Blog Gardening Guides

Fall Gardening - Enjoy and Prepare

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 11:34:00 +0000

The summer season is drawing to a close, autumn is around the corner. For some this change of seasons can be a feeling of nostalgia or even depression.

Still as gardeners we know things move in circles. Seen in that light Autumn is actually the preparation for the coming Spring. The word preparation is crucial, we need to prepare. When you want an abundant flower garden in spring act now.

Clear out all leftovers from last summer, prune and prepare possible landscaping plans.

Pruning and your scrubs and fruit bushes.

When left to their own devices any tree or bush will grow wild. We gardeners don't like unproductive fruit branches or trees and scrubs growing all over the place. At our main site www.gardening-guides.com we have a whole range of tips about the delicate topic of pruning and cutting back. This article about pruning scrubs is a discussion about the basics

Fall Planting

Plant trees, fruits and shrubs in areas with relatively mild winters. This time of year is great to get woody plants into the ground. But be careful when you live in an area with cold harsh winters. Read the planting instructions.

Plant Bulbs: Prepare you spring garden, plant snowdrops, crocuses, daffodils, tulips and whatever you like. You won't be sorry, nothing better to lift your spirit then spring flowers. More Bulb Planting Tips

Strawberries now is the time to shop

Do you want an abundant supply of strawberries next year this is the time to be serious about it,

The best time to purchase strawberry plants is autumn. Find end of season plants at dirt-cheap prices or order new plants for spring delivery. In addition, your nursery may offer wholesale strawberry plants packed in bundles containing as few as 25 plants.

Nurseries have limited space and often take orders for wholesale plants on a first-come, first-served basis. Frequently, their stock is depleted long before spring.

Most strawberry cultivars over-winter if kept cool in a root cellar, unheated garage, or basement. For extra protection, cover roots with sand, wood shavings or soil. Ordering or purchasing strawberry plants in the fall ensures that you’ll have them for spring planting!

Thirty plants provide enough strawberries for a family of four.

Lawn Care:

Your lawn need some care as well. This time of year is perfect for aeration, laying sod, reseeding ugly thin spots. More Lawn Care Tips

Pruning Apple and Fruit Trees Late Winter

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 08:27:00 +0000

Like all fruit trees and bushes, apple trees need pruning when you want them to maintain their shape and have them bear quality fruit. Pruning is an absolute must for all fruits from apples to grapes and berries. Since I'm writing this article early January, most of us don't feel too much urgency about the matter yet. Nevertheless, one of the major pruning seasons is late winter, just before the tree starts a new growing season.

Why do we need to prune an apple tree?

When left to their own devices any tree or bush will grow wild. Moreover, for us as fruit gardeners we will end up with many unproductive branches, heavy with foliage and expanding in each direction. Some might like that sight and for regular trees it might look nice, but the fruit of such a tree is small and of a poor quality. Un-pruned apple trees use all the nutrition to maintain small branches and leaves. Next to the decline in fruit quality, the tree will also be more prone to wind and storm damage. With this many disadvantages, trimming our apple trees is really the most viable option. So what is and how do you prune effectively without killing the tree.

With pruning, balance is the key to success - Here is how to find it.

Proper pruning is a balance act between the natural tendency of the tree to grow, and your desire for good and tasty apples. The fact that finding that balance will benefit the health of the tree as well as it will satisfy your liking of good tasty apples makes proper pruning an even more exciting challenge. And don't worry; pruning apple or other fruit trees correctly is not difficult at all, if fact it's something that you want to start with right from planting time.

What NOT to cut away.

In order to do a good job with this annual pruning session, we need to make sure we are talking about the same thing when we discuss the process. So let's talk a bit about the anatomy of the tree. First, we have the Leader, which is the main trunk and scaffold branches surrounding it. Now for good pruning all others should be pruned off, ensuring that the cut make is vertical and clean with no ragged edges.

Seedlings often grow suckers around the bottom of the trunk. Anything that is less than 30 inches from the ground should be removed. Sometimes you find a strenuous growth that seems to be competing with the leader. We call them waterspouts and they have to be cut away to ensure healthy growth.

Scaffolds and apple tree pruning

Scaffold branches should be spaced at least 6 inches from each other and be growing evenly around the leader - unless your tree is against a fence. In this case you won't be able to have a scaffold branch where it will growth into the fence. They need to be growing at about a 60-degree angle from the leader. Where scaffold branches are less that this, you can gradually train them to grow more horizontally by using a notched stick or a purchased spreader.

Late winter is the best time to prune your apple tree

Annual pruning should be done in late winter, just before the tree begins to bud. With apple trees, fruit forms on last year's growth. Scaffold branches will form other growth of course and this can be left unless it becomes too top heavy. Minor branches that grow downward, cross over another branch, or point towards the center of the tree should be removed. Any dead or diseased branches should also be cut off.

If you need to cut off a large branch then painting the cut end that is left with a sealer will help it to heal and keep disease out. Pruning your apple tree is rewarding. It's a great to see you harvest grow year by year and at the same time to keep the tree within manageable dimensions. Happy harvesting..

Flowers and Spikes From the Basil Plant - Great in Dressings or Dips

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 06:24:00 +0000

Usually we use the leaves of the Basil plant to flavor our favorite sandwiches and salads. But did you know that the spikes of the plant can be put to use? Most basil growers just chuck them off and don’t realize the leave a treasure trove of special tasting seasonings along the wayside. These Basil Spikes are great in salad dressings, dips and so on. Its easy cheap and very original, here are the basics on which you can elaborate: Put the flowers and Spikes in a blender and add some extra-virgin olive oil, vinegar mustard, if you like is garlic and experiment with other dressing making ingredients. Let me stress that the use of extra-virgin olive oil is very important in a dressing. This oil comes from the first cold pressing of the olive and has the finest taste. Virgin also means that there are no chemical modifications made to the oil. The US has no regulations on this topic like the European Union but since the most production and culinary tradition with this ingredient comes from this continent it’s a safe guess to follow their advice. You can also change the olive oil to sour cream and use the Basil Flowers and Spikes to make a dip. Again it’s these parts of the Basil plant give it a very special taste. Experiment have fun and let us know your experiences, so lets grow our herbs in containers or garden and use them as creatively as we can.

Salamanders Water Lilies and more

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:05:00 +0000

Finally it blooms the water lily in my very humble and modest pond, that is home to 7 salamanders. This old building container is small and we have a bigger pond in the backyard, but it’s very special. The salamanders are coming for the fifth season now and seem to think of it as “home”. The pond where my parents used to live, so to speak.

Tomorrow I’ll start adding some of the wonderful food and garden ideas I got from our sites users. But for now I’m going outside to my pond, and listen to the sound of the water my little fountain produces and study the details of the salamander mating ritual.

Bindweed - How to break free

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 13:09:00 +0000

Bindweed - Who knows about a cure

Lately one of the gardening-guides users approached me with her problem with Bindweed. Bindweed, an invasive bugger, was suffocating her roses. We exchanged a few emails but couldn’t come up with an acceptable overall solution.

A few years ago I had the same problem with bindweed running rampant in my strawberry beds. The only thing I could think of was to take the loss, get the strawberry plants out and fork out the rest of this nasty super survivor. Only to find out a year later that forking it all out is not sufficient. Doing some research I found out that the bindweeds root system could extent about 15 ft. down.

These weeds seem almost impossible to eradicate. I protected my new plants using large plastic containers that I would place in the infected area. All together this plaque kept me busy for a few years. Yesterday when I saw traces of the weed growing in my neighbor’s garden I decided that coming weekend it’s time to insert vertical plastic plates as boundaries.

What happened with the roses of the woman with the roses is still unsure. After a few emails it silent if she found a solution I’m sure we will hear about it. It would be great if she or someone else found a solution to this really nasty plant.

If you have experience in the battle against bindweed please post a reply. By now I did a fair amount of research, but found no easy way out. Still planting in containers and placing plastic plates as protection feels like killing a mosquito with a machine gun.

Tips to Grow Annuals Succesfully

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Wed, 28 May 2008 14:06:00 +0000

Annuals are extremely popular. A fast result and a new look annually. Annuals are programmed to flower, set seed pods and mature seed in short order. Flowering Annuals are also a perfect landscaping tool. When you need some quick fillers use them abundantly while you prepare a new garden design. Planting Time The planting time for annuals varies according to climate and plant. Cool-season annuals like Sweat Pea and floss flower (Ageratum) grow best when both weather and soil are cool. It depends on your hardiness zone but in my experience Floss flower can bloom from early spring until autumn. The Marigold and Sunflower are typical late bloomers. The Sunflower tells the story of the oncoming change of season with so much style and dignity that a slight onset of nostalgia autumn can bring about will vanish to thin air. Snapdragons and Pansies If you want to make the most of them you must – deadhead them, snap off faded blossoms before the plant can make seed. That way new blossom will replace the old ones. In fact you have made the plant believe it hasn’t finished yet. If you prune faded foliage as well, you can even have them bloom with more exuberance. More information on annuals and flower garden design

Hellebore Experiment - Join Us and Participate

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Sun, 25 May 2008 19:58:00 +0000

Let's Grow The Hellebore or Christmas Rose Together The Helleborus or Hellebore is for more than one reason a special plant. There are many plants that flower in winter or very early spring. The Helleborus does. This family of plant is getting more and more attention from enthusiast all over the world. Meetings from Helleborus enthusiast are growing rapidly in numbers and no wonder. The plant is a member of the Orientalis Hybrids or Lenten Rose. The most eye catching of the family are the Orientalis Hybrids, with their white, pink or yellow flowers. How Do We Grow This Early blooming Christmas or Lenten Rose

Read more and participate in our event the expermiment

Garden Design Ideas

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Sat, 24 May 2008 11:21:00 +0000

There are several ways that you can recycle and preserve the natural goods of the earth, composting is one of them। These are the same processes that nature has used for eons to recycle all matter in as a never ending loop the result of this method is 'compost', which is a dark soil। Micro organisms like fungi and bacteria are used to make compost। This is also the method that naturally improves the quality of the soil. Mixed with compost and perhaps some peat moss is superb to help your gardens soil to keep naturally hold moist. It opens up, or in the cases of a sandy top layer closes the structure a little. You and can create this soil improvement factory in your own backyard. Organic gardening is of course almost synonymous to this process. But the advantages when you use compost as a natural mulch are a win for every gardener.

Creating soil this way has many benefits for the environment, since it reduces the amount of waste that would be going to landfills from homes and businesses in the city. Waste treatment facilities are already overflowing, and more waste does not really have a place to go on these sites. Besides what we destroy is in fact ready to be recycled back into our environment with this easy age old technique. Backyard composting also reduces the need for chemical fertilizers, which can be harmful to both plants and humans. Aside from helping the planet, you could be helping your budget as well by creating your own compost। You won't have to purchase soil, and your garbage bill will be lower, since you'll be using part of your 'trash' to create quality soil for your crops. You may also notice a decrease in your water bill, and you can use the dry leaves and twigs in your hard for compost, which means you won't have to purchase bags to dispose of them.

A backyards compost pile will also allow you to produce healthy soil overall for your plants, which means your vegetables will be greener, and your plants will be brighter and more vibrant. Composting is in fact natures way of recycling, and an essential part of the food chain. The soil improvement is also a great idea if you live on sandy soil, or have clay-like dirt in your yard. If you're not sure how to get started with backyard composting, there are a few methods you may want to try। Passive composting is done when you add materials to your compost device less frequently; you can also use an old garbage bin for this method. If you want to produce compost actively, you can make sure that the moisture levels are right, so that heat can be produced। You'll have to stir the compost pile every week, but the process takes place very quickly, which means you'll have quality crops in less time than you think.

These are the aerobe and anaerobe ways mother nature uses to make sure it never runs out of resources. More information is available at our site

Garden Design Ideas at Gardening Guides

The Bird of Paradise - Beauty out of this world..

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 19:37:00 +0000

I just uploaded an article about the bird of paradise flower to the site. This plant my Australian friend Beverly brought to my attention of such a beauty that words are just not enough. Really somewhere I must have been so ignorant not to notice this Gem.

Perhaps you all know of its existence and agree with my unknowingness however if you don’t or to brush up your knowledge I highly recommend the article. A Bird of paradise, exactly what it is.

Hans

Early Morning Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 21:58:00 +0000

Working in the garden in the cool of the evening is so therapeutic. All the stresses of the day evaporate and leave you feeling that life is really worth living. We weren’t meant to spend our lives locked up in a concrete jungle, but since that is where many people must work, it’s good to get the balance of being in a place where there are plants growing, fragrance drifting on the cool, evening breeze and bugs chirping happily as they decide what they’ll have for dinner. Oh well - everything has to eat something to survive. So long as they leave me a few plants to enjoy…. Unless you live where the summers are wet, then summer is the time when the garden dries out due to the extra heat. Saving water will also save you money, so mulching is the way to go. You can save your lawn clippings and tuck handfuls around the plants to keep the roots cool and conserve water. It keeps the weeds down too, killing two birds with one stone. I like things in the garden to look a bit untidy. Nature was not meant to be neat and tidy. Formal gardens may have their place - but not in my back yard. Give me glorious profusion any day. I love the way ivy geraniums and nasturtiums spill over a bank or ramble their way up a nearby shrub. Black-eyed Susan looks fantastic climbing up the apple tree near my kitchen window. I don’t mind in the least if violets sprout up between the rocks edging my shady garden.

Mmmmm, the morning after the storm

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:32:00 +0000

Mmm, you can’t beat early morning in the spring garden. If I can get out there early enough, I can pick off those stray snails breakfasting on my plants. Any wander through the garden usually ends up in me pulling a few stray weeds out, too. That’s how to keep up with the gardening housework; wander through it often pulling a few weeds out each time. In no time at all it’s looking great - and you’ve actually enjoyed it. That’s what a garden is for, right? Enjoyment - not hard work. I don’t worry too much about the odd weed. It gives the bugs something else to munch on apart from my flowers. Late in the evening is the time to sprinkle a bit of snail bait underneath boards or rocks in the garden, especially if it looks like rain. Rain will certainly bring the snails and slugs out. Make sure that bait is somewhere the kids and pets can’t get it. After a heavy early summer storm its good to get out into the garden and see what has happened. I can see where some of my good topsoil has actually washed out into the grass, so I need to scrape some soil out to the edge of the garden, making it slightly dish-shaped to help prevent that happening. Taking the time to stop and really look at what is happening in the garden will prevent me from pulling that iris or daffodil shoot out by mistake. When they are young they tend to look a bit like grass shoots. I can see what is about to flower, which plants need a bit of pruning and if those pesky little bugs are munching on the buds of any flowers. It’s disappointing to wait for weeks for a bud to unfurl only to find there are holes through every petal. I’ll have to get out my trusty Bug Gun since I haven’t had time to mix up a home remedy. Geraniums are particularly prone to blossom-eating caterpillars. Sometimes you can see the little blighters and squash them, but when they are tiny and curled up in the blossom is when they do the damage. One good thing is that when you pick or deadhead geraniums it keeps them blooming all the time, so they are rarely without flowers. More at http://www.gardening-guides.com/

Virtual Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 07:11:00 +0000

Virtual Gardening - Part 1 Yesterday I had an interesting discussion with a faculty member of the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. It was an informal gathering, but between the peanuts, beer and cola he told me some pretty interesting stuff. First we were talking about the adaptation qualities some plants seem to have. In what way and how do they adapt. My for this post anonymous researcher told me that you can always see plant adepting to their environment. Take a look at a lot of plants growing together compared to some “loners” of the same species in an isolated spot. The reason for this is the competition between plants, plants growing in close proximity to each other will grow longer stems and larger leafs growing more upright to the sun. This is really a nice try to eliminate the competition. The grow high and form large leafs to get the most sunlight on the system. But how do they do it? It seems like a smart move, but how do they do it. Humans living in densly populated areas are no different than those living in rural areas. There seem to be a few mechanisms involved in this proces. Think about the overall influence of photosynthesis. A lot of plants on a small piece of land mean low sunlight conditions at the bottom. Plants notice changes in light, but also they detect the amount of output from their surrounding fellow plants. The know how they are doing among their peers. And there also seem to be relationships’ based on mutuality. There is a lot still to be learned , but in computer models we can now predict the end result of a plants growth. We develop 3D models of growth and development. In our computer model we also program data about the know adaptation mechanisms in and adjust when needed. Building a virtual garden that way you can easily try out new ways of planting, combining species, changing lighting conditions and calculate an optimum for a plant to max. produce. More about Virtual Gardening can be found a http://www.gardening-guides.com

This year I''ll do it... I build my pond

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 07:59:00 +0000

This time I really made up my mind. I’m going to have a pond!! No matter what other family members say or do. And where the garden is concerned they are mostly heavily involved in other futile tasks when the garden is at stake. Now I will start to build my little piece of paradise It’s going to be a fairly small pond bordering the lawn at one end and a heavily grown outer piece of my garden at the other end. I think I’m going for the prefab ponds but I’ll check that a the garden center. There are gardeners that plant from A – Z but I’m one that needs to be inspired in places of great abundance like garden centers. I do want something for the birds and bench to sit at night and feel sanity coming back to me from the feet up. One think I will NOT buy a swing. A fifty year old woman on a swing that pityfull. But why am I so attacked to them. Why is it that every year I have to fight the urge to buy one? I see myself on the swing, it’s a hot summers night I enjoy the outside, the stars and my pond and then he comes. You see… hopeless. I’m sure everyone who is over 50 knows about either the non existence or the extreme danger of a prince on a white horse. So I’m of. Tell you all about my dealings tonight or tomorrow

Rain, Wind and Hail.. and a spring garden

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 07:14:00 +0000

A few heavy spring storms and raindrops like golf balls turned my promising spring garden into a disaster area. Got to go to work, and nature must have its way. Meaning as in life if we don’t want to control everything and just do what we are supposed to all will be well. Anyway that’s what I tell myself now..

Automatic Watering Systems - Smart Garden Design

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 10:00:00 +0000

One of the technical gardening gadgets that made my life a lot easier is an Automatic Watering System.

It not only saves you time but is also:

Better for the Plants
Environment Friendly

The first advantage is obvious; you can adjust your system to an optimum for each plant group.

It’s a great tool in our Smart Garden design plan because we are adjusting the needs exactly to what we want to grow.

The second advantage I sometimes find heavily debaded.

But I only have to show my clients a garden with the system installed. Then take them for a quick ride through the neighborhood and they are convinced. Instead of use brute force with the manual devices, with an automatic system you don’t spill resources. You only use what the plants need.

These systems are easily installed. Tim will write a how-to plus some drawings and upload them this week.

Next to water your plants need nutrients. There are smart solutions for this challenge as well.

I’ll write you an introduction tomorrow, and a more in depth story on the site.

First Bulb Flowers at Keukenhof

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 10:50:00 +0000

Hello All, Driving to the Airport this morning I noticed the first flowers blooming at the Keukenhof. Spring defenitely is here Hans

A Garden is Relaxation, Not an Item on your "must do" list

noreply@blogger.com (Barbara) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 13:59:00 +0000

Your garden should is the place to “recharge your battery”, to relax and have fun. The fact that is all too often seen as a lot of work can be easily avoided if we plan right. We can fit our garden design to our needs, if that is low-maintenance but great looking. Why not. Smart Garden Design and the use of some new technologies will get you there, in this series I want to show you how. We have helped dozens of people rearranging their garden to their needs, so just stay with us and we will show you the way. There are a few principles that we will have to keep in mind and that will leverage your result immensely Applying these principles will give you time to

to enjoy the beauty of your garden
Relax after a day’s work
Entertain guests
And do whatever else you want to do

And so far for the intro, our aim in this series is to lower the maintenance load without compromising the beauty and diversity of plants.

The law of garden laziness is to encourage plants you want to grow and discourage any other plant.

We have to really think about

The choice of the plants and the way in which you use them.
There are many plants that don’t need a lot of attention and work

You will dramatically decrease the workload in your garden by implementing an intelligent design. Plus some more technical measures we will discuss later.

Advantages

If you don’t have a huge property the time you spend on tending your garden can be less than a half hour per week. And we do that without a single compromise to the landscaping quality of the garden and patio.

If you remove the more labor intensive elements like a lawn and the very labor intensive plants you can lower your workload even further and go on holiday for a few weeks and return to a nicely growing garden.

Let’s start with some basics

Make a list of the garden tasks you enjoy and the ones that are a burden.

With our plan we make garden design an easy and logical process.
If for example you love growing plants but you hate to dig out weeds. Design in a way that discourages every plant except the ones you choose. That will take care of most of the weed burden. Don’t worry we’ll show you how If you have no time to mow the lawn, you have to look for a neighborhood kid or find ways to gracefully get rid of the lawn altogether. There are lots of great ways to replace or reduce the size of the lawn.

Designing a smart garden is not difficult, and this series will walk you through it. It is however with these gardens of more importance that you

Soil and Plants are a good fit
That each plant gets the place where he will be at his best
If necessary replace soil and use ornaments as containers.

In fact what it all bowls down to is plan better. And because of it you work smarter not harder.

Over the coming weeks you will receive:

· Tips and howto’s on Smart Garden Design · Plants, Soil and the use of hard and soft objects · Technical tips, and howto’s

Next week we will take our garden design as focus, and give you some rules of the thump to spot labor intensive parts in the garden.

We would love to hear from you. You can reach us by email through barbarawibault@live.com and MSN at that address.

Gardening Guides Insider

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 06:46:00 +0000

After a cold or grey winter spring is around the corner. Most of us are looking in anticipation to the time we can really go out and have a weekend working and playing in AND outside our homes. Apart from our blog we started a mailinglist with real insider tips we `extracted` from the experts. There was no need to apply psysical force. Just a pat on the back here and there. The list is realy almost exploding, get a piece of the pie at Gardening Guides Insider , we are doing all we need to do to get the most out of your outdoor experience. You invest a lot in your garden, make sure that you get the you get a high return in terms of relaxation fun and some piece of mind when you spend the last ours of the day in a comfy chair on your patio.

Garding Guides Site Make Over

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 07:25:00 +0000

At Gardening Guides we work hard to update content and move some of the old content around. We do the utmost to keep any inconvenience to you as non-existent as possible, but a few "glitches" might peep through. Please inform us of any problems inconsistencies errors or mistakes. This is a site we love to work on and we hope you like the result. So we would be grateful if you share your opinions , stories or experiences. A group knows more than a small team, so together we can make Gardening Guides a truly Community run site. So stay with us, help us improve and don’t be afraid to be critical. After the makeover we will be adding a whole new series of Flower Gardening articles. There are video’s and Webinars in the make. In short apart from working in our garden we have a lot of (fun) work coming spring and summer.

Gardening-Guides own Community Blog

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:31:00 +0000

Gardening Guides is now a few years old, and we believe we are coming of age. A lot of old contect has vanished and is (being) replaced with quality content. At least so we hope. Here you can add, suggest, share and tell your own story. We really would like to know what it is that you would like to see on the website. What questions do you have, how can we be of service. Gardening Guides is supposed to be a usefull gardening resourse, and not an fully optimized site filled with fluff. So tell us what you need..... We love to hear you!!

Gardening-Guides eigen Community

noreply@blogger.com (Hans Dekker) — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 18:28:00 +0000