{"id":3571,"date":"2020-04-11T20:08:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-11T20:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3571"},"modified":"2020-04-11T20:08:41","modified_gmt":"2020-04-11T20:08:41","slug":"social-distance-in-gardening-iii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ongardening.com\/?p=3571","title":{"rendered":"Social Distance in Gardening III"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The spring season continues to unfold. The plant pictured is the\nChinese Ground Orchid (Bletilla striata), believed to be the easiest orchids to\ngrow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Over time, the Chinese Ground Orchid develops clumps with rose-mauve flowers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In today\u2019s column we again explore the three priorities suggested\nfor gardening while maintaining social distance (everyone\u2019s first priority).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1<\/strong> Care\nfor Your Garden<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have school-age children whose schools have been closed for\nthe present, and who need your attention and guidance, they could enjoy\ngardening with you. Developing and maintaining a home garden involves\nscientific, aesthetic and physical concepts that we have described before. In\nthe present context, gardening with kids also could emphasize these aspects in\na thoughtful manner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are several garden-related short-term activities and long-term programs that parents could organize for their child\u2019s education and enjoyment. For ideas, check out the Kids Gardening website<\/a>\u00a0for a wealth of ideas for indoor and outdoor gardening. They invite opportunities in which children benefit most when parents and children work and play together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the early spring, weeding remains a necessary task. Some\ngardeners find weed removal sessions to be meditative and satisfying. It is\ncertainly a safe and welcome distraction from our threatening surroundings, so\nalign your thoughts to emphasize this work as a contributor to the health of\nyour plants and garden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now is still a good time for installing new plants in the garden.\nSome local garden centers have continued business hours with various strategies\nfor enabling customers and staff to maintain social distance. In some\ncases, for example, gardeners can order plants in advance by phone or email for\ncurbside pick-up at the harden center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mail-order opportunities also continue to offer a great range of\nchoices, and to evolve into a convenient approach to plant buying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2 Advance Your Gardening Knowledge<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you are not already a well-equipped and capable computer-user,\nconsider using this shelter-at-home period to update your devices and skills.\nOur society and the world have entered well into the digital age, and gardeners\nnow have access to excellent online information on plants, landscaping,\nand related topics. While we still learn gardening from friends and\nrelatives, an Internet search will provide basic concepts and answers to\nquestions quickly and in abundance. If you should come across shaky ideas,\ncomparing it with other sources will lead to reliable information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tutorial help (free or fee-based) might help to build your\ncomputing skills, but a good strategy is practice, practice, practice. And\ndon\u2019t hesitate to try different ways to pursue specific objectives: keyboard actions\nwon\u2019t hurt the computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mail-order shopping for plants requires source information: plant\ncatalogs and websites. A valuable resource for locating plant nurseries that\nwill ship plants to your home is \/\/gardensavvy.com which lists sources for\nseveral kinds of plants as well as a range of other garden-related information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are websites to draw upon to advance your knowledge of some\npopular garden plants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n