Artful Orchid Cuttings Leads to More Blooms

You might find that you have an orchid that seems to thrive, year after year, yet never produces more than a single flowering pseudobulb. If you would like to increase the number of blooming growths, you might be able to do so by using a method of cutting in order to produce back shoots. With luck and a suitable type of plant (those from the Cattleyas family are best), you will eventually have a truly spectacular orchid.

Proceed this way: Take an orchid plant having at least four or five back pseudobulbs. Cut the rhizome in two between the bulbs, being careful not to otherwise disturb it. That's basically it, but here are some things to keep in mind:

• The best time to cut most orchids is during their resting phase, usually fall or winter. When they again enter their growing phase you may then observe them producing two growths from one pseudobulb where you have cut it.
• Cutting should not be attempted on an orchid that is not in good health. Cutting as described above will not harm a healthy plant, but could be stressful to a weak or sickly one.
• By cutting the same plant for back shoots year after year, you will end up with an orchid that is both much larger and much more stunning than it would have been otherwise. This is the way some of the astonishing specimens are produced that you see in orchid shows.

There is more that might be conveyed as to the science of cutting to bring forth more blooms, as well as the method of taking cuttings for the purpose of starting more plants. To learn more about these and other secrets of orchid cultivation, a good guide such as that authored by Nigel Howard is highly recommended.

The most complete guide to expert orchid cultivation, in my opinion, is Mr. Howard's Orchid Care Expert, which can be downloaded from the Internet. Howard's wonderful guide is a thorough education all by itself. And, it is suitable for beginners as well as more experienced orchid growers. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which features an ever-growing library of information on all aspects of orchid cultivation.

Does A Blooming Orchid Need Special Handling?

So, you've tenderly cared for an orchid for months and now it is finally rewarding you with a gorgeous bloom.  Should you treat the plant any differently now? The answer? Perhaps.

Although the variety of your orchid will be the final determinant, as a rule it would be prudent for you to remove the plant to a cooler and drier place that that in which it was grown. This will assist the flowers to last longer than in a moist, warm greenhouse or other typical growing room.

Most orchids will not suffer by being place in a drier and cooler location when they are in bloom. For most of them, it will be positively beneficial. Nevertheless, you should ensure that the temperature of your orchid's temporary new home should never get below 50 degrees F. at night.

Here's an experiment you can carry out if you happen to have two orchids of the same variety that come into bloom at around the same time. Leave one in the warm room or greenhouse, and place the other in a dry, cool location as advised above. You will almost certainly notice that the one in your "cool room" will have fresh flowers for a significantly longer time than the one that was left behind.

The flowers of all orchids, including those kept in a cooler space, will of course eventually fade. When this occurs you can re-locate the plant back into the warmer growing room. Just be sure to shade it from the sun until it re-adjusts to warmer surroundings. Otherwise it could suffer scorching.

One of the keys to success in growing orchids is to understand their life cycles and the different stages they go through. Each of those stages demands a different type of care, and the blossoming phase has "rules" all its own.

The most thorough guide to today's orchid cultivation, many growers agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the web. Howard's wonderful guide is a comprehensive education all by itself. And, it is suitable for neophytes as well as more experienced orchid growers. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which features an ever-growing database of information on all facets of orchid cultivation.

Don't Go In the Greenhouse By Yourself!

One of the enjoyable side hobbies to orchid devotion is that of searching out references to these mystery-shrouded flowers in works of literature and popular entertainment.

One of the earliest works in which an orchid stars in a leading part is an odd little story by the early science fiction master, H.G. Wells.  In point of fact, the story is not so much a piece of science fiction as it is of horror, and therefore a bit of a departure for Wells. It has been republished many times and now you can easily find it on the Web. Occasionally it goes by the title, "The Flowering of the Strange Orchid," and other times simply as "The Strange Orchid."."

Wells lived and wrote during the time of the first great orchid mania, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. This was also a time when there were still some distant and relatively unexplored places in the world, which fired contemporary imaginations with imaginings of undiscovered monsters that might yet be lurking in some jungle or mountain fastness.

In his story, Wells built on the well-known mechanism of flowers discharging their scent into the air to attract insects, which in turn carry pollen from one plant to another, aiding the plants' reproduction. What if--Wells wondered--there were a flower that took this a step further by evolving the ability to use its scent to overpower and feed on large animals?

The story centers on an Englishman with a passion for orchids who has acquired a rare specimen. After months of tending to it he is excited to see that it is about to blossom. He goes alone one afternoon to enjoy the first sight and smell of the unknown flower. Three hours later his housekeeper finds him lying unconscious before the orchid, which is  giving out an intoxicating odor and is looking very vigorous and wicked. An ominous red tint suffuses its
leaves and it has already pushed some of its finger-like shoots round the orchid lover's neck and beneath his shirt front.

With an inarticulate cry she ran towards him, and tried to pull him away from the leech-like suckers. She snapped two of these tentacles, and their sap dripped red.

Then the overpowering scent of the blossom began to make her head reel. How they clung to him! She tore at the tough ropes, and he and the white inflorescence swam about her. She felt she was fainting, knew she must not. She left him and hastily opened the nearest door, and, after she had panted for a moment in the fresh air, she had a brilliant inspiration. She caught up a flower-pot and smashed in the windows at the end of the greenhouse. Then she re-entered.

She tugged now with renewed strength at Wedderburn's motionless body, and brought the strange orchid crashing to the floor. It still clung with the grimmest tenacity to its victim. In a frenzy, she lugged it and him into the open air.

Then she thought of tearing through the sucker rootlets one by one, and in another minute she had released him and was dragging him away from the horror.

He was white and bleeding from a dozen circular patches.

Thanks to the fast thinking of the housekeeper in this story, the orchid's victim survives--this time.

Fortunately, orchids that feast on blood do not actually exist.  It's possible, though, to see this story as metaphor for the grip that orchids can have on people who fall under their spell. People who succumb to orchid fever--and that includes everyone who decides to try their hand at growing them--tend to contract the illness for life. You can't say you weren't warned!

If these fascinating plants have put their bite on you, you will want to learn as much as you can about how to grow orchids successfully.  The most up-to-date guide to modern orchid growing, many agree, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which may be downloaded from the Internet. Howard's wonderful guide will furnish a full immersion in the subject. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which contains a growing database of articles on all aspects of orchid cultivation.

Hobbyist Enjoy Healthy Foods With Their Home Garden

There is an increasing trend towards growing a home garden so that fresh produce is readily available to enjoy for meals, or for freezing and canning. One primary reason for this is that people are learning more about the pesticides that are routinely sprayed on the fruits and vegetables that are available in the supermarkets these days. The produce grown in one's own back yard provides better nutrition.

Not only that, but for many people starting and cultivating a home garden for the purpose of providing wonderful foods for the table is an enjoyable endeavor. Gardening has long been a popular hobby for many people all around the world, but when you add the extra incentive of being able to provide your family with nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables that have not been contaminated with chemicals and pesticides, it is easy to see why the popularity of the garden has grown.

In addition to these kinds of concerns about the safety and the nutritional value of grocery store produce, people are also finding that it is wonderful to be able to go to their home garden and pick their foods fresh from the vine at just the perfect moment of development. If you compare that to store-bought tomatoes which are harvested way before they have a chance to ripen naturally and then are packed, shipped and stored before finally reaching the store shelf, then it is easy to understand the advantages of garden-fresh food.

In that scenario, which is common of the vast majority of produce sold in the grocery stores today, the tomato has been detached from its life-giving parent plant for many days and sometimes weeks. But with a vegetable garden just outside your kitchen door, you can pick your tomatoes when they are at their peak of ripeness and be able to have the freshest tomatoes to add to your salad or for your famous tomato sauce.

Most of the common and popular vegetables that are available in the produce sections of grocery stores can be grown in home gardens. Some of the most popular varieties are carrots, green beans, potatoes, peas, beets, broccoli, cabbage, and many varieties of squash, just to name a few. And don't forget about all of the wonderful berries that can be home grown as well. Technically a fruit, tomatoes are one of the most popular foods that people enjoy including in their home gardens. They are easy to grow and simply delicious plucked off the vine.

Produce from a vegetable garden can be used immediately or it can be frozen or canned for later use, and many people include herbs in their gardens too. In fact, herbs can be even more convenient as they can even be grown indoors, making your gardening efforts even more simple and easy. And, just as those fresh vegetables taste better and are better for you, you will also find that fresh herbs from the garden are superior in taste and flavor as compared to the dried and packaged varieties.

Even with all the benefits to consider of having a home garden to supply fresh produce and savory herbs for your table, some people do it just because they enjoy the hobby of gardening so much. For many people, the satisfaction they get from planting and nurturing the garden is all the reward they need. And, when combined with the ability to share a meal with friends that includes fresh and tasty foods, for many people that is the perfect way to get the most from their love of planting and sowing.

No building is complete without some grass, a few plants and some shrubbery to help enhance the quality of the building. The added value of curb appeal can make the difference when selling a house or increasing the value of a home. Any little bit helps and you do not always need a professional to do the landscaping for you. It never hurts to have some professional advice or a little bit of knowledge before you start ripping up your front yard, though. Some trees, some pleasant green grass, and you will get it down pat before you know it Who knows? Maybe you will consider it as a line of work that you might be curious in pursuing. Below there are some basic frequently asked questions of landscaping so that you can get some idea of how landscaping is completed and how it might be simpler than you may think.

At what point should I hire a landscaper?

You should hire a landscaper if you don't have a "green thumb" and you are not going to have the time to devote to getting rid of the prior landscape and planting the new. There are specific steps that must be put into place to prevent the erosion of soil so it will require at a minimum a weekend of hard work. Landscaper's are not cheap but you can find one at a sensible cost depending on how extensive the area is and how much labor you intend to do yourself. If you are going to maintain the area, you will spend less money as well.

Perennials and annuals - What makes them different?

Both are, certainly, plants although the difference is in how long they last and how often you have to plant them again. Annuals need to be replanted eash year. Examples of annuals are any kind of vegetable, sunflowers as well as flowers for instance violets. Perennials are plants that will regenerate themselves. Some examples would be trees, bulb plants such as lilies, tulips and include roses as well as other sturdy plants that go inactive during the winter months. Most ornamental grasses are thought to be perennials.

Whats the best way to decide on the kind of plant to use?

The type of plant you select will be dependent on your climate and how much you want to water. It will also be dependent on how much sun that your gets during the day. Some plants thrive in the shade when others will wilt. For those individuals who live in drought prone areas, they should consider planting hardy plants that require small amounts of water and actually help to conserve the soil from erosion. Many people choose to have rock gardens and cactus if they live in desert environments.

At what time is the ideal season for planting?

The ideal planting season depends on what type of plant you wish to grow. Bulbs are best planted in the fall so that they have the necessary time to root within the soil. Other plants are more suitable to planting during the spring months. Some plants will not produce flowers or fruits until one or two seasons later so you have to get ready for this. Trees will have to go through several years prior to them becoming large enough to give enough shade or to produce fruit.

Will do this type of landscaping add to the value of my home as well as it's curb appeal?

A well designed and a great looking lawn can provide excellent curb appeal as well as higher value to your home. It will make the features of your home stand out and if you are looking to sell your home, it is one of the first details that potential buyers will notice. There is nothing quite like a well manicured lawn and carefully trimmed hedges that add immense immediate value to a property.

For added useful knowledge click here Landscape Drainage as well as Landscape Drawings also click here Landscape Lighting Kits

D.I.Y. Culinary Herb Garden

In creating sumptuous dishes, nothing is better like adding fresh herbs instead of dried herbs. Normally you can get fresh herbs at your nearest grocery store but these have a very short shelf life and they are usually expensive. One alternative is to create your own culinary herb garden. Most herbs are easy to grow and maintain and can provide you throughout the course of the year.

With small pots and a few packages of seeds, you can begin growing your own culinary herb garden right in your own kitchen. If you would prefer to keep your plants outside you will have no problem creating a culinary herb garden there either.

Choose Your Herbs

It is fun to create a culinary herbal garden that features a wide variety of herb plants. One popular herb plant that should certainly be in a culinary garden is sweet basil. Basil has a very wonderful smell when it’s growing and it brings so much flavor and aroma to meals when added fresh. Dried basil is generally unable to capture the true taste of basil. If you prefer to make your own pesto, now you can have your own fresh basil to use in it.

Another herb that should take part in your herb garden is rosemary. This herb plant serves two purposes. Today, it is predominantly used for culinary purposes. Foods in the Mediterranean region are commonly seasoned with rosemary. As an added bonus, rosemary is a source of iron and calcium, complementing its medicinal purpose as well.

If you enjoy Greek, French, or even Spanish cooking, you might want to make sure you have some Thyme planted in your culinary herb garden. This herb is used to add flavor to a variety of meats and even adds a little kick to the bland flavor of eggs. Thyme is also proven to have antiseptic qualities that have been used for centuries.

Sage is an herb that makes another great addition to your culinary herb garden and has the added benefit of producing beautiful flowers. Sage is set to have numerous medicinal benefits as well.

In the end, whatever you decide to plant, do not forget to have fun tweaking your garden. Create a unique herb garden with the different varieties of plants that you have selected. Organize them according to their usage and purpose. Just make sure your herb plants are nurtured with all the nutrients and ample space they need to grow. Otherwise your hard work will be wasted and you will be forced to start all over again or the worst, settle for dried and tasteless herbs.

 

Spark your Imagination in Your Local Garden Center

Whether you are a greenhorn with gardening or a certified green-thumb, there is nothing better than knowing just where to head for all of your gardening needs. Whatever the size and kind of your garden is, it is inevitable that you will still need to frequent your local gardening center for tools and products that you cannot do proper gardening without. This is why it is so important to stop by your local garden center so you can see what is available out there for you to use to make your gardening job a lot easier.

If you take time to look around, you will soon see that there are probably a couple of garden centers near you. These types of stores seem to pop up like mushrooms all over the place and are becoming a very popular place to shop at. The garden center is the most likely place where you will find just about everything on your garden shopping list. Although the prices can sometimes be steep, the convenience of one-stop shopping can certainly make it all worthwhile in the end.

Budget-conscious Shopping

If you need or just want to be a bit budget-conscious, it is fairly alright to avoid several high-end garden center stores. Not just because their retail prices is something that you can beat elsewhere, but for those who love the outdoors, their wide selection of items can make overspending surely tempting. These are just some of the many reasons why people would go to the extremes just to avoid these high-end garden centers. Although some people believe those are the only places to shop, there are still other options out there.

Flea markets and yard sales proliferate throughout the summer and these are the perfect places to find some of the tools that you are searching for. Just about everything that you would need from the garden center can also be found at a yard sale or two throughout the summer. Even if the item is slightly used, as long as it is still in decent shape, there is nothing wrong with picking it up and saving yourself a good amount of money. In the end, it will all depend on your skills and intuitions to find the best garden center that could expand your collection of gardening tools while keeping your pockets happy.

 

 

Organic Vegetable Gardening - Good Forr Your Health And The Environment

Organically grown fruit and vegetables

Organic vegetable gardening has now become a fast growing market and industry all over the world. People are now becoming more and more aware of the dangers of traditional farming and gardening as well as the benefits of organic vegetable gardening. Primarily, organic vegetable gardening is a method of food production that has little or no chemical taint involved. This means that farmers and gardeners that promote organic gardening use alternative organic gardening supplies such as fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides.

The term organic implies that the products of organic gardening are free from chemicals and others substances that may have a negative effect on humans and the environment. Organic vegetable gardening means that the farmers/workers who plant the vegetables and the consumers who buy them are both safe.

Ways to Grow Vegetables Organically

Organic vegetable gardening can be done in many ways. For those space-conscious individuals, flower pots and flower boxes can be used in making their own organic vegetable gardening. Small-scale organic vegetable gardening is sometimes better because you can really pay attention and skills on just a few plants. This is beneficial for those who work full time and may have just a little time to attend to their plants. Planting vegetable in pots and flower boxes may seem diminutive but the vegetables can actually flourish in them with a little tender loving care and attention. Organic fertilizer may be necessary for vegetables grown in pots and flower boxes because of the limited soil and nutrients they have access to. Organic vegetable gardening is great especially for vegetable that thrive in small pots

People with limited yard space can also take advantage of making hanging gardens which do not need soil. This method of organic vegetable gardening would require more care than any other methods mentioned because you will need to regularly supply nutrients for the plant.

For those individuals with enough space for plots in their garden, this may be a great opportunity to create your very own organic garden. With just the right space in your yard, you can enjoy the bounty of fresh organic vegetables everyday. Organic vegetable gardening can be very enjoyable and beneficial if done properly and with the absence of chemicals and other harmful substances.

The bottomline is whichever organic gardening methods you use; there is still a lot to be gained from going organic. The benefits you reap not only affect you and your family but the environment as well.

Where To Find The Best Wooden Garden Furniture.

Nowadays, the retail market carries a wide selection of wooden garden furniture, but this makes it difficult to choose the best type of furniture for your needs. There are several different aspects that you should consider when choosing wooden garden furniture because there are a number of fundamental distinction between furniture styles. By taking the time to carefully consider your decision, you should be able to find the right wooden garden furniture for your needs.

Factors to Consider

The first thing to be considered when choosing wooden garden furniture for your garden is the type of furniture that best suits your needs. Most people choose furniture that is basic and compact because it is smaller in size and does not occupy as much space as larger furniture models would do. This smaller furniture can be used in a wide variety of areas, from porches to near birdbaths, while larger furniture items are generally regulated to the center or the fringes of the garden area.

The amount of maintenance required is another factor that should not be overlooked when choosing wooden garden furniture. Some types of wooden garden furniture are considered high-maintenance which makes them much more difficult to preserve than some other types. A few types of wooden garden furniture need to be restained and resealed every few years to keep the furniture looking new while some others were never intended to be outdoor garden furniture and must be placed on a porch or some other shaded area to prevent fading and damage.

There are also some types of wooden garden furniture that can be modified into different styles by adding special cushions or coverings made for the specific furniture. These coverings can be purchased from the manufacturer of the furniture or from the retail store where the furniture was purchased from, although there are some styles that are considered to be universal and many different types of stores have coverings that will fit the furniture. These covers and cushions will allow you to change the entire look of the furniture in a matter of minutes and will protect the furniture from both dirt and the elements.

Lastly, wooden garden furniture has become a prevalent choice of furniture because it is preferred by the public and so easy to find. Just about every retailer, online or physical, that sells garden furniture will have a wide selection of wooden garden furniture to choose from. With the multitude of wooden garden furniture available from all these retailers, consumers wyll surely be able to find a furniture style that suits their preferences.

Budget-wise Shopping for Garden Tools

If you are one of those gardening enthusiasts who have a very limited budget, do not despair. You can still find reliable garden tools and garden tool organizer at very affordable prices. It is just a matter of ;ooking for the best bargain at the right place. Here are a few tips to help you shop for affordable but durable garden tools.

Shop at Budget Stores

Bargain shops are one of the best places to find affordable garden tools. There are certain times were we simply cannot afford to buy all those branded products. Times have change and you too must learn to flow with the times. If you have not tried shopping at these budget shops before, now is the best time to check them out. Some people think that going to a budget shop is a no-no because of poor-quality items, but don’t let this get in the way of your bargain-hunting. Just make sure that you inspect the garden tools thoroughly before purchasing them. Some budget shops are notorious for selling poor-quality products so make sure that the ones you pick are worth your money. After all, you would not really want to end up with a broken garden tool the day after you bought it.

Watch Out for Clearance Sales

If you are looking for good quality garden tools for half their original prices, be on the lookout for clearance sales. Many garden supplies distributors and outlets put up some of their products on sale periodically. During clearance sale, these items are usually sold at about half their original price. The best way to look for garden supply shops having their clearance sales is to take a look at the classified ads in your local newspapers and magazines.

Visit the Flea Market

The flea market is a remarkable place. If you are in the pursuit of the best bargain, the flea market is the best place to be. Though most of the things sold at the flea market are second hand, the good thing is that these things are still very much useful. Take some time to look around the flea market. Who knows, you might be surprised to find a set of garden tools that are still as good as new and are sold at very affordable prices.

Visit Online Auction Sites

For those people who don’t have enough time or are simply busy to go out and search for best buys, the internet is the best alternative. Try to visit some of the online bidding sites and find out if they have some cheap garden stuff up for bids.

A Green Thumb

Everybody has something he or she enjoys doing, maybe it is for relaxation or maybe a hobby. Sometimes that hobby can be hard work and sometimes it can help one unwind. I have found something that can be hard work at times but most often, it helps me unwind and relax. Want to know what my secret is? Well, it is gardening.

I first got started gardening while working with my mom in her garden. She helped me understand the basics of gardening like, the difference between annuals and perennials and the pros and cons of different plant types. At first, I would complain about helping, but after the project was completed, I felt a sense of pride in our accomplishment. She still tells me how much she wants me to come home and help her because, my brother and sister, who still live at home, do not help. My last trip home I spent two days putting in a pond and landscaping it.

Gardening can be hard work both physically and mentally. Someone may laugh at the thought of that, but digging up the ground and leveling it out to make a flowerbed can wear someone out. Maybe even harder than that is making sure you pick the right plants. The most important thing is, for it to be pleasing to the eye, but then I have to take into consideration the amount of sunlight the area receives, the make-up of the soil because all plants like different soil types. For instance, some plants like acidic soil while others will die if planted in it and other plants have to have the proper drainage or the root system will rot. Another important consideration, and most often overlooked is, how big the plant will be when it matures. Considering all this can be overwhelming, but if done right, the perfect garden is at your fingertips.

After the hard work is done, then it is time relax and enjoy all the time and energy spent creating my masterpiece. I like to come home and unwind by getting a cold glass of ice tea or maybe a beer, go outside and water my garden. I find it relaxing because I sit in an office all day in front of a computer, so I like going outside and getting some fresh air. After I have given all my plants a drink of water, I sit in my lawn chair and watch the kids play, spot some weeds that need to be pulled, and plan out my next landscaping project.

When I first moved to my house, there was not much landscaping in either the front yard or the back. Now all that has changed because of the hobby I enjoy so much. Yes, it was a lot of hard work at first having to dig up the ground, picking out the right plants and putting them in the ground but now I get to relax while either watering them or just sitting in a lawn chair enjoying my creation.

Do We Really Need More Orchid Types?

If you are just starting to investigate and learn about orchids then you will probably have read that there are believed to be over twenty thousand different orchid types or species which grow naturally.  This seems like a lot of orchid types, but once you have added in the hybrid orchids you are looking at an extra hundred thousand orchids.  People often become obsessive about orchids and as a result there are some orchid types which have been declared protected species and they are not allowed to be picked or cut.Photos of protected orchids are permitted, but that is a close as you can get.

The orchid family is continually growing and it is believed at the moment that the number of different orchid types increases by as much as eight hundred each year.

Hybrids do not have to be created in a laboratory or nursery, they are occurring all the time naturally.  Many people think that nature will always produce the most beautiful of the orchids and that mans attempts will always be second rate.Much cross pollination takes place with when wasps, bees or moths fly between plants and carry pollen from one to another and hence create a new species.  Some of these cross breeds do not survive; this is natures management of the environment.

Man has become so obsessed with creating the most beautiful and perfect orchid that there is a register which details all the different orchid types, and the breeding methods used for each one.  This registry is held and maintained at the Royal Horticultural Society.  Creating orchid hybrids has been happening for a long time, infact, since 1854.

The addiction of the orchid may seem strange to those who are new to orchids, however, with a bit of research into the history it becomes more understandable.  The orchid is an undeniably beautiful plant, a plant which is so delicate and yet can some be found in some harsh and inhospitable environments.To add to this daintiness there are the external roots which appear to be so vulnerable.   All this creates a plant which calls out to be protected and nurtured.

Orchids and Cockroaches

Cockroaches are some of the worst pests with which you will have to deal in growing orchids. They can do heartbreaking damage in a scant few nights if not intercepted and destroyed.

What is the problem with roaches?  The answer is that one of their favorite meals is a potted plant's tender young roots and flower stems. It is not unheard of for the roots of a plant to be entirely chewed off in a single night by roaches.

How to effectively get control of a roach problem is an enormous topic. People have been fighting with them in their homes and kitchens for centuries, and we will probably be fighting them for centuries to come. They have evolved to be incredibly successful in living amongst us and in resisting extermination.

A tremendous variety of poisons have been devised in an attempt to control roaches. If you go the poison route, you must of course only use those that will not harm your plants. Visit the garden supply aisle of your local hardware store.

For a less risky approach, many people have had great success with a combination of boric acid, a little sugar, and flour, mixed with water to make a paste. Its effectiveness depends on making sure you get it into every hole, nook, cranny and crevice in your growing room. To be completely safe, though, don't allow any of the stuff on your plants themselves.

You could also put out a few those "roach hotels."  These will trap many roaches and prevent a few at least from getting to your orchids in the first place.

To be honest, the only way to control roaches is keep a constant lookout for them. You should especially search for them on and around your plants in the evening, using a flashlight. They leave their hiding places in the evening to seek food and it is then that they are most easily caught and killed. Don't forget to move your pots and baskets around to uncover ones that may have run into hiding from you.

A good guide to orchid growing will have many other tips and suggestions for making sure that pests such as roaches don't put an end to your plants. The most up-to-date guide to expert orchid cultivation, I have found, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which is available to be downloaded from the web. Mr. Howard's guide is a complete course, helpful for beginners as well as the more experienced cultivators alike. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing library of information on all topics of orchid cultivation.

Shopping for Outdoor Garden Décors

For the gardening enthusiasts, their gardens are more than just a hobby. They constantly try to make their gardens better by planting, weeding, and acquiring new outdoor garden décor items to make the garden more attractive. There are thousands of gardening buffs in the country on the look out for the best places to find outdoor garden décors, and fortunately manufacturers have responded by making these items more accessible than ever. There are a number of different places to go to obtain quality outdoor décor items and chances are, there is certainly one near your place.

Nursery Stores

Just about all of the stores described as nurseries have an extensive selection of outdoor garden décor items to be found within their store. Nursery stores try to present a one stop shopping center for all your gardening needs and this includes having some décor items on hand that can be used to enhance the look of your outdoor garden. There is a wide range of products available in nursery stores, from the larger types of outdoor garden décor items such as fountains and pedestals, along with many smaller items designed to complement the flourishing plants in the garden area.

Nursery stores usually have competent employees that are more than willing to give advises on outdoor garden décor items that could be helpful in improving the looks of certain types of plants in the garden. For example, some decorative trellises are great for plants like climbing roses and ivy, allowing the plants to accomplish their instinctive climb towards sunlight while providing a picturesque structure. Having a salesperson that is knowledgeable about plants is definitely a great help in choosing outdoor garden décor items since he/she will steer you away from items that may harm specific types of plants that are in your garden and will guide you towards outdoor garden décor items that could improve the overall health of your garden.

Mass Merchandisers

Many stores that are known to be mass merchandisers would certainly have a home and garden section where outdoor garden décor items can be found. These stores will generally have a limited supply of décor items because of the wide variety of items, and the items that they do stock will be the ones that are most popular to the majority of consumers, meaning that the décor items that they carry will not be exclusive or unique garden decor. Many people like to purchase items for their gardens from these stores because they provide the customer with the option of doing the rest of their shopping in the one store.

 

Are You Giving Your Orchids Rest?

Orchids require "rest" time every year. The precise time for this depends on the species, but for most orchids it should start some time in the fall and continue through most of the winter. You need to care for your plants differently at this time than you would during their energetic growth periods (spring and summer usually). This is an often-overlooked part of growing orchids successfully.

A good rule of thumb is to provide your orchids rest from November through the middle of February. You do this in two ways, basically: Lower the temperature and cut back on water.

For orchids that originate in hot or very warm regions, you should keep the temperature at about 60 0r 65. For species originating in colder locales, you can lower the temperature to around 45 degrees.

During this time, provide your plants only enough water to keep them from shriveling. Most of the moisture should be supplied by misting or by taking steps to keep the air humid. From time to time, though, you should poke down into the soil and examine the stem, roots and rooting medium of your plants. If these are beginning to dry out you can water them directly.

Some species will continue to grow during the winter months. These will need somewhat more water than those that truly go dormant. If you see new shoots coming up, though, try to avoid wetting them or they else they might rot.

Some orchids are deciduous. This means they will drop their leaves after they have finished their growing for the year. You must give these as much sun and light during their resting time as you can. This will let their pseudobulbs ripen, in turn letting them grow stronger and flower more freely.

Proper orchid care is not that hard or mysterious. Avoiding all problems, though, requires a good bit more information than can be covered in a short space. The most up-to-date guide to expert orchid growing, beyond question, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the Internet. Mr. Howard's guide is a complete course, useful for novices as well as the more experienced cultivators alike. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of articles on all aspects of orchid cultivation.

Destroy Pests on Your Orchid Plants with A Good Cleaning

The orchid plant's natural enemies include insects and other small creatures. The possible threats are many, but the main ones are red spiders, thrips, cockroaches and ants.

To grow orchids successfully, you must take measures to defeat these pests before they can damage your plants. There are specific ways to deal with each kind of pest. Attention to cleanliness will do the most toward defending your plants from pests.

All efforts of agriculture controls notwithstanding, some imported plants will bring pests with them.On the other hand, even orchids from the best nurseries can have pests on them, too.

A good practice is to make a thorough examination of every new plant before you allow it to enter your home. Before anything else, you should destroy every pest that you can find by visual inspection. If you don. Of course, these pests can and will destroy the flowers as well. This can be really frustrating to an orchid owner who has lavished care and expense on a plant.

If you already have orchids in your home or garden or greenhouse, you should treat every new orchid arrival with suspicion. Put it in "isolation" for a week or so. If you fnd insects on it, you should rid it entirely of them.

Washing all leaves, roots and bulbs on an orchid will leave little opportunity for any pests to escape destruction. The best method is to thoroughly clean the bulbs and leaves. Shake the plant out of the pot, cut away all decayed roots, wash the sound roots in clean water and then re-pot in clean containers using new material.

If executed efficiently, this is a sure means of eliminating those pests that a novice orchid grower would need to search closely for to see. A few common pests might be seen in the form of eggs. Others appear as young insects but are so minute that you need a magnifying glass to find them in the foliage. Cleaning your plants, though, will wash away all traces of orchid pests, including the ones you can't see.

A good guide to orchid growing will have many more tips and suggestions for making sure that a pest doesn't put an end to your prized plants. The most thorough guide to today's orchid care, in my opinion, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded from the Internet. Mr. Howard's ebook is a complete course in itself, suitable for novices as well as the more experienced. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of information on all aspects of orchid cultivation.

When and Why Did People First Go Crazy Over Orchids?

Orchid culture is so widespread nowadays that it is hard to picture a world without these wonderful flowers. Yet, not very long ago, the inhabitantspopulace of the developed world were entirely in the dark about the vast majority of species of orchids.

Europeans naturally knew about their native orchid species, such as the lovely Bee Orchid. But familiarity with of the thousands of gorgeous tropical orchids had to await the results of explorations of the jungles and mountains of South America and the eastern Indies. Even then, orchid specimens were slow to make their way back to England and other European countries.

Possibly the first living orchid to be carried from the tropics to England was an Epidendrum cochleatum, one of the more showy of its family. It flowered in London in the year 1787. Another species from the same orchid family was brought in to England in the year 1778. It took ten years for its caretakers to bring forth flowers from the plant.

Admiral Bligh, of Bounty fame, carried 15 species of epiphytal orchids to England from the West Indies around the early 1790s. These were put on display at the well-known Kew Gardens in London. For many years the West Indies, along with India, were the main sources of tropical orchids to Europe. In 1793, though, a species of Oncidium was taken to England from Panama, followed several years later by some orchids from Uruguay.

By 1818, Brazil was at the forefront of was contributing to what had become a steady flow of orchids back to England and other European countries. By 1830 the Royal Horticultural Society had collectors traveling throughout Brazil looking for unusual species.

The orchid trade very soon became a serious moneymaking endeavor, with businessmen in Brazil working out arrangements with their opposite numbers in London to send plants to England for resale there. William Harrison, a stationed in Rio de Janeiro during the 1830s and 1840s, sent many beautiful orchids to his brother Richard in Liverpool. Richard's house soon became a Mecca for orchid enthusiasts who journeyed there to see the newest arrivals.

It was one thing to introduce orchids to Europe, but another thing altogether to cultivate orchids succesfully. For more than half a century, England indeed was the graveyard for tropical orchids. The plants that survived did so in spite of rather than because of the treatment they received. Growers continuing experimenting and making mistakes until, by about 1850, they had mostly worked out the art of orchid cultivation. That's when the orchid craze really exploded, because now the knowledge was available by which even non-botanists could grow these stunning plants.

Knowledge of successfully growing orchids has increased during the intervening years and today we know so much more than did those Victorian devotees. We also have, of course, better technology to assist us in the greenhouse and garden.

The most thorough guide to today's orchid care, without a doubt, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Howard's wonderful guide is a thorough education all by itself. And, it's appropriate for neophytes as well as more seasoned orchid growers. Also, be sure to visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of articles on all facets of orchid cultivation.

Bean Plant Growth

A favorite vegetable for gardenering, are the many varieties of the bean plant and by becoming aware of the grow zones and seasons you can reap the full benefits. All types of beans, ranging from the common snap pea to soy beans, are a healthy addition to any diet. High in protein, the bean is one of the base ingredients in a vegetarian’s diet, as well as an excellent side dish for those with a preference for meat.

For gardeners, the first stage of bean plant growth is important and you will need to be sure to purchase good seed products before planting. Choosing a high quality seed will help to ensure a better chance of the plant taking root and growing to yield a larger amount of healthier vegetables. Even though it may cost more money for the good quality seeds, it is worth it because of the return you get for the expense and your labor will pay off by the delicious vegetables you get in return.

The best plant growth conditions for beans range in temperature from no lower than 61 degrees Fahrenheit or 16 degrees Celsius. If the temperature drops below this level, your plants will not germinate, and may die.

Germination can take several weeks to be accomplished and can range anywhere from three days to an entire month, however, most bean plants begin to break ground around two weeks after planting. At this point, the bean plant growth stage is termed as a seedling because the plant is at a very young stage in its development. This phase of the bean plant growth cycle is vital, as a healthy seedling will mature into a robust plant. If your seedlings are dehydrated or over watered, as well as planted too early, your crops will suffer and the amount of beans gathered later in the cycle will be diminished.

From the point that your plant has become a seedling, it takes an average of at least fifty days for your plant to produce pods and be ready for harvest. For most gardeners, the full cycle of bean growth can only be accomplish once per season. The season in which you plant your seeds should be no earlier than March, because they need enough time to complete the growth cycle before the colder months arrive and frost sets in. Frost can cause serious damage to bean plants and should be avoided in order for the plants survival. In colder climates, this can be tricky, therefore a greenhouse alternative can be used to help grow the plants.

Because it is an annual plant, they can grow again each year for several seasons at a time. Bean plants can be overtaken easily by weeds, so it is suggested to use a strong mulching material in the garden and clearing a six-inch swath to sow the seeds. The soil should be thoroughly cultivated and seeds should be sown about 1 1/2 inches deep into the soil.

Circling the Earth with the Orchids

Of all the flowers on earth, orchids are particularly fascinating. Not only are they beautiful to look at, but they often bring a bit of wonder and mystery with them. Although distributed widely, many can only be found in isolated or exotic locations--misty jungles, the sides of volcanoes, mucky swamps, for examples.

Beginning most earnestly in the 19th century, orchid enthusiasts have devoted years and lifetimes to ferreting out as well as cultivating new varieties of these flowering plants. Although most orchids are obtained nowadays from growers that specialize in cultivating these plants, many of them being produced through hybridization, it is good to learn a little of their natural origins.

Orchids are herbacious plants encompassing tens of thousands of known species, with still more being discovered.They show an astouding range of color and shape, which has added greatly to public fascination with them. Gardeners often take pleasure in maintaining a wide variety of orchids to show off their mastery of the art of cultivation.

Orchids have spread throughout the world, excep for the polar and desert zones. Some 85% of all orchid species originate in the tropics or subtropics, but this still leaves a large number that come from colder regions. In some parts of the Himalayan region, orchids make up the most abundant family of plants.

By far the greatest number of orchids occur in three large tropical belts:

• Tropical Africa (including islands to the east in the Indian Ocean). These mostly belong to the genera (families) Angnecum, Bulbophyllum and Disa. Orchids from this region are not so widely cultivated as ones coming originating in other tropical lands, but Africa nonetheless has many interesting species.
• Tropical Asia. This region, which includes Indonesia and other islands as well as the mainland countries of Southeast Asia, is considered especially rich in orchid genera. Typical of the region are the large genera Dendrobium, Eria and Bulbophyllum and many smaller ones as well.
• Tropical America. The region is made up of Mexico, the Central American nations, and the tropical part of South America. Isolated from other parts of the world for eons, this region has an especially large number of endemic genera of orchids, many of which include hundreds of species. Among the large indigenous genera are Epidendrum, Pleurothallis and Oncidium; many smaller genera found here also contribute more than their share to orchids that have found favor among cultivators the world over.

The temperate zones of the southern hemisphere also furnish many orchids, though not nearly so abundantly as do the tropics. In southern Africa the Disa and Calanthe genera furnish a few species judged valuable to cultivation. Australia contains many genera in common with the tropical Asia. Southern South America boasts a number of temperate orchids, but by the estimation of orchid devotees, they are greatly overshadowed by those
from the vaster tropical-zone part of the continent.

In the northern hemisphere's temperate zones, we should mention the United States and particularly the northeastern and New Englad regions, as well as Canada. There you will find some 20 native genera, whose members grow particularly in swamps and other moist grounds. The most famous of these are the Cypripediuins or Lady Slippers.

Europe also has many native orchids, but undoubtedly the most famous and showy is the Bee Orchid (Ophrys apifera). The Bee Orchid may be found thriving on dry or semi-dry turf in open areas near or within woodlands. Bee Orchids are common near the Mediterranean coast of Europe, and grows (albeit less abundantly) as far north as Germany and the UK.

Orchids vary greatly in how easily they can be grown, although for the most part they are not the difficult plants that folk wisdom would have it. The most up-to-date guide to expert orchid care, without a doubt, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Howard's delightful guide will furnish a full immersion in the subject. Also, check out the Orchid Secrets web site, which has an ever-growing library of postings on all topics of orchid cultivation.

Lady Slippers Are Indeed Orchids, Too!

Many people "know" that orchids are entirely tropical or subtropical in nature. But in fact, orchids can be found in virtually every part of the globe except for the deserts and the polar regions.

About 85% of orchid species will inded be found in the tropics and subtropics, but that leaves a large proportion to the more temperate zones. Among other things, this means that you will not be out of luck if you live in a cool area and want to grow orchids, but do not have a hothouse or other warmed area in which do so so.

There are tens of thousands of orchid species. You could be surprised to learn that there could well be orchids growing in your own vicinity, even if you make your home in a cool region. Take the relatively common Lady Slipper.

Lady Slippers (also written Lady's Slippers and Ladyslippers) is a name given to a large subfamily of orchids, the Cypripedioidea, with many members that grow in cool climates over much of North America and Europe. If you live in the New England states of the U.S., or the Appalachian mountain region, or even in Canada, you might find Lady Slippers of one variety or another growing in the woods near your home.

A species of Lady Slipper is the state flower of Minnesota. Another is the official state wildflower of New Hampshire. The Canadian province of Prince Edward Island has a Lady Slipper as its official flower.

If you're thinking of growing orchids, especially in an outdoor garden, you would do well to consider a native species. It will already be used to your specific climate, and--if you live in a place that experiences low temps in the winter--you might not even have to bring it inside when cold weather arrives.

One of the prettiest native-American orchids is the Yellow Lady Slipper. It is also among the easiest orchids to grow in a garden. On the other hand, the Pink Lady Slipper is extremely difficult to grow.The Yellow Lady Slipper should be your choice, unless you are an experienced orchid cultivator already.

Nurseries that specialize in orchid plants tend to run out of stock from time to time. Nevertheless, Lady Slippers are generally some of the easiest orchids to obtain. They are furthermore less expensive, generally, than orchid plants that come from far away. They are an excellent orchid for getting your thumb green, so to speak, before you take on the challenge of rarer or more "foreign" species.

All of the rules governing successful orchid gardening apply to the Lady Slippers and similar plants. You need accurate information before you begin attempting to grow these or other orchids, and  the best, most complete guide to modern orchid cultivation, hands down, is Orchid Care Expert by Nigel Howard, which can be downloaded online. Howard's wonderful guide will provide a complete immersion in the subject. Also, visit the Orchid Secrets web site, which has a growing database of postings on all aspects of orchid cultivation.

Home Vegetable Gardening for Great Home-Grown Food

There used to be a time when literally everyone had their own garden. Of course, the grocery store changed all of that, and now the trend is that most people don't have any garden at all. This is a sad statistic because home vegetable gardening can save you hundreds of dollars a year, as millions of people still appreciate each year. As if that weren't persuasion enough, you can also grow one hundred percent organic food with no extra chemicals which can have harmful side effects. Home vegetable gardening is more widely practiced in countries like France where it seems like literally everyone has a garden, but it is still fairly popular over in the United States.

Self-Sufficient

Home vegetable gardening is a great way to supplement what you purchase at the grocery store. There is absolutely no reason why you can't grow enough corn, carrots, beets, and other veggies to last the entire year for your family, and those are hundreds of your own dollars that you won't need to spend. Not only that, but you can go completely organic for a fraction of the price of organic food in stores while getting the same benefits. Organic foods tend to be tastier and more nutritional, but they can be pretty expensive if you go to a health foods store.

However, you can also grow food in the winter time by practicing what is known as winter vegetable gardening. The selection of plants that can grow during the winter is somewhat limited, but you can still grow vegetables like beets, cauliflower, and carrots for an early spring harvest after the ground completely thaws. You'll need to practice some different methods of home vegetable gardening, but being able to pick those vegetables in the spring can be well worth the effort. Be warned that you might need to spend a little extra on supplies like greenhouses and raised gardening beds, but even these supplies won't set you back too much.

It's a wonder that more people don't practice home vegetable gardening. It is incredibly simple to pick up, even if you are a novice, and you don't need that many tools to do it. In fact, it is pretty difficult for a garden to turn out a failure, although lack of maintenance can harm the vitality of your plants (i.e. forgetting to mix plant food, compost, or manure into the soil before planting seeds or not watering them enough). Home vegetable gardening is a great hobby that will save you money and give you some very delicious food in the process.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

House Plant Care Tips

Plants are commonly found in homes across North America and Europe. With an endless supply of types available for purchase, there is a variety for everyone. Unlike many things, adding the living touch of a plant to your home or office can be very inexpensive, with little to no cost to maintain. As water, fertilizer and light are the only requirements for a plant's survival, it comes as no surprise that quite a few people have tried to grow plants.

In facts many folk are taking home plants a step further and growing their own with home hydroponics.

Hydroponic growing is the hobby of growing plants indoors without the need for soil and is now very popular.

However, many people have convinced themselves they have black thumbs because they somehow manage to kill the plant they have tried to care for. This normal issue stems from a lack of understanding of what a plant needs in order to survive. With a few small adjustments to how you care for your plants should change that black thumb into a green one.

The first step in tending to plants is to know how much you need to feed your plant. Over and under watering plants is the leading cause of fatalities in plants. This is something that is very easy to rectify. All you need to do is find knowledge about your plant, and discover how they are watered. Some plants like to always remain damp. In this situation, you should water your plant frequently, but in small amounts. Some plants like to be drenched in water and then have their dirt dry out. There are some types of plants that only like to be watered very infrequently! By altering how you water your plant, you should be able to extend the plant's lifespan by a wide margin.

The absence of sunlight is the second most common cause of death in a plant. Sunlight is needed by plants to be able to photosynthesize. Photosynthesis, combined with the nutrients of water and soil, is how a plant survives. If you expose a plant with too much sun, the leaves will be burnt. Damaged leaves are unable to photosynthesize properly, which ends in their death. Starvation occurs when a plant is not given enough sun.

research is your plant's dirt. Without proper soil, your plant cannot thrive. By nourishing the dirt, you can make sure the roots of your plant has access to all things required to keep your plant living and well.

There may be other factors at play if your plants are still dying. Check the type of water that you are using to feed your plants. While bottled water, for example, is good for people, it is not necessarily good for plants. Bottled water tends to lack the mineral content of tap or rain water. Another common cause of plant death is the presence of pets or children. Pets and children can harm the leaves, which can result in plant fatality.

Even if you have always thought you have a black thumb, it is not impossible to become experienced in how to keep plants living. You could even try growing your own with home hydroponics anytime in the near future!

Winter Vegetable Gardening

When you think of gardening, chances are that you probably don't consider winter the best time to do it. After all, very few plants can survive in the harsh, cold environment. Why else do the trees lose their leaves and such? However, there are a number of sturdy, rough plants that you can choose to grow for harvest in the springtime. Winter vegetable gardening does not really include actually growing these plants during the winter. Rather, most of the growing takes place in the fall before winter time, and the plants are merely sturdy enough to survive the cold better than other plants.

Sturdy Plants

Which kinds of plants can cling to life when the temperature dips to zero? There are still enough that you can undertake winter vegetable gardening. You have such varieties as carrots, cauliflower, and beets to grow over the winter. While surely not as numerable as plants designed for growth during the normal gardening season, these vegetable gardening seeds will grow during some of the harshest winters that we experience as far north as states like Oregon and Pennsylvania, which tend to be temperate in the summer and can experience some very cold winters.

However, winter vegetable gardening also incorporates some other tools to help you grow during the off-season. Consider building walls or windbreaks to help keep the temperature around ten degrees warmer on the coldest days, and exterior greenhouses can help keep the plants in temperate weather even when there is ice on the ground. On same days, you may even need to ventilate greenhouses to prevent an excessive amount of heat from harming your plants. Considering that the ground can freeze up to half a foot deep depending on the temperature, you should take every precaution available to give your plants a fighting chance. By following these tips, winter vegetable gardening should never be a problem.

As previously stated, winter vegetable gardening doesn't really involve growing plants in the winter, when they will grow very slowly, if at all. Instead, it simply helps these plants to survive so that you can pick them in the spring for delicious vegetables like beets, carrots, and cauliflower. It does take a little more work and is slightly more expensive than traditional gardening, but there is no reason why a season should stop you from practicing one of your favorite hobbies. It can be a challenge at times, surely, but winter vegetable gardening is an incredibly rewarding experience.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Vegetable Gardening Seeds are the Hobby's Sole Expense

If you're planning on vegetable gardening, then you will obviously need to purchase seeds to be able to grow any plants at all. Many seeds, like bulbs, can be harvested to be reused in a fashion from year to year, but other seeds will need to be purchased on a regular basis. Fortunately, seeds tend to cost very little money at all, so you should never spend more than one hundred dollars or so (in that range) a year on seeds. Considering the vast amount of food that you'll receive as a result, vegetable gardening seeds are a real bargain, ending up costing you a fraction of the price that the full grown veggies would in the grocery store.

To involve your entire family, let your kids pick out some of the vegetable gardening seeds. You can even give them their own areas of the garden to tend to after teaching them the tricks of the trade. Such a hobby will also teach them about the values of hard work and dedication. Vegetable gardening for kids is a perfect family activity: it costs next to nothing, provides many hours of entertainment, and is extremely rewarding in the end. Also, your kids can pick up some useful skills along the way, such as how to create and maintain a compost pile and how to cultivate a garden.

Online and in Stores

You can pick up vegetable gardening seeds many places, from home improvement stores like Home Depot to gardening centers like Agway. Conversely, you can purchase all of the vegetable gardening seeds that you need online, often for some great discounts (although some of the savings will be lost through shipping and handling). Also, online stores tend to have larger selections of seeds to choose from, although you won't receive the seeds for a few days or even weeks. Of course, you might find the wait well worth it if you can pick up some of the more exotic plants around for your own garden.

Vegetable gardening seeds are as integral to your garden as the soil which you'll plant them in. Prepare the soil before planting the seeds by feeding it with mulch, compost, manure, or any combination of the three, and aerate it to allow oxygen to flow freely. Feeding your soil also helps plants to trap water when it rains, especially helpful during dry times. Gardening overall isn't that expensive, and that purchasing seeds is probably the most expensive thing you'll do with gardening says a lot about the hobby itself. With any luck, your vegetable gardening seeds will grow up into delicious veggies.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Keeping Plants Healthy with Proper Gardening Soil

Gardening soil is the foundation on which the garden is built, so building nutritious soil is the first thing that a gardener should focus on when implementing a new garden, or improving on a garden that is already in the works.There are many people, due to recent problems with fertilizers carrying dangerous viruses, who are moving toward organic gardening so that those issues are not a problem anymore in their food supply.

Gardening soil can be improved through the use of compost, where grass clippings and kitchen remains are piled together and allowed to decompose for a few weeks, all the while adding more clippings, leaves and other organic material to the pile.After that time, there is a warm, rich soil that is made of the decaying matter, which is nutritious for all plants in the garden.

Signs of Malnutrition

If a garden is lacking in nutrition, such as if strong mulch is not used from the beginning or even used at all, then the plants will reflect the lack of good gardening soil.Sometimes, it is difficult to tell whether it is a nutrient deficiency or if it has something to do with insects or some other problem in the garden.However, there are some tell-tale signs of malnutrition in most plants.

When plants are not getting what they need from the gardening soil, then there is often discoloration to the foliage of the plant.In addition, the plant will all of a sudden stop growing the way it was, so that there is little to no new growth on the plant.  Also, the plant will seem to be more sensitive to the amount of water it is getting, as well as increased sensitivity to heat and cold.  If a plant is getting too much fertilizer, then sometimes the leaves will look scorched, although this is not a problem when using natural mulch from a compost pile.

There are specific gardening soil deficiencies that have specific symptoms, which if diagnosed, can allow the gardeners to rectify the problem and bring back their healthy plants once again.If the plants have a calcium deficiency, then the leaves of the plant will look hook shaped and the tips of new growth might die without any seeming cause.To fix this problem, mulch needs to be added that is calcium specific and the plants will soon be back to normal again.  Another deficiency that has noticeable attributes is magnesium, which usually turns the leaves of the plant a yellow color.  Using Epson Salts will usually rectify this issue.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Gardening Options

There are many options when deciding to start gardening, such as what type of garden to start.  Home gardening is becoming more popular again, although not always in the traditional ways it was in the past.More people live in apartments and condominiums that ever before, so traditional methods of gardening do not work in those situations.However, that does not mean that those people have to miss out on the rich rewards offered through the experience of gardening.

Options for Apartments

Container gardening is one of the best options for gardening in a smaller place such as an apartment or condominium.All that container gardening means is that the plants are grown either indoors or on a deck or porch where they are potted in containers where they grow.There are ways to grow flowers and vegetables in these containers as long as the care that is required goes into the entire process. 

Container gardening requires that the soil in the containers is potting soil so that it holds the nutrients and also the water that is needed.  Container gardening also requires that the plants be watered more frequently than outside plants of the same species, since they tend to dry out more quickly in the smaller pots.In addition, although the plants require sunlight, plants in containers get much hotter than those outside in direct sunlight, so the container gardener should be careful to monitor where the pots are placed and give them plenty of water.

Options for the Health Conscious

Organic gardening is a great choice for those who are health conscious and do not want to put foreign chemicals in their bodies.  Organic gardening means that the gardener does not use traditional pesticides or fertilizers in growing the plants.  Extreme organic gardeners do not even buy seeds that are not certified to be organic.In this way they can be assured that the vegetables and fruit from start to finish are safe and healthy.

Organic gardening does take more preparation on the front end than traditional gardening, as well as research as different pest problems are encountered so that they can be solved through organic means.However, the payoff for the extra work is great when fresh, organically grown vegetables and fruits grace the salads and meals.

The way that organic gardeners get around the fertilizer issue is through the use of compost.It is easy to begin piles of compost; with just a few grass clippings or leaves the gardener is on his way to great mulch.

For more about gardening please visit www.organicgardeningzone.com

Using a Greenhouse for Year Round Hydroponic Gardening

A greenhouse is a great thing both for hydroponic gardeners as well as those who grow in soil. A greenhouse has the same advantages for either, generally speaking. For hydroponic gardening, a greenhouse is perfect to allow control over airflow, temperature, and light.

Welsh onions, peas, strawberries, plus other plants grow quite well in a hydroponic greenhouse. Orchids and other flowers will thrive well inside a greenhouse garden.

One of the biggest issues hydroponic gardeners face is how they can manipulate the light for best results. Growth of algae can become a problem since the plant is in water instead of soil. To solve this, you can control how much light reaches the water, something that is simple to do in a greenhouse.

Obviously, just like plants which are grown in soil, plants grown hydroponically also need plenty of light. You will not get more light in a greenhouse than you would outdoors. Inside the greenhouse, the air is warmer and the light is distributed more evenly due to the light being diffused and filtered. The plants are protected from cold weather, but given ample sun.

Northern climates in winter will have low temperatures of course, but they do get several hours of full sun per day. Regardless of the outside temperatures and even at 15 degrees Fahrenheit, the wall of a greenhouse (made of translucent polycarbonate) is able to keep its interior's temperatures at 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

You can install vents and fans to keep the inside of your greenhouse from getting too hot; hydroponically grown plants do need a consistent temperature, just as soil grown plants do.

Using a greenhouse opens up many opportunities to make the best of your garden. If you don't have a greenhouse, then your only choice may be inside your home – something which is not a possibility for everyone.

Growing plants in the home inhibits the ability to create sufficient light and watering systems for them. Not many homeowners have the space to have high pressure sodium lights or LED grow light panels installed for their vegetables, or the option of running irrigation systems through their guestrooms!

With a greenhouse, the systems can be moved where they are best for the plants, making gardening easier for you. Proper controll of water and light is critical to the success of hydroponic gardens, more important than for soil gardening that is naturally self-regulating.

It is also easier to set up a feeding system in a greenhouse, something which is very important for hydroponically grown plants. With good soil, plants can gain most of the nutrients they need easily. However, a gardener must arrange for all nutrients to be delivered properly when gardening hydroponically.

pH levels are also something to be considered. The pH can shift much more easily in a hydroponic setting. When growing in water, acid and alkaline levels can shift rapidly. It is easier to set up pH controls with a hydroponic garden.

You can buy a greenhouse pre-built or you can make one of your own. These are a great investment for anyone interested in indoor hydroponic gardening. There are a variety of sizes, with modules that allow it to expand as your garden does.

Easy Steps On How To Clean A Carpet

Often, it seems like you just can't ever get ahead of the task of vacuuming your floor coverings. It is a never-ending task that needs to be done so that you can enjoy your rugs and carpeting and keep them looking their best, smelling good, and feeling pleasant beneath bare feet. On top of those factors, a carpet that is not maintained can also end up as a hotbed for various bacteria, microorganisms and dust mites to thrive. Because of these things, learning how to clean a carpet properly is important.

Peoples homes that have a few kids playing and running around, one or two pets, and many vistors both coming and going will need carpet cleaning more frequently. On the other hand, a home with just one or two people who don't stir things up much or drop food or spill drinks on the flooring will not need to clean the carpet as often.

One of the first tips for how to clean a carpet and maintain it well is to try to minimize the "dirty traffic" that tends to bring a lot of dust, grime and debris into the carpeted area from outside. Area rugs and carpets can help to protect high-traffic areas and in some homes, it might be better to use vinyl or tile instead of carpeting, at least in some areas.

There is another thing to keep in mind if you are considering new carpets. The lighter the color of the rugs and carpets you install, the more frequently the carpets will need to be cleaned. This is true both in terms of regular vacuuming and how often the light colored carpeting will need steam cleaning or shampooing with special carpet cleaning equipment.

Another basic tip for cleaning a carpet is to vacuum at least once a week or more if you can see debris starting to collect. You should think of vacuuming as being the first line of defense for keeping carpets looking new and pristine for as long as possible. With frequent vacuuming you will help keep dust, crumbs, dirt and other debris from becoming ground into the fibers of the carpet as foot traffic passes over the area.

The vacuums that do the best job at cleaning carpets are those that have strong suction and that also have an agitator or brush roller. A machine that has a lot of suction can pull dirt from deep inside the fibers and the brush roller will help to make it easier to detach debris from the surface of the carpet where it can sometimes become entangled with the looser fibers at the top.

In homes where the rugs and carpets are light colored and also get a lot of heavy foot traffic, it is best to add carpet steam cleaning or shampooing to your vacuuming routine quarterly. Areas with lighter traffic and darker colored floor coverings can often go a year in between these deep cleanings. The easiest answer to the question of how to clean a carpet properly is to hire the services of a professional carpet cleaning business that will bring experience and expertise to the job and save you a great deal of work.

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Incorporating your pool with your gardening design ideas.

Incorporating your pool with your gardening design ideas.

Coming up with gardening design ideas for pool landscaping will require a little thought as there are many considerations in plant choices. Whether your pool is above ground or in the ground will make a difference in the types of plants you choose and the possibility of their exposure to chemically treated water will also help choosing the right pool landscaping easier. For in the ground pools, shrubs and trees should avoided if planting in close proximity as the growing roots can cause problems later when they begin to grow into the pool’s foundation.

Since most in the ground pools will be surrounded by a privacy and safety fence, plants can be chosen for the perimeter as well as in any open areas inside the fence. For inside pool landscaping, plants should be non-deciduous, meaning they won’t lose their leaves every year, which will often accumulate in the water. Even evergreen shrubs run the risk of needles blowing in to the water during stormy weather and clogging the pool’s filtering system.

All plants placed near the pool should be low blooming varieties and most often the simpler the better. Many annual plants will wither and die if exposed to water from the pool, especially those pools treated with chlorine. Keeping the pool landscaping simple for inside the fence is the best plan as they are also easier to care for. Creeping plants can help cover any open ground around the pool, but you will have to keep it trimmed to prevent it from taking over the entire area.

Protect Your Pool From External Forces

Outside the fence allows more flexibility in the choice of plants, but remember the more flowers and plants you put in, the more work you will have to maintain them, detracting from the time available for using the pool. When choosing pool landscaping for around the pool’s fence, the plants should not grow higher than the fence as their leaves will end up on the water before the summer is over.

Small grouping of low flowers, with plenty of open space between them can add a neat look to your pool landscaping and still provide a splash of color around the fence. An occasional shrub strategically placed around the fence’s exterior can contribute to the apparent height of the fence but, again, should not be allowed to grow over the fence.

Another consideration for pool landscaping is the type of flower that may attract flying pests. Many flowers are attractive to honey bees and other flying insects that can interrupt your enjoyment of the pool. Gardening design with your pool in mind is tricky but not impossible.

Gardening Design Software Helps Visualize Finished Project

Gardening Design Software Helps Visualize Finished Project

One of the most challenging parts of designing your outdoor living space is being able to visualize how the finished project will look. Knowing the type of plants that will survive in your neck of the woods as well as how to put them together to achieve the desired effect can be time-consuming task and the end result may still be disappointing. However, with many versions of landscaping software on the market, seeing the finished plan before digging the first hole can help you succeed in making the project come to fruition.

The cost of gardening design software can vary from free to several thousands of dollars and each company offers variables that make putting together a landscaping plan suited for your climate as well the design of your home. Some of the free packages of software however, restrict the user to simple house designs making it difficult to achieve a realistic picture of what your home will look like when finished. Landscaping software aimed at professionals offer a much better view, but come with a higher price tag.

One of the important things to look for when thinking about buying gardening design software is the learning curve. While many may offer quick and easy instructions, it could still take a lot of time just figuring out how to select, size and plant every item on your list. Some of the more complicated pieces of landscaping software may actually take longer to learn how to use than it will take to landscape the yard.

Decent Software Offers Decent Project Plans

For around $100 there are a couple of different types of gardening design software that are fairly easy to use. Unless you are familiar with computers, almost all landscaping software will require some time in learning how to select the plants, annual or perennial as well as how to size them and drop them in your yard. Some are considerably easier than others, but they will all take some time to get to know.

Almost all companies offer landscaping software featuring three-dimensional viewing, but the most-expensive as well as complicated, may also allow for the rotation of the view to see how the landscaping will look from different angles, not only from the street. Overhead views may also be possible to get a better feel for how the different colors will go together. Combining landscaping software with construction software for outdoor decks and patios can also include plans for plumbing and electrical work that may need to be performed for major landscaping projects.

Ideas for using rocks in your gardening design plans.

Ideas for using rocks in your gardening design plans.

You have made a great hobby out of landscaping your yard, but lately you have been bored with the same old materials that you have been using year after year. You would like to try something different, so you should consider landscaping with rocks!

Designing a garden with Rocks

Some people might jeer at the thought of landscaping with rocks, since rocks are usually the things that people want to get rid of in their yards. However, rocks can also make for beautiful landscaping materials as well.

For example, if you are the kind of person who likes to walk at the beach, you have probably noticed how unique and smooth the rocks are. These same rocks can really be great to use when it comes for ideas as to how you can landscape with rocks.

Begin at your front yard. Think about the places that would benefit the most from landscaping with rocks. Whether it is from the beach or not, make sure that the rocks are large enough so that they cannot be displaced by people or weather factors.

The front yards of people vary widely, but two of the most popular front yard places that people choose to landscape with rocks are as borders for the front walkway, as well as borders for the trees. If you have both of these things in your front yard, these are two excellent places to start.

When it comes to landscaping with rocks in the backyard, you can continue to use the rocks as borders for trees or bushes. You can also use them to liven up any gardens that you have. The great thing about rocks is that they can be very versatile in gardens.

For example, if you have a flower garden, you can use smaller pebble rocks to indicate various paths in the garden. Pebble rocks are often used as ground covering, much in the way that mulch is used, because it can stop weeds from growing.

Pebble rocks, however, do have a downside to them. Unlike larger rocks that can remain stationary, the pebble rocks can “travel” during inclement weather, and also when people walk on them. Thus, if you become hesitant about using pebble rocks for these reasons, you can always look into getting flagstones instead.

For more information using rocks in your gardening design, be sure to go to your local bookstore, because there are a variety of books in the home and gardening section. You can also search the internet for websites on the topic. You are sure to find interesting information with the proper research.

Use gardening design photos for inspiration.

Use gardening design photos for inspiration.

The difficulty in visualizing what your gardening design might look like if you could make some major changes can be eased somewhat by looking at landscaping pictures of homes of a similar design with various landscaping layouts. Many home improvement magazines as well as those focusing on outdoor living often have landscaping pictures to use as ideas for your own home’s outdoor landscaping.

One of the drawbacks in using landscaping pictures for ideas is knowing where the pictures were taken, Most of the ones taken and published show flowers and shrubs in full bloom under sunny skies. The flowers depicted in the photograph may be of a house in a climate far different from where you live and when the flowers do not bloom as long or as full as the ones in the landscaping pictures, it can only lead to disappointment.

When looking through gardening design pictures it is important to know the types of plants in the pictures and whether they can grow in your climate. Additionally, many of the photos may show scenes around a patio or a pool which will not fit into your lot. You should also check the size expectations of any shrubs or trees in the pictures to make sure they will not soon outgrow the area you have planned for landscaping.

Looking For Matching Houses In Pictures

Finding a house that closely resembles your own can be another challenge when perusing landscaping pictures for outdoor decorating ideas. Many pictures may be of large rambling homes featuring large lots and plenty of space. While they may look gorgeous, they may not representative of how your home will look when completed. Arrangements may look fantastic surrounding a two-story, five-bedroom house but may not fit into a small lot around a two-bedroom bungalow.

Many landscaping pictures may also include swimming pools and patio decks and if your house does not have one the landscaping will never look the same. The pictures can offer great ideas but only if the house and the lot on which it sits closely resemble the one you plan to landscape.

If you are using gardening design software to design your own landscaping, once you have something you like, you can print the landscaping pictures to take with you to the garden shop to make sure you get enough flowers and plants to fill the places you have designated. Once there, you may also receive suggestions on the types of plants, shade or sun, that will work better in the long term and leave a trail of satisfaction of your efforts.

Gardening Design on a hillside site.

Gardening Design on a hillside site.

You live in a hillside area, and as such you have not done much in the way of landscaping. In fact you are even afraid to mow the lawn for fear of tripping and falling down the side of the hill. Thus, what you need to realize is no matter how steep the hill, you can have some hillside landscaping done!

About designing a garden on a hillside.

The first thing that you need to think about when it comes to hillside landscaping is, understandably, the safety factor. If your hill is fairly steep (in that it is very hard to walk up it because of the angle) you will need to have professionals do the hillside landscaping.

If, however, the hill is just an area of your yard that you have been wanting to landscape but have not had any real ideas for it, then you can do the hillside landscaping yourself. Begin with a survey of the land itself and its location.

For example, if the hillside is in the front of your home, you can create an ornate gardening design. First of all, evaluate the soil itself – is it arid? If so, be sure to purchase nutrient-rich soil before you begin. Next, you need to think about the plants that you would like to incorporate in the hillside landscaping design.

The best idea is to forgo plants and plant bushes instead. The reason for this is that bushes are hardy in many different kinds of weather, and only require minimal pruning during certain times of the year. The kinds of bushes that you should consider for the hillside landscaping project should ideally be ones that grow horizontally instead of vertically.

When you have selected the kinds of bushes that you want, the next step is to figure out the kind of pattern that you want them in. For that, you will not only have to calculate the amount of bushes you will need, but you will also have to calculate the area that you want to dig out for the bushes. The area can be any shape that you want, but a popular shape that many people choose is the square shape.

As for the design, you could place the bushes in a linear pattern, equally spaced so that they form the inside of the square like a checkerboard. Or, you could place the bushes in a spiral pattern. If you would like a more ornate pattern, you should discuss design ideas with a professional landscaper.

If you would like more information on gardening design for hillside plots, simply go to your local bookstore and look at various gardening magazines. You can also ask for assistance at your local gardening center. You are sure to find the right hillside landscaping ideas with the proper research.