Plant Gardens 101

Nothing adds form and functionality more attractively than wooden garden bridges placed strategically outdoor landscape appeal. This “hardscape” item can add dramatic interest to water gardens; serve as a practical (and lovely!) access across ponds, ditches, or other low areas; or simply be placed as an eye-catching focal point to highlight any area of a yard.

Material, Sizes, and Options
Less expensive wooden garden bridges come made most commonly from pressure-treated pine. If you’re willing to pay the price, however, you can also get these pretty footbridges made from such weather-resistant woods as teak, cedar, or redwood. The most popular sizes include lengths of four, six, and eight feet, but many online, as well as brick-and-mortar companies, that manufacture them also offer custom-built bridges to satisfy any specified length the homeowner requests and is willing to pay for. (more…)

A hoe with a flat blade that works by being pushed away from the user.

The practice of Bonsai began in China and Japan hundreds of years ago, and is simple the miniaturization of naturally occurring plants and trees. Bonsai trees are not “special small” trees, but rather trees that ave been slowly miniaturized from their full size.

The main areas of tree care are the following:

Watering your Tree

Bonsai Trees require more watering than most plants, as they are grown in less soil and the soil itself is free draining (meaning it doesn’t retain the water and lets it pass through). The type of tree, the sunlight it is exposed to all factor in to how much watering should be done. You can tell if your Bonsai Tree needs water by looking at it, feeling the soil and if you prefer; by using a moisture meter to be certain. (more…)

A carbon scrubber is a safe and effective odor removal device to have whether you converted a room into a hydroponics grow room or whether you’re using a hydroponics grow box to grow your plants indoors. A carbon scrubber is 100% safe and effective way of removing odor from the grow environment such as your garage or closet. Carbon filter or a carbon scrubber is much safer than using a room ionizer which some people will use to get odor out of the grow space. Ionizer should only be used in areas where human beings and plants will not be exposed to any of the ionized air. Ionized air is dangerous for human beings and also for plants and animals in the area; keep this out of your grow space! Only use ionizers when venting into a space with no living life. Beware of grow box manufacturers that include ionizers with their grow boxes as a way of removing odor. These are dangerous to have in your living environment.

So a carbon scrubber is a safe alternative to an ionizer for reducing grow odors in the grow space. A carbon scrubber is a simple device. If broken down it is actually two cylinders, with a layer of thick activated charcoal carbon filling both those layers in your cylinder. Air is forced through the middle of the cylinder into an open space like a tube and then in order for the air to escape must force its way through the activated to exhaust the confines of the scrubber. The carbon itself is a very porous material and will actually absorb the odor molecules at a microscopic level so that by the time that air is exhausted back into the grow space there’s no smell whatsoever. Carbon scrubbers can be replaced every six months to one year as odor becomes a problem again. (more…)

Greenhouse heating issues can be more complicated depending on where you place the greenhouse. You will be able to figure out appropriate greenhouse heating no matter where you build the greenhouse, but thinking about heating the greenhouse before you build or even order it will make it easier.

Consider your climate. If you live in an area that is particularly cold or extremely hot most of the year it will have an effect on greenhouse heating. In a hotter climate you will not have to heat your greenhouse as much. You will have greater greenhouse heating requirements in if you live in a climate that is cold and has a long winter season. Additionally, if you live in an area that often has heavy cloud cover, you will not be able to rely on the sun from greenhouse heating during the daylight hours.

If your greenhouse will be built with a lot of sunlight exposure you may not need to do as much with heating but you will still need to keep the greenhouse heating maintained at the same level if you want the plants to thrive.

Maybe the only area you have to fit a greenhouse is in an area that will face the north and not receive much direct sunlight. You will need to take this into consideration when planning your greenhouse heating equipment.

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