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26 Aug 2012
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Gardening: Improve Your Garden With This Useful Information


Gardening not only benefits you physically and emotionally, it can also feed your family and drive a business. You can determine all the things that you need so that you don’t waste any money on equipment that isn’t needed, or the wrong seeds for your type of environment.

Make sure you protect your knees well while you are gardening. Bending over for a long while is quite difficult for a lot of people. Kneeling is a preferred way to get to your plants while minimizing back pain. You can purchase an inexpensive kneeling pad for gardening in order to protect your knees.

Consider what particular vegetables are most often on your dining room table and include them when you plan your garden. By planting your own vegetables, you will save a lot of money at the grocery store and also experience fresher, better-tasting food. It is pointless to grow an item your family or you won’t eat, particularly if your space is limited.

If you have salt spots on your clay pots, try using a mixture of rubbing alcohol and vinegar. It is common for build-ups of salt to accumulate over long periods of time on pots made of clay. Clean the pot with a mixture of white vinegar, rubbing alcohol and water measured equally into a spray bottle. Scrub it down with any brush you happen to have handy, and the salt will come right off. Use some clear water to rinse the pot before planting anything else in it.

Water your garden wisely. Put down the watering can or garden hose, and spread out a time-saving soaker hose instead. Keeping the water pressure low on your soaking hose will help avoid harm to tender plants. You can go about your business and leave your soaker hose at work for an hour or two.

Gardening Woes? Helpful Information To Improve It!

There are an immense number of resources available that you can use to obtain high quality gardening. Here are the best tips in one place in order to take up gardening.

• The handles of your gardening tools can be used as a convenient measuring instrument. Just lay your tool down on the floor next to the handles. Use a permanent marker to label the distances.

• You don’t need a costly chemical solution to deal with powdery mildew on plants. Mix a little liquid soap and baking soda into water. Spray this mix on plants every week and the mildew is gone. This method is not going to cause any damages to your plants and it will eliminate the mildew in a short amount of time.

• When fall has arrived, it’s time to start planting all of your fall edibles. A hollowed out pumpkin can become a planting container instead of clay pots. Once you cut an opening at the top of the pumpkin and scoop out the insides, spray the edges and inside with Wilt-Pruf to prevent rotting.

• Don’t cut your grass too short. If you leave a bit more height, the roots will go down deeper into the dirt, which makes the grass less prone to drying and other hazards. Short grass is more prone to getting dried out and dead grass.

• Try “boiling” weeds in your garden with boiling water to get rid of them. Boiling water in a safe herbicide which won’t damage your garden or your body. Boiling water can hurt the weed roots and will inhibit future growth.

• Moisture on plants is a sure way to attract disease. Fungi are a very common problem in the world of gardening. It is possible to get rid of fungi after it appears with anti-fungal sprays, but the key is to treat your garden before any problems arise.

• Do you enjoy fresh mint leaves but hate how they grow so fast and take over your entire garden? You can stunt the growth by planting them inside a pot or super-sized bowl. You can plant the container into the soil if you want to, but the walls of the container will hold the roots captive, and make sure that the plant doesn’t run rampant in your garden.

• You should divide your irises. You can increase your stock of irises by dividing the overgrown clumps. The bulbs, and once you put them back into the earth; they will typically flower the following year. Use a knife to divide rhizomes. Cut new pieces from the outside then throw away the remaining center. Each new piece should possess at least one healthy offshoot. Replant your pieces as soon as you have finished the cuttings.

• If you are just getting into gardening, make sure you read and follow all the directions on any tool or chemical you use. If you miss this easy step, you expose yourself to safety hazards or a risk of experiencing adverse reactions. Keep yourself safe and always follow directions.

Gardening is an entertaining and rewarding activity. The greater your knowledge, the greater will be your gardening abilities. Research, hard work, and some dedication are the main requirements. Use all the information available to you. Try using these tips so you can get a better gardening experience! Once you see the literal fruits of your labors, the time and effort you’ve invested will seem worthwhile.

Need a jump start with your gardening? Contact Evergreen Landscaping for a free consultation, 805-773-5395.

16 Aug 2012
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Home Gardening and Landscaping Ideas

During the last couple of years home gardening has become an increasingly popular past-time and hobby. Actually, research has shown that home gardening is at an all-time high in America at this time. In the USA 8 from 10 households take part in some form of home gardening activity. Obviously from the number of individuals which are doing the work, home gardening is one of the most widely used outdoor recreation in nation.

No time is better than the present. You probably have a lot of inquiries on how to start and what to do, but no worries, this article has you covered. It contains some great information about home gardening. And before you know it you will be on your way to growing an amazing garden.

Home Gardening and Landscaping Ideas

Many people that try their hand at home gardening plant flowers; at least they begin out planting flowers anyway. Roses will probably be the very first thought into any gardeners mind, but roses will require extra time and work, and really should probably be left to people who’ve gardened before. When planting flowers many choices can be found, for example bulbs, perennials, and annuals.

Edible vegetation is another big thing in home gardening. Perhaps the best thing about edibles is the reward of eating them. The list of edible plants that gardeners can grow at home is endless. Some of the most common edible plants in the vegetable arena are potatoes, peas, corn, carrots, squash, and cucumber. Many gardeners go for fruits, such as, watermelons, tomatoes, peaches, plums, apples, pears, and apricots. Small fruits, such as strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries often require less work and less space. These are making them much more feasible for home gardening.

Herbs, most often used as spices in cooking, are growing in popularity every single day. The most grown include basil, thyme, oregano, parsley, and cilantro. Probably the most essential things to watch whenever planting edibles is insects and disease. In the end, you don’t want to lose out on the feast you’re going to get to savor from healthy plants.

Many people don’t realize it, but landscaping is a form of home gardening. Landscaping covers many different areas and types of gardening. You may also classify mowing your lawn as landscaping! Keeping in the line of grasses, landscaping usually involves decorative grasses, and the great thing about them is they don’t take much work for upkeep. Kinds of grass include monkey grass, pampas, buffalo grass, flame grass, and ornamental millet. Landscaping is not just limited to plant life. Additionally, it includes anything completed to a yard for decoration, for example adding rocks or stones, placing a small pond, statutes, or a waterfall.

Learning More about Home Gardening and Landscaping

Humidity might be needed by some houseplants. You can create humidity in any environment by grouping different plants together in one pot, or replanting the specimen into a larger pot and filling the gap in with compost or stones. You can also provide the requisite humidity for your houseplants by using a spray bottle to mist it one or two times per day.

Clay is difficult to dig through with a shovel, as it is sticky and compact. To make working in clay easier, rub the shovel with floor or car wax and then buff it with a cloth. This will both make the clay fall off of the surface, and prevent the surface from rusting.

Collect rainwater for your plants to become more ecologically friendly. Using a barrel or any sort of container to collect any amount of rainwater can not only save you money on your water bill every month, but you are using a natural resource as well. Bear in mind this tip to have a chemical-free garden while saving money.

When deciding on which plants to include in your home gardening projects, consider evergreens which produce colorful berries. These types of trees can offer your garden a splash of color, especially during the winter when all other plants and trees have lost their hues. Some evergreens that will add life to your yard in the wintertime are the American Cranberrybush, Common Snowberry, Winterberry, and American holly.

There isn’t much difference between home gardening and gardening anywhere else. Plants still have to be planted inside a good location. The plants still need water plus they still require the same nutrients. Home gardening shouldn’t cause anyone to get nervous. Should you choose decide to use homing gardening and finding out that you simply don’t possess a green thumb, don’t get discouraged.

After reading this article, you should be well on your way to growing a fantastic garden. If you think that you were ready before, you should see yourself now. Acquire some information, read up on home gardening, and try it again the next planting season. Hopefully, the tips that were provided gave you some pointers that will help you get started with your gardening adventures so that you can begin growing like a pro.

Need a jump start with your home gardening? Call 805-773-5395 for a Free Consultation or 

10 Aug 2012
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Container Gardening for City Dweller

Sometimes, the urge to garden might be stopped by other circumstances, such as living arrangements or space constrictions, but container gardening can help you. If you live in an apartment, you obviously can’t grow a garden, as you don’t have a back or front yard! One of the best solutions for this problem is to start container gardening. You can try sitting them near the window or on your balcony, or even hanging them. Just a few containers and your whole living area will look much more beautiful and serene. Even though you miss out on the full garden experience, there are benefits to container gardening.

Getting Started in Container Gardening

One benefit of growing in small containers is the fact that you can move them around to suit your needs. If you rearrange your furniture and feel that it would look nice better if it were in the other area, you can just move it over. No transplanting or labor required! As long as the lighting is about the same, your plant won’t mind moving at all. Another benefit of container gardening is the fact that you can adapt it to any environment. Depending on the type of soil you fill it with and where you place it.

container gardening

One way to give container gardening an interesting look is to hang them at different heights. Hanging plants is a great use of space and clears up your counters and windowsills. This is called “vertical gardening”. If you pull it off right, you can make a beautiful arrangement of plants while conserving your valuable space. If you live in an apartment, you know how important it is to conserve space! One method of vertical gardening is the use of a wooden stepladder. If painted correctly, you can arrange all the plants on it in a stylish cascade of color.

A downside to container plants is that you can’t use an irrigation system. Thus, have to go around and water your plants one at a time. However, the square footage for container plants is much less than that of an actual garden, so the time spent on maintenance and watering is more balanced. You won’t have to worry about weeds or pests. It is important that you don’t over-water your container plants. This can be just as fatal to their health as under-watering.

When choosing containers for your plants, buy some extra containers in case it breaks or other unforeseeable circumstances. Change things up by buying different sizes, shapes, and colors. Try to make sure that they complement each other. Plastic containers are the best and require the least amount of watering. But if you want clay or earthen pots then you should line the inside with plastic. This helps it retain water more, as the clay will soak up water.

container gardening

Another thing to remember when buying pots is the fact that the size of the pot will ultimately constrict the size of the plant. In other words, the smaller the pot, the smaller the plant. Make a careful choice of pots according to what you wish to grow in each one. If you search for the plant you chose on the internet, you should be able to find specifications as to how much root space it should be given. This can even be an advantage for you if you choose a plant that can grow very large. If you have a limited amount of space for it, you can constrict it by choosing a pot that isn’t large enough to support huge amounts of growth.

Tools for your Container Gardening

A lot of gardeners find the hobby to be both relaxing and therapeutic. Without the right information, though, it can be confusing. Gardeners have to know not only how to do the actual gardening, but what tools and equipment are most useful. Spend some time relaxing in the sun, tending your garden.

If you’re growing veggies in the garden, they need to be in a spot that lets them get about six hours of sun daily. Many veggies require this amount to properly grow at a faster pace. This is true of some flowers.

 

Two items you need to invest in when working in a garden are a wheelbarrow, and a kneeling stool. Using a large portion of your time near or on the ground working on your garden puts a huge strain on your knees. Therefore, having a portable, lightweight garden stool will greatly assist you in making gardening easier on them. A wheelbarrow will help you move heavy items without hurting your back so ensure that you invest in one promptly.

In a dark area, pre-soak your seeds overnight. Put a few seeds in a small container and fill it near to the top with water. This lets water soak into the seeds, giving them an extra boost of hydration when they start growing. The seeds will most likely have a greater chance of maturing and surviving.

As you have learned from this article, container gardening can seem like quite the task. Yet, it is manageable if you know what you’re doing. If the benefits of container gardening sound appealing to you, then you should start planning out your container garden today. If you write a list of all the plants you desire to have, you can do the necessary research. Find out what size and shape of pots you should get. After that, it’s just a matter of arranging them in a way that makes your home look the nicest.

If you have children, then container gardening can be a great hobby for your family to bond with each other. Most children enjoy choosing the plants and flowers that will go in the garden. Not only do most kids enjoy getting dirty, they will also take extra pride in everything you grow together.

Your garden will start giving you enjoyment after you realize you have the abilities to make it happen. A beautiful garden requires the right tools, soil, water and sunlight. If you need more container gardening assistance, contact us today! Or call 805-773-5395.

27 Jul 2012
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Beautiful Garden Creation With These Great Tips

Creating a beautiful garden can be relaxing, but it doesn’t really require plenty of money. Performing necessary garden chores can be an excellent way of spending time together as a family. If you have children, they will be awe-struck by how seeds transform into colorful flowers and tasty vegetables. Additionally, gardening is a powerful teaching tool that helps people and children appreciate the outdoors and nature. The article below has tips that will make gardening easier, more enjoyable and inclusive to others.

Cover any wall or fence with climbers. Climbers have many different uses and spread quickly. They also work to cover up old, and possibly dead, vegetation. Some must be tied onto a support, but a number of climbers attach to surfaces with twining stems or tendrils. Plants such as clematis, wisteria, climbing roses, or honeysuckle are always great choices.

Your vegetable plants need about two or three inches of mulch placed around them. Mulch helps the soil surrounding the plants remain moister for a longer time. It will also dramatically decrease weed growth. Time and effort will be saved pulling out all the weeds.

If you are planning on growing peas, start them indoors before putting them outdoors in your garden. Pea seeds tend to germinate much better when planted indoors, before being moved to an outside garden. The baby plants will also be stronger and will resist pests and disease better. You will be able to transfer the seedlings outdoors after they become better established.

A small shed or an area in your garage makes the perfect storage facility for garden tools. Do not leave anything laying around in the yard; you do not know who might come by and steal it!

3 Tips in Landscaping your Beautiful Garden

Landscaping is usually a pretty big task that takes up a bunch of time and energy. Before you hire a professional, here are some tips that could save both time and money for your beautiful garden.

  1. There are some tasks that you will be able to do on your own, if you are willing to invest your time. However, if you have an awkward block such as very steep ground, a pro might give you the expertise to save costly mistakes.
  2. Spend some time thinking about exactly how you want the final outcome to be. Think about the style and function of your landscape. Do you want an area for entertaining? A barbeque? Is there to be an area for children to play, a fishpond or a swimming pool? An idea of the plants you want to be there will help. Focus on the area where you spend most of your time.
  3. The style of your home must be taken into account. If you have a rural cottage, formal gardens surrounding it will look out of place. Think also about your lifestyle. Do you want to spend hours caring for many beds of annuals or pruning beds of roses? If so, go ahead and plant them, but if you’d rather spend your free time at the beach, then go for an easy-care garden and landscape.

Here are some different landscape styles you can choose for your own  beautiful garden:

  1. Formal: This style uses lots of straight lines and perfect geometrical shapes. Orderly arrangement of plants instead of random positioning is employed. Close arrangement and pruning is seen on many landscaped gardens with this style.
  2. Informal: This kind of landscaping workds well with cosy cottages. Beds with curved edges instead of straight lines and random placement of plants suit this landscape style.
  3. Woodland: This landscaping suits a house that has a wooded backyard and sloping ground.
  4. English Garden: This style emphasizes the harmony between the house’s architecture and the garden.
  5. Oriental: It is often the kind of garden found in small backyards. It uses rocks, evergreens and water. A wide variety of plants create several interesting angles with this style.

In conclusion, whether you are creating a beautiful garden on your own or with friends, the tips you’ve read above are sure to be helpful. You’ll find ways here to bring the joy of gardening to friends and family. It also helps you to learn more in-depth understanding of your beautiful garden for yourself.

For more tips and suggestions on landscaping ideas for your beautiful garden, make an appointment with us for a consultation or contact us at 805-773-5395. We’ll help you keep your beautiful garden looking great all year round.

15 Jul 2012
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Successful Gardening: How To Have A Healthy And Happy Garden

There is a lot of information you must learn before taking your garden and turning it into a masterpiece. Successful gardening takes some effort. But, it is also a pleasant and rewarding hobby. The advice in this article will help you learn everything you need to know in order to enjoy a successful gardening.

How to start a successful garden

If you are gardening with a cut, make sure that you adequately protect it from dirt and chemicals. Cuts have a much higher likelihood of getting infected if they are in contact with dirt when you garden. The key is to use bandages capable of covering cuts in their entirety.

Start your garden by using mulch. Using mulch around your plants helps retain moisture and prevent the growth of weeds. You can buy mulch, but you can create your own by using grass clippings or leaves. You can even lay down plastic sheeting and plant your plants in holes in the plastic. All these methods help the plants retain the moisture they need for growth. This also help reduce the chances that weeds will grow.

successful gardening

Use plants to get some autumn color. It doesn’t have to be that way! In the fall, the foliage displays every color of the rainbow. There are many variations in leaf color with different varieties. Maple, Beech and Dogwood trees can give you lively yellows and deep crimsons. Barberry, conaneaster and hydrangea are all wonderful choices in shrubs.
Learn the proper way to handle chemicals. Learn also the right way to use garden tools. If you ignore them, you can irritate your skin in most painful ways. Be careful when it comes to your body, and always follow directions.

If you know that you’ll be in the garden for an extended period of time, protect yourself from the sun with proper attire. This includes wide-brimmed hats, sunscreen, and sunglasses. If you cover up from the sun, you are less likely to become burned or get skin cancer.

Helpful tips for a successful gardening

Your garden can be an important part of your life. Just like you, it needs to be properly maintained. You need to research, work hard and be patient to watch your work translate into progress for your own personal garden. These tips below can help you with growing a successful garden.

Try to fill your garden with a variety of plants instead of just a few types. A successful garden with a wide variety is more resistant to garden pests. It attracts more beneficial insects that eat the bad bugs. This will cut down on the need for pesticides. A garden with just a few types of plants will sustain more damage from pest invasions.

A great tip to consider to have a successful gardening is making sure that you won’t damage your plants while dragging your watering hose around. This is important because this is very easy to do with a simple tug of the hose. Consider using guides that prevent your hose form accidentally coming into contact with fragile plants.

Another important advice to having a fantastic garden is to be realistic. When shopping the glossy packages of seeds are very appealing. Yet, many of them only grow in specific climates. Be realistic to what grows in the area. Do not plant items that do not grow well. It is so disappointing to plant a garden and have almost no fruits and vegetables come from it.

successful gardening

Grow shade-loving annuals. Most annuals (and tender perennials) thrive in full sun. Others prefer a little shade. They do well on the north side of a house, or under the canopy of trees and shrubs. Remember to provide good soil and plenty of moisture. For constant bloom in shady areas, plant flowers like impatiens, balsam, clarkia and lobelia. Nicotiana is particularly striking, growing 5 feet tall, and producing beautiful tubular white flowers with a glorious fragrance.

Gardening, if done correctly, can help supplement you or your business. While the plants may not be human, they still have lives and deserve to be well-cared for. So, do yourself a favor and do your research, work hard in the dirt, and have a bunch of patience to help grow and take care of your garden.

With these tips, you’re better equipped to grow the most beautiful garden you can imagine. In learning how to create your dream garden, you’ll also be growing as a person. That’s because learning how to nurture your plants will  help you reach the goal of having a great garden. Additionally, it will also help you learn to nurture yourself.

Looking for more tips and suggestions for successful gardening? For a free consultation, contact us today!

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14 Jun 2012
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Protect Your Garden from Bad Weather

One of the most hazardous stuff that may happen to your plants is weather. Many a garden continues to be demolished overnight because of this phenomenon. And seemingly, there’s nothing we are able to cause by prevent it. Of course, if weather didn’t exist at all only then do we wouldn’t have that nice sunshine that is good for the growth in our plants. Protect your garden with these tips in preparing from cold weather.

How to protect your garden?

The horrors of hail

When rain begins to fall, usually the first reaction of a gardener is pure joy. After all, this means you don’t need to bother about heading out and watering it manually. Natural rain can’t be anything but great for all your thirsty plants, can it? Well once that same gardener starts to see the beautiful rain drops turn into small globules of ice, usually a complete emotional breakdown is in order. I know this from experience, because when I would be a blooming gardener, I had my garden completely demolished by about 10 minutes of severe hail. When I first learned my lesson around the damage hail can perform, however devised a method of coping. I started to help keep large clay pots within 10 feet of my garden, to ensure that at any sign of hail I possibly could run outside and have the plants sheltered within seconds. This saved me from having to watch my plants be ripped to pieces on multiple occasions. I’ve never dealt with hail a lot more than an inch across, but I’m guessing that if there had been any baseball sized chunks then those pots could have been quickly demolished.

protect your garden

However, because the quantity of fragile plants in my garden grew, it became somewhat unrealistic to have a pot for every plant, and run outside to place each one of these before significant damage had already occurred. After much thought, I ended up creating a horizontal, retractable screen mechanism made out of a powerful but flexible wire mesh. At any sign of rain I possibly could pull the screen out over my entire garden and also have instant protection. Not only made it happen let the rain through, however the collected hail provided a stable drip of water as much as a day afterwards. This project cost me hundreds of dollars, and much more blood, sweat, and tears than could be measured with earth dollars. Therefore I wouldn’t recommend it to everybody.

If it’s too late for you, and you’ve recently lost your precious plants to wicked balls of ice, then you’re probably looking for a way to help the plants recover. Unfortunately there aren’t many choices for you. The best thing you should do is give them the tender care they deserve, and try to nurse them back to health over a long time. The numbers of weeks after seriously being damaged by hail were essential to whether the guarana plant survives or not. Should you expect more rain or wind, you need to keep the plant covered. Within this brittle stage, even raindrops or perhaps a strong breeze could cause more damage. If you live in a place that experiences frequent hail, you should definitely have in place some emergency arrangements for protecting your plants. Sitting by and watching them be ripped to shreds should never be a choice!

Preparing your garden for the winter

protect your garden

Some people believe that once the weather starts getting colder and the leaves start to fall, it’s about time to store the gardening tools and wait until next spring to operate on their garden again. Wrong. Winter is an important time to keep your garden’s health and assure yourself a good crop for next year. You might think that might take too long to prepare your garden, but the fact is that it requires less than 1 day to organize your garden for the upcoming winter. Once the nighttime temperatures drop to less than forty-five degrees Fahrenheit for over four days in a row, or frost is forecasted for your area (usually around late October or November) you know it is time to begin setting up your garden. You need to start by evaluating your garden design, check which plants grew well in the previous season, and which plants didn’t do well. Fall is a good time to choose which plants will stay in your garden next year, and which ones should go. It is also a great time to choose which new plants you wish to grow. For making your garden more colorful and healthy, be sure only to plant the more hardy plants during the fall to enable them to withstand the winter. Some plants that will do fine being planted in fall are: rudbeckia, Aster Novi-belgii, Anemone Japonica, panicle hyandea, endive, escarole, and Brussels sprouts. You could find most of these and more in gardening magazines or your local nursery.

After you have finished this you need to begin cleaning up your garden. Start by taking out weeds that could have cropped up, and raking fallen leaves. Weeds and rotten leaves can carry insects and diseases that could be bad for your garden. You should also rid your garden of spent annual plants, and harvest your vegetables and other plants that can’t tolerate the winter weather. After fall has come and gone, the leaves will likely be off your trees and you could see the rotten branches. Cutting off the unwanted branches from the trees is not needed to your gardens health, but may help later on by not dropping branches on your plants and not blocking too much of the sun.

protect your garden

If you have younger trees you should consider wrapping them and supporting all of them with stakes to help them survive the winter wind and cold. Putting mulch over your plants for the winter can be a helpful way to protect your garden from sudden temperature changes and heavy snow. For mulch you can use about five inches of shredded bark, pine needles, or a variety of other materials. You need to be careful not to mulch too early, because some insects might still be alive and able to take shelter in it for the winter. Once you are finished with your gardening tools, you need to clean them and make sure they’re in a safe place where they will not rust and you know where they’ll be for next year. Before winter comes you should always set out slug repellent, as slugs are one of the worst bugs to have in your garden. If you have a pool or fountain in your garden, make sure to consider out any fish which you have in them and bring them inside. There’s nothing sadder than a fish frozen in a block of ice.

Hope these tips help you protect your garden during cold weather. If you still don’t know what to do, protect your garden

or Call 805-773-5395 to schedule an appointment.