Plant Gardens 101

We’ve all heard about community gardens, but in the city like New York there is so little space for serious farmers that the sustainable urban foods seems next to impossible. Now imagine creating a farm in the middle of a highly urbanized city.Serious urban farming with the aid of hydroponics systems and taking this it into the roof tops of buildings is a viable way for a city to become sustainable. Roughly speaking, there is something like 5,000 hectares of unused roof top space in New York City. If we were to grow vegetables using hydroponics in all those 5,000 of those hectares we could grow enough vegetables to feed something like 15 million people. Imagine a city like New York with a huge catering industry of food that would really impact greatly the sustainable urban food in the city. The secret to this ultra modern farming is hydroponics system that runs in greenhouses which nourishes the plants without wasting any resources. Also having a weather station in the city is of great advantage in using hydroponics farming in the city. (more…)

A tender shrub that can be grown in cold climates. It freezes to the ground in winter but sends up new shoots in spring.

In most books on rock gardening, a large part of the space is devoted to the description of plants, and of individual varieties. This is as it should be, and to those who are taking up seriously this fascinating form of gardening, the acquisition of at least one or two of these larger volumes is by all means recommended. Anyone planning a rock garden should conduct more research than simply what this article contains.

Bulbs for a Rock Garden:

To one who thinks of bulbs in terms of Darwin tulips with three-foot stems, and the modern Giant Trumpet daffodils, in the spring garden, or of gladiolus and dahlias throughout the summer months, the rock garden would seem to offer no suitable place of residence for this important group of flowers. Many “complete” catalogs of rock garden plants contain never a whisper concerning bulbs, though often including shrubs, evergreens, and garden fountains (http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=1071). (more…)

Purchasing Your Bamboo
It is important to purchase a young seedling or bamboo plant that is say 12 months old EVERY TIME. When purchasing a bamboo for your garden it is important not to become carried away with buying the biggest and best bamboo that you can find. This can be difficult however especially as the bamboo plant is ideal for screening and fencing large areas within your garden. It is necessary then to detach yourself from emotion then to pay attention to the bamboo plant and how it has been cultivated. bamboo care

BUYING A YOUNG BAMBOO – Bamboo plants need time to allow for growth and maturity, this is because of their complex rhizome and root structures, if the plant is rushed or potted on too early and not allowed to grow at its own pace then it may be of poor quality, it may well be prone to disease and ultimately die.

LARGE IS NOT ALWAYS BEST - It is easy to become carried away with how large your bamboo plant is but the most important part of the bamboo is not the amount of leaf foliage above the pot or the number of culms (remember quality not quantity), it is what is within the pot, that is the Bamboo’s rhizomes and roots. (more…)

Biological Control of pests requires active human role. Here reduction of pest population is made effective by natural enemies. These natural enemies of insect pests are called biological control agents. They include predators, parasitoids and pathogens.

Predators are such species which consume a large number of preys during their life span that are lady beetles and lace wings. Parasitoids finally kill the host. Their immature stage develops on or within that single host and most have a very narrow host range for example wasps and flies. Pathogens are organisms which cause diseases for example bacteria, fungi, viruses. They also kill the host.

Biological control strategies are basically of three types- Conservation, Classical Biological Control and Augmentation. (more…)