Making Floral Arrangements

Making flower arrangements can be lots of fun.  A lot of imagination and creativity can be used when trying to create a wonderful masterpiece with flowers.  There are also items that can be used other that flowers to add spice to arrangements.

There are a lot of varieties of flowers that can be used when thinking of arrangements.  Silk, dried or liveflowers can be added to arrangements to make them beautiful and breathtaking.  Imagination can run wild when creating a special centerpiece for a table or for any area in a home.  Flower arrangements are also a great way to say “Thank You” to a special person for something that they have done for you or someone else.  There is not anyone that would not like to receive a beautiful arrangement of flowers and they also help to brighten peoples day.

Flower arrangements can be made in lots of containers such as vases, bowls and baskets.  When making an arrangement the right flowers need to be selected.  When using real flowers pick the ones that will last for several days and will stay vibrantly pretty.  Silk flowers are a great way to go because these will always be pretty and can be used over and over.  Special touches such as dried items can be added to add beauty to arrangements and also pictures can also be added to add a personal touch to an arrangement. 

Pick the right container or vase that the flowers will fit into perfectly and have room for water in them if you are using real flowers.  Also if you are using a foam base for flowers you will not want a clear container so that the green or white floral foam will not show.  When using real flowers the stems will need to be trimmed at an angle to allow them to get the right amount of water they need and some plant food can also be added to help keep them alive longer.

Items such as a beautiful bow can also be added to a vase or container of flowers to add a lot of color to the arrangement.  Flower arrangements can also be created to fit the season and all holidays.  Fall and Christmas arrangements can be made beautiful but a budget should be set on how much will be spent because they can become very pricey if purchasing silk flowers.  Craft stores will also offer great sales on silk and dried flowers and a consumer can sometimes get them at 50% off.

Fall Fesitivities

The air is getting crisper and the temperature colder so what does that mean? It means fall is in the air and with fall comes so many festivities and things to do. Fall brings harvest fairs, yard sales, bazaars, carnivals, hayrides, candy apples, fairs, pumpkin carving and many other fall festivities. Fall means scarecrows, Halloween, pumpkins, roasting marshmallows, hunting and hot chocolate. Fall is a great time of the year! Fall also means cooler weather and time to get our plants in the ground for next year. Bushes, shrubs, trees, fruit plants, berry bushes it all can go in the ground in the fall!

There is just something about fall and spring that triggers an instinct in people and makes them want to start working outside. No one really enjoys working outside in the hot heat but many people love working out in the cool pulling weeds, landscaping, mowing, pruning shrubs and planting new plants. Why is cooler weather better on planting plants? When the ground temperature is cooler and more stable the roots of your plant can adapt and get well established versus when the ground is hot and dry. The cooler weather will keep the moisture in and the ground moist which will allow for the roots to get established and take a hold better.

Fruit trees, berry bushes and trees need to be planted in the spring or fall months when the air is cooler, but not below freezing and the ground is moist, with cooler ground temperatures. During the fall and spring months the roots can take a good hold and grasp better allowing them to grow to a fuller maturity. Once your plants get a good establishment you will have full, mature plants in no time. So just because the temperature starts getting colder and fall approaches it doesn’t mean that its time to curl up inside and do nothing, get outdoors and enjoy the weather! Enjoy the pumpkins, fairs, scarecrows and landscaping! 

Mums Make Great Additions to Your Fall Landscape

With summer coming to an end, this means that many of the summer flowers that everyone loves so much are dying back.  This does not mean that your yard and home has to go without flowers for the fall season, you can decorate with Mums.  Mums are great perennial flowers that many people get for the fall season.   They are very easy to grow and to keep up with.  Mums look beautiful in the ground and in flower pots placed on the front steps of a porch or sidewalk.  Mums are very simple flowers that are not complicated to take care of at all if you follow just a few simple instructions, you should be good to go! You just need a place that will get at least 5 to 8 hours of sunlight a day.   Morning sun would be the best option, but they will still be fine if you can only give them afternoon sun.  If you are wanting to plant your Mums in a pot/container remember to use a fertile and well-draining soil because you don’t the flower to end up getting too much water.  If mums stand in water too long the moisture can mess up the root systems.  Mums that are planted in pots will need to be watered more frequently than mums that are planted in the ground.  One thing that you can look at to see if your flower is not getting enough water is if the lower leaves begin to turn brown and wilt.   This means you need to water your flower more often.   When watering you flowers try not to get too much water on the blooms because this could cause your mum to get a disease.  

Try and plant your mums so that can give it plenty of room to grow, placing them too close to other 

structures can harm the roots of the plant cause the plant not to flourish.  Also, try not to let mums get too much artificial sunlight during the nighttime because mums need an extended period of darkness to bloom.  Remember to pick off any dead blooms to try and support new blooms to grow.  If you follow all of these tips then you should have no trouble at all growing your mums.  Mums if taken care of right can last all season. They come in a variety of colors ranging from orange, yellow, pink, burgundy, purple, and white.  They also can range in size and shape.  You can’t go wrong with decorating you yard and home with this wonderful fall flower.         

How To Put Your Extra Harvest To Use

The weather is turning colder and it seems like everyone's gardens are slowly coming to an end. You find yourself ending up with more food than you really know what to do with or you have so much food left you can’t eat it fast enough. Throwing it out isn’t an option..what choices do you have? Canning and Dehydrating are perfect ways to take care of them!

Canning can be a great way to go ahead and take those extra veggies and turn them into quick and easy meals. The only thing you can’t can is what you don’t try! Squash, meat, okra, potatoes, peppers, cucumbers, corn it all can be turned in to stews and canned. You can even pickle it. Do you use tomatoes a lot, do you make a lot of spaghetti sauce? Canning your own tomatoes can save you lots of money from buying store bought.

Freezing your food is also an option but then you have to stop and think..do I have the extra freezer space? What if the power goes out? My food won’t last.

Dehydrating, is another great way to preserve your food without having to use up a lot of space and room. They also can keep for many years if done right. Investing in a dehydrator can not only save you time but money in the long run. You can make your own jerky, dehydrate your own onions, peppers, okra, squash, tomatoes almost anything you can think of. Fresh herbs is a staple item in most households and by dehydrating peppers, onions, tomatoes you can turn them into crushed bell peppers, tomato paste or even chopped onions that you can use on a daily basis.

Canning, dehydrating and freezing your food are great options if you have lots of extra food growing in your garden or can get food items at bulk wholesale cost that you can use and don’t want to throw away. Canning, dehydrating and freezing are personal preferences and it is really up to you on which one you find the best for you and your family. In the long run all three choices can save you lots of time, money and protect you in the long run. 

Fall Planting

With the first warm breezes of spring the garden supply centers generally see and enormous  surge of business as gardeners and landscapers rush to purchase fertilizer, now tools, mulch, compost, and trees and plants to get in the ground as soon as the threat of frost even remotely appears to be over. Few people realize it, but spring is not the only season for planting trees and shrubs, in fact most trees and shrubs actually do very well when planted in fall when a little care is exercised. By planting in the fall the new tree or shrub will have plenty of time to establish its root system before the spring growing season begins this is a big bonus for the plant. The fact that trees and shrubs can sometimes be found on sale in the fall is a big plus to the gardener. To successfully plant in fall and have healthy happy plants come spring, a few simple steps should be followed.

1.       DO NOT PRUNE. Pruning serves to stimulate the plant to produce new growth and this should be avoided during the fall and winter months.

2.       DO NOT FERTILIZE. For the same reason as why not to prune. The new plant needs to spend its first winter establishing itself and not devoting energy toward new growth.

3.       DO SELECT AN APPROPRIATE PLANT. Be sure and select a tree or shrub that is rated to do well in the USDA Zone in which it is to be planted.

4.       DO make sure the hole that is dug is at least three times the diameter and around the same depth as the root ball of the plant. This will keep the soil nice and light and allow the roots to spread and all important water to reach the roots. If the root ball is covered in burlap don’t bother removing it, the burlap will rot in short order and allow the roots to spread naturally. If the plant is in a container remove it and carefully loosen the roots since container grown plants have the tendency to become root bound.

5.       DO PLACE THE PLANT in the hole and carefully back fill with native soil, of if the soil is heavy clay be sure and mix in some peat moss to lighten it and allow better water and root penetration.

6.        DO WATER THE PLANT. One of the most important things for the new plant is water. A berm of soil can be built up around the hole to prevent water from running off instead of soaking in. The plant needs to be kept well watered until temperatures begin to cause the ground to freeze.

7.       DO NOT put compost, fertilizer, or rich organic material in the hole this will encourage the roots to grow more horizontally and therefore give the plant a better root base when growing season comes.

8.       DO add a layer or rich organic compost to the surface of the soil around the tree without allowing it to actually touch the trunk of the tree. This will allow the nutrients to leach down into the soil and give the plant a good feeding and head start in spring.

Though spring is the time when most gardeners get out and start planting and working the soil, by following these few steps the careful gardener can get a head start by planting trees and shrubs in fall.

Winter Gardening Tips

As the summer harvest winds down and the first crisp winds of autumn bring the first chill to the air many gardeners are already starting to plan what they will be putting in the ground come spring. This may be the wrong idea, however, because gardening isn’t just a spring and summer hobby, it’s a four season pastime. By following a few simple steps the garden can be prepared for cold weather which will make spring planting easier, and allow some of the cold resistant vegetables to actually flourish.

First, as with any seasonal preparation, the soil has to be considered before anything else. There will be some nutrient depletion in the soil after the growing season, and no winter vegetables are to be grown or if the bed is to be used for planting annual flowers in the spring this is the best time to replace those used nutrients. Be sure to remove any spent vegetables or annuals from the garden bed, if these plants were healthy they can, in turn; be composted and added back to the soil later. Till or turn the soil with a spade to a depth of about six inches, this will help to loosen and aerate the soil which will be beneficial the next spring, then add about a two inch layer of compost to the top of the soil and rake it to spread it evenly. This will allow the compost to enrich the soil to root depth during the winter. If growing cold tolerant vegetables be sure and mulch around them too as this will not only feed the plant but also serve to help keep it warmer and producing longer. Perennial vegetable like asparagus should be covered with a layer of mulch when they begin to go dormant for the winter, this will aid the plant and lead to an earlier harvest in spring. 

During winter taking care of cold sensitive plants can be as easy as covering them with an old blanket, tarp, or even unfolded newspaper on those night when the thermometer dips below level to produce frost. For smaller plants or young sprouts simply cut the neck out of a plastic two liter bottle and cover the plant to create a sort of mini-greenhouse. When covering plants to protect them from the cold it is a good idea to cover them before nightfall as this will help to hold in residual heat from the daylight hours.

One of the least know and even lesser understood ways to protect tender plants, especially if they are caught by a late frost and have begun to produce buds, is to cover them with ice. As night approaches simply place the garden sprinkler near the plants and let it run. This will cause ice to form on the plants, but, contrary to popular opinion, as the water freezes it actually gives off a bit of heat and this can be enough to protect those tender shoots and buds from the bite of that late frost.

Gardening is a pastime that has seen a real resurgence in recent years as many people turn back to nature to produce some of the food they consume and to beautify their surroundings. For some this is a mere hobby, for other it has become big business. Either way, a few simple steps in winter can mean a real boost to the spring growing season.

Successful Gardening Tips

Many people think that just having the knowledge of growing basic flowering plants is enough to sustain an online business of selling plants, but the fact is that the real cash flow lies in plants that can be sold year round and that means knowing how to grow beautiful garden plants, trees, and shrubs. Consider trying the following tips to become a successful gardener that is able to grow anything and at the same time, market and sale anything that you grow. A Tree Nursery can also help your venture.

 

• Start off with the right materials to grow healthy plants. This means buying only the best soil, fertilizer, and even containers for the kinds of plants that you will be growing to sale. Take the time to do your research to see what containers and soils the plants typically grow well in and then invest your money into those items. Well spent money will mean well growing flowers.

 

• Choose a location to start your plants off in that will give their growth the most success. Of course a greenhouse is the best bet, since it is a more controlled environment; however, in the beginning just a large outside area may be enough to give you enough plant growing space to at least get your nursery business started.

• Choose the types of plants that you invest your time and money into wisely. If you are just starting a business, make sure that the items that you choose to grow typically thrive in your area. You will also want to make sure that what you wish to grow is a product that people in the area that you are targeting to sale products to normally purchases.

Building a beautiful tree nursery, full of healthy plants is a wonderful way to turn your beloved hobby into a money making business. By taking the time to choose what you will grow, the materials you will grow it in, and the location that your nursery will be in, you will increase your chances of creating a successful online nursery business. So if you love gardening and want to make money off of your love for growing things, then consider whether starting a new nursery business online is for you and start doing the work necessary to make it a successful one.

Visit us online at: http://www.treenurseryco.com