Gardening Bytes

Posts Tagged ‘Gardening Tips’

Thanksgiving Cactus (Schlumbergera) is an unusual looking houseplant originally from Brazil that blooms in late fall. The stems of the plant are segmented and flat and has brightly colored pink, yellow, white, red, orange, pink, yellow, or purple flowers on the end of the stems. The Thanksgiving Cactus prefers moderate room humidity and bright indirect light. When ready to bloom do not move the plant from it’s location. Care for blooming is similar to the Poinsettia plant, the Thanksgiving Cactus requires at least eight days with 16 hours of darkness at 61 degrees should cause flower buds to form. The Thanksgiving Cactus can be keep indoors at the temperatures mentioned below, or left outdoors in a shady location starting in fall to help set flowers, then brought back in before the first frost. To set buds in time for the holidays the Thanksgiving Cactus needs cool temps of 60-65 degrees during the day and 45-55 degrees during the night. This plant does not like wet feet, water the soil so it is evenly moist during the growing season then water sparingly the rest of the year until new growth appears in spring. The plant can be damaged by over or underwatering, or too much light. Propagate Thanksgiving Cactus by twisting off a stem segment in spring and place it upright in moistened perlite.

Here’s a neat little project that you can do to bring a taste of your gardening inside. While silk and artificial flowers can certainly brighten up a room, there is really nothing that can compare to a real flower garden. Would you be interested in growing a small one of these inside your home? Read on to see if you have the specific requirements necessary to put one of these in place. If not, there is an alternative mentioned at the bottom of this article.

House Requirements

You’ll have to have some sort of half wall or wall that has an opening in it. A half wall is a wall that only goes up partway from the wall to the ceiling. This wall will have to be as thick as the rest of the walls in your home.

Many homes have this type of wall in the front hall, while an opening in a wall is usually placed between a kitchen and dining room. These walls are often used as a ledge and can often end up as a dumping ground for papers and such. You can transform this wall from a ledge to a garden very easily.

Hire A Renovator

This won’t cost much. All that needs to get done is a hole installed into this ledge. A big rectangular hole that can accomodate a large plant tray. To envision this, imagine looking down at your wall from above. There will be a hole in the shape of a rectangle inside it.

Then you will need to get your renovator to build a ledge inside the wall about 6″ down from the top of the hole. This ledge will hold up a planter box and will also prevent any possible damage to the wall underneath it.

This is a view of what it would look like inside the wall.

This is an example of a planter tray you could fit into this wall.

Whenever you plan on cutting open a wall, for any reason, make sure that you are working with a professional that knows what he is doing! You certainly don’t want to end up with a wire being cut behind the wall or any other type of damage!

You can pick out any plants or flowers you want for this indoor gardening project based on how much sunlight the area receives.

If you don’t have a half wall in your home or a wall with a hole in it, you can get a wooden planter made that looks like a half wall and place it between two open concept rooms or right up against a wall. Any carpenter can make one up for you at little cost. You can even get a designer plant holder made that runs along the length of a wall and then continues around a corner.

Imagine opening your front door every day to a garden in your home! It’s time to grow some real plants inside! Move your silk and artificial flowers over to your bathroom that receives no sunlight at all and grow some real flowers in your kitchen, hallway or any other room that has a half wall and available sunlight.

About the author: Robert works for silkflowerswarehouse.com, a company that specializes in artificial flowers. Robert is a gardener and writer who enjoys writing about gardening.

Garlic has some great characteristics, for one it’s easy to grow and doesn’t require special treatment and secondly all varieties are delicious, offering a far superior taste to shop bought garlic. With so many varieties available, I love growing a few of each type every year so my family and I can enjoy the subtle differences in flavour at every meal. Below you’ll find a few of my personal recommendations and a step by step guide of how to grow and when to harvest your garlic yields.

Garlic is one of the easiest crops to grow and because of its simplicity you know it’s always going to be a great crop.

Recommended Varieties

• ‘Solent Wight’
• ‘Purple Wight’
• ‘Albigensian Wight’
• Elephant garlic

The best time to plant garlic is autumn as the crops benefit from the cold weather that helps encourage a hearty bulb formation. I would suggest buying your early autumn varieties from garden centres or specialist growers, but not from the supermarket. This is really important as shop bought garlics are more than likely to have been grown abroad. If that is the case that variety is sure to have a difficult time trying to grow in the UK climate.

How To Grow Garlic

1. Split up the bulbs into individual cloves and plant with the pointed end uppermost

2. Plant approximately 2.5cm-5cm deep and 15cm apart

3. If your soil is heavy clay and in time gets waterlogged, wait until February to plant your bulbs or alternatively add horticultural sand

4. In spring add a nitrogen feed to encourage growth

5. Garlic likes plenty of water during the growing period, but reduce the amount of watering from about May

Notes

• If you’ve planted your garlic cloves in October/November you should begin to see shoots by January.

• In spring, you may want to use a high nitrogen feed or small application of sulphur as this can encourage good growth.

• You will notice the bulbs have finished growing when the foliage begins to die back.

Harvesting

Harvesting should take place between May and June when the foliage has almost completely yellowed and withered. When harvesting you want to choose a day when the weather is dry as you will be laying out your yields to dry them out for a couple of days. If it does begin to rain move the lifted bulbs into a greenhouse or cold frame.

Image courtesy of Wikimedia public domain image

About the author: Mr McGregor is a guest writer for the popular garden centre Notcutts and has been spreading his horticultural experiences to his loyal readers. Mr. McGregor is a talented gardener and through his blog he takes his readers on a journey to self sufficiency, changing the way they view their gardens.

Autumn is a fantastic season to see nature’s awesome beauty as green leaves turn all shades of red, orange and yellow before falling to the floor in a seemingly endless cavalcade. It’s also a great opportunity to make the most of nature’s bounty by turning those very same leaves – which may otherwise be bound for landfill – into carbon neutral eco-logs for the winter season.

So this year rather than simply raking up those leaves and bagging them up into refuse sacks, do something with them which is both economical and carbon neutral. The trick is to get your hands on a logmaker which are available from good garden centres and online stories specialising in environmentally friendly goods. These simple tools can turn that mound of rotting leaves into eco-fuel by the simple process of compacting them.

Logmakers come in two varieties: dry and wet. Dry logmakers turn dry leaves (and other dry household and garden waste) into perfectly shaped logs, whereas wet logmakers are used to turn wet leaves into them. You simply insert the leaves into the logmaker, push the plunger down so the waste is compacted (and the excess water removed) and, hey presto, you have yourself an eco-log which is perfect for throwing on the fire, stove, chiminea or firebowl.

The average tree could provide enough logs for quite a few fires over the winter, which will certainly help to save a few pennies and a few trips to the garden centre to stock up on other types of logs. Also as the carbon emitted from the logs when burnt is equal to the amount they absorbed before the fell from the tree the logs are completely carbon-neutral. Logs you buy from the garden centre or supermarket may have been chopped down and transported from hundreds of miles away, which leaves a pretty big carbon footprint.

As already mentioned above logmakers are not restricted to autumn leaves, but can be used to recycle all manner of household waste (leftover food, paper, cardboard etc) and other garden waste throughout the year – so you can make the use of them year round to provide fuel for your fire.

DIY The Dry Logmaker Video

About the author: Lewis is an outdoor living eco-living enthusiast and writes for Chiminea UK.

The Pond Blog offered the use of their free infographic about the health, monetary, real estate, and environmental benefits of gardening. Get a close up look at this chart by clicking on the image.

Source by Loch Ness Water Gardens

There is no end to the innovative possibilities to turn a featureless patio into a beautiful oasis for family and friends. Simply adding stylish patio décor, decorative plantings, and some chic outdoor furnishings transforms a patio into an inviting extension of the home. A patio room can be whatever style one wishes and does not necessarily need to be the same style as the interior of the house. Expressing oneself with a themed patio is a fabulous technique to live a dream. Creating Little Italy, the Southwest, or even a tropical cabana is within reach with a modest amount of imagination.

Many people are enjoying the additional bonus of creating open-air kitchens in their outside living areas. This is especially clever for entertainment purposes as guests can socialize, eat and drink outdoors. Having less people drinking and eating inside the home protects the home from possible accidents due to spilled drinks or food. Less worry about creating a mess makes for happier hosts and guests. Outdoor bars, large built-in grill areas and pizza ovens are extremely popular and a big hit with homeowners and guests alike.

Stylish, comfortable outside furniture pieces are a fabulous way to create cozy conversation alcoves. Several strategically placed outdoor patio rugs will allocate different areas for furniture groupings and give the feel of multiple outdoor living areas. A grouping of patio furniture around a glowing fire pit is always a big crowd pleaser. The nighttime ambiance of an outdoor living area can be enhanced with candles, creative lighting or a fireplace. Propane fire pits filled with jewel-like glass crystals are gorgeous and make a magnificent conversation piece. Flames dancing on the glass crystals of a propane fire pit will make an impressive accent to any decor.

When creating an outdoor living area, it is important to choose outdoor furniture and cushion fabrics which can withstand extreme temperatures and weather changes. If storing all of the furniture cushions after each use is not an option, then weather-resistant fabrics are a necessity. There are many weather-resistant and waterproof fabric choices on the market that can blend with every theme.

Patio container gardening is perfect for someone who does not wish to maintain living plants in the home yet yearns for the lush, relaxing experience of being surrounded by foliage. Decorating with plants can range from potted flowering planters, hanging baskets or even incorporating dwarf trees and shrubberies within the outdoor living area. A trellis with a beautiful vine will not only provide color, but privacy and a sun barrier as well.

Protection from the sun and heat is oftentimes necessary in order to extend the enjoyment of outdoor living. Overhead protection for the patio can be both decorative and functional. Some ideas for shade protection are arbors, pergolas, shade cloth fabric with freestyle design, or lattice-work. There is no need to shutdown the outdoor festivities in colder climates. Using infrared heaters around the gathering areas is a surefire way to keep family and friends warm and toasty. On a cool night, sitting around the table with an umbrella covering can be made cozy by adding a patio umbrella heater to radiate warmth. Outdoor furniture around a fire pit is also alluring on cooler evenings.

Making an outdoor patio an extension of the living area of a home is as easy as creating a vision of fun times in an enjoyable living space. Friends and family gathering in a stylish and comfortable veranda is a smart way to expand the area of a home for relaxation and entertainment purposes. The peace of mind afforded by patio entertaining is a real plus to any homeowner as the interior of the home can remain virtually spotless and guests can relax without the fear of ruining indoor furnishings or carpeting. The sky is truly the limit when it comes to creating an outdoor patio living space.

Image courtesy of Patioshoppers.com

About the Author: Samantha Reynolds writes for Patioshoppers.com, the leading retailer of patio cushions, resin patio furniture and other unique home and patio goods.

Ground covers for your garden are an important part of your garden structure. Ground covers work well between plants and underneath plants to help keep weeds down and become a natural mulch around other plants. You want ground cover not invasive plants that will cover up your other plants so ask for advice at your local nursery and choose wisely. Lithodora is a steady grower with evergreen leaves covered in bright blue tubular flowers. I’ve found using low growing heathers a great ground cover, for example Kramer’s Rote has small evergreen leaves with brilliant pink and cream blooms that smother the plant in fall and winter months.

Achillea
Alyssum
Anemone
Artemisia
Aster
Aubrieta
Bergenia
Calamintha
Campanula
Cerastium
Ceratostigma
Chrysanthemum
Clematis
Coreopsis
Delosperma
Dianthus
Dryas
Erigeron
Euonymus
Euphorbia
Fragaria
Geranium
Geum
Gypsophila
Hedera
Helianthemum
Hemerocallis
Heuchera
Hypericum
Iberis
Lathyrus
Leptinella
Liriope
Lithodora
Lonicera
Nepeta
Oenothera
Origanum
Oxalis
Phlox
Potentilla
Pulmonaria
Ranunculus
Rubus
Sagina
Saponaria
Sedum
Sempervivum
Stachys
Teucrium
Thymus
Trifolium
Verbena
Veronica
Viola

Regardless of the season, in the Northern Hemisphere, winter is never too far away. After working hard to grow and maintain your garden, it seems a shame that all of your hard work is ‘lost’ when winter comes. However, there are steps you can take to make sure that next year is much easier. In this guide, we will explore how to get your garden ready for winter.

Remove the Diseased Foliage

Even some of the most advanced gardeners still think that as the poor weather of winter plagues our garden, diseased patches will instantly die out, but this is not the case. In fact, composting the topsoil will not even kill all the diseases. Physically removing the diseased foliage and any contaminated fruit or vegetables before winter is a must.

Soil Sample

Every type of soil is different, and the results of your topsoil tests will give you an idea of what it would be best for you to grow next summer. Before the winter starts, take a nice sample of topsoil for detailed analysis. This way, you will have plenty of time to plan your approach next summer.

Protect Your Soil

If your topsoil is in good condition, the chances are your gardening will be much easier. However, if you do not protect it, your summer may be fruitless (literally). Planting ryegrass in the winter will help store the important soil nutrients over winter. Then, when spring comes, all you need to do is turn the ryegrass under. This will add additional organic matter to your soil.

Collect Your Leaves

Falling leaves may seem like an annoyance, but it really depends what you make of them. This year, collect your leaves and put them in normal-sized plastic bags, store them away in a spare corner of your shed, then wait for roughly a year. After this time has passed your leaves would have decomposed leaving you great mulch. This mulch will work wonders on your topsoil either next autumn or the following summer.

Put Away Your Equipment

All of us are guilty of leaving things we should not leave outside every year. The reality is we should be storing these tools away so that we do not need to buy them again the following summer. How many times have you seen a sprinkler left in the middle of the garden in December? Furthermore, certain types of pots like Terra-cotta need to be protected from the elements in winter. This will ensure that you do not have to spend a fortune next spring when you ‘go back to work’ on your garden.

In Conclusion

To help your whole ‘operation’ next year, sit down for a while at the end of summer looking out over your garden. Then, make a list of what you have done this year that has worked, and what you have done that did not work. Making your own mistakes once is fine, but doing it again the very next year is unwise.

About the author: This post was written by James Harper on behalf of Boughton Loam and Turf Management. James is an avid gardener and enjoys writing about his hobby.

As we’ve chatted aimlessly about the benefit of plug plants and how to care for your precious puny plants, you all must be champing at the bit ready to take the garden centres by storm and snap up these self-starting delights with gusto.

Before you do however, you may like to browse an Alphabetical selection of wildflower plugs on offer this time of year, their benefits, their colours, their properties, so here’s a quick glance guide on the perfect plugs for your paddock, meadow, orchard or grassland. Even wildflower borders look great with some of these plants, but don’t worry we’ll be honest and won’t let you ruin your border with wildflowers that like to strangle your lupins!

A stands for Autumn Hawk bit, looking like the swinging sixties flower girl of the plug plant world, this vibrant yellow bloom will blossom low to the ground. Personally although it looks great in paddocks, meadows and on grass verges, I think it resembles a dandelion a little too much to be given space in a precious border. However a wildflower garden would benefit from this.

B stands for Black Knapweed; this is a great addition to any border and will provide food for birds. It grows best at the side of a pond or in grass land and its allium type purple heads provide colour throughout the summer and well into autumn. A good clipping is essential if planted in a herbaceous border, however throughout meadows its best just left to roam free.

C stands for Common Sorrel – grown in grass or a border this wildflower produces red cluster heads as it seeds, giving vibrancy to any hedgerow with the double advantage of being a tasty addition to any salad.

F stands for Foxglove, wonderful in a border, these trumpet like flowers stand tall and fall under the wildflower category as they reproduce at an alarming rate. Easy to grow the plugs will flower the following year and a choice of colours mean you never get bored!

O stands for Ox Eyed Daisy, a larger variety of the more common daisy found in lawns, and just the wildflower to set of any meadow, imagine the daisy chains you could make with these?!

P stands for Primrose, spring would not be complete without these plugs, either purple, blue red or yellow, as bedding plants or strewn across the borders of a meadow, primrose bring sunshine before the weather does!

W stands for Wood Sage, a tall woody plant that gives a distinctive aroma, in a wildflower garden it attracts all manner of wildlife; however this can be its downfall as it also tastes great to sheep and horses!

About the author: Sam Goodwill can often be found enjoying perennial plants in his garden in the UK.

Everyone has to start somewhere! Gardening is a great hobby to get involved in. However, some people just simply do not know where to begin. Growing vegetables is easy and fun and not to mention extremely healthy for your diet. The following is a list of vegetables that will be easy for you to grow regardless of the experience you have in gardening. Which will you choose to grow first?

• Tomatoes. Tomatoes can be grown almost anywhere provided they have lots of sun light. You can grow them in the ground, in a bucket, or other container of your choice. With water and sunlight, you will have fantastic tomato yield all throughout the summer. Consider planting tomatoes as part of a salsa garden.

• Cucumbers. Like tomatoes, this vegetable can grow almost anywhere. Keep in mind that it needs plenty of space as it prefers to spread out. Great for pickling, growing cucumbers will be quite easy for beginners. There are small and large varieties available. Choose the one that best meets your needs.

• Radishes. These are very easy to grow and will add a great addition to your salad. Plant the seed directly into the ground and within a short period of time, you will have radishes! Other than watering, you will have to do very little to this plant.

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Perennial flowers are an excellent choice to help structure your garden and fill in spaces all year long. This list of perennial flowers are good choices for minimal care and hardiness of the plant. Give perennials plenty of time to become established in the garden. Choose plants suited to your area, local nurseries generally carry plants that adapt well to your hardiness zone.

Easy Care Perennials

Long lived, growing and thriving over five years
Division is only needed every four or five years
Good tolerance of hot summers
Good tolerance of cold winters
Non invasive
Little to no staking
Good resistance to disease and insects
Long lasting blooms
Attractive foliage all season
Able to grow in a wide range of conditions

Perennials

Astilbe
Avens (Geum)
Bergenia (Bergenia cordifolia)
Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia ‘Goldsturm’)
Blazing Star (Liatris)
Butterfly flower (Asclepias tuberosa)
Candytuft (Iberis)
Coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea)
Coral bells (Heuchera)
Cranesbill (Geranium – try Johnson’s Blue Geranium)
Daylilies (Hemerocallis)
Fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra)
Pinks (Dianthus)
Gas plant (Dictamnus albus)
Globe thistle (Echinops)
Globe-flower (Trollius)
Heathers (Calluna vulgaris)
Hosta (Hostaceae or Funkiaceae)
Lady’s mantle (Alchemilla)
Leopard’s bane (Doronicum)
Monkshood (Aconitum)
Ornamental grasses
Peony (Paeonia – single-flowered varieties)
Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)
Sea thrift (Armeria)
Stonecrop (Sedum)
Siberian iris (Iris siberica)
Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum)
Speedwell (Veronica)
Yarrow (Achillea)

Plants often need extra protection during colder months. As we head into fall and winter, rains, cold temperatures and frost can damage many tender garden plants. A good rule of thumb is to mulch heavily at the base of plants that have difficulty with cold weather and frost. Keep mulch away from stems of plants when applying. Water plants before frost arrives. If you are concerned about tender plants and have a greenhouse dig them up and pot them up then place in the greenhouse for the colder months. For delicate roses surround them with chicken wire cage and fill the cage with leaves as a natural mulch. You can use sheets covered with plastic tarp to surround your plant stems when frosts hit, clothespins work well to gather edges together. Do not use plastic only, plastic conducts the cold and can make it colder under the plastic for the plant. Cut a hole in gallon plastic containers and cover smaller plants, the plastic will help keep the plant stem warmed. Container plants can be brought into the greenhouse or garage until frosts have passed. Add gallon jugs of warm-to-hot water under sheets to help keep temps under the sheets warmer for your plants during frosts.

You can save tomato seeds from plants you have grown this year in the garden. Heirloom tomatoes in particular are harder to come by and are worth saving seeds for next year’s garden. The process is fairly simple overall. You will want to choose tomatoes that are not overly ripe, without disease, and in their prime. If possible used tomatoes from the same variety from a few different plants for best success. Scoop out the seeds from tomatoes and save the rest of the tomato for eating. The tomato seeds are contained in a gelatin-like pocket. You can choose to separate the seeds out on a paper towel to dry or ferment your seeds first before drying on the towel. Fermenting the seeds helps the seeds separate from the gel and decreases the chance of disease.

To ferment your tomato seeds add half a cup of water to a plastic cup then add the seeds, labeling the cup with the variety name. Leave the cup for 3 to 5 days. Fermenting can become smelly so you may want to place your cups in a greenhouse or garage. After 3 to 5 days remove the top layer of film and mold, add more water and stir. Viable tomato seeds will sink to the bottom of the cup. Strain off the pulp and water and keep adding more water until the pulp is gone and the water is clear. Drain the seeds well on a paper towel or through a coffee filter. Spread the seeds in a single layer on a paper towel or filter to dry, within 24 hours the tomato seeds should be dry and ready to package in an envelope for next season’s planting. Tomato seeds are viable for a number of years, storing in room temperature works as well as the fridge or freezer for extra protection.

Planting up containers can be a fun and rewarding venture. Containers can display your plants from every angle if they are in the middle of a deck, or part of the container if they are moved against a wall. Decide where your container will be stationed so you can choose the best draping plants particularly for those containers that will be seen from every angle.

Pot up your plants with a high quality soil. Potting soil with the word ‘professional’ on the bag may cost more but the quality will be high. You may consider using water-absorbing polymer to help improve the moisture retention of the potting soil. Add time released fertilizer in your soil away from the roots of the plants, or a liquid fertilizer. Spread a layer of mulch over the top of the container to help water retention. Water your containers often since container plants generally dry out faster than plants in flower beds.

Choose your plants so they get along in the container. You do not want an invasive plant combined with other plants or they will overtake your container. If you are positioning the container in full sun, use full sun plants that are compatible. If you are creating a shade container use shade plants. Decide on what height levels you want in your container. A good rule of thumb is to use a lower plant for edging or draping over the edge of the container, mid-height plants for the middle of the container, and one or two tall plants for the back or the middle of the container.

Guest Article Author: Neal Klabunde

Fall closes the garden year.

Spring brings forth new life.

This simple haiku puts the autumn in focus. The gardening year is rapidly coming to an end and the time to start preparing for next year’s garden is upon us. Successful gardeners are always looking towards the future and planning their next step. Hopefully you have kept a garden journal that chronicles your hits and misses.

The following tips will help you to prepare for next year’s garden so you will be able to hit the ground running next spring.

Cleaning up the garden beds should be first on your list. Remove any dead plants to the compost pile. These should be only the remains of healthy plants. Any diseased plants should be put in the trash. There are always a few green tomatoes left on the vines. The tomatoes can be left on the vine and brought into the garage and hung until the tomatoes ripen, or there are recipes for cooking green tomatoes.

Root crops can be left in the ground and covered with straw bales if you want to keep them there. Many gardeners cover the carrots with straw bales. When you need some, just go out to the garden and tip the bales over and dig up fresh carrots.

Take the compost that you have been making all summer long and spread it on the garden beds. Even if it isn’t completely decomposed, work it into the soil and the worms will do the rest.

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