Installing a mini garden pond is a great way to invite nature into your outdoor living space, these ponds will create the perfect habitat for birds, frogs, toads, tadpoles, hedgehogs, bats, lizards, water snails, etc… butterflies, dragonflies, and other insects. What I love about a mini pond besides plant life, is wildlife will have your pond teaming with many activities which are so exciting.
Springtime has finally arrived and for many us who have been waiting with anticipation can get started working outdoors to freshen up our outdoor living space or to install a flower garden painting our landscapes with an array of beautiful colors and fragrances that are so inviting. What I love about creating a spring garden are the many benefits this type of garden offers, from beautification to helping to bring balance to our ecosystem attracting wildlife ( butterflies, birds & bees) to inviting the many beneficial insects that help to protect our garden plants from garden insect pests.
St. Augustine grass is a warm-season turf that is popular throughout the state of Florida, the Caribbean, and the Mediterranean, this turf adapts to a wide variety of soil types. When properly maintained St. Augustine grass produces a nice dense green turf that is very beautiful, if you’re living in a coastal area this grass type is the best choice because of its ability to withstand salt sprays.
Sea grapes are grown in many coastal areas because of their high salt tolerance the sea grape tree can serve as a dune stabilizer and protective habitat for small animals. This evergreen is a tropical plant that’s native to tropical America, the Bahamas, the Caribbean, Bermuda, and the Greater and Lesser Antilles. Sea grapes can be grown as a tree, hedge, or shrub.
Since the pandemic (covet-19) there has been an increase in awareness of the importance of starting backyard farms or gardens to sustain one’s self by not only relying wholly on foods being produced by growers (farms) but individuals turning their backyards into edible gardens or increasing food production in an existing home garden setting that has proven to be beneficial. One such garden that has made a comeback from the Middle ages is kitchen gardens which are believed to” have started from the days of the ancient Greeks and Romans”.
Good Garden soil is at the root of a plant’s health therefore care should be taken when choosing the right soil type, there are billions of soil microbes that are busy at work breaking down organic matter for example, leaves that have fallen on the soil’s surface, branches, tree limbs, dead plant roots, the dead bodies of insects. Anything that was once alive but is dead and laying on the soil’s surface is considered organic matter and will be broken down by soil microbes and converted into nutrients that are taken up by the roots of trees and plants.
In just a few days we will be entering the spring months, this time of year presents us with the opportunity to take advantage of that extra yard space if we have not done so as yet or to begin working or to make some improvements in our existing garden planting some of our favorite veggies, herbs, fruits, or even ornamental plants including shrubs and other gardening plants. Prepare your garden beds by the removal of rocks, leaves, and other debris.
The warm weather of South Florida makes it ideal for growing (tropical) a range of flowering plants, one such plant that has made its mark is the evolvulus flowering plant commonly called the blue daze. This evergreen is a member of the morning glory family, blue daze is a perennial beauty that produces bright blue flowers with gray leaves that are fuzzy.
Blue daze can reach heights of 12 inches with a width of 2-3 ft. This garden beauty grows best in zones 8-11 and blooms from mid-summer through mid-fall.
Coco plums also called lcaco, (species Chrysobalanus icaco) are in the family Chrysobalanaceae, the coco plum plant is native to tropical America and Africa. This tropical to sub-tropical evergreen grows best in Zones 10-11. Coco plums are grown for their delicious berries and can also be grown as a hedge, this evergreen is moderately salt-tolerant, and can be planted inland and in coastal areas.
Are Blue Daze Toxic to Dogs A flowering evergreen that will brighten up your spring and summer garden is the ( Evolvulus glomerulus) or blue daze, this flowering beauty is native to Paraguay and Brazil. Blue daze is an evergreen and a member of the morning glory family. The common names of the blue daze … Read more
The blue daze evolvulus flowering plant is native to Paraguay and Brazil. This perennial beauty is an evergreen and a member of the morning glory family. Another name for the blue daze is the dwarf morning glory, blue daze is a tropical plant that produces gray leaves which are fuzzy in appearance with bright blue flowers that bloom from mid-summer through mid-fall and can reach heights of 12 inches with a width of 2-3 ft. Blue daze grows well in zones 8-11.
Persian Shield plants are native to Myanmar (formerly Burma) this garden beauty attracts butterflies and bees, Persian Shield is an evergreen sub-shrub in the acanthus family (Acanthaceae) and is known to have been cultivated from the Victorian times for its beautiful Foliage (leaves). its natural habitat is the edges of tropical forest clearing.
Part of maintaining a lawn that’s growing beautiful and healthy requires a lawn mower that is in good repair, a mower can have so much wear and tear because of continual use, especially during the growing season. Therefore it’s our duty to ensure that our lawn mower is giving us peak performance at all times. A mower that’s neglected or needs to be serviced will perform poorly and can affect the health of your lawn, a well-maintained lawn mower will not only contribute to the health of your lawn but will help your mower to last as long as possible.
Maintaining a beautiful lawn involves many components which include the proper mowing height, the right water and fertilizer methods, diseases, and lawn pests management but a very important practice that is overlooked is ensuring that the lawn mower blade is sharp at all times. A dull blade will not only tear the grasses contributing to a lawn that looks sickly but will weaken grass causing it to be more susceptible to weeds and lawn pests. A lawn that’s mowed with a dull blade will also turn brown.
The Ixora coccinea plant commonly known as scarlet jungle flame is an evergreen shrub that is native to Bangladesh, Thailand, Sir Lanka, Cambodia, Vietnam, and India. This garden beauty is a tropical-subtropical plant and is used widely in many landscapes and garden designs. Ixora’s are a genus of flowering plants in the family Rubiaceae and comprises some 562 species.
Gardening is considered an art that requires the basic know-how of how to group plants together that complement each other creating a pleasing effect. I have seen garden designs that were far from what they should be simply because the designer either did not know or took into consideration that a beautifully designed landscape or garden is not thrown together but is a well-thought-out plan.
Backpack sprayers are used for a range of projects from applying herbicides, pesticides, and other liquids, these sprayers have also been designed to get into hard-to-reach places. I have worked with many brands on garden projects from treating weeds and garden insect pests outdoors to pest control indoors ( interior plantscape).
Weeds are an eyesore that can transform a dream garden into a nightmare, and what makes matters worse is weeds will compete with garden plants for sunlight, water, and nutrients. Weeds have also been known to encourage diseases and to be a harbourage for many garden insect pests. Because of this, we should do all that we can to keep our gardens clear of weeds.
A newly installed lawn looks so beautiful and stunning but what happens when that lawn that you invested your time and money in turns from a dream lawn to a nightmare? What went wrong? this has been the unfortunate experience of so many, the good news is there is hope to revive your St Augustine grass to its former glory. What to keep in mind is when your St Augustine starts to decline may be either underlining issues that need to be addressed or poor management practices that are contributing to St Augustine’s decline.
Every turf type needs a maintenance program to grow healthy and lush year round including St Augustine Grass, this grass type once properly groomed will produce a beautiful carpet of grass that’s just stunning. I have worked with St Augustine over the years and have gotten great results even though I faced a few challenges.
Maintaining a beautiful lawn does not only require the right mowing height, proper watering, and fertilizing methods but creating that detailed look with a polished finish. What better way to achieve the desired end than with the help of an edger, these garden tools are built to get in those hard to reach please where a lawn mower can’t reach like along the grass edges or around flower beds without the concern of damaging garden plants.
What I love about bougainvilleas is their ability to transform an outdoor living space or a garden area into a tropical paradise with their many colors, these hardy perennials are highly prized and are known as low-maintenance plants. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of working with these garden beauties on many projects as well as maintaining them.
There are so many reasons for pruning shrubs, trees, and other garden plants, but for the beginner gardener pruning jobs are painful because of not knowing when to prune and how to prune. In this guide we will be showing the benefits of pruning and pruning mistakes to avoid, the practice of pruning trees and garden plants is not a death sentence in fact pruning will add to the longevity, health, and beauty of your plants once done correctly.
Adding value to your property should be something every homeowner should work towards why because investing in our property is one of our greatest investments when it comes to home ownership. However, there are many homeowners who don’t take the time to properly maintain their property which can decrease its value. Just a few changes can pay off in big ways adding thousands of dollars which I think is pretty amazing.
Lemons are citrus fruits that are popular worldwide for their zesty flavors that flavor many food recipes as well as beverages, lemons are one of my favorite fruit. There are said to be more than 25 species of these plants that are cultivated on farmlands and even in home gardens. My wife and I are growing a lemon tree in our backyard that is growing pretty nicely, it’s still too young however to produce fruits but we are waiting. Keeping your lemon tree healthy while producing an abundance of fruits requires not only the right planting location, water, and fertilizing methods but also giving your lemon tree good pruning which should be carried out in later winter or early spring before bud break.
Roses are popular flowering plants that are cultivated on a wide scale, from being grown to entering plant shows to the homeowners that grow and groom these plants as a part of their landscape or garden designs. Roses are popular for being used on special occasions or just to say get well soon, it’s believed that roses were cultivated in China about 5,000 years ago.
Installing and caring for a lawn is one of the most important investments we can make because a lawn that’s properly maintained can and will increase our property’s value. But for a lawn to be beautifully maintained requires proper maintenance practices which involve the proper cutting height, water, and fertilizer methods along with disease and insect control.
Golden dewdrop or Duranta erecta thrives best in tropical to warm sub-tropical regions, this perennial is native to Tropical America and ranges from the Florida Keys through Mexico and South America. The golden dewdrop is a species of flowering shrub in the verbena family Verbenaceas, this fast-growing evergreen produces yellow, green, or variegated leaves with small purple flowers that are showy.
Introducing coco plums into your garden or landscape will help to bring that much-needed flavor that will compliment the overall design of a garden or landscape. Coco plums are native to Florida, the Caribbean, and Latin America. The coco plum is an evergreen perennial plant that belongs to the (Family Chrysobalanaceae) chrysobalanceae is a family of flowering plants consisting of trees and shrubs in 18 genes and 500 species.
The bougainvillea plant is a tropical-subtropical perennial that is native to Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chubut, and Peru, this garden beauty will produce an abundance of flower blooms during the spring and summer months. The dwarf bougainvillea once established is drought and salt tolerant making the bougainvillea a low-maintenance plant that can also be planted in coastal areas.
With spring just ahead of us, we can get into our gardens once again working the soil as we work with some of our favorite garden plants not to mention planting those fruit trees or installing a herb or vegetable garden. Springtime is the time of the year when our garden plants are bursting with beautiful colorful flower blooms. This time of the year is greatly anticipated by the weekend warriors as we leave the colder months behind and look forward as the warmer months approaches.
There is a popular saying that” one man’s junk is another man’s treasure” but what if I tell you that your junk can also be your treasure? Don’t trash the treasure use it, kitchen scraps is a gold mine but too often this gold mine heads straight towards the trash bin when it could have been used to do so much good, in fact, kitchen scraps are one of the safest ways to provide nutrients to our garden plants because these scraps are natural organics that is beneficial for our plants, soil microbes and for us as well.
The presence of indoor plants can beautify any indoor living area, I have had the pleasure over the years of being involved with many indoor garden projects that brought a restful pleasing and beautiful transformation that just breathed taking. It’s amazing how an indoor living space can be transformed into a thing of beauty with the presence of plants.
House Flies are at the top of the list when spreading disease, It’s believed that house flies are responsible for transmitting more than 60 disease some of which includes leprosy, yaws, tuberculosis, tularemia, typhoid fever, cholera, poliomyelitis, dysentery, Escherichia coli, etc… house flies measures 6 to 7 mm. The female is usually larger than the male.
Dust mites are tiny microscopic mites that cause skin irritation, asthma symptoms, stuffy nose, and watery eyes, it’s believed that these mites contribute to or influence allergies. Dust mites feed on dead human skin cells which is why they invade our bedrooms causing many health issues, below we will be looking at steps that can be taken to rid your bedroom and lives of these pesky pests.
The last thing we what to see is bugs in our pantry, these pests can become a nuisance causing us to discard food items. The invasion of these uninvited guess can cause us to spend those hard-earned dollars that could have gone to something else or placed in our savings. Are you having issues with pantry bugs and it seems almost impossible to clear your pantry of them?
A pantry is a great storage area where we can stock up on and place our canned and dry food goods, but over time our pantries can become so overstocked that food items that were there for a while can get pushed to the back meeting their expiration date. An unorganized pantry can also make it difficult to find what we need at the time we need it and can cause us to spend money on items that we may have purchased but are hidden among other food items causing needless spending.
I believe that at some point and time, we have all been there when it came to making our bathroom feel free and inviting, no matter the shape or the size the bathroom is one of those areas of our homes where we come to after a long hard day to catch that cold or warm shower or laying back and soaking in bubble bath that’s both relaxing and refreshing.
There are many famous adages that are “a man’s home is his castle”, “home is where the heart is” or how about, “home sweet home”, whatever adage appeals to your senses we all want that private oasis where we are the king or the queen so to speak. Whether it’s that mansion that we always desired, that middle-size home, or that cottage-style setting, etc… there is just something about owning our own home where we can sit back, unwind and enjoy the comforts of our private kingdom.
Low water pressure can become annoying especially if this is a common issue that you face, there are many reasons for this, and what makes matters worse is depending on why you are having issues with your water pressure can cause an increase in your monthly water bill. Finding the reason why may mean doing your homework, once the issue is found can be corrected so you can once again have good water pressure in your home. Below is a list of measures that can be taken, this guide will help you to resolve your water pressure issue.
A good working shower is so soothing after a long day but in some cases our shower may lose the amount of pressure that it had, leaving many people wondering what they should do or how to solve this issue that is all too common. There are many reasons why this happens which we will be looking at, the good news is whatever the problem, can be fixed and you can DIY it yourself. If you are having these issues then continue reading as w take a closer at how to increase your shower water pressure.
The convenience of having a home dryer can make life pretty simple especially if there is a lot of laundries that must be done in a large household. Because of this, you want to ensure at all times that your dryer is in tip-top shape or working at a high performance. To keep your dryer performing like new, follow this guide that has proven to be effective when cleaning a dryer vent duct.
A leaky faucet has the potential of racking up hundreds of dollars over time if the problem is not addressed, I had to deal with this issue numerous times in my home. A leaky faucet can also become annoying because of the drip, drip, dripping sound. I am sure that I am not the only one that have had to deal with a faucet that leaks and continues to leak until a plumber had to be called in or you may have done the job yourself.
The kitchen is one of the most occupied places in the home, this is where we delight our taste buds by cooking some of our most delicious food dishes. However, because of the amount of time that is spent in the kitchen at any given time, the kitchen sink is one of those areas that are mostly used to wash our hands and clean meats, fruits, and vegetables besides washing kitchenware.
A garbage disposal can make our lives easier but in order to keep our disposal functioning properly there are some dos and don’ts to follow. A garbage disposal that’s not properly maintained will not only run badly but food particles that are not ground properly will get trapped and over time will cause your garbage disposal to emanate a foul odor. If this is your experience continue reading as we discuss cleaning garbage disposal the right way.
Buying a home is one of our greatest investments therefore we should be very cautious when it comes to this type of investing because of the amount of money that is spent. It’s said that “a man’s home is his castle” of cause women as well, therefore we don’t want our dream home to become our nightmare. There are so many things to consider to ensure that we are getting a great deal for what (money) we invested.
If you were ever thinking of DIYing your home plumbing system which can help to cut costs you have come to the right place to see how this process is done. There are many reasons to drain your home plumbing system which include, making some upgrades or doing some repairs such as extending or replacing the main plumbing lines, water hammering issues, or shutting down your system (seasonal) during the winter months. If these were your thoughts and you were wondering how this is done then continue reading as we take a closer look at draining your home’s plumbing system.
There are many challenges the cold temperatures present one of them being frozen pipes which can become damaging to a home water system. Water that’s frozen in a water pipeline not only stops the free flow of water but frozen water can cause the pipes to expand exerting a tremendous amount of pressure that can cause the pipes to burst. This damaging effect from the freezing weather can cause hundreds if not thousands of dollars in damage.
What I love about wallpaper is it can give that instant look bringing a real quick and easy transformation to an area that needs a facelift or upgrades, the challenge that so many people face however is the removal of this paper once the decision is made to go with a different look. The good news is the removal of wallpaper doesn’t have to be difficult these proven methods which we will be discussing will take the hassle out of wallpaper removal making your job easy. With that said let’s take a closer look at what’s the best way to remove wallpaper.
During the winter months, freezing temperatures can cause much damage to our water lines but there is hope, by taking action we can ensure that our water lines are protected from the cold harsh winter. Below we will be discussing a few steps that are effective and have proven to give good results during this time of the year so continue reading as we take a closer look at how to winterize outdoor faucets.