Archive Category: 'Garden & Plants'

• Christmas Cactus: Houseplant Notes: Soil: Does well in almost any good garden soil. Needs no feeding except when buds begin to set. Water: Avoid overwatering. The plant needs to be gently pushed into dormancy at the beginning of November to ensure Christmas blooms, allow the plant to dry out between light waterings during this time. Keep soil lightly moist during [...]
• Do You Grow Dishcloths?: If you never have grown your dishcloths–try it! he dishcloth gourd, Luffa acutangula, is easily grown from seed, and produces a very satisfactory, sanitary dishcloth. Most seed catalogs list it. Plant the seed of the Luffa vine about the middle of May, or the time you plant your cucumbers should be right. In the fall the gourds produced [...]
• Forcing Paperwhite Narcissus For Winter Blooms: Paper white narcissus (daffodil family) is one of the easiest bulbs to force indoors over the winter season and they don’t need to be chilled first like other flower bulbs do (see Forcing Bulbs Indoors For Winter Blooms). To force narcissus bulbs, you just need a container, a bit of water and some pebbles! Here’s [...]
• Houseplant Care & Growing Tips: Houseplant Care & Growing Tips Lack of humidity is one of the biggest problems for house plants, particularly during winter when heating systems dry air to desert conditions. To raise the humidity, set your potted plants on trays or pans filled with gravel and water. Keep the water level below the top pieces of gravel. Most flowering [...]
• Forcing Bulbs Indoors For Winter Blooms: How-To & Tips: Imagine the dreary months of January and February, cold, bleak, windy–but you can easily add a touch of Spring inside your home by forcing bulbs ahead of time that will then bloom indoors during the winter months. Here’s how: Understanding How Forcing Bulbs Works When planting flowering bulbs like Tulips in the garden, you need to plant [...]
• Plastic Tunnel Cold Frame: DIY: Today’s feature is from The Door Garden with this DIY project for a Simple Plastic Tunnel Cold Frame or Row Cover: blockquote>A simple plastic tunnel like this can serve as a cold frame to grow salad greens all winter long, to grow out tomatoes and other tender plants, to extend the season for an early [...]
• A Few Fall Cleanup Tips: Here are some tips for preparing your yard for winter, this makes yard maintenance much easier to deal with in the Spring! Clean Garden Pots: Wash grime & rings away with a 50/50 water and vinegar solution. Works well on both plastic and clay containers. Clean out the gutters, but wait until all the leaves have dropped. [...]
• How To Sterilize Soil At Home: Potting soil is sterilized to give your plants the best growing environment possible by killing weed seeds or disease organisms that might be lingering in the soil. Most commercial potting soil is already sterilized but if you want to use that rich dark soil right from your garden or reuse your potting soil, here are [...]
• How To Plant Tulips For Beautiful Spring Blooms: Tulips are a favorite garden plant and well known as harbingers of Spring (they’re one of the first plants of the season to produce blooms). Their beautiful flowers and vibrant colors are a refreshing change after a cold and dreary winter. Tulips are easy to plant and maintain although the digging required can be a bit [...]
• Patina In Minutes: How To: Today’s feature is from DIY Ideas with Patina In Minutes: blockquote>Why wait a lifetime for a rich patina finish when you can create it yourself? Here’s an easy way to add a faux-patina to concrete pieces you have for the garden, this adds a richness to the items that you’d otherwise have to wait years to naturally [...]
• Charming Kitchen Plants From The Garden: Flowers and house plants are not the only types of greenery which will enhance the appearance of the home. Vegetable arrangements are attractive and original. A vegetable plant placed on a sunny window ledge will last for months. The best way to grow vegetable plants is in water. Appropriate for the kitchen are the old-fashioned sweet [...]
• How To Store Seeds: If you’ve tried saving seeds from your garden in the past and didn’t have much luck with them germinating in the Spring, chances are you didn’t store the seeds in the environment they needed. Storing garden seeds in optimum conditions can keep most varieties viable for several years, following the steps below can increase the [...]
• How To Ripen Tomatoes: Tips & Tricks: Ripening Tomatoes On The Vine Here are a few tips to help speed up and encourage tomatoes to ripen on the vine close to the end of growing season: Keep plants free of diseased leaves and pinch off new flowers so all the plant’s energy can go into ripening the fruit. Watch plants daily and pick off the [...]
• Get Rid Of Gnats: Tips & Remedies: Fungus gnats are small dark flies (about 1/8″ in size) that look similar to mosquitoes and are often confused with fruit flies. They thrive in humid environments and breed in the damp soil of houseplants. The gnat larvae is what causes damage to your plants by eating the plant roots, root hairs and stems. The [...]
• 10 Easy Ways To Preserve Herbs: Enjoying a big bounty of fresh herbs from the garden this year? Fresh is best when it comes to cooking with herbs, but here are ten easy ways you can preserve them for year-round use. 10 Easy Ways To Preserve Herbs Air Dry Herbs: If you have the space and the time, you can tie small bunches [...]
• Rose Hips: Tips & Recipes: Wild Rose Hips: Rose hips are a very rich source of Vitamin C and are free for the picking. Three average rose hips have as much Vitamin C as a medium-sized orange. strong>Collecting Rose Hips: Pick only the ripe berries that are vivid red and slightly soft. They have a much better flavor if picked after [...]
• 25 Cheap or Free Garden Gear Items: Repurposing: Today’s feature is from Better Homes And Gardens with 25 No-Cost (or Low-Cost) Garden Tools: blockquote>Any job is easier when you have the right tool. Read on for our list of the 25 best ideas for garden tools that you can buy or make in minutes — and none costs more than a pack of seeds. Ideas Include: The [...]
• Natural Pesticides: Recipes & Tips: These homemade pesticides are cheap and easy to make with many being just as effective as some commercial products on the market. No fancy ingredients required, everything you need is likely stocked in your kitchen and garden. Most of the ingredients are earth friendly and natural with the harshest being liquid dish detergent–no need to [...]
• Want Greener Grass? Try Epsom Salts: Everyone wants their lawn to look as lush and green as possible, it’s one of the least expensive methods for giving your home nice curb appeal (whereas brown, patchy grass is one of the first things that can downgrade your property value). ere’s a tip to help give your lawn a boost: Epsom Salts can be [...]
• Homemade Weed Killer Recipes & Tips: Pulling weeds by hand is not always easy or practical, they’re pesky and determined to pop back up and spread in no time. If you’re looking for more natural ways to control weeds that don’t include harsh chemicals and are safer for children and pets (bonus: most are pretty frugal too), here is a list [...]
• Build A Potting Bench: DIY Project: Today’s feature is from Vegetable Gardener with these free plans to Build a Potting Bench: blockquote>In the heart of every gardener grows the desire for a potting bench. It is form and function, ornament and tool. It’s a place where you work with your hands, a place where you let your mind run on. It can [...]
• Old-Time Tips For Flowers & Plants: Timeless Wisdom: These snippets of quick tips come from a household booklet published in 1947 and features advice given for handling plants, cut flowers and a couple gardening related tips. he Timeless Wisdom collection is a regular feature on Tipnut where we take a look back at the advice and techniques used decades ago in household management, many [...]
• Lattice Screen How-To: Garden Trick: Today’s feature is from Canadian Gardening with this nifty idea for hiding ugly air conditioner units, compost bins, and other eye-sore yard items with this Easy-To-Build Lattice Screen: blockquote> Hide an air conditioner or composter with this easy outdoor screen The gardener’s never-ending quest for more garden beds often means plantings have to share real estate with outdoor [...]
• Gardener’s Hands 101: Protection & Cleaning Tips: If you enjoy gardening and puttering around in the yard, you know how quickly dirt seems to accumulate under the fingernails and in every crack and crevice in the skin. Wearing gloves when gardening does help but dirt still seems to find its way in. ometimes all it takes is an easy washup to get rid [...]
• Mosaic Garden Art: How To: Today’s feature is from Fine Gardening with this extensive how-to: Making Mosaic Garden Art: blockquote>Sturdy, well-built objects made of metal, wood, terra-cotta, or concrete work well as base objects for a mosaic. The decorative mosaic pieces will adhere to just about any surface except items made from flimsy plastics that bend and bow. Garage and estate sales, [...]