Archive Category: 'Garden & Plants'

• Create A New Garden Feature FAST With Moss Or Stain: Today’s feature is from Weekend Gardener with Antique Your Clay Pots & Add Fall Color: Terra cotta, stone, and concrete containers and sculptures all lend themselves nicely to having moss grown on them, giving each one an antique look. You can also add a “patina” or even a “faux moss” look to a terra cotta container that [...]
• Plant A Sunflower & Help Bees Thrive: Today’s feature is from The Great Sunflower Project, they’re giving away free sunflower seeds and hoping you’ll help them out a bit in return (and bees too): By watching and recording the bees at sunflowers in your garden, you can help us understand the challenges that bees are facing. It takes less than 30 minutes. It’s [...]
• Frugal Recycling Ideas For Gardening: Today’s feature is from Nature Moms with some neat tips for Recycling “Stuff” for Your Garden : There are actually many things around the house that can be used to get seedlings started and it makes use of garbage you have around the house, effectively recycling things to give them another use. You’ll find tips for using [...]
• How to Build a PVC Hoop House – Gardening Tip: Today’s feature is from Westside Gardener with instructions for How to Build A PVC Hoophouse For Your Garden: An unheated PVC hoophouse can be a useful addition to your garden. It keeps excessive rain off the plants, blocks the wind, raises daytime temperatures 5-10 degrees (and often much more), and keeps frosts and heavy dew off [...]
• How To Make A Self-Contained Gardening System: Today’s feature is from Josho.com with a tutorial for How To Make A Self-Contained Gardening System. These gardening systems are perfect for apartment dwellers or those who don’t have time to manage a full-sized garden yet wish to enjoy growing some of their favorite herbs and vegetables. Self-contained gardening systems discourage weed growth and can yield [...]
• How To Make A One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden: Today’s feature is from Re-Nest with a nice tutorial for How To: Make a One-Pot Indoor Herb Garden: Basil, thyme, sage. These are indispensable herbs, and they grew in abundance on our front stoop all summer. It’s too cold outdoors now, but we don’t like paying $2.50 per packet at the supermarket. Fortunately it’s not difficult [...]
• Pest Prevention Concentrate: Here’s a short and sweet recipe to help with pest control for garden and house plants. You can use this as a preventative spray as well as a bug and pest killer. Ingredients: 1 cup Sunlight dish soap 1 TBS vegetable oil Directions: Mix ingredients together then store in a plastic, airtight container. When you’re ready to spray your plants, take [...]
• Make a Big Splash with a Tiny Water Garden: Today’s feature is from Taunton.com: Plunge into the world of aquatic plants by designing a mini-pond in a small container: Make a Big Splash with a Tiny Water Garden. Right now it’s pretty cold where I live so I’m in the mood for a bit of Spring and green plant goodness… I’ve learned that a teacup or [...]
• How To Grow Your Own Pineapple: Today’s feature is a cool one from You Grow Girl with a tutorial on How To Grow Your Own Pineapple: If you happen to have a pineapple on hand to eat, (and they are abundant and cheap during the late spring and summer months), then why not take a few minutes and grow your own pineapple [...]
• How To Make Pine Cone Bird Feeders: A little early for these yet since they should be set out when the weather is chilly enough for the peanut butter not to go rancid, but it’s nice to be reminded this time of year to snatch up all the pinecones you can–while you can get them free . Pine Cone Bird Feeders 6 large [...]
• How To Tap Maple Trees And Make Maple Syrup: Today’s feature is a pdf report from the University of Maine How To Tap Maple Trees And Make Maple Syrup (pdf): A tree should be at least 10 inches in diameter, measured at 4 1/2 feet above the ground, before tapping. Trees between 10 and 20 inches in diameter should have no more than one tap [...]
• Moss Starter Recipe: Today’s feature is from HeavyPetal with a recipe for Moss Starter: Quick Moss Starter Take a clump (a small handful) of healthy moss from your yard (or ask a neighbour for some if you don’t have any) and crumble it into a blender. Add 2 cups of buttermilk and 2 cups of water Blend at the lowest speed until [...]
• How To Dry Flowers: A Collection of Tips: After yesterday’s Homemade Potpourri information, I thought this collection of flower drying methods and tips was a perfect follow-up. Tips For Drying Flowers Collect flowers first thing in the morning (after the dew is gone) and at least two days after a rain. Handle them carefully so they don’t get bruised. Choose flowers that have reached near [...]
• Homemade Potpourri 101: The Three Components of Potpourri Fixative: These do the best job of absorbing the different fragrances so things keep smelling nice for a longer period of time. Potpourri fixatives are things like oak moss and orris root. Fragrance: Essential oils, fragrance oils. These are applied to the Fixatives so they’ll retain the fragrance for a longer period of time. [...]
• Homemade Flower Trellis: You can make a trellis for flowers or climbing plants, such as tomatoes, using old wire clothes hangers and a piece of narrow board. Directions: Sharpen end and drive in ground. Use staples (like for a wire fence) to fasten the hangers to the board. Tie up plants with strip of old sheets. It is soft and doesn’t cut [...]
• How To Make A Garden Fountain: Today’s feature is from Garden Gate Magazine with their instructions for Build a Fountain / Container Combination: This simple design incorporates a glazed ceramic pot that you place at an angle so you hear the sound of flowing water. We’ve listed a few plants, but if you have other favorites, you can incorporate those instead. Before [...]
• How To Make & Grow A Loofah Sponge: Today’s feature is from Groovy Green with their instructions on how to grow Luffa (or Loofah) and Make Your Own Luffa Sponges: For the third autumn in a row I am pleased to be harvesting my shower sponge for next year. Now I know that must sound like a strange statement but it’s true. Many [...]
• How To Grow Roses In Pots: Today’s feature is from Rose File with their information on Growing Roses in Pots: Why Pots? Growing roses in pots makes possible a number of good things. One can: Grow roses on decks, pavements or patios. Grow roses too tender for your USDA hardiness zone. Move roses about to create new color combos. Sequester roses with diseases until recovered. Raise a rose [...]
• How To Make A Daisy Chain: Today’s feature is from Alice Hayes at FlowerBud.com with the tip How To Make A Daisy Chain (link updated to webarchive since original webpage is no longer available): I just discovered that not everyone knows how to make a daisy chain! In my mind, learning how to make flower jewelry was a natural part of childhood, like [...]
• How to Grow Upside Down Tomato Plants: Today’s feature is from Todd with his web page giving the tip: Upside Down Tomato Planter: The first upside down tomato plant I made was in 1982′ish I see now others have caught on this great idea, I also see people are trying to capitalize with gadgets to do this.. So I made this website [...]
• 10 Organic Aids & Natural Planting Tips For Gardening: Epson Salt Spray: 2 ounces of salt per 2 gallons water. Benefits: Helps with Black Spot, Mildew, Wilt and Rust Mineral Oil Spray: 3 parts oil per 100 parts water. Benefits: Helps with Aphids, Codling Moth, Leaf Roller, Mealybugs, Scaled Insects, White Fly Beer: Stale or mixed with molasses Benefits: Helps control Slugs Tomato Leaves Spray: Crush leaves and soak in [...]
• How to Build a $15 Compost Bin: Here are two different projects for making a compost bin… The first project is from This Garden Is Illegal (love the name!) with their tip on How To Build A $15 Shipping Pallet Compost Bin: I need a good size bin to keep my compost in. The compost bin needs to be able to dissuade animals from [...]
• Advanced Gardening Tutorial: Pleaching: Today’s feature is from English Cottage Gardening with information and details on Pleaching: A pleached hedge is one in which branches have been bent down or interwoven to form a living wall. This very ancient technique was known to the Romans and mentioned by Julius Caesar who saw it used as a military obstacle in Flanders. [...]
• Gorgeous: How To Make A Succulent Ball: Today’s feature is from Burke’s Backyard with a step-by-step tutorial for How To Make A Succulent Ball, you really have to check this one out: Don and Cheryl Maddocks teamed up to make a magnificent, succulent ball. While hanging baskets are eye-catching, a hanging succulent sphere is simply riveting. Visitors will be amazed when they see [...]
• Organic Insect Repellent For Plants: This is a free method to use in pest control around the home and garden since you’re just using scraps of onions. Organic Insect Repellent Save onion skins, peels and ends then refrigerate in an empty margarine-sized tub or ziploc bag until the container is full. Once you have enough, place the onion pieces in a pail and [...]