Archive for Tips
Creating the Perfect Garden Using Feng Shui
Posted by: | Commentswritten by Rebecca Rambal
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
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. Read More→
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Caring For Orchids
Posted by: | Commentsby Jan Hartman
Orchids are beautiful, exotic plants that are temperamental, but can be successfully grown indoors as a decorative houseplant Orchids are not that complicated and if you understand caring for orchids and their needs you can grow these exotic and beautiful plants
Orchids are beautiful, exotic plants that are temperamental, but can be successfully grown indoors as a decorative houseplant. Orchids are not that complicated and if you understand caring for orchids and their needs you can grow these exotic and beautiful plants. Read More→
Originally posted 2010-01-26 14:46:55. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Garden Note to Self:
Posted by: | Comments
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!
Originally posted 2009-10-27 13:25:28. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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- Temperature: 27°F;
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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→
Originally posted 2010-03-03 14:51:33. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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- Temperature: 38°F;
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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→
Originally posted 2010-02-13 11:25:49. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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- Temperature: 29°F;
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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→
Originally posted 2010-02-19 09:42:12. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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- Temperature: 21°F;
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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
-- Weather When Posted --
- Temperature: 47°F;
- Humidity: 86%;
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Japanese Beetles in the Rose Garden
Posted by: | Commentsby: Doug Green
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
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About The Author Doug Green, an award winning garden author with 7 books published answers gardening questions in his free gardening newsletter at http://www.learn-rose-gardening.com. |
Originally posted 2009-08-15 15:34:51. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Echinacea or Coneflower – the best thing in your bed
Posted by: | Commentsby: Doug Green
There are few things more exciting for gardeners at this time of year than dreaming of new plants. I’ll focus on a few of the better plants in the next few weeks but let’s start with the best example of new breeding.
Our old North American native friend Echinacea or purple coneflower is really letting loose this coming spring. The work of several major plant-breeding houses is coming to the market and while the plants will be expensive, they are wonderful. The double flowering ‘Razzmatazz’ with its double pink flowers are quite hardy as well as gorgeous. It will be complemented by ‘Doppelganger’ a coneflower that puts one blossom right on top of the first, resembling an apartment of flowers rather than a single bloom. Note that this double-decker flower usually comes into its own in the second year. This one has caught the imagination of the nursery trade almost as much as ‘Sparkler’ a variegated leaf coneflower. The variegation in ‘Sparkler’ is flecked throughout the leaf while the variegation in the equally new ‘Prairie Frost’ is a broad band of cream around each leaf.
I’m also looking forward to having ‘Fragrant Angel’ in my garden as its large white blooms are extremely fragrant. Add the ‘Rocky Top Hybrids’ to this list of coneflowers (mauve flowers and compact growth) and you have an entire menu of new Echinacea to find this coming summer. Two dwarf plants ‘Kim’s Mophead’ and ‘Kim’s Knee High’ will find themselves in my clay pots along with the ‘Rocky Top Hybrids’.
Echinacea ‘Big Sky Sunrise’ has soft lemon-yellow blooms and is a knock out plant in my garden while its cousin ‘Big Sky Sunset’ has wide, very bright orange petals. These are both plants to watch for and pay the price. Hardy in my zone 4 garden.
Plant all these in full sun in well-drained soils and you’ll enjoy them for years. They’re trouble free and easy to grow plants!
Source: Articlecity.com
About The Author
Doug Green, award winning garden author with 7 books published, answers gardening questions in his free newsletter at http://www.gardening-tips-perennials.com
Originally posted 2009-08-22 15:48:34. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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Relief For Mosquito Bites
Posted by: | Comments
We got this in a recent email and thought it would be a great “re”post…
Q: Working in my garden in the evening, I end up covered in bug bites. What can I do to relieve the inflammation?
Dr. Wright: One of the most effective treatments for mosquito bites (or other bug bites) is a paste made of any of the digestive enzymes — pancreatin, bromelain, or papain.
These enzymes come in tablet, capsule, or powder form and are available in any natural food store. The powder form is ready to be mixed, but tablets can be crushed and capsules emptied. Then, combine the resulting powder with as little water as necessary to make a paste. The paste should be applied directly to the bite and reapplied as needed until swelling has reduced.
It’s important to keep in mind, though, that while the enzyme paste is useful against the local swelling and inflammation from bug bites, it won’t treat an infection or allergic reaction brought on by them.
Originally posted 2009-07-27 17:09:40. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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- Pressure: 29.9 in.;