As the Garden Grows

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How to Enjoy Your Garden in the Winter

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With the winter approaching, the bitter cold and darkening nights may see you spending more time indoors, neglecting your garden until the spring comes around again. But it doesn’t have to be that way! There are plenty of ways to enjoy your garden in the winter, so chuck on your boots, don your woolly hat, and venture out into the cold to enjoy a few of these enchanting treats…

Stargazing


There’s no better time than the crisp, clear nights of winter to gaze up to the sky and take in its breath-taking beauty. The Milky Way will sparkle brightly, the moon will beam more than you’ve ever known, and if you gaze for long enough you’re sure to see a shooting star or two. Wrap your arms around a loved one or your hands around a mug of hot cocoa while you gaze, mesmerised by what the night sky has to offer.

Bonfires & Fireworks

There’s no cosy a feeling as standing around a roaring bonfire with your close friends and family, sharing jokes and reminiscing over good times. Make a night of it and get a little merry, procure a folding table to rest your drinks upon, toast a few marshmallows on the fire, and finish the night off with a spectacular fireworks display.

Festive Decorations

The long nights can make your garden seem an unappealing, hard place. The flowers wither, the trees lose their leaves and the animals go into hibernation – but that doesn’t mean your garden can’t be a place of joy. Breathe life back into it with some seasonal decorations, string up a row of fairy lights and be filled with merriment every time you glance outside.

Year-Round Decorations

It’s not just festive decorations that can liven up your garden during the cold, winter months. Incorporate ornaments and evergreens into the landscape of your garden so that when the autumn begins its slow march into winter, your garden will remain vibrant and appealing. Build rock walls and paths, and place boulders and sculptures throughout to add a charm that lasts throughout the year.

Snow!

Everybody hopes for snow come winter, and our wishes usually come true, even if only briefly. As soon as the first flakes start to fall, put on your wellies and your winter coat, and prepare for some jovial frolicking! Build snowmen and snow-dogs, and snow-whatever-elses-you-fancy. Start a snowball fight with the mischievous neighbours, and when you’re tired out from that, collapse to the ground and carve out some snow angels!

As you can see, there are plenty of ways to enjoy your garden in the winter – and these are only a smattering of possibilities! Use your imagination and you’re sure to come up with countless excuses to get out the house, instead of whiling away your days in front of the television, waiting for the sun to return.

Bill Weston writes on a number of subjects including gardening furniture such as folding tables. You can find a folding table at http://www.gopak.co.uk/






Easy, Affordable, and Eco-Friendly Tips for Lawn Maintenance

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A healthy, luscious, and vibrant green lawn is very appealing for many homeowners. A green and healthy yard will not only enhance the aesthetic appeal of the property, but it can also increase its value if you ever think about selling your property in the future. Unfortunately, a green garden doesn’t always guarantee a healthy and safe environment. Your lawn may look healthy and vibrant, but it can still cause harm towards the environment. The best solution to this dilemma is to take care of your lawn the natural way.

Green gardening is a practice that improves the health and look of your lawn without emitting dangerous chemicals and other toxic gases into the environment. Doing so will help you save time, money, and help you conserve natural resources. The following are easy green gardening tips for lawn maintenance.

Alternative Natural Ground Covers

There are a lot of available ground covers aside from grass. You can use a few of these alternative ground covers, including clover, mosses, juniper, and periwinkle. If you want to lower your lawn maintenance cost and still be eco-friendly, you can use low-mow grass species or ornamental grasses. These native grass species do not need constant maintenance and can grow even without human intervention. Additionally, it still offers the same benefits of living plants, such as prevent soil erosion, absorb air pollution, and filter rainwater pollution.

Conserve Water

If you want to focus on eco-friendly landscaping, you must pay close attention to conserving your water. There are a lot of lawns that are over-watered. This will waste valuable and finite resource, and it will contribute to fertilizer runoff. This happens when the fertilizer from your garden spills over into the storm sewers, which will eventually add to the water pollution. Here are some tips to conserve the amount of water used in your lawn:

  • Spot signs of over-watering: You must check if you are over-watering your lawn. Some of the signs to look out for include: runoff after watering the lawn; pale green or yellow tint on the lawn grass; and there are moss or mushrooms growing around the area. If you spot any of these signs, make sure to cut down the frequency with which you water your lawn.
  • Avoid watering everyday: If you water your lawn infrequently, it will not only help reduce water consumption, but it can also make your grass healthier. If you avoid watering your grass often, the roots will seek water deep into the soil, and the shorter weeds will run out of water. The downside of watering too frequently is that it can lead to thatch buildup, or the dense layer of living and dead stems and roots. Thatch can prevent the grass from getting their much needed water and air.
  • Water your lawn early in the day. It is best to water your lawn between 4 am and 9 am. During this time of the day, the air is cool and the wind is very calm; thus, the water won’t evaporate easily. Additionally, consider getting a rain sensor. This device will immediately turn off your sprinklers when it is raining; hence, you won’t need to waste water.

Reduce Energy

Lawn maintenance can easily pollute the environment by increasing carbon footprint and toxic gas emission. For this reason, you have to consider using eco-friendly methods that are healthier for the environment, and are much more budget-friendly.

  • Avoid using gas- or battery-powered lawnmowers: Gas-powered lawn mowers can produce nearly as much pollution as driving a motor vehicle for 100 miles. According to studies, this type of lawnmower is responsible for 5% of the total air pollution across the country. Even battery-powered motors and electric lawn mowers leave huge carbon footprint. Thankfully, there are alternative types of lawnmowers, such as reel lawnmower which is much more affordable and easy to use.
  • Use a manual mower, rakes, and brooms: Instead of using electric and gas-powered lawnmowers and leaf blowers, get a physical work-out using manual labor. You can use traditional rakes and brooms to get rid of fallen leaves. It is also a good idea to leave the grass clippings on the lawn since it can still fertilize the soil.
Citations:
  • Gregs Landscaping.”bluestone walkway with belgium block “. Online Image. EveryStockPhoto. Nov 20, 2012
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  •  License: Creative Commons image source

The author, Kris Lim, is an avid gardener who offers tips and ideas for beginners on how to maintain the lawn. She also contributes her thoughts and ideas to lawn care and maintenance companies and websites, including newleafmaintenance.com.

5 Changes That Will Help Your Garden Look Like A Forest

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Most people only own a small patch of land and they should treat it as their castle. It’s the only place in the world where you can do almost anything you want because you think it will look nice. When you come home from a hard day at the office you want to appreciate what you have. Not have to keep looking at it and wishing things were different. Luckily it’s not too hard to make something look beautiful without spending all your money, especially if you don’t go crazy.

One place people seem to forget about is the garden. Everyone can walk through the forest and appreciate it because it all looks so tranquil. Why don’t you turn your garden into something that resembles a forest? Somewhere you will feel at one with nature when you step outside to sit in the sun. You won’t find swimming pools and climbing frames in the middle of the forest, but you will find other things so let’s take a look at what you’ll need.

Plant some trees

If you want your garden to look anything like a forest then you won’t get very far without trees. Unless you have a few years to sit around waiting you will need to buy ones that are already quite large. You’re not going to get full-size trees carried into your garden, but you can get some large enough that they actually look like something you might find in a forest. They’ll look much better in autumn when the leaves have fallen onto the ground and everything looks yellow-brown.

Make a little pond

When you’re walking through the forest it’s always nice to find a little lake or a river with some nice fresh water. You obviously won’t be able to create something on such a grand scale in the garden, but you can build a little pond and it will still attract wildlife. If you have children you should think carefully about where you’re going to put it. Don’t have it out of site so you can’t see it from your window, just in case an accident was to happen.

Hide the garden fence

Unless you go for walks in a different forest from me, you don’t see any fences laying around. It looks better and more real when you can’t see them, especially if they aren’t even wooden ones. They probably run all the way around your garden, so how will you get rid of them? You need to use plants and place them either directly in front of the fence, or use a species that will grow into the fence. This means they are completely out of view from the inside and you will forget you even have one.

Get rid of the grass

You do see grass in the forest, but it doesn’t exactly look like proper forest flooring. Something that will look great and give you the feeling of a forest is bark chipping. Just rip up your grass and buy enough bags of bark chipping from the garden center. Once they are lying down on the ground it will give the place a completely different look. If you don’t want to get rid of all your grass you could keep a patch that’s closer to the house. You don’t have to get rid of everything to make your garden look like a forest.

Attract the wildlife

You really need wildlife if your garden. The easiest way to do it is by leaving nuts and seeds out for them to eat. If they have a lovely person providing them with food and making their life easier you can be guaranteed they will stick around. Throw some nuts and seeds around the ground and also have some food plates that hang from the trees. Try to use wooden ones so it still feels like a forest.

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Steven White is a Nature lover and he tries to spread awareness among people to embrace nature through his blogs. He is also an active member of the nashville painters group.

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