Getting the Best Price For Your Home Includes Landscaping For Curb Appeal

Getting the Best Price for your Home Includes Landscaping for Curb Appeal

by Michael J. McGroarty

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If you own a home, then sooner or later you are going to be ready to sell that home. Maybe you've already sold a home or two. People tend to move more often than our parents did.

There are a lot of things that go into getting the best possible price for
your home, but the very first thing your home needs is curb appeal. When a prospective buyer, or a realtor for that matter, pulls up in front of your home, they immediately form an opinion about your house. Fair or not, that's what people do. You can have the most beautiful home in the city, but if prospective buyers don't get a super positive feeling about your house the minute they lay eyes on it, they are going to enter and view the rest of your house with a negative impression.

Fixing that problem is easy enough to do.

When people pull up in front of your house there are two things they see.  A house, and the landscaping in front of that house. If the landscaping is unattractive, the house will appear to be unattractive. Landscaping for curb appeal does not cost a lot of money, it's simply a matter of making sure the landscaping is neat, with well defined edges, and colorful. But when landscaping for curb appeal, the most important thing you need to do is to raise the beds with topsoil. Of course you have to do this before you plant.

Plants do much better in raised beds, and the plants in the beds really
stand out. In order to raise the beds around your house you do not have to buy expensive stones and build retaining walls. Just establish the outline of the planting beds, cut an edge into the soil with a spade, and fill the planting beds with approximately ten inches of good rich topsoil. You'd be amazed at how much you can raise a planting bed without any type of retention.

Here are two more things you don't need:

Plastic edging. It's expensive, a lot of work to install, and it never
stays in place. You can cut an edge with a spade and your landscape will actually look better. Then you can make the bed a little larger any time you need to.

The other thing you definitely do not need is weed control fabric. The
stuff just doesn't work. The weeds grow right on top of the fabric, then
root through the fabric making it even harder to keep your beds weed free.  You'll find a really good article on weed control on my website.

When landscaping for curb appeal, plant placement and selection is very important. In a corner bed you need a centerpiece. I like Canadian
Hemlock because they are evergreen and provide an excellent background for more colorful plants. In front of the Hemlock you can use a bright colored evergreen like Gold Thread Cypress, but don't use too many. Usually three is all you want. Around the backside of the same bed you can use a darker evergreen like Taxus or even a flowering shrub that you keep trimmed down low like Weigela. Lots of colors are fine, but don't stagger the colored plants in your landscape, use them in groupings, and be careful not to use too many in any one grouping. When you use more than three of any colored
plant they lose their effectiveness. You are adding them for contrast, and when used sparingly they look much better.

There are lots of landscaping photos on my website that will give you a lot of good ideas.

In front of a house I like to use an arc of medium height plants like Blue Girl Holly, then put a couple of taller plants behind the arc. When
landscaping for curb appeal you want the landscape to stair step toward the house. In other words, the lawn is the bottom step, the raised bed is step two, low growing plants step three and so on.

If you are re-landscaping an older home you probably should start with a sledge hammer before you do anything else and bust out the sidewalk to the front door. Builders put in the ugliest sidewalks in the world, and they usually are hard to maneuver as you walk toward the front door. Once you have the old sidewalk removed, let your imagination run wild. Remember, you are landscaping for curb appeal, and there is no better way to establish ultimate curb appeal than with a beautiful curved walk that gently winds its way to the front door. Once again, there are photos of such sidewalks on my website, and you'll see what wonderful landscaping opportunities they present.

The last step in landscaping for curb appeal is to create an interesting
shaped raised bed in the front yard. Fill this bed with spring flowering
bulbs, and annual flowers for the summer. If your house is going to be on the market in the fall, add some chrysanthemums for a burst of fall color.

So what's the best benefit of landscaping for curb appeal? You'll gain
great experience so you can make sure your new home is landscaped just the way you want it!

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website,http://www.freeplants.com  and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter. Article provided by http://gardening-articles.com.  If you use this article the above two links must be active.

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How To Prepare Your Trees And Shrubs For Winter

Since the Autumn has just arrived, you might think that it is a little premature to think about to prepare your trees and shrubs for the winter, but it is not.

To take some small steps in your garden or your landscape, would be a pretty good idea, just in case. The time seems to just fly away so fast, that before you know it Thanksgiving will be here, and then you'll start preparing for the Christmas season.

So, how should we start and where? Well, pretty soon the leaves are going to start changing their colors, turning yellow or red, other brown and will begin to drop off. There'll be some raking to do and piling them up in the compost pile in to corner of your garden, or any other place that you chose for that purpose.

The leaves that you are going to gather could very well serve a double purpose.

First, you can use them as mulch around the base of the trees and shrubs, to protect the root system from the harsh winter elements, that will surely come. You can put a layer of 2 to 3 inch thick to make sure the plants are well protected.

Second, they will eventually decay, and the nutrients will seep down to the roots.

Thirdly, the leaves are an excellent material for composting for future use in your garden. As the soil is depleted of the nutrients, they must be replaced, if you want to have a good crop of fresh vegetables for next season.

But before you place the mulching around the trees and shrubs, make sure that you cultivate around the base with a hoe and get rid of them pesky weeds.

For mulching you can use not only leaves, even so they are preferable because of the several benefits described above, but if you don't have enough of them, you can also use pine straws. A good layer of about 3 to 4 inches will be fine.

After you cultivated and got rid of the weeds, the mulching will keep control of other weeds by not allowing them to pop up again.

Another thing that needs to be done to prepare for the winter, is pruning. But the pruning of the trees and shrubs is better if it is done when the plants are in a dormant state.

As far as the time to do pruning, it all depends on the region of the world where you live.

Make sure that you prune the dead limbs and branches, the limbs that are crossing each other, and for the sake of making them look good. Or some of the shrubs that are over grown, you might want to cut them back.

By pruning and trimming you will encourage new healthy growth and it is beneficial to all the plants. They will grow more robust.

So there is a lot to do in a garden or in a landscape for that matter, but if you do it a little at a time you can make some progress, and when the Holiday season is coming you don't have to be stressed out and be worry about your garden.

These are just a few tips and ideas as how to prepare your trees and shrubs for the winter.

I trust that you enjoyed this article and it helped you with a few good ideas.

Please leave a comment and share this post with the social media of your choice.

Come back soon for other gardening and landscaping ideas, as we continue to post often.

JUST BY WALKING AROUND: Cheater!!!

JUST BY WALKING AROUND: Cheater!!!

How To Start A Home Foreclosure Cleanup Business Review

This article review is about how to start a Home Foreclosure Cleanup or Property Preservation Business.


It is really no secret that one of the major reasons our economy and the global economy for that matter, got in a such a mess. It is because of the real estate bubble that busted and had a ripple effect on all the global economy. There are literally hundreds of thousands of home foreclosures each and every day.

And as a result, people are loosing their jobs in droves, and they just don't have the income to pay their high mortgage payments that they have signed on for, in better times when everything seemed to go just fine. But times are very tough and uncertain right now!

The last report in the news was that the number of foreclosed homes grew by a whopping 25%. That's incredible high! There is no telling how many good hard working people are loosing their homes every day and they are just kicked out of their own house.

Some homes are simply abandoned in desperation. People that lost their homes and are in search for a job and other opportunities in other cities or states, take what they can load in the trunk of their car and leave the rest behind. The situation is desperate for a lot of them. Some real good decent hard working people that were well doing and they used to help others, and now they are in need of help.

Even if the economy will improve sometime in the immediate future, the housing industry is always lagging behind in recovery. It is always the last industry to take some steam, to move on.

Is this a recession? Everyone knows that. Some economists are already declaring it a depression. And it looks like it is. The good news is that there is always opportunity in times of crises. The thing is, to be on alert and look for the kind of opportunity that will keep you going and will enable you to pay your bills and to put food on the table.

Don't wait for the government to do it for you! The government is nothing but trouble when it comes to economic growth. They are good of sticking their paws in your pockets and take whatever money you have left. They always want to tax you to death.

The joblessness is at an horrific state, and no company is able or willing to hire at this time. No one knows what the future holds in these uncertain times.

The good news is that if you are willing to work hard and do something about your financial situation, you can start your own company with a very little investment. But you must be willing to work and pursue one of the best avenues in time of economic hardships. This is not the only one, but it is one of the easiest I can see at the moment, that almost anyone can start with so little investment. The thing is to take full advantage of it.

The concept is very simple: the Banks are in business to lend money, and earn an interest on the loan. If one is in default and unable to pay the monthly mortgage payments, they Will take their house! Once they take back a house that have money tied up in it, they are very eager to put it back on the market to recuperate their investment, and to start generating interest again. They are in business to make money, like any business for that matter. So they cannot afford to keep any money idle, without producing any interest.

So, the foreclosed properties must be brought back to at least the minimum standard ready for sale, to be placed back on the market as soon as possible.

That's where you come in! People in their haste to leave as far as they can and start all over again, leave behind a lot of junk, and most of the time o lot of good household stuff as well, that creates another instant opportunity for the property cleaner. Just imagine how many Thrift Stores are eager to pay good sums of money for some furniture or appliances delivered to their door. The potential is literally endless.

But that's just the gravy on top of what the Banks are willing to pay you to clean the property, remove all the items, make some minor repairs, some simple landscaping, and other improvements that you can do yourself or subcontract to others, that are more than able and willing to get some jobs in this harsh economic times.

You can also negotiate a property preservation contract, until it sells. That would generate some additional weekly or monthly income.

This program is full of step by step instructions on how to do each and every step of the whole program to get you started in no time at all.

If you were looking for a way out of the financial crises or a jobless situation, this could be your excellent opportunity to start your own foreclosure cleanup or property preservation company, with less then $500.00 start up investment. If you work hard and are motivated and persistent in what you are doing, there is no telling how much you can accomplish in this very lucrative market.

The property foreclosing continue to grow with no end in sight anytime soon. So the opportunities are literally endless. Just think about it! It is amazing what you could accomplish and a short time. It depends on how committed you are and how fast you act.

As far as repairs are concerned, it can involve some painting, replacing some boards, fixing some door knobs, some light fixtures, light bulbs and any other minor fixes. The landscaping can consist of some overgrown shrubs that need trimming, pruning, or removing. Grass mowing, or even planting a few shrubs here and there when needed. So it is no big deal, really.

Cleaning up the whole house, like the kitchen, pantry, the stove, refrigerator, the rooms. Vacuuming, cleaning the windows, the molding etc. Howling the trash to the dumpster.

Here's the real kicker. All the good stuff left in the house and in the shed, you can sell for a good profit! How much will all this cost you? Nothing, zero, nada, zilch! Do you see the potential? Not withstanding the fees that the Banks will pay you. It could average about $500.00 to $1,500.00 and sometimes even $5,000.00 or more. It all depends on each particular situation, and on the size of the property. This can be absolutely achieved.

This is just to give you an idea, of how much you could earn, and as your business is growing the potential is limitless. Just think about it! As you grow and hire some good help, how many properties can you do in a day? Do you see the big picture?

You don't have to look for a job any longer, you can create your own job, and create jobs for others, as you continue to grow. Why do you need a boss when you can be your own boss? I think it makes a lot of sense and this could be potentially your way to financial freedom and prosperity.

Remember, there is always potential and opportunity in times of economic crises. Just have a positive mindset and take action. You must do it. No one ells is going to do it for you! Just look carefully through all these steps and see if it will light any bulbs in your mind, and imagine yourself in control of your own destiny and future.

This by no means is a 'get rich quick scheme'. It involves work, commitment, perseverance, and action! Think positive, believe in your potential, and do not procrastinate. Procrastination will hold you back. Have vision, dream big, and it will pay off! Now you can see for yourself that a home foreclosure cleanup business or property preservation company is not hard at all to start.

To find out more about this amazing business opportunity, take action and click on this Link.

I trust that this review was helpful to you, and all comments are much appreciated. Take action today for a better tomorrow for you.

Mike Borlovan

How To Weed Control By Cultivating Your Garden

How to control the weeds by cultivating your garden, is an important task for any serious gardener, and it should never be neglected. The weeds should never be allowed to take over. They can ruin your garden, or any landscaping project for that matter.


Those pesky weeds sometimes can get on your nerves. You put all your efforts and passion in planting your favorite flowers, shrubs, or vegetables, after you made your garden clean and neat looking, and when you check after a while to see how they doing, you find out that you can't hardly see your plants anymore, because of them awful weeds!

So, the thing to do is to cultivate the garden as soon as the weeds emerge, and keep doing it until most of the seeds in the ground has just about sprouted out. You will always have some weeds, as the wind is blowing, it will bring some new seeds in your garden. But at least the weeds are not going to be there to the point when they will just smother your good plants.

To cultivate your garden you can use a tiller if you have one, or if you prefer and enjoy hoeing by hand for a healthy and beneficial exercise, go for it! It is good for you. And stay on them weeds until you pretty much get rid of them.

It is always better to control by cultivation instead of using chemical herbicides, especially when you garden with vegetables. You don't want to poison your body, do you? Once those chemicals get in your system it can cause some serious health problems.

That's why I'm always for an organic way of gardening. Organic fertilizing, organic composting, organic pest control, organic weed control, etc. It should always be organic as much as possible.

As the autumn is coming upon us without even realizing how fast the time is passing, a good and beneficial practice would be to cultivate your garden plot periodically during the fall and in the winter, when and if the weather will permit. It all depends in what region of the world you live in.

As the climates are different, so are the circumstances, of course, but generally speaking the cultivating is a great way to control the weeds as soon as they emerge, and the sooner the better.

You should never delay the controlling of weeds until they go to seed. This will create a perpetual problem and it will make it so much harder to control and to get rid of them.

For a successful gardening and in the preparation for a new garden or just for the next season, the cultivating of the weeds should be a rather important task. It should also be a practice applied consistently, whenever the weeds are becoming to the point where they just are out of control.

Remember, the weeds are always growing faster than the good plants. It's just their nature to take over. But we will not going to let them, do we?

Buy controlling the weeds with a timely cultivation, you can give your plants a much better chance for growing and producing an abundant crop of vegetables, or blooms if you are growing flowers.

Controlling the weeds by cultivation is important and it will assure a successful gardening. Not withstanding the fact that you will have a clean nice looking garden ready to impress everyone.

Another way to control the weeds, once you have done your cultivating, is by applying mulch. We will be talking about this subject in a future posting.

To get inspired and to obtain an abundance of information related to the gardening field, visit the links on the right column of the page, and see what you can find of interest to you.

If you find this post helpful, please leave a comment. Help me to improve my service to you. I sure do appreciate it. Your following me on this blog is also highly appreciated.

Until next time,

Happy Gardening!

Mike Borlovan

Composting Is Essential For Garden Soil Improvement

For a successful garden, composting is an essential element for the soil improvement.

Especially when there are lacking nutrients, and when the soil in your garden is poor. Any kind of dirt can be improved. Be it loamy, sandy, or clay. This is done by adding amendments, mainly composted matter. The darker the dirt in your garden, the better success for an abundant crop.

Every serious gardener should compost, to amend and help the garden plot become nutrient again for the next season harvest. Once the nutrients are depleted, which it happens naturally, they must be replaced perpetually. Every year if possible.

If you don't have the time or the means to make a fast or active compost, you can easily go for a passive composting. While this might be a slower process, nevertheless it will do the job.

Even in a kind of neglected pile of compost with organic waste, the organic material will decompose even if it does it slowly. But it can be done without any significant effort.

The compost pile can consist of leaves, and lots of them. About two thirds leaves and one third nitrogen material will assure a good and consistent organic matter. The leaves will provide the carbon necessary for decomposing. The nitrogen can be obtained by adding cow manure or chicken manure, fresh grass clippings, and blood mill.

When you have a garden, it just doesn't make sense to burn the leaves! It would be a waste of a very important source of organic matter that can make a world of difference in the improving of your garden soil.

Just rake the falling leaves and put them in a pile out of the way, in a corner and just turn them and sprinkle with water when it is not raining. The leaves are a very good and important source of carbon. The microbes, those hard working little creature, will do the job. They live on the decaying material and that's why it is important to turn the compost pile to allow the oxygen and the newly added leaves in contact with the invisible microbes that are working day and night. And they are working for free. You don't even have to pay them! He, he, he!

So all these elements must be considered when composting for a better gardening: the composition of the material, moisture (by sprinkling water), aeration by turning it now and then. The mother nature will take care of the rest. Some material will decompose faster, others slower. But they will decay.

Once the proper conditions have been created, the micro organisms will get in action, as well as the earth worms. They will multiply and as you apply the compost in the garden, the worms will aerate the soil in your garden to allow the oxygen where it is needed the most.

Once the compost is decayed enough, spread it on the top of the dirt in your garden plot and till it in the ground to blend in. Let it decay even more, and make the soil rich and nutrient with all that good organic material. Gradually will build up the humus, that nice rich, dark looking color of the soil.

This is the cheapest and more economical way of composting. It would cost you hardly anything. By burning the leaves, you are burning money. So why not put them to a useful purpose and save a bundle. Not withstanding the benefits of a successful gardening. To produce the nice, fresh, full of vitamins and minerals fruits and vegetables. With vivid full of life colors for your healthy living.

Gardening is wonderful. If you are not gardening yet, you are missing out on a lot of amazing things, and on the satisfaction of having your own quiet little place of retreat, from this noisy and crazy world. You will soon discover the enjoyment of gardening, and how beneficial it is for you.

Let's get our hands dirty. It is good for you.

Mike Borlovan

How To Turn Your Yard Into An Eddible Landscaping

How to turn your yard into an edible landscape, is not hard at all, and it's very achievable. In times of economical prosperity, it is more convenient to just go to the super-market and pick your preferred fruits and vegetables off the shelf, and go back home and cook them, eat them and enjoy.

Even if the economical situation is not an issue for you to be concerned of, you still might wonder in the back of your mind how were all these fruits and vegetables grown, treated, and handled. What kind of chemical fertilizers, pesticides, fungicides were used in the process of producing them. Not withstanding the fact that in most cases they are imported and are transported long distance, and thus the nutritional value is greatly diminished. There are hardly any vitamins and minerals left in them to benefit you, except for the fiber.

Have you ever thought of the vast grass lawns that you care for and spend significant amounts of money to maintain, by mowing, fertilizing, watering, and so on? Spending money on buying gas, oil, blades and other maintenance parts for your equipment?

Like any serious home owner you are doing your best to maintain your property in mint condition, since for most of us this is probably our most important investment asset. Of course we want to keep it up, with the best quality grass, shrubs, trees and other ornamental plants.

By doing the same thing to keep the property in mint condition, why not planting some fruits and vegetable producing plants, that will actually serve a double purpose by offering the same beauty and quality landscape, as well as edible fruits and vegetables that you and your family will enjoy and benefit from?

A lot of health and economy minded people all over the world are using their back yard, for exactly that purpose: growing their own fruits, berries and vegetables, for a better and healthier life style.

You can do that in both, front yard and back yard. Instead of spending your money on ornamental trees, shrubs, and grass maintenance, you can spend your time and money on some fruit trees, berry bushes, and vegetable seeds. On most of these the investment is just one time and not too expensive, and you will be able to harvest year after year from the same fruit trees and berry bushes.

Just think of the best fruits that you love the most, like apple, plum, peach, apricot, cherry, nectarines, persimmon, fig, and any other fruit trees. The list could be very long, but just think of some that grow well in your area, and you like the most. Also blueberry, blackberry, elderberry, raspberry bushes, etc.

The trees can be planted in an orchard or along the fence, or as focal points in different places in your unique landscape. The berry bushes can be planted in group planting, along the driveway, or along a walkway, along the fence, or anywhere you please, as long as it looks good and is convenient for you.

Choose a nice sunny spot in you yard, and plant your vegetable garden, making sure that it gets as much full sun as possible. Also make sure that it is close enough to a water spigot for easy watering when it's not raining.

With some careful planning, and before long you'll have a nice and beautiful edible landscape. It is not hard at all, and you can do it. In the spring your fruit trees will reward you with a beautiful display of blooms, and green fresh new leaves, as everything comes to life in nature. The whole nature is speaking of the resurrection every spring. Then in the summer and autumn, you will be enjoying the freshest, healthiest and full of vitamin and minerals fruits, that can never be beat by the ones you purchase in the supermarkets with your hard earned money! There's no way. It cannot get fresher than what you pick with your own hand, from your own edible landscape.

The same with all the berry plants, and your vegetable garden. You can still have your preferred ornamental shrubs and trees, hardscapes, night lighting, statuary, lawn furniture, and enjoy your little paradise to the maximum it can offer.

By applying these concepts of edible landscaping, you'll be pleasantly surprised to find out that the value of your property, will increase even more. The image will become richer, more abundant in every way. You worked hard to improve your property, why not try this new approach, for your own good.

I love fig trees, they are easy to grow, and once grown, they are basically care free. So are most of the fruit trees, except for some yearly pruning, organic fertilization, and mulching. Every little effort is worth it, considering the benefits they offer. The fig tree is just an example, but there are endless possibilities to think of, when choosing the fruit trees that you would like to have the most.

As for an economical consideration, far be it to get pessimistic, we always must be optimistic, and believe in yourself that you are more then able to achieve what you put your mind to, but at the same time, considering the actual economic situation we face today, it's a good idea to be prepared and to cut the grocery bill as much as possible. Become self sufficient and at the same time live a prosperous, vibrant and healthy life, enjoying the benefits of nature, and exercising in the outdoors for a better living.

The edible landscaping is a source of fresh fruits and vegetables as well as convenience and freedom. Live well and healthy. Start turning your yard into an edible landscaping today.

Mike Borlovan

How to Landscape A Back Yard To Look Good

This post about how to landscape your back yard to look good, is intended to give you some basic ideas as how to implement a project that will be not only beautiful and attractive, but also practical.

If you are considering very seriously to achieve a nice landscape that will provide comfort, relaxation, beauty and convenience, start by stepping outside from your house in the back yard. Since you have this new idea in mind, you are about to look to the whole situation with a surveying eye, with a different perspective, not just to take some fresh air, but like one who is about to start doing something.

Look at the present situation of the yard, and just try to imagine what kind of elements it needs to make a drastic change in the whole picture.

To bring these new ideas and elements to life, dot them down on a sheet of paper or a note pad. If your back yard is on a slope, locate an area where you might want to install a retaining wall, for a nice little terrace, to place a table with a few chairs. You might also want to consider installing some steps to that area for easy access as well as appearance.

Weather the yard is in a slope or flat, it does not matter, except that it requires a different approach. But what you want to consider first, is to divide the yard in spaces, for practicality and other considerations such as beauty, convenience, entertainment, socializing, playing, relaxing, resting, etc.

It does not have to be too polished, but appealing enough for entertainment, with a friendly atmosphere and a friendly environment.

After you divide the back yard in separate sections, consider some essential elements that will make it work, and looks good to the eye of the beholder. No matter in what part of the property you are, it should look great from every angle, as well as practical.

Consider to install a brick patio, surrounded by your preferred shrubs and blooming flowers. Add some nice clay pottery of different sizes and shapes for accent and focal points around your patio. Set on the brick area some nice garden and patio furniture, for comfortable seating and dining area. From here install some stepping stones that lead to a gazebo, or a pavilion, to relax in the shade, in an intimate space.

As we go along, you will realize how nicely is your back yard landscape taking place. It is coming to life as we continue to add some essential elements. It will be awesome as we add and complete each new element.

Find a nice sunny area and plant a beautiful vegetable garden, and one for a flower garden of your choice. If you have children it will provide a great resource of educational activities, to cultivate in them the beauty of nature and recreation in the outdoors. It is healthy, beneficial, and it also builds character and a love for the environment. Gardening is wonderful.

We should never neglect to assign a special area for the children to play in safety, and give them the liberty to be in their own little playing universe. You can install a swing set, a sand box, slides, etc.

If you have a place to build a deck, with some nice benches on it, or garden furniture, surrounded with shrubs and small trees, will create a beautiful element as a main focal point in the yard. A place to entertain your guests and friends with some delicious barbecue, and other fine foods and drinks.

Divide the spaces with some trellises, hedges, retaining walls, small trees, for a sense of intimacy or delimitation of use. Like in your home, the same way as the rooms are divided, except that in the yard are wider and in the open air. Your celling is the sky, your walls are made of live plants, or a trellis, or a chain-link-fence, or a line of small trees, etc.

Another area of relaxing could be a spa, hot-tub, swimming pool.

Consider planting along the fence some ornamental trees, like Crape Myrtles, Althea the Rose of Sharon, and other blooming trees, that will offer besides the beautiful blooms, the sense of enclosure, of delimitation of your property, your outdoor space.

For a more dramatic effect of soothing and appealing atmosphere consider installing some low voltage lighting. This will create an astonishing view of the whole picture at night. Strategically placed to bring out some focal points, and gives the impression of a fairy land at night.

Place some benches on the side of a walkway, and have some spot light point to some garden statue, for an even greater impression.

After you have pretty much implemented all the elements so that each will serve its purpose, you can see that how to landscape a back yard to look good, was not really that hard, was it? By taking one step at a time, and with a careful planing, it can surely be easily achieved.

Until next time,

Happy gardening!

Mike Borlovan

About Growing Crape Myrtles, Tips And Ideas

Growing Crape Myrtles, tips and ideas, is intended to provide information to the home owners and gardening and landscaping enthusiasts, that wants to improve the value of their home.

A popular tree in the South, the Crape Myrtle (Lagerostroemia indica) is widely used in the landscapes, due to the long blooming period. It blooms from mid-summer until late fall, and sometimes until frost.

In the autumn before the Crape Myrtle is dropping the leaves, the color is turning reddish, and the exfoliating of the bark is simply beautiful, and very attractive.

In addition of being so popular in the South, in the last few decades, with the introduction and development of new cultivars, the demand for the Crape Myrtle is expanding towards the Northern states, and it is used more and more in landscape projects by the professionals, Cities, Municipalities around the Country, as well as by the home owners.

The Crape Myrtles are planted along driveways, alleys, walkways, along fences, in group planting, accent focal points, and anyway one can think of. They are easy to grow, easy to propagate, and once established it does not require too much care.

They are grown in very many different color blooms, but the main ones are the red, white, pink, purple, lavender, some of the varieties in darker or lighter color tones.

Cultivating:

The Crape Myrtle can be grown as a single trunk, or multi-trunk. To grow it as a single trunk, in tree form, you want to prune all the branches and leave only one as the main trunk. Usually you want to keep the one that is stronger and straight. If you prefer the multi-trunk, then leave all the branches to grow, and later prune only the ones that are not well developed. Just keep the strongest ones.

If it happens that you have a single trunk Crape Myrtle, and you want to change the shape to a multi-trunk tree, you can do that, very easily. Just have a little patience, and wait until next January or February, while the trees are still dormant, and cut the trunk all the way down, and leave about 2 to 3 inches above the ground level. The tree will start growing multiple trunks from where you cut it.

The pruning should be done while dormant, usually in January or February, before they start to put out buds. So, that is a good time to shape them any way you like, and to prune off any unwanted suckers.

Once the Crape Myrtles are well established, do not be afraid to prune them more drastically. If you want them to grow more vigorous, first you should cut them back to the desired height. And then at the next season's pruning, after they branched out from the previous year's cut, prune from where they were branching out. Just cut all the limbs that run from the main trunk, to about 2 to 3 inches from the main trunk(s), and the little branches that are not well developed, the suckers, that you want to cut off.

Pruning is important, if you want to have large vibrant, deeper color tone blooms! If left to grow without some drastic pruning, you might have a lot of flowers, but they will be small.

The Crape Myrtle can grow about 20 to 25 feet tall, and they grow pretty fast.

They prefer full sun and a well air circulated area to keep them from getting powdery mildew. If it happens to get some powdery mildew, due to lack of air circulation, it is not a big problem. It comes and goes. Usually the rain will wash it off, and the wind will play a great roll, too, to make it disappear faster.

Too much shade will inhibit the blooming, and the flowers will not develop as they should. So full sun is essential, and the display is more spectacular in the landscape, with much larger blooms.

Keep them moist but not soggy. Once established they can pretty much tolerate some drought. If the soil is more alkaline, you can lower the pH to about 5.5 to 6.00, by mulching around the trees with pine-straw, to make it a little more acidic.

If the soil is rather poor in nutrients, fertilize lightly with a well balanced fertilizer. I prefer the slow released fertilizer, like Osmocote or Nursery Special. Apply as a top dress, around the trunk of the trees. It always worked better for me. The flowers are more vivid and vibrant in color tones.

When planting the Crape Myrtles, like any other tree or shrubs, dig the hole at least one and a half the size of the root ball, and just slightly less deeper than it was in the original container when you have bought it. It is better to be a little above the line of the soil, to allow the water to drain away from the base of the tree.

Many diseases and other rot and fungus problems occur when the plants are planted deeper then they should.

Fill the hole with the dirt that you just dug out, and press around to eliminate any air pockets from around the roots. Water well and deep. Just a sprinkle on the top of the soil will never be enough! Mulch with about 2 to 3 inches of pine-straws to retain moisture, and keep it moist until the tree is getting established. More that the Crape Myrtle does not require too much care.

Propagation:

The Crape Myrtle is pretty easy to propagate.

By seeds, that you can pick from the pods in autumn, before the seed falls on the ground. Use some fine peat-moss based potting soil, with some micro-nutrients blend, and fill some 2 to 4 inch pots with the soil, and sow one seed in a pot. Keep evenly moist until it germinates. for a faster germination soak the seeds in water at room temperature for several hours. Keep them indoors in a place where there is some good light, preferable close to a window. If you have a little greenhouse, that is even better. Once they germinate, you can grow them in the same pot until spring, when you can plant them outside, after the danger of late frost is past.

By rooted cuttings. Cut some new young branches (semi-hardwood is preferable), and after you cut the lower end slanted with a sharp knife, pinch off the leaves from the portion of the stem that you stick in the potting soil. Pinch off the tips, and leave only 4 or 5 leaves. For best results, the cuttings (the stems), should be no more than 5 to 6 inches long. A root hormone would accelerate to rooting process, but for the Crape Myrtles it can be done without it.

Once you stick them in the soil, press around the cutting to eliminate any air pockets.

Since the new cuttings have no roots yet, they feed through the leaves. So sprinkle the leaves several times a day, with a fine mist, or even a spray bottle should do. Make sure that the soil is wet too, so that the little cuttings are forced to reach down for moisture, thus growing the roots.

Some cultivars are more resistant than others on powdery mildew. But that is coming and going. Just keep an eye on the aphids, that leave a kind of a sticky excretions on the leaves that attracts the sooty mold fungus. If left un controlled it can become so thick as not to allow the plant to have its photothynseses, and that can create some problems, to the point that the Crape Myrtle will deteriorate.

The Aphids can be controlled by spraying with a lemon based dish washing soap solution mixed in water, and applied heavily on the affected leaves. Then after a while just rinse the soap solution off with a water hose. An area populated with lady bugs and lace wings (those green beneficial bugs) could help a lot! They feed heavily on the aphids.

As you can see, the Crape Myrtle is easy to grow and it does not require too much care. It will give you many years of enjoyment and satisfaction, blooming year after year as well as improving and elevating the value and the image of your home.

In my many years of experience in the Nursery and Landscaping field, I had many projects that worked out very nicely by planting Crape Myrtles.

So, what are you waiting for? Let's get our hands dirty, it is good for you!

Until next time, Happy Gardening!

Mike Borlovan

How To Grow Herbs Inside In Containers

How to grow herbs inside in containers, for year round use.

If you like herbs and you want to spice up your cooking and salads, it is possible to have them year round whenever you want to use them. Just reach to your windowsill, and pinch off a few leaves of the herbs you grow, and enjoy the best and freshest flavor you can think of.

There is a pretty vast list of how many herbs you can grow, but you can just choose the ones that you really like and use in your kitchen, whenever you like, when you have company over, and you are sure to impress them, as you will get a lot of compliments on your cooking.

The herbs are grown from seeds, and there are annual, perennial, and biennial herbs. A few examples of annual herbs first, would be some that are most commonly used, but you can pick any you love the most.

Arugula Astro, Arugula Rocket, Basil Caesar, Basil Picolino, Basil Pluto, Basil Sweet Dani, Basil Siam Queen, Cilantro Santo, Dill Bouquet, Dill Fernleaf, Sweet Marjoram, etc.

Perennial herbs: Garlic Chives, Lemon Balm, Oregano, Peppermint, Rosemary, Green Sage, Winter Thyme, etc.

Biennial herbs: Parsley Banquet, Parsley Forest Green, Parsley Plain Italian Dark Green, etc.

These are just a few examples of the many herbs you can choose to grow.

As I mentioned above that the herbs are grown from seeds, here is how to grow them.

Like in any gardening, be it outdoors or indoors, the first most important faze is the preparation of the soil. This is the base and the place where the seeds are buried, and germinate to spring to life, and live. So some basic conditions must be met. And the soil is very important to be of the best quality possible, if we want to succeed, and create the best environment for the the plants to live in.

The soil must be of a good quality, nutritious, rich in minerals, for the plants to develop and grow healthy.

For the herb seeds, it is necessary to have a fine peat-moss blend of soil with micro-nutrients for a good start, from your local Garden Center. If you are going to grow them in a windowsill, for the source of sun light, the preferred size of the plastic pots would be 4 to 6 inch wide, round or square.

Once you have the soil, the pots and the seeds, that's all you need to start your indoor herb garden.

Fill the containers with the soil all the way up to the lip of the pot, leaving about half inch from the very top of the pot. Take a pinch of herb seeds, and drop them evenly on the top of the soil. Cover the seeds very thinly with soil, and with a fine mist water the soil slowly, to make sure the water penetrates down in the soil. Set them on the windowsill, and you are done. Water and keep the soil moist. Do not let it dry out completely! In a few days, you will see the little herb plants sprouting out of the soil.

Once the herbs have grown to a certain height, keep watering, but make sure that you water gently, by poring the water in a corner of the pot, so that only the soil gets wet. The herb plants are still tender, so be gentle with them.

If you like spicy hot food, you can grow some hot peppers in a pot. But you need only one seed, and it would be better to start the pepper seeds in a cell pack, like a jumbo 6 pack. Once the seed sprouted and they have some real leaves, you can transplant the pepper plant in a 6 inch size pot or larger.

Another solution for the indoor garden is a 'garden tub', if you prefer to have just one long tub with all the herbs in one confinement. so, once the herbs developed enough, you can move them in the garden tub (in size like the width of the windowsill), one by one.

Fill up the tub with the same fine soil, and take each herb out of the original pot, with the soil intact, and plant it in the tub.  Keep your little garden watered, and just keep it moist, not soggy, and do not let the herbs dry out completely.

Now you have a beautiful aromatic, flavorous garden at your finger tips. Enjoy the freshest and most tasteful flavour that you ever have experienced in your salads, and your specialty cooking.

Pinch some leaves whenever you like and live well and healthy. These herbs are very rich in vitamins and minerals, and that's a fact.

Happy indoor gardening!

Until next time,

Grand-paw Mike

Landscaping The Front Of Your House

This article about the Landscaping for your front yard, is written with the do-it-yourself in mind, with simple principles and basic elements for accomplishing the best results.

After many years of experience in the Nursery and Landscaping field, you get to the point, maybe by intuition, when you are called out to give an estimate, you pretty much could tell how much is it going to cost, just by looking at the house. It becomes such a routine, but still, each and every house has it's own characteristics, and I would adventure to say, personality.

This might be because of the color and the position of the house on the rough landscape, and many other factors.

Now, that was not always the case. When I'm thinking of my first projects, many years ago, I remember struggling a lot to do my utmost best to create and design the best landscaping plan possible to get the job and to build my reputation as a landscaper. That was not an easy task. There are several principles and elements in the landscaping design, that you have to keep in mind.

The element of form, the shape of the "line", the size of the landscape relative to the size of the property, and many other principles and elements that you need to keep account of when designing a landscape project.

The purpose of this article is not really to give any definition of the landscaping, but rather to help the home owners to create their own project, in this case, intended mostly for the front of the house.

Concentrating on the very front of the house, is essential to pay attention to every little detail, since that is the part of your landscape that will decide the character of your real estate, and the first impression for the visitors. Just think of a painting, where the front yard is your canvas, you are the artist, and you must decide the "colors". That's another important element for your landscape project in order to be a success! The colors!

Another important element in designing a landscaping project, is the "lines" in the shaping of the planting surfaces. I believe that for a nice aesthetic design, the lines play a significant role.

I personally, never liked to use too many straight lines when designing the planting space right next to the front of the house. Only if I did not have a choice, like when there was a walkway from the front door and turning to the left or to the right of the house at 90 degrees in a straight line, not too far from the wall of the house. It was always working better when the walkway was straight from the front door towards the street, to the Mail Box.

It always worked and looked much better when I was using curved lines, starting from the side of the house, where usually there is an AC unit, at the left side or the right side of the house. It doesn't really matter. I hope that you can envision the design as we go along in describing the shape of the planting space.

Drawing a curve line in such a way as to hide the AC unit with a few taller shrubs, coming with a fine curved line to the corner of the house, and expanding the line in a loop shape, to give you the chance to plant a little tree to kind of frame the house with some accent planting, on both extreme corners of the house.

Then from that loop line at the corner, I have drawed a curve line allowing room for other shrubs and blooming perennials, bedding plants and some ornamental grasses, as accent planting, going towards the front door to the walkway. Right here, next to the walkway, on both sides of it, I planted another little tree, a topiary or any other tall shrub, for the purpose of framing the landscape, to give it some character and again, accent. The right front side of the house will perfectly mirror the left front side.

Now in between the two corners and the taller trees or topiary plants next to the walkway, you can plant some low maintenance shrubs, about 16 to 24 inches from the wall, and about 2 to 3 feet apart, as foundation planting. These can be Compacta Hollies, Korean Boxwood, Indian Hawthorne, or any other low maintenance shrubs that you like.

Right in front of this row of shrubs that is called the "foundation planting", you can plant in a staggered fashion, so that the back row next to the wall should be visible, some other low growing shrubs, like Yaupons, Helleri, Soft Touch, or any other shrubs that you like. Right in front of the second row of shrubs, as a border, plant some ornamental grass like green or variegated Liriope, Aztec grass, etc. for some nice color variations.

For some nice colors, plant a few bedding plants of your choice, and as they are seasonal, you can always change the colors as you please. This should create a nice unique character to your home.

But wait, I've got ahead of myself, jumping too fast to the planting faze! Assuming that you draw all this on a sheet of paper, you pretty much have the lay out of how your finish project is going to look like. At least you have a pretty good idea.

Now let's mark our project on the ground, and see how is it going to work out. First let's start with the side of the house, where the AC unit is located, be it on the left or right side of the house. Or if the unit is on the back side, then you don't have to worry about it, for now. Only if, and when you will start working on your back yard landscaping.

So, we going to take a flexible water hose, and lay it down in a nice curve line, from the back corner of the house coming towards the front corner, and forming the loop we were talking about. Make it large enough so the loop will accommodate one tree, and three low growing shrubs for a group planting right in front of the tree. I hope you get the picture.

Continue to go with the hose, in a nice curve (again) expanding the line just a little away from the house, to have room to accommodate the shrubs and the rest of the plants described above. Go all the way to the walkway, and end the line a little towards the street, to make room for your next accent tree or topiary.

Look at the lay out of this side of the house, from different angles, and adjust the line until you like what you see. It's not really much to see, yet, but you'll have a pretty good idea. Once you are satisfied with the lay out, mark the line with a landscape spray can, that you can find at the hardware store, and do exactly the same thing on the other side of the house.

Now is the time to measure and see how many plants you going to need. Keep account of the distance you will need between the plants, and then figure out how many can you accommodate, not to make it too crowded, nor too bare. It should be a nice balance, pleasant to the beholder. Remember, this is your work of art, and it should make you very proud!

The hardest part is over! Now let's get our hands dirty, and let the fun begin!

So, the beautiful lay out of our plan is done, let's clean the ground of any rocks and debris and if necessary, let's add some amendments, like cow manure, several bags, some good fertilizer, and spread it on the top, and till it in the dirt. Rake it nicely, and now you can buy the plants, from your preferred Garden Center.

Water the plants until you have time to start planting. The fun part is just about to start!

Lay the plants in their position, and look at the entire picture once again, from different angles. Move the plants as many times as you like, while they are still in pots, until you are fully satisfied as how your landscape is going to look.

Once you have them all in place, leave them right there, and just pull away just one at a time, and dig the hole, and plant your trees and shrubs one by one. Dig the hole large enough so that the roots have room to expand.

Note: Under no circumstance should you put any fertilizer in contact with the roots at planting time! This is very important! Sometimes in our eagerness to make the plants grow faster then they should, we put fertilizer to the roots, and that will burn the roots, and the plants will surely die! Best way to fertilize with, is what we call "top dress" with slow release fertilizers. Let mother nature do the job, and we should not force anything on it.

Once you planted all the plants, is time to apply the mulch, about 2 to 3 inches deep, and this should ad a phenomenal beauty and neatness to your landscape project!

Make a nice little flower bed around your mail box, mulch it as well, and plant strategically for even greater accent some nice ornamental trees, in the rest of your front yard.

Once planting is done, water well and make sure that you water slowly so that the water penetrates down to the roots. Just a sprinkle on the top of the soil is not going to be enough. Remember, your new plants just moved in, and they need time to accommodate in their new location. So, please, make them feel right at Home!

If you like this article, and it has helped you in any way, please leave a comment, and help me to improve my service, to you, the readers. Your following me on this blog, is highly appreciated!

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Until next time, Happy Gardening!

Mike Borlovan  

Discover How To Grow Plants In Containers

Discover how to grow plants in containers, is something you might want to think about, if you want to save some good money.

Growing plants in containers is a lot of fun. It is not complicated at all, and by following a few common sense rules, satisfaction is absolutely guaranteed. For a small starter plant, be it a shrub or any ornamental plant, a small container of 3 or 4 inches wide is sufficient, at first. Of course, until these little babies grow bigger, then you will need to step them up in a larger container, like 1 gallon size for example.

First you need the little plants, but how to get them? Now that's a real kicker, isn't it! Well, you can start some of them from seeds, or rooted cuttings. Or you can purchase the little plants, called liners or plugs, from your local Garden Center, or you can root them yourself.

It is not really that complicated, and it is not hard at all. In fact it is amazing how easy it can be, buy taking it step by step.

Let's assume that you need some shrubs for a foundation planting in front and on the sides of your house, something that does not grow too tall, and you will be able to control by pruning. Let's start with a Compacta Holly, a nice evergreen that is easy to grow, and as they grow you can shape them any way you like. They are used also for topiary, and hedges, borders, etc.

Now you are going to need a mature shrub as a source to make your cuttings. If you don't have any already on your property, see if your neighbour or a friend might have some, and ask for permission to take a few cuttings. Another solution would be to buy just one Compacta Holly (or it could be any shrub for that matter), that is bushy enough, and that has some semi-tender new growth on it. The cuttings from these woody shrubs, should not be too mature nor too tender. Just cut bellow the portion that is brown turning to green upward. Cut them  about 4 to 6 inches long.

Get some good quality peat-moss blend potting soil with micro-nutrients blended in it, and some cell packs. The 6 cell jumbo packs works good. Fill up the cells with the potting soil and wet it with a fine sprinkle of water. With a sharp knife (do not use scissors) cut the lower end of the cutting in a slanted cut, and trim the tips with a scissors, this time, to encourage growth. Now stick the cuttings in the soil, one in each cell, and press the soil around it.

Once you put them all in, set the cells in a shady place, and with a hand held bottle spray mist the cuttings every now and then, to keep the leaves wet. Remember, these plants do not have roots yet, so they feed through the leaves. Make sure that the soil itself stays wet, to encourage the cutting to reach down for water, thus growing the roots.

Once you see some roots sticking out the holes on the bottom of the cell pack, it is a good sign that they are growing roots. Just wait a little while longer, until you get a root ball, before you transplant them in a 4 inch container. This should take about 6 to 8 weeks, if all goes well.

These Compacta Hollies on the left, are planted in 4 inch containers, and they had their first "haircut" already. These shrubs are pretty fast growing, and soon they'll need to be stepped up in 1 or even 2 gallon size pots.

This rooting procedures from cuttings can be applied to almost any woody shrubs like Boxwood, Youpon, Helleri, Soft Touch, Azaleas, Ligustrum, Loropetalum, Pittosporum, and many others.

The Compacta Hollies can be planted in a straight line, staggered, as accent planting, group planting, hedges, etc. You just use your imagination, or get inspired from a specialty landscaping magazine. Just figure out how many you need for your own project, and root as many as you need.

In this picture you can see a mature Compacta Holly planted as a hedge, and on the left is a Loropetalum. This hedge is about 5 years old, but they were trimmed many times, to keep them low. Very easy to grow. You can have yours and be happy to watch them grow. Sit on your bench, in the company of birds, butterflies and the busy bees, sip your cup of coffee, in the tranquility of your little heaven!

In this picture above are some Youpon shrubs in the front, and some Compactas behind them, that can be shaped round, oval, or any shape you want. All these shrubs are low maintenance, unlike other blooming perennials.

If you don't want to root your own cuttings, or you don't have the time and the means to do it, you can purchase some starter plants for any of your landscape or gardening projects, from my eBay store, there is a great variety and there are a lot available:  http://stores.shop.ebay.com/Borlovans-Nursery

Helping the gardening enthusiasts with practical ideas and information, periodically with new and fresh articles related to the gardening field. These articles are written in simple down to earth wording, easy to understand, and with the clear intention to help and benefit the novice or even the more experienced who might want to venture in something they never tried before. Gardening and Landscaping is a wonderful way to blend in with the nature, and enjoy to the fullest extent possible all the good things it can offer.


If you do not have a garden yet, you can start any time. Get involved by taking small steps to implement your desired plans, try and experiment, make it your hobby and sooner or later you will become passionate about it, and you will be glad you did. Nature has unlimited resources to offer, why not take advantage of it?

Come on, let's get our hands dirty, will you?

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I really do appreciate you visiting my blog! Leaving a comment and following me in this blog, is highly appreciated!

Until next time, happy Gardening! And get your hands dirty, it's good for you!

Grand-pa Mike

How To Make Raised Beds The Easy Way

How to make a raised bed garden, if your space is limited, or you just want to garden on a smaller scale.


In a raised bed you can plant the vegetables that you like the most. Make it so convenient, that when you are cooking or preparing your salads, just step out of your kitchen and take a few vegetables or pinch off a few leaves of this and that and go back in and get ready to eat the freshest vegetables possible. They can't get any fresher than that!

If you love herbs, build you a separate little Herb raised bed garden, and enjoy the best and freshest aroma and flavour you can imagine. Spice up your cooking and your salads and enjoy the good living!

Making the raised beds is not complicated and it should not be expensive. You probably have some lumber and other materials laying around in your yard or barn, or somewhere along the fence in your back yard.

A few 2x6x8 or 10 or 12, it depends on how much space you have and how long you want to make the raised beds.

The ideal width would be no larger than 4 feet, so you can reach easily from all sides. That's when you build the beds rectangular shape. You can make them in circles or triangles if you want to.

Here is an example of a raised bed that I made from some scrap lumber, and I did not want to cut, just adapted the bed to the size of the material. Sometimes it works like that, and sometimes you cut it to the desired size.

Just select a nice sunny spot, (a little partial shade is not going to hurt) the sunnier the better. Nail the boards together in the corners, like a frame. If you place the bed directly on a grassy spot, and you don't want to remove the sod, place some cardboard or news papers on top of the grass, to keep any weeds to grow up through the dirt.

Now it is time to put the soil in the bed. If you have some good rich top soil, that's good. If you don't have any top soil or the means to transport it from the garden supply place, like a solid trailer for example, you can use ground pine bark. It is much lighter and it works just as well if not better.

That's what I use in my raised beds as well as in all my container planting, and in my propagation by rooted cuttings, which I'll talk about in an other article.

On a bed of the size of 4x10 mix into the pine bark about 4 bags of 50 lb well composted cow manure, and a few handfuls of organic fertilizer. Mix it well and level the soil. Now you are ready to plant.

Consider on what side of your property is the sun rising, and plant accordingly, so that the taller growing plants are not going to cast a shade on the lower growing ones. Like the tomatoes that are growing taller, should be planted towards the west side of the bed, and the lettuce and spinach on the east size.

When choosing the location of the raised beds, make sure they are close to a water spigot, to make it easy to water.

As for the choosing of the vegetables is a matter of what you like the most. Here are some ideas: tomatoes, bell peppers, sweet banana peppers, hot peppers, (just make sure not to plant the hot peppers close to the sweet ones to avoid cross pollination and make them all hot), cucumbers, lettuce, spinach, radish, squash, etc.

For the cucumbers, if you'll notice on the left bed in the picture, I nailed two thin boards on the ends of the bed, and tied a fence wire mesh, for the cucumbers to climb on. This will save a lot of space.

If you like herbs, to spice up your cooking and your salads, make a separate herb bed. You can plant parsley, dill, basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, cilantro, garlic chives, onion chives, sage, peppermint, etc.

Herbs can be planted by seeds directly in your raised garden or you can start them indoors in some 3 or 4 inch pots, then when the danger of late frost is over, take them out of the pots with the soil undisturbed, and plant them in the garden. This way you will have an early start.

Watering: The drip irrigation is a better solution, instead of over head sprinkling. If drip irrigation is not affordable, water around the plants to get the water to the roots.

Keep an eye on those pesky weeds, and pluck them out as soon as you see them. Other than that, there is not much to cultivate in a raised bed, just watch them growing and enjoy the fruits of your "easy" labour.

Another thing to watch is the caterpillars, that you can control by removing them by hand instead of using pesticides. You don't want to poison your body, do you?

So, as you can see, a raised bed gardening is not hard to make at all! If you love nature and you want to have some good quality preoccupation in the tranquility of your little paradise, go for it! You'll be glad you did!

If you enjoyed this post I invite you to come back soon, as I'm dedicated to post more information and related articles for the gardening enthuziasts, and anyone who is contemplating to garden, be it for a hobby, convenience, or just to forget about the troubles of the world. Nature can be one of your best friends.

And do you know what I like about growing plants? They never talk back!

Mike Borlovan

How To Plant Your Own Vegetable Garden

How To Plant Your Own Vegetable Garden


If you think about having your own vegetable garden where you can pluck them out with your own hand, fresh and full of vitamins and minerals, there is nothing really, to compare or even come close to it. They taste better and they are much more nutritious than the produce that is shipped and travels long distance.

For convenience, you probably used to go to the supermarket to buy your fruits and vegetables, but honestly, they just cannot compare with what you can grow and eat raw or cooked from your own garden.

If you never had the experience to create your garden yet, and all you have eaten was the produce from your local supermarket, or from the roadside fruit stand, than you are missing out, and you owe it to yourself to think very seriously to start your garden, if you really want to eat fresh and healthy. It is not really that hard, and it sure is not complicated at all. And once you have it, you will be glad you did.

Just think of the benefits to be outdoors, in nature, and work in the tranquility of your little paradise. Not withstanding the free exercise you are getting in the process. That's good for your body, mind, and soul.

And of course you want to do it right. So it is a pretty good idea to make a little plan, draw it on a sheet of paper and stick to it.

First, choose a good sunny spot, where you don't get too much shade or no shade at all if possible, and the plot should be free of rocks or debris. But it should be close enough to the house to be able to water with a hose hooked to a spigot, when you need to water if and when it's not raining.

Prepare the soil. This is very important, and your success will very much depend on how well you prepare the site for your garden. If the soil is clay or sandy and lacks nutrients, it must be amended and enriched with composted material, like cow manure, organic fertilizer and minerals if needed. To make it even cheaper for next season, collect the leaves and other vegetation, kitchen leftovers, grass clippings, and make your own compost. The soil will need nutrients to replace those used and depleted by the vegetables as they feed from the soil.

The best thing is to spread the compost all over your garden site, and till it in the soil, in the fall, so it will have enough time to decay and blend in the garden. This way the ground is resting over the winter, and will be more nutritious in the spring for the planting time.

Now think of what vegetables would you like to grow, something you enjoy eating the most. So, buy the seeds for the vegetables you choose, and go from there. A few examples just to get an idea, would be; tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, squash, radish, cucumbers, lettuce, onions (sets).

Maybe a few herbs to spice up your cooking with, like, dill, parsley, oregano, basil, arugula, rosemary, cilantro, etc. It all depends on how much space you have, and how large a garden you want to have. Herb plants don't take too much room, and they are fun to grow. Just think of that nice aroma, flavour and fragrance they so freely give, in exchange of just a little LTC. Loving Tender Care.

To have a good and early start with your garden, start your seeds indoors, and plant the transplants after the danger of late frost is past. It depends on where you live.

One of the best methods would be to start the seeds in little peat pots, like the Jiffy-pots, so that when you plant the little plants outside plant them with the Jiffy pots, thus not disturbing the tender roots of the transplants. If you prefer, you can plant the seeds directly in rows, according to the instructions on the seed packets.

Plant the plants according to their size, and group them together. The low growing ones, should be separate from the tall growing ones, as to not block the sun light from reaching evenly on all the plants.

Water well and keep the soil moist. Don't let the soil dry completely out between watering, nor keep it too soggy either.

Once they started to grow, you can water them good, and then leave them alone and give them a chance to drink and feed. Water again before the soil dries out completely. Just kind of feel the soil to see if it is still wet, by sticking your finger in the dirt about 2 inches, and if it is still moist, leave them alone for a while. Once you get familiar with your garden, sometimes the plants will let you know when it is time to water. They will start to wilt a little, and as soon as you water them, they perk right up. But do not let them wilt beyond hope!

Now sit and relax on a bench, somewhere in the shade, and watch how the little seeds sprout out of the soil. It is very rewarding to see, as the hard part of gardening is pretty much over, except that now and then watch for them pesky weeds to pluck them out, and don't let them invade your little paradise. Wait patiently for the time when you take out of your garden, with your own hand, and enjoy those healthy, juicy vegetables. It is simply wonderful.
Happy Gardening!

Mike Borlovan

Gardening Like a Pro, With Modest Means

Gardening like a professional with modest means.

It is easy and very possible, indeed.

You don't really have to be a professional gardener to grow quality, vibrant, healthy and full of life vegetables. You need a desire to learn, to experiment, and apply in practice what you've learned.

Mother nature is so rich, and so freely giving, that we could never exhaust her of the never ending resources she has. The only thing we need to learn is how to receive and take from her, as long as we do not try to destroy her.

And we need to give some of it back, too, by composting the leftovers, and helping the soil to get fertile again, through natural means.

Sometimes the plot we intend to grow our vegetables in, is depleted of the best nutrients it used to offer, or the soil clay, or too sandy, and it is not as we would like. The soil needs to be darker, with composted matter. The first impulse would be to apply some chemically based fertilizer, but that's obviously not the best solution.

Since the land is so over fertilized in the lands where the produce is grown, and we buy it from the supermarket shelf at the produce section, they are hardly safe to eat anymore. You don't know what kind and how much fertilizer and pesticides and fungicides was used to increase their bottom line for their productivity!

So what are we going to do? We have to eat fruits and vegetables, we've got to feed our families. But thank God there is an alternative to it: start your own Garden and grow your own fresh fruits and vegetables, if you don't have one already. That's the smart thing to do. Especially today, when most of our produce is coming from imports, traveling long distance and we don't have a clue how were they grown!

You don't know how old they are, if they have any nutrition value, as most of them are picked green and forced riped, to look good by the time they are delivered to the stores.

We certainly don't need to poison our bodies with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, that we don't even have any idea how much was there applied. And besides that we don't know how was the produce handled.

So the solution again, is to create and grow your own vegetable garden. Make it fertile, first, if it's not fertile already.

In my humble opinion, the best way to make the soil fertile is through natural means if we want to stay healthy. Let's think of the forest, where the trees have grown and survived for hundreds of years. They even survived fires, and revived again stronger then before. Why?

Because of it's ability to replenish the nutrients by its natural means, without the intervention of the humans. The trees are dropping the dead limbs, and the leaves that decompose, and turns back into the soil, with the help of rain, wind, sun, heat, earth worms, and our little invisible friends, the micro organisms that feed on them, and thus turn the decaying leaves into humus. That's exactly what the plants need to help them continue the cycle of life. Humus, fertile soil.

And that's exactly what we should do for the soil in our own garden. Collect the leaves from one year to another, have a pile in a corner of the garden, and give it time to decay. Just turn it now and then with a pitch fork, and you'll have the best natural fertilizer possible. For Free!

A lot of people are burning the leaves. Well, if they don't have a garden it's OK, I guess. But if they do have a garden, and they burn the leaves, and then they go to the supply store to buy that expensive chemical fertilizer, in my opinion that is a mistake. But, hey, who knows, maybe they have money to burn!

As for you folks, who are passionate about gardening and are willing to save the leaves, that's like money in your pocket, as well as prime quality fruits and vegetables, much safer to eat, than a lot of other people do, who maybe do not care.

If you have also access to some cow manure, that's perfect. But the leaves are the cheapest and smart way to make your own compost free.

Now there are a lot of ways to make your own compost, of course, food leftovers, sea grass, seaweeds, ground oyster shells, peanut hulls, grass clippings, etc. Absolutely, I don't doubt that. But what I'm saying is that the leaves are the cheapest and the most readily available for almost anyone.

Spread your compost on top of the soil in your selected sunny spot, till it in, and plan for your planting. Choose the vegetables that you like the most. A good time to prepare your garden is in the fall, so during the winter time, the compost will have extra time to decay, and make the soil fertile and ready for the spring planting.

Once you know what kind of vegetables you want to plant, search in your prefered seed Catalogs, and buy your seeds, start them indoors early enough to have the little plans ready to be planted in your garden, right after the danger of late frost is over.

Then it is time to get your hands dirty, but it is worth it! You will be glad you did.

Now relax and sit on a bench, watching the birds singing, and the little butterflies dancing happily in the air, and your vegies growing bigger and full of vitamins and minerals! Reap the benefits of an abundant crop of fresh, vibrant, healthy, and happy fruits and vegetables of your own garden.

Create your own paradise and live smart, healthy, and well.

Until next time,

Happy Gardening!

Mike Borlovan

Create Your Little Garden Paradise

Create your little paradise, away from the problems of the world, right in your back yard.
If you have your little heaven, like your back yard or even front yard, with a little planing you are a step closer to a healthier, more self sufficient living!
My, my, my! What a potential that we many times neglect. With a little careful and thoughtful planing, you can create your own paradise, in no time. Take a look at your sunny spot, and make a simple plan on a sheet of paper, mark the spot to grow your vegetables.
Make a list of what would you like to grow. This could be endless, but you can limit it to what would you like best. Like, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, snap beans, peas, kohlrabi, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cantaloupes, etc. We could go on and on. These are just a few examples, but just use your imagination, and you'll find out how easy it is.

It all depends on how much space you have, how committed and passionate you are about gardening, and how much time you want to spend and dedicate to your garden. And remember, this is one of the best exercises you can get, without paying any fees and dues like at the fitness club.

Look at where is the sun coming up, and where is it going down. This is pretty important, to know how to plan your layout of your little paradise.

What are your preferred fruits? Think about it, and plan accordingly. How about some apple, peach, plum, cherry, apricot, and other fruit trees that you would like to have and pick them off the trees with your own hand? It can't be any fresher than that.

All these fresh fruits and vegetables have tremendous health benefits! And what kind of garden would that be, without some berry fruits as well? How about some blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and more. Rich in vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, very beneficial for your well being.

And how about some Herbs? Parsley, dill, lemon balm, mint, oregano, cilantro, catnip, basil, rosemary, chives, lavender, sage, arugula, peppermint, etc.

As you can see, it is not hard at all to create your own little garden paradise.

To get some ideas about what seeds, berry plants and fruit trees to purchase, please visit one of my sources at: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/borlovansnursery

This is just the first article post in a series that will follow. Please visit us soon for more information and related articles.

To find more detailed information about any specific gardening ideas and resources, check the links on the right side of this blog. Just click away and see what you will find. There are loads of tremendous helpful hints about anything you can imagine in gardening.

Have fun, and check back soon for more useful tips.

Happy gardening!

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The State Of My Garden, After Several Harsh Cold Days

The state of my garden, after several harsh cold days of Winter, down here in Mobile, Alabama, where we don't get this kind of weather very often, is ok, to say the least.

My lemon and satsuma trees and the blueberry bushes fared pretty well considering what they had to go through. The shrubs have no problem in the cold weather at all. They are doing just fine! The Sago and Date Palms are doing great as well.

Nevertheless, this time around we've got more than we can handle at one time.
It lasted for several days with no end in sight! And I mean some bitter cold, especially at nights when the temperatures droped into the low 20's and sometimes in the 10's degrees.

The arctic cold front literally swept almost through all the regions of the US, with freezing temperatures all the way down to Miami, Florida, where this kind of weather is happening very seldom.

The Citrus and Strawberry producing farms had to take drastic measures to protect and save whatever they could of their crops. They had to sprinkle the trees and the fields with plenty water to freeze it over the fruits and leafs, thus protecting them from the harsh elements.

So much about climate warming! Did I say climate warming? What's that? Well, I guess I'll let the scientists and climate experts figure that out! I can't.

Finally, last night we had the coldest of all, in this last cold front spell, and the forecast for the next several days is looking pretty good. The temperatures are coming back to normal for this time of the year, and we can breath a sigh of relief for the promising sunny days ahead.

Now we can start planting some tomatoes and pepper seeds indoors, as well as other seeds that you have in plan, to get a head start on your growing season.
Readily available to transplant in your garden, as soon as the Spring will arrive. Have them ready, planted in cells or little jiffy pots, with a strong root system and a strong steam, for a good start.

I can't hardly wait to get my hands dirty, to build some new raised beds, (I prefer them, because I think that it's easier to control and have easy access all around them. It's easier to pull weeds too, if you don't build them too wide. I think that 4feet wide should be just fine, for easy reach from all sides.

If you have roses, now is a good time to prune them back while it is cold.
Spread your compost freely about two to three inches thick, before you start tilling the garden and bury them in for a good fertile soil for a nice rich crop.

After an absence of about two years of selling seedlings, shrubs, trees, blooming perennials, ferns, house plants and herbs, we'll be back strong with a new price list very soon. Our prices will be competitive and reasonable, so check back often on our blog, as well as on ebay where we had a strong presence, and served faithfully our clientele for many years.

We are working now on our new website, that was previously known and indexed in the search engines as BorlovansNursery.com with quality service and plant material second to none.

Your following and your comments on this blog is highly appreciated!

http://borlovans-nursery.blogspot.com

Until next time,

Mike Borlovan