MyGarden

Pruning that is done by the amateur gardener is carried out to maintain a plant that has been already trained in a nursery. However, many keen gardeners grow shrubs and even trees from cuttings and seed, even though it is better to leave a large tree to the experts, because of the special equipment required and the risks involved. The principles that must guide the gardener when he picks up a pair of secateurs should always be 'a well pruned plant is a beautiful and healthy plant' and 'pruning well carried out should almost be undetectable'. Trees do not necessarily have to be pruned. The reason for pruning them is to shape or keep a specimen that displays the finest features of a particular...

If knowing when to prune grape vines isn't the first thing you need to know to grow great grapes, it is very close to it. Most viticulturists would agree that this is the single most important step if you want to enjoy the fruits of your labor. If you get this task wrong, it simply won't matter how much time you spend tending your vines in other ways; your results will be disappointing. You just can't get a sweet, bountiful harvest if you are not trimming your vines at the right time and in the right way. What keeps many new backyard grape growers from feeling comfortable about when to prune grape vines is how much they are advised to trim them back. Grape vines should not be pruned at all the first...

When growing a garden, it is important to know when to prune roses in order to keep them healthy and strong. Knowing when it is time for pruning is as important as knowing how the pruning process should be done. One of the most common mistakes people make is pruning at the wrong time. There are several reasons for pruning your flowers, such as for the removal of leaves and stems that may be diseased, and to ensure that newer and healthier buds will grow in their place. For instance, if you have a plant that has a lot of disease, then chances are the new buds that grow in will be diseased as well. Now that we know the why's of pruning, let us take a look at when to prune roses to ensure that they...

Everyone has a different idea about the best approach to garden landscaping. Canadians and North Americans may consider colonial layout the "classical" gardening landscape. Old-world types may prefer the use of Greco-Roman styles and statuary as the centerpiece in their gardening landscape. Others will consider the charm and elegance from the well-known gardens in Tuscany to be the standard classical gardening landscape. Even with largely differing opinions, and they are just opinions, few gardeners argue against the traditional formal rose garden as The Classical gardening landscape. Kings and queens of old Europe, and their aristocratic hangers-on, much preferred the formal rose garden for their...

Most of us are aware that planting trees can help boost the value of our homes, but did you know that strategically placed trees can alleviate energy costs year round? Not only does the presence of trees naturally cool the air through the process of evapotranspiration, but trees can serve as both sources of shade and wind barriers to reduce the energy demands on your home. Although here we offer general suggestions as to the placement and types of trees you may plant to reduce the energy costs in your home, it is important to understand that many other factors not addressed here must be considered in the decision regarding where trees should be planted. For example, trees must be planted appropriate...

Most flowering trees are small and can be planted in full sun or partial shade, being easily adapted to small yards. The Japanese Saucer Magnolia, Magnolia x Soulangiana, awakens in late winter or early spring. First growing flower buds that increase in size as the weather warms up, burst into dramatic flower colors of purple, pink, white, red, and yellow; the yellow flowering magnolia is the rarest. If freezing weather occurs, as it often does during the late winter or early spring, the flowers will wither from the tree, but most often will rebloom, as the weather warms up again. Crabapple flowering trees are cloud-like, fluffy white, pink or red in color, and often bloom along with the flowering...

Do you love roses? Luscious rose gardens add a beautiful atmosphere to any home and garden. Even beginners can grow roses with little trouble when learn the basics of maintenance. There are some gorgeous ideas for backyard rose gardening. Although there are many steps to growing a beautiful rose garden, even a beginner can do it. Here you will find some rose gardening tips for the beginner. - First, choose your spot. Roses love sunlight; therefore, they grow best when getting at least 8 hours of sunshine daily. A full day of sunlight is best; however, morning sun is preferable to afternoon sun. - Prepare the soil for your roses well. Although, roses are not fragile flowers, they thrive in good...

A Garden Designer is a professional or amateur who designs the plan and features of gardens. While professional designers are more experienced and work for various clients for set fees, amateurs design their own gardens or those of friends and relatives just as a hobby. Garden designs and landscape work hand in hand. They deal with topography, water and drainage, planting, aesthetics, building and construction, site characteristics, climate and genius loci. These designers are trained to incorporate aesthetic arts and technical arts in the design of projects. The twentieth century has seen courses change emphasis from horticulture to focus more on the design aspects. The traditional apprentice...

If you've just moved house or just want to renovate your front yard, it's quite easy to find landscaping ideas if you do some homework. Whether you are a newbie or have some experience in landscaping, there are a few places where you can find a lot of inspiration and tips for your next landscaping project. Read on to learn where you can find a lot of suggestions and ideas. The public library Libraries have a large collection of books on plants and gardening, history and decoration. Even books picturing images of remote countries landscapes will be useful to get your mind to work. You can use books on historical gardens, or you can even find antique photos of your area gardens and parks. You will...

If you want to make your landscape look beautiful you can get a number of innovative and attractive landscape designs from Landscaping of Las Vegas. They also provide valuable landscaping tips to help you create a beautiful landscape. The Las Vegas landscapers have a team of experienced and dedicated individuals who gives much importance to the quality of their work. They strive hard to offer wonderful Las Vegas landscape designs to their customers. The Las Vegas landscapers suggest that climbers should be planted in the corner of a garden and low flowered hedge of gold privet or deep pink spirea can also be planted to get a colorful garden. Black plants and chocolate cosmos can also be planted in...

In this article we'll discuss some basic concepts of front yard landscaping, and you'll find them useful if you have lots of experience or are a complete rookie. The key is always to keep it simple, plan and design beforehand and devote time to maintain your yard. The main idea to keep in mind is to make your design work during all seasons of the year. If you plan ahead so to make it beautiful through the year, it won't be hard to maintain and your front yard will be interesting as well as varied. When creating a flowerbed is a good idea to put the highest ones in the back and go down as you move to the front. If you can achieve this, your flowers will catch much more attention, and it will be...

Trees and shrubs can have many different forms, for example many conifers are conical, pyramidal, or powerfully vertical. Some are prostrate and spreading. To some degree these are scented and everyone is familiar with the scent of pine, but it is only if you rub or brush against the tree, which can be a prickly experience! Weeping trees have a very attractive romantic form and scented varieties include weeping Cercidiphyllum (Katsura Tree) Pendulum, which is quite spectacular. It has thrilling color in the fall and is scented like caramel. Also the weeping Silver Lime is an attractive choice for scented gardening. A shrub that looks like a small tree is Buddleja Alternifolia, and it has...

Spring is here and tomato lovers are thinking about that sweet taste of a home grown tomato. These are one of the easier vegetables to grow, but tomato gardening tips are always welcome. Whether you have a large backyard garden, or containers on your deck, you are dreaming of the day the soil is warm enough to get down and dirty and plant your tomatoes deep into the newly prepared soil. One of the best tomato gardening tips I learned that really has made the biggest difference when planting them, is that it is really important to plant tomatoes deep. The deeper you can plant them the better. Your goal is to establish a strong root system using the stem of the plant as a kind of rod and roots growing...

It does not really matter if the garden is large or small or is just in a container placed near the window, or even if it is a window box. These gardening tips sites will give lots of information for gardening for beginners to help any novice all the help they can get to have the best out of their gardens. Go to online gardening expert which can give gardening advice and can answer questions like how to get the garden set up and blooming, how quick and how easy it is to do are just of the few that are answered by these sites. With just a couple of hours or even less after work each week, or even just playing in the dirt on weekends, caring for the flowers and the plants in the garden can be quite...

Growing herbs, especially basil, in your square foot garden is an excellent way to have a kitchen garden right outside your back door. Herbs mixed with fresh vegetables like peppers, tomatoes, carrots, radishes, leeks, and beets is easy to do with Mel Bartholomew's method of square foot gardening. If you haven't picked-up a copy of Mel's book entitled All New Square Foot Gardening, you really shouldn't delay. In it, you will find a wealth of information about growing basil. Along with learning to grow basil, you will find helpful information on growing other herbs like cilantro, mint, and oregano. There are many varieties to choose from. Basil, particularly 'Sweet Genovese', is the best for Italian...

A garden is a lot of work, but is also a very rewarding experience in the long run. Many people start a garden with the idea in mind that they will grow their own vegetables, while others just want to see something come to life by their own hand and use gardening as a hobby. Then there are those that use gardening as a way to add beauty to their yard, thus making their property much more attractive. Regardless of which type of gardener you might be, you will need to consider what type of gardening design you will want to have. There are an endless amount of options available when deciding how to design your garden. In fact, some people even choose to have an experienced gardener design their garden...

Gardening is a wonderful hobby that requires passion and perseverance. A garden can be set up anywhere in the house - front yard garden, terrace garden, kitchen garden. Gardening involves planning, choice of plants, soil preparation, testing and tilling of the soil, soil amendments, procurement of the plants, adopting right planting technique. Harvesting the plants. Every step gets you closer to a beautiful garden. Soil is one of the most important ingredients for gardening, in order to increase its nutritional value in an organic way earthworms can be fed to the soil. Earthworms have been called the friend of farmer. They could be your best friend in gardening too. Earthworms help make the soil...

Getting pieces of advice is necessary in gardening especially if you are just a beginner. Different types of plants have different needs and you need to seek for help so that your plants will achieve their maximum growth. Some sources of gardening advice are experienced gardeners, gardening catalogues, magazines, books and the Internet. Below are some of these pieces of advice that you can get from the said sources and can be applied to almost all types of plants. One general advice is to have enough space for your plants as they grow. They should not be overcrowded to achieve a good airflow. Make sure that your plants are able to receive the proper amount of sunlight. Adding some mulch or compost...

Most flowering orchids need to be pruned to maximize the flowers that they can have. Pruning encourages new growth because nutrients no longer have to be sent to old or dying tissue; they are available to new buds and sprays. Phalaenopsis orchids are also flowering orchids. They have a preferred way of having their flower stems pruned to encourage new growth. The pruning guidelines may vary for different orchids. When in doubt check with your garden center or your orchid supplier. When Phalaenopsis orchids are pruned properly, they will respond with the next set of blooms.   It's pretty much straight-forward to know when to prune: When the blooms have started turning brown or drying up. They may...

Hibiscus plants should be pruned occasionally, which is usually done in the spring. Regularly pruning these plants will make better shaped plants, as well as cause the branching and blooming of the flowers to increase. Pruning will allow the plant to produce hormones that activate buds that have become dormant. This will also reduce the amount of insects infesting the plant. There are also some negatives to pruning the plants. The main drawback is the fact that you will not see any blooms in the area you pruned for at least a couple of months. Another draw back is the fact that your plant will look smaller or out of balanced until the new growth comes in. When to Prune the Hibiscus Plant: The...

In order to make the best decision when pruning Knockout roses several factors need to be considered. This variety is a brand new hybrid that requires less care than most of the other types. However some trimming and pruning is required even for these low maintenance varieties. Here are some tips to help you. Do not prune too often: Knockout roses do not require pruning more than every three years. Of course if you want to do a little trimming to keep the bush or shrub in a certain shape then this can be done anytime. When to prune? Early spring when growth is just starting is the best time to do this. You will stimulate growth by removing old, dead wood from the center of the plant. This will also...

Much of the pruning that you are going to do is going to be based on the location of the various buds that have the ability to grow after the cuts are made, and/or the active cellular area where cell division will seal the wound. The only times that the location for pruning is unimportant is when you are simply shearing a hedge or bush, and perhaps when cosmetically thinning or grooming an already developed topiary or bonsai. As I explained in Lesson #2, "The Function of Pruning," actively growing terminal buds produce hormones that travel down the stem and retard the growth of lateral stem buds until the time that the terminal shoot has grown enough so that its inhibiting influence further down the...

Generally speaking, it is best to prune fruit trees in winter, when they are dormant. This is certainly true of any normal apple trees that you would find in an orchard. As with all gardening rules, however, there are exceptions. Restricted, wire trained forms of apple tree, such as fans, cordons and espaliers need special treatment (the same applies to pears). Unlike normal fruit trees, where you want them to grow nice and big, the whole point of a restricted form is that it stays in its limited space. Summer pruning is an effective way of making that happen. In autumn, when a deciduous plant settles down for the winter and begins to shed its leaves, it sends most of its nutrient rich sap down into...

Pruning orchids is indeed very important once it has started to flower especially if you want to promote a new growth. Pruning also ensures that your plant will be healthy and will bloom repeatedly. Majority of novice orchid growers can be very nervous about pruning their plant because they are scared that they will damage the plant. Pruning your orchid doesn't have to be a difficult task especially if you will follow the following steps listed below. Step 1 - Right Timing for Pruning The perfect timing for pruning your orchids should be when the orchids are dormant and there are no more blooms. The best time to do this usually falls during the months of October and November, generally in early...

We prune all fruit trees, vines and bushes, but the challenge of grape pruning lies in training the vine so that it will develop into a strong, vigorous plant that will bear lots and lots of fruit. While it is obviously important to know how to prune your grape vine it is just as important to know when to prune it, and why you are pruning it. Why we prune grape vines These are the primary reasons for pruning grapes: · To shape the vine and train it along the grape trellis. · To ensure that there is a balance between the development of roots, top growth and the fruiting capacity of the vine. · To distribute the fruiting wood so that you can control the amount of fruit the vine will bear. This will...

Hedges are commonly used in defining garden boundaries and limits, but at times hedges have been grown and modified to shape up in to green structures which could resemble an iconic figure, a piece of art or even you could find a name carved out of planned placement and trimming of hedges. Hedge trimming does require a special set of garden equipment and gear. Most importantly you need to go for hedge shears, garden stakes of varying sizes, strings, gloves in case of thorny hedges, safety glasses to protect your self from flying twigs and particles. If your hedge pruning requirement is on a smaller scale, you could do it manually with a set of gardening shears. For large scale trimming requirement...

Proper pruning of Rhododendrons Today I would like to cover the proper procedure for pruning Rhododendrons. June, right after blooming time, is the perfect time to prune and dead head Rhododendrons I have to say, that one of my biggest pet peeves is observing general landscapers and home owners attempting to control the growth of rhododendrons. Commonly I see landscapers and home owners drag out their hedge trimmers and yards of extension chords and ladders to take on the over grown plants that seem to grow to heights that hide windows and otherwise have out grown their respective place in the landscape. From the on start, the plant should probably not have been planted where it is, or another...

As a newcomer to caring for bonsai trees, I was keen to start making it grow the way I wanted, but maybe I was being a little impatient. Bonsai are not like house plants, they take years to form into beautiful works of art. I am a newcomer to bonsai and are just learning the basics of keeping my tree alive. What I really needed to know about pruning at this time was how to keep my tree 'under control' and keep it miniature and in the original shape by removing any excessive new growth. To keep the growth balanced and in shape, pruning is necessary and this is without doubt one of the most enjoyable and satisfying aspects of the hobby. Do not be afraid of pruning - it is an essential part of caring...

My father was a great one for giving tomato gardening tips since when he was a little boy in the Depression his family worked on a tomato farm when my grandfather was laid off. True all American story. The fact of the matter is that we always had tomatoes in our garden, so that juicy tomato flavor that only comes from a tomato picked straight off the vine is something dream about all winter. This article discusses some of the problems growing tomatoes. Face it, tomatoes are easy to grow and most people should not have any problems growing tomatoes. However there are some common issues that seem to come up each year. Here is a list of five tomato gardening tips that identify problems. Problem 1: You...

There are many ways that you can create gardens even when you don't feel that you have the right amount of space to do so. Doing things like kitchen gardening can be a great way of allowing yourself to have the fun of having a small garden, without worrying about needing a large outdoor space to put it in. When you are looking at kitchen gardening you are looking at a way to create your own garden in your own space. How Does It Work? Have you ever wanted to have a garden but you just don't have the room outside or your climate is such that there isn't the right kind of growing season anyway? You should know that you can have a kitchen gardening where you will be able to have plants and grow food...

When it comes to flower garden landscaping you want to make sure you create a beautiful place for you to enjoy not to mention a place that visitors will brag on! There are several components of flower garden landscaping that are considered very important and then there are others that are simply up to your personal discretion. However, we will discuss some of the important elements in order to ensure that you create the most beautiful garden for yourself. Some of the most important elements of landscape design include color, form, line, scale, and texture. This might just sound like a whole lot of words to you but they actually serve a purpose when it comes to landscape design. First of all, color...

Many homes that are now being built are around subdivisions and near highways. Usually, these homes are just located in a small lot and the front yard is almost gone because of the roads. But did you know that one way to beautify your home is to have a landscaped front yard? And, one of the best front yard landscaping ideas is to have a tree in front of your house. In fact, many experts recommend having at least a single tree in front yard. It can make large difference in appearance and comfort inside the house. Large and tall trees can give shade to the house. Moreover, tall trees cast a shadow on roofs that can reduce the heat coming from sunlight. It can also minimize the noise coming from the...

If you have read the journals, magazines and newspapers on the tree shaping process, you must have known that the tree pruning is very fantastic job and it will help you to decorate the garden. There are a number of the tree shaping techniques and you need to be familiar with different styles and shaping of the plants. Especially during the fall seasons, the trees are habituated to produce the least number of fruits. At that time you can shape the branches through pruning. Pruning accessories must be collected and you should shape the trees according to your choice. Suppose you have a standard size tree in your garden, in that case, the standard trees don't require any special shaping. Just allow...