Green Garden

Gardens are places to reflect on your life or spend time alone in the sun and in private. They are a safe haven or an oasis in a busy life. Gardens are hosed with water at the most inappropriate time of day, say between 10am to 4pm, to suit the maid/helper work timings. If you go swimming then the pool will typically use 500 liters to clean its treatment filter and to annul evaporation effect at the pool. Gardens are cultivated at all levels right from the local administration to the small house owner. Botanical gardens are cultivated and maintained by the local administration to maintain the botanical diversity of a place.

Urban gardens provide environmental sustainability and reconstruction, sustenance in the form of fresh organic produce, and fulfill our longing for communion with the earth. Urban gardens are one way to become less dependent on the infrastructure for food. Where I live, there are a few houses that have been vacant for years.
Plants selected for this garden should be able to tolerate inundation for a more extended period of time. However, as in the case of the under drained rain garden, the surface is drained within four hours, although the soil may be saturated. Plants are selected to provide a succession of bloom from early spring through the first killing frost. Each is located in a setting akin to its natural habitat: woodland, wetland, flood plain or meadow. Plants are like our children. A child who is loved thrives no matter what the conditions are, but a child who has no love dies.

Plants are much less important (and sometimes nonexistent) in many karesansui gardens. Karesansui gardens are often, but not always, meant to be viewed from a single, seated perspective, and the rocks are often associated with and named after various Chinese mountains. Plant them so the base of each sits squarely on the bottom of the hole it occupies, and pack the sand firmly against it. After the cuttings are planted, water them thoroughly with a fine spray, and then cover the frame with the sash. Plant sales at the Gardens are important for supporting its maintenance and expansion. In the future they hope to offer more plant varieties to the visitor for their own garden as well as growing advice.

Organic fertilizers such as fish emulsion or blood meal can also be used if desired, but may be available too slowly for actively growing plants, or may develop sour aromas. Organic matter in the form of leaf mulch (20%) blended into a sandy soil (50%) with and about 30% top soil. The planting soil mixture provides a source of water and nutrients for the plants to sustain growth.

Flowers, shrubs, vegetables and herbs may share the same beds, and roses abound! Vines soften fences and walls, and furniture and decor is simple and comfortable. Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun. It can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally.

Container or pot plants, should always be grown in an artificial, soilless medium. One of the consequences of this is that they are dependent on a consistent and reliable feeding regime to a far greater extent than the garden plants growing in regular soil.

The best potting “soils”, or media, available today are those based on perlite, a natural glass that has been excavated and processed to form the white, ultra light product sold in the garden centers. It is used by landscape professionals mainly because of its light weight, an important consideration in roof and balcony gardening, and because it supplies an almost perfect balance between air and moisture. Another property is that it is chemically inert. While this is generally considered an advantage, it does create a total dependency on readily soluble nutrients being available to the plants. The gardener must take this fact into account when choosing which feeding regime to adopt for the container plants.

The use of compost and other organic materials, while essential for the health, aeration, and mineral balance of garden soils, is virtually irrelevant when growing plants in perlite. The name of the game, unpalatable perhaps to organic gardeners, is simply to ensure a ready supply of mineral nutrient, in other words, chemical fertilizer, at all times. How is this best done?

Clearly, hand fertilizing with the highly soluble products such as Ammonium Sulphate or 20-20-20, is highly laborious and time consuming. For while one can fertilize about once a month with the peat-based potting mixtures, plants growing in perlite, by virtue of it being chemically inert, require spoon feeding at least once every two weeks, if not once a week. The majority of home gardeners will tire of such a regime sooner rather than later.

An elegant alternative is to install a fertilizer pump that adds soluble fertilizer at very low concentrations, to the water that is emitted by the drip irrigation system. This method, known as fertigation, is undoubtedly the most convenient, efficient, and successful way of supplying nutrient to pot plants growing in a soilless, inert mixture such as perlite. There are however a few drawbacks that should be noted.

*Many states require the installation of an expensive backflow, prevention device that has to be approved yearly by a qualified person, rather like a road vehicle license. Failure to do so can lead to criminal procedures in some countries.

*In mild winter climates, plants continue to grow and therefore require some feeding during the winter, albeit at a reduced level. This often results in the need to open the irrigation system (the fertilizer is applied via the irrigation system) even when there is no need to do so

The successful watering of pot plants can be reduced to the aim of maintaining a balance between air and moisture in the potting mixture, so that both are readily available to the plants’ roots. The best way of ensuring this is to water the growing mixture to saturation, while making sure that the excess water drains away as quickly as possible. How, in practical terms is this best achieved?

Firstly, one should water so that the entire surface area of the potting mixture is wetted, and that enough water is applied, so that the excess drains out of the bottom of the pot into a receptacle, or preferably, is carried away by a collecting pipe. Secondly, the next watering should take place when the top 2-3cm (1in) of potting soil has dried out somewhat. Generally, this allows for the desired air/moisture balance.

This method is somewhat counter intuitive, especially as many people confuse it with “over watering”. Over watering, is a situation whereby the soil or potting medium permanently lacks sufficient air. It is generally caused by very frequent but shallow watering, as opposed to the method just described.

Another advantage with less frequent, but deeper irrigation (watering to excess) is that it prevents the buildup of salts in the medium, which is a major, but often overlooked reason for poor results with container plants. Tap and irrigation water are becoming increasingly saline, particularly in dry climates, while dissolved fertilizers (which are mineral salts) add to the salt concentration of the potting soil. Watering to the point that the excess drains out of the pot, periodically leaches out the excess salts.

Which method is best for watering your container plants? Obviously, hand watering with a hose or canister is laborious and time wasting. In outdoor situations, especially in areas with hot, dry summers, where it may be necessary to water at least once a day, hand watering, while feasible for indoor plants, becomes unsustainable. Undoubtedly, installing a drip-irrigation system is the most efficient and effective way of watering the pot plants. Here are some guidelines to help you get the most from the system, bearing in mind that the aim with each watering is to wet the total surface area and the total volume of the growing mixture.

*Space the drippers close enough to each other so that the all the surface area is covered by the water that they emit. A distance of about 20mm (3/4in) is usually enough.

*Be aware of the different flow rates of the drippers. The flow rate is the amount of water emitted per unit of time, expressed in gallons per hour (GPH), or liters per hour. Common metric flow rates are 1, 2, 4, and 8 liters per hour, which is ¼, ½, 1, and 2 gallons per hour.

*Use drippers with low flow rates for shallow and small pots, and drippers with higher flow rates for the bigger and taller containers. The aim is arrive at a total flow rate for each pot that is proportional to its volume, relative to the other pots. So a container that has four times the volume of another container, should have drippers whose total emission, is four times greater per unit of time.

*Turn on the tap, and time how long it takes for the water to emerge. If the drippers have been placed evenly within each pot, and the flow rates are proportional, then water should start coming out of the bottom of the different containers, at almost the same time!

*Set the water timer appropriately, adding perhaps a minute of watering time, in order to leach out the salts.

The potting “soil” in which container plants grow, is one of the most crucial factors behind the quality of their growth and development. The basic needs of plants are the same whether they grow in garden soil or in pots. But as the conditions created by containers are quite different, the potting soil, more correctly termed the potting medium, has to have different properties from that of ordinary garden soil.

Air and Water

The plants’ root zone has to contain a proper balance between moisture on the one hand and air on the other. Garden soil, especially heavy, clay soil, if used in pots, invariably lacks sufficient air that the roots require for breathing. In such anaerobic conditions, the roots rot, causing the plant as a whole to wither and die.

Alternatively, a potting medium composed entirely of sand, would contain plenty of air in the root zone, but as it dries out so rapidly, would be unable to supply enough moisture for the roots to take up. As sand and soil do not mix well, it follows that an artificial potting medium is an essential precondition for obtaining satisfactory results with container plants. The question is, which type of medium is best?

Today, the various potting media available, attempt to create an optimal balance between air and moisture. Mixtures based on peat and processed substances like vermiculite are most commonly sold in nurseries and garden centers. More recently though, landscape professionals are turning to soilless growing media such as perlite, and because of its special properties, using it almost exclusively in pots and containers. There are a number of reasons for this.

Perlite provides for a virtual optimal balance between air and water. This means that it retains moisture for a reasonable period of time after wetting, but at the same time, contains sufficient air too. It is virtually impossible to over water plants that grow in perlite. It is also extremely light in weight, which is often a vital consideration in roof and balcony gardens. Another important property is the fact that it is chemically inert, which reduces the danger of the medium becoming excessively saline.

Environmental Considerations

Environmentally conscious people have become increasingly concerned about the degeneration of natural bog habitats throughout the world, as a direct result of peat extraction, of which the horticultural industry is a major consumer. Perlite can therefore be preferred on these grounds alone, although its extraction and processing also impacts the environment. Furthermore, being chemically inert, the plants are entirely dependent for their nutrition, on a steady supply of chemical fertilizer, thereby adding indirectly to the pollution of water sources.

Winter is the best excuse to load up on your favorite comfort foods. Nothing beats a nice hot meal to warm you up on those cold nights, or unwind after a long day at work. Soups, sweets, barbecueswhatever you’re into, there’s sure to be a winter recipe that suits your tastes. To get your imagination going, here are five of the best winter comfort foods for the whole family.



Winter soups.

Here is a wide list to select fromthe problem is not so much what to take as what not to use.

Azaleas: Any of the hardy deciduous azaleas are available, but it is easy to overdo them. In most types of landscaping, azaleas and rhododendrons should be used in masses; in rock gardening a single plant often better answers the purpose.

Dogwood: The native Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida), is in character of growth admirable for the rock garden; it is possible to keep the trees at any height by pruning for lateral growth.

Forsythia: Most varieties rather large and coarse. Suspensa litboldi is the lowest growing and most graceful.

Goldflower (Hypericum moserianum) : Good for yellow flowers in midsummer; variety Buckleyi is more dwarf and spreading.

Highbush Blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum): The natural growth of this fine native shrub is often such as a Japanese gardener might spend a lifetime in achieving; few plants are more picturesque.

Rhododendrons: Almost too large and too heavy even for the background, excepting in rock gardens of large size. The Myrtle rhododendron (myrtifolium), Wilson rhododendron, thriving in sun or shade (both of which are hybrids of r. minus) and ovatum, are dwarf alpine forms.

Roses: Several of the taller-growing species, not mentioned in the preceding list, such as Hugonis and the Redleaf Rose (r. rubifolia) with its small starry blossoms, carry the spirit of the rock garden.

Tamarix: I have never seen this shrub recommended for use in rock gardening, but it is particularly pleasing and effective; its feathery sprays of pink blossoms may be enjoyed from spring until late summer by using the several varieties; africana, the earliest; gallica, blossoming in midsummer, and indica in late summer.

Witch-hazel: Our common Witch-hazel (hamamelis virginiana) frequently found growing on rocky hillsides, unfurls its graceful little tasseled yellow bells in late October or even in November, and in January or February the Vernal Witch-hazel (h. vernalis) bursts out impatiently; the Chinese Witch-hazel (mollis) follows a bit later; the Japanese is impartial, and flowers either in latest autumn or in earliest spring; plant against evergreens; semi-shade will do.