Gardening

1. Get a hat, a garden kneeling pad, a bucket or bag, some close fitting nitrile coated gloves, a sharp trowel and a table knife with a serrated edge.

2. Don't use any chemicals especially Roundup! You can kill your shrubs, trees, vines, ground covers, perennials and annuals along with the weeds.

3. Weed when it is wet. Weeds pull up easily after a rain.

4. You just have to get down on your hands and knees and pull the weeds up. Use the trowel and knife to carefully dig out weeds with deep roots.

5. Remove all old leaves and old mulch by hand or with a little hand rake.

6. Mulch with new shredded pine bark or composted hardwood mulch. Don't pile it up around the stems of the azaleas. Put a 1" to 2" layer of mulch all under and around the shrubs.

7. Don't prune (if even necessary to prune) or fertilize your azaleas until after they bloom.

8. ENJOY your beautiful azaleas! Happy Gardening!