What I have found to be a life saver is the time I save by hiring out professionals. In what I do, time is money so any time I save means I am usually either making more money or spending it with my family. The other huge plus for me is what I call “the frustration factor”. This is the frustration that I go through trying to figure out the best way to go about a job I am not familiar with by doing internet research or reading through magazines and books. This alone has taken up more time than some of the projects I have done! The bottom line is to get the help that you need before you create a disaster!

This is a great time to start planning your garden for 2009.  One of the best ways to start is to look up the plants that you would like to add to your existing garden and flowerbeds.  Make a list of everything you want to add along with a place to do a little research to make sure that they will do well in your area.  If you’re not sure what will work in your area, contact the nearest Universities Agriculture Department and get their input as to what is the best plants to use that are native to your area.

Another great thing to start thinking about is composting.  If you are not currently doing a compost pile or own a composter, now is the time to do it.  You can create a great nutrient rich compound for your garden and pots right at your own home with all the biodegradable scraps thrown out by your family.  This is good for you and good to keep these same scraps out of the landfills; a win-win situation.

So you want a fantastic garden year-round?  You can have it as long as you understand that the shape and look of your garden, just like your body, is highly dependent upon the underlying bones that support the wonderful flora.  Winter will expose those bones and give you an entire season to envision keeping what you like and changing what you don’t.

Look at the framework of your garden; the structures that you either use or would like to use along with the trees, shrubs and vines that grow in and around your yard.  You can use the style of your house to pick and choose what will look best in your garden, either man-made or natural.  Using natural plants is wonderful and you will need to keep in mind the size and expansion of the plants as they reach full bloom or full growth.  Whatever you do, choose your bones carefully so when they are laid bare they still look incredible in the dreariest dead of winter.

Many people brush the idea aside due to the time and effort involved.  That is especially true for winter gardens but winter gardens are entirely doable and have wonderful benefits.  In fact, winter produce grown by you will simply taste better than its store-bought equivalent and typically contains more sugars by being exposed to the colder climate.  That is what makes it taste so much better!  It is also higher in vitamins because of the rate at which it is eaten after production (hopefully right out of the garden) and won’t incur any damage through the labored and long shipping process.

Another huge benefit to winter garden is that you’ll be able to control how your food has been handled and grown – if it’s been doused in pesticides or not.  You won’t be able to get over how enjoyable it is to plant, tend and harvest delicious foods in the midst of the dreary days of winter.

As delicate and friendly as the ladybugs look, they are carnivores.  This means they eat meat and the meat they eat are those vegetarians competing with you for your fresh vegetables.  You will want to make sure you read and follow any and all instructions that come with the ladybugs.  If you don’t, they will simply fly off to find a more inviting garden.  A simple search in Google will help you find out where ladybugs can be purchased.

What are some subjects you would like to study over the winter; possibly companion planting, planting by the moon cycles, or how to attract beneficial insects?  Refer back to your list when you visit the library, have extra time to research online, and when the new seed catalogs arrive. 

Another way to help beat the winter blues is to force some bulbs indoors.  Two popular and easy flowers are the Amaryllis and hyacinth.  Both can be purchased at a garden store in the fall.  There are special vases that are used to force hyacinths which can also be found in garden stores.

Little did we know that a great solution was right on top of our heads.  Well, most peoples heads.  There are a few of us that are lacking up there so you’ll have to help us on this particular harvest.  It’s called human hair.  Looks like those pesky critters don’t much care for the stuff.

Now that we know what they don’t like all we have to do is out that out in the yard and flowerbeds and gardens to keep them out.  Sounds simple until you find out that you need freshly cut hair.  Don’t know about you but the little I do have doesn’t grow back that fast.  So what’s a thin haired guy to do?

Well, it looks like they don’t like dog hair either so if you see a bunch of badly shaven dogs…

There are several different ways to spread the newspapers.  One is to lay them out over the weeds and growth you don’t want in your flowerbeds and put about 3 to 4 inches of organic material over the newspapers.  It will take about a season for the newspapers to break down and, in the mean time; it rids your flowerbeds from the unwanted growth.

The other way works really well.  You wet the newspaper before you lay it out over the unwanted weeds and grass.  It tends to sty in its place while you lay it out and then cover it with the organic material or mulch.

Either way will work for you and it’s easy and you won’t have to pulls weeds for the rest of the year.  It’s even more exciting when you discover that next year you won’t have to pull them either.

The first thing to do is determine where in your yard you have space that is also level.  Most greenhouse kits will need to be built on level ground.  Then determine how big your green house will be; do you prefer an 8 x 8 or maybe a 12 x 16?  You will need to know that in order to measure out the foundation for your home greenhouse.

Drive a stake in the ground at one corner and measure out your foundation from corner to corner (remember the size greenhouse you are getting) and stake the other three corners and pull the string tight revealing the exact size you will need for your foundation.  Always take a tape measure out and double check the measurements.

Lay out the newspaper (about 6 to 7 layers) to cover the entire area.  You can wet it in a bucket or have a water source handy to spray the paper to stay down as you lay it out.  Once you have it laid out it’s up to you what material you would like to have for a quick foundation.  You can choose an organic material such as mulch or a rock or gravel material.

The main things you will need to watch is to make sure the newspaper is totally smothered and can still get moisture.  You can also use newspapers underneath several kinds of flooring to keep your greenhouse floor nice and clear of weeds and unwanted grasses.