Related Articles

You Take The Vacation - Not Your Garden
If you are planning to go on vacation, there are some important tasks that you really must undertake to ensure that your garden continues to maintain that well cared for condition which you constantly strive for.After all, because you have spent so much of your time during the rest of the year trying to achieve perfection, it would be a great pity if some of that good work were to be undone.

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The Protea Family (Proteaceae)
The protea family (Proteaceae) includes a wide range of ground covers, trees and shrubs that often make superb garden plants. While some of the species are frost-tender, they are in all other respects remarkably resilient plants that often thrive in situations where others would rapidly succumb.

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Hand Feeding your Koi
One of the most rewarding and entertaining things about having a Koi pond is when your fish finally start eating out of your hand. There is no better way to learn each fishes' personality and temprament than to have them nuzzle your fingers when they are hungry.

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How To Brighten Up Your Home With These Flower Arrangement Ideas
A beautiful flower arrangement piece can become the focal point of the room you choose to decorate. It's truly fascinating how we can combine different flowers to create a mesmerizing bouquet.

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Blue Wild Flowers for Your Garden
Planting wild flowers in your garden, or simply scattering wild flower seeds around an area of your yard are both ways to take advantage of Mother Nature's treasured gifts. Wild flowers are carefree, colorful, and tend to attract bees, butterflys and birds.

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How to Grow a Pineapple
The first thing you need to grow a pineapple is a pineapple. The pineapple (ananas comosus) is a bromeliad; in fact, one of the few in its family that is edible.

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How to Grow Basil
Today there are sprays, scented candles, plug-ins, and even discs that promise to freshen your air by putting a variety of aromas into your home. However, when you know how to grow basil, you can have enough variety of fragrance to package your own potpourri! The most commonly grown basil is the annual, ocimum basilicum that carries a minty fragrance that smells like? well, it smells like sweet basil.

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Gardening on a Budget
When we moved into our south Anchorage log home I had glorious plans for the 1/3 acre lot. Some previous owner had chopped down every tree counting on the neighboring woodlands for green and shade.

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Companion Planting
If you look closely at the natural landscape, you'll never see a large area populated by a single species. Why then would it make sense to plant a single crop in a field or in a section of your garden? It doesn't.

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Landscape Design
Landscaping is a wonderful pastime enjoyed by many. It provides a natural beauty and needs no ornaments or other attractive items to help achieve its magnificence.

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You Say Tomato I Say Mosquito
Gathering tomatoes or other fruits of the garden might not sound like a dangerous occupation, but with terrorism running rampant these days, even a walk thru the garden can require pre-emptive measures. In fact if you left the screen door open for a minute or so and heard a whiny frequency accompanied by a slight tickle it may already be too late, if that slight tickle was the allergic reaction of your skin cells to the Culex, Aedes or Anopheles mosquito, one of the several species that prefer humans, and are capable of transmitting microbial organisms to living cells.

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Compost YES, Epsom Salts NO
You'll often hear garden writers recommending the use of Epsom salts in the garden as a general rule. First off, I'm not one of those writers.

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Invite Spring Early - Grow in Your Basement
Now's the time to get ready to grow your own seedlings! It's not really difficult, and can extend your growing season by many weeks. For example, by planting brassica's (cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower) in February in your basement under grow-lights, you can put large, sturdy transplants into your garden by the end of March or early April, and be eating them when others are just seeing them come up! However, remembering that photosynthesis, using light, heat and moisture causes plant growth, you must follow a few key natural principles very carefully, or you will be disappointed.

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Build a Rain Garden
There's a new garden in town. It is (mostly) easy to install, looks good year-round, requires almost no maintenance and has a terrifically upbeat impact on the environment.

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Lady Bugs Are Your #1 Natural Pest Control
First, this bug has many names. Some of it's names are:lady bugs ladybugs lady beetle asiatic lady beetle Asian Lady Beetle Asian Lady Bugs Multicolored Asian Lady BeetleThe Ladybird Beetle is the correct name for a Lady bug and are not bugs but are beetles.

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Planting Bare Root Roses
Before planting, the plants must be prepared. The following suggestions will help insure that your roses grow into healthy bushes, trees, etc.

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Overwintering Pond Fish
The metabolism of koi and goldfish is controlled primarily by water temperature. As the water cools, pond fish require less protein in their diet.

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How to Choose the Right Bulbs for Your Spring Flower Garden
Choosing the right bulbs involves more than just selecting colors and cultivars. Timing, bulb size, and most importantly, bulb health are equally significant factors in designing your spring garden.

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Lawn Edging
How do you make those flowers bloom where they are planted and not go overboard and how do you make your turf stick to its own turf and not edge into your flower beds, borders, and garden spaces? Lawn edging is the answer!Edging bricks, lawn timbers, and treated wood edging , molded plastic edging and heavy duty plastic strips are all ways to wall in your flowers and keep weeds out of your garden and the other landscaped areas of your yard. In addition to curbing your weed problem, lawn edging also keeps mulch and decorative landscape treatments in place.

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Add Value to Your Home - Landscaping
Just recently my friend had his house appraised between $800,000 and $815,000 by two different independent house valuators. He spent two days hard work in the garden placing new grass on mats, bringing in new plants, putting creepers on the wall, and adding a water feature.

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