Important Tips on Spring Lawn Care

September 30, 2008  
Filed under Garden

by Andrew Caxton

Spring lawn care will pay all year round with beauty for your eyes. Take the time to do the required work on your lawn during spring months and live free the rest of the year.

Fertilizing.

Spring is the moment when you remember that you have a lawn.If the lawn has been neglected all the winter, you will have to work to get it okay but it is worth to do it just for the sake of a good evening with your family and friends watching the thick,lively grass under their feet, even when you have don’t tend very well your grass, you can put your lawn in good shape again: it is simple and trouble-free process for those who love gardening and have no much experience.

Important Tips on Spring Lawn Care

Raking

Yes, raking is a work that some times seems not very pleasant. You have to do the raking of your lawn very well and no just skimming it, if you refrain to do a deeper raking, thatch will be thicker than the desirable, along with dead leaves. Raking is part of the beauty treatment you are giving to your lawn: a very important tip for caring for your lawn is to rake correctly. Remove thatch and leaves, a thatch build-up that is higher than one-half inch is excessive,if you do a good, deep raking during the fall, you will be saving time and effort for the next spring concerning lawn care, even if you made a good raking in the fall, it is recommendable to make a spring raking work. Aeration

If your lawn is subjected to very hard traffic during all the year this will finish ruining your lawn. If your lawn is compact, it is due to lack of aeration. Aeration keeps the grass lively and thick.Lawn aeration is the best remedy for compaction, unless your lawn compaction problem is very serious, it is recommended to aerate only in the fall season,due to serious soil compactness maybe your soil pose a very urgent problem to solve, only in that case you can aerate out of season.

Overseeding

If you have patch of soil, without any grass growing on it, you need to overseed,causes may vary, lack of watering is very frequent as well as to heavy traffic on the site , neglecting , or dog or other pets spot, anyway,you need to overseed the grass. A great solution, known as ?overfeeding lawns and very simple.When you overseed, is necessary to apply a quick-release nitrogen fertilizer,this must be done five weeks after the grass have germinated, notice that spring is not the best time to oversexed your lawn, but if you feel that your lawn aspect is disastrous , you can do it,other way postpone till fall.

Fertilizing

The best way to improve your lawn and take a good spring lawn care is to fertilize. Want organic fertilizing style? Use compost and a mulching mower,it is inexpensive and simple. Prefer chemicals? It is not advisable to use chemical that can risk you and your family health, but is going to use some chemicals on your lawn, a lighter feeding during spring will be enough. In fall a heavier feeding can make your lawn look really beautiful.

Weeds On Spring Lawn Care

Last word for weed: Don’t forget to pull any weed on your lawn. Include the measure to cut your grass higher,so you prevent the sunlight feed the weed. Weed have deep roots and many times you have to remove weeds digging them out by the roots,spraying weed is not very effective in fall, but if you choose it, remember to follow the indications on the herbicide label.

For more details on lawn care basics.

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Lawn Care Training for the New Homeowner

September 30, 2008  
Filed under Garden

by Alison Addy

The time has finally come for you : you are now the happy owner of a house. Of course, you feel proud of having your own place and now is the time to face the challenge of maintaining your property in excellent conditions.

You love to keep your lawn looking at its best , but how can you get that result? Learning in no time the basic lawn care techniques you need, and don’t your worry, there are plenty of source to consult about : you just have to take the time to make you quickly research.

Fertilizing, watering and soil conditioning have to be done in a careful, wise way and know all the rules to follow is crucial to obtain the result you expect. Some people would define gardening and lawn tending as a kind of art and as any artist knows, you must to learn to develop your talent.

Best Resources Available

The first step you have to give is the consult the neighborhood?s best lawn owner. There is surely a variety of good information that can lend to you by someone who knows how to do lawn and garden care. Don?t be shy and put the thing clear to your neighbor: you are new in this field and need some advice. This person can give you the best tips for climate and other area conditions that be will guide your lawn care work. Other place to visit is the your local extension office to consult about special need of grass and other plants in the zone. These offices are very important center where you find tones of information about the trees, seed,shrouds, grass and the like on your own area. They are willing to assist you and they have websites with landscaping info that is designed to cover the necessities of your particular area. Don?t forget to pay a visit to the neighborhood nursery. If you search for individualized help and plenty of good available information, there is no place like the neighborhood nursery. There are surely shops with staff willing to listen you and to discuss your lawn care training.You simply explain that you are learning the basic training to maintain a lawn and they will assist you to learn more about your individual requirements. Many of this center will help you to diagnose any problem you may face with a plant simply by taking a leaf and brought it to the shop. They will recommend the proper product you can use to solve the problem, and any other product that can help you to keep your lawn in the best conditions.

Visiting Lawn Care Centers

Don?t forget to pay a visit to the neighborhood nursery. If you search for individualized help and plenty of good available information, there is no place like the neighborhood nursery. There are surely shops with staff willing to listen you and to discuss your lawn care training.You simply explain that you are learning the basic training to maintain a lawn and they will assist you to learn more about your individual requirements. Many of this center will help you to diagnose any problem you may face with a plant simply by taking a leaf and brought it to the shop. They will recommend the proper product you can use to solve the problem, and any other product that can help you to keep your lawn in the best conditions.

Bookstores, magazines and TV show will lend you a hand at your training. Remember that you are starting a new stage in your homeowner life, so every available source you can consult can help you in learning thing as how to plant new grass and to maintain it healthy. In a short period of time you will managing this lawn care issue with solvency and pleasure.

For more details about <a href=”how to plant new grass”.

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How to deal with lawn care problems

September 30, 2008  
Filed under Landscaping

by Andrew Caxton

Having a great lawn is not an easy thing to achieve. You will always have to encounter some problem or the other and there is no guaranteed approach to steer clear of them. All you can do is resort to good treatment procedures when you have problems, so that they do not recur again.

Among the many problems that most lawns have to face, brown patch is one of the most common. Some kinds of grass like St. Augustine, Kentucky Bluegrass, Bent Grass and Bermuda are most prone to the problem of the brown patch. If you are wondering what a brown patch is, it actually begins as a small spot and then spreads on the lawn either in a horseshoe or a circle like design.

Other than the brown patch, you may face a problem with the dollar spot which is also very common. It is called the dollar spot because of its resemblance to the shape of the dollar. However, some dollar spots can also begin by resembling a grapefruit. These small spots do not remain small, because they have the potential to mix with larger ones and become very wide. They are either straw colored or brown.

Another lawn care problem that you have to deal with is Rust. If the blades of your grass have an orange and rusty look to them, then it means that they are afflicted by Rust. You can verify this further by rubbing the grass on a white tissue paper. If the paper catches an orange color, it means that your grass has rusted. Rust usually thrives in situations where there is low fertility, shade, high soil compaction or morning dew.

Apart from the problems mentioned above, slime mold is another common lawn care problem. Slime mold resembles small powdery ice crystals that have covered your grass. Do not be misled by its harmless appearance, though. Slime mold consumes organic matter that has decayed in the soil. After some time it increases in thickness and prevents sunlight from penetrating into the plant cells. This causes the grass to change into a yellow color and then die.

The best weapon for proper lawn care is awareness. If you are aware of the various problems that could damage your lawn or garden, you will be armed with the correct defensive techniques to protect your lawn. Even the slightest indication of a problem will have you ready with the treatment. This will guarantee a healthy lawn that you will look upon with pride and a sense of enjoyment after your landscaping edging exercise.

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Restoring That Head of Hair

September 29, 2008  
Filed under Herbs

by Pickle Piper

Whatever the reasons of baldness may be it is not only a disease but also a threat to your self-esteem. It does hamper your charming personality. And anyways, who would want to grow bald at his middle age or for that matter any age? You might have tried different therapies to sure it but would have been disappointed by the results.

In most cases, the cause for the baldness is hereditary. In some other cases, hormonal imbalance is another cause for baldness. Baldness will not occur due to wearing hats. It is impossible to get back the lost hair by massaging, brushing, or shampooing. The growth of hair can be stimulated to a certain extent.

The methods to fight hair loss go from drugs, natural products to hair implant. An effective herbal hair loss product that deserves to be mentioned is Provillus, an herbal remedy that stimulates the scalp reviving the dead hair follicles while blocking the main hormone that causes hair loss: DHT.

If your hair has been falling out lately it does not necessarily mean that you will go bald. It is quite normal for you to lose hair every day. However, if your hair loss seems to be more than usual, consult a physician for a definite diagnosis.

Medications such as finasteride (not approved for women), minoxidil, Cortisone (Injection), Anthralin (cream or ointment) are very effective in treating Hair Loss or Baldness. Usage of these medications may have side-effects.

Along with hair loss solution or hair loss products, there are few new medicines available in the market like Dutasteride and Propecia. Experiments have shown that it is possible to stop hair loss with the help of medicines like Dutasteride and Propecia. It will be better to first go for an allergy check up before intake of Propecia.

Male pattern and female pattern baldness are two of the most common types of baldness known to us. This male pattern type is the most prevalent and affects a largest proportion of men. Whilst women also suffer with this type of baldness, their numbers are not quite as high as those in the male population.

Regular aerobic exercise can help keep androgen levels naturally lower while maintaining overall health, lowering stress and increasing shbg. Anthralin is a synthetic, tarry substance that you apply to your scalp and wash off daily. It’s typically used to treat psoriasis.

After a period of 2 or 3 months, the hair that was at rest falls out naturally, while new hair takes its place, growing out from the same follicle. Therefore, it is evident that it is normal to lose a certain quantity of hair every day. The loss of even a hundred or so hairs per day cannot be considered unnatural.

Even lack of blood circulation in your scalp can make you start losing more hair than you should. Got a receding hair line? Chances are your DHT level in your body is very high, causing your follicles to weaken and produce thin or no hair at all. If you are not taking saw palmetto daily, do so immediately. It’s natural, cheap, and effectively treats common baldness.

However, before you start buying different kinds of products to treat hair loss, you need to consider that the treatment for baldness or hair loss is not what you can actually call a cure. Most hair loss treatments today are usually focused on slowing down the balding process.

Undoubtedly men are suffering a lot by this baldness more than women in UK. This baldness is known as male patterned baldness. This pattern tends to be permanent for the life time of men. In this case, the hairs will start to fall from the top of the head. Then it moves towards the back and gradually a bald spot forms.

Some men and women start going bald at a very young age but don’t even notice at first. Because we lose between 100-150 hairs a day, you won’t even take note when you lose a few extra. Unfortunately, over time, it will become apparent that your hair is thinning and possibly could lead to baldness.

Start taking 1500 mg of Saw Palmetto daily. Dihydrotestosterone, also called DHT, is the hormone responsible for male pattern baldness. Saw Palmetto blocks the formation of this hormone safely and allows for hair regrowth.

The are many remedies available to treat baldness. These have varying degrees of success and it is important to understand this as there are many different causes of baldness, a treatment which may well help with some of these may not be effective with others.

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Hurry And Get Slow-Release Products

September 28, 2008  
Filed under Garden

by Alison Addy

Learning the rhymes of the Nature will allow you to keep the thread of the biological cycles on your lawn and garden. Every season calls for specific cares and tasks, knowing what they are and when to do it, will render great outcome.

Scheduling the lawn care tasks according to the season will save you and prevent further trouble that might arise from lack of attention to your lawn.

Hurry And Get Slow-Release Products

When you are adhering to a lawn maintenance schedule, you can select and use both types of products according to specific necessities. Slow release products release their content in various stages, so they are suitable for your lawn care schedule list. The product will deliver their nutrients to the soil gradually, benefiting the grass, beside this, the grass’s system of roots will fill any gap exposed and that prevents the further apparition of weeds.

To ensure a good fertilization, you must take note of the following advice: prior to the use of the product, read the instructions given in the label and/or bag. Learn which is the best fertilizer for your lawn grass type and buy it. Find how much, how often, and in which kind of scenarios the product must be applied. A spreader will ease your work of fertilizing your lawn and add more efficiency to the process: however, remember not to fill it on the lawn grass itself

A four-step schedule can be designed according to certain details related to your individual situation: the variety of grass you have, and where you live along with its weather and soil conditions.

Prevent Crabby Lawns Schedule

You must begin your lawn care schedule fixing the time to begin the control of crab grass in April or May. Crab grass if extended can become extremely problematic on North American lawns. There are 300 varieties of it, each one varies in some way in its structure or appearance, such as their having or lacking hair, and other features, like the number of spikes they possess.

Scheduling For Weed Free Lawn

June, the mid summer, is the ideal time of the year to use fertilizers that control weeds. Weeds pose a serious problem to your lawn grass: growing where they are expected, they compete with the grass for the available soil nutrients and sunlight, some of them homing pests and unwanted insects. In certain conditions, cultivated plants have become practically weeds, and on the other hand, some weeds have turned to be useful, cultivated species.

Scheduling For Preventing Summer Oddities

During July or August, your schedule must be designed to give your lawn an extra fertilizing feeding, helping it to stand summer oddities like insects, drought and extreme heat.

Now is the time to schedule for fall and winter lawn care. At this time of the year you can use fertilizer to safeguard your grass? good health and prevent it from the cold months ordeal, specially if in your area it happens to abound snow and frost. Therefore, you won’t only be working on winter problem but ensuring a good outcome of bouncing spring turf.

Scheduling your lawn care program, developing an annual formula that fits your need, will render you excellence in your lawn care work and highly satisfying results of which you will be proud of.

For more details on annual lawn care program.

Hair Loss Herbal Treatment

September 28, 2008  
Filed under Herbs

by Hungry Folicle

Genetic hair loss in men is the number one cause of male pattern baldness. This type of baldness can affect men as young as eighteen or twenty years of age and will continue until the age of forty-five. In this time, you may experience bald patches, crown baldness, or overall baldness.

With so many baldness products on the market today, it’s hard to choose one that will really be effective in regrowing your hair. Some claim to contain all of the natural herbs and minerals for healthy hair growth, yet these claims aren’t always truthful.

Hair is constantly growing, falling out and then growing in again. A hair growth cycle usually lasts anywhere from a couple of years up to about six years. At the end of this cycle, the dead hair falls out, to make way for new hair growth.

Male pattern baldness affects 60% of all men by age 35. What seems to start out as simple thinning of the hair if left untreated will grow to full blown baldness. Hair loss treatments seem to abound everywhere from television to your local grocery store and pharmacies. All seem to promise hair growth but fail to deliver any noticeable results.

Male baldness treatments seem to be everywhere now. You look on television and boom there’s a new way to regrow hair within 2 to 6 months and there are real live people to back it up. Only problem is it costs $150.00 for a 2-month supply. What can you do to treat your hair loss without paying so much money?

There are a number of drugs available to treat baldness, but it must be noted that none of them are guaranteed to be 100% effective, if at all. Rogaine (Minoxidil) can be applied directly to the scalp to stop the shrinking of hair follicles and can even promote the re-growth of hair in follicles long since dormant.

Regaine contains an active ingredient called Minoxidil. The original use of Minoxidil was as a treatment for blood pressure. Its use as a treatment for male pattern baldness was an accident. It was noted that when applied to the skin, it can promote hair growth.

In spite of their promising advertisements, the medicines hardly work and have strong side effects. So it’s high time, you should believe in natural and herbal products. To start with Saw Palmetto is one of the useful herbal products that you can easily find in any nutritional centre.

Male pattern baldness is diagnosed by a visual examination of the pattern of hair loss. When the hair loss is erratic and not following a pattern, it is usually caused by some other factor. It is important to not assume that hair loss is normal or genetic.

Just think how you would eat properly without broken or lost teeth. However, you can still do all your work without hair, as its absence is not going to hinder any of your work. If you know how to handle it properly, you would not feel depressed or low. You would increase the effects of baldness by pondering on it.

The trick is to block DHT from ever reaching your roots and then you will have the advantage over baldness. So one of the best ways to go about doing this without sacrificing a lot of money or time is to take 1,500 mg of saw palmetto extract daily.

Most of the men are victims of hair loss. Gradually this hair also loss leads to baldness. This is an unfortunate and undesirable happening to such men. There are many reasons for the man hair loss which are due to mental tension, heredity or due to certain type of chronic diseases.

Pattern Baldness is by far the most likely cause of hair loss, but there are a number of other known causes. The other causes of hair loss are accountable for such small percentages of cases, and in many cases are the easiest to prevent, detect or even reverse.

Men and women suffer from Pattern baldness in very different ways. Men tend to experience thinning hair in certain sections or patches of the scalp and that’s why many instances in men result in the ‘monk’ effect, i.e. balding on top, with hair still growing at the sides and back.

Men and women both experience pattern baldness. In women however, it is most often serious thinning of the hair versus complete hair loss like in men. If this is happening to you, you do have some options. You can choose a hair piece or extensions where natural or synthetic hair is woven in with your own to create a full looking head of hair.

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Silk wedding flowers

September 23, 2008  
Filed under Flowers

by Patricia Edmonds

Are you a bride planning a wedding? You already know that it takes a lot of work and planning to pull off your perfect day. You may be looking at all kinds of things you want at your wedding including what flowers to make up your bouquet or what flowers to decorate the church in. Why not use silk wedding flowers instead of fresh flowers to decorate your church or make up your bouquet?

Silk wedding flowers are priceless, timeless flowers but don’t have a smell to them right off like fresh flowers do. This can be good if you have an allergy to fresh flowers. This isn’t the only reason you should use silk wedding flowers to compliment your best day.

Do you have a certain color in mind when you are putting together your wedding? Suppose the color of the fresh flower you want isn’t in season when you want to have your wedding? Then what do you do? You’ll either use something different or have the florist use silk flowers for your wedding.

Have you thought about keeping your bouquet after the wedding is over? Many women choose to do that but if they use fresh flowers to use, they’ll have to pay an additional $200 to $800 to have them preserved. Yet, if you are looking to curb your spending somewhere, use silk wedding flowers and preserve them for as long as you’d like. No cost!

What about marriage on a cruise ship? If you have plans to get married while out on open waters, bringing fresh flowers on board yourself is a no-no. If you plan to keep your bouquet and want to save money, use silk wedding flowers. Saving money is important when you realize how expensive cruise ships flowers can get.

Some women like to give their bouquets to their children when they are older. If you already want to keep your wedding dress, why not keep your bouquet? If you aren’t passing them down, then they’ll make wonderful and beautiful decorations on certain pieces of furniture.

Many florist deal in fresh flowers but they will also put together silk wedding flowers too. Did you hire a wedding coordinator to help you with the details? If so, they’ll narrow down where to find them for you. However, you’ll need to make them aware that this is your preference.

Most women choose to plan their own weddings so if this is your case, look to sources on the World Wide Web. There are many websites that offer silk wedding flowers for a low price. Don’t get frantic and buy the first one you see. Look first, look hard and then choose which made your heart go flutter. Good deals aren’t hard to find. You only need to look.

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Flowers Vs. Plants: Which is a Better Gift?

September 23, 2008  
Filed under Flowers

by Amy Nutt

When it comes to giving gifts, many people opt for flowers, but a plant can be just as good a gift. Both flowers and plants make excellent gifts for just about any occasion and are almost always welcome.

Choosing Plants as Gifts

A plant is a great present for someone in a stable situation who has space for it. Of course, plants don’t have to take up a lot of room and you can even choose one that can be replanted into an outside garden if the recipient is more likely to enjoy an outdoor addition. Plants as gifts should be something special. That doesn`t mean you have to pick a flashy plant, or one that is flowering, though this can be very nice. Look for a plant that will mean something to the recipient.

If you know your friend loves ficus, for example, because they remind her of her mother, then go ahead and get her a ficus. It will mean far more than an African violet or another prettier plant.

A few advantages to selecting a plant as a gift:

- They can be replanted. - They last longer than cut flowers. - A plant can be placed anywhere in a home. - They add oxygen to the air.

Be sure to opt for a plant that requires the level of care that can be afforded by the recipient. An exotic orchid might not be the best choice for someone who has a black thumb and is seldom home, but a fern or even a cactus could be a far better gift in this case.

Choosing Flowers as a Gift

Flowers are a more traditional gift than plants, but that doesn’t make them any better. For some people, those who simply have no desire to own plants or who can’t keep even a cactus alive, flowers are a great choice. Of course, they also make a good gift for any special occasion like the arrival of a new baby, an anniversary, or even a job promotion. Don’t forget to send birthday flowers as well.

With such a wide range of flowers available to choose from, you`re bound to find something ideal for the person you have in mind. It really helps if you can find out what their favorite flowers are, but you really can`t go wrong with a bright, beautiful bouquet, whether it`s made up of Gerber daisies or roses.

It`s a good idea to tailor the flowers to the relationship, as well. A dozen red roses for a co-worker aren’t very appropriate, but a bouquet of mixed flowers is. If you want to give roses to a friend, stick to non-romantic colors like yellow, coral or gold and shy away from red and pink which can be mistaken as a completely different gesture.

Flowers also lend themselves to small gift inclusions, like a teddy bear for a new baby, a bunch of chocolates for a lover or a figurine for that special someone in your life. These extras can add a lot more meaning to your gift and will be appreciated long after the cut flowers wilt and die. Whether you opt for flowers or plants as a gift, you`ll be making the right decision. They are both excellent gifts that are enjoyed greatly by the recipients. Which one you choose depends mostly on personal taste and what the recipient will enjoy most. Flowers and plants make for a more unique gift than many of the standard options and can be a fun way to mix it up a bit, especially if you add in a little extra gift tucked into the foliage.

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Organic Gardening: Controlling Insects and Weeds Naturally

September 23, 2008  
Filed under Organic Gardening

The only difference between regular gardening and organic gardening is that no synthetic fertilizers or pesticides are used when gardening organically. It might be a little more work to grow plants this way, but it is well worth the effort.

The biggest problems with growing things organically are insects, disease and weeds. But there are natural ways to protect your plants from these three killers.

Organic gardening starts with the soil. Rather than adding chemicals to the soil, organic gardeners regularly add organic matter in order to keep the soil healthy and productive. In fact, compost is essential to the well being of plants grown organically.

If you do not already have a compost pile or compost bin, one can be made with leaves, dead flowers, manure, fruit rinds, vegetable scraps, grass clippings and many other things.

What you need is soil that is dark in color and that has a sweet smell. So be generous with the compost, choose a spot that drains well so that water does not just sit around the plants, follow the guidelines in this article, and your plants should stay healthy and productive.

You might have healthy soil to start with and only need to add some compost. But some soil might need more natural additives than compost provides. Natural additives include things such as rock phosphates and bone meal. By purchasing and using a simple soil test you will know the soil’s pH balance and be able to determine which nutrients you need to add.

One of the things that makes organic gardening more difficult is keeping insects off the plants. Most gardeners simply reach for a pesticide and spray the plants. But organic gardeners who truly want to stay away from chemicals must find other alternatives. Instead of using pesticides, the best way to defend your plants from insects is to use preventive measures.

Since unhealthy plants are more likely to be attacked by insects, one of the best natural ways to protect your garden from insects is to make sure your plants are healthy.

There are several things you can do to encourage healthy plants. Keeping them not too wet and not too dry is one thing.

Another way to protect your plants from insects, however, is to encourage insect predators into your garden. These include:

*lizards
*ladybugs
*frogs
*birds

These creatures can be attracted to your garden by keeping a source of water nearby, such as a pond, and by growing plants that attract them. There are also some household items that fight against insects, such as hot peppers and garlic, as well as insecticidal soaps.

Many diseases spread because the site of the garden does not drain well or does not allow for good air circulation. Another way to prevent disease is to start with disease resistant plants and plant them in their prime.

Besides diseases and insects, another annoying and frustrating problem faced by organic gardeners is weeds. Organic mulch can act as a weed barrier, but for even better protection put a layer of cardboard, construction paper, or newspaper under the mulch. Spreading a layer of corn meal gluten to slow the growth of weeds is another idea. Do this early in the season before planting.

Lastly, for weed control there is also the trusty hoe. Regular hoeing and hand pulling the weeds will help a great deal, and it requires no sprays that can hurt your family or the environment. Overall, persistence will beat the weeds for good after a few seasons of hoeing and pulling.

Organic gardening is an excellent way to assure that your plants will be free and clear of all pesticides and, if taken care of properly, will be as healthy as possible. Organic gardening may require more time and care than regular gardening, but your family and the environment will greatly benefit.

Creative Tips for Container Gardening

September 23, 2008  
Filed under Container Gardens

Container gardens can create a natural sanctuary in a busy city street, along rooftops or on balconies. You can easily accentuate the welcoming look of a deck or patio with colorful pots of annuals, or fill your window boxes with beautiful shrub roses or any number of small perennials. Whether you arrange your pots in a group for a massed effect or highlight a smaller space with a single specimen, you’ll be delighted with this simple way to create a garden.

Container gardening enables you to easily vary your color scheme, and as each plant finishes flowering, it can be replaced with another. Whether you choose to harmonize or contrast your colors, make sure there is variety in the height of each plant. Think also of the shape and texture of the leaves. Tall strap-like leaves will give a good vertical background to low-growing, wide-leafed plants. Choose plants with a long flowering season, or have others of a different type ready to replace them as they finish blooming.

Experiment with creative containers. You might have an old porcelain bowl or copper urn you can use, or perhaps you’d rather make something really modern with timber or tiles. If you decide to buy your containers ready-made, terracotta pots look wonderful, but tend to absorb water. You don’t want your plants to dry out, so paint the interior of these pots with a special sealer available from hardware stores.

Cheaper plastic pots can also be painted on the outside with water-based paints for good effect. When purchasing pots, don’t forget to buy matching saucers to catch the drips. This will save cement floors getting stained, or timber floors rotting.

Always use a good quality potting mix in your containers. This will ensure the best performance possible from your plants.

If you have steps leading up to your front door, an attractive pot plant on each one will delight your visitors. Indoors, pots of plants or flowers help to create a cozy and welcoming atmosphere.

Decide ahead of time where you want your pots to be positioned, and then buy plants that suit the situation. There is no point buying sun lovers for a shady position, for they will not do well. Some plants also have really large roots, so they are best kept for the open garden.

If you have plenty of space at your front door, a group of potted plants off to one side will be more visually appealing than two similar plants placed each side. Unless they are spectacular, they will look rather boring. Group the pots in odd numbers rather than even, and vary the height and type. To tie the group together, add large rocks that are similar in appearance and just slightly different in size. Three or five pots of the same type and color, but in different sizes also look affective.

With a creative mind and some determination, you will soon have a container garden that will be the envy of friends and strangers alike.

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