Posted in Gardening

Starting an Indoor Garden

Living in an area that experiences all of the seasons in all of their glory means that you will have trouble growing plants all year round and some plants are just off limits because they will not be able to grow properly or survive the winter. With a little effort and a few gadgets you can build a garden in your home and enjoy the greenery, even in the harshest winters.

The first thing you need is light. Especially in the winter, proper light for plants is scarce in a house. Regular incandescent bulbs will not cut it because they do not produce the right kind of light and they don’t produce enough of it either way. You should look into replacing all of your incandescent bulbs with either compact fluorescent lamps or, better yet, LED lights. Both are more efficient, in regards to energy consumptions, and produce better light than standard bulbs. They both also have much longer potential working lives than incandescent bulbs. LED lights have the added advantage of containing no glass that can break and cut you but they need to be in much larger arrays than CFL bulbs to get the same lumens. All in all CFL bulbs win out.

The next thing you need to think about is potting your plants. You can go the simple route and get some large planters and fill them with a proper planting mix for what you are trying to grow if you want to stay simple. If you want to step up from there, you can get an automatic drip feeding and watering system. This cuts out the tedious task of scheduling watering times and making sure that you don’t miss any. You should also look into getting a timer for your CFL and LED light bulbs so that your plants get the right amount of light for their needs. Every plant is different so do your research and enjoy vegetables all year round. I like hot peppers, personally.

How To Take Care Of Your Garden In Winter

Though you may not think it, winter is an extremely important and busy time in the garden. As the season changes to the colder months, there is a lot of clearance to do in your green space. Herbaceous plants need to be cut back to ground level and composted, whilst shrubs can be shaped and pruned. If you’re preparing your winter garden it’s also the ideal time to actually buy some new plants and place them into their final positions. You’ll find a great range of products for your garden at stores such as B and Q, and though the evenings are drawing in, getting into the garden now will reap great benefits for the spring and summer season next year.

At this time of year you should make sure you’re collecting leaves as they fall, either putting them on the compost heap or tying them into black plastic bags where they’ll rot down over the next six months and create leaf mulch. Whilst a few fallen leaves can remain on flowerbeds where they’ll be pulled into the earth by worms, you should clear lawns and paths.

It is also the ideal time of year to transplant existing shrubs. As the colder weather instigates plant dormancy, flowering shrubs, herbaceous plants and even small trees can be moved as root damage will be kept to a minimum. Once in place they’ll awake in spring and put out their tender new roots without disturbance. If you have misplaced plants in your garden then set aside some time to move them to a new position so that you’ll enjoy renewed vigour in the following spring and summer seasons.

In addition to moving existing plants, now is the ideal time to actually plant new shrubs, winter and spring bulbs, and overwintering vegetables. Garlic cloves, overwintering onions and broad beans can all be sown now, allowing them to get a head start on those that are planted in spring so that you have early crops. Meanwhile, snowdrop, crocus, daffodil and tulip bulbs are ideal for planting, giving you the chance to enjoy their spring blooms as the weather warms next year. Whilst you can put in bulbs in late winter you’ll find that they may not flower, so taking advantage of crisp autumnal and early winter days is perfect for planting.

The winter period is also an ideal time to enrich the soil by adding compost and manure. Whilst you can add compost at any time of year, manure is often too potent to be simply layered onto flowerbeds. In this form it can scorch leaves and growing roots, actually causing damage rather than benefiting plants. However, during the winter when many plants have died back and roots are not actively growing, the addition of manure to flower beds and vegetable patches is ideal. Cold weather will help break down lumps of muck, whilst snow and rain will draw nutrients down into the soil so that when spring arrives you’ll see renewed growth from your garden plants.

With many tasks to do you’ll find that your autumn and winter gardening is full of work. But, by taking the time and trouble now, you’ll ensure that next year’s garden is even more full of flowers and foliage than this year was.

Green Roof vs Garden Roof

Do you recall the Hanging Garden by King Nebucchadnezzar? Even during that time, having plants not just on the ground has been thought of. Now, especially in urban places, it is even encouraged to have plants living atop the roof especially for greening to help the environment.

There are two ways to do this: by having a green roof or by having a garden roof. What is the difference? The garden roof is primarily used for design like atop a condominium where residents can go to, to relax or enjoy the view. At the same time, having those plants help oxygenate the environment, although not as concentrated as the green roof where much planning is put into especially the roofing and the irrigation system. While the former serves two purposes at low degrees, the latter serves one, the environment, at a high degree.

In terms of insurance, I believe green roof has a higher value since the amount you spend for the roof is higher too. Same goes with rv insurance, it the roof has a solar panel, more likely than not, the insurance coverage is higher too.

Planning A Garden

Often, people want their homes with gardens. Green trees, green plants and different kind of flowers. A garden can brighten any person’s day. It’s nice to wake up in the morning with the fresh smell of morning dew and seeing the flowers starting to bloom. If there is one thing that most gardeners does not like, that would be weeds. They try to use weed killer that will not be dangerous to their plants. This is  also known as herbicide. This is a kind of pesticide used by gardener, even farmers, to kill unwanted plants, hence the term weed killer. Back then, herbicides have been found to be dangerous to plants too but with the development of technology in agriculture, herbicides are now target specific. It means that it only kills the unwanted plants and the desired plants are left alone. It’s not hard to look for this kind of herbicides as it is widely available in the market.

When planning to have a garden, weeds are not the only thing you should consider. Make sure that the plans you will use compliments each other well. But of course, as you garden grows, weeds are inevitable. Use weed killers if you must but be careful when using one. Look for the products that is best for your plants and targets the weeds you do not like. It would still be years before I make my own garden. When we have our own house, I want a big garden. I want it to have flowers and small plants and some big trees. Good thing that as early as now, I already know what’s the best weed killer in the market.

Mimosa pudica; Tickle Me Plant; Makahiya

When I posted about Tickle Me Plant, I was fascinated by its use in other country. I will never look again in that plant the same way. But of course, as a kid, Makahiya plants has been very fun.I just did not thought that it would be marketed as a toy.

The plant’s scientific name is Mimosa pudica. This is an annual or perennial herb and is native to South America and Central America (but can be found in most Asian countries too and is considered a weed). Below is an explanation (from wikipedia) on why the plant movies or folds inward when it is stimulated.

The leaves also close under various other stimuli, such as touching, warming, blowing, or shaking. These types of movements have been termed seismonastic movements. The movement occurs when specific regions of cells lose turgor pressure, which is the force that is applied onto the cell wall by water within the cell vacuoles and other cell contents. When the plant is disturbed, specific regions on the stems are stimulated to release chemicals which force water out of the cell vacuoles and the water diffuses out of the cells, producing a loss of cell pressure and cell collapse; this differential turgidity between different regions of cells results in the closing of the leaflets and the collapse of the leaf petiole. This characteristic is quite common within the Mimosoideae subfamily of the legume family, Fabaceae. The stimulus can also be transmitted to neighboring leaves. It is not known exactly why Mimosa pudica evolved this trait, but many scientists think that the plant uses its ability to shrink as a defense from predators. Animals may be afraid of a fast moving plant and would rather eat a less active one. Another possible explanation is that the sudden movement dislodges harmful insects.

Well, if you are as small as Makahiya, I guess its being “shy” saves them a lot from being eaten by animals. And if you have not noticed, most Makahiya plants have thorns in their stems.