Month: August 2019

Choose a sunny location

Tomatoes require at least 6 hours of sun, so choose a warm location like a sunny balcony or a wall which receives plenty of sunlight. As many small urban spaces are often overshadowed by surrounding buildings, the first thing you need to check is that you have enough sun.

Grow tomatoes in a hanging pot or wall mounted pocket

Choose containers

The basic rule of thumb is the larger the pot, the larger the tomato variety you can plant. If you’re going to planting a cherry tomato variety, you can use smaller hanging pots, window boxes or fabric pockets for a vertical wall mounted structure. If the container does not have drainage holes, drill small holes on the bottom of the container before filling it with soil.

To help satiate the tomato’s desire for food and water, it’s best to grow all but the smallest varieties in decent sized pots – 10 litres or more. A container with a water reservoir is a good investment for tomatoes. It makes watering easier and you’ll get higher yields.

Install a vertical support system

If you’re growing up, then you’ll need to train your tomato vine up a sturdy trellis, tripod, pyramid, wire cages, ladder or even an arbor. Place the support system in your garden or on your patio before planting vegetables. This prevents you from damaging plants.

If you’re growing down (using hanging baskets) then you won’t need a vertical support structure. But do choose the largest basket you can find.

Chooses the right variety

If you live in an environment that doesn’t have a long hot summer that lasts around 3 months, look out for “early ripening” varieties, as these ripen faster.

For hanging basket or pockets, choose a dwarf bush variety like the Tatura Dwarf, Tumbling Tom Hybrid or Small Fry varieties.

For upward growth, choose any of the thousands of vining varieties. You just need to ensure they are well supported, because the stems can easily snap from the weight of the fruit if they’re not properly supported. Top cherry vining tomatoes varieties for pots include Black Cherry, Gardeners Delight, Sungold, and Blondkopfchen. Grow all four and you’ll have an amazing mix of yellow, red and black tomatoes that will look beautiful together in any bowl.

Provide a Nourishing environment

Tomatoes need rich soil and lots of food and water. Tomatoes are best grown in a really good quality multipurpose or potting compost, and add worm compost if available.. If you have a wormery, mix in 10-15% worm compost to add nutrients and soil life.

In hanging baskets, line the inside of the basket with plastic with holes for drainage, and cover the top with mulch to reduce evaporation.

Add a nitrogen high slow release fertiliser to the potting mix during planting. At the flowering stage you need to step up the feeding by using a suitable liquid fertiliser.

Water Often

Tomatoes need regular watering, particularly when grown in pots.

• Uneven watering will cause the fruit to split.
• Total lack of water will make the plant curl up and die pretty quickly.
• Too much water could result in fungal disease, so it’s very important to get the balance right.

If you’re going to be away and unable to water your plants for a day or so, you can try inserting an upturned plastic bottle, with a hole drilled in the lid and the bottom cut off. Fill this up and the water will gently drip into the pot during the day.

During the sixteenth century the initiative passed to Rome, where the architect Bramante designed a papal garden within the Vatican. This was forerunner of the High Renaissance style, with a magnificent arrangement of steps and terraces, which became a prototype for everything which became followed. From then on gardens became even more ostentatious in design, with terraces at different levels retained by walls and interconnected by grand staircases. Water again became a major feature, as it was in Islamic gardens. It was pressurized and used spectacularly, progressing down an incline or displayed in an elaborate fountain. While these Renaissance gardens were still places for cool retreat, with shade and water of great importance, they were also showplaces where the site and its vegetation were deliberately manipulated. The Italians were really the first to make decorative use of plants, with hedges, for example, used to link the house and garden structurally.

The Renaissance movement originating in Italy spread northwards, together with increased knowledge about plants and their cultivation. In France the small formal gardens within the walls of moated chateaux moved outside, becoming much grander in scale and scope. Unlike the Italian hill side gardens, the French ones were flat and straight, most of them situated in the flat marshy areas to the south and west of Paris. The style was still very geometric, as the original pattern of formal beds within a grid system of paths was simply repeated in order to enlarge the garden.

In the seventeenth century Andre le Notre changed French garden planning significantly. With the opening of the chateau garden at Vaux-le-Vicomte in 1661 he established a style which was to influence the whole of Europe for a century. His gardens were still basically formal and geometric in character but they became much more elaborate and interesting with long magnificent vistas, pools or rectangular canals and grand parterres. Parterres were both larger in scale and more intricate in detail than earlier knot gardens. Another distinctive characteristic was the hedge lined avenues which fanned out through the surrounding forest known as pattes d’oie (goose feet). Le Notre was appointed royal gardener to Louis XIV and the garden at Versailles is probably his best known creation. In concept it was a vast outdoor drawing room, intended for the entertainment of a court of thousands.

Though most of Le Notre’s gardens were unashamedly for show they were still not places for colour or floral display; canalized and playing water, clipped and trained vegetation, statuary and elaborate parterres provided the visual interest, along with people walking about in them. This stylized layout, originally designed for large chateaux, was adapted to quite manor house. Like the grand Italian gardens, as they became out of scale with the use of the individual, a smaller secret garden had to be created within them for family use.

At this stage garden design was fairly international in character and more or less uniform throughout Europe. The Germans imitated the Italian Renaissance style but readily switched to the grand geometric French style when it became dominant. The main historical contribution of Germany has been a numerical one – in the sixteenth century there were more gardens in Germany than any other country in Europe – and a certain exaggeration of the elements in any style they adopted. The French formal style of gardening also flourished in the sandy soil of Holland, on a smaller and less sophisticated scale but with more emphasis on hedges, fantastic topiary and decorative planting. Their box-edged formal beds were filled with tulips in the spring, brought back from the Middle East. The Dutch were responsible, through their trading and through their rise as a colonial power, for the introduction of much imported plant material – from China, America, South Africa and many other countries. They introduced the lilac, the pelargonium and the chrysanthemum into Europe and popularized tulips and many other bulbs.

In the same way that English medieval gardens remained pale counterparts of the elegant and colourful enclosures found in Europe, the gardens of English royalty and aristocracy developed on the lines of Italian and French Renaissance layouts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. They were, however, less rigorously formal, since the English climate is more conductive to mixed plating. There was also a developing interest in horticulture and a new emphasis on flowers grown for their appearance rather than for culinary and medicinal use.

One of the first gardens in the grand formal style was Hampton Court Palace, later emulated by all Tudor nobility. The flower beds were laid out in a knot garden pattern and other characteristics included mazes, labyrinths, gazebos or pavilions, topiary, sundials, trellis and arbours. Vegetable gardens were usually walled and separate from the main garden. After 1660 the influence of Le Notre made itself felt briefly: grand parterres replaced simple knots and vast lakes and canals replaced gentle fountain, while broad beech-lined avenues stretched out to the horizon. Though the English could not match the Italians or French designers, not the Dutch as growers, the closely-cut lawn was one feature of English gardens which attracted international admiration.

The seventeenth century was a time for pioneers on the English gardening scene. The first gardening text books appeared, the interest in horticulture increased and a great search for new plants began. The earliest botanic gardens were opened and there was an increasing use of orangeries and conservatoires to protect tender plants. Men like London and Wise set up the first commercial nurseries and began selling plants throughout the land.

Eggshells are primarily made up of calcium carbonate, the same calcium carbonate the makes up the agricultural lime that many farmers add to their soil. Calcium carbonate helps plants develop healthy structures and is required for normal cell growth. It is often recommended for blossom-end rot or BER. BER develops when there is insufficient calcium in developing cells of the plants. If your soil needs calcium, then the eggshells a normal household produces will not be enough. In this situation, go ahead and buy lime or calcium carbonate to improve your soil composition. For those of us that are maintaining already balanced soil, the amount of calcium carbonate you will be adding is helpful over the long haul.

While calcium carbonate the primary gardening benefit of eggshells, it is not the only mineral they provide. Eggshells also contain phosphorus, nitrogen, as well as trace amounts of zinc, iron, copper, sodium, manganese, and potassium. All of which are needed for healthy soil composition. Adding eggshells on a consistent basis over time will help maintain the levels of these essential minerals in your garden soil.

Even before we understood the benefits, we were adding eggshells to our compost bin, but when we started composting with worms, I had to step up my game. Worms are not supposed to have animal protein, but the grittiness of the eggshells helps in their digestive process. So instead of just tossing the eggshells into my kitchen compost bin, I now rinse them and set them out to dry. When they are completely dry, I add them to a zip lock bag I keep just for eggshells. My six year old mashes them up with his fists and stomps on them. I have considered using a coffee grinder to turn them into a fine powder, but our old grinder is hiding somewhere out in the garage because of lack of use and I cannot find it. Maybe we donated it to one of those charities that collects clothes and household goods from your front porch. Anyway, a rolling pin works well too, as does a food processor. Whatever your method, the finer, the better for those tiny worm mouths. We mix the eggshell powder into the worm bedding when we are preparing a new tray, but you could just add the eggshells with your other food scraps or sprinkle it on and fluff the bedding to mix in the eggshells.

• Phalaenopsis Orchids (Moth Orchids)

These are the most commonly found Orchids used as household plants. They are extremely common because they are easy to grow and re-bloom in average household conditions. These are the perfect Orchids for beginners because they are forgiving of mistakes as well. The flowers of a Phalaenopsis Orchid are said to look like moths in flight, hence the name. This is one of the types of Orchid that you can find in any color, making them the perfect gift for anyone and any occasion.

• Cymbidium Orchids

Cymbidium Orchids are another popular orchid best known for their use in corsages. The flowers from this species last for a long time after they are cut and placed in water. The flowers have been known to last a few months if placed in a vase with water. This type of Orchid is also good for beginners, but needs to be in a location where temperatures drop into the mid-50s at night.

• Paphiopedilum Orchids

Lady-slippers are one of the most exotic types of Orchids that you can readily find. They are harder to grow because they need to be well rooted. If you can keep the root system strong, then this flowering plant will thrive. They require a repotting every year to avoid salt buildup and to replace the nutrients depleted from the growing medium.

• Phaius Orchids

This species is very easy to grow indoors and produces a large amount of flowers in bunches. These flowers are very fragrant and are available in a wide variety of colors. This Orchid does best living in temperatures between 65 and 70, with cool nights that drop to around 60. This makes them perfect for a drafty window in your house!

• Vanilla Orchids

Most people know vanilla for its great flavor and scent that can be found in ice cream, soda, and fragrances. What most people don’t know is that it originally comes from Orchids. This Orchid type is the original source of vanilla in nature. They are well known for the scent and large cluster of white flowers that they produce. This is one of the types of Orchids that is hard to propagate and is growing increasingly rare.

• Laelia Orchid

This Orchid type grows large flowers that can grow to 8-12 inches in some plants. They mostly enjoy bright, indirect sunlight and varieties can be grown in both warm and cool areas. You can also grow this species clinging to bark or in well-draining soil. These Orchids are considered the workhorse of Orchids because they were used to cultivate most of the most beautiful orchids that are popular today.

• Epidendrum Orchids

Epidendrun Orchids were one of the first established genera of Orchids. They produce bunches of medium-sized flowers on reed-like stems. You can find this orchid with clusters of orange, yellow, lavender, red, or fuchsia flowers. They require a good amount of indirect light and will suffer greatly from direct sunlight.

• Cattleya Orchids

This Orchid, formally referred to as the queen of Orchids, was a prerequisite for all special occasions before the creation of hybrid species. Of all of the types of Orchids, this type has one of the most storied pasts. It takes four to seven years for this Orchid to be mature enough to flower. After that, they will produce flowers year after year if cared for properly. These flowers can be found in a wide array of colors, including just about everything except true blue.

• Dendrobium Orchids

These types of Orchids are some of the most common found as household plants. There are over one thousand types of Dendrobium Orchids, and all have different requirements for air, light, and water. They can be found with large or small flowers of just about any color. Make sure to reference the basic care information that was provided with this Orchid when you purchased it.

• Brassia Orchids

These Orchids are often referred to as “Spider Orchids” because of the size and shape of the flower. The elongated, spike-like legs make this Orchid look like a spider. The spider shape is as effective for pollination as it is cool to look at. They are designed like this to attract spider wasps that hunt spiders in its natural habitat. When the wasp moves in for the kill, pollen sticks to its body and transfers to the next flower. The flower petals are green or yellow and are accented with maroon, the same colors as local spiders.

Enhanced value

The most obvious advantage of a roof garden is as a valuable amenity that enhances the worth of the structure it occupies for a relatively modest expenditure. A roof garden substantially enhances re-sale or rental values. It raises property values. It is additional or reclaimed usable space. A bonus is the ability to gain promotion and marketing benefits via a green roof.

Increased Life Expectancy of the Roof

One of the great benefits of roof gardens and green roofs is that, by protecting the underlying roof covering, they extend the life of the existing roof fabric by up to 200%. A green roof protects the roof membrane from climatic extremes and physical abuse, thereby greatly increasing the life expectancy of the roof.

Property Tax Credit Incentives

New York City recently passed a city bylaw that rewards building-owners who cover 50 per cent of available rooftop space with a green roof with a one-year property tax credit of up to $100,000. The credit would be equal to $4.50 per square-foot of roof area that is planted with vegetation, or approximately 25 per cent of the typical costs associated with the materials, labor, installation and design of the green roof. More and more municipalities and other government agencies are providing incentives that can help offset the cost of a green roof.

Insulate against heat and sound

Buildings with roof gardens lose 30% less heat in the winter, are cooler in the summer, and offer year-round sound insulation. Green roofs can improve the thermal resistance of the roof assembly throughout the year, especially in summer months by helping to reduce cooling costs, saving fuel. Reduced noise levels from typical extensive green roofs (3″ – 4″ growing media) reduce reflective sound by up to 3 dB and improve sound insulation by up to 8 dB

Retain and manage rainwater

Stormwater retention: green roofs absorb up to 75% of rainfall, thus reducing the runoff dramatically, and lowering the risk of floods. Depending on the design, a green roof can typically reduce storm water run-off by 50 to 90%. Additionally, the peak flow volume is greatly reduced and the peak flow period is delayed by as much as 4 hours, minimizing the impact on existing sewer systems.

Provide social benefits

Green roofs expand the usefulness of buildings via patios, gardens and vistas. Planting gardens, both at ground level and in the sky, provide not only great spaces for relaxation and enjoyment, but also are great to look at!

Improve air quality

Plants produce oxygen and remove carbon dioxide from the air. They also trap up to 85% of airborne particulates on their leaf surfaces. Plants, soil, and air trapped in the soil are great acoustic insulators.

Finding the Perfect Growing Conditions

It is imperative that your herbs grow in the right environment and you need to know what growing conditions will allow for the growth of the herbs easily and without much loss. Different herbs will obviously have a difference in the perfect conditions that they need for their growth. Despite this fact, there are ideal conditions that all herbs require in order to grow without a lot of problems. The ideal conditions for the growth of herbs include sunny and sheltered locations with well drain soil as well as the availability of adequate water. it is however not common that all of these conditions will be exactly where you need them and sometimes you can have good quality soil and too much sunlight, or enough sunlight and not so good quality soil. In this case, it is up to you to ensure that the quality of the soil is changed.

For instance, if your garden is made up of heavy clay soil, then you can make the soil quality better by incorporating some coarse grit to make the clay soil less absorbent as well as incorporating some compost manure or recycled green waste to improve on the drainage of the clay soil. Another important factor to take into consideration would be the soil PH which should be neutral to alkaline because although there are herbs that can be able to tolerate slightly acidic soil, not many can. If your soil is too acidic, it is advisable to add lime during the preparation of the soil.

Growing your Herbs Outside

When making plans to incorporate your herb garden ideas into your planting, you will obviously consider the option of whether or not you are going to plant their herbs indoors or outdoors. The decision for you may be made purely based on the space that you have. If you have an herb garden, then it makes it easy for you to make the decision to grow the herds outside. Herbs can be grown in your vegetable plot or even amongst the flowers that you grow in your garden. Because herbs can be appealing to look at and this means that they can have an aesthetic value to your garden.

The best kinds of herbs to grow outdoors are biennial and annual herbs whose seeds can be sown in March or August. These include Parsley, Dill, Coriander and Chamomile. In order to ensure that there will be a continued supply of the fresh herb leaves, it is important that the seeds are sown at intervals of three to four weeks. The advantage of growing the herbs outdoors is that you find it easy to grow herbs that are hard to transplant and have to be grown directly from the seeds.

When it is cold, however you can plant the seeds in seed trays until they germinate and then transfer them to the garden at a later date when the weather is warm. If you are going to incorporate this plan into your herb garden ideas, it is important that you read the instructions on the seed packet before planting so as to ensure that you are doing it correctly.

Growing Herbs Indoors

Many people are increasingly opting to plant herbs indoors in pots and containers as opposed to outside in the garden. This can be a very good idea if you have limited space and still want to have a fresh herb supply throughout the year. The process of growing the herbs in pots or containers is basically the same as the growing them outdoors except for the fact that you will have to be extra vigilant to ensure that your plants are grown in the right size pot and that they get enough water to grow.

The advantage of growing herbs indoors is that the weather conditions don not play a major role in whether or not you get to enjoy fresh herbs all year around. Annual herbs that are grown indoors have an extended season meaning that you get to continue to have fresh herbs all year around.

• Build a shed around your heating oil tank. The shed will need to have large doors so that the entire tank can fit through, in case the tank needs replacing, and preferably not be of a wood construction in the event of a fire. The tank also needs to be well lit and easily accessible for filling, including sufficient roof height. Making the shed bigger than required for the tank will also ensure there is enough ventilation around the tank.

• Put a trellis fence around your oil tank. Trellis is a great way to disguise a tank and can be incorporated with your garden theme and colours. Make sure you have a gate or entrance on one side so that the tank is easily accessible for filling and maintenance. You could even cover the trellis with hanging vines to create even more of a disguise.

• Build a wall around your domestic oil tank. Using concrete blocks or cement you could build a wall around your oil tank, but be sure to leave plenty of space for ventilation around the tank. Be sure not to block the tank in as it’ll need to be accessible for the driver to inspect before his delivery and for filling and maintenance. Once the wall is in place, you can decorate the area with plants; however these you will need to move these out of the way before your delivery is made to ensure that there are no hazards to your delivery driver. Potted plants would need to be moved before the delivery. If any plants are put in permanently, they need to not be of a height that would impede the delivery, and not have thorns that would cause injury to the driver during the delivery.

• Surround the tank with tall plants. You’ll need to leave adequate space around the tank, but plants and bushes such as holly and boxwood provide good coverage when they are fully grown. Grasses such as pampas grass are also quite popular as they don’t take long to grow. Pots in plants would need to be moved before the delivery.

• Get creative. If you’re feeling particularly creative you could choose to paint your oil tank – although done poorly you could attract even more attention to it! We’ve seen everything from Dougal (the Magic Roundabout Character) to giant watermelons and marrows, to Thomas the Tank Engine!