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Helpful tips for gardening this spring

After a long winter, people with green thumbs are ready to put the gloves on and get to work on their gardens.
However, there are some things that you should wait a little longer to do, and some things you can get started on right away.

Co-owner of Grobe Nursery and Garden, Perry Grobe, tells 570 News some basic helpful tips for digging into your gardens this spring.

“They can certainly plant pansies right now, and as soon as the ground is diggable, they can plant almost any plant they can think of in terms of shrubs, and trees, or bushes, and so on.”

Not only is it a good idea to clean up the yard, but it is important to clean up and throw away any dead branches left from the storm that hit most in the area this past Christmas.

“The other thing that people are doing right now is planting. The season is late and the longer they put it off, the harder it may be to get things done in a timely manner. They should be considering what they’re going to do and make arrangements to get things ready for the garden. For example, they may want to get their fertilizers for the beds and fertilizers for the lawn and look at the shrubs that they’re looking to have, and so on.”

For helpful tips and useful advice on gardening, visit Grobe Nursery and Garden Centre online at www.grobenursery.com

Gardening Guru Tips – Juneau County Star

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Don’t let a lack of time or space get in the way of gardening a way to a healthy lifestyle. Plant a container of nutritious vegetables and herbs. Include a few planters on the front porch, back patio or right outside the kitchen door.

All that’s needed is potting mix, fertilizer, plants and a container with drainage holes. A 15- to 24-inch-diameter pot or 24- to 36-inch-long window box is a good starting size. Bigger containers hold more plants and hold moisture longer, so can be watered less frequently.

Fill the container with well-drained potting mix. Read the label on the container mix bag. Add a slow-release organic nitrogen fertilizer at planting, like Milorganite – visit milorganite.com –for better results with less effort. It provides small amounts of nutrients throughout most of the season, and eliminates the need to mix and water in fertilizer throughout the growing season. Sprinkle a bit more on the soil surface midseason or when changing out plantings.

Mix colorful flowers with nutritious vegetables for attractive, healthy results. Bright Lights Swiss Chard, pansies – their flowers are edible, colorful leaf lettuce, spinach, radishes and trailing ivy make a great cool-season combination. Fresh-from-the-container garden vegetables make the best-tasting salads, and the greens provide Vitamins A and C as well as calcium. Use pansy flowers to dress up a salad or frozen in ice cubes for an added gourmet touch to beverages.

For summer, use tomato, pepper, eggplant or peas, beans and cucumbers trained on a trellis. All are packed full of nutrients and make a great vertical accent. Surround the towering vegetables with purple basil, tri-color sage, carrots, beets and a colorful trailing annual like verbena, lantana or bidens.

Check containers daily and water thoroughly as needed. Self-watering pots need less frequent watering, allowing busy gardeners and travelers the opportunity to grow plants in pots with minimal care.

Don’t forget to squeeze in a few onions or garlic. The fragrant foliage can be decorative and these vegetables help lower blood sugar and cholesterol, while aiding in digestion.

Be creative and add a few small-scale, attractive vegetables high in nutritional value to a variety of containers this season.

Cactus Gardening Tips

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EASY GARDENS FOR SMALL SPACES

Cactus can survive in a wide range of hydration, light and heat environment. But, if you are able to provide the optimum conditions, it will be the better choice for your cacti. While considering cactus gardening in pots, you have to keep an extra eye on the variety of cactus that you are selecting, the type of pot, soil and the light availability. Since potted plants are easy to handle, you are free to move it to any comfortable place as per demand. Here, we may discuss some easy and effective cactus gardening tips that may help you.

Cactus Gardening Tips

Selection of cactus: Selecting the most suitable variety of is one of the most important cactus gardening tips. This is more important if you are thinking of cactus gardening in pots. Try to make the perfect choice that matches with the ambiance of your indoor.

Shallow pot: Select a pot or bowl for growing indoor cactus depending on the expected size of the plant. It is better to opt for a shallow variety of pots, around 10 inches deep. This will help give the needed support for the plant.

Potting soil: One of the important cactus gardening tips is to use formulated soil. There are commercially available formulated soils that are specially designed for growing cactus in pots. Soil, gravel or sand with nitrogen and phosphorus is the most common among them.

Sun exposure: While considering cactus gardening in pot, you have to opt for a place where there is direct sunlight. Place the cactus in a sunny location and if not, make sure that the potted cactus will get 4 to 6 hours of sunlight each day.

Watering: One of the main advantages of growing cactus is that you don’t have to water it every other day. Cactus needs watering about once in a month. Take care not to overdo it. Make sure that the water is draining through the holes properly.

Fertilising: Apply fertilisers once or twice a year. Consider the size of your cactus while using fertilisers. Prefer houseplant food with nitrogen and phosphorus. Take extra care while fertilising your potted cactus as overdoing it may damage your plant.

Add creativity: Planting cactus offer you an opportunity to use your creativity as well to make it more attractive. You can plant cactus in a wide container and can give the ambiance of a desert in it. Plant more varieties of cactus in the container and place a camel sculpture. All set!

Garden Tips: Merciless rose pruning tips

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Last weekend, I took on the project of pruning my roses, nicknaming myself “Marianne the Merciless.” I showed no mercy to my roses that had not been pruned correctly for several years because I had negligently waited too long each spring to get in there and get the job done right.

I pulled on my rose gauntlet gloves, picked up my sharpened loppers and hand pruners, and went to work. It was not an easy task. Roses grow terrifically well in our region, and mine had grown to a height of almost 6 feet last year. When I was done, I had mountains of rose prunings and bushes that hopefully will perform better this summer.

Satisfied with a job well done, I was amazed that I did not look like I had tangled with a vicious animal. I wore long sleeves and my new rose gauntlet gloves. The glove hands are made of leather and the “gauntlet” cuffs are made of canvas that reaches almost to my elbows. They kept my hands and arms free of pokes and scratches.

I purchased my pair at a local garden store, but they can also be ordered online. If you have a lot of roses or raspberries, you should consider investing in a pair of all-leather rose gauntlet gloves.

My new gloves were stiff when I started and a little tight. If you purchase a quality pair of gauntlet gloves, make sure they are the right size for your hands. Many of the companies selling quality rose gloves have size charts to guide you.

The other thing that made my job easier was having sharp pruning tools. It is difficult to cut out thick, woody old canes with dull loppers. If you know how to sharpen your tools, do it before taking on your spring pruning chores.

Rich Redekopp, one of our Master Gardener rose experts, told me about another pruning tool for taking out tough old dead wood or thick canes. Redekopp recommends the cordless Milwaukee Hackzall Reciprocating Saw fitted with a pruning blade. He pruned some roses outside our office and his saw made quick work of the gnarly old dead growth in these neglected roses.

Roses are forgiving. You can prune them incorrectly (or not at all), and they will still produce beautiful blooms. However, with correct pruning, your shrubs will not grow out of control, and the rose blooms will be bigger.

Helen Newman, Master Gardener rose expert and Tri-Cities Rosarian, notes that your goals are to remove the “dead, diseased, damaged and dinky” canes. Experts call them the four “Ds” of pruning roses. You should also remove shoots that are old and gnarled, growing in the center of the shrubs or crisscrossing each other.

— Marianne C. Ophardt is a horticulturist for Washington State University Benton County Extension.

Gardening Tips For Hot Weather

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TIPS TO TRIM YOUR GARDEN

Gardening in hot weather needs different tips and extra care for the plants. Gardening ideas for hot weather include some handy tips on how to maintain your garden in hot westher. This article also deals in gardening ideas in hot weather.

Gardening Tips For Hot Weather

1. New plants – The most important gardening ideas for hot weather includes building shelters and shades for new budding plants. The budding plants are delicate and need care. The harsh temperatures can be a reason why the plant may dehydrate and die. Therefore, use a shade for the new budding plants and water them enough to keep them alove and boost their growth. This is one tip you could use for gardening in India as we are having hot temperatures here right now.

2. Use a watering stratergy – Summer time needs more water for gardening and frequent watering is also needed as the plants dry easily. A gardening idea for hot weather includes making a proper watering stratergy for your plants. The stratergy actually means a timetable for watering your garden. This would prevent both inadequate and excess watering to the plants. Gardening in India in hot weather can get difficult as there is water shortage in many areas, so you must use water according to the availability.

3. Nutrients – A good gardening idea for hot weather includes proper distribution of nutrients in the garden to enhance the growth of the plants. You ahould add fertilizers to the garden to increase the quality of the garden. You can use natural manures like cow dung and kitchen waste to increase the productivity of the soil. Naturally made ferrilozers are much better than the chemical made fertilizers. Gardening in India is easy as cow dung and other natural fertilizers and manure is quite easily and cheaply available.

4. Keep it Cool – Another good gardening idea for hot weather is using a mulch layer around the pots and plants. Mulch layer is nothing but mud and dried leaves together bound together by water. If this layer is applied around the plant the heat reaching the plant or the roots is dissipated. The heat is absorbed by the mulch layer keeping the plant cool and saving it from any damage by heat. This is also one good gardening idea for hot weather and can be used in India.

5. Trim and Cut – The dried leaves and plants that are in the garden should be trimmed and cut regularly to increase new growth. Summers have high temperatures which may cause plants to dry. Cutting the dry parts of a plant would boost growth of the newer plants. Gardening idea for hot weather includes regular andplanned trimming and cutting of plants to remove the dead and dried parts.

Design for smaller garden spaces

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The contemporary wing of this Melbourne Edwardian house includes an elevated lap pool and a small patch of lawn.

Stephen Crafti

As people downsize to smaller homes, it’s not the amount of outdoor space that matters, but the pleasure this well-conceived area brings.

The large suburban back garden has shrunk as people opt for smaller, well-designed outdoor spaces. Whether they take the form of a winter garden (an enclosed balcony) attached to an apartment, or courtyard, these areas can be used all year round.

“It’s important to create an outdoor space protected from the outside world. Having some coverage from the elements is also ideal,” says architect Robert Simeoni.

Simeoni created a treasured outdoor space in his own home in North Fitzroy, Melbourne. As well as a modest patch of granitic sand and fruit trees behind a high brick wall, there’s also an undercover car space. “This concrete [to accommodate one car] was originally used by the factory next door. It’s a reminder of what this site was once used for,” Simeoni says.

As there was limited space on the 80-square-metre site, Simeoni went vertical, creating a three-level home. However, there was sufficient room for a modest garden, including the car space – in all, about 20 square metres. “The car isn’t a permanent fixture. We also use the carport area to entertain family and friends,” says Simeoni, who was keen to create a chiaroscuro effect with the light. “The fruit trees create dappled light to the outdoor space,” he adds. Simeoni also included a small balcony leading from the living areas on the top floor. Although not large enough for a table setting, it creates a wonderful viewing platform to survey the neighbourhood, including a park.

BKK Architects also included a covered outdoor area in a house in an inner city bayside suburb of Melbourne. The two-storey Edwardian house was renovated, with a new contemporary wing. This L-shaped addition, constructed in brick and zinc, includes an open-plan kitchen, dining and living area.

Intense program

Although the outdoor area is relatively large for an inner-city site (about 50 square metres), BKK had to include an intense program within this space. Located between the new wing and what were originally the stables (reworked in the same materials as the extension), the outdoors includes an elevated lap pool and a small patch of lawn. The architects also included a built-in concrete bench and barbecue for outdoor dining. “The key to the design was to make the outdoor space feel spacious. We also wanted to ‘stitch in’ the materials of party brick walls,” says architect Tim Black,, one of three directors of the practice.

“We wanted to combine a number of functions in the one area without having them feeling disjointed,” says Black, who sees a trend towards low-maintenance gardens attuned to urban living.

Architect Luigi Rosselli was also conscious of creating a functional and protected outdoor area for a Victorian terrace in Paddington, Sydney. The terrace, with an attic-style third level, was renovated and extended by Rosselli. “We were fortunate to have an additional sliver of land on one side of the house. This made the garden as well as the house feel more spacious,” he says.

While the house already had a swimming pool in the north-facing back garden, the owners were looking for a more expansive area to entertain outdoors, as well as enjoy the outdoors. “We literally halved the size of the swimming pool. This allowed us to create a small lawn area, as well as a deck,” says Rosselli, who worked with landscape architects Secret Gardens.

To ensure protection from the sun, Rosselli included a large, yellow canvas, retractable awning. Built-in concrete seats and barbecue allow the outdoor area to double as a dining area. “When you’re designing outdoor areas, there should be a balance between shade and areas receiving full light,” he adds.

How to Design and Plant a Garden for You and Your Cat

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Spring is coming. After a long hard winter, I am really ready to start thinking about getting seeds in the ground or in starting containers, planning new flower and vegetable gardens, and seeing what perennials I have in my yard. And, for the first time, I’m thinking about planning a small garden for my cats. I do have gardening experience (mostly with veggies and some flowers) but I have never thought of planting a garden exclusively for my cats. I’d like to, though.

Here are some tips for creating a garden for a cat:

1. Rethink the definition of “garden”

A garden doesn’t have to be a square plot in the middle of a piece of lawn. It could be a circle, a swaying path, or a small garden in a re-purposed animal stock tank, for example. If you have no lawn, your “garden” might consist of cat-friendly plants in containers, close together in a special area in your living space. If your garden is going to be outside on a lawn, you might think about how close you want it to be to your living space. If you’re able to decide where the garden will be, factor in whether you’ll be transporting cats to and from the garden, whether it will be secure (more below on that), and whether you’ll take better care of the garden if it is closer to where you carrying out most of your life in your living space.

Norwegian Forest Cat sitting in a flower field by Shutterstock.com

2. Consider the type of cats the garden will serve

Your garden design will vary depending upon the types of cats it will serve. If you’re caring for ferals, the garden might be open and unbordered by fencing. The same applies for your indoor/outdoor cats, if you don’t want to confine the cat in the garden. If you have indoor cats that you’ve always protected from predators, you might want to completely enclose the cat garden, so that the cats are protected from overhead or surrounding predators. This could be tricky, and even unattractive or dangerous. To me, it’s hard to find fencing that looks nice. And the flimsier fencing (such as bird netting, for example) could potentially injure a curious cat.

In my case, my cats are indoors, and we live in an area where we can regularly hear close, active packs of coyotes. I do have a four-season porch with amazing lighting and windows. I am considering making this my cat garden.

Cat, red tabby, on chair with garden flowers by Shutterstock.com

3. Play with color and texture

Design is difficult for me — I was not born with the design gene! But an avid gardener friend of mine (who also has a lot of trouble with design) grows beautiful and interesting gardens. She explained that color and texture need to be considered in design. Here is one resource on the topic.

Of course, only plant things that are non-toxic for your cats, and that your cats will love. There’s a lot of information out there about what’s toxic and nontoxic to cats, so read carefully and choose your cat garden plants well. Check out our story about toxic plants.

Also, in choosing the plants for your cat garden, consider the following:

Your available light source/strength, and which plants are suited for that light
Your gardening zone/hardiness, if your garden is outside
Your soil, if the garden is outside, and which plants will thrive in your type of soil
Whether you want to use annuals or perennials, or both

Red cat eating green grass isolated by Shutterstock.com

4. Make the garden work for you as well as your cat

I have certainly made the gardening mistake of going way overboard and getting too many gardens going. I love to garden so much that it’s easy to lose perspective. I want to grow everything, and pretty soon I end up having no time to grow or maintain anything. So, keep perspective. If you love gardening and you know you can commit the time to a cat garden, then go for it.

If you want to make a garden for your cat, but you know you’re not going to have much time to weed or maintain it, then choose plants that require little maintenance, or plant things close enough together so that weeds have less of a chance of encroaching. If you’re really dedicated and you have an outside garden space, you can use landscape cloth underneath the soil to attempt to slow the weeds … but I haven’t had luck with that product. If you know your time is limited, stick to a simple indoor or outdoor container garden, whether you have lawn space or not. Your cat will still get the same enjoyment from spending time in such a garden.

So, have you ever designed a garden for your cat? I would love to hear about it. What did or did not work well? Please share any insights in comments!

More about cats and plants:

More by Catherine Holm:

About Catherine Holm: Told that she is funny but doesn’t know it, accused of being an unintentional con artist by her husband, quiet, with frequent unannounced bursts into dancing liveliness, Cat Holm loves writing about, working for, and living with cats. She is the author of the cat-themed memoir Driving with Cats: Ours for a Short Time, the creator of Ann Catanzaro cat fantasy story gift books, and the author of two short story collections. She loves to dance, be outside whenever possible, read, play with cats, make music, do and teach yoga, and write. Cat lives in the woods, which she loves as much as really dark chocolate, and gets regular inspiration shots along with her double espresso shots from the city.

Five distinctive homes open for Kitchens in the Vineyards

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The 2014 Kitchens in the Vineyards tour April 26 will open five distinctive Napa Valley homes to visitors to gather home décor, landscaping and architectural ideas.

“There is a wonderful variety of homes this year, from large and lavish to small budget conscious houses. All are united by very fine design,” said Julia Jervis, chairwoman of the tour.

The home and garden tour of kitchens, dining rooms and entertainment areas as well as gardens benefits the annual local chamber music festival, Music in the Vineyards. The self-guided tour takes place from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

This year, for the first time, tour goers can purchase a VIP Insiders Pass to gain exclusive access to two of the homes for a meet-and-greet with the professionals who turned “home owners’ dreams into reality.”

Pass holders will go on the public tour, then return to two of the homes from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. for a glass of wine, full access to all rooms and a question and answer time with the creative team.

“This VIP option is a must for anyone planning to build or remodel and wanting tips and specifics on how to make it happen,” Jervis said.

This year, the tour includes:

• A contemporary prefabricated, highly efficient smart home that is surrounded by “magically” landscaped grounds filled with entertaining spaces, plus a bocce court and a garden.

• A light and airy farmhouse, built in 2012 on the site of an old lodge, is a Scandinavian sanctuary. The interior uses repurposed cabinets and doors, and the exterior offers a pool and valley views.

• An Arts Crafts Revival, originally built in the 1920s, was remodeled in 2008 adding a great room and vast windows to highlight the gardens. The space includes lime-washed redwood, exposed beams, a tennis court, pool and antique finishes.

• A Poolhouse Redux renovation with a modest “footprint.” Its clever touches include a reclaimed wood wall, blackened oyster shell fireplace and portrait collection.

• A Tuscan Farmhouse that is the product four years of work by 15 artisans working with stucco, stone, brick and distressed wood. The exterior offers a kitchen, pool, fountain, bocce court and formal gardens.

The annual Kitchens in the Vineyards tour was born 17 years ago to raise money for Music in the Vineyards. Over the years, 85 homes have been shown without ever repeating a home, according to Jervis.

“Everyone on the committee — ‘the Kitchen Cabinet’ — as we call ourselves, works hard on this event. We start looking for the next year’s houses the day after the tour ends,” Jervis said. “This is truly a community effort. We are so grateful for the help of the generous homeowners who open their homes, the raffle donors, sponsors, authors, chefs and volunteers.”

Enhanced with springtime table settings, each home is styled by local designers and florists. At the homes, visitors will also find tastings of dishes prepared by Napa Valley chefs, and local authors will be on hand to autograph copies of their books.

London author, Josephine Ryan, who wrote “French Home”, will be at one of homes.

In addition to Saturday’s home tour, an exclusive Preview Party will take place on the eve of the tour sponsored by First Republic Bank, and Anne and Matthew Golden. Guests will board luxury mini-coaches at 3:45 p.m. from the Robert Mondavi Winery to embark on a private champagne tour of all five homes. Guests will return for a glass of wine from the terrace overlooking the To Kalon Vineyard. Dinner by winery chef Jeff Mosher follows in the Vineyard Room, accompanied by Mondavi wines.

Tickets for Saturday’s self-guided tour cost $65 for general admission, $100 for the VIP Insiders Pass (includes public tour) and are on sale now. Preview Party tickets are limited and cost $225. Proceeds for both events benefit Music in the Vineyards, the chamber music festival celebrating its 20th anniversary Aug. 1-24 at various Napa Valley wineries. For more information or to purchase tickets, please call 707 253-5559 or visit MusicInTheVineyards.org.

Home Show Offers Plenty Of Ideas

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After a long winter inside, it’s time to turn our attention outside.

You can get a lot of ideas for outdoor projects by attending the Northern New York Builders Exchange Home Show in Watertown this weekend.

Whether it’s a patio or deck, landscaping or new windows, you’ll find ideas there.

“There’s a lot of great ideas here and everybody’s done a wonderful job of bringing out their best,” said Phil Reed of the Northern New York Builders Exchange.

The home show is being held at the Fairgrounds Arena Friday until 9 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. until 3 p.m.

Fine Design Living, One of the GTA’s Leading Boutique Design and Build Firms …

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Fine Design Living, One of the GTA’s Leading Boutique Design and Build Firms, Reminds Consumers that Spring is Not Just for Outdoor Renovations

As soon as spring hits, it’s easy for homeowners to get caught up with backyard landscaping and front yard landscaping ideas.

Toronto, Canada (PRWEB) April 11, 2014

Fine Design Living (http://www.FineDesignLiving.com), one of the Greater Toronto Area’s leading boutique design and build firms, specializing in high-quality exterior and interior custom renovations for residential and commercial clients, is advising consumers to keep in mind the benefits of indoor spring renovation projects.

The warm spring weather brings with it the allure of planning artistic landscaping design ideas. However, it’s important to acknowledge the benefits of having designers and general contractors work on the inside of one’s home as well.

“As soon as spring hits, it’s easy for homeowners to get caught up with backyard landscaping and front yard landscaping ideas,” says Braden White, owner of Fine Design Living. “However, upgrading the interior of the home can add personal and monetary value.”

The kitchen and bathroom still add the most monetary value to homes, and a recent poll shows that Canadians appear to be following this trend by allocating most of their funds toward these areas. But White notes that personal spaces should not be ignored; while taking the time to design a bedroom or living room may not be as lucrative, it goes a long way to adding comfort to any home, particularly those homes with young children. (Source: “CIBC Poll: Renovation Nation? Canadians say they’ll spend almost 30 per cent more on home renos in 2014,” Yahoo! Finance, March 27, 2014; http://finance.yahoo.com/news/cibc-poll-renovation-nation-canadians-080000148.html.)

According to White, one of the ways homeowners can add value and comfort to their house is by conducting an artistic interior design project on the basement. While a finished basement can yield a return of up to 75%, homeowners can also add an immediate personal touch by having it double as a game room for the kids, an extra living area, or a home office. (Source: Ducas, I., “Return on renovation costs: How much will you get back?” Style at Home web site; http://www.styleathome.com/homes/renovating/return-on-renovation-costs-how-much-will-you-get-back/a/882.)

“Homeowners often misjudge just how beneficial it can be to have a finished basement,” White observes. “That space can be utilized in so many different ways and have multiple functions. And when or if it comes time to sell, the return on the investment can be substantial.”

“Beautifying a home with a new deck, swimming pool, or some other intricate landscaping design is certainly a great idea, especially for the spring and summer season, when more time will be spent outdoors, in backyards and sitting on the patio, soaking up the sun’s rays,” White concludes. “That’s why homeowners should hire a landscaping company like Fine Design Living. We will put the same amount of attention to detail to the inside of a home as we will to the outside.”

Fine Design Living is a boutique design and build firm that specializes in high-quality exterior and interior custom renovations for both residential and commercial clients. From unique landscape designs and landscape construction to custom interior renovations, Fine Design Living is committed to providing the highest-quality workmanship and is backed by a personalized approach to service excellence. Based out of Markham, Fine Design Living serves customers in Toronto and the GTA, including Richmond Hill, Thornhill, Vaughan, Newmarket, Unionville, Aurora, and Stouffville. More information about Fine Design Living is available by visiting the firm’s web site at http://www.FineDesignLiving.com or by calling 416-817-6128.

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