Best Plants to Grow

Home and Garden - Gardening

By: markgordonbrown 18-Jun-2011

Introduction:

If you have a garden you should be using it to your advantage not turning it into a football field of only grass.

Apple Trees

Apples grow well in most zones, and they are great because you have free food for years to come. Apple trees are beautiful in the spring with a show of flowers, and have a bounty of fruit in the late summer. Apple trees are relatively easy to grow, just be sure to follow proper planting directions and water them in well. If your soil is poor you may provide fertilizer, but I have 4 apple trees in my yard and have never fertilized them and they are thriving.

You may prune them during the winter to cut the branches off that are shooting into the sky to keep fruiting branches lower. Some people destroy 25% of the young growing apples so the tree produces fewer, but larger, apples according to the species.

Strawberry Plants

Strawberries are great because they produce fruit early in the season and some varieties produce fruit all summer long. Strawberries spread rapidly so if you plant 5 plants, by next year you will have more than 10. Eventually you will want to thin out some of the extra plants and give them to your friends and family.

I find that the strawberries I grow in my garden may not be as big as the ones in the store, but they are tastier, and I would assume that since I do not use any chemicals, they are also a lot healthier.

Mint

Even if you do not like eating mint it is a good plant to grow. There are several types of mint plant, including cat mint (not the same as cat nip). In general most gardeners find that ants do not like mint, so one of the main advantages of growing mint is that it is a natural way to keep ants away.

Carrots

Carrots are pretty easy to grow, the biggest problem I have is that deer often eat the tops off.

There are many types of carrots, if your soil is hard select shorter ones. I have also found red carrots which I think are awesome.

Carrots fresh out of your own garden are delicious and more healthy, also kids tend to eat more vegetables if they grew them themselves.

A Shade Tree

You know they say that "The best thing a person can do is plant a tree that they know they will never be able to enjoy sitting under". I don't think this saying is true, there are many fast growing shade trees and I certainly enjoy sitting under the shade of many I have planted.

If you have a house that you are paying to air condition, why not plant a tree instead? A well placed tree can reduce your air conditioning bills. Plant a tree near your sunniest window, and select a tree type that you will enjoy looking at, but that will let some light through. I find trees that shed their leaves in the winter best.

Final Thoughts

With these planting tips you should get more pleasure out of your outdoor spaces.

Give this list a high five!

Comments

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dptstretch 12/5/2012
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great list...I probably wuld have added grapes to the list too...they spread out a lot pretty quickly. H5
clewand550 1/13/2012
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Great list of 5.
MBBerry 6/18/2011
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I love carrots and growing my own herbs. Great list.
snowfence 6/18/2011
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Thanks for the list of best plants to grow. H5