Lily ponds can add that special feature and flavor which can really lighten up your surroundings while also adding that touch of class and elegance. Lily ponds are one of my favorite additions to a home garden and will add that unique quality for those who want to go to the next level.
Watching your floating water lilies can be a wonderful past time as you enjoy the fruit of your labor.
Do you feel limited by the amount of space you have but desire to have a garden of your own? You may be living in an apartment building or a condo and there just isn’t enough space for a garden. Don’t give up on your dream of having your own garden, there is still hope.
Container gardening is the recommended way to go. Growing plants in pots and containers on your porch or patio are one way you can optimize every square inch of space. Adding plants to the bedroom balcony or growing herbs on the kitchen counter just takes a little imagination and some creative thinking and the rest is history.
Like butterfly gardens, a hummingbird garden is no exception. Creating a garden to invite these small friends can be a wonderful and delightful experience for the homeowner. Special care should be taken though when creating this type of garden.
Thought and care should be our number one goal when seeking to plant a garden such as this.
Bring your garden to life by making it a habitat for butterflies which will bring beauty and charm to your surroundings. Can you imagine your garden area being, filled with activity and excitement as you watch some of nature’s beauties in their natural habitat
Constructing a butterfly garden can be lots of fun not only for adults but it can also be a fun activity for kids as well as learn about the different features and plants that it takes to make our gardens inviting to our colorful friends.
One of the things that add beauty, color, and charm to many events is the floral arrangements that decorate these events. Can you imagine a wedding without flowers or Valentine’s Day without roses?
We use flowers to express our love, our appreciation, to express well wishes, and so on.
Flowers can also transform our surroundings whether indoors or outdoors. It can really give that touch of elegance. So with that being said, our focus will be on creating a flower garden that will not only add beauty or attract some wildlife but also cause your grounds to be the talk of the town.
Plants like humans require vitamins or nutrition in order to be healthy. One of the common ways that plants feed is from their roots because as we know plants take up nutrients along with water through their roots. But there is another way that plants can take in not only water but fertilizers and that is through their leaves. This method is called foliar feeding.
Another name for leaves is called plant foliage. So when you hear someone use this term, they are talking about plant leaves. In comparison to the pores of our skin, plants have pores in their leaves known as Stomata.
In order for indoor plants to keep their illustrious color, they must be fed with the right type and the right amount of fertilizer.
Because these plants are in an enclosed or controlled environment, they depend on us to ensure that their nutritional requirements are met.
Over the years I have worked with indoor plants and have seen what can happen if these requirements are not met. One of the most common signs is that they lose their shine.
Slow-release fertilizers are the total opposite of quick-release fertilizers, in that these types of fertilizers release their components very slowly, which means that plants can get the full benefits from this kind of fertilizer.
Slow-release fertilizers are broken down over a period of time with heat and moisture, unlike quick release fertilizers. Slow-release fertilizers are considered to be safe because of their slow-release, they will not burn plants.
Quick-release fertilizers are powdered fertilizers that you mix with water according to the manufacturer’s label. These fertilizers are also known as water-soluble fertilizers. The reason that they are called quick-release fertilizers is because of their availability to plant life. In other words, once they are applied to plants, they are taken up right away.
Care must be taken however because if applied too heavily, these fertilizers can cause the plant to burn. Fertilizers are salts and when applied too heavy or in the wrong amounts, the excess salt gathers around the plant root zone and pulls water away from the plant. So instead of the plant taking in water, the reverse happens.
The world as we know it is becoming more and more aware of the need to live a more healthy lifestyle, one that can add years to your lifespan. Everywhere we go we see and hear of health programs that are offering a better way of living.
The media and airwaves are flooded with advertisements and commercials about healthy living. The world has become so health-conscious that it has become common to see people working out in gyms, jogging, walking, and so on.
Dieting has also become the norm, while more and more restaurants are offering healthy choices on their menus. Supermarkets are placing more healthy products on their shelves and nutritional stores are in every shopping mall.
“So what does all of this have to do with organic fertilizers?”
As the population increases, the demand for greater food supply is in high demand and the need to raise more livestock is in great demand also.
The need for crops such as fruits and vegetables is also needed in abundance. There is not just a need for a greater supply of food but also for growing and raising these foods that are safe and of good quality.
For plant life to survive the right requirements must be met. This is known as “Proper Cultural Practices” meaning that plants must be placed in the right location whether full, partial, or filtered sun, also the proper soil medium is needed, the right amount of water, along with the correct type and amount of fertilizer and correct pruning methods.
When plant requirements are met, there is less chance that they will be attacked by insects because insects attack plants that are stressed.
One of the many challenges that many homeowners and gardeners face is dealing with pests that not only invade but destroy our gardens. There is nothing more hurtful than laboring so hard to establish your dream garden by devoting weekend after weekend to give your yard a total makeover and in the midst of all that joy and excitement disaster strikes.
All of that hard work seems to be headed down the drain. Your lovely garden that was once the talk of the neighborhood is now nothing more than a thing of the past. Though all may seem hopeless, the good news is there is still a chance for recovery in the midst of your frustration.
One of the keys to pest control is to understand the conditions that cause them to thrive along with their life cycle. Garden insect is divided into two categories, In the two groups we have good bugs and then theirs is the bad bugs.
It is said that for every human being upon planet earth there are about a million or more bugs. So as you can see, the insect world outnumbers us, humans.
It is also a proven fact that the majority of bugs are good bugs so we see that the probability of us losing the battle with the right knowledge and care is very slim. In actuality, it is this small number of bad bugs that does all the damage to our vegetable garden, our herb garden, our fruit trees, our landscape, and even our interior plants.
So in this article, we will be looking at ways to destroy these pests that seek to become a menace to our landscapes and gardens. Research has also shown that we can not totally get rid of all those bad bugs, but what we can do is to keep them at an acceptable level where they will no longer be a threat by decreasing their population, the process of which the good bugs are used to control the bad bugs is called BIOLOGICAL CONTROL.
Biological control is an environmentally safe way to keep the bad bugs under control.
Now let’s begin our research with some of the good guys.
First of all, what is the purpose of these good bugs and how do they help us?
Well, the good news is that the good bugs feed on the bad bugs. They do not feed on our plants only on the bad bugs. You may have seen some of them in your garden but did not know what they were and mistook them for the bad bugs. Talk about the mistaking of an identity!
Can we now have the drum roll as we bring into the spotlight ‘the good guys?
Let me introduce to you ‘the ladybug’. Ladybugs are not bugs but are actually beetles. There are about 4,000 species of lady beetles worldwide. These beetles can be purchased online or from your local nursery.
As soon as they are delivered you can release them into your garden. The best time to release them is in the evening time so they don’t fly away. Once they are there the females will start laying their eggs which is an added bonus. Lady beetles feed on a whole list of insects including aphids, tomato hornworm, mealy bugs, scales, whitefly, mites, cabbage moth, broccoli worm, and a host of soft body insects
Those bad bugs don’t stand a chance with the praying mantis on the loose. There are about 2,500 species of praying mantis. The praying mantis gets its popular name because of how its two front legs are always bent like they are praying.
The life cycle of the praying mantis consists of three stages: The egg, nymph, and adult stage. These insects can be found mostly in warmer climates.
The majority of these insects can be found in the rainforest. Others can be found in Meadowlands, deserts, and grasslands. The praying mantis can also be purchased online or from your local nursery.
These insects feed on fruit flies, grasshoppers, spiders, whiteflies, moths, crickets, flies, cockroaches, aphids, caterpillars, mosquitoes, beetles, and other soft body insects.
Lacewing insects are another group of insects that you can release into your garden to control bad bugs such as spider mites, caterpillars, citrus mealybugs, aphids, thrips, cottony cushion scales, and other insects. The adult lacewing does not kill other insects but feeds on sweet nectar and pollen.
The lace larva eliminates bad bugs. The adult female lays her eggs on the foliage or leaves then after a few days, the eggs hatch and the larva emerges from the eggs.
Soldier beetles have a very beautiful color of orange mixed with spots of black. This beetle can be found in your garden feeding on aphids, mealy bugs, caterpillars, whiteflies, and other soft body garden pests but also including sad to say the beneficial insects.
You can check out your local garden nursery for this insect or you can attract them by planting goldenrod or catnip in your garden.
Damsel bugs are another one of the good guys that help to protect our gardens against these outlaw bugs whose only objective is death and destruction. Damsel bugs are a light brownish and white color.
These bugs feed on a host of insects including mealybugs, thrips, leafhoppers, caterpillars, and other soft body insects. They can be collected from alfalfa fields by using a net or you can check your nursery to see if they carry them.
Damsel bugs go through three stages which are egg, nymph, and adult. The eggs are laid in the stem of plants. Damsel bugs eggs hatch soon after they are laid. The nymphs shed their skin several times before entering adulthood.
Assassin bugs live up to their names by eliminating the bad bugs. These good guys have no mercy when it comes to the enemy. There are 135 species of assassin bugs worldwide. The male is somewhat large, it has thickened forewings with membranous tips for handling prey. Adults are black, reddish, or brown and have very small eyes. The assassin bug also has long slender legs and a narrow head. The assassin bug uses its needle-like beak to injure its enemy. It then injects a venom that paralyzes its victim. This venom liquefies the internal contents of its prey. The assassin bug then uses its straw-like beak and sucks out the contents.
Vegetables contain a good source of vitamins that can enhance our health and strengthen our bodies to fight off sickness and diseases. Vegetables are more potent when eaten raw or semi-cooked.
Overcooking vegetables can destroy many vitamins they contain, so we will be looking at vegetables and how we can plant and care for them in our vegetable garden. There is nothing like growing and harvesting your very own vegetables from your home garden. The first vegetable that we will be looking at is carrots.
Carrots are not only one of the favorite of the looney cartoon character bungs bunny but are also a favorite of many worldwide, carrots are loaded with Vitamin A that is good for your eyesight which can increase your body’s defense system. So let’s plant some carrots.
Herbs are one of Eden’s wonders that can bring delightful taste to your table causing family and friends to keep coming back for more of those scrumptious meals, I have been cooking for almost 30 years and most of those years I have used herbs since the day I got introduce to them. So we will be looking at these fascinating wonders of nature and how we can grow them out of our backyard and how they can make us healthier.
For me basil tops the list I use a few leaves from this herb in soups or when I am steaming foods, you can visit your nursery and purchase the seed or you can buy the plant itself, If growing from seed it will be of great benefit of purchasing garden soil. When planting from seed make sure that the seeds are not pressed too deeply into the soil, plant basil in an area where it can get enough sunlight about six hours is sufficient, make sure that the soil does not dries out completely, water more in hot weather.
Before planting a garden it is always important to map out where the garden is going to be. The perfect location is
crucial because that will determine if your Garden will be successful or not. Be mindful to choose an area that is in a sunny location because plants need a considerable amount of sunlight in order to grow and survive. With good watering practices, your plants will be able to photosynthesize (the process of plants making food).
One thing to remember is that in order to have a healthy garden, soil plays an important part if you are to have any success. Those delicious fruits and vegetables that we see when we go to the supermarket can only be produced in part because of the soil quality that they were grown in. The soil is such an important part of a plant’s life that without it, we can forget about those wonderful fruits, vegetables, and herbs that we love and flavor our meals with.
There is an old saying that goes “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, from a child I have heard that saying and that saying is still true. From the begging that’s how the creator God design it to be. Fruits, vegetables, and herbs. So let’s go Edens way and make these fruits and greens a part of our diet.
The planting site off an apple tree should be in a sunny location with good drainage and proper air circulation, one thing to note is to add organic material to the planting hole such as dry chicken or cow manure or some other organic material. In the north plant in the spring and in the south where autumn and winter months are often rainy it is best to plant as early in autumn as it gives the roots a good head start before the spring season.