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Lunar Gardening Tips for April 15-21, 2012

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The Moon continues to wane in the 4th Quarter until the New Moon on Saturday. Energy is focused in the roots, pulling effort toward root growth and stabilization.

The Moon is in Aquarius on Monday, so continue with chores and activities started on Saturday. Pruning and general garden clean up are good bets, along with outdoor entertaining. Aquarius is a social sign. Have some fun!

If you’re wondering about Aquarian plants, check out The Wild and Wacky Aquarian Garden for some suggestions on how to fit them into your home and garden.

The Moon is in fertile Pisces on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning.  These are the last few fertile planting days before the New Moon. In the waning phase, think perennials and biennials. In Pisces, think water gardens, plants with intoxicating scents or salt tolerant plants that grow near the ocean such as marsh grasses and the gorgeous rosa rugosa, one of my absolute favorites, pictured above. Continue reading

Stock Photography - Easter Lily Close Up

Lunar Gardening Tips for April 8-14, 2012

The Moon is on the wane changing the focus from rising energy to downward energy. Shift your gardening focus to the root systems of plants and to pruning.

We are officially in the 3rd quarter now with a focus on perennials and biennials. If you’ve been wanting to divide that mass of day lilies, society garlic, or monkey grass, now’s the time! You can plant or repot new perennials in your garden during this Moon quarter because they are essentially root plants. When buying perennials, take a look at the roots. That’s where your investment is.

Here are this week’s moon sign and phase changes. Times are EDT.

zodiactivities april 8-14 2012

Sunday rounds out the weekend in fertile Scorpio.  Scorpio’s colors are deep reds, maroon, deep purples, and black. Irises are in the nurseries now. If you’d like to add a touch of this intensely passionate sign to your garden, consider Black Irises (if you can find them) or deep purple elephant ears. A few perennials associated with Scorpio through it’s planetary ruler, Mars, are garlic, ginger, radishes and horseradish, reeds, thistle, and Artemisia (wormwood/mugwort). Wormwood adds a soft silvery green texture to the garden. Continue reading

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Lunar Gardening Tips for April 1-7

Over winter, we can forget just how hard gardening is. Bending, squatting, pulling, hauling ~ it’s definitely a workout. My batwings are feeling stronger already.  My husband said that gardeners need winter training just like baseball players need spring training to get up to the task and back in shape. I have to agree with that. Problem is, I didn’t have winter training and, like lots of gardeners, I overdid it a few days during the past two weeks. Now that I’m a bit long in the tooth, I don’t bounce back as quickly and it takes two days to recover from one day of overdoing heavy work. Take it slow out there, gardeners.

The Moon is waxing until the Full Moon in Libra on Friday, so there’s a few good hours of planting time for vines during Virgo and flowers during Libra. Leo and Virgo are barren signs; Libra and Scorpio are fertile.

Times are EDT, Zone 8.

Leo is the worst sign for planting. Stick to general clean-up tasks on Sunday and Monday: weeding, removing pests, picking up fallen limbs and sticks. If planting time is just starting for you, you can use Leo for prepping your garden: uncovering new growth, getting new mulch and other things you’ll need on hand as the season begins. If you’re in deep trouble with overgrown areas, gather up the kids or hire someone to help and be the leader of your own yard crew.

Leo is a wonderful time for decorating with garden ornaments. Leo likes drawing attention to special focal points in the garden that make it special. If there’s a spot in your garden that you adore, are proud of, and pay special attention to, that’s probably your Leo spot. Continue reading