegetable gardens, tropical plants and choose imaginative containers.

You can try the whole process of gardening into an adventure. Yes, you still have to comply with your space limitations not to damage the aesthetic appearance of your home. For that reason, you can turn your balcony into a stunning vertical garden as the gardening ideas. Attach pots, shelves, or trellises to the wall to hang plants to save space.

Simplicity with Nature

Material consistency is one of the best ways to bring a small space together. You can try making simple garden ideas from the myriad choices in the local rock yard. Use river rock retaining decorations in the vegetable garden. Then, you can provide background by paying attention to the colors, fences or walls supplied for planting.

Tropical Themes

A garden overgrown with shady plants produces a comfortable and quiet resting place. You can apply it in front of the terrace with a concrete paver. Then, add a sleek and comfortable sofa in upholstered aluminum near the garden. In addition, you can grow tropical plants with large leaves as gardening ideas, such as windmill palms, cannas, bear pants and banana groves.

Colorful Themes

You can take ideas with color and personality into your home garden. This garden design provides privacy while allowing maximum light in a small space. It also features streams of crushed granite to give the impression of a sunny and charming Hawaiian beach. Also, you can arrange a 1 gallon plain old English Laurel tree near the fence.

Modest Garden in Confined Space

A narrow space into a garden to relax and reflect is the best idea you can apply. Try this garden design by placing the entrance with see-through paving. Then, use green walls of plants on either side of the garage. As a result, the plants above the door create a friendly atmosphere following the concept of home modernity.

In addition, you can plant large trees to preserve mature trees on the property. This is an exciting challenge to solve when working on gardening ideas for tiny homes. In addition, dual-purpose house entrance landscaping is small and tends to be tucked away against the wall. It requires significant softening and smoothing to optimize entrance access.

In conclusion, you can apply various themes that match the concept of the house to have the best garden. Even if you have a house with limited land, you can still take advantage of bright ideas. By using a combination of natural materials and certain plants, you can create a dream garden in a narrow and limited yard.

5 Essential Gardening Equipment You Should Buy for The First Time

When it’s your first-time gardening, it’s hard to know the best way to get started. One of the most effective ways of gardening is to choose the main equipment. The right gardening equipment gives you convenience to the right path to a beautiful garden. Buy your best quality tools to get the most out of your gardening project as follows.

Essential Tools and Equipment for Gardening

Pruning Scissors

This tool is an important item to start your gardening project at home. This helps to set up loose plants for easier management. The anvil style trimmer has sharp blades for a flat surface. In other words, the shape of the pruning shears is similar to the blade on the board. This tool is essential for pruning on fresh green stems and branches.

Garden Fork

The next efficient tool for amending the soil is the garden fork. This tool is useful for digging solid soil into loose. A fork with a slight indentation in the spines also serves as a turning over the compost pile. You can choose gardening equipment with straight line characteristics for digging. Also, this model is great for compact, loamy or rocky soils.

Hand Shovel

Hand tools are also an important item in gardening. A shovel is great for moving herbaceous plants, planting containers, and removing weeds from the garden with ease. For this reason, you should choose the best equipment for hand shovels. You can choose a wider blade to move more ground. In addition, a long blade hand shovel is useful for rocky soil.

Not only that, but you need to consider other aspects. For example, choosing equipment with a handle that must fit comfortably in your hand. Trowels forged from stainless steel are at least of the highest quality. As a result, this equipment will become gardening equipment that is more durable. The sharp blades are ideal for cutting stubborn roots with ease.

Shovel

The short-handled square shovel is an essential tool for gardening for menial jobs. They make digging a hole easy, lift soil, move small mounds of earth to another area, and are practical. These tools are more expensive, but a quality shovel will last as long as the rest of your garden is starting to grow in your yard. It is because the stainless steel head is strong and anti-rust.

Garden Hose with Flexible Nozzle

Water is one of the main aspects of your garden life. For this reason, it is important that a garden hose can reach and spray every area in your garden. There is a wide selection of garden hoses with adjustable nozzles. You can use the nozzle to control the water pressure and the ideal radius. In addition, consider gardening equipment hoses according to the area of your garden.

All in all, you can start your first garden project by using the right equipment. To make it easier for you to find the best tools for gardening, try choosing the recommendations above. By relying on some important information, you can start gardening projects more quickly and comfortably. As a result, the garden that you create has a high aesthetic from the right gardening kit.

Gardening Advice and Ideas at Home for Beginners

Do you have an abandoned yard at home? Don’t worry; find your confidence with gardening advice and ideas for beginners. You can start by planting some plants or flowers that are easy to care for. Even if you’ve never gardened before, that’s fine! Make your dream of altering a beautiful garden come true with these tips.

Tips For Beginners to Start Gardening

1. Place it in the Right Area

Starting a garden should start from the best location. Place the park in the part of the yard that you often pass. That way, you are more likely to spend a lot of time in it. Another key to successful planting is placing it in a spot containing many suns. Misjudging sunlight is a common mistake when people are first learning gardening.

Pay attention to how the sun’s rays come in through your yard before deciding on the best spot for gardening. Most edible plants, including vegetables, herbs, and fruits, need at least 6 hours of sunlight to initiate proper development. For this reason, place the plant in the most appropriate area as the gardening advice and ideas.

2. Consider Efficient Containers

When you have a limited page, consider choosing an efficient container. When space is costly, use the proper containers at home. You can plant many plants at once in a pot. Try with plants in vegetables, fruit trees, berries, herbs, flowers, and shrubs. When gardening with a particular container, use a large pot for the plant you choose.

3. Choose Fertile Soil

The primary advice is to invest in nutrient-rich, fertile soil when starting gardening. Get the right mix by mixing the soil into the top 6 to 8 inches of soil if planting in a lawn. If you are planting in a high bed spot, use a heavy soil texture. It is the perfect texture for growing herbs in a bed as gardening advice and ideas.

4. Add Some Mulch

An effective way to do this is to add some mulch to the plants. You can use a layer of mulch 2 to 3 inches deep around the area around the plant. This effective method helps reduce weeds by experiencing intensive sunlight. As a result, this method reduces humidity through evaporation. It will also result in more smallish watering.

You must pay attention to this step correctly and precisely. Put mulch in the ideal spot on plants in your yard. Then, you can coat the plants using the highest quality type of bag mulch for a smooth look. Or, you can put some other media, such as torn leaves, pine straw, straw, or other available material nearby.

Know The Difference! Gardening Or Landscaping Practices For Hobby

Talking about backyard hobbies, one will remind with practices of gardening. It is known by many people that the activities include nurturing plants. But, how about landscaping? It is a similar term that also relates to plants, fields, and the backyard. So, what are the difference? What should you do, gardening or landscaping? To help you clear the confusion, read further this information.

General Description

To avoid misconceptions, you can consider the general description of the two terms. Gardening is likely to describe an action that mainly focuses on taking care of or nurturing plants. It can range from a single to a whole garden, which involves activities from growing, caring, to yielding the product. It also mostly relates to the plot, which is ground or pots.

On the other hand, landscape describes the more professional activities that are similar to gardening. In general, the activities also include planting, growing, and maintaining plants. However, it also includes many other aspects including working with topiaries, ponds, sculpture, etc. The focus is for aesthetic or practical purposes, which need expertise.

Practice And Activities

Gardening or landscaping does relate to actions of nurturing plants, gardens, and plots. But, the practice and activities for landscaping are more professional and done by experts. It can include transforming the areas, creating new plots, to a structural field in the personal or public garden. It means that landscaping is pretty much on the higher level of activities.

Gardening is similar but more practical and easier to do. It is one of the homes and backyard hobbyists that can include activities starting from cleaning, planting, growing, harvesting, and maintaining the area. This hobby is mostly done in a personal location or area. It can also concern aesthetic and simple activities to maintain a garden in general.

Practitioners

When talking about practitioners, both have a different answer. Due to the general practices, gardening can be very familiar for anyone who has an interest in doing such actions. Those who are looking for a relaxing hobby can do gardening. It also helps that gardening is doable both indoor and outdoor. That set the gardening or landscaping differences.

Landscaping should only be done by landscapers, which most of the time are companies or services. As it requires expertise, people with the proper requirement, skills, and knowledge will work with larger outdoor areas. Depending on the services, landscaping can include designers, architectures, sculptures, or many other professionals to suit the specific purposes.

Variety Of Products

As a more professional backyard action, landscape tends to involve machinery, terrain change, to specific materials. It means the products can range from total transformation, ponds building, to creating a complex garden. Gardening can scope range of arrangement, planting works, simple elevation, and field. So, gardening or landscaping are similar but heavily different in many cases.

To make it short, the two terms are interchangeable and somehow mentioned together. But, it is better to say that landscaping is a more professional term that states practitioner abilities, skills, and knowledge. Since landscaping is a more specialized activity, simple hobbyist that loves working in the backyard can consider their activities like gardening.

The Healthy Way Of Gardening Without Pesticides – Guide And Tips

Growing a healthy hobby is not only the practice but also the effect. Pay attention to a gardening hobby that encompasses many body movements and brain activities. However, you can make it better and healthier by employing gardening without pesticides ideas. How to do it? isn’t it an extreme case, where gardeners need skills and knowledge? You should check these tips.

Tips On Creating A Healthy No-Pesticide Garden

1. Consider Using Companion Planting To Repel Pests

One of the best ways to do pest control without any pesticides is by using companion planting. If you are new to the gardening world, you need to learn and read about the ideas of growing certain plants to repel pests. The idea sounds ridiculous, but some scientific studies back up the ideas. Thus, many people and experienced gardeners will believe it as well.

If you are up to these ideas, there are some points that you might want to implement. The first is diversity. The more plant variance you work with, it will likely come with fewer pests. Varying plants will nurture balances, confuse bad pests, and prevent their spread. Other than variation, you can also consider some plants that can repel pests.

For gardening without pesticides, you can try planting cilantro, fennel, dill, wormwood, mint, tansy, parsley, basic, or catnip. Some other best pest control plants include nasturtium, cosmos, alyssum, and marigold. While they do get to prevent pests, be sure you can plant them correctly. Thus, those plants won’t create worse damage.

2. Use Organic For Healthy Plants

Going a 100% no pesticide will make your gardening action more challenging. But, you can also consider using organic fertilizer to help your plant stay and grow healthy. Do you need fertilizer? Some plants do not need ones, but using organic ones than synthetic one help prevent damage and pest. A healthy plant is also a good way to lessen pest infection.

3. Develop Beneficial Insect Population

Among many reasons why people use pesticides is to repel insects. But, gardening without pesticides means you will need the help of those bugs to build a beneficial population. How does it work? Remember that not all bugs are bad. Some will help make the soil better, repel other problematic bugs, and aid your plants in growing.

In this case, some of them are also part of their food chain. An example is the healthy population of a ladybug, syrphid flies, and lacewings that help to prey on aphids. With zero pesticides, your plants and bug can grow healthily. It was also good to let some creepy creators stay, such as spiders, toads, or small snakes in the area.

4. Learning And Accepting Damage

Without any pesticides and only relying on the most natural growth, you will likely see some damage and problem. It is something normal during gardening practices, and you can learn from every mistake and damage. As an example, gardening without pesticides for planting one variance of the plant increases the chance of pests, but you can fix it later on.

Working with a garden can be a challenge from time to time, especially if you want a healthy plot without any chemicals. It does sound hard and needs experience, but it is surprisingly doable. You can use organic pesticides for healthy plants, gardens, and insect populations. Learn about potential pests and damage.

What Gardening Tools Do I Need? Beginner Basic Essentials To Start Your Hobby

Doing gardening does not require a lot of work. But for beginners, it can be such a daunting task. It goes with the fact that people need to consider the tools for the hobby. That is why people will ask “what gardening tools do I need?” if you are starting the hobby, be sure you can pick some of these essential items to support your gardening actions.

Hand tools Essentials

For beginner gardeners, you will find that the crucial items to get are hand tools. It is no surprise since the main point of gardening is to nurture plants with your hand. It also considered that you will use these hand tools more than any items you need. To make your hobby better and easier to get, you better check the multitasking tools.

But of course, you also use the low-budget items or the old ones found in the grandma’s house. At least you will need three basic hand tools for gardening, hand pruner; hand rake; and hori-hori. Other than that, you can get scissors and a weeder as an extra. What gardening tools do I need? And what is the function?

Hand pruner is the tool to trim branches or leaves and harvest plants. The hand rake is as it sounds. You will use it to process soil into smooth soil by removing debris and weed. Hori Hori is a multifunction tool with a solid and thick blade. It works to chop or slice wood, for digging roots, planting, and harvesting crops.

Long Handled Tools

While the hand tools are the must-have items, you can put the long-handled tools as a compliment. A most experienced gardener will use long-handled tools for a bigger plot, harder to use than small hand tools. So, you can buy some of these tools based on your need. Remember it can save you some time and effort, but it also can be a bit pricey.

What gardening tools do I need? At least you will need a water hose or watering can (depending on your field). A round-headed shovel is good for harder soil and bigger plot processing. You can dig the soil for your crop. A digging fork help turn your soil, and a bow rake will smooth and level the soil. You can also consider mattock to chop and dig larger or persistent wreckage.

Extra Items

Some extra tools should be depending on the needs and usages for your gardening hobby. Those tools are digging bar to remove stumps and bulky roots. A water wand can also be a nice option to save your water bill. And a big pruner will help remove branches. So, what gardening tools do I need? It differs on your need.

Starting gardening as a hobby can sound and look very intimidating, especially with the long-range of items and tools. However, most of them are fundamental tools you can buy for cheap and easy. You don’t need to start with a high budget. You always have time to upgrade the tools along the way as you are used to the practices and routines.

Why Gardening Is Good For You? Hobby For Health, Mind, And Mood

Looking for a new hobby that is good for your health, mind, and mood can be such a challenge. It happens if you are looking for an option that also highlights some low-budget considerations, such as gardening. Why gardening is good for you? The down to the earth hobby is also known for its expansive benefit, which works for the youngster to older. Here are your details.

The Benefit Of Gardening For Brain Health

The cognitive benefit and the brain effect of gardening can prove how good the hobby is. For older people, a study in PubMed indicates that nearly 3,000 people over 60-year-old can lower the risk of dementia by 36%. The hobby stimulates their mind and keeps their brain present for some complex yet simple activities to do.

The action of paying attention to detail, depth, vision, pattern, spacing, and many other factors will keep the mind running. Not only that, but the constant brain activity during the hobby also develops sensory experience. Stimulation upon others, such as smelling the flower, seeing vibrant colors, hearing, feeling, and tasting also complete the cognitive function.

The idea of the “Why gardening is good for you” question also goes along with the fact that the hobby provides a therapeutic sensation. Older people who experience mental decline tend to get better by wandering and memorizing the garden as their ground. Thus, the brain effect you can get is to improve Alzheimer’s disease situation.

The Benefit Of Gardening For Physical Health

Physically, gardening does not need a lot of exercises. While some parts might demand more energy, generally it forms ranges of low-impact exercise. Planting, digging, weeding, watering, and many other repetitive actions will slowly improve strength. It is a good form of exercise for people that cannot handle more vigorous activities.

Not to mention the act of working outside. Gardening in the open field while basking in the sunshine help get blood moving. The fresh air is also a nice whiff for the body, that is Why gardening is good for you. Sunshine help gains vitamin D, which is good for bones, joint, calcium, and the immune system.

The Benefit Of Gardening For Mood And Emotional Health

How does it affect people emotionally? Gardening is known as one of the effective hobbies that stimulate happy hormones, a.k.a dopamine, and serotonin. The benefit came from the sense of purpose and accomplishment which happen due to the plethora of nurturing and planting action in a garden.

When the plants appear healthy, budding flowers, or fruits, people will get better spirits. It also mentioned that people who are gardening tend to decrease cortisol levels, which is good to improve mood and fight stress. It is not to mention the self-esteem factor that happens due to confidence. Why gardening is good for you? Because of its ability to make people closer and combat loneliness.

Gardening might sound like a very boring activity and hobby, but it has a long list of benefits that make it good for everyone. Brain activity includes the cognitive effect that lowers the risk of dementia. Physically working under the fresh air and sunshine make your blood move. And mentally, it can lift the mood, improve depression, and combat isolation.