A Few Ideas For Your Backyard Landscaping Project
I guess you too enjoy landscaping, so please go ahead and try to absorb in as much as you can. Hopefully you will pick up a few new tips and ideas on how you can make your own yard more attractive to yourself, your family and your friends.
As you know, yard landscaping is an exciting hobby for many persons and home owners. With the right commitment you can transform basically any back yard into an enjoyable and relaxing getaway for everyone you know, including yourself. This can be your spot for peace and quiet and maybe also a fun spot to play with the kids after a long hard day at work. There’s simply more uses for your backyard than you can ever come up with, so why not make the best out of it?
If you are looking for something to make your backyard pop out and stand out from the crowd in order to deliberate your personality, then why don’t you go for it! If you are looking for a fun and wild spot to spend time with friends and relatives, then what a better place than your backyard? You could go for flowers and other decorative landscaping materials. In case you are doing a new place for the barbeque, choose fun colors for the floor covering or stones on the floor. You definitely should add special touches to your backyard to give it your personal personality.
There are simply so many different themes that you can go with for your backyard. Plant some bushes or trees and maybe even a put a hot tub in there. Add in those soft colors you love and romantic candles and you have a honeymoon getaway in your backyard. Some people also like to place flowers in strategic places as part of the overall design to give the backyard even more attitude.
If you are someone who wants to use your backyard for the family and friends to get together in and enjoy a barbeque, then there are many choices for you. Building a larger patio will give you more entertaining space and more room for extra seating at dinnertime. You may even think of joining a roof to your patio. This would allow you to enjoy the feeling of being outdoors even when the weather is not so nice.
Getting the whole family in on the backyard landscaping is a great idea and one way of doing so is to plant trees or flowers together. Have the kids assist you with the flowers. Let them each choose a special flower or even a tree and let them plant it a special place. This is a great way to do something meaningful with the kids and it will give you memories for life and a family backyard at the same time.
A great family landscaping project can most likely be done in one or two weekends. Produce it at your own speed and make it reflect your have personality to create your own sanctuary and getaway from the rest of the neighborhood.
In case you liked this article the author Johnny will give you more backyard landscaping ideas over at his site.
Tags: landscaping, garden
Tags: Garden, landscapingFiled by sowhat2 on November 21st, 2008 under landscaping | Comment now »
Growing Grass Under Trees
Grass growing in the shade:
Trees are an integral part of any homeowner’s landscape. One of the most commonly asked questions is ” why isn’t my grass looking as good under my trees as in the rest of the lawn?” The answer is quite simple. Most grass types prefer open sunlight and do not grow well in the shade. All grass types require sunlight to produce food through the photosynthesis process. Grass also competes with the trees for the moisture and nutrients in the soil. Trees also cause less air movement so there is a greater chance for disease to occur.
Shade tolerant grasses:
If you are determined to grow grass under and around trees you need to use a shade tolerant grass. In our area Fine Fescue is your best bet. However once again you are fighting the shade issue. Fine Fescue requires at least a 50% exposure to sunlight to thrive. This sunlight does not need to be direct as shifting intermittent from the sun as it travels through its day is fine.
Grass under spruce and pine:
As many homeowners have noticed grass growing under these conifers do even worse than under most deciduous trees. Along with the shade, lack of moisture, less nutrients and less air movement, these trees have an extra trick up their sleeves. When these trees drop their needles (needle cast) the needles cause the soil around the tree to increase in acidity. Once again it is just another form of defense trees will use to compete with other plant life.
Growing grass in the shade:
The number one thing you must do to grow grass in the shade is to use a shade tolerant grass such as Fine Fescue. Removing lower branches and a light pruning of the inner growth allows more sunlight to penetrate the lawn below. If you are mowing under the trees, raise the mower blade 1 level to leave more leaf blade to increase the grass plant’s chance at photosynthesis. These areas also require more watering during dry spells to compensate for the amount the trees will be using at this time. Light fertilization is recommended in these areas as generally the grass is under stress for most of the year.
Paul is a Certified Pesticide Applicator in the province of Alberta, Canada. He has over 15 years experience in the lawn care industry.
For more lawn care information, please visit http://www.fairyring.ca.
Tags: email marketing, articles, writing, email newsletter, writers, email, ezine, article submission, publishing
Tags: article submission, articles, email, email marketing, email newsletter, ezine, publishing, writers, writingFiled by sowhat2 on November 20th, 2008 under landscaping | Comment now »
Brilliant Beetroot!
Are you looking for a truly versatile vegetable to grow and serve? Try beetroot! It has the most amazing colour
and texture. Varieties range in colour from gold to deep red/purple and are delicious raw, boiled,
baked, pickled and juiced. Even the leaves are edible! The root is packed with Vitamin C and the
leaves are a great source of Vitamin A and potassium.
Beetroot is native to the Mediterranean so needs a fairly warm climate to do well. Unlike most of
the plants we’ve discussed in the past, the seeds should be planted directly into the garden (or container)
without going through the transplant stage.
Soak the seeds in water overnight to help germination, before planting. You
should see your plants emerge in 10-14 days. Two or three plants will emerge from each of the seed
clumps, but then you have to make a decision before thinning. Do you want to eat the leaves or the root?
If you pick the leaves often, the root will develop poorly. Some sort of trade off has to be made. Even so,
small beets are better than no beets at all.
Vegetables do best when they grow quickly and beets are no exception. Feed them every couple of
weeks with a good water soluble plant food. They should be ready to harvest in 8-12 weeks.
Preparing Beetroot
Allow to cool, peel, then cut to size.
stain your fingers for a day or two…
Want a different sort of dip for a starter? Try this one…the colour is WILD!
Spicy Beetroot Dip
4 medium beetroot
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 pita bread
250ml natural yoghurt
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon chilli powder (optional)
Salt to taste
Preheat oven to 180C. Peel beetroot and cut into 1″ cubes.
Coat the beetroot with olive oil by tossing in a bowl. Spread
cubes on an oven tray and cook until soft, about 30 minutes.
Remove and let cool.
Once beetroot is cooked and removed, turn the oven up to 200C.
Cut the pita bread into dipping pieces, either triangles or strips.
Spread them out on a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, or
until crisp.
Place the cool beetroot with all other dip ingredients in a blender and puree. Display your spicy purple dip in a bowl surrounded by crispy dipping pita strips.
Judy Williams (http://www.no-dig-vegetablegarden.com) aspires to become a fulltime earth mother goddess. This site acts as a primer for all vegetable gardening aspects covering topics like how to build a garden, nurture seedlings, container gardening and composting.
Tags: organic vegetables, beetroot, vegetable gardening, vegetables
Tags: beetroot, organic vegetables, vegetable gardening, vegetables