Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category
Landscaping the above ground pool. It will look wonderful!
11
Jun
Are you looking to turn your pool area into a backyard paradise. Your own pool can be a fine home improvemnet as well as a great place to keep in shape, get tan, and have fun at the same time. Pools offer a wonderful way to entertain your friends and family, and also keep your children cool and happy at home. An above ground pool can be a terrific investment in terms of improving property, especially if you carefully plan the landscaping that will tie it in with your home.Since you’ve invested a lot of time and money into getting a pool installed, don’t skimp on the landscaping, it’s the most important part to completing your backyard paradise.
A pool can form the action center for a whole new idea in family recreation. This affordable investment offers a way of rediscovering the idea that living at home can mean much more than just staying at home. When you’re planning your landscaping take note of the patterns of straight lines and curves in your house and any nearby garden structures, so you can choose colors, shapes and textures that let your pool blend in with the rest of your homes landscape.
The above ground pools come in many different shapes, sizes, and designer patterns; all designed to meet your needs. Let your imagination go and create an exciting pool environment that’s uniquely yours!A few items to consider would be privacy, beauty, and utilization of space, family hobbies and other recreational equipment, eating areas, turf areas and children’s ages are all factors to think about. Portable pools are even tougher than their steel walled cousins and are great in applications where they will be put under rougher play conditions.
It is important, prior to starting your pool installation, that you consider the following points. Check wall clearances and easements to allow enough working area for your pool installation. Make sure there are no sudden slopes within 6′ of your pool. Having an above ground pool can be great fun, but figuring out how to make it look great in your yard can be a real job. Luckily there are several ways to take care of this problem that will make your yard look like a backyard paradise that everyone will enjoy. Building a deck around your pool is an expensive option, but it is a good investment. Contractors nowadays can create any type of deck that you want with all kinds of material to choose from. A deck not only serves as a cosmetic purpose for your yard and pool, but it also gives you a place to lounge right by the pool and maybe even barbecue and entertain. Depending on the type of material you choose for your deck, it also can be pretty much maintenance free, so you won’t have much work to do keeping it up. When deciding to put up a deck you will need to keep in mind the cost, which can become quite expensive depending on the type and size of deck you want. You’ll also probably need to get a permit to build your deck and it will need to be approved by an inspector before you can use it. You can save money by building your own deck. At Lowe’s or Home Depot you can get all the materials needed to build your deck, as well as the blueprints to put it together. This will save you considerable money in both the labor and materials as long as you can do the work.
A mulched edge of one to two feet around your pool will look very nice. You will need to buy enough mulch to cover the area thoroughly, as well as a weed block to keep grass and weeds from growing up through the mulch. This should make the area pretty much maintenance free, so you can spend all of your time outside enjoying your yard and pool. Little rocks or pebbles are another great way to spruce up your pool landscaping. There are an assortment of different rocks or pebbles to choose from and they are available at any home improvement store. These can be a bit more expensive than the mulch though, but you don’t have to replace them every year. However, if you’re not worried about cost, brick edging around the pool to enclose the rocks looks terrific. If you have children and want to make it look more kid friendly, you can buy five or six larger rocks for your kids to decorate with paint, and then place them around your pool in random spots. Not only will they look cute among all the smaller pebbles, but they will add a touch of color to your pool’s landscape.
When designing your backyard landscape, remember that there are four seasons. You will want flowers and shrubs which bloom during different times of the season, autumn foliage during the fall, and some evergreen plants that fill in the empty spaces in winter. Don’t forget to add some winter color with the Beautyberry or the Red Twig Dogwood shrubs.
Landscaping for above ground pool is not a lot different to landscaping for an in ground pool, except 
that above ground pools can look hideously out of place sometimes. There is nothing worse then looking out into your backyard and seeing a big white or blue monster staring back at you. The big problem most people have with an above ground pool is privacy, since the pool is usually quite high. One way to combat this is with container gardening. Planting trees and shrubs in containers, and place them on the deck around the pool. Plant Japanese Maples or Arborvitae around the base of the pool as a screen. A tall fence will provide privacy and safety. If you don’t put up a fence you will at least need a gate at the steps to lock when not in use.
Besides affordability, one of the biggest advantages to owning an above-ground pool is the significantly shorter installation time. Above ground pool kits usually can be assembled in a couple of days. Do not install your pool on any abrasive area such as concrete, asphalt, peat moss, tar paper, gravel, wood, top of grass, or on soil which has recently undergone treatment with petroleum based chemicals. Treat the ground inside the pool area with a non petroleum based fungicide. This may help prevent fungus stains on the liner. Do not install on nut grass or Bermuda grass. See your dealer for special instructions. Rid pool area of burrowing pests and insects such as gophers and termites. Avoid windy days during installation. Have 2 or three helpers to assist you during the pool assembly. Avoid trees and roots; plan so that leaves don’t fall into the pool. Avoid overhead and under ground power lines. CALL ABOUT UTILITIES BEFORE YOU DIG! Avoid underground gas piping water pipes, sprinkler systems and cables. Keep sprinklers away from pool sides. Select a pool site that allows for the proper supervision of swimmers as well as viewing children near the pool. Position the pump and filter near convenient electrical outlets. Avoid overhanging eaves to prevent water and debris runoff from your roof. Allow one foot of undisturbed soil around your pool as a clearance radius. Just like an in ground pool, lighting around an above ground pool gives it a nice look at night. Lighting the steps will help with safety at night.
that above ground pools can look hideously out of place sometimes. There is nothing worse then looking out into your backyard and seeing a big white or blue monster staring back at you. The big problem most people have with an above ground pool is privacy, since the pool is usually quite high. One way to combat this is with container gardening. Planting trees and shrubs in containers, and place them on the deck around the pool. Plant Japanese Maples or Arborvitae around the base of the pool as a screen. A tall fence will provide privacy and safety. If you don’t put up a fence you will at least need a gate at the steps to lock when not in use.Above ground pool for dogs is something else to consider. You can provided a pool for your dogs, it’s a great energy burner as well as a good way to cool your pet off. With special filtering systems, dog ramps and other specialties are available for the above ground pools for dogs.
Now you can relax and really enjoy your family and your home. Shop at our terrific Garden Shops for all of your gardening needs at wonderfully low prices and no sales tax. Shopping on line is easy, has the best selection, high quality, lower prices and you can shop any time of the day or night.
Have a great summer!
Landscape Lighting; Highlight your home’s beauty.
10
Jun
Landscape lighting is probably one of the most overlooked yet least understood areas of home landscape. As beautiful as your yard and garden may look during the day, the cool, dark evening can create a whole new outdoor atmosphere. With a little creativity and the right materials, you can make the most of this area with outdoor lighting, after the sun has set.
Before deciding what types of outdoor lighting designs and fixtures you want, look at your yard and decide what kind of mood and atmosphere you wish to create. Determining how to best light your yard with an thought toward function, with visibility and with safety first on the list. Look to the places where good illumination is going to be most necessary. Consider walkways, stairs, uneven paths as well as places where people will be grilling or eating. Don’t neglect places in the yard that will tend to be naturally darker because they’re further away from the house or sitting in the shadow of a tree or the garage. If you are looking to flood your yard with as much light as possible, these areas may not need any special attention. If you are going for a more minimalist approach, you can choose a lighting design that will create that effect. An example of this would be outdoor lights commonly know as Malibu landscape lights installed in the “runway effect” or landscape path lights lining a pool walkway. When the sun goes down the solar powered system lights come on. Usually these outdoor fixtures highlight the walkway in the landscape;but they don’t need to be used exclusively for that. You can cluster them in a srub area, or around a tree.
The popularity of outdoor landscape lighting continues to grow. Landscape lights provide numerous benefits for modern homeowners including safety, energy efficient and economical. When lighting a landscape path or walkway to and from a deck or patio safety is always required. Consider using outdoors low voltage light fixtures which direct light down and outward, to prevent glare the fixtures are shielded on top. This is called downlighting or moonlighting which is a design technique that illuminates general outdoor areas for safety, security and aesthetics. Bullet type fixtures and lamps are selected for the required brightness and amount of illumination and spotlighting effect. These lamps are usually placed above eye level. Backlighting and silhouette lighting gives that special effect by illuminating large outdoor surface areas like walls using a wash light fixture. This causes objects in front of the lighting to appear as silhouettes.
Many other installation techniques, placement and combinations can increase home security, safety, enjoyment and value. The practical and aesthetic effects created by landscape lighting are 
limited mainly by your creativity and the existing architectural and landscaping features.
Consider how different types of lighting work to highlight and take advantage of particular features of your yard. For example, if you have some large, centerpiece features such as a fountain or sculpture, consider an outdoor flood light. On the other hand, if you have garden paths, a series of ground stake lights on either side of the walkway will work nicely. These types of lights often come in solar-powered varieties, making them an excellent choice if you want to avoid running electrical lines. If you have bushes or short trees with foliage that isn’t too dense, you can light these with white outdoor string lights.
Some types of lights can be used for nearly all purposes and locations, such as tall stake lights and hanging lights with post fixtures. Use these to fill in the areas of your yard that need an extra boost of light, especially in places where people are likely to congregate.
To create the biggest possible pool of outdoor fire light, make or buy an outdoor fire pit. An above-ground (footed metal or clay structure) fire pit which can be used without altering your landscape. When you’re not building fires in your pit, fill it with a variety of candles to provide a wash of illumination. Ground stake fire lights come in a variety of styles, including the popular tiki torch.
Candle and torch-based lighting is a cost effective and energy efficient design. It is the best option if you want to create some of the most unique lighting, including homemade pieces.If you have outdoor dining tables, any candle or holder designed for indoor use can be used to contribute to the outdoor lighting. You can find that a collection of outdoor table candles is preferable to an electric porch light because this will create better atmosphere while still giving your guests the light they need.
Solar lights are one of the most common kinds of modern outdoor lighting and maybe used to brighten front walkways or paths, gardens, decks and around pools. They are usually very easy to install, and are often simply inserted into the ground. They are ideal for areas that cannot support electrical lighting. Furthermore, they are very energy saving, considering that they don’t require electricity to work.
Hanging or tabletop lanterns are great outdoor lighting ideas. There are Japanese, Chinese, Moroccan, rustic outdoor, and many other styles of lanterns. They can be paper and colorful, metal, glass, plastic, etc. and can be lit by electricity or candle. This type of outside illumination can provide beauty, ambiance and atmosphere. Remember to be safe if you use candles and don’t leave them unattended.
Outdoor table lamps are excellent for patio tables and side tables. They are built to withstand the 
elements and can be found in various sizes, styles and colors. That said, two of the most popular types include bronze and stainless steel.Step light products are hidden under steps and their purpose is to actually illuminate the step. This is ideal for those who are looking to improve the safety of their yard. Steps can be quite treacherous in the dark when they are difficult to see.
Flood lights are a very simple but convenient way to brighten up your home’s exterior. Flood lighting can also be used for accenting whatever part of your home or yard that you would like to draw attention too, such as a pool, pond, statue, garden, fountain, etc. Other interesting outdoor lighting ideas include torches, underwater lights, post lanterns, outdoor chandeliers, and even nautical outdoor lights work great. If you are looking to design with electric lighting, be sure to use only electric lights designed for outdoor use.
This is the best time to really show off your home’s beauty and create a safe place to be at night. Be sure to visit our outdoor lighting store for a great selection at excellent prices and no sales tax. Happy Decorating!
Lawn Care: It is worth the work!
03
Jun
Lawns are a beautiful frame work for your house unless they’re unsightly. Then you are going to have to make some decision about what you plan to do. Your choices are: call in the professionals and let them do it all at a grand price. Or you could choose to do some of the work and hire out the heavy stuff. Or just do it all yourself and save a lot of money, get great exercise and be proud of the work when it’s done. You choose.
There’s a lazy path to re-establishing a lawn, if you’re not too picky. It’ll take a year or two, and require weeding by hand, but it works. Depending on the type of grass, it can require lots of watering, or very little watering. First off, you need some remnants of a lawn. Usually, you’ve got weeds all over the place, and the lawn is patchy. Maybe it’s only filling up half of the area, in patches. That’s okay, you can work with that.
Determine the type of grass that’s growing. The easier ones to re-establish are Bermuda, St. 
Augustine, and Fescue. If you’re not sure, get down on a mat and start weeding. Sit there, and figure out which plants are the weeds, and which plants are the grasses. You can look them up in a field guide or online. The weeds generally grow flatter, and have shallower roots, or they have a single, thick taproot. Grasses have deeper roots, are a deeper green, and some have rhizomes that propagate new grass (rhizomes are like runners or “tentacles” that grow horizontally).
Now, you weed. What I do is use a big piece of cardboard as my sitting pad. I get out an hour before sunset, and start pulling weeds. After an hour or 90 minutes, I quit. Target the areas with the most grass. Just aim to remove the weeds from the grassy area. Then, water the newly weeded area. This helps the grass to grow stronger, and once the grass is re-established, few weeds will grow there.
I generally pull all weeds, but, don’t bother to pull all the rye grass. It’s considered a weed, but, it tends to grow and die quickly, and sometimes helps the grass out. Over time, it’ll get crowded out by the desirable grasses. If you have a bare spot, you need to purchase some seed. Scratch up the dirt in the bare spot and mix in some grass seed, and maybe some compost. Step on it, and water it a little every day for at least two weeks or until it is established. If the rain is falling, it’ll help.
Keep weeding, daily if possible, until most of the weeds have been pulled. This can take a long, long time, but the hard work will eventually end, to be replaced by occasional weeding. When weeding is complete, you’ll have a kind of lumpy looking lawn, but a lawn nonetheless. It’ll be mostly grass, not weeds. Congratulations!
Also, as winter approaches, the lawn may want to go dormant. The stems turn red, and the leaves turn yellow. If this happens, let it. Look up about hibernating a lawn for the winter.
It’s entirely possible this won’t happen. When spring rolls around, the grass will start growing again. The new grass seed should also grow. The weeds should start growing too. Let them grow a while, and then get out the cardboard and weed again. There will be less weed and more grass.
Now, you can really mow the lawn. Cut at the highest setting. The grass is pretty strong and probably
lush. The lawn won’t be as lumpy either. It might not be a totally beautiful lawn, but, it’ll be a strong one that doesn’t require much watering. Destroying undesirable, perennial grasses in the lawn is difficult. However, if done properly, your efforts should produce an attractive lawn free of grassy weeds. If you plan to lay sod, remove the dead debris before sodding. Late summer and fall are excellent times to lay sod. The basic steps are to remove the old sod. This may be done by hand or with a sod cutter. The soil is then tilled with a power tiller. Additional soil is added to correct for slope and drainage problems. Remove any large rocks you encounter, but it’s not necessary to remove all stones. Ideally, topsoil depth should be at least 4″ — 8″. If adding topsoil, purchase from a reputable supplier. Once spread, till-in new topsoil with the existing soil so it gets mixed thoroughly. Care should be taken to always have the grade slope away from the house, but it should not block the natural drainage of adjacent properties. Improper grading could cause problems for your neighbors so seek professional advise when you are greatly changing the topography of your land.
Smooth out the soil so there’s no dips or high points. For seeding, the soil depth should be about ½” lower than hard surfaces such as your patio or sidewalk. For sodding, it should be about 1-½” lower than these hard surfaces. At this point, you can roll the soil before seeding. Don’t over compact the soil. Never use a roller on an established lawn.
Seeding: A drop spreader works best, compared to a broadcast or rotary spreader. If using a rotary spreader, cut the recommended rate by half and go in two opposite directions. Lightly rake the soil with an upside down rake. Don’t over rake and try not to cover the seeds with more than ¼” of soil. Mulch with straw (not hay). A bale of straw will cover about 2,000 square feet. A simple rule of thumb is that about half the soil will be visible.
Apply a starter fertilizer then water lightly and often. Never ever let the soil dry out until the seeds germinate which may mean several watering’s in one day in hot weather. Once the seedlings emerge, you can begin cutting back on the number of watering’s and gradually increase the quantity of water to that it penetrates deeper. Cut the grass when it reaches about 3″.
No one likes bare ground in the lawn – it is difficult to mow and dirt blows everywhere. If you’d like to see grass instead of bald patches in your yard, plan to re-establish spots in the lawn that are bare or exhibit a light stand of turf grass. Here is what’s required for a healthy stand of Bermuda grass: Sunlight is the major factor influencing the growth of grasses, followed by moisture and then nutrients such as nitrogen.
The shade trees in a landscape mature and cast shadows which can weaken grass stands underneath. 
Another option is to strategically remove trees that are blocking the sunlight. The second factor limiting growth of turf grass is moisture. To maintain a certain level of quality, a good moisture rule of thumb is 1 inch to 1.5 inches per week. Bermuda Grass will vigorously respond to fertility and irrigation/rainfall, so apply fertilizer in mid April when we generally receive annual rainfall. Fertilize the established Bermuda grass using organic methods, such as fish emulsion. If allowed, turf grass will serve us well until we limit sunlight, moisture and nutrients.
Midsummer is an excellent time to control undesirable perennial grasses in the lawn. Most perennial grasses, such as nimble will, are actively growing in summer. Also, midsummer control efforts allow adequate time to kill the weedy grasses and to prepare the areas for seeding or sodding in late summer. Complete destruction of the weeds is necessary to prevent their reappearance. To control tenacious plants like these, it is vital to prevent the seeds from spawning new plants. Using weed and feed on your lawn is the first step. The ‘weed’ part of weed and feed products prevent seeds from germinating, but don’t specifically target weed seeds only. So don’t put this type of product down when trying to patch or seed your lawn, because it will stop the grass seeds from germinating as well.
Although the weed and feed should prevent seeds from germinating, a few stray seeds may hit patches of lawn that aren’t sufficiently protected, perhaps due to uneven application of product. You can prevent many of these plants from flowering at all by frequently mowing your lawn; no flowers no seeds. Frequent mowing by itself is not enough. Even if your weeds are never able to flower, your neighbors probably will. So the combination of mowing and weed and feed chemicals is your best strategy. Unfortunately, the only way to kill a mature weed is to pull it out or use herbicide. Using herbicide on the lawn will kill your grass plus it is not environmentally friendly. Your safest bet for removing mature weeds in the lawn is to completely dig them out, removing the entire taproot.
Reestablish the lawn by seeding or sodding is a lot of work but you will be happy once it is done. If you plan to sow seed, it’s not necessary to dig up the destroyed areas. Remember, don’t use weed and feed where you plan on planting new grass. Small areas can be raked vigorously with a garden rake to remove some of the dead debris and to break the soil surface. After seeding, work the grass seed into the soil by lightly raking the areas. Large areas can be seeded by a turf-type or slit seeder. A turf-type or slit seeder cuts small grooves into the soil and deposits the seed in these grooves. The best time to sow grass seed is mid-August through mid-September. After seeding, keep the soil moist with frequent, light applications of water especially if it is hot outside.
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Foundation gardens are lots of fun to plan!
23
May
Foundation plants help to frame a house and anchor it to the site. With imagination and creativity, the front yard of any home can become a dynamic garden space to be enjoyed rather than merely a static view to be observed. When plantings are unified with a home, they create more than an attractive picture. They convey a welcoming impression to visitors, and an air of permanence and harmony.
Foundation gardens are lots of fun to plan since this is a wonderful opportunity to decorate the outside of your home and to frame it in a lovely garden. Basically foundation gardens are simply beds of plants, often dominated by shrubs for “good bones”, installed along house foundations. Traditionally, shrubs were installed along a house wall to hide the raised house foundations that were prevalent at the time in some regions. Many no longer feel the need to install such shrubs, because house styles have changed, less house foundation to hide or more attractive building materials are being used like brick and stone or they are trying to imitate original Colonial designs. There still seems to be good reasons why people use foundation plantings. For instance, while a raised house foundation may be unattractive, a long uninterrupted wall of vinyl siding isn’t especially appealing, either. Shrubs soften the hard lines of a house, even one with attractive siding. Newly-built homes are sometimes plunked on an expanse of lawn devoid of mature trees. Foundation plantings can quickly counteract this rather bleak look.
The most common foundation planting style consists of three parts: 1. A planting for an entryway design 2. Plantings on the corners of the house foundation 3. And plantings that bridge the gap between these two. This is just a model from which you can expound upon and interject your own creativity. But keep in mind the principles of form and design when creating new ideas. The shrubbery of the entryway design serves as the focal point. Therefore it is important that it makes you feel welcome. However, the rationale goes beyond that. Shrubs for foundation plantings should complement the house they adjoin. Thus, just as, architecturally, the front door should be the focal point on that wall of the house, so the foundation shrubs in the entryway design should be the biggest attention-grabbers of the overall foundation planting. the entryway design and the front door should compliment each other.
In order to ensure that the foundation shrubs in the entryway design will receive the viewer’s focus, symmetry is often used. Such symmetry is often achieved conveniently through the use of container plants. A popular plant for such symmetrical arrangements, whether planted in the ground or in a container, is the dwarf Alberta spruce. It’s dwarf size is perfect for containers and the fact that they are evergreen is also helpful, since that means they’ll provide visual interest year round. Also, evergreen shrubs planted along a house wall can reduce heating costs by creating something of an insulating dead air space around a home’s foundation. For, even if just a few inches of concrete foundation are exposed, that’s a potential route for cold air to enter your house. The insulation value provided by evergreen shrubs is minimal, yes; but every little bit helps!
To give the corners a visual impact plant corner shrubs or small trees far enough away from the corners. Also important is to plant them so that even at maturity, they won’t obscure or touch the corners of the house. Corner plantings should be taller than the rest. Let scale be your guide, adjusting allowable plant height according to the height of your house. However, sometimes you’ll want to change the scale to correct for a scale issue with the design. For instance, perhaps you feel that your ranch-style home is too horizontal. Plant something tall and skinny at each corner, such as Emerald Green Arborvitae shrubs to correct for this. Such corner plantings will break up the home horizontally and lead the eye upwards. In some cases, a small tree with a horizontal branching habit can soften the home’s vertical lines. Dogwoods are a good example especially a variety that stays short about 12′-15′, like the pagoda dogwood (Cornus alternifolia), for corner plantings. Be sure to check your planting zone for all plants you choose.
The remaining foundation shrubbery bridges the gaps in the foundation planting, between the entryway design and the corners. These plants should work in harmony with the foundation shrubs we’ve already been considering. But beyond that, here are some things to keep in mind: Dwarf shrubs are preferable to something that you’ll have to prune, if you prefer a low maintenance landscape design. But don’t think that you are limited to shrubs! Ornamental grasses provide another tall-but-not-too-tall option for inserting an element of vertically. Annual and perennial flowers can be installed in front of foundation shrubs, giving you more options for varying textures and injecting color into foundation plantings.
Locate good-sized shrubs 6 feet tall or higher at maturity in such a way that their mature foliage will remain at least 5 feet away from the house. Also, don’t plant a shrub in front of a window that it will grow to cover. You can get away with planting shrubs that stay shorter a bit closer to the house. Where you live also makes some difference. In hot, humid climates, you’ll want more air circulating between the house and the foundation shrubs, to discourage rot. Adequate spacing between the plants themselves, too, is important, to reduce disease and maintenance. Another reason to plant away from the foundation is you’ll want adequate access to your house in order to work on it. Finally, foundation shrubs growing right under the eaves of a house would be deprived of rainfall.
Ruddy-red tones in the shutters are repeated in the russet-colored blooms of Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’. Fine-leaved plants provide contrast to the rugged texture of stonework. As finishing touches, select plants with foliage or flowers to accent the colors and textures of a house. Russet-colored Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’ can repeat the ruddy-red of a home’s shutters. Similarly, a mass of white astilbe along a driveway can reinforce white trim or siding. Fine-leaved plants, such as English boxwood (Buxus sempervirens ‘Suffruticosa’) and periwinkle (Vinca minor), provide welcome contrast to a bold field stone structure.
Ground covers and hard-scaping can further meld a house with its site. Mulches of colored gravel or coarse bark can complement house colors and textures, while a low stone retaining wall can repeat the surface of a house’s exterior. Even entry walks and steps can blend the house to the garden through the use of harmonious or accentuating materials. A russet-toned brick walkway can repeat similar colors in the house exterior and plantings.
Making a planting plan on paper before breaking ground or buying plants can save time, money, and 
aggravation. I recommend a simple plan and repeated combinations of foundation plants will give you a tidy cohesive look next to your house.
To lay out your bed, use a garden hose to mark the outline or sprinkle flour along the hose for a more temporary mark. Using a sharp spade, dig along the marked line to set the edge of your bed. If the spot is currently covered by lawn, remove the sod using a straight-edged shovel or sod cutter. To make this easier, wet the area thoroughly, then use the shovel to cut the lawn into strips that are the width of the shovel and about 3 feet long. Use the shovel to pry soil test shows a need; in general, excessive amounts of fertilizer will do more harm than good. After your bed is prepared, water it thoroughly and wait a week. This will allow weed seeds to germinate. Pull these seedlings or dig them back into the soil. Use the shovel to pry up and roll back the strips of sod. Once the sod is removed, loosen the underlying soil with a shovel or a power tiller. To prepare your bed, use this opportunity to mix in organic matter such as compost,peat moss, or rotted manure and loosen the soil at least 6 inches deep. Don’t mix in fertilizer unless your
If you have all of your plants on hand, keep them in their pots and set them out on the planting bed. This will give you a preview of how the bed will look, and allow you to make adjustments before digging any holes. When you are satisfied with the placement, plant your garden from largest to smallest container usually trees first, then shrubs, perennials, and finally annuals.To plant, dig a hole that’s twice as wide as the pot or root ball but no deeper. If the tree is potted, loosen the soil slightly around the roots, then place the tree into the planting hole. For balled-and-burlapped trees, loosen the burlap after the tree is in the hole. Cut away as much of the burlap as possible. When the tree is in place and straight, fill the hole one-third with soil, tap firmly to make good contact between roots and soil, then water. Repeat twice more until the hole is filled. Water the tree thoroughly by letting a hose run slowly for 30 minutes.
Plant shrubs in a hole that’s about twice the diameter of the root ball. The top of the root ball should be slightly above the surrounding soil level. Back fill with garden soil, taping firmly to ensure a contact between soil and roots. Water immediately by slowly running a hose at the shrub’s base for about 20 minutes. To plant annuals and perennials set these plants in soil at the same level they were growing in the pot. Firm the soil around each plant with your hands, then water thoroughly. Mulch your garden and edge it for a manicured looked.
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Designing and planting an annual flower bed!
22
May
Designing an annual bed or border is a little like being an artist. You need to consider each aspect of your design including color, time of bloom, scale, form and texture and foliage to determine how your plantings will decorate on your “canvas”.
The best thing about annuals is that their range of choices and their flexibility provide the perfect medium for nearly any experiment you want to try. Another great thing about growing an annual garden is that you can mix things up each year with different flowers of various colors in unique layouts. Every year you can add new personality to your garden. A great positive of having a garden is the number of flowers that your hard work has created. You can cut the flowers to enjoy inside. You can even plant cutting gardens, which can be a bit of a surprise, because with prepackaged cutting gardens, you don’t always know what you’re planting. Enjoy your annuals all year long, using flowers from the cutting garden for bouquets or drying and pressing flowers for various uses.
Let’s say that you have a border bounded on one side by a structure and you want to fill it with annuals. First, decide on a color scheme. It’s best to stick with one to three colors, shades and tints of a single color, complementary colors or primary ones. Then decide whether you’ll be looking for warm or cool season annuals, or a combination of both for a progression of blooms. Planting annuals can be as simple as selecting one favorite flower and flooding an entire planting area with it. Most people, however, prefer to mix different annual flower varieties in their gardens, even though it requires a bit more work and planning. Available colors, height of plants, shade or sun preference, and soil requirements; all of these factors have to be taken into consideration.
Planning an annuals garden in advance is the only way to make sure that an annuals bed is color balanced and that the plants work well together in terms of sun or shade, height, and soil. Look for plants of varying height. Balance the larger plants in your back border with a quantity of smaller ones in the mid- and front border for a sense of scale and proportion. Group your plants so that the forms of their flowers and foliage complement each other. For instance, place hollyhocks behind a plant with full foliage like hostas to fill in for the lanky hollyhocks. Make a detailed plan on paper so that you can use this when you are planting your plants. Make note of spacing for each plant variety.
If you’re aiming for the unstructured effect of an English border, strive for a diversity of forms: rounded shapes with spiky ones, sculptural shapes with airy ones. You might decide to use alternating drifts of plants with similar colors and different shapes. You can design a sort of floral wave by repeating patterns at different heights. You can use these same guidelines to design a freestanding or island bed. Planning an island bed is a bit trickier than planning a border because it can be seen from every angle. For this reason, you’ll want to put your tallest plants in the center of your planting bed and surround them on all sides with shorter ones. As distinct from a border, a freestanding bed usually has a regular or semi-regular, geometric configuration that conveys a more formal feeling that might affect your plant choices.
One reason the English border is so popular among many home gardeners is that this style has no rigid boundaries yet still has structure. It’s organized, yet varied. Most of all, it’s adaptable. While an English border is always organized by height, with tall plants in the back, descending to short ones in the front, it further requires a flow of only two or three compatible hues, clustered in plantings of three or more, then repeated at intervals throughout the border. Beyond this, it can be created in any climate.
An annual flower garden is a great way to ease into gardening as a beginner, as well as adding instant color and impact to your established perennial gardens or other outdoor areas that need a color boost. Gardening with colorful annual plants like geraniums,zinnias, marigolds and petunia plants, can offer instant gratification. Annuals are perticularly popular due to the fact that they bloom nonstop all summer.
After finding the perfect flowers at the nursery or garden center, you can come home, plant them and have a developed annual flower garden full of color in no time. Having an immediate pop of color soon after the long cold winter is like seeing everything go from drab to brilliant Technicolor in no time.
There are several factors to consider when designing your annuals garden, as mentioned before, such as the color, texture, and scale of the flowers you want to plant. Use the following guidelines to help you with the design process. Designing with annuals puts a lot of emphasis on flower color. 
Annuals offer flower color for a longer period of time than other plant types, for they are constantly in bloom. Flowers are not the only source of color in annual gardens. Many plants, such as the dramatic purple orach and more muted silver-gray dusty miller, are treasured for their foliage alone. Others such as cockscombs have both colorful foliage and flowers. And still others like ornamental peppers, eggplants, and dolichos, for instance, provide garden color with their attractive fruits.
Thinking about how you want your annual flowers to appear in your garden is one of the most creative and fun tasks of gardening. While one year you may want to create a massed planting of all red flowers, the next year you may want a free-flowing mix of annual flowers of all different colors, sizes, and forms. Learn how to use the design basics of color, texture, scale, and form to create a visually appealing annuals garden.
Annual flowers provide gorgeous splashes of long blooming color in our summer garden beds. Your local plant nursery will offer a dazzling array of annual flower choices suitable for sun or shade. Prepare the garden bed by damping the soil makes it easier to work in.
Set a sprinkler a day or two before your planting day if it is dry. Adding peat and composted manure to your garden bed is the first step to growing lush and beautiful flowers. Add these soil amendments every year. Open the bag of peat and dump it out, and spread it around the garden bed with your shovel or a rake. It should be a couple of inches deep. Peat adds nutrients and aids the water holding capacity of the soil. Next, add the composted manure to your garden bed. Don’t worry, this product does not smell and has the texture of rich dirt. The composting process kills any weed seeds. Composted manure adds nutrients and improves the texture of all types of garden soils. Turn the soil in the garden bed to mix the amendments. A simple dig, flip, and chop method with a pitch fork does the trick. When you plant your flowers you can mix each planting hole more thoroughly. Rodents and worms will dig around and assist you as well. Remove any weeds you discover as you turn the garden soil.
Now the fun part! Buy annual flowers that are appropriate for your light conditions. The nursery plant tags will tell you if they require sun or shade, expected bloom time, height, and how far apart to plant them in the garden bed. A kneeling pad comes in handy when planting flowers in the ground. Wear gloves and use a garden trowel for planting. A common garden trowel is about 10 inches long and can be used as a simple ruler guide for spacing the flowers. Pop out the annual plugs by gently squeezing the bottom of the plant pack. Make sure the flowers were watered before starting to plant in the garden bed as this is a bit stressful for them. If the roots are matted and grown together gently loosen the root ball with your fingers. Space out the flowers in a loose zig zag pattern. This will look more pleasing than straight lines. Also planting in odd numbers will give your garden a natural look where as planting in even numbers creates a more formal garden. Estimate about one trowel distance between each flower. Plant the plugs in the garden bed. Plant at the same soil level as the plug; if the roots are exposed to air they will dry out too fast and if you plant them too deep they will rot. A small garden bed will look best with large patches of a similar flower. Resist the urge to plant the flowers too close together. It may look sparse for a few weeks, but the flowers will fill out the garden bed as stated on the tag. Over crowded plants suffer more disease and stress problems.
Water your planted garden bed. This step is called muddying them in. Add fertilizer if desired. Next, add a layer of mulch to the garden bed. Water the garden again. Mulch helps keep moisture in the soil and reduces erosion. Mulch also helps prevent airborne weed seeds from sprouting and reduces disease by keeping soil from splashing onto your flowers. Check out my post on muching for information.
Be sure to visit our Flower Shop for all of your gardening needs.
Greenhouses: How to plan and buy!
19
May
A greenhouse can enhance any garden and fit into any decorating ideas you may have for your yard. The idea of a greenhouse means gardening year round, a warm sunny spot to garden in February, or tropical plants that survive the winter. For the avid gardener, the addition of a greenhouse will create a whole new dimension to the excitement and pleasure of the gardening experience. It is so much fun and their is a health benefit for you too. Spending a limited amount of time(this depends on many vairables) under indirect sunlight is good for you not only physically, but is very important mentally. It has been documented to eliminate depression with a minumal exposure of 15 minutes 3 times weekly to sunlight.
While your outdoor garden is susceptible to weather and seasonal changes, a greenhouse is the ultimate controllable 
microclimate. In your greenhouse, you can grow superb tomatoes, strawberries and other fruits and vegetables that are not appropriate for outdoor planting in your region during colder months. Greenhouses are an ideal place to grow and force bulbs, and you can also start thinking about creating an amazing collection of tropical plants, such as orchids. Your greenhouse can help you get a head start on the gardening season by allowing you to grow starter plants that will be ready for transplanting when spring arrives.Greenhouses are the ultimate fantasy for gardeners, but they’re also a big responsibility. One night without heat and all of your plants and seedlings could be goners. Your greenhouse will need heat, water, benches, venting, electricity. And that’s just for starters. Here are some key points to ponder before you buy a greenhouse.
Heat is the bottom line in greenhouses. Without sufficient heat, you’re just gardening in winter. Trying to guess at future heating costs is well beyond my scope. There are electric, gas, propane and natural gas heating units available. They all work well. The choice really comes down to whether you want to have lines laid and what’s available in your area. Electric is convenient and it doesn’t need venting, but if a storm knocks out your electricity, it will also knock out your plants.
Greenhouses come in a large assortment of shapes and sizes, with certain styles being appropriate for certain kinds of gardening. They range from cold frames and small portables to large commercial buildings. Before you venture out to buy a greenhouse, you should learn as much as possible about the different styles available and which greenhouse is appropriate for the kind of gardening you’d like to do.
Get the largest greenhouse you can afford and fit into your yard. Whatever size greenhouse you buy, you will quickly fill it. It is easier and cheaper to purchase a large greenhouse than to try and expand a small greenhouse.
Greenhouse size is usually dictated by factors like available space and construction costs versus need or desire. When choosing a size, consider if the greenhouse will be used year-round, seasonally, or mainly as a sunspace. If you want a greenhouse to house an extensive collection of houseplants, then it is best to plan on building or purchasing a structure that is larger than your current space requirements. Most hobby greenhouse owners find they need a larger greenhouse than they originally thought. Upgrading later on may be more costly than ordering a larger unit from the beginning. Another important size consideration often neglected is height. You want to make sure your greenhouse has adequate head room. You need to consider both peak and eave (sidewall) height. Taller houses are also easier to heat and ventilate because the air has a greater buffer area.
Do you want to grow plants in a greenhouse during the winter? Choosing the right site for your greenhouse will not only determine how well it works as a greenhouse, but how much you will enjoy it. There are several factors to consider in choosing your site. If the greenhouse is going to be used primarily for starting seeds and transplants or plant propagation in the summer, place it in partial shade to minimize heat buildup. You can use a shade cloth to control the amount of sunlight reaching the interior if a partially shaded site is not available. If the greenhouse will be used for growing in late fall and winter, or growing plants to maturity, it will need maximum exposure to the sun. It should receive a minimum of 6 hours of direct sunlight everyday. It is best to position the greenhouse with the ends facing east and west. This will provide more heat gain from the sun during the winter and create less shadowing in the greenhouse. If the southern exposure is restricted, but open to the east, southeast, southwest, or west, turn the greenhouse to the winter sun. Remember the difference in sun angles from summer to winter (the sun is much lower in the winter). Sometimes a shade tree can be an advantage, providing some shade for the greenhouse during the hot summer and letting the sun in after losing its leaves in the fall. The problem with overhanging trees is one of falling branches that can damage your greenhouse.
You want your greenhouse to be easily used. A good site should be sheltered from high winds and easily accessible from your home and garden. Remember the need to move soil, plants, fertilizer, and yourself to and from the greenhouse. Access to utilities such as electricity and water are important requirements to remember also when selecting your site.
Many regions have chronic weather problems such as heavy rain, snow, and/or strong winds. Heavy rains may cause drainage problems in and around the greenhouse. To avoid standing water, choose a spot on high well-drained ground or install a drainage system before the greenhouse is erected. Snow is usually not a problem as long as you provide adequate insulation and heating. Strong winds can be a real problem. In cold weather, winds blowing over a greenhouse can drain it of its interior heat escalating energy costs. Windbreaks are your most effective weapon. A windbreak is an obstacle that “breaks” up the force of the wind. Trees, shrubs, fences, and other structures can all be effective windbreaks. Remember that a windbreak can also obstruct light. Try to locate one where it will block the least amount of light.A level, well drained site will obviously be easier to work with and maintain than a low, swampy, or sloped area. It is also a good idea to locate your greenhouse away from children’s play areas.
There really is no best material for a greenhouse. It is hard to know what’s best when there are so many different materials used to make greenhouses. Aluminum, galvanized steel, wood, PVC, glass, fiberglass, polycarbonate, polyethylene, etc. They all have their place in greenhouse construction. Your needs and budget will determine which is best for you.
Siding for your greenhouse should be your major consideration, since it will affect the cost and efficiency for years to come. A lot of progress has been made in designing better insulated, more heat efficient greenhouse siding and after all, regulating heat is what greenhouses are all about.
Another consideration is light diffusion. You want as much sun light as possible to come into your greenhouse, but you don’t want it directed straight at your seedlings, like a magnifying glass. Choices of greenhouse siding materials will be glass or one of the plastics (fiberglass, polycarbonate, polyethylene film).
Something has to hold up your greenhouse and a good frame can mean the difference between holding up to the wind or continual maintenance. Many times your choice of framing is determined by your choice of siding. Heavier siding requires a heavier frame. Wood is beautiful, but aluminum, galvanized steel or PVC are far more durable.
Your greenhouse doesn’t require a full concrete foundation. However it is nice to have some kind of surface between garden benches in the greenhouse. You could use concrete or lay down some type of pavers. If you do put down a concrete slab, you’ll need to include a drain in the floor. And concrete can become slick when wet, so be sure your slab has some texture to it, for traction. Pavers are nice for drainage, but you will get weeds between the cracks. Pea gravel is another option and is also good for under the potting benches, to prevent things from getting muddy and damp.
Most important is the covering. It will determine the amount and type of light reaching your plants, the overall appearance of your greenhouse, its safety, ease of maintenance, and longevity.
The traditional greenhouse covering, preferred for its permanence and beauty is glass, but one of the least efficient materials for retaining heat, because it transmits heat and cold quickly and has very little insulating value. Greenhouse glass should be double or triple strength to increase heating efficiency and decrease breakage which can be dangerous when installing as well as a problem in the completed greenhouse.
Glass is much heavier than other coverings, requiring more substantial framing. Other disadvantages include: it doesn’t diffuse light, so there’s a risk of burning plants; glass breaks more easily than the plastic coverings (important if you have hailstorms, trees nearby, kids that play baseball, etc.); and finally, slight deviations from horizontal and vertical frame alignment or settling of the foundation can crack it. Most glass greenhouses use either engineered aluminum, steel, or laminated wood frames with full foundations. Never install glass on breezy days. Because of the need for many smaller, overlapping, glass segments in these greenhouses, site selection should take wind into consideration. Air (heat) leakage is greater in glass greenhouses because of the many panes needed.
If you are unsure about your building talents, you might do well to avoid glass as the frame must be absolutely square and rigid. If you must have glass, consider hiring a contractor for your installation.
These coverings include fiberglass, polycarbonate, acrylic sheets, and polyethylene film. All plastics resist hailstone damage and are shatterproof, a distinct advantage over glass. Rigid plastics are stiff, but not brittle. They can be flexed to fit over a curved surface and are available in large sheets. This reduces the number of potential air leaks by reducing the number of joints in the covering.
The first of the practical replacements for glass, fiberglass usually comes in rolls or corrugated sheets and is translucent 
rather than transparent. You can’t see through it but light transmission is roughly equal to glass. Fiberglass diffuses light that passes through it creating a virtually shadowless greenhouse. Fiberglass retains heat more efficiently than glass (but not as well as insulated plastics like multiwall polycarbonate or two layers of inflated polyethylene film) while transmitting less heat into the greenhouse, a benefit in both winter and summer.
Its corrugated form allows overlapping sides to seal well but its undulating ends can make for difficult joints. Aesthetically, the corrugations tend to detract from the structure and grime can collect in valleys. Greenhouse fiberglass is UV protected by a gel coat that will eventually be baked off by the sun lasting only about 6 years before turning yellow. When this happens, dirt accumulates among the glass fibers and becomes very unsightly.
One of the newest covering options, UV treated polycarbonate provides much of the clarity of glass and is stronger and more resistant to impact than other coverings. It is also more resistant to fire than other plastics. Polycarbonate is available in several different thicknesses and normally comes in single, double, and triple walled sheets with many structural walls separating its two flat sides. Single wall polycarbonate is the least expensive and is generally used for its attractive appearance, but it lacks the strength, heat retention, and light diffusing properties of double and triple wall polycarbonate. The multiwall structure gives it greater strength and superior insulating values with the air space built into the product. Multiwall polycarbonate also provides your greenhouse with an even diffused light that minimizes shadow and is optimal for growing plants. Another advantage of polycarbonate is its +15 year lifespan in most areas. Triple wall is rather expensive compared to other covering options, but it will pay for itself in reduced heating costs in cold climates that require frequent heating.
Polyethylene Film is a favorite of commercial growers because of its simplicity of maintenance. Use it for 3 to 5 years (life depends on poly thickness and UV treatment used) then recover with new poly. Used in single thickness, polyethylene film is good for simple cold frames and greenhouses used for starting seeds and other seasonal needs. When two layers are used, and the space between is inflated by a fan creating insulated air space, the polyethylene film retains heat more efficiently than glass houses, saving roughly 40% in heating costs.
Drawbacks to polyethylene film include a relatively short lifespan vs. other coverings, possibilities of rips and tears, and a translucent appearance much like fiberglass. Polyethylene’s low cost, ease of replacement, high light transmission, and good heat retention have made it a favorite of nurserymen and commercial growers.
There are differences in polyethylene film. Cheap, thin films sold at many hardware stores and home centers are unsuitable for greenhouse use. Those films are designed as vapor barriers in home construction and other “interior” uses. Greenhouse polyethylene films are specially coated for protection from UV (ultraviolet) rays which shorten the lifespan of unprotected film. There’s a minimal cost difference and a considerable difference in performance on your greenhouse.
Most greenhouse frames are made from wood, aluminum, galvanized steel, and PVC. Which material is right for you depends a great deal upon where and how you will be using your greenhouse.
Galvanized Steel is what most commercial greenhouses have because they are long-lasting, low cost, and require less framework 
(thus less shadowing) than any other framing material thanks to steel’s natural strength. Steel’s greatest value in greenhouse construction is its strength. You want as much light to enter your greenhouse as possible and steel frames can be thinner than others, creating less shadow. Its other big advantage is its low cost. Steel greenhouses are normally covered with polyethylene film because most frames are not designed to accommodate rigid panels without additional hardware. Be sure that any steel tube greenhouse you purchase is made with heavy-duty galvanized or stainless tubing which is made for outdoor construction purposes to protect it from a greenhouse’s normal humid and corrosive (fertilizer salts) atmosphere.
Galvanized metals will eventually wear off their protective finish and rust from high humidity levels present in a greenhouse. Steel is much heavier than aluminum and generally requires additional hardware to mount a rigid covering to it.
Aluminum is used primarily in conjunction with glass or polycarbonate in architectural sunspaces and hobby greenhouses. It can be anodized in a variety of colors and has low maintenance requirements. Because of its higher initial cost, aluminum is most often used with glass and rigid plastic coverings. Aluminum is the longest lasting of all of the framing materials mentioned because it will never rust, rot, or break down from UV rays.
Aluminum does not have the strength of steel so frame members either must be larger or more numerous. Look for engineered shapes in aluminum that are designed to increase frame strength, because you want as little frame shadowing as possible while not sacrificing the integrity of your greenhouse’s frame.
Wood is most commonly used either for sunrooms or in homemade greenhouses. They are popular because of their attractive look, the ease in which accessories can be added to them, and the low amount of heat loss they produce compared to similar size metal frames. Wood frame structures are most often covered with a rigid plastic or glass. Though very attractive in sunspaces, wood has a limited lifetime in a greenhouse’s damp atmosphere before it starts to deteriorate. Redwood or cedar is recommended because of their natural resistance to the elements and insects. Applying a chemical sealant or stain to the wood periodically can also greatly increase the life of the material.
Wood frames are generally larger and heavier than equivalent metal frames which increases the amount of shadow in the greenhouse. Wood hobby houses are generally small scale with a limited ability to expand once construction is complete.
Over the last 10 to 15 years plastic hobby greenhouses have become increasingly popular. The main advantages of these greenhouses is their low cost, portability, and ease of installation. Plastic is generally used to construct smaller structures because it is not as rigid as metal or wood, but the introduction of options like metal wire supports compensates for what plastic lacks in strength. Plastic frames have become increasingly popular because of the low amount of heat loss they produce compared to similar size metal frames. This is because plastic is a poor heat conductor like wood.
The main drawback to a plastic frame is that ultraviolet rays from the sun will eventually cause the plastic to deteriorate even if it is a UV protected material. UV protected PVC materials generally have a 20 year or better life. Plastic frames are also normally larger than equivalent metal frames which increases the amount of shadow in the greenhouse.
More Words of Wisdom for Consideration Before Committing to a GreenhouseMost greenhouse kits come with only the basic 
framing and siding. Everything else is extra. You may think you can make do, but it’s worth considering these options before you make a major committment.
Check whether you’ll need a building permit in your area.
Shelving and benches are usually sold separately.
You may need shade cloths, if your greenhouse is situated in full sun.
An automated watering and/or misting system will allow you to leave your greenhouse for a few days during the winter.
Make sure your wheelbarrow can fit through the door.
Rule of Thumb: If you buy a greenhouse based solely on your current gardening expectations, it will probably be too small within a year!
Container Gardening: is fun and easy for everyone!
16
May
At this time of year with frequently sunny skies and warm breezes, I am overcome by the desire to plant. If you don’t have space for a vegetable garden or if your outdoor space doesn’t provide the necessary elements to produce the flower garden you’ve always wanted, consider the possibility of “container gardening.” A patio, deck, balcony, or doorstep can provide enough space for a productive, attractive display. Container gardening is the city dweller’s, or anyone confined to a small space, answer to the big backyard garden of yesteryear. You may not have a half acre to plant in flowers and vegetables, but you can get just about the same effect by growing plants in pots. If you live in an apartment with limited outdoor space, you might consider doing a little indoor gardening. By using sunny window sills, you can grow a number of herbs and flowers. People in long term care facilities may enjoy growing plants on the window sills.
While space (or lack of it) is an obvious reason to try container gardening, that is not the only reason 
people choose this method. Often, convenience plays a big part, especially for vegetables and herbs. Having these essentially at your fingertips is a tremendous advantage. The mobility of container gardening makes it easy to rearrange and re sculpture your garden and to add new elements of interest and beauty to your outdoor or indoor spaces.
For busy two-worker families who don’t have time to produce a large garden, a number of well-placed pots on the deck often can do the trick. For the elderly who can’t garden anymore, sometimes a simple tomato plant conveniently located by the back door may be enough to satisfy the craving for fresh vegetables and to recall memories of days past.
Smaller spaces result in smaller costs. Initial set-up costs may be a little more, but once the appropriate containers and materials are purchased, costs are minimal. You will be buying fewer plants, less media, and less fertilizer than for traditional gardening.
Families today are busier than ever and gardening is time consuming. Container gardening reduces the amount of time you spend tending plants. Whether you plant ornamental or edibles, care is minimal. Time-release fertilizer and automatic watering systems can reduce that time even more.
Just as a garden can be a work of art, a well-planned container garden can be attractive as well as useful. Carefully selecting plants will result in a beautiful, yet functional, display with function.
Containers are available in many sizes, shapes, and materials. All containers, whether clay, wood, plastic, or ceramic, should have an adequate number of holes in the bottom for proper drainage. Additional holes should be drilled or punched in containers that do not drain quickly after each watering. Setting the container on a solid surface, such as a cement or patio floor, reduces drainage. Raising the container one or two inches off the floor by setting it on blocks of wood will solve this problem. A 20 gallon pot needs 4 to 6 ¾-inch holes and a 30 gallon pot at least 8 1-inch holes. It is no longer recommended to place stones at the bottom of the pots, although you will need a screen or ‘crock’ to cover the holes. Use pre-soaked terra-cotta pots for plants that like drier conditions and put moisture loving plants like bacopa, cannas and peace lilies in plastic or ceramic pots. Fill the containers to an inch below the rim so that you have room to water, but not so low that the little plants can’t be seen. Once the containers are filled and ready for plants you can pot them up as you find plants that suit your fancy.
The container’s size will be determined by the plant selected. Generally, most plants grown in the 
soil can be grown in containers as long as ample space is provided for them to develop roots. Shallow-rooted crops like lettuce, peppers, radishes, herbs and most annuals need a container at least 6 inches in diameter with an 8-inch soil depth. Bushel baskets, half barrels, wooden tubs, or large pressed paper containers are ideal for growing tomatoes, squash, pole beans, cucumbers, and deep-rooted perennials. What container you choose will depend upon the type of plant and the location. A bonsai, for example, usually will be grown in a small container that won’t allow a large expanse of roots to develop. A regular tree in a planter along the street will need a large container to allow for development of a larger root system.
You also can use planter boxes of varying sizes to grow vegetables and flowers on balconies and patios. Or fill an old discarded wheelbarrow with soil, poke drain holes in the bottom and use to grow geraniums and cascading petunias.
As you think about the size of the container, consider that when filled with moist soil, weight can be a major factor. If you are planning on a large container, mount it on casters so it can be moved easily.
Beware of decorative planters that lack drainage holes. This creates water-logged soil and rotting roots. Research shows that the old practice of placing a layer of gravel in the bottom of the container, to give some room for water to accumulate without saturating the soil, doesn’t really work. If you want to use a decorative planter that doesn’t have a drain hole, put your plants in a regular flower pot and place it inside the decorative container.
If you build a planter from wood, use a wood that won’t rot. Or, line the planter with a water-resistant material. You can use CCA-treated wood or a natural rot-resistant wood, such as redwood. Don’t use any wood that has been treated with Penta or Creosote. These materials are toxic to plants. Penta and Creosote no longer are available to the public, but some wood treated with these materials is still around.
Soil to be used in containers should contain plenty of organic matter. A heavy clay soil will hold too much water and will exclude oxygen that roots need for growth. A good brand of potting soil should work well. Fill the container about four-fifths full of the soil mix. When you water the mix, it will settle and you will have enough room between the top of the container and the top of the soil for adequate water to be poured in each time you water the plants. A fairly lightweight mix is needed for container gardening. Soil straight from the garden usually cannot be used in a container because it is too heavy, unless your garden has sandy loam or sandy soil. Clay soil consists of extremely small (microscopic) particles. In a container, the bad qualities of clay are exaggerated. It holds too much moisture when wet, resulting in too little air for the roots. Also, it pulls away from the sides of the pot when dry. Container medium must be porous in order to support plants, because roots require both air and water. Packaged potting soil available at local garden centers is relatively lightweight and may make a good container medium.
For a large container garden, the expense of prepackaged or soil- less mixes may be quite high. Try mixing your own with one part peat moss, one part garden loam, and one part clean coarse (builder’s) sand, and a slow-release fertilizer (14-14-14) added according to container size. Lime may also be needed to bring the pH to around 6.5. In any case, a soil test is helpful in determining nutrient and pH needs, just as in a large garden. Fertilize plants with the recommended rate of a water-soluble fertilizer every two to three weeks. An occasional application of fish emulsion or compost will add trace elements to the soil. Do not add more than the recommended rate of any fertilizer. Doing so may cause fertilizer burn and kill your plants. Unlike garden plants, container plants do not have the buffer of large volumes of soil and humus to protect them from over-fertilizing or over-liming.
Pay particular attention to watering container plants. Because the volume of soil is relatively small, containers can dry out very quickly, especially if they are on a concrete patio in full sunlight. Daily or twice-daily watering may be necessary. Apply water until it runs out the drainage holes.
It is almost impossible to over-water containers especially if it is hot and windy. Water at the base of the plants and never let them dry out. When plants get too dry their feeder roots die and the plants must waste energy reproducing roots instead of fruit or flowers. Some plants such as annual Geranium and Dracaena prefer it a little dry, so be careful not to over-water them. When the weather is cool and wet and when the containers are in the shade, less watering is required. Reduce evaporation from large pots by covering the soil with mulch. Most containers do better if they are kept out of the mid-day sun, so try to give them some shade with a trellis or umbrella at this time of day. Keep your ‘Martha Washington’ geraniums out of the afternoon sun!
Since containers need to be watered so often, much of the nutrients are washed out and therefore they need to be fertilized frequently. Get in the habit of fertilizing (water-soluble) at half strength every week or two. Use a fertilizer that is high in the second number (Phosphorus) as a rooting solution because it promotes root growth. A fertilizer that is high in the first number (Nitrogen) is good for growing the foliage. You may wish to use a fertilizer with a high third number (Potash) in mid-July as it encourages fruiting and flowering. You are always safe with a balanced or even numbered fertilizer.
Water clay pots and other porous containers more frequently, as they allow additional evaporation for the sides of the pots. Small pots also tend to dry out more quickly than larger ones. If the soil appears to be getting excessively dry (plants wilting every day is one sign), group the containers together so that the foliage creates a canopy to help shade the soil and keep it cool.
Check containers at least once a day and twice on hot, dry, or windy days. Feel the soil to determine whether it is damp. Mulching and windbreaks can help reduce water requirements for containers. Consider installing an automatic trickle irrigation system if you plan to be away for extended periods. Factors influencing the time between watering’s include size of plant within the container, volume of soil to store the water, porosity of the soil mix and porosity of the container. A large plant in a small container will require watering every few days, or maybe every day in sunny, hot, windy weather. Porous containers, such as unglazed clay pots, will let the soil dry out much faster than a container with a sealed outer surface. A sandy soil mix will not hold as much water as a heavier clay type of mix.
The possibilities for container gardening are endless. Apartment dwellers can grow vegetables in containers on balconies. Varieties have been developed specifically for container use. Yellow Canary tomato is a compact 6-inch plant that is designed for growing in pots. Red Robin and Goldie tomatoes work well in hanging baskets. Watermelon plants that grow 3 to 5 feet across, can produce 12 to 14-pound watermelons.
A lot of us like to grow tropical plants, such as citrus trees or dwarf bananas, in containers. Because of our short growing season, these can be planted in large containers that can be rolled around. If you have a large south-facing window, place them in front of that window in the winter when the sun is low in the south. Then move them outdoors in the summer. You will not corner the market on citrus fruit production, but a lot of people get a fair amount of production growing this way.
The advantage of container gardening is its versatility. You can enjoy plants in and area where a garden bed is not feasible, such as decks, rooftops, pavement, stairways and balconies. You can try plants that you do not have room for in your gardens or that are not hardy for this area. You can keep color going all season long with annuals and move them to wherever there is a lull in the perennial bed. If they do fade, you can move them to a less noticeable spot or change some of the plants in the pot. You have the ability to try new things, which I like to do each year.
Other benefits of container gardening are they are convenient for the disabled, elderly or the very young. If your soil is poor or if you don’t have any land then container gardening is perfect for you. Whether you are a cook looking for fresh herbs or a plant lover who can never get enough container gardening is fun
Although a pot with red geraniums, petunias and a spike is beautiful, you can have fun creating container gardens or gorgeous one-plant pots. Use annuals, perennials, vegetables, herbs, bulbs, grasses, and tropical plants in plain, colorful or imaginative containers. Move them around like throw pillows and vary them throughout spring, summer, and fall and from year to year.
Be sure to visit out garden shop!
Why Grow Plants From Seed?
07
May
If this is your first time growing from seed, then you are on the right track. Educate yourself is my first suggestion. Even if you are a seasoned gardener it is a wonderfully fulfilling task to grow your own plants. Watching a plant grow through its entire life cycle, seed to plant and back to seed, is very rewarding and often makes growing from seed worth the effort. But it does take effort and a little know how.
Visit our Vegetable and Flower Stores for a vast range of plant varieties, colors, growth forms as well as organic seeds. Purchasing online is cheaper because you don’t have to pay sales tax and many vendors ship for free, plus there is no overhead! So starting from seed affords you more choice. Many types of vegetables, herbs and flowers are very easy to grow from seed. You can save money and find a larger variety to choose from when you start your own. Growers don’t need to settle for the smaller selection of plants available at the local garden center.
Although it’s not always the case, growing from seed can also be less expensive than the purchasing seedlings or mature plants. You’ll get the best results if you purchase fresh seeds, packaged for the upcoming growing season. High quality, fresh seeds from reputable seed producers have the best rates of germination. If you have saved seeds that you purchased last year, before planting test the germination rate. Starting seeds indoors, prior to the outdoor growing season, does require the right supplies for creating a suitable indoor environment, but most of the expense is associated with the first season your start seeds. Once you have the equipment, the cost of growing from seed is minimal.
Start with the basics:
Soil, water, light, and good seed. That’s it, generally speaking. The soil needs to be a good quality seed mix that you can buy ready to go or you make yourself. The soil should consist of garden loam, clean sharp sand, and peat moss, humus, or leaf mold in equal parts. The soil itself needs to be thoroughly dampened but not soggy. The container should drain well. Some gardeners use a layer of gravel with a thin layer of sphagnum moss topped with the soil. The soil can be put into seed trays or pots that have been sterilized and soaked. During the course of germination, seeds need to be kept uniformly moist and must not be allowed to dry out. At the same time, they should not be too wet. I like to water from the bottom.
Preparations:
Try all kinds to see what works for you. Make sure they are clean and have good drainage. If you are using a fiber or peat pot, soak it well before adding soil. Dry fiber pots draw moisture away from the soil. Even moisture continues to be critical. Delicate seedlings can be sprayed or watered with a bulb syringe using room temperature water. Don’t allow them to get soggy though. Water in the morning, but let them go to sleep dry.
As they grow, thin by removing weaker plants. Don’t cut or break them off; pull them gently from the soil.
Fill pots or flats to within 1/4 inch of the top with your potting mixture and level the surface. It’s a good idea to 
water the soil and allow it to drain thoroughly before sowing the seeds. Make a hole for each seed with your finger or a pencil. Keep in mind that most seeds need to be planted four times as deep as the seed is wide. If your seeds are very fine, cover them with a fine layer of soil.
Germinating medium should be kept evenly moist but not soaking wet. Too much moisture will cause the seeds to rot. Use a fine sprayer to water newly planted seeds and tiny seedlings or, if possible, water from the bottom. If you can, slip your pots and flats into plastic bags to keep the humidity and moisture even and reduce the frequency of watering.
Germinating:
Once germinated, all seedlings need light to develop into strong, healthy plants. Seedlings in a window need to be turned every day to prevent them from bending.
If you do not have an area in your home that receives a large amount of natural light, purchase an inexpensive shop light and use a full spectrum grow-light bulb. Hang the light on an adjustable chain and S hooks, just barely over the top of the seedlings, and adjust the height as your seedlings grow keeping the light about 3-4 inches from the seedlings. This is an important step. Supplement the natural light with full spectrum grow-light bulbs for added plant health. The seedlings may need bright light, but should not sit in direct sunlight, which can burn small plants. A southern exposure, just out of direct light, is often ideal.
The temperature for germination should be about 60–70 degrees. Germination mats are helpful, especially if your house is cold, but you can set the trays anywhere the temperature is in that range. Sometimes the top of the refrigerator works, or near a wood stove. Again read the specific instructions for the seeds you’ve selected.
Young plants germinating from seed are fragile and vulnerable. Purchase a special growing mix for starting seeds and trays that provide good drainage. Be sure to keep the soil evenly moist while the young plants are developing root system. Cover with fine soil three times the diameter of the seed.
Various seeds require different handling. Some seeds require light to germinate while others prefer total darkness; others need to be scarified (a roughening up or pricking seed coats: I use sandpaper). Still others need to be presoaked. Your seed packet should tell you what your seed’s requirements are, if not google your plant for detailed information.
Seedling Care:
The care you give your seedlings in the weeks following germination is critical. Keep them moist, but not 
dripping. Small pots and flats dry out quickly, so I use a clear plastic hood about 6-8 inch tall. If your seedlings are growing in a windowsill, turn often to encourage straight stems. The warmth needed for germination is no longer required. Dropping the temperature to between 50 and 60 degrees once the seed leaves appear forces the plants to become more stocky and vigorous. (A basement works great).
The first two leaves you will see on the plant are not true leaves but food storage cells called cotyledons. Cotyledons, the first leaves a young plant sends up and it will be hard to tell your plants apart because at this stage they all look more or less the same except for size. So it is a good idea to label your plants. The true leaves develop next and at that point you’ll be able to distinguish between your tomatoes and the thyme. Once the first true leaves have developed, it’s time to start fertilizing. A diluted, high-quality organic fertilizer applied once a week encourages healthy development of young plants. If you plan to transplant, don’t fertilize until you’ve moved the seedlings.
Seedlings also require adequate air movement to help prevent fungal growth and stems rotting at the soil line. A small fan set up in the growing area, or a ceiling fan in the room, will do the job. Also, don’t forget to wash your hands before you work with your plants. Your hands carry all kinds of micro-organizems that can kill young plants.
Transplanting:
Transplanting strengthens some plants and weakens others. Find out which category your seedlings fall into before choosing 
your container. Read the seed packets because they will often tell you what works and what doesn’t. No seed packet can replace a good gardening book and experience though.
To transplant, prepare containers and soil. Terracotta pots should be soaked ahead of time. Soil should be moistened uniformly, but remain workable. It should form a ball but readily fall apart. If it’s super sticky, it probably has too much clay. Amend with compost and some sand for better drainage. Use a teaspoon or fork to lift transplant from the soil. Place in a prepared container and firm soil carefully about the roots. Don’t plant too loosely. If you are transplanting from seed trays, gently pull the young plants apart and place gently in a prepared hole. If you’ve transplanted your seedlings from seed tray to peat pots, then you can plant your plants directly into the ground without disturbing the roots again. This is the best choice for plants that are weakened by transplanting.
Planting Plan:
Don’t rush to transplant seedlings into the garden and don’t transplant until your seedlings have a couple sets of true leaves. If they won’t withstand frost, be sure all danger of frost has passed before setting them out. Consider what does well with other plants. Some plants, especially vegetables, will not produce well if planted near incompatible plants or in the soil of an unloved plant from the previous season. Color combinations can make a difference too. If your seedlings require staking or trellises, it’s best to have those in place before you plant. These can offer unique decorating ideas for your garden.
Water the ground outside and the seedlings thoroughly before transplanting. This helps prevent transplant shock. It’s preferable to transplant on a cloudy day so strong sun won’t wilt your seedlings. Dig a hole about twice the size of the root ball and set the transplant into the hole so the root ball will be covered by 1/4 inch of soil. Press the soil firmly around the roots. A small depression around the plant stem will help trap moisture. Water immediately after transplanting and every day for the first week. Be sure to water deeply so you plants won’t develop shallow roots.
Hardening Off:
Before planting outside, you will have to ‘harden off’ your seedlings, exposing them to the outdoors for short and then longer 
stretches of time so that they can become acclimated to the sunlight and temperature fluctuations
It takes a few days for plants to become accustomed to their new environment. If you protect them from environmental stresses and hungry bugs and slugs, you should start to see them take off in about a week as long as the weather cooperates. Timing is important, but even the most experienced gardeners are only able to do their best guessing about when to transplant. A very wet or dry spring can throw off your entire time table.
One week before transplanting your seedlings outdoors, start to harden them off. Tender young plants must be protected from wind, strong light, and cooler temperatures. This process acclimates the soft and tender plants to their new environment. Move the plants to a shady outdoor area at first, and bring them indoors for the night if night temperatures are cold. Each day, move them out into the sun for a few hours, increasing the time spent in the sun each day. At this stage, start watching for slugs and bugs. Slugs in particular are notorious for annihilating small seedlings. If you see them, kill ‘em. I put out slug bait around each stem, but not touching it. Continue keeping them evenly moist. It takes about two weeks to condition your plants.
Balcony Gardening: Make the most of small spaces!
07
May
