Gardening content

Trees accentuate beauty in a landscape more than most other greeneries. They create an environment of serenity which gives you a chance to let go of any tension that you may be housing within. But these giant beauties don’t start out that huge. They start out as tree seeds and fight the forces until they [...]

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Of prime consideration when selecting plants is the soil type in your garden, particularly whether it is acid – below pH 6.5 or alkaline or limy/chalky – above pH 7.0.   At around pH 7.0, usually known as neutral, certain shrubs or trees which are usually associated with acid soil will perform reason­ably well, although [...]

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The cauliflower has been in cultivation for a very long time indeed. It is mentioned in John Parkinson’s ‘Paradisi in sole Paradisus terrestris’, the first English dictionary of gardening. The title, incidentally, is a pun on Parkinson’s name, meaning `The earthly Park of Park-in-sun’. The cauliflower has been improved out of all recognition, the plants [...]

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As important in the long term as selection of plants that suit your soil is the careful consideration of their likely ultimate size, particularly of trees and the larger shrubs -everything always grows bigger than you expect. There may be a tendency today to treat a small garden as you might a room, ‘redecorating’ or [...]

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The following suggestions are intended for situations where the grass areas are for family play or to set off the surrounding planting, rather than where a perfect lawn is intended. Many books give detailed prescriptions for making and maintaining perfect lawns – if that is your desire. Grass maintenance activities will include mowing, feeding, aerating [...]

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Many methods of controlling herbs and weeds. About 420 of them are good but we will cover only the mechanical ones. Mechanical methods include digging, hoeing, rotovating, cutting and pulling the weeds. In digging the soil is turned over and the weeds growing on the surface are buried, where, deprived of sunlight, they should rot [...]

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Groundcover plants make a close and dense layer of vegetation over the soil surface, preventing weeds from becoming estab­lished. Initially, weed-free ground is essen­tial, as the plants will take a couple of seasons to cover the ground fully and will not suppress established perennial weeds, such as couch.   Groundcover plants include shrubby species, such [...]

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The next point is to find out whether there are sufficient nutrients available for the plants in the soil. There are two practical ways of doing this, by having the soil tested and by observing plants already growing on the site.  It is possible to have the soil tested commercially by a number of firms, [...]

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This involves the removal of weak, damaged, dead or over-crowded shoots. In this way potentially damaging decay fungi which gain entry to weak shoots, etc, can be prevented from growing back into the healthy ones, and the number of places where damaging insects can hide can be reduced. This aspect of pruning would include prompt [...]

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Deciduous trees have best been described as the trees that shed seasonally so that they can adapt to the climatic changes. They are very ornamental plants, adding so much color to a landscape, especially when they appear in clusters. Deciduous trees have a variety of uses in today’s world, with the most obvious being their [...]

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Evergreen trees are usually a natural choice when it comes to landscaping. These trees have the ‘it’ factor that one usually looks for when it comes to bringing aesthetic appeal to a landscape. There are several varieties of evergreens to choose from, and the only limitation is the kind of tree in precision you are [...]

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The forest ecosystems is the combination of forest organisms, from trees, shrubs, fungi, and generally all green and non-green plants, animals and insects together with the environmental components of air, water and soil, organic and inorganic matter including stones and rocks. These components are all within the forest boundary and interact to fully sustain life [...]

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Tropical trees are commonly known trees, the kinds that are associated with the beach. They help one reminisce or fantasize about afternoon or evening walks on the beach as one watches the sun sink into the distant horizon of the sea. Only their aesthetic appeal is understood and all other characteristics about the tropical trees [...]

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Most of the conservation efforts that go into the environment are usually centered on trees. These gifts from nature help keep the environment together and keep a balance between the levels of carbon dioxide in the environment. But that is not the only function that trees are limited too. In fact, it’s a long list, [...]

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Trees are woody perennials that are grown for a variety of purposes. Though there are over 20,000 species of identified tree kinds, most of them different, they do share a common anatomy, much like the mammals do. That means that there is one basic layout of a tree, despite the species, and it’s highlighted below. [...]

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Trees are living organisms which means that they are predisposed to diseases much like every other living thing. The diseases are mainly caused by bacteria and fungi, and the damages caused to the trees are usually very devastating and in severe cases, cause the death of the tree. In fact trees never die of old [...]

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Among the biotic effects that fungi infections cause, tree insects too are responsible for downgrading the health of trees, and in some severe cases causing their death. Insect species that thrive on trees are far too many to list in precision, but there are common ones which have been identified over time.   Aphids are [...]

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Trees are very much living organisms which means that they need food to survive. But trees are heterotrophic, which means that they depend on themselves for food. To manufacture this food, the trees depend on a complex process of photosynthesis. Usually, the key components in this case are carbon dioxide, sunlight and water. If either [...]

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There are two basic ways of tree propagation- the asexual and sexual way. Sexual propagation is almost a natural process where male pollen fertilizes the ovules of another plant, encouraging fruit development. This kind of propagation is undesired as there is mixture of genetic traits and the type of tree produced is usually not of [...]

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Trees are woody plants that are considered perennial. Any woody plant that grows to about 3 meters of height and has a diameter of at least ten centimeters is considered a tree. If it falls below those measurements, it is considered to be a shrub. They are what dominated the earth long before man, and [...]

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Silviculture can be described as the art of manipulating the growth of trees, their composition, their needs and their quality so that they can match the desires of landowners and silviculturists. Before excelling in the field of silviculture, it would help if one understood silvics a little better. In a nutshell, knowing your trees would [...]

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Growing trees in this period in time is highly recommended, not only as a way of going green, but also to add a little color to the landscape and aesthetic appeal as well. Most homeowners wouldn’t mind a couple of trees in the backyard, or if space permits it, around the home area and in [...]

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The Catalpa tree is known by many names, including Catawba, Indian bear or the Cigar tree. It’s a deciduous tree that is able to tolerate most environmental temperatures, including the hot summers where the conditions are hot and dry, or in other words unforgiving. A typical Catalpa tree would grow to an average of 15 [...]

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Good tools are essential to growing good crops of vegetables, they make the work easier and enable cultivations to be done more efficiently. Of first importance is a spade, for it will be used for turning over the soil and for trenching, also for earthing up and lifting the crops. It will be in constant [...]

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The Japanese art of Suiseki, unlike its well-known companion Bonsai, remains determinedly dwarfed and yet once beheld, naturally and delightfully embraced and appreciated.   Everyone, at some time or another, has picked up from the beach or river bed a curiously shaped or colored pebble. It may end up on the desk doing duty as [...]

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Plant breeders from Bangkok and Thailand have given the once-ordinary looking Aglaonemas a new look with their new and exciting crosses of the said plants. Cross-breeding different species from all over Asia for over ten years, Thai scientists have come up with varieties that have thicker, broader leaves with glossy, waxy surface.   Some varieties [...]

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Tree seeds are the natural way of a tree to reproduce itself and generate further generations of trees and the survival of its tree species. But what are tree seeds and how are they produced ? There is various elements to consider when analysing tree seeds.   Tree seeds are usually the fruit of the [...]

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No amount of care in the selection and use of fertilizers and manures will be of much value unless the soil is deeply worked and cleared of all perennial weeds which would compete with the vegetables for their food and moisture.   When first bringing the ground into condition, a start should he made in [...]

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Organic and inorganic manures It is not possible to grow good vegetables without the use of organic manures for these are able to supply the plants with humus in addition to nutrients, whilst valuable trace elements are also present. Those vegetables requiring a long period to mature. possibly a year or more, will need a [...]

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Paths are important for, if well made, this will enable a barrow to he easily moved about the plot, in addition to mechanical cultivators, whilst the lady of the house will be able to pull a few radishes or spring onions or cut a cabbage or lettuce without the need to change her shoes in [...]

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Climate will also play a part in determining the cropping programme. Those gardening in the favourable areas of the south west, from a line drawn from Bristol to Southampton will be able to take several more crops during a season than those gardening in the north. In the south west, where winter temperatures rarely cause [...]

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The most important of winter vegetables for it begins to crop in October and continues until March, spanning the six coldest months of the year. It is extremely hardy and will continue to hear sprouts no matter how severe the weather. To have tine sprouts which retain their shape after cooking, the plants must he [...]

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Green’ manuring, is best done in August. After clearing the ground of perennial weeds, it is thickly sown with rape seed. This will germinate quickly and be ready to dig into the soil during October. By then, a thick mat of fibrous roots and green top growth will have l’ormed and should the rape have [...]

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Though native of the British Isles, it was not until the arrival of the Hugenot refugees who taught us how it should be grown and cooked, that the carrot became an important part of our diet. The most delicious carrots are those grown over a gentle hot bed early in spring, the seed being sown [...]

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Two sowings should be made, one of the self- blanching to use from the latter weeks of summer until the late autumn; another of the ordinary white or pink variety to use through winter. This will be crisp and tender only after hard frost. It requires more labor in its culture than the self- blanching [...]

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No vegetable is more easily managed nor so little grown. It is a native British plant which the countryman knows as Succory and at one time was grown in most cottage gardens for its ‘greens’ yet it is f’ar more appetizing when forced and blanched. It requires a rich, well manured soil containing plenty of [...]

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Where a cold frame or barn-type cloches are available, the frame cucumbers may be grown; where there is no glass then one may still enjoy summer cucumbers by growing those known as ridge cucumbers. These are the hardiest of all the forms, those for frames being also suitable for growing in a heated greenhouse. For [...]

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This has nothing to do with the Holy Land nor is it in any way related to the globe artichoke. Its nearest cultivated relative is, in fact, the sun flower, though its yellow, sun flower-like blossoms are only produced after a long, hot summer. It is native of North America and we first obtained them [...]

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To obtain those large globular bulbs, imported in quantity from Brittany each year, it is necessary to give the onion a long season of growth and iii the colder parts of Britain this is possible only if sets are planted rather than seed. North of a line drawn from Chester to the Wash, it will [...]

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This is one of the most widely used of herbs and is grown in large quantities for garnishing fish and for making sauce to accompany fish. The plant first reached England early in her history but Parkinson tells of having first seen it in 1600, growing in the garden of the Venetian Ambassador in London [...]

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Peppers are of two groups, the sweet and the hot, the former being Capsicum, the latter C. baccatum, also known as the chillie or Bird Pepper. Both are suffciently hardy to grow in the open in the milder parts of Britain. In the colder parts, they are best grown in the greenhouse or frames. The [...]

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A native of South America, the tubers are believed to have first reached Europe from Peru. Today, the potato is the staple diet in many countries round the world but nowhere does it grow better than in the cool, moist climate of Britain where more than ten million tons are produced each year. Apart from [...]

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This is the most handsome of vegetables, worthy of a place in the herbaceous border for its foliage alone. Since the earliest times the flower heads, with their broad thickened scales, have been regarded as an epicurian’s food. It is perennial, native of S. Europe and North Africa, and was prized by the Romans who [...]

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These terms are all fairly much interchangeable, for the marrows, pumpkins and summer squashes are all varieties of Cucurbita pepo. The winter squashes, however, are varieties of Cucurbita maxima, while the Cushaw pumpkin is Cucurbita mixia. The last, while popular in the United States is not a success in Britain, taking too long to mature. [...]

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Tomatoes, or Love Apples, as they were once called, were introduced into Europe shortly after the journeys of Columbus to the new world, but did not reach England until a later date. To begin with they were grown merely for their ornamental and curiosity value, and were thought to be poisonous. To grow them outdoors, [...]

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For the home grower, there is no more valuable plant for both the white and purple-sprouting varieties possess extreme hardiness and may lie grown anywhere in the British Isles to provide a succession of shoots for boiling or braising from early spring until the end of summer. It conies into full cropping when the equally [...]

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Runner or kidney beans follow the early summer French beans, being at their best during late summer and autumn. The runners are more demanding as to their culture for they will reach a height of 8—to feet in a single season and are in every way heavier than other climbing beans. They require a rich [...]

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This plant is not a universal favorite, nor is it very successful in the garden, for summer spinach readily runs to seed, whilst plants of winter spinach may decay in excessively damp weather, but the plant has health giving qualities and many appreciate its unique ‘earthy’ flavor. Summer spinach is best grown from a succession [...]

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Maize, Indian Corn or Corn-on-the-Cob as it is variously called first achieved popularity in Britain with the arrival of the American armies during the Second World War. The old strains, however, were unsuited to the climate and not until the hvbridisers were able to develop several varieties which would mature in the short summer of [...]

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Large quantities of main-crop potatoes may be stored in a clamp made under an open shed or in the open ground. if made outdoors, tip them as they are lifted and dried on to a raised bed so that surplus moisture will not percolate beneath them. The potatoes are placed in ridge fashion, and to [...]

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There are very few things in this world that are as beautiful and pleasant as songbirds. These amazing creatures brighten up gloomy winters and are always enjoyable to have around in your garden. Some bird sightings are rare. If gardeners create a healthy environment for them, we could protect the future of these creatures. Making [...]

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It is said of the weather: Whether the weather be fine, Or whether the weather be not, Whether the weather be cold, Or whether the weather be hot, We’ll weather the weather Whatever the weather Whether we like it or not. The weather however, has a critical role to play in deciding what type of [...]

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Transplanting can be a wrenching subject, especially if the plant or tree in question is an old one. The shock to the plant could be fatal-if not done right. There are some clear guides as to how you could avoid this. For instance cool humid weather is a good time to be considering transplanting-but if [...]

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The cropping of all available ground is of the utmost importance for only a limited area of the garden will he available for vegetable growing and the best possible.usc must be made of it. A 4-course rotation of crops should be followed where possible for there are many advantages to be gained by it. The [...]

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Classification: Kingdom: Plantae Phylum: Angiosperms Family: Sapindaceae Genus: Acer Species: A. palmatum As the name implies Japanese maple is a woody plant species native to Japan. It is also found in Korea and China. It is now grown in many parts of the temperate world and many different cultivars with attractive leaf shapes and colors [...]

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Water being one of most versatile and adaptable features that can enhance a garden, offers you a great opportunity to grow a wide variety of interesting and colorful plants, but to have running water which makes your garden come alive with movement and sound is the most rewarding. You don’t need to have a large [...]

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The building of a Garden Pond is much more than just the dugging of a hole, lining the hole with material and putting in water. There are multiple factors that must be taken in consideration such as the size, shape and whether you are including fish or plants. When you venture into a project of [...]

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Trees that are native to the tropical regions of the world are called tropical trees. The tropical region, or the tropics as it is often called, is the region between the Tropic of Cancer on the northern side of the equator and the Tropic of Capricorn on the southern side of the equator. The tropics [...]

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Trees are called as fruit trees if the fruits they produce are fit for consumption. Fruit trees have been studied and worked with a lot to find the right way to grow and maintain in order to get the right yield. Pears, plums, cherries, apples, citrus fruits, olive, pomegranates, berries, etc. are some of the [...]

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Flowering trees make a garden or a road look heavenly. Dogwood, mulberry, crabapple, weeping cherry, myrtle, magnolia, etc. are some of the beautiful trees that are widely planted. They grow in different shaped. They can be trimmed and kept short or allowed to grow really tall. In a garden, they are generally allowed to grow [...]

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The word deciduous is derived from the Latin word ‘decidere’ which means ‘to fall off.’ Deciduous trees are those trees that shed their leaves seasonally every year and are completely barren for some part of the year. Examples of deciduous types of trees include oaks, maples and birches. The process of losing all their leaves [...]

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As the name suggests, evergreen trees are green at all times of the year. This means that unlike deciduous trees that shed their leaves seasonally, evergreen trees maintain their foliage throughout the year. While some evergreen trees retain their leaves for a few months, there are others who retain them for decades. Evergreen trees have [...]

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