Tulip bulbs which bring us beautiful and colorful spring flowers need to be planted in autumn. Your tulip bulbs do not necessarily need to be planted in the ground; they can also be planted in pots or containers.
Tulips need to be planted anytime between the months of September and December; depending on the climate zone you live in will be approximately 30 days before a heavy frost. Where you plant the bulbs is also very important; they should have about 6 hours of sun in order to accumulate enough energy for the next year's blossoms. They should also be planted in soil that drains well to avoid bulb rot.
There are a few garden tips for the winter months that should not be overlooked. These garden tips are not just for your garden, they also include your lawn and landscaping, garden tools, and your feathered friends. Some of the tips will all depend on where you live and the types of winters you have to endure. If you live in Southern Regions with very mild winters you may not need to bring plants indoors.
For your garden you want to bring indoors all the plants that are tender such as any tropical plants that you have in containers. You can re-pot them if need be and display them in a room that receives sufficient sunlight. You can take clippings from your annuals to start new plants to transplant next spring. Dig up any of the summer-or fall-blooming bulbs that need to be stored, now go ahead and plant some spring-flowering bulbs such as tulips. Be sure to plant them with the roots down even if they have started to sprout on the top. If you have a perennial border place roughly 2 to 4 inches of mulch around the plants for added protection. You can leave any ornamental grasses intact by not cutting them back; this will impel the birds to come for a visit.
Fall planting, in most of the United States, is the best time for planting the cool season vegetables and perennials. Fall planting is also better for those deciduous and evergreen shrubs and trees. As the summer growing season comes to an end you can start preparing for next year's garden. Fall is a great time for planning and planting the beginnings of a new spring garden. Most of us only think about planting during the spring.
The official beginning of fall starts in late September with the autumnal equinox, but the cooler weather differs significantly from one section of the country to another. For this reason the best time for planting in the fall is generally about 6 weeks before a hard frost hits. In some of the northern sections of our country, the best time for planting may even during late summer. Generally speaking the opportunistic time for planting for those living in the remainder of the country is in September and October.
Part of your autumn gardening should include some of the following jobs to help you get ready for the spring growing season. Autumn gardening may also include doing some fall planting because it gives plants enough time to get established with their roots before the first frost comes.
Some of the early fall chores may include planting some of the following: your spring bulbs, except your tulips, in flower beds; some winter color into containers or hanging baskets; sweet peas for any early showing in the spring; you can also sow wallflowers for climbing on fences and walls for some spring color. You also want to prepare any remaining beds for your spring planting; protect any tender exotic plants from frost by fleece wrapping; and cover your delicate perennials with thick natural mulch such as bark chippings or straw. You can also move cannas or dahlia tubers and bring them indoors; to any established lawn you may apply a fall lawn fertilizer and you can lay turf or re-seed an existing lawn. The early part of fall is also a good time to prune your hedges or bushes for the last time and bring back inside any houseplants you had outside but check for diseases or pests first.
Gardening supplies are not only needed for the professional gardener but also for those gardening as a hobby. A wide range of gardening supplies and accessories are available in today's market for both types of gardeners. The accessories that can be found will help decorate all different areas of a garden such as raised beds, walkways and pathways, outdoor entertainment areas or any other area.
Your budget, location, and garden size are points to consider when choosing gardening accessories and supplies that will help to improve your garden area. Garden accessories are available in different materials such as stone, wood, copper, metal, bamboo, stainless steel, concrete, stained glass, and iron. The weather conditions in your location will determine the type of material that will work best for ensuring a long life to the accessories.
Have you noticed that gardening shoes have started looking very fashionable and not just gray and black? Sometimes gardening shoes end up being your everyday shoes because you thought you were just going to do one little thing in the garden. You ended up spending more than an hour in the garden with decent shoes on that have now gotten ruined. Now is the time to look into some proper garden shoes that you do not have to worry about.
Here are a few tips about shoes for working in the garden: They should be easy to slip on and off which guarantees you will put them on when you need them; they need to be made of rubber or some type of waterproof material so you can run the garden hose over them to clean them; they should be of solid, sturdy construction that is lightweight but not flimsy. You do not want to wear shoes with holes or flip-flops because all the branches and thorns in the garden will be able to attack your feet and cause injury. Another good thought about garden shoes is to choose brightly colored ones or ones with a bright lively pattern; this way they will be easy to find when you want to work in the garden again. These are available as garden shoes and garden clogs.
Some gardeners have been growing flowers, herbs or vegetables for many years. The want-to-be gardeners are wondering how and where to begin this type of project. You first need to have a little piece of ground for a garden or you can decide on container gardening. It is better to do a little research by subscribing to your favorite gardening magazine or buying reference books regarding what you want to grow. These will help you decide on flowers, vegetables, or herbs and which ones will do best in your area.
You may even want to attend classes that are offered by local gardeners or garden centers. Some of your neighbors may be gardeners and may offer some tips and a public garden in your area is a good place to wander around to see what grows well. To get the most enjoyment out of your garden make it the right size to fit your schedule. You do not want a garden that is so large it takes up all your time; start out with something small and if it goes well expand a little at a time.
Growing bedding plants can be a very interesting and enjoyable hobby for the home gardener. Bedding plants are fast growing and will bring plenty of color change with each season to your backyard garden or front yard landscaping. In order to achieve some admirable results a few good tips may help you along.
When purchasing the bedding plants for your yard always select the plants that are the strongest and healthiest looking. If you find any for sale at a reduced price chances are they are not very healthy; plants that have not been care for properly will most likely not come back to be a healthy plant. Pests and diseases will usually attack these plants that are under stress. You can find bedding plants in plastic trays or flats that have six to twelve plants grouped together. You can also find larger seedlings grouped together in a tray of four. You will also see that the smaller the grouping is the larger the plant will be, but these will be more expensive. As long as the larger trays or flats have strong, healthy plants you should not have any problems.
Organic pest control means having a healthy garden for your plants, insects, birds, animals and you. An organic pest control is not meant to get rid of all the insects; to be quite honest the majority of insects are very beneficial. In fact using the organic method means that you spend a little extra time in the garden taking good care of the plants and watching for the early signs of attack by insects or any symptoms of disease. You can sometimes put up with some damage but sometimes that is a signal to give the plants more attention. Remember a sturdy, healthy plant that does not show any signs of stress will be able to shrug off disease and pests much easier.
Your annual garden cleanup should include removing tomato plants, old squash vines, and similar plant residue after the harvest ends because leaving them there invites the pests and pathogens. Many insects live in this debris over the winter, and then get an early taste of your plants the next spring. There are several plant pathogens that will live in the soil all year, so it is best to dispose of all infested or diseased plants. The healthy debris that is left can be turned back into the soil by using a fork or spade. You also want to remove the weeds that surround or are near your garden because they also provide shelter to insect pests.
Most of us wonder when to trim citrus trees and how often it should be done. When to trim citrus trees is based on the health of the tree and how attractive you want it to look. You may also want the tree to stay within your bounds so a tall ladder is not needed to pick the fruit.
There are a number of people who are afraid of pruning citrus trees; they think it is a difficult chore or they are worried about damaging the tree. Because of this they become neglected and end up growing wild and some people believe they take care of themselves. In actuality this will cause the fruit's quality to become deteriorated, there will be a decrease in the quantity of the fruit, and it gives some diseases the ability to permeate the tree. Therefore, regular pruning is a necessary step for healthy trees. Now let's look at when you should trim or prune, the necessary tools that are needed, and finally the where and how to prune to keep the trees healthy and less susceptible to some diseases. You want your citrus trees to look good and give you a tasty, well shaped crop for as long as possible.
Yard stakes can be used in the garden not just for supporting your vegetables but for supporting those beautiful flowers as well. Small garden yard stakes, similar to a wide ice cream stick, can be used to label your rows of vegetables so you do not forget what you planted and to place a date as to when they were planted.
There are two separate ways of looking at flower supports: the preventive measure and remedial way. The preventive yard stakes are needed for the "definite floppers," similar to a double peony. The idea is to be sure to place these flower supports where needed before the plants have a chance to grow tall when they need them. This way the plant is able to grow through the support so the device ends up almost invisible to the eye. A grid-type flower support is good for those plants that need to have plenty of support such as phlox and peonies. Ring-style supports are better when used for the perennials that spread outward before they burst into bloom. Asters do this, but by using the ring support it keeps the plant looking very tidy without looking as if they are tied up. If you have forgotten to place your stakes ahead of time or if some of the plants flop over unexpectedly, remedial supports become very handy to use. All that is needed are some plant ties, bamboo stakes or poles, stakes that link together, supports for the stems and a ball of string.
Garden watering systems, when chosen and used properly, can reduce your use of water. Garden watering systems offer several different options that range from very simple to complex. Most systems generally include being water wise, plant wise and just taking care of your plants.
You want to check under the surface of the soil for moisture and be selective when you do garden watering. Over-watering will wash away the nutrients and reduce the development of the plants roots. When you do watering always aim for each individual plant and not the entire bed and always give top priority to the plants that need it the most. For instance the youngest transplants will have shallow roots and will need the water the most. Fruit, while flowering and the fruit itself is swelling such as raspberries, blackcurrant, gooseberries along with tomatoes and beans are another priority.
Strawberriesin your garden are probably the easiest fruit crop to grow and will give you wonderful harvests for a number of years. Strawberries, with the right growing conditions, should produce roughly a quart of berries for each plant every year. Generally speaking there are three types of strawberry plants you can choose from: June Bearing, the Everbearing, and Day Neutral.
The June Bearing will produce a large, single crop each year in a two to three week period during the spring. These plants traditionally grow a single bloom of flowers with several runners. The June Bearing is classified into three groups: early, middle of the season and the late varieties. This class of strawberry generally gives us the largest fruits. Some June Bearing plants are: Allstar, a late season variety with mild, sweet flavor; Annapolis, a mid-season with large berries and good flavor and Chandler which shows adaptability to East Coast growing, especially the southern regions, with a high yield very large fruit.
Container growing has become very popular these days, some are used for vegetable gardens and others are for growing flowers. Container growing is convenient if you are limited on gardening space in a backyard or if you live in a condo or apartment with only a patio or balcony. Hanging baskets, planter boxes or large flowerpots are only some of the containers you can use.
The bigger the container you use the better off you will be. A large container or flowerpot will hold moisture for a longer period of time and provide plenty of space for the roots of the plants. Your flowers will be healthy as long as the root system remains healthy. Your containers must have drainage holes in the bottom to permit the extra water to escape. You need to use a top quality potting mix that is designed for container planting. Most of these mixes do not actually contain soil but a peat moss or bark that is combined with vermiculite, perlite, or sand. Some have a slow release fertilizer contain in the mix and others may have water holding crystals that will release water when needed so you do not have to water as often.
A small greenhouse for indoor use is a great way to add the number of things that can be grown in your home. Using a small greenhouse is a good to expand your gardening season by bringing in your garden vegetables or for growing some of the plants that your outdoor temperatures will not allow you to grow. An indoor greenhouse is a good way to start vegetable garden seedlings. It allows you not only to be able start your garden when you want but to choose more varieties of peppers or tomatoes that your nursery does not stock.
A windowsill greenhouse is a simple greenhouse box that sits on your windowsill for starting a few seedlings. You want to put it in a window that receives some good sunlight and it is easy to keep it watered. Some of them may come as a garden starter kit which includes the small pots, starting medium and grow lights. Some gardeners refer to the windowsill greenhouse as a mini greenhouse because of their small size. You can even purchase some that have covers to help maintain moisture levels.
Gardenia plants can be a little tricky to care for, but with a little understanding about what they need you can grow them as houseplants or outdoors in your landscaping depending on climate conditions. Gardenia plants are fragrant evergreen shrubs that have glossy, dark green leaves and blooms that can range in color from a pale yellow to a creamy white.
The gardenia originated in Japan and China, will grow outdoors in warmer climates and can grow anywhere from two to eight feet tall with a spread about the same depending on the species. When they are grown indoors they want full sunlight but outdoors they will be happy in partial shade with a rich, moist, well-drained acidic soil. A good place to plant them would be on the east or west side of your house near a window or a deck so you can enjoy the fragrance. They will generally bloom from the middle of spring into summer.
Garden grow lights are very important in order to have a successful indoor garden but poor lighting can cause spindly plants, leaves that turn yellow or fail to set fruit or bloom. Different types of garden grow lights are used for the different types of indoor gardening, so you want to make sure you have the proper lights for what you want to grow.
Indoor grow lights are generally used as a replacement or extension to natural lighting for your indoor plants. Plants that are unable to handle direct sunlight will also benefit by using grow lights. Plants will use the sunlight to convert carbon dioxide into the sugars that are needed for growing. Garden plants such as vegetables, flowers and herbs require between six and eight hours of full sunlight every day in order to set fruit or to bloom. It is just about impossible to get this amount of sunlight through a window due to any overhanging trees, window screens, and the fact that the earth is constantly moving and the sun will not be at that window for that length of time. This is the reason we provide artificial light by using plant grow lights.
Garden seed, whether it is vegetable or flower seed, should be purchased from a reliable source. Your garden seed needs to be obtained from a firm that has been well established for several years and maintains a good reputation for not selling poor varieties of seed.
Many vegetables will grow quite well and produce wonderful crops from the seeds you plant directly into the tilled soil whether it is in hills or rows. The items that you will need to start your seed vegetable garden are seeds, shovel, watering can, hoe, garden hose, garden rake and a garden trowel. First of all be sure that your areas temperatures will not drop down to the freezing point, most seeds will not survive when they are frozen. The information found on the vegetable seed packets will let you know when you can plant the seeds in your part of the country, how deep, the method to use for best results and the distance apart the seeds need to be planted.
Some of your spring planting bulbs can be started in early spring or late winter depending on your location. The spring planting bulbs that you plant will bloom during the summer and into the fall. A couple of the bulbs you may want to think about are the freesia and wax begonia along with the lily, dahlia, and gladiolus.
It is easy to tell when your area is ready to accept the summer flowering bulbs; when you start to see daffodils beginning to sprout that is the time to start planting the summer and fall bloomers. You just have to be sure that you will not be getting any more frost because most of the bulbs are sensitive to frost and could possibly get destroyed by a late spring frost. Make sure you loosen up the soil and add compost to give it nutrients and moisture.
Bare root plants are sold while they are dormant, have no leaves, and their roots have no soil. Bare root plants may look pitiful and sad but if you start them out right and give them a little care they will survive quite well.
You want to plant any bare root trees or shrubs in winter or quite early in the spring, which is anywhere from the middle of November to the middle of March in most parts of the United States, while the plants are dormant and your garden is not frozen solid. This way the plants have a chance to sprout new roots before they have to contend with drying winds, the hot sun and the added pressure of producing new leaves.
The varieties of health benefitsthat are supplied by apples are extensive and encouraging. The health benefits of apples can be quite beneficial to your overall health. By making some wise choices when you buy and store apples will help retain those health benefits. This handy snack that does not need much preparation is filled with health boosting qualities. They are low in calories, an excellent source of vitamin C and fiber, rich with other antioxidant compounds such as epicatechin, quercetin, and procyanidin B2.
The pectin that is contained in apples lowers your LDL cholesterol levels. If you eat two apples during the course of a day, you can lower your cholesterol level by as much as ten percent. Pectin will bind the cholesterol and fats before your body has a chance to absorb them and therefore are eliminated by way of the intestines. Polyphenols, which are extracted from the apple, can greatly lower cholesterol. Quercetin that is found in apples will help to prevent oxidation of LDL cholesterol. The pectin also supplies galacturonic acid which will lower the body's need for insulin and possibly help manage diabetes. A study made five years ago found women who ate at least one apple a day to be about 28 percent less likely in developing type 2 diabetes. Apples are also an excellent gastro-intestinal food so you will not have a sugar high and then come crashing down.
Indoor gardening supplies come in very handy for starting an indoor garden regardless if you want just houseplants or want to grow vegetables. The space you want to devote for your plants and the lighting will determine the indoor gardening supplies that you will need. There are basic supplies that you will need and some others that will be helpful depending on your particular garden.
Surface protection: All the surfaces you use for an indoor garden need to be protected from water damage and accidental spills of soil. This can be done by using plastic trays under the plant containers or a drop cloth or sheet of pliable plastic under larger planters and plant stands. Soil: A loose potting soil that is of good quality needs to contain the nutrients your specific houseplants need for roughly ten weeks. Plants that grow longer will probably need a little fertilization and it is best to use a water-soluble type that is recommended for your plants. Fertilization: Nutrients can also be added to the soil by adding compost or fish emulsion. There is always a question about which nutrients are better for your plants, organic or man-made. Organic fertilizers will give your vegetables and fruits better flavor and the man-made fertilizers have a high level of minerals that are needed for the growth of houseplants or indoor garden plants. There is also a spray that is meant for the leaves of your houseplants: houseplants can also absorb nutrients through their leaves.
Winter indoor gardeningis for the gardener who enjoys gardening year round especially when the temperature outdoors is too cold. Winter indoor gardening of vegetables is usually done on a smaller scale and the plants generally will need more care than your summer garden outdoors. The soil, fertilization, lighting, and watering are all things that need to be considered when gardening indoors.
During the winter months, maintaining winter indoor plants can be just as rewarding as your outdoor gardening in the spring and summer. Growing vegetables indoors is fun and exciting for you and especially your children when they are able to eat all those delicious vegetables that they helped you maintain. Winter indoor vegetable gardening is a wonderful idea for those who do have much outdoor space or who want to continue to stay busy and garden during the cold winter months.
People have been growing herbs for cooking and healing properties for centuries. Growing herbs for cooking and drinks bring many unique flavors, fresh or dried, to enjoy and it seems they have become more popular today then they have ever been. Many herbalists value the healing qualities of specific leaves, flowers, and roots. Crafters have the talent for preserving the fragrance and beauty of herbal leaves and flowers in the designs of sachets, potpourri, wreaths, and arrangements. Most gardeners prefer herbs in the garden due to their qualities such as low maintenance, their resistance to pests, and their vitality.
When we think of herbs, we usually imagine the kitchen variety such as basil, oregano, parsley, sage, thyme, rosemary, cilantro and so forth. An herb is a type of plant whether perennial, annual, vine or shrub, which has some practical value other than looking beautiful in our gardens. Most herbs will grow best in a fairly rich garden soil that is well-drained. However, some very popular herbs, such as bay, lavender, rosemary, and winter savory, are classified as woody plants and prefer a gritty, quickly drained soil. Good drainage is most important because if there is standing water around the root crown of the herbs it can cause rot. It is best to add plenty of organic matter such as compost to heavy or clay soil in order to improve the drainage.
Gardening can be pretty tricky in the winter, one day it can be sunny and warm and another will be windy and cold. Gardening care in the winter or winterizing will make a garden look better during the cold months but will make work in the spring a lot easier. It would be a good idea to close down your garden when frost is predicted or when your temperatures begin to drop into the low 40's or mid 30's consistently. In some parts of the country that is usually in late October or November but in the Pacific Southwest that may not happen until late December or January if it happens at all.
Fall is the perfect time to remove any plants you do not want or to move the garden plants you feel are not working or growing well in their present location. Fall is also the time to plant bulbs and any bare-root trees and shrubs. It is also time for dividing your perennials; this maintains the health of the plants and it is an easy way to propagate them for more coverage next season. If you want to have more fall blooms you may want to plan on adding late flowering plants in the spring, such as aster or Black-eyed Susans. Hydrangea paniculata will provide some color during the fall and you do not have to wait until next spring for planting them. Many of these hardier shrubs such as the hydrangea are quite happy with planting late and use the extra winter to build a bigger and better root system.
Christmas flowers are the essential part of many Christmas decorations. Christmas flowers, such as the holly, along with Balsam fir, Fraser fir, Noble fir, Douglas fir, Scotch pine, or white pine are among the most popular items used to make the Christmas wreath. A Christmas wreath hanging at the front door welcomes everyone who steps through the portal during the holiday season. Any type of wreath can be used on the front door at any time of the year and will have the same effect to everyone who enters.
During the Christmas holidays, or any holiday for that matter, it is very thoughtful to send flowers or give them as a gift. You can decorate your house and even the Christmas tree with flowers. Generally speaking, the flowers we see during Christmas include Holly, Christmas cactus, Mistletoe, Poinsettia, Christmas rose, and Ivy. These flowers usually add more cheer and liven up the home during the Christmas holidays. I would like to devote this article specifically to the holly.
Rose care is a very important thing for all the roses and it can be done all throughout the year. Even if a rose garden is not what you have but just a few rose bushes, or maybe a rose tree or two, you need to give them a little rose care if you want them to continue to give you beautiful blossoms.
You need to be able to identify rose suckers and remove them. Always be on the look out for shoots that start coming up from below the ground level and from standard rose stems. They grow from the rootstock under the point of union and you can generally identify them by the thorns and leaves because they are different from the ones at the top growth. The leaflets of the sucker are more slender than the ones of the garden rose and the thorns are very needle-like. It has been a common notion that all suckers have 7 leaflets on each leaf and the growth beyond the point of union has only 5 leaflets, but that is not always true.
Patio greenhouse gardening has become very popular with urban gardeners and gardeners who do not have very large areas and have a desire to use portable greenhouse structures. A patio greenhouse is also very handy for those gardeners that do have quite a bit of space because they want the benefit of having portable flower houses and grow racks.
Some of us literally do not have the space, or maybe the finances, for the full size stand-alone greenhouse so a mini greenhouse or a cold frame is the only option. The most important asset of using a mini or deck greenhouse is that they are quite compact and portable, and they can be set up just about anywhere in a garden. Many gardeners prefer to have one on the patio or balcony where the sun is more plentiful. A small patio greenhouse can be moved out of the way if needed or it can be permanent and used to show off some of your finest achievements in growing flowers in winter.
Composting containers are basically used to sequester the compost. A little research is necessary on the types of composting containers that are available so you will be able to choose the right one for your needs. The important thing is to create compost to replenish our precious earth.
Dealing with compost is a way of safely returning the used organic wastes to the soil in the form of rich healthy humus or finished compost and a containment area is necessary to properly maintain it. In order to compost we need a few main requirements in place so it will decompose properly. These requirements are: compost size, air, moisture, fragment size, dry matter, green matter, and heat. A compost structure that is too small will not create enough heat for proper decomposition. A minimum volume of material is necessary to build up the heat necessary for efficient composting and that volume is generally 3 feet by 3 feet by 3 feet. It is possible to have an insulated plastic or wood bin that is smaller and still hold enough heat to compost well.
Kitchen gardeners are those people who really love food, not only just the end product but how they got there. True gardeners not only taste the fruit of a tomato plant but also the care and honest maintenance that went into producing that fruit. They begin planning their gardens months ahead of time. Their visions of pesto or salsa begin early in spring when they purchase the seeds or young seedlings for the kitchen herb garden that are needed to make them.
Gardeners of this type plan their garden plots very carefully. Many of them have plenty of time during the winter months to come up with a plan for a kitchen garden that will produce many delicious tidbits. This is a good project to do in the winter to help us get through the long dark days of the season. We first need to decide if we are going to have this garden outdoors, an indoor garden, or both. In our kitchen garden plan are we going to plant everything in the ground or in raised beds?
Your spring blooming bulbs need to be planted wherever possible in the fall sunshine. Spring blooming bulbs, as a rule, will grow their foliage first and the flowers always seem to take care of themselves. Spring bulbs seem like such wonders, we just place the bulbs in soil in the fall and these beautiful rich looking flowers pop up in the spring.
Some facts are a little surprising to learn and one of those is to not water the spring flower bulbs during the summer. Several bulbs come from areas where water during the summer is non-existent and are programmed genetically for drought during the summer. When you over-water tulips in the summer they have a tendency to rot away with the excess water. This happened to a small garden of tulips I planted two years ago and last spring not one of them came up and I found that when I went to plant something else all those tulip bulbs had rotted away.
Worm composting is a technique we can use to recycle some of our food waste into a soil conditioner that is rich and dark. One advantage to worm composting is it can be done outdoors or indoors. Composting with worms indoors allows apartment or condo dwellers a method of composting. This type of composting is accomplished in a container that is filled with bedding that is moistened, and some redworms. The worms and micro-organisms will eventually turn your food waste into rich compost.
To get started you need to buy, build, or find an old wood or plastic container with holes in the bottom for drainage and circulation. You next fill the box with the moistened bedding, and worms; now you want to bury the food waste inside the bedding and add about a cup of sand or soil as grit for the digestive process for the worms. Wood containers are much more absorbent than plastic, plastic will still work but it tends to leave the compost too wet. Your wood container can be an old trunk, a barrel, or any unused dresser drawer. It should be 8-12 inches deep and allow a square foot of surface area for each pound of weekly food waste. You need to drill 8 to 12 holes, depending on the size of the worm composting bins, no larger than 1/4" in the bottom for drainage and aeration. If a plastic container is used you may need more drainage holes especially if the contents get too wet. Now place the container or bin on blocks or bricks for air circulation; a tray should be placed underneath to capture any excess liquid, which you can use as a liquid plant fertilizer.
You can use garden forks to open up the earth to lift out plants and weeds. Garden forks, spading forks and digging forks are garden tools with a handle and usually four short sturdy tines. They are generally used for loosening, lifting and turning the soil in gardening.
They are similar to garden spades but for the most part are better because the tines will allow you to push the tool into the ground easier. They can rake out stones and weeds and easily break up clods of dirt. The stones will not stop them from penetrating the ground and they will not cut through the weed roots as does the garden spade.
Fall garden flowers should be incorporated in the landscape along with the shrubs and trees that will bear colorful fall leaves. Planting fall garden flowers makes a landscaping enthusiast stand out. He will plant some tender annuals such as marigolds in between some of the other fall flowers to bring color into the garden and landscaping during the fall months.
Planting fall flowers livens up the landscaping that is already being graced by the fall foliage of your shrubs and trees. If your landscaping only has evergreen trees and shrubs you can always add some of the non-living decorations such as carved pumpkins, gourds, scarecrows, or cornstalks. When do you begin fall flower plantings? You really do not want to wait until fall unless you are in a warm climate. Even if you live in the North it may still be too hot to plant in the first part of August. You almost have to play it by ear. Some summers, mid-to-late August will be rainy periods which would be the perfect time to plant your fall flowers. But sometimes August will give you excessive heat so it would be better to plant in early September.
Home aromatherapyin the garden can be accomplished by planting aromatic herbs and flowers. Home aromatherapy and the use of herbs are considered the spice of life, they are very useful plants, and their fragrant aromas perk up our senses. Many of them will add substantial flavor to whatever you are cooking. A wonderful way to grow these aromatic flowers and herbs is in good-size containers that can be lifted to eye and nose level. This will make them easy to tend to, appreciate their aromas, and to harvest when we need them. Besides the herbs for cooking, you may like to grow some herbs that are traditionally valued and used for medicinal purposes.
Most of the herbs like plenty of sun and moderate watering, but the mints like to have moist soil and will tolerate some shade. So for best results choose a sunny spot and fill a sturdy wood planter with drainage holes with well-drained sandy loam and you are ready to plant. In order to maintain the taste and aroma of your herbs you want to keep mulching and fertilizing to a minimum. It is better to give up a lush growth than aroma and taste. Growing herbs in containers helps to foil the weeds and it takes less water over ground planting. When you fill those pots, always leave room for watering about an inch from the soil surface and the rim of the container. You also want to check the planter regularly for dryness; most plants will need about an inch of water a week.
Fall crocus, autumn crocus, meadow saffron, and naked boys are the common names for these beautiful flowers. The fall crocus botanical name is colchicum species, hybrids, and cultivars. The bloom time for these flowers is late summer and into fall.
You want to plant the irregular shaped colchicum bulbs in late summer as soon as they have been purchased. If you delay planting you might find that the flowers have already started blooming inside the package, this can cause some stress to the corms. You need to plant them 4 to 5 inches deep in well-drained, fertile soil in the sun or light shade. Colchicums will tolerate drought quite well throughout the summer but could rot if the soil remains too wet. If you plant them in your lawn, delay your spring mowing until the foliage from the bulbs has ripened - in rough grass you will seldom have a problem. If landscape planting under a specimen tree or shrub, you want to mass the colchicums so they will bloom after you remove your summer annuals, being careful so you do not disturb the corms when planting the annuals. Remember the foliage should fit into all your spring plans. You also want to protect the blossoms from slugs because they like to feed on them.
Compost tools come in very handy now that composting has become the newest trend in home gardening. Acquiring the right compost tools to manage organic material at home will lessen the amount of waste that gets sent to the landfills and creates an asset to your landscaping and gardens.
Compost Pails - These containers are very handy for collecting your kitchen scraps. They are usually small pails made of chrome or ceramic that can hold a gallon or more of kitchen scraps that sit on your counter top. These containers are air tight and will contain a replaceable carbon filter to combat any odors. These handy compost pails give you the opportunity to stockpile the scraps for several days before making a trip out to the compost bin.
Pond flowersare a variety of fascinating plants that will grow in a water garden. Most of the pond flowers will not grow anywhere else except for that type of environment.
The most colorful of the garden pond flowers are the water lilies including the hardy and tropical ones. Your hardy water lilies can live outdoors all year round especially if the roots are sufficiently covered with water or soil that will prevent them from freezing. The flowers and leaves of these plants will float on the waters surface. During sunny days the flowers will open during the morning and close up in the middle part of afternoon. They can be purchased in all colors except for blue. Both day and night blooming tropical lilies will remain hardy only in frost-free climates. In the colder climates they will grow as annuals and need to be replaced every year. The leaves of the tropical lilies will float but their flowers have stout stems that keep them well above the surface of the water.
Vacation watering is necessary in order to enjoy your time away from home. There are vacation watering solutions for both indoor plants and your outside flower garden, and vegetable garden. Let's start off with some indoor suggestions:
If you are only going to be gone for a couple of days just more houseplants away from the direct sunlight. This will slow down their growth and help them to retain some moisture but be sure to water them thoroughly just before you leave. The containers your houseplants are in should have the capability of retaining water. The containers made of glazed ceramic, fiberglass, and plastic retain water but those planted in wood, cement or terracotta the water will evaporate more quickly. Dark colored pots will absorb heat and dry out the soil faster. Sometimes vacation watering spikes that insert right into the soil will work.
Upside down tomato plants will not get any weeds because you are not growing them in the ground. A garden with an upside down tomato plant will grow larger because the water will flow directly where they need it and they will become healthy and robust.
Growing an upside down tomato stays healthier if watered enough and is a great way to grow tomatoes in a limited space. A conventional garden of tomatoes needs to be tilled, weeded and worked on. The hard work is no longer there with these hanging planters; all you need to do is place the seedling in, add soil, hang and water and you are ready to go.
The health benefits of cucumbers are numerous but first let's talk a little bit about the cucumber itself. In order to receive the most health benefits of cucumbers it is best if they are eaten unpeeled because that is the best source of fiber and minerals. The majority of store bought cucumbers have a waxed coating or pesticide residues on the outer skin which can be hard to remove; therefore it is safer to purchase organic or to grow your own.
Before you start growing cucumbers, be sure you have plenty of room in your garden or you give them something they can climb on. Cucumber plants are vines and if they are grown on the ground can spread to over six feet in length. If your garden is not large enough to handle these long, trailing vines, you can train your cucumbers to climb on a trellis or up a fence. A trellis trained cucumber plant will usually produce cucumbers that are better formed.
Container growing apple trees can reduce the garden pests and apple disease as well as improve the apple crop. Container growing dwarf apples can be done in large garden tubs on your patio or deck. Container growing apple trees is possible in any size garden as long as you have a few guidelines to go by.
You can successfully grow an apple tree or any edible crop for that matter in containers. The apple container should be a half-barrel or large garden tub that is at least four to five feet in diameter. You want to choose the dwarf varieties of tree so they will not become too large for their containers. Malus domestica or apple varieties that grow in large garden containers will have the same initial growing pattern as one that is grown in your garden soil. To become established or bear fruit apple trees will need at least three years. To get started you want to fill the containers with a high-quality potting mix; regular garden soil will not drain well in containers.
Learning how to grow watermelons is not very difficult, the plant itself does all the work. Learning to grow them in the south is easy because they enjoy the warmer seasons; if you live in the north you can grow watermelon indoors first and transplant the seedlings when the soil is ready to work.
There are some gardeners that are very leery about growing watermelons because they think they are difficult to grow or that they take up too much space in the garden. They can take up quite a bit of room in a garden if you let them because watermelons do grow on vines.
Garden trellises and cages are structures that are used to help support vegetables or plants; it is done by tying them onto the trellises or cages or by allowing climbing plants to secure themselves to the structure. Garden trellises can be constructed of vertical, horizontal, or diagonal bars that can be arranged to make a decorative form. These structures can be made of metal, plastic, or wood.
A garden trellis can be a decorative structure for a flower garden. It adds some vertical height as well as the feeling of something that is permanent in the garden. They are easy to maintain and at the same time inexpensive. You can purchase garden arches, wrought iron garden trellises or wooden garden trellises from a garden center and then choose the type of flowers you want. Remember to keep in mind that the vines and flowers will attach themselves tightly around the trellis making it hard to maintain the structure. If you decide on a wooden trellis be sure it is pressure treated. When you choose the flowers and vines make sure you know where your structure is going to be placed so your flowers will receive the proper amount of sunlight and moisture.
Composting in bins can be problem-free if we heed to a few simple rules. Composting is the breaking down of plant remains and other previously alive materials that make a dark, earthy substance that is added to enrich our garden soil. It is a way to recycle our kitchen and yard wastes, and in lowering the amount of debris that we send to landfills. It is not hard to learn how to compost.
We do not want to compost animal waste. Even though some gardeners enjoy using aged cow manure in the garden, dog waste and fresh cat litter contains pathogens. It is better to keep the animal waste out of compost piles. Our compost pile will probably get hot and cook most of the waste; it will not get hot enough to destroy the animal pathogens.
When choosing gardening seeds from the racks at your home and garden centers always read the fine print. No matter how decorative the gardening seeds packets are you want to check to see how much information they offer regarding the freshness, planting instructions, quantity, and the ability to survive.
As far as the freshness is concerned there needs to be a 'packed for' date on the vegetable gardening seeds packet. It will usually be a stamp placed in the area where you will probably tear open the envelope because you can not get the flap opened. Before you open the packet write the 'packed for' date in another area. The more detailed the planting instructions are the better off you will be and you will probably use that company again for other seeds. See if they tell you the quantity or do they make you feel the envelope instead? The ability to survive or viability can vary; Seeds from Europe or good mail order companies will give you a germination percentage and a testing date. Having this information implies that the company tested the seeds before hand and that is a good sign.
Citrus trees are very beautiful evergreen trees with glossy leaves that add warmth to any landscape besides giving us delicious fruit. Some citrus trees can grow up to 30 feet but by pruning can be kept smaller. They are also available in dwarf citrus trees and semi-dwarf size that can be grown in containers and others can be trained as shrubs. Citrus fruits are part of the Rutaceae family. Citrus trees produce fruits of different sizes and forms, from oblong to round, and are full of flavor and juice, plus a wonderful fragrance.
The well known citrus trees include the grapefruit, lemon, lime, sweet orange, and tangerine or mandarin. There are several varieties of each type of citrus and there are some species that are strictly ornamental such as the trifoliate orange which is deciduous with inedible fruit. This ornamental citrus has been known to grow as far north as Washington, D.C. There are hybrids of grapefruits and tangerines which are also known as tangelos are a great dessert fruit. Citranges are hybrids of sweet oranges and trifoliate; they resist frost and have juicy orange-like fruits that are inedible and are mainly used as rootstocks.
The health benefits of cherries are many but one is the fact that they are very tasty and nutritious. Some of these health benefits are vitamins, minerals and compounds that help prevent diseases. Some studies say they are beneficial in the fight against some cancers.
Cherries contain antioxidants that help to "clean up" free radicals. What are free radicals? Free radicals are molecules that are unstable which will cause harm to cells as circulating molecules attack healthy cells. Damage to these cells that are caused by the free radicals has been noted to quicken the process of aging.
The health benefits of raspberries are numerous but raspberries are not considered a cure-all berry but they do have other attributes which many believe can prevent several diseases. We will look into some of their health benefits along with how to grow them.
Vitamin C in raspberries is believed to help develop an immune system and connective tissues to be able to ward an attack of micro-organisms. Raspberries and some of the other berries such as strawberries, blueberries, and cranberries contain large amounts of vitamin C in their structure. These berries also contain an attribute that is thought to prevent bladder infections. It does this by the prevention of bacteria from attaching itself to cells of the inner walls of the urinary tract. Raspberries also contain lutein, a substance that is very important to a healthy vision.
A blueberry orchard is a wonderful thing to have in the garden. Having an orchard of blueberries gives you the opportunity to pick them whenever you want them. Fresh blueberries are great for desserts and for making jam, I can almost smell a fresh baked blueberry pie.
For growing blueberry plants you need to have moisture-retentive, acid soil that has a pH level between 5 and 6. They will grow best in a sunny, open area of the garden or they can grow in an area with partial shade. In the northern regions of the United States the wild blueberry bushes should be protected from the cold winds. Blueberry bushes can be grown in containers if alkaline soil is the only thing available. You will need to fill your containers with an acid based or peat based compost without lime added to it.
Raised garden beds will add a new dimension to any gardening experience. Garden beds that are raised are quite useful for the gardener with a limited amount of space; they are also perfect for those who are disabled, suffer from arthritis, or the elderly. These raised garden beds can be built at a suitable level that will help reduce the aches and pains caused by bending over or kneeling at a plot on the ground.
Urban gardening has exploded in popularity recently due an awareness of food safety, the stresses of our financial economy, and a desire to be eco-friendly. Even if you only have a postage stamp sized backyard, you can set up small raised beds on your patio or backporch in order to grow vegetables, herbs, ornamental plants, or beautiful flowers.
Owning a compost tumbler can involve the entire household in learning how to do composting. The compost tumbler is built for easy use for all family members as compared to the standard compost bin. They are also great for mixing sand, soil, peat and loam or whatever you have that needs to be blended together.
A compost tumbler will be able to hold all your garden waste and kitchen scraps that will be turned into rich nutrient compost. The main difference between the tumbler and a compost bin is their function. Many of us live in an area where it is restricted to having an open compost pile; our neighbors do not like an uncontained compost pile, or if scavengers present a problem the compost tumbler can solve most of these areas. The compost tumbler will definitely keep the compost tidy and turning it will become much easier.
Growing organic fruit in the garden has advantages over store bought fruit. Growing organic fruittastes much better and you are guaranteed that the fruit has not been sprayed with dangerous chemicals. The organic fruit that has been planted in your garden has been picked by you because it is the variety you want for its flavor. Some of the fruit may not look as picture perfect as the grocery store and that is because you planted it because you want to eat it and not show it off.
Probably many of the plants that are in your garden are annuals which means they will only produce fruit or flowers once and that is the same year that they were planted. The majority of your fruit trees will not produce any fruit for the first few years after planting. Once they have started producing fruit they will continue to do so every year for your enjoyment for generations to come. Container grown dwarf fruit trees will start producing fruit 1 - 2 seasons before the garden grown trees.
Growing berries in the garden is something many gardeners are passing on because they feel it is too difficult a task. Growing berries such as strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, loganberries, blackberries, boysenberries, and even grapes have a better taste, very healthful, more economical and are easy to grow.
Strawberries are the most productive of them all because they produce the largest amount in a small area. If you have never tried growing them this year would be a good time to start. You can plant them in the spring, summer, or fall. Planting them in the fall would be the best time for freezing cold winter climates but can be planted in winter in the warmer climates of the country. Planting at this time, the cooler months, helps to develop a healthy root system so they will start growing bushy in the spring. If you plant them in spring or summer you will need to disbud the plants as the flowers form and pinch the runners back to make certain you get vigorous growth the next season. If you plant them in the fall or winter you will not have to perform these procedures. When choosing your strawberry plants stay with the June-bearing varieties, the "everbearing" varieties do not always yield well.
One of summers flowering bulbs, the gladiolus, comes from the Latin word "gladius" which means sword or little sword and was named because of their long spiked leaves. The gladiolus, one of the flowering bulbs of summer, originated in South Africa and the Mediterranean areas; they belong to the Iridaceae family and the gladiolus colors are a wide variety with the exception of a true blue.
Gladiolus planting is a very popular project for any gardener. These summer flowering bulbs are very colorful and bring life to any garden. These colorful flowers not only look wonderful in the garden but also make a beautiful bouquet for your home or as a gift. You really do not want to leave gladiolus bulbs out of a summer garden. After one season of growing them you will see why so many home owners plant them in their gardens. They will thrive when the right conditions are met.
The flowering bulbs of the iris come in many shapes, forms, sizes, and colors and is named after the Greek Goddess Iris. The flowering bulbs of the iris have sword-like leaves that are most attractive even when the plant is not blooming. The Greek Goddess Iris is regarded as the messenger of love and will use the rainbow for travel. The iris flower is considered to be the same and also come in a rainbow of colors.
Irises are categorized into two main groups, the rhizome irises and bulbous irises. The rhizomes group has thickened stems that will grow horizontally underground or partially underground. After they have been planted they will produce the sword-like leaves that will overlap and form fans of green foliage. Three of the most popular irises in the rhizome group are the Beardless, Bearded, and Crested. The bulbous iris grows from bulbs that will require a dormant period after blooming. They are generally smaller than the rhizome irises and produce smaller blooms.
Your outdoor landscape will look gorgeous with camellia shrubs. By using the camellia as part of your outdoor landscape you will have a difficult time finding a plant that is equal to this evergreen shrub in terms of beauty. They not only have lovely flowers but this evergreen shrub has shiny dark green foliage that makes them very attractive outdoor landscape features even if they are not blooming.
In the milder zones of the United States, January is the most advantageous time to shop for and plant camellias. Many of the plants that are in the nurseries are in bloom now, This way you will be able to see what the blooms will look like and it is best to plant them now before the new growth begins. The new growth will start after the blooming period ends.
The flowering bulbs for summer can add quite a bit of beauty to the garden landscape if planted accordingly. Many of these flowering bulbs for summer that have small flowers need to be grouped together in flower beds in order to show off their flowers. There are others that have large flowers and sometimes need to be staked for a proper display. Many of these summer flowering bulbs, rhizomes, corms, and tubers will add beautiful color and a sense of the tropics to any garden. In the warmer climates, a number of these flowering bulbs are left in the ground all year long. Gardeners in cooler climate zones can still enjoy these bulbs by growing as annuals or digging them up in the fall and storing for winter to replant them during the warmer weather of spring. These flowering bulbs of summer bring additional color to the garden just when the spring flowering bulbs have started to die down. Just about all these summer bulbs bloom from June all they way through fall are considered tender.
Tuberous Begonias There are several types of tuberous begonias available, but usually we think of the large camellia flowered versions that have various color combinations. The magnitude of color that is offered by tuberous begonias will quickly brighten up a shady corner of the garden. The leaves of the begonias look almost succulent. The longevity of the blooming flowers makes these tubers wonderful for containers. Begonias vary in shape and size and the cluster flowers range from white to red or pink and give the home gardener many uses. Some gardeners will plant only the species that has an unusual foliage color. These plants are ideal for hanging baskets, containers, and flower borders.
Container growing a dwarf peach tree has the advantage of being able to move it around to any part of your garden or patio. Container growing also gives you the ability to bring the dwarf peach tree indoors to protect it from a late freeze in the spring or a winter freeze in the Pacific Southwestern part of the United States. Peaches are very susceptible to an early bloom of flowers that produce the fruit; so early that the frost can harm them.
You can select a dwarf peach tree from your local garden nursery, home and garden center, on-line, or a garden catalog. If your desire is to grow a peach tree in a container for its entire life, the dwarf variety is the only way to go. A full-sized peach tree probably will never reach maturity in a container. Most of the dwarf peach tree varieties will have a varying height between 5 feet and 15 feet and a little smaller breadth than its height. The dwarf Red Haven peach trees produce delectable fruit and grow to about 15 feet high. Golden Glory dwarf peach trees will only grow to about 5 feet tall and still creates mouth-watering peaches.
Container growing with fruit trees is a marvelous idea for gardens or yards that have poor soil plus the fact that you can move them around to protect them from freezing conditions. Container growingwith fruit trees can be done with regular sized fruit trees but only for a couple of years and then they need to be planted into the ground.
Growing fruit trees in containers is more suited for the dwarf varieties and it makes caring for them much easier. You can find dwarf varieties of almost any common fruit tree, but citrus trees are the most commonly grown. Some of the most popular dwarf citrus trees to grow in containers are the Meyer lemon and Dwarf Kaffa lime.
A meadow of wildflowers would be a pleasant sight in any backyard garden. In nature a meadow of wildflowers is renewed every year. The seeds that are produced every fall will all be sprouting in the spring. Now is the time to plant those wildflower seeds in an area of your garden.
In the Rockies, Midwest, and Northeast, the hard winter sections of the country, calls for a dormant planting of wildflower seeds. This means that after a killing frost you plant your seeds the same way as if you were planting in the spring. Do this before the ground freezes and this planted seed will be in bloom around two weeks earlier than the same ones planted in spring.
The spring bulb and when during the fall and winter we should plant them. We live in a big country and the climates vary from coast to coast and from the northern areas to the Deep South. Most of the gardening literature is based on the Northeastern area and upper Midwest part of the country along with the marketing strategies in regards to the spring bulb. The reasoning behind this theory is because the ground has a tendency to freeze before any other part of the country.
The spring bulb planting time drives gardeners in other areas of the country crazy because some areas do not have problems with the ground freezing and they have to guess as to when to start planting. The West Coast, sometimes as far as Seattle, WA it is rare that the ground will freeze. Gardeners in the south, in the desert southwest, and up and down the California coast there is usually no frost at all.
The gardeners chores for winter are just as important as they are for the other seasons. Many gardeners choose to leave the ground inert and wait for spring to roll around but now is the time to prepare everything for the upcoming growing season. Winter is a good time put in cover crops to improve the soil and it is a good time to mix in some compost.
Some of the popular cover crops that will improve the soil are rye, clover, and vetch. These cover crops are also referred to as green manures since they render a natural fertilizer. Legumes such as lima beans and vetch take care of the nitrogen in the soil and all these crops should be planted in the later part of fall for best results.
One of winter's flowers, the witch hazel, is a pleasant surprise to see while walking in the woods in late autumn. This tall shrub is covered with star like yellow flowers and is native to North America. Witch hazel, one of winter's flowers, has developed this late blooming strategy and takes advantage of pollinators at a time when there is not much else for them.
Witch hazel hamamelis virginiana may begin blooming in the early days of October before their yellow leaves have made it to the ground. More often they will flower after the leaves have fallen and some of these shrubs may be flowering in December. Witch hazel usually grows in a forest or wooded area and is not normally seen unless you wander in.
Indoor gardening and growing flower bulbs lets us have the colors and aromas of spring in the dead of winter. For Indoor gardening there are two types of bulbs to choose from, those that need to be chilled ahead of time and those that do not.
I am going to talk about the bulbs that do not need to be chilled. These bulbs are native to the warmer climates and consist of the amaryllis bulbs and paperwhite narcissus bulbs. These two bulbs can grow in a container with potting soil or in a shallow pot filled with marbles or small stones in order to hold the bulb in position. All you do is add water and blooming can start in about four weeks. In order to keep short sturdy stems start the bulbs out with indirect light and temperature of roughly 50 degrees F. for the first few weeks and then gradually increase the temperature and give them brighter light. If you are going to grow your bulbs without soil, you should cover the bulb about 1/4 to 1/3 of the bulb with water.
There are not many winter flowers but one comes to mind and that is the Christmas rose or Lenten rose as it is sometimes called. Winter flowers in very cold climates are a rare sight; when we do see them we enjoy them very much.
These winter flowers, the Christmas rose, have a legend behind it. It speaks of a poor young shepherd girl, by the name of Madelon, who wished to worship the new infant Christ Child. Once she saw all the gold, frankincense, and myrrh brought by the Wise Men, she became discouraged for she had no gift to bring.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Gardeners can be somewhat particular when it comes to their garden tools and especially the types of garden pruners. A good pair of gardenprunersis very essential to flower gardening. Good quality hand garden pruners make the work go a lot easier and will take less time. This gardening tool is so much like a large pair of scissors that you could probably use that scissors to cut soft stems from bushes or flowers. The large woody stems and small tree branches will need a quality garden pruner. It is used to trim and prune woody stems, especially on roses. The one you choose should depend on its use and your own personal preference. The types of garden pruners are generally available in three different categories - the anvil, bypass, and ratchet.
Anvil pruners have but one blade and it closes down on a flat edge. This pruner is similar to chopping or slicing on your kitchen cutting board. They are probably the best type for removing any dead wood that is in your garden. They are somewhat bulky and hard to get into some tight spaces.
Should we be using a garden tool organizer or garden tool rack? Some of our tools, such as our shovels, rakes, hoes, or anything with a long handle, would be better in a garden tool rack that is free standing or even better on wheels. Our smaller tools, such as trowels, hand forks, and pruners, could use a garden tool organizer. So answering the question of garden tool organizer or garden tool rack could be very easy, we probably need one of each.
Garden tool organizers come in many different sizes and shapes; some of course are mobile and easy to move from one spot to another. Organizers can be a life saver if your space is limited and you need some organization. Having a lot of garden tools isn't necessarily a bad idea; it is just the fact that we need to know where to find them when needed. For the long handled tools that get don't get used very often we can get by with garden tool rack that is mounted to the wall. Those that get the most use should probably be in a garden tool rack that is free standing and on wheels. This way we can roll it around the garden to the spot where we will be working.
Garden tool supplies for the home gardener are vast. Those that last a lifetime are the tools that are versatile. Newer materials have made garden tool supplies for the home gardener lighter, longer-lasting, and stronger, and gardening has been made easier with ergonomic tools.
There are so many tool supplies available that the new gardener has to choose wisely, which is a tricky business. Everything looks useful and seems necessary that a gardener could get carried away. Basically most garden tool supplies are versatile, but only a few can be indispensable. Let's take the garden hoe for an example. It was specifically made to cultivate the soil and remove the weeds, but it can form rows, dig furrows and holes, and create ditches and many other things. You can also use its handle as a measuring stick.
If you're searching for wooden garden furniture, you probably discovered wood furniture is not nearly as popular as it used to be. For a number of years now outdoor furniture alternatives are cheaper than traditional wood. Metal and plastic can be machined and mass produced; this eliminates the individual craftsman expertise. To further attract the homeowners, they require less upkeep than wood furniture. With that being said, even though it is more expensive, hand-crafted wooden garden furniture is the best you can buy, plus it will probably last longer than the metal or plastic.
Just think your neighbors can't go down to the local home improvement center and purchase the same wood garden furniture. Your garden furniture will be your own. Plus, even though there are some reasonable look-a-likes of wood furniture, nothing can beat the real thing or deny the beauty of wood garden furniture.
When you start composting waste from your yard you are definitely reducing the volume of our landfills. Everyone's yard produces waste material from lawn mowing, pruning and other plant care routines. Composting wastefrom your yard is a way to reduce the amount of organic wastes and returns them to the soil.
Compost improves the aeration and drainage of clay soil. Organic matter is a separator for tightly packed clay particles and allows air and water to enter. Composting also helps sandy soil hold nutrients and water. Compost holds moisture similar to that of a sponge and slowly releases fertilizer nutrients. It will also increase earthworm activity and other soil organisms that are beneficial to the growth of plants. Compost is not a fertilizer; it is a soil amendment and doesn't contain many plant nutrients.
The breaking down of kitchen scraps, plant remains and any other once living remains is called composting, but let's talk about composting our food scraps. Where do we get all the food scraps for composting, you ask? Well, we all have such items in our kitchen. They can be fruit and vegetable waste, the leftovers from our meals, tea bags, coffee grounds, any stale bread or grains. One item that most of us have occasionally is anything that has spoiled in the refrigerator. Composting our food scraps is a much better idea than sending it all down the waste disposal.
Our gardens, and most importantly, our landfills will thank us for composting. Some cities object to home composting due to the fact that they attract vermin. They will only attract these critters if the compost containers are not secured. If your garden compost bins are covered and locked you shouldn't have problems.
The best time to start our spring flowers is during our fall bulb planting project. We all enjoy seeing those flowers popping through the ground in the early spring and they are all coming from those bulbs we planted. In sunny Southern California, the fall bulb planting season runs from late September into early December.
The problem with living in sunny Southern California is, if we don't purchase our fall bulbs early enough in September we may not have the selection we are looking for in November. Our fall bulb planting season is a fairly long one, but we need to purchase those spring flowering bulbs early as soon as they appear in the garden nurseries or home improvement centers.
Soil Tools Some soil tools are a basic necessity when you are ready to turn your ever so humble plot of land into a garden. It is very important to have a sharp spade to be able to turn the soil, a garden fork to break it up, a shovel to be able to dig holes in it, and a level-head rake to crumble the surface of the soil. You will also need a trowel for small-scale digging, a garden hoe and a scuffle hoe to keep the weeds down, also a long handled and a short handled cultivator in order to keep the surface loose and friable. Another necessary soil tool would be a good long garden hose, which is equipped with an adjustable nozzle.
A rotary tiller would be a good investment if your garden plot is larger than a few square yards. This makes deep cultivation a quick and relatively easy job. A wheelbarrow is handy, as well as a light roller, are good gardening equipment for working the soil. Other supplies for working the soil that may come in handy would be a crowbar for lifting heavy rocks, a soil auger for digging holes and taking test samples, and a pick for breaking up all the hard-packed surfaces.
When we have enough knowledge about the soil we use the easier our gardening will be. The soil is a unique mixture of assorted ingredients that contains all the nutrients that can sustain life on earth. Plants are so unique that they can extract these nutrients of the soil through their roots and transform them to forms usable by the plant, other animals and by mankind. With this knowledge about the soil, we the gardeners, have the job of keeping soil in the best possible order and to replace the nutrients that the plants have used up.
The soil has five main components: inorganic bits and pieces of rocks and minerals; dead and decaying organic matter, more commonly called humus; air; water; and a prolific community of living things, ranging from earthworms, insects, and fungi to microscopic bacteria, viruses and protozoa. The nature of any soil is usually defined by the proportions and quality of all these components.
Chrysanthemums, which some of you know, are native to China but they are also revered by the Japanese. They are probably considered as one of the most popular plants in temperate climate zones around the globe. They are beyond compare in the garden for their late-summer and fall blossoms. Most chrysanthemums will flower anywhere from three to eight weeks with the flowers ranging from small buttons to extensive globes that can measure up to 8 or more inches across.
They are not only beautiful in the garden, but hobbyists delight in chrysanthemums because they can be grown not only outdoors but also in the greenhouse. There are some hybridists that have developed many varieties that can be induced to bloom at any time, particularly in the greenhouse. These varieties can vary tremendously from their common ancestors. There are many greenhouse gardeners that grow mums specifically to enter in flower shows.
Garden tools are an important necessity for any type of gardening. We have tools for composting, digging, container gardening, vegetable gardening, and flower gardening, most of which are interchangeable. For instance you can use a digging tool for vegetable or flower gardening and a composting tool for digging. It is not necessary to purchase identical tools for all your different garden areas, some of the same garden tools will work quite well in many different areas.
Composting is a combination of yard, garden and landscape scraps; which is considered as the brown waste, and kitchen scraps; considered as green waste. Composting is the end result of a feeding pattern which includes hundreds of different organism, such as bacteria, fungi, worms and insects. In order to keep this process going there are a few things we need to do. One of the garden tools that is needed is called a turning post or turning tool and it is mainly for aerating the compost pile, which is an important step.
From the first snowdrop in spring to the last fall-flowering crocus, bulbs, corms and tubers provide color throughout the year, and most need little attention. The wide range of bulbs, corms and tubers available from catalogs, garden centers and online is a great aid to a colorful garden.
In this article, the group as a whole will be referred to as bulbs or bulbous plants, unless it is necessary to identify the plants specifically as corms or tubers.
The vivid displays produced by rhododendrons and azaleas can last from spring into summer. There are plants to fit any size garden, but the soil must be right. The value of this group of plants for the home landscape can hardly be overestimated. Ranging from mat-like dwarf shrubs only a few inches high to trees more than 40 feet tall, rhododendrons and azaleas offer a remarkable variety of sizes and shapes.
Most rhododendrons have magnificent foliage, and the flowers of many varieties are among the most beautiful in the world of shrubs. The flowers' colors are white, lavender, violet, purple, pink, crimson, scarlet, orange and yellow. Their shapes are tubular, starry, funnel- or bowl-shaped, and bell-like, varying in size from 3/4 to 6 inches wide and from 3/4 to 4 inches long. The flowers are usually produced in rounded trusses with as many as 15 individual blossoms on each one.
Composting at home is a means of returning to the soil as humus a great amount of organic material that would otherwise be thrown away. The best way to make a compost pile is to sandwich vegetable matter between layers of nitrogen-enriched soil. Composting at home is simple and easy to do; we just have to remember to do it.
Given adequate air and water, a well made compost pile will reduce such potential garbage as leaves, lawn clippings, raw kitchen wastes, coffee grounds, even vacuum-cleaner lint, sawdust and well-soaked newspaper to usable humus in a matter of months. There are limits however.
A greenhouse garden gives a gardener more time to spend cultivating his garden without the perils of nature. Even a small greenhouse affords many new possibilities, from early vegetables to orchids. Available automatic equipment can give complete control of the environment. Growing vegetables in winter, in the cold and frigid areas, is a popular trend for a greenhouse garden.
In a greenhouse, a gardener can raise plants that would suffer from cold, heavy rain, wind, and disease if they were grown in the open. For cold-climate gardeners there is the enjoyment of having plants in full bloom in the dead of winter when the outside landscape is covered with a blanket of snow.
Many of us enjoy attracting butterflies to our gardens. If all we ever do during the day is plant, weed, and deadhead and only have time to sit in the garden in the evening, we are missing something. It is the butterflies, they are most active during the day when the sun is out and the weather is warm. Attracting butterflies means we need to plant the right plants in our garden so more and more come around.
A wonderful place to plant a butterfly garden would be next to your deck or patio so you can watch them come in and enjoy the plants. While attracting these beautiful little insects, you just might see a himmingbird or two coming to see what is available. With the following plants in your garden; Anise hyssop, Verbena, Tall sedum, Butterfly weed and Butterfly bush, it will reach its peak in midsummer. This is when you will see the most butterflies.
A successful rose garden is fairly easy to accomplish. Most rose gardens will grow in a wide variety of soils and situations, and will survive with relatively little attention. The best rose garden is an open, sunny location that has a fairly rich, slightly acidic soil. Good drainage is essential, although roses need ample watering in the absence of rain. Once planted, a successful rose garden will survive in the same bed for many years if your ground is regularly mulched and fed.
Moisture retention in the soil is of the utmost importance. A month before planting, dig the ground to the depth of a spade. You will need to work in about one-third by volume of humus like material and gardening supplies such as compost, peat moss, leaf or well-rotted manure. Commercial fertilizer does not need to be added at this time. If you leave the topsoil untrampled so that it is loose the air can circulate. You can level the soil for the sake of appearance if you desire.
Mixing roses and other plants in our garden can be an interesting idea. They can be combined with other shrubs or herbaceous perennials by placing them individually in a particular position. A rose bush can be placed in a particular position or used to fill a corner, flank a doorway, or adorn a house wall. For instance, tall, arching, modern shrub roses look splendid behind a bank of low evergreens or other shrubs of moderate size or behind some of the lower-growing hybrid teas or floribunda roses.
If you are combining roses of different varieties, or growing them among other plants, keep in mind the size and flowering seasons of all the plants. Also, be certain to allow at least 2 feet of space between the plants to provide air circulation. You always want to make sure that short varieties of hybrid teas and floribunda roses will not be hidden by tall grandiflora roses in your garden.
We can have our entire garden mapped out as one garden theme or have many different gardening areas with different garden themes for each one. Our home and garden centers should have a variety of plants to choose. Having more than one theme will make your garden stand out among your neighbors. The following are a number of different garden themes:
Animal: This one could really be fun for your children or grandchildren by having them go with you to the nursery or garden supply store and help pick the plants with an animal name. Your plants could include for instance tiger lilies, pussy willow, happy kitten or cat-mint.
Want a fuller flower bed fast? All you have to do is transplant some hanging baskets or other larger pots of flowers in the ground. You'll need fewer plants and you won't have to wait for small ones to grow by doing this we are using our flower power.
Almost all nurseries and home and garden centers have a wide variety of hanging baskets. This method is a little more costly but if you plant seeds in the vacated baskets and leave them outside for the bees to pollinate you will have more flowers for your patio or deck in about a month.
Who doesn't enjoy watching butterflies winging around your yard or garden? They are the most beautiful creatures on Earth. Butterfly gardening is an easy way to bring us back to nature and to see more of them. Many butterfly habitats have been lost to mankind activities such as building homes and roads.
A butterfly garden can be any size - a window box, a section of your landscaped yard or an untended area of a large yard. The best way to start is to investigate how many different butterflies are native to your area. Of that composite choose the ones that you would like to see visit your garden and learn which flowers and plants that they both feed on and lay eggs on.
Whether you have a flower bed, landscaping, garden or a starter kit, you probably started out with some kind of container for holding your plants. Container gardening can be done on the smallest patio, can have a vegetable garden, porch or inside garden can boost a crop of vegetables and flowers while still only in containers.
Container gardening supplies come in many shapes and forms, some are purchased at your local home and garden center or they can be various containers found around your house. An old planter box or a mis-matched old coffee mug can be used for instance.
Blueberries are delicious and nutritious, not only that, they can help lower cholesterol and have more cancer-fighting and disease-fighting antioxidants than foods like spinach and salmon. Blueberries are not only good in pies, breakfast toppings or in muffins, but they are becoming a tasteful choice in the garden or landscape.
July is usually Blueberries Month because most are harvested in this country during that time. There are a number of varieties now that you can harvest them anywhere from early to mid summer all they way into fall.
Once your garden has been planted, nothing is more important to its ability to thrive than with sufficient watering. When provided with too little water, plants are unable to develop properly and become more susceptible to damage from pests. Too much water can of course be equally bad. In soil that is kept too moist plants become prone to rots and other diseases.
For Want of a Little Water
People wonder why their garden isn't working, nine times out ten is because of lack of water. It never ceases to amaze me how people can spend hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars on a landscape and then watch it gradually die for want of an occasional watering. Proper watering would probably save most of the plants that are lost in gardens each year. Even those plants that succumb to pests were usually first weakened by inconsistent watering.
Vegetables are easy to grow and are very rewarding at harvest time. The most important requirements are sunshine and watering. Other requirements are a loosened soil, some fertilizer, and a little bit of weeding. If you have an area in your yard that gets sunshine most of the day (6-8 hours in summer) then you can start your vegetable gardening. The first time you start a new garden requires the most amount of work, but don't get discouraged, the work you do in the beginning does not have to be done again each year.
The ground that the plants will grow in needs to be loosened up so that the roots of the tender vegetable plants can grow into your soil and make strong, healthy plants. The roots are the only way the plant takes up water and nutrients so you want to make their job easy. The best time to dig your garden is early spring when it is moist enough to dig easily but not so wet that the soil is muddy and heavy. The first step is to mark out your spot making sure there are no trees or large shrubs around it with roots that will spread into your garden. Then, remove the grass and create some type of border around the garden to keep it neat and weed free.
Seedstarting often has an overlooked aspect of plant propagation is the art of record keeping. Whether you are producing a few plants for your home flower and vegetable gardens or working at a larger-scale nursery, developing a propagation journal will prove indispensable. It is also a good idea to keep track of where you purchase your seeds, as their quality and reliability may vary by source.
2. Store seed properly to maintain viability
Seeds are a fragile commodity and their viability will sharply decline. While some seeds may survive for thousands of years under the proper conditions, others will not, even when properly stored. To maintain dormancy, keep seeds in a cool, dark location with low humidity, like a refrigerator. It is recommended that you label them (seed name, source, and year) and store them in a small re-closable bag or used film canister that is, in turn, kept in a larger plastic container. Once you are ready to sow, you can test the viability of many of the seeds, but not all of them, by soaking them in water for a few hours. The seeds that sink to the bottom are generally still alive, while the dead ones will float on top. This test generally works better for larger seeds.
If you're occasionally at a loss about how to keep your houseplants as beautiful as they were the day you bought them, you're not alone. Most gardeners find that growing tomatoes or a beautiful bed of flowers is much easier than keeping houseplants alive. It seems that one day they're fine and the next they're dropping leaves and are infested with something.
It's actually not that difficult to keep houseplants happy, but you do need to pay attention to their basic needs, and take care of any pest problems right away. Here are some helpful hints to help you with your houseplant solutions and have a green thumb indoors.
The benefits of grow lights and stands is hard to ignore. There is simply no better way to grow an abundance of stocky green seedlings. If you grow flowering plants indoors, such as orchids, African violets, citrus and hibiscus, lights will keep them blooming mostly year-round. If you want a wintertime harvest of vine-ripened tomatoes, herbs and salad greens, that also can be accomplished with lights.
By learning how plants use light and the many bulb and fixture options on the market, you can select an indoor lighting system that is perfectly suited to the types of plants you want to grow. Not all plants require the same color, intensity and duration of light.
Most gardeners would love to own a greenhouse. This appeal may be strongest in cold climates, but to be able to grow a large supply of sturdy seedlings is a pretty appealing no matter where you live. And what gardener doesn't relish the idea of having an environment filled with orchids, citrus and jasmine or have the opportunity to pick fresh salad greens and tomatoes on a cold winter day. There are now dozens of affordable, well-constructed greenhouses on the market, as well as a full range of accessories that make greenhouse gardening easier than ever.
This may seem like a simplistic question, but function is really the most important factor in determining the type and size of greenhouse you choose.
Select a spading fork as your first tool. Before you plant anything, you will need to improve the soil. A spading fork looks like a pitchfork but has a shorter handle and wider tines. It is used to dig down into hard soil and break up the ground.
Step 2
Next, choose a hoe. A hoe is useful for weeding and cultivating the surface of the soil to allow for penetration of nutrients and water.
Pick a pest and you can usually find a natural control for it. Natural garden pest controls are less expensive and are safer for your garden, family, natural wildlife and the environment.
Prevention is the easiest way to discourage pests from coming in the first place. A healthy garden is the best defense and here are some tips:
Healthy organic soil. Natural composting, mulching and top-dressing your soil with compost are the best way to develop strong plants.
Pull out weak plants. The weak plants may already be infected. Pull and dispose of them away from the garden.
Seaweed mulch or spray. Seaweed fertilizer in mulch or spray will enhance growth and give plants strength. Seaweed mulch also repels slugs.
Interplant and rotate crops. When plantings are mixed, pests are less likely to spread throughout. Rotating crops each year is a common method to avoid re-infestation of pests.
Keep foliage dry. Water early in the day so foliage will be dry for most of the day. Wet foliage encourages insect and fungal damage.
Disinfect. To reduce the spread of invading insects, clean your tools after working with infested plants before moving on to other areas of your garden.
Minimize habitat. Be sure to clear your garden area of debris and weeds as this is a breeding place for insects.
Gardener's essentials not only include the gardening tools but other items as well. Some gardener's essentials may include the mulch, top soil and the seeds you want to plant. Here I am going to talk about some tools.
Shovel: If you'll be digging a hole or moving compost from a cart in your garden at any time, you'll need a shovel. The business end is thin, rounded and pointed and the top portion is flat with a flattened lip or step so you can use pressure to reach the tough spots.
Make sure to look at how the top portion or head of the shovel is connected to the handle. If and when a shovel breaks that is usually the place where it is going to happen. For a connection that is sturdy, the top of the head should wrap around the handle. The handle on some shovels can be waist-high or they can be long and straight and are usually made of wood. The newer synthetic handles are strong and lightweight.
Flower gardening is a wonderful way to be creative and dream. Flower gardening can be in your backyard can be a very relaxing place to work. Some of us have pools and have created a beautiful flower garden nearby. Our flower gardens can even bring many varieties of birds and butterflies and what a glorious way to bring us back to nature.
It doesn't matter the size of your garden plot, your time and budget or personality, you can design a flower garden that depicts your personality and creativity but it will get you closer to nature.
Your flower gardening plans and set up may seem like a large task but a few basics will get you going on the right path.
Composting is the breaking down of plant remains and other once-living remains such as leaves, kitchen scraps and so forth. Most of these materials will make a dark, earthy, crumbly substance that is wonderful for enriching your garden soil. It is the best way to recycle your yard and kitchen wastes, and is a critical step in reducing the garbage that we needlessly send to landfills for disposal. It's fairly easy to learn the process.
There are a tremendous number of options for containing your compost. Some people choose to, simply build a compost pile in a convenient spot on the ground. If you are the creative type you can build bin from materials such as pallets, or two-by-fours and plywood. And, of course, there are many commercial bins on the market to choose from.
A home flower garden is a great place to be creative and dream. It can also be a place to play, work and rest. Some of us have pools and have created a beautiful flower garden nearby. Our flower gardening can even bring many varieties of birds and butterflies and what a glorious way to bring us back to nature.
It doesn't matter the size of your garden plot, your time and budget or personality, you can design a flower garden that depicts your personality and creativity but it will get you closer to nature.
