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Landscaping Lighting Techniques to Prevent Starlight Light-Pollution

Anyone who is a part-time or hobby astronomer will tell you that you often have to go out away from the city to look at the stars. This is because there is far too much light pollution in human societies and civilizations. If you are designing landscaping and lighting for your home, business, or perhaps you are in that sector of our condominium where you do this for a living – then you really should consider some of the landscape lighting techniques to prevent starlight light pollution.

One of the best methods is to point the light downward, and only use the amount of light that is needed, and to use focused light bulb covers that keep the light from becoming a nuisance. After all, it is wonderful at night to look up and see all the stars, but unfortunately in the present period we have so much light that humans no longer realize how wonderful the stars are. People in the country know this, but many people of the city have never seen the stars at night. In fact, when they go into the country and look up they are blown away by how beautiful it is. “Look at all the stars,” is the first thing they say.

It’s too bad that we’ve made so many mistakes with the lighting of our cities; how we use streetlights, and how people that do landscaping do not consider these things, but they should. Each and every landscape designer should help prevent light pollution. There is something wonderful about looking up at the stars, it is very peaceful, and it makes life more enjoyable. And it would be wonderful if everyone could see them, and they would be able to – if the light pollution was kept to a minimum.

Indeed, I hope you will please consider this as it is a topic of interest, and if you have any comments or ideas along this line of thinking, perhaps you wish to me an e-mail. Think on it.…

Foundation Plants – How to Add Curb Appeal to Your Home With Foundation Plantings

Foundation plants are shrubs used for planting along homes and building to soften their look, enhance curb appeal and tie it to the surrounding landscape.

Some considerations to keep in mind when choosing these shrubs are:

– Style/Color

– Size

– Scale

– Seasons

The style of your house should be one of the biggest factors in selection foundation shrubs. For example, a colonial house should have different plants compared to a house that is of southwest style or modern style. The colonial would have more traditional, tight growing greenery such as boxwood whereas the southwest style home would have spiky type plants to give a desert feeling and the modern house having open, more free growing plants. Choose shrubs with colors that compliment the color of the house and don’t blend into it. A red brick would absorb shrubs such as the Cistena Plum Shrubs with deep red leaves, yet those same plants would appear striking along side a white frame house. The gorgeous blooms of the Nikko Blue Hydrangea would be wasted planted in front of a blue vinyl sided house.

Typical anchoring bushes are generally smaller growing (under 6) and planted on the corners with somewhat larger growing plants. The length of the windows will usually dictate their height. If the windows on the house start at 3 feet above the ground, then select low growing shrubs that grow no taller than 3 1/2 feet. Placing taller greenery in front of windows is not good for security.

Scale is a consideration most forgotten. Small houses should have smaller growing plants to keep in its scale and not overwhelm the house as these plants mature. Large scale houses can comfortably accommodate larger growing shrubs and trees without the house seeming to disappear.

Anchor plants should offer color and texture for at least 3 seasons if not all 4. This is the reason that evergreens, both conifers and broadleafs, are often used for this purpose. Try to plant at least 50% of the foundation plants in evergreens to keep greenery around the house year around. Planting all deciduous anchor plants creates a bare house over the winter months. Select a few choice flowering shrubs or small trees, perennials and ornamental grasses to further extent color and texture in the other seasons.…

Landscaping With Climbing Vines in Your Garden

Climbing vines are a great option for landscaping as they can serve many purposes. You can grow climbing vines as dividers, privacy screens or just as ornamental plants. Such vines are climbing plants and they grow well with proper support. Their growth pattern makes them an important addition to many landscapes.

Climbing vines are of many varieties. Some have beautiful foliage and some even produce dainty colorful flowers. They can cover the walls with a lively blanket of colors. Apart from walls, they can be trained over trellis, fence, iron or wooden frames and so many other structures that can lend support to the plant. Climbing vines grab hold through their tendrils or petioles and grow fast. They can act as dividers between the garden and the surrounding area. You can even grow them for privacy as their thick and dense foliage acts as a screen.

Most of the climbing vines grow very rapidly and hence you can expect drastic change in the landscape soon after growing them. You can choose the right kind of vine for your garden depending on the climatic conditions and your preferences. Flowering vines usually attract a lot of insects for pollination so if that is not your kind then you can go in for non- flowering ones. They look equally appealing and can transform the garden easily. Bougainvillea and sweet pea vine are suitable for warmer climates. However, if you stay on a higher altitude where the temperature is comparatively cooler then you can consider growing English Ivy or Common Ivy. Climbing roses are great for the balcony or walls. They can give a colonial feel to the landscape.

There are different types of vines to choose from. Some are annual and some are perennial in nature. If you plant the perennial ones then they can add to the landscape for at least three or more years. However, it is important to choose wisely as some of the species are considered to be invasive. They can grow very rapidly spreading to the entire area. Some can even compete with the other plants growing around them. Avoid growing invasive vines as they can be nasty and tricky to control if they get out of hand.

Growing vines is fun and easy. You can even do it yourself to make your garden attractive. Some of vines that you can grow in your home garden are Clematis, Honeysuckle, Trumpet Vine, Dutchman’s Pipe, Climbing Roses, Sweet Pea, Grape Vine, English Ivy, etc.…

Are you sick of the pests at your home?

Were no traps efficient enough to stop them from invading your house?

If you think there is no such homemade bug trap that can actually work, then your belief is going to be changed. Here we are talking about three bug trap homemade that you can easily make with just some readily available household items to wipe out the pests at once.

The pro pest exterminators have tested all of these three homemade bug traps. It has eliminated certain pests efficiently. So now it’s your time to get rid of these pests right away.

Let’s find out the ways to make these bug traps at home.

Bug trap Homemade for Stink Bug

One can make a perfect homemade trap that will keep the stink bugs at arm’s length. You can start by taking a two-liter plastic bottle. And then cut off the top 2 inches of it. Then put it upside down and bind the neck to the opening to ensure that the top sits perfectly inside the bottle. And then you can put any light, preferably battery-powered, into the container.

Keep this in some basement or attics where it would attract the stink bugs with their light and trap them inside. After the trapping, you can dispose of all the bugs with ease.

Bug trap Homemade for Mosquitoes

The first thing that you need to do is to cut off the top part of a two-liter plastic bottle and then use a black spray-paint to color the outside. Then you need to perforate two 3/8 inch holes below the rim.

After all of this done, you need to cover the top and the brim with a mesh. And then wrap a wet cloth around the edge. Immersing in water once a day could work. And then fill the trap with water.

This way, all the eggs laid on the cloth would hatch and fall from the mesh and grow large, making it difficult to escape. With the help of this bug trap, you can get rid of the mosquitoes from your place.

Bug trap Homemade for Fruit flies

All you need to do is to take a quart-size bowl and fill it up with a foamy mixture that contains water and dish soap. And then, you need to take a smaller bowl that can float in the center. Fill this smaller bowl with a quarter cup of red vinegar.

What actually happens when you do this? The vinegar attracts the fruit flies, which in turn get stuck in the suds and helps in the complete elimination of the flies from your place. You can do this for a few days a week and get rid of the fruit flies. This fruit flies bug trap is very useful in keeping pests at bay.

Conclusion

If you have been worried about the bugs at home, then your worry ends here straight away. With the help of these homemade bug traps, you can easily wipe out all the flies and bugs from your home.…

Dress Up and Show Off! Window Boxes for All Seasons

Make the exterior of your home fashionable for spring-dress it up with window boxes full of colorful flowers and foliage. But window boxes are not just spring things, change their contents for each season and you’ll not only be keeping up with the Jones’, you’ll be way ahead of your neighbors in helping to beautify the neighborhood. Tongue- in-cheek jesting aside, do this for yourself and your family. The efforts are few and the rewards are many.

Window Box Styles

You can usually find window boxes in a variety of styles at your local garden center or chain building supply store. These include ready-made wood boxes as well as metal “hayrack” types. Or, if you have a handy-man (or woman) carpenter in the family, they can be custom-made from rot-resistant wood such as pressure-treated pine, cedar, teak or redwood. Just measure the width of your window, allow 8 to 10 inches for the height of the box and 6 to 8 inches for the width (bottom board). Drill holes for drainage in the bottom board. Attach it with heavy-duty hardware.

You can also find plastic or metal liner boxes which sit inside the wooden window boxes. These help protect the bottom board from rot, and they make planting easier. Just remove the liner box, take it to your potting table and fill it with potting soil and plants. It can then be inserted back into the box that is attached to the house.

Look for other unusual items to use as window boxes, such as old sap buckets. Make a grouping of three or four buckets and mount them on a board and attach it to the bottom of your window. Be sure to drill drainage holes in the buckets before attaching to the board. How about old bicycle baskets or other wire baskets, a grouping of old watering cans, even children’s brightly colored plastic buckets-well, maybe for a window at the back of the house or on a fence!

Planting Your Window Boxes

Keep in mind that these boxes will be hanging out there in mid air, so they will get more intense exposure to the sun and will dry out faster than plants in the ground. You can help remedy this by adding water-retaining polymers to the soil. Don’t put them on top of the soil; bury them in the bottom two to three inches of soil in the window box so roots can receive their benefits. Read the directions on the polymer container for calculating the amount to be added. After planting, water gently, but heavily. This allows the polymers to take up water, which they will hold until the soil around them dries out. They will then release their moisture to the roots of your plants.

Choose a good potting mix with fertilizer already added. This will insure that your plants get a good start and stay healthy throughout the season. When you change the plants out for the next season, you can simply work in more time-release fertilizer in the remaining potting mixture. For your wire or hayrack baskets, you will need to purchase cocoa mat liners, which can be fitted to the basket to hold the soil in.

Plants for Your Window Boxes

When selecting plants for your window boxes, think about which color, or colors, will look good against your house. You may choose only one outstanding plant, or a mixture of plants that complement each other. Remember to place the tall plants toward the rear of the box, the shorter ones in the middle and the trailing plants along the edge of the box. With your window box in place, you can enjoy planning and planting each season of the year.…

Landscaping Made Easy

Do you wish you could wave a magic wand and your landscaping would look amazing? There are many people in the same shoes as you but they do know a great way to get what they want. They have found landscaping is made easy with the help of a professional. Depending on the climate and location where you are, it can be virtually impossible to really get your grass looking good on your own.

Most people have gone that route and feel that they failed. What is even more frustrating is that they spent lots of money to get to that point. New lawns though are going to be possible when you know what to do. Why wait for new grass to grow? That is a long process and one that can end up not offering you the results you had in mind.

How do you get it then? With new sod you can have green looking grass and new landscaping within the week. Most of that time will be spent talking to contractors and working out a deal. They are professions and can tell you how much sod you will need, what types they would recommend for your area, and then they can get it installed for you.

Before you say that you simply can’t afford this type of landscaping made easy, you need to find out what the cost will be. Too often people assume that the cost of it is going to be out of the ballpark. However, when you consider how much you will spend for your grass seed, supplies to till the soil, and other materials you are going to be spending money and not be guaranteed and results.

With the use of grass sod you will be able to get the changes you want for your landscaping right now. Summer is right around the corner so you will have plenty of time to be able to enjoy the new look. Don’t put off getting started with it today!

With new lawns you can have a look outdoors that you are really impressed with. You can have something that looks amazing each time you go outside. Other people are going to notice your new grass too. Don’t be surprised if they ask you about it because they too have been going through the same things you have.

The use of new sod is going to end your frustrations with your landscaping. While you won’t have a magic wand to change things, you are going to have the assistance of products and professionals that can help you to make your dream of a gorgeous lawn a reality. They can also help you to do it for an affordable price that fits well for your budget.…

More About Landscape Tips For Beginners

In landscaping for the first time, you will need to understand the principles of landscaping. The trees, grass, flowers and plants are living creatures that you can mold to your liking in more ways than one. You have to care for not only them but their soil or they will die. You will need to at least have a plan of how you want your landscaping to look before you actually start digging up the yard. Monitor your ground so you will know which types of flowers and plants and grass you want to use in your landscaping. It is wise to spend at least a week watching the places where you will to start landscaping so you can see how the sun hits the area or keep track of its shade. If a lot of sun hits an area, you will know what kind of plants to place there.

You will need to keep an eye on the ground and how it reacts to rain. It is important to know what areas of your ground are soft after it rains or what areas have pooling of water. A lot of times trees are a factor. Think about whether or not you plan to keep your existing trees or not. They tend to leave an ambush of leaves in the fall season. This is okay if you do not mind raking them. Few people will have the trees removed and replace them with evergreens. Sometimes it is hard for grass to grow around the roots of an evergreen.

Having an eye for colors is an important attribute to have when you are landscaping. At least and understanding of what each one brings to the table and how they will all work together are the basics. This fits into every garden blueprint. You will need to know if you want the colors to be in sync with each other or not. Colors determine your garden’s moods. You will need to study the primary ones which are blues, yellows and reds. The secondary colors are your oranges, purples and greens and lastly a combination of the primaries and secondaries. Silvers, whites, grays and blacks are neutral colors that will help you mix the right shades.

When beginning to landscape for the first time, you should decide in your gardening or flower blueprint if you want the plants and trees together or lining a path. Will the colors be in sync? Will they all just have their own separate areas? Instead of sketching your ideas on paper, you can buy software that can help you do three dimensional planning. You can also get ideas from landscaping magazines or check out the books your local library may have. You will also want to make sure you have the right lawn and gardening tools and equipment for your landscaping. Most equipment can be rented, especially if you only need to use it like once or twice a year. This will depend on the size of your yards. If you are planning to do statues or ponds, you may want to hire a small crew or either a professional. You will want your yard to shine for your neighbors and passers by.…

Landscaping Ideas in Small Yard – Things to Consider

If you have a small yard you may begin to think that there’s a big limitation on what you can do with your landscape. And while that may be true, it certainly shouldn’t be a hindrance in having an awesome looking yard. There are several landscaping ideas for small yard that you can definitely work with. In fact, the only limitation here really is the space, everything else would be up to your creativity and resourcefulness.

There are various ways you can work around having a small space for your landscape. The real trick is to maximize whatever space you have and to create an illusion of expansiveness. This is something you can do with some of the consideration I will discuss with you.

To get started, here are some considerations to keep in mind:

Plants

Plants should definitely be a part of any landscape design no matter how big or small. Plants are what gives vibrancy and life to any particular space. In your case, you would do well if you can select plant varieties that could thrive well even in small spaces.

Another idea you can entertain is to start container gardening. You can have some hanging ornamental plants. You can also have some of these lined up in places such as the entryway or stairs. With container gardening, space wouldn’t be so much of an issue at all.

Accents

Since furniture and other fixture requiring bigger space are out of the picture, you can have some smaller accents that would enhance the beauty of your yard just the same. For example, you can have a smaller, ready made water feature to adorn your yard. Water features like those serenity garden or maybe even a simple birdbath wouldn’t have to take up so much space.

Another thing you might want to consider is using rocks. You can lay out rocks of varying sizes at different corners of the yard. Those rocks wouldn’t take up to much space but they do contribute to vary the elements of your landscape.

Design

Since you are quite limited on space, you need to maximize whatever space you have. In order to do this, you can look at areas like near fences, stairs, walls and paved areas. They can be utilized as areas which you can use as part of the landscape.

Also, you need to be more thorough in the arrangement of your plants and other accents. You may have a small rock garden in the corner of your yard to utilize even that little space. You can arrange your container garden in a layered manner. You can have some of those ornamental plants hung on strategic places where they can be easily noticed and appreciated. These are minor things which spell out a big difference when you are landscaping a small yard.…

4 Reasons Why Plants and Animals are Heading for Extinction – Landscaping for Wildlife

As human beings in the 21st century we live a very privileged existence compared to our ancestors. We live in the most technological era since the start of mans evolution. We now have access to gadgets that exist to make our lives and our day-to-day tasks easier and quicker such as washing machines, blenders etc. But at what price? The environmental damage due to modern industrial evolution has been drastic.

Early man respected nature. As hunter gatherers they needed both plant and animal life to thrive. They hunted animals and gathered plants as a means of maintaining their existence. They may have hunted some species of animals to extinction due to their ignorance but we, modern man no longer have that privilege or excuse.

Wildlife conservation does not seem to be a priority for many governments and individuals. Our dependence and reliance on natural wildlife resources seems to be increasing instead of decreasing. We do not appear to be taking steps to change that. Before we know it animal and plant life will be completely from this world.

There are many reasons why plants and animals are heading that way.

FOOD: As spoken of before, certain species of animals are being driven to extinction due to over culling by humans.

FASHION: In the history of man, animals have been killed for the use of their skins and furs. In the past as a means of protection against extreme weather conditions this has been quite acceptable. But nowadays you could argue that with the development of products such as man-made synthetic fibres and appliances like heaters this need has been eliminated.

HOUSING: With the population of earth now exceeding six billion people, the demand for land to house them all has increased. More and more wildlife is destroyed in the pursuit of this.

THE CORPORATE ROLE: Big business has contributed to the depletion of wildlife and plants by their demand on our natural resources. Contributing to this are things such as manufacturing synthetic products, such as plastics, or by drilling for oil and thus disturbing the habitat of ocean wildlife.

We know there will always be a demand on the environment and its natural resources to enable man to thrive. However, what we need to do is create a balance. Surprisingly enough that which contributes to the cause of the negative impact on our environment is also contributing to the positive. Scientific research is being sought to implement strategies that will protect the environment. Also, by safeguarding natural areas and leaving them undisturbed they will flourish for future generations.…

How to Do Yard Landscaping in an Easy Way

It is part of everyone’s goal to have a front yard that does not require too much work to maintain. You can have a professional to make your yard easy to manage or you can just do it by yourself. In both ways you can have a facade yard that will take less work to maintain its fantastic look throughout the year.

Make sure that this goal of having a wonderful front house yard landscape with a little maintenance is discussed carefully with a professional if you are going to hire one.

Cutting grasses out every time they grow will take too much time and effort just to keep the grasses from ruining the design of your landscaping design.

Fewer grasses would mean less effort and time to spend on your garden.

If you are a busy career person, it is best to discuss with an expert about the alternative ways to maintain the good look of your front garden even if you have a small lawn while exerting the minimum effort to keep your yard at its best structure.

Clover will actually do better than grass and most people find it a good idea because it will save your time and money. It does not require mowing as often as grasses do. Clover lawn will also do well in areas where droughts often occur.

They look good almost everywhere and the best part about the clover is you can have fun on your yard with you and your family without bugs ruining the moment because bugs hate clovers.

Your yard will also need watering and doing so might take a lot of your time and money. But now people are putting automatic irrigation systems as part of their front yard landscape design.

It will be easier for you to keep your plants on their best condition even during hot days of the year as this system will automatically water your plants.

Another good thing is that you do not have to do watering by yourself like dragging the host to your yard or having a sprinkler to water your garden front.

You should hire a professional to install the automatic irrigation system in your front yard landscape to avoid leakages causing flood and excessive water to yard.…