Unique Home & Garden Yard Decor

It’s that time of year again … time to prepare gardens for planting. Whether you are preparing beds for flowers, vegetables, shrubs, or some combination, a tiller makes it easy to loosen the soil and will make it easier to set your plants as well as helping them to grow better.

Front tine tillers are usually suitable only for smaller gardening spaces, because a lot of effort is required to control their forward motion, push them at times, and tilt the blades into the earth. They are also the most unstable if they grab a large rock or other obstacle. They are the least expensive though, and so are popular for this reason. Varying gears make the job somewhat easier if using a front-tine.

Mid-tine tillers are more balanced, with the engine sitting over the blades. They tend, on average, to be slightly more expensive than front-tine tillers. The tines are still propelling the machine, so they still require some extra effort to control, but not so much as a front-tine. These can be a good compromise for mid-sized gardens.

Rear-tine tillers are usually the heavy-duty performers in the lot. They tend to be the most expensive, and have the most power. The user has a lot of control with this model, and can stop the forward motion and keep the tines turning, allowing the bed to be dug as deeply as desired, or in order to dig in compost or other soil amendments. These models are the easiest to steer, and are the only real choice for those with large gardens who need to save their labor as much as possible.

Roses, a favorite flower of many, can be a challenge in the landscape. There are many varieties of roses, with different growth habits, that can help fulfill different needs in the landscape.

For those who love the beauty and elegance of long-stemmed roses, it is probably better to place the bush where it will not feature prominently in the landscape at all, because such rosebushes tend to be less attractive when viewed from even a few feet away. They also are among those plants that require sufficient air circulation and opportunity to dry their leaves as well as access to sunshine that being placed amidst other plants in the landscape may not offer them.

Those who have had their imagination captured by a rambling ground cover rose are much more likely to be able to incorporate their choice into a landscape with other plants and achieve good results. These bushes are shorter, spreading, and intended for landscape use. They are usually fuller as well, providing a better result. Although the flowers themselves are less showy, they are more abundant and bloom for longer periods, again to good effect. Another benefit is the disease resistance of many new varieties.

Another choice often overlooked but that can provide very pleasing results are some of the miniature varieties. Miniature roses, although they are usually tiny when sold, do not generally remain small plants … only the size of the flowers and leaves themselves remain small while the bush may spread to several feet high and and a couple of feet wide. These varieties are often more tolerant of being included amongst other plants, and tend not to be so fussy. As a result, they are more likely to be full and beautiful rather than showing a lot of bare cane. Blooming is often profuse and extended and, in our opinion, miniatures often represent the “best of both worlds” as compared to the hybrid types and shrub types.

Another good compromise can be some of the old-fashioned types that are more disease resistant and less “fussy” than some of the newer types, though they may still tend to bareness at times.

Most gardeners who love roses accept the bare canes just place their roses in a rose garden area all together, or plant them where they will not interfere with the overall look of the landscaping, preferring to make those adjustments so that they can still enjoy their favorite flowers.