Posted by Owen Jones
Would it not be lovely, at the end of a hard day's work or on your day off, to relax outside on your patio deck? It is a dream that many people have. But it does not have to be only a dream.You could be really doing it within a few of weeks. You can either make the deck or patio yourself, if you are useful with your hands or you can get someone in.
The best thing to do is speak with your contractor about your plans about size and materials. If you want to have a go at making it yourself, take the measurements to your local builders' merchant and get them to give you a quote. If you need it, they can usually suggest a contractor to you. This can be a good idea, even if it is only to get an idea about cost.
There are also plenty of 'standard' plans available too. You could get a few gardening magazines, you will be able to tell the ones you want by their titles. You could also look online. There is also designing software for this sort of project, it just depends what you want your input to be.
You could just hand the whole task over to your builder, if that is what you want. However, I would go for a drink with my wife and take paper and pens. Over a drink or two, I would encourage us both to make a few rough plans of what we would like. Then you can discuss and amalgamate the plans.
You also have to come to a decision whether you want a raised deck or one at ground level. A raised, wooden deck might help keep the snakes at bay, but a stone patio places you right in the middle of your garden and flowers.
A consideration, depending on where you live, could be the use of patio heaters. If you think that you may have to use patio heating at certain times of the year because of the weather, you might not want your patio deck made of timber. After spending time and money on your new patio deck, you will want to make use of it whether it is a bit chilly or not, which is where the heaters come in.
Furthermore, patio heaters are not that pricey any more and not that dear to run. If you add a mosquito trap and some lighting, you will have a pleasure to enjoy for the rest of your life.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.
Tags: decks, entertainment, Garden, Gardening Articles, happiness, hobbies, landscaping, other, Outdoors, patios, real estate, recreation, relaxation, retirement, self help
Posted by Mark Best
If asked the majority of people would say that the garden pond hobby is a relatively new phenomenon. The main reasons for this being its increasing cover on TV and in media circles.
In actual fact it has been around for thousands of years, offering enjoyment and inspiration in peoples day to day and religious activities.
As far as is known the earliest records of individuals creating water gardens for relaxation and pleasure date back to about 3000 BC. Fruit trees and decorative grasses were used by the ancient egyptians to surround pools of a formal layout in their walled courtyard gardens.
Wealthy Roman homes tended to be designed around a large colonnaded central courtyard with pools, fountains and water features, providing shade on hot afternoons and a means of escape from the often chaotic and dirty streets outside. However, public baths often had a water garden area where the general public could relax away from their daily troubles.
The Moors and Persians created truly intoxicating water gardens set in enclosed connected courtyards. The water courses and pools were built with brightly coloured ceramic tiles and together with a formal design to join the various courtyards, these gardens had an intimate and luxurious feel. The Moors and Persians also used fruit trees and decorative plants carefully arranged in formal compositions.
Individuals in Japan and China have been perfecting the art of water gardening for thousands of years. There it truly is an art, practised by the masters of the craft. The teachings of zen, harmony, peace of mind and restraint are used to carefully design and create the individual persons ideal of their perfect surroundings. Japanese water gardens chiefly focus on a large, deep and clear pond devoid of plant life but housing any number of attractively colourful koi carp.
Unlike the gardens of the Moors and Egyptians the Japanese garden is not really a place for fruit trees. The position of every tree and flower is carefully thought over, spiritual comfort and delight the only goals.
In Europe over recent centuries only the super rich and royalty could afford the decadence and opulence of ornate water gardens, you need only look at the huge amount of great homes in Europe with extensive watercourses and features.
Its only in the last few decades that we have enjoyed a Water Garden Renaissance, seeing interest expanding and growing as more and more people come to understand how spiritually restful and refreshing a well fashioned water garden can be.
Mark Best writes articles that help people with Advice about Garden Ponds . And how to choose the best livestock, such as the right Fish for the Garden Pond and how to keep them healthy.
Tags: ancient history, family, garden pond, Gardening, Gardening Articles, history, home and family, landscaping, water garden history
Posted by Owen Jones
A lot of people over the age of twenty have a sort of love-hate relationship with birthdays. They love to have a party and be the centre of attention and a lot of fun, but they hate getting older. But I think that people ought to celebrate their birthdays. After all, you like going to someone else\'s birthday party and so you are morally obliged to put one on for others too.
And birthday parties ought to be a load of fun. It does not have to be a children\'s type party, of course, but you could still get dressed up and play games.
You could put on a barbecue for all your friends and family and do it cowboy style. Have a barn dance that would make \'JR\' proud. The food for this is straightforward enough. Begin by laying on plenty of Texas sized spare ribs, half-pounder hamburgers, T-bone steaks, and jumbo size hot dogs with loads of bread and salad.
For music, it has to be country and everybody has to wear cowboy clothing, although it would probably be better to leave the shootin\' irons at home. Annie Oakley style clothes for the ladies and Buffalo Bill style for the gents. If it is going to be a big party, ask everyone to bring their own favourite dish, in true Southern style. That would be a great way to celebrate an adult\'s birthday for the family.
If you do not go much on the macho cowboy idea, you could try a Caribbean style barbecue. Dress in flash short sleeved shirts and vivid colours or swimming costumes. The music could be reggae and calypso and the food would be grilled fish and chicken with salad and plenty of fresh fruit. Provide hot and not so hot chilli dips and barbecue sauces. You could have a go at limbo dancing too, that is always good for a laugh.
Or perhaps you would rather a humorous barbecue party and all dress up like the hillbilly family \'The Clamperts\'! That would be fun. The men could wear old velvet hats and old clothes tied up with string like Jed and Jethro and the women could come as Ellie May or Granny. I suppose that the original food like possum and bullfrog might be difficult to get hold of in some areas, but you could just provide what you like for this one. Steaks, hamburgers and fried fish; bread and salad with cake to finish.
Another favourite form of barbecue for a birthday do is the Luau. An Hawaiian barbecue is really something else. You will need bright colours and plenty of tropical Hawaiian decorations. You could supply half coconut shells for drinking out of and lots of coconut and pineapple based drinks. You ought to ask your guests to wear loud Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, provide plenty of leis and hula music and a \'loudest Hawaiian shirt\' contest is de rigour.
If none of those tickles your fancy, how about a \'Vicars and Tarts\' barbecue? You can use your own imagination on that one though. Any more tea and crumpet, vicar?
If your barbecue party is to last into the evening and it might get chilly, you could hire or borrow some patio heaters, just so as to give you a few extra hours in the garden.
Owen Jones, the writer of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the electric outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.
Tags: decks, entertainment, Garden, Gardening Articles, happiness, hobbies, landscaping, other, Outdoors, patios, real estate, recreation, relaxation, retirement, self help
Posted by Blaine Thompson
The actual number one, almost allways requested issue i get concerning water features is "How to build a pond waterfalls?"
The first help I offer would be to visit natural waterfalls or at best check out pictures. Do not try to memorize exactly how they look...simply get a basic concept how the water runs around as well as over the rocks
The look of your pond waterfalls is determined by topography, pump motor and pipe dimensions, length of water flow from pump motor to falls, pond sizing and also possibly additional site-specific aspects. If the pond is merely 4' x 6', you absolutely will not want a large, 3 foot extensive falls - keep your components of the water feature in scale.
Just one of the the majority of common errors results through the desire for a high waterfall at a level building site...a lot of dirt are generally imported to build the falls up to a 3 or 4 foot height. Yes, you'll accomplish a spectacular pond waterfalls, but the whole effect will look much more similar to an out of place volcano. A falls of simply a couple of feet is going to make a pretty adequate result both how it looks and audibly.
On a level site, with an "ordinary" size pond of 11' x 16', the quantity of dirt necessary to surround the biological filtration that will create the berm is simply about equivalent to the amount of earth excavated from the pond...it truely does work out pretty well. To further enhance or even expand the berm, you may want to consider to import a little more soil, large big river rocks and also more features.
When you are working on a downward slope, you've got the option of putting the biological filter (waterfall source) uphill from the pond as well as making a series of cascading waterfalls. This is how I made my falls.
It was certainly an exercise in visualization to find out precisely how the water will flow down the falls. I made a small underestimation regarding the total flow and may have widened the falls somewhat, however the result is incredibly appropriate.
Even using a level site, it could be a good design strategy to position the actual falls six to eight feet from the pond. This will create a short stream towards the pond.
Be sure to utilize a wide EPDM rubber liner beneath the actual falls and/or stream...this will likely allow for twists and turns in the course of the water as well as contain splashing. A ten foot wide stream liner is actually advised. Underlayment under the falls as well as stream liners is generally not essential.
When your excavation is complete for your pond waterfalls, and liner is in place, add your rock. Avoid being in a rush - try out many (or many) combinations and imagine exactly how the water will flow.
When pleased with your layout, make use of black waterfalls foam to direct the water over the rock as opposed to below it. That is, rock that's directly in contact with the liner ought to sit on a bed of foam so the water moves around or over the rock as opposed to under it. Caution - the foam swells tremendously...avoid using too much!
Even though it takes some creative imagination and patience, creating a waterfall is quite enjoyable. However you ought to give some time in order to study, you are going to learn most by really making your own water feature - just do it! You may be surprised to find that your water garden is the most calming and pleasurable part of your yard.
Whether you are building a big or little water feature, the book How To Build Your Own Natural Waterfall is packed together with everything you may need to know concerning how to build a pond waterfall. Brandon Vannest, is nationally recognized as one of the leading water feature contractors in the country, explains to you his timeless and user-friendly assistance; guaranteed to result in a waterfall you will be proud of, and take pleasure in for years to come.
Learn more about Pond Waterfalls. Stop by Blaine Thompson's site where you can find out all about Pond Waterfall Kit and what it can do for you.
Tags: Gardening Articles, home and garden, landscaping, pond waterfalls, Ponds, ponds and waterfalls
Posted by Owen Jones
If you own a restaurant, pub or any business using outdoor amenities in a temperate climate zone, then you will know that business is likely to drop off when the weather gets colder. You know that you would not sit outside shivering yourself, so you do not count on anyone else to do it. The only answer is to change the outdoor ambient temperature to an suitable level.
I have seen this done to stunning effect in Prague in October when there were heavy snow storms. People wanted to sit outside and get pleasure from the snow storm as long as they were pretty warm. A person's primary heat comes from the body and is retained with sufficient clothing, but it is nice to have a patio heater near-by just to add a glow to your face and hands.
If you have a business that only opens when it is warm enough, then you have an expensive business and these days expensive businesses do not last long. You need to wring every last cent out of your business real estate and if that means putting patio heaters in, then that is what you ought to do.
Patio heaters come in a range of guises, but they are not that expensive to buy. Sometimes you can rent them too. Most of these outdoor heaters run on bottles of propane or butane gas, but there are mains gas varieties too. There are also electric ones, but they tend to be costly to run, unless you can generate your own electricity.
I think that the best two types are the box type where the gas cylinder goes inside the apparatus and the heat is directed at foot to knee height and the street lantern style, where the heat comes down from about seven or eight feet in height. The gas cylinder also fits inside these models lowering their centre of gravity and making them more difficult to accidentally knock over.
These heaters are very safe although patrons should be warned to exercise caution if they have young children with them. A standard heater will keep up to two tables and eight people warm enough to enjoy themselves even when it is snowing.
The hire of a few of these patio heaters or even their purchase will soon be off-set by your augmented custom, especially if your competitors are not using them. My wife and I will never forget our time in Prague, when it was snowing, drinking coffee and eating cake outside, watching people go by while we were as warm as toast due to the restaurateur's prudence in providing patio heaters.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the propane outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.
Tags: decks, entertainment, Garden, Gardening Articles, happiness, hobbies, landscaping, other, Outdoors, patios, real estate, recreation, relaxation, retirement, self help
Posted by Owen Jones
Every professional chef and every household cook recognizes the importance of fresh herbs to their culinary creations. No diner would quarrel over this either. However, whether you buy your herbs fresh or dried, there are problems. When you buy fresh, you usually have to buy more than you require and they are comparatively expensive, whereas, if you buy them dried, they could be old and dried herbs lose their strength over time.
Why then is it that most home cooks use fresh or dried herbs from the supermarket? Ease, probably. We lead busy lives and it is easier to get a few boxes of dried herbs at the supermarket along with your groceries than it is to cultivate your own.
Not that it is difficult to raise your own herbs and even spices, but you have to purchase the seeds, plant them and remember to water them. You can minimize the problem of trying to remember to water them quite easily, by growing your herbs in a window box or in trays on your patio or deck, so that you see them every time you take a break on your patio. You will also remember to bring them in if frost looks likely.
If you have children, growing herbs and spices in window boxes or trays can be a good introduction to gardening for them. Herbs take very little looking after really, just needing watering every day. They are pretty tough and fertilizer is not necessary as most herbs have a fairly short life. Maybe only a month or two in some instances. Others last a lot longer.
First come to a decision how many varieties you want to cultivate. How much room do you have for instance? The best way to start is look in your cupboard and see which herbs you use most frequently. Are any of them seeds? You could have a try at sowing these. Look them up in a book or on the Internet.
Sometimes it is better to soak the seeds first before planting them, others do not need this treatment. Second, which herbs have you read about that you would like to use but never seem to have in the house? Try planting those too.
If all that does not sound like fun, then you can buy small herb plants in the garden nurseries. Most of them stock the most common herbs in Spring. Whichever way you go, read up on how to cultivate the herbs you have selected. I promise you, it will not be a long read, as they really do take care of themselves except for the watering. if you buy seeds rather than seedlings, all the details you need will be on the seed packet and such packets are very cheap to buy.
The advantages of having your own herb garden are diverse, but you will be teaching gardening to your kids or grandkids, you will have fresh herbs for cooking and you will have beautiful aromas wafting around your patio or deck.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.
Tags: decks, entertainment, Garden, Gardening Articles, happiness, herbs, hobbies, landscaping, other, Outdoors, patios, recreation, relaxation, retirement, self help
Posted by Owen Jones
If you have more than a small town garden, then landscaping your garden will probably be one of your considerations. If you have just acquired the property, or you think that it is time for a garden make-over, there are methods of going about it. The easiest technique of going about planning a garden, is to first take a good look at the landscape of your garden. This can be difficult if the garden is established and in full bloom.
Therefore, it can be better to wait until autumn or winter, so that you can see the true lie of the land. You could make a plan of the garden on graph paper and take a load of photos too. Identify the photos on the back of them and relate them to the grid on your graph paper. There may be bumps and hollows, potholes, rocky areas and even a marsh or a pond to cope with.
These are probably natural features and if you want to alter them, you will have to take on the underlying cause. The feature is only the symptom. Like freckles or spots! If you look at the situation in this way, it makes planning simpler.
For example, a rocky patch probably means that the Earth is pushing stones up slowly but surely and if you want to clean it up, you will be picking up stones for the rest of your life. Likewise, if your wet patch is the result of natural drainage from higher ground, you will have to drain it and put in permanent drainage, since it is not going to stop raining for you.
So, you can either work with nature or you will be working against it for the rest of your life. Either that or paying someone else to do it for you. Another issue is that the wildlife that uses your locale does so because of how it is. If you alter the landscape, your current range of wildlife might move on or just die. A lot depends on how much land we are talking about, but in general, I would say that the larger the area, the more you should leave it alone.
On the other hand, you can add features more easily than remove them. For example, if you have an area with poor soil, you could improve it with fertilizer or put a pond there. Shade and existing fences or sheds should also be noted on your graph paper, although being man-made, these are easier to remove or modify.
Next you should make up your mind what kind of garden you want, within the constraints of the existing landscape, how much work you are willing to put into it and how much money you want to pay out on it. Enhancing the natural features of the land is the easiest way of landscaping your garden.
If you have a swampy area, why not put a low wall around it and turn it into a pond? If you have a rocky patch, why not gather up the stones and create a rockery? If you have a few trees, try growing wisteria, honeysuckle or vines through them.
If you are in the shade, buy flowers that prefer the shade and vice-versa. It is a effort to go against nature and unless you have a good cause to do it, it is not really worthwhile. Then build a patio or deck and sit outside and enjoy all the landscaping that you have saved yourself in your garden.
Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.
Tags: decks, entertainment, Garden, Gardening Articles, happiness, herbs, hobbies, landscaping, other, Outdoors, patios, recreation, relaxation, retirement, self help
Posted by Trey Casselman
A fountain is a beautiful addition to anyone's yard, as long as it stays fresh and clean. As the elements take their toll, it is important to maintain the condition of your fountain to keep it working properly.
This does not have to be a cumbersome chore, and there are products that will keep your fountain clean without harsh chemicals.
Bioverse offers a line of products that are completely eco-friendly. These all-natural products remove stains, organic build up and mineral deposits but contain no harmful chemicals.
Before using the Bioverse product, it is always a good idea to give your fountain a good cleaning. Simple remove the old water, give it a quick scrub and refill the fountain with fresh, clean water. Then add one of Bioverse's Healthy Ponds Fountain Water Cleaner packets.
That is all that you have to do. Simply replace the cleaning packet every 30 days, and you will have a fountain that is fresh, clean and free of stains and mineral deposits.
Best of all, Bioverse's products are all natural and veterinarian-approved for all birds, fish and wildlife. So it is a safe and easy way to maintain your fountain. Bioverse also has safe and natural products for fish tanks and koi ponds.
For larger ponds, Bioverse also provides the all-natural AquaSpherePRO which provides pond owners with a simple monthly treatment. Like its other products, you simply drop the sphere into your pond once every 30 days and you are done. You cannot over-treat your water.
Some pond problems may require a little diagnosing for a proper initial treatment. Bioverse makes this simple with its Pond Treatment Wizard, available on its website. To determine the proper treatment, simply follow the pictures and Bioverse will recommend and initial treatment and your monthly maintenance.
Trey Casselman enjoys gardening and writing. For more details about how to clean ponds or to find products such as fountain algae, check out the Bioverse site now.
Tags: algae, algae control, clean water, environment, Fountains, Garden, Gardening, Gardening Articles, landscaping, Ponds
Posted by Pat Lowe
"Why should I garden," you ask? In one newspaper article, the author describes 10 reasons why you should garden, which are to cultivate the good earth for safe and healthy food, for exercise, to add beauty, to learn, to make money, to meet people, to be creative, to win, for emotional needs and spiritual connections, and for lasting memories. Once you're convinced, you can try vegetable, fruit and herb gardening, or annual and perennial flower gardening, or some of each. Be sure to visit www.gardenguides.com to get some wonderful garden tips that can help you with designing and planting, as well as maintenance and controlling pests.
You may be wondering about the beautiful gardens that win garden contests or you might be looking for a gardening video to show you how to plan and create your own dream garden. At www.gardenguides.com, you can read about orchestrating the perfect garden lighting, about installing proper drainage and about integrating walkways or artwork into your cozy backyard habitat. You can read about a number of different garden styles, including Alpine, Cottage, English, French, Family, Forest, Fragrant, Japanese, Kids, Zen and more.
You will also learn about landscaping, creating edible gardens, planting flowers or creating water gardens. You will gain insights on how to attract butterflies, birds and helpful insects, while keeping pests out. You can also learn how to garden by color, light, season or type of space.
The "Gardening Phases" section at www.gardenguides.com provides excellent garden tips, no matter which stage of the process you find yourself at. If you're prepping a garden, then you'll get free garden articles about design, not to mention help assessing your property. You'll learn how to make a sun garden and a shade garden too. The "Beginning a Garden" tab will educate you on preparing the site and the soil, on purchasing tools and supplies, on buying and planting seeds and on planting plants. The "Maintaining and Improving" tab will show you how to water, weed, treat, trim, prune, fertilize, mulch, compost, divide plants, transplant, expand the garden, fix the soil, control disease or stop pests. You'll also be able to read about harvesting, cutting flowers, cooking from the garden and garden crafts.
In addition to providing you with helpful garden tips, www.gardenguides.com also has a social network community right on the site, where you can share your passion for gardening with other gardeners. You can post gardening blog entries and pictures, meet new friends and get involved in forum discussions. With 500 new members and many more rooted members, you're bound to find interesting green thumbs to talk to. Perhaps you'll even receive positive accolades on the beauty of your garden and learn some helpful hints from the forums.
Everyone wants their property to look its best and one of the ways to do that is to enhance your landscaping. For some great suggestions on lawns, gardens and even outdoor garden lighting, visit our landscape ideas site.
Tags: garden tips, Gardening, Gardening Articles, landscaping
Posted by Jim Poniente
You do not always need a lot of time in order to care for your own lawn. No matter where you live, in the city, suburbs or a rural area, you will always need to care for your lawn. While you can always hire a lawn service to do this for you, doing everything by yourself is a lot more rewarding and enjoyable. Having a beautiful lawn can also add value to your home.
One of the most important things you have to do to is mow your lawn often. Most people don't know this, but there is actually a right and a wrong way to mow a lawn. The blades of the mower should be lowered in order to get a clean cut, but they should not be too low either. If they are grass will burn up during hot, dry weather. You should try to maintain the grass at around three inches high. Never let the grass grow too tall before you cut it and always keep the lawn mower's blades sharp. If you cut tall grass you can damage new growth as well as leave clumps all around your lawn.
You should also frequently water your lawn. How often will depend on the weather in your area, as well as the kind of grass and soil. If you can see your footprints in the grass after walking on it, it is usually time to water. Dont be too stingy when watering your lawn, but dont use too much either as this can cause the grass to rot.
When engaging in lawn care you will have to deal with several problems. One is weeds. Another is brown patches. These are usually a sign that your lawn needs water and fertilizer.
Insects can also damage a lawn, but these can be dealt with using one of the many products available. You should be able to get lots of advice on how to deal with these problems at your local garden center.
To find out more about lawn care and related topics like lawn sweepers, lawn drainage and more, visit TheLawnCareGuide.com
Tags: Garden, Gardening, Gardening Articles, landscaping, lawn care
