Plant Gardens 101

If you think that creating the garden of your dreams with just a few hours of work is possible you are probably wrong since sooner or later it will become obvious that this is much more of a complex task that one could possibly foretell. There is a way you could get the garden of your dreams in just a few days but that would require landscape designers, a landscape crew and a lot of money. It is true that these designers do a wonderful job but the only drawback is that the finished product of these professionals will present their concepts, ideas and personality. It means you will have their dream garden on your property and not yours.

Planning and imagining is part of the work a gardener needs to perform in order to achieve the garden of his dreams. You are for sure wondering if having a garden requires much work? The answer is YES! BUT that work is enjoyable and each hour of effort you put in your garden will reward you with a great sense of accomplishment when you finally take a look at the end result. Just think about the moment when you will be able to stand back and enjoy the beautiful landscape that you were able to built with your own hands. (more…)

There are various species suitable to use for indoor bonsai trees. Some of these include Ficus, Serissa, Boxwood, and Gardenia. If you want to grow your own miniature tree indoors, you will need to know a few things beforehand. This article will give you a few tips on growing indoor bonsai trees.

Light
Indoor trees usually require between four and six hours of light each day. It’s best to put them near a window that faces south. This will allow them to receive morning sun and shade in the afternoon. If a southern facing window isn’t an option, you can put them on a window fill that faces west or east.

Windows facing in either of these three directions are best. However, if you only have a window that faces north, you can put your tree there. You will need to use a grow light in this situation though.

Humidity
Indoor bonsai trees will suffer if you don’t provide them with enough humidity. The heating system in your home will reduce the amount of humidity available. You should put your tree in a small tray filled with water and gravel. There will be plenty of moisture available as the water evaporates. You can also mist the leaves with water a little bit.

Water
These trees usually don’t need to be watered everyday. Water requirements depend on the type of pot you’re using, the specific species you’re growing, and the type of soil in the pot. However, since they trees are in small pots, they will probably dry out very quickly. You should monitor this frequently by sticking your finger in the soil to see how moist it is. If the tree is receiving a lot of sun, it will require more water.

These are a few tips on caring for indoor bonsai trees. There are many more things that you need to learn about growing bonsai trees. So, click here now to learn everything you need to know about bonsai tree care.

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Butterflies are colorful creatures that are special and wonderful additions to your garden. A carefully planned garden can attract butterflies that sip nectar from many flowers and search for a place to lay their larvae. Butterfly gardens are basically organic gardens that use no chemicals. With this in mind, be sure to create a safety zone for your butterflies. Habitual zones and places where areas of the landscape meet with the tree lines are favorite safe places for them. It is also helpful to find out what kinds of butterflies are native to your area so you can find appropriate plants for them.

Fennel, parsley and dill are wonderful plants for attracting Anise Swallowtail and the Black Swallowtail butterfly. Lupine flowers are a favorite with Fritillary butterfly and Snapdragons are a great choice of attracting butterflies that are native to your own area. To attract butterflies in passing, early butterfly gardens are often sufficient; however, gardens that offer a safe haven for them will urge the butterflies to stay longer. Most butterflies are active in the mid to late summer, so it is important that you also have plants available to them during that time. You can also use a home made feeder as a supplement the garden’s flower nectar. To make a home made feeder from a small jar, drill a small hole in the middle of the lid and plug the hole with cotton. Next fill the jar with a solution of nine parts water and one part sugar, attach brightly colored fabric petals to the lid and hang your feeder in a tree near your garden. (more…)

Want to know how to start gardening? Confused where to start? Let Fran help you with easy to follow tips and advice. This article gives practical suggestions on how to minimise slug and snail damage in your garden!

One of the most common problems faced by gardeners is the one of slugs and snails. Even experienced gardeners tear their collective hair out at the destruction these creatures can cause. So I thought I would give you a few tried and tested tips, and some others perhaps not so well known, to help you deal with them – you won’t get rid of them all together, but at least you will be able to keep them under some sort of control!

They may not all work for you – a lot depends on just how bad the problem is where you live – but it is certainly worth trying some if not all of them. (more…)

A lot of people may have in silence and in secret thought dreamt of having their very own garden at home. Think of getting those organic greens or picking those freshest lush tomatoes straight from its stems or perhaps imagine opening your windows early morning and being greeted by flourishing blooms from your flower garden. However, for many people these things remain but a dream reasoning that a lot of factors have kept them from fulfilling this fantasy. Keeping a great home garden is not an easy feat.

Unless you have one of those gifted green thumbs, maintaining a well tended garden can entail a lot of hard work. Further, at this time and age when most of us are always on the go, a hectic lifestyle does not allow enough time for us to attend to and cultivate a home garden. Here are however a few tips that could help you in taking care of your garden with less effort and less time. (more…)

As a rule, we choose to grow bush beans rather than pole beans. I cannot make up my mind whether or not this is from sheer laziness. In a city backyard the tall varieties might perhaps be a problem since it would be difficult to get poles. But these running beans can be trained along old fences and with little urging will run up the stalks of the tallest sunflowers. So that settles the pole question. There is an ornamental side to the bean question. Suppose you plant these tall beans at the extreme rear end of each vegetable row. Make arches with supple tree limbs, binding them over to form the arch. Train the beans over these. When one stands facing the garden, what a beautiful terminus these bean arches make.

Beans like rich, warm, sandy soil. In order to assist the soil be sure to dig deeply, and work it over thoroughly for bean culture. It never does to plant beans before the world has warmed up from its spring chills. There is another advantage in early digging of soil. It brings to the surface eggs and larvae of insects. The birds eager for food will even follow the plough to pick from the soil these choice morsels. A little lime worked in with the soil is helpful in the cultivation of beans. (more…)

Growing chillies is fantastic fun but results often depend on the climate where you live. However, there are things you can do to grow excellent quality and quantities of chillies in most climates.

I live in an area where chillies do not grow very well outdoors so I grow them in a greenhouse but what I am going to talk about here can be used when growing outdoors.

The first thing to think about is seed. You can walk into a supermarket, buy a chilli and use the seeds from the chilli you cook with. Not after you have cooked them though. It is better to buy from a specialist seed company though as these seeds will be from chillies which have been specially grown for their seeds. You can buy these from supermarkets, DIY stores or major seed supply companies. However, I like to buy my chilli seeds from specialist chilli growers. They are easy enough to find now that the internet has been developed but my Grandfather never had the internet yet he found a specialist company many years ago before chillies became a popular food in the UK.

So how do you grow them. Well you could just throw a few seeds in a pot and hope for the best but by taking some careful steps you can maximise your success. (more…)

Cloning is the process of making an identical copy of something. In plant propagation, cloning is a way to asexually reproduce a plant. Plants produced in this way are genetically identical to the parent plant. Plant cells exhibit a trait known as totipotency, meaning they all have the ability to divide and make another plant.

Many people choose to clone because it can actually create a new plant faster than seed propagation. Others choose to clone in order to make copies of genetically superior plants. It is not uncommon for an experienced hydroponic gardener to have his grow room be mostly filled with clones of a single original plant.

In hydroponics, the most common method of plant cloning is making a cutting. This simply involves cutting off a part of the “parent plant” and planting it in the medium. Since each cell in a plant has the ability to grow every part necessary for the plant’s survival, this will create an entirely new plant if done properly. (more…)

What a difference a little warm weather makes! Although Spring has been so late this year, my garden is starting to grow…especially the weeds. Why is it that they grow so well, even with the cold and lack of rain? But at least my tomatoes and runner beans are starting to grow too. The trouble is, I’m spending so many hours bending over to do the weeding and digging, that I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll ever stand up straight again. It is important to remember that we cannot do the things we used to be able to do when we were 20! Or maybe we can still do them, just not for so long. Gardening is a very healthy pastime, though, if you enjoy it. Lots of different bending, stretching and lifting…all while outside in the fresh air. But when we have been sitting indoors through the winter, we need to get our muscles used to working harder again, so we don’t sprain something.

It is also surprising how much you can catch the sun without realising it when you are concentrating on a patch of garden. I have just spent the weekend outside and, although it was not very hot or sunny, I have managed to get some pink skin round my neck and hands. It’s not just for a two-week holiday abroad that we need to sunscreen. Quite a short time in a sunny, but breezy, garden can mean sore skin and we often don’t realise that we are catching the sun at this time of year because it is not that hot. Better to be safe than sorry, though, and put on some skin protection and a hat. (more…)

Imagine eating luscious red strawberries fresh from your garden still warm from the sun. What a treat and that treat can be yours. Here are easy tips for growing strawberries.

Strawberries need at least six hours of sun a day to flower and set fruit. Keep that in mind when selecting a site for your berries. Strawberry pots, those big pots with little holes in the sides are not ideal for strawberries because they dry out too fast.

Strawberries prefer rich soil. Dig down about six inches with a sturdy shovel and turn the dirt over. Remove rocks and twigs and sprinkle in a slow release fertilizer per package directions. Add a bag of compost or well rotted manure for every 8 square feet of your strawberry patch. For example if your patch is 12 feet by 12 feet you would need 4 bags. Spread the compost evenly and then turn over the soil again to mix the fertilizer and compost into the soil. (more…)

Unless you are a professional landscaper, or have plenty of experience tending to your own lawn and garden, knowing how best to care of plants can be difficult. For many individuals, gardening is a trial and error process, often ending with many dead plants. This is often due to over-watering plants. Actually, plants are more likely to be killed by watering them too much than too little. To the casual gardener, this can be a source of frustration. Here are a few simple tips and tricks for knowing when and how much to water plants.

When to Water
Watering plants should be easy, right? Just pour water into the soil on a regular basis and your plants should thrive. Unfortunately, it’s not as simple as that. Watering plants every day, every two days or on any sort of regular basis can deprive some plants of the water that they need while drowning others in kindness. How do you know when you should water your plants? (more…)

Gardening is America’s number one hobby. We all know too well of the aches and pains that can come from our favorite past time! Here are a few tips that can help minimize the stress on your body and keep you healthy.

Protect those Joints:

Use tools with padded handles and easy spring-loaded handles to minimize stiffness in the hands. If you are spending time on your knees, wear kneepads; use a knee cushion or a kneeler seat. These items will cushion the knee joint and reduce pressure.

Conserve your energy:

Think Ahead! Carry all the hand tools you may use in a bucket and your large tools in a cart. This will save you many trips to the shed or garage. Sitting or kneeling on a Kneeler Seat instead of bending over will save your back, hips and legs from tiredness and stress. A Kneeler Seat is a low seat, and turned upside down it’s perfect for kneeling and the handles will help you get back up. They are generally cushioned on both sides for comfort. (more…)

“In the driest whitest stretch of pain’s infinite desert, I lost my sanity and found this rose.” – Rumi

The ancient Muslim poet, jurist, and theologian, Jalal ad-Din Muhammad Rumi, may not have stumbled madly upon the very first rose back in 13th century Persia but he certainly immortalized it poignantly in his writing.

Roses are believed to have originated in ancient Persia but their cultivation quickly spread across the Northern Hemisphere, first from China to Europe and finally to North America. Rose enthusiasts throughout time and geography have helped to spread the cultivation and the adoration of this arrestingly lovely flowers to the point that, today, there are more than 20,000 varieties available.

Today’s roses run the gamut of the color spectrum. Roses come in every color, including the elusive blue and black ones that have dogged rose breeders for ages. Every shade of every color is represented, too, with many rose blossoms sporting multiple colors or shades. (more…)

Every gardening pro and green thumb novice knows the value of owning a reliable potting table. These simple but effective benches help to organize and consolidate garden work so that it’s easy, fun and convenient. Whether you decide to purchase or build your own, once you’ve got the basic frame of your potting table set up, there are some handy tidbits you can employ to further streamline your outdoor experience. Some of these add-ons already come with benches, while others can be added on without too much effort.

One of the most important functions of potting benches is to act as storage units for all your gardening equipment. While most models come with a number of tiered shelves for larger object storage, you may want to consider organizing your smaller tools separately. Hooks attached to the side of the potting table keep gardening tools handy but out of the way. Another option is a back screen, made from pegboard, latticework or galvanized metal upon which tools can be hung. (more…)

Summer is coming and there’s nothing more beautiful than a rose bush covered with lush blossoms and healthy green leaves. How to grow roses without a lot of strain and effort? Follow these 4 tips and you can grow healthy roses.

Prepare the soil
If you’re planting a rose bush dig a hole about 1 and half times as deep as the rose bush container and twice as wide. Add slow release fertilizer per package directions to the bottom of the hole, then a shovel full of compost, a shovel of the soil you removed and a bit more fertilizer. Remove the rose bush gently from the container and set in the hole. The soil line on the rose bush from the container should be the same as in your garden. If it’s too high remove a bit more soil from the planting hole. If it’s a bit too low add another shovel of soil. When it’s just right, gently scratch the roots from the bottom of the root ball and around the sides. That will encourage the roots to start branching out into the new hole. (more…)

There are two primary benefits you can enjoy if you choose to build a bonsai nursery of your own and grow your bonsai trees from seed. Firstly, bonsai seeds are cheaper to procure than live bonsai trees. Whereas rare bonsai trees can cost you a considerable amount of money, a packet of seeds of the same bonsai tree species may just cost you $5.

Secondly, nursing bonsai trees from seed will give you God-like powers over every aspect of your plants. You can fully control all aspects of your bonsai tree to ensure that it grows according to your plans.

Tips on Nurturing Your Bonsai Nursery (more…)

Finding someone who doesn’t like flowers is like finding someone who doesn’t like sunshine. The uplifting and beautiful colors and blooms brought on by the multitude of flower species are what makes planter boxes so popular, especially in urban centers where green space is scarce. It’s not only flowers that people plant, though. There are some incredible edibles that you can grow easily at home in your window sill or freestanding planter boxes. What exactly should one plant in these mini-gardens? Herbs, vegetables and flowers tend to flourish in this environment. Here, along with what types to plant are a few helpful hints on how to do it. So even if you’re guilty of killing everything your butterfingers touch, there’s hope yet to turn you into a green thumb.

For starting out, herbs are practically foolproof and their smaller sized plants fit perfectly in compact planter boxes. Place them indoors, outdoors, in most any kind of sunlight. It’s hard to mess these guys up. As a starter, try your hand at cilantro, basil, chives or whatever your favorite spices are. There is absolutely zero comparison between the taste of dull, store-bought dried herbs and fresh from the garden herbs. And if you’ve bought fresh herbs from the grocer, you know how expensive they are and how quickly they wilt in the fridge. The best part is, once the weather turns cold, smaller planter boxes can be brought indoors for yearround fresh herbs. (more…)

Pruning bonsai trees is important if you want them to stay healthy and looking their best. If you’re new to the process, there are a few things you need to know. This article will give you a few tips to get you started.

Timing
You should make sure that you prune your bonsai at least once every year. Most gardeners do this during the growing season. By pruning away new growth, you will help maintain the shape of your tree. If you’re looking to get rid of old season’s growth, you should do so in the fall.

Pruning bonsai trees can also be done during the winter if you want. If you have a deciduous tree, it will be a little easier for you to see what needs to be cut. However, you shouldn’t prune if the temperature outside is below freezing. The wood will likely shatter when you cut it. (more…)

Redcurrants, and their less well known cousins, whitecurrants are some of the most useful, and most easily grown fruit bushes available to the gardener. Not only do they produce tasty nutritious fruit, crammed with Vitamin C and anti-oxidants but they have good ornamental value and, being extremely hardy, they will grow in colder spots and on poorer ground than most other fruit. Every garden should have redcurrants, so here are some tips and tricks to help grow them successfully.

Varieties first. For redcurrants, Junifer is early and excellent while Rovada (which is one of the best tasting redcurrants there is) crops later. Whitecurrants are thinner on the ground but I like Blanka which yields better thanVersailles (don’t turn your nose up at whitecurrants – their jelly is sensational). All the varieties named have good disease resistance.

Redcurrants and whitecurrants are both completely self-fertile, so there is none of the poring over books needed to decide what goes with what. (more…)

If you think it’s difficult to grow beautiful and healthy roses, think again. Below are a few tips that will get you well on your way.

Prepare the soil
Roses require rich and loamy soil. When choosing a spot to plant new roses pick one that gets at least six hours of sunshine a day. Roses don’t like their feet wet so stay away from areas that don’t drain well. Dig a hole twice as deep and wide as your rose bush container. Backfill the hole with a mixture of 50% compost and 50% of the soil you’ve removed. Sprinkle in slow release fertilizer per the package directions. Please the rose in the prepared hole. Make sure the soil line on the rose is at the same level as the soil line in your garden. You may have to fill the hole a little more or remove a bit of soil. When you’re satisfied, place the bush in the hole and fill the hole half way and water well. When the water has drained completely fill in the hole. (more…)