Earthly Garden

Having a pond near or around your garden really does more than just bring wildlife around; it can also bring forth a happy feeling and a satisfaction knowing you are adding to the environment in a great way.

Even if you start with a basic pond kit from a home improvement store you can bury the pond kit and allow the grass to grow over the edge to help attract wildlife in any form. Some of the most beautiful things can be seen around a garden pond such as animals and plant life that is simply amazing.

Frogs will jump from the edge of the pond, and mosquitoes battle each other for landing spots on cattails or other plants around. Bees and butterflies gather nectar and pollen and even swoop in for a quick drink. Turtles may move into your garden pond and pop their heads up and down while watching you, watch them. Birds such as bluebirds will perch while larger birds like heron will come to the edge to check things out.

Your plant life will allow shelter and hiding places for goldfish or Koi and lilies offer the best display of color in the water with their bright purples and yellows that bloom against the green plants around in other locations of your pond.

At night bats will swoop down to grab up lingering mosquitoes and chickens and roosters will be leaving the area to roost in the night if you have them around your yard.

If this is the first pond you have had or are thinking about consider keep frogs and tadpoles to cut down on mosquitoes during the hotter months. A pond is a living ecosystem and it will change with the seasons with little to no maintenance if kept right.

Nothing is better than sitting near the ponds edge and listen to what you have created.

Keeping a green lawn seems to be challenging to some and to others it seems to come with ease. So what is it these people that have the most beautiful lawns on your block know that you don’t? Here are some tips to keeping that yard looking fabulous and that your neighbors will envy.

1. Weak Grass: The best thing for weak grass is fertilizer. If you fertilize twice a year in the cool-season and gain in the warm-season you will prevent your grass form becoming weaker. Fertilize once around Halloween and then again around the Fourth of July.

2. Mostly Moss: Moss is an issue more in the rainy areas, because moss loves wet. Pulling out moss by hand or with a tool may be tiresome, but if you allow your grass to receive more than three to four hours of sun a day moss will eventually get gone. Otherwise change out where moss grows with a ground cover or a shade-tolerant plant.

3. Grass Disease: Water your grass in the early morning to help against disease. And if disease is still a problem, talk to a gardening center to learn more about what you can do to help.

4. Too Much Shade: Grass needs full shun no mater what. If your lawn gets too much shade consider putting in fescue or turf-type grasses instead.

5. Crabgrass Issues: Apply an herbicide to help against crabgrass and then apply a second application six weeks after the first.

6. Grub Worms: Use insecticide, it is the best way to combine grubs completely.

7. Compacted Grass: High traffic and other means can compact grass and it’s mainly in sandier soils. To prevent this Aerate your lawn whenever you see compaction and continue to do this regularly if foot traffic or other traffic is an issue. Collection of rainfall could be another issue, so divert your rain collecting in one or more areas.

Breck’s Iris collection can bring in some of the best looking colored iris’s that are sold through any other nursery catalog.

With Breck’s you can get an array of colored irises for as little as $20. The irises come with the colors of Fire Bride, Classic Bordeaux, Glazed Gold, Colour Tart, Busy Being Blue, Chasing Rainbows and Night Owl. It’s a seven Rainbow Iris Collection that offers a lifetime guarantee on all flowers. So if one or all don’t end up blooming you can get your money back or a whole new selection of plants to try again.

The Night Owl is one of a kind deep, jet-black in color and it will definitely stand out in your garden. It can grow to about 38 inches tall it is sure to be one of a kind and bring a lot of talk by those who see it blooming.

For #37.99 you can get double the Rainbow Iris Collection. That is two of each of the seven varieties offers, plus two free of the Royal Blue Batik to add to the collection.

The Breck’s company also has a special on the re-blooming iris. It blooms in lat spring and then again in midsummer to when the first frost hits the ground where you live. You can get the colors of Mother Earth, Ocean Pacific, Love the Sun, Too Sweet, Beautiful Harvest and Champagne Elegance. The Ocean Pacific is the true blue of the iris collection and the eye-catching blooms will have you loving this true blue color.

Grab up your collection of irises today to bring the color and the splendor to your garden.

Keeping worms means keeping a compost pile that can benefit your garden and the environment.

There are more than 3,500 species of earthworms around the world and this includes the red worm variety as well. Each worm has five pairs of hears but this is paired with just one little brain. A worm can grow a new head or a new tail if one or both ends are cut in anyway. They don’t have any teeth or eyes so they don’t chew what they eat the same way humans or other animals would. They can eat about half its weight in food scraps every single say. They can’t see where they are going so their movements are based on feel more than seeing. Worms produce about one egg capsule every 10 days roughly and these eggs incubate in about 20 days.

You can keep worms simply by just providing them with adequate space to roam, food and plenty of air. It takes about a sixteen to twenty galloon clear container with a secure lid. Bedding such as soil and other compost matter is needed as well. Add the red worms to the mix and provide adequate scraps for food throughout the duration of the compost heap.

To avoid odors make sure the air can move freely through the container and keep the bedding moist but not too wet. Don’t overfeed what your worms can’t eat or mold and mildew may form.

If gnats and flies become and issue or even ants, be sure and bury the food scraps and place several sheets of newspaper over the top of the bedding.

Cattails don’t seem like you average run of the mill type of plant to have around in gardens, mainly because they need a lot more water than normal plants. Cattails seem to grow best in bogie conditions like ponds, ditches and even reservoirs.

The common cattail (Typha Latifolia) is a very familiar sight along the shores of any marsh, pond, lake, or even a river. They are common in an among the grass land areas in the south and are normally stiff plants that grow to almost ten feet tall in some areas.

The leaves of the cattail are like giant blades of grass that can get to about one inch wide on some plants. The flowering part of the cattail has two parts, a brown cylinder which is the female part and the yellow spike plant which is the male part.

The plant itself grows in almost of group-type of growth where most grow together and in a cluster.

Believe it or not, but the cattail is edible and the American Indians prepared the cattail in many forms. The leaves of the cattail can be used to make baskets, chair seats and even mats or sitting areas. The seeds of the cattail is used in pillows, sleeping bags and some brands of coats. The stems can be used in making adhesives glue and the pollen of the cattail is used in the making of some varieties of fireworks on the market.

Cattails are planted in some areas along creek beds and river banks to prevent erosion of the soil that the water causes to the land over time.

Growing tomatoes is one thing that almost all gardeners have as a staple in their gardens. But, growing good, healthy tomatoes may be an issue to some. Here are some tips to keep in mind when growing your tomatoes this season that will bring you bigger, better tomatoes that will be envious of anyone who is an avid gardener.

1. To insure that tomatoes won’t crack on the vine while growing larger enclose them in a clear sandwich bag. Place the bag over the tomatoes and close the ends together and secure it to the vine with the twist tie from the bag. This will help them ripen faster and healthier without all the cracks.

2. Place red plastic underneath tomatoes that will get too big and begin to sag. You don’t want your tomatoes to end up touching the ground while they are still growing in size. You can also place the red plastic under any tomato plant that has semi-red tomatoes to. This will encourage the color change to happen faster with your tomatoes.

3. Use proper support on any tomato plant. As the tomatoes grow they will need support from the rest of the tomato plant in order to not touch the ground while growing. Placing a tomato cage around the plant when it is younger will help during the tomato production process.

Growing tomatoes is not a science at all, it’s an art. Once you master the art your tomatoes will be ones worth bragging about to others. Tomatoes can be enjoyed just about anytime of the year, but the summer is the best time to pick your own grown tomato and slice it up for guests.

Going Koi crazy isn’t a bad thing at all; it just means you love your fish. Having a Koi pond is easier than you think and it can actually help your garden in the long run as well.

The best way to keep Koi is to have a proper pond construction, water filtration and an aeration system to guarantee the Koi will survive even in the harshest of winter weather.

You may take a few years to learn the ends and outs of what works best with your land system and your surroundings as well. In no time you will be learning about even the expensive of Koi breeds that can bring in about $30,000 each when sold to other Koi breeders.

You can construct your own Koi ponds with a little hard work and concrete and before long you will have Koi ponds that your neighbors will envy and talk about in all circles.

You may want to start with indoor tanks to get the Koi used to being together then add them to your constructed outdoor ponds. Include a wide variety of plants with your ponds as well like Japanese maples, twisty black locust, and maybe some hostas to bring the whole look together.

You need to make you ponds at least 4 feet deep and a bottom drain well too and add a few extras that suit your taste such as waterfalls and rock slides as well.

With a bit of money, time and patience you can bring Koi into your gardening practices and it will bring forth a whole new view on gardening as well.

Before the advent and use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides, gardeners had no choice but to garden organically. Gardening without the use of these chemical laden products was the only way to guarantee you will get a great product and it will be more health all the way around. The best way to garden this way is to adapt a behavior and change your habits now. Here are some tips to keep in mind to help garden in a more organic way with your own practices.

1. Know your land: Getting well acquainted with the land you are going to use for your garden is the best way to start. With a full-sun garden it will retain heat more and with a flatter gardening area it will retain rain more. If you have nothing around to protect the garden from wind, this could be an issue as well.

2. Know your crops: It may take a few years to see what grows best where on this land. Getting to know your crop growing pluses and minutes you can grow what you want without the worry that it will die in the end.

3. Keep what doesn’t grow: Never just throw away something that ends up dying off during the growing season. If you place the dead grass or dead planting back into the soil you can benefit the soil in the long run. Use organic matter, and homemade or store-bought compost that is all organic as well. You will have a better crop of veggies with organic compost and manure than with synthetics as well.

Some great plants to start with:
• Chives
• Johnny jump-ups
• Tulips
• Money plant
• Columbine that is native to your area
• Sweet William
• Pot marigold
• Peony

Horses are a graceful creature and offer companionship, garden goods as well as the gentle kindness that only horses seem to bring.

It’s a no brainer that horse manure is a great thing to add to your garden or other plantings. The main reason is that horses eat grain, grass and hay mostly, so when it is pushed through the body you are left with the great minerals and nutrients that are beneficial to your garden and your soil.

Horses are a considerable investment though and take time, money and the reward of owning one over all. In order to keep a horse there are so many tips that you should keep in mind before just throwing one into the mix of your family and lifestyle. Here are a few tips to help you figure out if a horse would be a great addition to your family.

1. Lessons: If you are considering a horse, you will be riding it, so take lessons and learn the basics first. If you have a friend or relative that already owns a horse and knows the basics of horse-riding it can save you money in the long run. If not, pay for quality lessons with a qualified horse rider.

2. Budget: Set a horse budget. Don’t just go out and buy the best horse that looks good and is pretty. Even if the horse isn’t a champion blue-ribbon winner, it can still be a great horse and the bond will develop with time spent with the house. And don’t just buy a random horse being sold by someone you don’t know. You don’t know the history or the story behind the horse, so do you homework before buying.

3. Be Picky: When it comes to buying the horse be picky. You know what you are looking for and don’t stray from that. Consider gender, age, and even size. If you have little kids, they won’t be able to learn to ride on a large horse. Test the horse out as well. If the seller won’t let you ride the horse before buying it, then something is wrong. Have a vet look the horse over as well. If you aren’t allowed to do those then pass on the horse for your own family.

Don’t forget to use the horse droppings in your garden!

Whether you have a garden for food, or a garden for beauty, certain wildlife is always welcome. Of course, we don’t like the pesky deer or rabbits that seem to want to harm the garden more than help, but birds and other wildlife can actually be beneficial.

A garden for beauty aspects welcome deer and other wildlife such as beavers and otters and depending on how big your garden space is you may even attract the bigger wildlife animals like herons and wild geese.

Even if your goal of a garden isn’t to attract wildlife, you may just attract them anyway. Some of the best ways to see them is with bright flowers and plants and a water source as well.

Excepting the fact that wildlife will be a part of whatever garden escape you have, your best bet is to give them what they are seeking. Deer are normally looking for some sort of food or water. If you supply deer-attracting food, they will more than likely leave your other garden areas alone. Rabbits and other small mammals are looking for shelter, food and possible water as well. Keeping an area around your garden that will attract these wildlife creatures can actually help your garden more than hurt it.

Birds such as herons and geese are always in search of water, so consider a small pond or even a large water source. It’s easy to live in harmony with wildlife and along with wildlife comes pollinators as well like bees, hummingbirds and other helpful insects.

Gardening clubs are a great way to stay in the know when it comes to gardening information and one great club to join is the Home Depot Gardening club.

Home Depot offers everything you could possibly need to keep you garden looking it’s best, but now with the Gardening Club at Home Depot you can get the inside scoop on the latest gardening supplies being sold at Home Depot as well as stay in the loop with savings and coupons for gardening supplies as well.

The Home Depot Gardening Club allows you to sign up for email updates and you receive newsletters and pamphlets to ensure you can be up on the latest through Home Depot.

Being apart of the Home Depot Gardening Club also ensures you can attend many of the educational classes offers at Home Depot as well. Even if it’s for painting a hallway you can still attend any class through the Home Depot stores nationwide.

Not just the Home Depot Garden Club, but with any garden club offered through a church group, a small city, or even planning one yourself with your family and friends, you can offer your tips for gardening as well as learn other people’s gardening tips as well.

Having a garden is a joy and it is even more joyful to share this knowledge with others. A garden can reduce stress and offer food that you can have throughout the year that will save you money as well. Check into the Home Depot Gardening Club by checking out their website and learning how you can have a garden with pride as well.

Willow branch fencing has become more of a decorative thing now days than a necessity like it was back when fencing was needed for cattle and crop protection. Willow fencing can be easily made just by gathering up the sapling growth from an old stump or low hanging branches that hang from just about any tree.

The best time to gather fresh sapling twigs is toward the fall or early spring and it may take about a year to have one long enough to use in a fencing type fashion. Here is a quick way to give you a fencing that can, not only be functional, but also decorative as well.

(Image from Apartment Therapy)
What you will need:

Log fencing posts (these can be found at almost any home improvement store or farming store) You can get creative and use just about anything to hold the branches into place. You could even use 2×4s as well.
Hundreds of saplings, twigs or willow branches
Hammer
Nails, twine, zip ties, or the like

What you will need to do:

Pound the posts into the ground with the hammer, or use a post-hole digger to bury the posts into the ground to be a more permanent fencing. Space them about 10 inches apart and keep pounding them into the ground till you are satisfied with the length of the fencing. You can top the fencing off with a 2×4 on the top of the posts as well to bring the whole fence together in a cleaner fashion.

Weave the branching in and out of the posts and stack them to close the gaps as well as possible. You can use twine, nails, and brads or even zip ties to help hold them into place. Once the weaving is finished, use some pruners and snip away any hangers or jagged edges. Snip the ends of the branching to match up the ends.

Birdbaths may seem not the norm when it comes to gardens, but birds can actually be beneficial to your garden and your flowerbeds. Birds will frequent your gardens and eat pesky bugs and a birdbath can attract those birds to help keep garden pest under control.

With a birdbath you are not only attracting regular birds, but you are also attracting hummingbirds as well and that can be very beneficial to your garden with their pollinating abilities. Here is a simple birdbath that can be constructing in minutes.

What you will need:

3 terra cotta flower pots, one large, one medium, and one small
Flower planter circular in shape
Permanent concrete patching compound
Extra large terra cotta pot, circular in shape, without a drain hole in it (Similar to the one pictured below)

What you will need to do:

First turn the larger terra cotta pot upside down and using the concrete patching compound, glue the smaller sized pot to the bottom of the larger. Make sure the bottom of the larger and the top of the smaller are lined up and match in diameter so the birdbath will be secure and will support the heavy bowl pot.

Next turn the medium-sized pot up right and using the concrete patching compound to secure the bottoms of the medium pot to the smaller pot. Similar to the picture below.

Allow to dry for 24 hours and place the bowl pot on top. You can glue in place or allow it to sit freely for easy cleaning.

These instructions can be altered in any way needed to suit your own taste. Make sure to place the birdbath on a stable area in your garden so that it won’t fall over when more than one bird sits on the edge.

Gardening Picture! (Send in your own photos your garden to featured on a future post at Earthly Garden. Be sure and include your name and location with the photo.)

Garden globes may seem silly to some people, but for gardeners they are a splendid addition to the colors and hues that any garden has. You could go with a garden globe in an all pink rose garden to bring out the colors a bit more or with a clear garden globe in a vegetable garden to help bring the eye toward your plants and vegetables more. Whatever garden globe you choose, make it compliment your garden more than bring it down and the size of the globe can also benefit or hurt the garden theme you are trying to achieve. Here are some ideas to help bring a pretty and functional garden globe to you beds this season.

1. Shimmer Glass Garden Globe: Shimmer glass is a palette that helps bring light to your garden in the form of crushed glass. The crushed glass creates a beautiful one of a kind reflective light that is dazzling to the eye. Available at Target for under $60.

2. Mirrored Garden Globes: Mirrored globes in whatever color you choose tend to reflect the light in the color they are instead of reflect the light in a wide range of colors like the shimmer glass globes dol. They are hand blown and clean with a smooth look to the ball. They can come in a range of sizes from 10″ -16″ across and colors are endless. You can pick one up at Unbeatable Sale online for under $20.

3. Garden Globe Crystals: Crystals are a smaller version of the gazing balls and normally appear in a rot-iron or coated steel decorative stand. They are about 2″-5″ across the sphere and can be found to absorb solar energy to glow at night as well. Pick one up at Gardeners Edge for under $20.

Find a full range of garden gazing globes at Plow and Hearth.

Gardening Picture! (Send in your own photos your garden to featured on a future post at Earthly Garden. Be sure and include your name and location with the photo.)

Along with the posts from before on fire-protecting your home with fire-resistant plants, won’t guarantee a completely fire-proof home all around, but they can help for sure. Here are some tips of characteristics to keep in mind when adding fire-resistant plants and shrubs around your landscape.

• Leaves should be moist and supple.

• Plants have little dead wood and don’t become dry and dead underneath the growth.

• Sap doesn’t have an odor and is water-like and is low as well.

Plants that tend to have a high flammability tend to have dry or dead material such as needles, twigs and leaves under or around the plant. They also have oils and waxes that are volatile in the leaves and twigs. The leaves have a strong odor with smashed or crumbled and the sap also contains a strong odor as well.

Ornamental plants are highly flammable and so are many native plants too. When adding plants and shrubs to your landscape it is best to look for native ones, but it is best to plant these flammable plants and shrubs away from your home if they do happen to be threatened with wildfire threats.

When it comes to decorative mulch be sure and mix the bark mulch with some form of pebbles or river rocks or the like. This combination is less flammable than just the bark mulch alone. If you want to use decorative mulch, use it in areas that aren’t directly right by your home or a structure that could catch fire.