Landscaping Gardening

Here are three wonderful bulb plants that are seldom grown but flower profusely.

Achimenes is an easy plant to grow if you give it part shade and lots of moisture. It makes an excellent container plant and deserves to be grown more often. The low growing trumpet shaped flowers come in a wide variety of colors – from reds through blues and bloom for an extended period of time in the garden. Overwinter by digging up right before frost and store warm (65F) and dry. You can also simply leave it in the pot and stop watering for the winter.

Camassia is a North American member of the lily family and it prefers a sunny spot where the soil doesn’t quite dry out. Blooming with blue flowers in mid-summer and each flower spike on a mature bulb can have 75 – 100 sky-blue flowers. This hardy bulb overwinters easily outdoors in USDA zone 4.

Eremurus is a rarity in that it is...

An outdoor fireplace is an attractive centerpiece to a patio, backyard or pool. With the warmth and exciting ambiance of a wood-cracking campfire, outdoor fireplaces are intended to be an efficient heat source. They create a relaxing gathering place, where family and friends can spend time on winter and chilly nights.

When compared to indoor fireplaces, outdoor fireplaces burn brighter and radiate more heat. As the outdoor fireplaces are highly exposed to wind and rain, it is crucial to build shelters for these fireplaces. Moreover, the chimneys must be constructed taller than the indoor fireplaces.

Outdoor fireplaces can be as simple as chiminea or highly complex masonry structures. Usually made of terracotta or cast iron, chiminea are small round stoves with tall chimneys. Fire pits form another option, which are perfect outdoor fireplaces for smaller areas.

Genera...

There’s an electric or electronic gadget for just about every task from crushing ice to blowing leaves and dirt from the sidewalk. However, the average homeowner is on a par with the Ethiopian subsistence farmer when it comes to the tools used for gardening. While there are motorized tillers that turn over the soil before planting seeds, these cumbersome, noisy, and often expensive devices are more suited to planting the annual vegetable garden than maintaining home landscaping and flower beds.

The kind of shovel, rake and hoe that you use in your yard are most suitable to day-to-day maintenance of your grass, trees, bushes and flowers. The shovels that are used in the yard are curved with a rounded blade at the tip of the shovel for breaking into the soil. When the user applies foot power, the shovel is driven in the hard ground. The garden shovel has a hand grip at the t...

Also known as ‘English lavender’ and ‘French lavender’, lavender’s fragrance is so mesmerizing and ubiquitous that it has captivated the entire world. Lavender gets its name from the Latin word ‘lavare’, meaning ‘to wash’, most likely since it was often used as a scent in baths to help cleanse the body and spirit. Its botanical name is ‘Lavandula angustifolia’, and it is widely used throughout the globe owing to its ability to cure various illnesses.

Lavender plants are found in the mountainous areas of the Mediterranean, owing to the sunny and stony habitat. Today, it grows throughout the south of Europe, the United States and Australia. Lavender is a greatly branched petite shrub that grows up to a height of about 60 centimeters. Its wide rootstock bears branches with upright, rod-like, green, leafy shoots. The aromatic fragrance of lavender comes from the blue-violet flowers ...

An outdoor fireplace plan explains the various steps and procedures to be considered while building an outdoor fireplace. A good outdoor fireplace plan acts as the fundamental step for constructing an attractive and durable outdoor fireplace. The plan developed must be user-friendly and cover all phases of construction and maintenance. It should ideally include details such as the overall cost of the fireplace and the average time required to build it.

Preparation to install an outdoor fireplace plan is time consuming. The plan must begin with the selection of an appropriate location where the fireplace is to be built. The outdoor fireplace can be installed anywhere in the backyard, pool, or patio. Be sure that the chosen location is clean and free of clutters. Next, the outdoor fireplace plan should consider the type of material needed for the fireplace construction. Usually, a...

Are you looking for a mailbox to keep your mail safe? Which mailbox would give you the perfect blend of storage space as well as style? If you always thought that mailboxes are solely for the purpose of receiving mails, then think again. Today, mailboxes are available in eclectic designs and shapes.

Mailboxes are also available with security features in order to protect your mail even if you are out of town for several days. Recessed decorative mailboxes are available in shapes like that of a duck, a bird’s nest, a house, geometrical shapes or even a car. But do recessed decorative mailboxes cost a fortune?

If you thought that decorative recessed mailboxes would be pricey, then you need to reconsider your opinion. Recessed decorative mailboxes are available for a nominal price and some of them come at discounted rates. But where would you find them?

Decorative recess...

Brick outdoor fireplaces are free standing, enclosed units with chimneys which restrict smoke and ash. These fireplaces add charm to the garden, patio, backyard, pool area, beach, or any outdoor location. The finest material for constructing outdoor fireplaces is brick. These are usually designed to burn wood, charcoal or pressed wood logs. Natural gas and propane models are also available, which look like wood burning fireplaces without smoke.

Brick outdoor fireplaces are built like indoor fireplaces. The major parts of a brick outdoor fireplace are the crown, overmantel, mantel shelf, header, filler panel, fire box, legs, plinth base, and hearth. Fireplace mantels come in a wide range of styles and sizes. Hearths are the bottom-most, fire-resist part, which are placed in front of the firebox. Hearths are available in squared, clipped, or arc shape. The fire box opening is surr...

Building a bird feeder can be a great project for moms, dads and kids. It’s fairly simple to build a bird feeder that can be hung in the back yard and bring years of enjoyment for the whole family. You can either start from scratch with material you have around the house, or you can purchase a kit that has everything you need to make a very attractive and functional feeder.

You can make a very simple bird feeder out on an egg carton by cutting off the lid and filling the egg pockets with birdseed. To hang the carton, simply poke holes in the four corners of the carton and run string through each hole. Then, gather the string together and tie a knot. You can hang the feeder from any tree branch.

Soda bottles also make great bird feeders. Wash a two-liter soda bottle and make two holes at the bottom of the bottle. Thread a piece of wire through the holes and twist the wire e...

Canopy tents are not only meant for taking rest in the outdoors and for partying, but are also concerned with the protection of your valuable outdoor assets. However, there are a number of varieties of canopies and one has the opportunity to choose from hundreds of canopy tents that are easily available at retail shops and online.

Usually all the canopies are attractive and sturdy. They serve as cover, shade and shelter for your patio, greenhouse, party, flea market, parking space, nursery, plants, flowers, camping area, garden area, pet, storage, deck, pool, barbeque, dog kennel, outdoor event or construction area.

These fancy and multi-functional canopies can also be used as a free-standing carport, dock house, gazebo, garage and virtually any other cover. These canopy tents are water-resistant, fire-retardant, and UV protected. Most of the outdoor canopy tents are port...

Decorative mailboxes are actual mail boxes for use by the U.S. Postal Service that are not only functional, but beautiful. They can be made of any of a number of materials, as long as they fit the specs required by the post office. Make a fashion statement in your garden with one of those decorative mailboxes that come in eclectic designs, colors and shapes. A mailbox is not just a device for receiving mail. It can also add a fancy look to your garden.

Recessed, locked mailboxes combine beauty and safety in your mailbox. These freestanding mailboxes are safe from thefts.

Decorative mailboxes are available in eclectic designs and usually have accessories to go with them. For instance, you get decorative mailboxes shaped like ducks, bird nests, or geometrical and non-geometrical designs. If you are worried about storage space, then you can get an extra-large box to hold larg...

Think of the earlier days when chemical fertilizers and harmful pesticides were not invented and people used to grow cereals and pulses, fruits and vegetables, flowers and seedlings using fertilizers from natural waste products. They were dependant on home made pesticides instead of chemical pest removers. The produces looked better, tasted better and were absolutely harmless.

Well, people have come to appreciate today the practice the earlier generation accomplished so well and regenerate the system for their own benefit. In short, the method involves no inorganic substances to be used in planting, nutrition or growth of plants and trees. Fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and supplements are all obtained only from nature. When this technique is applied to gardening, it is called Organic Gardening that is gaining popularity pretty fast and the produces thus obtained are termed...

Deck patio furniture is the rage these days. People who have patios are becoming creative in the way they decorate them. A patio is a statement that carries inside living outdoors, and it allows homeowners a chance to unwind and enjoy the pleasures of their backyards. Most patios look out on to well manicured yards and the décor inside the patio compliments everything around it.

How you furnish your patio is according to your style and taste. Patio furniture is offered in many styles can be made of wood, wrought iron, cast aluminum, plastic, etc. They all bring a classic look to a patio and create a little bit of heaven for you and your home. Patio furniture includes tables and chairs, coffee tables, benches, swings and gliders and fireplaces. A basic purchase for a patio is matching table and chairs. When the weather is inviting, there is nothing like sitting on your patio and ...

Gardening is great, and we learn to appreciate not only outstanding gardens when we visit one but also the gardener, who is putting a lot of time and energy into his garden. We are so accustomed to the fact that some people enjoy working in their gardens that we often forget that this is not something that is forced upon them, gardening is an acquired hobby, it takes time and a lot of learning to get to being a gardener and it is not a thing that can be achieved in a short time.

Let us leave aside for a moment the classic gardener that we know and think of, that middle aged, sometimes even older, man or woman that spends a lot of his or her time in the garden manicuring every leaf on every flower and examining the roots of every tree, these are the people who have made their decision about gardening a long time ago.

What makes a gardener, what are the deciding moments for ...

A Japanese garden represents traditional Japanese style and can be designed and installed in neighbourood parks and private homes. Western gardens occasionally reproduces some of the features of a Japanese garden.

When designing a Japanese garden, keep in mind that it should contain the real or symbolic elements such as water, an island, a connecting bridge to that island, a stone lantern and a pavilion or a teahouse.

Properly designed Japanese gardens can be classified as gardens which can be viewed with pleasure, from a building or while sitting on a veranda, gardens to be viewed from a boa and garden, which can be viewed from a path leading to a tea ceremony hut.

A “dry landscape” (Karesansui) type Japanese garden contains no water and few plants, still they invoke an atmosphere of water, which is created by using pebbles and sand or raked gravel. Rocks with their...

Many modern day American homes, especially those located in the suburbs come with a beautifully landscaped lawn like a sparkling green carpet laid out in the front. In fact, there are many who simply cannot dream of a home without a lawn, mowed, watered and trimmed. And maybe with tulips raising their glorious heads here and there as added charm. Gardening has become a favorite pastime and for some it is a serious past time.

But do you know the secret behind that sylvan splendor? The life force of vegetation of every kind and form comes from water and sunlight. Though you may not be able to guarantee solar exposure, you surely can provide the much-needed water, all the 365 days in a year merely by installing an effective lawn sprinkler.

Gone are the days when you had to go round the lawn with a summer hose, directing the spray to every corner of the precious land and getti...

If you have outdoor furniture that can’t be stored indoors in bad or winter months, that you definitely need outdoor furniture covers. As a matter of fact, even people who live in warm, tropical climates purchase patio furniture to protect their furniture from the elements.

Consider your outdoor furniture. If you have wicker, then the seats are probably made of a cotton material. Although this material is usually waterproof, it is best preserved with covers during rain and damp weather. There are also synthetic products like polypropylene that look like wood but have the resistance and durability of plastic. Even though polypropylene is durable, it too is best preserved if covered during inclement weather in order to retain its rich color and wood tone finish.

Wood is also a favorite for outdoor furnishings and is usually treated t with a water and insect repellent paint o...

If you love gardening and hate the winter months when your garden is for the most part bare, a greenhouse is the perfect solution. With a greenhouse, you can enjoy spring all year round, because a greenhouse is a gardener’s haven during winter. Just like normal gardening, greenhouse gardening can be your retreat to spend some time alone, reflect on your day and gather your thoughts while tending to your plants. A greenhouse in your backyard can be a perfect getaway during the cold, harsh winter. Enter your warm greenhouse any time of day, and you will be swept away by the refreshing scent of fresh flowers.

If you are looking to have a greenhouse on your land, you will find that your options are endless. You can accommodate a small cozy greenhouse in any place that gets optimal sunlight. Home greenhouses come in a number of shapes and sizes, and you will be able to find one that ...

If you don’t want a greenhouse that takes too much space or one that is a permanent fixture in your backyard, a portable greenhouse is your best option. A portable greenhouse is also less expensive than a normal greenhouse and can be set up in a matter of minutes. Just like any other type of greenhouse, you can find a portable greenhouse construction kit at your local gardening store. There are many types of portable greenhouses, and you can choose one best suited to your needs and the available space. A portable greenhouse can also be used to cover a particular patch of vegetables or fruits. For instance, you can extend the growing season of your tomatoes up to fall.

Constructing a portable greenhouse is inexpensive costing no more than $500. The most common kit is one that looks like an accordion when opened. Once opened, fit the spreader bar into the bracket on the roofline....

If you have a body of water on your property, such as a pond or lake, you may want to install fountains in them. The same mechanism—a network of steel tubes and wirings that make fabricated water fountains function can be installed in natural or manmade lakes and ponds.

Fountains enhance the beauty of the pond or lake. The water spray adds character to the otherwise flat water surface. This is more evident at night when you turn on the lights of the fountain and many colors illumine the surface of the water. Add more excitement to special occasions, such as garden weddings, romantic dinners, or outdoor corporate events with awesome fountain displays.

Pond fountains are usually found on golf courses. The mechanism which pumps water up actually cleans the body of water in the process of aeration. In this way, the water is kept fresh. This discourages the growth of algae and ...

Each and every year thousands of people undertake the adventure of shopping for outdoor porch furniture. Many of those people are soon overwhelmed with the vast array of choices available and the pros and cons that each type of outdoor porch furniture offers. Knowing what to look for in outdoor porch furniture can help make your purchasing decision much easier.

The most important factor to consider when shopping for outdoor porch furniture is how well the furniture in question will hold up to the elements. While a set of outdoor porch furniture may look breathtaking in a picture or on the showroom floor, if it can’t withstand years of elemental abuse, the money spent on that outdoor porch furniture will be money wasted.

Comfort is also an important feature to look for in outdoor porch furniture. Nothing is worse than sitting in an uncomfortable seat for any amount of time ...