So you've decided to transform your drab backyard into a Japanese Zen garden. You've made the right choice. Yes, tire swings and crab grass can slowly kill the soul. That being said, a bit of planning lies ahead. This article offers a list of How To tips, culled from the Landscape Network and other professional Japanese style landscapers, for planning an effective Japanese style landscape in your home.
Navigating through row after row of plants, my tiny fingers would reach into the leaves to pluck all the vile little creatures from their homes and deposit them into a can of gasoline. Potato bug duty, my least favorite gardening chore.
Starting your own seedlings is a great way to save money, have a wider selection of varieties and gain personal satisfaction. Here are easy to follow tips on getting your seeds off to a great start.
Don't be intimidated about plant nutrition and how to read those mysterious numbers on fertilizer labels! Watch this funny and memorable video that breaks down the basics of fertilizing and shows you how to feed your plants.
Slugs are the bane of a gardeners existence but they are not going to win this war! Watch this funny, short music video, YES, music video that will have you tapping your toes and memorizing tons of ways to kill a slug!
Gardening school is in session and Shirley is teaching the absolute basics, such as: what to wear, what tools to use, what is the difference between an annual, perennial, and biennial?
Many gardeners feel intimidated by roses, but they shouldn't. Roses are actually among the easiest shrubs to grow if certain basic needs are seen to. They need to be planted in deep, loamy soil in a sunny spot protected from strong, cold wind. A gardener knows where the sun shines in their yard and if the soil is too acidic, alkaline or nutrient poor it can be amended. As for wind, a hedge, fence or a wall should provide adequate protection for a rosebush.
I live in the woods and frequently get moles in my yard. I want to get rid of them, but I don't like killing them. This is a video on how to catch a mole without killing it. It is very humane, and I've caught at least 10 moles this way and can typically catch them in one or two days. I then transport them off to a distant woods where they they can live in peace and not bother anyone.
Did you know that you can grow beans in your garden just by buying ordinary packs of soup beans at your local grocery? Once you start growing beans, you can keep growing them for a lifetime--just keep the seeds around. Soon beans will be sprouting in your garden every year!
When creating a new lawn it is essential that the soil is prepared properly to ensure a satisfactory outcome when laying turf or sowing lawn seed. Whether you decide to lay turf or seed, the preparation is the same.
Every experienced gardener knows that the secret to better blooms, brilliant greens, and tastier fruits and vegetables is a healthy soil. Improving the soil before you plant is the best head start to growing healthy, hardy growth in your garden.
Composting is said to be every gardener's gold, but making compost and getting it ready could take up to a year. Professional growers have discovered that compost activators can help speed up composting quickly…sometimes to as little as 30 days!
Want some cherries? Better have some cherry trees. OH! Who cut down the cherry trees!? Guess it's time to get grafting and grow some new trees. This informative video shows how to graft cherry tree stalks onto existing cherry tree trunks. It looks primitive, but this is what you need to do to get some new trees growing! Cut and stick, cut and stick. Water, wait and grow!Watch this video and think of Anton Chekov when you do!
The key to a successful indoor hydroponic garden is in both irrigation and lighting. This video can't help much with the irrigation, but if you want to decide what the best lighting systems are, this video is for you! There are a wide variety of bulbs and power sources that you can choose from when constructing your own hydroponic grow operation. The key is wattage, and the more wattage you can get out of your bulbs, the better your garden will be.
This is the first of a series of videos about building a geodesic dome greenhouse. It is basically an overview of the entire project and each future article will go into details about each area.
If you'd like to have a rose tree, or rose 'standard' as opposed to a rose bush, this video will show you what to do. You'll need some pruning shears and of course, a rose bush. This video is really helpful in instructing what to look for when you're trimming, and what branches to take and leave in order to avoid your rose treasure getting a disease. A rose tree by any other name would smell the same, but it would be called a rose standard. FYI.
This article details the step-by-step instructions on how you can make a strawberry tower that can be used for your hydroponics/aquaponics system. The water dripping through the system contains the nutrients, so soil is not used. The growing media is expanded shale, but you could also use expanded clay or gravel.
Halyomorpha halys, squash bug, shield bug ... What's in a name? A pest is a pest and the brown marmorated stink bug is a pest par excellence. Though some home gardeners are content to use insecticides, you'll find that it's generally easier to work with nature than against it. And let's face it: trading noxious bugs for noxious chemicals isn't much of a victory. Particularly if you're growing food.
Want to make the perfect gift for your green thumb gardener? This crafty little light bulb terrarium is the thing to make. It's cost-effective, and perfect even for the non-gardener to make. Watch this video, and create the perfect little green oasis for your friends or family.
If you're running low on time and short on money this holiday season, there is a way to still give your friends and family presents without having to resort to cliche $5 Russell Stover chocolates from the drugstore.
If you're into creating your own dried herbs and spices, you will eventually start to have questions about how to store them long-term, rather than just leave them hanging. This tutorial shows you how to properly store and care for home dried herbs.
More likely than not this holiday season you'll either be buying a poinsettia plant or will receive one as a hostess present. Rather than letting yours wither away and die as you forget repeatedly that it may need a little water to survive, check out this gardening tip video to learn how to take care of them year round.
The winter months may not seem like the best time to be growing much of anything, but the amaryllis thrives from October to April, which means its bright, cheery petals can adorn your table top during the holiday season.
Every home gardener has tackled tomatoes, but what about upside-down tomatoes? What?!? That's right, you can actually grow tomatoes upside down, suspended in the air. It keeps the plant off the ground and you don't have to worry about staking it.
Get rid of your water-wasting sprinkler system— but not entirely! Keep your landscape and garden maintained by converting those sprinklers into eco- and pocket-friendly drip irrigation. In this how-to video, Paula Mohadjer from the Cascade Water Alliance explains how you can easily convert your sprinklers into a drip irrigation system.
Using fresh herbs is always the best call for any recipe, but if you're an herb gardener with load after neverending load of herbs that you can't find a use for right now, drying these herbs may be your best option.
We know that spring seems ions away, but if you're a gardener then it's time to begin thinking about what flowers you'll be planting to bloom during the spring. If you don't have much garden space but would love a very fragrant bloom, check out this video to learn how to grow lavendr provence in a container.
Want to have the freedom to nom on a piece of fruit straight from the tree without having to worry about cancer-causing pesticides and other antibacterial agents going into your belly? Then growing your own fruit may just be the answer.
In this tutorial, we learn how to grow healthy and productive fruit trees. Pest management is an issue with growing plats, so use something that can grow in a small area. Only use disease resistant varieties of trees, so you won't lose any while they are growing. You can grow some trees in a small area so they maintain in their space and they are very active. Make sure you prune the trees once they reach a certain heights and you remove any pests that are around. Use these tips to grow healthy...
In this video, we learn how to prepare a raised bed garden for planting. First, clear some of the debris that was left from last year. Then, take a pitchfork and loosen the soil all around the bed. Bring the soil from the bottom up to the top to make it stay loose throughout the bed. Then, start shoveling the soil around the bed and then add in some manure to the bed and mix together with the shovel. Worms in the compost will give you a lot of nutrients and help break down the manure. When...
Why wouldn't you want to grow a maple tree? Not only would planting and watering it help relieve stress and help you become one with nature rather than with Facebook, but the tree also produces maple syrup.
Think you might like to cultivate mushrooms in your home garden? It's not so difficult as you might imagine it to be. And this gardener's guide from the folks at Growing Wisdom will walk you through the process from start to finish.
If you grow your cucumber plants vertically, it's important that you know how to prune it properly to promote healthy growth. This gardener's guide from the folks at Growing Wisdom will walk you through the process from start to finish.
Pawpaws are a little-known American fruit. With their unusual texture and tropical flavor, pawpaws make a great addition to a lot of recipes. They're easy to grow at home, too, in almost any climate! Here is everything you need to know about growing pawpaws, plus a recipe for a delicious and healthy smoothie!
In this clip, we learn how to prune a tree to keep it healthy and bearing fruit. Learn what to clip and what to avoid while watching a trained arborist prune a backyard fruit tree. For all of the details, take a look.
Fresh herbs are some of the most manageable and useful things you can grow in your garden, but what to do when the harsh winter arrives? Many herbs can survive inside in pots, and this video will teach you how to prepare your herb garden and transfer it into pots for indoor storage during the winter, which when done properly will keep it protected, alive, and flourishing
In this video, we learn how to plant a container herb garden. First, lay down a layer of fertilizer to your pot and then rip off the container from around the plant. Then, place the plant inside of the pot and throw some of the fertilizer around the top of the base of the plant. From here, you will place in the rest of the herbs to the pot until it all fits in well. Then, make sure you water this according to which of the herbs that you are growing. Enjoy watching your herbs grow and enjoy...
In this video we learn how to make an autumn themed flower arrangement. Start off by purchasing fruits and vegetables that are fall colors. These colors can be: yellow, orange, light green, and brown. Grab the fruit or vegetable, then remove the inside from it, scooping it all out. Then, grab some fall flowers and cut the stems down on them. Place the flowers into the vegetable center and it will make a gorgeous center! It doesn't take a lot of time or creativity to do this, so it's perfect for...
Orchids are some of the most beautiful flowers that you can own, but they are tropical and if you live somewhere with bad winters you have to take special steps to take care of your plants. Watch this video to find out how.
If you have a big beautiful lawn and live somewhere with cold winters, you probably already know about how to winterize your lawn and how doing so can protect your lawn in the winter and make it grow better in the spring. If you don't, watch this video.
Moss can be a beautiful part of natures, but it can also wreak havoc on your roof shingles or garden plants and rocks. If you've got a moss problem, watch this video for some easy ways you can solve them.
If you live somewhere with harsh winters, you know that they can be hell on your garden and the flower pots therein. Watch this video for tips on protecting different kinds of flower pots from the elements during the winter.
Square foot gardening is a type of gardening in which you carefully arrange plants in tiny squares to maximize space and stylistic harmony. Watch this video to learn how to plan and execute a square foot garden in your apartment or house.
In our most idyllic of dreams we envision living in a 17th century English castle with endless lush fields and gardens bursting with flora and faunt. But unfortunately most of us live in a more urban setting (think right in front of a Subway) and don't have as much space to work with if we want to garden.
Bonsai is a beautiful art that focuses on manipulating a tree to any shape you desire! If you've wanted to grow your own bonsai from a seedling to the full thing and are wondering where to start, check out this video! In it you will learn what sort of trees that you can plant to make into bonsai, as well as how to grow it from seed to seedling!
If you plan on growing a corn garden, you should know that detasseling your crop is a great way to help them cross-pollinate. Watch this video to learn how to detassel corn plants and how doing so will improve your harvest.
Fuschia flowers are very pretty, and they aren't too hard to grow if you've got a nice garden to work with. Watch this video for all kinds of tips on caring for Fuschia plants, like when to deadhead them and when to start and stop adding fertilizer.