Many times we buy plants on impulse then find there is nowhere in the garden that really suits them. Before buying plants carefully examine your garden to see how much sun and shade it gets, whether the soil is well drained or waterlogged and whether your aspect is sheltered or windswept.

You’ll then be equipped to go and buy the best plants for your situation; shade-loving plants for the sheltered areas, sun-lovers for the warm spots, drought-resistant plants for the parched areas which may be either sunny or shaded, and swamp plants for the poorly-drained parts.

But wait! Test your soil first, to determine the pH level of your soil and what kind of nutrients you need to add, if any. Is the soil acid or alkaline? Most plants prefer soil that is slightly acidic, but there are some that must have alkaline soil to grow. You can alter the soil’s pH level, but it’s much easier to simply plant for the soil you have.

Now you are ready to plant. Well – almost. Will you plant in groups or singly? If you buy ‘one of everything’ your garden may seem rather spotty. Group plantings are organised, harmonious and you can vary the color for interest.

Organic gardening is the way of growing vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in nature.

Why would one want to indulge in organic gardening?

- One can easily make compost from garden and kitchen waste. Though this is a bit more time-consuming than buying prepared chemical pesticides and fertilizers, it certainly helps to put garbage to good use and so saves the environment.

- Organic farming does not use chemicals that may have an adverse affect on your health. This is especially important when growing vegetables. Chemical companies tell us that the chemicals we use are safe if used according to direction, but research shows that even tiny amounts of poisons absorbed through the skin can cause such things as cancer, especially in children.

On the average, a child ingests four to five times more cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult. This can lead to various diseases later on in the child’s life. With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened.

Remember, pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose – to kill living things.

- Less harm to the environment. Poisons are often washed into our waterways, causing death to the native fish and polluting their habitat.

September highlights: keeping apace of daylilies; feeding the lawn and long-season plants; experimenting with chrysanthemums.

New, glamorous day-lilies are being introduced in such rapid succession that one is kept pretty well out of breath trying to keep apace of them.

Feeding the lawn and long-season plants – One of the leading manufacturers of lawn fertilizers, after reporting that under certain treatments lawns had been improved 80 per cent, commented: “That’s quite an improvement, but with supplemental feeding it’s possible to improve a lawn 180 per cent.” The secret is revealed in the practices of the golf-course superintendent: he feeds the greens regularly all summer long. What home gardeners should do is feed the lawn at the rate of 1-1/2 to 2 pounds of good plant food per 100 square feet in June and again in August or early September. Also, the clippings shouldn’t be removed unless they are unusually heavy and will mat and encourage the growth of fungus diseases.

According to the manufacturer’s report, greens that were fertilized regularly but not mulched with clippings made a 97 per cent increase in growth, whereas those given the same treatment but also mulched with clippings gave 180 per cent increase.

The problem with food and plants these days is that they are all too expensive with the economy as it is. A garden is a good alternative, but the start up costs of getting your garden going can be too much at once for you. Following some simple tips, you can lower the costs and have it running in no time.

The first step is to design your garden. If you are completely new to the world of gardening, be prepared to take in a lot of information at once! You can get free books and audio discs regarding the subject at your library if you have a pass. Otherwise you can use the Internet to find free websites or magazines that will give you the help you need during the planning stage.

Going to a nursery is expensive- it’s probably the last place you want to look. That is, unless you have knowledge of how to buy plants and flowers off season. The only real problem here is that when buying like this, the plants or flowers will not bloom until the next growing period. Since they are in less demand, the price associated with them will drop.

The sizes of your fireplace accessories must coordinate with the size of your mantle or else these decors will not be given any due notice. There must be sense of balance in placing your hearth accents and try arranging them in groups to be noticeable. These things can be used as functional tools and accents. What is important it to keep things like these properly organized to avoid visual confusion.

The use of beautiful hanging frames like wall painting can always provide a good visual influence. Using appropriate fireplace accessories can transform an average brick hearth into an awesome focal point in your home. The wood-burning furnace is known to be the coziest part of your home and considered as the center of attraction.

Colors are influential factors for room makeovers and give soothing effects to the eyes of the people near the heart. You can give the space a homey atmosphere with some colors that coordinates equally well with the cover of your sofas and other fireplace accessories that are already in existent to decorate the room. They can play an important role in beautifying any space of your house and they can always change the appearance of any unattractive place into a bright lively room.

May is when the grass starts growing and so do their buddies the weeds. Spraying of broad-leaved lawn weeds such as dandelion and plantain with a herbicide can begin as soon as the air temperature can be depended upon to stay 70 for several hours.

Creeping Charley (Nepeta hederacea) is called by so many names (such as gill-over-the-ground and ground ivy) that a description might be in order. This weed creeps along the ground, its thin wiry stems rooting as they lengthen. Its leaves are scalloped and round; its flowers are tiny spikes of typical catnip form. Creeping Charley thrives in shade. It can be killed with sprays containing material developed for it’s control. This material, marketed under several trade names, is widely available. Begin an insect-control program for your rose bushes as soon as the leaves on the canes are full-size. Remember that black spot, the most serious rose disease in the Middle West, can never be cured; it can only be prevented. Keep the leaves covered at all times with a combination dust. My pet combination is malathion and captan. This “combo” has worked well for me over the years.

Questions for The May Landscape

Lawn weeds are the bane of many homeowners. No matter how hard you try it may seem as if there is no way to win the war with lawn weeds. There is something that may aid you; nonetheless. That is in comprehending more as regards lawn weeds, why they grow and what you can do to assist keep them at bay.

One of the most common sorts of lawn weeds is known as couch grass. This is a perennial type of weed that’s commonly found in borders and beds. It features underground stems and may be very hard to eradicate. One method that can aid with receiving rid of this type of weed is continual hoeing. This method functions to get rid of the root system. Make certain that you remove everything because if you leave even a little part, it’ll instantaneously spread into more weeds. Close mowing can similarly help to get rid of this sort of weed.

Other types of lawn weeds include creeping buttercup. While the name might sound nice enough, it may be quite aggressive and may speedyly take over a large area of your lawn. Most frustrating is the fact that mowing will not affect this type of weed. It spreads by employing runners. A simple weed killer can assist to control this sort of weed.

No matter if this is your first home or not, you likely can benefit from a bit of lawn care training. What do you need to do to this lawn to get it to the point where you will be happy with it? There are many resources that can help you to get it the way that you want to. During the first months and even years of owning your property, you will be able to fine tune your abilities with fertilizing and caring for your lawn in general. When you pay attention to it, your lawn will do well under your guidance.

Getting Help

You may want to talk to your neighbor that has a great looking yard for some advice. They will have the same soil and other factors as you do, therefore giving you a great starting point. You may also want to look for lawn care training from your local gardening shop or home improvement store. Ask about the types of plants that do well in your area and be sure to ask about all of the tips they can give you with maintaining your yard. Your local extension office can also provide you with the tools you need to maintain a healthy and productive yard. Some offer websites that can be helpful to you as well.

I had read that there were numerous advantages to setting up your own nursery indoors at home. The prices of fresh produce were very expensive and I often could not afford it. I also liked the fact that my own produce could remain pesticide free. After I read about all of the benefits of setting up an indoor nursery at home I was excited to give it a try. The article recommended the equipment that I would need to get started.

First you will have to find an area that has enough space to set up your plants. Just make sure that the area you select does not get too cold. Garages and basements make great places to start your seedlings as long as they are heated. Assemble whatever table or shelving system that you will be using for your plants and set up your trays filled with potting soil.

When starting your own indoor nursery, you should experiment with a variety of different seeds. Try out some fresh herbs and vegetables and a few different types of flowering annuals. Remember whatever you can not plant at your home, your neighbors and friends will be happy to use in their gardens.

The energy supplies in the earth are gradually geing used up and it’s becoming more and more important to find and use alternative energy sources for industrial and domestic use. It’s no wonder that so many families are choosing to use home-produced “green energy”

The wind turbine is getting to be a common site across the land – you may be familiar with the huge ones in use by electricity supply companies. But you can build one from scratch that will suit an average family home, without breaking the bank.

There is hardly a place on earth that does not have enough wind activity to keep a home-built turbine whirring away. The great thing about wind energy is that its free! Like solar power and of course water which powers various hydro-electric power stations, it is something that occurs naturally. Its available all the time, waiting to be harnessed, to be tapped into.

You can build such a system for $200 or less. If you have a modicum of DIY skills and a good guide, you could put it together over the course of a weekend. And the materials required should be available from your local hardware store.