Gardening Tools, (building a compost bin) The Basics
No commentsBy Al Haneson
It seems that home improvement stores are making their gardening supply and nursery stocks more expansive year by year. I think this is because DIY lawn and garden care is the easiest to break into as a homeowner.
You can buy gardening products in various stores or nurseries, or you can order gardening products from catalogs, or even order them online. The trick is in knowing what you need for the jobs you plan to undertake.
You will obviously need the basic gardening tools no matter what you are planting, such as a hoe, spade, and maybe even a shovel. You must have watering supplies, like a hose, sprinkler and watering can. Other possibilities include a spade, a pot (if you are pot planting), and a pair of gloves for comfort, some pruning shears and a rake. Then, of course, there are the essentials such as the lawn mower and weed whacker, but we are mainly going to focus here on the basic landscape/gardening tools and leave the grass for another day.
When first starting a garden you will definitely want some type of mushroom mulch, manure or peat moss to properly amend your soil. There are a few types of potting soil that you can also add into your slurry including organic potting mix, seed starting potting mix, cactus potting mix, and root development potting mix, just to name a few.
Once you have your garden planted, you must have gardening chemicals so that you can add nutrients to the soil to ensure a healthy plant life. Miracle-Gro is one of the most popular growing enhancements for plants. There are many different types of Miracle-Gro to choose from and what kind you choose will depend on what you are trying to grow. The good thing about Miracle-Gro is that it is labeled very well with easy-to-follow instructions. This same brand name can also be found on insecticides and fungicides with that same easy-to-follow labeling.
If you are growing vegetables or herbs, you may need different gardening tools than regular flower gardens require. If you are growing tomatoes for example, you will need a tomato cage and ties to protect the plants against the wind. Many plants, mostly vines, are designed to grow on something and you will have to have a fence or trellis of some sort.
You can also find tools for the landscape that serve a greater purpose than just “function,” and that being “form.” In other words, they can also come in the form of decoration. There are decorative flower pots, sundials, plastic figurines, stones or bricks for a pathway or looks, and even lawn furniture. The big trend in country gardening is to find old, weathered and rusted garden tools and plant those in and amongst the greenery. Decoration will add to the charm and uniqueness of your garden and is an excellent way to give it a personal touch.
The winter months will bring a whole new set of gardening products to store shelves. When the frost hits the prime place to put your plants are in a greenhouse. However, if you do not have a greenhouse for whatever reason, a tarp of some sorts can be used to cover plants up at night. You also might need a light source, like a heat lamp, to both keep plants warm and give them extra light. In addition, you are going to need a snow shovel or maybe even a snow blower, as well as some good quality driveway ice melter.
New and upgraded gardening products are always popping up on the market. It seems like every day there is some gardening product that claims to be bigger and better than the last. While many gardening tools are not a necessity, they sure make the job a lot easier and more enjoyable. Fall time is a great time to pick up deals on lawn and garden tools as the season is nearly over and they are often found on clearance. Check them out today!
Al Haneson offers advice and details about driveway ice melter and deicer and snow and ice melter.
Growing Roses - The Top 5 Mistakes Most People Make
By Dave Leach
Growing roses is both an art and a science: as my gardening aunt used to say, “…it’s six of one and half a dozen of the other!”
As a rose grower myself and author of a gardening website, I get many questions about why a certain rose bush has failed or what a person might be doing wrong. Over time, these many mistakes people make, began to fall into five major categories.
The five major rose growing mistakes that most people could avoid!
1. Planting in the wrong location:
Before you actually dig the hole for your new rose bush, consider the location. It will need six hours of good light including some time in the sun. It will need healthy soil where water drains well and other plants and trees haven’t taken over with their own roots. Not in the shade of a large tree, or over a concrete pipe or in a pot small enough for a geranium! Take time to choose the right location.
2. Choosing the wrong bush in the first place:
My rose bush, Savoy Hotel, grew so large I had to move the neighbors fence! The estimated size was actually on the label when I purchased it, so check how big it will get and plan the space accordingly. Rose bushes are programed to grow to a certain size, not necessarily the height you want, so check the labeling carefully.
While doing this check, look up the hardiness of the particular rose. Not all roses grow at minus 20 degrees centigrade in Calgary! Some are very susceptible to certain diseases such as blackspot, and guess what, some rose bushes only bloom once a year!
Check these things out BEFORE you purchase.
Type of rose, color, scent, size at full growth, hardiness and blooming time: make your choices before you plant, not after.
3. Pruning at the wrong time of year:
I have an acquaintance who continues to question why her roses don’t bloom: even though, every year she cuts out all the new growth as it tries to bud, because this new growth blocks her view out of her living-room window. Pruning at the correct time will promote growth and increase blossom production.
Climbers should be pruned in the fall and trained to travel where you want them to travel. Fall is the time to train your climbers, not the spring, because all you would be doing is removing the new shoots that produce the new stems and the new blossoms.
Hybrid Teas and minis that have a repeat blooming, get cut back in early spring and just given a short haircut in the fall to prevent wind damage during the winter. This cut back in spring promotes new growth and helps you to re-shape the bush.
Bushes that don’t re-bloom such as most Old Growth Roses, get pruned right after the blossoms fade, sometimes after the hips have formed if you like to encourage the hips to grow: perhaps as late as the fall. Pruning at the correct time will produce a healthier bush and a lot more roses!
4. Not knowing exactly what you planted:
You will not have much success with one, two or three above if you haven’t dealt with this one, and you would be surprised how many people tell me “…I don’t remember the name….and I can’t for the life of me find the metal tag….are you sure there was one?”
All roses come with a metal name tag and if they don’t, go buy them somewhere that does!
Keep the tag on the bush and make a note of what it says, then in a year or two when you need an answer to a question about something that has gone wrong you can look it up and people like myself can help you.
Not knowing if the bush is a climber or a Polyantha, Rosa Mundi or Queen Elizabeth, makes a lot of difference. Knowing the name means you can check with your National or local society about the likely growing characteristics of your plant: knowing what it should be doing goes a long way to solving most problems.
5. Not tending to the W.F.D:
Of course, I know of several beautiful roses that have spread themselves along twenty feet or more of stone wall, and produced arm-loads of fabulous roses every year while getting no attention whatsoever: even abuse from passing car exhausts. But if you are going to be successful, don’t fall into the trap of ignoring the W. F and D!
Water, Food and Dead-heading, all play their part in rose growing 101 and you ignore them at your peril. Mistake number five, ignoring the W. F and D chores.
Water deeply at least twice a week. Put down organic rose fertilizer in early spring and early summer. Liquid fertilize every week or two and keep the rose clean of dead blooms otherwise the bush thinks it’s finished for the season and go dormant, produce hips, and get completely confused. Keep the roses coming by removing the old faded ones. Your rose bush wants to make more babies….encourage it to do so!
If you tend to your rose garden and avoid these five major mistakes, the chances are high that your bushes will flourish and your roses will be the envy of your family and friends. Growing roses will have it’s reward if you take notice of the five mistakes.
Growing roses just got easier.
David LeAche is the author of Rose-Works.com where you can find out all about rose growing, photographing roses, crafts with roses and using petals, hips and rose-water. FREE monthly newsletter and FREE e-book for subscribers. Find out how this website came to be so popular by visiting About Us
Your Source For Composting Instructions And Information
The History Of Topiary
By Alex Stacey
The beautifully sculpted foliage that you see in the form of mazes, animals or geometric shapes is known as “topiary”. The origin of the phrase comes from the Latin “topiarius” (ornamental landscaper). The art form was influenced originally from the Romans, Greeks and Persians.
Topiary consists of evergreen shrubs, bushes, and trees that are compact so that they may form shapes such as an elephant, clouds, dogs, dinosaurs or even people. These shapes, since they are not loose and leafy, can remain as sculpted with only the occasional pruning required.
Commonly grown for such an art form are the Box, Myrtle and Bay Laurel trees and bushes. Hedges used as boundaries are the simplest form of topiary. Julius Cesar is said to have introduced this art into the Roman Gardens.
Topiary is produced in the Chinese practice of Penjing and the Japanese practice of Bonsai, giving this landscaping dream an ancient existence. Popularity of topiary blossomed in 17th century England as the aristocrats and royals fashioned in the Franco-Dutch gardening style.
When Alexander Pope wrote a critical piece of topiary, poking fun at all the mazes and shapes being created and displayed, the rich lost interest and removed the topiary from their gardens. Local cottages kept it alive, however, by turning the practice into family heirlooms.
Nearing the 19th century, John Loudon expressed his sadness in the decline of the topiary garden and the practice was resumed. The American Renaissance of these gardens occurred in the same time period.
Since the natural display can break down due to Earth’s elements, there is artificial topiary available. Artificial plants can be UV protected, placed indoors or out, and you never need to prune them.
Those that have the patience for the outdoor life have produced some well-known displays that include: Saman-Lei Sekpil in Manipan India boasting the tallest topiary at 61 feet and the 140 year old garden at the Hunnewell Arboretum. The practice of topiary gardens continues today as even the every-man tries their hand at designing those wonderfully creative shapes in their own gardens.
If you decide to buy an artificial topiary tree, often in the shape of a ball and around 4 or 5ft tall - Make sure it has a good amount of leaves, preferably over 850.
To make the tree look it’s best you should also place it in a large pot perhaps in silver or black and cover the soil surface with some pebbles for maximum effect.
Visit the ArtificialFlorist.co.uk for a range of beautiful artificial Topiary Trees that look fantastic outside your front door. All the artificial trees are available for next day delivery.
Friday, October 31st, 2008 at 2:50 am and is filed under gardening. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
