October 2009

Using grow lights is a wonderful tool for starting a spring garden, or to keep a garden going year round in a greenhouse. There are a number of choices in grow lights and they can range from the high tech LED, the high intensity lights, traditional incandescent grow lights, and fluorescent grow lights. More and more people are using grow lights today and it seems that the fluorescent grow light has also become more popular.     

If your only source of light is going to be a grow light it is best if you use about 25 watts of light per square foot of garden. If you are also using sunlight you can probably get by with less wattage unless you want to promote more growth in your plants.

The greenhouse accessories you should consider depend on how you use your greenhouse and where it is located. For the gardener who loves to garden all year long a greenhouse is a perfect setting for cultivating vegetables, herbs, fruits and flowers. In a greenhouse the avid gardener can grow almost anything; the only thing is greenhouse accessories are a little different than standard garden accessories.

The main advantage to growing in a greenhouse is the ability to be control the environment so you can grow the plants of your choice no matter what the outdoor conditions are like. The elements that need to be controlled for the best growing conditions are air circulation, ventilation, temperature, moisture, and lighting. Another advantage to the greenhouse is the fact you have more gardening space because you will not be growing in the actual ground but on different levels of the greenhouse.

Indoor water fountains are one of the most soothing decorations for your home and in an office environment. In the office they are not only calming but it takes away a lot of the stress of an office. Some indoor water fountains can also be installed outdoors on your garden patio.

Some people find it a little worrisome to think that there is water running in their living rooms. The truth is they are completely safe and will create a soothing feeling to everyone in the room. You can place an indoor water fountain just about anywhere in a room; on a table top, free standing on the floor, or on a wall.

There is a wide variety to choose from when it comes to an outdoor hearth for a garden landscape. Some are traditional hearths, freestanding portables, chimineas, and fire pits that are low and circular. Some are wood burning, gas fired, and even some that will burn either wood or gas. An outdoor hearth for a garden landscape will fit any design you have.

Some of them come with a cooking grill and some resemble a charcoal barbecue grill. The outdoor hearth comes in all different sizes and shapes. If you want something very casual, a portable fire pit will probably fit your needs. You can choose, depending on your style, anywhere from contemporary to rustic. Whatever type of outdoor hearth you decide on make sure your local fire regulations will allow you to actually use it.

Growing pumpkins seeds in your own pumpkin patch can be a lot of fun. Your children and maybe the neighbors children can use them for carving their own jack-o-lanterns for Halloween and enjoying the healthy snack of pumpkin seeds coming from you own pumpkin patch..

A lot of gardeners will probably tell you it is easy to grow pumpkins. The hardest part is keeping the pumpkins fresh and not rotting before Halloween arrives that is hard. The mature pumpkin will quickly rot, so it is very important to be sure your pumpkins will be ripe right at Halloween. The variety of pumpkin and the climate where you live will indicate when you should plant your pumpkins. In the northern parts of the United States you should start planting your pumpkins in mid to late May. If you live in the southern sections, this is usually where they grow fast, you should be planting your pumpkins in June.

The beautiful fall foliage and why they turn color is probably one of many questions your children have asked. Some of the leaves will turn red, orange, yellow, even purple, and some will stay green. I want to talk about some of the fall foliage and why they turn color.

The amount of rainfall, air temperature, the storage of food and the length of time the sun is out every day, play a big part in the changing colors of leaves. The plants also need three more things to come together in creating the vivid colors that we see in the fall.

The Christmas cactus with its flowers is an epiphytic cactus that is a native of the country of Brazil. It is a very popular houseplant with segments that are flat and jointed and with rose purple flowers.  These beautiful flowers usually bloom in winter. The Christmas cactus with its flowers can be found in the wild growing in the forks of the limbs of trees; this is where they will feed off decayed leaves.

A Christmas cactus is given its name because, when it is properly cared for, will be in full bloom during the Christmas holiday season. It is crucial to maintain the correct temperature during the fall. They are usually house plants and it is important to keep the inside temperature around 50 degrees F. The plant needs to be away from heating vents and doors that open to the outside, if this is not accomplished the plant will not produce flowers.

Some flowers of Christmas - the poinsettia are one of the most popular during the Christmas holiday. These plants are originally from Central America and Mexico. They are now native to the warmer climates of southwestern U.S. and Mexico and they are vulnerable to the cold and frost. So if you live in the cold areas of the country and are doing Christmas shopping and want to purchase those flowers of Christmas, the poinsettia, be sure you make that purchase your last stop so you can take it right home.

When you are ready to buy your poinsettia plants look for plants that have dark green leaves and brightly colored flowers. If the leaves or flowers are dry or they are turning brown around the edges find another plant. Poinsettia flowers are slow to open, but once they are open and in full bloom they will remain that way and be attractive for a number of weeks. If the weather is cold when you purchase your plant make sure they wrap it well for the trip home as a short exposure to the cold and wind can possibly damage the plant.

Some garden aficionados think that winter is the "off season", but we can have winter flowers in the garden all winter long. This is true for the gardener who enjoys flowers. A true flower gardener also knows that winter flowers in the garden are hardy and will bloom in our gardens periodically from October through March.

It is true that winter flowers are rare in very cold climates. There are only a few flowers that are hardy enough to find their way through frozen soil and snow. However there are many species of flower that can survive in cool conditions, and a just few can live in cold ones.

We need to do a little work for our fall lawn treatment and gardens in preparation for winter and the coming spring season. Our lawns and vegetable and flower gardens are coming into their final harvest. The fall lawn treatment and gardens in our backyards along with the front yards needs to be ready for that cold winter weather.

We need to aid our lawn's recovery from the summer heat and drought and make sure it is ready for the cold winter climates with some fall fertilization. Fall fertilization is probably the most valuable practice we can do for our home lawns. Fewer problems with disease and the weed growth being slower means our lawns will profit from the nutrients, not the pests. This fall fertilization will also help our lawns recover from all the stresses of summer by encouraging deep roots and thicker growth. This will help your lawn have a better competition with the weeds and be able to tolerate insects and disease.

The exterminators and their job of eliminating ants is not an easy one but he will get rid of your problem.The first thing he needs to do is determine what type of ant is causing the problem. In this world there are over 12,000 different species and over 450 of them live in North America alone. The methods of treatment can be very different from one species of ant to another. Fortunately, the exterminators and their job of eliminating ants consist of being able to recognize the problematic species.

As with any type of exterminating, an ant exterminator will take time to understand the entire situation and talk with the client about other concerns. If there are pets or young children living in the home, this may affect how to attack the problem. Poisons can be very harmful to your pets and children, even if it is only a very small amount. Before he recommends any treatment options, the exterminator needs to make a complete tour of the area and have a consultation with the owner.

Aromatherapy and aromatherapy treatment is a matter of healing not just a fragrance. When using aromatherapy, you use aromas for therapeutic reasons. The high concentration of extracts from flowers, herbs, and other plants are used for healing. The extracts are usually known as essential oils. The specific properties of these oils create healing effects from within the human body. Once these fragrances are deeply inhaled or applied on the skin some valuable results can occur. Let's take a look at the basics of aromatherapy and aromatherapy treatment.

Some of the best known advantages of aromatherapy are extended energy, delightful memory association and relaxation. Some of the other advantages can include heightened immune system, stimulants or suppressants of appetite, management of weight and the ability to regulate hormones. Learning how to use aromatherapy to acquire these benefits is important.  

Asters are beautiful fall flowers that will take a dull, drab fall garden and turn it into a colorful, cheery oasis that reminds us of early summer. This perennial is easy to grow, and even the newest gardener can be successful at growing them. There are so many different varieties, that you will have no trouble finding that asters are beautiful fall flowers.

In the spring, check with your local garden centers for aster plants that are hardiest in your region. Before you start planting, keep these three things in mind: sun, moist soil, and space. To be sure that your asters will thrive, try planting them in full sun. Most of the varieties of aster like to soak up the rays of the sun all day long. Rich soils help these flowers flourish, so you will need to add comost to enrich the soil and it will act as mulch.

Now that fall has set in, this is probably a good time to discuss residential pest control and the mole. The holes they made are unsightly on the lawn and do all kinds of damage to the root system of our garden plants. So we need to look at residential pest control for the mole and see if we can get rid of them.

They live in their underground bunkers all year long. We gardeners and lawn care aficionados are made aware of their presence usually during the spring and fall, mainly after bouts of rain, when they push their mounds of dirt up to the surface with a diet that usually consists of adult insects, insect grubs, and earthworms. If you see gnawing damage to your plants it was not done by a mole, but a rodent; moles are not considered as rodents. But the rodents will make good use of the moles tunnels and attack your plants from underground.

A garden setting with outdoor rope lights is very easy to accomplish. They can be installed on a temporary basis or permanently to lighten up patios, decks, driveways, walkways, or any outdoor living space. The bulbs will last thousands of hours, so if you operate them all day long, you won't have to replace them for almost 4 years. A garden setting with outdoor rope lights, is probably the best and easiest way to go when entertaining friends, family, and neighbors.

Because the tubing of the rope lights is very flexible a tight bend in the tube will not break the bulbs. They can be ever so beneficial on patios. Using them on garden decor such as statuary and fountains will give a lighting effect that is vaguely defined. If you place the rope lights behind a garden object it will produce a silhouette effect and placing them around it will make the image very clear.