About Gardening

Adding extensions to your Gabriel Ash greenhouse

2009-09-09T06:33:00.000-07:00

It’s obvious how much you love your Gabriel Ash greenhouse. Honestly there is no reason why you shouldn’t, its intricate design along with the ability to grow a wide variety of plants that are always protected is more then enough reason to enjoy this luxury. However, extensions may be needed to your greenhouse, especially under the circumstances of you wanting to grow certain plants during randomised growing seasons.

There are a wide range of greenhouses that force you to utilise what you already have or simply do without the extra room. However, a Gabriel Ash greenhouse allows you to add extra extensions that you deem fit, without deterring from the extravagant beauty that the greenhouse already possesses.
Here at Gabriel Ash we offer a plethora of ways that you can extend your existing greenhouse. The type of greenhouse that you are extending is never an issue. We offer extensions for transparent greenhouses, wooden greenhouses, and everything in between.

With our extensions you have the choice to extend the greenhouse yourself with our easy to follow step by step guide. Or, if time is not something that you have a lot of we can help add the extra extension pieces for you.

Our extensions can be attached in many different ways. You can snap the extensions pieces in to allow you to come back and remove them later if needs be, or you can nail them into place. There are extensions available to make your greenhouse taller, wider, or simply add a few more shelves. The possibilities in converting your greenhouse into something that works better for you are endless
If you are interested in adding accessories to your greenhouse such as special lighting for specific plants, or an aimlessly easier way to water your plants, we have everything you need. Our special lighting will enable plants that require a certain percentage of light at all times grow consistently. Our automated water systems are great for ensuring that your plants are always being delivered the right amount of nutrients into their soil to flourish.

The friendly staff at Gabriel Ash are always willing to lend a helping hand with any gardening ailments you may have. You will always have someone that you can turn to when you are ever faced with adversity pertaining to greenhouses or gardening in general. Along with our wide array of extensions for your existing greenhouse, Gabriel Ash will always deliver what you need when you need it.

To know more about Greenhouses and adding extensions to your Gabriel Ash greenhouse visit http://gabrielash.com

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What you should know about greenhouse bases

2009-09-09T06:32:00.000-07:00

Whenever people hear the words greenhouse base, people often get confused about what the base actually is. The base of the greenhouse is in no means the floor of the building, like so many people have come too believe, but the actual base of the greenhouse. Foundation is the term you will use to describe the actual floor of the greenhouse.

Many would describe the actual base of your greenhouse to be what allows the greenhouse to stand. The purpose of the base is to secure the greenhouse and eliminate it from leaning. The foundation is primarily the concrete foundation of the floor. The base is considered to be extremely more complex then the underlying foundation.

Your base needs to be around five ft and should be utilised to bring the greenhouse to your required height. The greenhouse should not fit flush with the ground.

When you raise your greenhouse to this level, you will create a form of a concrete step. The step will be utilised to adjust you to the height difference from the underlying ground to the concrete foundation on the bottom. The up stand will allow the base of your greenhouse to appear to be lipped. This lipped appearance allows the base of greenhouse and the frame the perfect opportunity to fit together perfectly.

Do not assume that you will not need a base for your Gabriel Ash greenhouse. It is always necessary to have an underlying base to every greenhouse. They are so easy to build you can do it yourself.
When you build your greenhouse base with bricks you are allowing the building to stay solid on the foundation. No one wants to have the worry of their greenhouse swaying in the wind.

To know more about Greenhouses and what you should know about greenhouse bases visit http://gabrielash.com

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Making Your Own Tomato Planter

2009-09-09T06:31:00.000-07:00

Making your own upside down tomato planter is as easy as pie. You will need to gather together a few materials.

* 5 gallon bucket with a handle

* A few coffee filters

* Loose Soil

* Starter tomato plants

First Step
Start by cutting a few holes in the bottom of your bucket. These don't have to be too large. I like to use a drill or a screw and screw driver. 1-3 holes is good for this bucket size. Keep in mind your tomato plants need a lot of root room so the more room you give them per plant the larger they will grow.

Second Step
Tape coffee filters over each of the holes from the inside of the bucket. I like to use 2-3 coffee filters over each hole just for extra water absorbency. Once you have the coffee filters in place poke a small hole through them. Push your starter plant through the hole. Be as careful as possible with this process. Starter plants should be at least 5 inches when using this method. If they are too tiny they wont get enough sunlight.

Third Step
Fill bucket with soil over the roots of your starter plants. Water and hang the bucket. I have a post in my garden with several long nail heads off of it to hang buckets from. This seems to work well. When picking a spot to hang your bucket make sure it isn't too close to your house or shady area. Your plants will already be receiving some shade from the bucket which in the heat of the day can be a good thing but if they don't have enough sun they will wilt.

Tomato plants are the easiest to grow and most useful fruit in a garden unless, if like me, you have a black thumb. when I started my first veggie garden I was frustrated to see my tomatoes wilt, rot, and even die. Pruning your tomato plants can help out a lot but there are a few things you should know about pruning tomato plants before you get started with the processes. Also keep in mind that you must prune to get the most out of your crop. Once I mastered How To Trim Tomato Plants. I started increasing my crop by 3 times. Good luck tomato growing!

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Greenhouse Bean Feast – Saving seed

2009-09-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

Most gardeners will have saved a few seeds over the years. Runner beans are the most likely candidate and one of the easiest seeds to save seed from.

Saving seed completes the life cycle of the plant, making it a great way for children to learn. If they have grown their own beans from seeds this year, then now you can show them that from one plant you get dozens of pods and inside each pod are six to eight bean seeds. Each one of these seeds will grow into another plant and make hundreds more seeds. It’s easy to see where the magic bean story came from and on a practical note it shows children how gardeners used to ensure plenty of seed for the following year before the arrival of seed merchants. I’ve got a huge planter of runner bean plants in my greenhouse this year, which makes it very easy to save seed from them. I can leave a handful of pods on the plant now and allow them to dry out in the warm conditions inside my greenhouse. When the pods have turned brown and crispy I can pick them off, open them up and store the beans somewhere coold and dry.

If you are serious about saving seed there are a few rules that need observing to ensure good results. But for the purpose of the amateur gardener and for school projects there are plenty of simple techniques that can be used.
The first thing to realise is that plants exist purely to make seed, that’s why its important to dead head flowers and to keep picking pods and vegetables as they develop. As soon as the plant has successfully made seed it has done its job and will either expire, in the case of annuals, or it will start to shut down for winter survival.

So if you are hoping to save seed from your greenhouse tomatoes, runner beans, courgettes and peppers you need to wait until late in the season if you still want to be harvesting produce too. Now is a good time to start, but you can wait a few weeks more for plants like runner beans and courgettes that are still cropping prolifically. Most plants are easy to save seed from, you simply allow a few late ‘fruits’ to mature fully and then remove and dry the seed. You choose the healthiest plants and the disease free fruits and save the seed from these. Where possible it’s a good idea to save seed from a few plants of the same variety to get good biodiversity. Some plants need to be totally isolated from related plants in order to get true seeds. This is a very complicated topic, so unless you have very rare plants or are very interested in the process it may be better to concentrate on the easiest types first.

Greenhouse tomatoes are a great choice for saving seed especially if you are growing some of the rare and sought after heritage varieties. You can save hundreds of seeds from a few fruits and share them with friends and other gardeners or take them to seed swap sessions where they will be very popular. It’s also a good way to save money. Once you’ve got a tomato variety that grows well in your garden and greenhouse, it’s worth keeping it and saving seed from it for years to come. But even if you don’t have any tomatoes in the greenhouse you can also save seed from bought tomatoes, but do make sure they are a variety you want to grow. Avoid the highly bred F1 varieties when saving seed from any plants because the offspring are unlikely to bear similar characteristics to the parent plant.

Saving seeds from Tomatoes is slightly more complicated than many plants because the seeds have a protective jelly coating that is normally removed as it passes through the digestive system of birds and animals. Once removed the seeds can germinate when conditions are right. You need to remove this coating to save tomato seeds successfully from year to year.

Choose your fruit

Choose healthy, large fruit from disease free plants. Pick one or two fruits from two or three plants of the same variety to increase the gene pool of your seeds.

Remove the seeds

Slice open the tomatoes and remove the seeds. Try and separate the seed clusters from the fleshy pith. You will find dozens of seeds in most tomatoes, though beefsteak tomatoes may have fewer.

Ferment the seeds

Mix the seeds up from all of the tomatoes and if you don’t want to save them all then take a teaspoonful of the mixture and place in a small glass jar. Add 200ml of slightly warm water and leave the seeds to ferment for 3-5 days.

Prepare the seeds

After this time, drain the excess water away and pour the seeds onto kitchen paper. The jelly coating should have dissolved and you will be left with lots of tiny creamy, flat seeds. Separate them out as best you can and leave the paper sheets to dry in a warm, airy place. Write on the paper the name of the variety.

Save the seeds

When the paper is dry you can either carefully peel the seeds off and place them in a labelled envelope, or store the whole sheet somewhere cool and dry.

To know more about Greenhouses and Greenhouse Bean Feast – Saving seed visit http://hartley-botanic.co.uk

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Greenhouse Bean Feast Summer cuttings

2009-09-09T05:57:00.000-07:00

One of the most magical things about gardening is taking a cutting and watching it suddenly start to grow into a whole new plant. That moment when you can’t resist the temptation any longer and you tug on it gently. If it resists you know it’s been a success and has already rooted and started to become a fresh new version of the plant you admired in the first place. It’s wonderful.

Late summer is that time of year when you can take cuttings from many garden plants. It’s been such a warm, wet summer that many plants have put on even more growth than normal, and this is ideal cuttings material. Summer cuttings can be rooted from this season’s shoots of many garden shrubs such as hydrangeas, lavender, and salvia also from garden perennials such as penstemons, phlox and sedums. These are generally called semi-ripe cuttings and many will root pretty quickly, sometimes within three or four weeks so they are an excellent project for the school holidays.

It’s a really easy thing to do and when you have a greenhouse you have the perfect conditions to root them.

Gather your material

Choose fresh, side shoots of suitable plants that are not bearing flower buds and cut them off as long as possible, at least 10cm, with clean, sharp secateurs. If you are doing a lot of cuttings then place them into a damp, plastic bag while you are gathering material to stop water loss.

Prepare the cutting

Trim off the growing tip, this will encourage your new plant to branch out. Trim the base of the stem just below a leaf node; this is where the leaves join the main stem. Remove the lower leaves, leaving just the top one or two pairs.

Prepare the compost

To get the best results use a dedicated cuttings compost. This is specially formulated to be well drained and gritty. It’s essential that new roots don’t become waterlogged and the grit irritates the stem of the cutting and encourages root growth.

Fill small, clean pots with fresh cutting compost.

Settle them in

Push the prepared cuttings into the compost, until half of the stem is submerged, one to a small pot. Cover over the pot with a polythene bag to reduce water loss and put the pot somewhere warm but out of direct sunlight; under the greenhouse bench is ideal. You can also root them in a heated propagator set to about 20C.

Aftercare

Check them regularly and keep the compost moist. When they start to root they can be potted up into larger pots and over wintered in an unheated or cool greenhouse for planting out in the spring.

To know more about Greenhouses and Greenhouse Bean Feast Summer cuttings Visit http://hartley-botanic.co.uk/

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Be More Adventurous In Your Greenhouse

2009-09-09T05:56:00.000-07:00

There are three good reasons for putting up a Gabriel Ash greenhouse in your garden:

A quality greenhouse will considerably extend your growing season. You can be doing great gardening well after the first cold fingers of winter frosts appear and well before the last cold snaps of spring.

The second reason is that you can take advantage of the delights and offers on display at garden centres in early spring. These are often too vulnerable to be put out in soil until the killing grip of frost has ended. It is not possible to insulate every bedding plant with fleece or mulch, but if you hesitate too long in the season the best plants will have gone. Greenhouses afford the perfect solution, giving you an environment for steadily acclimatising plants to the weather conditions before planting out. Of course your favorite sensitive plants can be safely over-wintered.

For many gardeners propagation is the main reason for having a greenhouse. This is the third reason. It takes take time to repay the construction and purchase investment but big savings can be had by building up your own plant stocks in large numbers from seeds. The satisfaction in growing your own plants and flowers is enormous and the methods are easy to find and very simple to implement.

Propagators are nurseries for plants with everything they need to grow. Soil nutrients, light, moisture, air, warmth and time. All within your greenhouse. Misting systems that are automatically controlled and timed, was the giant technological leap for propagators in greenhouses. They allow propagators to maintain the cuttings moisture levels just right. Not too wet, and they save considerable cultivation time.
Cuttings in your greenhouse can now be placed openly rather than under a sealed container. This allows the circulation of clear air, which the plants need for their transpiration, cooling, drying, and watering requirements. Because of the automation, cuttings can be propagated in bulk at one time.

So greenhouses and frames can be had to suit every budget and any size of garden. Propagation and a longer growing season are within the reach of every gardener. All it takes is a little planning and an adventurous spirit. Gabriel Ash, manufacturer of quality greenhouses are only too pleased to help and advise any gardener who may feel daunted at the thought of installing and running one.

To know more about Greenhouses and Propagators – Be More Adventurous In Your Greenhouse visit http://gabrielash.com

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Greenhouse Accessories – Seed Trays, Potting Trays and Shelving

2009-09-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

Once your Gabriel Ash greenhouse is fully assembled on its foundation, you are ready to furnish it with staging, shelving and accessories so that it is ready for plants. The main staple of a greenhouse is the benching, or staging, which provides of a waist-high slatted surface for plants to sit on. Staging also provides a convenient workspace for you to work on. The best location for greenhouse staging is on the side that gets the least sun so that you have a clear space to install blinds for shading the greenhouse. Once you have your staging in place, you can add other accessories to maximize the effectiveness of your greenhouse space. Gabriel Ash has a variety of accessories that will match the design of your greenhouse and help you get the most out of your greenhouse.

Seed Trays

Gabriel Ash has seed trays made from the same Red Cedar that is found in the structure of their greenhouses. These attractive seed trays are sold in packages of three, and they measure 384mm x 244mm, which is the perfect size to hold most plastic seed trays. They are jointed at the sides and held together with stainless steel pins. The cedar frame complements your greenhouse nicely, and its insulating properties help keep seedlings and cuttings warm for optimum growth of roots.

Potting Trays

Gabriel Ash’s attractive high quality potting tray is made with a base made from rolled aluminum that helps contain soil while potting young plants. This potting tray measures 675mm x 565mm, which makes it fit conveniently on standard-sized greenhouse staging. Its solid cedar sides match the staging and frame of the greenhouse.

Shelving

Installing shelving in your greenhouse can help you expand your growing area by providing you with another surface upon which to place your plants. Shelving is usually placed above the greenhouse staging and is an excellent place to put sprouting seeds and rooting cuttings because the air is warmer higher up in the greenhouse. Gabriel Ash sells solid cedar shelving to fit every greenhouse that they design, or you can have it made precisely to fit in the case of a bespoke greenhouse design. Like greenhouse staging, shelving is best installed along the side of the greenhouse that sees the least amount of light to prevent it from interfering with blinds that you may want to install.

To know more about Greenhouses and Greenhouse Accessories – Seed Trays, Potting Trays and Shelving visit http://gabrielash.com

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Eat the Landscape—Trees and shrubs for structure, beauty and food

2009-09-09T05:53:00.000-07:00

Inside a rustic outbuilding at One Green World Nursery (onegreenworld.com) in Molalla, Oregon, affable owner, Jim Gilbert, presided over a tasting table piled high with enticing fruits. I wanted to grow every single thing I put in my mouth. Yellow cherries, aptly named ‘Gold’, were so tangy and juicy I had to restrain my hand from leaping out for more, even as I savored my first sampling. Plates of red, black, pink and white currants displayed names like ‘Blanká’, ‘Swedish White’, ‘Revada’, and ‘Gloire des Sablons’. Each one carried a flavor as distinct as different wines. Jim offered me edible blossoms of pineapple guava—the petals surprisingly soft and sweet. I stood there, trying not to gobble the delectables, and made a vow—the next tree or shrub I buy will feed me. Why not have landscaping that gives you food? Especially when the plants are so unusual and beautiful.

I found the perfect plum in the sale yard. Prunus ‘Nichols’ shows off bright red foliage and deep red fruit, inside and out. It was hardy to minus thirty degrees. Less hardy dwarf pineapple Ananas comosus ‘Sugar Loaf’was a great candidate for greenhouse culture. Fruiting tropicals can spend summers outside, and then reside in a bright glasshouse for the rest of the year.

I asked Jim for a tip on how to determine which plants would be happy growing in greenhouses. He told me to look for those less-vigorous varieties that are naturally dwarf or grow slowly. The small fig tree, Ficus carica ‘Negronne’, with its dark red-fleshed fruit, flourishes in container culture. Jim also liked dwarf citrus. He gave me terrific advice for growing citrus in containers—use acid potting mixes—the kind for rhododendrons. The acidity of the free-draining soil mix allows plants to take up more essential nutrients, including iron. (For other tips on citrus, see my column, “What’s Wrong with my Plant?”)

Ten fruiting plants to try in greenhouses

• Citrus junos ‘Yuzu Ichandrin’ – lemon-lime flavored fruit
• Citrus latifolia ‘Bearss’ – juicy lime
• Citrus meyeri – easy-to-grow Meyer lemon
• Eriobotrya japonica – loquat, light orange fruit
• Feijoa sellowiana – pineapple guava, for fruit and those delicious petals.
• Ficus carica ‘Atreano’ – dwarf fig, light green fruits with pink flesh
• Punica granatum ‘Sochi Dwarf’ – dwarf pomegranate
• Musa acuminata ‘Super Dwarf’ – eight-foot tall banana, for fruit, leaves
• Olea europaea ‘Arbequina’ – compact Spanish olive
• Ugni molinae – Chilean guava, small tasty fruit.

To know more about Greenhouses by Hartley Botanic and grow plants in your greenhouse safely visit http://hartley-greenhouses.com

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Compost Bins Versus Compost Tumblers

2009-09-09T05:50:00.000-07:00

Most people who choose to garden are aware of the benefits of composting and know the basics of creating good compost, but often are unsure exactly what the best equipment, if any, is actually required.

The most basic form of a compost pile is exactly that, a pile of vegetation, garbage and scrap items such as leaves and grass, which then may be surrounded by an enclosure. This works very well, but requires a fairly long period of time and a certain amount of maintenance to ensure a good final product. Finished compost should appear like fine loam with a sweet earthy aroma and should not be a wet glob of muck. An important process in achieving this quality is to turn the pile over quite often in order to mix and aerate it and let oxygen enter in to create aerobes, which are the microbes that hasten the breaking down of your pile into good compost.

The disadvantages of a pile are obvious. They are rather unsightly, they will attract vermin and small animals such as raccoon's, dogs and rats, they may have an unpleasant odor, and they will also probably irritate your neighbors if you live in a fairly well populated area. As a matter of interest, many municipalities now ban compost piles because of the above reasons. The one advantage of a pile is that it is fairly easy to turn it in order to pitchfork the raw compost over, to mix and aerate it and larger amounts of compost can also be processed at one time.

Compost bins are much more suitable to the home gardener. They should be vermin and child proof, be odor free (if you provide the correct proportions of carbon and nitrogen in loading the bin) and visually more pleasing. A bin can be problematic when you aerate the compost because it is usually difficult to turn the compost over efficiently. Another drawback is the emptying of the bin if it does not have an access door at the bottom. Also if a bin sits directly on rough, sloped or uneven ground or is designed as a ball which has to be rolled in order along to mix the contents, that system mixing operation could be extremely difficult.

A compost tumbler is probably the best system. Tumbling the contents provides aeration without the use of tools and also speeds up the decomposition time. Do not believe the claims of "compost in just a few weeks". This sounds good but Mother Nature works at her own pace and we can speed her up just so much. The great advantage of a tumbler is the ease of turning and aerating the compost, which should provide a finished product in about 10 weeks.

Things to look for:

Sturdy dark colored containers to absorb the suns heat, especially important in cooler climes.

Sturdy stands or legs, a full composter can weigh over 150 pounds or more.

Can the unit be moved if necessary in order to be closer to the garden area worked currently being worked on.

Is there a method of collecting the "compost tea" which collects at the bottom and if saved, is a fantastic product to pour on your planting beds or directly on the plants as a fertilizer

Other considerations:

Depending on your needs, will one composter be enough? New material can always be added to your composter, but the process is quicker if one load is processed at a time.

Keep a kitchen composter pail in a handy location to toss your daily scraps into.
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Dick Murray is a retired urbanite who has kept his passion for gardening alive with the creation of informational web sites such as backyard compost tumbler More and more families are beginning to grow their own fruits and vegetables due to their increased concern regarding the quality, price and safety of our food supplies.

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