home and garden

Gardening Ideas in Small Spaces Using Planters

You know that you have a lot of ideas on how to put a new spin in your garden or even inside your house and offices. It is a matter of maximizing the space you have and being creative all the time. There are a lot of ways you can make use of every small spaces in your area. Here are the great ways you can make use out of your little space at home and at work. A popular way to garden in small spaces is to use pots and containers. Almost all the plants you can raise on the ground you can also grow in a pot or planters. It’s true! everything from fresh herbs, flowers to shrubs to small trees thrive in these containers. The great part of it is that you can add texture and color and light to any small spaces. Intense shades of color makes any small yard appear larger. Try planting bright colors around the perimeter of your town houses and condos and see how great that looks.

Moreover, you can create a pocket of colors on victorian planters near your patio or deck. Victorian planters are ideal containers to use for this concept. Climbers, fruit bearing plants, trees, perenials, bedding and shrubs are the great plants to use on this container. Window boxes are another great above ground options and they look beautiful and stunning especially outside your home settling on your window sill. You can create a mini garden as you can add different plants on them. Metal window box planters are ideal to use and are cost effective. Aluminum window boxes like these usually offer distinct advantages, including the unique versatility and ultra-lightweight composition. Options are also flexible that you can customize according to taste, personality, flair and style. Just always remember that you have to water them everyday at the hot summer months. But if you do not have enough time, using self watering office planters can be a great way to save time and space.

Elegant in their beauty, these planters bring that sense of calmness and simplicity to interior commercial design space. Built in resorvoirs optimize plant consumption and eliminate the need of regular watering. Thus, it allows more intermittent upkeep as opposed to daily care. Refreshing herbal grasses, friendly Ficus trees and many more live plant varieties can thrive in a self- watering office planter. So there you have it! Just because you have a small space or no yard, it does not mean that you can’t have a garden. You just have to be creative.

Waterstone Kitchen Fixtures And More

Waterstone is a USA owned and operated manufacturer of top-of-the-line kitchen faucets, water dispensers and other kitchen accessories. Waterstone prides itself on its authentic passion for kitchen faucetry, carefully crafting each kitchen accessory with the highest level of care and dedication to customer satisfaction.

Waterstone recognizes the need for perfectly composed and coordinated kitchens ? that?s why they provide complete ?suites? of kitchen faucets, creating a cohesive and stylish look for all of their kitchen accessories. From potfillers, prep faucets, side sprayers and gantries right down to the soap dispenser, Waterstone ensures that each one of its kitchen faucets gracefully compliments its counterparts. Here at , we feature:

Waterstone Faucets: Kitchen fixtures from Waterstone are designed with solid brass or stainless steel construction, 360 degree swivel spouts and above the countertop access for easy servicing and installation.

Waterstone Hot Water Dispensers: These stylish kitchen faucets play the essential role of delivering hot water to your kitchen, melding form and function into a single decorative unit. Hot water dispensers also come coupled with cold water spigots and filtration units,

Waterstone Soap Dispensers: Kitchens with Waterstone soap dispensers have an integrated, sophisticated look. Coordinated soap dispensers clear clutter from your countertop and give your kitchen a professional look and feel.

Waterstone is dedicated to delivering water to your kitchen with the utmost in quality and composure. With a visual appeal and product quality matching luxury class kitchen faucets and a price that rivals the most economical faucetry, Waterstone makes designing a coordinated, efficient kitchen simple and affordable.

What You Need To Know When Buying Vegetable Seeds

Spring is on its way and many people are looking forward to planning and planting their vegetable garden. There are so many options, it can be hard to know what to choose and from whom to purchase your seeds. Because there are so many online vegetable seed companies to pick from, the choices can be overwhelming. This article will help to point you in the right direction.

Buying vegetable seeds online can be a very good choice. Many companies do not package their seeds ahead of time, which helps the seeds stay fresh longer. Likewise, many stores will ship the next day so you are guaranteed quick delivery. You will also find a very large selection of seeds that you may not be able to find at your local store. Even greenhouses or nurseries cannot provide a comprehensive array of viable vegetable seed options. If you are looking for that rare organic tomato seed, chances are you can find it online.

Most online vegetable seed companies offer some type of warranty. Some say that if a seed does not produce within a certain time frame, they will refund your purchase price or replace the item. This is the most common type of warranty you will come across. Other guarantees say that they will refund your money if you are not satisfied for any reason. Regardless, make sure you understand the terms before you buy.

Prices are usually fairly comparable, but check a few things before you purchase them. See how much you are really getting. Some sites may be cheaper, but they may be selling a lighter weight. Also be aware of the quality of the seeds. For example, heirloom seeds produce the best tasting tomatoes. There are also a lot of different types of the same vegetable. Be sure you are comparing the exact same vegetable or you will not get an accurate picture.

Have an idea of the type of vegetables you would like to plant. Do you want an eclectic collection of classics and exotics. Are all organic vegetables your thing. Or do you just want an old fashioned vegetable garden with the staples of cooking in it. Whatever you choose, you can find a company that will cater to your preferences.

Make sure that you patronize a reputable vegetable seed company. If you are unsure about where to start, ask some of your friends where they purchase their seeds. If you know someone in the neighborhood who has a great garden, ask them where they get their seeds or if they have any recommendations. Another way to get tips is to join an online gardener?s chat group. Gardeners are always willing to help someone who is looking for advice.

Starting a vegetable garden can be an immensely rewarding experience. Have fun with your vegetable garden, but don?t forget the things we talked about. They can save you time and frustration later on. Buying your seeds from a reputable online company is a convenient and economical way to get your garden started.

Making Compost Bins On Your Own ? A Few Useful Tips

When a person is in possession of a fine compost heap, he can very well prepare his own mulch and thus can keep his yard to look good. To achieve all this, a compost bin is required. A compost bin has to be built to preserve all the organic matters that are added to the heap gathered in a particular place. The main concern of the compost bin is that all the materials are piled up in it and has no restriction for the flow of air to the materials inside. The best solution for this is to build a fence for making a compost bin.

The things that are required for the preparation of the compost bin are fence posts and the fencing. Let us now see the steps involved in making the compost bins.

Firstly, a good location has to be selected. Composting will work better only when the organic materials are allowed for touching the bare earth. This will benefit the user for a good composting since the microbes in the soil will take part in the process of decomposition.

Secondly, the fence has to be made by using the welded wire or the chain link to make the compost bin. The chicken wire alone will not be sufficient for making the compost pile. A 25 feet roll and 4 feet tall fencing is required to make a good quality compost bin.

Thirdly, fence posts need to be purchased. These steel posts of T-shape can be easily fixed in the soil to give support to all the sides of the fences of the compost bin.

Fourthly, a square shape has to be made. Four places have to be marked on the spot of composting to fix the steel posts. These steel posts, after fixing, will end up with a square shape. Each side of the square should be of four feet length.

Now the steel posts have to be driven into the four marked locations. This can be done very easily by using the post driver. If the post driver is not available, then the two feet holes have to be dug and the fence to be planted.

Next, the fencing should be rolled out between the posts that are adjacent. The light gauge wire of the fence ties have to be used to connect the fencing and the posts. The process has to be repeated for all the four sides.

The last part of the fencing has to be cut for using it as a door for the compost bin. One edge of this has to be fixed with the fence ties and a rope or the chain has to be used for holding the other side.

Now the compost bin is ready for accumulation of the waste from the kitchen and the garden to make good compost for the garden.

Weed Control – How To Prevent Weeds From Taking Control Of Your Yard

If bees are public enemy #1 for most farmers, lawn owners and gardeners tend to view weeds with very much the same perception. Weeds are non-native plants that are unwanted in a certain place and time and can be very much harmful to your plants and even public amenity.

It?s imperative that you prevent weeds from taking control of your yard lest you wish to see your plants die one by one before the year?s end. Don?t let their harmless-sounding names (chickweed, dandelion and crabgrass) fool you; if you allow them full liberty to grow, you might find it impossible later on to regain control and recover the beauty of your garden.

Found below are several tips for better and more effective weed control:

Defensive Measures against Weeds
Always remember that the healthier your garden or yard?s soil, the better defense your plants shall have against weeds. So make sure that you always keep your garden or yard as healthy as possible.

Excellent fertilization is a good defensive step to take against weeds. Using the right type of fertilizer that possesses the best combination of nitrogen and other important compounds four times a year will go a long way in improving the health of your yard. But don?t be surprised if some stubborn weeds still persist in growing; that?s the time when other more aggressive steps must be taken to achieve effective weed control.

Aggressive and Chemical Measures for Weed Control
When you choose a particular weed product to use, make sure that you use it during the active growth period of weeds. This often happens in late spring or early fall and temperatures must approximately be around 15 to 25 degrees. Extreme temperatures would simply lessen the potency of the product against weeds.

On the other hand, if the product you?re using is a weed and feed one, make sure that you spread them always in the morning. This is because morning dew can ensure that the weed and feed product would stick to the weeds, thereby increasing their effectiveness. Avoid watering or mowing your yard when you?ve just applied the product. And just to be on the safe side, prevent both your kids and pets from tramping in the law during those days as well.

The Right Attitude to Succeed
Be realistic when it comes to your weed control goals. Weeds are like mushrooms; they grow very fast and worse, they?re not exactly easy to get rid off. Hence, telling yourself that you?ll exterminate the weed your population in a bloody one-day battle is simply impossible to achieve. You?ll never get started or feel properly motivated if you think that way.

Weeding, like other difficult but highly rewarding tasks, is a huge goal that you must try to achieve by taking one small measured step after another. Give yourself a goal outline if you wish. Divide the gardens into several areas and get rid of weeds in one particular division after another. You need to motivate yourself properly if you wish to succeed and setting unrealistic goals for yourself is certainly not the way to do it!

The Right Time to Fight Weeds
Time management is equally important in weed control; pick a particular time of the day when you believe you?ll be most available to battle the invading army in your garden. Whichever time period you end up choosing, make sure that you stick to your schedule at all times. Consistency and perseverance are what?s going to win the battle and not a blitzkrieg style of offense.

Worm Composting (vermicomposting) ? Make Your Own Eco-friendly Black Gold

Jedd Clampet found his Bubbling Crude, Black Gold, Texas tea right in his back yard. Now you too can make your own Eco-Black Gold and Compost Tea with Worm Composting. It is simply amazing what those little Red Wigglers (Eisenia foetida) can do as they devour just about anything that comes out of your kitchen. Just offer them egg shells, leftovers, coffee grounds, paper towels, even the cardboard circles that come with your frozen pizza and they will give you some of the darkest and richest soil around as well as some of the most nutrient packed liquid fertilizer available.

Many of you might already get compost from your composter bin, composting tumbler, or compost pile in the back yard. If so, you should try the compost that comes from worm composting for even better results. The worm castings and the liquid byproduct of worm composting, better known as Worm Tea have been found to be so beneficial to your garden that they are now commercially available. Not only have they been found to be two of the best fertilizers available, they have the added benefit of being totally organic and can be used as fertilizer for your houseplants, mulch in your flower beds or compost in your vegetable garden.

Apartment dwellers and commercial establishments don?t usually have back yards available for traditional composting, but with worm composting all the space that is required is a corner of a utility room, a small closet, or the space under your kitchen sink to start to divert kitchen waste from the landfill. A family sized worm bin only needs to be about two feet square, and as long as it is kept in a warm (between 40? and 80?F), dark and dry location the worms will do their magic. More and more families are moving beyond back yard composting to worm composting. In fact many restaurants, hotels and grocery wholesalers have turned to vermicomposting to reduce their volume of trash. One brewpub in northeast Ohio has been doing this inside their facility for years, using worms to convert the food waste from its brewing and restaurant activities into soil in which to grow vegetables they then serve in the restaurant.

There are two options to getting started with worm bins: you can build one yourself or you can purchase one of the many commercially available worm composting systems. The do-it-yourself route is a very inexpensive way to get started, but you will still need to purchase red worms since the worms that you find in your back yard will not survive for long in a worm bin. If you do choose to make your own bin, you will need to make sure to provide enough air circulation and water drainage to keep the worms from suffocating and drowning. Numerous types of containers can be used from plastic tubs to old dresser drawers as long as they are wide and shallow (8? to 12? deep) and they have a cover to keep light out. The commercially available residential sized systems start at about $100, but they make it very easy to add food and bedding, automatically separate the worms from the finished compost, drain the excess liquid, and are proven to provide the correct amount of ventilation. They are also typically made of several smaller trays so they are easier to handle and move around than one large tub.

Recycling and back yard composting can help to greatly reduce the waste that we send to the landfill, but there are still a number of things that are not recommended for a traditional composter. Worm bins however can accommodate a fair amount of egg shells, meat and dairy products, soiled paper and cardboard, as well as that last scoop of your dinner that no one can eat and is not worth saving. Some worm composting experts have even suggested that cat feces can be safely and fully composted in your worm bin, however cat litter and urine should not be composted. On average, two pounds of Red Wigglers can devour about one pound of waste every day, and the number of worms in your bin will slowly increase or decrease to match the amount of waste they are fed.

Whether you live in an apartment, are simply short on out door space, or just want to keep all of your organic kitchen waste from ending up in the landfill, then worm composting is the answer for you. Furthermore, if you don?t have a garden of your own it should not be hard to find someone who will take the nutrient rich compost and worm tea off of your hands. Worms may not make you rich, but worm compost will make your soil as rich as a Beverly Hillbilly.

Log Cabin Kits For The Garden

If extra space is needed for the home, a log cabin is an attractive and practical way to answer the problem. Log cabins are ideal as a home office, a gym, for housing Jacuzzi?s and saunas or as a playhouse for the children.

The size and style of your log cabin can be dependent on your budget. One way to make your budget go further is to use a log cabin kit and assemble the log cabin yourself. Most log cabin kits come with comprehensive assembly instructions, and with assistance from friends and family armed with tools, such as: a hammer, drill, spirit level, and a screwdriver, it can be a challenging and rewarding experience for everyone involved.

However, for some people, just the thought of assembling a log cabin kit is enough to give them a headache: so the next best option is to hire help though your log cabin kit company or from local trades? people.

Once you know your budget, the next step will be deciding what type of log cabin kit to purchase. Log cabin kits come in different packages: some are, handcrafted, and made from whole logs, whereas other log cabin kits are made from kiln-dried logs that are factory milled. Consider the quality and quantity of the wood in the log cabin kit: if your log cabin is to be used for twelve months of the year, you will need thicker logs than if your log cabin was for summertime usage. There are different shapes of logs to choose from, and a common choice is the ?D? log, which is round on the outside and flat on the inside and gives a horizontal wood-panelling look within. If you are concerned about the environment, check the logs are from substantially managed forests. Deliberate over the floor plans to determine what will work for you, what type of timber you want to use, e.g. pine or cedar, what insulation you need and your utility requirements.

The typical contents of a log cabin kit contain cut logs for a specific log cabin plan. Each log has a predetermined location in the wall of the cabin, with door and window openings already cut into the appropriate logs. Most log cabin kit companies offer a number of log cabin kit options that contain additional components: cladding, insulation, screws, corner panels, window frames and windows, doors frames and doors, steel brackets, anchor bolts, nuts and washes, studding, roofing and flooring. What isn?t included is: foundations, wiring, plumbing, heating, roof tiles, and guttering. Because each log cabin kit company structure their kit differently, it makes it difficult to compare costs between the companies, unless you can do an item-by-item comparison of the contents of the different log cabin kits.

Before the log cabin kit is assembled, a well-prepared level base that is the same size as the log cabin floor will be required to ensure a long lasting installation. A variety of materials can create a solid base, such as: concrete or paving slabs positioned on hardcore, and it should be 20-50mm above the ground level. Building regulations will need to be considered, for example, if your log cabin is to be located next to a boundary line. Some log cabins require planning permission and your log cabin kit company maybe able to provide advice on this matter. However if there are doubts, it is best to contact your local planning authority before work is commenced.

Log cabin kits do take time to assemble, but the finished product will be something you and your family can enjoy and appreciate for many years to come.

Guide To Bonsai Tools

To practice the art of Bonsai you must have the proper tools. I am going to list and describe the more common bonsai tools. When you first start out you will not need all of the tools listed and depending on your level of involvment in Bonsai you may never need them all.

Pruning & Cutting Tools
Pruning and cutting tools are used for any cutting that is too heavy to be performed with scisssors.

Concave Branch Cutter: These are heavy duty cutters designed similar to bolt cutters. They are used to cleanly and smoothly remove fair sized branches.
Spherical Knob CUtters: Are similar to the branch cutter except the cutting piece is spherical. These are designed to cut through heavy knobs or knots.
Folding Pruning saw: This is a small rough cut saw that with a blade that folds back into the handle similar to a pocket knife. They are used for cutting very heavy branches or when you need to cut down the trunk of your bonsai tree.
Shears: You use shears for many different medium to light cutting jobs.
Woodworking Gouges: Gouges are used for multiple artistic purposes in bonsai. They are frequently used to remove bark or to score the trunk to simulate natural damage to a tree.

Scissors:
Scissors are a staple tool for all bonsai enthusiast, they come in various shapes and sizes to handle various jobs.
Leaf Cutting Scissors: Just as the name implies these are used mainly for light work like pruning back or removing leaves.
Shoot Trimming Scissors: These are a heavier set of scissors designed for cut small to mid-sized shoots or branches.
Heavy Duty Shoot Scissors: These are an even heavier pair of scissors designed for all the shoots that are too large for the regular shoot scissors but too small for a pruner.

Potting Tools
The pot that you keep your bonsai in is very important for both it’s health and proper development. Bonsai need frequent re-potting and root modification. These are the tools most useful for those tasks.

Root Hooks: These are used to seperate the root ball into a more managable form for trimming and pruning. They are a heavy wire bent at one end and usually sharpened to a fair point.
Potting Trowel: This is just a small garden trowl that will be used to dig and manipulate the soil in your bonsai pot.
Soil Scoops: Are small metal or plastic cups with a handle and the open end is cut into a scoop shape. They are used to remove or add soil to the pot.

Brush: Soft brushes are used to lightly clean and maintain the trunk, branches and leaves of the bonsai.

Wire Tools:
Wires are frequently used to train the bonsai plant into the proper artistic form. There are a multitude of tools used to work with wire most of these are available at any hardware or automotive store.

Common Wire Snips: These are common wire snips that are frequently used by electricians, they should be heavy enough to handle any of the aluminumum wire used for bonsai.
Heavy Duty Wire Snips : These are just a heavier version of the snips listed above that might be needed if you are working with some heavier than average wire.
Pliers: Common house hold pliers are used for bending and twisting the wire into the proper shape and position.
Needle Nose Pliers: These are pliers that come to a fine point and are useful for working in tight confines around the trunk and branches.

Miscelenous Tools
Some general tools that do not fit in any of the other categories.

Chop Sticks: These are perfect for tamping and working the soil down around the roots of the tree.
Gardeners Knife: This is handy for many of the heavy non-delicate cutting you have to do.
Rake: A small rake just like a garden or yard rake except in miniature is used to clean and maintain the surface of the soil.
Tweezers: Tweezers are often necessary to work around the limited space on many bonsai.

All About Garden Decor

People are looking for ways to add significance, peace of mind, a quality experience, and to escape from the ?rat-race? in their lives. Stated differently, people want to add depth and meaning to their lives. One way to accomplish this, it is asserted, is to make or purchase decor for your garden.

Make Your Garden Unique

Garden decor, along with things related to gardens, provides a return to nature, a sense of spirituality, and a return to the earth as people journey on their quest for significance and ultimate meaning. Moreover, through the use of decorations, gardeners reveal their quirks and shortcomings, their wit, their creativity, and their desire to make their gardens unique.

Transform Your Life

Gardens and their ornaments are symbols of enchantment, mystery, meaning, and of ultimate being. Another way of looking at this is to see that gardens and garden accents provide the power to transform one?s mood and one?s life. To be sure, garden accessories can become symbolic reminders of life?s blessings as they encourage people to enrich their surroundings by transcending the mundane.

The Gardening Imagination

Garden ornaments help people take an active stance in their lives by enabling them to create a niche in the world that is in concert with their values and their dreams. Indeed, it is this ?gardening imagination? that provides people with the opportunity to select meaningful objects that speak to their senses, to their experiences, and to their lives.

An Invitation to Add Garden Decor to your Life

Websites that sell garden decor can be viewed as invitations to experiment and let your imaginations run free so that you can, with concerted effort or with amusement, choose the ornaments that you like?decorations that are in harmony with your highest aspirations and most dignified pursuits. With this in mind, look at the various products that are sold and select garden accessories that help elicit childhood fantasies. Examine the different garden accents and choose those that speak to your inner self.

Let Your Personality Shine Through

Garden decor helps calm the spirit, soothe the soul, and delight the senses. By letting your individuality shine through as you select your decorative accents, you will transform your garden into one of the most meaningful experiences in your life. The challenge is to capture moments of wonder, joy, and inspiration and experience the lasting pleasures of beauty and the splendors of nature by decorating your garden in a way that is congruent with your noblest thoughts, feelings, and aspirations.

Your Garden Sanctuary

Strive to decorate your garden with ornaments that magically call you to return to your garden sanctuary. Look at different garden products and decide on decorations that motivate you to tap into your playfulness or into your artistic bent as you contemplate how you will decorate your garden. In a word, you can add richness, depth, and a sense of discovery to your garden with different garden ornaments.

Summary

In conclusion, garden decor is significant because it is an invitation for people to open themselves to the magic, to the wonder, to the meaning, and to the pleasure that gardens and garden related accessories can bring to their lives.

Using Herbicides For Weed Control

Weed control is necessary throughout the year, as there is no specific season for growth of weeds. Effective control of weeds does not mean blatant use of strong herbicides. Doing so can have the adverse effect of damaging your lawn to an irreparable state. In addition, it can cause ecological imbalance, which have a negative impact on the community in the long run.

Herbicides can be categories into two types. The first type is pre-emergent and the second type is post-emergent. As the name suggests, pre-emergent herbicides are used before weeds germinate and grow. On the other hand, post-emergent herbicides are used to kill existing weeds. Proper usage of the correct type of herbicides is critical to effective weed control.

Depending on where you live, February to April of the year is considers a good time to start your weed control campaign. You should start with pre-emergent herbicides first. This type of herbicides can be used in conjunction with fertilizers and can last for about sixty days. The actual duration may vary as it depends on other factors such as the amount of rainfall. The more rain there is, the shorter the effective period.

As herbicide is a form of chemical, you need to read and follow the instructions stated on the product label. Never use it in excess of what is being specified. It could destroy your lawn or hinder the growth of your lawn grass if you do not follow the instructions closely. For safety purpose, make sure you put on gloves when handling such chemicals.

After sixty days, you can apply post-emergent herbicides together with your fertilizers. This should help you get rid of weeds that have taken root in your lawn. Monitor the situation for the next sixty days. You should be able to see some visible improvements. Otherwise, apply another round of post-emergent herbicides with your fertilizers and monitor the situation again. If the situation does not improve, apply another round of herbicides in the fall season.

To make your weed control campaign more effective, you should also learn how to take care of your lawn with a combination of proper mowing, fertilization and watering techniques. Alternatively, you can also consider engaging a professional lawn care service to advise you on how to improve your weed control efforts.