Gardening is a rewarding hobby that many enthusiasts credit with helping them to peacefully escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Though gardening can be both relaxing and rewarding, it’s not as easy as it may seem, and the more time and effort a person devotes to his or her garden the more likely it is to be successful.
Gardening can be a little daunting for beginners who have little or no experience planting flowers or vegetables. But gardening need not be so intimidating, especially for those beginners who adhere to the following tips aimed at helping novice gardeners start their gardens off on the right foot.
* Determine what you should plant. Where you live will go a long way toward determining what you should plant. While you can plant anything you can get your hands on, the United States Department of Agriculture as well as Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada have determined specific plant hardiness zones that indicate which plants are most likely to thrive in given locations. Maps of these zones can be found at www.usda.gov and www.agr.gc.ca. By adhering to the maps, gardeners can significantly increase their chances of growing successful gardens. When in doubt about what to plant, consult a local gardening center or seek advice from a professional landscaper.
* Think location when beginning your garden. Beginners with large yards have the luxury of choosing the right location on their properties to start planting. When choosing a spot, consider how much sunlight a location gets on a daily basis and the spot’s proximity to a water supply. If planting flowers, try to avoid planting in areas with heavy foot traffic so the flowers are less likely to be stomped. If you’re planting flowers to accent walkways, then consider erecting a barrier around the flower bed to safeguard the flowers from foot traffic.
* Get started before you plant. Preparing the soil a few weeks before you start planting can help the plants thrive down the road. Add some organic material, such as compost or fertilizer, to the soil roughly three weeks before planting. This helps the soil retain water and nutrients, which will help your garden thrive.
* Time your planting. When you plant is sometimes as important as what you plant. Some climates allow for year-round planting, but many do not. When buying seeds, the packaging might suggest what time of year to plant the seeds. Adhere to these suggestions or your garden might not grow much at all. In addition, keep in mind that many seedlings need significant light throughout the day in order to grow, so choose a time of year with ample daylight.
* Don’t forget to mulch. Mulch can be as aesthetically appealing as it is effective. Mulch retains soil, helping roots to grow stronger, while deterring bugs and preventing weed growth. And many gardeners find mulch adds visual appeal their garden, and does so in a very inexpensive way.
* Clean your tools. Beginners rarely recognize the importance of cleaning gardening tools before putting them away. At the end of each gardening session, clean your tools thoroughly, as soil left on your garden tools can play host to potentially harmful microbes that might kill your plants.
Gardening can be a labor-intensive yet gratifying hobby. By sticking to a few simple rules, beginners can develop a thriving garden to reward all of that hard work.
Chef and best-selling author Stephanie Alexander will bring her brand of gastronomical gardening to Garden Week today at Perry Lakes Reserve.
Running until Monday, Garden Week is billed as WA’s biggest and longest-running garden, landscape and outdoor living expo.
Headlining is 72-year-old Alexander, founder of the Kitchen Garden Program, which now runs in 24 primary schools across WA.
Not every 11-year-old can make pasta from scratch, but thanks to Alexander’s program, East Fremantle Primary School student Rebecca Perse is an old hand.
“In term three last year, we learnt how to make pasta by hand,” she said.
“We’ve learnt all the knife techniques and we’ve learnt about hygiene and stuff like that.
“Sometimes if we really like what we made at school, we make it at home, like Vietnamese rice paper rolls.”
Alexander, who will run demonstrations with students today and tomorrow, said the program was designed to get children eating fresh, healthy food.
“If children understand how enjoyable it is to make a quick risotto or a handmade pasta, they’ll never forget that,” she said.
New York, NY — (SBWIRE) — 04/17/2013 — All gardening, landscaping, and irrigation requirements can now be easily handled with just one phone call with New York Plantings Garden Designers. The company boasts of over 18 years of dedicated experience in this particular field. And their expertise in irrigation systems is proven by the hundreds of automatic drip irrigation, landscape irrigation, and lawn sprinkler systems that they install for clients every single year.
Unlike many of their competitors, New York Plantings Garden Designers operate a fully-equipped gardening and irrigation trucks arriving to their customer’s door complete with all the parts, systems, and supplies needed to install, repair, or upgrade a lawn or a rooftop garden. When called up for their services, New York Plantings Garden Designers will evaluate their customer’s landscape or garden and then proceed to design the irrigation system for it that is guaranteed to be efficient, reliable, and affordable.
New York Plantings Garden Irrigation has the capacity to install textbook standard designs and principles, as well as adapt all the latest technologies available that can provide optimum irrigation control to their customer’s garden. They would also install the newer automatic sprinkler systems or drip irrigation systems to customers’ gardens situated in New York and nearby localities.
Customers can now easily upgrade their current system to the newer technologies. New York Plantings Garden Designers can provide both commercial and residential services. Aside from a full installation of irrigation systems for new gardens and landscapes, they can also redesign all the installations and additions that you may already have. Now customers can hire the services of real experts to beautify their gardens and make them a very enviable piece of property.
Gardens do add a lot to the value of any property. Proper landscaping can boost the value of property exponentially. People can now set up well-designed garden area with the most effective irrigation system in place. It’s not hard to do that, just leave the rest of the work to the experts. With New York Plantings Garden Designer, a customer needs not do anything after the first meeting. All what is needed is a customer just comes out, sits down with one of their gardening experts, tells them what he wants to see, and he can consider the job done. The expertise of New York Plantings Garden Designers is building Asian gardens and landscapes.
Now it is easy to build and create a dream garden today or update a current one to use the newest gardening technologies. New York Plantings Garden Designers are eager to be of service to its customers. They can be reached through (347) 558 7051 or via email nappidesign@gmail.com and info@newyorkplantings.com or simply visit their website at http://www.newyorkplantings.com.
About Newyorkplantings.com
New York Plantings is an innovative company in New York that has a team of experts who can build top notch rooftop gardens and design an eye catching landscape. The company has been in business over 18 years and has been serving people in New York since then.
The shortlist will be announced Wednesday May 29 2013 and the winner will be
notified by email on Wednesday June 8 2013.
Promotion
KLC School of Design would also like to offer Telegraph Gardening readers 15
per cent off their Open Learning Diploma in Garden Design. Simply use the
promo code TEL2013, valid until June 16 2013.
Terms and Conditions
Entrants need to be over the age of 18. No previous art or design experience
is necessary.
As a condition of entry, the entrant grants KLC, The Telegraph and
their PR agency permission to use or reproduce the photograph and text in
print or digital format.
The decision of the judges is final and the winner agrees to take part in
reasonable post-event publicity and to the use of their names and
photographs in such publicity.
By participating in the competition the entrant expressly declares his/her
intent to want to complete the KLC Open Learning Diploma in Garden Design.
The course is not transferrable.
All entries must be received by midnight on May 17 2013. By submitting an
entry, each entrant agrees to the above terms and conditions.
The popular Gardeners’ Fairs is set to return to Fareham for its eighth consecutive year for two Saturdays this spring.
From 9am to 3pm on Saturday 11 May and Saturday 8 June, in West Street’s pedestrian precinct around 30 local horticultural businesses and community groups will sell and showcase everything you could need to enhance your garden this season, whether it be bedding plants, perennials and unusual plants, or new garden furniture and landscaping ideas.
There will be entertainment provided by the Vox Pop Choir on 11 May and by local Irish group Shenanigans on 8th of June.
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Yes, Walt Disney and Steve Jobs had a lot in common, at least in aspects of business. There were a number of other interesting parallels between their personalities too; however, the two men certainly were not just alike.
In fact, they were very different in numerous ways, each having been born in a different generation: Disney was born in Chicago in 1901, and Jobs was born in San Francisco in 1955. Disney was generally a more formal, suit-wearing, conservative businessman, while Jobs exemplified the counter-culture values of the 1960s.
I can go on with their list of differences, but what is really remarkable are all of the similarities between the two men and how they both impacted the American culture and then the world. Both Disney and Jobs built strong, successful businesses with a variety of creative products, along with unique, standout brands. What is most similar, though, is how they each went about it, what motivated them and what they saw as priorities in doing so.
During my adulthood, I have been a lifelong fan of the Macintosh, Apple and Steve Jobs, but I’ve also been a lifelong fan of Walt Disney. Since childhood, I have been a fan of many of the Disney movies and especially the theme parks, but now as an adult, I am inspired by the man. A similarity between the two men may not be obvious to many, but I came to recognize it some years ago.
I have three framed stock certificates that I purchased in 2004, which hang on the wall in my office. There is one from Apple Computer, Inc., one from The Walt Disney Company and then one from a company which doesn’t exist anymore as a stand-alone corporation: Pixar. My Pixar stock certificate is now even more of a cherished and valuable collector’s item to me.
Those three certificates make up a set that I created: “The Steve Jobs Collection.” The reason I purchased them was because of how cool I thought it was for Steve Jobs to have returned to Apple and to have saved it after funding the wildly successful Pixar, which essentially ended up saving Disney’s soul in the end. Then later in 2006, Disney purchased Pixar for approximately $7.4 billion in an all-stock deal making Steve Jobs, majority shareholder of Pixar, the new largest individual shareholder of Disney. He had a 7% stake in the company and accepted a new seat on its board of directors.The Disney company later issued me two shares of its stock for that one share of Pixar that I owned.
So where to start? I have read numerous books on both men’s lives, but in preparing for this article, I researched their stories again. As I did, I made a wall chart for the major accomplishments of each, and I narrowed these down to what I feel are their most significant career achievements. I also listed out some of their significant failures. Lastly, I started listing words or phrases which seemed to describe both men.
Here’s what I found:
Mondadori via Getty Images
The American cartoonist and director Walt Disney with a plush puppet of Mickey Mouse.
Walt Disney’s Significant Contributions
Pioneer/innovator of sound-synchronized cartoons – Steamboat Willie, 1928
Also formally introduced Mickey Mouse
Pioneer/innovator of full-color three-strip Technicolor cartoons – Flowers and Trees, 1932
Pioneer/innovator of the seven-layer multiplane camera – The Old Mill (Silly Symphony) and Snow White, 1937
First major feature-length animated film – Snow White, 1937
Television pioneer/innovator – Disneyland, 1954 and The Mickey Mouse Club, 1955
Pioneer / innovator of modern “Theme” Parks – Disneyland, 1955
Full theming of buildings, attractions and lands within Disneyland
Disneyland/Walt Disney World, etc. theming has influenced other businesses
Other “amusement” parks
Restaurants
Theaters
Shopping centers
Malls
Town centers
Audio-Animatronics
Multiple/sister parks
AFP via Getty Images
Steve Jobs poses with Apple Computer’s new iMac during a media event in 1998.
Steve Jobs’ Significant Contributions
Pioneer/innovator of the consumer computer (with appliance-like plastic case) – Apple ][, 1977
Pioneer/innovator of the modern graphical user interface, with simplified mouse – Apple Lisa, 1983 then Macintosh, 1984
Pioneer/innovator of object-oriented programming and operating system environments – NeXTSTEP, 1989
First feature-length computer-animated film – Toy Story, 1995
Reinvigorated the landscape of the personal computer and the start of the return of Apple – iMac, 1998 and PowerBook G4 (Titanium), 2001 plus many others
Innovator of retail — Apple Store, 2001
First mainstream portable digital music player – iPod, 2001
First mainstream online music store – iTunes Music Store, 2003
First fully-realized smartphone (with desktop quality email client and web browser) – iPhone, 2007
First mainstream tablet – iPad, 2010
Both men were the face of their companies, as well as chief spokesperson and promoter. Yet neither man took total credit for all of the above, instead also recognizing their people. Both of these incredible business leaders had a skill for selecting top creative and business talent. Make no mistake, though, they both were the singular, driving force of their companies, pushing their will to the limit in order to realize their passionate visions.
When each died — Disney in 1966 and Jobs in 2011 — it almost seemed impossible to imagine either of their companies without them. Ironically, in their last meeting, Steve Jobs himself famously told current Apple CEO Tim Cook to, “Never ask what he would do, just do what’s right.” Jobs then spoke of what happened to Walt Disney’s company after he died and to specifically not focus on any “what would Steve do” kind of thinking.
So now let’s take a look at the many shared personality traits, values, actions and attitudes that I listed for both Disney and Jobs:
Quality and a desire for perfection – Both men wanted to make great products for a great experience. Whether cartoon shorts for Disney, or dealing with documents on a computer screen for Jobs, they both wanted their customers to have better than good, and way better than average. Both often held back from releasing products if everything was not just right.
Innovation – Innovation was one of the partners in each man’s drive for quality. In creating the best products, both men often pushed their teams to come up with new solutions to problems and new ways to fulfill the customer’s needs. Both leaders often wanted to create something that hadn’t been seen before.
Attention to detail – This was the third partner to quality and innovation. Disney and Jobs both had incredible attention to detail, while still being able to see the “big picture.” Often thought of as micro-managers, they didn’t micro-manage the process, just the final approval of what was good enough. No detail was too small, like Disney moving a tree five feet over at Disneyland, or Jobs’ concern for what the insides looked like in the Macintosh. Both men were the final arbiters of taste.
Not just driven by money – Neither leader was driven by money alone. Both men cared more about a customer’s experience with their products than the money a product generated. They each enjoyed their financial success, and felt that they had earned it, but their general attitude was that if they created superior products, then customers would buy them and the profit would manifest itself.
Visionary and future-focused – In Disney’s case, he was an eternal optimist in that society itself would continually get better. Many attractions at the Disney parks reflect this. He also loved technology, and felt that technology could always be used to improve the human condition. Jobs was well known for “never looking back” at products or mistakes, as he only focused on what was next and how products could either be improved, or what new products could be innovated. This is one characteristic where it’s interesting to note that the men were also different; Disney was extremely nostalgic. The Main Street USA in all Disney parks represents the idealized main street of Walt Disney’s childhood in Marceline, Missouri, where he lived for four years.
Recreation of entire industries – Disney was first with a modern feature-length animated film. He brought a motion picture quality to productions on television and he changed everything in regard to family oriented resorts. Jobs knew when he first saw the graphical user interface, that it represented the future of personal computing. He later changed the music industry, the cellphone industry and then the personal computing landscape again with the iPad.
Showmen and master pitchmen – Both Disney and Jobs had a flair for an audience and the storyline. Many of Walt Disney’s films and the Disney parks touched people on a personal level, while Apple devices often inspire emotional connections with their users.
Each charismatic leader had a partner – Later in his career, Jobs may not have worked with Steve Wozniak, but they started off as partners. Steve Jobs was the product design and marketing lead, while Steve Wozniak was the master engineer. The “Woz” single-handedly created the Apple 1, then Apple ][, then the crucial Apple Disk ][ floppy drive which elevated the Apple system ahead of competition. Walt Disney was joined early on by his brother Roy. Walt was the product visionary, while Roy was the business and accounting manager behind the scenes. After Walt died, Roy spearheaded the construction of Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom in Florida. The park opened in October 1971; Roy died just two months later.
They both knew failure and took risks – Disney’s first venture into animation ended up going bankrupt and he lost the rights to his first successful cartoon character. Then, after gaining success in Hollywood, he risked his reputation and the entire company on making Snow White. After proving that it would not end up being “Disney’s Folly,” he did it again with both television and Disneyland. Jobs similarly met failure with two flopped computer launches, the Apple /// and the Lisa. Then, after a seemingly big success in launching the Macintosh, sales were weak and the Apple board felt that he was disruptive at the company. Running the Mac division, most of his authority at the company was taken away from him and he later quit. That was in 1985, and Steve Jobs was 30 years old. He then turned his focus to two risky startups and invested a lot of his own money into them. One was NeXT Computer and the other Pixar. It took about nine years of patience before Jobs saw the huge success of Toy Story in 1995, and NeXT almost went bankrupt before being purchased by Apple in 1996. Both men persevered after failure and, most admirably, neither man stopped taking calculated risks after achieving success.
A corporate head with fans? – In Disney’s case, it’s a little easier to understand: He became a TV star in 1954 as host of the Disneyland program, something he didn’t really want to do, but proved so good at it that he became known as “Uncle Walt” to many viewers. With Jobs, it was a combination of his pure charisma and stage presence with product introductions that captured the attention of the media and customers alike. He brought some of the most exciting electronic products to the people in the last 10 years of his life. He became a bit of a rock star, as consumers became admirers for the visionary innovation that he represented.
Both died relatively young – Walt Disney was 65 when he died in 1966, and Steve Jobs was 56 when he passed in 2011.
In closing, I would like to speak to the original picture that is presented at the top of this article. Near the very end of each man’s life, they both masterminded large civil engineering projects. In the picture, Disney is standing in front of his EPCOT project — The Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow — and Jobs is seen with a depiction of the Apple Campus 2. The original concept for EPCOT was not the current theme park that now exists, but rather an entire city with a central commercial core to include restaurants, shopping and high-volume residential. It was to then move outward from the center to suburban residential, and then further outward to industrial areas. The city would have incorporated moving sidewalks, PeopleMover tram-like cars and monorails. Unlike his feature films, Disney felt that Disneyland could always be changed and improved, and that it could always be made better. EPCOT would be the city equivalent to the park, always evolving, growing and improving, while the world observed and took notes.
Steve Jobs’ Apple Campus 2 ideas were not quite as lofty as Disney’s idea for an entire city, but in terms of office buildings, it’s certainly spectacular! Its design instantly stands out because of its resemblance to a flying saucer or ring, but this design has a foundational purpose: to flip the more common 80% building and 20% landscaping ratio into a 20% building and 80% landscaping ratio. The office structure will be a massive 2.8-million square feet and house about 12,000 employees. The plans call for a four-story circular design with 40-foot, floor-to-ceiling panes of concave glass imported from Germany. It also features green technology like a huge rooftop solar array. Parking will be in both underground garages and a parking structure. Originally announced to open sometime in late 2015, recent reports now have it pushed back to 2016. Also, where it was originally estimated to cost a little under $3 billion, now estimates are putting it at closer to $5 billion, which is a cool $1 billion more than the new World Trade Center being constructed in New York City. When originally presenting the plans for the new campus to the City of Cupertino’s council, Steve Jobs stated, “We have a shot at building the best office building in the world. I really do think that architecture students will come here to see it.” In later plan updates, Apple added as one of its primary objectives: “Achieve the security and privacy required for the invention of new products by eliminating any public access through the site, and protecting the perimeters against trespassers.”
Recorded in October 1966, Walt Disney made a 25-minute film about his plans for the “Florida Project.” Ironically, it wouldn’t be seen until after his death, less than two months later. The leadership at The Walt Disney Company later decided that only Walt Disney himself could have been capable of bringing such a project to fruition, and that they did not want to be in the business of running a city. The current EPCOT, while still emulating some of Walt Disney’s ideas, is not a city, but closer to that of a classic world’s fair. It balances a focus around technology and the future in the Future World area, while the World Showcase is the world exposition and an embellished version of the EPCOT downtown shopping area.
Steve Jobs made his presentation to the Cupertino City Council in June 2011, and died just four months later. Though Apple has $137 billion in cash reserves, its stock market price has fallen 38% since September amid rising competition, especially in the smartphone arena. Though the $5 billion Apple Campus 2 price tag only represents less than 4% of cash reserves, shareholders are questioning the enormous cost versus issuing much higher dividends. Will Apple executives change plans, or will they do what Steve would do?
David Greelish has studied computer history and collected old computers for over 20 years now. He is a computer historian, writer, podcaster and speaker. He was the founder of the original Historical Computer Society, publisher of the zine Historically Brewed and is currently the founder of the Atlanta Historical Computing Society. He has published all of his computer history zines along with his own story in the book, The Complete Historically Brewed. He is currently the director of the Vintage Computer Festival Southeast 1.0 being held the weekend of April 20-21 in the greater Atlanta area.
If you’re looking for home improvement ideas, landscaping options, leisure activities or other information about the area, you’re in luck.
The Home and Leisure Show is a showcase of businesses in and around our community put on by the Strathroy District Chamber of Commerce. There is truly something for each member of the family.
With everything from financial investors and logo promotions to kitchen renovations and cosmetics, the show is sure to deliver. Held at the Gemini Sportsplex on Saturday, April 27 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m, the show fills the building and attracts more than 2000 visitors each year. This year’s event is expanding to incorporate even more business displays than ever.
Bring the entire family to take part in the always popular Kids Zone where the youngsters can participate in hands on activities brought to you by Strathroy District Arts Council. This year’s performance stage will feature local musical talent and demonstrations including such things as floral designs, home improvements, fashion, fitness and interior design. There is sure to be something to catch your attention.
While visiting the show enjoy a taste of Strathroy provided by a wide variety of food vendors with displays at the show.
Be sure to bring your children to the Child ID Clinic put on by the Masons in the Wescast Room. The process involves gathering photos, dental impression, voice recording and information such as height, weight, and age. All of this information is saved on a CD and handed back to the parents. No information is kept by the Masons but is intended to be readily available for parents to provide to officials should the child ever go missing. The program is free of charge and is an excellent resource.
Admission to the entire show is $2, with children 12 and under free of charge.
Chamber Benefits
The Strathroy District Chamber of Commerce is working hard to serve the business community. There are many benefits to being a chamber member with one of the biggest benefits being the networking opportunities. Biz After Biz is a great opportunity to promote your business each month. Picture an informal wine and cheese event where the purpose is to tell others about your business. Who says every business meeting has to be boring and every promotional activity has to be expensive? Connect with members of the community during the next Biz After Biz.
Membership with the Chamber has many benefits including merchant service discounts for accepting credit and debit cards, fuel discounts and improved rates for health benefits to name a few.
For full information on the upcoming events and Chamber benefits, visit the website at www.sdcc.on.ca, call 519-245-7620 or visit the office located in the Strathroy Area Seniors’ Centre at 137 Frank Street.
• Fresh Friday Night Farmer’s Market, 5 to 9 p.m. Friday at Railroad Square in downtown New Port Richey (on Nebraska Avenue between Grand Boulevard and Adams Street). Food trucks will make their debut at the market, parked on Missouri Avenue at Cavalaire Square. Vendors will sell produce, plants and specialty foods such as fish, meats, cheeses, bakery items, jellies and jams, honey, nuts, coffee and ethnic foods. This seasonal market will continue every Friday until April 26. For information, visit www.nprmainstreet.com.
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• Longleaf Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday in downtown Longleaf, off Starkey Boulevard and State Road 54, New Port Richey.
• Suncoast Co-op offers fresh, locally grown, chemical-free produce. Register online at suncoastcoop.locallygrown.net to place your order; orders may be picked up from noon to 2 p.m. Saturdays at the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, 4131 Madison St., New Port Richey. The Suncoast Cafe, open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays at the ReStore, serves locally roasted organic coffee, homemade teas and baked goods.
• Baker House plant sale and open house, 9 a.m. to noon this Saturday and the third Saturday of the month, October through May. The historic Baker House is at 5744 Moog Road, behind Centennial Park Branch Library. Plants for sale by Elfers Centennial Garden Club. For information, call (727) 372-9954.
• Hernando County Farmers Market runs from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays at 2450 U.S. 19, Spring Hill.
• Spring Hill Garden Club’s Plant Nursery is open from 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays and Mondays at 1489 Parker Ave., off Spring Hill Drive (four-tenths of a mile from U.S. 19). Local plants for sale; people may also visit the nearby Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, the “best kept secret in Hernando County,” which is open daily from sunup to sundown. For information, call (352) 683-9933 or visit www.naturecoastgardens.com.
Seminars
• Common Garden Insects, 10:30 a.m. April 24 at the Spring Hill Branch Library, 9220 Spring Hill Drive. It is unrealistic and even unwise to strive for an insect-free yard. Learn which bugs are helpful in keeping other pests in check, and learn how to identify and control insect populations in your garden. No registration necessary. Sponsored by Hernando County Extension Services. For information, call Sylvia Durell at (352) 540-6230.
• Bats: Creatures of the Night Garden, 10 a.m. April 27 at Home Depot, 10017 U.S. 19, Port Richey. Learn how to welcome insect-eating bats into your garden by providing food, water and shelter. Call Pasco County Cooperative Extension at (352) 518-0156.
• Plant Propagation Made Easy, 5:30 p.m. April 29 at Hernando County Extension Services, 1653 Blaise Drive, Brooksville. This program will demonstrate the secrets of growing plants from cuttings, seeds and division. No registration required. For information, contact urban horticulture agent Jim Moll at (352) 754-4433.
• Rain Gardens, 9 to 11 a.m. May 4 at Pasco County Extension, Clayton Hall, 36702 State Road 52, Dade City. Design ideas, information on what plants work best and ideas for where to create a rain garden in your landscape. This free seminar is taught by a local Master Gardener. Call Pasco County Cooperative Extension at (352) 518-0156.
Celebrate Earth Day
• New Port Richey: Vendors showcase the wide array of earth-friendly businesses and organizations in the west Pasco area at the New Port Richey Environmental Committee celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday in the courtyard between City Hall and New Port Richey Public Library on Main Street. For more information, contact Kacey Atkinson at (727) 809-2306 or by email at kaceyatkinson84@gmail.com.
• Spring Hill: The Spring Hill Garden Club and the Hernando Chapter of the Florida Native Plant Society will hold an Earth Day celebration from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday in the Nature Coast Botanical Gardens, 1489 Parker Ave. in Spring Hill. Master gardener Rita Grant will talk about “Wildlife in Your Landscape,” while Florida-friendly landscaping coordinator Sylvia Durell will discuss “Gardeners and the Gift of Water.” Tours of the botanical gardens will be available; and Brownies from Girl Scout Troop 317 will plant marigolds. No admission fee, but donations are greatly appreciated. Call (352) 683-9933 or visit www.naturecoastgardens. com.
• Crews Lake Park: Join the Pasco County Cooperative Extension at Earth Day, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 27 at Crews Lake Park, 16739 Crews Lake Drive, Shady Hills. The Extension will offer gardening activities for kids and adults, rain barrel workshops at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. and the worm composting workshop at noon. Pre-registration required for workshops. $10 per rain barrel; 1 per household limit. For more information or to register, call (352) 518-0156.
There’s still time to give your lawn a spring boost to help it survive the worst of the British weather, says Hannah Stephenson
Gardeners who didn’t want to venture out in the freezing weather at the beginning of the month may now be looking at a moss-ridden, lumpy lawn with scatterings of bald patches, a world away from the velvet carpet of grass they desire.
But there’s still time to give your lawn a boost, even if it might look a bit forlorn now, or consider re-seeding or turfing if you think it’s beyond hope.
If you have loads of moss, it’s worthwhile applying a moss killer before you scarify, and wait a few days before raking it up.
Improve badly draining soil by aerating the lawn, driving a garden fork into the ground all over the lawn when it is moist, making holes to a depth of 10-15cm (4-6in). I once bought a pair of lawn-aerating shoes, but they kept falling off so I went back to the old faithful fork.
Others use hollow-tine lawn aerators which remove plugs of soil from the ground, but they are hard work and aren’t very good on stony soils or heavy, dry soils.
The holes you make allow air and water to get into the grass roots and should then be filled with a mixture of sharp sand and organic soil conditioner to stop the holes from closing up.
If the soil is heavy and air is forced out due to excessive rain, spread a large bucketful of sharp sand per square metre over the surface, working it into the holes with the back of a rake.
Feed the grass with lawn fertiliser available at most garden centres. This can be done by hand, applying approximately two grams per square metre, and water it in.
All lawns need good drainage and oxygenation, so scarify it with a springtine rake to remove thatch – dead grass that mats beneath growing grass – and moss. For larger lawns, it’s worth renting a petrol-driven lawn scarifier to do the same job.
Some lawn dressings incorporate a slow-release fertiliser but if this isn’t the case, add a little amount of general lawn fertiliser (not containing weed or moss killer) before applying it. Make sure you brush it evenly over the area or it will become patchy when the fertiliser kicks in.
A few weeks later, if your lawn is still patchy, oversow it lightly with a quality lawn seed.
Once it’s ready to cut, make your first few cuts, keeping the blades set quite high. If your grass is already long, give it a few cuts over a number of weeks, lowering the blades a little at a time, so that you cut the grass length down gradually.
By summer, you should be mowing weekly, stepping up to twice a week when necessary, but don’t mow the grass shorter than 2.5cm (1in) high and keep on top of weeds in the lawn. Annual weeds which emerge in any bare patches will be removed by mowing.
Of course, in the unlikely event that we have a sustained period of warmth in the summer, go easy on the mowing and don’t worry about letting the grass go brown because it will recover.
When you mow during drought, leave the cuttings on the lawn to stop the roots drying out and help keep in the moisture.
Continue to feed the lawn monthly through the summer, then you can apply a high-potash fertiliser in the autumn to keep the grass in good condition in the cooler months.
Now is the time to refresh your garden for the warmer months ahead. For many DIYers, that means making a beautiful show of pastel or vividly colored flowers epitomizing the rebirth of spring, but it also means planning for the summer heat that will follow spring’s mild temperatures. Welcome Home asked local landscape designers for their favorite ways to do both. Whether you choose to plant a colorful display of seasonal flowers or simply tend to the plantings you already have, here are 10 tips to help ensure optimum conditions for a garden of delights.
• 1. Out with the old — Just as we perform spring cleaning in our homes, the best place to start in the garden is with a good cleanup. Remove fallen twigs and sticks, cut back dead wood and trim spent blossoms. Trimming will allow you to see things better, visualize new ideas, make room for new growth and help prevent insect problems.
”I like to give everything some elbow room,” says landscape designer Kim Alvarez of Alvarez + Basik Design Group. “Give everything a good haircut, except for things about to bloom.”
While many people like to clean out the leaf litter left from winter, landscape designer Matthew Ponseti of Ponseti Landscaping calls fallen leaves “nature’s free mulch.” He likes to use them as a layer of insulation beneath a top-dressing of mulch.
• 2. Take stock of conditions in your garden — Once everything is clean, it’s a good time to assess challenging areas. Before planting, you need to know whether your soil is healthy, if your flower beds drain and how much sun exposure there is wherever you plant. Landscape designer Kenny Rabalais of the Plant Gallery advises digging 6 to 8 inches for a handful of soil from below the surface, then taking the sample to a good nursery for advice. (Healthy soil is a loose, dark-brown mixture; clay-like soil, sandy soil and soil that hasn’t been touched in years will need some conditioner). Rabalais also recommends checking the amount of sun in the garden at 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m., so you’ll know what vegetation will flourish there. Also make sure flower beds are 3 to 6 inches above the lawn line for proper drainage. Rabalais says you always should check the information on plants to determine whether they are sun-loving or shade-loving and how much water they need.
• 3.Make a plan — Whether drawn on paper or simply conceived in your mind, a plan will reduce the chance of costly mistakes and will help you determine what you need to purchase. Ponseti recommends drawing of your yard to scale to avoid unorganized planting that fails to make a statement. Landscape designers emphasize the a plan should go beyond what looks good and include considerations such as the maintenance required, how large plants will grow and any placements that could be problematic. For example, crepe myrtle trees are beloved in New Orleans, but landscape designers don’t recommend them near driveways or pools because they shed their blossoms and make a mess. Likewise, trees like magnolias, which have shallow root systems, and oaks, which become huge over time, shouldn’t be used around driveways, patios and other areas where roots can cause concrete to crack or shift.
• 4. Mulch flower beds — “Everyone’s least favorite thing to do is buying and spreading the needed amount of mulch, but it’s the best thing you can do,” says Ponseti, who favors processed pine needles over other mulch choices and waits to put down new mulch until the oak trees have have finished dropping their leaves. In addition to keeping weeds at bay and retaining moisture, mulch gives a garden a finished look.
• 5. Look for variety — “There are a hundred different shades of green, and different greens and different textures look good together,” Rabalais says. “Different leaf structures, variegated and nonvariegated, different sizes (of leaves) and different colors give character to a garden.”
• 6. Work with layers — Using layers in your garden will create a lush look. Rabalais suggests starting with the tallest plants in the rear and moving forward with increasingly smaller plants. As a rear layer, Rabalais usually chooses an evergreen because they never defoliate and can hide a fence, brick wall or raised portion of a house. Ponseti recommends using grasses as one of the layers in a less formal yard and boxwood for a more formal look. Alvarez is fond of the contrasting textures achieved with coarse-leaf plants like fatsia coupled with ferns, which have a softer appearance.
• 7. Group flowers together for impact — Planting a flat of impatiens all together will create a stronger impact than spacing them apart. Groups of single colors also pack a punch. Alvarez suggests planting flowers in groupings to accentuate focal points like areas near a front door or places where you spend time in the backyard.
• 8.Fertilize — Fertilizing during your spring spruce-up will benefit seeds and bulbs that already have come up as well as new plants you’re installing now. The right fertilizer will make your flowers more abundant, and they’ll last longer. The key is to make sure the fertilizer comes in contact with a plant’s root ball.
Rabalais’ favorites are a time-released capsule dropped into the soil before putting in a bedding plant, or a liquid fertilizer that requires a little more work but gets into the root system the same day you water your garden.
Ponseti’s recommendation for spring is zero-nitrogen fertilizer for the short term and a 15-5-10 blend of fertilizer once your plants begin to grow more aggressively. He also suggests an herbicide for lawns to control clover and dollar weeds.
• 9. Incorporate sounds and scents — Truly spectacular gardens are a feast for the senses. Along with using beautiful displays of springtime color, these landscapers suggest bringing in fragrant plants like gardenia, citrus trees, jasmine and herbs, which lend themselves to side and backyards more than front spaces. The sight and sound of a water feature brings a peaceful, personalized touch to a garden, but landscapers caution that fountains must be regularly maintained. What to look for: a gold filtration system and a base that’s large enough to hold an adequate amount of water without it splashing over the side.
For those who want to go maintenance-free, Alvarez recommends a small wall-mountable fountain that can be plugged in and provides instant sound with no hassle.
• 10.Make the most of your gardening dollars — Rabalais suggests dividing a 6-inch or 8-inch English ivy into three sections (use a kitchen knife to slice it apart), then planting the sections around the base of a pot of spring flowers.
Ponseti suggests buying potted plants at least 4 inches tall, because anything smaller doesn’t have an adequate root system. He says gardeners also should look for double-seeded plants because they are fuller and have a better survival rate.
Alvarez says you can find good deals on plants at local farmers markets. If you have a green thumb, plant one or two different types of seeds instead of just using plants purchased from garden centers. Two of Alvarez’s favorites to start from seed are nasturtiums (they’re easy to grow and are edible) and moonflowers (they’ll bloom by late spring or early summer, and their white flowers open in the evening).
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