Koi Pond Aeration
November 30, 2007
To achieve Koi pond aeration, there are some things you can do. One, you can go to your local hobby store or pet supply store and purchase one of those small air pumps, hook some tubing to it, along with an air diffuser or sometimes called an air stone, and place it in your pond. I still have the original one I bought about eight years ago, and it’s still working. This has run for almost eight years non-stop, they are very durable. It works two fold, one, to supply air to the pond water and, two, it helps to keep a hole open in the ice during the winter.
Another way to obtain Koi pond aeration is to have different kinds of under water pond plants such as Anacharis and Hornwort. These plants will grow and spread out very well under water. Just kind of put them in small bunches in the bottom of your pond. Just so you know if your plant them in some kind of pot, chances are very good that your Koi will pull them out. Koi are always tugging and uprooting something.
Manage Algae
November 29, 2007
There are several different ways to manage algae in your backyard pond. The best way however is when you have several different things all working together in harmony that will best take care of any algae problems you may have.
The things that I’m talking about are as follows to manage algae. First, you will need to have some kind of pond filter. There are many different kinds on the market in many different price ranges. Personally, I think submersible pond filters are the best. They’re in the water and out of sight. I’m not trying to be pushy, but you might want to check out my homemade pond filter, it works fantastic.
The second thing you need to help manage algae is a UV filter. These filters should be at the top of your list when it comes to things you must have for your pond. What they do is kill the algae as the pond water passes by the light inside the tube that encloses it. They can be hooked up in conjunction with your pond filter and water pump, or separately.
Spring Garden Tips
November 28, 2007
Gardeners, it’s time to put your gardening skills to the test. If temperatures are cooperating, the merry months of May and June will be your busiest until September, with planning, planting, and patio projects to lead the way into summer. Don’t be fooled by a late frost; find out the mean freeze date in your area, and be sure soil is warm and workable-not too wet, not too dry-before putting tender plants in the ground.
By the time your garden is prime for planting, you should already have a plan of attack in place. Are you going to be planting bulbs, annual, more perennials, or a vegetable and herb garden. Maybe even all of the above if you are blessed with a big yard. Once you have a plan, its time to acquire your new plants. The quickest and easiest way is to buy your plants online. Everything you need from seeds, bulbs, and tools can be found through online merchants, and many sites even offer online coupons for increased savings. Small starters usually cannot be shipped directly to you, but can be sent to a store close to home for pick-up at your convenience.
How to Grow Chocolate Cosmos
November 27, 2007
Chocolate cosmos (Cosmos atrosanguinea) is both nose and eye candy for your garden. When it’s in full bloom, mature blossoms on long, slender stems look like candy kisses on a stick and fill the late afternoon with the sweet scent of vanilla tinged chocolate. New blossoms hug the foliage of the plant, nearly concealing it with their numbers! Add to that the sweet chocolate fragrance and you end up with something very special.
Although chocolate cosmos is endangered in the wild, transplants are easily found at most nurseries and garden centers in the spring. However, gardeners who are inexperienced in how to grow chocolate cosmos may overlook what seem to be small, messy tangles of miniature dahlia leaves, unaware that once established, prolific blossoms nearly conceal the foliage. Once in bloom, chocolate cosmos blossoms continuously throughout the summer into the first frosts of autumn.
If you’re planning a gothic garden, chocolate cosmos is the plant for you. Sometimes referred to as black cosmos, dark maroon blossoms are so deep in color that they appear brown/black in late afternoon and evening.
A native of Mexico, the chocolate cosmos is a half-hardy perennial and a sun loving plant that is moderately drought tolerant.
Growing Organic! Herbs, Flowers and Fruit
November 26, 2007
Creating no dig gardens on top of the soil gives you many immediate advantages over the usual garden.
While my site has concentrated on the vegetable garden, the same garden building techniques can be used for flower beds, herbs and fruit trees.
Herbs
Herbs can be planted straight into the no dig garden bed. Because of their uses, the herb garden should be situated in a sunny spot very near your kitchen. Then you can simply step out the door and make an ordinary meal into a culinary delight! If there isn’t an obvious space handy, herbs will grow very well in containers.
However, if you do have the space, there is a wonderful project called the ‘Herb Spiral’ you can build. It’s extremely space efficient and caters for the various microclimates that herbs like.
It involves building a vertical spiral, usually from rocks, about 6 ft across and 2-3 feet high. The top is quite dry and hot, the bottom is moist and there is a sunny side and a shady side. A garden of this size will need about 1.5 cubic metres of soil or compost materials.
Brilliant Beetroot!
November 26, 2007
Are you looking for a truly versatile vegetable to grow and serve? Try beetroot! It has the most amazing colour and texture. Varieties range in colour from gold to deep red/purple and are delicious raw, boiled, baked, pickled and juiced. Even the leaves are edible! The root is packed with Vitamin C and the leaves are a great source of Vitamin A and potassium.
Beetroot is native to the Mediterranean so needs a fairly warm climate to do well. Unlike most of the plants we’ve discussed in the past, the seeds should be planted directly into the garden (or container) without going through the transplant stage.
Soak the seeds in water overnight to help germination, before planting. You should see your plants emerge in 10-14 days. Two or three plants will emerge from each of the seed clumps, but then you have to make a decision before thinning. Do you want to eat the leaves or the root?
If you pick the leaves often, the root will develop poorly. Some sort of trade off has to be made. Even so, small beets are better than no beets at all.
Decorative Garden Accents
November 25, 2007
Think of your garden like you would a room in your home. After planning the shape, tilling the soil, choosing the right plants the last step is to add those personal touches. And just like indoors this is accomplished with accessories.
What type of accessories or accents you add will depend on what you like and what type of garden you’ve designed. For example in a formal type garden you probably would not add whimsical looking birdhouses or a regal looking statue would look out of place in a cottage style garden.
That being said, nothing is written in stone just as indoors the garden should reflect your personality. Which simply means if you love something use it.
The following are examples of some of the accents that can be used to dress up your gardens.
Gates: Whether they are part of an existing fencing system or just free standing, a gate will add an architectural detail. Wooden, iron, plain or whimsically decorated let the gate reflect your personality.
Gazing Globes: Beginning in Victorian times gardeners have tucked these decorative spheres into their gardens. Available in a wide array of colors and sizes ranging from 10 to 14in, place one on a pedestal and watch how suddenly things begin to look magical.
Plastic & Resin Patio Furniture ? What You Don?t Know
November 24, 2007
What is the first thought that comes through your mind when you hear "resin patio furniture" or "plastic patio furniture"? Is the word cheap or flimsy? You are not alone. But what you may not know is it is the latest trend and spreading fast.
Today’s manufacturers make resin and plastic patio furniture in such a way that it closely resembles painted wood. There are some that make their plastic Adirondack chairs and resin patio furniture out of Polymer. This material is made of HDPE which is a high density version of polyethylene plastic. It is a hard, strong, and heavy plastic resin that has been purified and UV protected. Other manufacturers use EnviroWood which is a synthetic wood substitute made from 100% recycled plastic bottles and containers. The plastic is permeated with UV stabilized coloring that is consistent throughout.
Plastic Adirondack chairs and furniture have been designed for comfort and are built to last. They are unaffected by sun, rain, snow, even chlorine and saltwater. There is no need to paint or sand your plastic or resin patio furniture or apply a treatment seasonally. It does not rot, warp, crack or splinter. And because the furniture has solid color throughout, you can leave your plastic Adirondack chairs outside year-round because they will not fade.
Italian Vegetable Seeds
November 23, 2007
Some might ask, “Why grow Italian vegetable seeds?” Why bother with going international when there are already plenty of seed companies in the U.S.?
One reason is that there are Old World strains that just ‘have that certain taste’ that comes with a specific variety not offered from U.S. growers. You can be assured that some of these Italian vegetable seeds will do very well here. At www.growitalian.com, they maintain that Italy has much the same climate in the south as southern California and their northern growing temperatures match that of some of our own northern states. They do suggest that a head start may be necessary because Italy has a longer growing season.
Of course, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention that an area’s soils contribute differences to each vegetable’s taste. Different soils can alter flower colors from the same batch of seeds. Wine made from identical grapes grown in different soils taste different. So it just stands to reason that Italian vegetable seeds don’t necessarily make veggies that taste ‘like the Old Country’!
Vegetable Garden Layout
November 22, 2007
The size of your yard will determine your final vegetable garden layout. What can be fun is the planning of the garden and the decisions surrounding the kind of garden you want. One of the very first decisions is whether it will be a ground level or raised bed garden.
The ground level garden is the cheapest form of vegetable garden layout. Why? Because all you need to do is plow up the area that you have elected to turn into a vegetable garden and remove the grass. Well, it’s never as easy as it sounds, of course. You will have to get the soil out of the clumps of grass and then churn up a good 2 feet deep in this plot to loosen up the compacted earth. We’ll talk later about adding soil and conditioning amendments.
The second type of vegetable garden layout uses a raised bed. The advantages of a raised bed are that it generally warms up quicker in the spring, has excellent drainage and you can tend to the weeds sitting on a stool! The disadvantages lie in the cost of constructing the sides of the bed initially, including the additional dirt necessary to fill the upraised plot.
