My summer has been incredibly dry and hot with 3 of the last five days in the triple digits, but this container garden is still going strong with 3-4 waterings per week. This planter garden is packed with bright and refreshing colors, and 5 different types of drought hardy plants that fill in the container quickly, and make your thumb look greener than it may actually be.
(more…)
Pardon my absence, I’ve been planning my very own garden themed wedding (of course), in an unbelievably fast 2 month window! It’s been a busy couple of weeks for me, beginning with a surprise engagement to my boyfriend, and steam rolling into a wedding day that’s only one more month away!
I’ve never been a believer in long engagements, at least for myself, so this past month has been a series of evenings filled with rapid fire decisions to make, and venues to tour. My evening freelance writing has fallen to the wayside a bit, and I’m looking forward to jumping back in with all of you. Curious about how he popped the question, and where we went to celebrate our engagement day, keep reading this week for more of my story, and regular updates from my very sleep deprived mind.
All the best,
Amy the Green Gardenista
Well, the long weekend is almost over for those of us in the USA. If you are like me you may find yourself in some serious bumper to bumper traffic as you leave the beach, and having a little garden reading can really lighten the travel stress. Here’s what I’m going to be reading today on my way home!
Amy Leigh over at “Growing Plants Indoors” is talking carnivorous plants, and has a list of 10 Indoor Plants That Can Eat Bugs, and break you out of your indoor plant rut.
Fine Gardening has a great article on how to plant 10 Different Plants For Year Round Container garden appeal!
Fern over at Life on the Balcony has tips for the summer gardener, and how to start a late Summer Edible Container Garden.
Virginia over at Planet Green is giving us the dirt on city gardening with The City Girl’s Guide to Country Gardening Lesson #12: Sussing Out Your Soil.
And TipNut has 50 Soothing Home Remedies you can make yourself to treat and relieve your summer sunburn. Talk about timely information!
I’m off to hit the roads, so I wish the rest of you the best of luck in your travels as well! I hope you had a restful Fourth of July Weekend.
This is the face of my Saturday mornings lately, and I’m loving it! The Raspberry and Blackberry bushes I planted shortly after I moved in to my city townhouse have given me their first big yield, and on Saturday mornings one of the first things I like to do is collect the newly ripened berries for cooking. I keep my berry bushes on trellises in my front yard to give them the optimum amount of sunlight, and to keep them looking a little more organized and upright than they would if I let them flop around like they would prefer. (more…)
Being in the green business I get a lot of questions from friends and family about the pros and cons of lawn services over a Do-It-Yourself program. There is a lot of satisfaction to be gained in building your lawn up yourself, and for many people (myself included), puttering around in the yard is both an enjoyable hobby and a stress reliever. For those of you considering a lawn service for the next chapter in your life I would like to share with you my “insiders perspective” about what the strengths and weaknesses of the lawn care industry are, and give you some pointers on things to look for when choosing one for yourself. I will preface this post by saying that I am not employed by any lawn care service, and have no interest in recommending any one service by name. If you are considering a lawn service, I want to give you the right questions to ask to help you find a company that will save you time, money, and environmental impact, all while building a beautiful and healthy lawn.
This Caladium and Hibiscus garden is great for several reasons, the number one being that this Caladium is sun loving and can thrive in areas that used to burn out a Caladium’s big, bright leaves. Additionally, this combination is the perfect thing for soggy corner areas that seem to promote mold and rot in other plants.
Recipe For This Container Garden:
- 1 Yellow Hibiscus Tree
- 3 Red Flash Caladium
- 3 Rainbow Confetti Lantana
(more…)
Now is the perfect time to build your own cold frame greenhouse for the cold weather months, so you can grow your own veggies and salad green thoughout most of the year. You don’t need a lot of know how, or space to create your own greenhouse in, and you can create a simple cold frame from treated lumber, or plywood from you local home improvement store. Plans for a winter cold frame house to grow salad greens and veggies can be as simple as this plan below.
(more…)
Canadian Geese are a nuisance across much of North America, where flocks of several hundred at a time may take up residence in public space and create major waste problems. While the Canada Goose is a welcome native species in North America, they have been naturalizing in parts of Europe where they are not native. In the United States where they have been protected for decades, their numbers have boomed enormously, and can cause problems for businesses that rely on large areas of open turf as part of their business model. From golf courses, to retirement communities, Canada Geese can cause major problems if their numbers are not modified, and controlled, and the pound of poop per day that they produce can be a public health hazard.
One method of natural goose control aside from goose fencing, and population control, is to use larger birds to limit the number of mated pairs hanging around a property and creating more geese. Mute Swans are European, and Asian native birds that can be used to effectively control the nesting population of Canadian Geese. They are large, ornamental, and aggressive with other bird species once they have reached sexual maturity at 5-7 years of age. When they reach sexual maturity, if they are in a mated pair, care must be given around them once the mating season arrives since their aggression is not only limited to other animals. If you use a mated Mute Swan pair to control the population of nesting geese it is wise to let the human population know that the birds are unpredictable in their territory in early spring, once they begin to nest, and that they may chase after humans.
(more…)
Ronnie Citron-Fink of Care 2.com and I got together last week to do a ‘Q and A’ roundup of common questions regarding pond care and maintenance. I’ve come up with some great tips and advice for her readers in “Pond Secrets: Create Vibrant, Healthy Ponds With The Green Gardenista,” tackling issues like algae, pond design, fish choices, and eco-friendly pond liners.
Looking for some tips and encouragement? Read our interview, and follow Ronnie’s own pond and garden adventures as she “goes green” in her own neighborhood!
This peach themed container design works in partial sun and shade, to fully sunny locations, and features a mix of perennial and annual flowers, and shrubs. In cool climates, only the Roses in this container will last from year to year, but in warm climates the Coleus can be perennial as well. Want to recreate this look?
The Ingredients:
- 1 Peach ‘Daybreaker’ Floribunda Rose
- 3 Different Varieties of Coleus
- 3 Peach Superbells
I chose to contrast the peach of the Roses and Superbells with the bright reds and purples of Coleus, and I think it looks lush and bright, just in time for summer!
(more…)
Recent Comments