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If you want to establish an Organic lawn care regime and have it turn out well, you must create ideal growing conditions for the turf and plants to bloom. You will need to devote more of your time than just a spring application of compound nitrogen fertilizer bought from your garden centre.

Your Organic lawn care starts in spring with raking your grass with a metal Tyne rake which will eradicate the dead thatch at the base of the plants. By doing this you will encourage light, air and water to easily access the roots ensuring a healthier environment and a reduced risk of moss growth.

Try to keep your grass longer than usual, say 1.25 to 1.5cm which will allow the leaves to make more sugar from the photosynthesis process due to increased leaf surface area to feed the root system. You can also cut the grass without the grass box attached leaving the cuttings on the lawn surface. As the clippings rot, up to about 30% of the grass’s nutrients are released back into the lawn.

You must watch for the bigger weeds and dig them out with a long blade knife, but reseed as quickly as possible to prevent more weeds becoming established. A quick tip for you is to make grass plugs. By sowing seed into the base of a pot carrier which you can get usually free of charge from a garden centre, you can produce turf in the circles of the tray that hold the pots. Clip the turf with scissors as it grows through the season so any time you see an offending weed, you can dig it out and replace instantly with a turf making a hidden repair!

If you feel that the lawn needs a feed then remember your Organic lawn care regime and choose an organic foliar feed such as a seaweed compound which you could apply with a watering can or if you want to maximise the effect and minimise the work, get a Garden Sprayer which connects to your hose pipe and dilutes as you spray.

Garden Sprayers ensure an accurate constant dilution of the concentrate as you spray from your garden hose, and because you only carry the concentrate around, the most you’ll ever carry is a kilo or so, because the water comes down the hosepipe, therefore you don’t carry a 10 litre watering can up and down with you. Try to find a slow release organic fertilizer to apply or if not you can continue to foliar feed with your seaweed extract.

Your Organic Gardening management requires you to aerate your lawn approximately every three years. This involves you spiking your lawn with a garden fork every 15cm or so over the whole of the lawn to a depth of approximately six to eight cm or you could use a hollow Tyne which removes a series of cigar shaped cores from the lawn. By doing this you boost drainage, so minimising moss infestation and also allows you to add a top dressing of fibrous loam across the surface which is then swept into the hollows to improve the general condition of the soil below.

Mix up a batch of top dressing with 1 part peat or coir fibre to 4 parts good loam or Jon Innes number 1 to 2 parts sharp sand. Make enough to spread about 1.5kg / sq.m. You simply spread this evenly over the lawn and either sweep it in with a soft broom or use the back of your garden rake.

wood working plans
There are some activities you can do to improve your home and these can be woodworking, gardening and interior designing. These things are fun and at the same time it enables you to spend your extra time in a more productive way.

When we talk about [spin]woodworking training programs|woodworking plans|woodworking projects|wood working plans|wood carving|woodworking|craft projects|furniture refinishing|wood finishing[spin], it is something that is a combination of the work of art and science. When you do woodworking, this enriches your mind and enhances your skills in art as well as in science. Wood working is a good avenue to express what is in your mind; it is also a way to enhance you mental capability in measurement or calculation.

Though woodworking is quite a fun, projects that are big can take more time than you think. That is the reason why the first thing that you must consider, as an amateur woodworker, is to select quality woodworking plans in order to complete your furnitue. You need to establish a plan first before taking your self in action.

rose gardening
Another essential activity you can do at home is gardening. Spending your time for growing baby roses can bring not only fun but it also add beauty for your home. Trust me, it will because I do spend my extra time in gardening too.

When I sit down in my garden with my friends and family during the wonderful sunshine, it is a joy that I feel as I know that it is the skill of growing roses that I learned years ago that is responsible for the wonderful look that I now experience. Roses and giving of roses has long been something which is treasured by living couples the world over and therefore the skill that I learned of growing roses is one that I am able to make use for many years to come and in many different situations.

home decor shopping
You can also spend you extra time for home decor shopping. Like gardening and woodworking, home decorating is something that is fulfilling. Try it and you will find it significant.

If you are someone who likes home decorating and is like me and can not get enough, I have numbers of great sources of how you can get more. My favorite source for home decorating tips, ideas, designs, and other information is HGTV. There are some really fun and informative shows that are great to watch and learn new ideas and tips.

Moths in the Lawn and What to do About Them

Are your seeing lawn moths flying up when you walk through your yard? More than likely, the moths are the adult stage of sod webworms that are common in Midwest lawns and southern. While the worms themselves can be mildly destructive to your lawn, it’s the adults that are just plain annoying as they stir up and fly close to the ground every time you use your lawn. If you’re enjoying a lawn game like horse-shoes, you don’t want them buzzing around and throwing off your line!
Most folks don’t care about the mild lawn damage from the larval worms, just the annoying moths, but…

…Damage caused by webworms may first appear in early spring as small dead patches of grass among healthy turf areas. As summer progresses, webworm infestation may cause general turf thinning or irregular dead patches in late June into early August. Sod webworms prefer sunny areas and the larvae are often found on south facing hills and slopes, where it is warm, sunny and dry. Heavily shaded turf is not often attacked by the larvae.

The most severe damage usually shows up in July and August when the temperature is hot and the grass is not growing vigorously. If you keep your lawn well-irrigated and fertilized, however, you probably will not sustain much damage, even with a heavy infestation. In lawns that are not well-cared for, sod webworm damage is often mistaken for heat and drought stress.

If you are reading this and you ALREADY HAVE DAMAGE from sod webworms, you should fertilize with a slow-release product such as organic Milorganite, and irrigate your lawn regularly to help it grow out. In the Fall, I’d recommend a granular fertilizer with a rating of 20-20-10 to help the root structure recover winter to winter.

How to Kill Sod Webworms and White Moths in the Lawn

In my lawn, I wipe out the worms that are feeding on the turf, AND I kill the moths that annoy my family when we are out using the yard for games and such.

The easiest way to get rid of lawn moths is to use a granular insecticide found at your local big box store. You will spend around $15 for a bag of granules that will cover 10,000 sq feet. You can also find granular insecticides that will kill grub worms as well, saving the need to treat your lawn for them in the future.

There are also organic products available for sod webworm, but they are not very effective and cost more. Most organic products also require reapplication during the summer as well. I am a regular advocate of organic and environmentally friendly pest control for lawns, but they have to work for me to use them, and in this case, they don’t. If you are not bothered by the lawn moths, then simply keeping your turf thick and healthy will save it from damage from sod webworms, and that’s very eco-friendly.

Organic Fertilizer by designation is derived from material that was previously alive. Plants once alive, now dead and processed into a liquid concentrate to feed more plants. Once produced, Organic Fertilizer can be applied as a foliar feed or watered into the soil. Organic Fertilizer may be bought commercially or produced from your own efforts in the form of Comfrey Tea or Worm Tea.

In order for plants to develop and yield productively they, like you and me, require nutrients. Your plants require three basic types expressed as N.P.K.

Nitrogen[N] promotes green growth. If you apply too much though, growth will be soft and flowering and fruit setting may be delayed. On the other hand, if your plants are yellowing in the mature leaves and lack vigour, then you may have a nitrogen deficiency.

Phosphorus [P] promotes root and stem growth and fruit, flower and seed formation. Too little turns leaves purple and impedes the growth of your plants whilst too much can cause premature ripening.

Potash [K] intensifies the colour of your flowers and improves their resistance to pests and diseases. It also hardens your plants tissue.

You can buy Organic Fertilizer either as a concentrated liquid or in a powder form, both to be diluted. You will find the NPK values will stated on the pack.

Seaweed Extract you will find is the most commonly produced commercial product and is better applied as a foliar feed as your plants absorb more nutrient than if the soil was watered directly. Seaweed Extract improves your plants vigour and improves resistance to disease.

Of course you can have a go at making your own Liquid Organic Fertilizer in the form of worm tea or Comfrey tea.

If you buy a wormery to compost your kitchen waste, eventually the action of the worms processing the waste matter will not only provide a worthwhile soil conditioner but also a liquid concentrate high in Phosphorus but low in Nitrogen. This can be diluted at about 1part concentrate to 10 parts water. Of course, what you put into your wormery dictates what value you get out of it.

You may be familiar with the medicinal value of the Comfrey plant for joint sprains and such. But filling a container one quarter full of leaves and then adding water to the top produces excellent Organic Fertilizer after about 5 weeks. You will notice a really foul smell coming from the container as it ferments so you shouldn’t site it any where near the house.

Applying your Organic Fertilizer is simple and easy using a Garden Sprayer which you can use for any liquid concentrate. Lawn Sprayers ensure an accurate constant dilution of the concentrate as you spray from your hosepipe, and because you only carry the concentrate around, the most you’ll ever carry is ½ to one kilo, because the water comes down the hosepipe, you don’t have to carry a 10 litre watering can around.

If you purchase your fruit tree from a nursery, be especially careful when you are taking it from the nursery to your house. I once had a friend who put the tree in the back of his truck, but clipped a sign on the way home. The entire tree snapped in half, and my friend was left a very sad man.

When you have gotten your tree safely back to your yard, look at the bottom of it and see how big the clump of roots is. It may seem like a lot of work now, but you want to dig a hole that is twice as wide as the clump, and just a little less deep. Making the hole slightly bigger than the clump of roots allows there to be room for the soil that you dug out to be put back in. Otherwise you would be stuck with a giant heap of unwanted dirt, and nowhere to put it. After you have dug the hole, line the hole with some compost or fertilizer so that the tree will grow better. After you have done this you should set your fruit tree into the hole, and spread the roots out evenly so that the tree will be strong and stable.

When all of this business is done, take the soil that you dug up and fill in the hole completely. Unless you want big piles of dirt everywhere, you should be sure you use all of the dirt even is it is a couple inches higher than the rest of your yard. This is because it will compress when watered. Before you firm up the soil, make sure that the tree is totally vertical and will not fall over. After you have checked that the tree is perfectly vertical you can gently firm up the soil.

If the tree’s trunk is not yet completely sturdy and can be bent, you need to tie the tree to a stake with a bit of rope. Be sure not to tie the rope tightly to the tree, as you need to allow room for the trunk to grow. Once the tree is sturdy enough to withstand all types of weather, you can take the stakes off of it. When all of this is done you should mulch around the base of the tree. If you live in an area where wildlife can access your yard, then you should put a fence around your tree, because some animals will eat the bark off of young trees.

Once you have successfully planted your fruit tree it will start to bear fruit after it is three to five years old. Once your tree starts to carry a lot of fruit you should periodically pick some of the fruit so that the branches aren’t weighed down too much. If the fruit gets too thick, the branches can break off. On some years your tree might not bear as much fruit as others, but this should not worry you. Healthy trees often take years on “vacation” where they produce little or no fruit.

After you’ve planted your tree you might start to have some problems with pests. To help keep these pests away, always rake away old leaves, brush, or any other decaying matter that could be holding bugs that could be harmful to your tree.

To make sure that your tree always stays healthy in the long run, you should prune it during winter or spring. Water your tree every two weeks during dry times, and be sure not to hit your tree with a lawn mower or a weed eater because it could severely damage the growth process. Also just make sure that your tree gets plenty of water and plenty of sun, and your growing experience should be just great.

Of course every gardener deserves somewhere to relax and admire all their hard work. What better place than under a pergola! Find out more
how to build a pergola
Build a pergola
diy pergola

So now you plan to fertilize your grass but how and with what? Garden centres can offer you all kinds of Turf Fertilizer both organic and compound, pellet or liquid. Which one do you choose?

Pellet Turf Fertilizer feeds are high in nitrogen content to guarantee your grass the green lush look that we enthusiasts are so keen to see. They are conveniently packaged and readily available.

You need to apply pellets as evenly as you can to be able to achieve a uniform distribution of nutrient and thus, colour. Without a wheeled spreader, this is not easy to accomplish when you consider the weight of the container when applying by hand, though it is good exercise when you’re walking up and down a big lawn! You must choose a day when you apply the Turf Fertilizer just before it rains otherwise you will need to ‘water in’ the Turf Fertilizer with a hose pipe or you face the risk of the grass browning. Browning is due to the pellets resting on the base of the leaves and being heated by the sun causing the grass to scorch. ‘Watering in’ plays an important role in the Turf Fertilizer process by breaking down the pellets and washing the nutrient into the soil and away from the heat of the sun.

Most Turf Fertilizer feeds include nitrogen which rapidly turns to nitrate and is stored in the plants leaves ensuring that flush of lush growth. The plant processes these nitrates into proteins to direct to its roots where the nutrients are needed the most. You will likely mow the lawn again before this process is completed, so putting most of the Turf Fertilizer into the grass box and from there onto the compost heap.

When you apply a Liquid Lawn Care you dissolve a concentrate in water. The Liquid Lawn Care is evenly dissolved and so you have a much better chance of achieving a more even feed because you apply a given volume of water over a given area of grass.

If you are concerned about the weight then use a Hose End sprayer which connected to your garden hose will dissolve the Liquid Lawn Care as you spray. A Fertilizer Dispenser will also cut down the amount of walking you have to do and reduce the time taken by not filling up watering cans.

You have eliminated the risk of scorching as no solids are present on the leaves. If you use a complex liquid lawn fertiliser you can use it all year round and its complex nitrogen is bonded with Calcium which helps the plant survive periods of stress such as drought.

Complex Liquid Lawn Care contains a stabilised form of Nitrogen which does not need to be processed by the leaf and so is much more efficient, as it stays around for long periods. Though don’t expect to see a sudden burst of lush green growth Complex Liquid Lawn Care works on the roots and over time your grass will look great permanently.

Gardening container trees can be a easy feat and also a beautiful pastime. These gentle giants can add a touch of elegance, shade, and height to an existing array of containers. Many people think that trees are just for the yard, but certain kinds can be put in containers, and they can thrive.

According to the famous poet Joyce Kilmer, “I think that I shall never see a poem lovely as a tree.” However, with the variety of trees available for containers, this poet would have been impressed with these types of plants.

box garden storage
Before choosing the perfect tree for a gardening container, one must understand how to plant and take care of the tree. Water is key for a tree survival. Containers tend to dry out quicker and with that one must stay on top of this task.

However, if one over waters the plant will definitely die. Also, a person should position the gardening container so that the tree can get the right amount of light. Because these ornamental plants can be really heavy, one should use a wheeled plant stand for positioning purposes with container tomatoes.

organic container gardening
Now that one knows how to plant and care for a tree in a gardening container, the time has come to choose the right tree. Many container gardening ideas are available, but certain varieties of ornamental trees do well. The quintessential container tree is the Japanese maple. These trees have lacy leaves that will change color with all four seasons.

Another variety that is perfect for a gardening container is the eastern redbud. This tree has shiny, heart-shaped leaves and lavender flowers in the spring. Evergreen trees such as the dwarf Alberta spruce and Mugo pine is great to produce ornamental eye catching designs. The evergreen trees can be trimmed into beautiful shapes that are perfect for many entry ways.

box garden planter
Various trees are the perfect accompaniment for a gardening container. After a little research a person can chose the right tree for their space. Small trees are perfect for container gardens and are very easy to grow if the elements are right including the type of box garden planter container and soil that an individual chooses.

No matter what one’s space is small tree can make it better and help with both privacy and shade.

Trees are perhaps the least troublesome of all plants you’ll grow on your carefree property. Once you plant a tree you have something, so will your grandchildren, maybe even your great grandchildren! For gardening the easier way, choose trees that are not only attractive but also self sustaining and generally well behaved.

Here are some gardening tips. Your trees should:

1) Develop leaf early

2) Hold foliage late

3) Let plants or grass grow beneath

4) Withstand insect and pests

5) Be drought resistant

6) Make sure that the tree is winter-resilient

7) Be adapted to your soil and climate

All the above requirements may not be available to one specific tree but some of these may exist. One thing to note is to avoid trees that are difficultto transplant, like tulip and sour gum. Also avoid elms (even the so-called “resistant” forms) until the Dutch elm disease problem is solved.

As much as anything you plant, trees set a tone, create an atmosphere. If yours is a carefree life in a casual meadow, Lombardy may not be appropriate for you. If your place is small, neat and formal, don’t plant hemlocks unless you plan to curb their trailing windblown habit by clipping them into a trim hedge.

Growing trees in tangle exhibits more appeal although actual landscaping can achieve the same effect by employing one or two specimens. How fascinating is the intermingling of different varieties thriving casually along a country lane or an old stone wall. Nature does this so beautifully. Why shouldn’t we try it?

Choosing good trees

Whether your choice is the conventional tree planting or the tangle type, it pays if you look into the following suggested trees which may suit your needs. (The list considers those trees often classified as tall shrubs.)

Most of the maples are fine trees for shade on lawn, terrace, or woods walk. Striking red buds chasing the last snows are followed by tiny furry scarlet flowers, dusty pink pointed young leaves, and finally deep green mature summer foliage. Nice-looking winged fruit pods, like twirling ballerinas, spin to earth-here two, there five, and now a dozen. Maple trees are unmatched given their giddy feature in autumn as their colors in flaming gold, red and scarlet become much more visible and distinct.

The orange-re autumn leaves of the swamp maple tree prevail clearly against the gray trunk and the blue sky while the gold maple leaves in the woods show up with glowing brilliance in the area. Sugar and Norway maples are among the most desirable and easiest. One tip is to trim the lower branches to let in the light and encourage grass to grow beneath them. The silver maple and similar types look attractive when silver undersides of the leaves are turned up by the wind breeze.

The fast-growing sycamore is a hearty tree, with large, heavy-textured leaves that produce a fine cool summer shade. Brown spiny seed pods account for one of its alternate common names, button ball. The limbs grow into wonderful elbows and angles, in winter the freckled brown and white trunk and branches stand out strikingly in the sunlight.

Oaks

The hardy long-lived oak brings squirrels to perform merry antics on your lawn as they hunt for acorns. The many-fingered leaves not only turn to rich coppery and maroon autumn tones, but also cling during the winter, bringing a fine hue of rosy brown to the scene. The pin oak, the red oak, and the scarlet oak stand out as among the best. Oaksmay be a bit slow growing but are attractive in the process. Plant at least one, if for no other reason than to be able to go out and contemplate it when you feel the need of something solid. An oak, we learn, weighs as much as fifty pounds per cubic foot!

One of the easiest and most beautiful of all shade trees is the sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua). Fragrance fills the air from the pointed leaves when crushed and which also turn deep yellow and rich red in autumn season.

The graceful beech is endowed with smooth gray bark which follows a neatly tailored folds around its trunk. This type of tree shades walk trails paving the way for a fine walk during summer and winter.

A planter box garden can be the perfect addition to anyone’s front window. The window box has been used for making a home look more welcoming for years. In the series Leave it to Beaver, the front of the house always had the most beautiful window box garden brimming with beautiful flowers. No longer are people living in the 1950’s, but that does not mean that one can not accentuate their home with a beautiful window box garden.

window box garden
A window box garden is a great way to find the perfect accent to a home. When thinking of a garden to go near a window, one must decide certain things. First is the scheme of colors that shall flow in the garden. Second is the type of plants that will be growing in the window box garden. Several options are available to those willing to take the time and effort into making the perfect window box garden.

When people think of buying a box garden raised they usually do not take the time to consider their purchase. However, in order to have beautiful ornamental plants or even edible plants, one must choose to buy the right box that is rot and insect resistant. Metal, wood pine, cedar, plastic, and thick composite plastic material are just a few of the options available.

planter garden
Metal is great but very expensive. The window box garden planters made of this material will last forever especially the copper ones. But if that is out of one’s budget, wood pine or cedar may work better. The downside of using any wood is that eventually it will rot. Wood pine will deteriorate quickly when exposed to the elements, and cedar will do the same when it comes in contact with dirt and moisture.

If wood is the choice of an individual, then make sure that the box is pressure treated lumber otherwise the investment will be for nothing. Plastic planters are abundant and can be found easily enough. They are also rather inexpensive, but when frozen, they can crack and this can cause one’s beautiful planter box garden to be destroyed in an instant.

flower box garden
A box garden planter can be a great addition to anyone’s home. With a box garden, one can stay in their pajamas and care for their plants. A large plot of land is not needed in order to have the most beautiful flowers around. Everything from color, plants, and what material the window box garden planter will be made of must be decided. That vast empty space on one’s windowsill is waiting for a transformation if one will just decide what is best.

Drip irrigation system involves dripping water at the roots of vegetations and plants. This system supplies drips of water at low rate which goes at the deeper level. Therefore, compared to watering at surface level, this supplies the exact level of water.

There are diverse sorts of watering methods and systems for garden. Sprinkler is one of the accepted methods of watering for plants, but it has certain drawbacks. Compared to it, a drip irrigation system is more beneficial for many reasons. This article is going to talk about the advantages of installing this watering system for garden.

You must have experienced that surface watering sometime fails to supply inadequate rate of watering to all plants. Therefore, you need a method or system that can supply the proportion of water required to your plants or crops. For this reason, drip irrigation systems are hence suitable method for this task.

The choice of drip irrigation system can be considered a sensible choice because of its benefit of water conservation. Drip irrigation can reduce water supply up to 50% and for this reason, this method is preferred to sprinklers. As a result, this system of irrigation system is used in the regions where there is a lack of water.

The regions with sloping earth require frequent water for crops. In such instances, labor and water are extremely expensive. Therefore, installing drip irrigation systems can be beneficial at such situations.

Drip irrigation technique is useful to water the plants where it is actually required. Therefore, instead of distributing the supply of water around the plants, this irrigation supplies water directly at the roots. This gives the plants boosting power to grow.

Now many irrigation systems are available for watering solutions which are automatic. You will come across several irrigation supplies and kits for this task. They are inexpensive and also easy to install. The manufacturers provide guidelines for installation procedure. You can get the benefits of this irrigation system if you install it in your garden.