Plant Gardens 101

To change back to normal, as when a plant of a cultivar that has been selected for dwarf growth, variegated foliage, double flowers, or other special features sends up one or more shoots that look like the ordinary species.

No matter if they are urban or rural, all gardens benefit from preplanning and design. This doesn’t mean just knowing where you want your garden, but the overall design of the garden. Today, gardening can include everything from vegetables to flowers to lawn care. Carefully planning what you want, and where you want it, beforehand will help you get the most from your garden.

Planning Your Garden

To begin, measure and draw a plan of your yard and/or garden as it is now. Your plan should include the placement of your house, driveways and walkways, property boundaries, trees and shrubs, and utility services. Using graph paper, draw everything as close to scale as possible.   (more…)

Maybe you were browsing the pages of a catalog or some magazine and found a beautiful picture of the Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus Sriacus)? Or perhaps you were lucky enough to see a Rose of Sharon in person at a local garden center?

You may be wondering whether these will make a beautiful addition to your home. Getting a little knowledge of these beautiful plants will allow you to make a decision.

Although once somewhat uncommon, the Rose of Sharon has become a widely loved plant. Not your typical rose bush, these are more like shrubs. Other names for Rose of Sharon include althea and shrub althea. Some can grow up to 10 feet tall, while most maintain a height of 5 feet. Sounds like a tree? It looks like a beautiful shrub with blooms of a variety of colors.

The Rose of Sharon makes for a great fence as well. Placed several side by side in a row, they create a natural fence that will enliven any landscape.    (more…)

(plural: stomata)

A microscopic pore, located mainly on the undersides of leaves, through which a plant takes in and releases oxygen, carbon dioxide, water vapor, and other gases.

Composting has been around for many years as an easy way to add nutrients to a garden, but the activity is also a great way to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in our landfills. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency reports that as much as 24% of the solid waste in landfills is comprised of food scraps and yard cuttings, which could be composted instead. Composting is a simple step that you and your family can take to help take care of the earth.

To begin your foray into the world of composting, you will need a bin. While containers aren’t technically needed for composting, they do improve its aesthetics, and help keep pests out of your pile. You can build your own simple container, or invest in a large bin or tumbler, depending on how much work you want to put into your composting.

Place your bin in the backyard or in some other place where it isn’t too noticeable. If you don’t maintain your compost properly, it can start to smell bad and attract pests—neither of which your neighbors will appreciate. On the other hand, you’ll want your compost to be convenient for you and your family. If it takes 10 minutes of trekking through bush to get to the compost, no one will want to maintain it.    (more…)

As part of a species name, means “of summer.” For example, summer snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, blooms in summer.

With Spring right around the corner it is never too early to start planning your garden… For those gardeners looking to be more innovative this year, we recommend using a special theme to help you design your garden.

The Zen Garden

A Zen garden or Japanese rock garden is an enclosed shallow sandpit containing sand, gravel, rocks, and occasionally grass or other natural elements. The main elements of a rock garden are rocks and sand, with the sea symbolized not by water but by sand raked in patterns that suggest rippling water. Plants are much less important (and sometimes non-existent) in many rock gardens. Rock gardens are often, but not always, meant to be viewed from a single, seated perspective, and the rocks are often associated with and named after various Chinese mountains.   (more…)

As a species name, means “bearing flowers in panicles,” as in perennial baby’s breath, Gypsophila paniculata.

The botanical name for wood sorrel.

The botanical name for tea tree.

Whether you are actually living in a big house or small apartment enjoying a garden space is not that hard as you may think because is not about size, but playing with space to create a delightful green area regardless it is limited to a few pots or cast-iron planters around some patio furniture.

Gardening is not limited to large open areas of grass bur a simply plant by the side of a Rattan patio furniture can recreate the garden of your dreams. If you have a balcony, put some plants in troughs and half-barrels in the outside and a Caspian, Swiss, Lincoln, Parma or Colon Wicker patio chair. If you have a courtyard or patio, then you can even put a full patio set of loveseat, chairs, and a coffee table to spend some afternoons talking to your friends.

Because patio furniture is manufactured with a variety of materials such as Teak, Iron, Wicker, Rattan, and Plastic, you can select furniture pieces according to your available gardening space, budget, and personal taste. However, before buying your patio furniture select your gardening space. This task will not be that hard if you already have a patio or garden outdoors, otherwise you need to determine the purpose of your garden to select the appropriate area.    (more…)

California is one of the most beautiful places in the world. I can attest to this because I grew up in this wonderful state. However, I have to relocate to another state because of a few reasons. Anyway, this state is just drop dead gorgeous, from the ocean to the mountains. The flora is also one of best things that I love about California. I can recall that there was a bird of paradise flower growing at nearly every corner when I was living there.

Have you ever seen a bird of paradise flower? If you haven’t, then let me tell you that this flower is really amazing. It is one of the most sought after and extravagant blooms in the whole entire world. However, the climate of my current state does not allow me to grow this flower. I guess I can grow one in a greenhouse, but I don’t really think that I could do all that hard work just for the experience of seeing my favorite flower. Nevertheless, I still miss the bird of paradise flower.    (more…)

A small nut, pit, or hard-coated seed. Grape seeds, for example, are sometimes called nutlets.

Garden buildings have been popular for centuries and were associated with luxury gardens during the Renaissance. The concept of garden buildings then spread north of the Alps and into the United Kingdom, and they are now very much part of the traditional English landscape.

Garden buildings remain popular in today’s garden, such as: garden sheds, summerhouses, or log cabins. They come in variety of shapes of sizes to fit any household need. The size of garden building you opt for isn’t necessarily related to cost, but to how much available space you have in your garden. Ideally you should have a clear space of least 18” wide on all sides of the building to ensure easy access for installation and future maintenance. (more…)

England’s most prestigious plant-related organization. It sponsors the famous Chelsea Flower Show and recently published the 3-million-word, four-volume New RHS Dictionary of Gardening. Its official garden, Wisley, is in Surrey.

Having a Garden Pond in your Home Garden is both attractive and refreshing adding value to your Garden and to your House. With little effort, money and time you can build a beautiful and functional Garden pond for you. You will need the following while constructing the Pond and giving it a good and beautiful design.

The Fist step towards your dream Garden pond is to design and plan for your Pond. You have to consider various factors seriously and take a firm and final decision before you start your work and changing your decisions after starting the construction will cost you money and time. So, think seriously and decide once for all. The things you have to decide are the best place to put your Pond, the size of the Pond, the shape of the Pond, depth of the Pond, and whether you want to have fish in it or not and other like details. (more…)

A usually green, flattened structure attached to the stem that functions as the principal organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in most plants.

Leaf arrangement. (a) Helical (top view). (b) Helical with elongated internodes (alternate). (c) Opposite (decussate). (d) Whorled (verticillate).

Leaf types. (a) Simple. (b) Trifoliate. (c) Palmately compound. (d) Odd-pinnately compound. (e) Even-pinnately compound. (f) Decompound.

(more…)

The uprooting in winter of newly planted or shallow-rooted specimens caused by the alternate freezing and thawing of the soil. Also called frost heaving.

chemical released by an animal, particularly an insect, to communicate with other members of the same species. Synthetic pheromones are used to lure insects into traps or to disrupt mating habits.

The Cypress inched its way to the hearts of bonsai enthusiasts with its majestic looks: refined and green feather-like foliage, refined brushwood and a bark with cinnamon-tanned color.

The Cypress bonsai can be found in swamps along big rivers throughout the southern portion of the United States. It didn’t make the shoreline of Japan until the last century and today, it is everywhere in both countries.

Cypress plants are usually considered as bonsais now. In fact, it is one of the priciest bonsais around. Well, that’s the prize for looking noble!

Here are handy tips on pleasing control of this royals:

1. Cuttings from the prior year are the best types that you can use to begin planting a new Cypress bonsai. Once the brink is cleaned with a razor-intense knife, you can introduce the biting in smooth (wipe and forever soggy). Just like all even playgroup stocks, you should let the cuttings grow for the next two living.    (more…)