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14 THE NEW TANNER THURSDAY, MAY 17, 2007 ??????????????????? ???????????????????? ??????????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????? BD RENTALS 105 Alma St. Rockwood Tel: 519-856-9571 Fax: 519-856-9657 CONST RUCTIO N & LAWN & GAR DEN EQUIPM ENT CLOSED Victoria Day May 21 TILLERS DE-THATCHERS OVER SEEDERS and all GARDEN EQUIPMENT Looking to spruce up the yard? BD Rentals your one-stop rental shop! OPEN FOR THE NEXT TWO SUND AYS 9AM- 3PM Most of us enjoy seeing gorgeous gardens pictured in magazines, but few of us attempt to replicate them. The possibility seems over- whelming - not to mention time consuming and ex- pensive. Guess what? Gardens dont have to be elaborate to be beautiful. The simplest of gardens can make a big splash without breaking your back ... or the bank. Perennial gardens add color to your landscape and are great for beginners. Peren- nials are easy to grow and Plant a picture perfect garden with perennials their colorful blooms return year after year. A flower gardens location will dictate what types of pe- rennials to plant. Is it mostly sunny or predominately shady? When purchasing plants or seed packets, be sure to check their labels for light requirements. If youre new to gardening, dont be afraid to ask nursery profes- sionals for help. Perennial favorites like daylilies, peo- nies, black-eyed Susan and purple coneflower work well in most regions. For picture perfect gar- dens, pay attention to color and form. Choose plants with complimentary colors and varying heights. If you want to make a powerful statement, group flowers in a mass. A splash of bright zin- nias or cheerful daylilies will pack a punch in any yard. When youre ready to plant, start with good soil. Thats the key to healthy plants. Their tender roots need fertile loam to grow and become established. In most areas, soil needs amendment with organic matter before seeds are sown or flowers are planted. When you plant peren- nials, remember to leave enough space between them to accommodate their ma- ture size. Spacing directions should be on the pot label or seed package. To give your garden a polished look, pay attention to edging. Functional edging and borders protect gardens from creeping grasses and weeds. They also hold mulch in place. Time-crunched garden- ers need minimal garden maintenance. This is another reason easy perennials make sense. If you can spare 30 minutes a week, you can maintain a perennial garden. A 10-minute walk around the garden every other day to water and remove weeds should do the trick. Dont be afraid to try your hand at gardening this year. Enjoying a cluster of color- ful flowers framed with a beautiful border in your own yard will be far more rewarding than looking at a picture in a magazine! Anyone whos ever laid down their own lawn has had to come to the decision eventu- ally: once the ground has been prepared, is it best to go with sod or seed? Not surprisingly, like many other decisions with respect to homeowning, choosing between sod or seed is not an easy call. Part of what makes the sod versus seed question hard to solve is that theres often no right answer. Most of the time, the decisions need to be looked at on a case-by-case basis. Before you go ahead with deciding whats best for you, consider the follow- ing factors that could weight heavy in your decision. * Price: One of the first things any homeowner wants to know when it comes to repairing or improving his home is what its going to cost. The same goes with the yard, where prices can differ greatly depending on the choice you make. When it comes to a new lawn, seed is far less expensive than sod. Sod is essentially seeded grass that someone else tended to. As a result, the cost of sod reflects the effort that went into tend- ing to the grass. While seed doesnt cost as much, youll have to be diligent in tending to your lawn once youve laid Choosing sod or seed? down the seed. But if cost is your chief concern, seed is your best bet. * Time of year: While you can apply seed any time of the year, its not going to grow outside of growing season. Typically, growing season is in late spring or early fall. If youve missed seeding season, dont even bother throwing down seed. It will prove to be an expensive mistake that yields no result, and youll just have to apply seed again once the season returns. Sod, on the other hand, can be laid down throughout the year (though laying sod in the dead of win- ter would be a bad idea) and take to the soil. * Landscape: Neither seed nor sod take to every lawn. For instance, homeowners whose yards are laden with trees should choose to go with seed. Thats because sun is a big factor in whether or not most sod will take to the soil. If you seed areas under trees, be sure to choose a seed that will thrive without much sun- light. Ask you local lawncare professional for the best seed for such areas. On the other hand, if your yard is hilly or slopes a lot, youll probably want to go with sod. This is to ensure rains or water wont wash the seed down the hill.