Do You Save Or Are You Living PayCheck To PayCheck?

    In recent years the economy of the United States of America has changed drastically for millions upon millions of people. People who were once paying their bills, putting money away for a rainy day, and still having extra for all the fun things in life are now living paycheck to paycheck. These people are doing everything in their power to keep their homes and put food on the table for their families. A growing trend among millions of Americans is planting their own home gardens to help supplement their food supply. Many people start this process with little or no knowledge of how to do this, but find that it really not that hard at all. Plus the benefits are not only improving their grocery bill, but is also putting healthy produce on their families plates.

The local library and of course the internet is a great source to learn all the ends and outs of gardening. Once you have a grasp on what to do it is time to buy your supplies. These supplies can be purchased at most any hardware or home improvement store. However if you rather do your shopping online there are many online nurseries that allow you to purchase your plants through them most of the time at a wholesale price and they will be delivered right to your door. When considering what plants you wish to put into your home garden there are several things to take into consideration. The first being what types of food does your family like to consume. Another consideration is that most come in a lot of different varieties. There are many different types of tomatoes, melons, gourds, berries and so forth. Then you also need to consider how much space you will actually have in your garden. Some plants such as cucumbers and squash have vines that run and take up a lot of space. Then other plants such as tomatoes often grow to the point that they need your help to support them from toppling over. This is also an easy fix and supplies can be bought at a home improvement store or you can get creative with materials found in your garage such as a pole and a pair of panty hose.

Then with plenty of sunshine, some moisture, and a little hard work and patience on your part you and your family will love the rewards. As items are ripe and ready to come off the veins you can immediately serve them up to your family or you can prepare them for a later time. Most all vegetables, fruits, and herbs can be either frozen, canned, dried, or made into another product such as jellies, preserves, or can be used in pies. No matter how you choose to use them not only will you have full tummies, but your wallet will be a little fuller as well.

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.         

Fall Brings An Abundance Of Apples

With fall upon us it seems like 

everywhere we turn there are apples, 

apples of all kinds, candy apples, 

apple pies, apple turnovers, apple 

cider and fresh apples. Fall is the 

prime time for apples and there is 

so many things to do with them.

Apple trees are one of the most 

popular fruit trees planted among 

homeowners. Not only are apple 

trees easy growers but they require

little maintenance and as long as you 

plant both a male and female tree 

you should have a large crop of 

apples year after year. Apple trees are

tall growers and have a large spread. 

They will not produce a crop during the first year but most likely start yielding after their 

second year. In most cases apple trees can reach heights of up to 35 feet and prefer full sun 

to partial shade with moist, well drained soil to grow at its best.

There are a wide variety of apple trees, Gala which is flat looking and wide they are most often 

found in a dark shade of red and are very sweet. Red delicious and yellow delicious apples are 

most commonly grown and used to eat fresh, making pies, applesauce or used in other recipes,

the granny smith apple which is bright green and used in baking because of their tartness. 

Honeycrisp apples are ranked top at the flavor chart because they are so sweet and give a 

mouth watering flavor to every bite.The only downside to growing apple trees is that not only 

are apples loved by humans but they are loved by most wildlife species so if you are not 

watching your apple production daily the birds, squirrels and deer will find your apples first 

and eat them right off the tree. Once your apples are ready to be picked you can pick them 

right off the tree with a ladder or a hook, but the best part in many places across the country is 

getting them off by shaking the tree itself allowing the apples to fall to the ground. Many

homeowners find it easier to put an old blanket or sheet on the ground to catch the apples as 

they fall and then picking them up that way.

Apples have a lot of nutritional value that humans and wildlife animals need on a daily basis, 

so why not grow your own apple trees so that you can have lots of grown apples right in 

your yard?

Flowering Trees

Flowering trees are a great way to bring a bright, brilliant burst of color to a lawn or a landscape.  These trees come in a wide variety of colors and sizes and will look great on lawns or in large garden areas.

Flowering trees can grow to be large trees and can also be used as ornamental trees for gardens or small lawns.  These trees grow and will have a wonderful variety of colors to choose from when shopping for flowering trees.  They can be pink, purple, white, red and some may even have yellow blooms to enjoy during the spring and summer.  Some flowering trees are even known to carry their blooms on over into the fall months of the year.

The most popular of flowering trees are dogwoods and crepe myrtle trees.  Dogwood trees look fantastic when in bloom and will offer gorgeous flowers to enjoy and will also supply birds with wonderful berries to eat and enjoy.  Crepe Myrtle trees are lovely when in bloom and will bring a special burst of color during the summer months when they produce their beautiful blooms of white, red and pink.  Sometimes the crepe myrtle trees will also have burgundy blooms that are just fantastic to look at and enjoy.  Dogwoods and crepe myrtles are the ideal tree to add to lawns and flower gardens because these trees will not grow to be very big and can be trimmed to the height that the homeowner or gardener would prefer.  Dogwood trees will usually grow to be around 30 feet high and crepe myrtles can be as high as 25 feet when fully mature. 

Another great flowering tree is the Empress Tree.  This tree will give spectacular color when in bloom and will also have a very sweet fragrance to the blooms.  It will give beautiful purple or lavender flowers that will be enjoyed during the spring and summer months of the year.  Empress trees can grow to be anywhere from 30 to around 80 feet high but will look magnificent when in bloom on any lawn.

A consumer when shopping for flowering trees need to make sure that the perfect tree is picked for a lawn or garden.  Researching flowering trees and finding out what types of care they will need to get them to survive and become healthy trees will help make sure that the right tree is purchased.  Tree Nursery Online has a wide selection of flowering trees available and will also have all the information a consumer or gardener will need to make sure that the right tree is chosen.

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 Decorating Tips and Ideas

Fall is such a beautiful time of year with the weather and trees changing.   Since it is so beautiful outside why not make your home beautiful inside too?  With Fall just around the corner it is time to start thinking about how to decorate for the Holidays and all the other get together’s you may be having at your house.  When entreating people at your house you always want to have your home looking its best.  Fall decorations can really bring your home to life and make it feel warm and inviting.  Here are some tips on what you can do to make your house ready to entertain for the Fall and Harvest Season.

One way to make your house ready for entreating is by having a wonderful centerpiece.  Making a Fall centerpiece does not have to be hard or expensive at all.  All you need is a Pumpkin, floral foam, a plastic container (small enough to fit inside your pumpkin), seasonal flowers, dried leaves, and berries.   This is a very simple project that anyone can do.  Step one is to place a cube of floral foam into the plastic container that you have and make sure that it fits, if not cut down till the foam fits into the plastic container.   Now you are going to want to pour water on the foam (enough so a small amount pools at the bottom of the container).  Step two is to arrange the flowers, leaves, berries and anything else you want to put in your centerpiece.  Step three is to cut a pumpkin open and scoop out all of the seeds.   Once you scoop out all of the seeds then you can place your plastic container with the flowers into the pumpkin.  Step four is to enjoy and place in the center of your table.  This project is very easy and can be completed in no time.  Be sure to keep your foam saturated to extend the life of the flowers and keep your centerpiece looking fresh. 

You can also do this project with fake flowers, leaves, and berries.  Most craft stores have fake pumpkins and Fall flowers in stock this time of year.  The advantage of using the fake flowers and pumpkins is that it will last all season and you can reuse it.  Whichever one you choose you cannot go wrong with this project.  Your friends and family will be bragging on how beautiful your centerpiece is and how complicated it looks to make.        

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.

Tree Nursery Online - Who Are We?

Tree Nursery Online is a wonderful plant and tree nursery that has been in business for 54 years.  This nursery is also family owned and operated and is very family oriented and is located in Altamont, Tennessee.  This nursery offers a wide variety of all kinds of trees and plants that are healthy and in number one quality condition.  Their plants and trees are cared for on a daily basis and are taken care of to make sure that they all grow to be healthy and will not contain any diseases or be infected in anyway.

Tree Nursery Online is passionate about their products and always makes sure that their customers receive what they have ordered.  They have years of experience from taking care of trees and plants when they are first planted and following and tending for their trees and plants until they are mature enough to sell to prospected buyers and consumers.

Tree Nursery Online has had many prestigious costumers from the Tennessee State Parks all the way to The Washington Monument so their products are seen all over the United States and also in some foreign countries as well.  This nursery takes pride in their products to make sure that they are grown to perfection.  This plant and tree nursery will not send anything to a customer that they would not plant in their own lawns and gardens. 

Tree Nursery Online has huge greenhouses that their plants and perennials are grown in to insure that they are healthy and are getting the proper care when growing.  This fabulous plant and tree nursery will grow large amounts of plants so that they can offer the best prices to the consumers.  Their website is very user friendly and is easy to navigate and find the exact plants that a consumer or prospected buyer may be looking for.  This website will provide sizes, growth, zones, soil conditions and other information that is needed for all of their plants and trees. 

Tree Nursery Online has been in business for so long that they know exactly what customers and landscapers are looking for in quality of plants.  This nursery thrives in satisfying the customers and buyers and also offers large quantities of plants and trees.  Their inventory can be purchased in smaller quantities or will even sell by the truck loads and also have very reasonable shipping costs for their orders.  Tree Nursery Online has very affordable prices and their website makes it convenient to shop from the comfort of your own home.

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