How to Decorate for Thanksgiving Get Togethers Using Nature

Decorating for Thanksgiving can be lots of fun and especially when using things that are from a home owners personal gardens.

Great natural things to use in decorating are pine cones, pine branches, pumpkins, gourds and wildflowers can even be used for arrangements for a centerpiece.  Pine cones look lovely when added to large baskets and can be set around on large fireplaces and throughout the home.  Pine branches will look lovely when laid on a large or small mantel with several pine cones scattered throughout them.  Another great item are pumpkins and gourds.  These are amazing to brighten up and bring in that wonderful fall orange color to a home.  Small pumpkins can be used as centerpieces for a very large or small dining room table.  They can also be placed on a fireplace in bunches or scatted around to give it a wonderful fall look and feeling. 

Wildflowers will make wonderful and beautiful arrangements that can be used throughout a home.  There are beautiful wildflowers such as black and brown eyed susan and sunflowers are great flowers to use in fall arrangements.  Also using some native grasses are beautiful when added to vases of wildflowers.  Arrangements for fall can be personalized with special wildflowers that the home owner or gardener prefers.

Outside decorations can also be made from natural items.  Scarecrows are so cute when they are created to fit a gardeners personality and can brighten a lawn by adding some hay bales and some large pumpkins to add bright color to a lawn decoration.  A large pumpkin can also be used to create a beautiful pumpkin by using wildflowers or native grass to add a great big tale to the pumpkin.  A small gourd can be used to add a head to the pumpkin to create that perfect thanksgiving turkey.

There are a lot of things that can be used to decorate and ideas can be found online or at local craft stores.  Using things that are already available will not affect a family budget either because these items will not cost a thing.  Pine cones and pine branches can usually be found in a wooded area and can also even be found on a lawn that has a very large pine tree growing.  Pine cones can also be spray painted to match an interior of a home and can have some cinnamon sticks added to a basket to create that wonderful thanksgiving feel and put the smell of the holidays into the air.

Being Outdoors Can Help You Eliminate Stress

Being in Nature can help relieve stress. This is a common, worldwide knowledge to all people. The scents and sounds of nature and the fresh air is perfect to relax the body. Common life can be hectic and extremely stressful but a few hours outside can revitalize your body and mind. There are many things that can be done outside to help ease the mind and quiet the soul. Gardening and landscaping can be great hobbies to help you and your family get outside more and get some fresh air and relaxation.

Gardening and landscaping is a very broad subject and involves a very large amount of things that you could do outside to relieve the stress. First you could start your own garden full of vegetables and fruit bearing plants. This gives you both fresh food and the relaxation of being outside, with just a little work of course. Fresh fruit and vegetables can also save you money and promote better health. Another possible escape to the outdoors is in landscaping around your home. This can be anything from adding a beautiful flower bed to the front of your home to a water garden to your backyard. This hobby can improve the look and value of your home while getting you outside and into the fresh air and dirt. Going to the beach, hiking, biking, climbing rocks all can be done outside to help you eliminate stress. For many people even fishing, hunting or just sitting in the woods admiring mother nature and the glories is enough to help their stress level be brought back down to 0. 

These are just two of the many things that can be done outside around your house to relieve stress. Being outside is a very good idea for those who spend long hours at work and are often stressed, and has many benefits for both the short and long run. So look into gardening or landscaping around your home to improve both your mental and physical health, and get outside more.  

Mother Nature Brings Life To Paintings

  There are millions upon millions of paintings and other pieces of art that exist in the world today. Each artist has their own unique styles, a favorite method of painting, belief about art and what their art is about, but have you ever wondered what inspires their art in the first place. If you look at some of the darker paintings that artist might say they were inspired by death, disease or war. Then take a painting of a little girl and the painter might say they were inspired by their daughter, the innocence of being a child, or hope of the future. Then the paintings of natural landscapes. With these types of paintings, photos, and other art forms most likely the artist would say they were inspired by nature itself.

Mother nature has inspired painters, sculptors, poets, photographers, and writers for centuries and will continue to do so. Mother nature is full of beauty, unique colors, changing seasons, and unique creatures that roam freely. I recently watched a local painter stand on the banks of a river and paint his surroundings. His canvas was covered with the green leaves of the maple trees and the white and pink dots that served as the blossom of the dogwood trees. Then the detail of the water running over the rocks was so detailed that you could almost hear the river running in the painting. I asked him what inspired him and he did a complete 360 pointing at trees, flowers, the sky, a rock, and anything else that was a natural part of the setting and said “that”. He explained that he could come back to the same same spot daily and would it would be different in someway or inspire him in a different way. He said one day the dogwoods will be in full bloom and all the trees bare different hues of greens. Then I come back early fall and the Oak and Maple trees are no longer green, but are reds, oranges, and yellows. The differences are a natural painting or photograph that only nature can produce, but inspires so many painters to try to interrupt it.

Each aspect of mother nature serves as a natural beauty that not only artist can take advantage of but so can everyone. All it takes is taking a moment to look at your natural surroundings and truly take it all in. Take a walk along the coast and witness the beauty of “God's treasure chest”. Feel the sand between your toes, watch the waves crash into the shore, and listen to the palm trees rustle against one another in the sea breeze. If you are not a beach goer then take that walk in the forest. Admire the leaves of the different species of trees, be silent as you watch a doe wonder the woods, and listen to the babbling brooks in the distance. Nature and all its aspects will continue to serve as inspiration to us all and continue to be the centerpiece of some of the greatest works in our art museums the world over.

Gardening Without Machinery

Most gardeners look forward to spending their time in the garden quietly enjoying nature without the noise and disruption of machinery. Fortunately, simple hand tools can adequately perform all the tasks gardeners are likely to require, often performing better than their mechanical counterparts. If you love to plant larger things such as trees, before you buy trees consider a spade to plant with.

 

 

 While most garden jobs can be accomplished with the standard toolbag of garden shovel, rake, small trowel, and a hoe (collinear is better) specialized tools make even large gardens easy to maintain without machinery. A broadfork is one useful tool that replaces mechanical rototillers with superior results, gently aerating the soil rather churning it.

 

 

 

Another option which is often preferred by gardeners  interested in minimizing hard physical labor is to plant a "no dig" garden, a garden planted under a layer of hay instead of under the soil. This technique eliminates digging with the added benefit of excellent weed control. When you look for trees for sale at a tree nursery or plants, always condsider the types of gardening tools you need for the job before you buy.

 

Want to learn more? Visit our online nursery at: http://www.treenurseryco.com