I have big plans for my garden, but water-rationing in our area will likely put those plans on hold, at least for awhile. When we moved last year, the previous owners had a variety of plants growing in several different areas. According to the neighbors, these folks used to completely rotate the soil every two years: trucks would haul out the old dirt and return with the new.

While I am unlikely to go to the same measures as the previous owners, the backyard does scream out to be planted with flowery-areas and vegetable-areas alike. We also want to have a play area for the boys. My dad created a nice leveled rectangle for grass, so it is ready for sod. We won't take that step right now during the rationing, though.

In the vegetable-area, Splig has thrown seeds around, so we'll see what pops up. Otherwise, my main focus will be keeping the various fruit trees alive and trying to keep the weeds at bay. While pulling works great in the nice soft soil, there are some rather stubborn ones in the cracks of our paving stones.

Enter Burn Out Weed & Grass Killer. One of Husband's colleagues recommended it to him because she knew we didn't want to go heavy on the chemicals. Burn Out is made from clove oil, vinegar and lemon juices. Since it doesn't travel through the soil, it is very directed. I can shoot a weed and yet the beautiful flower next to it stays alive. Whew! For those pavers I can go completely crazy with my trigger finger. The smell is great, too.

Burn Out is available at many stores, but Husband ordered it online from Planet Natural. When the order arrived it came with a catalog showing all of Planet Natural's products. I ended up reading the catalog cover-to-cover because it had so much information and so many products about which I was not aware. I didn't know that gardeners purchase beneficial bugs to release in their garden to control the harmful insects, for example.

Yesterday my favorite pink-haired hockey player wrote about her efforts to control aphids. One of the commenters mentioned purchasing ladybugs - and so I remembered Planet Natural. Splig is a huge ladybug fan, so although we don't appear to have any aphids or other pesky-bugs, I think perhaps a ladybug release might be in our future.

If we buy bugs I'll be sure to let you know - but for those in the market for organic garden products, beneficial bugs, and other gardening supplies or advice, check out Planet Natural. No, they haven't solicited my advertisement, I just think they're cool, and Lori's post reminded me about the ladybugs and the Burn Out!