Garden Wildlife
Posted on | March 15, 2012 | Comments Off
Garden Wildlife
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As the garden starts its slow decent into autumn the hues, and colour balance within the borders begin to take on richer, redder and rustic golden tones. It’s the time to savour the last seasonal efforts of the plants to complete their yearly cycle before they drift into a gradual decline with the onset of autumn.
It’s not just the plants that are preparing for the winter slumber. Creatures that hibernate are also preparing for their long sleep, making a den and feeding themselves up for the cold months ahead. Hedgehogs in particular are readying themselves for the winter. If you know you have these delightful creatures in your garden then put out some special hedgehog food to help them fatten up, or a tray of meat based cat food. They will repay you in spring when they feast on the slugs and snails preparing to munch on the fresh spring shoots of your plants.
The birds too need fresh water and plenty of high quality food to see them through the next few months.
Think about the species of birds that visit your garden and choose a feed tailored to their needs to ensure they get the best possible diet. Again, garden birds play a major part in garden pest control
[] Start to tidy the borders cutting back dead and dying growth from plants that are beginning to die back. Be careful to leave some flower and seed heads for the birds for winter food. Some will also look fantastic framed in frost when winter arrives. Cut back soft and sappy growth that has collapsed, died and withered.
[] Leave a few piles of leaves, sticks or logs for the wildlife. Beetles and other beneficial insects can shelter in the leaves and over winter protected from the weather.
[] Start to consider how to fill the borders next year. Autumn is the perfect time for planting, especially bulbs, trees and shrubs. Choose plants that provide good nesting sites for birds and a source of winter berries and don’t forget the bees. Plants such as willow, alder and hazel have early pollen that provides essential protein for feeding bee larvae in spring.
[] Before lighting bonfires look out for hibernating hedgehogs. Move the materials a few feet to one side to be safe and if you do find one try to think of all the slugs he will eat in the spring before you evict him, particularly later in the month.
[] Many animals will appreciate a small log pile or even just some large stones on uneven ground as a hibernation site for the winter. Slug predators such as toads, frogs and ground beetles are the most likely creatures to benefit.
[] Blackberries and other soft-fruit in your garden will be valued by blackbirds and robins amongst others, as well as the redwings and fieldfares, also called “winter thrushes”, which usually arrive from Scandinavia and Russia by the middle of the month. Fieldfares and mistle thrushes may guard a particularly good plant against all comers as an investment for the winter.
To know more about greenhouses and growing plants in your greenhouse in autumn season visit http://growhouse-greenhouses.co.uk/greenhouses.php
Flower Garden
Posted on | March 10, 2012 | Comments Off
Flower Garden
A garden is a space set aside, usually in the outdoors for display of plants, flowers or vegetables. A garden can also be for relaxation and enjoyment especially if it has well manicured grass and bushes. The design depends on the desired needs and the landscape shape. This may be done by the owner or professionally by garden designers. The art of gardening dates back to renaissance period with people like the French, English and the Japanese having different designs corresponding to their culture. Most of the renaissance gardens were developed in ruling families such as queens or kings and rich families.
Garden can support different purposes and thus will have different names. A vegetable garden just like the name suggests is used to grow vegetables for home use or for sale. Vegetable gardens are also known as kitchen gardens. Vegetable gardens often are also used to grow fruits, herbs and flowers.
An exclusive flower garden is one where flowers are grown for decorative purposes. A rock garden is a type of garden that features use of rocks and stones extensively. It is also known as an alpine garden. The plants grown on rock garden are those native to rocky areas. These are normally small species plants that cover or creep on the rocks.
Garden furniture
Gardens can often contain furniture especially if they are used for relaxation and enjoyment. Garden furniture may be made from natural material or plastic that depicts the natural look. These can be garden chairs, tables, benches, beds, sinks and garden shed. The garden shed is a structure used to store garden tools. The garden furniture should be of durable material and one that is easy to clean.
Other accessories are also found in the garden such as swings and umbrellas.
Garden plants
Garden plants can be perennial, annual, climbers or those that live for a few months then wither off. Care is required for these plants because they can be attacked by diseases and parasites. Plants chosen to be planted in the garden should be selected carefully to make sure poisonous varieties are not selected. Toxic plants may be dangerous especially if children and pets will be using the gardens. Some of the garden plants may have useful properties such as medicinal value, cosmetic or even as food products. Some of the garden plants are flowers such as; camellia, lavender, azalea, hibiscus, peony, the weigelia and the cyads. These flowers can be used as Christmas decorations. Garden trees examples include; olive tree, laurel, mimosa, cedar of Lebanon, hackberry, maple, the plum, silver fir, lime, cypress and the poplar tree. These trees can be used as ornamental or as hedges of the garden. They vary depending on the climate of the region therefore one needs to know which tree will best thrive in a specificclimate.
To keep the garden top-notch, frequent pruning is required. Various gardening tools will help perform this duty. There are tools for digging up the soil, mowing, for pruning and sweeping any dirt from the garden. Maintaining the garden may also need constant irrigation to keep the plants alive.
Get all the information on garden furniture, irrigation, garden plants, and much more at eflowergarden.eu to create a beautiful flower garden.