EZ Gardening For Beginners

Let’s face it: those unsightly tree stumps in the front or back yard are not doing much to enhance the natural beauty of your garden. Tree stumps can be an eyesore, and especially if you are set on having an eye-pleasing garden. Tree stumps can also be quite expensive and difficult to remove. If you are willing to work with the unsightly tree stumps in your yard, here are a few ideas for transforming these eyesores into workable garden and outdoor elements.

Disguising Unsightly Tree Stumps as Workable Outdoor Decor

Instead of spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to remove your tree stumps, why not simply work around them? Indeed, you can create several workable outdoor decor elements that revolve around your tree stumps, including a quaint old wishing well. This project works best if you only have one tree stump, or if your tree stumps are spread far enough apart throughout your out door space. You can build or buy a pre-made decorative yard wishing well to place around the perimeter of the tree stump. Pre-made decorative wishing wells can be purchased unfinished or finished in a variety of colors and designs. Most wishing wells are round enough that they will fit well around tree stumps. This is a charming outdoor decorative element that is an easy way to disguise unsightly tree stumps in your yard.

Working With Your Unsightly Tree Stumps to Create a Dazzling Display

Instead of trying to completely disguise your tree stumps, you can use them to create a dazzling container garden display. Use the tree stumps as pedestals on which to place your decorative pots and containers. You can choose a planter or container that is around the same size as your tree stump and use the stump as a plant pedestal. Use smaller planters to create a decorative ring around the tree stump. For this type of project, you can really unleash your creativity. Use coordinating and colorful decorative planters and containers to create a fun and creative tree stump garden display.

Use Your Unsightly Tree Stumps as a Fountain or Statue Pedestal

You can also use your unsightly yard tree stumps to create an interesting statue or fountain garden display. Tree stumps work as natural pedestals. You can ring the tree stump with decorative yard displays, including coordinating flowerpots or containers. In the middle, you can place a decorative fountain or statue that stands as the centerpiece of your display. This is a fun and easy way to make the most of your tree stumps.

Use Unsightly Tree Stumps as Building Blocks to Your Garden Display

With a bit of work and ingenuity, you can turn those unsightly tree stumps into an integral part of your garden design and display. Using a saw or other tool (depending on the strength, size and location of your tree stumps), you can cut your tree stumps so that they can act as ’stepping stones’ to your garden. Shave down each tree stump at intervals to create the effect of ‘building up’ to your main garden display. This is a fun and easy way of working with your tree stumps to create an unusual and eye-pleasing garden design.

Smooth Down Your Tree Stumps to Create Ready-Made Garden Seating

This is a fun and practical way to make use of those unsightly tree stumps. You can build a decorative garden display around the tree stumps, and then smooth down the stumps themselves into comfortable and smooth tree stump seats. Create your own meditative Zen garden, and use the tree stumps as well-worn meditating stoops where you can sit and take in the surrounding garden.

Container gardening is a great alternative to have your own homegrown fruits and vegetables if you do not have a big back yard with a patch for the plants. Container gardening can be very easy and successful for you if you follow a few simple, helpful hints.

Fist of all, when you get started with your container garden, pick a few plants, vegetables and fruits that you would like to harvest throughout summer and fall. Of course you cannot grow every vegetable or fruit available on the market in a container, but many vegetable and fruit varieties can be grown in a container. One of the most favorite container plants is the tomato plant.

After you chose a few varieties, make sure that you have big enough containers. A tomato plant for example needs an at least five gallon or bigger container to grow well. Therefore you still have some space considerations when planting a container garden. Besides the container itself, the soil that you put in the container is an important factor for growing healthy plants and vegetables. Not any old dirt will give you the same result as a high quality gardening and potting soil. These soils are specifically designed for containers and the plants that go into the containers. They will for example hold moisture better than regular soil, but also prevent the plant from molding when there is too much water added. Special gardening and planting soils also have a starter amount of fertilizer. Proper nutrients are important for the growth of healthy plants.

After planting the plants, make sure that you water your plants regularly. Keep in mind that containers and pots generally dry out faster than a big garden patch, especially on hot days or long stretches of dry weather. Also important when watering the plant is to get some advice from your local garden center about the watering preferences of the plants. Some plants prefer to be watered close to the soil while others do not have such preferences. If you think that these preferences are not easy to take care of, make sure to ask your garden center employees for the easy to take-care varieties and you will not have to worry about such issues.

Container plants need to be fertilized on regular bases. Containers and pots do not hold very much food for the plants and therefore more food has to be added to the pot. There are many ways that you can fertilize your container. Some of the easier ones are plant stakes. Plant stakes hold all the nutrients a plant needs over a longer period of time. Therefore you do not have to remember to add the fertilizer on weekly or bi weekly schedule, but you might only need to replace the stake every few weeks. There are also easy to use fertilizers that you can add to your water when watering. Other fertilizers are sprinkled on the top, but these fertilizers are harder to apply in the proper amount.

And do not forget the factor sunlight. Many fruit and vegetable plants need a good amount of sunlight throughout the day to grow and produce a crop. Tomatoes for example need a minimum of five to six hours of sunlight a day and the more the better. Therefore you will not be able to grow a container garden anywhere but on the sunny side of your house. Plants that do not get the proper amount of sun will not flourish and might not even produce more than one or two vegetables or fruit on the plant, which in the end might be a waste of money and time for you.

Are you new to gardening and want to create a beautiful garden design without shelling out a lot of cash to get it done? Do you need advice on how and where to plant things, but you don’t have the money to pay a professional gardener or landscape architect to help you pull things together. You are not alone. Gardening can be a fulfilling hobby that lasts a lifetime, but if you are not careful, it can also become an extremely expensive one. The good news is that there are tons and tons of bits of free information out there for the taking that can help you get your gardening and planting endeavors off the ground. With all of this information at hand, you can save for money for the things you really want to spend it on in your garden – getting new, unique plants and flowers.

When you are looking for gardening ideas, the first thing you have to do is narrow down your search. There is so much information out there that you will be overwhelmed unless you specifically search for one thing or another. For instance, are you a window box gardener? Then look for resources online that offer tips and tools for gardening in window boxes, like how to make your flowers grow towards your house instead of away by flipping your window boxes every few days and how to use full sun flowers in areas that only get part sun by using the reflective power of light colored buildings around your window.

If you want to re-do your back yard with a great new design, look online for themed garden projects. You can find advice for creating a traditional English garden, a Zen Japanese garden, a garden with a water feature, a garden that is perfect for kids and many more ideas. You can also find tips on pruning and shaping shrubbery or using geometrically shaped raised garden beds to create the look you are after.

Perhaps you want to get your garden growing, but you live in a cold climate and aren’t sure what plants will work. The internet is filled with free information about which plants to use, such as ivy, heather, poppies and witch hazel, as well as how to care for them in the cold weather. Find out how to plant tender flowers in hardy climates by placing them in the shade and how to leave a little snow on your plants to protect them from the elements.

If you are an old hand at gardening, but you are looking for some way to introduce your children into you favorite pastime, use the free gardening advice online to find out what plants easiest for children to care for, and which plants are safe for them to be around. For instance, find out how to plant a sunflower garden your child can easily tend without your help.

Of course, if you are an old gardening pro, or even if you are novice with a natural green thumb, the best free gardening advice may come from you. Hobbyist gardeners often enjoy visiting online chat rooms to swap garden war stories and trade tips and techniques to getting the best bloom in their gardens. Get online and share you know how – you might be surprised how much you really do know!

If you can’t find the free gardening and planting advice you need online, a trip to your local garden center should take care of the rest. These centers are filled with professional gardeners who can be a great resource for getting gardening advice tailored specifically for your area.

Even if you do not have a big back yard and space for a big vegetable garden you can still grow vegetables such as tomatoes. Tomatoes are a great first vegetable to try in a container garden. Container gardens can be cultivated on balconies, patios, outdoor window sills, along the driveway or even on a roof top. There are a few essential tips to container gardening that you should keep in mind.

First of all, when starting your container garden, whether it is from seed or from a young plant from your local garden center, the soil is essential. Many plants are very sensitive to the soil they are planted in. Unlike weeds, fruit and vegetable bearing plants do not grow everywhere and even if they grow on some minor soils, they might not bring they crop they would on a good soil. So get your pots clean and ready with a good soil recommended for gardening. Also keep in mind, that the container needs to be at least 5 gallons or more to properly support the growth of the plant.

Your second important choice is the plant itself. Tomatoes come in a great variety of sizes, colors and tastes. From cherry and olive tomatoes over plum tomatoes to big size sandwich tomatoes (such as fat boy), it is all available. Besides the size and taste of the tomato the size of the plant falls within this size. Some tomato plant get to a full grown height of only a few feet while others might grow up to 5 feet tall. If your space or height is limited where you are planning to cultivate your container garden, make sure that you pick one of the smaller varieties. A friendly employee at your local garden center should be able to direct you to a good variety such as the bushy types for container gardening.

Even in a container garden it is important to support tomatoes properly. The tomato fruit actually is very heavy for the weak branches of the plant; therefore it is necessary to attach the tomato plant to some kind of a support such as planting stakes, tomatoes cages or small trellises.

Tomatoes generally need 5-6 hours minimum of sun so pick your spot for the container garden appropriately. Do not pick the shade side of the house, too little sun will not ripen your tomatoes in time and also minimizes the chance of a good crop. The more sun the better will your tomato plants grow and most likely the more tomatoes you will harvest.

Tomatoes need to be watered on a daily bases in hot or dry climates. Generally it is better for tomatoes if they are not watered from above, but rather from below. This should be easier achievable in a container garden, since you will generally water fewer plants than in a big backyard vegetable garden. Also keep in mind containers, planting pots and hanging baskets dry out much faster than regular soil in a big garden.

Very important for container gardens besides the regular watering is fertilizing. Container gardens have a small amount of soil compared to the big surrounding of a vegetable garden in the back yard and therefore the amount of food for the plants contained within the container is much smaller. Regular fertilizing is necessary to provide the tomato plant with the essential nutrients to support a big crop and grow properly.

Tomato container gardening is a very possible undertaking for many different occasions. Tomatoes are such a versatile ingredient and can be used in salads, as snack, in soups, salsas, chili’s and much more.

Instead of spending your weekend sitting in front of the tube again, why not devote one weekend to creating a patio that you will be able to then enjoy for many weekends to come? You don’t need a large back yard to have room for a patio -  a mini patio of any size can be just right for giving you and your family a little outside oasis to enjoy and a place to escape from the stresses of the work week. The good news is that creating a patio that looks great can be a snap, and you don’t have to be a DIY expert to get the job done.

Adding a mini patio to your home is good for you and it is good for your pocket book. You will get plenty of enjoyment from your patio, whether you use it as a place to sit out and bask in the glow of the sun in the summer, a quiet place to read away from the hustle and bustle of kids and family or a place to throw impromptu neighborhood barbeques. Along with all of that personal enjoyment, you will also see a nice increase to the property value of your home. A patio adds instant value to your home, and when it comes time to sell, you will be able to sell potential buyers of the benefits of all of the things you used the patio to do when you owned the home.

To add a patio to your home, the first thing you need to do is decide where you want to put it. Of course, the ideal place is directly outside a backdoor to your home, so you can step out of the home and onto the patio. If you don’t have a backdoor, or if it is not practical to put a patio outside of the door, fear not. You can still enjoy your patio even if you have to walk around the house to get to it.

If you are going to place the patio away from the backdoor, consider a few other factors when placing your patio. Do you have a nice, large tree in your backyard that offers tons of shade? Do you have swing set, garden, big flower bed, or water feature in your yard? Place you patio near the other amenities in your yard so you can enjoy them all together. Just be mindful to look for level ground – placing your patio on a slope will make laying the foundation difficult and make the patio less user friendly.