RELATED ARTICLESA Few Simple Facts About Purple Martins
Purple Martins are the largest member of the swallow family.
However, in flight their wings are more triangular than other swallows.
Growing and Preserving Cut Flowers
There is nothing more cheerful than vases full of fresh flowers placed around the house that have been grown and cut from your own garden. A cut flower is one that has been cut at the stem and placed in a vase of water. Cut flowers are grown from both annual and perennial plants. Here is a short list (by common name) of cut flowers that you can grow in your own garden to enjoy for many years to come.
Teak Outdoor Furniture - Where Function Meets Beauty
The wonderful thing about choosing teak outdoor furniture is that you have such diversity. From chairs to benches to tables and more, teak is the perfect wood for outside entertaining.
The Benefits of Landscaping
How much have you thought about landscaping? Do you know that a beautiful and well put together lawn has many benefits? Landscaping is lawn art and, like any other art form, it takes time, patience, and research to get your methods just right. So, what other benefits does landscaping provide besides just being "pretty"?
Fall Flowering Bulbs
Deciduous trees dazzle us with the brilliance of the golds, oranges and reds they display before dropping their leaves in the autumn. However, you don't have to be satisfied with autumn leaf color alone. Consider planting fall flower bulbs.
The Home Garden
The garden should be near the house and away from trees. If it's some distance away from the house, it will not be as well looked after, nor will most use be made of vegetables grown. Vegetables near trees cannot get full sunshine; even more important, tree roots will rob them of water and fertilizer they need to do their best.
Why Patio Benches are a Great Place to Relax and Enjoy
Having an outdoor patio offers the opportunity and place to sit outdoors where you can relax alone on a lazy Saturday morning or enjoy a barbecue with family and friends. To enhance a patio while providing additional seating, more and more people are turning to patio benches. Although traditional patio furniture is still nice, patio benches do not take up as much room, they can easily be moved from the patio to the lawn, and many designs on the market feature compartments underneath a padded seat for storage.
Frame Your Garden With Edging
You've planted the flowers, put in the shrubs and even added a bird bath and a few garden decorations, but what's missing? Could it be the edging?
Cultivating Plants In Your Garden...What To Watch Out For
There are so many plants available for you to choose from that it's hard to know where to start. Are you looking for house plants, tropical plants or some beautiful garden plants? Green plants are not only beautiful to look at they also provide a much needed source of fresh oxygen for our breathing. Nature has a way of providing a balance for everything.
Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It
Adirondack is the name given to a style of furnishings that date back to the late 1800's. During this time period, immediately following the civil war, upstate New York gained notoriety as a popular tourist destination. People, mostly the rich, flocked to the lavish hotels and guest houses that dotted the rustic landscape of the Adirondack Mountain range to relax and enjoy the tranquility and atmosphere that could be found in these remote destinations.
Balcony, Patio, and Courtyard Gardening
People choose balcony, patio, and courtyard gardening for many different reasons. Some are moving from a large house to smaller accommodation, some don't want the hassle of a large property, and some chose to live in rental property to avoid the high-cost of owning a home. Whatever the reason, this doesn't mean we can't garden. No space is too small for a small space garden. One plant in a container is a garden. In fact, ever more gardening options are available in terms of pots, half-barrels, window boxes, troughs, cast-iron planters, recycled materials ? the list is unending with possibilities.
Dill: Scandinavias Most Important Culinary Herb
The ancient herb, Anethum graveolens or Fernleaf dill as it is commonly known, was mentioned some 5,000 years ago in early Egyptian writings. It is the most important culinary herb in Scandinavia, as popular as parsley is in other parts of the world. The word 'dill' stems from the Old Norse word dilla, meaning "to lull," and can be grown indoors and out. The feathery leaves make dill a pretty foliage plant, which is lovely as a green foil for the flowers in your garden. The fragrance of dill on fingers evokes a 'comfort smell' for many people as the leaves smell of homemade dill pickles. Old-fashioned dill water or gripe water as it is commonly known (made by infusing crushed dill seeds in hot water), is still used as a remedy for indigestion in adults as well as children.
Wind Chimes Soothe The Soul
They can be pretty to look at and soothing to hear, but did you know that that wind chimes also have healing effects? Just listening to the tones of the chimes can help calm your mind and release stress. Calming your mind, the tones of the chimes help to release all that stored up stress. This soothing effect helps open our spiritual awareness and has been used by many cultures for centuries.
How to Care for Long Stem Roses Basil: The King of Herbs
One of the most popular herbs is Ocimum basilicum commonly called sweet basil. Often called the 'king of herbs,' basil can be grown indoors or out. Sweet basil has inch-long, oval-pointed, dark green leaves and a clove-pepperish odour and taste. Sweet basil makes a handsome, bushy small plant, growing to a foot or more indoors. A purple-leafed variety, 'Dark Opal' is decorative, makes a lovely houseplant, and is equally useful in cookery. Do not let basil bloom, or it will go to seed. Instead, pinch out the plant tops and they will grow into compact little bushes.
5 Secrets to Growing Beautiful Roses
A rose is a rose is a rose - and there are few things in the garden more beautiful. There are 5 secrets I want to share that will help you to grow healthy roses.
Planting Bare Root Roses
Before planting, the plants must be prepared. The following suggestions will help insure that your roses grow into healthy bushes, trees, etc.:
Laying Out Your Landscape Part Two
Part Two in a Series
Fall Pond Cleaning
Doing a full pond cleaning during the colder winter months can be
very stressful on your fish. However, if the pond is really
dirty and full of 'muck' - then you may want to consider it
because all of the decaying organic matter in the pond can cause
problems if the pond ices over, and this begins to de-gas and
rot.
Maintaining Oxygen Levels in Fish and KOI Ponds
Severe environmental stressors are the most frequent causes of sudden fish death in garden ponds or other fish habitats, and the lack of oxygen in the water is the number 1 stressor of all.
