Gmkmaden Home Improvement Tips & Guide!

Posts Tagged ‘Garden’

If you are looking for ways for you or your children to provide cheap presents for the extended family, or just like to give gifts that have a personal element to them, then here is a suggestion or two for you.

If you are looking to make a present for the gardener in the family or someone who has recently moved into their own home, someone in a flat or unit, or a person who can’t manage a full sized yard, or a family member who loves to cook with fresh ingredients, etc. Then why not consider giving them something from your own garden? Here I am talking about plants that you have divided off from your own garden plants.

There are many plants growing in the average garden that can be divided, or that have naturally self layered themselves. Where you could go along and take a rooted section, pot them up and with a bit of dressing up of the planting container, you could produce a really nice gift for someone you care about.

These plants include many herbs as well as perennials or shrubs and even some trees which manage to send out self-layering branches or suckers from the root system. Some perennials or bulbs will increase their size or number of bulbs over time. Chance seedlings coming up in the wrong place for you, can easily also be used. All of these provide you with an opportunity to cheaply create a wonderful present for someone else.

First things first you will need to obtain a number of pots either plastic ones left over from additions to the garden population, or from someone you know, or you can go out and purchase a pot plastic/ceramic/terracotta etc., to suit your needs. If the person you are giving the plant to is not a real gardener, then you might consider getting a pot with a waterwell in the base to increase the plants’ chances of surviving.
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When people think of home design, the first thing that pops into their minds is generally the interior of the home. However, what many people may not realize is that home design is every element of the home, including your garden. When it comes to your garden, no matter what type it is, whether a flower or vegetable garden, you can decorate it with exquisite tastes that ensures that it is the highlight of your day.

You want to make sure that when you are considering home design, if you have a garden that you do not leave it out of the design factor. Creating a warm and inviting environment outside is crucial to the overall appeal to your home. As a gardener, you likely spend a good deal of time outside within your garden, digging, planting, weeding, watering, and taking general care of your plants. Therefore, why should not your garden be a beautiful and appealing place, since you have to spend so much time within it!

There are many different home design elements that would look perfect out near your planting area. You have choices from decorative elements such as statues, water fountains, walkway materials, and so much more. One great idea, particularly if you have a flower garden is to place a table and a couple of chairs either within the area or on the outskirts. This can serve as a great place for you to get away or even entertain visitors. What could be better than sitting next to or in your beautiful flower garden while having a great conversation with a close friend or neighbor?

Many people choose home design ideas that mean something to them personally. For example, there are many garden stones that have creative and inspirational saying etched upon them. These might be perfect out in your planting area. On the other hand, you may like the idea of statues within your garden. Statues come in many different sizes, shapes, and designs.
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A recent survey shows that an increasing number of professionals are using home based offices. This is because a home based office not only allows one to save time in commuting but at the same time enables one to reduce work hours as well; thus getting to spend more time with the family. However, home based offices come with some innate problems like lack of living space as well as privacy. For professionals facing such a dilemma, therefore a garden office is the best solution.

In recent times, many employers too prefer professionals who work from home as they not only show improved productivity but at the same time allow the company to save on the cost of infrastructure. However, what worries the employer is the lack of peaceful ambience in an employee’s home that would let him complete his work peacefully. Garden lodges products are designed mainly to be used as garden offices and are the best solution in such a case. After conducting a careful detailed site survey of your garden, you can choose a garden office that will best suit your needs. When you are working from home there are many options. You can work from anywhere – right from your kitchen table to the loft. Whatever be the option for a home based office, a garden office still remains the best solution as it offers you an independent working space separate from your home. Most importantly you can have the much-needed privacy that a garden studio offers for carrying out your work more effectively and efficiently.

The best thing about a garden studio is that it combines functionality with aesthetics. If you do design your garden appropriately you can create an office that not only has convenient electrics and lighting but will also provide you with a professional environment. Being a separate construction that has been designed specifically for office work, it will provide the right ambience for your work all the year round in comfort and security.
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Grow a beautiful garden the water wise way

Saving water and enjoying the beauty and environmental benefits of plants are not only possible, but easy says the American Association of Nurserymen (AAN). “Water Wise” gardening is built on some basic, commonsense principles:

Planning

Planning a water wise garden or landscape is as easy and fun-as planning any type of garden. Talk to the professionals at your local center/landscape firm to see which plants will do well in your area. You may be surprised to find that some very beautiful, colorful plants are low on water consumption-and they may fit into your landscape perfectly.

Group together plants that require the same amount of water. Plant trees and shrubs to provide shade to cool buildings, air conditioning units, patios, decks, and other landscape features.  Shelter container plants by moving them to shady areas. Spike or aerate lawns to insure maximum water penetration. Control weeds which compete with useful plants for water.

Soil Improvement

Soil improvement is another easy and beneficial step in building a water wise garden. Soil that is well prepared at the time of planting influences the plant’s initial development and yields the best results. And plants placed in the proper soil will be healthier, often needing less water.

Soil characteristics include texture, structure, depth, and nutrients. To find out more about your soil content, test your soil with the following garden products : Accugrow Soil Test Kit or the Sunleaves Three-Way Meter.
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It can be a scary exercise to sit down and work out exactly what is spent every year, on the average home gardens and lawns.

Try adding up the costs of plants, weedicides, pesticides, fungicides, fertilisers, petrol, mower and trimmer maintenance, weed eater cord, garden mulch and even water costs. Even the time and effort we go to in order to maintain a good-looking environment for our families and ourselves can amount to a substantial price.

So it is no wonder that many people are looking at ways to save money for more important causes.

One of the first things that you can do to save money, is to make use of as much of that organic matter that many people throw in the bin or wash down the sink.

For instance do you throw out your lawn clippings? Do you dutifully wrap up and throw out those old veggie scraps?

Are you one of those people who regularly get the trailer out and make trips down to the landfill with a pile of branch prunings?

What about those pile of leaves you threw in the bin last autumn?
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One thing you either might have to watch out for or embrace is something I call Garden Creep.

This is the ability of certain gardens, let alone the plants in them, of slowly growing and spreading or even multiplying over time.

Any dedicated gardener can explain to you the visible symtomology of the disease. New garden growths appear almost randomly at times as new outbreaks of gardens pop up in sometimes rather unexpected corners and sections of the area.

This problem is also seen in certain plants as well. When they have managed to obtain a foot hold in an area, where the available space for them, is inadequate for their realistic size. You will find these plants spilling outwards or upwards into space they were never intended to occupy. This causes constant problems for entryways & walkways, as well as air space occupiers like power lines. These planbts then have to constantly attacked and kept back within their territory, often at great cost in time and money to their garden owner.

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With the old familiar variety of garden hoses as well as black Poly irrigation systems, there are two major problems that occur along the length of the hose or pipe, one is cracking and/or splitting of the hose/pipe and the second problem is the familiar kinking of the hose/pipe. So what can you do about it besides going out and buying a new hose or roll of poly’ pipe? Well there is at least one repair method that should help with either problem. Without the cost and problems of putting expensive joiners into your watering system.

Split Hoses/Pipes

What do you do once your garden hose or irrigation pipe has developed a crack or split after your son has mowed over it or you’ve managed to drive over it once too often?

With either type of system, you could cut out the section of the damaged hose or pipe and put in a joiner, but sometimes this is impractical or impossible. Then why not look at repairing it instead of replacing it. Use the same method as you would for a kinked hose. Which is listed below.

Kinking Hoses/Pipes

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