Plant Gardens 101

You’ve seen them on countless homes but never really gave s second thought to planter boxes. As a symbol of Southern charm, these compact containers provide compact gardens to more than just quaint little houses out in the country. For example:

Scenario 1: Jessica lives in a sky rise apartment in the big city. Not only does she not have a backyard or garden space, but she is also on the 30th floor.

Scenario 2: Matthew has a condo in the suburbs and a decent size front lawn. The problem is, the front of his home faces West and so he only receives the weak, late day sunshine, which is not strong enough for the sun-seeking plants he prefers. (more…)

Knotweed family
Polygonaceae
Pol-lig’o-num. Smartweed ; Knotweed . Erect, trailing, or climbing herbs, comprising about 150 worldwide species of very diverse habits.

Description
Stems angled, swollen at the joints where leaf base clasps the stem, sometimes spotted or streaked brown. Leaves alternate and simple. Flowers small, in terminal spikes or loose racemes. Calyx of 5 sepals generally colored pink or white. Corolla absent. Stamens 3-9.

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Phlox family
Polemoniaceae
Flocks . About 60 species of usually hardy herbs found mostly in North America.

Description
Leaves lance-shaped, opposite and in pairs, or alternate. Flowers showy, in loose or closely packed terminal clusters, ranging from white to red, pale lilac, or purple, the corolla tube usually having an eyelike marking at the opening. Calyx of 5 sepals united halfway down. Corolla of 5 united petals forming a short, narrow tube. Stamens 5, usually enclosed in the corolla tube.

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Here are some things you will need to add to your greenhouse over the months:

Benches and Shelves

Unless you have planned this greenhouse for a long time and have a supply of good soil ready, the soil required for your first year’s planting may have to be included in your budget. More than just plain garden soil is needed for potting most greenhouse-grown plants. Garden or field loam can make up as much as a third of the mixture, but it should be enriched with another third of organic material.

Vermiculite or sand is the other third. With an established compost pile or a heap of leaf-mold, you will find it necessary to purchase only such organics as sphagnum moss, peatmoss, or peat. Sphagnum moss wholesales at a few dollars a bale plus shipping charges; granulated peatmoss and horticultural peat. Leafmold is priced at cheaply per bushel. Special potting materials such as osmunda fiber (an old-time medium for orchids ) can cost a fair amount, shredded wood and bark, used increasingly of late in orchid culture, is (or was) priced very reasonably. (more…)

A seasonally flooded bottomland with more woody plants than a marsh and better drainage than a bog.

If I were a carrot, I would be up at arms; in surveys worldwide, it always comes in second to the potato in popularity. The potato is a delicious and nutritious vegetable, easily adaptable to many ways of cooking and varied recipes, no doubt, but the carrot’s virtues are plentiful as well. Like the potato, the carrot comes in a multitude of eye-pleasing colors: orange, white, yellow, red, and maroon to name a few. While carrots do grow in the wild, most are familiar with the cultivated carrot that most commonly makes its way to the world’s dinner tables. There exist several hundred varieties of carrots with over fifty different kinds of seeds readily available. Carrots are extremely rich in nutritional value and are such hearty growers; no backyard garden should be without them. (more…)

Having a raise is not just about planting crops and harvesting it. There is a lot of work to be done to safeguard it from disease, rats and the season. Since these areas are typically big and want a lot of person power, scientists have come up with a better idea.

This planned is to grow cropping in a controlled environment which makes it tranquil to grow crops throughout the year. This configured which can be big or small depending on the open opening in the plow is known as the greenhouse.

A greenhouse is an enclosed shop that is usually made up of metal, copse and tumbler. These structures are intended so that the planter can grow vegetables, plants and fruits. The self could buy one and have it assembled in the raise or have it custom made according to certain specifications.

This new style has better outcome than burden farming the non-organic way such as the use of dirt, irradiation, pesticides and herbicides. These is only after tests have revealed that this is a strength venture that does more harm than good. (more…)

It is not only important to get rid of pests from your garden, but it is also important to prevent them from destroying your garden. You can use chemicals in the form of pesticides to do this, but it may be as harmful to you as it is to the pests. It is also not good for the plants that grow in your garden. Using these chemicals has also been shown to be related to the cause of a number of diseases like Lymphoma, cancer, birth defects etc. These chemicals are also expensive. Hence using organic garden pest control strategies are beneficial for you and the plants.

One of the first steps you can take is using organic soil. Organic soil aids in the proper growth of plants and thus makes it better equipped to ward off the threats by your pests. You must use compost bins and compost pails, which is an integral part in organic garden pest control, which can be used to produce compost at home. There are several repellents that are good organic recipes for pest control like orange guard and organic insect killer repellent that can be used to kill or repel insects and bugs. These are non toxic in nature and provide effective results in killing or repelling the pests. (more…)

Cucumber family
Cucurbitaceae
Ben-in-kay’sa. A pumpkinlike and tendril-bearing Asiatic vine. Known here for its ornamental fruit; in China it is the source of the Chinese preserving melon.

Description
Fleshy and creeping vine. Leaves alternate, large, and angled. Flowers solitary, yellow, large, the stamens and pistils never in the same flower. Fruit large, melonlike, but without a hard rind.

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If your garden is not attacked by the pests, the gardening is easy. In fact, the gardening is not easy. There are a lot of factors that will harmful your garden. The most important factor is the pests.

The pests may be prevented by the garden cleanliness. Like the human, they will protect the illness by the healthful conditions.

You should to plan about “How to keeping the pests down?”. The earthworms will stir up the soil. This makes the soil to contact the water and air for all times. The insect is the best feed of the bird. Some insects will harmful the other insects, too. The toads are the wonderful insect hunter. They will eat a lot of small insects all day. They are the best friend of your garden. (more…)

An old-fashioned term used to describe exceedingly acid, unhealthy soil, which sometimes has a sour smell. See also sweet soil.

A bonsai kit is a perfect gift for any loved one born with a green thumb. You can either make your own bonsai kit or purchase one from any gardening shop.

Tips for Making and Designing Bonsai Kits Here’s a list of what your bonsai kit should include:

Bonsai Tree – Before giving away your bonsai kit, do try to determine whether your recipient would wish to have an indoor or outdoor bonsai tree. Secondly, determine which bonsai tree specie you believe your recipient would have the greatest affinity to. As some bonsai tree species are more difficult to grow than others, make sure that you choose the appropriate specie if you’re giving a bonsai kit to a child. (more…)

Milkweed family
Asclepiadaceae
Ox-y-pet’a-lum. About 125 species of Central or South American herbs.

Description
Leaves opposite. Flowers with 5-part corolla, in open cymes.

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Imagine yourself in a lush garden. Just you in the middle of a peaceful, green garden, relaxing and not having a care in the world. What would make that setting more ideal is the sound of water just rushing down or flowing in a stream. Here is where having a fountain in your garden would come in handy.

Fountains in your garden make it more exquisite and definitely better to look at. A lot of people appreciate the sound of running water in their gardens; it offers a more relaxing and serene ambiance right outside your house. It is perfect if you want a quick getaway from the busy life you lead. This offers you a quick break from a hectic schedule.

First, you need to visualize where you are going to put the fountain in your garden; you cannot just put down fountains randomly around your garden. You have to remember that not only are you putting in a fountain for ambiance, you are also putting one down to make your garden look good. And with that in mind, you need to figure out first where in your garden the fountain would look perfect. (more…)

See macronutrients; micronutrients.

When planning to build your own greenhouse there are several things you should research and understand. Whether taking steps toward developing a new hobby, or starting your own business, knowing what type of greenhouse will suit your needs is essential to your success. Building the proper greenhouse is the first step.

There are two basic types of greenhouses: attached and free-standing. Attached greenhouses come in either lean-to or even-span. Both are built so they are attached as a part of your house. They are convenient because you can step out your door and into your greenhouse without ever setting foot outside. This is preferable when weather is bad. If you have an outside wall facing south or southeast, the attached greenhouse can be energy efficient, and in colder months can contribute to the heating of your home. (more…)

Borage family
Boraginaceae
He-li-o-tro’pi-um. Over 200 species of mainly tropical or subtropical herbs, some woody, one a widely cultivated garden plant grown for its fragrant flowers.

Description
Leaves mostly alternate, usually hairy. Flowers small, borne in forking, usually 1-sided cymes. Calyx tubular, as long as the corolla in some species. Corolla tubular, stamens not protruding from it.

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In a small garden, where the patio or decking occupies a significant proportion, or if you have only a yard or roof garden available, container gardening is a good solution to the planting problem. In addition, it can give you a garden that is easily rearranged, which adds an extra dimension of interest to what you have. As with your overall garden plan, a little forethought can pay dividends.

For example, the size of pots needs consideration. A whole host of small pots will add flexibility and are easy to move around but they will take more frequent watering, whereas larger pots require less watering as they contain more soil or compost but moving them is not so easy. A compromise is to have a mixture of container sizes, with larger, more architectural plants in a few large containers that will be moved infrequently some medium sized ones that can be moved around more frequently and then some smaller, easy to move pots containing the smaller plants that can be moved round easily whenever you want. If you want a pot that will contain several different plants, a strawberry planter is ideal. (more…)

Hydroponic gardening is not just for professional cultivators anymore, although these professionals depend on hydroponic kits for indoor setups it is also a great way for beginners in indoor gardening. The hydroponic kits these days are build with plug and play features which makes them also suited for the beginners. Most manufacturers build there systems with specific features and we will take a closer look at them in this article.

Oxygen and Nutrients

Without Oxygen and the proper nutrients plants will not grow healthy, and that is why most manufacturers have accommodated their hydroponic kits with highly oxygenated nutrient solutions. They even use, in some cases, large sized aerator stones. These highly oxygenated solutions helps the roots and the plants to grow healthily and vigorously. The healthy growth is specifically influenced by the high content of oxygen in the nutrients. (more…)

The botanical name for catchfly or campion.