Photo by Leonard John Matthews

When you think of Feng Shui, you mainly associate it with the home or the office, rearranging the furniture and surrounding yourself with objects that attract good luck. However it is not only indoors that can be designed using Feng Shui. You can also use it to create the perfect garden environment.

If a garden is part of your property, Feng Shui should be incorporated into it. That will really help to bring you the best results. We all like our gardens to look impressive and beautiful. It allows us to appreciate our environment a lot more and it helps to release positive energy that helps us flourish. Feng Shui gives us the tools needed to create the most positive outside environment and the best part is that you don’t need a huge garden to use Feng Shui arrangements.

Incorporating Feng Shui into the Garden

Photo by ViaMoi

One of the main factors that you have to take into account when it comes to Feng Shui is that clutter is always a bad thing. This also applies to the garden. If you have a lot of clutter outside of your doorway you won’t attract good energy. Make sure that the entrance to your home looks welcoming and tidy. Also make sure you clean up once Winter is gone. The cold weather and the snow will cause leaves to stick to your lawn and in your flower beds. Once you have tidied everything away, you can truly start to incorporate Feng Shui into the garden.

If you want to plant trees in your garden, aim to plant them at the sides and around the back of your garden. Don’t plant them too close to your home as, although they are fantastic producers of positive energy, they can overshadow the home and look a little too imposing if placed too close. There should always be plenty of natural light shining into your home, so don’t place anything in the garden that will block out the light.

Photo by tassiesim
To draw positive energy into your garden, it’s a good idea to attract birds and butterflies. You can do this by providing a birdbath and plants that attract butterflies. These animals tend to bring positive energy with them, which will help you in your Feng Shui garden goal.
Also apply the Ba Gua to your garden. A lemon or orange tree in the Wealth Area is fabulous to attract prosperity to your life. A fountain or pond is also an amazing thing to have in your garden or front lawn to the left of your front door. Also make sure that you don’t have a tree directly in front of your front door or this will block the entrance of energy to your house.

If you like cacti, never have them inside your home. Instead, try to put them outside the windows, where they will act as protectors of the home.

Statues are also a wonderful addition to your garden, but if you are single, try not to use a statue depicting a single person, try to use pairs of things. Such a statue would do wonders in your Love and Relationships Area. A statue of children playing in your Children and Creativity Area is another option.

Finally, remember that water is the “blood” of your home. Make sure there are no leaks in your sprinklers
or anywhere else, since this will be draining your wealth.
If you live in an apartment and you don’t have a garden, but you have a balcony, make sure you don’t use it as a storage area. Apply all the same principles only at a smaller scale.

The idea is to make your garden, or balcony, as peaceful and relaxing as possible. You can spend months creating the perfect home using Feng Shui techniques. However, if that area isn’t arranged properly, you might be wasting all the efforts that you made inside the home.

Once you have created a nice peaceful garden setting, you will find that it really helps to rejuvenate the mind as well as the body and nothing but good energy will come into your home.

If you want to read more about Feng Shui and find more useful information, visit me at http://www.lifewithfengshui.com

About the Author

Rebeca has been interested in animals and Feng Shui for many years and now she want’s to share her knowledge of these subjects with people in a very light and personal way. Feng Shui has improved her life in many ways, and her cats and dogs, and the fish that came as a part of her passion for Feng Shui, are now a very important part of her life, and she’s very happy to share her experiences with people.

This article is courtesy of  www.articlesbase.com

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Creating the Perfect Garden Using Feng Shui

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Well, it’s that time of year again and fall is upon us. Everyone keeps asking me if I’m done gardening yet and I reply that no in fact things are getting pretty busy in the garden business right now. Believe it or not, I’m so busy right now that I threw out my back yesterday and spent the evening eating ibuprofen…ugh. And spent the morning with my chiropractor! And yes, I’m back in action!

Garden work picks up in the fall because it is the best time split overgrown plants and move them to fill in an empty spot-or perhaps rearrange some plants that were not “working” well together. “Obsessive” gardeners(like me)are never done in the garden. We are constantly looking for the perfect plant combinations that will work well together from spring all the way to fall. One plant can not do this-that would be boring! We tend to think about seasonal combinations of plants. And fall is the best time to think back about what worked well together and what did not…and split and move and maybe put something new in. Since all your other crazy gardener friends are splitting as well, they probably have some weird plants to give you that you won’t be able to resist putting in your garden…which you will have to wait until next year to see if it looks good or not…and the cycle is ever continuing…hence the term “Crazy as a Gardener!” I think I just made that up.

Since you are digging around in the garden anyway it is also the best time to get some bulbs and put those in the ground. I always like to plant bulbs in groups of at least 5…otherwise you just end up with a lonely tulip here and a lonely daffodil there. They just look straggle-ish that way…you won’t get a lot of compliments, trust me. It will look more like you hired a squirrel to do your garden maintenance. Which they will in fact do for free. In fact squirrels and chipmunks will rearrange your bulbs weather you ask them to or not. Gotta love ‘em for being such hard workers. Heck sometimes I do the same thing myself to my neighbors yard…shhhhhh…don’t tell anyone.

Once I’ve finished all that dirty work it’s usually time to look around and start cutting down some of the plants. So I break out my bi-pass clippers, big green tarp, and my rake and get busy cutting down most everything. I don’t cut it all the way to ground, though. I leave about 1/3^rd of the plant to provide winter protection. It just seems cruel to take all the clothes away for winter. I realize that the slugs and fungus can overwinter in this left behind debris, so usually I try to remove diseased debris completely. BTW-this was kind of a weird year for peonies…did anyone notice?I noticed some strange wilt issues early in the summer and I’m sort of ignoring it for the moment.

After I clear out the beds-NOT touching the roses-although I hear it is a good time to apply fungicide-I will rake up excess leaves out of the beds or blow leaves off the beds and into the lawn and then mulch them with the mower. The days of raking every leaf and sending it to god knows where are over. Today the savvy gardener blows them into the yard for the lawn guys to mulch, or just mows’em themselves.

Also, if you have a pond, you really do not want to let leaves fall into it and rot. You need to get those leaves raked up and also pull them out of the pond as best as possible-or you’ll be sorry.

Fall is also a busy time to look around and see what branches and shrubs will need to be pruned in February-Ha ha-that is soooo funny! As if I am going to wander around in 0 degree weather!

It is also a time when you look around and see that you don’t have enough fall interest shrubs and plants in your garden. Note to self for next year!

And you start to feel a little sad about the end of the garden, but a little happy at the same time because you will finally have some time to clean out your basement and maybe do some art work, or organize family pictures, or write someone a letter-do people even do that anymore??

GartenGrl

Originally posted 2009-10-27 13:25:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Garden Note to Self:

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The areas of your landscape can be divided into several sections and areas, which are also known as garden rooms. Garden rooms are spaces where you plant, grow, and display different ideas in gardening in various creative methods. One garden room could be a rose garden, while another could include the use of a water garden, while still another garden room in your landscape could include the use of just purple flowers. Garden rooms are your creation, and only limited to your imagination.
To create the rooms in your landscape where you can be both different and creative you need to actually create some type of walls in your gardens. The walls in your gardens are going to be grown from other larger types of plants. Living fences are one ‘way’ that you can create garden rooms.

Dependable shrubs and hedges that you can use for fences or as wall between the garden rooms include various types such as:

Forsythia is a spring flowering shrubs that would make the country garden room lovely. Long after the spring months, the flowers will die off but the leaves on this shrub will fill in as a wall nicely.

Broadleaf evergreens are another type of shrub that is very popular in creating garden rooms. One in particular is the boxwood. The boxwood can be shaped rounded or with a boxy shape. It will take years to grow to be very tall, but it is a very thick shrub, that will create wonderful walls for the garden rooms. The leaves are very small, appearing in the late spring months and lasting until the very coldest of the winter months.

There are many ‘ways’ that you can create walls in the garden to grow private rooms. Lilacs are a ‘flowering boundary type’ plant that will spread but very slowly. The flowers on the taller bushes create a nice backdrop for many garden rooms. The Border Privet is a smaller shrub that is fast growing. This plant would grow to fill in the walls of any room in the garden.

Juniper evergreens, holly, burning bushes, and even rose bushes grow and tame to produce what will look like walls. When you are creating several different areas in your landscape, you have hundreds of choices of plants, shrubs, or even bushes that will fill in nicely.

One important thing to remember when you start creating your walls for any type of garden room is that the final display inside of the room is going to be accented by the type of plants that you use to create the actual room.

Gordon Goh is author of the free, informative website Simply Flower Garden offering quality useful tips for flower garden lovers.

Article Source

Originally posted 2009-07-31 08:49:54. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Garden Room Boundaries…

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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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The Right Plant in the Right Place

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Photo by UGArdener

• 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!

• Rock-edged Gravel Path: If you are planning to opt for a rock edged gravel path, then your first step lies in laying down a layer of permeable weed mat. Some even recommend that opting for a black plastic lining would be a good option! But it has been found that laying down a layer of black plastic prevents the free flow of water.

• Concrete Paver Walkway: Concrete pavers are available in various colors and patterns. They are reasonably priced and simple to install. Your first step lies in measuring a path that has a width of three feet (approximately). Ensure keeping the path at a safe distance from trees, bushes and hedges. Ensure installing a wooden edge along the pathway’s length. Ensure creating a smooth sand base within the wooden edge. Now check whether the concrete pavers are well fitted to their place or not.

• Crushed Stone Path: Opting for a stone path (crushed) is yet another ideal option if you are planning to create an inexpensive garden pathway. This is indeed a simple and cost effective procedure that goes well with any sort of landscape. Flexible edging helps in creating a curvy as well as a flowing garden path. Crushed stone path is a long lasting one! However you need to replenish it from time to time!

• Flagstone Paths: Flagstone paths are said to be one of the loveliest ways for grooming your garden. This kind of path matches well with any landscape design. The wide range of rock formations produces a perfect counterbalance for excessive geometric spaces. The only thing required on your part is to estimate the amount of square footage that the path will need.

Photo by Fyda

• Loose Fill Paths: In addition to going in for rock or concrete materials, you may even go in for loose filled paths. Soft materials like mulch, bark, crushed seashells or wood may give a beautiful touch to your garden. Remember the fact that if you’ll have to pay much less, if you purchase in bulk quantities. Ensure opting for proper edging if you are really interested in protecting the pathway from weeds. Use a shovel or rake for smooth out the chosen material.

• Platform Walkway: Platform walkways are an ideal way for eliminating any issues concerning edging, weeds or water. Platform walkways are constructed in the like manner as compared to a deck. Interestingly, these pathways come at a fairly reasonable price. – http://commerciallawncareequipment.com/lawncare-report.html

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Scott_M._Free

Originally posted 2010-03-03 14:51:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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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.

Japanese beetle, black vine weevil, fleas and cucumber beetles are some more unwelcome guests in your plants. Japanese beetles like to eat your yellow flowered plants…something to keep in mind when choosing colors for the garden. Black vine weevil enjoy chewing up your rhododendrons in case you were wondering what was eating those edges and cucumber beetles leave polka dot spots all over your daisy leaves.

These beetles can be treated with nerve damaging sprays, or you can try the next new wave in pest control and get a head start on saving the planet by investing in some nematodes. Nematodes are threadlike worms that you mix with water and spray or pour around your plant roots. They must be applied in the evening or on a cloudy wet day as sun exposure will kill them before they can get under the ground. Beneficial Nematodes are like heat sensing missiles that will hunt down the offending beetle grubs and kill them from the inside out. They pose no harm to your family but are an effective weapon against grubs.  Apply them in the spring and again in the fall. They seem perhaps more expensive initially but pay themselves off in one or two years because you no longer need expensive chemicals. They can also be sprayed on the lawn for grub control. These are like the whole body cure for your garden and the planet.

Aphids can be a nuisance especially on roses. You can hit them a few times a day for a few days with a heavy jet of water from the hose. You can also spray them with a mixture of Ivory soap, vegetable oil and water in a spray bottle. You can try predatory lady bugs and praying mantis, but these bugs are kind of like hiring interns to do a job: they don’t always show up when you need them the most and you still have to pay for them.

Everyone hate mosquitos! Citronella is probably your best and most accessible weapon against them in your garden. Firepots filled with citronella gel fuel are a key defense against these invasive and unwelcome garden pests!

If you plan ahead you can put these safe pest control applications to work for you in your garden and feel good knowing you are not poisoning the planet’s already overstressed ecosystems. While these measures may not kill every living pest in your garden you can sleep knowing you are doing your best to create a balanced environment. You are doing the world a favor when you think before you break out the toxic chemicals which kill everything including the honey bees and the butterflies which actually enhance and decorate your garden. Think before you act

Originally posted 2010-02-13 11:25:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Photo by greenhem

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.

Photo by viZZZual.comSo now that you are totally afraid to touch your hydrangeas it’s time to tell you about what you can do to help your Macrophyllas bloom in the color you like…pink or blue. If you want blue you need to acidify the soil and add aluminum to the soil. You can use pine needles, throw down a bunch of pennies or rusty nails(yeah, my thought exactly). Good luck with that because changing the pH of your soil from alkaline to acid is a lot of hard work. If you want pink hydrangeas then a little more clay in the soil and a little less aluminum should work in your favor. Incidentally if you can’t get them to bloom in exactly the right color you were hoping for you can always put a few gazing globes on metal stands in the hydrangea bushes in blue or pink to get the color that way. Or you can tuck some garden decor peaking out of the plant to help bring out the color. It looks nice and gives you the color accent you are looking for without all the hard labor of transforming your soil pH.
If your hydrangeas are still looking kind of strung out it is likely that they are not getting the correct kind of light. They need partial shade. They will live in the sun, but they won’t look good in the sun. They will live in full shade, but they won’t look good in full shade. They specifically need morning sun and afternoon shade. And as the name suggests they do not do well in drought conditions so remember to water them regularly and they should grow so abundantly you can use them as a hedge to hide an unsightly air conditioning unit, or plant them around the base of a bird feeder to hide all the spent seeds.
These tips are meant to help you achieve all your hydrangea bloom dreams. Clearly it is of utmost importance to be armed with some information about what kind of hydrangea plant you are dealing with before you even touch your plant or the soil around it. Once you are armed with this insider knowledge you won’t be afraid to incorporate these lovely flowering shrubs into your garden because they are indeed glorious.

Originally posted 2010-02-19 09:42:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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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.

Even when plants are affected by plant diseases, a mixed plant culture can usually alleviate the situation.It is important to remember that not all “protective” botanicals act quickly. For example, marigolds, to be effective in nematode control, should be grown over at least one full season, and more is better, for their effect is cumulative. One should also realize that certain companion plants will diminish each others natural repelling ability as they grow together. The effects of plants on one another are important outside the vegetable garden, among trees and shrubs as well as grains, grasses, and field crops.

Wild plants also play a vital part in the plant community. Some are accumulator plants – those that have the ability to collect trace minerals from the soil. They actually can store in their tissues up to several hundred times the amount contained in an equal amount of soil. These plants, many of which are considered weeds, are useful as compost, green manure, or mulch. Some are “deep diggers,” sending their roots deep into the ground to penetrate hardpan and helping to condition the soil, and some have value as protectors of garden plants.

Article courtesy of amazines.com

Originally posted 2009-09-30 14:53:30. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Friendly Neighbors-Gardening in Style

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Photo by mbgrigby

Photo by Bitter Jeweler

Originally posted 2010-01-13 14:42:44. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Adult Japanese beetles are one quarter to one half inch long with copper colored wing covers and a shiny metallic green head. Between the green head and tiny tufts of white hair along their side you’ll recognize them easily as they happily munch on your roses.

While they generally don’t eat dogwood, forsythia, holly, lilac, evergreens and Hosta, they’ll eat darn near everything else. These beetles feed on flowers and fruits making a skeleton of the leaves by eating the green parts and leaving the veins. Adults are most active from 9 a.m. – 3 p.m. on warm summer days. These voracious pests prefer plants in direct sun, so shady areas are usually less damaged.

The bacterial spore, sold as ‘Doom’ or ‘Grub Attack’ is generally used to control these pests. Using a hormone lure in your yard simply attracts more beetles to your yard. Put the lure somewhere else a hundred yards away encouraging the beetles to go elsewhere. Unfortunately, reducing the beetles in your yard will not reduce their attacks in succeeding years. These beetles are great fliers and can travel upwards of ten miles from where they hatched.

Handpicking is also effective on your prized plants – drop the beetles into a bucket of soapy water to kill them. There is some data that suggests hand picking is as effective as spraying noxious chemicals and you know you have killed the beetle when it drowns in your soapy bucket. One trick is to hold the bucket of soapy water under the plant and then shake the plant. Beetles will fall off the plant right into the bucket and you’ll get more beetles if you do this in the early morning before they start feeding and flying. Several birds (grackles, cardinals, meadowlarks) feed on the adult beetles so encourage birds in your yard.

If you decide to use a lure, place it at least 100 feet away from your garden. Lures attract beetles and if you place one in your garden, you’ll have all the neighbors beetles visiting as well. Find a neighbor who doesn’t garden to host the lures and traps.

Source: articlecity.com

Originally posted 2009-08-15 15:34:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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Japanese Beetles in the Rose Garden

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