As the Garden Grows

What's blooming today?


You are here: Home / Archives for landscape

Tips For A Beautiful Garden This Summer

by

Tips for a Beautiful Garden This Summer

Summer is the perfect time for relaxing in the garden and refreshing your landscape with lots of pretty flowers and seasonal fruits and vegetables. Most plants will flourish during the summer months, though the dry weather and variation in wildlife means that you may have to take extra care when planning your summer garden.

Plan your garden out before you do the work

Many of your plants will need to be exposed to sunlight for all daylight hours, so making sure they are in an optimum position will ensure that your plants last for as long as possible. Arranging your plants by their colours will also create an attractive landscape, as well as arranging by scents and textures. Creating a story with your flowers and plants can really heighten the pleasure gained from simply wandering around your garden and getting hit by different smells and sights.

You should also experiment with using pots as well as planting in the soil, as this adds height to your garden and some plants are better suited to pots. Of course, adding some ornaments around your garden also adds a greater sense of beauty, and lining your garden with lights or bunting can be a nice touch for a summer’s evening.

Reuse and recycle where possible

As summer nears many councils impose a ban on hose pipes, so reusing water is an environmentally friendly option and a great way of getting around any bans. Watering your plants with leftover kettle water or boiled vegetable water is a good start, and installing a water butt in your garden can be a great way to maintain water levels in your plant pots and beds over the summer months. It’s important to ensure your water butt is covered properly to prevent any wildlife from getting inside. Additionally, putting coffee grounds or tea leaves on your garden maintains the acidity of your soil without having to make a full-blown compost heap.

Tending to your lawn

The lawn can be a forgotten area of care, but it soon becomes apparent when it goes brown and starts fading away! When you mow the lawn make sure you don’t remove more than a third of the height of the grass as it can stress the roots of the grass. It’s also a good idea to leave the clippings on the grass as the remains can restore nutrients into the lawn. Mowing your lawn in the evening means that the grass has had a small chance to grow back before the heat of the midday sun, and this also helps to prevent it from browning.

As your lawn will undoubtedly be the victim of the summer heat, it’s also important to feed your lawn as often as possible, by watering it and giving it specially designed lawn feed. You should also be vigilant and remove any moss build ups and have some grass seeds to hand for any persistent bald patches of grass.

Beware of the insects

Summer is peak time for insect infestations and many delicate plants can be ruined by pests. Aphids and white flies in particular can be damaging for flowers such as roses, so inspecting your plants as often as possible is a must. To avoid using chemicals on your plants, you can order ladybirds and other “good” insects online to ward off any bad bugs on your plants.

Ursula Jones writes about gardening tips and Virginia Hayward hampers. For more information visit www.virginiahayward.com






5 Ways To Give Your Garden A Shabby Chic Twist

by

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

Natural Alternatives To Weed Killers And Pesticides

by

Weeds and bugs can destroy your yard, and if you worked hard on your landscaping—or if you simply can’t stand weeds and bugs—you’ll want to find ways to keep them away from your yard. Most people turn to pesticides and weed killers, but if you have pets or small children, or if you worry about the environment, most weed killers and pesticides are not a great option. Instead of buying and using products that are filled with harmful chemicals, you can always opt for one of the following natural remedies instead.

WEED KILLER

Hot Water

One of the easiest and safest remedies to killing weeds in your yard is to use hot water. Boil some water so that it’s as hot as possible and then pour it carefully onto the weeds. The hot water will instantly kill the weed and won’t harm you or the environment.

Vinegar

Another safe remedy to kill weeds in your yard is to simply spray them with vinegar. Place vinegar in a spray bottle and spray down the weeds that you don’t want in your yard. The vinegar will eventually kill the weeds. Note that you may need to buy a higher concentrated vinegar, so if the vinegar you purchase at the grocery store doesn’t work, ask your lawn care supply store if they have anything stronger. (Note: pickling vinegar has a higher amount of acid, so if it’s available at your grocery store, choose that one over regular vinegar.)

Newspaper

Newspaper is a great way to naturally kill and keep weeds at bay. If you have weeds already, smother them with newspaper and they will eventually die. If you’re about to plant a flower bed or garden, don’t spend money on the expensive weed screen and instead throw down a few layers of newspaper, as it will keep the weeds from growing in the first place.

PESTICIDE

Syrup

Put a small amount of syrup (or even honey) in a container and place it far away from your garden or flower bed. The sweetness of the honey will attract flies, bees and other insects and keep them away from your garden or flower bed. Plus, since the syrup is extremely sticky, most bugs will get stuck and eventually die.

Diatomaceous Earth

Diatomaceous Earth is a natural pesticide that can be found at most home and garden stores. It’s a chalky substance that you place around your garden or flower bed, and the chalky substance works as an abrasive to smaller insects, killing them by tearing open their stomach or dehydrating them from the inside out.

Soapy Water

Add a few drops of dish soap to some warm water and place it around your flower bed or garden. Although this mixture will not kill the insects that come near your flowers, it irritates them enough to keep them away.

Cayenne Pepper

If you have bugs that are eating your flowers or vegetables, you may want to invest in some cayenne pepper (or red pepper flakes) and sprinkle it on your plants. The spiciness of the cayenne pepper will not kill the insects, but it will make it uncomfortable enough for them to keep them away from your garden or flowers. Using spices has also been known to keep away small animals such as rabbits and squirrels too.

Jessica Crouch is a landscape expert and avid gardener who loves writing about common plants and ways to deal with herbal pests.

Meta