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Physical, emotional, scenic benefits sprout from garden
By MARY COLLISTER The holiday season often means ingesting a few too many calories as well as a little extra stress. Gardening can work off calories as you spruce up your yard and relieve some of the stress caused by shopping crowds, traffic and overcommitment. Try a few of the labor-intensive activities listed below. Your landscape, your waistline and your psyche will thank you for it! COMPOST PILE: Start a compost pile, adding all the green material you can get your hands on. Try grass clippings (not chemically treated), kitchen wastes (not fat or bones), leaves, weeds, small clippings from shrubs, sawdust, ash and stable manure. Layer the pile to quicken the decomposition process and keep it moist. Turning the pile quickens the process, but it will eventually compost on its own if left alone. If you already have a compost pile, turn it, or spread it in the garden if ready. MULCH: A great upper body workout! Buy bags of mulch or have it delivered by the cubic yard. The many trips back and forth to the plant beds use both leg and arm muscles. I like to use eucalyptus mulch. It has a great smell and is supposed to help repel bugs, and the eucalyptus tree grows very quickly, so it easily renews itself. Spread the mulch two to three inches deep. It adds a great finished look to your beds and helps retain moisture and cut down on weeds. TRANSPLANT: Grab that shovel and move those shrubs that have outgrown their area or would just look better somewhere else. Dig up as big a root ball as you can to increase the probability of the shrub surviving the move. Lightly prune the shrub before you move it. Once you dig up the shrub, clip off any roots that don't look healthy. Dig a hole large enough to place the root ball into. Back fill the hole, tapping the soil down lightly as you fill. Water well and keep watered until the plant has re-established itself. EDGING: This can be a big project and definitely will get your blood flowing. There are many types of edging materials you can use to delineate between your planting beds and the grass. It can also be used around trees and along walkways. A number of plastic styles can be purchased in garden centers. Bricks, rocks, wooden stakes or rounds are other options. I no longer use any wood edging in the landscape because it encourages termites to take up residence near my home. If you choose to use wood, make sure it is pressure-treated. That will lengthen its life. A more permanent application (and much more expensive) is cement edging. Forms are laid out and concrete is poured into the forms. There are landscaping companies in the area that do this. Any of these materials will help keep grass out of unwanted areas and keep mulch in its place. WALKWAYS: Whether using stepping stones or other materials for walkways, you will work up a sweat. Stepping stones are easiest to use. They can be laid on top of any material in a multitude of patterns. As the size of the stepping stones increase, obviously so does the weight. Make sure you get a size you can handle. Other possible materials to use include gravel or other small stones, mulch, concrete or broken shells. This project may be done in conjunction with laying out edging. Placing landscape material under the walkway will keep the weeds out of the area. BUILD A POTTING BENCH: Haul the lumber home and build a simple potting bench. Put it in an area of the yard where it will be used. I placed mine in the back yard, so my pots, soil, and hand tools are more conveniently located than in the garage. I made mine out of scrap lumber, taking apart pallets. So the size of the lumber dictated the general size of the bench. I use it constantly and wonder what I did before I had it. I bought an inexpensive metal mailbox and keep my hand tools in there. Placed in the filtered shade of an oak tree, the bench also gives me a place to keep my seedlings and cuttings that are rooting. I placed the legs of the bench on bricks so they wouldn't rot too quickly. The initial bench lasted about three years and has since been rebuilt with more scrap wood from pallets. If you want just a simple bench on which to sit, place containers or store gardening items, a pallet works well also. I use two large plastic pots for the "legs." A portion of the pallet was then used for the seat. Cheap and quick to build, it's very useful in the gardening. POWER WASHING: Any cement walkways, plant pots, fences or garden decorations (statues, etc.) can be easily cleaned with a power washer. Dragging this piece of equipment around for a few hours will drive you into the house for a leftover turkey sandwich. The power washer can be rented and is a great way to wash off Florida algae, although you'll want to check with the city or county about watering restrictions. You might try a bleach solution and scrub brush before renting a power washer. It will use less water. WEEDING: This always needs to be done. All that bending is great for the waistline. Don't forget to place the weeds in the compost pile if they haven't gone to seed. After all this physical activity, make sure you take the time to enjoy the leisurely side of your garden also. Cut some flowers and greenery and take a bouquet into the house. Take the time to enjoy what you've done and overlook the other chores that need to be done. There's always next year!
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