Plant Gardens 101

Just as with home construction, most landscaping projects are a series of smaller projects. Some are confined to the realm of landscaping and some are basic construction projects that just happen to be part of the landscape. Things such as decks, sheds, walls, fences, steps, and etc. which are considered the hardscaping, would all fit the discussion.

Deciding on which elements and features your yard needs and what will fit your budget can sometimes be a challenge. A simple assessment might help determine it for you. While some hardscaping may be created purely for looks and beauty, some may be added to the project due to necessity. Look around your yard and see what might be necessary.

- Retaining Walls, Rock Walls – Retaining walls can be used to create raised garden beds, to prevent erosion, and to stabilize steep-sloped banks. They can be crafted from large river rocks, field stone, railroad ties, heavy timbers, concrete blocks, or even small boulders. Quality of construction is critical: they must be sturdy enough to support the weight of the fill behind them. Seek professional help for best results. Even if you want to build walls yourself or if they don’t need to be extensive, you should always get advice on specifications. (more…)

Different Types Of Greenhouse.

After you decide that you want to build a greenhouse, you have to decide next what type to build. This should not be a difficult one to address, provided you know what kinds of plants you want to grow. You will need to answer questions such as:

What will my greenhouse be principally used for?

Do I want a large or small greenhouse?

Will the greenhouse be the main attraction of my garden?

Is my garden exposed to strong winds?

Are there young children or wild animals in the area?

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC or Vinyl) – like polyethylene, PVCs are soft and flexible. You can have transparent ones. Vinyl costs two to five times more than polyethylene. When properly installed, they can last as long as five years. Because it attracts dust and dirt from the air, it has to be washed from time to time.

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See micronutrients.

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Morning glory family
Convolvulaceae
Kon-voll’view-lus. About 200 widely distributed species, including a few garden plants and some pernicious weeds.

Description
Trailing or twining plants with alternate leaves. Flowers chiefly day-bloomers but sometimes close by noon, solitary or a few in the leaf axils, often long-stalked. Corolla bell- or funnel-shaped, usually showy.

How to Grow    (more…)

Do you waste your money on lottery tickets? Feed your hard earned money to the one-armed bandits in the casinos? Drive without a seat belt? Then a pond liner is for you. You obviously like taking chances and are not too concerned about the outcome. Well, when someone spends thousands of dollars on a liner pond, they are playing the odds. Will their liner pond leak or not. From my 26 years experience in the pond business, I can assure you that the odds are not in your favor. This is an article the liner pond dudes don’t want you to read. If you weren’t giving my industry such a bad name, there would be no need for this writing.

The liner pond gurus such as the “Liner messiah” with his own magazine and catalogue, recruits unsuspecting followers with a “Build a Liner Pond Day”, and shows how easy it is to get something for next to nothing. Here’s what these liner pond guys do:

• Lay out the pond with a garden hose

• Remove the sod and dig the hole

• Drop in our guaranteed liner

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There are many ways to attract wild birds to your garden and hopefully to set up home in your garden bird house. Providing food and a safe place to eat is one of the easiest and most effective ways. This is particularly important during the winter months when there may be lack of their natural food.
Set up feeding stations designed for the different species you would like to see in your garden.

For finches place specially designed thistle feeders that hold the small thistle feeds that they love. Other speciality bird feeders include hummingbird feeders to hold nectar, woodpecker feeders and jay feeders. Tube feeders are designed to prevent seeds spilling on the ground and keep the seeds dry. You could also set up a window feeder to see the birds from the comfort of your room.

Always check the food regularly to make sure it is dry and free from mold and clean up around the feeder to deter wasps, ants and other predators. If squirrels are a problem in your garden be sure to purchase a squirrel proof bird feeder. (more…)

World of garden art is just an extension of your home décor and can be organized in a lot more fun way than you can imagine. Many garden stores have a range of garden accessories to choose from-sculptures, bird houses wind chimes are only few you can name. And the best thing is that you can always pick you own garden art which reflects your own taste and personality.

Let’s check out some of the simplest stuff that you considered junk but could be surprisingly turned into one of the wackiest garden art you ever thought-

Bathtub- You must have always wondered what how to get rid of your old bath tub. It’s simple, you can turn it into a wonderful planter and plant all you favorite flowers in it. Also you can turn your sink into a cute little planter by hanging it in your patio. Bottles- Try hanging out all your colorful wine bottles from the tree which make a sweet chiming sound in wind.

Broken Dishes- Don’t worry if you’ve broken your favorite set of china dishes because you can always put them together to convert them into a mosaic stone or table top.

Kids garden crafts- Gardening can prove to be whole lot of inspiration for your kids as it just adds up to that creative streak in them and make turn them into nature lovers.

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A strong, sharp, stiff projection, usually from the stem or leaf of a plant but sometimes from the calyx or fruit. Thistles, hollies, and cacti have spines.

Building a shed is fairly simple, only basic carpentry skills are required. This can be a project many homeowner can do themselves in a couple of weekends.

If you have never built anything before, learning how to build a shed for the first time should be no problem. A shed consist of a fairly simple structure. You can easily learn the kind of construction that is involved by surfing the net for free shed plans. By doing so you will get a good idea of what is involved in the building process. Once you study some plans you should get a good idea if you will be able to take on this project.

If you feel building a shed is beyond your carpentry skills, consider a pre-fabricated shed kit. All the parts will come pre-cut, and ready for assembly. A shed kit will include all the frame, siding, doors, and windows. The most common materials used for these shed kits will be wood, vinyl or metal.

Another option to consider is finding a design you like, and buying the plans. You can show the plans to some of the local handymen in your area, and get some estimates for the labor. (more…)

When it comes to gardening, there are some additional benefits to just having your own fruits and vegetables. Not only can you be a “green” thumb, but you can be a contributor to the “green” living movement by recycling common household “garbage” items into useful, and helpful, garden utensils.

Take the common soup can. By removing the top AND bottom lids, this cylinder becomes a useful starting pot. Removing the top and bottom lids will help aid in the removal of your plant start with greater ease. Now, don’t throw away those lids! The lids can be placed at the base of light loving plants, such as tomatoes! The lids will reflect sunlight, thus providing extra light. In addition, the reflected light has been shown to repel plant eating insects and aphids. To deter birds from your fruits trees, punch holes in the lids and hang them from tree branches. Apparently the reflected light and movement scares these rascals away. (more…)

Hydroponics in space using LED light

If you have scoured around the Internet at all lately or kept up with the technology blogs, you will have an absolutely seen articles written about NASA using hydroponics to grow plants hydroponically in space. The idea of being able to grow your own food in space is incredible for what it can offer astronauts on long journeys taking many months or years. For future development missions of Mars, as well as possible development for life on the moon, as well as onboard the international space station. In the near future astronaut farmers will be able to use hydroponics aboard the space station or their space vessels to grow their own food, and not have to be reliant upon earth for refueling of food and nutritional items. The astronauts will be growing their own food with hydroponics in space. This would free up additional spacecraft hulls so that they can bring in other items and not waste valuable cargo space with food when astronauts could be growing their own fresh fruits in space with hydroponics.

The LED light is researched by NASA currently because that type of lighting system uses very little electrical power and can be run off of small batteries. This means that this type of LED lighting when used in combination with hydroponics will consume very little battery power and allow many hydroponic systems powered by LED lights to grow a wide variety of fresh produce and vegetables in space or aboard space station with hydroponics. A typical LED light bulb lasts from 8 to 10 years under heavy use and will not have any heat byproduct to deal with, such as normal traditional high pressure sodium or metal halide light bulbs that are commonly used in hydroponics application. The high energy draw and heat put off by these types of high-powered lights would not be a viable option in a aboard a space station or spacecraft. However the LED light can be very effective for plants grown in hydroponics because it LED lights is as bright to the plant as an HPS light is to our eyes. (more…)

An auxin or similar natural or synthetic compound that stimulates cuttings to produce roots and thus greatly enhances the vegetative propagation of new plants. Synthetic rooting hormones are available in both powder and liquid form. Besides hastening the initiation of roots, they increase the number and quality of those formed.

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stomped out by other circumstances, such as living arrangements or space constrictions. If you live in an apartment, you can’t really operate a full garden, just because you don’t really have a yard! I think that one of the best solutions for this problem is to grow plants in containers. You can hang these, or just arrange them on your patio, window sill or balcony. Just a few baskets or pots, and your whole living area will look much classier and nicer. A benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and you think that it would look nicer if it was in the other area, it’s no trouble at all to scoot it over. As long as the lighting is about the same, your plant shouldn’t mind the transition at all. Another benefit of the containers’ versatility is the fact that you can adapt it to simulate any environment depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where you place it.

If you are trying to make an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of containers and plants, you can adjust the containers to be at different heights by hanging them from the ceiling or placing them on supports. Hanging them will allow you to make the most of the space you have. This is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a very pleasing arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space. If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden step ladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a beautiful, stylish cascade of color. (more…)

Having a garden is a great idea that is greatly advised to everyone. It provides a fun – filled way of spending one’s time. Not only that but it also a good method of helping the environment. Plants help in renewing the oxygen supply of the world as well as reduce the pollution in the air. They not only provide beauty to our surroundings but they are also a good source of food and other important materials. All of these things are reasons why starting a home garden is recommended to all of us.

Planning the garden is the first thing that must be done by anyone who plans of having one. The type of garden must be considered as this is the basis of all the things that will be done with it. The gardener can choose between flowers, vegetables and fruits or he can make use of a combination of them. After choosing the type, he must now know the things that he will plant. For starters, plants that are easy to grow and nourish is the best thing to have. Other thing that must be considered in this area is the method of planning; when to start; and the location of the garden.

The next thing that must be done in when starting a garden is the familiarization of the different gardening tools and equipment. These highly – specialized tools are needed for all the processes that will be done in the garden. There are garden tools each for digging, cutting, watering and measuring. By knowing and having these tools, the aspiring gardener could make his work easier and faster. (more…)

Snapdragon family
Scrophulariaceae
Pen-stee’mon. Beardtongue . A large genus of 250 species of herbs, rarely shrubs, chiefly from the w. U.S. Many of the species are important bee plants in the West.

Description
Leaves opposite or whorled, and showy. Flowers 2-lipped, tubular, mostly in terminal racemes or panicles. Calyx 5-parted. Corolla with the lower lip 3-lobed, the upper lip 2-lobed. Stamens 5, with 4 fertile, the fifth sterile and often bearded.

How to Grow   (more…)

My gardens have always been described as whimsical. That is a nice way to say there is no order to them. Flowers are here, there and everywhere with no particular color scheme, and although attractive, they don’t have the eye catching appeal of a formal garden.

These eclectic style gardens have their place, but it’s not a bad idea to incorporate some traditional principles to add structure to your landscape. Here are some fundamentals of a formal garden; perhaps some of these ideas will find their way into your “not so formal” garden.

1. Begin by incorporating a geometric structure to your garden. This can be defined with trimmed boxwood hedges, fencing and bordered pathways. (more…)

Garden planters allow you to enjoy plants in areas where a traditional garden is awkward or impossible. In my tiny backyard, I grow nearly everything in containers, at least while the plant and I are deciding whether we like each other. Growing plants in planters allows you to provide the right conditions for different plants. Practically any type of garden planters can be used to grow plants as long as it holds soil, can drain water, and is large enough for the plant you’re growing. They are available in a wide range of materials, styles and shapes to match the style of the house, garden, or planting scheme. Take into account the mature size of the plants and their growing habits. Ideally, the pot should have a diameter equal to 1/3 to 1/2 the height of the plant.

Whatever kind of pot you choose, make sure there are drainage holes on the bottom of it so excess water can run out. Beware of decorative garden planters that lack drainage holes. You can put your plants in a regular flower pots and place them inside decorative garden planters. You can place pieces of broken pot or scoria in the bottom of your pot around the drainage hole to ensure free drainage. (more…)

A pigment in plants that senses daylength and plays a role in controlling flowering, dormancy, and seed germination. See also photoperiodism

Many of us can only dream about the perfect garden that can compliment our home and create a safe haven for us to relax in. Our idea of a great garden might consist of a few flower beds around the house, potted plants spread along the patio, or a fountain surrounded by many beautiful flower and exotic plants. Whatever our vision is the one thing that does not exist in our perfect gardens are weeds and plants that can choke them out and ruin the whole scene.

The poison ivy plant has a way of doing this. It can creep into our yard and our perfect gardens and cause mayhem. It is easy enough to spot when it is trying to grow next to our beautiful and colorful flowers – but it is not so easy to get rid of. In fact many people are not sure what to do when it comes to this creepy plant. So how do you dispose of it from your garden? (more…)