Plant Gardens 101

Some Basic Kinds of Algae

Algae is natural in your pond. And it is beneficial. But to a point. As noted by Kasco Marine, there are several basic kinds. Planktonic algae are essential, single-celled plant forms occurring worldwide. A healthy pond needs this form of algae as a food source. Filamentous algae is typically found at the surface of ponds in “greenish mats.” This kind of algae has little if any value to your pond and looks scummy. The third major kind of algae is attached-erect algae. The fourth kind to be mentioned here is blue-green algae, probably the worst when it comes to pond scum.

Costs and Benefits

Algae is beneficial to ponds, as it provides a food source; in fact, pond owners who desire to raise trophy bass sometimes fertilize their ponds to keep planktonic algae production high. But algae poses several problems, too. For one thing, too much of certain kinds of algae is plain ugly. For another, too much algae is unhealthy. Photosynthesis requires sunlight, and algae blocks it. During the photosynthesis process when plants use sunlight and carbon dioxide to produce food, they give off oxygen. (more…)

1. The corklike tissue that is developed to cover wounds in the bark of a tree or shrub.
2. A zone of rapidly dividing cells at the base of a cutting that precedes root formation.

The founder (1885) of the first college department of horticulture and landscape gardening in the United States, at Michigan State University. Bailey then joined Cornell University as professor of horticulture, later dean of the College of Agriculture. Published widely, he is today best known for Hortus (1930), a definitive reference work on plants in cultivation in the United States and Canada. Hortus Third, the most recent edition, was published in 1976 and prepared by the staff of the L. H. Bailey Hortorium of Cornell University.

Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese practice of placement and arrangement to create a harmonious feel, can help make your garden a much more serene place to relax. Incorporating Feng Shui into your garden is very easy with Bamboo Feng Shui Fountains.

Water is an incredibly important element in any garden – it represents wealth and heavenly blessings, and using it ensures that you always have the positive ‘chi’, or energy, associated with it. Fountains are the most convenient and effective way to use the element of water in your garden, because they make certain that it is always clear and flowing – never stagnant.

Bamboo fountains not only bring the peace and harmony of Feng Shui into your outdoor space, they’re also beautiful and very easy to set up. They can simply be placed on the side of any bowl with the pump placed in the water, and they’re ready to use! Bamboo water spouts can be used with any decorative bowls wide enough to accommodate the base of the fountain. You can also use them in your garden pond. They’re small enough to be moved inside when winter arrives, so you can continue enjoying the benefits of flowing water through the cold season. (more…)

An industry-based network of trial gardens that test new cultivars of vegetables and flowers and award prizes to those judged best. Some well-known gold medal winners are Coreopsis ‘Early Sunrise’, ‘Sugar Snap’ peas, and Zinnia ‘Thumbelina’. All AAS winners can be raised from seed.

Flower gardens occur in different styles and assortments, their charm can be dependent to any flower gardener. As someone who takes care of a garden, knowing how to enhance your flower garden can make a big difference in the dealing with beauty and taste and over-all condition of your garden.

Here are 4 easy ways to make your flower garden blossom more:

1. The necessities must always be given major deliberation.
Exactly like with any gardening undertaking, a flower garden must have its sufficient supply of water, light, and rich soil. To be lacking one of these gardening necessities is almost developing the death bed of your flower garden. Irrigate the flower garden more often during dry spells. In addition, make sure that you set the flower bulbs deep enough to allow sufficient room for the rooting. (more…)

A plant that yields considerable amounts of nectar and pollen to attract bees. Bee plants include clovers, milkweeds, salvias, linden trees, wisteria vines, and fruit trees, especially apple trees.

A group of three or more leaves or shoots that emerge from a single node.

The hydroponic gardening method of Deep water culture (DWC) involves suspending the roots of the plant in a solution of oxygenated water and various nutrients.

There are a few ways to approach the process of suspending the plants roots in the Deep water culture method. Traditionally, DWC has been practiced using plastic buckets. The plant itself is suspended in what is known as a net pot. This net pot – a type of pot resembling an open wire basket – is suspended from the bucket lid in such a manner that the roots are suspended in the bucket containing the water and nutrient solution. The water is oxygenated with an air pump and an aquarium airstone such as are used in fish tanks. (more…)

One of the vascular bundles or ribs that form the branching framework of conducting and supporting tissues in a leaf, flower, or fruit.

I’m sure many of you have heard of Cesar Milan, also known as the Dog Whisperer, but are you familiar with Vern Culteur the Worm Whisperer? Unlike his canine counterpart, Culteur is well versed and in tune with the ways of the worm and its needs for a successful and fruitful compost. Compost, you say? What in the world does a worm have to do with composting? Well, my friend let me tell you more…

According to Culteur, known to his friends as Verny the Wormy, worms play a vital part in the composting process. In fact, there’s an entire composting process called vermicomposting or vermiculture which involves food scraps, yard wastes and worms. When visiting troubled gardeners and composters alike, Culteur adamantly but gently tells each one that if they’re going to start composting with worms, then they’ll have to adapt to a few changes. For instance, one of the first mistakes that many novice composters make is using the wrong worm. (more…)

1. A flower cluster in which the individual flower stalks emerge from the same point on the stem, like the ribs of an umbrella.
2. A member of the family Umbelliferae (formerly called Apiaceae), or carrot family. Carrots, parsley, and dill are examples.

When you own a greenhouse and work with greenhouse accessories on a regular basis you will want to make sure you keep the greenhouse and the greenhouse accessories clean as part of your regular greenhouse upkeep.

If you want to keep your greenhouse and greenhouse accessories in good shape you will want to clean everything periodically. This will help keep your plants and flowers healthy and strong.

When greenhouse gardeners neglect this area of gardening they are courting disaster. You need a healthy environment to prevent pests and diseases from taking over the greenhouse.

Start by planning a major cleaning effort of the greenhouse and all greenhouse supplies at least once a year. Get rid of all greenhouse accessories that are not in good shape. (more…)

(1883–1967)

A distinguished botanist and author, long associated with the New York Botanical Garden and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. His major work, first published in 1936, was The Garden Dictionary, later known as Taylor’s Encyclopedia of Gardening.

To send out roots. Refers to cuttings.

Growing plants with artificial lights offers a great range of opportunity when it comes to growing plants indoors. Plants in different stages of growth have special lighting requirements in order to flourish indoors, and it pays to understand their lighting needs in order to meet them and get the best from your plants.

Vegetable gardening provides a good example of how grow lights and grow lamps work. Vegetable gardeners who live in cold regions of the country know that in order to get a head start on the growing season they will want to start seeds indoors approximately six to eight weeks before their last average frost date. You can find out your last average frost date from your local county extension agent’s office. Some seeds require light for germination, while others need it to be dark. This information will be given sometimes on the back of the seed packets, or you can research it in gardening reference books. Once the seeds germinate, the indoor lighting that is used will make or break your starts. Grow lamps need to be kept no more than two to four inches above the growing plant starts, so you will need a way to raise the lights as needed as the plant starts grow taller. Attaching the grow lights to chains, with a hook above, works easily and well for this purpose. (more…)

As a species name, means “creeping.” For example, both creeping holly grape, Mahonia repens, and bugleweed, Ajuga reptans, spread by underground runners and make good ground covers.

Summer is a wonderful time for flowers, yet many gardens start to look bare of color or simply wilt when the summer heat strikes. That’s because gardeners often plant for a spring flush. Those flowers that bloom in spring fade off by summer because the extra heat does not suit them.

Yet there are many beautiful blooms that come into their own with that extra summer heat, so adding these to your planting will keep your garden looking a riot of color throughout summer. Both annuals and perennials bloom beautifully in the summer heat so choose some of each.

Annuals must be planted every year as their name suggests. They are usually only good for one season, so require a bit more work. But occasionally you will get an annual to come up the second year. Sunflowers, cosmos, salvia and marigolds are favorite annuals for summer flowers. Snow in summer; coxcomb and the globe amaranth are three less common flowers that thrive in the heat of summer, while angelonia, perilla and the sun coleus also make good choices. (more…)

As a species name, means “annual.” For example, the common sunflower, Helianthus annuus, is an annual.

As a species name, means “spreading.” For example, firebush, Hamelia patens, and ‘Miss Kim’ lilac, Syringa patula, are both spreading shrubs that grow wider than tall.