It’s time to dry everlastings, bells of Ireland and celosias for winter arrangements. Cut the flowers when dry, tie in bunches of not over five stems and hang in a dry, airy attic away from the light (in strong light the colors will fade).

Feeding the Lawn and Hydrangeas

Give the established lawn a feeding early in August. Be sure to soak the soil well after the application, so the lawn will not burn. Feed peegee hydrangeas liberally now to increase the size of the flower heads.

Controlling Red Spider

If evergreens or roses suddenly take on a rusty appearance, red spider mites may be the culprits. The easy way to spot them is to shake the branches over a white paper and then examine the paper for very tiny, moving red dots. Red spider mites are very difficult to see on the dark green foliage. For control, spray with Neem oil (organic natural) or malathion.

Chores in the Eating Garden

There is still time to sow lettuce, radishes, snap beans and turnips for late fall crops. Blanch celery if you like it yellow, but remember that the green PASCAL celery doesn’t need blanching. Remove canes of raspberries that have fruited, being careful not to injure the new young canes which will produce next year’s crop.

Clearing the yard is a time consuming task, especially when it would be after a long season like autumn and spring. Tidying up the place from all those branches of trees, bushes, and vines, can take up to a week. Don?t you wish there was a faster way to do this?

Well, truth is, there is. You can either hire someone to do it for you, which of course costs big bucks; or you can do it yourself with help from some construction tools. The second option seems more budget friendly of course. There are now construction tools made for such task and it also can help you in other ways besides clearing those branches such as to create mulches for your flower beds, potting plants, ground cover and starting camp fires. It really saves you time from cleaning up and gives you more time to be with the family and do whatever you want to do.

Construction tools are used by professionals to do their services. Now, these have been customized for personal use; such as the chipper shredder among the many tools available. All of these are designed to be a helping hand for you personal construction-related tasks.

The evergreens most commonly used for foundation planting around homes prefer fairly light, well drained soil in which has been incorporated peat moss or other well rotted organic matter. They are relatively shallow rooted and so deep beds need not be dug.

Spreading type evergreens should be planted at least 3 feet away from foundation or walks to give them plenty of growth space.

Frequent watering of both tops and soil is necessary, especially during hot, dry summers. Fertilize in the spring, using a balanced garden fertilizer. Do not overfeed. especially if slow growth is desired.

Dogs should be kept away from evergreens, by use of small fences.

By topping or pinching side growth, evergreens can be trained to desired shapes without too much trouble. Mugho Pine “candles” (the new growth) are commonly cut back to their length in the spring to produce a compact growth. When Pfitzers or other spreading type evergreens grow too long and “leggy”, they can be pruned in mid-summer by cutting off the long branches. Make the cut so that it is hidden behind a new, shorter stem and the pruning will not be noticeable.

Droughts are common in the South. We usually have one or two severe ones during the summer. This means supplemental watering to keep plants growing actively. In fact, “soaking” is a better term. The only way to keep plants in good condition is with a sprinkler and don’t stop until the ground is wet down 4 or 5 inches, at least.

Summer heat presents problems, too. Some plants which are supposed to be grown in full sun actually do better when shaded from hot afternoon sun. Even roses like a little protection in late afternoon. Dahlias, too, produce their best blooms under similar conditions. So do snaps and mums.

Fall vegetables should be started this month. Keep your food garden producing at full capacity. Plant snap and butter beans, beets, carrots, cucumbers, peas, lettuce, turnips and rutabagas. In the lower South plant celery, eggplant, okra and tomato seeds.

Set out cabbage, collard and tomato plants in all sections of the South. Tomatoes set out now in the upper South probably will not mature before frost but are usu-ally planted for green tomatoes to pickle.

Have you attended at flower show recently? If not, you’re due for a shocker!

Gone are the neat row upon row of specimens at one time the only means of displaying the products of our gardening efforts. Along with the never failing display of good specimen blooms you’ll note the sections devoted to actual flower arranging. One fine specimen is used with another to enhance the beauty of themselves and of the show. Competition is fully as keen here as it has been and will remain in the horticultural sections.

It’s catching and if you think flower arranging is not for you, be careful not to sit in on a session of arranging with the “guys” lest you find yourself secretly “placing” your favorite blooms in a tumbler on your workbench in the garage. The urge to create might be only a flicker, but it’s as certain to be inside as a desire to have our front lawn look as nice as our neighbors.

Roses grow best in rich clay-loam soils located where there is good drainage and where protection is afforded from strong winds. Roses require sunlight and usually do not thrive in shady locations.

Before planting, a liberal quantity of well rotted manure should be dug into the soil or. if manure is not available, a commercial fertilizer such as peat moss should be used. Beds should be dug deeply as roses are deep-rooted plants.

Planting can be done either in fall or spring, but where winter is early and severe, spring planting, as early as possible, is recommended.

Bushes should be set in the soil firmly, after first soaking the roots in water. After planting. cut bushes back to 4 or 5 inches from the soil level and cover the tops completely with a mound of earth for a week or so until buds sprout, then uncover. Do not cut back fall planted bushes until spring.

Rose beds should be hoed occasionally during the summer to eliminate weeds and prevent crusting of the soil. An application of about 1″ of peat as a mulch will help keep down weeds and keep the beds tidy.

Big or small you can make your yard a area of beauty and tranquility with a small pond. By employing a little imagination and some cash saving techniques you can exhibit a one of a kind focal point that won’t break your bank.

Keeping It Clean

Use an aquarium vacuum that you can pick up at any pet store or pet area of a department store. This plain tool is basically a long hose with a broad based suction head to cover as much area as possible while being comfortable to manage. This ought to be completed once a week through the summer months. You will need to restore the water you take out in the course of cleaning.

Add a waterfall or other water airing to hold algae down. A waterfall or aerator adds oxygen to the water which is beneficial if you wish to maintain fish in your pond as well as to cut algae levels. They also help keep the water circulating and temperature lower to avoid an algae bloom that will make your water green.

Light It Up

Collage Picture Frames are now becoming popular to display memorable events with both family and friends which are captured in still photos. The young generation finds these kinds of frames more convenient to display their treasured photos. There seems to be no other much better way to display such special memories than with this kind of frame.

Anyone who wishes to collect these kinds of photo frames will surely not find it hard to find the best and nicely crafted ones. Now that it is getting popular these days we can see a wide variety of these kinds of picture frames. This is because many specialty stores are now catering to the needs for these kinds of photo frames

Collage picture frames are good if you are the kind of person who wants to tell stories with pictures. This is also one way of trying to save on space as far as your interior decoration is concerned. These types of frames are simply perfect for that purpose. With only one frame you can flaunt all those pictures you treasure and would love to preserve.

Deciding where you want to put your pond is very important. Your pond needs to be out of direct sunlight if possible. If this isn’t not an option you can add a bridge to give your pond some shade. It is better if the pond isn’t directly under trees because of falling debris. The pond should be close to electricity and also close enough that you can enjoy it!

The size of you pond depends on the space you have and the type of fish you want. If you are sure you want koi you need to have a larger pond. Koi can grow to be quite large. A koi pond needs to be at least 15 feet by 10 feet. If you were thinking about a smaller pond, you may have to go with goldfish.

There is several types of material you can use to build you pond. These are concrete, pre-molded liners, flexible liners, PVC, and rubber. Flexible liners are becoming more common because there is so many different things you can do with them.

Terraces should be added to your pond. These terraces look like shelves inside your pond. They give different depths of water for your fish and also provide a handy place to put your plants.

While having a great looking garden is important you will need to consider ways of allowing the beauty of your garden to show through in various types of weather conditions. Some people also like to have the option of having their garden lit up at night. For these many people, looking at various landscape lighting options will allow you the opportunity of having your garden looking just the way you want it, no matter what the natural lighting conditions are.

In order to provide the best landscape lighting conditions, you will have the choice of a wide variety of lighting fittings. These fixtures can be in the form of lamps, lanterns, spotlights, halogen lights and even solar-powered lights. The cost of these lighting fixtures differs for every style of lighting.

If you are thinking of using landscape lighting you will need to choose where to put the lights in order to achieve the best lighting effects. You may also want to consider which lights will provide your garden with an all over lighting. You can look in gardening magazines to get an idea of the many different ways that these landscape lighting fittings can be utilized.