Plant Gardens 101

Americans are constantly searching for new ways to illuminate their environment, and commercial HID lighting fixtures are leading the way in the business sector. This innovative development in the illumination industry is gaining high status among business owners. A commercial HID lighting fixture, better known as high intensity discharge, offers many benefits. Residential Landscape Lighting and Design has a large selection of commercial HID lighting fixtures for your business, and a professional staff, who can assist you in your selection.

Commercial HID lighting fixtures provide some of the most intense illumination to the naked eye. Take for example a 35 watt HID lamp, and compare it to the standard incandescent bulb. The HID fixture can produce up to 6 times the amount of light as its forerunner. Many commercial HID devices are similar to that produced by natural sunlight. Although not natural in its purest form, the white light produced from these fixtures can improve overall peripheral vision, as well as, enhance visibility. In aviation, a commercial HID lighting fixture plays a critical role in bad weather situations. The combination of a more natural light and the snow white coloring of this illumination results in greater lumens output, which allows planes to land safely. (more…)

The botanical name for Norfolk Island pine.

Easy to understand tips for growing organic. Topics covered include toss and grow annuals, blooming biennials, easy to grow perennials, garden herbs, different types of gardens, and how to identify beneficial garden pests.

Enter The Garden Some people have natural green thumbs and seem to know just what to do to keep their plants healthy, how to transform their outdoor space into a canvas of colorful flowers and beautiful roses, or how to grow incredible vegetable and herb gardens.

This guide is designed for the beginning gardener who is not sure how to sprout a seedling or when to harvest the veggies. It includes basic information on which flowers are easy to grow and maintain, how to choose basil that thrives in your region, and tips for growing perfect tomatoes. (more…)

Perennials are one of my favorite types of plants to have in the garden.

Perennials are flowering plants that go dormant in the winter and return each spring. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of different types of perennials. Perennials have as many different blooming seasons, colors, textures and sizes as there are types. This is what makes perennials so fabulous. Complete gardens can be created from using strictly perennials.

By planting different types of perennials in your gardens you can have color from the first of spring until a hard frost in the fall. If you are lucky enough to live in Planting Zones 8-10 you get to have color all year long!

Some perennials are grown for their striking and beautiful foliage, others for their flower. Some perennials will only bloom once per season, but the show is spectacular! Many perennials will bloom repeatedly throughout the growing season. Dead-heading the spent flowers will encourage more to bloom. Use a good, sharp pair of pruning shears or garden scissors to remove the spent foliage. (more…)

As a species name, means “densely covered with woolly hairs.” For example, the peppermint-scented geranium, Pelargonium tomentosum, has leaves that feel like velvet.

Daisy family
Compositae
Kal-lis’tee-fuss. A single, very variable Asiatic herb, known as the China, or Garden, Aster. Not closely related to the true genus Aster. Good for cutting.

Description
Leaves broadly oval, deeply and irregularly toothed. Flowerheads solitary, at the ends of relatively long stalks.

How to Grow   (more…)

If you have been searching for an outdoor garden storage shed, you might have noticed there is a huge selection to choose from. There are many assorted styles and designs that are available in many sizes. Or perhaps you have been thinking of building your own shed. Before you purchase, or begin to build, here are some tips to consider.

Storage Shed Space:

You will need to determine what you plan to use the shed for. Will it be used for storage, or for a workspace, or maybe combination of both. Measure what you will be storing inside, if you will also use it for a workspace, make sure to leave enough room to move around comfortably. It is always a good idea to buy or build a little bigger than intended. (more…)

The rose, being the most popular garden and cut plant, has over 20,000 cultivars in the Northern Hemisphere alone. This number originates from a conservative figure of only 150-200 species of wild roses. Fossil specimens found in both Colorado and Oregon show that roses have been growing for more than 30 million years to date. More fossil specimens were found in North Africa and are said to be at least 4,000 years old. Variant wise, only five of the massive figures above cut as the most popular: the Hybrid Tea, Floribunda, Grandiflora, Climber, and Miniature roses.

Hybrid Tea roses were first cultivated in 1867 by a French nurseryman named Jean-Baptiste Guillot. He achieved the first Hybrid Tea by budding an old Chinese garden tea rose and a European rose. While it is not as fragrant as the other variants, it is safe to say that this rose is the most popular of all because of its wide selection of colors and its long stem that makes it ideal as a cut blossom. (more…)

A term used to describe a plant without tendrils that climbs by intertwining its stems through other plants, such as vining honeysuckle, Carolina jessamine, or wisteria.

A client in the Heights contracted Exterior Worlds to create an Italian garden with a number of complimentary, classical elements to the front and rear of their home. Their house had a classic Old World appearance to it. It was a two-story structure with a porch and an upstairs balcony. Steps led up to the porch, and shuttered windows with arched tops lined both the porch and the balcony. A stately, old, and very large oak tree grew just next to the house, reaching up and over the top of the house. The architecture and indigenous landscape were an ideal setting to further develop a European look and feel to the property.

We began by installing lights in the trees next to the home in order to illuminate the roof and balcony, and we placed lights under the eaves of the porch and patio to illuminate the surfaces, walls, and windows. We planted a small Italian garden in the front near the trees. In it, we placed a variety of ground cover plant species, shrubbery, and smaller, ornamental trees. This lent an organic sense to a very symmetrical and elegant structure, and helped develop the Classical theme we were asked to create. We completed the design in the front with urns placed on either side of the stairs that led up to the front door. This worked to create a sense of grand entryway that alluded to a sense of Roman antiquity and classical design. (more…)

In organic gardening the use of compost and other natural soil enhancers is a critical part of success. The old saying is: “Good soil, good products.”

When we talk of fertilization for your effective organic gardening, it is almost similarly attributed to mulching. But there are also other aspects such as the introduction of fertilizers that can be available naturally or commercially. Simply defined, it involves placing matter, whether organic or inorganic, around your plants.

Aside from providing fertilization, it also protects your soil. Whether your garden is subjected to heavy rains or at the risk of weed infestation, the mulches provide ample protection and strengthening needed to supplement the natural growth processes of your organic garden vegetables. Aside from this, it also regulates the temperature of the soil; it can also render aesthetic appeal to the garden because it will help improve the ground texture and overall appearance. (more…)

The botanical name for mesquite.

Roses have all times been appreciated for their beauty and elegancy. Since ancient times the rose is the symbol of love and prettiness. They were even identified with various goddesses of love like the Greek goddess Aphrodite or her Roman equal Venus. InEurope rose gardening was established in the 1800s, after perpetual blossoming roses were imported fromChina.

But in the course of time roses’ reputation has gotten a bad change for being hard to grow and maintain. If you are thinking about rose gardening don’t let this myth stop you. While rose gardening can prove to be ambitious, once you master it, it really isn’t that bad.

When you first start rose gardening, you will have to pick out what type of rose you want to plant, and no, I’m not discussing the color. You will have to choose between bare-root, pre-packaged, and container-grown roses. Bare-root roses are sold in the winter and early spring. They should be planted as soon as frosts are over and the ground is warm and workable. Pre-packaged roses are bare-root plants that are sold in a bag or box with something around the roots to keep wet, like sawdust. Container-grown roses are grown; you guessed it, in containers. They will be either budding or already in flower when they get available in the early spring. (more…)

Have you ever noticed that the standard answer for anyone who wants to start living green is to replace all of your light bulbs?

“Oh, you want to help the environment, you better get all new light bulbs.”
“Light bulbs are the way to go.”
“Yes, I changed my light bulbs for the children.”
“Did you watch that Al Gore concert?”
“Yeah, he said I need new light bulbs or the Earth will explode.”

It’s not like old light bulbs were nuclear powered or anything but it’s still a great first step that’s easy for people to accomplish no matter where they live. Whether it’s out in the country on a farm or in a small studio apt in the city people have light bulbs. (more…)

Grass family
Gramineae
Bry’za. A group of slender grasses, usually called quaking grass.

Description
Leaf blades flat, the spikelets suggesting small, flattened hops, often nodding on threadlike stalks.

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The complete female organ of reproduction in flowers. The typical pistil consists of a usually swollen base (the ovary) containing the ovules (which will become the seeds after fertilization), a shanklike stalk (the style), and a club-shaped or variously divided tip (the stigma), which is often sticky. The deposition of pollen on the latter begins the process ending in fertilization.

If you have a bonsai plant, it’s important to remember that caring for them is akin to caring for a baby. Loving and caring is required but it’s not sufficient; you also have to show certain “parenting” skills to ensure that your bonsai plant will enjoy a long and healthy life.

Tip #1 Water is the source of life for all creatures but it’s especially so for bonsai plants. Although they need to be watered more frequently than other types of plants, they also need a precise amount of watering. Anything that’s less or beyond the ideal amount of water can lead to your bonsai plant’s death so it’s important that you ask for professional advice.

Factors that affect the amount of water required by a bonsai plant include but aren’t limited to the type of tree you’re taking care of, what season it is at present, if the tree’s grown outdoors or indoors, and so forth. (more…)

If you have a tiny yard and would like a simple but well-maintained garden, you only need two things – determination and know-how. Here are some tips on how to keep your garden by the yard looking spruced up and glamorous.

1. Deadheading Keep your border free from wilted flowers and dried leaves. Deadheading or removing dead flower heads will encourage the plants to produce more blooms for longer. Many perennials such as geraniums and dahlias, and some annuals benefit from having spent blooms removed

3. Pinch out tops. Certain plants – especially foliage plants like Coleus – respond with a spurt of growth when their tops are pinched out. Pinching out makes the plant much bushier and so more blooms are produced. Fuchsias are prone to becoming leggy unless they are pinched out. (more…)

To apply granular fertilizer to the soil alongside a plant or row of plants during the growing season to stimulate them.

Carrot family
Umbelliferae
Ak-ti-no’tus. A group of about 15 herbs, native to Australia and New Zealand.

Description
Leaves alternate, twice- or thrice-compound, hairy or woolly. Flowers very small and numerous, in dense umbels that are surrounded by raylike bracts.

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