by Annji Brooks

Created on: April 11, 2010   Last Updated: April 25, 2010

Gardening is food for the soul.  Not too many hobbies offer instant gratification for the beginner and advanced gardener as well.  Whether you are the patient Gardner that carefully and meticulously plans their garden with seeds and trays and grow lights towards the end of winter, or the kind of gardener that picks up this and that at your local nursery.  Touching the soil and taking a previously barren spot of land and making it your own personal escape zone can not be beat.  Gardening is an affordable and rewarding way to pass the time and show off your creative side.

Suggestions to Make Gardening Even More Joyful

1.) Set up a neighborhood exchange program.  Pick one day when you and three or four of your favorite neighbors make a day out of thinning and rearranging garden space. Early fall is the best time for this.  Most plants can be divided with ease.  When times are tough, I believe many people can appreciate sharing and spreading the wealth of their gardens.  Not to mention it is a great way to make your garden more sentimental.  I have a Peony Bush that was started from a neighbor of mine from when I was a child.  Although I never see her anymore, I have fond memories and the thought of that Peony Bush going back so many years makes me smile.

Do you have too many hostas, or have your daylilies grown out of control?  Simply use a garden spade, shovel, or fork to lift the whole clump.  Now take a sharp knife and cut through the roots leaving the leaves and flowers in tact, and make smaller more manageable clumps.  Perennials are very hardy and appreciate being thinned out every few years.  Your plant will reward you later I promise.  Now replant what you would like to keep mixing a little peat or compost into the soil as you place your newly divided plants.  Never throw away the pots your perennials come in they make great containers to place the perennials you would like to share.  If plastic or peat pots can not be found, then just make sure the plants are given away and replanted immediately.  Plastic grocery store bags folded down so the plants can breathe; make great traveling containers as do old shoe boxes.  They just are not meant for the long term, so plant and plant fast.

2.) Create garden spaces or rooms.  While there is absolutely nothing wrong with planting a tree or a bush in the middle of the yard if you like it there. It is

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