Plant Gardens 101

Pruning your roses is one of the most needed and the most annoyingly difficult tasks that goes with proper rose care. It takes a steady hand the proper procedure to ensure the best possible roses that you can get.

Pruning your roses is basically the act of getting rid of dead and damaged pieces, and teaching the new growth to grow in the correct outward facing direction. That just means that you are training them to grow facing the outside of the shrub or bush. This gives your roses the correct amount of circulating air to thrive in.

Here is a list of the proper techniques to guide through the pruning process.

* Soak your pruning shears in equal parts of water and bleach. This will help to protect your roses from diseases and insects.

* Pruning in the early spring, just after the snow melts is best. However you want to do it before any new growth appears. The best time would be when the buds are swelled, or red.    (more…)

A fleshy fruit with one to many seeds that is developed from a single ovary

Vegetable and fresh food gardens are the rage this year. With all the focus on green living and organic foods, it’s not surprising there is a push towards growing our own food. If you’ve ever eaten a fresh picked tomato, you’ll know that the flavor just doesn’t compare with store bought. In fact, most people probably don’t realize how good vegetables are supposed to taste.

For those of you who have never attempted growing anything beyond a few token geraniums or hanging planters, food gardens are not that difficult. If you devote some time to planning, you’ll be shocked at how easy it is.

Your first consideration should be in the type of plants you want to grow. One tomato plant can yield as much as 10 lbs. of fruit, so you don’t need many to get a good return. Plus, depending on the type of plant, allows you to harvest throughout the season. Other plants such as carrots, radishes and corn produce only once. (more…)

A term used to describe a species that exists in two distinct forms, sometimes seen on the same plant, such as English ivy, whose juvenile and adult foliage are distinctly different.

The perennial lily with flowers growing up to three inches in width was named ‘tiger’, probably referring to the spots on its fiery orange petals. This exotic lily has a strong, sweet and distinctively lily smell. Surprisingly, the flower buds, roots and shoots of this plant are all edible. These can often have a bitter flavor, however when baked, lily bulbs taste rather like potatoes. Tiger Lily buds are added to Chinese dishes; and they also can enhance the flavor of egg dishes and salads.

There are two varieties of the Tiger Lily: the Oriental variety that propagates through bulbs that form at leaf axils, and the common wildflower variety propagating by tuberous roots. Due to its wild growing nature, the Tiger Lily is incredibly easy to grow. They thrive well in moist to wet soils and grow well near the ditches. Actually, another name given to this perennial is ‘ditch’ lily because of this characteristic. Early to mid-autumn is the best time to plant out the bulbs in cool temperate areas. In warmer climates they can be planted out in late autumn.    (more…)

A sunken area, sometimes soft or rotten, on woody stems or twigs. It can be caused by several kinds of fungi or bacteria.

Vegetable gardens are unlike any other garden on your property. These gardens can be as attractive as a flower border — with many different types of plants: annuals and perennials, and warm-season and cool-season plants. Vegetable gardens located on high ground are more likely to escape light freezes, permitting an earlier start in the spring and a longer harvest in the fall. Although is it really possible to build to grow an attractive garden patch during the frozen months of the winter?

If you’ve never grown your own vegetables, give it a try! Some gardeners surround the vegetable garden with low growing annuals which can be decorative and useful at the same time, marigolds for instance are known to repel nematodes. Many vegetables have attractive leaves, and can appear quite appealing among your flower garden. Planting a vegetable garden, even a small one, gets you out in the open air and sunshine. Gardening gives you a chance to enjoy the quiet and unwind while doing something you can accomplish. (more…)

Any plant containing food-conducting tissues (the phloem) and water-conducting tissues (the xylem). These include ferns and seed-bearing plants but not mosses or algae.

Terrarium making is a rewarding hobby that combines art and nature. You can make a nice terrarium in an hour and then enjoy caring for it and looking at it for years to come. With a few tips and guidelines you can make some wonderful terrariums that are extraordinary.

What is a terrarium? A terrarium is a small environment where plants and sometimes animals live together in their own little environment. Generally, this environment ranges in size from that of a two-liter bottle of soda to a thirty-gallon fish tank. There are two basic types of terrariums: closed environment and open environment. In a closed environment the terrarium is sealed and it is an ecosystem unto itself that needs very little except occasional watering and moderate sunlight. . An open environment terrarium is more common and is usually one where the top is open. This type of terrarium is more durable and easier to maintain. I recommend that you make an open top terrarium if this is your first attempt at making a terrarium.

The Basics:
Enclosure selection: The most important decision you make when making a terrarium is choosing what type of container to put it in. This container has a dramatic impact on how the terrarium looks so you should choose something that looks nice. Some common choices include large brandy glasses, large bottles, fish tanks or even ceramic bowls. (more…)

Choosing specific greenhouse lighting can be somewhat tricky. Here are five important factors to consider when making your selections.

1. Type of greenhouse – Before buying greenhouse lighting, you must understand the kind of greenhouse that you have. Is it a commercial greenhouse or a personal one? Knowing what type of greenhouse that you have will determine what kind of lighting to choose. For instance, if you have a commercial greenhouse, it is best that you buy lighting that is created to endure humid, adverse conditions that are commonly found in commercial conservatories. Research your options before making any purchase. (more…)

The science or study of plants.

How do you explain an inside bonsai? Is it a bonsai hierarchy adult in a greenhouse, or one that is adult inside your house, or an outside place that was brought internal every iciness? Regardless where they are developed, bonsai plants have the same requirements. Although they are miniaturized grass, like any other ranking, the hardship adequate sunlight exposure which is the chief disturb for an enclosed bonsai.

Most indoor bonsai grass came from species that are indigenous to subtropical or tropical regions. The factory should be placed in a well-lighted subject of the house where there is enough light, commonly near the glass. Since it is the scenery of the yard to seek where the light is pending from, it is important to rotate the place so that the kindling will grow uniformly and become easier to sequence. Although these leaves can be adult and qualified within all year sequence, it is advisable to bring tropical bonsai plants outside during summer and be reserved narrowly inside the house during coldness.    (more…)

To prepare land for growing plants or crops; to cultivate.

The layers in the upper crust of the earth. The differences in the horizons are most easily seen in soils that have not been touched in decades. The top, or O, horizon is the layer of undecomposed litter; the A horizon is topsoil, where most roots grow; B is the subsoil; and C is the parent rock material, broken into chunks. Although some roots can penetrate into the C horizon, few microorganisms live there.

If you have a bonsai stand, it’s important to remember that caring for them is akin to caring for a baby. Loving and caring is necessary but it’s not sufficient; you also have to show certain “parenting” skills to guarantee that your bonsai yard will like a long and well life.

Tip #1 Water is the spring of life for all creatures but it’s especially so for bonsai plants. Although they neediness to be watered more frequently than other types of plants, they also necessary a strict total of watering. Anything that’s fewer or past the idyllic quantity of water can control to your bonsai bury’s fatality so it’s important that you ask for professional counsel.

Factors that shape the quantity of water necessary by a bonsai conceal involve but aren’t partial to the type of hierarchy you’re pleasing nursing of, what flavor it is at organize, if the hierarchy’s adult outside or within, and so onwards.    (more…)

For many of us winter is winding down and we are anxiously awaiting nature to gear up with the coming of the spring season. If you are interested in providing a warm welcome for some of the earliest migratory birds, I have some interesting tips and facts for you! Hummingbirds are among the earliest birds to migrate north from South America. They will sometimes arrive in their summer feeding grounds before nectar plants like azaleas have a chance to bloom. That’s why it is a good idea to hang your Hummingbird Feeders just as winter winds down. You may attract the earliest travelers and help to keep them nourished until springtime plants are in bloom. (more…)

What is more beautiful than seeing a home or building with an arch of climbing roses in the landscaping? Climbing roses are one of many plants that branch out and intertwine themselves among arches, trellises, or even buildings and railings. They can add a great landscape element to any foundation.

Would you like more information about climbing roses? It is easy to learn about this great beauty. First of all, there are many types of climbing roses. They range in color, texture, and look. They also range in hardiness as well. Of course, you need to know what you are looking of in your climbing rose. Most important is knowing your hardiness level. This tells you what will grow in your area. Also as important is to pick varieties that will grow in the element you are placing them. What type of soil will you use? Will the area have full sun, partial sun, or will it be in shade.    (more…)

An organism that can live without oxygen. Many fungi and bacteria are anaerobic.

Flowering Dogwood trees can be easily grown from seed, however 99.9999% of the seedlings that sprout will be Cornus Florida, which is White Flowering Dogwood. It doesn’t matter if you collect the seeds from a White Dogwood or a Pink Dogwood, the seedlings are likely to be white.

The only predictable way to grow a Pink Dogwood, Red Dogwood, or one of the beautiful Dogwoods with variegated leaves, is to bud or graft the desired variety onto a White Dogwood seedling.

See this page on my website for details on “budding”. (more…)

An agricultural system based on perennial plants, both herbaceous and woody, rather than on the annuals that now provide almost all of our food. To date, this is a visionary idea, not a reality.