Gardening!

One thing that is often overlooked when planning and creating a beautiful summer garden for homeowners to enjoy is the fact that the garden exists throughout the year. Unfortunately in the vast majority of summer gardens there is a huge hole in the garden for the vast majority of the year. Carefully planning in order to avoid this process and planting flowering plants that bloom during various seasons of the year as well as plants that provide beautiful foliage and greenery even when the flowers may not be blooming can prevent this absence of life within your summer garden from occurring.

Plant continuously and groom your garden consistently throughout the year. Obviously the winter months are not great months for planting in the earth but this doesn’t mean that you cannot use flowerpots filled with seasonal offerings to fill the gaps of green within your garden. There are all kinds of flowers that thrive in winter weather that would make a beautiful addition to your winter garden without taking anything away from the beauty of your summer garden. In fact, the ability to incorporate these flowers and plants into your garden without necessarily planting may be an excellent incentive to keep your garden up to date even in seasons that aren’t traditionally thought of as gardening seasons.

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If you have the time and the inclination to create an organic summer garden there are few better ways to go when it comes to the potential impact on the planet. A summer garden is a thing of beauty to be enjoyed by all you invite into your garden. That being said, there are certain pests we’d all like to keep out of our gardens as well. The problem is that the pesticides of the past have undetermined side effects that have the potential to cause lasting harm. If we can avoid introducing those chemicals to our own gardens we are protecting our kids from dangers we may not even be aware of yet and protecting the other animals that may innocently come in contact with our gardens such as birds and butterflies from being harmed by the chemicals present in most common pesticides.

What does this mean to gardeners when it comes to efforts directed towards keeping out potential pests? Quite honestly, it means we are going to have to get a little bit creative in those efforts turning to natural solutions rather than chemicals. One way in which this can quite easily be accomplished is by encouraging animals that prey upon the pests to make your garden their home. Of course, this could potentially bring about its own set of problems but from a gardening perspective it is often very sound reasoning.

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Thinking of starting in gardening with apartment gardening? Well that’s a great way to start, if you have a moderate-size apartment where you can make use of vines, creepers and more to enhance the beauty. Even a small apartment can work wonders to give the plants a distinctiveness of their own. Never forget that the size of the place you live in does not really matter if you want to opt for a renovation.

And there is nothing better than changing the look of your home with pleasing plants. Before installing a garden in your apartment, make sure that you make a decent estimate of its location. It is even better if you have a moderately big patio or balcony where you can place potted plants. The space of your balcony can be used effectively as the plants will remain out of your way and they will receive adequate sunlight.

There are often many factors to consider before you give a serious thought to the option of an apartment garden. You have to see whether your apartment has the required space, moisture and light for the plants to survive. Assuming that your apartment gets very little light, what do you do with your plants? If you have very little light streaming in all through the day, you had better opt for plants like the Chinese evergreen plant that does best in low light. Before visiting the nursery nearest to your place, decide on whether your home gets partial sunlight or none at all. A briefing to the staff at the nursery will allow you to fetch plants perfect for your apartment.

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There are many things you can use to make a good compost humus (which is what the final product is called).  There are also quite a few items that should never go into your compost bin.  Listed below are many of the materials you should not try to compost and why it is not a good idea.

Ashes from charcoal should not be added to your compost, you can add very small amount of ashes from a fire that was made with untreated wood.  It is not a good idea to add a lot though because it can change the composition and make it too alkaline.

Do not add any kind of droppings from an animal that is not a vegetarian.  Animals that pass the compost inspection include horses, cows, rabbits, and goats.  You can even add droppings from hamster or other indoor pets.  But stay away from bird, dog, and cat droppings (including cat litter).  They all can contain harmful organisms.

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