Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
A gardener’s inspiration and motivation for gardening can vary, but most of the time, gardening is a hobby done either as a recreational form of natural art, or as an experiment in self-sufficiency. And with so many plant varieties available ranging from flowers to vegetables, it would be quite rare to find two identical gardens.
Most gardening takes place in regions with temperate weather, and each season bears the potential for new beauty. Planting can take place anywhere from early spring through mid-autumn depending on the location, climate, and plant.
Getting your gardening materials ready
Before you get started on your gardening project, there are a few tools and materials necessary to begin. Of course, you’ll need a plot of land or area within a yard to plant your garden. The size and design of the garden largely depends on what kind of garden you will grow.
Once you have determined how your garden will be physically laid out, you’ll need some basic tools to get started. A hoe or small plow will be needed to turn the soil in which you will plant. For small flower gardens, a hoe or even a small trowel may be sufficient. For larger gardens and for many vegetable and fruit gardens, a plow, or rototiller, would probably be more desirable.
After you have planted your seeds or plants, they will require water. A garden hose or watering bucket can be used to help irrigate the garden, particularly in months when rain may be at a minimum. Automatic sprinkler and irrigation systems may also be installed to maintain your garden.
Finally, some gardeners insist on the use of fertilizers and plant foods. While these may not be necessary, they may have a significant impact on your garden. If pests and other insects may be a problem, you might also consider investing in a safe insecticide for treating your plants.
Common challenges faced in gardening
We aren’t all “green thumbs,” but everybody faces the same basic problems in the planting and maintenance of a garden. First of all, insects and other pests can cause serious issues for an otherwise healthy garden. Many nurseries can offer you guidance in common pests and plant diseases that might be prone to your region or type of plant, and should be able to help you pick out a pesticide.
The weather can also seriously hamper your efforts at maintaining a successful garden. Brutally hot temperatures, lack of rain, and other weather conditions during the growing season can stunt growth, prevent blooms, or even kill entire gardens. And, of course, unexpected changes in the weather can catch even the most experienced gardener off-guard. Be prepared for anything in terms of weather, and this will help prevent surprises later on.
Gardening for beauty
Flower gardens greatly add to the overall landscaping of a home or business, and can add color at any time of year. Understanding the difference between annuals — which bloom only once and typically die at the end of the season — and perennials — which, if cared for properly, will return again season after season — can be of great benefit to establishing a garden.
Many flower gardens feature a set of perennials as part of the landscape, requiring the gardener to simply fill in the open space with annuals each year. Popular annuals for flower gardening include impatiens, begonias, daisies, tulips, and pansies. Some gardens may be designed around a color scheme or theme, and are often designed to be incorporated into the larger landscaping theme of the home or business.
Gardening for food
Many gardens are created for the sole purpose of growing and harvesting edible fruits and vegetables. In some regions of the world, fruit and vegetable gardening is so popular that nearly every home on every street or road has at least some size garden filled with fruits and vegetables.
While planting and growing flowers from seed is fairly simple, knowing when to plant seeds for a vegetable garden can be a more of a challenge. Many novice gardeners choose to purchases small plants to grow, leaving most of the work in maintenance of the garden.
Most vegetable and fruit gardens are planted in rows, which makes working in the garden, the weeding and watering for example, easier. Planting in rows also eases in harvesting the yields of the garden, as a person can walk through the rows next to plants to harvest and pick the food. Common plants in fruits and vegetable gardens include beans, tomatoes, all varieties of peppers, corn, and radishes. Most fruit and vegetables are summer gardens, although the yields may not be harvested until fall for some vegetables and fruits such as gourds and pumpkins.
For those who like plants for beauty, or those who want to grow fresh food in their backyard, the rewarding hobby of gardening is well worth a try.
Tags: Garden, Natural
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Sunday, May 3rd, 2009
Due to the popularity of my article entitled ‘Create a Natural Privacy Screen for your Deck or Balcony Area that is Sure to Add a Calming Charm,’ I thought it would be helpful to cover a few more ways to enhance your privacy in a natural and green way. This time by mixing in some additional foliage with coordinating color and some flowering possibilities.
When writing my original article, I knew right away that the issue of privacy screens would be a hit after speaking to so many neighbors, acquaintances, and overall troubled homeowners who were battling to find a natural way of melding their established landscaping with their balcony or deck area and add an element of what I refer to as ‘calming charm’ at the same time.
To help you out even more and take our original project subtly one step further, we can mix more than one vine together for the effect sought after and easily achieved in hanging and window baskets. By coordinating and complimenting more than one type of foliage and enhancing it with a color combination that fits your landscaping theme, your balcony or deck can take on an enchanting new and calming look. You may remember that our original project used only the Creeping Fig vine to create our privacy screen. Let us look at ways of starting a harmonious relationship between the Creeping Fig and other vines and plants.
Assuming you decide to use the Creeping Fig as we detailed in the first article, consider adding a second type of vine to your mix, such as pink Jasmine or another dark leaf plant. Both of these particular plants have a darker green foliage, but with much different shaped leaves. The growth characters of each are very different as well, with the Creeping fig exhibiting a natural ability to cling to surfaces, and the pink Jasmine trailing and wrapping itself around its own shoots and those of other plant varieties. The most significant difference between these two plants though is the flowering nature of the pink Jasmine and its well deserved fragrant reputation. Both are very hardy plants and blend very harmoniously together, while offering a splash of color during the spring and summer seasons from the pink Jasmine.
Here is how you will create your privacy screen:
Step 1: The planning and planting phase of creating this more colorful and natural privacy screen is essentially identical to that in the original article. You would pick out your plant containers, ideally rectangular to flow well with the shape of your balcony or deck. Make sure they have drainage holes or be sure to drill them yourself. Then, add a layer of small rocks or gravel to help with drainage and keep soil from falling through the drainage holes. Finally, add your potting soil, organic fertilizer, your vines of choice, and a top layer of mulch to help the soil retain moisture and resist weed growth. Your containers will most likely need to be a bit longer in length since you will be planting two vines side by side.
Step 2: Again, you will cut 1 to 2 inch strips of plastic fencing available in most garden centers, and attach loosely to your fence panels or deck railings using a staple gun. Be conservative in how much you staple. You are simply trying to attach a few of the vine lengths to give them a start. Use plastic coated wire ties to attach a few of those vine lengths to the plastic fencing. Eventually, the vines will grow and shield the visibility of these plastic fencing and wire pieces, so you will forget they are even there.
Step 3: Follow the directions received on the information tag that hopefully came with the vines you purchased, and water, fertilize, and prune accordingly.
You have now learned another way of giving your balcony or deck a calming charm, and adding a natural and lush privacy screen at the same time.
Tags: Another, Balcony, Calming, Charm, Deck, Ideas, Landscaping, Natural, Privacy, Screen
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Friday, February 13th, 2009
Too often we see balcony and deck areas go unused because of a sheer lack of privacy. Now you can showcase and bring texture to your yard with natural beauty and privacy at the same time. A unique way to add beautiful greenery to your balcony, coverage from the prying eyes of neighbors, or, what might be an unattractive view, is to create a natural outdoor privacy screen .
Start with lightweight decorative resin or plastic containers. We used 3 for our project because of the size of the balcony deck. One for the front, and one for each side of the balcony. Be sure to select containers that that have drainage holes at the bottom. Plants that are sitting in soggy water-filled soil are never a good thing.
Put a few small rocks around the top of the drainage holes to keep the soil from draining out. Then, fill the containers with soil, and plant vines (we used Creeping Fig because it is hardy and will naturally cling to the surface once it gets established) with branches that are long enough to secure to your balcony’s fence panels. Position your 3 decorative resin containers along the front side of the balcony – center, left and right side. This will give you an outdoor privacy screen that covers all the angles.
Next, cut rolled plastic fencing in to 1-2 inch strips and staple to fence using your staple gun. Secure vines to plastic fencing with plastic coated wire ties. Be careful not to staple the vines themselves. Ouch!! As vines branch out, continue to add more plastic fencing until wood fence panels are completely covered. This will give your balcony a custom charm and a natural outdoor privacy screen. You can also use this same method to cover ugly metal fence poles in your yard as well (see our article on ‘Covering Up Ugly Metal Fence Poles.’)
Supplies:
3 Lightweight resin plant containers with drainage holes, or drill your own. Plastic Gardener Fencing (3 x 50 ft. ? Can be found at most home and garden centers.) Plastics coated wire ties for outdoor plants. Staple Gun Staples (for your staple gun of course) Scissors or wire cutters 3 creeping figs Potting soil and mulch Drainage saucers
Tags: Area, Balcony, Charm, Custom, Deck, Green, IdeasCreate, Landscaping, Natural, Outdoor, Privacy, Screen, Sure
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