NipTheBud.com Latest Blog Posts

Mild weather has gardens, gardeners springing to life

Tue, 21 Feb 2012 16:39:50 GMT

Blossoms already enliven forsythia and hellebores in Boston gardens, and buds even hint at spring in higher elevations. But isn’t it only February?

“I have some grape hyacinths and some daffodils,’’ said Trudi Fondren, president of the Beacon Hill Garden Club. “You would expect them sometime in late March or early April.’’By the calendar, the sky should be metal gray, not winsome blue. Rivers should be coated with ice, rather than beckoning boats during the winter that wasn’t.

Consistently mild weather is winding the internal clocks of gardens and gardeners ahead a season. “I mean, I have rhododendrons beginning to show color in my yard,’’ said Peter Del Tredici of Watertown, senior research scientist at the Arnold Arboretum.

Bob Rocco, general manager of Mahoney’s Rocky Ledge, a Winchester garden center, said customers “are calling asking for lawn fertilizer and crabgrass preventers. We’ve already started to sell bark mulch.’’

“What I’ve been telling people,’’ Rocco said, “is that we basically have to look at it that we live in the Baltimore-Washington area this year.’’But beware the buds of February, which could cast a long shadow over the weeks ahead.

Behind the colorful respite from gray weather lies a host of potential pitfalls, from parched soil to zealous weeds grabbing an early start. Flowers may be shaking off winter two weeks to a month ahead of schedule, but so are plants that gardeners can do without.

“Normally, a lot of the weeds are killed by winter frost,’’ said Heidi Kost-Gross of Wellesley, president of the Garden Club Federation of Massachusetts. “This year, I have dandelions out there on my front lawn. You see them just peeking out. We shouldn’t see that until late April.’’The other day, she took a trowel out to her garden. It sliced into the ground with little effort.

“You could go outside with a good spade and you could plant: The soil is that loose,’’ Kost-Gross said. “That’s not great. Normally, our frost line is 20 inches deep. In a colder winter it can go deeper than 20 inches.’’Weeds are a prime beneficiary of soil that soft and warm this early.

“They essentially are the ultimate opportunistic plants,’’ Del Tredici said. “They know what to do with this kind of weather: They start growing. As long as the soil temperatures are above freezing, these plants essentially do not go dormant at all. The soil has barely been frozen this year, and that’s allowed a lot of root growth to happen.’’Also comfortably warm are bugs and pests such as the woolly adelgid, which sucks sap from hemlocks.

Cold weather can “hold a lot of pests and pathogens in check,’’ Del Tredici said. Without a sustained, killing deep freeze, pests “may get farther north,’’ he said, “or they get to start their season a little bit earlier.’’ Weeds and bugs are not the only concern.

Warm weather is jump-starting sugaring for many Massachusetts maple trees, but the season could be cut short if leaves start budding early and truncate the sap cycle, said Katherine K. Macdonald, president of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society.

Meanwhile, Kost-Gross said gardeners in clubs across the state are worried about the possibility of drought. “Our water supply has greatly diminished,’’ she said. “One of the things you observe when you look at small brooks is that they are at about 70 percent of where they should be.’’

As of yesterday, the National Weather Service predicted that daytime temperatures will rise at least into the 40s and as high as the mid-50s through the work week. “The warming trend will continue,’’ said Kim Buttrick, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. “It will become unseasonably warm Tuesday through Friday at least.’’

Such weather sends people outside. Rocco said customers “are already calling for rakes and leaf bags,’’ items that usually sell briskly in mid- to late-March.

Be patient, Macdonald cautioned. “You really shouldn’t do lawn work or gardening until the soil is about 50 degrees,’’ she said. “If we’re now in May, even though it’s February, that’s strange. But down the road, the best advice for people is not to jump the gun.’’

VIDEO: Secret gardens in Yarra

Mon, 20 Feb 2012 17:11:03 GMT

YARRA’S citizen of the year has a vision where edible plants and herbs line the streets and community gardens sprout in nature strips and parks. Glenda Lindsay believes that urban agriculture has benefits for the gardener, the community and the environment, and should be allowed to thrive.

“I would love to see bush foods, fruit trees and hardy herbs in our streetscapes and parklands so that people are coming across them every day,” Ms Lindsay said. “It becomes normal for people to see food growing - not some exotic thing.

“Deciduous fruit trees would be ideal. They provide shade cover and fruit in the summer time, then lose their leaves to let light in (the) winter.”Ms Lindsay called for a reasoned debate on how public land was used.

“Our public spaces are precious and we need to preserve them, but we do need to balance usage,” she said. “Footy and sport takes up a lot of space, but I think food will become more and more of an important issue.

“Sport is great, but if we’re not starting to incorporate edibles into our urban landscapes then we’re going to regret that,” she said. Ms Lindsay is a passionate community gardener, vegetable producer and produce swap co-ordinator, compost proponent and environmentalist.

She fell in love with food gardening as a young girl sitting under her family’s mango tree in suburban Brisbane and eating the ripe fruits as they fell. Ms Lindsay talks the talk and walks the walk; part of her North Fitzroy property is dedicated to a community garden used by neighbours and friends with no space of their own.

The plot came about when she was renovating in 2005 and realised she had some spare space at the back accessible from a laneway. “I was weeding on the nature strip and chatting to various people walking past and a few said, ‘I wish I had a garden,’ so it came out of that,” she said. “Gardening is such a lovely thing to do and if people don’t have space then they don’t have that pleasure.

“I think having your hands in the soil gets you in touch with what’s real. “You’re more connected to your food and more respectful of it. “There’s nothing fresher and tastier than something you’ve just picked yourself.”

The plot - known as Luscious Lane - is alive with kiwi fruits, tomatoes, kale, Jerusalem artichoke, pumpkin, parsley, rocket, fennel, strawberries, celery, chillies, garlic and thyme. Luscious Lane gardeners Maya Dougherty and Iris Brinkman said they loved the social aspect of regular working bees as well as the fresh produce.

“I sometimes go down to get ingredients for a salad, but eat all the tomatoes on the way home,” Ms Dougherty said. Ms Lindsay paid tribute to Yarra Council for employing a Community Gardens Facilitator and adopting guidelines for urban agriculture.

“I think the council can help get people together and identify suitable sites to be looked after by nearby neighbours who want to be involved, and provide benefits for everyone,” she said.

Gardens under construction for Springfest in Sussex County

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:21:56 GMT

While winter-weary gardeners thumb through seed catalogs and homebound homeowners plan for their next outdoor project, the area’s finest landscape companies are busy constructing creative garden displays at the Springfest Garden Show. Flowering bulbs, perennials and trees are being forced from their winter dormancy and carefully timed to be in full bloom for the award-winning Show on March 15 through 18 in the sun-drenched Conservatory at the Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. Craftsmen are building beautiful stone walls, laying patio stones, staining arbors and gazebos and creating magnificent waterfalls and ponds filled with colorful koi. The landscape displays are overflowing with ideas for your home’s curb appeal, outdoor living areas and for your passionate gardening hobby. They are already looking more creative than ever, as each designer competes for the coveted ‘People’s Choice Award.’

Springfest features some of the best garden shopping this spring - all under one roof! The Marketplace exhibitors are signing up to sell their vast range of garden wares. Plant societies, public gardens and master gardeners are preparing their Educational displays and demonstrations. The Garden Café’s gourmet menu is being planned by the acclaimed Krave Café and Caterers and The Kids Zone is preparing for the popular Treasure Hunt and plant prize.

Inspiring and educating gardeners and outdoor living enthusiasts for 16 years, Springfest is planning a comprehensive Lecture Series featuring nationally renowned speakers such as Ken Druse and John Story. ‘Produce Pete’ from WNBC is scheduled to make a book-signing appearance. Local garden experts are planning lectures on popular topics such as landscaping with dwarf conifers, butterfly gardens, flowering trees and foraging plants for food.

Special events in the planning include Springfeast! at Springfest: Cooking from your Garden, where Community Garden specialists will display ideas for ‘grow your own’ fresh, healthy and safe produce. Celebrity Chefs are testing recipes to conduct cooking demos featuring the bounty of the garden. All special events and lectures are free with paid admission to the Show. See website for schedule.

A Rough Valentine's Day for Flower Delivery People

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 12:39:26 GMT

Yesterday was anything but rosy for the customer service departments at America's biggest flower delivery outfits, as they spent most of the day fielding very angry (and very public) complaints from dissatisfied consumers. Take a look at the Twitter and Facebook pages for both 1-800-Flowers and FTD Flowers and you'll find beleaguered social media managers attempting to defuse hundreds of angry outbursts from young lovers suffering from delayed, incorrect, or simply missing orders and impossible wait times for customer service help. ("Follow, DM, Sorry, and please be patient" seemed to be the running theme.) Given the sheer volume of complaints it's easy to see why the deliverers couldn't keep up. It was a heroic, but probably futile effort at damage control.

For most of their customers, this might be the only day of the year that they order flowers for someone and the experience was clearly not what they hope for. The picture above, posted by one disappointed Tumblr user, illustrated just one example of the difference between what one orders and one might actually get when overwhelmed florists try in vain to meet the crushing demand of Valentine's Day.

Of course, misplaced daisies and late deliveries aren't the only bad news that one gets on Valentine's Day. Twitter and Tumblr maven Katie Notopoulos took time out of from her holiday to catalog tweets from those who had the unfortunately singular experience of being dumped on Valentine's Day. You can check her feed for the misery and ponder who had the worse Valentine's Day — the romantically dumped ... or the dumped upon flower people.

Landscape gardening- creating and maintaining the greenery

Wed, 15 Feb 2012 13:55:14 GMT

The art of designing, creating and maintaining the greenery and green areas is commonly known as the landscape gardening. A house looks like a paradise if it is surrounded by a beautiful, well maintained garden. If you want to lend that beautiful look to your garden, you can do it yourself or take the services of professional landscape gardeners.

It is very important for a gardener to know the basics of landscape gardening. A landscaping project may involve understanding the client's needs and tastes, closely working with architect, preparing ground for planting, transplanting the nursery stock, deciding over the species of plants, designing basics and more.
Knowledge of the certain specific elements of landscape designing is important to create a design which works and sustains. Understanding these landscaping basics is not difficult and you will learn gradually when you start working over a project.

Unity:
Whatever the design, you should ensure that there should be unity among the various elements. Consistency and repetition in shapes, colours, heights, and numbers can easily bring that element of unity in your garden. In the same way, symmetry is another way to enhance unity.

Balance and Harmony
Keeping balance and harmony among various styles, species and styles is important. Having one plant or flower in abundance and other in scarcity creates imbalance. Balance in colours, shapes, sizes and heights is important to keep the general balance.

Simplicity
Try to keep the design simple to have a neat look. It does not mean that you have limited options of designs and patterns. Avoid usage of large number of colours or types of plants or more. Usage of more colours or plant species confuses the eyes and creates disorder.

Create a Focal point
Create a central idea and expand your design around it. It is very important to have a central theme. You can use something like fountains, special tree, bush or statues. These are some basics of landscape gardening which can be used in designing any kind of garden whether small or large. Let us share some tips for landscape gardening.

First task is to prepare your land which you intend to use for gardening. Remove unwanted stuff like small trees and shrubs which you do not want. If you want to keep some but move somewhere else, spray them with 'Wiltpruf'. This should be done one day before you want to move them. You would also need tools like saw blades, shovels, trimmers and cleaning pruners. Keep them near you, at an easily accessible position. You should have plan about your landscape garden. You should know exactly what you want from this project. You should have flexible approach. If you have an existing landscape, take notes of what do you like and what you do not like.

Christmas Garden Decoration Theme

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:05:51 GMT

December has come, we can find Christmas Garden Decorating Theme everywhere. Time for preparing our decor and design about christmas. If you have a garden, here are an garden christmas decorating ideas with light. Covered by beautiful lamp, use to create this amazing garden christmas decorating. Feel this christmas with beautiful outdoor christmas garden. The bright lights and glittering on the walls and edges of a house makes it look like a palace. When the heavenly place reflects the brightness and cheerfulness, he makes a nice complement to the environment as well for christmas.

The lights of different shapes and pattern are available and can be used effectively. Lights in the form of frozen cubes with water effects can also be used to complement the cold Christmas night in winter. People who love the mesmerizing effect of color can use colored lights in their places. The garden decor at Christmas makes you feel bystanders also euphoric. Some of The great places for this are Doors, corridors and entrances. Here, the well-adorned Christmas tree can be placed to spread the feeling of ecstasy. Creating garden fireplace is also a great option in this area. A person may have candles, snowman, and bells, as well as to decor Christmas garden breathtaking. Colored papers can also be used to decor the outside and garden of the house. The idea of confetti is not bad when you’re planning a garden party.

Gardening Tips For Beginners- 8 Useful Tips For The Novice

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 12:02:02 GMT

As a hobby, gardening can be an absolute delight! While the task of creating an outdoor garden is rather an arduous one, the end result is enough to make you forget all your pain and labor! But if you are still skeptical about whether you are capable of taking up this activity or not, take heart from these gardening tips for beginners--

(1) Since it is the first time for you, plan a small garden at first, but envision a larger one in future. As a matter of fact, plenty of plants can be accommodated even in an area measuring just 80 to 100 square feet!

(2) As suggested in the gardening tips for beginners, it is easier to take care of a smaller garden, giving you enough time to get acquainted with the basics of gardening such as--how much water is required approximately, knowledge about fertilizers, keeping growth of weeds under control, keeping away pests and diseases.

(3) As a novice, you are eager to see how you have made out! So it just will not do for you to begin a long-term gardening project which could stretch over many weeks or many months. The waiting becomes intolerable!

(4) The small garden equips you with the necessary skills and creativity to create a better-designed and much larger garden the next time, since you are feeling much more confident by this time. Or you could think of ways to expand your present garden.

(5) But despite what gardening tips for beginners advises, if you still desire to start off with a large project, separate it into different segments. You can then work on one section at a time. Not only can you observe what you have achieved, but also improve on your efforts when proceeding to the next section.

(6) There are all sorts of gardeners. Some go after every weed, refusing to give it a place in their beautiful gardens! Some hate the thought of constant weeding and keep wishing that they could just spend time watching the plants grow and flower!
There is a way to prevent too many weeds from coming up, and that is by using mulch. Since weeding can be quite taxing on the hands and knees, put down a layer of regular mulch or organic mulch (2 to 3 inches thick) on the soil! The appearance is neat. Also, mulch helps in maintaining the soil temperature and moisture. Most important of all, weeds do not have the liberty to grow out of control!

(7) The soil should get enough water for the seeds to germinate and allow roots to go deeper. Plant roots (grasses generally) tend to remain nearer the surface if there is frequent watering because the actual amount of water taken is less. Gardening tips for beginners counsels that you take a larger quantity of water, but water less frequently.

(8) Plants should be watered in the early morning hours, as suggested by gardening tips for beginners. The leaves can dry off during the rest of the day. Thus, fungal diseases are kept away.
These are just a few gardening tips for beginners; there are many more! Follow the advice given, and observe how much beauty you can create even in a small piece of land! The magnificent vista that emerges from your labor of love can leave you with feelings of awe and wonder! Additionally, all that physical exercise in the fresh air contributes to a far healthier you and a great appearance!

Giving Gardens of Love

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 12:20:32 GMT

As Valentine’s Day draws near, and with spring just a little over a month away, those of us who love gardening are being reminded of how much we love being among the flowers since all we are seeing are advertisements for bouquets, and receiving seed catalogs in the mail on a daily basis.

That got me to thinking about some garden inspired Valentine’s gift ideas for those we love and I thought I’d share some of them here.

If weather permits, why not take a moonlight stroll through a fragrant garden and provide hot coffee or chocolate and dessert to warm up after you are done? Taking this idea even further, there are some botanical gardens that are offering special Valentine’s Day events. For example, the San Diego Botanic Garden is offering a “Stroll through the Garden” package in the evening that includes champagne, gourmet appetizers, chocolate dipped strawberries, flowers, photographs, music and dancing.

Don’t have an organized event near you? Then create your own using the same elements that they are for their special evening and go in your own backyard.

If you are a gardener and want to show someone how much they mean to you, consider installing an edible garden and provide them with year-round maintenance to give them a really meaningful gift. Or, give them personalized gardening “classes” showing them how to grow their own food themselves.

You can even incorporate ornamentals so that they can grow their own flowers for bouquets. If you provide maintenance including harvesting, during the season you can make up a bouquet for them weekly. Add a special cut flower garden and they will have more flowers than they know what to do with.

If you are not a gardener but your Valentine is, a thoughtful gift for after a hard day in the garden is to create a basket filled with soothing products such as gardener’s hand lotion, soap, bubble bath, and candles. To make it even more romantic, run the bubble bath for them and include champagne, chocolate dipped strawberries and other favorite treats.

To continue the romance of your special night in the garden, or if the weather prevents you from going to a garden, give your Valentine a membership to the local botanic garden or arboretum . Many have great gift shops where you can find gardening gifts, toys, books, and plants, with the proceeds going directly to the garden.

For those times when they are out of their garden, give them gifts that allow them to visit or read about other gardens for both inspiration and renewal. Give them a basket with books on the world’s great gardens such as 1001 Gardens You Must See Before You Die, or The Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Directory, listing over 300 public and private gardens that are open for tours each year.

Gardening as A Hobby & Passion

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 15:52:37 GMT

Garden design is considered to be an art in most cultures, distinguished from gardening, which generally means garden maintenance. In Japan, Samurai and Zen monks were often required to build decorative gardens or practice related skills like flower arrangement known as ikebana. In 18th century Europe, country estates were refashioned by landscape gardeners into formal gardens or landscaped park lands, such as at Versailles, France or Stowe, England. Today, landscape architects and garden designers continue to produce artistically creative designs for private garden spaces.

Author says my lawn philosophy is ?If it?s green, it can grow there.? I don?t profess to being particularly knowledgeable about turf grass, but my little bit of lawn looks pretty decent. (No, that’s not my lawn in the picture.) I use a mulching mower and I haven?t fertilized in years. I overseeded with clover a few years back, to distract the rabbits from my flowers. The clover provides nitrogen and it stays green during short periods of drought. One thing I am interested in trying one day is striping the lawn. (That?s stripe, not strip.) You know, those checkerboard markings that professional mowers leave on lawns.

Courtyard Garden Makeover

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:55:59 GMT

Courtyard garden is a garden which is surrounded by walls, means courtyard gardens are decorated inside the buildings, hospitals, and schools and in private homes too. Different courtyard creations can be as follows: Backyard Garden, Frontyard Garden, Swimming Pool courtyard, Water fountain Courtyard etc. There are different ways to makeover courtyard garden. Here are some fantastic ideas for your courtyard garden decorations.

Stone paths give attractive look to courtyard gardens. The stones make a lane which can also help to connect the other areas of home. Different types of stones are, stucco and masonry stone give beautiful look. You can also makeover garden with limestone paving, slate paving and granite paving stones; these stones can give contemporary to classic look. Stones which are used to design courtyard garden are available in different styles and color, you may choose them with the combination of your home out side walls.

Lighting for Courtyard Decorations Ideas:
Lighting is another important tool of courtyard garden decoration. Outdoor lighting and courtyard indoor lighting if perfectly chosen then it would be creating the amazing look of courtyard garden. Lightings for courtyard decorations are available in low ranges with different styles and colors of lights.

Fountain & Water Courtyard decorations:
Different styles of fountains are available in markets for courtyard garden decorations. Small bathtubs, water dishes can also enhance the beauty of courtyard garden. Decorative fencing & natural borders can also be added. Modern outdoor fountains are easy to set. Electrical Pump & solar power run these fountains with no running costs.

Statuary Decorations Ideas for Courtyard Gardens:
Different types of statues are other beauty tool of courtyard gardens. Classic fruit basket statues, birds or animal statues, mini pagoda garden can be used to decorate the courtyard.

Plants & Flowers Decorations:
No doubt & definitely there is no use of all the courtyard decoration ideas, if you don’t choose the right flower & plant ideas. Give a beautiful look to your garden with flowers and maintained plants. Plants should be neat in cuts. Throw out all the useless shrubs and leaves. Keep your courtyard garden neat & clean.

Small Courtyard Garden with Traditional Decoration:
If you have small area or any empty plot around your home then get ready to give it fantastic look of decorated courtyard garden. Make a soft red brick of S shape on both the sides (left, right) for planting beds. Then grow your favorite plants inside that S shaped planting beds. You may put some flower pots outside the brick. Put chairs in the middle of you courtyard garden to enjoy the cool breeze and sunny days in winter. You can also set a fountain to give a prettier look to your tradional courtyard garden.