Gardening Archives - quiet hut

How to Harness Nature for Your Gardening Needs

Quiethut — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 14:40:15 +0000

Gardening is a hobby that will soothe your soul, allow you to express your creative side when plotting out your garden beds and what will go in each one and it’s also a hobby that will get your moving to meet your daily requirement of physical activity without feeling like a workout. Gardening is the type of hobby that checks all the boxes in what you would hope a hobby could and would do you.

But in a society that needs to be focused on sustainability – sometimes it is not enough to just plant fresh produce (vegetables, fruits and herbs) and flowers to maintain a level of green in your backyard. You want to use the power of nature, from the sun to the wind to the water levels, to truly meet your gardening needs. This is an important step in making sure not only does your garden provide you with mental soothing, physical activity, fresh produce if desired but it also helps the environment in the long run.

So that is why today we are going to take a deeper look into how to harness nature for your gardening needs. By doing this, you are making a significant contribution to the environment and helping in the fight against climate change.

Get Your Hands Dirty

The easiest way to harness the power of nature is to use the benefits of Vitamin D that comes from the sun to boost your energy. This newfound energy can then be channeled into completing all the tasks that come with having a garden, whether it is a vegetable or flower garden; maintenance still has to be completed.

Use your hands to dig into the dirt instead of a machine that will require electricity or gas as its main source of power. Not only does this save on non-renewable resources, you will also get the bonus of a more intense workout. Think of using manual hedge trimmers and manual weed eaters to remove unwanted greenery from your yard. You can then use this yard waste in your compost pile that can be broken down, fermented and transformed into a crumbly dry mixture to chalk your garden beds with valuable nutrients. Another bonus of creating your own compost pile: You save on the amount of waste that is put out on the sidewalk as part of your weekly garbage.

Create your own greenhouses from scrap lumber that is lying around your yard and use battery-powered tools when possible during the construction. Not only will a greenhouse allow you to garden year-round, you will be able to clean up your backyard at the same time. Use cordless tools, such as a nail gun (find the best ones here), to tackle those harder jobs

Use the Energy of the Sun

Instead of using expensive and draining grow lights, instead build that greenhouse we just talked about. Using a heavier plastic around the structure will not only protect your plants, it will also heat the interior of the room to provide your plants with a balmy temperature. You will be able to even grow exotic varieties of plants, vegetables and fruits that otherwise wouldn’t do so well in your climate.

Line the pathways to your gardens and even the garden beds themselves with solar-powered lights to provide that perfect soft glow in the evenings. These lights are found everywhere from dollar stores to hardware stores to department stores and charged during the daylight hours to illuminate the area all night long.

Change Your Watering Habits

Instead of reaching for the garden hose each time you need to water your garden, consider investing in a sturdy and durable barrel to collect rainwater. Granted, if it has been raining consistently throughout the day, you don’t need to water your garden beds, but you can still collect the runoff water for future hot days.

Place the barrel in a strategic location in your yard, such as under the eaves of the home or somewhere there is a significant amount of rainfall runoff. Use a screen, such as the kind that covers your windows, to prevent dirt, debris and pests from contaminating the water.

You can then use this filtered water to water your garden beds, wash your car and even fill that kiddie pool if it’s clean enough!

Conclusion

Now that you are aware of how to harness nature for your gardening needs, why not take the weekend to change how a couple things are done for your garden. By using nature, you help the environment without destroying it and you will also notice a significant difference in your plants. Vegetables will be heartier and more robust while fruits will be larger with a sweeter taste. Your herb garden will be the envy of cooks everywhere and your flowers will make people stop to ask “how do you get them to grow so beautifully?” and you will be able to smile while answering; I simply harnessed nature and worked with her instead of hurting her.

If more people use the power of nature to garden and complete other tasks, we might just have a shot at turning our planet into something viable for future generations and future gardeners!

The post How to Harness Nature for Your Gardening Needs appeared first on quiet hut.

A Complete Guide to Gardening for Kids

Quiethut — Sun, 15 Jul 2018 19:12:22 +0000

Gardening for kids can be fun, refreshing and educational. When kids garden with their parents, it helps create a stronger bond in their relationship because they’re spending time together and having fun.

Additionally, for those who struggle to get their kids to eat healthy food, gardening can be a useful tool. It’s also fairly simple to grow your own garden at home. It doesn’t require a large, sunny backyard and it doesn’t cost very much money, either. You can grow a few edibles or flowers in your existing yard. Or if you live in a city and don’t have space for a regular garden, a container, and soil in a sunny site can be an easy way to grow a few edibles and flowers that your kids won’t be able to resist.

If you’re looking for an engaging outdoor activity that allows the whole family to participate, consider a kid-friendly garden. From preparing the soil, selecting your plants and planting, and finally harvesting, gardening can be a great way to involve your kids in a healthy hobby you can all enjoy.

In this article, we will show you how to grow a garden with your kids this spring. Read on.

Gardening teaches kids a lot

Most kids enjoy being outdoors and love to dig in the soil, play with the dirt and grow their own food. Along with the fun of getting dirty, gardening offers wonderful and amazing opportunities for kids to grow and learn!

Kids will learn that science is cool

Gardening is a science and kids will learn lessons from botany, biology, and chemistry. In their own garden, they can make hypotheses and monitor the progress of each of their “experiments”. Without even realizing it, kids are learning the basic steps of the scientific process. They can learn which plants need less water, which plants need more sunlight and how long they take to grow.

There are also many lessons in mathematics that can be taught in the garden. From counting and measurement to shapes, angles, graphs, and fractions.

Kids will learn responsibility

Simple gardening activities, such as planting seeds, feeding and watering plants, help kids to become well-versed in an activity that they can do on their own. They will learn what it takes to keep something alive and how to care for something on a daily basis, which is a great learning curve and can also be tied in and used as a metaphor for lessons in caring for one another. They also learn how to follow a checklist, which will benefit them when deadlines become important in school.

Kids will learn patience

Gardening helps children learn valuable lessons about patience, which is something that not all kids are taught these days. It takes time to grow a healthy garden. Seeds take time to germinate. Plants take time to grow and produce fruit.

Kids will bone with you more

Gardening is a great way to get the family outdoors spending time together. You can your kids can work together to decide what vegetables and flowers to grow and where to grow them. You can go beyond that and make meals using the vegetables you grow with your kids.

Kids will eat healthier

Eating healthy and developing the knowledge to maintain a healthy diet is an important part of growing up. It’s often hard to get kids to eat vegetables, but it’s much easier when you teach kids how to grow their own vegetables as they develop a sense of pride in eating what they produced.

How to Plant a garden for kids

You Will Need

A spot that is ready for your garden
Paper and pen for writing out your plan
Started plants (tomatoes, peppers, etc.)
Seeds (flowers, squash, pumpkins, watermelon)
Plant food (optional)
Fertilizer (optional)
Gardening tools (a small spade, hoe)
String for measuring
Watering can or hose
Hula hoops (for a salsa or pizza garden)
Old tires (for potato towers)
Square wooden box (for watermelons)

Location

Your existing backyard or other outdoor lands

Step 1 – Plan your garden

If you’ve decided to involve your kids in gardening, you need to consider several factors such as your summer schedule, where and what your kids will be gardening. Your kids will need clear paths, narrow beds, and edible plants or flowers. Kids should be able to reach across the beds.

Once you figure out the details, you can decide if you will grow vegetables, herbs, flower or fruit.

Have a family meeting and discuss the different options for your family garden.

Some kid-friendly gardens you can choose:

Standard Garden

With this type of garden, you and your kids can choose to grow herb garden or vegetable garden. The term herb garden is usually used now to denote a garden of herbs used as ingredients in cooking, and the medicinal aspect is rarely considered. Generally, herbs need a sunny site, because the majority of the plants grown are native to warm and dry regions. The vegetables also need a sunny site. Good preparation of the soil is important for successful vegetable growing.

A standard garden is often fenced off to protect it from unwanted animals that may wish to partake of its offerings. You can divide the garden into equal-sized plots and allow your kids to grow their own plants in a specific plot.

Rainbow Garden

There are various easy-to-grow flower plant species that you can choose to grow with your kids. Plant rows of flowers in a sequence of a rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.

Butterfly Garden

This is flower gardening, but with the specific purpose of attracting butterflies. You can use these gardens to teach your kids insect identification and about the difference between annual and perennial plants.

ABC Garden

Grow vegetables and herbs in groups alphabetically. You can put arugula, acorn squash and asparagus in one row. Then basil, beets and Brussels sprouts. Next is a row of cabbage, corn, and carrots. And so on…

Gardening when You Live in an apartment

If you live in an apartment building or the city, it might be a little trickier for you to plant a garden, but it can still be done. Here are a few options:

See if your friends or neighbors who have some land would like to start a kid-friendly garden with your family.
Ask a family member who lives out of the city if you can borrow some of their backyards for your garden. You can thank them in vegetables and fresh fruits.
Start a community garden in your town. Bring together a few families who also want to plant a kid-friendly garden. Share the land and the responsibility. Note: you may want to choose a place which is close by since you will need to go to the garden at least 2 times a week.

Your summer schedule

This is the final aspect you need to consider before planting a garden. If you are busy at the beginning of the summer, look for plants that produce or bloom slowly such as corn or watermelon. If you are very busy at the end of the summer, look for plants that produce or bloom fast: green beans, herbs or flowers. There are also very low-maintenance plants like squash, herb, and corn, which require less attention.

Step 2 – Get Your Plants

Once you figure out what type of garden you will plant, you need to get the plants.

There are 2 ways you can do this:

Get seeds from a garden center or stores with a garden section. Flowers, onion, corn, beets, watermelon or carrots are all great items to grow from seeds.
You can get “starter” plants. These are already growing plants, and you simply plant them in the soil. You can find these plants at garden centers, farmer’s market, and nurseries. Green beans, eggplant, peppers, squash, tomatoes are a little more difficult, so we suggest getting starter plants.

Step 3 – Plant the garden

You need to prepare the soil before the day you plant it with your kids. If you’re working on a large garden, you may want to use a tiller to get it ready. You can rent these from a certain hardware store.

Once the soil is ready, choose a day that is warm and sunny. Take your seeds, starter plants, a map of the garden. Gather the kids and head outside to plant!

Use your plan to lay out your garden. To save time and reduce stress, don’t plant anything until you have all of the plants and seed packets sitting on the ground where they will be eventually be planted. This also allows you to get your kids involved in the planting process. You can tell them which seeds or starters to plant, and they will know where it goes.

Note:

Here’s a way to help your kids get used to the dirt and garden and be more comfortable in nature.

Dress your kids in a hat and gardening clothes, mix some soil and water and let them play in the mud! Don’t forget to use sunscreen.

Kids love digging in the dirt and will benefit from having their gardening equipment. Child-sized tools are great if you can find quality ones. Blunt-nosed Fiskars scissors work great for cutting flower in the garden, and children can arrange their own flowers with floral tape. You will also want to give kids their own baskets for holding hand-picked bouquets or harvesting snacks.

Take your time with your kids and remember that a kid’s attention span may wane sooner than yours.

Step 4 – Care for your garden

Now, you have your own garden, it’s time to take care of it. Take care of the plants and get rid of the pests. You will need to pull the weeds out and water when it hasn’t rained. Put garden time on the family calendar at least 2 times a week.

Remind your kids that they need to be patient to see the results. Each seed has a different germinating time. Since each plant takes a different amount of time to get a crop, you will be also to harvest some produce before another. You also want to teach them some science lessons through planting your garden.

Play it safe

You need to be concerned about sprays or chemicals in the garden. Never let your kids touch leaves or plants that have been treated with chemicals as they probably put their hands into their mouths that are very dangerous.

It’s also good to set the rules about tool safety up front, don’t swing any tools around and keep any sharp, pointed tools from your kids.

Some final thoughts…

Gardening can be a wonderful family project filled with adventure, learning, and experimentation, and kids love to learn when they’re having fun. Not only will your kids enjoy the satisfaction of growing something, but they will love spending time with you.

We hope that we have inspired you to “take the plunge” and plant your family garden. It may take some work and some effort, but the rewards are well worth it!

Additionally resources to gardening for kids

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A Beginner’s Guide to Composting at Home

Quiethut — Sun, 01 Jul 2018 16:39:56 +0000

Composting is nature’s own waste management process that nutrients are recycled back into an ecosystem. In other words, it is the process of taking organic materials, such as leaves, vegetables, fruits, logs, eggshells, coffee grounds, banana peels and dead animals and placing them in a pile or container along with water. In the composting time, you will turn your pile periodically to encourage the beneficial bacteria to thrive. This will create high heat and breaks down the natural organic materials over time into a dark, rich, fertile soil that gardeners fondly nickname Black Gold. By composting at home, we cannot only save money by not buying too much chemical fertilizers but also save the organic materials from landfills where they take up space and release methane – a greenhouse gas.

Table of Contents

Benefits of composting
Composting Basics
Home Composting
Composting Resources

Benefits of composting

One of the great ways to really jump into composting at home is to understand the value of finished compost. You have probably heard that composting is one of the easy and affordable ways to help the environment or compost will also do wonders for your plants or herbs. But what exactly is involved in it? How does composting benefit the environment? what are the benefits of composting at home? In this section, you will find answers to these questions.

Environmental Benefits of Composting

Composting reduces greenhouse gases

Composting is an effective way to reduce methane (CH4) and other powerful greenhouse gases, like carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrous oxide (N2O). Some people believe that throwing food scraps and paper materials into a landfill is harmless because the materials biodegrade. The truth is when these materials break down in a landfill they rot anaerobically (without oxygen) and release greenhouse gases, particularly methane. A large amount of methane gas in the Earth’s atmosphere is a known contributor to global warming. In fact, methane is roughly 30 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2, according to Princeton University.

Composting minimizes the need for chemical fertilizers and pesticides

Compost is a rich source of nutrients and therefore significantly reduces or eliminates the need for chemical fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides that helps avoid greenhouse gases related to their production. The application of synthetic nitrogen to fields is a significant portion of nitrous oxide emissions (N2O) – a powerful greenhouse gas. Compost helps reduce the use of NO2 and other chemical fertilizers and pesticides.

Protect water quality

Compost in the soil helps to keep fertilizers (a major source of water pollution) from leaching into the water. Some of the micro-organisms in compost can also bind heavy metals, again preventing them from leaching into groundwater or waterways. Compost helps soak up water and decrease runoff. Runoff pollutes water by carrying soil, fertilizers to nearby streams.

Research also shows that compost energizes the soil food web, which is made up of microscopic bacteria and fungi, decompose organic compounds such as plant residue, manure, and pesticides, preventing them from entering the water and become pollutants – so using compost for your garden is beneficial for both your garden and the surrounding environment.

Compost is Great for Gardens and Lawns

Improves soil structure

When it comes to improving the soil structure of your garden, there is no better way than amending your existing soil with organic matter. Compost helps improve the quality of soil by encouraging the production beneficial bacteria and fungi, which then break down organic matter to create humus, a rich nutrient-filled material. Compost can also help control soil erosion both by holding onto moisture in the soil and by encouraging healthy root growth.

Adds a few nutrients

Although compost is not considered a fertilizer, it does contain some nutrients. A well-made compost may provide small amounts of the basic nutrients – usually 1-2% nitrogen, 0.6-0.9 % phosphorus and 0.2-0.5 potassium. It may also provide low levels of secondary nutrients: magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), sulfur (S). More importantly, it contains a wide array of trace minerals and micronutrients which are essential to plant health and are often not available in chemical fertilizers such as manganese, copper, iron, zinc. As a result, products grown in composted soil has shown to contain more nutrient contents and be more healthy to eat.

A compost-amended garden also attracts earthworms, sow bugs, redworms, centipedes, and others. The existence of these tiny guys proves that there is still organic matter breaking down as it passes through their digestive systems and represents a balanced ecology.

Reduces Plant Diseases

According to the University of Illinois Extension, soil treated with compost tends to produce plants with fewer pest problems and are more resistant to disease as well. This helps reduce the need for various fungicides and other chemicals, most of which are toxic to humans, animals and the soil biota themselves. Through home composting, you enhance your garden’s ability to produce healthy plants while reducing your volume of trash.

Composting conserve resources and saves money

Composting Reduces Waste

In the US, about 95 percent of food scraps are thrown away and eventually end up in landfills. As you may know, food waste, in particular, produces a significant amount of the greenhouse gases when it decomposes in a landfill, but not so when composted. While you may not be able to compost all of the organic matter you generate, composting at home is still an effective way to cut down on your overall trash significantly.

Use these resources to find out more!

Composting food waste remains your best option, says UW study

Composting as a Waste Management Technique

Water conservation

When compost is added to bare soil as a thin layer, it will keep soil moisture from evaporating – a practice called top- or side – dressing. Compost helps increase soil’s ability to retain water and slowly releasing it to plants. In fact, only a 5% increase in organic material quadruples the soil’s water holding capacity.

Composting saves money

Composting can save you money in many ways. Composting can help you save money on garbage bills or water bills. In addition, when you compost, you can use them for your own garden, which means you can save money by removing the need for expensive synthetic fertilizers that destroy your soil and harm humans, animals, and the environment.

Composting Basics

For the composting process to work, four things are needed: carbon, nitrogen, water, and oxygen. You can mix and match the brown and green ingredients listed below until you find a compost recipe that works for you. Just remember the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio as you build your compost pile. We often use nitrogen (N) and carbon (C) at a ratio of one part Nitrogen to three parts Carbon.

Carbon (Brown material)

Carbon is what is most needed in the pile since it helps slow the decomposition process to prevent rotting. But if you have too much carbon in your pile, the composting process will slow down or stop. Just add more nitrogen to remedy. Carbon can be found in all carbon-rich material ( Aka brown material ) such as paper, dry leaves, branches, twigs, wood chips, sawdust, straw and other dried organic material. You can cut up the large items into smaller pieces to make the process move faster.

Nitrogen (Green material)

To balance out the brown matter in the pile, you need green material. The green material contains nitrogen to help bacteria break down the ingredients. This group includes items typically thrown out in the kitchen such as eggshells, leftovers from vegetables, coffee grounds, peelings, fruit cores. Any kitchen waste can be composted, except greasy or meat. Grass clippings, leaves, seaweed and manure (Not dog and cat waste, only barnyard animals) can be used as the green material. And again, if you have too much nitrogen in the pile, your pile will start like ammonia. Add more carbon to make it work efficiently.

Water

Water is another important ingredient in a thriving compost pile. Without moisture, the microbes will go dormant. If it goes dry for too long, you organic materials will not break down at all and you’ll end up with ants or termites in your pile. If your pile is too wet, it will smell and nutrients will be washed out as the ratio of bad bacteria outweighs the good. Ideally, pick up a handful of your material, squeeze it, and only get a couple of drops out. I just water the pile until see the water coming out the bottom and check the inside of the pile every few days. The bottom and center of the pile are where most of the action takes place, so make sure to pull back the top of the pile to check for water. You will know that your compost is right if it becomes hot in the center. This is important to sterilize the organic matter and kill the weed seeds or bad diseases that may be there.

Oxygen

Oxygen is the final key ingredient in the compost. This is why turning your pile periodically is so important. You will turn your compost pile from the outside in about once a week. It reintroduces oxygen and helps break up organic material that may have matted with time. Use a shovel or a hoe to turn the compost to make sure that oxygen penetrates the compost pile and speeds the decomposition process. If oxygen can’t get to the pile, the anaerobic parts will start to build up too much nitrogen and stink or it will stop composting if the nitrogen is used up.

Add these materials to speed up composting

Some materials are full of bacteria, fungi, and worms that will speed up the composting process. Add just a small portion of one of these materials to really get the party started.

Mushroom manure
Well-rotted manure (not pet waste)
Healthy garden soil
Compost Accelerator

What not to compost?

Generally, all waste will eventually decompose. However, for gardening purposes, there are a few items you will want to avoid.

Plant wastes or yard trimmings that have been treated with chemical pesticides: Might kill beneficial composting organisms
Leaves and branches from black walnut trees and diseased plant matter: Diseases might survive and be transferred back to other plants
Meats, bones, oils, fats: Oils and fats block basic compost reactions. Also, your compost pile can become a food source for unwanted animals and will smell very badly!
Charcoal ash or Coal might contain substances harmful to plants
Pet wastes (e.g., dog or cat feces, soiled cat litter): Might contain parasites, pathogens, bacteria, germs and viruses harmful to humans
Large branches, wood chips, pits: Will take more than a year to break down. Can tie up nitrogen. May have to sift compost each season.

Check with your local recycling or composting coordinator to see if these organics are accepted by your community curbside or drop-off composting program.

Composting at home: Establishing your own basic compost pile

Choose a site where you want to put up your compost pile. Clear a patch of ground about 4′ by 4′. Fence it if you want. You can easily find a book that shows you how to layer your components in great detail, but if you’re going to be mixing your compost pile in a few weeks, that’s not really necessary.

Take your brown material and shred it to 0.5 -1.5″ pieces using a sharp shovel. This will make the process move faster. Put the shreds in the spot. Take your green material and shred it up a little. Combine it with the brown material. Ideally, you will want to wait until you have enough material to make a pile at least 3′ high. A pile which is too small will also be slow.

Then, sprinkle water over the pile regularly until it is like a damp sponge. Don’t add too much water, otherwise, your pile will rot instead of compost. Check the pile every few days for water and mix it up once a week. If your compost pile looks too wet and smells, add more brown materials. If you see it looks too dry and brown, adds green materials and water to make it slightly moist. Also, in this time, monitor the temperature of the pile with a thermometer to be sure the composting process is properly working. Or simply put your hand into the middle of the pile, your compost pile should feel warm.

Once the compost no longer gives off heat and becomes brown, dry and crumbly like dark, rich soil, you can add it to your garden beds, on your lawn, in container plantings and even in your seed-starting mix as an ingredient.

What is the best time to add compost? Generally, you can add compost to your garden soil at any time, it is nearly impossible to overdo it with compost. However, it’s best used when plant and leaf growth is most rapid. Add some to your soil in early spring before planting. Side-dress all your plants with compost throughout the growing season until flowers buds form because too much nitrogen (in compost) will encourage foliage at the expense of flowers. After the seed or fruit has formed, side-dressing can resume on the same schedule until early autumn.

What do I do if my compost smells?

Symptoms	Cause	Solution
Smells like rotten eggs or garbage.	Pile is too wet.	Add leaves, straw. Turn compost pile.
Pile is too hot (temp. exceeds 150°F)	Insufficient air or insufficient carbon	Turn the pile. Add more brown materials.
Compost pile is moist inside but not composting.	Not enough greens.	Mix in greens. Chop or remove woody material.
Compost pile is dry inside.	Too much woody material. Not enough water. Pile is too small.	Mix in greens. Turn and moisten pile. Chop or remove excess woody material.
Clumps of slimy grass, ammonia smell.	Too much fresh grass.	Mix in brown leaves and straw.
Compost pile has shrunk but looks uncomposted.	Outside of the compost pile is dry but most of the compost pile is probably composted.	Use uncomposted material in next batch.

List of handy tools you may need:

The post A Beginner’s Guide to Composting at Home appeared first on quiet hut.

50+ Purple Flowers Ideas for Your Garden

Quiethut — Sat, 02 Jun 2018 11:09:55 +0000

A Plants are grown in the garden and landscape for many reasons. Maybe for providing shade. Some attract wildlife such as butterflies, birds or squirrels. They sometimes can act as a privacy fence. Some produce edible nuts and fruits. And some flowering trees are planted because of the amazing blooms they are covered with in fall, spring or summer.

Flowering trees in shades of lavender and violet make an attractive addition to the garden or lawn, and purple flowering plants are no exception. Available in a range of shades, purple flowers not only brighten up the garden but also add some fragrance to your garden, even some varieties contain medical benefits too.

Traditionally, purple is the color of royalty and magistrates, but also is evolved to symbolize dignity, success, and pride.

So, if you are looking for a touch of nobility to change the look and appeal your garden and even wedding decoration, adding some purple flowering plants is the best way.

Let’s get some purple with the list of 50+ purple flowers and discover the varieties best suited to your garden design.

A collection of 50+ purple flowers

Butterfly Bush

Botanical Name: Buddleia davidii

Plant type: Perennial, shrub

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 5-10

Blooms: From Summer to Fall

Flower features: Fragrant, attracts hummingbirds and butterflies – hence the name

Gloxinia

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Sinningia speciosa

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 5-10

Blooms: Late Spring to Early Fall

Flower features: Brilliantly colored trumpet-shaped

Bittersweet Nightshade

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Solanum dulcamara

Plant type: Perennial, Vine

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Spring to Fall

Flower features: Attract bumblebees and Halictid bees, Contain solanine, an alkaloid glycoside

Clematis

Botanical Name: Clematis spp.

Group: Climbers, shrubs, perennials

Sun Exposure: Full sun (Some clematis cultivars will bloom in partial shade)

Growing zones: 3-9

Blooms: Winter to late Summer

Flower features: Large blossoms ( Some are smaller blossoms, double blossoms, and lovely bell-like flowers). Colors range from white to wine red, lavender to deep purple, and even a few yellow ones.

Verbena

Botanical Name: Verbena bonariensis

Plant type: Annual, Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 9-11

Blooms: Early Summer to early Fall

Flower features: Fragrance, Good for Containers, Drought Resistant

Common Vetch

Flickr

Botanical Name: Vicia sativa L.

Group: Climbers, annuals, perennials

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Blooms: Mid Spring to mid Summer

Flower features: Fragrance, Attract bumblebees and other long-tongued bees.

Botanical Name: Nepeta

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 3-8

Blooms: Early Summer

Flower features: Produce clusters of purple flowers that attract butterflies

Spiderwort

Botanical Name: Tradescantia

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-7

Blooms: Summer to Early Fall

Flower features: Purplish-blue (concord grape), three-petale.

Salvia

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Salvia officinalis

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: attractive to bees and butterflies

Monkshood

Botanical Name: Aconitum napellus

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 3-7

Blooms: Mid to late Summer

Flower features: dark purple to bluish-purple, narrow oblong helmet-shaped that somewhat resembles the hood worn by medieval monks, hence the common names of monkshood and helmet flower.

Allium

Botanical Name: Allium giganteum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 5-8

Blooms: Late Spring to early Summer

Flower features: fragrant, purple and bee-friendly flowers, attract butterflies, make excellent cut flowers for fresh or dried bouquets.

Lily Of The Nile

Botanical Name: Agapanthus africanus

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 8-11

Blooms: Late Spring to early Summer

Flower features: blooms in large round clusters ranging from light-blue to deep-violet, attracts Butterflies, attracts Hummingbirds, Flowers for Cutting.

Alpine Betony

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Stachys monieri

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 4-9

Blooms: Early Summer

Flower features: Showy, Good cut, lavender-purple flowers.

Bee Orchid

Botanical Name: Ophrys apifera

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 6-9

Blooms: Summer

Botanical Name: Callistephus chinensis

Plant type: Annual

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 2-11

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Cultivar shades of white to pink, red, blue,violet, purple and yellow, attract butterflies and Birds

Design ideas: Used as part of a border and also used often as a cut flower in arrangements.

Wild Hyacinth

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Dichelostemma capitatum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 10-11

Blooms: Late Spring, early Summer

Flower features: A ball-shaped cluster of up to 20 individual purple flowers blooms on top of a slender stem.

Canterbury Bells

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Campanula medium

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-10

Blooms: Summer

Flower features: Comes in many color, bell-shaped flowers are short-stalked, large and hermaphroditic, with different shades of violet-blue or rarely white.

Uses for garden: Beds and borders

Sea Thistle

Botanical Name: Cirsium japonicum

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 8-10

Blooms: Late Spring to Early Summer

Flower features: as cut flowers, usually purple, rose or pink, also yellow or white; attract bees, butterflies and birds.

Calla Lily

Flickr

Botanical Name: Zantedeschia

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun/Partial shade

Growing zones: 5-8

Blooms: Late Spring to mid Summer

Flower features: as cut flowers, purple, trumpet-shaped.

Common Mallow

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Malva neglecta

Plant type: Annual, Perennial, Edible

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Early Summer to mid Fall

Flower features: showy papery white, to light pink to light purple, 5 petaled flowers . Attract Bees, butterflies.

Ranunculus

Wikimedia

Botanical Name: Malva neglecta

Plant type: Annual, Perennial, Edible

Sun Exposure: Partial shade

Growing zones: 4-8

Blooms: Early Summer to mid Fall

Flower features:

Candytuft

Botanical Name: Iberis pruitii

Plant type: Perennial

Sun Exposure: Full sun

Growing zones: 7-11

Blooms: Summer, Fall

Flower features: 2″ clusters of purple or red-tinged white flowers

Cyclamen

Wikimedia

The post 50+ Purple Flowers Ideas for Your Garden appeared first on quiet hut.

A Complete Guide to Composting for Kids

Quiethut — Wed, 30 May 2018 05:05:02 +0000

Keen to get your kids into composting?

Great! Composting is fun and is ready for anyone, anywhere. Making compost is appealing to a wide range of ages. Composting is not only great for the environment, it is also an awesome science experiment that can help kids learn more about biology, life cycles, recycling, conservation.

Photo Credit

Composting is a natural process of decomposition and recycling of organic material (such as leaves, grass, fruit and vegetable scraps) into a rich soil amendment known as compost. You can teach kids about this circle life and teach them how to complete it. It’s also important to teach kids the basic principles of taking responsibility for the waste they generate through recycling and composting. Making composting for kids a hands-on science experience! For kids, it will just seem like great fun.

In this article, we’re going to guide you through the ins and outs of composting and how to compost with your kids. We hope that this guide can help you, as a parent or teacher, boost your knowledge of the topic so that if the situation ever presents itself and your children ask you a more loaded question, you’ll know just what to say.

What do Kids Learn Through Composting?

In this electronic age, kids have a lot of things competing for their attention. They need time for the meaningful family connection. Composting is one of the easiest outdoor family activities that helps steer kids away from the television and tablet and engage them in good gardening activity. These activities are fun and enjoyable experiences that help kids promote communication skills and learn a lot of lessons. Here’re some more lessons kids can learn through composting:

Composting raises Kids’ environmental awareness – Composting is a great way to raise kids’ awareness of the environment by teaching them how to reduce waste. Kids learn through direct experience that they can make a difference and have a positive effect on the environment. Composting also helps kids understand the three environmental r’s (recycle, reuse and reduce). Kids learn the difference between compost and what ends up in our landfill. Kids learn what waste can be used for composting. As kids get older, they learn about the impact of the three environmental r’s on the earth. You can turn collecting compostable waste into “seek and find” compost game or involve your kids in the kitchen by teaching them what kind of kitchen scraps to save for composting.

Composting Teaches Kids Science – Although composting is simple (you just put organic matter in a compost pile and wait for it to decompose), it is a wonderful introduction into the world of science especially biology, chemistry, and physics. When kids put their organic materials into the compost pile they become curious about what will happen next. Without even realizing it, kids are learning the basic steps of the scientific process by monitoring the natural process of decomposition and recycling of organic material. Kids learn which organic materials called “Nitrogen materials”, which called “Carbon materials”. Kids learn the importance of bugs and worms and their value to our ecosystem. Kids learn how different materials breakdown by understanding the chemical process and they even learn how temperature works in the decomposition process. Composting offers wonderful science lessons right at home!

Composting Teaches Patience – Patience is virtual, and with composting, it is very important to understand that the process of decomposition can take a while. Kids have to learn to be patient when waiting for their materials to decompose. The waiting actually makes the moment they see their own biodegradable products even more exciting!

Basics of composting

What is Composting?

Composting is not a mysterious process. Natural recycling occurs on a continuous basis in the natural environment. In a forest, dead leaves fall forming the mulch that protects the soil. Over time, they decompose into nutrients which are returned to the soil to support plant growth.

Composting is a natural biological process of recycling organic materials such as food waste, leaves into a dark brown, crumbly soil that smells like a forest floor. It’s amazing nutritious for your garden and lawn. In this process, various microorganisms, including fungi, insect, and bacteria, decompose organic solid waste into simpler substances. As these beneficial microorganisms decompose organic waste they produce heat, which is why compost piles often warm and can even be seen steaming in cold weather. Under optimal conditions, a compost pile can heat up to temperatures in the range of 50-65 °C (120-150°F).

Kids conducting composting experiments can use daily temperature readings to compare how quickly the compost heats up, how hot it gets and how long it retains its heat. If you’re a teacher, you can even make this into a competition, for instance, to see whose pile reaches the hottest temperature or stays hot the longest.

If you want your compost to heat up, then some knowledge of the decomposing process is important. Chemistry is important in this natural process because for quick microbial growth, you need to add the right mix of carbon, nitrogen, and water. Physics also plays a role in composting because physical characteristics of the compost ingredients, including particle size and moisture content, affect the rate at which composting occurs.

Why Composting?

There are various reasons to make compost. Save resources, save money, reduce our impact on the environment and improve your soil. While it may take a little time to set up your own composting system, the results will be worth it. After a few months, you get a free natural fertilizer for your plants to keep them looking healthy and beautiful.

Many people often asked, “Why should I worry when my local council does food waste collections- and why do I need to compost when my waste will break down in landfill anyway?”

Here’s why: When our waste is sent to landfill, air cannot get to the organic material. Therefore as the landfill material breaks down it releases methane gas (a greenhouse gas) that contributes to climate change. However, when this same waste is composted at home where it has access to oxygen, it decomposes aerobically and it hardly produces any methane which is good for the Earth’s atmosphere.

A recent research has found that almost half of the food waste in their rubbish bins could have been composted into nutrient-rich soil. It’s even amazing to know that composting at home for just one year can save global warming gases equivalent to all the CO2 your washing machine produces in around three months, or your kettle produces annually.

And what’s more?

Integrating activities like composting into kids’ lives is a great way to help them to spend more time outdoors, connect with their food, and cooperate as a family. Composting may be work on one hand, but it can also be a fun practice. Moreover, composting is a gateway into gardening – and I can’t think of anything more fun!

What To Use To Make Compost? (Ingredients)

Some people mistakenly assume that organic matter thrown in the garbage will break down and feed the soil in the landfill. But throwing kitchen and garden scraps in the garbage means they will be surrounded by garbage and not have the proper compost recipe. Therefore, they cannot become a healthy compost for feeding the soil.

Healthy compost results from a combination of four ingredients: Brown stuff, green stuff, water, and air. You can mix and match the brown and green stuff that listed below until you find a recipe that works best for you. Just note the carbon-to-nitrogen (C/N) ratio as you build your compost pile. We prefer to use carbon and nitrogen at a ratio of three parts Carbon to one part Nitrogen. You can try it with your kids too.

1. Greens – 1 Part

Greens are those with higher nitrogen and are quite wet and heavy. They rot quickly and can get stinky fast unless you balance them out with enough browns.

Nitrogen components consist of:

Aquarium water, algae, and plants
Dead houseplants
Fresh grass clippings
Green garden debris, such as spent pansies deadheaded flowers and bolted lettuce
Vegetative kitchen scraps
Chicken manure
Horse manure

2. Browns – 2-3 Parts

Browns are those with higher carbon and are dry and bulky. They do not decay rapidly without green compost ingredients because they do not hold enough moisture.

Carbon components consist of:

Brown garden debris, such as corn and sunflower stalks, dried legume plants, and dried potato and tomato vines
Hedge prunings and twigs
Leaves
Pine needles

3. Water

Moisture makes the best possible conditions for the microbes to break down the material. After adding the greens and browns, water the compost pile and mix it well. You will need just enough water for the compost to be moist, not wet. In dry months, you need to add water, and in wet months you need to keep the compost pile from the rain.

4. Air

Packing layers of brown and green matters into a compost pile is not going to make compost alone. Air needs to be added by turning the compost with a rolling composter or a fork. The compost pile will become warm as the organisms work to break down the organic materials. The heat in the middle of the compost pile can reach up to 150 °F. Turning the compost every few days to introduce more air and more materials from the edges to the middle.

Add these compost amendments to speed up composting

Some materials are full of beneficial bacteria, fungi, and worms that will speed up the decomposition process. Add just a small portion of one of these materials to really get the party started.

Healthy garden soil
Mushroom manure
Well-rotted manure (not pet waste)
Compost Accelerator

What Not to Use?

Generally speaking, you can compost almost anything that is organic and was once living. However, not all organic matter is useful. There are a few items that do not decompose well and will hold up the efficiency of your compost pile. So you will want to keep them out of your compost to avoid a hassle.

For example, we keep cooked foods, meat, fish scraps and dairy’s out of our compost pile. Although these organic matters can be composted, their smell will act like a magnet for any critters and unwanted pests. We also keep large woody branches and cuttings out of our compost pile since they take too long to break down.

Keep these materials out of the compost pile:

Diseased plants
Dog, cat, pig, and reptile manures
Gypsum board scraps
Materials from the side of the road, including grass clippings and leaves,
Coal Ash
Colored Paper
Inorganic Materials
Meat, Bones, Fish, Fats, Dairy
Synthetic Chemicals

Getting started – Composting for Kids

Composting is easy to make, but it isn’t simple as just throwing your garden and kitchen scraps into a compost pile and checking on it a year later. Eventually, those organic materials will break down and create compost, but it is much cleaner, faster and more effective knowing the proper step-by-step guide.

Are you ready to get outside and work with your kids?

Okay, let’s compost!

Step 1 – Choose a compost bin

Bins have the advantage of being neat, preserving heat and keeping animals out. You can build your own compost bin or you can buy a compost bin from many garden centers.

There are many types of bins that you can use to hold organic materials. The size and type of bin you purchase or build will depend on how much organic waste you and your family generate.

Step 2 – Choose your composter location

Choose a site that is sunny and well-drained. Most importantly you should find a site that is easily accessible year round. Place the bin over bare soil rather than paving to ensure that beneficial organisms can make their way into the compost. It’s a good idea to remove any plants and turn the soil to a depth of about 6-8 inches.

Step 3- Making great compost

Collect compostable materials which listed above in containers. You can chop materials into small pieces (the small the better). When they are full, empty their contents into the compost bin.

Where to start?

Place a 4″ to 6″ bottom layer of course material such as twigs, dead plant stalks in your composter in order to allow for drainage and aeration. Cover this layer with leaves. The simple alternate layers of garden waste and kitchen waste in 4″ to 6″ increments. Top off the compost pile with 1″ of healthy garden soil or mushroom manure.

Whenever you add food scraps or garden waste, be sure to top it with a layer of browns (Carbon materials). If you do not add carbon materials, your compost will be wet and can smell like rotten eggs or garbage. If possible, collect and store dead leaves in a garbage in the fall so you can them in your compost pile year round.

There are probably specific ways of maintaining compost depending on the type of compost bin you have chosen. Most of the composters come with instructions inside, follow these instructions for best results.

Step 4 – Add Water

Each layer gets a good sprinkling of water to wet the organic materials. You should wet each layer as you build it. Repeat each of the layers until the bin is full.

Step 5 – Maintain Your Compost Bin

Once you have a full compost bin, mix and turn the compost every 7 days or so to help the breakdown process and eliminate odor. The more you turn the pile the faster you will have finished compost!

Step 6 – Compost is ready

It takes anywhere from 3 months to 12 months to produce your healthy compost. The time it takes can vary widely depending on the materials and methods used.

Finished compost is dark and crumbly in texture and mostly broken down with a pleasant earth-like smell. To remove the compost, scoop it through the trap door on your unit. Pick out any lumps or pieces of unfinished materials and place them back into the compost bin to continue decomposing. However, for most uses, it is acceptable to have some recognizable pieces of straw remaining.

Step 7 – Use your compost

Finished compost can be used for:

Use your compost as a top dressing for flower beds.
Add to houseplants.
Mix compost in with garden soil.
Can be spread on your lawn a few times a year.
Make compost tea. Fill an old pillowcase or cheesecloth with 1 liter of compost. Tie the top and “steep” the bag overnight in a garbage can filled with water. The compost tea is nutrient rich for watering your plants and garden.

What do I do if my compost smells?

Symptoms	Cause	Solution
Smells like rotten eggs or garbage.	Pile is too wet.	Add leaves, straw. Turn compost pile.
Pile is too hot (temp. exceeds 150°F)	Insufficient air or insufficient carbon	Turn the pile. Add more brown materials.
Compost pile is moist inside but not composting.	Not enough greens.	Mix in greens. Chop or remove woody material.
Compost pile is dry inside.	Too much woody material. Not enough water. Pile is too small.	Mix in greens. Turn and moisten pile. Chop or remove excess woody material.
Clumps of slimy grass, ammonia smell.	Too much fresh grass.	Mix in brown leaves and straw.
Compost pile has shrunk but looks uncomposted.	Outside of the compost pile is dry but most of the compost pile is probably composted.	Use uncomposted material in next batch.

List of handy tools you may need:

Good luck and have fun!

The post A Complete Guide to Composting for Kids appeared first on quiet hut.

How to Build your Healthy Garden Soil

Quiethut — Tue, 29 May 2018 13:49:44 +0000

The healthy garden soil is absolutely essential to a successful garden. Without rich, healthy soil, your careful efforts at sewing, planting, tending your garden will be in vain. Soil provides the nutrients, water and some air needed for plant growth and development, so it’s worth spending time trying to improve its quality. Moreover, when garden soil is fertile and nutrient-packed, there is less need for fertilizers, pesticides or herbicides. Reducing or eliminating the need for these chemicals not only benefits our health, it can also help protect the environment in numerous ways.

Learning about the soil and ways to make healthy soil will help you to produce the healthiest food. And also makes you a much better gardener.

Table of Contents

What makes healthy soil
Steps to Improving your garden soil

What makes healthy soil?

Soil Texture

Soil texture is a good place to start when you look at you garden soil. Understanding your soil’s texture helps you know more the possible restrictions on your particular site as well as any advantages. Which means you can make informed decisions about plant choices, irrigation design, and soil improvement measure much more easily.

Soil texture is the percentage of sand, clay and silt particles a particular soil has.

Sand has the largest particles, visible to the naked eye. Sand drains so well and does not compact easily. Water, air, and roots can move freely in sandy soils, sometimes too much so.
Silt particles are much smaller than sand and they are irregularly shaped like sand particles. They make soil feel slippery.
Clay particles are microscopic and make soil feel smooth. They pack together tightly, leaving little to no room for water, air or roots.

Texture has an important influence on the soil’s:

water and nutrient-holding capacity
root penetration
susceptibility to erosion.

How Do I Tell What Texture My Soil Is?

You don’t need to be an expert to determine your soil texture. You can determine your soil texture by making a ball of damp garden soil. If it falls apart easily when you rub it in the palm of your hand, it’s a sandy soil. A silt soil will form a ball, but it will crack when you try to roll it out into a ribbon. If you can make it a long ribbon, you have mostly clay.

Sandy soils have a tendency to drain so well – water and nutrients rapidly drain through the soil, often before plants have a chance to absorb them. For this reason, these soils are usually nutrient-poor. Clay soils often have the opposite problem – can be hard to work and slow draining.

You can use compost as a treatment for both problems. The organic materials in the compost act as a sponge, holding water and nutrients in the soil for plants to access them. For the clay soils, it opens up the porous structure allowing water to move around.

It’s also important to note that soil texture cannot be changed. It is impossible to sift out individual and, silt and clay particles to make a practical difference in your particular piece of land. Also, don’t try to change your soil texture by adding clay to sand or vice versa. It is best to work with what you have and improve other aspects of a given soil.

Soil Structure

Whereas the texture of the soil is the relative proportion of three soil particle types (sand, silt, and clay), the structure of the soil refers to the arrangement of these soil particles into units of different sizes and shapes and the pore spaces that are left between them (also called soil aggregates). They are bound together by chemical, physical, and biological processes.

While the soil texture is inherent and difficult to change, so to build high-quality soil, we can influence the soil structure with our soil improvement measure. When we plow, lime, add organic material or stimulate biological activity, we change our soil structure.

As mentioned above, sandy soils have good drainage but the low organic material and low clay content, so aggregate stability is often difficult to maintain. In contrast, clay soils have large aggregates that there is insufficient pore space to allow root hairs to grow between them.

Horticulturally speaking, the structure of the soil can be “good” or “bad” and can be improved or degraded by how we use the soil. Soil structure can be blocky, columnar or structure such as a massive clay soil. A good soil structure is soft and crumbly that has a wide range of pore spaces or empty space between the soil particles. This produces a good network of soil pores that have good drainage and aeration that allows for rapid exchange of water and air with plant roots.

Generally, the increased structure is related to texture and enhances the availability of oxygen and water to roots and facilitates root penetration.

There are two basic ways to improve soil structure.

Organic matter – compost and mulch – can improve any type of soil. It enriches the soil and provides food for the soil-dwelling insects.
Preventing compaction and disturbance of the soil.

It’s worth mentioning that tilling is a double-edged sword. Although it can help loosen soil structure, repeated tilling destroys aggregates and kills the insects living there. Depending on the site, the existing soil structure will need improvement. A simple test of soil structure called the slake test is outlined in a publication from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRDC). Consult a soil science specialist for further details.

Water-Holding Capacity

Soil water-holding capacity water is simply the amount of water that a given soil can hold between field capacity – the time it is fully saturated but drained and the permanent wilting point (it is so dry that plants die).

The water-holding capacity is also one of the most important characteristics of healthy garden soils. Soils that hold a lot of water are less subject to leaching losses of nutrients and pesticides. This is true because a soil with a limited water holding capacity (i.e. sandy soils) is saturated with water much sooner than a soil with a high available water holding capacity (i.e. clay soils). After a soil reaches the saturation point, all of the excess water and some nutrients in the soil are leached into groundwater or waterways.

Sandy and clay soil will have different water holding capacities. As you may know, sandy soils will not be able to store as much water for crop use between rains. Since soil water holding capacity is controlled primarily by the soil texture and the soil structure, it’s important for gardeners and farmers to understand the soil structure and how to manage it so that the garden/farm does not need to suffer from a drought or irrigate.

Generally, the higher the percentage of clay and silt particles, the higher the water holding capacity. The amount of organic matter in the soil also influences the available water holding capacity due to the affinity of organic matter for water. When the level of organic matter increases in the soil, the soil water holding capacity also increases. By adding the stable organic matter – such as compost, manure, cover crops to soils, you can significantly improve the water holding capacity of your soil. In the long term, you may want to consider rotation to sod and reduced tillage.

Nutrient levels

Soil nutrients come from many sources including decaying organic material, soil organisms, and fertilizer. Soil nutrients which require by plants include:

Primary (macro) nutrients: nitrogen – is largely responsible for healthy leaf and steam growth, phosphorus – very important for root growth and potassium – is needed for overall plant health.
Secondary nutrients: calcium, magnesium, sulfur.
Micronutrients : boron, chlorine, copper, iron, manganese, molybdenum, and zinc.

A soil lab analysis will help you understand more about your soil nutrients. Keep in mind that nitrogen – which is essential to plant health and growth, is extremely mobile, so a soil test will only give you a snapshot of the nitrogen levels present on the day of sampling. A competent gardener can also get an idea of possible nutrient deficiencies or sufficiencies by observing the health of plants in the garden.

Soil pH

Soil pH is a measure of the soil alkalinity or acidity. The pH scale commonly in use ranges from 0 to 14 with 7 as the neutral mark, decreasing with rising acidity and increasing with rising alkalinity. The scale is logarithmic, so a pH of 5 is 10 times more acidic than a pH of 6, but a pH of 5 is 100 times more acidic than 7.

Why does soil pH matter?

The reason soil pH matters is that most nutrients in the soil are only available to plants if the soil pH falls into an acceptable range. For example, Potassium, sulfur, nitrogen, iron, magnesium are are are available along with a broader range of acidity, while the availability of manganese, boron, zinc, copper, phosphorus lessens as alkalinity increases.

Most plants prefer a pH of 6.2 to 7 (slightly acidic to neutral), which is also where soil nutrients are most available. Some plants are more specific in their requirements. Some “acid-loving” plants can grow in the soil which has a pH as low as 5.5, and some can grow above 7.5.

Additionally, soil pH influences microorganic activity that contributes to the decomposition process of organic matter. A neutral pH is ideal for microbial activity that reflects microbiological processes of soil microorganisms as plants rely on soil microorganisms to mineralize organic nutrients for growth and development.

Soil pH

Since soil pH is essential to plant growth, testing pH levels is important, especially when growing a garden for the first time in new soil whose acidity is unknown. If the soil pH is not within a certain range for the plants you are growing, the plants will not be able to get the nutrients in the soil, no matter how much you feed them. This can be done using a home kit or you can bring a soil sample into your local country extension, to be tested for a nominal fee.

Once you know what your soil pH is, you can begin to adjust it slowly. Depending upon your soil and test results, you can add some form of sulfur to lower the soil pH and form of lime to raise it. Also, remember that it can take months to moderate the pH of your soil and then it requires a little effort every year to maintain it.

Again, adding organic matter every year can help balance the soil out whether it is acidic or alkaline. Lime or sulfur may be used to moderate the pH of the topsoil layer but will do nothing to alter the subsurface pH. Moreover, clay soils have a high resistance to changes in soil pH so more amendment may be needed than is practical. Sometimes, it is easier to simply choose the plants to suit your soil pH – a local horticulturalist can be very helpful.

Steps to Improving your garden soil

1. Soil Testing

The first step to improve your soil’s quality is understanding what you have to work with. Good crop production often requires the application of organic matter, lime, and fertilizer. A soil test can help you know each of the following attributes of the soil.

Current pH levels of your soil
Some soil tests even detect the amount of organic matter
Type and quantity of lime your soil needs
Fertility levels of the principal nutrients
Nutrients need to be added to your soil
Amount of fertilizer your soil needs

Know the exact nutrient levels in the soil allows us to amend the soil properly for the best crop production possible.

2. Supply What’s Missing

After testing your garden soil, you can determine your garden’s fertilizer needs. Commonly, after years of soil building and planting, the organic soil recycles and retains most nutrients, that helps reduce or eliminate added fertilizer needs. But when growing a new garden, you want to add a certain amount of fertilizers and lime to make sure proper nutrition for the season ahead. If you’ve missed the fall window to supply fertilizers and lime, add them a couple of weeks before plating in spring.

3. Adjust Soil pH

Once you have your garden soil tested, you will know whether you have a soil pH imbalance. If your soil is alkaline, you will get a recommendation for adding gypsum, sawdust, composted leaves or elemental sulfur to lower the soil pH. If it is too acidic, using limestone, bone meal or crushed oyster shells to raise the alkalinity. This is easy enough to do and should be done in stages, so as not to shock your plants.

4. Adjusting Soil

Most of us are not blessed with a perfect soil naturally. Your garden soil might be too sandy or too clayey. As I said, it’s impossible to change the soil texture, but we can improve our soil quality by influencing our soil structure – it just takes some time to properly adjust soil.

And the easy and affordable way is to mix organic matter into the soil and mix well. Since it takes time for the decomposition process to occur, this technique is best exercised in the autumn. Some people even add liquid nitrogen to the mixture to speed up the decomposition process.

Adding high-quality organic potting soil is another way to improve your soil while it helps promote strong root development and plant growth. You may want to mix potting soil at least 8″ – 12″ deep into existing soil. It may take some work but it is worth the effort when your garden begins to take off in the high-quality soil.

Also, try to avoid stepping or pulling wheelbarrows over your garden bed as much as possible since it is one of the best ways to destroy the soil structure. Stepping in the garden beds is the main causes of soil compaction – making it more difficult for plant roots to grow.

5. Adding organic matter

I’ve said it before and I will say it again now: Organic matter is the single best thing you can do to improve soil quality right now.

Whether your soil is sandy, clayey, low in nutrients, has poor drainage, compacted…organic matter can help.

According to PennState Extension “Soil organic matter (SOM) is a complex of diverse components, including plant and animal residues, living and dead soil microorganisms, and substances produced by these organisms and their decomposition. SOM influences the chemical, biological, and physical properties of the soil in ways that are almost universally beneficial to crop production. The most common sources of SOM in farming are crop residues, cover crop residues, manures, and composts.”

That said, adding organic matter to the garden soil improves the soil structure, increases the available nutrients, and feeds the beneficial microorganisms and insects in your soils. These little guys can feed on harmful microbes like certain soil born diseases and nematodes. They also provide some nutrients into the soil when they die. So the more beneficial microorganisms your soil can support, the more nutrients will be in the soil and the less bad organisms will survive.

So what should you be adding to your garden soil? Compost is highly recommended.

Not only is compost full of organic nutrients that will improve your soil immediately, but the composition of well-made compost provides better water drainage and aeration in just about every type of soil imaginable.

Compost can be used in your garden beds at any time, either turned into the soil or top dressing for established plants. You can add it to your garden soil at the beginning of the planting season and side-dress your plants with compost throughout the growing season.

The post How to Build your Healthy Garden Soil appeared first on quiet hut.

Bonsai Gardening: How To Grow Bonsai For Beginners

Quiethut — Thu, 24 May 2018 16:24:20 +0000

Bonsai is a Japanese word that simply means ” Potted Plant”. The ancient art of growing bonsai trees has been practiced in Asia for many centuries. Bonsai gardening is a horticultural art form that involves growing and training small trees into tiny trees – bonsai trees. But it is not only about gardening when it comes to growing bonsai trees. It has something more than that – therapeutic value since it’s a great activity for relaxing purposes. When growing and training a bonsai, you are not only training your tree but also your mind – make you become a calmer person. Ancient Chinese believed that those who could take care of a Bonsai for a long time got eternity granted for their soul. They also think that a tree could be the connection between the human and the holy, between earth and heaven.

Though usually associated with Japan, this form of gardening began in China, where the trees eventually came to be associated with the religion of Zen Buddhism. In the beginning, only the top echelon of Chinese society pursued this art form. Later bonsai became a popular hobby in Japan. And today Bonsai is very well known in the west and used mainly for decorative and recreational purposes.

Bonsai is surrounded by mystery and generates curiosity, at first sight, some even believe bonsais are genetically dwarfed plants. The truth is gardeners use a variety of growing techniques to direct this beautiful growth and keep bonsais small if done properly, the tree can live as long as their original species. To create a beautiful and healthy bonsai, it requires a lot of time and patience from gardeners, so consider this before growing your own bonsai.

Caring for a bonsai give the gardener a chance to take a contemplative yet creative role in the growth of an emblem of natural beauty. Generally, any tree can be grown as a bonsai. However, to grow a real bonsai, you have to dig deeper and get to know more about this beautiful miniature gardening technique. It is not really difficult once you grasp the fundamentals. In this guide, you will learn how to grow, care and train a bonsai tree so that it stays healthy for many years to come.

Bonsai Gardening: Choosing the right Bonsai Tree

Selecting a species

When selecting a species, it’s important to consider your region’s climate and your home environment. For example, some trees die in freezing weather, while other ones actually require freezing weather to enter a dormant state and prepare for the spring. So, make sure select species of Bonsai tree that fit well with the environment you want to keep them in. A safe bet is to select an indigenous tree species or ask the staff at your local garden supply for the recommendation.

A considerable range of plants can be grown as Bonsai including many flowering plants, shrubs, and climbers popular amongst which are Camellias, Gardenia, Wisteria, Serissa, Azaleas and Crab Apples. If you prefer coniferous tree, spruces, pines, juniper, and cedars all make excellent choices.

If you are a novice Bonsai grower, the juniper is a great way to go since it is easy to raise, responds well to pruning and other training techniques. However, it is rather slow growing. Other options for starters are the Chinese elm or the Japanese black pine.

Indoor or outdoor

Most starters have a common misconception about Bonsai trees is that they should be kept indoors. In fact, most common Bonsai species, including virtually all plants native to temperate climates, should be placed outside in order to get enough light and experience seasonal changes in light and temperature just like normal trees are.

If you plan to keep your tree indoors (or if you live in a hot climate), you must choose tropical and subtropical plants that can survive in the indoor climate of your house, where temperatures are high and stable throughout the years. Even then, these Bonsai trees may suffer from insufficient light. If you have space to keep your tree outside, there are viable bonsai plants suited to any climate.

If you want to grow a tree outdoors, deciduous species such as Japanese or Chinese elms, oaks, magnolias, crabapple trees are good selections.

If you’d like to grow your Bonsai inside, consider these popular indoor Bonsai trees include the Crassula (Jade), the Schefflera Arboricola (Hawaiian Umbrella), the Carmona (Fukien Tea) and the Sageretia (Sweet Plum).

Bonsai Size Matters

The size of your bonsai is very important because if everything goes well this bonsai can be with you until the end of your days. If you grow a large Bonsai tree, it will require more care from you (Pruning), more water, soil, and sunlight, so you need consider this before choosing your tree.

Unfortunately, there is no definitive guide to sizing in bonsai, but most full-grown trees can be small as 6 inches tall to as 3 feet tall, depending on their species. If you choose to grow a Bonsai from a seedling or a cutting from another tree, they can start off even smaller.

Grow from Seed Or Buy a “pre-bonsai”

This is also an important thing that should be thought about when planning to grow a bonsai. You can start from seeds by buying them from a shop or picking them up near the trees that you’d like your Bonsai to be in the future. It’s important to know: Bonsais are not genetically dwarfed plants, so there are no “bonsai seeds”. The seed that a bonsai comes from is just a natural tree seed, bonsai is created, after it is germinated, by using a variety of growing techniques.

Growing a Bonsai tree from seed is a slow and hard working process. It can take years and you may fail at first, but as long as you keep trying, you will be amazed by the results – Success comes with practice.

But if you are a starter or simply don’t have much time to grow from seed, then you will want to buy a pre-bonsai or find one in a forest near your home. If you choose to find one in the forest, remember to ask the landowner for permission, and also be careful about not damaging the roots when you dig. Keep also in mind that any tree can become a bonsai if it’s trained properly, but details like leave size should be thought about. You will want to choose a tree with small leaves since it is easier to model.

Overall, choosing a Bonsai tree will depend on your answer to a few questions:

How much effort and time will you spend on this tree?

If you don’t want to wait for a long time to grow a Bonsai tree from seed, go with a “pre-bonsai”.

How much do you want to spend on a Bonsai?

You can buy bonsai tree in various quality ranging from $50 to thousands of dollars. Or You could start from zero, which means picking seeds up near the trees around your home or find a young tree in the wild.

Do you have space to properly overwinter outdoor bonsai?

If not, consider something more tropical that will be able to spend winter indoors in a south-facing window.

What is the size of the tree should you get?

If you live in a condo with a small balcony, a large bonsai tree that takes three people to move will be impractical. Keep to smaller bonsai trees that are easier to care, to protect from bad weather or to display.

Bonsai Gardening: Bonsai Caring

Light

Indoor Bonsai

Make sure to place your Bonsai in a bright spot because when light intensity is too low, growth will decrease, eventually weakening your tree.

Even when you place the tree in front of a window facing the south, chances are that the intensity of light is still low. Your tree can benefit from artificial lighting or light-emitting diode lighting about 10 hours a day.

Outdoor Bonsai

Most outdoor Bonsai trees need sunlight for at least 6 hours a day. Most conifers should be placed in full sun for healthy growth. During the summer, bring your tree inside overnight when temperatures dip below about 40 degrees.

Watering

Watering is one of the most important parts of taking care of your Bonsai tree. This can be once in three days during cold winter months, or a little water every day during the summer. The exact watering frequency depends on many factors such as climate, species of tree, the season, size of the tree, soil. So that is hard to say how often you should water your Bonsai. However, understanding the following general guidelines will help you to get Bonsai watering right:

Never water on a routine
Monitor your Bonsai and water when the soil begins to look dusty or dry
Use the right soil-mixture

Fertilizing

Fertilize the tree with a special fertilizer meant to keep bonsai trees healthy. Normal trees always extend their root system looking for nutrients. However, your Bonsai is planted in a small pot so it needs to be fertilized to replenish the soil’s nutritional content.

Feeding regularly during the growing season, from easy spring until mid-fall, is crucial for your Bonsai to survive. Indoor trees can be fertilized around the year.

Early Spring: Use a fertilizer with a relatively high Nitrogen content
During Summer: Use a more balanced fertilizer
During the Fall: Use fertilizer to harden off the tree for the coming winter

Note:

Do not fertilize re-potted trees for about a month and also do not fertilize sick trees.
Use a fertilizer with a high Phosphorous content to encourage Bonsai to flower
Use a fertilizer with a slightly lower Nitrogen content for older Bonsai trees.

Basic Bonsai Training

As you know, Bonsai trees are really normal plants that are kept small by sophisticated techniques. Bonsai training will be based on the style you want for your Bonsai tree. The styling of Bonsai includes basic methods like pruning and wiring and more advanced techniques.

For the beginners, your first bonsais should be based on the shape of its original tree and later you can start experimenting. Inspiration, balance, and beauty are all important factors for a beautiful and elegant Bonsai tree.

Choose a training style

There are many traditional training styles that you can choose for your Bonsai tree. Here are some of the most popular:

Formal Upright Bonsai (Also known as Chokkan): These bonsais have an upright and straight trunk with branches that stretch evenly around it. These Bonsais have strong and noticeable roots.
Informal Upright Bonsai (Also known as Moyohgi): These trees have a more natural slant, rather than growing straight upward. The trunk is also thicker in the soil.
Slanting Bonsai (Also known as Shakan): These are a mostly formal upright tree with a small lean.
Broom Bonsai (Called Hokidachi in Japanese): The trunk is straight and doesn’t finish at the top of the tree but around the middle. And all branches with the same size form a ball-shaped crown.

Pruning-Bonsai

Pruning is one of the basic methods to shape the Bonsai’s style and correct defect. It’s very important not try to change too much the original shape of the tree. Pruning must be constant and you should have regular spots for it on the tree to create a beautiful bonsai with strong and numerous leaves.

This can be done by trimming with bonsai clippers (not scissors) or pinching out the new growth buds.

Bonsai tree species are different, some can be prune during the whole year, but most are better to be treated during early spring or in fall. You should also give a few weeks to your Bonsai recover afterward in order to keep it healthy.

Wiring Bonsai

This is another important technique to shape Bonsai trees. By wrapping anodized aluminum around branches it is possible to bend and shape the tree. However, you have to do it all carefully, otherwise, you may end up with a worst and messy Bonsai.

Wiring can be applied all year, but make sure to remove the wire before it starts cutting into the bark and scarring branches that grow thicker. Bonsai can be re-wired to shape but never allow the wires to cut into the bark.

The post Bonsai Gardening: How To Grow Bonsai For Beginners appeared first on quiet hut.

Tundra Plants | All Things You Need to Know About Them

Quiethut — Thu, 29 Mar 2018 10:33:58 +0000

The tundra is the coldest of all biomes in existence. It covers about one-fifth of the land on earth. The tundra climate was found in the Arctic, where it is known as Arctic tundra. And there are Antarctic Tundras (Antarctic region) and Alpine Tundra ( On mountain tops) as well. All these Tundra types are characterized by cold temperatures, drying wind, low nutrients, and open spaces. Each year, the Tundra gets around 6-14 inches of precipitation. There are 2 seasons there – summer and winter. Snow-covered for all but a few months, the tundra biome experiences scouring winds, even in summer.

Despite the almost year-round freezing temperatures, there is low diversity in organisms that live here and may even flourish. Many mosses, lichens, and small shrubs flourish in the arctic tundra. To cope up with the extreme conditions, the tundra plants have developed a variety of coping mechanisms to grow in the least hospitable areas including hairy stems and ability to grow quickly in short growing season.

Like other plants, these Tundra plants get their energy from the sunlight but have adapted to low light intensities and low temperatures. Some plants grow with little or no soil. And you can’t find any tree on the tundra because trees can’t handle the harsh conditions and the poor soil. That is how it got its name – the word comes from a Finnish word that means treeless plain. However, some plant species that appear as trees in other biomes are present on the tundra biome in a prostrate or creeping form, such as willow (Salix purpurea) and dwarf birch (Betula nana).

Plant adaptations in the tundra

As I mentioned, it is the tundra plant adaptations that help it survive where Mother Nature is the least nurturing. Since most of the plants require water, humidity, sunlight, fertile soil and other conditions for optimal growth, it’s really interesting to know that plants found in the tundra have some unique features in them to grow without requiring these optimal conditions. Let’s check some more tundra plant information to see how they can survive in the harsh cold environment with less precipitation and limited sunlight.

Plants in the tundra biome are short and small for some reasons. First of the soil is nutrient-poor, so it lacks nitrogen and phosphorus – two viral elements plants need to grow. This makes these plants growth slow and keeps them small. The plants’ small statures help them absorb heat from the dark soil, which keeps their tissues from freezing. The smaller they are, the more chance they have of survival because the smaller statures protect them from winds and cold air. Since the plants’ roots cannot penetrate the permafrost, they are short and grow sideways.
The Tundra only gets a small amount of precipitation each year, but the tundra plants are specially adapted to only need a small amount of water to grow. They absorb what they can with their short root systems.
These tundra plants tend to grow in clumps, clumping offers protection from the extremely low temperature and constant snowfall.
The tundra is also a windy place, the tundra plants grow together as plants sheltered from the whipping winds are more to survive.
The hairy stems of many tundra plants act as protection from the wind and help to trap heat near the plant as well. These plants also have small waxy leaves to prevent the loss of water in this cold and dry environment.
Tundra plants grow in the summer months. Until then, they remain dormant to preserve nutrients and moisture.
Another interesting tundra plant adaptation is its ability to harvest more light and heat in summer. Some tundra plant species have red foliage for the purpose of absorbing atmospheric heat as much as possible.
Tundra plants can flower at lower temperatures than any other flowering plants on earth. As expected, the flowering period occurs early in the summer to let them mature and put out seeds in short growing season. The flowering period lasts about six to eight weeks – the summertime.
Many tundra plants have cup-shaped flowers that move with the sun. That allows more sunlight to focus on the middle of the flower, the warmth from the sunlight helps the plants to grow quickly.
The soil is not needed for growth in tundra biome. Many tundra plants grow on rocks such as lichens and mosses. Mosses can continue photosynthesis and growth in colder temperatures than any the flowering plants in the tundra biome. Many species have the ability to dry out and still grow back many years later, when more moisture may be available.

Tundra Plant species

Despite all the harsh conditions on the tundra, there is diversity. You can find 1700 kinds of plants on the tundra, most of which are mosses and lichens. There are four hundred varieties of flowers, such as foliose lichen and crustose. But compared to other biomes, that’s actually not a lot, making this a low-diversity biome. Listed below are types of the plant that are found mostly in the tundra biome.

Arctic Moss

Photo credit

Common Name: Arctic Moss
Genus: Calliergon
Species: Giganteum

Arctic moss is the common moss on the tundra. Like many tundra plants, it is not native to any specific continent. It is an aquatic plant which can grow on the bottom of tundra lake beds and in and around bogs.

In the tundra biome, there is permanently frozen (permafrost) soil that prevents plants’ roots to continue growing longer and thicker, thus there are no deep root systems here. Because of the Permafrost, moisture from snowmelt cannot drain during the growing season, causing boggy areas highly suitable for arctic moss. The permafrost may also cause ground collapsing and loss of soil. Therefore, the moss has rhizoids (tiny rootlets) instead of roots. They have tiny leaves, usually only one cell thick that helps them adapt to the fact that the soil is poor and there are not much nutrients for plants to create photosynthesis. There are lots of leaves on the stems but Arctic moss doesn’t have flowers. They have two life stages: gametophyte and sporophyte.

There are several things that are unique about the Arctic moss. It is the low-growing plant – about one centimeter per year. It lives a long time, the shoots live eight to nine years, the leaves live for three to five. Throughout time, Arctic moss has adapted well to its climate by being able to store nutrients even when it isn’t growing so that new leaves can be made quickly when spring re-arrives. Like most plants in the tundra, Arctic moss grows near to the ground to avoid the freezing cold and harsh winds. It can also grow under water so it is protected from the cold and dry air of the frozen tundra. Its slow growth and long life are probably adaptations to the short growing season and the conditions.

There are few uses for the Arctic moss. In the Arctic tundra, they spread and cover the ground which warms up the soil for various other tundra plants to grow. They are also an important food source for many migrating animals that pass through the tundra on their migratory paths. Some type of these plants was frozen for thousands of years and has been helping scientists learn about life on our planet.

Caribou moss

Photo credit – CC by 2.5

Common Name: Caribou Moss, Reindeer Lichen
Genus: Cladonia
Species: rangiferina

Caribou Moss can be found in arctic and northern regions around the world. There are some ways Caribou moss is unique. Caribou Moss is a decomposer so it breaks down dead fauna and flora. It grows on the ground and on rocks and can grow up to a whole four to six inches. The stems and stocks of caribou moss are hollow and branch out many time. Although it is called caribou moss, it is actually a lichen. It is made of fungi and algae which grow together. The spongy threads of lichens support and protect the algae. The algae has chlorophyll which can make food. This is called a symbiotic relationship since each has something the other needs.

Over a long period of time, the Caribou moss has many adaptations living in the tundra that is its tissues isn’t easily damaged by frost and instead of ding, it hibernates. Which makes it ideal for the tundra.
Caribou moss can survive for a long time without water. It just dries out and goes dormant when there is little or no light or water. It can begin to grow again after being dormant for a very long time. The caribou moss most likely would be able to survive in other biomes but some of their adaptations would go to waste.

Caribou moss is one of the only things that animals such as Reindeer have for food during the coldest periods of the season. It has lots of carbohydrates that give the reindeer energy. These animals have special microorganisms in their stomachs which lets them digest caribou moss. Very few other animals eat caribou moss. People are afraid that the reindeer is dying from eating caribou moss. Caribou moss absorbs moisture and nutrients through their surface cells. Deadly radiation or pollutants can pass easily into their cells. The reindeer eat the radiation-rich caribou moss and pass it on those who can get the radiation from reindeer meat.

Bearberry

Photo credit – CC BY-SA 3.0

Common name: Bearberry, Foxberry, and Kinnikinick
Genus: Arctostaphylos
Species: uva-ursi

Bearberry is a low growing evergreen that belongs to the heather family. It gets its name because it is a diet for the bear. It is adapted to long periods of cold climate and it can easily thrive in the tundra biome. Bearberry grows in a diversity of areas in which there is dry, non-nutrient, usually sandy soils, exposed to direct sunlight. Therefore, the plant can be found in a wide range of locations, especially in North America such as northern California, Alaska, Greenland, Iceland, throughout northern Europe and Asia and other alpine regions like mountains in western Montana. Bearberry is plentiful in the wild and can survive from 25 to 50 years in the wild.

Bearberry has made many adaptations that allow for success in the tundra biome. The plant is short which helps it avoid the substandard biome. It has a stem which is 2-8 inches from the ground and is covered in a thick bark. It also has fine and silky hairs that help keep it warm. On the stem, there are many leathery, oval-shaped leaves up to 1 inch long.

Bearberry uses asexual reproduction and hence, the seeds are distributed by either gravity and animals. The growth of the seeds is slow for about the first three or so years before it increases.
These plants usually bloom between March and June and attract bumblebees, responsive for the pollination of the Bearberry. The flowers of the plants are bell-shaped, eight white and pink with 5 curled-up petals. The fruit of bearberry is red and is 1/4″-1/2″ in diameter. Each fruit is filled with 4 or 5 individual nuts. Glossy bearberry seeds ripen during the autumn and remain on the bush during the winter.

Bearberry is a very useful plant. All parts components of it can be used in some way. For example, the red berry fruits can be used in the human diet for the preparation of jellies, jams, and sauces. The roots of the bearberry can be consumed in the form of tea that can treat several medical purposes such as a constant cough and may also excessive menstrual bleeding. The leaves can be mixed with tobacco or used as a substitute for it. A tea made from the leaves can be able to treat kidney or bladder problems. A tea from the plants’ stem is also used to prevent miscarriage and to speed up recovery periods of a woman after the childbirth. It is clearly demonstrated the fact that bearberry plants play a significant role in the medical economy.
Some other benefits of bearberry are many migratory animals rely on the fruits of these plants as food. The plants also cover ground for difficult landscapes, provides flowers for insects and berries for birds as well as it is low maintenance and salt and wind tolerant.

Arctic willow

Photo credit

Common Name(s): Rock Willow
Genus: Salix
Species: arctica

Arctic willow can be found in the North American tundra which consists of Northern Canada and Northern Alaska. These plants prefer to live in dry, cold, and open habitats, which makes this treeless plain a perfect place for it. That said, arctic willow has adapted extremely well to the harsh arctic conditions. It is very plentiful in the wild but is still vulnerable because of the delicate habitat it lives in.

Arctic willow is 15-20 cm in height, has long, fluzzy hair which protects it from cold temperatures. One of the arctic willow’s abilities is to produce a pesticide for itself to keep predators away. The plant adapted to the permafrost by growing shallow roots, not long roots, to keep from freezing itself over. Also, it grows close to the ground, to get out of the way of the wind. It grows prostrate, shrub, and carpet. The leaves are oval-shaped with pointed tips and have little stalks. The leaves are dark green at the bottom and a light green at the top.

The flowers of these tundra plants bloom in the spring and are dark brown or pink. Their flowers are upright scaly spikes that are unisexual flowers with no petals. There’s no fruit on the arctic willow, only seeds.

Arctic willow is very useful with many economical significances. The brak and leaves can be used for medical purposes, the wood may be used for basket weaving, and even various types of clothing. The plants can be benefited to produce willow snowshoes, bags, pouches, water jugs as well as fuel in some areas where the only source of source of fuel is made from wood.

Labrador tea

By William Miller – engraving, Public Domain, Link

Common Name: Marsh Tea, Swamp Tea, Hudson’s Bay Tea, and St. Jame’s Tea
Genus: Ledum
Species: groenlandicum

The Labrador Tea is a very special type of plant that has its name because its leaves are brewed to make tea, which is rich in vitamin C. Labrador Tea is found in tundra, peatlands, and moist coniferous woods and is a frequenter of swamps, though it may be found in rocky, drier areas in the mountains.

The permafrost means that the soil is very shallow. Like other tundra plants, the Labrador tea plants have adapted well to these conditions. Their root system is also very shallow which allows them to avoid deeper frozen soil. During warmer times, the plant can easily grow to be 4 to 5 feet. During colder times, it adapts by growing low to the ground to avoid the cold tundra climate.

The plant has woolly branches with narrow leaves which are smooth on the upper side, providing them with insulation against the cold climate of the Tundra. The leaves of the plants are dark green that attracts more sunlight and heat, allowing the plant to carry on the process of photosynthesis even during low sunlight and cold temperatures. Labrador tea is considered an evergreen since it does not shed its leaves. It keeps them as it allows the plant to keep warm while holding onto much-needed moisture.

Labrador Tea has large white flowers which absorb heat to help the plant grow. The large flowers also attract potential insects that act as pollinators to the plant. The fruit of the plant has many seeds that increase the chances of at least a few seeds sprouting out.

The part used from the Labrador Tea is, of course, the leaves, which were brewed for tea by Native Americans. They were also scattered among clothes to keep moths away. They are said to use for medical purposes. The plants were used for all kinds of skin problems. Tea was used for stomach and nerve ailments. However, unusual about the Labrador Tea plants is that they are not consumed by any of the animals on the tundra.

In conclusion, the main plant species which listed above are considered to be the most definitive of the tundra biome. Although tundra is an apt environment for plants to grow, there are many other plants that can be found growing in the tundra.

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The Ultimate Guide to Growing Tomatoes

Quiethut — Sun, 19 Nov 2017 05:42:09 +0000

If you’re anything like me, tomatoes are the first thing that comes to mind when you plan to have a summer garden. Of course, there are tons of varieties of veggies, fruits, herbs and edible flowers that might adorn your backyard garden throughout the year. However, most American gardeners put growing tomatoes at the very top of their gardening must-do lists thanks to the incomparable flavors of this delicious fruit and the piles of fruit that a tomato plant can produce in a relatively short period of time. In fact, just a handful of healthy tomatoes can produce a bounty of showy, delicious fruits within six to nine weeks.

Since these plants are easy-to-grow crops, you can grow them in the ground, in containers or even enjoy tomatoes grown in a hanging basket.

The essential ingredients for growing tomatoes are plenty of sun and sufficient regular watering. Since tomatoes are heat-loving plants, the best time to plant them is when daytime temperatures are consistently above 65 °F (18 °C). Tomatoes will not grow in temperature below 50 °F (10 °C).

Generally, tomato plants are fairly fuss-free that they don’t require any special conditions to sprout and grow. But once they start producing more foliage, they require a lot of nutrients to perform their best. Which is why they are called heavy feeders in the gardening parlance. That said, before you even think about growing your own tomato garden, you should think about “growing” your garden soil first. For the best flavor, provide fertile, organically enriched soil with a pH between 6.0 and 6.5. Both clay soil and sandy soil can become tomato-friendly soil by adding organic matter such as compost into the soil 2-3 weeks before planting.

Although growing tomatoes isn’t hard, producing perfectly juicy, tender-fleshed fruit from a vine in the soil to an accompaniment on your dinner plate takes a little practice and a lot of knowledge. But, as most consumers know, reaping the reward of an amazing abundance of homegrown tomatoes is worth the effort, take a bite out of a delicious, fresh tomato and compare it to the bagged produce from the grocery store, and you too will want to learn.

In this resources guide, you will find a ton of articles with tomato growing information and tips, everything from choosing tomato varieties to the best way to plant tomatoes. If you’re strapped for time you can bookmark this page to read the routines later.

Let’s get started….

The Basics

This basics section is as good a place to start as any. This section includes resources that detail the history of tomato, teach you how to choose the variety that’s best for your garden and much more.

From Poison to Passion: The Secret History of the Tomato – Americans may be in love with tomatoes today, but history shows us that the relationship got off to a rocky start. Click the link to learn more.

Tomato Selector Guide – With such a huge range of tomato varieties available, from tiny cherry tomatoes to big beefsteak tomatoes they are ideal for gardens of any size, including window boxes, patios, balconies. Take a look at Thompson & Morgan’s tomato selector guide to help you decide which tomato varieties to grow.

The Easiest Tomatoes to Grow – With more than 700 different varieties in cultivation today, it can be difficult to choose the varieties best suited to your intended use and method of culture. This article provides some easy-to-grow tomatoes to make tomatoes gardening easier.

What is an heirloom tomato? – “Heirloom” is a popular buzzword in the gardening community these days. If you’re also wondering “what is an heirloom tomato?” or “what did the term “Heirlooms” plants begin?”, check the link to find your best answers.

Where to grow tomato Plants

How to Grow Tomatoes in Pots – Growing tomatoes in a post is a great way to enjoy your favorite crops in areas with limited space. As with many of life’s accomplishments, growing tomatoes in pots successfully has a lot to do with preparation and making great choices ahead of time. In this article, you will find a step-by-step guide on how to grow tomatoes in pots.

10 Tips for Growing Tomatoes in Pots – To successfully grow tomatoes in pots, you need to match the eventual size of your tomato plants to the overall size of your container and provide the proper care. Follow this article for more tips on growing tomatoes in pots. Just a little bit of useful information before your slip on the garden gloves that help you get started well.

How to Grow Tomatoes in a Growing Bag – Click the link to find out how to grow tomatoes in a growing bag or multipurpose compost.

Growing Tomatoes Indoors – Learning to grow tomatoes indoor can take a lot of time, patience, skills, and experience but it can be rewarding as you can produce fresh, flavorful tomatoes throughout the winter months. Learn, adapt and master some techniques you can grow the most delicious, juicy all year long.

Caring for Tomatoes

Caring for Tomatoes (Video) – In this video guide, Alan Titchmarsh will show you how to support and tie cordon tomatoes in, how and why to remove side shoots. He also gives some useful tips on correct feeding and watering to encourage successful and abundant fruiting.

Caring for tomatoes after transplanting – Follow these easy guideline on caring for tomatoes to help your transplanted tomatoes reach their greatest performance.

Watering Tomatoes: When & How – 5 Pro Tips – How often you water your tomato plants is a major concern most people face, especially the first time around. If you’re one of them, then this article is for you. Inside, you will learn how often you water tomatoes, some facts about Tomato growth and 5 tips on watering tomatoes.

Pruning Tomatoes – Backyard Abundance (PDF) – Pruning can help improve hervestable yields and prolong the harvest season. Additionally, keeping tomato plants off the ground reduces some fungal diseases like Septoria leaf spot, anthracnose or early blight and improves fruit quality. So, it’s important to learn how to prune your tomato plants properly. Check the detailed guide for more information on pruning tomatoes.

Common Problems

While tomatoes are one of the most popular vegetable plants in summer, they’re also one of the most problematic. Here’re some good resources to learn how to identify problems and treat them before things get out of hand.

A Guide to the Identification of Common Problems | Aggie Horticulture – Monitor your tomato plants daily. Check stems, leaves, and fruit for some symptoms that come from nasty critters on the prowl. Check this article for more in-depth information.

Recognizing Tomato Problems – Here’s an overview of the most common tomatoes problems. Choose the best treatment prescribed for each one.

Insect Pests of Tomato – The key to any successful pest management program is to develop a regular scouting plan to identify pests as they begin their dirty work and to determine if insecticide applications are needed. In this guide, you will learn more about insect pest identification and management.

Pests and diseases of tomatoes – This is a detailed list of the main pests and diseases of tomatoes. Find out more about each problem and how to control it when you click on its link on the page.

Tomatoes Pest Management Guidelines – University of California’s official guidelines for pest monitoring techniques for managing tomatoes pests.

Growing Tomatoes Tips and Tricks

Tips on growing tomatoes (PDF) | San Diego Master Gardeners – A fantastic tomato harvest starts with proper planting and care. And with a little knowledge anyone can produce a bountiful crop. Inside, you will learn a lot of great tips from choosing tomato variety to preparing the soil, caring for tomatoes.

Five Tomato Growing Tricks – Check out five tomato growing tricks to learn how to boost your yields and make the most your veggie plot this year.

Top 10 Tomato Growing Tips – A fantastic tomato harvest starts with proper planting and care. Follow the link for more tomato growing and caring tips to improve your chances of a perfect crop.

Additional Resources For Growing Tomatoes

Growing Vegetables: Tomatoes (PDF) | UNH Cooperative Extension

Tomato – Vegetable Directory – Watch Your Garden Grow | University of Illinois Extension

Grow your own tomatoes | Royal Horticultural Society

Tomatoes | Gardening Solutions – The University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (UF/IFAS)

How to Grow Tomatoes in Garden | The Texas A&M AgriLife Extension

Growing Tomatoes in the Home Garden | The State University of New Jersey

Tomato : Extension : Clemson University : South Carolina

Growing Home Garden Tomatoes | University of Missouri Extension

Tomatoes (PDF) | UC Davis

Tomatoes – Growing Guide | The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences’ (CALS) School of Integrative Plant Science (SIPS)

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Rose Gardening: Growing Roses For Beginners

Quiethut — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 18:59:47 +0000

Roses and rose gardening have also been around for a very long time. The fossilized remains of wild roses were discovered by Archaeologists that date back more than 40 million years. Today, there’re tons of different kinds of roses that have been discovered, around 150 to 200 species of the genus Rosa and thousands of varieties. There is even a Rose Reference Database that lists over 6,716 roses, searchable by name, classification, variety, color and many more characteristics.

Roses are considered the queen of flowers because of their beauty and fragrance, which also draw us to roses. Roses fill our gardens with glorious blooms all summer long and well into autumn or even winter and many are deliciously scented. So what better way to enjoy the romance of the garden than by growing roses?

However, you might hear that growing the “queen of flowers” can be a thorny endeavor and roses are just too much trouble. All that special fertilizers, pruning (which look difficult), talk of blackspot and diseases…that’s enough to put the novice gardener off rose gardening forever. But it’s not that hard to grow shrub roses. In fact, shrub roses are bred to be low maintenance, disease resistant, and easier to use. Moreover, “Modern rose bushes are both beautiful and tough in a wide range of growing conditions, so they are easier to grow than ever before,” says Christian Bedard, research director for Weeks Roses, America’s premier rose grower.

That being said, growing roses doesn’t have to be a challenge. As long as they are placed in a sunny location and given some TLC, you’re halfway to having a spectacular rose garden. In this detailed guide, you will learn how to grow your own rose garden successfully.

Rose Gardening: Planting Roses

Choosing roses

Take into consideration your site before choosing roses because the wrong rose for the site conditions will mean extra care of roses and not so good results. As I mentioned above, there are literally thousands of different varieties and species of roses, there is always one that will grow happily on your site.

When you buy a rose plant, it helps if you are careful to choose healthy plants, whether you are buying bare-rooted roses or potted roses. Look for signs of fungal diseases on bare-roots and always check the leaves, stems, and flowers before buying and only buy strong healthy-looking plants.

You can buy roses in different ways: Containerised, Container-grown, bare-root or pre-packed (Pre-packed roses are basically the same as bare-rooted roses, but have their roots trimmed and wrapped in plastic with a little compost).

Pre-packed roses and Bare-rooted roses

Bare-rooted roses have a lot of varieties available and they are a convenient way to order plants by mail if you can’t find at a local nursery.

These dormant roses are best planted in the early spring after the last frost and should be planted after you bring them home. They will take time to bloom over the spring.

Containerised and container-grown roses

If you are a novice rose grower, a potted rose is a great way to go since growing and caring roses in containers is easy. These potted roses are also perfect for those who don’t have space or soil to grow them in the ground.

Roses growing in containers can be planted any time between spring and fall. Most potted roses have been frown on the ground then lifted and potted up, so check plants have developed a good root system before choosing and planting.

Choose The Right Site

In rose gardening, it’s important to choose a site receiving at least six hours of sun each day. There are some roses that will be happy in partial shade, but most roses bloom their best if they are in a spot that gets sun all day.

Roses benefit from plenty of room and air, so it is never advisable to plant roses under trees or where they will be overshadowed by surrounding shrubbery. But some shade during the heat of the day will be a benefit because this will prevent your blooms from fading. And a good spot should have good air circulation, which helps prevent fungal diseases.

Prepare the soil

Rose foots are hungry feeders, so the soil needs to be thoroughly dug over and improved before planting. Dig in plenty of bulky organic matter will help ensure strong, healthy growth.

Light, sandy soils tend to dry out quickly, nutrients leach away and they often fail to provide the physical support to withstand strong winds, so rose bushes must also be located in well-prepared clay soil, rich in organic matter. Also, make sure your soil has good drainage because roses’ roots will rot if left to sit for a long time on wet soil.

Most roses will not tolerate extremes of alkalinity or acidity, generally preferring soils that are slightly acidic or neutral (5.5 to 7.0). If the soil is alkaline, treating it with sulfate of iron will help to make it more acidic.

Planting

Wear sturdy gloves to protect your hands from prickly thorns.
If you are planting bare root roses, soak the roots in the water for at least 24 hours prior to placing them in the ground and the roots must be kept moist the first few months after planting. Have a hose or bucket of water nearby and keep your bare-root rose in water until you are ready to place it in the ground.
Give them plenty of organic matter and don’t crowd them.
For bare-root and pre-packed roses, dig out a hole large and deep enough to accommodate the plant’s roots and to allow for good drainage, since roses don’t like wet feet. (for most types, the hole should be about 15 to 18 inches wide)
If you want to plant several rose bushes together, space them at least 3 feet apart to give the plant ample growing room as it matures.
Check the planting depth by placing the rose, in its pot, into the hole. Using a cane, ensure the graft union will be below the surface, or slightly above in heavy soil, then take the rose out of the hole.
Water your roses and leave to drain before removing from its pot. Make a mound of earth in the base of the hole and stand the rose on top of the mound.
Backfill the hole with soil, add some compost and well-rotted manure into the soil and water thoroughly. Mix well to prevent the manure from burning the roots. Then finish filling the hole with the remaining soil. Water again and then mound up additional soil around the base of the plant.
You will have to wait a couple of months before the leaves start showing. At this time, you can then begin to feed them.

Tips: When you eat bananas, don’t throw away the peels, cut them into a pieces and plant them with your roses. It adds Potassium (K) to the soil – an essential nutrient for plant growth.

Rose gardening: Caring for Your Roses

Feeding Roses

To produce an impressive show of flowers, you should need to feed your roses regularly before and throughout the blooming cycle.

For newly planted bare-root plants, you want to use organic methods at planting time until after the rose has produced its first blooms to avoid burning the new plant’s roots.

Organic amendments not only provide a slow, steady supply of nutrients but also help to encourage beneficial soil microbes and a well-balanced soil pH. Monthly applications of composted manure, compost and other natural and organic fertilizers, such as fish emulsion, work well.

Slow- release granular fertilizers that supply the right balance of phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen and other minor nutrients will also give roses the nourishment they need for optimum growth. But be careful not to over-fertilize your plants, as this can damage them.

Important note: Avoid chemical fertilizers and pesticides if you’re harvesting for the kitchen.

The nutrient content in synthetic fertilizers is often higher than what you’ll find in organic amendments, so fewer applications are necessary – typically once in late spring and once in the early fall.

Tips:

Again, you can also use old banana skins for feeding your roses by cutting and placing old banana skins (with the inside of the peel facing down) into the soil, around the roots.
Planting parsley can benefit your roses since the parsley improves not only the roses’ health but also the blooms’ scent.

Watering Roses

Watering roses well is a very important aspect of growing a healthy disease resistant roses. Roses need a steady supply of moisture to keep them healthy and blooming. Some roses will let you know right away when they are thirsty, Tuscan Sun for example. The amount and frequency of watering will depend on your rose kind, your soil, and climate.

Most roses generally need to be watered deeply since this encourages their roots to extend farther down in the soil where it stays moist longer. But don’t drown them, they will die if the soil is too wet in winter. The ideal soil is loose and rich with good drainage.

Use a soaker hose to deliver water directly to the roots to keep the leaves dry, that helps your plants resist disease. Also, avoid frequent shallow sprinklings, which may encourage fungus.

Use mulch to help retain moisture in the soil, reduce the level of maintenance needed and conserve water. When you are applying a mulch for the first time, it’s best applied when the soil is moist and warm. And apply a 3 to 4-inch layer of shredded and chopped leaves or shredded bark around the base of your plants.

When you water is as important as how you water. Watering the rose in hot and dry summer weather should be a thorough watering at least twice times a week and water every day in very hot weather.

Pruning Roses

Pruning is best done in the early spring, before or as plants begin to grow. However, you can lightly prune your plants all season long to keep them well-groomed.

Regular pruning is essential to keep rose bushes lush, healthy and constantly blooming. However, pruning is often seen by novice rose growers as something to be scared of and is considered the most confusing and intimidating aspect of rose gardening. Don’t let that deter you from rose gardening! With the right techniques and tools, pruning is not very difficult and you soon find that it is not such a mystery after all.

Start with pruning shears for smaller growth. Use loppers, long-handled shears, for growth that is more than half an inch thick. And a small pruning saw is also a must-have tool as it cuts on both the push and the pull. Now, you have all tools to begin pruning roses.

When planting roses, you want your roses to grow with an open center so air can flow freely through the plant, this also helps your plants to be more like “self-cleaning”. Just cut out any dead branches as well as small, weak canes and cut back a third to a half of the old growth until you find white centers inside the cane. Clean away from around the base of the rosebushes any trimmed debris in order to decrease the chances of rose disease and insects on your rose.

Every leaf has a growth bud, so removing all rosehips and dead flowers encourage new flowers to form, just cut back below the first five-leaflet stem to promote regrowth. If your roses don’t develop rosehips, so no deadheading is needed because the blooms will drop off automatically and the roses will keep on producing more flowers.

Also, keep in mind that never plant your roses on the spot where there was another one that died because that will increase the chances of rose diseases on your new rose. If the rose is dead, just dig it out and plant a new rose in another spot of your garden.

Pest and Disease

The best way to prevent rose diseases is to select roses suited to your region or choose disease-resistant varieties – but keep in mind that disease resistant doesn’t mean disease-proof.

Even with good conditions, roses will suffer at least one from a number of diseases and pests. Here are some of the more common problems and the treatment for them:

Black Spot

This disease looks as it sounds – circular black or brown spots on the top side of leaves. This disease often caused by water splashing on leaves, especially on rainy days.

Prevent this disease by improving air circulation through the rose and watering at ground level and make sure your roses are in full sun.

A garden fungicide, which is for use on roses during periods of wet weather, can help fight the spread of black spot.

Powdery Mildew

If leave, buds are covered with a white powdery coating, it is probably powdery mildew. Mildew disease typically appears during warm and humid weather, especially when the days are dry and hot and the nights are wet and cool.

Avoid this disease by watering roses at ground level in the morning, since wet leaves, to provide the perfect growing environment. Pruning out any dead or diseased branches in the spring. Destroy any diseased parts during the growing season. During new growth, prevent mildew by dusting and spraying leaf surfaces and canes with fungicide. And again, make sure your roses get plenty of suns.

Insects

Pesky insects that like to feed on rose bushes include aphids, sawflies, and spider mites. Most of these insects can be controlled with a garden insecticide containing carbaryl, neem, or permethrin. In the case of aphids, a strong stream of water from a garden hose is often the only treatment necessary. Just good rose gardening practices can also help reduce these insects.

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