Your own Strawberries - all summer!

By A C Palmer

Strawberries - what does that word conjure up in your mind?
There really is nothing nicer than a plate of strawberries and cream with a sprinkling of sugar on top. It is the stuff of summer; cool breezes and watching tennis at Wimbledon on a hot, sultry day - at least that is the picture book scene! The reality though could be a sea of crowded umbrellas, with everyone getting soaked by the run-off from the umbrella next to you - while you all stare at a deserted windswept court!

But regardless of when and where you eat strawberries, for the home gardener here is a fruit that can be easily grown in containers and hanging pots if you don't have the room for a garden in your yard.
The fruit is mouth-watering, sweet and juicy and there simply is no comparison between a store-bought strawberry and one that has been grown and picked fresh from your own garden.
They are actually a fruit that can be grown right through from spring to the fall, providing you buy the correct varieties.
Early to mid-season varieties tend to produce a single crop of the larger type of strawberries for a two to three week period in the late spring/early summer.

Heavy cropping strawberry varieties can be harvested two to three times during the growing season, i.e. spring, summer and fall.

There is a third variety that will produce a smaller, sweeter fruit that will produce crops right through from spring to fall as well; this one is a great favourite with children!

Strawberry plants like a well-drained 'sandy type' of soil that is rich in organic matter. The young plants should be planted in the spring with a good heavy layer of compost/mulch around them to (a) prevent weeds from growing, and (b) to drip feed nutrients to the plant as the rain washes the compost into the soil.
They like a sunny position if possible, for sunshine will produce sweeter fruits.
By the very nature of the fruit they produce, to keep strawberries thriving they need 1 or 2 inches of water a week in order to produce a sweet and juicy crop.
And so there you have it. In your own back yard you can produce an environmentally friendly, healthy and extremely tasty crop of strawberries.
All you need then is your TV switched on during the 2nd week in June and there you are at Wimbledon, watching the tennis along with everybody else on the centre court, come rain or shine, with a delicious plate of strawberries and cream in your hand!

Benefits of Gardening With Kids Equals Fit Kids Plus Better Grades

Benefits of Gardening With Kids Equals Fit Kids Plus Better Grades
By Roxanne N Kim-Perez

Gardening with kids is a great outdoor activity that allows the whole family to participate. From selecting your vegetables and flowers, preparing the earth and planting and harvesting, gardening with kids can be a wonderful way to spend quality time with your children and is a healthy hobby all can enjoy. Working in the garden, children learn to work together and share, and helps a child build all senses.

These days, kids spend more time sitting in front of their computers and TV than playing outdoors. According to a study by the California Department of Education, kids' fitness levels may affect their performance in school. Study done by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found the same results on academic performance. The study found that increased amounts of physical fitness translated into higher academic achievement. The benefits were most evident in math scores. They also found that girls at a higher fitness level had better achievement than boys.

Do your children consume the recommended five servings of fruits and vegetables each day? We've known for years that fruits and vegetables provide essential vitamins, minerals, and fiber that keep us healthy. According to nationwide nutrition survey research, daily consumption of fruits and vegetables decrease risk of stroke, cancer, and heart disease; improve memory and lower blood sugar levels. So why not try?

Benefits of gardening with your children:

• Social and Life Skills



• Science



• Relaxation



• Environmental Awareness


• Quality time with family

Here are some tips for gardening with your children:

• Study what kind of climate you have before you start. Once you know your zone, you can find out what plants to select.



• Designate a place where your child will be gardening.



• Teach them about the importance of quality soil and soil preparation.



• Before starting a garden with your children, the first thing you should do is remove any large debris, rocks, and branches.



• Let the kids lay out the shape of the garden or draw on paper first.



• Ask your kids what kind of plants, vegetables or flowers they like to plant and let your kids pick them out.



• Explain what will work well in your garden and what won't. If planning vegetable gardens, show row spacing, and distance between plants.



• Let them help in the selection of seeds and blossoming plants at the nursery. Let your child do the money calculations.



• Depending on your kid's age, let him/she dig, weed, or water. This is a great way for your child to explore.



• Get them their own gardening tools. Nothing will motivate your little gardener more than having their own little shovel, gardening gloves, watering pail, and colored rubber boots.



• Plant some quick growers to keep the child's interest or purchase plants from garden center


• Watch plants grow and enjoy time together in nurturing nature.

Gardening with children can benefit both children and adults and it's all about having fun and learning. Gardening and nature are great stress relievers, enhance the environment, develop individuals, and build communities.

Roxanne (Roxy) Kim-Perez is a professional landscape designer providing landscape design service in and around San Diego. Her design firm http://www.forget-me-notlandscapedesign.com is a landscape design company that specializes in modern residential landscape designs with emphasis on energy efficient, low maintenance and comfortable designs for Southern California home owners.

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Useful Tips About Roof and Terrace Gardening

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Useful Tips About Roof and Terrace Gardening
By David Urmann

A roof garden is a type of garden situated on a roof of a building. Ever since, humans have developed a fondness to growing plants on top of structures. Aside from the decorative benefits, these roof plantings actually provide temperature control, food, and habitats for wildlife, along with recreational opportunities and architectural enhancement. In certain cities, due to the lack of gardening areas, many resort to roof gardens.

This type of garden can be on top of building, taking care of its own waste and water supply. With hydroponics, and other methods, you are able to expand the numerous possibilities of gardening on roof tops. A good way to accomplish this is by reducing the tremendous weight or soil needed. This is why planting in containers are prevalent in these gardens. Pots may be too heavy for the roof and cause ceilings to leak.

Living in small-sized apartments should not hinder you from having a garden. You can have vertical gardening or square foot gardening. Vertical gardening is planting with the use of your living walls. It uses lesser space than the traditional square foot gardening method.

Before starting, it is important to till, weed, and eliminate any pests. Also recycle by composting. In fact, for small apartments, having a Bokashi type of compost system is far more practical as compared to conventional composting. The safest type of compost is the manure derived from vegetarian animals.

In this busy world, most people find solace from nature. If you are too tired to take strolls in the park and you cannot go to nature trails all the time, having a garden at home, specifically in your terrace is the best solution to this dilemma. Hence, terrace gardening is a kind of indoor gardening that entails taking care of indoor plants.

Follow some tips in roof gardening. Your roof needs to be strong enough to carry the garden's weight. Also check for an efficient drainage system. And lastly, make sure there are no water leaks.

For terrace gardening, keep proportional the shrubs, lawns, small trees and ground covers. You can also enliven your garden corner with rocks and other naturalistic designs.

After this, you need to choose the kinds of plants you want. Fiber-rooted plants are better than tap-rooted plants. This is because tap-rooted plants can grow into the building and harm the structure.

For the soil, get the type that will not exert pressure onto your building. Peat moss and soil rite are good options. Since these are a bit expensive, you can mix it with manure and garden earth.

To arrange your drainage system, it is imperative that you do your roof garden construction. You can uniformly lay 2-inch to 4-inch burnt bricks on your terrace. This type of bricks is the best because the normal ones eventually turn into mud and consequently collapse the drainage system. A good alternative are corrugated sheets which needs to be placed on 3 inch distances, making the water freely flow onto the drain.

On top of these bricks, you need to place a net lawn. This prevents your soil from getting into the bricks. If your garden is a bit large, you need to have a drain constructed in several places. You should also place some pipes along several areas that would lead to the main holes. Make sure that these pipes are not visible. Keep in hidden beneath the lawn.

Lastly, place the soil mixture you prepared into the pot or any container. These gardens will beautify your home, and also promote a healthier environment.

For more information on Roof Garden Space Considerations and Exotic Roof Gardens please visit our website.

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Cheap Compost Tips

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Cheap Compost Tips
By Peter B Moore

Looking for a budget saving tip for your garden. Let's talk about reusing fallen leaves from the fall to help your garden year round. You can actually be everyone's favorite neighbor as you rake up leaves for your own good. Everyone will love you and you garden will become the best in the neighborhood.

You might be thinking I'm crazy but these leaves are full of plant nutrients and useful bacteria that help your garden year round. First layer the fallen leaves around your garden beds. This will help protect the soil during the winter time and by the time spring comes around a good percentage will have rotted away and their nutrients will give you a boost. Now for the fun part, you need to rake back up the leaves that did not rot away over the winter and add them to your compost bin.

You go take it two ways with a compost bin. I like to use chicken wire and back the leaves in tight while keeping them moist at all times. It takes about a year but the leaves turn into a crumbly dark compost that is great for the garden come spring time. You can also just take those paper yard waste bags and fill them with leaves and poke a few holes in the bag. Make sure you check the bags and keep the leaves damp, and you will get the same result in a year. The bag method is great for gardeners who have smaller gardens and not a good hiding spot for a compost pit. These leaves will give a boost of carbon into the ground that will only help your plants. A nice little trick is to mow over your leaves to break them down; this will help them break down quicker over the year.

I know this method takes some time but done year in and year out it will provide you with an easy and cheep method for good compost add-ons.

A quick an easy tip from http://www.southfloridagardening.co.cc/wordpress/

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Types of Orchids For Beginners

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Types of Orchids For Beginners
By Cliff Hunter

Never Grew Orchids Before? Let's Look at Some of the Most Popular Types of Orchids for Beginners!

Uh oh! I'm sensing that you are afraid you do not know where to start in growing orchids. Fear not! Here are a few ideas of the easiest orchids to care for. Many beginners loved them and some are now Orchid experts in the field. So what I'm about to share with you would be an excellent for beginning, while you learn the secrets of growing orchids.

Where to Start: Orchids for Beginners

The object of affection of royal gardeners and planting experts worldwide, you may think the orchid-that most difficult of natural beauties-is the business of the botanical only. But not so.

The secrets of the orchid can be discovered and perfected with many easy-to-care-for species of the beautiful plant.

For Beginners

The Oncidium Intergenerics, the fragrant delights that bloom twice per year, are favorites of the rookie orchid grower. Thought by many the most manageable orchid species, the Comnara Wildcat can last up to three months with simple care guidelines and ample light.

Another of the species, called the Oncidium Sharry Baby, blooms three times a year with the smell of the coveted cocoa leaf for your windowsill or dinning room.

The Cattleya group, another popular species among beginners, features a short blooming period that is offset by a natural beauty not often paralleled in the plant world. These large plants feature an easy growing regimen that often requires supplemental lights, and blooms with vibrant colors and characteristic fragrances.

Other Beginner Orchids

Another line of orchid plants popular for beginners is phragmepediums. Though watering and fertilizing must be practiced delicately with these plants, they are a simple-care orchid that requires much bright light. If a brown color emerges on the leaves, the orchid has been overfertilized-a simple problem that can be reversed with less fertilization.

Two important beginning orchids that bloom well under most proper windowsill conditions are the phalaenopsis and the paphiopedilum hybrids. Highly adjustable to different humidity levels, these two orchids require simple lighting conditions, much like African violets.

Requiring moderate amounts of water, the dangers of these orchids lie in overwatering them, or underwatering them, because of their lack of pseudobulbs. Because of the moisture they store in their roots, the water level can remain moderate, but if a problem arises, it may be quick to become irreversible.

Cliff Hunter is an enthusiast for Orchid Growing. He has devoted a lot of his resources to provide quality, professional information for Orchid growers and hobbyists. Learn more at his website: http://www.orchidflowerpot.com

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Home Gardening - Tools You Can't Do Without

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Home Gardening - Tools You Can't Do Without
By Dave Truman

Whether you are just an amateur gardener who enjoys working outside or a professional connoisseur of exotic plants, gardening is a great hobby that produces satisfying benefits. No matter what kind of gardening you plan on doing, there are a few tools that you simply cannot do without.

Tools You Need

One of the most frequently used tools in gardening is the trowel. This tool is used to get weeds out of your flower beds and also to move your plants into containers. Trowels come in two different varieties: wide and narrow. Either of these can be used for a slew of different gardening tasks, including evening out the soil around plants.

You can get large rocks out of the soil around your plants and perform lots of other jobs in your garden with a rake. Some gardeners like to use smaller forks for raking because they can be maneuvered more easily than larger rakes. Lawn rakes can be used to collect garden trash and debris. Rakes are also good for breaking apart large clumps of soil.

Spades are essential for gardening since they help you cut through roots that have gotten matted together and can also be used to carry soil to different parts of your garden. Even though spades often look very similar to trowels and shovels, they are different and have different uses.

Plants can be pruned and dead headed with secateurs. This tool is small and is used for stems and branches of small plants. Larger plant pruning is done with shears or other tools.

A watering can is essential for your garden. These simple tools are perfect for getting water to different parts of your garden easily. They come in many different shapes and sizes, some having just one hole from which water falls while others have several smaller holes at the end of the spout.

For some gardeners, the joy of gardening comes from using the hands to accomplish much of the work. For that reason, some people may opt to use tools less than others. In this case, though, having a good set of hand gloves will be important. Some tasks can be done without gloves, such as weeding and breaking apart pieces of soil.

Did you know your vegetable garden layout can have a big impact on how well your tomatoes grow? A little bit of planning will make a huge difference. Find out more about planning your vegetable garden on the Vegetable Gardeners website at http://www.vegetablegardeners.com

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Gardening in Planters, Containers and Garden Urns - Create Excitement in Your Garden Decor

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Gardening in Planters, Containers and Garden Urns - Create Excitement in Your Garden Decor
By Marion Stewart

Container gardening is one of the most pleasurable pastimes and is very rewarding with little effort. You get a special feeling of abundance seeing your deck or patio filled to overflowing with plant-packed containers and pots. Your deck garden is sure to give you a warm feeling and entice you to outdoor living. Container gardens can provide that link between the indoors and outside area, helping you to transform a deck or patio into another living space - an outdoor living space.

You are given a wonderful palette to express your own ideas and style. When choosing your pots and planters, think in terms of your own decorating style by using colors, textures, plants and containers. A good way to get a feel for what is your style, just take a look around your own home and don't be afraid to experiment. It is very easy to change your container garden if you don't seem happy with it. Change the arrangement or replace a plant or two and try something else. You can always just start over completely.

It is a great idea to keep notes or a garden diary for what works or what was a disappointment and then try something new next year. The garden nursery usually has new plants that they introduce each year - it is fun to include some of them too.

Container gardens offer an excellent opportunity to learn about color and develop your own sense of design. Try out new combinations of greenery, flowers and shrubs to see what works best. One idea that a friend of mine tried was cluster of several large containers. Into this group she included ornamental grasses, hibiscus, licorice plant, verbena and scaevola (fan flower).

Most of all, enjoy your new container garden.

Marion Stewart is an avid gardener. She loves sitting on her deck surrounded by so many varied flower-packed and herb planted containers. Her continued research has found these spectacular fine quality resin planters and garden containers and offers them in numerous colors, sizes and styles at http://gardenplanterstore.com

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