Archive for Gardening
Options For Building Inexpensive Garden Paths
Posted by: | CommentsBy Scott M. Free and Nickolie Allen Greer
Photo by UGArdener
Creating a walkway or path for your garden, flowerbed or lawn is a superb way of adding a glorious touch to the outdoor environment. There are innumerable options from where you can make a choice. Quite a few options have been mentioned below; let’s take a look at them:
• Basic Brick Pathway: The first thing that comes into our mind before creating walkways or paths is bricks. Using bricks you can give any desired shape to your path. In simple words, using bricks you can create several paths such as winding, meandering as well as narrow.
What’s more interesting is that bricks are available in various patterns and designs. You may even choose whether you desire to set the path in concrete or sand. Almost all people prefer opting for a concrete base!
Read More→
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Salsa & Sangria: Making Fresh Heirloom Tomatoe Salsa with Local Organic Produce
Posted by: | CommentsIn this video we made some really great heirloom tomato salsa from local organic produce, bought at the Ann Arbor Farmers Market.
Our goal here was to show
1) that is easy and fun to do and
2) to make a point about eating fresh foods that also support local farmers.
3) Plus, that we could play some Spanish opera while making salsa and get away with it 
Read More→
Originally posted 2009-10-13 16:02:53. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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The Right Plant in the Right Place
Posted by: | CommentsI always hear people say they don’t have a green thumb. This is of course very silly thinking. When you are building and planning a garden you simply need to do a tiny bit of research. A successful garden is about 80 percent choosing the right plant for the right spot. Frankly some spots are like the surface of the moon, nothing will grow there. Find an alternative: try a rock garden. But research first.
If you have a giant Maple and nothing grows under it. You may need to create a raised bed. But some research would tell you not deeper than two inches, as anything more may kill the tree.
Don’t plant Rododendrums in a sunny spot that is solid clay. They just won’t really grow well. They would be happier under some pine trees in some nice acidic and loamy soil.
Got a spot that is smoking hot and dry? Don’t try to plant a rose garden there…unless you want it to look terrible. Try some Sedum, Cone Flower, Oriental Lillies, Butterfly Weed, Ornamental Grass and maybe a double knock-out rose might be O.K. if you get it some water a few times a week. They kind of thrive on neglect.
A little research goes a long ways to creating a successful and thriving garden.
Visit my other blog GartenGrl for some other ideas I have about gardening.
Originally posted 2009-03-29 17:13:01. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Vermicomposting – Red Worms and Their Composting Wonders
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Photo by Eva the WeaverBy James W Shaw
Garden farmers nowadays are very fond of using red worms for their organic garden. This is because of the red worms’ ability to convert organic material into compost, a substance that is beneficial to garden farms. While it is important for garden farmers to understand what these red worms need to be healthy and productive, it is also important to understand how their body works and how they digest their food and produce the worm castings that garden farmers use to cultivate their farms.
Red worms are also called red wigglers because of their reaction to being touched. Usually when red wigglers are handled, their natural reaction is to wriggle about, thus the name red wigglers. Red wigglers are manure type worms. This means that they will consume almost any form of organic material. They belong to the family Lumbricidae and they are one of the most popular worms in commercial production today. This is largely due to their popularity among garden farmers. Farmers prefer worms over earthworms for the reason that they are more effective at converting organic material into worm castings than earthworms. Read More→
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Friendly Neighbors-Gardening in Style
Posted by: | Commentsby:
COOPER HILL
Gardeners growing vegetables find that companion planting provides many benefits, one of which is protection from garden pests. A major enemy of the carrot is the carrot fly, whereas the leek suffers from the onion fly and leek moth. Yet when leek and carrot live together in companionship, the strong and strangely different smell of the partner plant repels the insects so much that they do not even attempt to lay their eggs on the neighbor plant. They take off speedily to get away from the smell. This is why mixed plantings give better insect control than mono-culture, where many plants of the same type are planted together in row after row.
Read More→
Originally posted 2009-09-30 14:53:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Organic Gardening – Improving the Soil in Your Green Garden
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Organic Gardening – Improving the Soil in Your Green Garden
By John Yazo
Green gardening is a method that your plant will grow a healthy and productive life by feeding off natural nutrients in your gardens soil. These nutrients are supplied by organic matter you add to your gardens so that nature can decompose it and turn it into a nutrient rich humus. This final product is what will improve your gardens soil structure and greatly benefit the plants you are growing, like your flowers, fruits, herbs and vegetables.
Composting is a great method of recycling your organic household and yard waste into a nutrient rich humus for your gardening needs. It is also a eco-friendly method of putting the organic household and yard waste that you accumulate to good use. Read More→
Originally posted 2009-06-30 08:18:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Hydrangeas Can Be A Garden Challenge
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Photo by greenhem
One must have some gardening knowledge when it comes to having abundant blooms with hydrangeas. They can be tricky to prune so they bloom abundantly. They are particular about what kind of soil and fertilizer they receive for bloom color. Hydrangeas are also choosy about what kind of light conditions they will do best in-partial shade is just the beginning.The following notes are meant to help guide you with your different Hydrangea plants so you will get the most out of them.
Hydrangeas come in a few different varieties. One type is called Hydrangea Arborescence which usually have big white snow balls on them-these hydrangeas bloom on “new” wood. Because Hydrangea Arborescence varieties bloom on “new” wood they can be pruned in the fall. They will produce new stalks in the spring which will bloom. The tree form hydrangeas you see which are also usually white are called Paniculata hydrangeas and they too should be pruned in the late Fall. Seems simple: white flowers, prune in fall.
It gets more complicated when you realize that there are other kinds of hydrangeas called Hydrangea Macrophyllas-these are the kind of hydrangeas that have pink or blue flowers. These bloom on “old” wood and can ONLY be pruned before July the year before…did I say this was tricky or what?There is also Oakleaf hydrangea which is also an “old” wood bloomer. So when would you prune it??That’s right-summer before….tell me about it…so confusing. Read More→
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Choosing the Right Annual For The Right Spot
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Choosing the Right Annual For The Right Spot
Every year when it comes time to plant your annuals there a few things you need to consider. The location of where you are planting, is the danger of frost past, what kind of irrigation system you are dealing with, what kinds of annuals and what sort of feel you want your garden bed to have.
Before you can even make any decisions about the colors and flowers you want to use you need to consider the location of your garden. For example, if you live in Michigan you need to know that Michigan has hot and dry summers, and late spring frosts. In this case you would want to pick an annual that can handle a light frost, such as marigolds, or begonias and can also handle the very hot and dry summer weather. The annual should hold up in extreme heat, but remember that all annuals need to be 
watered regularly, not over watered or you will just have dead annuals.
Is the spot a dry shade, wet shade, dry sun, wet sun, somewhere in between?
You need to know how much sun this location gets. Is it morning sun which is cooler or is it afternoon sun which is more brutal?
Does the spot get 6 hours of sun or less…because if it gets less than 6 hours, a full sun plant will not thrive. You are better off with a partial sun/shade choice.
So the next thing you want to consider is what kind of irrigation system do you have. If you have one that is professionally installed and basically waters the whole bed, then just make sure you adjust it to water only about 3 or 4 days a week for about half an hour.
Plants do not need water every day! In fact their roots need to dry out just a little so that they are encouraged to grow and reach
for the water. If you water a plant too much it will surely die as if you never watered it at all.
Perhaps you do not have an irrigation system and will be watering by hand. Well that is something to consider as well. You will need to choose an annual that can go a few days without water in an emergency…like if you go away for a day or two. Find out from your local nursery what kind of watering is recommended for your particular region. They are usually very helpful and knowledgable. Read More→
Originally posted 2009-06-28 19:42:11. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Interpret Your Garden As a Painting – 3 Artist’s Tools For Developing Contrast and Imagination
By Dorothy Fagan
Contrast is the most important element in designing a painting or a garden. Without contrast ~ everything appears flat and lifeless. Here are three things you can do to see contrast and use it in your garden.
Activate Your Imagination
1. Identify areas of light and shade in your garden. Close your eyes and imagine your Self flying through your garden as if you are a bird. Feel the cool shadiness of the dark areas. Feel the bright sunshine of the light areas. Where will you perch? In the shade? Or in the sun? Where will you eat? In the shade? or in the sun? Where will you sing? Write down your answers and any thoughts which pop to mind along the way.
Originally posted 2009-07-10 09:47:36. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Think First: Pest Control In The Garden
Posted by: | CommentsLet’s take a moment to think about garden pests and how we want to tackle them next year. Winter is a good time to think about this because you have time to do some research and plan your strategy. If you have a bit of wisdom in your pocket you can avoid spraying toxic chemicals which are bad for you, your family, your pets and the wildlife which visit your lovely flower decorated garden.
We often attack pests when we first spot them in our flowers and this knee-jerk approach usually involves harsh chemicals. Let’s take a moment to contemplate the unwanted insects that we know will be visiting our garden and the sensible and safe ways we can make them go away so we can spend time this summer feeding the birds and picking the flowers instead of stressing over chemicals and insect damage.
Slugs are certainly an unwanted visitor in the garden. They leave holes in our hostas making them look like a ragged mess and they also leave slimy trails all over the garden. Yuck. Before you break out the most deadly of slug pellets which will also kill all the snakes, toads and bird feeding creatures you can try some other things. Try slug traps using terra cotta pots turned upside down which flip over in the morning and pick off the slugs. You can throw old newspaper bundles around the garden and pick them up in the morning and throw them in the garbage. You can partially fill soda cans with a solution of beer, water and yeast and then let the slugs crawl in and drown. Coffee grinds around your hostas may keep them at bay as well. These are better than the nerve damaging slug killer you buy at the hardware store. Read More→
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