Plant Gardens 101

Your garden can be a manifestation of your own creativity. It is no longer a place where you plant fruits and vegetables. If you would like to add a little more life and enhance the look of your garden opt for interesting garden designs.

Before you go ahead with some garden designs, you may like to keep some guidelines in mind to for better synchrony of your surroundings:

The Golden Rule
The key to innovative garden designs is a simple rule. THINK BEFORE YOU PLANT. Plan your garden in sync with the look of your house to make a cohesive unit that is in harmony with each other.
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As part of a species name, means “black or very dark green.” For example, the Austrian pine, Pinus nigra, has very dark green needles.

The common shortened form of the term “monocotyledon.”

What makes organic gardening different from conventional gardening techniques? The simplest answer is that the organic gardeners choose to use natural or organic materials and methods, avoiding man-made chemicals to grow their produce. The two primary areas which distinguish organic gardening are 1) application of fertilizers and 2) controlling pests.

Natural fertilizers: Better Tasting Produce?
Though there is no scientific evidence that the use of organic fertilizers would produce better tasting produce, most organic gardeners would beg to differ. One might agree that with the notion that we are ingesting too many chemicals from our foods, limited use of chemical fertilizers may produce better tasting and higher quality produce. The use of organic compost as a replacement for chemical fertilizers is one of the more common way to fertilizer your crop. Other alternatives include the use of teas derived from plants, such as compost tea. The use of organic matter also replenishes the soil by increasing the organic content. (more…)

A porous material made from paper, plastic, or synthetic fibers, sold by the roll and used as a weed barrier. It is often topped with a layer of bark chips or gravel, to disguise it.

The botanical name for spiderwort.

1. A plant or stem onto which a graft is made.
2. A plant from which cuttings are taken or seeds are collected. Nurseries often maintain special stock plants for propagation.

A cluster of flowers arranged in a particular way on a stem. Spikes, racemes, umbels, whorls, panicles, cymes, and corymbs are common types of inflorescences.

You don’t have to be a chef or have a green thumb to grow an herb garden. Culinary herbs are extremely easy to grow. Once they get going, they add fragrance, texture and color to just about any garden or space. Harvest your culinary herbs to make everything from herbal teas, vinegars and flavorful recipes.

Herbs don’t require much space to grow. You can plant them in beds in a garden or you can grow them in a small container. Combining herbs can create a beautiful effect. Your bed or container is your canvas – and what you plant there can grow into a beautiful masterpiece.

Plenty of sun
Herbs love plenty of sunlight. When choosing a location for your herbs, look for an outdoor area or window that gets 5-7 hours of direct sunlight each day. (more…)

Plants are just as popular as furniture when one is deciding on furniture and soft furnishings.Aside from the aesthetic value plants provide your home with, there are also health benefits – grade school science class tells us that plants cleanse the air through utilizing the carbon dioxide and producing more oxygen. Here is some important information on how to care for your indoor plants to gain the optimum health and aesthetic benefits.

Lighting
Most indoor plants need good lighting. You can provide this through natural lighting in the room of your choice or there must be electric lighting. Darker leaved plants usually don’t need as much light as others. (more…)

An individual plant that contrasts with its surroundings and catches your attention.

A major organization devoted to the study and use of herbs. It has 35 chapters and maintains the Herb Garden at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C.

All plants need appropriate light to grow. If you are doing hydroponic gardening, you will also need excellent light for your plants. Here is what you need to know about the different types of lights that work well for growing plants indoors.

HID lights most closely mimic sunlight, and they make excellent lights for using when growing plants hydroponically. HID stands for High Intensity Discharge, and it puts out a very bright full spectrum light. The light spectrum is important depending on what growth stage your plants are in. Young plants need blue light, whereas when you need your plants to flower and fruit they perform best under red and orange light. Providing both of these types of lights in one light bulb will provide your plants with everything they need in terms of light appropriate for any stage of plant growth.

These grow lights come in two different types. Metal halide HID lamps come in some varieties featuring blue light and some that offer more in the red/orange light spectrum. Metal halides are sometimes less expensive than other HID lights. High Pressure Sodium bulbs put out a great light in the red, orange and yellow spectrum. They last twice as long as metal halide light bulbs, and emits a brighter light. (more…)

As a species name, means “having leaves or other parts with a white coating.” For example, the white spruce, Picea glauca, is not white, but its needles are lighter colored than those of other spruces because they are covered with a waxy white film.

Artificially adjusting the light and temperature to accelerate the flowering of a plant.

The botanical name for fleabane.

As a species name, means “triangular.” For example, eastern cottonwood, Populus deltoides, has triangular-shaped leaves.

You will frequently hear this about growing orchids, “It’s easy for you to say but hard for me to do”. Well, growing orchids does not have be hard. You need to know that the main ingredient used for all plants is the same for orchids – light, water and fertilizer. Some TLC will also help. You don’t need to go far for help.

1. Ask around. Yes, most people growing orchids love to answer questions. Like most people giving advice is fun and makes one fell useful. You can learn a great deal about growing orchids from the local orchid society.

There are many orchid societies throughout the world and once again they are a treasure of information. At many of their meetings the members will bring in some orchid plants that they are willing to sell. Usually they are at a very cheap price. (more…)

A plant that captures insects and digests them to get the nitrogen that is in short supply in the marshes where most of these plants grow. Among the best-known carnivorous plants (also called insectivorous plants) are the Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula), pitcher plants (Sarracenia spp.), and the various sundews (Drosera spp.).

Gardens are not just places where one grows plants and vegetables. To complement the amount of effort you put in here, you should try and improve your garden decor so that your garden looks beautiful, even without flowers. Here are some tips to help you work on it:

1) Singular Focus

One way to make a difference to your garden decor is to focus on one part of the garden and build the rest around it. This can be done by building a gazebo, an arbor, a rose pillar or any statues or sculptures of interest.

2) A sense of architecture

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