Month: June 2013

Choosing someone in landscaping will add beauty to your home.  The outside of your home should look as nice as the inside of your home.  A landscaper is someone who will perform a variety of services dealing with your landscape architecture.

First determine what you need a gardener for and how much you can afford to spend on one.  Maybe you just need someone to mow your lawn and do your wedding a couple times per month.  Or maybe you need someone to level your lawn and put up a whole new architectural creation.  Determine what your budget is.  There is no need to create a masterpiece when all you can afford is a flower garden.

 

The best way to locate a gardener is through word of mouth.  The internet is another way to locate one.  You want to stay away from direct mail advertisers or the Yellow Pages.  These are not reliable methods.  If you know someone that has used a landscaper in the past, ask who they used and if they were satisfied with their services.

 

Once you have a list of about three or four landscapers, it is time to call and ask questions.  You want to know how long they have been in business, what services they provide, if they belong to any professional landscaping associations, if they are state licensed and what are the qualifications of their workers.

 

You should be sure to ask for a couple of references of work they have done.  Drive by the locations if you can to get a feel for the work they do.  If that is not possible, you at least want to see photos of the work

Backyard walkways as well as patios make a beautiful and tranquil space for the family to spend cool evenings relaxing or a place for summer barbecues.  If you have young children or pets and you have created a stunning space in your backyard for flowers and shrubs, having a stone or brick walkway will define what is off limits.  Building a walkway or patio is an easy project that you can do yourself as part of a weekend project.

If your goal is to have a walkway that is permanent, it is suggested that you pour concrete or mortar down first and then use brick on top.  You can then seal the walkway in place by using mortar to fill in the joints.  If you want to change your walkway design every once in a while, you can pour a layer of sand down to create the walkway design you want and then lay whatever type of material you are going to use over the sand.  To secure the materials in place, you can use sand in between the joints.

 

Creating an addition to your floral garden can by done by using concrete block that have no mortar.  These are preferred because they are weather resistant and cost less than regular designer materials.  Mortarless bricks are also often used for wall elements to protect walkways or driveways from eroding.  Some people also use these as a wall that follows a staircase leading up to a home or down to a pond.  It creates elegance and beauty again the wooden staircase.

The first mistake that some new gardeners make is that they start their gardens in the wrong place. I learned this from early on in my gardening ventures. Soil is the most important part of planting a garden. You need to choose the perfect site. When I first started the garden and I knew where I wanted it to be, I actually took a soil sample from the area I was considering to my local co-op extension to be tested. Turns out, I had ideal soil and was all set to start planting a vegetable garden. I started small with just tomatoes and then just added more after I mastered the art of growing tomatoes. What types of vegetables to grow will depend on where you live and how much room you have. A plant needs a lot of sun and heat whereas corn takes up a lot of room.

Be aware that gardening takes a lot of time and patience. You have to weed, harvest and water your garden constantly.  You should estimate that you will need to work on your garden on an average of 20 to 30 minutes a day. If you go out of town for an extended period of time, you will need a neighbor or someone to tend your garden while you are away

 

You will need a few tools to start your garden such as a garden hose, rake, hoe and shovel. Some people will start off with a shovel and garden hose. But this will depend on what your budget is and you can always add on to your garden tool collection later on.

Many people may have not heard about bonsai plants and if they have, they may not be sure what it is.  In simple terms, a bonsai is defined as a plant in a pot.  These plants are plant masterpieces.  Choosing the right pot for your plant is important for the overall image.

When choosing a pot for your tree, there are a few basic rules to keep in mind as far as the dimensions.  The pot that you choose should be the same dimension as the diameter of the bonsai trunk, slightly over the soil level.  If you are choosing an oval or rectangular pot, you should choose the pot length that is 2/3 of the plant height.  For pots that are round, the pot diameter should be 1/3 of the plants height.

 

The first thing you should know when choosing a pot is whether or not your plant is a male or female.  Some trees are a combination of both but one sex will still dominate over the other.  Masculine pots have an older bark, deadwood, tapered trunk and angular, strong branches.  Feminine plants will be more delicate in appearance, have a smooth trunk, a smooth bark and a slow taper.

 

Color is next on the list when choosing a pot for your bonsai.  Even though most bonsai trees will look the same, it is important to note that each tree is unique.  For instance, an oval pot with red glaze is perfect for a bonsai such as an Azalea.  Azaleas have large, heavy trunks which are perfect for this type of pot.  A drum pot is most suited for a bonsai species such as an Oak or Hawthorn.

 

York Bonsai pots make the perfect addition to any yard.

A bonsai tree is the art of planting a shrub within a small pot.

When deciding on when to feed your tree, note that there are certain times where the shrub should not be fed.  You want to wait about eight weeks after pruning the root of the bonsai before feeding.  If your plants appears to be diseased, you will not want to feed the plant.

Do not feed your bonsai during periods of heavy downpours.  You do want to water during these times, however.  And lastly, do not feed the tree when the weather is hot.  The reason is that trees will not take in feed because they shut down during periods of heat.  With that said, the best time to feed is spring and summer, which are the growing periods.

 

When talking about what to feed the shrub, there are two things that your shrub needs:  macro and micro nutrients.  If you purchase potting soil, the majority of soils will have enough micro nutrients so you just need to be concerned about the macro nutrients.  The best macro nutrients to use are nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, calcium and sulphur.

 

Plants that lack nitrogen will stop growing as fast and will turn yellow in color.  Phosphorus is important for the health and root growth of the bonsai.  It also gives your shrub a mature appearance.  Potassium helps the fruit and flowers on the plants to resist the cold.  It also make chlorophyll and helps in the making of sugar and starch.  Calcium helps build the cell walls of the bonsai.