Clover blog

Gardening Advice - Benefits of Gardening

2007-06-01T08:18:00.001-07:00

Gardening can be enjoyed by the whole family including children. Especially plants like pumpkins watermelons and sunflowers. The children will just love it at Halloween when they get to carve out the pumpkin or help bake and salt the sunflower seeds. We will give you gardening advice and a great resource for all your gardening needs. Transform your garden into delightful place to spend a few hours a week and you will enjoy the rewards at the end of the season. Growing organic vegetables in your own garden is the best way of getting the most nutrients in them. Store bought vegetables can be grown in greenhouses where they are sprayed with many chemicals and pesticides to help them grow and last longer on the grocery shelf's. Remember, do not use any chemicals or fertilizers on your garden. Whatever is in your garden will end up in your vegetables. The more nutrients in the soil the more nutrients will be in your vegetables. And they will taste great.

Benefits of Gardening

Gardening is a tool to abate life's stress, enhance the environment, develop individuals, and build communities. An estimated 40% of Americans find that being around plants makes them feel relaxed and calm. Retreating to a garden can renew energy, create a sense of peace, and restore well-being. As you garden, you are cultivating an appreciation and sensitivity for the environment and the natural rhythm of life that plants and gardens impart. Working in the yard digging, planting, weeding, and raking is good exercise. There are various kinds of gardens and they are named according to their characteristic features like rock garden, water garden, wild garden, terrace garden, kitchen garden and formal garden. Kitchen gardens can be made both outdoors and indoors. Combinations can also be made, for example, a rock garden can be built in one corner, and the rest of the garden can be carpeted with a lawn, edged by flowerbeds.

The benefits of gardening are well-documented; formal programs in horticultural therapy use plants and plant-related activities to promote health and wellness for an individual or group. Horticultural therapy has been used to improve mobility, muscle coordination and strength, balance, endurance, socialization, and memory skills. Planting, weeding, and tending can divert thoughts about yourself and your situation.

The colors and aromas of flowers can ease depression and anxiety. There is also tremendous satisfaction in growing your own flowers to cut and use indoors, your own culinary herbs for making oils and vinegars, or your own vegetables for meals or sharing with friends. A garden should be designed carefully as it is nearly permanent, and it is not possible to change the design frequently. This combines aesthetics, artistry, knowledge of plants and their growth and how to maintain the garden during different seasons. Landscaping is essentially designing and laying out of a garden in all its elements, which include the lawn, rocks, shrubs, trees, pathways, seasonal plants, etc.

Tomato Plants and Black Fungus Disease

2007-05-25T10:57:00.001-07:00

Question: "How do you deal with black fungus disease? It seems this nasty disease keeps on killing my tomatoes"

Answer:

My grandfather grew tomatoes in Poland, where black fungus was
just as much of a problem as it is for you. Often, farmers could lose
entire crops to the disease if they made a mistake.

The way he dealt with this problem was by applying some pretty
serious measures to keep everything sterile the whole time. Some of
which I talk about.

(Keep in mind, these measures help protect your tomatoes from many
diseases, not just black fungus… if you practice this you'll have healthier plants)

1. They used to STEAM the earth before using it. This was
done by pumping scolding hot steam into the green-house and into the
earth through pipes to kill all bacterial life.

2. Then, the earth would sit for 2-3 weeks so that new life could
begin to grow in it, hopefully, with any disease killed off by this
time.

3. Then they would apply the fertilizer and let it sit with the
earth for a week to let it de-acidify and allow even more micro life
to form in the earth for the tomatoes.

4. Only then, did they plant the tomato seedlings into the earth.

Now, that's just the first part of the process - afterwards,
everything was kept as sterile as possible. For instance, no
children, animals were allowed in the greenhouse, no shoes were worn
in the green-house. There was constant ventillation of the greenhouse
to keep the air from being stale.

(Okay, I agree, you should allow children in a greenhouse, just
don't let them run around licking and touching all the plants, hehe)

Also, instead of growing the tomatoes on wooden sticks or poles, he
used sterilized string or fishing string. Wood tends to absorb
moisture, rot, and can quickly create the environment for disease.

You would be amazed just how these variables change the probability
of your tomatoes catching disease :)

5. Keep in mind, the most important part here is tomato pruning, I
disagree with your friends who say it would take 10 years for it to go
away, you can still grow tomatoes without the disease.

The biggest reason your tomatos catch the "plegue" is because they
are poorly ventillated, and/or grown outdoors. In these areas where
the plegue is rampant, its the best idea to grow them in a
green-house.

If the tomatoes are properly pruned, the tomatoes will breathe
1,000% more freely, and therefor, you reduce the risk of them getting
the disease dramatically.

If they are not pruned, old air getstrapped underneath and around the "bushy", plant, the air goes
"stale", and your tomatoes grow slowly… as the temperature drops at
night, this air turns to moisture around the tomato stem… and now
you have a big wet plant with stale musty air around it, the water and
air drips/moves down the stem to the very bottom, where now there is a
perfect environment for a disease to spread it's wings and thrive.
Moist, Wet, Warm(protected from the sun by the giant canopy of
un-pruned leaves during the day)

That's my two cents on it :) hope it helps! My grandfather grew
tomatoes year after year in a place where lots of people lost their
plants to the black fungus, but to date, he didn't lose a single
tomato to the disease in his green-houses.

Organic Gardening - A Speech for Teachers

2007-05-09T09:41:00.001-07:00

Organic gardening has increasingly become an important part of the curriculum in schools around the world. Teachers at every grade level find themselves teaching it to students, and sometimes being called on to give a speech to a group of parents. As a career educator and principal, I know the difficulty of opening up time for speech preparation, and offer this organic gardening speech for your use. Feel free to edit it to fit your needs.

Organic Gardening Speech

How selfish are you? On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest, how selfish would you rate yourself? If you are the least bit selfish, you might be interested in organic gardening.

An organic gardening speech might seem more appropriate coming from a Home Economics teacher, but I am just selfish enough that I love organic gardening. I want to share that love with you and with your children.

Imagine

I want you to come with me, in imagination, to a time and place before the Industrial Revolution. The year is 1707. It is late summer. We find ourselves walking the streets of a small town. Houses are spaced well apart for privacy. Land stretches out behind each house. As we look, we notice that much of that land is taken up by gardens. Here and there, we see both adults and children actively engaged in gardening. The plants are beautiful.

You call to one of the adults and ask what they use to make the garden so lush. A broad smile breaks, and through the smile come the words, "Feed the soil, and the soil will feed the plants."

You shake your head. Poor people. Too bad they don't know about that miracle combination of chemicals you saw advertised on TV last week. That's the easy way to grow spectacular plants!

Dinner

The organic gardener invites us to join them for the evening meal, and we accept. At dinner, we join in the prayer of thanks, and then watch in amazement as the children, one after another, begin eating fresh vegetables.

You yourself are not that fond of vegetables, but you politely take a small serving of each. You bite into a leaf of steamed cabbage, and your eyes open wide in amazement. It is sweet – twice as sweet as the cabbage you buy at your local market! You watch a small child fill his mouth with dark green kale, and shudder. There's a small spoonful of the nasty vegetable on your own plate, and you pick at it, putting a single small leaf in your mouth. Amazing! It, too, is twice as sweet as any kale you ever ate. The same seems true of every vegetable on the table. You decide that if your supermarket vegetables were this good, you would eat a lot more of them.

Our imaginary trip ends at that dinner table, and we return to the present.

Organic Gardening's Benefits

Organic gardening has many benefits. If you are completely selfish, you will want those benefits for yourself. If you are unselfish, you will want those benefits for your family. Let me give you just three of organic gardening's benefits.

1. Taste: Organic gardening has been proven to produce tastier fruits and vegetables. A Hong Kong study measured Brix levels, the percentage of sugar in plant juices, using produce from organic gardening and from non-organic gardening. The results showed that organic gardening produced produce that was 2 to 4 times as sweet as that produced by non-organic gardening. Sweeter fruits and vegetables are tastier, and easier to eat, whether you are a young person or an adult. Organic gardening helps us eat better by providing tastier fruits and vegetables.

2. Nutrition: Organic gardening has also been found to provide nutritionally superior produce. Virginia Worthington, of Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, compared the composition of vegetables grown simultaneously under different farming conditions. Her work included 41 studies with 1,240 comparisons of 35 vitamins and minerals. Worthington found that organic gardening produced vegetables and fruits that were higher in most minerals and vitamins than those from non-organic gardening. Not only that, organic gardening produce was lower in potentially harmful nitrates, which result from nitrogen fertilizers. Dr. Worthington concluded that produce from organic gardening is nutritionally superior. You and your family will enjoy better health with fruits and vegetables from organic gardening. (Effect of Agricultural Methods on Nutritional Quality: A Comparison of Organic with Conventional Crops, Virginia Worthington MS, ScD, CNS, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 1998, Alternative Therapies, Volume 4, 1998, pages 58-69)

3. Exercise: Finally, organic gardening offers you and your children regular daily exercise in the outdoors. Organic gardening helps you build muscles, especially important core muscles. Organic gardening gets you into the sunlight where you can absorb essential vitamin D. Organic gardening is a great stress management tool. Organic gardening gives you an outlet for creativity. It provides satisfaction as you see your work produce useful fruits, herbs, and vegetables.

We could talk about the aesthetic pleasures of organic gardening – how beautiful that garden might become. We could talk about how you can save money with organic gardening – growing your produce instead of purchasing.

Finally, we could talk about how important it is for our children to learn about organic gardening, to embrace it as the way to better health, and to practice it with school, home, and community gardens.

An organic gardening speech could go on for hours, but I'm going to stop here, hoping that I have whetted your appetite enough that you will seek out more information on organic gardening.

Helpful Tip for Speech-givers

A few large bowls of beautiful organic produce can be set on the platform or around the room to help visual learners picture organic gardening.

Landscaping Equipment Tips And Where To Find Them

2007-05-01T07:07:00.001-07:00

Unless you plan to hire a professional landscaping company, you will need to have the right equipment in order to produce the results you desire. Whether you are a novice or a professional in the landscaping field, you are going to need to purchase landscaping equipment in order to get the jobs that you want done completed properly. So, just what kind of landscaping equipment do you need to succeed?

There are many different types of landscaping equipment offered, and so it is vital that you take time to learn about these tools in order to be fully satisfied in the end, so that you can get the best value and worth for your money. From the variety of different types of equipment on the marketplace, there are a few fundamental necessities you will have to get started with most landscaping tasks and projects around your house.

The equipment you'll need depends on the layout of your yard and which elements you have incorporated, or hope to incorporate, into your landscaping. If you have a moderately small lawn, a push mower may be suitable for your needs. But if you have a large lawn, you may need a rider lawn mower. In many case, lawn mower or push mower is almost a given, because even the smallest attempt at a beautiful lawn will require that the grass be cut neatly.

If you intend to add a lot of landscaping elements in your lawn, you may want to consider getting a trimmer for the grass around the elements because most mowers are unable to get close enough to keep the edges tidy. New gardeners often find that some of the most inexpensive and small hand tools are the most useful pieces of landscaping equipment. These hand tools include spades, hoes, clippers, trowels, and cultivators.

Besides the common purchases listed above, there are many other pieces of equipment that you will find useful as well. For instance, appropriate attire is required for landscaping. You may want to find yourself some coveralls and a good pair of gloves for working in the dirt. There are other tools such as long-handled shovels, leaf rakes, bypass pruners, etc. that will come in hand while you work on your landscape as well.

Where to find the landscaping equipment

There are many different locations available that offer landscaping equipment. All of the major home improvement stores offer wide selections of the various types of landscaping equipment. One of the most popular and more well-known options is A to Z Equipment Rentals & Sales. The company is an excellent choice for many reasons. You can lease a piece of landscaping equipment if you only need to use it for a short period of time, or you can buy it if you desire. Also, they are a very old company which has established an incredibly respected reputation over the years and their service is worthy of your business.

A to Z Equipment Rentals & Sales also offer the most complete collection of power landscaping equipment and they have three centrally located stores and a website as well, in order to make your shopping process as easy and convenient as possible. Some of the landscaping equipment that they offer includes that of the following: aerators, blowers, brush clippers, chain saws, earth augers, engines, hedge trimmers, ladders, lawn edgers, lawn tractors, lawn vacs, line trimmers, power rakes, reel motors, rotary mowers, riding mowers, sprayers, stump grinders, tillers, tractors, trenchers, and weed mowers.

Another option is Rittenhouse. Rittenhouse is a lesser known but still worthy company. Thecompany was established in 1914, and since that time continues to look to the future and yet has never forgotten its roots. Rittenhouse earnestly guarantee to continue to deliver that of the highest quality landscaping equipment, parts, and accessories coupled with superior customer service.

Your local hardware store may also be a good selection as well, depending on where you live. If you are an Internet shopper, you can also find many landscaping equipment websites that can ship different types of landscaping equipment right to your door. The choice is really up to.

Regardless of where you actually decide to shop for your landscaping equipment, you should keep in mind that the most important thing is that you should always have fun working on your landscape. Take the proper time and consideration so that you can have the best quality and worth in the end.

Contemporary Landscaping: The Old Is New

2007-04-27T12:19:00.001-07:00

You're remodeling your home to give it a more modern look, and you know your landscaping needs updating as well. You'd do your own contemporary landscaping if you could, but are not familiar with what's required to create effective landscaping, so are leaning toward hiring a landscaping firm. But, if you had some contemporary landscaping ideas, you just might be able to do the job yourself.

There is no single style of landscaping to which the term contemporary landscaping can be applied. Many owners of modern homes, in fact, have complemented their houses with English gardens or other traditional landscaping looks, so if you like traditional in a landscape, use it for your contemporary landscaping and enjoy it.

Traditional Elements in Contemporary Landscaping

What exactly is the appeal of the English Garden for those using it in their contemporary landscaping?

It's all in the flowers. They are especially appealing to those who have large yards, with lots of space for the prototypical bloom of the English Cottage Garden, the rose. Rosebushes need room, and lots of it.

Classically beautiful roses will add charm, color, and fragrance to your contemporary landscaping like few other flowers can. Available in shades from the subtle and sedate to the outrageously gaudy, roses will give you your choice of color schemes. You can buy them as compact buses, or as climbing roses to grace your fences and trellises. But no matter which varieties of roses you choose to incorporate into your contemporary landscaping, they will all need consistent feeding and pruning.

Another touch borrowed from English gardens which will work well in contemporary landscaping is the herb garden. Herbs can be dried and used in wreaths, sachets, and potpourri; or they can be used fresh or dried to add a gourmet touch in your home-cooked recipes. Before planting a herb garden, however, familiarize yourself with the spreading habits of various herbs, because some of them, like mint, are notoriously invasive and can end up taking over your contemporary landscaping.

Otther Contemporaty Landscaping Ideas

Another contemporary landscaping look which many people find attractive is achieved with planting fauna of various colors and textures to form patterns. Fauna planted this way can created unique and exotic designs, but can be very difficult to establish and maintain. So this might be one contemporary landscaping technique best left to a professional!

For more contemporary landscaping ideas, pay a visit to your nearest garden center. They will have a wide selection of plants for your consideration, and customer service people to help you choose the ones best suited for your light and soil conditions.

And even more contemporary landscaping advice is only an Internet connection and search engine query away!

The Garden is the Heart of English Cottage House Plans

2007-04-24T08:38:00.001-07:00

Few homes stir the typical notion of lush gardens that an English cottage house plan can invoke. English cottage house plans bring to mind storybook fantasies of roses covering a trellis and climbing on thatched roofs. However, thatched roofs aren't practical or allowed construction material in many places. But for those who think the best part of the home is the garden, an English cottage house could be a dream home.

Beautiful English cottage house plans cry out for well designed landscaping plans that match the cottage feel you are trying to attain. Custom gardens designed by a professional landscaper will complete the English cottage charm. Professional landscaping plans will assure you that the garden plants are well suited to the climate and housing style. However, cost may be a stumbling block as landscapers tend to be quite expensive.

Pre-designed garden plans can be adjusted for your property and this type of approach is more affordable. The downside is that pre-designed garden plans won't give you the customized look you are seeking. But, if gardening is a beloved hobby for you, then consider designing custom garden plans yourself to match your English cottage house plans. Designing your own custom garden plan would be a time consuming task, but no one else would have a garden like yours.

Begin with an aerial drawing the property. Use the house placement as your starting point. Gardening magazines and books can give you lots of ideas. Study garden themes such as rock gardens, herb gardens and shade gardens. You can also research design principles such as symmetry, color and height coordination.

When all is said and done, the choice is still up to you. Build your English garden to match your English cottage house plans the way you see it in your mind and the result will be perfect as long as you like what you see.

Tips for Locating a New Vegetable Garden

2007-04-18T08:21:00.001-07:00

The key to starting a new vegetable garden is the actual garden location. You can change many things about a garden, even upgrading the soil with compost and other amendments, but the location is something that you will have to live with.

A successful garden will have several common elements:

Convenient to the house: If the garden is too far removed, you won't be inclined to run out there to pick something fresh whenever the mood strikes. Additionally, if you are tilling or hauling in waste for the compost pile, you don't want to go a long way with your equipment. The same goes for hauling bags of fertilizer, flats of plants, or bales of peat moss to the vegetable garden. Finally, if you have to irrigate with the garden hose, you don't want to be dragging long sections of hose from the house.

Screening: Depending on your individual gardening style, you may decide that it is better to shield the garden from view if you are not one that likes to keep it neat and tidy. If you plan to have an open compost pile near the garden that may be a concern as well.

Sunlight: Obviously, to have a successful vegetable garden, you will need an adequate amount of sunlight. You should get at least 6 hours a day. Often this means you need a southern exposure. But take a look around, are there trees that will be growing to a height in the near future that will reduce this sunlight.

Nearby trees and bushes: We worry a lot about weeds, but keep in mind the invasive root systems from trees and other large bushes. Spreading trees with shallow root systems like willows are to be avoided. We've had bushes like trumpet creepers and honeysuckle that can have very aggressive root systems as well.

Drainage: Take advantage of the natural lay of the land to optimize your garden watering. But be careful to avoid low spots that can lead to puddling and pooling, which are major problems for growing almost all vegetables.

Critters: Finally, depending on the local "pests", you may want to be able to shield the garden from attack. While birds can often get in almost anywhere, you may decide you want to fence the garden in to avoid visits from deer, raccoons, turtles, rabbits, or any other walking critters.

A garden can be a wonderful pastime, paying off not only in fresh produce for your kitchen table, but in the connection with nature. Careful selection of your garden location will help to ensure that it is as rewarding as possible.

Simple Backyard Landscaping Ideas

2007-04-16T08:13:00.001-07:00

For a very few homeowners, a front and backyard of just grass abutting up to their home's walls is enough. They like the simplicity and ease of maintaining their yard – just mow and go. But most of us like a bit of color. A walkway. Perhaps a trellis. Maybe a flower border. Something more than just a small patio slab left by the builder just outside the backdoor.

But then we think of the work involved. The cost. The planning involved.

"Maybe the idea of big grassy yards front and back isn't so bad," we might think. "Backyard landscaping, front yard landscaping just isn't for us.

But wait. Take a deep breath. Slow down.

Landscaping needn't be that difficult.

Take backyard landscaping, for instance. When you think of your backyard, you think of rest and relaxation, don't you? A sunny place for perhaps a barbecue. A warm spot on which to lie on a hammock, swing in the breeze, read a book and then take a snooze.

So keep it simple.

Here's a simple backyard landscaping idea: Why not install a flowerbed of blooming plants that attract butterflies? You can place it somewhat in the middle of your yard. It will become a focal point and just wait until your friends and neighbors come to visit! (Perhaps you'll want to have book on butterflies handy, see who can spot the most different kinds.)

For backyard landscaping ideas that attract butterflies, check out the National Wildlife Federation's information on the subject here.

For a truly simple design, why not "just" have a lovely patio, with shrubs and/or flowering plants along its edges? A good cement/concrete contractor can pour a patio in an oval, curved or just about any shape for you. Add some shrubs, plants and/or some solar patio lights would make a lovely – and simple and peaceful – backyard landscape for you.

Speaking of shrubs, they can be a simple, inexpensive addition to your landscaping. Place them in front and in the back of your home, right up against the walls. They add great curb appeal without a lot of muss and fuss. And your shrubbery needn't be just different shades of green – many shrubs flower and provide wonderful bursts of color. Check out azalea, lilac, hydrangea, shrub rose, and dogwood at your local nursery to see if they appeal to you.

Don't forget plants that are native to your area. Head to your nursery or do some research on the Internet to see what plants are native to your state. A simple Google search of, say, "Pennsylvania native plants" will give you a wealth of information. Choosing native plants give you peace of mind because you know they do well in your climate and therefore will be easier to take care of.

Place wood chips around your shrubs, trees and bushes. They cover up the dirt – thus giving your landscaping a more polished look – and they also help cut down on weeds. They also provide food as they break down and help keep your plants moist.

Finally, don't forget the lawnchair – the perfect addition to your backyard landscape. After all, now that your simple backyard landscape is done, it's time to put your backyard to its real use – a lovely spot for a relaxing snooze on a summer Sunday afternoon.

If you have a website, you need well-written content. Articles can create hundreds of links directing visitors to your site. Yet if you don't have the time, the inclination nor the talent to write articles, hire content writer Jean Henshaw to write them for you. A professional writer for more than 20 years, her keyword-targeted articles will provide your site's visitors with information they can trust. Information they'll return to again and again and again. Visit her site at http://jeanwriteswebcontent.wordpress.com/ or contact her at henshawjean(at)wordpress(dot)com.

The Hidden Benefit Of Water Gardens

2007-04-03T02:46:00.000-07:00

When homeowners decide to install a water garden on their property, they often expect a beautiful area where they can relax in peaceful contemplation. However, once you've had a water garden in your yard for a few weeks, you will start to notice that you are not the only one who is enjoying the beauty of your new landscaping feature. A water garden can be an attractive draw for all kinds of wildlife. When you have a water garden, you are rolling out the red carpet for some of nature's most beautiful creatures from delicate butterflies to quirky tree frogs in bright, eye-catching colors. A water garden brings the unique wildlife of your region out of the shadows so that you can get to know them, and you just might be surprised at what you discover.

Some of the Earth's most beautiful insects are likely to be drawn to your water garden. Many water garden owners are delighted to start each day by discovering a few energetic dragonflies hovering over the water's surface, or skimming through the air with their bright blue and green bodies flashing in the sun. Dragonflies lay their eggs in water, which makes them common visitors to water ponds. In addition to dragonflies, you are likely to see a host of butterflies who will likely be drawn to your water garden in order to drink. The cool, clean moving water of your tended water garden looks very attractive to these tiny creatures who are constantly in search of a few droplets of crisp water to sip on.

In addition to creatures that are lovely to look at, you will also notice that your water garden draws animals who create an enchanting live soundscape. Birds of all shapes and sizes will want to spend time visiting your water garden where they can bathe and drink to their hearts' content. This will leave your yard filled with the pleasant, beautiful tones of all manner of bird song. At night, when the birds have flown off to sleep in safer areas, your water garden will likely play host to a bevy of frogs that will croak you a lullaby in deep bass tones.

One of the most exciting things about the fact that a water garden attracts wildlife of all shapes and sizes is that getting up close and personal with all of these types of animals enables you to observe them at all stages of life. A water garden often provides you with an opportunity to see frogs develop from tadpoles, and to watch different kinds of butterflies come and go with the seasons. Chances are, if you spend enough time watching the different visitors to your water garden, you are bound to learn a few things about nature that you never knew, and that is the very best kind of surprise.

The History of Landscaping - Quite a Story

2007-03-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

Up until about a hundred years ago, the average person didn't have a lawn to worry about. They were too busy going to work, putting food on the table, and trying to educate their children. It was only when people started leaving the farming life for the life of the cities and suburbs that single-family houses sprang up in droves, and people had the money to spend on such luxuries as landscaping.

Which is not to say that landscaping is a brand new profession. As early as the 1800s, the wealthy of practically any country were able to employ professional artisans to build gardens and landscape their homes. Of course, they weren't average people, but nevertheless it's fun to learn about the forerunners of today's landscape designer.

The most famous is the British landscape designer, "Capability" Brown. His real name was Lancelot Brown, but it was his habit to look at a piece of real estate and say, "It has capabilities," and t hat is how he got his nickname. Brown has been called England's "most famous gardener." He was born in 1716 and died in 1783, and yet over a hundred years later his legacy lives on. Over 44 of his gardens are still in existence today (he designed over 170). Of course that's because he designed these gardens for the "landed families", or nobility, who were not about to sell their mansion every ten years and move up to a bigger one.

Prior to Capability Brown, the landed families had huge "formal gardens." Brown changed all that, encouraging his clients to make use of a more naturalistic design, with compositions of grass, clumps of trees, and pools and lakes.

England has Capability Brown, the United States has Frederick Law Olmsted. Olmsted was born in 1822 and died in 1903. He went to Yale and studied agricultural science and engineering.

In 1853, the New York legislature decided that they'd have to create a park in the middle of the city, for their many inhabitants. They held a contest to decide who would design it, and Frederick Olmsted and his partner, English architect Calvert Vaux, were awarded the contract, to create a "greensward," as Olmsted termed it. " The park was not created on barren land, however - many poor people and free blacks were evicted from their homes under eminent domain so that the park could be placed there. (Not that that was Olmsted's fault - that's where the legislature wanted the park, and that's where they were going to put it regardless.)

Olmsted went on to make a career out of creating city parks - indeed he conceived the system of parks and interconnecting parkways. Two of the best examples are the park system he designed for Buffalo, New York, and the system for Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Olmsted and his partners also designed over 355 school and college campuses.

So as you walk through your city and see all the greenspaces and landscaping, spare a thought for the landscape architects who brought all this beauty to you. Studying the history of landscape architecture is fun and informative.

Landscaping For Beginners

2007-03-29T07:28:00.000-07:00

Think of your house as a jewel. If the setting in which it stands isn't right, it spoils the effect of the house itself. The setting, in this case, is your front and back yards. Most people, of course, will only see your front yard - casual passers-by or the casual visitor. Your backyard, however, can be your own inner sanctum, the place where you go to retreat and reflect on life, the universe, and everything. So your landscaping can consist of an integrated design for both front and back yards, or two distinctively different designs, depending on what you want to accomplish.

It's important to remember that your yards - the trees, the grass, the plants and flowers - are living things - and that you can bend them to your will in many ways, but if they do not have the right kind of soil and are not properly cared for, they will die.

So before you actually dig your hands into the rich earth and start planting anything, make sure that you have a detailed plan of what you want to do - and that you follow that plan.

Before you decide which flowers, grasses and plants your going to use in your landscaping, you must pay attention to the ground in which you're going to put them. Spend a week or so tracking the sunlight and shade and how it plays across every square inch of your yard. The amount of sunlight an area receives will determine what types of flowers or plants you want to place there.

But don't forget to track the ground's reaction to rain, either. Are there any areas that remain soft for a long time after a rain? Are there any areas where the water has pooled? Again this will effect what you do with those areas of ground.

What about trees? Are there currently any trees in your yard and if so, do you plan to keep them all? After a couple of years spent raking leaves during the fall you might consider getting rid of those trees and replacing them with evergreens. Evergreens present their own challenges, of course, as its sometimes difficult for grass to grow right up amongst the roots of the tree.

Do some soil tests, as well. These are done easily with a kit you can buy from any local garden store, or even the bigger supermarkets. You need to check for the pH balance of your soil. If it is too alkaline or too acidic, plants won't grow properly, and you'll have to add fertilizer to help put the pH balance back to even.

Make a physical plan

Get yourself some graph paper, and some tracing paper to put over it. Draw a scale-model drawing of each yard on a piece of graph paper, blocking out all important areas such trees and other features that are to remain, and features that will be removed. Then use the tracing paper to sketch in various ideas for flower beds and ornamental design. If you want to get fancy, you can also buy software which will enable you to make these plans in three dimensions.

Where to get ideas

While you're tracking the private life of the ground, you can also be on the lookout for ideas you'd like to implement. There are dozens of magazines on landscaping and gardening, and innumerable books available from your local library or bookstore. The Home and Gardening Channel will be a fount of ideas as well.

The right equipment

Depending on the size of your yards, you might not want to buy all the equipment you'll need to do your landscaping, as you'll probably only need garden rollers and aerators once a year. This equipment can usually be rented from your local garden store.

The right crew

Depending on what you're going to be putting into your landscape - fountains, ponds, heavy statuary, make sure you have the right crew for the job. Don't try to move a heavy statue yourself, for example, and if you have absolutely no technical experience, it's always best to hire a professional to install a pond or fountain.

With all the right stuff, your home will shine like a jewel in its proper setting.

Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer - 20ppm 600x2400dpi 8MB memory

2007-03-26T18:32:00.000-07:00

Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer - 20ppm 600x2400dpi 8MB memory

List Price:	~~$199.99~~
You Save:	$137.82
Final Price:	$62.17

Description :
"With its low price tag, the Brother HL-2040 makes a good personal laser for anyone with low-volume, everyday printing needs." -- PC WorldThe new HL-2040 monochrome laser printer from Brother is ideal for home or home office use. Offering a compact footprint, fast print speed, excellent print quality, robust standard memory, and flexible connectivity, this printer deliver both the features and value demanded by today's home or small office users.

Go to Buy.com
Add to Shopping cart for $82.17
-$20 Mail-in rebate ( Offer valid from 12/31/2006 to 3/31/2007 )
Final Price: $82.17 -$20 = $62.17 + Free Shipping + No Tax (Except CA, MD, MA, and TN)
Click here to grab this deal from Buy.com

Clover blog

Gardening Advice - Benefits of Gardening

Tomato Plants and Black Fungus Disease

Organic Gardening - A Speech for Teachers

Landscaping Equipment Tips And Where To Find Them

Contemporary Landscaping: The Old Is New

The Garden is the Heart of English Cottage House Plans

Tips for Locating a New Vegetable Garden

Simple Backyard Landscaping Ideas

The Hidden Benefit Of Water Gardens

The History of Landscaping - Quite a Story

Landscaping For Beginners

Brother HL-2040 Monochrome Laser Printer - 20ppm 600x2400dpi 8MB memory

Floral Leaf 7 Piece Jacquard Comforter Set, Burgundy (Queen or King)

HP Q2612A Compatible Laser Toner Cartridge for HP Laserjet 1010/1012/1015/3010/3020/3030 Printers

Wooden Farm 9-piece Peg Puzzle

Creative WebCam Live! Ultra - 73VF006000000

SanDisk SDSDH-2048-901 2 GB Ultra II Secure Digital Memory Card (Retail Package)

Belkin Migration Cable for MS Vista

Diablotek 3.5" One-Touch System Back-Up USB 2.0 Aluminum Hard Drive Enclosure -EMVOTB35DSL

Ultimate Ears Super.fi 3 Studio Earphones (Black)

Rubbermaid Tough Tools 70320 56-Piece Portable Tool Case

A-DATA RB1 My Flash 2GB USB 2.0 USB Flash Drive, Waterproof Rubber Housing

Factory-Reconditioned DeWalt DW926K-2R 9.6-Volt Compact 3/8" Adjustable Clutch Drill/Driver Kit

Rolling Business Overnighter, Black

100 Pack BenQ DJS CDR (CD-R) Blank Media 52X Orange 80Min/700MB Discs in Cake Box

Samsung DIGIMAX-S500SLV 5.0 MegaPixel Camera with 3x Optical Zoom and 2.4" LCD -DIGIMAX S500S

Pinnacle PCTV HD Pro Stick -230100090

Presto 07046 BigGriddle Cool-Touch Electric Griddle

Apacer Handy Steno AH320 2GB USB 2.0 USB Flash Drive

KWorld PCI Express Dual TV Tuner with Hypermedia Center - KW-PVR-TVPE210

36-Pack Ridisc Cartirdge Combo Replaces Epson Stylus Photo R200/R300/RX500/RX600 Printers Inkjet Cartridge: Four of Each T048120~T048620

Linksys Wireless G Broadband Router w/2 Phone Ports for Vonage- WRTP54G-BUY

Apacer Handy Steno AH320 2GB USB 2.0 USB Flash Drive

Metrokane Complete Bartender and Cocktail Center

A-DATA PD14 2GB USB2.0 USB Flash Drive

Buslink MP3/CD/Radio Sound System w/ Touch Screen Control & Subwoofer -MC-518

600 CDs/DVDs Capacity Hard Plastic/Aluminum MEGA Case with Self Clean 300 Sleeves

Reebok Premier Road Plus II Motion Control Running Shoe Womens (White/Silver/Buttercup) Size: 9

Sony NW-E005F 2 GB Flash Digital Music Player Black

D-Link Wireless Media Player - 802.11G Audio/Photo/Video -DSM-320

Sanus System VM200S TV Wall Mount (Silver)

Fantom Titanium 250GB 7200RPM USB 2.0 External Hard Drive -TFDU25072

Panasonic DMC-FX01S 6MP Compact Digital Camera with 3.6x Optical Image Stabilized Zoom (Silver)

Kodak EasyShare C743 7.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Danskin Space Saver Bench With Total Toning System and DVD

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum Sound Card -70SB035000003

Mach Speed 2GB MP3 Player w/ Voice Recorder -MP3 -8033 2 GIG RED

Sennheiser RS100 - 900 MHz Wireless Headphones

Verbatim 100Pack Spindle 8X DVD-R 4.7GB - 94985

Creative Zen Nano 512MB MP3 Player - Voice Recorder - 512MB Flash Memory - LCD - White -70PF122200016

Nikon Coolpix L3 5.1MP Digital Camera with 3x Optical Zoom

Kingston 2GB 50X Elite Pro Compact Flash Card -CF/2GB-SKR

Zen Nano Plus 1GB - Dark Blue -70PF163300012

Netgear 54Mbps Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter - WG111 -WG111US

Canon PowerShot A530 5MP Digital Camera with 4x Optical Zoom