Garden Shades For Gardeners That Are Too Hot To Handle

Watching Charlie Dimmock swing her garden tools around on my TV screen is one way to achieve inspiration for getting out in the garden and actually tidying the place up. Yes, the Groundforce team, with good ole salty dog Alan Titmarsh advising just where I should stick my Buddleia for best effect is a veritable tableau of gardening knowledge that would rival the creation of the Garden of Eden. Well, maybe that is taking it a little too far; the garden designed by the omnipotent overseer would probably ditch the decking and go for silver lined clouds with rainbow struts.

Jesting about the religious influence on my back yard aside, gardening shows are a wonderful place to pick up new ideas for re-landscaping. However, a bit like tribal tattoos, some of the more aesthetic gardening tips involving landscaping can become outdated and dare I say, a little bit common. For example, back in the nineteen eighties, crazy paving was all the rage. Now there are incalculable numbers of pathways, driveways and patio areas of concrete trip hazards and an uncontrollable weed problem thanks to this landscape design trend.

A later, but equally atrocious trend was for decking. Yes, the aforementioned Groundforce programme may have well been known as Deckforce due to the fact that every owner of every garden featured on the show asked for the ultra slippery death platforms to be installed amongst the herbaceous borders! Poor Alan was often left twiddling his thumbs as the owners snubbed the idea of any plants, generally to avoid maintenance, anmd basically wanted the wjhole area paved and decked over to provide a place to drink beer and eat half cooked sausages of a damp bank holiday weekend.

It is actually the very nature of Britain’s climate that has lead to gardening becoming a hard landscaping and house extension business. In my opinion, and which is generally the advice I give, is to save your money by not flooding the garden with concrete and half the Amazon Rainforest. All you need is a bit of shelter. This will keep the sun from scorching your skin (yes, the chance would be a fine thing I know) and the rain from puddling your pathways. Simply by providing a barrier of sorts from the elements, you will have halted the flight of a whole flock of proverbial birds with a single sling of the shot.

Garden shades come in all shapes and forms, and as their appearance on a prime time green-fingered show has been low, are unlikely to ever become a aesthetic faux pas. Traditionally, the good ole tree was the way that gardens achieved their shade, but with the prolific rate of new builds in the country, sometimes it can be 20 years before a sapling provides enough shade for an afternoon Pimms and lemonade.

Gazebo’s and marquees often make an appearance, but the way these are generally of a fixed nature means that the space of a garden is not taken advantage of. The suggestion I am inclined to make to anyone in this situation is to invest in a garden shade of a more temporary nature. Sail shades for example can be erected quickly and effortlessly and are suitable for any size garden. They also have the benefit of being used as a feature through creative positioning. It is something that Charlie and Alan are likely to keep to themselves, a top tip too hot to share as it were. So hot in fact, that it calls for a small siesta after a sun soaked sangria. Well, we can dream can’t we!

Dominic Donaldson is an expert in the gardening industry.
Find out more about Garden Shades and how they can add style to your garden with Shaded Nation.

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Gardening in Central Texas

Gardening can be a tricky proposition for new comers to central Texas. At first glance, it seems that the long summer would be ideal for growing all kinds of fantastic items, but in fact no. The heat is too intense, the rain too infrequent, to support most of what northerners consider viable summer crops.

If you insist upon gardening in the summer, you must plant early. Long-maturing crops, that is crops that need 90-120 days, are best for summer gardens. The average last freeze date in Austin is March 18. With that in mind, plant the following from mid-February to mid-March:
* Beets
* Your cole crops, such as broccoli, brussel sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi
* Carrots
* Chard
* Garlic
* Okra
* Onion
* Parsley
* Radishes
* Spinach
* Turnips
* Asparagus
April to May is good for corn, cucumbers (if you are brave enough to even try), beans, peas, tomato and pepper transplants, and watermelon. You’ll find that more traditional southern crops, like okra, greens, and black-eyed peas, are generally more resistant to hot temperatures and low moisture.

Simply adhering to the schedule will not necessarily ensure your success. Before planting, preparing your beds by tilling or working them by hand is critical to aerating the soil. Try planting the same day or the day after you have prepared your beds, to prevent tiny weeds that have been brought to the surface by your ministrations from germinating and becoming a nuisance.

You’ll also need to add nutrients to the soil. Compost is one of your best fertilizers and can be made at home or purchased from garden supply stores. One garden shopping gem in Austin is the Natural Gardener on Old Bee Caves road. There, you can buy a wide variety of organic composts in a more economical bag-it-yourself format.

Once you have planted your seeds or transplants, you really must well mulch them to protect them from the harsh Texas sun. After planting, cover with at least 3 inches of mulch, though the amount you use varies according to the type of mulch being employed. The best mulches include shredded cedar, hardwood bark, or native tree trimmings, as well as leaves or compost. Even hay can be an effective mulch if used in sufficient quantities. Mulch protects the soil from the extreme temperatures, shades out weeds, conserves moisture, and helps supply nutrients to the soil.

Winter gardening may be an easier pursuit, because of the more gentile climate. The average first freeze date in Austin is November 22, so vegetables that mature in 30-70 days are ideal for fall planting. September is a good time to plant from seeds the following: beans, the cole crops, carrots, cucumbers, summer squash and potatoes. If you hanker after corn, pumpkins, or winter squash, plant those seeds in early August. You can put mustard greens, onions, radishes, spinach, and turnips in through early to late November.

Before planting your winter garden, you should amend the soil with a good few inches of compost, again working by hand or tilling so that the soil is well aerated. If you are planting seedlings, you need to shade your soil so that they won’t be instantly fried. Cool off the soil like this for a few days before planting. When you are ready to plant, do not set your transplants out in full sun in dry soil. Without recent rain, you need to well water your soil for a least a day or two before planting.

And again, don’t forget to heavily mulch. Leaves, grass, or any of the mulches mentioned above will help keep your newly planted beds at a reasonable temperature until your seedlings can really take root.

Jill works with Inside Houston Real Estate. Their site provides information on Houston area neighborhoods and the general information about Houston real estate and Clear Lake Real Estate.

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Tips About Having A Nice Garden

I am sharing some tips with you, which have worked for me wonderfully. For valuable tips on gardening, here are some sources from where you could take help: internet, gardening clubs, books, magazines and of course your local nursery. What type of fertilizers should you use? What about mulch and the kind of soil that the plot has? The type of tools needed including the kind of tiller and watering system that are required, are information that are important.

This can save valuable time.Tip #1: There is nothing as great as writing down the entire gardening plan on a piece of paper. Keep the plan in front and debate the pros and cons of it. First make sure how you want your garden to look.

Gardening Tip #2: How well you prepare your soil can be a deciding factor whether your garden would be a success or not. Take into consideration that soil quality varies according to plants. If your garden is planned to be vegetarian or herbal, make sure to use only organic fertilizers if you want the natural flavor of the food to remain. Try to replace ordinary fertilizers with good compost or even wooden chip mulch.

You could easily have a backyard compost heap. Fresh home brew compost is filled with essential nutrients for our herb and vegetable garden, but after all it may not be a very realistic idea. Mulch is a good substitute for a home compost mixture but make sure to use the softer woods like redwood or pine because the faster it breaks down the better. Whatever you use mulch, compost or fertilizer, just make sure that they are mixed well.

Gardening Tip #3: to have a final look at what your garden would look like, lay the plants on top of the soil, once it is prepared. According to some guides, plants with like characteristics should be planted together. Plants with larger spread should be planted together. You can see all the plants if you plant taller plants at the back with shorter ones in the front.

Gardening Tip #4: Remember to water your garden. Of course the size of the garden also matters. Use an automatic watering system, if you want your garden to grow on its own. Ranging from a big sprinkler system to a timer on a hose sprinkler, these automatic systems can provide the solution. Remember, that it provides shade, beauty and sometimes food also.

Michael Hehn is a specialist in gardening. If you want more information about gardening, visit Landscaping Site.

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Backyard Landscaping Ideas For Your Home

Having a low maintenance backyard is the goal of many people. You can get easy to manage backyard landscaping done by any of the professional landscapers in your area or you can do it yourself. Either way you can have front yard and backyard landscaping done that will take minimal work to keep looking fantastic all year round. If you are going to get a professional in to do your landscaping though, be sure to tell him that this is your over all goal, that you want to have a yard that will not take a lot of work to keep up.

If you have less grass in your backyard landscaping then you will cut out a lot of maintenance time right there. Mowing the lawn can take up a lot of time and energy so keeping the grass to a minimum is a great way to save on work. Talk to a landscaping expert at your local home improvement or garden store about alternative backyard landscaping ideas that you can use to keep your yard look good with a little lawn area.

Some people use clover instead of grass. Using a clover lawn in your front yard is one of those great landscaping ideas that will save you money and time. You will not have to mow it very often at all and a clover lawn is even good for front yard landscaping in area that is prone to droughts. They do well virtually everywhere. And best of all for those who want to get out there and enjoy their front yard landscaping, bugs hate clover.

Watering the yard can be a big hassle as well. That is why many people incorporate automatic irrigation systems into their front and backyard landscaping designs these days. This can save a lot of time and money. This is one of the easiest ways for you to keep your yard looking healthy and well watered during the hotter months of the year. No more hooking up the sprinkler or having to drag out the hose.

You can get a professional to install one of these systems for your front yard and backyard landscaping design quickly and easily or you can get a kit and do it yourself. I would recommend getting in a professional however, unless you have experience with this kind of thing. If you were to cause a leak then you could face some flooding and rotting and neither of these is going to be pleasant to fix.

If you would like to read about more backyard landscaping ideas please visit my website Cheap Sod Prices. You can find information on sod prices and other gardening tips.

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Can Pond Slop Be Used as Topsoil For a Home Lawn?

I was recently asked by a reader the following question;
“is pond soil supposed to be good for use as topsoil? The previous homeowners apparently used pond soil and my lawn does not drain very well at all. The surrounding neighbors all have very sandy soil and they do not seem to have this problem. Any advice?”

Yes, I do have some advice. Call up the previous owners and politely ask them what on this green earth they were thinking when they laid that slop on top of your property. Of course, they may not answer so politely, so allow me to expound upon your issue and direct you in a more constructive approach.

The soil at the bottom of ponds can have a whole host of problems that do not make it ideal for a home lawn situation. Aside from fish poop (my 7 year old son dared me to work the word poop into a column. Now he has to let me beat him in a video game just once), there are problems with iron, clay, and anaerobic bacteria (my 9 year old dared me to work the word anaerobic into a column. He is just strange). But at the basics, ponds exist because the soil at the bottom does not drain. Why someone would get the bright idea that this impermeable (my wife dared, oh forget it) muck might create a good lawn growing medium is beyond me, but I have heard of this issue before.

Given that the neighborhood seems to be a sandy one, I am going to conveniently jump to the conclusion that the pond slop was spread on top of sand. That would bolster your description on non-drainage nicely. Whenever you lay a finer textured soil (like the scientifically named slop) on top of a coarser textured soil like sand, you create what is known as the Sponge Effect.

Take a sponge and get it nice and wet. Now lay it on top of a cooling rack so it is essentially suspended in air. What happens? The sponge holds onto the water pretty well. In fact, most of the water will eventually leave the sponge through evaporation, not drainage. The pond soil on top of the sand acts in exactly the same way. Now, make a stack of five or six wet sponges. Aside from garnering strange stares from the rest of the family, what happens now? The top several sponges will drain down into the lower ones, at which point the lower ones become over-saturated and drain out onto the counter and drip down the front of the cabinets onto your shoes. This is the ideal drainage you want to have in your lawn, and it results from having a nice deep, uniformly textured soil layer.

So, what to do? The first option is to just have the lousy stuff scraped off and carted away. Since I do not know the dimensions of your yard, I don not know just how feasible this option truly is. It may end up being pretty costly. The other, less expensive option would be to simply roto-till the pond soil into the underlying sand. This way, you will not have that defined layer difference that is the root of your drainage problems. Instead, you will have a more uniformly mixed up blend of 1/2 pond soil and 1/2 sand. The water really should not have a problem draining through that. Once you have fixed the layering problem, you can either re-seed or sod to get a new lawn in place.

Thanks for writing in! And Dad, if you are reading this, antidisestablishmentarianism. You owe me a beer.

C.J. Brown is a lawn advice columnist and has over 20 years of experience in the business of grass care. You can visit and write to him at The Lawn Coach Website.

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Interior Rendering Garden of Eden

This is one of the few places a person can find peace after a hard day’s work. Family members and their guests can relax and have a drink. The hidden benefits of backyard landscape Beautiful; landscaped backyard is the best area in the home.

With this understanding, gardeners can now bring these elements to make unified and beautiful interior rendering gardens, and his dream. On the other hand, took advantage of the calm and color, such as blue or green, call the feeling of relaxation and calm. For example, the use of flowers with warm colors such as red and yellow inspire the audience and gives a lively feel. Color theory can also set up an atmosphere of the garden.

Expert gardener provides a unified theory of the use of interior rendering or contrast to the garden. Color theory is the relationship between colors. The second part of the landscape design of color theory. Consider the position of the factory they are given in the form of a unified sense of the garden.

Alternatively, there may be in the form of posies, a mulberry tree. Tree for example there may be a form of upright like pine branches involved. What is the definition of the form of shape? The first elements of the landscape in the form of landscape design. Familiar with the five elements of landscape design, the gardener to a garden cannot only master visually appealing and organized.

We needed to have basic idea in interior rendering and implementation of the garden. These should be enough to encourage people to start to beautify their yards. As mentioned above, there are many advantages of the backyard landscape. This is because in the United States, home decoration is a tax deduction of the cost. Finally, the owner can get his money’s value-added property.

Beautify the garden can be a great love for the whole family and create a closer relationship. Nothing is more peaceful and beautiful flowers of the plant, the arrangement of stones and pebbles, digging in the garden soil, and the establishment of garden accessories. Landscaping is also a great backyard to ease the pressure, if seen as a hobby. An added benefit is that owners can be inhaled fresh oxygen plant at the same time exercise. Trimming the lawn, trimming of plants, clean up dead leaves in the field of rock and scrub clean is a good way of burning more calories.

Another advantage is that the owner of garden landscaping has been a lot of exercise to keep the courtyard. This means that the owners will have to spend less heating and cooling costs. In addition, vapor occurred during the following trees make the following air cooler than the surrounding air their crown. It can provide shade, particularly if they are near the windows. Trees blocked the hot, direct sunlight.

In the summer, the same tree or fence can cool the house. In the absence of strong, cold wind so that the natural heat their homes. Plant a row of conifers, trees and hedges into the backyard landscaping as a windbreaker. If windbreaker been planted in an area, which can block the wind.

Second, there is a backyard beautification of the property owners to save energy costs. In addition, if or when the property was for sale, buyers may be more interested in the property because it looks at other properties in the vicinity. First, when a boss to spend money to beautify the backyard this will increase the value of their property. However, in addition to providing a quiet sense of the backyard landscape there are many other benefits.

More Information at interior rendering

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Landscape Design Ideas: It’s not Just a Yard

Looking to spruce up your yard? If so you may want to consider designing your landscape. Many factors go into landscape design. Once you are finished each piece fits together to create a complete look. A landscape design contractor can help you through the process and come up with multiple landscape design ideas or use these simple tips yourself and you’ll be amazed at the results.

Flowers
Flowers might be the easiest place to start. Basically they can be divided into two categories: annuals and perennials. As their name suggests annuals need to be replaced every year, however they flower immediately and since they need to be replaced on a yearly basis the type of flower you plant can be changed often.

Perennials on the other hand do not need to be replanted every year. Rather you plant them once - either by seed or bulb - and they return at the same time every year. Furthermore, they increase in number with each season.

Stone
Once you have decided on your flowers, the next element to consider is rock. Not only are there many sizes, shapes and colors of landscape rock there is a multitude of things you can do with it. You can use loose rock to fill in vacant space or to line pathways. You can also use a hard, smooth rock such as pavestone to lay down a walkway to your door. For the adventurous, you can even create a retaining wall in your yard if you have plenty of room.

Walls
Retaining and terraced walls can be a great benefit to a large yard, particularly if the land isn’t flat. They can turn otherwise unusable spaces into beautifully landscaped areas. These walls can also beautify your yard by creating ponds and plant beds that would have otherwise been impossible to construct.

Architectural Structures
Architectural structures add visual interest to any landscape. Installing an arbor can give your landscape a feeling of comfort, style and sophistication. These structures stand out because of their height and beauty. They can serve as gateways to separate parts of your yard or serve as a peaceful sanctuary in your landscape.

Lighting
One of the most important aspects of landscape design is also one that is often overlooked: lighting. A well-lit landscape obviously provides safety and security. However it does so much more to enhance your landscape. Using different lighting techniques can highlight different aspects of your garden.

EnhanceScape is the trusted resource for designing, financing, and creating your dream outdoor environment. Learn more about our landscape design services. View the EnhanceScape landscape design pictures.

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How To Start Getting A Nice Garden

When you start your own garden, you need tips and advice to get you on the right track. Try the internet, gardening clubs, books, magazines and do not forget to talk to your local nursery. Of all the information you need to get started, the most important are how much of sun would your plot get, mulch, fertilizers and the type of soil your plot has. Firstly, what types of tools including the kind of tiller and watering systems which are required to get you started.

Tip #1: To save time, start writing down your gardening plan. Keep the plan in front of you and let the brainstorming begin. Of course any thing that comes to mind.

Gardening Tip #2: The way you have prepared your soil can decide whether you succeed in your gardening efforts. Different plants need different soils an important point to remember. If your garden is planned to be vegetarian or herbal, make sure to use only organic fertilizers if you want the natural flavor of the food to remain. Wooden chip mulch or any good compost would be a better choice than ordinary fertilizer.

Watch out as it might be truly valuable when it gives you the much-needed returns. Fresh home brew compost is an excellent source of nutrients for your vegetarian or herb garden but sometimes it’s totally unrealistic. While mulch is a viable alternative to home compost mixture, but ensure that you are using softer woods which break faster, like redwood or pine. Whether you use mulch or compost or fertilizer make sure to mix it all up very thoroughly.

Gardening Tip #3: Once the soil is ready, instead of planting the plants, simply lay them on the top of the soil, to have a final look at what your garden would look like, in case you want to make any last minute changes. I believe that plants having similar characteristics should be planted together. Plants with larger spread should be planted together. Segregate taller plants from the shorter plants and plant the former at the back so that you can see all the plants.

If your house is very big, then watering a garden can be very hard work. To make a garden grow on its own, use an automatic watering system. An automatic system can range from a large sprinkler to a timer attached to a hose sprinkler. Gardening is one of the most rewarding hobbies you can have and it can provide you with shade, beauty and more often then not food!

Michael Hehn is a specialist in gardening. If you want more information about gardening, visit Landscaping Site.

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Finding Good Landscape Deals At Contractor Supply Stores

Sometimes buying your gardening supplies requires a little thinking outside of the box; the “Big Box” that is. You have to stop thinking in terms of convenience and think on the side of your budget and quality.

There are many landscaping supply stores out there but only a few of them are worth visiting. Some will carry large stock, and others will carry just a few things. Still others will focus on quality, and some only on pricing. But is there a happy medium?

The key is to look at where the industry professionals go. Do you see professional landscape contractors shopping at a particular supply store in your town? If you can get your gardening materials from a landscaping supply store that does not usually sell to the general public, or at least is not well known by the general public then you are in the right place. This can take some work though.

Try talking to a professional landscaper to see if you can get the info from him about the closest contractor supply warehouse. See what he or she says. What landscaping supply store does this company use? Let them know that you are interested in getting the same high quality materials that he uses for his customers. This should work in getting you a name. Then you can go down there yourself and get all of the materials and tools that you need to complete the job on your own. The reason for this is that you may be able to not only get higher quality materials, but you will also get contractor pricing. Just be honest with the landscape supply store and let them know you are trying to do things right. Most of them appreciate your willingness to find quality.

If you can’t come out of your shell and talk to the pros, then try looking on the internet or in the phone book. You may find something like this under ‘landscape contractor supply,’ or ‘wholesale landscape construction.’ Do whatever you have to do to find out where the pros get their materials and you are well on your way to saving some serious money this year. Once again, be honest with the operator and let them know you are more concerned with quality and that is why you called them instead of the local big box store. Most of these places will sell to regular people like you but they do not bother with a lot of advertising because they do most of their business with professionals.

Who knows, while you are there picking up your supplies, you may run into a contractor or two who will be willing to give you some free advice in the process. Folks in the green industry are mostly willing to do whatever they can to put a good face on the business in general and will see your purchase as a step in that direction.

Al Haneson offers advice and details about ice melter and snow melter.

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Fall Lawn Winterizing Basics

Now that October temperatures are falling into the 60s during the day, and the 40s during the night, it is time to think about lawn winterizer. Winterizing your lawn consists of just a few basics that will make all the difference for you next spring.

Fall Lawn Winterizer Fertilizer
The first thing to consider is your lawn’s root health in regards to nutrients. I always recommend a final application of fertilizer around October or November. The fertilizer you choose should be a mix contain some nitrogen, but more concentrated with potassium and phosphorus. These last two elements strengthen the lawn’s root system which does most of its thickening in the cooler fall months. A good analysis will look like this: 20-20-10 or 15-15-15. You may not find those exact analysis, but get something similar.

Fall Lawn Aeration
Aerating the lawn is very important also and should be performed on healthy lawns, as well as thin ones. Aeration loosens up compacted lawn soil and allows the nutrients from your winterizer fertilizer to get to the root system. It also helps break down the thatch layer that accumulates during the hot summer.

After your aeration, it is a great time to put down some fresh grass seed. Many people are confused about what type of grass seed to use. If you are unsure, you can take a sampling to your local university extension for proper identification. Otherwise, you should buy good quality bluegrass and perennial rye grass mix for summer areas, and fine fescue for shady areas. These general seeds will mix with most lawn types just fine.

Final Lawn Mowing
Everyone wants to know when they are done mowing for the year and what they should do for that last cut. It’s simple: your last mowing should be when day time temperatures are consistently in the mid-40s. In addition, you should mow your lawn 1 inch lower than normal on the final cut. This is because snow will pack down on it and if it is too long, the blades will die and leave heavy layers that you will have to rake out in the spring.

Lastly, you should consider buying driveway ice melter and snow melter early this year. I have been in touch with my suppliers, and they are already predicting a shortage. You should never use too much ice melter on your driveway or sidewalk because it can harm the grass. Always follow the labeling. Most safe deicers and snow melters with calcium chloride will be best for you grass, trees and shrubs and concrete surfaces.

Don’t forget to perform these lawn winterizing steps before the first snowfall. A little extra attention now will definitely pay off for you in the spring of next year.

Al Haneson offers advice and details about driveway ice melter and snow melter.

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