Plant Gardens 101

Many do-it-yourselfers find building a greenhouse to be a fun and rewarding project. While many gardeners build a greenhouse successfully, over the years, we have also witnessed other do-it-yourself greenhouse building projects that would have benefited from better planning before they started building a greenhouse. Before beginning construction, you should do plenty of research on how to build a greenhouse. Be sure to speak with other greenhouse gardeners to get their input and suggestions, but also consult many of the relevant greenhouse construction and planning books available. You need to consider your regional climate, the best location to build a greenhouse, as well as the greenhouse constrution materials and the general greenhouse design you want. (more…)

Waterleaf family
Hydrophyllaceae
Nem-off’i-la. A North American genus comprising 11 species of annual herbs, only a few of garden interest.

Description
Some species are climbing, others are dwarf or trailing plants. All are hairy. Leaves usually much cut, alternate or opposite. Flowers showy, growing at the tips of the branches in clusters. Corolla bell-shaped, blue, white, purple, or spotted. Calyx of 5 spreading sepals alternating with additional leafy growths.

How to Grow   (more…)

Cooler evenings and shorter days—everything points to summer’s end. It’s time to move plants indoors. Here are a few things to consider before you do.

Realistically assess your indoor space. Whether you plan to begin spring seedlings or grow winter crops, remember to allow room for these activities. Most plants you move in grow larger over the winter, not smaller, so factor this in.
Examine your candidates. To justify the valuable space they’ll occupy, these plants should be of value to you. Are they healthy? Are they likely to stay within bounds for several months? Are they difficult to replace? Of course, winter-blooming plants make a special claim to indoor space.

Check for signs of insects. Some are difficult to detect with the unaided eye, but plants themselves often signal when something is wrong. Are the plant’s leaves unusually pale, puckered or spotted? Aphids–probably the biggest problem in greenhouse settings– are large enough to see, but very clever about locating themselves. Check under leaves, particularly young ones, and at the tips of growing stems; often these tiny insects are colored to match their host plant. (more…)

Congratulations! At last you have decided to have a nice garden for your biggest house. Now the big question is how to choose gardening supplies, which are useful for your garden at nominal price but with good quality. Identifying proper gardening supplies is an important thing for a garden lover like you.

Do you know gardening is an art, which requires tender care and deep passion for growing plants? But the part of the art knows how to choose gardening supplies. Just like that of pet care, you pat them on the head, you take them for walks and you talk to them. Your plant also requires same care from you. You should clearly know how to choose gardening supplies- the gardening trade tools.

As you care your plants, you can visually see how they grow? It can be both fulfilling and gratifying and also teach how to choose gardening supplies is a step towards that goal. You should also know that different kinds of garden require different kinds of garden supplies. (more…)

Have you adored orchids for your whole life, always giving them as gifts instead of regular flowers, or perhaps even had your own potted orchids? Since you’re so passionate, and have the know-how, you should start your own home business as an orchid cultivator by starting your own orchid greenhouse!

Let’s not get carried away, though. Before you can sell all those gorgeous orchids, you need to build a greenhouse for them to grow. Not only that, but you’ll have to make sure you can afford the financial investment involved in your growing operation. It is not just a matter of putting them in the soil, then harvesting them, you have to take special care of the plants like they were your own children. You need the right type of soil, specific growth ingredients that orchids need to thrive, and so on. So, before you jump run out and start buying tons of stuff, ask yourself this: “Am I ready to grow my own orchids? Do I have the money needed, the will power required and the special knowledge required?” If you answered “yes,” then read on. If not, you might want to wait for a while before building your own orchid greenhouse, or just keep dreaming.

Assuming you have what it takes, then it’s time to build! Here are five critical steps towards making this dream a reality: (more…)

Any one of a number of long-handled tools used to loosen the soil or to cut out weeds.