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Posts Tagged ‘garden’

If you think your gardener has everything, it is still possible to find the right gift for that green thumb in your life. Besides, even the state-of-the-art tools, gadgets, and accessories wear out after a number of years.

If you are wondering what gifts do-it-Yourself gardeners might appreciate the most, the following list is a great place to start:

Hole Digger: A variety of squeeze or twist-style hole diggers are sold in a variety of different sizes. They make the process of hole digging and seed placing easier.

Gloves: Any gardener who wants to keep his or her hands looking attractive as possible could use a new pair of these from time to time. Grip gloves are ideal. 
Seasonal Starter Plants: During the seasons of the year, stores sell starter plants. Vegetables and flowers are most commonly started this way as they cut down the amount of growht time neede. 
Planting calendar: This is a very handy item. It provides all the information about all the different types of plants that can be grown in certain climates and what time of year. 
Knee Pads: Will be useful for people who have weak knees. In fact anyone whose knees and joints are working properly can use knee pads also, to prevent serious injuries.

Containers: Whether your gardener grows indoors or outdoors a supply of assorted containers are very helpful. Use them to germinate seeds in and could also be used for indoor planting.

How-to guides: A book on general gardening is handy for the beginning or intermediate gardener. Any advanced gardener would appreciate a book on off-season gardeneing, flower bed designing, or advanced cultivating techniques. 
Personalized garden gifts: Any of the above gifts can be personalized. Another fun item for the green thumb to purchase would be a decorative watering can which you could also make personal.

Garden ornaments: Any garden can be spiced up with a variety of decorated rocks, ornamental stakes, trilliums, bird feeders, pillars, or other variety of decorative garden items. These also can help indicated where seeds have been grown for future reference.
Garden tool tote: A backpack or waste tool tote would be most recommended, because it would reduce the strain on the back and shoulder muscles. Although, any general handy bag would be useful. This is a fun item to personalize as well. 
Garden Journal: A journal made especially for gardeners can help make planning much mor efficient. Keeping a space for any sketches and photos of garden design ideas and notes and dates of ideal planting times is ideal. Perhaps ones with a hardiness zone chart would be most helpful to the do-it-yourself gardener in your life.

Garden Shed: A small garden shed is a great gift for the home gardener and they can be quiet inexpensive. It doesn't matter if they already have a garden shed another one will always come in handy. The small garden shed could be specifically used to store poisons.

Garden Labeler: A specialized labeler can help indicate where your garden plants are located. It produces labels that are protected with laminate to preserve them from the elements.

Compost bucket: Certain types are specialized for collecting food scraps from meals until they are brought to the outdoor pile. The most ideal ones are those that include a replaceable carbon filter, which usually lasts at least three months. You can find a bucket that holds enough food scraps for a week.

Magazine subscription: This very thoughtful present will allow that avid gardener the chance to keep up with current garden trends. Inspiring them to try some new design techniques and may get some inspirational design ideas from them.

The above mentioned gifts are inexpensive and some cost very little. The smaller items can be arranged in a gift basket to make it more attractive. The more costly but useful items to purchase for a gardener include hoses, rakes, hoes and other large garden tools and accessories.

It are not able to be denied that landscaping designs are essential parts on landscaping. People who love landscaping take many ways to get the perfect landscaping designs that is going to transform their area into a better appearance all year round. Adding seasonal bursts of color in your landscaping designs are able to be a great starting point in it. So, don’t wait too long to include seasonal burst of color in your designs to make your garden look fresh every time.

It is a great design to have some shrubs and trees on your yard if you are desired on a nice look landscaping in the whole year. Great landscaping designs will easy you in keeping your yard particularly in winter.

Working On Your Landscaping Designs

It is still a nice thing to come up with your own creation landscaping design although you will simply get many ready made landscaping designs in architectural digest, journals and so on. You are able to even strive to explore and finding feng shui garden landscape design to be applied in your area. Don’t worry if you don’t have any design of how to design your own yard. You are able to always hire a professional to perform your landscaping designs. And the good news is, it is very easy to seeing an expert who can perform good outdoor styles.

You can attempt to visit your local garden and landscaping materials supplier and ask for recommendations from her or him about landscaping designs. Most garden and landscaping material supplier have connection with reputable landscape designers. Moreover, you can also ask for a recommendation to join local garden club. Local garden clubs often keep a database of landscaping designers and gardeners in their area.

Ensure that you also give your garden and landscaping materials designs on how much you intend to spend your money for landscaping designs. So, you will not only ask for a good landscaping design. Remember that hiring a good landscape designer will need a lot of money, so it is really vital to set your budget. So, it is a good plan to have a long considering about the amount of your budget and the landscaping designs to prevent spending beyond your means.

How Much Have to You Spend On Design Services?

In regard to the amount of money you are going to spend on landscaping designs is actually up to you. If you have a great area and desired to have your whole place to really look lovely all year round, you should also invest in well detailed designs.

Keep in mind that to prepare a large amount of money if you need a good style  from a professional if you have big or complicated yards. So, don’t worry to spend a lot of money if you only have a small space in your living place, since you will only spend a little money for landscaping designs. So, get the most proper design from your professionals.

Want to know further about landscaping designs? Let’s explore more on the links here and you will get much more about landscaping as well as any thing related.

home landscaping is no different than any other kind of landscaping. It is natural for people to want their home to look as fab as it possibly can, who does not want the kind of yard that the whole neighborhood is envious of? And he beauty of home landscaping is that it does not have to be hard and much of it can be done by you. All it will take a it a little elbow grease and some time to spare and you can design your own home landscaping design quickly and easily.

There are even products on the market that will help you to find the best home landscaping idea out there. You can choose to use home landscaping software for one. These programs can be a great help to you as you are trying to figure out what will suit your home and yard the best. With these types of programs you will get to see a few different layouts and options are always good when trying to narrow down your choices.

If home landscaping software programs are not for you, then you can try doing a search online for some wonderful home landscaping ideas. The internet is full of great sites that you can use to get everything done the right way. It is important to do plenty of research before you start your own home landscaping services so that you keep the number of mistakes made down to a minimum. If you do make a boo-boo, don't worry about it, any thing can be fixed.

Before you start your home landscaping you will need to also look into any gas lines and electrical lines that may be running through your yard. This is very important if you are planning to be doing a lot of digging. You cannot afford to hit any of these things, not only can it cost you a bundle to fix, it can also be very dangerous. Hitting an electrical line with a metal shovel could put an end to all of your work, your life too.

You will also need to find out about zoning restrictions that could affect your home landscaping. In some places you cannot have trees too high and even some fences are not allowed. Find out these kinds of things before you start your home landscaping work and you could save a lot of time and money.

You can gain much good things by making herb gardens. You can breathe a fantastic aroma when other smells mixed up and caught by your nose. Herb gardens give also a source of fresh that directly and constantly blow you anytime you want. And you need to know that you will be easy in planted herb gardens.

Well, you have to decide firstly where you are going to create your private herb gardens. You can make them indoors or outdoors. If you choose indoors, that is okay. But if you have a big size of garden, outdoor can be a good choice to make herb gardens.

When do You Start?

The best place to start is by looking around to see where herb gardens could probably be made.  If your space is samll, why don’t you create more than one and create each one smaller? You are able even apply window boxes to grow herb gardens right outside your kitchen window. This is perfect and has the advantage because it’s not only being close to the place where you prepare your dishes, but it also gives you a fantastic aroma every time you open your kitchen window.

You can make herb gardens in common flower beds, but you should also be aware that some herbs can spread further and be more destructive than others.  For example, mint is particularly persistent and should always be planted away from any other seeds.  So, if you want to put it in a bed, make sure that you plant it inside a pot and sink the pot into the land first.  By doing this, you will prevent it from choking other plants and keep it within its own small area.

Choosing Your Herbs

There are many types of choices when it comes to fix what your herb gardens will consist.  Try to do some study to know which herbs you like and which ones are the most flexible
as well.

Parsley, Chives, and Mints are good staples that you must get in your herb gardens. They have a particular flush and shape that distinguish from other herbs that tend to be entire green shades. That is why you must know how to combine them best, so you can find them in pretty arrangement every time. For instance, you better place Chives that are tall and straight at the back. Overall, if you have been very familiar with herb gardens, you are able absolutely create the prettiest herb gardens on your own.

Does that answer your question? For further explanation about herb gardens you can find the complete guide here!

I’ve been a city dweller since birth.  I’m talking fast-paced, crowded, loud, apartment dwelling, city living.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love the hustle and bustle of city life.  I love the access to all sorts of activities and entertainment at my fingertips.But, I so love the color and frangrance of lovely flowers and picking up a bouquet of them before going home each night just isn’t cutting it any more.  

 Recently, I’ve wanted to make some changes in my life.  Slow things down.  Stop and smell the roses, if you will.Things are so chaotic at work right now that I want my home (aka my apartment) to be the tranquil, comforting spot I return to each night. 

When I said, “Stop and smell the roses” earlier, I meant that literally.  I am very jealous of those people who have enough room in their yards for an outstanding flower garden.   This started me wondering why I can’t have it all.  Living in the city and tending to a flower garden. 

What to do, what to do!?  Then it came to me.  I could create my own flower garden out on the balcony of my apartment.  Don’t laugh!This is definately do-able!  I just needed to do a little research, get some help to convert my balcony into my Garden of Eden.   

Now, I’m like many other single people today, who carefully budget their income, and I understood what an investment transforming my balcony would be.I wanted to find flower pots and seeds that were inexpensive yet flower pots and seeds that added beauty to my balcony.  I did a lot of scientific research to find the best flowers for the climate I live in, that would grow in the blazing sun of morning and shade in the afternoon, and would re-flower each spring … oh who am I kidding?  I picked flowers, first off, because I liked their colors.  The Purple Coneflowers and Foxgloves both have beautiful shades of purple.  I made sure they both grow all summer and even into the early fall.  Luckily, they are easy to care for (the Coneflowers are even drought resistant).  After all, I don’t have a well developed “green thumb” yet.  I am just getting started. 

I found some really cool wrought iron planter brackets to place my pots into.The brackets I purchased can be hung right off of my balcony, which is made of wrought iron as well.  There is room for about five pots in it or space to just plant the seeds directly into the planter.Adjustable mounts for the flower pots I purchased are available in case I decide to add more single pots or hanging baskets in the future. 

There are so many choices out there!  I am thrilled it is springtime and I can get started on my new “garden” soon. 

A great way to get free flower seeds for next year is to pick seeds from your own flowers in the fall. After the flower blooms and dies back the seeds will form in the middle of the flower. When the seed pod is dried out but before it drops the seeds on the ground you should cut the stem of the flower and shake the seeds into a bag or on a newspaper. If they don’t come off easily you can rub the pods between your hands to get them to open up.

After gathering up the flower seeds you will need to let them dry out in the sun for a week or so. The best way to do this is to lay them out on newspaper in a sunny south facing window. You could do it outside but the seeds usually blow away outside. When you are sure the seeds are dry you can package them in a 2×3 inch zip lock bag. They are available at just about any craft store.

Try and get all the chaff and insects so you just have pure seeds. Make sure to label you bags and keep them out of the sun in a dry location until Spring. The flower seeds will keep until the next year or two so there is no hurry to use them up.

When spring comes you can get out your FREE seeds and decide where you want to plant them. It is a good idea to put them in the same conditions they grew so well in last year. If they were in the sun last year and did well don’t go sticking them in the shade this year. After a few years of doing this you will have a large amount of flower seeds on  hand every spring. You will only have to buy seeds when you see some new ones you don’t already have. Good Luck and Keep Gardening.

A garden full of flowers can bring such pleasure. But the blooms themselves can bring something else too: butterflies. In this month’s newsletter, we reveal the techniques that will turn your garden into a field of fluttering colors.

Of course, it helps if you can actually see the flowers in your garden! Usually, that means putting the tall flowers at the back and the shorter plants at the front. But does that rule always hold true? We offer a couple of suggestions that break the rules.

One of those tips involves planting flowers around rocks but you could also use stepping stones. Our stepping stone molds will give your garden a truly unique look… and give your flowers a background to help them stand out. Read it all here…

How To Turn Your Flower Garden Into A Butterfly Heaven

We like to think that our flower seeds will give your garden all the beauty it needs. With a little attention, they can do even more than that. The flowers can also attract butterflies, bringing additional color to your outdoor areas.

Our zinnias, for example, create nectar that’s a treat for the Silver Checkerspot, a yellow-orange butterfly found in most eastern and central states between May and September. Our purple coneflowers are popular with Common Wood-Nymphs and Monarch, and shasta daisies provide a meal for the Mourning Cloak, a beautiful purple-black butterfly that appears across almost the entire country.

You shouldn’t really need to do anything special to turn your flower garden into a butterfly paradise but a little planning can increase the numbers of butterflies that you attract — and the amount that you enjoy them.

Planting particular types of flowers in large groups, for example, will make them easier for butterflies to spot and give you fluttering clusters instead of migrating individuals that come in ones and twos. Creating areas of light and shade will let the butterflies both warm themselves in the sun and provide cool spots out of the heat. And puddles of water and rotting fruit can also give your butterflies a reason to stick around… provided you don’t mind the smell.

You can also try matching the plant favored by the larvae with the flower preferred by the butterfly. Place sunflowers near zinnias, for example, and you’ll create a nursery for the Silvery Checkerspots, guaranteeing a supply when the caterpillars pupate between May and September.

And finally, you can also plan your garden so that you have a spot to sit in the summer shade while the butterflies enjoy the flowers that surround you — and you enjoy both.

Saving energy has become important in the minds of most every person. Having outdoor lighting doesn’t have to mean foregoing energy savings. Solar lighting can save a great deal of energy and at the same time provide ample lighting and enhancement to the garden area. Using solar lights protects and preserves energy use for the future.

Solar lights are typically inexpensive and easy to install. Most local home improvement stores carry a wide variety and designs. They can also be found online and shipped directly to the homeowner. Many outdoor solar lights are simple stake lights that are pushed into the ground.

This ease of installation also makes them very portable which helps when changing designs or moving them for lawn work. With solar lights there are no cords or wires to be concerned with, if the lawn needs to be excavated for whatever reason, moving solar lights is a much simpler process than calling a professional to locate the wiring system for hard-wired lights.

Solar lights can be used anywhere in the yard that there is ample sun, and with the advancements of technology there are solar lights that don’t require large amounts of sunlight.

Most solar lights use rechargeable batteries that get their power from the sun. The lights contain small solar cells that capture the sunlight and then charge the batteries. When the sun goes down at night, photocells react to the darkness which causes them to light up.

Other solar lights use solar cells that are wired to the light and can be placed away from the actual light. These are useful in areas where the light is being placed in a shady area. The solar cell can be placed farther away from the light because of the wire connection.

Another added benefit of solar lighting is that the bulbs don’t need replacing often. It can be many years before the bulbs in a solar light need to be changed; this is another cost savings for the homeowner. Added to the energy savings, solar lighting is the obvious choice for homeowners wanting to save money.

Design

In the past, there were very few solar lighting designs to choose from, not so today. Today solar lights can be found in nearly as many styles and designs as traditional electric lights. There are solar pole lights, solar wall lights, solar recessed lights and solar moonlights just to name a few.

 In addition to traditional styles, solar lights can also be found in whimsical designs such as frogs, fairies and other outdoor caricatures. There are also gazing balls that collect the sun during the day and emit soft light once the sun goes down.

Ease of installation, energy savings, low cost purchase and low cost of use are all reasons that have propelled the use of solar lights for outdoor lighting uses. Adding to that the various styles and designs that are available today make solar lighting the obvious choice when adding lights to the garden.

-Katya Coen

It is not all that easy to always come up with your own landscaping idea. In fact, most people are going to need a little help with their landscaping, it is a good thing that it is easy to find a landscaping idea to use.

There are a few places that you can get some fantastic landscaping ideas and probably the best place is the internet. You will find hundreds of sites on the internet that will all have a great landscaping idea or two for you to take and make your own. It is important that you put a lot of though and consideration into the landscaping of your yard in the front and?n the back so finding the perfect landscaping idea is essential to your success.

You should start by taking a walk around your property in order to get a good sense of what can be done. See how the drainage is and check out the slopes and levels of your property. This way you will be able to tell which landscaping idea is right for you right off the bat. The more you notice the easier things would be. It would be terrible to choose a landscaping idea and then start work only to find that it cannot be completed halfway through due to some aspect of your property. This is why you need to find out all that you can about each landscaping idea that you are contemplating using.

And before you choose the final landscaping design that you are going to use take a little extra time to learn the basics of landscaping. This is imperative if you have never done any work like this before. If you re new to the whole world of landscaping then you might want to take out a book or two from the library. This way you do not have to pay for them and you will still get all that they have to offer. There is a lot of be gained from reading some good landscaping books, you might even find a landscaping idea in them.

If you know that you want to change the landscaping in your frontyard and your backyard then you need to use a landscaping idea that will incorporate both of these. Your front and back yards should flow together, this will give you the best possible design so look at a landscaping idea that will give you this kind of harmony and you will have a better yard for it.

A great way to spice up your garden landscape is to add a water feature. These can be both soothing and aesthetically appealing. I’ve found that there are nothing more relaxing than sitting on a bench next to my garden and listening to my fountain while I read a good book or do some studying. Putting in a water feature is very easy and relatively inexpensive, and
will add immensely to the pleasantness of your garden. Also, the maintenance level is minimal.

Usually, people install fountains for the benefit of the natural ambience it provides. For some reason, being around a gorgeous scene of water gives you a positive energy. This is also good if you practice Tai Chi or some form of yoga or meditation. The constant drone of the water is exactly what most people need to concentrate on what they are doing. Even if
you’re not into that kind of stuff, just being in a garden with a fountain has a sort of meditative quality to it, even if you’re not trying to do so. I recommend it to everyone.

When you first decide to put in a fountain, you need to put great care into picking out one that will go well with the rest of your garden. If you have any other decorations, you want to consider if it goes well with your motif. Does the fountain you’re considering stand out in your garden like a sore thumb, or does it look like it was meant to be there? If you’re like me, you can’t naturally tell whether the fountain will be a good addition to your garden just by looking at it. So my solution was to bring my sister (a natural at fashion design and that kind of stuff) along with a picture of my garden to the store. I was able to get her expert opinion, as well as see for myself what it would look like. By doing this I was able to pick a beautiful rock fountain that goes marvelously with the rest of my garden.

However, I still had a slight problem with supplying my fountain with power. You see, my garden isn not very close to my house. I thought it would look pretty tacky to run an extension cord across my yard, so I must come up with another solution. I discussed my situation with a Home Depot employee, and he quickly found me the exact solution I needed: an
extension cord meant for being buried! All it took was a few hours of digging a small trench across my backyard, and I had power to my fountain without an unsightly cord running across my yard. After I got over this little hitch, my fountain plan went beautifully.

So if you're looking for a way to make your garden a more classy and beautiful space to be, I hope you consider installing a fountain. The whole process is surprisingly cheap, and I think that you will be very happy with the results. Having a fountain in your garden is not only
soothing, but it also adds a lot of character to an otherwise bland garden. Remember, gardens are not just for giving us vegetables! A garden is a space to go when you want to retreat from the outside world and dwell in your own thoughts with no disturbance.