Archive for July, 2010
Spring Is Just Around The Corner
It’s winter. It’s cold outside. Everything is covered in snow. Good News! Now is the perfect time to start thinking about and preparing for your spring garden.
While your activities outside may be limited there’s much you can do inside to make the coming months more fruitful.
For starters grab a pencil and paper and sketch out any changes you’d like to make to your garden once the snow clears.
Where will you put the new arbor you’ve been thinking about? Is it time for a new and artistic pruning of the hedges? What about a new walkway of flagstones interspersed with thyme? Will you be moving any flower or herb beds? Will you need new annuals or perennials? Would you like a new herb garden? Some like basil and parsley make tasty additions to your pantry. Others like sweet woodruff are more decorative and can be a subtle but significant facet of your landscaping plans. Still others like anisehyssop and sage attract butterflies and bergamot may attract hummingbirds.
When you put all your gardening tools away at the end of autumn you made sure to clean and oil them right? If not now would be a good time to do so along with sharpening any dull blades and fixing or replacing anything that’s broken.
Your inside houseplants still need plenty of attention. Perhaps because of the shorter winter days they need more light and should be moved. Over time the soil of potted plants loses nutrients and may suffer from a mineral buildup from hard water. Now would be a good time to repot them.
While you’re inside taking care of your houseplants consider starting seedlings to be planted outside in the spring. Besides being fun and educational it can save you the expense of purchasing plants in the spring. Thyme can take three to four weeks to germinate and shouldn’t be transplanted until two sets of true leaves appear. Then the plant still needs to be acclimatized over a period of a week. Now would be a good time to prepare the soil containers and lighting you’ll need as well as to purchase the seeds themselves.
Speaking of seeds start perusing seed catalogues and gardening magazines. You’ll find excellent inspiration for your own garden designs as well as news about new tools and techniques. Botanists and horticulturists are always producing new hybrids to tickle your senses.
On days when it’s not too cold consider getting out and setting up a bird feeder. Different seeds attract different birds: Niger seed for goldfinches house
and purple finches and pine siskins; black oil sunflower seed for just about every other type of bird. It’s a good economical general feed. For a high energy feed for winter give them suet or peanut butter. Also think about a heated birdbath. Water is a necessity!
Be sure to shake excess snow off the branches of small trees particularly evergreens. The excessive weight may break tender branches or even topple the tree. It’s still not too late to wrap vulnerable evergreens with burlap.
Once you’ve done everything you can inside and outside it’s time to get away to a gardening show. Each year Landscape Ontario and The Garden Club of Toronto produce Canada Blooms a veritable oasis for eager gardeners where you’ll find hundreds of exhibits including lavish custom designed gardens water falls seminars demonstrations and workshops. Past Canada Blooms have even included real weddings with the public invited as guests.
No matter what the weather’s like there’s always plenty to do for the serious professional and the amateur hobbyist alike. So prepare now for a springtime garden that will be a haven for both yourself and the friendly neighborhood wildlife.
About the writer: Jules Smith is the principal of LightningStrike Studios a professional business and technical writing firm.
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So You Want To Make A Bonsai
Growing your own bonsai need not start by being expensive. Plants are free if grown from seed or cuttings and the rewards to be had in terms of appreciation of the final result and the experience gained is a joy beyond compare.
Creating a bonsai is a fairly simple procedure if you follow the necessary steps for growing and shaping the selected tree. It is also important to select a tree for the climatic conditions in your region some trees will thrive in certain regions while others may not survive. After deciding on the desired bonsai material the next step is to prepare the appropriate size pot. A pot that is too small or a pot that is too large can hamper the growth of the bonsai. In addition the pot should have an outlet or opening at the bottom to allow water to drain freely. The amount and type of soil is also an important consideration usually a mixture of organic and inorganic compounds. To allow for proper placement in its container you may have to cut some of its roots. By reducing the mass of roots in the pot pruning provides space for young vigorous roots to grow and absorb water and minerals. Remember it is the trimming of the roots while confining the tree to a shallow container that keeps the tree miniaturized.
After setting the tree in its container pruning the leaves trimming new shoots and wiring the branches into an aesthetically pleasing form follows. There are six classic bonsai styles and a growing list of nonclassical styles as bonsai art involves new cultures and new species. Aesthetics however is not an end in itself but is linked to the physiology and good health of the bonsai.
Once you have proudly completed your work of art you should become familiar with the basic rules for maintaining your tree in good health so that it can reward you with many years of pleasure. Method and frequency of watering lighting requirements trimming and repotting prevention of diseases and insects and plant fertilization are just a few of the topics with which you should become familiar. There are numerous books on the subject of bonsai which can provide stepbystep instructions on these subjects . Happy Growing!
About the writer: Gene Neiro is the author of this article on bonsai . Find more information relating to bonsai trees “>http://www.bonsaiboy.com”> indoor bonsai trees and juniper bonsai trees here.
Rose Gardening Tips For Beginners
This condition discusses real rose farming tips that are very helpful for those who forecast to support their own rose plot. Though there web sites for you make goods of rose farming outcome like rose farming book still this clause can help for you to be more knowledgeable in rose farming.
It has been thought that rosefarming is one of the most difficult to direct. If you are planning to come your own rose garden go forward! You don’t basic to be delayed by this misconception. You just should actual rosefarming tips that are sincerely useful. If you are able to get some like rose farming book you can say that rose gardening is one of the most relaxing productive hobbies.
When you surprise rose gardening first thing that you penury to do is to launch what manner or category of rose you want to grow. With that you can have numerous options the prepackaged; baretoot; and the containerdeveloped roses. The ones that are sold during frost and early spring are the baredelve; prepackaged are those barerifle sold in a box with something around their roots to continue their wetness; and visibly containergrown roses are the in container.
You can look for web situate to asset rosegardening outcome like conduct for fertilizer the tools required and even the roses themselves. Remember that rose gardening tips are needed especially for beginners.
Actually there are no great variations on planting rose when compared to other plants. Rose gardening book emphasizes the importance of like other plants strong soil appropriate water and fertilizer and withstand. So make confident that there is strong soil correct drainage appropriate sunlight and hire your roses planted cool from one another appropriate detach.
Another thing to be remembered is before planting all extinct trees and other rotting part must be cutoff. Any break or even roses with long roots are in indigence to be trimmed and marinate the rummage for 10 to 12 hours to renew their moisture. Water the soil before you stand it and make solid the opening you dig is large enough for the rose archetype evolution.
You have to remember also as part of rosegardening tips that pruning is very important part of flower gardening. It adds the office of the your plants to have more flush. You can learn on what are the courteous habits to do this by receiving rose gardening book.
About the writer: Find tips about sunflower facts and growing sunflowers at the Sunflower Plant website.