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after the gardening to soothe muscles and body steep a strong tea of rosemary take half a handful of fresh rosemary put in large pot add hot freshly boiled water and cover with lid leave in a safe place the whole day so start this in …
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And though one has begun to search for signs of spring almost since January, and to receive them, like postcards sent on a long voyage to home, it is with the greening of the grass that spring has,… [[ This is a content summary only. …
Source: Kathy Purdy
Tired of waiting for spring to start gardening? Former Fernwood landscaper and East Stroudsburg resident Michael Beattie solved the problem by moving to Bermuda. Here's a look at his garden.
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Former Fernwood landscaper takes gardening trade to BermudaPocono Record, PA - 1 hour agoFormer Fernwood landscaper and East Stroudsburg resident Michael Beattie solved the problem by moving to Bermuda. Here's a look at his garden. …
Source: "gardening" - Google News
Mud Away - Instantly Clean Off the Grimiest Shoes Mud Away - Instantly Clean Off the Grimiest Shoes - Spring is coming upon us very fast… and with spring comes the melting of winter and the joys of gardening…in the mud! …
Source: Gardening Diva
Derived from the Greek "water working", hydroponics simply means growing plants in either a bath or flow of highly oxygenated, nutrient rich water. The strange part is hydroponics does not need soil to grow. During hydroponics water is …
Hello everyone
Well, if you are a weekend gardener, I would imagine you're finding it pretty tough going at the moment. Those two precious days don't leave you much of a window should the weather turn nasty and at this time of year, it can be very unpredictable in deed. I mean one day will be superb weather, glorious sunshine that make it feel like the end of April already when the next day it can feel like mid January again. The clouds, rain and wind return with a vengence. So one day the sun is beating down, the next there's driving rain and you can hardly stand upright because of the Force 10 gale! The weather, is in effect , halfing your time in the garden at best!
Of course, it is fashionable at the moment to blame the "old" chestnut of global warming for these alternating conditions. Only problem with that though is this type of weather really isn't new. Take 50 years ago in London as an example. In those days absolutely nobody was bothering with "carbon footprints". At the time, down on the Thames river, there was increasing concern about the then Festival of Britain. There is a classic account of the Festival by Russell Page in his "Education of a Gardener". In the chapter on gardening "for the public eye" there is a very interesting account of the cruelty of the then English weather. Page had won a commission to design a series of flower garden for the Festival site which was in Battersea Park. In both 1950 and 51 severe gales and high tides had caused the Thames to burst over the embankment and turn the site of the Festival into a mud bath. Page recalls, "Not infrequently we had many as 40 lorries stuck axle deep in the park." He would also recount how he would return to his small office after spending a day gardening in "calf-deep" mud!
With two months to go to the Festival, the main central lawn area was still an inland sea and had to be covered with truckloads of finely ground cinders, two foot deep, unto which the new turf was directly unrolled. He then found that the grass grew together within two weeks and rooted quickly through the cinders. This is an often forgotten piece of advice for anyone planning to to lay or repair a lawn with ready made turf. Unfortunately for Page nothing was going to save his white tulips. He inspected the thousands of selected tulips at the very end of February. They were to be the centre-piece of a white garden that was to be edge with lavender. However, when he dug up the bulbs, he found that they had all rotted due to the wet winter.
So, basically, we have had wet early months before, it's not something new. Statistics really only show averages and smooth out past fluctuations which, it has to be said, are no different to what we experience now. Assuming all this continues I would focus on plants that actually enjoy the wet conditions. Many of the best spring things are plants and bulbs which like to wear a "wetsuit".
These can come in all shapes and sizes, from trees down to small plants on the carpet beneath. Some of the best carpeters such as celandines are very happy on damp ground but they seed very freely and can become invasive. Most carpeters belong on sloping banks or under the light shade of trees. S long as they stay away from the flower beds they can be enchanting and love the weather we all hate.
So do all the primroses. The favourite white flowered Spring Snowflake, a damp loving bulb, is recommended for any ground on which the rainwater is slow to drain through. Unlike the tulips, as Page discovered, the bulbs never rot and they soon send up stems with hanging flowers like small lampshades. They are just as pretty as their well known cousins, the snowdrops.
Perhaps the winners for the wetsuit prize are the ornamental willows. The year is made for them as their stems and young catkins show up magnificently in the sunny intervals whilst their roots revel in the wet weather. They are a perfect family for an informal garden because their bushes will spread freely and they will compete with any weeds as long as they do not dry out. Mixed plantations of them have the sort of wild look which appeals to gardeners who want the minimum of bother in return for weeks of good colour.
One of te best is quite easy to control, a taller willow called Salix daphnoides Aglaia. With good reason, the last part of its name means a gleam or a bright light. The bulbs and young catkins are a glistening silver, which is scattered all over a tangled tall outline of stems. The stems themselves are a pretty shade of purple and even in the summer the leaves are rather charming.
The beauty about these wet loving willows is that they root with absurd ease from long twigs cut off a parent and stuck into wet ground any time now.
Since 1951 and the Festival of Britain, the rhetoric of gardening has changed. Now we hear so much about supposedly "natural" gardening. If there were to be another Festival of Britain, I am sure that "native wild flowers" would dominate. If Russell Page's tulips had rotted away this year, we would have been told to obey the biomass and plant willows instead. In fact he replaced them with thousands of white double stocks. They must have looked marvellous and I do not begrudge them a penny of their fossil-fuelled greenhouse heating.
The Gardener
www.ft.com/lanefox
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Watering Your Plants
QUOTE: Don't count the days, make the days count
- Anonymous
Plants are approximately 90% water and therefore it is essential that they get enough water to survive. Gardening is all about balance and that applies to the amount of water your plants need to stay healthy.
Over watering can be as harmful as not giving them enough water. The soil that the plants are growing in is a big factor in the amount of water that you should be giving them. If the soil is heavy and doesn't drain well you will need to give them less water or they could get water logged and the roots can rot. If the soil is a lot freer draining then you might need to water a little more often.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Too much water can reduce the plants ability to draw oxygen and nutrients from the soil and this is as essential to their growth as the water.
Gentle watering is better than heavy watering with a hose as the higher pressure of the hose can cause the soil to turn to mud. Once the soil dries out again it will become solidified. This compacting of the soil after heavy watering makes it more difficult for the plants to grow.
Soakers are a good method of watering provided the flow of water is not too great.
Soakers are also excellent when using a timed irrigation system so that the plants get sufficient water when you are away and particularly in the hotter months of the year when the soil tends to dry out more often.
If you are using timed irrigation you will need to adjust the timing and the flow of water according to the seasons and always make changes when there have been unseasonal changes to the weather that will require extra care for the plants.
Once again, plants need the human touch to maintain that balance.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Paving and Walkways
QUOTE: Every garden-maker should be an artist along his own lines. That is the only possible way to create a garden, irespective of size or wealth
- Vita Sackville-West
Laying good paving and walkways around your garden can add considerably to the number of months during the year when you will be able to enjoy your garden and whether or not you will be able to work in it.
During the wet season, unless you have suitable areas to walk without the ground turning to mush and mud, you won't be able to access your garden to do the necessary maintenance.
Paving can also add to the style of your garden by adding a border that will set off the plants.
It also allows you to add drainage and redirect water that could end up flowing into the garden and causing damage to the plants by letting them get waterlogged.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Paving is also a good alternative for people who don't like mowing lawn as it is virtually maintenance free if it has been prepared and laid correctly.
Another advantage of paving is the fact that you can transport all your garden needs around the garden more easily when you have a firm surface to run wheel barrows and trolleys on.
You can also place garden furniture on paving if you allow for a little more area and this will enhance your outdoor living space, allowing for excellent and dry entertaining areas throughout the year.
You can get paving quite cheap particularly if you use second hand materials such as bricks.
While this might not sound very appealing, secondhand bricks already have that chipped and weathered look that can look really good when laid as a path and can often blend in with the garden better than new pavers.
One thing that you will need to consider when laying pavers, and particularly when using seconds, is to ensure that the walking surface doesn't have any areas where someone might trip and fall when they are walking.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/gardencenter.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
Hi everyone
Welcome to this edition of your Gardening Weekly, today's edition is entitled:
Lawn Care and Preparation
QUOTE: All through the long winter, I dream of my garden.
On the first day of spring, I dig my fingers deep into the soft earth.
I can feel its energy, and my spirits soar
- Helen Hayes
There is nothing quite like a good condition, well maintained lawn to set off your garden. It's the finishing touch, just like a frame around a painting.
Preparation when the lawn is first laid can make maintenance a whole lot easier and the finished result will look better too.
Simple things like making sure the ground is even will make mowing and walking on it easier. Irrigation and drainage are also of vital importance and will extend the time during the year when you will be able to enjoy your lawn.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/lawncare.html
In the winter a poorly drained lawn can get muddy and pond with water which will mean you won't be able to walk on it, or worse still, it could stop you from gaining easy access to parts of your garden.
The lie of the land will also affect the run-off from the lawn that could cause damage to the plants in your garden.
Good drainage can make all the difference to both your lawn and the surrounding garden and as these drainage systems are relatively cheap it is a wise investment to take the time to install them.
With the various different systems that are available, there will be something to suit almost any lawn whether it is prior to getting laid or improving a lawn that is already established.
In particularly hot and dry climates the lawn will need to be irrigated to remain looking good when there is a shortage of rainfall.
Sprinkler systems are available for a few dollars, up to expensive, hidden, automated systems that are virtually set and forget.
Regular sprinkling over the summer months can make the difference been a lush green lawn and brown patches that will greet a shortage of water.
And who wants prickles on their lawn?
In summer there is nothing better than to wander around your lawn in bare feet and feel the soft grass beneath you.
On the other hand, there is nothing worse than walking off the grass to find that you have a few dozen prickles in your feet.
Now that is one area that every lawn owner should concentrate on.
Website Of Interest. Check out the following:
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com/lawncare.html
Thanks,
Annie
http://blog.mygardeninghome.com
