Archive for March, 2009

How Small Can Small Garden Ponds Be?

Koi in pond, Husum, August 2002.Image via Wikipedia

The definition of a pond in my Funk & Wagnalls is, “A body of water smaller than a lake”.  Technically, from that definition, a glass of water is a pond.  But for the purposes of beautifying the garden and helping the surrounding wildlife, even an old watertight barrel would serve as a small garden pond.  Having a reliable, safe source of drinking water is an invaluable aid to all the wild creatures struggling to make a go of it as the jungle decreases and the concrete jungle increases.

No Limits

If you are thinking of helping reclaim wetlands or making a honking great lake on your property, may I suggest starting with small garden ponds?  With small garden ponds, you can learn the basics without having to make such a huge financial and personal investment.  You can pick from ready made small garden ponds that can be plunked atop the ground or dig a four foot hole with pond liner and add your own accessories and tools.

What All Ponds Need

Small garden ponds of any size need a few of the same things, such as:

  • A water pump or agitator to keep the water from becoming stagnant.
  • A filter, which can often be solar powered now.
  • A nearby source of water, even the garden hose.  You don’t want to be lugging buckets of water over hill and dale.
  • A firm edge.  If you sink small garden ponds into the ground, the edge around it will get very muddy.  You need bricks or stones to serve as a walkway.  Keep checking the edges of above ground small garden ponds that they don’t begin to crack and fray.
  • Water test kits.  Clear water isn’t necessarily safe water.  Water testing kits are cheap preventative medicine for small garden ponds.
  • A place that will fit them.
  • A heater, if you live in really frigid areas.

Where To Get Them

You can get small garden ponds and all the equipment to set them up and maintain them from garden shops, hardware stores, large department stores that have a gardening section, aquarium supply stores and their online equivalents.  Be sure to get a book or magazine about small garden ponds to help you with any questions that are sure to pop up down the line.  There are many websites about the care and design of small garden ponds all over the web.

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Easy Lawn Care Tips

Fall Lawn Care Tips

For many, having the a beautiful lawn needs the services of a professional lawn care company to take care of all their lawn care requirements and that this is the only way. It is not always the case and for home owners it really only needs the proper knowledge to be able to do it on their own. Whether they are into the traditional methods of lawn care or promote organic lawn care, there are just a few simple things they need to do to allow them to grow their lawns without the excessive weeds and pests that would otherwise hinder the proper and healthy growth of their lawns.

Consider Soil Care

In the spring and early fall it is important to take a few easy steps to take care of the soil underneath the lawn.  First, soil can get compacted so that the root system of the grass is also too tightly compacted.  The way to solve this is to pull plugs out of the grass in order to increase aeration.  There are machines that a person can rent in order to aerate the lawn.  There are also some lawn care companies that will come out twice a year in order to aerate the lawn.  Either way, the plugs should be left on the lawn so that they can decompose and add nutrients to the lawn, helping it to grow.

One other tip you should be aware of when it comes to lawn care during the spring and early fall is that you should check the properties of the soil to determine what nutrients are missing and should be added. The availability of simple testing kits are common in most garden supply stores, and these will allow you to determine exactly what nutrients in your lawn soil is lacking. As soon as the test is completed, the needed fertilizer should be procured and applied to sort out the soil’s deficiencies. Just remember that when you apply the fertilizer to sweep back into the lawn the fertilizer that may inadvertently fall on the sidewalk or driveways so that you do not waste any of it as they can be expensive.

Consider Pests

There are some pests that need to be taken care of in lawn care such as grubs.  In the spring, a section of grass should be pulled up to check if there are grubs in the root system.  If there are, one solution to this is to buy nematodes from a garden supply store or catalogue.  Nematodes are microscopic worms that will kill the grub larvae so that the grubs never are able to affect the roots.

There are other pests such as insects that can harm your lawn, so to eliminate these you should consider planting trees and shrubs around the lawn so that birds will be attracted to your yard, and the birds will take care of the duty to eat the insects. In addition to this step, you can also go to your local garden supplier and buy green lacewings and ladybugs that will help you in fighting off destructive insects that would otherwise destroy your lawn.

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Greenhouse Supply Catalog: Your Pick

A greenhouse provision catalog is essentially a type of magazine that you are capable of browsing through and order from. If you work with nursery gardening professionally and produce a living at it, this will be the most convenient way for you to order your indoor greenhouses and nursery supply products.

There are a couple of assorted greenhouse supply catalog options that you have, but if you want to ascertain that you choose the very best, then you are going to need to choose one of the following greenhouse supply catalog choices.

Nursery gardener’s Comrade

This is certainly a popular nursery supply catalog out there today. They offer listings of companies dealing cultivating supplies, invaluable info on how to grow floras in a nursery, points and techniques that you can use, and so much more. They are certainly one of the most informative nursery catalogs out there now, and one that you will want to check out for yourself.

Purchasing through this catalog is quick and easy so you never have to care about blowing time when you buy from them. They are a perfect selection when it comes to nursery provision catalogs, and should be one of your top picks.

Rainyside

This is another nursery supply catalog that you can buy from. They offer lists of the leading companies in the industry that offer up greenhouse provisions, so you can invariably acquire just what you are seeking, at the best attainable price. Regardless of what you are looking for, and even if you are only beginning from scratch with your greenhouse gardening supplies, you can acquire everything you need within your budget.

Just make certain that you keep a observe these tips when you go to patronise from any catalog or other source. First off you are going to want to construct a list for yourself, so that you know what you really need to purchase and have a spot to start from.

You need to keep organized along the way so that you keep track of what you have already bought, and will not end up buying the same item twice. All consumers want to make certain that they preserve as much capital as possible, and this means taking your time, doing some comparison shopping and doing everything else you can to get the best deal for your nursery horticulture supplies.

Nursery gardening can be a wonderful pursuit, as long as you possess all the provisions that you need to be successful with it.

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