Andrea’s Garden Blog

Hardiness Zones

Knowing the hardiness zone you live in will be the difference between whether your plants come back next spring or not…unless they are annuals, of course.

I’ll never forget the time I was walking through a local Home Depot garden area, when I saw a customer ask one of the workers if the the gorgeous Bougainvillea she was eye-balling would be OK to plant here….and he said yes. Neither one of them bothered to look at the plant’s information tag to see if it was hardy in our area. The $50 price tag on this beauty was nothing to sneeze at, so I meandered over and mentioned that it wouldn’t survive the winters here.  Both looked at me with blank stares. I mean, if the local Home Depot was selling… Continue reading the rest of this article...

Tags: climate zones, gardening, hardiness zone, microclimate, sunset, zones

Hydroponic Gardening culture has been used widely and has been proven to make agriculture more efficient and effective, at lower overhead costs and high quality standard of produce.

Hydroponics mainly has two different methods of culture. These are the solution and the medium culture. Solution culture uses nutrient solution on its procedure. The three types of solution culture are static solution culture, continuous flow solution culture and aeroponics. Medium culture on the other hand, uses solid media in its culture. It can be gravel, soil and sand. Two main variations for each medium, sub irrigation and top irrigation.

Static solution culture. In static culture, plants are grown using containers. It may be of glass, plastic containers, tubings or tanks. Condition for culture is monitored such as the solution of the… Continue reading the rest of this article...

Tags: advantages of hydroponics, gardening, watering

Landscaping or shaping the landscape if you prefer signify any activity or process that changes the features of a portion of land in a observable way, such as living elements of fauna and flora, landforms, such as terrain elevation and shape or bodies of water, human elements, such as fences and structures, and abstract factors such as elements to somewhat control the lighting and /or weather conditions.

Landscaping consists of two phases: hardscaping and softscaping. Hardscape is always the first step you should take when landscaping your property. It’s the bones of the garden. Decks, patios, lighting, gazebos, arbors, raised beds, fences and walls, paths, etc. are all considered hardscaping. Most people want to rush right out and buy flowers and plants first, but that’s really the icing on the cake… Continue reading the rest of this article...

Tags: garden tips, gardening

Organic gardening is the practice of growing vegetables, herbs and fruits relying only things found in nature. An organic gardener aspires to work in harmony with natural systems and to minimize and continually replenish any of the resources the garden consumes. The organic gardener prefers to use natural and organic materials and methods, while trying to avoid using practices and synthetic chemicals that may be detrimental to his or the environment’s health. As a reward, organic gardens can be both attractive and productive – and it’s simpler than you think!

Organic gardening differs from “conventional” gardening mainly in what regards fertilization and pest control. If pests are present, it is important to assess whether or not they are causing sufficient damage that action must be taken against them. Plants such as… Continue reading the rest of this article...