As the Garden Grows

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5 Ways To Give Your Garden A Shabby Chic Twist

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Using old items in the house at a new location does require some amount of expertise and artistic attitude. Benefits are manifold, but the most obvious is establishing a lived-in look. Similar logic applies when attempting to give the garden a unique look. The simplest way to go about it is to opt for garden equipment hire services. However, some amount of preparation is needed. Here are five ways to give your garden a shabby chic twist.

  • Use old earthenware to store plants. Order of containers can always be changed at a later date. Give sufficient thought to finding right colors blending with the overall landscape. For example, use large containers lying idle in the home. Opt for makeshift arrangements. Different colors are used to create a bright look. Make a deliberate attempt to store your favourite plants in the best earthenware pots.
  • Cane and stone furniture blend naturally outdoors. Weathering does not have drastic effect on usage. Staining does take place, which is actually required for creating the vintage look. Consistency is the key here. If bright colors are chosen at one end, similar combinations are adapted at the other. A shabby chic look encourages some amount of disorder in the overall design.
  • Garden waste is bound to occur. Areas to be cleaned with equipment like portable chippers and shredders often need a professional touch simply because you need garden equipment hire staff over the long term. Nevertheless, these are areas offering maximum flexibility to incorporate new chic designs. Special attention is paid to keep costly garden design elements clean and free from weathering.
  • Winding paths leading to definite areas can be dispersed with antique lampposts or other such vintage material deliberately made to look older. The ideal look blends with overall atmosphere created within an entire locality. Practical aspects must be considered. Certain items are easily available simply because they sell in volume. Overall cost does come down by adapting such gardening strategies.
  • Give every plant its due. For instance, making more lawn space available for easy maintenance makes sense. Creating vintage value is achieved in steps. A claw foot tub holds herbs while a series of pots hold precious roses and other flowers. Movable containers give more options. As and when chic designs become available, a new landscape is created without much difficulty.
  • Traditional ways of gardening did not encourage use of new materials. Concepts have changed. Pay constant attention to what is released in the market. Find attractive containers promoting plant growth, allowing better usage of water and other resources. Cast iron and other materials last for a long time. Place an antique bird feeder made of cast iron at a vintage position.
  • Experimenting with what is freely available in the house is a good start. Allow your imagination to go wild with painting ideas. Rustic garden furniture and shade garden plants easily create the shabby chic garden look. Opt for garden equipment hire services until you are happy with the overall look. Maintaining artistic value is then a simple task.

Cormac Reynolds writes for a wide range of DIY and home design blogs and loves to take part in some home work at the weekends. This article is for Best at Hire






Make Your Neighbours Green With Envy

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When was the last time you stared out of your bedroom window, eyeing up your next door neighbour’s back garden?

Admit it, we all do it.

Mentally measuring the length of the grass, critiquing their taste in gnomes, wondering how much that conservatory cost; you know you do it.

Make your neighbours green with envy with these tips to getting your garden looking beautiful.

 

Grass

The foundation of most gardens is the grass – a beautiful green lawn can make any garden look good.

When you look up and down the road, everyone’s grass is a different colour, this is because everybody cuts, waters and fertilizes it differently, not to mention the fact that there are a variety of common grass types.

You may think your lawn needs cutting, however the longer you leave it the better.

When the grass is longer, it traps more moisture and shades the roots and soil from the sun, which means it won’t dry out and will stay green.

When you do mow it, put your mower on the highest setting and it will look neatly trimmed and greener.

To maintain your green grass, water it at around the same time every morning with regular fertilizing in early and late spring, as well as early and late fall.

 

Flowers

When picking flowers, most people tend to focus on colour. Instead, focus more on texture and size contrasts in order to achieve a diverse, inviting outdoors space, as opposed to an area that has been purposely co-ordinated and looks unnatural.

 

Veg patch

Growing your own may take a lot of setting up, but it can be really worthwhile, money-saving and look great! With your own personal allotment you can grow anything you like, from potatoes to pole beans, radishes to rhubarb. Stick a scarecrow in there for good measure too! Why not?! A vegetable patch can really make a garden look like a practical and delicious haven.

 

Accessories

Move away from the traditional gnomes and terracotta and find some unique garden ware that will have your neighbours saying ’Where can I get one of those?’. But be careful, don’t overcrowd your garden with accessories so much that it takes the attention away from the prettiest accessories… the flowers.

Making your garden look fabulous is a lot of fun, but make sure you regularly maintain it for all year round fabulousness!

Becky is a keen gardener who loves styling her garden with unique garden ware from http://www.nutscene.com/.

Tips For Keeping Your Garden Beautiful And Healthy

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Your garden should be able to add beauty to your home and provide you a good view of nature. It should be something that can give you peace and tranquility when you want to relax and have some peace of mind. However, your garden won’t give you all these if it’s dirty and pest-ridden, nor will it be pleasing to the eye if it’s full of weeds and weak and dying plants.

 

If you want to have a beautiful and healthy garden, then here are some tips worth following.

Buying Plants

Let’s say you’ve gotten rid of all weak, sickly, and dying plants and you want to replenish your garden with new ones, what should you do first?

At the nursery, you need to check the plants you’re going to purchase. You need to make sure that they’re healthy and that they’re not carrying any pests or diseases that can infect healthy plants.

You also need to check the roots and the leaves. Make sure that the roots look and feel firm, and see to it that its color is white. If you notice that the roots look dark and mushy, avoid it. It’s not going to be a good buy. The stems and leaves may look healthy, but its roots are saying otherwise. In a few days, its rotted root system is going to kill it.

As for the leaves, see to it that its color is vibrant. Avoid plants that have dead spots on its leaves, and avoid those, too, that have holes.

Insect Damage

Pestiferous insects can do a lot of damage to plants. They feed on the leaves, stems, and even the roots. They even feed on the flowers. Not only can they cause extensive damage to plants, but they can also spread infection and diseases. In the end, these pestiferous insects are going to leave you with weak and dying plants, plus an unsightly garden as well.

If you want to keep pestiferous insects away, then you have to allow beneficial insects to stay. These beneficial insects are the natural predators of the pestiferous ones, some examples of which include green lacewing, damsel bug, minute pirate bug, ladybug, bees, spiders, beetles, etc.

Having beneficial insects in your garden can help keep plants healthy and beautiful since they prey on pests. Unfortunately though, if you’re using chemical products and pesticides for your garden, these beneficial bugs are oftentimes killed together with the pestiferous ones. Their numbers dwindle drastically that, when the population of the pestiferous insects climbs back up, there are a few left of the beneficial ones to control them.

For this reason, choose natural and organic pest control methods first to spare the population of the beneficial insects.

Organic Insect Repellents

As mentioned earlier, if you’re going to use pest control methods, it’s wiser to use organic and natural ones. You can even make your own homemade insect sprays. They work wonders to control pest population; plus, they’re safer for humans, pets, and the environment as well.

For garden pests though that can’t be controlled through these means, you can get in touch with a pest control company to get rid of them for you. Just see to it though that the company’s offering green solutions for pest problems.

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Jennifer Daggett, a blogger and freelance content provider, writes for http://Admiralpest.com. She usually gives tips for controlling pests the natural and organic way.

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