Home is where the heart is.
No-mow grass lawns are appealing, natural, low-input alternatives to the traditional short green grass grass in the house garden. To keep the gorgeous meadow effect, keep foot traffic to a minimum. Plant shrubs, perennials, bulbs, ground cover and other low maintenance plants in borders, to ensure that regular walks through your no-mow yard to attend…
Even though African violets (Saintpaulia ionantha) and phalaenopsis orchids (Phalaenopsis spp.) Both require well-drained potting mixtures, their growing conditions are too dissimilar for them to do well at precisely the same sort of planting medium. Phalaenopsis orchids, hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12, naturally grow on tree trunks and…
Where water is plentiful and temperatures are moderate, plants have broad, thin leaves with a great deal of surface area for maximum photosynthesis. Plants adapted to drought conditions, however, exhibit several structural characteristics that prevent water loss, helping them live hot, dry conditions. In addition they have physiological mechanisms which are not directly observable and…
Herbs in hanging baskets means while herb hanging baskets are not usually full of blossoms, what they lose in ornamental value they make up for in convenience, and not needing to share your crop with snails or slugs. Snipping a few leaves from a basket hanging beyond the kitchen doorway is much easier than walking…
Landscaping around your house can make it look more attractive, and trees are among the most impressive and useful landscape elements. If you’d like your house to appear wider, plant a tree near its corner, then choosing a variety that is not overly tall but has a broad canopy. A dogwood (Cornus spp.) Is a…
Occasionally small watermelon fruits (Citrullus lanatus) drop from the crops as babies instead of expanding into the giants you’re expecting. Watermelons abort fruits for several reasons: because there are too many on a single plant, because the fruits have succumbed to a disease or because the plant is not healthy enough to sustain them, because…
Plants provide fruit for snacking and jams in addition to add beauty to the landscape. The challenge of blueberry bushes that are growing is to find the dirt to the proper acidity. Plant the berry bushes in good draining, loose soil with lots of organic substance. With proper care in USDA plant hardiness zones 6…
Hanging baskets have been a characteristic of British gardens for generations. Usually planted with an array of summer-flowering annuals and half-hardy perennials, they set that additional something into even a small garden. Traditional hanging baskets were bowl shaped, but we now locate them in a variety shapes and materials, woven from such obscure materials as…
If you call it pops, coriander or Chinese parsley, cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) elicits a strong reaction. People love it. A sizable minority can not stand that, frequently calling the flavor “soapy,” which scientists now believe is a hereditary response. Either way, it is an essential herb for many favourite dishes, especially those from Asian and…
I prefer subtle yet unique elegance when it comes to layout. If there’s a selection, suggested beauty over a loud, statement-making piece generally wins out. What I particularly admire about the ‘Sunset Gold’ breath of heaven cultivar is that you are so easily able to really go either way with only 1 plant. Whether prominently…