Beauty Tips - Natural Health Care Tips » Gardening

DISEASES AND PESTS.

admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 14:59:25 +0000

Vegetables grow in fertile, well drained and well-cultivated gardens seldom suffer greatly from pests and diseases. The modern gardener accepts that all wildlife has a right to live. It is only when things get out of hand that any living creature causing damage to garden plants can rated as a pest. It is up to the gardener to use his superior intelligence to outwit possibly harmful small creatures instead of polluting the environment surrounding his home. The labels of packaged pesticides should be read carefully. If the contents are dangerous to you, your children and your family pets consider carefully before you buy such substances. Always lock dangerous pesticides quite safely away from children. Do not mix dangerous pesticides with water and don’t store them in lemonade or other drinks, your child may drink the stuff and be poisoned.
The commonly recommended insecticide nicotine, for example, is a poison. As for chemical weed killers the long-term effect of some modern kinds is as yet unknown. The older weed killer, sodium chlorate, is liable to explode; it also runs in the soil and may kill plants in your neighbor’s gardens. Many sprays and powders contain derris or pyrethrum. These are natural insecticides prepared from plants. They are harmless to all warm-blooded creatures but derris can kill fish. If you use derris pesticides, keep sprays and dusts away from your garden pool.
Aphids (greenfly, mealy aphis, black fly) vegetables: all. Damage: they are sapsuckers. Plants are weakened; leaves die and flower buds may be ruined. Control: allow plants sufficient space and do not grow vegetables in shade. Water well and often in dry, summer weather. Keep down weeds, encourage ladybirds. Spray with derris or pyrethrum. These are natural insecticides prepared from plants. They are harmless to all warm-blooded creatures but derris can kill fish.
If you use derris pesticides, keep sprays and dusts away from your garden pool. Encourage natural predators like the hedgehog, toad, frog, ladybird, wasps in (spring but not in summer) and lacewing flies. Learn to distinguish between the helpful centipede, the less helpful millepede and the unpleasant wireworm. Most moths, butterflies and their caterpillars are on your side. The caterpillars of cabbage white butterflies and of the cabbage moth are not! Careful attention at all times to garden hygiene will do much to keep disease to a minimum. Indeed, one cannot ‘cure’ plant diseases and prevention must always be the policy. Always cut out any dead branches or shoots as soon as you notice them and burn them. Also burn ant-rooting fruits.

BOTTLE GARDENS.

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:49:29 +0000

Bottle gardens are the use of closed glass containers for growing plants in the home. Large bottles such as carboys are ideal, though even smaller containers can house one or two plants. This method is ideal for growing the more delicate plants, particularly ferns, that require a humid, dust free environment, though a wide range of house plants can be grown. Bottle gardens or jungle jars as they are sometimes called are extremely decorative and have great charm but apart from these qualities they can also play a useful role. A bottle garden offers you the choice of adding to your collection of houseplants. Some of the more choosy plants you can expect to grow selaginella (club mosses) which are mossy and fern-like and carpeting; nertera depressa, another carpeting (but much more difficult) plant with tiny leaves and little orange berries; many kinds of the tender ferns such as the wiry-stemmed maiden-hairs, miniature, tender palms, crotons, fittonia, calathea, maranta, peperomia, pellacea, pilea and pellionia. Some of these you will recognize as being good room plants under certain conditions and the important thing about using these in bottle gardens is that most are fairly slow growing. They also provide colour and texture contrast. It is possible to fill a bottle with just one type of plant, say a colony of bromeliads or ferns, but usually they look more attractive when the plants are mixed. Unless you know your plants well, do not be led into thinking that if a plant is small and has small leaves it is bound to be suitable for this type of garden.
Jungle jars have become so popular that today special glass containers are being produced for this purpose. Unlike the old-fashioned glass carboys these are made with necks large enough to allow an arm to reach down inside. Another and easy-to-fill jungle jar is an outsize brandy balloon type glass. Storage jars and even wine and cider jars and bottles can be used, so long as it is possible to plant them. The glass is usually clear and is preferable to that tinted light brown, or green which obscures much of the light. The important thing is that it should be clean and be kept clean.
If you are filling a jar which has a narrow neck you should be both careful and patient. First group the plants in the way you hope to see them in the jar. If you cannot insert your hand you will need to improvise a tool or two so that you can make a hole for the plant, guide the plant into the hole, cover it and firm the soil round the plant afterwards. Often one thick stick will do the lot but more often it is helpful to lash a kitchen spoon to a cane to dig out holes. An old fashioned cotton reel on the end of a cane will make a neat little rammer with which you will be able to pat the soil round the plants. These should always be set firmly in the soil otherwise their roots will not be able to absorb nourishment and they may sicken and die.

HOW TO GROW BOTTLE PLANTS.

admin — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 10:32:20 +0000

The safest thing to put in is charcoal, which is so light in weight that it cannot crack the glass. If you use small pebbles such as pea gravel, do this with care, perhaps a thin layer of peat to cushion the impact of the stones on the glass base. To fill a carboy, make a funnel or cylindrical chute of strong paper or card. Insert one end of this into the neck of the jar. First pour in the peat, then the gravel and lastly the soil. This drainage layer needs to be quite deep, 2 inch or so for a large carboy and proportionately less for smaller jars. Composts should not be too rich or the plants will grow too fast. The amount of soil you use will depend upon the size of the container; you should be able to see much more glass and plants than soil but it is the depth of the plant’s roots, which should guide you. These must be properly planted. To get the soil in the right condition so far as moisture is concerned, calculate how much you need, take about one third of this amount and spread this out on newspaper to dry. Spray the other two thirds until it is just moist, uniformly so, and when you take a handful and squeeze it gently it should just cling together. This dampened compost should go in first. The dry compost follows to form a top dry layer, which should help to seal in the moisture. As with dish gardens, water the plants beforehand and allow them to drain thoroughly. Knock them from their pots in turn. If the aperture of the glass is very small it may be necessary to shake off any loose soil from the roots so that the plant can be slipped in easily. The leafy portion is no problem because this naturally contracts, as it is eased root first through the opening. To make sure of this, hold the plant by the tips of its leaves, or if it is tall, gather its branches or leaves up near its center stem, so that this top portion is made really slim. Make a hole in the soil, tilt the jar and aim for the hole. This actually, is easier than it sounds. Direct the plant into the hole with the stick or with the spoon. Make the hole for the next plant directing the soil round the roots of the first plant. Settle the soil down before tilting the jar for the second time. Continue this way until all the plants are in position. If the soil is properly moist the plants should settle in and you should not need to water it for some weeks. If the balance is right you should see a little condensation or dew on the interior each morning. However, if this seems excessive then there are several runnels and large drops on the glass, there is too much moisture in the soil and it would be prudent to remove the moisture from the glass to prevent it running back into the soil. Lash a tissue to the end of a wire or the bow of a coat hanger to do this. When the time comes that you see no condensation, this is an indication that the soil needs watering. To do this, gently spray the interior glass. This will help to clean it at the same time. Do not feed the soil or the plants will grow too well.

LILIUM.

admin — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 14:02:03 +0000

Lilies are often sold packed in peat or wood shavings to help retain their moisture and protect them. They should be planted as soon as available from September to January. Any lily can be moved successfully immediately after flowering if care is taken to keep the soil on the roots. Some come dry from Japan or N.W. America and these may not be on sale until soil conditions outside are far from ideal. In this case pot them immediately and plant out later when conditions are correct.
With the exception of L.candidum and other European lilies such as L. martagon which make roots from the base of the bulbs only, lilies should be planted with their soil at least twice the depth of the bulb above it, thus a 2-in. deep bulb would need a hole 6-7 in. deep. This is because many lilies make roots from the stem in the first few inches of soil, in addition to those below the bulb. Sites for such lilies must be weed free, for hoeing near them is disastrous. Many lilies grow wild in the company of low-growing shrubs, the roots of which help to drain the soil, and others are found on steep slopes where moisture is flowing under the surface for much of the year, but all are on well-drained sites, and if necessary special beds must be made with extra peat and sharp sand to retain moisture but allow free drainage.
Beds or even hummocks of such soil which will raise the roots and bulbs above the winter water table may make all the difference between success and failure. Some lilies will tolerate lime and others die if given it. Most lilies like to have their flowering stems in the sun, at least for part of the day, and grow well with a ground cover of low shrubs, or even annuals to protect their roots. Lily bulbs should be examined to make sure there is no basal rot present, as this will cause the scales to fall away.
Such bulbs should be burnt. The bulbs can be dusted with a fungicide to prevent the spread of the fungal disease which causes death of leaves and even of the whole shoot. Once the plants are growing they can be protected from this disease by spraying with a systemic fungicide. Virus diseases are in curable, but their spread can be checked by spraying plants with a systemic insecticide which kills aphids which spread virus diseases. Some lilies are comparatively tolerant of virus diseases, but grow better without them, and others are killed by them.

INDOOR PLANTS.

admin — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 16:02:50 +0000

Indoor conditions are often unsuitable for plants mainly because the atmosphere is very dry. The majority of houseplants are evergreens from tropical countries where the atmosphere is damp. A moist atmosphere in the house is uncomfortable but it is possible to create a moist zone around plants, by standing the pot or pots in some container, which will either contain water or which can be kept moist. You can put pebbles in a dish, nearly cover them with water and stand the pot on the pebbles or you can get rather a deep bowl, plunge the pot in some moisture-retaining material, which can be peat, or sand or moss, and keep this surrounded always rather moist.
LIGHT-
Compared to even a rather shady situation outside the light in rooms is not very satisfactory. It is naturally, at its best on the windowsill and goes down to a near impossible level in corridors and halls. Some plants have evolved to grow in extremely poor light conditions, but it is only in the very densest forests that you will find the dark conditions of part of our houses. Plants tend to grow towards the light, so if your plant is lit from one window only, turn it slightly every week, so that all parts of the plant will be illuminated in turn.
AIR-
Apart from increasing the humidity of the air, there are other considerations. Draughts are appreciated by plants as little as they are by humans. A draught is a localized stream of cold air, which will attack a portion of the plant only. This will first cause the leaves to drop and may eventually kill the plant, so a very situation should be avoided. Fumes from various forms of heating are another problem. Paraffin oil heaters are normally fairly innocuous, although a few plants will shed leaves if placed near them, but if something goes wrong and the appliance smokes, you may well find many of your houseplants dying. The fumes from gas fires used to be harmful to many plants, but the fumes of north sea gas do not seem to damage plants. Coal fires seem to be harmless and of course central heating which maintains a more or less even temperature is the ideal. In the open air it is a safe assumption that the temperature will be lower at night than during the daylight hours. If you are out at work all day and you don’t have central heating, you will not light your fires until you come home, so that you may get the appalling conditions from the plant’s point of view, of a cold day and a hot evening. Many plants are very tolerant and can survive these unnatural conditions but bear in mind that it is the day time temperature that is the important figure to watch, as it is during the daylight hours that most of the growth is made.

SWEET PEAS-

admin — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 09:26:59 +0000

A most popular annual, the sweet pea (lathyrus odoratus) is not difficult to grow, though the richer the soil the better the results. Given good cultivation it will produce stems 2ft. long bearing four, five or more florets. Elegant, graceful and fragrant, with the exception of yellow, it will provide every color of the spectrum and dozens of different tones or shades. It is a ‘cut-and-come-again’ annual; indeed, every other day blooms should be gathered to keep the plants in full production.
Soils-
Land enriched with farmyard manure at the rate of one barrowful to each strip of 15ft. by 4ft., dug in autumn or early winter into the second spit of soil and fortified by ½lb. Of bonemeal, will give the best results, or good garden compost at the same rate will serve.

When to sow-
In the north sow from late September to 7th October. In the Midlands and the south, from the 5^th to the 21^st October. It is best to sow in a shallow frame, otherwise the plants tend to get drawn; the aim is short, stocky plants.
Sowing-
Six seeds to a 6-in. pot, sown an inch from the edge is ideal; or if boxes are used sow the seeds 2in. apart each way. Sow ¾ in. deep. Use a moist compost of three parts of sieved loam, 1 part of peat and 1 part of coarse sand. Cover the pots or boxes with thick layers of paper to prevent drying out; replace the framelights after placing slug pellets between the pots or boxes. Set a couple of moist-traps, for mice find the seeds irresistible. Inspect after a week and as soon as the shoots appear remove the paper. Water if necessary, and after a day or two open up the frames and do not replace the lights unless frost is threatened. In hard or severe frost keep the lights down and cover them with old carpets or sacks. Never let the sun shine on pots and boxes if the soil within them is frozen, since a quick thaw does great damage to the plants. Springtime sowing will require a greenhouse. When the plants have four leaves pinch out the growing points to induce side shoots. When these are 1 ½in. long, harden off the plants by placing the pots or boxes in a frame or under the south wall of the greenhouse. For a late spring sowing the seeds may be sown ¾in. deep, like garden peas. Always put down slug killer.
Planting-

Never plant out until the soil on the plot has been reduced to a fine tilth. Then erect the canes if the plants are to be grown cordon style. A strong support at each end of each row will be necessary, with a cross-bar at a height of 5 ft. Double rows, 2 ft. apart, are best, as this helps when it is time to layer. Stretch strong wire from the end of each cross-bar, insert 8-ft. tall canes, 7 in. apart, and secure them to the wire using a trowel, make holes to receive the plants on the outside of each cane, to facilitate layering. If the plants are to be in circles, they should be planted inside the circle of hazel sticks or brushwood. If a circle of netting is to be made, plant first and surround with the netting. Spread the roots and return the soil, so that it just covers the white collar of the plants. If a plant has a brown collar, reject it. It may grow to a height of 3 or 4 ft. and then collapse. Always surround each plant with small twigs. Black cotton stretch across the twigs will deter sparrows. Never allow the land or the plants to become dry. Water the former and spray the latter.

STRAWBERRIES-

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 13:27:45 +0000

Raise your own plants-
If you decide to raise your own plants, simply sink a 3-in pot of good growing compost into the ground by the parent plant where the plantlet on the runner cab be bent down. Hold the runner in place with a stone or ‘hairpin’ of galvanized wire and pinch out the tip of the runner to prevent further growth. At the end of July the new plant can be separated from its parent and a week or two later lifted and replanted.
As soon as picking is finished, cut all the old leaves off with shears and deal with any weeds. In early autumn rake in ½ oz. Per. Sq. yd. each of sulphate of ammonia and sulphate of potash and put down a mulch of well-rotted farm or stable manure or garden compost (about 5 lb. Per sq. yd).
Care of strawberries-

Weeds must be kept down in the strawberry bed but any hoeing must be very shallow to avoid root damage: It is better to use paraquat/diquat weed killer whenever possible, being very careful not to let it touch the leaves of the strawberry plants. When the berries begin to swell take steps to prevent soil-splashes spoiling them. There are three ways, the traditional one being to spread a little clean straw over the soil and beneath the fruit trusses. Alternatively buy proprietary strawberry mats and lay one of these round each plant, or put down black polythene tucking it into the soil or weighting it down with stones to prevent the wind getting beneath it. Never put straw or other mulches down too early as they may increase the risk of frost damage to open flowers.
Quite early in the season summer fruiting strawberries start trying to propagate their kind by producing runners, cord like growths on which tiny plants develop. These should always be cut off as soon as seen unless you wish to raise new plants. Unless you are very sure that your strawberries are quite free from virus disease infection (to which they are extremely prone) it is wiser to leave propagation to the experts and buy new plants as required. It is never advisable to keep a strawberry bed for more than three seasons.
Your strawberry choice-

Summer-fruiting varieties- Cambridge vigour (first early); very early in maiden year, thereafter mid-season. Good for cloching in first year. Good flavour. Cambridge rival (first- early): good for cloching. Erect foliage suits wet land. Good flavour. Cambridge favourite (second-early): good for cloching. Very very cropper. Little flavour. Gorella ( second-early): very heavy cropper. Very heavy cropper. Berries large but uneven shape.

ROSE BEDS-

admin — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:31:31 +0000

The suitable condition for roses-
The site for roses should be in an open position, sunny for most of the day, preferably with some shade during part of the time. There should be no overhanging trees, although smaller shrubs often give the suitable amount of shade and help to keep their roots cool.
Right drainage-
The soil must be well drained, firstly, because roses dislike having their roots continuously in water and secondly, well drained soil stimulates the activity of the beneficial soil bacteria. The drainage can be tested by digging a hole, 1ft deep and 1ft in diameter and filling it with water. If it does not empty away within a day, it is necessary to improve the drainage. This can often be done effectively by raising the bed with soil well above the level of the surrounding ground or by digging a 2 ½ ft deep trench across the bed and filling it with stones up to 1ft from the top and then with top-soil.
Roots of roses-
Like other shrubs, the root system of a rose consists of two types of roots like the tap-roots, which are long and strong so that they penetrate well in to the soil, giving good anchorage and a lifeline to more distant sources of water and nutriment, when they are needed; and the surface roots, which emanate almost horizontally near the soil surface, collecting from the soil the rose’s main supplies of moisture and plant foods.
Time of planting-
Bare-root roses can be planted at any time during the winter in open weather. Preferably it should be done, however during October and November or from February onwards so as not to risk the possible deleterious effect of severe winter weather. Container-grown and pre-packed roses can be planted at any time, but during a dry period they should be copiously watered.
Although it is a lot more trouble, gardeners may mix their own fertilizer for roses. A recommended mixture is: nitrate of potash 3 parts, sulphate of ammonia 1 ½ parts, super phosphate of lime 8 parts, sulphate of potash 4 parts. Sulphate of magnesium 1 part, sulphate of iron ¼ part. This is distributed at the rate of 2 oz. (about a handful) per sq. yd. Once in April and again in May. Twenty pounds of this mixture is sufficient for 200 roses during the season. It is important that no chemical fertilizer is applied after the end of July, otherwise lush growth might be produced, which will not withstand the winter.
Foliar feeding-

This take advantage of the fact that leaves absorb nutrients from liquids sprayed on them. It is not a substitute for the regular feeding programme, but something that can meet an emergency. There are several good foliar feeds on the market. They are best applied in the early morning or in the evening, but never in hot sun.

MAKE YOUR OWN GREEN HOUSE-

admin — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 06:03:02 +0000

*Winter flower decorations- Save the dead flower heads of hydrangeas, hang them up to dry and then spray with silver or gold paint. During the autumn, when beech leaves are at their most brilliant, cut some branches to keep. Stand them in a couple of inches of a mixture of half glycerine, half water. When all of this liquid has been absorbed, the branches can be arranged in a dry vase to make a decoration that will last through the winter. Pick honesty during the autumn when the seed-containers have turned white, then carefully peel the outer coating from both sides of each one to leave only the translucent silvery center. Pick teasels and grasses to use in winter flower arrangements. Hang them upside down to dry in an airy place.
*Homemade window boxes- Make your own window box with old floorboards nailed together. Drill holes at
frequent intervals in the base. Paint the inside with non-toxic preservative, and outside with weatherproof paint.

*Tomato pots- Old handless or leaking plastic buckets and bowls are ideal for greenhouse tomatoes in.
*Rainwater- Rainwater is better for plants than tap water. Stand jugs outside to collect it for watering houseplants, or collect it in large tank for watering the plants.
*Potting soil- The freshly dug, aerated soil from molehills is ideal for potting houseplants.
*Hedges- When deciding to plant a hedge, apart from considering its position from the point of view of appearance, remember that a hedge has to be cut on two sides and make sure you are going to leave plenty of room on both sides. Hedging is like other garden plants: the better their soil conditions the better they grow. A line should be stretched down the center and the young trees planted carefully against it. A wiggle in the hedge will take a lot of hiding later.
*Bird table- There is no doubt that encouraging birds is one way of increasing the interest and fascination of a garden. The birds do a lot of damage in the garden but the actual harm they do is relatively slight. A problem may arise if soft fruit is being grown but the modern garden cages or nets will reduce damage considerably. One way of encouraging birds in the garden is to construct a bird table on which suitable bird food and scraps can be placed. It is always advisable to keep a bird table well above ground level so that cats cannot reach the birds as they feed.
*To water tomatoes, marrows or courgettes- Sink a flower pot into the ground near to each plant and pour water into this to keep the roots moist.
*To water plants in your absence- Place the end of a length of wool in a large jug of water, with the other end in the plant pot. The water will slowly be absorbed into the soil.

GARDEN CARE-

admin — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:48:01 +0000

*Home made fertilizer. Half-fill a jar with eggshells, fill up with water and leave for three to four weeks. Use the liquid then to feed the houseplants. Put fresh lawn cuttings into an old bucket or tank and fill up with water. When this ferments it will make fine liquid manure.
*Frost- Plants likely to be damaged by frost should be watered with cold water in the evening.
*Garden ties- Use discarded tights to tie up large shrubs or fruit trees that need support.
*Garden tools- Paint garden tools with a spot of luminous or brightly coloured paint to avoid losing them among the weeds. To keep tools rust free through the winter, oil them and stand them in a bucketful of sand.
*Garlic- Home grown garlic is bigger and stronger. Simply plant individual cloves, they will soon sprout green shoots above ground.
*Geraniums- Leave geraniums in their pots when planting in pots for the summer; then it is easier to bring them indoors for the winter. Feed geraniums by emptying cold coffee grounds around the roots.
*A hanging basket- Line a wire basket with sphagnum moss (which you can buy at a seed merchant’s). Put an old saucer or small plate on top of the moss then fill the basket with potting compost. Plant colourful flowers like petunias, and trailing ones like geraniums, lobelia or nasturtiums, and hang in your porch. Water the basket about once a week, ideally by suspending it in a bucket of water overnight.

*Houseplants- Turn plants round regularly so that they get sunlight on all sides. Never leave houseplants standing in water for a long time: always allow draining after watering. *Lavender- Cut lavender in the first half of July. Place in newspaper and dry in the airing cupboard for four days. Shake off the flowers and use to make lavender bags for drawers. Tie the stems into bundles and use them to give a sweet perfume to winter fires.
*Marigolds- Marigolds keep pests away from potatoes and tomatoes; grow them close together.
*Milk for plants- Rinse milk bottles in cold water and pour this on to houseplants or into window boxes.
*Newspaper fertilizer- Lay wet newspaper along the bottom of the trench when planting peas or beans. Sprinkle soil on top of it, then the seeds.
*Cyclamens-Cyclamens should always be watered from below. Stand them in a bowl of water for an hour or so, then pour off any water that remains.
*Drainage- Put a layer of broken crockery or small pebbles in the bottom of flowerpots, garden tubs and window boxes to ensure good drainage. A piece of net curtain placed over this before soil or compost is added will prevent drainage holes from clogging.