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Vaastu Tips For Your Garden

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have a lot of good luck with your green surrounding.

Experts say that the planning and design of your garden should have a significant effect on your mood, health and prosperity. Your garden should be built in the house, so that it enables a person to feel close to nature. It should also help one to enjoy the serenity and calmness affected by the presence of the plants which you have grown in your home. It is largely believed that people make gardens to refresh their character. It is the lush green surroundings which help in relaxing and restoring ones inner peace.

In every home you will have some sort of a garden space and in large homes you will have a large garden space, smaller homes create a smaller garden. Here are some of the best Vaastu guidelines for your garden space and plants which are decked in it. It is believed that if you follow these Vaastu tips for your garden, it will bring prosperity to the residents of the home.

Vaastu Tips For Your Garden

Take a look at these Vaastu garden tips:

Placement

The placement of the garden should always be in the northwest direction of your home. It can also be placed in the East direction if North is already accommodated. Placing your garden in the North will bring in peace of mind for the residents of the home.

Trees

If you are planting tall trees, they should not be placed in an area in front of the door. The tree should be placed in the East direction of the garden. Avoid placing the tall trees in the middle of the garden as well.

Fruit trees

If you are planting fruit trees, it needs to be planted in the East direction of your home. Placing the fruit tree is this direction will help to produce more fruit on your tree.

Idols

For good luck and presence of God, it is best to place an idol in your garden. An idol in your garden should be placed in the center to draw in the spiritual vibes emitted from the sun.

Dry plants

Make sure to trim your garden over a period of time. Never have dry leaves or branches in your garden area. One Vaastu tip for gardens that you need to follow is to get rid of your dried leaves before the sun sets for the day. It is a bad omen to keep dried leaves in your garden area until the next sunset.

These are some of the Vaastu tips for your garden you need to follow. You can also place a fountain in the East or North area of your garden area. The fountain placed in your garden will always keep your flowers and trees in full bloom.

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Master gardener shares tips on her Texas Eclectic landscape

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What to do in the Garden in October

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By Carol Stocker, Globe Garden Writer…Cutting down the garden…You can postpone this until next spring to provide cover and food for birds. But always remove the top growth of disease prone plants such as tomatoes, peonies, bearded iris, hollyhocks and phlox and bag these.

Cut the garden down now in stages, removing the ugly stuff first and leaving for plants that still have presentable seed heads and foliage like ornamental grass. But eventually you will want to cut it all down because it begins to look like debris.
Composting

This is the easy way to dispose of garden debris without having to bag it and set it on the curb. Simply make a free standing three foot high pile in some unseen corner of your property (not leaning against a tree or building, which could rot). Then just let it break down and return to nature. What should you compost? Leaves, grass cuttings, chipped brush, pine needles, weeds that have not gone to seed, vegetable and fruit wastes from garden or table, perennials tops you’ve cut back, dying potted plants and annuals along with their root balls, coffee grounds, eggshells, teabags, shredded paper and cardboard, including newspaper, paper towels and paper plants and bags. Do NOT compost dairy products, meat, fat or grease, cooked foods with sauces, bones, peanut butter, mature weed seeds, kitty litter or pet manure, whole branches, diseased plants, or weeds that spread by roots and runners, including vines. I put woody branches in a different pile for burning in spring. Or you can chip them for mulch if you have a chipper.
Leaves

You don’t have to rake these unless they’re thick enough to suffocate what’s underneath. Leave them between trees and shrubs and on empty planting beds, where they can serve as natural fertilizer. But rake or blow leaves from lawns and evergreen ground covers into a three foot tall pile in an out of the way spot and let nature take its course. They will decompose into a one foot tall pile of leaf compost, call leaf mold in about 15 months. Naturally weed free, this is a much better garden mulch than pine bark since it is loaded with nutrients.
Irrigation

Unhook and drain garden hoses completely, roll them up and store them off the ground. If you have an automatic irrigation system, shut down the timer. If the timer has a digital display, switch to “rain” on the controller. If it has a dial, like an analog clock face, or a pump is wired to the timer, turn off the power to save electricity.
Inside the house is a shut-off for each exterior faucet, usually just on the other side of the basement wall from the outside faucet. Shut off each of these from inside the basement, then open the outside faucet to drain any remaining water. Back inside, look for the vent on the bottom of each valve. Put a bucket under each and then unscrew with pliers. Remove the half inch metal cap and the “O” ring inside the bottom of the shut-off, using a pin to break the vacuum. Water will drain out from that 5-foot section of pipe between the inside and the outside faucet; otherwise it can freeze and burst inside the wall, causing damage.

Cleanup

Prune climbing roses and fasten them to their supports so they don’t get whipped around in winter winds. Clean and store garden furniture, stakes, cages and seasonal temporary trellises.Many pots are now good looking plastic that can survive the winter, even if they remain filled with soil. High fired stoneware will not break either. If you want to ensure the safety of expensive terra cotta pots, dump their soil in the compost pile, wash and sterilize them with a 10 percent bleach solution and let them dry in the sun before storing them (upside down if stored outdoors). Store pesticides and fertilizer in a dry, locked area that’s labeled for dangerous chemical as does not freeze.

Pests.

Deer are the biggest outdoor pest in some areas. Start spraying evergreens now with a deer repellent or wrap individual shrubs in the kind of black netting used to keep birds off berry bushes. Protect young fruit trees from gnawing mice by wrapping the base of the trunks with commercial tree wrap or 18 inch tall metal tree guards. If you notice swarms of identical small white moths attracted to porch lights in early winter, you probably have winter moths. Their immature inchworms can cause a lot of damage in spring so contract now, before arborists get busy, for spraying the biological pesticide Spinosad next April.

For the Birds

Setting up a winter bird feeder in front of your favorite window is a great way to stay in touch with the outdoors while staying warm indoors. Fill it with black-oil sunflower seeds to attract pretty red cardinals.

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Fall gardening tips: A new additive for poor soils

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Get It Growing Calendar offers tips for gardeners: Around the Home Grounds

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The LSU AgCenter now has available the latest of its helpful resources for River Parishes gardening enthusiasts – the 2014 Get It Growing Lawn and Garden Calendar. The Get It Growing calendar is packed with photos, gardening hints and monthly tips from LSU AgCenter horticulturist Dan Gill that are specifically written for Louisiana’s growing conditions and climate.

It is part of an overall educational effort from the LSU AgCenter that is designed to help Louisiana residents learn more about caring for their lawns, landscapes and gardens.

Each year, the Get It Growing calendar highlights Louisiana flowers, vegetables, plants and gardens with easy-to-understand gardening tips, useful information and beautiful photos from Louisiana photographers. Anyone who enjoys gardening will find the calendar to be a great resource for expanding his or her gardening knowledge. This year’s special feature offers a wealth of information on roses and includes a section on how to compost properly, definitions and explanations for a variety of gardening terms and a list of new Louisiana Super Plants for spring and fall.

The 9-by-13.25-inch calendar, which is designed as part of the LSU AgCenter’s popular Get It Growing educational campaign on home lawns and gardens, sells for $12 and is available by calling or visiting the St. Charles Parish Extension office at 985.785.4473,  at 1313 Paul Maillard Road in Luling; or the St. John Parish Extension office at  985.497.3261, at 151 E. Third St. in Edgard.

The 2014 Get It Growing calendar will also be available at the German Coast Farmers’ Markets “Master Gardener Booth” conducted the first Saturday of each month at Ormond Plantation on River Road in Destrehan. Proceeds from calendar sales will help to support horticultural research and educational efforts of the LSU AgCenter.

Rene’ Schmit is the LSU AgCenter County Agent for St. Charles Parish and can be reached at 985-785-4473.

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October gardening tips

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Planting garlic for next summer’s harvest, cutting back Brussel’s sprouts, and digging up dahlias are some of the gardening activities for this month.


Now is the time to plant garlic for harvest next summer. Purchase garlic sold specifically for planting, or buy organic garlic. Commercial, non-organic, supermarket garlic may have been treated to inhibit sprouting. Plant individual cloves, root end down (pointed side up), 2 inches deep and 8 inches apart, in well-drained, compost-amended soil. Once the ground freezes, cover the garlic bed with 6 inches of straw or shredded leaves for winter protection.

To get the sprouts to ripen faster, pinch off the top couple of inches of your Brussel’s sprout plants to direct their energy into the sprouts that are already developing along the stem. Clip off any lower leaves that have yellowed, and keep plants watered if fall weather is dry.

When frost blackens the tops of dahlias, cut the foliage back to 2 inches tall, then dig up the tubers. Let them dry for a day or two, but not too long or they will start to shrivel. Brush off any loose dirt and store in a plastic crate or cardboard box, lined with perforated plastic, and filled with dry peat moss, wood shavings, or other similar material. Keep moist but not wet or they will rot. Store in a cool, dark area between 35 and 45 degrees.

When cleaning up the flower garden in fall, leave some the seedheads to feed the birds. The seedheads of plants like purple coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), coreopsis and cosmos will provide a tasty treat for birds such as goldfinches.

Keep watering trees and shrubs, especially evergreens, which were newly planted this growing season until the ground freezes. Although the tops of woody plants may be dormant, their roots are still active until late in the season.

Weed your perennial gardens and shrub beds thoroughly in the fall and you’ll have fewer weed problems to begin the following year. It’s also a good time to edge beds.

The foliage of evergreens can be injured over the winter by the drying effects of wind and sun, especially if they are planted in a southern or western exposure. Protect plants over the winter with burlap screens.

If you test your soil and add any needed amendments now, the soil will be ready for planting when you are in the spring. Contact your local university extension office for a soil-testing kit, also available at many garden stores. Since your soil can vary from location to location in your yard, if you notice different characteristics of the soil in different beds, test them separately.

All you need to “force” bulbs indoors is a place that stays cool but above freezing (35 to 45 degrees is best). Pot up daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, grape hyacinths, and other spring bulbs that need such a cold treatment, and water them well. For the best show, don’t mix different types of bulbs in one pot unless you’re sure they bloom at about the same time. Then place the pots in cool storage for about 12 to 16 weeks. Check on them periodically and water when the soil is dry. Unlike the spring daffodils, paperwhite narcissus don’t need a cold treatment.

Other gardening tips for this month include checking and replacing faded garden labels, carving pumpkins, visiting a local apple orchard, and baking fresh apple pies.

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Monty Don gardening tips: Lovely to look at, easy to grow, chard is hard to fault

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By
Monty Don


PUBLISHED:

16:30 EST, 11 October 2013


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UPDATED:

16:30 EST, 11 October 2013

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F or decades I have been growing chard with very little trouble and have always relished it, both in the garden as a resplendently energetic plant in all its various hues and on the plate in a surprisingly varied number of recipes.

The British have not taken to chard with the same enthusiasm as the French for some reason, but it is delicious and nutritious, can be cooked in lots of different ways, is easy to grow and is a leafy green vegetable that can be harvested throughout the year. It really is hard to fault it.

Admittedly, last year I did have some trouble with my chard, finding it was very quick to bolt before it had developed a decent leaf or root system. But I put that down to the low light levels, and this year it has grown easily and well. 

Lovely to look at, easy to grow, delicious hot or cold and good for you too - chard is hard to fault, says Monty Don

Lovely to look at, easy to grow, delicious hot or cold and good for you too – chard is hard to fault, says Monty Don

The seeds can be sown at any time between March and July – my favoured method is to use plugs and then either plant them directly into the soil or pot them on into 8cm (3in) pots before planting out approximately 22cm-30cm (9in-12in) apart.

ASK MONTY…

Q. We have a large magnolia tree that obliterates our view of the garden. When should we prune it?
Ivor Nash, Ticehurst, East Sussex

A. If it is a deciduous magnolia, the best time is in midsummer, after flowering. But the evergreen M. grandiflora should be pruned only sparingly, if at all.

Q. After lifting my potato crop, I see some are already gnawed. I’ve had a few molehills, so could moles have done it?
Peter Wilkins, Bugbrooke, Northants

A. I very much doubt it was moles eating your potatoes, Peter – they much prefer earthworms. But voles are known to like a good spud.

Q. A hydrangea and bay have grown too large for our London garden, and I’d like to transfer them to our cottage garden in Norfolk. When would be the best time to do this, and should they be pruned back?
Patricia Sears, Chiswick, London

A. For the hydrangea the best time would be between now and March. For the bay, autumn or spring. Dig up as much root as possible and move in the largest pots you can. Depending on the root size, trim the bay back by as much as half. Leave pruning the hydrangea till spring, and remove a third of its growth.

However, the seeds can be sown directly into the soil as long as you thin them out ruthlessly so that each plant has the space to develop really generous roots.

Chard is very drought-resistant when established, although the hotter and drier the weather, the greater the ratio of stalk to green leaf. In general it is best to plant them into rich, well-drained soil and keep the water supply steady, as erratic watering will stress them and induce bolting. The idea is to grow the plants steadily so they go into winter with a strong root that will then keep producing new foliage right through to the following spring.

You can either harvest the leaves by taking a few in turn from each plant as you go or, as I prefer to do, cut the whole thing flush with the ground, which provokes a fresh crop of tender young leaves to come through.

It is a tough plant and will take drought in summer and as much cold as we are likely to get. Its powers of recovery are extraordinary. I reckon to take at least three good harvests from each plant, and even when it is reduced to a semi- rotted stump, it will still throw up more crinkled green flames of leaf to give a spring crop when there is little else growing.

Chard, as a member of the beet family, is related to spinach and beetroot, and the leaves do look like monstrously enlarged versions of both their cousins.

They are invariably cooked having been stripped from the stems and are like a slightly coarser, more robust spinach, going well with any meats, eggs or cheese. The stems are celery-like in texture with a delicate, subtle taste.

Swiss chard, which has pure white stems and great green leaves, is superior in taste to all other variations, but ruby chard is beautiful enough for any flower border. ‘Rainbow’ chard is, as the name suggests, multi-coloured, and ‘Bright Lights’ has brilliant yellow stems. ‘Vulcan’ is a new variety designed for eating raw in salad. All are very good to eat.

Swiss chard has nothing to do with Switzerland but it is the name it has gone by for the past 100 years or so. The ancient Greeks grew red chard, the Chinese record growing it in the 7th century, and what we now call Swiss chard is recorded growing in Britain as early as 1596. 


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Fall gardening tips: A new additive for poor soils

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GOOD TO GROW: October Gardening Tips

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  Denise, Bill, and Norma talk about what gardening activities we can take part in during October.  It’s a great time to plant cool-season annuals like pansies, or planting trees shrubs.

Plus, hear about where the Master Gardeners will be appearing this month:  Oct 11-13 at the Home Garden Expo in Downtown El Paso…Oct 26 from 9am-1pm at the Downtown Artist Farmers Market on Anthony St…and Oct 26 from 1pm-3pm at the Municipal Rose Garden Open House at Memorial Park.

Aired Oct. 12, 2013.

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