Get in the Zone
Gardening
for
The most basic factor in selecting the right plants for Chartiers Valley
A
fter a long winter with record-setting cold, it’s time
to think spring. The warmer weather is synonymous
with beautiful plants, flowers and fresh vegetables
grown in your own backyard.
Nothing beautifies your home quite like freshly
blooming flowers, shrubs and trees. Landscaping can add 10
to 15 percent to your property value. And unlike the interior
design of a home which has to be changed periodically
to keep up with changing trends, the value added by
landscaping increases over time.
Vegetable gardening is a great way to enjoy the outdoors
for any age group and in addition to lowering the grocery bill,
offers the possibility of growing produce without pesticides
and chemicals.
Gardening is a wonderful warm-weather activity, but
perhaps the most important aspect is its therapeutic effect
and the calming nature of tending plants. In fact, horticultural
therapy is something that has been used by doctors and
therapists for over 200 years. It is well documented that
working in the dirt calms the heart, which in turn lowers blood
pressure. It has also been proven that homeowners who have
beautiful plants and flowers tend to spend more time outside.
10 724.942.0940 TO ADVERTISE | Chartiers Valley
A critical component to growing a lush, easy-to-care for
garden is selecting the correct plants, flowers and vegetables.
The United States Department of Agriculture has divided
the country into 11 hardiness zones to illustrate regional
temperature differences. Hardiness defines a plant’s ability to
survive the coldest temperature for the region. According to the
USDA plant hardiness zones, Chartiers Valley is located within
Zone 6.
A wide selection of flowers, plants and vegetables can be
grown in a variety of hardiness zones. What varies between
zones is when they should be planted. It is best to use a
month-by-month checklist. In our Zone