You will need:

1. Cold Frame
2. Burlap
3. Thermostat
4. Sand
5. Heating Cables
6. Burlap

Garden Hotbeds

Steps:

1. Firstly, measure the width and the length of the cold frame’s base. Make 12 to 14 inches of deep pit that suits the cold frame dimensions.
2. Then, set the cold frame into the pit before placing the frame, so the slope of the glass lid faces the direction that receives the most sunlight. Place about 6-inch of gravel into the cold frame. Spread a sheet of burlap over the top of the gravel before covering it with a layer of clean sand about 2-inch thick.
3. Place the heating cable on top of the sand about 3 inches from the side of the cold frame. Run it the length of the cold frame, loop it and then run it down a second row, which is placed 6 inches away from the first cable row. Keep running and looping the cable until you reach the end of the cold frame.
4. Next, plug the cable into the thermostat and plug the power source of the cable and the thermostat into an outdoor wall outlet. Cover the heating cable with 2 inches of sand before covering the sand with a second sheet of burlap. Place again a second of 2-inch sand on top of the burlap. On top of the sand, you can start to set the plant.
5. A hotbed can be overheated if the cables even if the cables are turned off on sunny days, so open the top of the cold frame to help the temperature inside regulate. The temperature of the hotbed can be adjusted with the thermostat as seeds germinate at temperatures between 70 to 75 F while plants grow at temperatures between 65 to 75 F.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

The American Gardener: A Treatise on the Situation, Soil, # and Laying Out of Gardens, on the Making and Managing of Hot-Beds and Green-Houses and on the … of Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Flowers.

The English Gardener: Or, a Treatise On the Situation, Soil, Enclosing, and Laying-Out, of Kitchen Gardens; On the Making and Managing of Hot-Beds and … Sorts of Kitchen-Garden Plants, and of Fruit

DIY Garden Hotbeds is a post from: DIY Guides

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2. Building edging and step stones for your garden
3. Protecting Plants in the Home Garden From Frost Damage

How to Shop for Artificial Plants for Your Home:

• First of all, make a color scheme or sketch the artificial plants that you want to buy for your home. The sketch does not have to be exact as you only need to have the ideas of what kind of artificial plants that you want and where to put them in your house. Think about the furniture and wall color and what kind of artificial plants that will look the best.
• Snap a few pictures with your digital camera of the room that you wish to decorate. If you have the color palette determined, snap some pictures of your room. This will help you to visually place the plant ideas against the photos. Simply print out the pictures on your printer or any local photography stores after taking the pictures.

Artificial Plants

• Search and shop in your area or surf within comprehensive websites that offer and carry the artificial plants that resemble your ideas of plastic plants.
• There is no reason for you not to choose an online bargain such as online auction sites like eBay as the artificial plants are light and can ship safely. You could also search these artificial plants at tag or garage sales for great deals.
• Most people who move from home to home tend to take only certain things and leave things they wish not to take with them to the next place, and artificial plants are among this type of things, so you can get great deals for even only pennies to pay.
• After purchasing the plants, lay them out and remember to keep the receipt so that you can return artificial plants that you do not use, in case that happens.
• Lay them out and spend a few days to determine whether they are the right fit to the room you wished to decorate with the artificial plants. Do not feel intimidated or afraid to arrange and re-arrange until you are perfectly happy with the look.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Indoor gardening: Artificial lighting, terrariums, hanging baskets, and plant selection (Home and garden bulletin)

House plants to grow if you have no sun

Shopping for Artificial Plants is a post from: DIY Guides

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Building bedding in your garden is meant for planting specific plants. These beddings will help to protect the plants from weeds and to keep some plants away from others so that these plants would not be disturbing each other’s growth. Most gardeners often practice organic gardening, which does not harm the environment at all. Also by with organic gardens, these will produce vegetables without using herbicides and pesticides. Here is the information on how to use organic bedding plants.

Steps to organic bedding plants:

• Before incorporating organic mulches into the flowerbed, gardeners must compost the mulch first. Pine bark humus will help to enhance the garden drainage. Gardeners can add anything to compost organic materials that the plants will need.
• Some composters would also add worms into their compost because the worms will help to break the composted material. Gardeners should always turn over the compost materials frequently to make the compost stays aerated. Or, the decomposition will have a lack of oxygen, which will produce bad odors condition according to the North Carolina State University College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.
• It is important to use herbicides with organic mulches as they can bind with chemical herbicides and reduce their effectiveness. However, the organic herbicides will only work with the organic mulches. Plants with bedding do not need herbicides since the bedding will keep the weeds away from the treasured plants. Also, gardeners can pull out the weeds easily when it gets to the bedding.
• Gardeners should not use treated wood if they want to make flowerbeds and other bedding out of wood. The reason is that the wood contains chemicals that can leach into the soil, which can harm the environment. When constructing a garden bedding, gardeners should use untreated wood.
• The plants will continue to grow and develop roots, which bedding cannot hold. In this condition, the gardener will have to transfer the plant out from the bedding and to a larger gardening container or to the backyard. The plant will develop greater resistance to weeds as the plants get bigger and there will be no need to use pesticides and herbicides.
• Gardeners should be careful when transplanting indoor plants to outdoors since these plants might not have stronger tissues to survive through the wind and temperatures.
• Gardeners can remove the plants from the bedding and use steam treatments when the beddings suffered from fungal or bacterial infections. The steam treatments will kill all of the pathogens, but will not do any lasting negative effect to the environment since the steam is simply from water.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

The Organic Gardener’s Handbook of Natural Pest and Disease Control: A Complete Guide to Maintaining a Healthy Garden and Yard the Earth-Friendly Way (Rodale Organic Gardening Books)
What’s Wrong With My Plant? (And How Do I Fix It?): A Visual Guide to Easy Diagnosis and Organic Remedies

Organic Bedding Plants is a post from: DIY Guides

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1. Making your garden organic
2. Weeding Plants in a Hurry
3. Choosing Fool Proof Plants

It will only make you frustrated to see your plants in your backyard or garden die just after few days after being planted. It may happen to other people, but you can prevent it from happening to you because sometimes the problem comes from the soil in your backyard or garden that doesn’t suit the shrub or plants that you choose. You should know what kind of soil that you have so you could choose the right plants and make the most of your backyard or garden. Here are the steps on how to run a soil test.

You will need:

1. Soil Samples
2. Soil Ph Meter
3. Shovel Or Trowel
4. Core Sampler
5. Soil Texture Chart
6. Munsell Soil Color Chart

Soil Sample

Steps:

1. First, take some soil samples from your backyard or garden for analysis. You could either use a trowel, core sampler or a shovel to take soil from about 6 to 8 inches below the ground for the soil test. You could also use soil testing kit that can be bought from science supply catalogs.
2. Use a Munsell soil color chart to help you to classify the color of your soil samples. You can buy this chart from science supply catalogs or stores from the internet. The Munsell chart has color plates that are used as instructions and classification to use.
3. Next, take some observation to the texture of your soil samples. You could check out the internet to find examples of soil texture charts. These charts will help you determine the grain sizes for your soil, the percentage of silt, loam and clay in the soil. By observing your sample soil, the type of soil that you have will be determined.
4. Take note for any structures in your soil samples such as burrows. The porosity of the soil, which is important in the test, will be determined by the structures present. To know the soil structures, check your Munsell Soil Color chart or online. For the pH analysis, use a soil pH meter to help you identify your soil’s acidity and alkalinity. The importance of the pH test will let you inform on what kind of plants are suitable for the soil and the right fertilizers to use.
5. If you want further analysis, take your soil samples to a soil analysis laboratory. The soil will be tested with more in-depth analysis such for organic matter and nutrient levels such as nitrogen, oxygen, calcium and phosphorus.

Image Credit:

Flick CC

Additional Reading:

Geotechnical analysis of soil samples

Methods of chemical analysis for soil survey samples

Soil Sample Analysis is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. What determines if the Soil is Acid or Alkaline?
2. Types of Soil Grains
3. Testing Your Soil Composition

You will need:

1. Compost
2. Water
3. Ground Cherry Seeds
4. Planting Pots

Ground Cherry

Steps:

1. First, search for the ground cherries seeds which are mainly available at online suppliers because the cherries are not as popular as they were once.
2. Purchase your ground cherries seeds on early spring or in the late winter so that you will have the time to plant the ground cherries indoor and then when the weather is warm, you can set the plant outside of your house.
3. Before the frost-date for your place happens, plant the ground cherries seeds in pots filled with composts for 60 days.
4. Cover the seeds with the soil shallowly and then press down firmly. Water the seeds thoroughly and place them in a humid location. Until they start to sprout, there is no need for sunlight for the plants. To prevent the young seedlings from drying out, keep the tops of the pots by misting some water on them.
5. You should place the growing seedlings near a sunny window and keep them watered. Turn the tray of pots daily to make the seedlings grow straight if the seedlings seem to stretch towards the sunlight.
6. Once the frost is gone, plant the ground cherries outside your house by taking the seedlings outside in a semi-shaded area for a few hours before returning them the indoors. This step will make the plants get used with the outside environment.
7. Add the length of time and amount of sun per daily for a week gradually until the seedlings become used with the outside condition. Use well-dug soil that has been mixed with animal manures or compost as the medium to plant the seedlings. Plant them in a sunny location and give at least 8 hours of sunlight per day.
8. Water the ground cherries thoroughly before drying out. If you use compost and animal manure, there is no need to use any other fertilizer during the growing phrase. The ground cherries will reach 2 feet high and spread out and make the soil naturally moist.
9. To harvest your ground cherries, check whether the papery husk can be pulled back from the cherry and it has already turned yellow-orange. In some area, you need to allow some of them ripe and fall to the ground and the new ground cherry plants will grow in the next year. You can eat ground cherries fresh in salads and salsa, or cook them for pies or any other desserts.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Ground Cherries, Husk Tomatoes & Tomatillos

Fruits and Berries for the Home Garden

Planting a Ground Cherry is a post from: DIY Guides

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What you need:

1. Cilantro seed
   
2. Suitable location for planting the plant
   
3. Mulch or compost
   

Cilantro

Method:

1. Cilantro plant is a very fast growing plant and once the roots consistently reach 75 degrees, the plant will start to seed. The cilantro seeds need to be planted a few inches apart from each other in the area that you have chosen to plant it. The area should be able to receive both sun (morning) and shade (afternoon) and by planting them close together will enable your plants a little bit of extra shade that keeps the roots cooler and longer. The cilantro seeds should be planted at least 1/4 inch deep into the ground.
   
2. The best time to plant cilantro is during the spring and fall because of the summer heat that enables the faster process of growing and the plants will bolt to seed very quickly. In order to get the optimum growth, your soil should be well-drained and moist.
   
3. The next step is to add some mulch or compost onto the cilantro bed in order to provide nutrients to the soil and also work as an extra layer of protection for its roots.
   
4. Once your cilantro herbs begin to flower, you should trim off its flower heads in order to prolong the plants leaf growth. By doing this, the plants energy will be directed back into the leaves instead of the flowers and seeds. Besides that, if you allow the plant’s seed heads to mature, they will re-sow themselves into the garden and in a few weeks time, you will be having another new crop of cilantro plant.
   
5. With careful monitoring and the condition is good, cilantro plants should be ready to be harvested after 8 weeks. You also would be able to cut the plant during its growth period, but it is recommended that you wait until it reaches at least 6 inches tall for a more optimum leaves.
   
6. Always cut the outer leaves first so that the smaller leaves close to the stalk able to continue its growth and mature.
   
7. You can harvest the cilantro plant’s leaves at least two or three times before allowing the plants bolt to seed and once they begin to seed, you can collect the seeds. This can be used as coriander or you can save them to dry out and be replanted back again. Cilantro leaves are usually used fresh because when the leaves dried, it kind of loses its flavour.
   

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Growing, Harvesting, And Preparing Herbs For Use In Home Cooking

Seed to Seed: Seed Saving and Growing Techniques for Vegetable Gardeners

Growing and Harvesting Cilantro is a post from: DIY Guides

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Bamboo plants are not that popular to be placed in a garden. Let’s face it, the places that you probably spotted bamboos are in the forest or on the wild side. You might have second thoughts on whether or not to have bamboo plants in your lovely garden, but overall they are very attractive and unusual type of plants to have in a home garden. Those who have taken the time out to plant bamboo in their gardens have loved the process of it, specially the output.

Whatever said and done, bamboo plants are indeed great additions to your landscape as they are very attractive plants, especially if you want to create a Zen or Japanese garden. Although it is tricky to propagate bamboo plants, the timing is the key to make it happen. You need lots of patience and you should really look forward to putting your time into this as the results would be so wonderful and worthy of your time spent on propagating these bamboo plants. Here are the steps on how to propagate bamboo plants.

You will need:

1. Potting soil
2. Spading fork
3. Spade
4. Pruning saw
5. 1 gallon plastic nursery containers

Bamboo Plants

Steps:

1. First, try to do the bamboo propagation in early spring before the active growth begins. The best indication for the time for you to dig is the rising temperatures and lengthening of daylight hours. Low winter temperatures or high summer heat will decrease viability.
2. Then, dig and divide the existing clumps of bamboo. Use a spade to dig around the outside of the clump. Lift the clump from the soil with a spading fork gently. If the clump is large, ask for another person to help you.
3. Divide the bamboo clump in several pieces by using a sharp pruning saw. You should have at least 3 culms or the large woody stems in each division.
4. Make sure that you get some foliage and roots and culms. If a significant amount of root is lost in digging, reduce the foliage as the roots will only support a corresponding amount of foliage. Check if there are some green leaves left on the culm so that there will be new plants for photosynthesize.
5. Next, put potting soil that is rich with organic matter and fast draining in a clean 1 gallon nursery containers about halfway up.
6. Place the bamboo divisions in the prepared nursery containers.
7. Make adjustment to the soil so that the top of the root ball sits just above the surface. Top about 1 inch below the rim of the pot, leaving room to water with potting soil.
8. Squeeze the bamboo in tight as it’s better for them to be root-bound.
9. You should place the new plants in a protected place in partial shade with no direct sun until the new growth developed. Water the containers until the water runs out of the drain holes or whenever the soil feels dry to touch.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Practical Bamboos: The 50 Best Plants for Screens, Containers and More

Ornamental Bamboos

Propagating Bamboo Plants is a post from: DIY Guides

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We can choose to plant vegetables and fruits so that we can get something in return for our gardening efforts when it comes to these types of plant. If we want to beautify our garden, make it beautiful to complement the house, then using pretty plants or rather plants that will grow beautiful with a mixture of colors will be the right and definite choice.

Yams form part of the type of plants that a gardener would plant to mainly benefit from it. Yams or sweet potatoes in general are actually vegetables and are mostly grown in warmer climates such as in the North America. In cooler climates, yams are more complicated to grow. If you want to produce edible yams, make sure to root a yam that is meant to be for eating and not the type of variety for adding color or size to a flower garden. Here are the steps on how to root the yams.

You will need:

1. Glass
2. Water
3. Wood meat skewers or toothpicks

Yams

Steps:

1. First, buy yams (one or more) or sweet potatoes from a grocery store. Look for the yams that have healthy looking ends when picking them. Using healthy yams root the quickest and also produce the best roots, so check the yams at the grocery store carefully.
2. A sweet potato, unlike a traditional potato, will not root from the eyes on the vegetable. During the process, the yam\’s ends will produce the sprouts so any mushy or damaged ends will not work well for rooting.
3. Then, fill a glass with water (room temperature) about halfway full. Lukewarm water is the most suitable to use as water that is too hot or too cold can shock the roots and stop the process of growing well. Put toothpicks or wooden meat skewers around the yam at the halfway point.
4. Make sure they protrude enough so the yam will rest on the glass edge and hold the yam up from being submerged in water. Only the bottom of the yam should be in the water. Also on the same agenda, you could either add water or move the toothpicks.
5. Next, allow the yam to sit in the water. It will produce root like spikes from the bottom. When the water runs low, you could add more water to the glass. Avoid allowing the yam to stop touching the water as this will stop the rooting process. Plant the yam when the roots reach about 6 inches long. Basically, yams are best planted in moist and rich soil.

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

The Yam: A Tropical Root Crop (Tropical Agriculturalist)

Sweet potato culture: Giving full instructions from starting the plants to harvesting and storing the crop. With a chapter on the Chinese yam

Rooting Yams is a post from: DIY Guides

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Are you one of those who have a small and shady corner in your garden? If you have no idea on what to do with your shady corner of the lawn then this is the perfect project for you. Here are the steps on how you can plant on a shady border garden with flowers and shrubs that grow well in a light shade and that are only low maintenance.

You will need:

1. Shovel
   
2. Compost or decayed manure
   
3. Twine and small sticks
   
4. 2 smoke trees
   
5. 2 hydrangeas
   
6. 3 hebe
   
7. 1 rosa rugosa
   
8. Bulbs (optional)
   
9. Water
   
10. Complete fertilizer
    
11. Rake
    
12. Yard stick or measuring tape
    
13. Trowel
    
14. 4 ligularias
    
15. 3 hostas
    
16. 4 crocosmias
    
17. 6 bugleweed
    
18. Mulch
    
19. Pruning shears
    

Steps:

1. First of all, start this project off by preparing a location for your shady border garden that is not located under large trees. Dig the ground about 2 feet deep and remove any weeds and roots. Mix with a large amount of compost or decayed manure. Use a rake to smooth the area. Mark the border into 4 by 4 yard sections using twine and small sticks. The result should be 16 sections with each section of 1 yard square. In the fall, plant the shrubs and perennial flowers in warmer climates and in, that\’s about it the spring in cooler climates.
   
2. Then, plant the two smoke trees by placing them in the outer back corners on each side of the border.
   
3. Proceed to leave these two inner sections (between the shrubs) and the row of sections in front of the trees empty to allow for the trees\’ mature growth. Plant the next row of sections from left to right. Plant the hydrangea in the center of the first section. Plant the ligularias in each corner of the second section. Carry on the project by planting the foxgloves in the third section with one in each corner and one in the center. Continue by planting the other hydrangea just right in the center of the fourth section.
   
4. Plant the last row of sections from left to right. Plant 3 hostas in a triangle in the first section. In the second section, plant 3 hebes in a triangle with the point opposite the other triangle of hostas. Proceeding in the third section, start off by planting 4 crocosmias with 1 in each corner. Plant a Rosa rugosa in the last section. Fill in the area in front of the Rosa with bugleweeds.
   
5. To remove the air pockets, water and settle in the plants. Spread a thick covering of mulch between the plants to help retain moisture and prevent weeds. You can also plant spring and summer bulbs between the smoke trees to help fill the large gaps until the trees are established.
   
6. You can water the shade garden regularly, but do not overwater it. Prune and deadhead the plants to keep the garden neat and healthy. Remove the spent foliage from the bulbs as the leaves die. In the spring, put fertilizer in again in mid-summer.
   

Image Credit:

Flickr CC

Additional Reading:

Shady Retreats: 20 Plans for Colorful, Private Spaces in Your Backyard

Woody Plants for Shady Places

Planting a shady border garden is a post from: DIY Guides

Related posts:

1. Planting Citrus Trees in Your Garden
2. Planting Blueberries in Your Garden
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If you are one of those people who just can\’t live without gardening, worry not as nothing will bother your pastime if you have a cold frame. We all know that nowadays it is just hard to have a good and well brought up garden. This is partly due to the fact that the weather has been changing drastically over the past years and it\’s becoming worst and worst. Most people attribute this type of weather to global warming. Despite global warming changing the way plants grow, we don\’t have to change anything as long as we use a cold frame to grow our plants during the winter. Why winter? Because it seems winter is the longest season of them all.

A cold frame lets you extend your gardening season all year round, and at the same time starts your growing season early. It traps the sun warmth and protects the plants from the wind and cold weather. They will protect your plants for a few months depending on the type of frame that you are using. It is also portable and can be permanent as well. A cold frame will cost you very little and as it relies on the warmth from the sun and is easy to build too. Here are the steps on how you can use a cold frame for your winter plants.

You will need:

1. Cold frame
   
2. Fence
   
3. Building
   
4. Plant seedlings
   

Steps:

1. First, place your cold frame faced to the southeast. By placing the cold frame in that position, your plants will get the most warmth from the sun. Or, you can try to place your cold frame where it will get the most protection from the wind and other elements. You can put it up against a wall. Although a heated house will give extra warmth, you can put it on a garage, a shed or a solid fence.
   
2. Then, choose a spot with good drainage as plants will not survive if their roots are stuck in wet conditions all winter. Allow the water to drain by placing the spot slightly sloped. You can also build the slope by yourself. If you place the cold frame in the earth just a bit, you will have extra insulation for warmth.
   
3. If you are using a portable cold frame and as soon as your plants can survive without the cold frame, move the cold frame to another part of your garden. This will warm the soil in that part of the garden for planting seeds such as beans.
   

Now you don\’t have to worry about the weather destroying your plants\’ hope of living. Having a cold frame for gardening purposes during the winter is the best decision and solution to have your plants grow up healthily.

Image Credit:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/awesomefound/5018890337/

Additional Reading:

Gardening indoors and under glass; a practical guide to the planting, care and propagation of house plants, and to the construction and management of hotbed, cold-frame and small greenhouse

The Complete Greenhouse Book: Building and Using Greenhouses from Cold-Frames to Solar Structures

Using a cold frame for growing plants all winter is a post from: DIY Guides

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