Outdoor Gardening For Everyone

 

Gardening has provided me and my family many health benefits. Not only we grow our own food that is free from chemical pesticides, but also in a way it has help us in our physical activities everyday. Maintaining your own garden is a tedious job too. You have to make sure to remove unwanted weeds on your garden bed everyday, water the plants and trim the flowers. One of our neighbors, just recently decided to have her own garden. She is a retired teacher now, and stays at home with her pet dogs and cats. But, she said she wanted to do something that will exercise her body and keep her mind occupied all day long. So my husband and I suggested that she make her own little garden at the back of their house, since, there is still a space for backyard gardening.

To get her started, my husband made garden beds for her and I also gave her some pots that we are not using anymore. As an additional gift, I also gave her a 3-piece garden tool set. The kit contains a hand trowel, hand fork and potting spade. These 3-piece garden set is made up of a polished stainless steel head and weatherproofed hardwood handle. Using the kit that I gave her, we also helped out in planting the seeds that she bought at a gardening shop. She was very thankful for our help and gifts, so in return she prepared a snack for us and some healthy drinks. Now, aside from her pets, gardening will be her past time while staying at home. Her children and grand children sees to it that they visit her every weekend. And for sure they will be very happy to see her new garden.

My husband and I left her with a big smile and a thankful heart. We are also very happy knowing that one way or another we were able to help in ways that we can. Life is a cycle of give and take. Whatever you give to the world comes back to you ten times. So make sure to give your kindness and love because in the end you will definitely be rewarded.

Potted Succulents Are Best For Indoor Spaces

 

Succulent plants are considered to be some of the most beautiful plants in the world. They are custom-made for indoor gardening. These hardy plants can thrive for long periods in poor conditions. Succulents are some of the most rewarding plants for indoor gardeners because they are tough, beautiful and at the same time have interesting varied foliage. Any plants with thick fleshy water storage organs is technically considered to be a succulent. They store water in their leaves, stems or roots, which make them adapt to arid conditions in a long period of time. As we all know, houseplants absorb carbon dioxide and release oxygen during photosynthesis, clean the air of volatile organic compounds, and even reduce stress.

Our own collection of potted succulent plants at home were all just given to us during our housewarming party when we first moved in to our new home. These houseplants are a great way to keep our green thumb happy during the dreary winter or rainy months. They are easy to care for especially in containers. Nowadays, people are becoming too busy for work and some do not have enough space for gardening. That is the reason why, succulents are proven to be a gardener's best friend and they are the new found plants for today's consumer. No matter what species of succulents you are growing, they all have similar rules between the different specie.

Succulents prefer bright light and they are much more tolerant to colder temperature. They should also be watered generously especially during summer days. Over watering may lead to soft and discolored succulents. On the other hand, an under watered succulents may stop growing and soon will shed leaves. You should generously put fertilizer during summer an stop entirely during winter season. Always remember these simple ways to care for your potted succulents and for sure you will soon have your own succulent garden at home.

The Pleasure Of Having Your Own Living Wall System

 

Having a living wall planter at home is such beauty to look at. These green walls has become very fashionable and has become part of every homes, a building or a free standing. Not only that it is great to look at, but this sustainable innovation has health benefits as well. A living wall or a green wall, these vertical gardens are packed with flora that benefits everything from our lungs to our ears. That is also one of the reason why, my husband and I decided to install these green walls at home. After a few weeks of having our own green walls, the air quality inside our home has improved. It is true that these plants act as a natural air filter, purifying the polluted air and on the other hand, releasing oxygen for our body's needs.

These green wall  are excellent aesthetics not just for your homes but for offices too. They can turn a dull and dreary room into an inviting and alluring environment. On the other hand, the foliage absorbs and reflects the noise that comes its way, reducing noise levels that may disturb your sleep. We recently added a water collector for our indoor living wall planter. My husband has noticed recently that the previous water collector we installed together with the wall planter has been dripping out excess water. So we decided to buy a larger one. The water collector is made of durable UV-resistant polymer and includes a convenient drain plug. Now, we can rest well knowing that our wall will be protected from excess water because of this water collector tray.

Always remember that growing a vertical garden indoors is the same as growing plants in containers. All plants need the same thing, no matter how you arrange them or where you put them. A vertical garden involves a sort of container and system that lets you place the plants vertically. It's really that simple and as easy to maintain as a regular garden.

The Perfect Plant For Our Nursery Room

 

We are almost done with the nursery room for the coming of our second child. Of course, the room will never be complete without any live plants in it. So, we stroll around the mall to look for the perfect indoor plant or houseplant that we could place on the table top of the nursery room. We decided to buy a flower arrangement, but later hesitated to buy natural flowers because they wither and die in just a few days. Considering those facts, we also decided to buy silk flowers. Since, they could last a lifetime and they need no maintenance at all. But, we soon realize that the room will be air conditioned, so there is a need for a live plant to clean the air. And so, we kept on searching for the right plant to go along with the decorations of the room.

We stop by at a gardening shop, to look for some tools and saw these beautiful ponytail plant in bonsai pot. I immediately fell in love with it's beauty. I told my husband about it, and bought it for the nursery room. It has a large trunk for a small plant, which can store more water, allowing it to withstand some drought. So no worries even if, we can't water it for a day. It's delicate leaves also gives the impression of a water fall, which makes it more interesting. And lastly, the ponytail plant tolerates well with low humidity common in a room with air condition. Knowing all of these details, we bought the 3 ponytail plant with a happy heart. We went home knowing that we have found what we are looking for and with a satisfactory smile on our faces.

Sometimes, it is when we stop looking for something that we finally get to see what we truly need. That is the irony of life. We are very thankful, because we are almost done with the nursery room and also getting more excited everyday to see our second child.

Say Yes To Food Waste Recycling

 

Food waste or often called food loss simply means that they are the food that is discarded or can no longer be used or eaten. If we have to observe properly, we would come to realize that we already have waste a lot of food ever since the day that we learned how to eat. The causes of food waste or loss are numerous, and they occur during stages of production, processing, retailing and consumption. According to research, that was one a year ago, half of all food is wasted worldwide. This is actually very alarming, knowing that there are countries who have suffered because of hunger. In low-income countries, most loss occurs during production, while in developed countries, much food is wasted at the consumption stage.

Food is one of the most important necessities in our life. And since we consume it everyday, it has also become the major source of waste. Excess trimmings of meat and vegetables, cooked or uncooked leftovers, fruits, and all of the edible matters that are usually found in our kitchens come in just small qualities. Hotels, restaurants, food chains, food factories, and big establishments have bigger contribution to add to the mix. Every bit of waste is not worthless, if we only know how to make use of it. Good thing that there are now ways in which we can recycle these wastes to be able to make compost for the plant. When we moved in to the new house, I had made sure to buy a new counter top kitchen composter. For the longest time that I have been composting these food wastes, I have come to realize that, composting food waste is much more extensive compare to composting other organic matters.

But the advantage, is that we can plant food using it. Unlike other materials that have numbers of pathogens living in it that can cause harm to food crops and to humans eating those.

A Planned Visit To The Botanical Gardens

Life is always full of surprises. You never know what will happen next, even if you got all things planned out. That is the irony of life. And speaking of surprises, my husband managed to surprise me yesterday with a good news. He said that he bought tickets for us 3 to visit the newly open botanical garden near our area. Even though I have never said a word to him, about me being excited to see the botanical garden, he still was able to read what is running in my head. As a plant lover, I am pretty much looking forward for the weekend to come. I wanted to see what the botanical gardens has to offer to us. A friend of mine told me, that they almost got all kinds and species of plants. That really excites me more. I really wish that we could buy something to add on our collections of plants.

A friend of mine, who was able to visit that place during their opening last week, gave me a white peace lily, which she bought for a very low price. They are giving away discounts, as an opening day promo. I knew little about peace lilies, so I checked online for details and information on how to take care of these kind of plant. It is said that peace lilies are very common house plant and they produce white flowers in the early summer and continue to bloom throughout the year. There are also tips and suggestions that were given online for new owners of these peace lily plant. Good thing nowadays, that we could easily look up on the internet whatever we need to ask. Because almost anything and everything has a given answer on the internet.

Caring and maintaining for our plants has been part of my everyday routine before going to work and returning home from work. But of course, i have to attend to my family's needs first. Family always comes first before anything else. For me, you will never know how to care for other things, if you don't know how to care for yourself and your family first. 

Reasons For Loving Container Gardening

Container gardening has made a great impact not only on landscaping but as well as in our business and commercial spaces. It is sometimes called the art of gardening. There are many benefits that we get from growing plants in pots and containers. First of all is versatility. This only means that we are free to put our plants anywhere just like on our patio, balcony, windows or rooftops. Just make sure that the plants could adopt to the environment where you have placed them. Second, you can grow any types of plant that may not be suitable on your garden soil. Remember that not all plants have the same soil needs and it also reduces the risk of transferring diseases from one plant to another.

Container gardening could also be an outlet for creativity and also adds lot of impacts for small spaces, just like the apartment dwellers, in which they don't have their own garden. It is an instant, portable landscaped look for those who move a lot. For special events, moving these containers anywhere you want them to be is also an advantage. Convenience is also another benefit of having plants on containers and pots. You could put your home grown herbs on your kitchen tables so that you could easily reach them if needed for your meals. Container gardening could also be economical because you don't always have to buy pots and planter, you could simply use your creativity. You can use almost anything for a container, from a bucket to plastic tubs. It doesn't matter, you could just put drainage holes in the bottom and with a few dollars you could make a lovely visual statement.

With container gardening you can have great results being as relaxed or ambitious as you want to be. And lastly, there is almost no plant that can't be grown in a container garden.