Archive for the ‘Uncategorized’ Category
A Few Common Christmas Trees
12
Dec
WHITE PINE: The largest pine in the U.S., the White Pine has soft, flexible needles and is bluish-green in color. Needles are 2 ½ – 5 in. long. White Pine’s have good needle retention, but have little aroma. They aren’t recommended for heavy ornaments.
WHITE SPRUCE: The White Spruce is excellent for ornaments; it’s short, stiff needles are ½ – 3/4 in. long and have a blunt tip. They are bluish-green – green in color, but have a bad aroma when needles are crushed. They have excellent foliage color and have a good, natural shape. The needle retention is better in a White Spruce than it is among other spruces.
FRASER FIR: The Fraser fir branches turn slightly upward. They have good form and needle-retention. They are dark blue-green in color. They have a pleasant scent, and excellent shipping characteristics as well.
COLORADO BLUE SPRUCE: Often used for stuffing pine-pillows, these sharp needles are 1 – 1 ½ in. in length. This species is bluish-gray in color and has a bad odor when needles are crushed. This Christmas Tree has good symmetrical form and has an attractive blue foliage. It also has good needle retention.
CONCOLOR FIR: These small, narrow needles are around 1 – 1 ½ in. in length and occur in rows. They have good foliage color, good needle retention, and a pleasing shape and aroma.
Gardening Kid Gift Ideas
29
Nov
Most people would agree that we spend too much time inside and not enough outside. The hardest part of getting outside, for some anyways, is getting the kids to come along. So many things out there are oriented towards keeping them in the house.
Well, here’s a few gift ideas that might help get them up and outside helping with the gardening and they won’t even know it.
Stepping Stones: These are sure to get the little ones involved. Now it doesn’t have that much to do with gardening, but it allows them to help make something for the garden. Once you’ve made and personalized your stone, then you can have them come outside and help find a place for it. At that point, you can then discuss the look of the garden and what you both would like to plant next year.
Seeds: Beans and sunflower seeds are the easiest to start with. The bean seeds grow quickly, so your children will see quick results. Sunflowers on the other hand grow slower, but they soon become huge and will need to be transplanted into the garden. Perhaps your child will like setting up the braces that a string been plant will want to cling to as it grows.
Kid Garden Tools: Children love to copy what their parents are doing. If you’re out raking the yard; at some point, your child has probably asked to help. Now they can with their very own tools.
There are tons of products, ideas and tips out there that can help you get your children more involved outside the house and the actually help around the house. It can be fun and as they grow older, it will be something they will want or perhaps someday – enjoy doing.
Tips for Indoor Plants and Gardens
04
Nov
With winter fast approach, most people either leave the plants outside to die or bring them inside and watch them die slower. Below, we have put together some simple tips that will help those precious plants survive the long winter.
The Temperature:
Indoor plants don’t like drafty areas. Most new indoor gardeners place their plants under window with heavy sunlight; thinking they are helping them grow . Sometimes the opposite actually happens. They find the plant dies from the temperature being artificially risen during the day with the sun and thermostat, then dropping too rapidly at night, with the possible cold air coming in off the windows.
Try setting the plant further away from the window so that it can maintain a more constant temperature.
Potting Soil and the Pot :
Try plants brought in from outside in a sterile pot ( Soak your mud pots for more than 4 hours or bleach the containers with 1 :10 water to stay away from bacteria and infection). Ensure the soil you use contains nutrients ( mix the soil from outside with potting soil to give it some consistency) and make sure the pot drains the water so that the roots are not constantly saturated.
Humidity : If you have a really dry house, try spraying water over the leaves. This will help keep them from drying out as the roots try to push water to the top of the plant.
Watering : Try to keep the soil moist, not too dry or too wet.
Feeding Fertilizers : Ensure that you don’t over feed your plant. The overuse of fertilizers will burn the plant, killing it quickly. Read the instructions on your plant food container and if in double, feed less, not too much.
19
Oct
Tips and Tricks on Greenhouse Gardening
Greenhouse gardening can be a fun and challenging project if you start with a good plan and have the tools and materials needed. Ensure your greenhouse is positioned so that it receives the maximum hours of sunlight as possible. You’ll find this is very important in winter. Ensure the land that you use has been made ready so that the maximum amount of light can be reached by your greenhouse. Plan where to place any tables, trays, shelves, sink, etc. If you can get by without something, that’s more space for plants.
When it comes to the temperature inside the greenhouse; this will determine which plants you will raise during the winter months. As a tip, you might want to place a thermometer in a shaded area of your homemade greenhouse and record the temperature during the day on different days. Check to ensure you plant the appropriate garden for the temperature range inside your greenhouse. Some plants will grow best in cooler temperatures and others in warmer.
