Garden Design

You’ve got a mature garden, one you’ve tended lovingly for many years. Every available space is used. You’ve got beds of flowers which provide three seasons of color, maybe even four. Your trees and shrubs are mature, you have lovely pathways accented with benches for a relaxing moment, a ’secret’ garden for the kids and a well established vegetable garden, producing a healthy bounty every year. You’ve even got your garden to the point of requiring very little maintenance. How can you possibly improve on this picture? Garden figurines can be your icing on the cake, lending that final gourmet touch to your beautiful garden.

photo credit: breekp

Maybe your garden is still in the work-in-progress stage. You’re still adding and refining. You’ve just completed a pathway, leading to your secret garden, a place to relax or for kid’s play. Garden figurines should figure into your design of this area of the garden. Garden figurines and statuary can be as simple as a small, whimsical bronzed frog, seated at the edge of the bench, atop a small pedestal, ready to greet you as you sit down with a book and a tall glass of lemonade. Larger garden figurines, reminiscent of the lion statues flanking the steps of New York City’s Metropolitan Museum can add an elegant statement to your secret garden’s official entry. Religious garden statuary can create a soothing environment, placed next to a bench, or serving as a point for contemplation along a garden pathway.

Garden globes and sundials are other forms of garden figurines which can create a dramatic effect, given the right placement. Both of these are usually used as ‘centerpieces’, placed at the center of a circular brick or paving stone feature, or at the center of a formal herb garden. Garden globes come in a variety of colors, which you can use to coordinate with the colors of a surrounding bed of flowers. A yellow garden globe contrasts nicely with a bed of flowers in shades of blues and purples, providing a focal point which showcases the flower bed. Sundials, the first timekeepers, are fascinating garden additions, giving pleasure to both kids and adults.

When considering the placement of a particular garden statue or figurine, allow enough free space around the piece to be sure garden visitors can easily view it ” don’t hide it in a dense patch of ground cover! If the piece is small, ensure that there’s at least 6-12 inches of ground around it. Installing edging ensures that your figurine won’t become overgrown. Alternatively, set the figurine on a pedestal.

Nurseries and home improvement centers carry large assortments of garden figurines from which to choose, in a variety of sizes suited to every garden situation. There are also stores which specialize in garden figurines and statuary. You’ll find selections in stone, finished cement, as well as wood, bronze and other metals.

Garden figurines are a great way to add refinement and elegance to your garden. Go take a look at what’s available. One thing leads to another. You may end up with a collection!

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How To Grow Bonsai in The Most Popular Styles

Simply put, the miniaturized versions of bigger trees are what we call Bonsai trees. They’re alive and they’re not plastics that look similar to each other. There are indeed different bonsai styles like the bigger trees. In fact, their shapes and forms are what please the bonsai tree holders. These styles are formal upright, informal upright, cascade, semi cascade, slant and windswept. These are the different types of bonsai trees available for shaping, training or forming. Knowing the styles enable the bonsai lovers to choose specific pots for the specific style the bonsai tree is trained to be and decide which caring tips they need to grow the trees beautifully.

Upright styles: Formal and Informal

Formal upright style is the style where the trunk of the tree is straight upwards and the first lower branches are far wider than the rest. The preceding branches will then proceed to shape an overall triangular look for the tree. This is a great shape for beginners to practice with. Trees that are suitable for these types of bonsai trees style are Pine, Larch, Juniper and Spruce. The informal upright style is similar to the formal upright except that the top branch needs to be extended forward instead of upwards. This lends the tree an impression of motion.

Slant types of bonsai trees

If the Informal upright types of bonsai trees style are suitable for Beech, Japanese maple and Trident Maple trees, this slant style can be chosen for almost all bonsai trees. This is the style wherein the trunk extends to one direction while the lowest branch extends to the other direction. This style is quite common and very easy to shape and train.

Cascade style Bonsai

If they do not like the simple styles of upright and slant, then they can choose among the cascade and semi cascade styles. These styles have a sloping effect plus the trunk is vertical and turned to one direction. Aside from that, the branches are trained to slope or cascade lower than the surface of the pot. Sometimes, some people do not want the trunks turned into one direction so they choose the semi-cascade style, which is the same as the cascade style except the trunk gradually slopes.

Windswept style Bonsai

The windswept style looks like the bonsai tree has been beset by strong winds. It looks a bit unruly and beautifully unkempt. These are most of the common styles that bonsai plants are usually trained to be.

Prune to produce different styles of Tree

Getting the style of bonsai tree you want is easy. All you have to do is prune and trim. These styles have been practiced for centuries as an art form. This is one of the most important maintenance issues of this particular plant. Aside from shaping the bonsai into the desired form, pruning and trimming could maintain balance of the bonsai tree as you reduce growth taking place above the ground.

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Gardening. How do I keep a Crocosmia or Lucifer Perennial over the Winter in my Garden?I Live in Midlands UK.?

It should be ok,but just to be on the safe side you can always cover them with a mulch or even put some wallpaper lining paper over them first, then cover with mulch, this stops them from rotting if you get a wet winter

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Brians Tip to Control Pests Safely

photo credit: modean987

When considering pest control in the garden, this must be done with the safety of yourself, animals, and your plants in mind. This applies in particular when dealing with vegetables and organic gardens.

The whole concept of growing vegetables organically fails if they become tainted with pest control chemicals.

Here are some tips I find useful for long term maintenance which will make your pest control effort more environmentally friendly and less damaging.

1. Use physical pest control processes.
I’m talking about creating barriers and traps for pests, plugging holes, and where you can, by picking grubs off by hand. Snails like to hide in damp places, especially under rocks and towards the base of plants that have strap like foliage.

2. Use biological pest control methods.
Try to encourage predatory insects such as dragonflies and green lacewings to feed on pests such as aphids which attack your plants. You do this by placing a shallow bowl of water near the plants in your garden to which you want to attract the insects. Dragonflies like hovering around water. If you have a caterpillar problem, you could use a bacterial insecticide such as B. thuringiensis.

3. Here are some safer pest control substitutes you might wish to consider.
Many of the ingredients used in these methods can be found at home in your kitchen cupboard. Recipes for alternative pest control include the following:

Against Green Aphids and Mites - Mix 1 tablespoon of liquid soap and a cup of vegetable oil. Dilute a teaspoon of this solution in a cup of water and spray on aphids and mites.

Against Cockroaches - Dusts of boric acid can be applied to cracks or entry points of these insects. Bay leaves on pantry shelves could also help in warding off cockroaches.

Make sure that the chemicals you use are made specifically for the insects you are targeting.

4. Chemical pest control should only be used as a last resort.
Many organic pest control methods are a very successful. If you must use a chemical spray try and find the least toxic. These sprays include dehydrating dusts, insecticidal soaps, and horticultural oils.

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Brians Tips for Basic Gardening Tools

photo credit: Unhindered by Talent

Most people do their best to keep their garden presentable and sometimes this leads them to start gardening as a hobby. Like any hobbies, gardening can quickly become an expensive undertaking. You are bombarded with advertising constantly for the latest wiz gadget, and it can be very tempting to think I may need that, and buy it.

Basic gardening however doesn’t have to be expensive. I mean, did your grandfather need a fully automated rotary tiller for example? Probably not. If you do need one for example if you are creating a new lawn, there is little point in buying one. It’s much more sensible to rent one, or have a gardener do it for you. May I suggest a good firm (big grin)?

To get started all you need is some simple sound tools, and they don’t have to be expensive. It’s quite possible to pick up some good gardening tools at a local car boot sale. There are always people disposing of surplus garden tools.

You don’t need to buy them new. It does not matter if they’re a little rusty. Rust will not interfere with the growing process and can always be removed with a scouring pad.

Here is a basic list of tools that you will need.

* Shovel. A shovel should have a good sturdy handle that is easy to grab. Avoid thinner handles that may break and also because thinner handles are more likely to blister your hands.
* Spade. A lot of people tend to think that a shovel and a spade are much the same. A spade is primary used to break up the ground, not for lifting. Again a thick handle and a comfortable grip are important. You should acquire two spades, one being a smaller hand held spade to accommodate for work in smaller spaces.
* Rakes. You need two types of rakes. A lawn rake to gather up leaves, fallen twigs, moss, and lawn cuttings, and a ground rake which you used to smooth the ground and flower beds.
* A hoe. There are many cool designs on the market, but in the interests of simplicity a standard square hoe will suffice for most garden tasks to begin with.
* Wheelbarrow. A Wheelbarrow is essential if you’re doing any type of gardening or yard work. A broad wheeled barrow should be chosen to spread the weight when using it on a lawn. It should be lightweight easily wheeled about, and again, care and attention should be paid to the handles to prevent your hands becoming blistered during use.

Really these tips are nothing more than a commonsense approach to basic gardening, and with a little thought and some work, gardening doesn’t have to be an expensive proposition.

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