Light Up Your Garden And Brighten Your Life – Home
Light Up Your Garden And Brighten Your Life
Carolyn James
Extending Your Living Space
The garden is fast being considered to be an extension to your living space and homeowners are putting as much effort into creating a harmonious environment outside as they are inside. A beautiful garden is also considered to be one of the biggest selling features of a home and can certainly help to add value and appeal.
As the short days of winter recede, many of us will be starting to think about our gardens and dreaming up projects and schemes that we plan to undertake when the days become longer and the weather warmer. For many traditionalists this will mean planting borders, manicuring the lawn and cultivating a myriad of blooms that will add colour and life to their gardens throughout the summer, whilst others will view their garden purely as an area in which to relax.
Garden centres are already stocked with outdoor furniture, ubiquitous decking and the eclectic range of artefacts that are designed to help you enjoy your garden to the full. However, garden lighting is one of the most effective ways that you can improve the look and functionality of your outdoor living space and increases the time that you can appreciate this natural extension to your home. Garden lighting has moved beyond the occasional wall lantern or halogen floodlight illuminating the patio or garden path, blending functionality with creativity. Strategic outdoor lighting enables you to enjoy aspects of your garden at all times of the day or evening, all year
Flowers That Beautify Your Home and Garden – Home
Flowers That Beautify Your Home and Garden
Mike Yeager
To help gardeners choose flowers, various systems for rating hardiness have been developed. A plant is considered hardy in a region if it can grow and thrive there without requiring special protective measures such as insulating with straw mulch.
Sun or Shade: After hardiness, sunlight is your most important consideration. Choose flowers that are adapted to the light levels in your garden. Dont plant sun lovers under dense trees, and dont plant shade lovers where theyll be exposed to blazing mid-day sun. Plant descriptions give the light preferences for plants, so take these to heart. You may be able to grow a sun lover in partial shade, but you may get fewer flowers or weaker growth. Place it in a spot where it can really shine!
Each year literally hundreds of new annual flowers are presented to gardeners. Some are distinct improvements based on the region where the flower was cultivated and some are not.
Inside each cell in green plants are microscopic worlds that trap and convert some of the energy in light, mix it with water and carbon dioxide, and turn it into a simple sugar. It is this sugar that plants use to grow, flower, and set seed. The best light for plant growth is sunlight. But almost since the invention of electric lights, researchers and gardeners have tested various methods to study plants and grow them.
Artificial sunlight has the great advantage of being controllable. Whereas some days might be too sunny or cold or windy to provide the right light for delicate seedlings, the intensity and duration of artificial light can be fine-tuned. However, for the typical gardener and flower grower, mother nature provides all the sunshine, water and elements needed to grow beautiful flowers.
Enjoy yourself in your garden!
About The Author
Mike Yeager
Publisher
http://www.a1-flowers-4u.com/
mjy610@hotmail.com
Nontoxic Pest Control for Your Home and Garden – Home
Nontoxic Pest Control for Your Home and Garden
TC Thorn
Pesticides are toxic and, while often effective against pests, can be dangerous for your family and pets. Outdoors, sprayed pesticides might drift on a breeze and dust your vegetable garden or your neighbors yard. Indoors, pesticides can linger in the air, exposing the family to harmful chemicals. For these reasons, many people are turning to nontoxic pest control methods.
Prevention is the best way to control pests, but there are times when even the most thorough preventative measures will not save you from intruders, so this article discusses both preventative pest control methods and nontoxic pest control products.
Preventative Pest Control Methods
Sanitation:
As they say, cleanliness is next to godliness. And it keeps pests out, too. Keeping your home clean is the most effective pest control method. If you dont leave food or dirty dishes lying around the house, animals and insects wont be attracted to the smell. Sweep and vacuum regularly. Remember, just because you cant see crumbs doesnt mean they dont exist. Clean inside pantries and cabinets cabinets, under and around the stove and refrigerator at least once a year.
Screens:
This may seem obvious, but screens on doors and windows are a simple and relatively cheap way to keep insects out of the house. Also, screens on crawlspaces keep rodents from obtaining easy access routes into the house.
Caulking:
By caulking cracks in your house, you can minimize places for insects to hide and nest. Target bathrooms and the kitchen, especially doors and windows.
Nontoxic Pest Control Products
Traps:
There are many kinds of traps available that target many kinds of pests. Some examples are sticky traps for cockroaches, glueboards for mice, flypaper, bug zappers, and traps specifically for rats, gophers, or moles. You can usually pick up traps at your local Home and Garden store.
Pheromones:
Pheromones, essentially insect scent hormones, can be used in traps as bait. By emitting the scent of the female insect, pheromones can be used to lure males into a trap, where they are caught in a sticky glue. Insects are only attracted by pheromones emitted by their own kind, so you need to know exactly what kind of insects youre trying to eliminate and plan accordingly.
Biological Control:
Biological control is more often used in agriculture but can sometimes be used in home and garden situations as well. Basically it means using desirable organisms to eliminate undesirable organisms. For instance, planting certain plants in your garden can deter certain pests. For example, spearmint repels ants. Garlic repels Japanese Beetles. Indoors, spiders eat fruit flies and houseflies, so it may be worth leaving some of those webs around.
Repellents:
There are nontoxic repellents available for pest control. Mosquito repellents are the most popular, but if you look around, you can find repellents that target other pests. Some herbs, like eucalyptus and wormwood, are known for repelling animals and insects.
About The Author
TC Thorn writes for http://www.pestinformation.com/ where you can find more pest control information.