Container Gardening Tips for Newbies Even if you are a city person in the center of everything, container gardens an add a real splash of color and life on a busy street, rooftop, or balcony. You can make any space be it patio living room or rooftop more inviting and refreshing with beautiful containers of flowers and green foliage. No only will you be delighted at the effect of adding a plant here and there or grouping containers where there is space for a garden area, you will also have the enjoyment of choosing, planting and taking care of your plants. The really cool thing is you can vary the color scheme of any area with flowers, the color of your choice to fit your mood. When the plant is done blossoming you can always replace it with another annual or store the container till next season. You may choose to harmonize or contrast colors and heights of your plants. You get to choose the shape and texture of leaves, tall thin leaves can contrast short wide ones the variety is endless. If you have
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Tags: Color, Container, Gardening, Information, Plants, Variety
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Choosing and Planting PerennialsAs opposed to a vegetable garden a flower garden can be much more appealing to the eye though not to the palate. Perennial flowers may be a great way for you to liven up your garden without too much extra work. Since perennials are strong plants that come back every year..(hm.. can you say weed?) you can get a degree of respite from working and still get the enjoyment of mass blossoms. During the off season the perennials dye back and you may want to prune away any ugly brown spears that remain, it's okay to cut these babies to the soil lineno problem. Next season the new plants return like magic..er...weeds.Perennials need ample drainage so if you soil stays saturated for long periods you should use a raised flower bed. If you'd like to see how your soil drained just dig a hole two feet by two feet by two feet deep and fill it with water. The next day fill it up again if all the water isn't gone within about ten hours you need to go with a raised flower .. more »
If your like most gardening enthusiast that I know, you like a wide variety of plants. What if you find you have areas of ground that just don't have the drainage needed for some plants? If you want plants that require better drainage you may run into conflict ie: the rapid death of your plant. The answer is a raised garden bed. If you want to test your soil just dig a hole in the desired garden plot some say 10 inched deep but I go with a 2x2x2 foot hole that is two feet square. Fill the
hole with water over night then fill it again in the morning if you have water standing by afternoon you should consider raised flower beds. Raised flower beds allow you to put in the sub-strata to allow good drainage. I had an area of solid clay by my home and so I build a raised flower bed from railroad ties. I made the bed about 30 inches tall and I had about 18 inches of two inch rock then about 4 inched of crushed rock then the rest 
Every gardener must have toys, gardening equipment provides a wide assortment of useful toys for the serious gardener.The types and quality of equipment you purchase will have an impact on your gardening experience and on your safety. Whenever possible don't skimp on the money,for, when it comes to quality in gardening tools you really do get what you pay for.Some cool toys for the garden are:1. Garden Shredders: More Power Baby. Listen whenever your using any power equipment please be smart and wear eyeglasses. As a contractor and landscaper I required all my employees to wear safety equipment and the most important piece in my opinion is safety glasses. It only takes one rock or hunk of cord from a weed eater to blind you and then gardening isn't fun anymore.2. Hedge Trimmer: If you Learn how to use this tool you'll save money for yourself and get invited to other peoples houses more often.3. Cultivators: Okay use a shovel or get a power tool hm hard choice. NOT4. Lawnmowers: No matter what size lawn you have a ride on lawnmower is just plain old 
EASY TIPS ON HOW TO CARE FOR YOUR PLANTSThere aare only a few things you really need to consider when it comes to house plants. Maintaining plants and having them floursih may be easier than youthink.1. Over-watering is a common cause of death for houseplants. You can see if the soil is dry by sticking your pinkie down into it a ways. If it is damp wait another day before watering and check again. Don't water until the soil is dry to the touch.2. Feeding of plants should be done in their most active growth period. Slow release fertilizers for houseplants are available to take the guess work out of nutrition. Some plants such as cacti and orchids have special fertilizer needs. You can get all the information you need from the company you order plants online from.3. Lighting is of course essential to most plants however some plants like semi shade and some, like Sanseveria and Aspidstra require not sun. Again you want to learn the needs of the plants you order before finalizing your order so that you know if you can accommodate