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If you think that creating the garden of your dreams with just a few hours of work is possible you are probably wrong since sooner or later it will become obvious that this is much more of a complex task that one could possibly foretell. There is a way you could get the garden of your dreams in just a few days but that would require landscape designers, a landscape crew and a lot of money. It is true that these designers do a wonderful job but the only drawback is that the finished product of these professionals will present their concepts, ideas and personality. It means you will have their dream garden on your property and not yours.

Planning and imagining is part of the work a gardener needs to perform in order to achieve the garden of his dreams. You are for sure wondering if having a garden requires much work? The answer is YES! BUT that work is enjoyable and each hour of effort you put in your garden will reward you with a great sense of accomplishment when you finally take a look at the end result. Just think about the moment when you will be able to stand back and enjoy the beautiful landscape that you were able to built with your own hands.

In the follow up readers will be able to consult several rules of thumb that each clever gardener should keep in mind at all the time in order to achieve the proper results without experiencing typical problems that each beginner gets annoyed about.

Instead of several light waterings during the day apply one deep watering, especially when dealing with lawns.

Lawns need different type of waterings depending on weather, use 1 inch watering once a day in normal condition but if the weather is very hot apply an inch of water once every 3 days. For achieving healthier root development use 4-6 inch waterings that not only ensure stronger roots but also allow longer periods between waterings.

It is important to know what type of soil you are working on so you can water it properly.

In order to allow quicker absorption of water and nutrients you should loosen the soil around the plants and apply a protective layer of mulch above the root area.

Clay soil has a slow water absorption therefore you should add organic material such as peat moss or compost. You should also till and spade it for the soil to be loosen. Water it just as fast as the water gets absorbed.

Sandy soil requires organic material too, otherwise the water will run through it so quickly that the plants will not be able to absorb it.

Loam soil is the best type of soil you can deal with. It contains clay, silt, sand and absorbs the water storing it for plants.

The best moments of the day to water are: early in the morning or late at night, this way you can reduce evaporation. Also keep in mind that in order to be able to see where the water goes do not water when it's windy outside.

After reassuring that you are using proper gardening techniques to maintain a healthy soil full with nutrients, you will have to move on to the next step and choose a planting technique for your lawn.

The first and most appropriate option for many gardeners is seeding a completely new lawn by using hand crank operated seed spreader. Plant while the soil is still warm sometime between August 15 - September 20 or in April - May.

Respecting the recommended seeding rate sow 1/4 of the seed to the entire lawn area, with the rest of the seeds repeat three more applications, each one in a different direction. The next step is to set the seeds in contact with the soil by barely brushing the seeds under the soil using a bamboo or fan rake. After carefully planting the seeds make sure the soil is kept moist until germination, of course after germination you can water more heavily but less frequently keeping in mind all the time that you must NOT over water and do not use a strong spray. Obviously you don't want to wash several hours of your dedicated work away!

Cutting the grass and watering will be the prime concerns for your new lawn for the upcoming period. As previously mentioned in this article do NOT use under normal weather conditions more than 1 inch of water per week - rainfall plus irrigation. Do not cut the grass too short, about 1 1/2 to 2 ' inches is good height for a well established lawn.