Top Ten Methods to Improve Plant Hydration within the Garden

Top Ten Methods to Improve Plant Hydration within the Garden

one.  Water deeply but no additional deeply than the foundation zone of the plant.  Additional than that's unnecessary.

two.  Water slowly – flip down the flow.  Too heavy of a flow of water can result in run-off and wasted water.

three.  Water infrequently however thoroughly.  Adjust the droplets to a bigger size to minimize evaporation.   Frequent shallow watering causes plants to concentrate their root system shut to the surface resulting in plants that are additional sensitive to water fluctuations.

four.  Loosen the soil.  Compacted soil leads to water wasted by run-off.

five.  Mulch, mulch, mulch!   Adequate mulching conserves water  by serving to keep the soil loose and reducing evaporation.   Coarse mulches need to be applied in an exceedingly thicker layer (3-four inches) for maximum effectiveness whereas finer mulches can be applied one-2 inches deep.

six.  Build sure to stay your garden well weeded to scale back competition for precious moisture.  Also take into account removing surplus plants for the identical reason.  This will provide you plants to share!

seven.  In the vegetable garden, use wide rows and plant crops nearer together.  This strategy can allow your plants to own masses of needed sun for growth and fruitfulness but still offer further shade by the base to assist reduce evaporation.

eight.  Avoid watering throughout windy weather!  Wind could be a huge moisture stealer.

nine.  Water early in the morning when humidity is the best to scale back evaporation.

ten.  Contemplate using soaker hoses and timers rather than sprinklers.  This way you'll be able to strategically concentrate the exact correct quantity of precious water at the base of the plants so as to use less water but still achieve smart deep irrigation.  Also, think about collecting rainwater using rain barrels (a fancy name for a coated trash will) beneath your downspouts.  Simply make positive they are lined to keep curious children and animals from falling in and drowning.

As you'll see, little investments in time and coming up with when watering the garden can reap massive advantages in water conservation. Organic gardening does not need to be difficult. Using our resources sensibly just makes sense.

Black Willow Bonsai

Black willow bonsai tree growing on red lava.


Willow on the rocks. Sounds like a drink. Willow bonsai tree.


Another view of willow on the rocks.


Training the black willow to grow on the rocks takes time and patience.

Came across an interesting blog on gutter gardening. What an interesting and effective way to grow herbs and salad greens. Gutter gardening uses the basic rain gutter as a compact place to grow in a limited space.

Good reasons to grow organic vegetables at home.

The dream of being totally self sufficient and living off the fat of the land is unrealistic at best but we can at least cultivate some of our own fruit and vegetables. How much you can grow is dependent upon how big your garden is but with some imagination, you can get very generous results. In earlier times, everyone was more dependent on being in position to grow their own produce. In our world today, though, people can visit any superstore and buy just about any produce whether it is in season or not. Nevertheless, more people are beginning to return to some of these traditional values and we will now look at the advantages of growing your own fruit and vegetables.The first advantage of growing your own produce is money savings particularly because the world economy is in flux. As individuals, we don't really have any control over the overall economy but we are at the mercy of the effects, like higher food prices. However, as vegetables and fruit are rather easy to grow for yourself, it is possible to really start to make a difference to your family budget with a little effort at the outset. You will be happy in knowing that you are eating crops you made yourself and the cost of making it was minimal.Lately there is a growing market for organic food and you will often see many different types of organically produced items in the shops. We have witnessed many studies conducted that show the benefits of organic food in terms of our health and general well being. Perhaps the biggest issue with organically grown food is the high prices which can be a concern if you are on a tight budget. On top of that, you may at times question if the standards necessary to qualify a food as organic are high enough. These issues could be dealt with by just growing your own crops since you have complete control of the entire process.As we become more health conscious, we are becoming more conscious with regards to what we eat and how safe the food is. We need to be sure that the food we eat has all the essential nourishment we need to lead healthy lives. The majority of us check to see the use by date to determine freshness but it doesn't determine if it is still nutritious. We have to know precisely how long before the groceries were packaged before it got to store shelves. Furthermore, many produce are gathered way before they are ready to make sure they arrive at the store looking fresh but lacking all the nutrients. If you have your own garden, you can pick your produce when they are at their optimum freshness with all the essential nutrients intact.Besides the personal savings and the health advantages, you will also have a great time  doing it, so go ahead  and make your own organic  garden  today.

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Advantages of Organic Gardening

There are many advantages for maintaining an organic garden having fresh vegetables and fruit to eat is just some of the advantages. Staying away from harsh or toxic chemical helps stay healthy. The first thing to start is a compost pile, this material will be black gold in the very near future. While the compost is breaking down, add natural nutrients to your organic garden. The healthier the soil in your garden the healthier crops you will harvest. Feed the soil and the soil will continue to feed you and your family for a lifetime.

Last glimpses of summer. Hibiscus

 End of summer brings a lot of color to my backyard organic garden. Bright reds and soft pinks give it a blast of color to say goodbye to summer and hello to the fall planting season.

This time of year my garden is filled with the large and colorful Hibiscus. Some of them measure a foot across. Paper plate Hibiscus really earn their name, being as big and as round as paper plates.

Keeping an organic garden is not as hard as you may think, there are sound techniques to grow healthy plants without all the harsh chemicals that may be harmful to our health. If you want to learn more about organic gardening check Organic Gardening Now

Birch trees

The Surprise Butterfly

A was quite surprised by the appearance of this  butterfly (or moth). This being the first time that I have ever seen this bug. Hopefully I can get some help identifying.Fuzzy body and nearly 3 inches across the wings. Took a good video of the little flyer and took a few pictures, but have had no luck figuring out what it is.
Flew into my garden and has not been seen since that day.

Bonsai

Just a quick post. A number of my bonsai growing on the shelf.  Lots going on in the backyard garden with wiring of some of the trees and leaf pruning of others. June and July are the months that I take off the leave of most of my deciduous trees, a process that increases the overall number of leaves and reduces their size. After a few years of the annual step your tree will have a much better scale, it will look like a really big 'little tree'.

Where does the time go... a glimpse at bonsai...

Now as the days are getting longer and  longer I have found some time to be in the garden and work on some of my many bonsai trees. Not that I am lacking in material to show you and work on, it is the time to get it on the blog. So here is a little tease of some of what is coming up.

Step by step I have been documenting and photographing the little trees' progress through their training. Here are some random pictures of some of the bonsai tree collection.Hopefully my work will inspire some new bonsai enthusiasts.

Creating New Bonsai

Bonsai is a very fascinating art form, combining both design and science. When designing Bonsai the grower has to take into account that the tree needs to stay alive. Providing the tree with the best environment to continue to mature, giving the Bonsai more character as it ages.

 The tropical varieties can make very good indoor Bonsai, where as the northern varieties like maple, black pine,cedars and elm need to be wintered outdoors giving them a dormant period of growth. The Norfolk Island Pine makes a very good indoor Bonsai and can be enjoyed in bright light.

Another interesting Bonsai is the tropical African Jade 'Elephant Toes'.  This tree has been in training for 3 years, starting from a cutting it eventually was trained to grow root over the rock style. Using only organic gardening techniques, I think, get the best results. For more organic gardening tips. With out the harsh chemicals it helps keep the indoor environment healthier.

Organic Gardening Do’s and Dont’s

Organic Gardening Do’s and Dont’s
Organic Gardening Now


You’ve learned a lot about organic gardening over the course of these lessons. Now I’m going to share my top ten tips that will help you get the most of your garden:



•Do use compost regularly. Composting isn’t something you do once every couple years. You can and should add compost to your garden regularly (especially at the start of the growing season). That’s because your soil tends to use up its nutrients. So even soil that’s nutrient-rich and healthy right now needs compost to stay that way.

•Don’t forget that prevention is the best cure. If you know what your particular plants are most vulnerable to (which depends on the plant species and where you live), then you can prevent pests and diseases before they become a problem. For example, you can plan ahead and use companion planting to repel the common pests in your area.

•Do share your results with your neighbors. No, you don’t want to preach to your friends and neighbors. But you do want to share your results and show them just how lush, green and pest-free an organic garden can be.

If you can persuade your friends to stop using dangerous toxins, that’s great for the earth. And if you can persuade your closest neighbors to stop using toxic chemicals, that’s good for your garden too, because the neighbors aren’t killing your beneficial insects.



•Don’t become impatient. Organic gardening takes time. It takes time to let your compost do its work so that your soil becomes rich and healthy. It also takes time for pest-control methods to work, such as building a beneficial insect population.

Be patient. If you’re coming from a traditional background, you might be tempted to just dump synthetic fertilizer or toxic chemicals on your plants to get results quicker. But that will only set you back weeks if not months (or an entire growing season) if you wish to do things naturally again.



•Do use cover crops. Some organic gardeners – even those with small plots – plant a fast-growing cover crop such as buckwheat. About three or four weeks before you’re ready to plant, mow the buckwheat and then work it into the soil. Now you have a natural compost working to add nutrients to the soil!

•Do take care of problems when you first notice them. If you see a leaf turning yellow, a white mildew starting to appear, black spots or you see pests, take care of the problem right away… because the longer you wait, the harder it will be to get it under control.

•Don’t chase away other allies like frogs and lizards. You already know that birds and certain insects are your allies. But remember that critters like frogs and lizards are too, as they eat a lot of insects.

•Do use collars on your vulnerable plants. If you have plants that are vulnerable to cutworms, you can use little plastic or cardboard collars at the bottom of the stem to discourage worms from munching on the stem or climbing up on the plant to eat the leaves. For best results, insert them just below the soil level.

•Do use bacillus thuringiensis if leaf eaters are destroying your plants. This is a type of bacteria that you can buy at an organic gardening supplies store, and it prevents caterpillars and similar leaf eaters from digesting property. It’s a great alternative to some of the organic sprays.

•Do hand-pick your pests. If you see pests on your plants, pick them off by hand, as there may only be one or two, or this pest might be the one that the spray missed. Just be sure you know the difference between pests and beneficial insects!

And there you have it: Ten tips every organic gardener ought to know. Good luck with your garden!

Another Japanese Shoshin Maple Bonsai

Maple trees make for very good bonsai. With leaf pruning and some wiring it is a lot easier to see the effects of your bonsai training. The twisty nature of some maples lend themselves to interesting bonsai trees. This tree although a young bonsai tree has the character of a much older tree.

Outdoor bonsai trees can only displayed indoor for a very short time, too long and you may end up killing your tree and all the time and love you put into it. So when you  are looking to display any bonsai, please take care that it does not stay too long.

Japanese Shoshin Maple Bonsai

The first display of a young Shoshin Japanese Maple. Bonsai is a cool way to shape nature to fit into a space where you can enjoy it. This tree is showing great promise, with some maturity and and pruning it will become a very nice bonsai. Already looking good with some nice trunk motion.
 The added plastic Sushi was not my idea, this tree as many of my trees is on display for one week at Lee's Japanese. A very good informal restaurant in northern New Jersey.

Japanese Maple On Rock

This maple started out as an Air-layering from an older tree that needed to be brought down to scale. Earlier in the spring I started to create this new Bonsai. Getting roots to grow takes some patience and some easily learned skills.