By CAROL ROBERTS
Copley News Service
When you're a weekend activist,
whether your activity is playing
baseball, jogging or gardening,
you're likely to suffer some pain
— and possibly injury.
It’s hard not to put too many
hours into such activities when a
beautiful day comes along. It may
be especially hard for gardeners,
who can be tempted to put in six
hours of gardening because tomor-
row it may: rain.
But that’s not the way to do it
unless you're in the linament busi-
ness, according to Gardens For All
newsmagazine columnist Isabel
Bearman Bucher. She said you
should start with much shorter
hours and prepare with warm-up
exercises just as other athletes do.
Some suggestions:
— Head and shoulder rolls. Very
slowly and gently roll shoulders
five times forward and five times
backward. Drop head forward and
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all around the clock.
— Skier squat. Place back
against a wall and assume a sit-
ting position, as if you were on an
imaginary chair. Count to 10.
Relax. Repeat five times.
— Lower back and thigh. Lie
flat with back pressed to floor or
bed, legs extended. Draw one leg
into a knee-up position, toward the
chest, for five repetitions. Repeat
with the other leg. Work up to 10
for each leg. With back still flat on
the floor and knees bent, tighten
butiotis anu hold for a count of 10.
Relax. Repeat five times.
— Victory stretch. Place feet
apart, gently reach up with one
arm, squeezing fist over the head.
Drop other hand to your side.
Count to five. Reverse arms. Do
three repetitions for each side.
— Deep knee bends. Place one
hand on some support, like a fence
or chair. Slowly squat all the way
down, then slowly slide up. Legs
should be angled to the sides for
more stretch in the groin area.
work up to 15 over time. The
slower the better.
Aside from possible injury from
pulled or strained muscles, a gar-
dener can injure himself with gar-
dening equipment. The best safe-
guard against this is to read in-
structions carefully on any
equipment, fertilizer or insecti-
cide used.
Sharing ideas
Copley News Service photo
by GREGG HOWARD
Copley News Service
Home owners love their lawns
and gardens. So much so that a
recent Gallup Poll found lawn and
garden care topped the list of
America’s favorite outdoor leisure
activities.
The least favorite outdoor ac-
tivity? The survey results didn’t
say, but one guess is the weeding
that too often accompanies lawn
and garden care.
However, weeding can be re-
duced with a few special tech-
niques, according to Bob Tracin-
ski, consumer information special-
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ist for John Deere, a
manufacturer of lawn and garden
equipment. Tracinski offered sev-
eral suggestions for controlling
the verdant pests before they
begin to grow.
“Soil is loaded with sleeping
weed seeds that are waiting for
the right conditions to germinate,”
said Tracinski. “Like any plants,
weeds need moisture, air, nu-
trients and sunlight. Deprive them
of these elements, and they will
remain in a dormant state.”
He said one of the most effec-
tive preventive measures that a
home owner can take is simply to
keep the weed seeds in the dark.
“In the garden, mulches spread
between plants will help keep
weeds from receiving sunlight,”
said Tracinski. “Many different
mulches are available in both syn-
thetic and organic forms. Home
gardeners can pick the one that
best suits their lifestyle and pock-
etbook.”
Plastic mulches, explained Tra-
cinski, often come in strips that
can be placed on top of a seedbed
after it has been tilled and ferti-
lized. The plastic sheets come in
either solid or mesh styles. Both
keep out sunlight, although the
more expensive mesh allows
water to move into the soil. Gar-
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den vegetables and plants grow
through crossed slits cut at vari-
ous intervals.
“Peanut hulls, grass clippings
and pine needles also provide ef-
fective and economical mulches,”
Tracinski said. “When using clip-
pings as a mulch; however, it is
important to make sure that they
are sun dried before being spread
on the garden. Avoid clippings
from grass that has been chemi-
cally treated. It’s also a good idea
to avoid mulches, such as hay or
straw, that may carry weed
seeds.”
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By GREGG HOWARD
Copley News Service
Gardening is a satisfying and
productive hobby that has physi-
cal, aesthetic and financial bene-
fits, according to a pamphlet ti-
tled Gardening: The Practical
Pleasure.
The pamphlet, produced by
Snow & Nealley Co., a manufac-
turer of gardening and hand tools,
offers an overview of gardening
and advice to beginning garden-
ers.
Following are excerpts of infor-
mation.
Physically, gardening is good
exercise. Also, when a person
grows his own food, he can be cer-
tain that it is grown without
chemicals, unless he chooses to
use them.
Aesthetically, trees and shrubs
provide shade and privacy. Food
grown at home often tastes better
than produce that has been stored
and shipped long distances. A
home gardener also can grow
varieties of fruits and vegetables
that are not grown commercially
because they don’t store or ship
well.
hances the value of property, and
growing fruits and vegetables
saves money on food bills.
Getting started in gardening re-
quires only some basic knowledge
about seasons, soils and the life
cycles and needs of the plants a
person decides to grow.
A beginner should plan to start
a garden with hardy, easy-to-grow
plants. As experience and confi-
dence grow, a gardener can exper-
iment with plants that are fussier
about their living and growing
conditions.
All gardening starts with plan-
ning. Draw a prospective garden
on paper.
In a flower garden, think about
colors and consider the relation of
tall plants to small ones. Do you
want plants in groups or straight
rows? Since flowers bloom at dif-
ferent times of year, plan so that
something always is blooming
fall.
When planning a vegetable gar-
den, consider how vegetables will
influence each other. Corn will act
as a wind barrier to protect more
fragile plants. Marigolds repel
some worms and bugs. Herbs give
off powerful odors that can drive
insects away, so plant them
among vegetables, too.
After planting a garden, keep
the plans. This will help a new
gardener to distinguish between
the young plants and weeds.
After plans have been made,
garden soil must be prepared be-
fore planting. Plants need soil that
is neither too sandy nor too clay-
like. Nurseries can evaluate soil
and recommend conditioning
steps, if necessary. Once planted,
a garden needs to be fed to replen-
ish nutrients in the soil. The easi-
est way to feed a garden is to add
a fertilizer containing all needed
elements.
Good quality tools are required
for preparing and caring for a
garden. witn appropriate wols, it
is easy to cultivate and aerate soil,
dislodge weeds, vines and rocks,
plant seedlings and bulbs, weed
and rake.
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