A guide for the outdoor lighting novice

Obviously, if you’ve never attempted setting up an outdoor Christmas lighting display before now, you probably could use a few tips on how to get it underway. Most people’s biggest concern is working with electricity and if this is a first time, some safety tips are in order. Check with an electrical professional to get some guidelines about what you should have in the way of equipment and safety in order to get started.

Small home owners have an easier time of deciding how to go about decorating their property for the holidays. After all, it only takes a small number of lights on the front of a small home to make an outstanding showing. Add to that a few wreaths on windows and the front door and perhaps over the garage door and you’re all set. You will probably be shown some very energy efficient lights to get you start on the right foot to participate in the “greening of the environment”.

Ideas for your first Outdoor Lighting project

“Load up the car or van and see the holiday lights”

Sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, a group of people get together to experience a Christmas tradition. They go out in buses or vans to take a look at how people have decorated their property this year. It’s more like an event than a tour for most people who go out. Especially the senior citizens living in retirement homes look forward to this excursion every year. It is one of their expected outings. At the beginning of the light tour season, there is a published list of homes that should be viewed on the tour that have especially gone out of their way to decorate in as tacky a way as possible. This is called the “tacky light tour”. It is one of the fun things people like to do, especially in Virginia. The “tacky light” neighborhoods deliberately set up the display every year, just as amusement for (probably themselves) those who make it a point to ride by. Everything in the yard is blinking and blowing about with figures of all types and descriptions included. Some of them with no connection to Christmas whatsoever.

Some climbers like ivy need no support other than that provided by their aerial roots whereas others, as for example the climbing roses, need tying in with string, plastic ribbon, webbing or a similar artificial aid.

Tradition has it that clematis produce their best efforts when the roots are shaded but the flowers are allowed to reach up into the sun. However, I believe a well-drained soil to be more important, otherwise losses in winter are liable to be heavy. A mulch of peat mixed with a handful of bone- meal is all the feed necessary.

Before attempting any planting examine the soil at the foot of an average house wall. Usually it consists of builders’ leavings, sub-soil, pot crocks and other aridities, possibly enriched by a few tea leaves. All this must be excavated and replaced with soil from a fertile part of the garden.

A good mixture consists of 5 parts of garden soil to 2 parts of peat plus a 6-in. pot of bonemeal to every barrowload of the mixture. Only a narrow border need be made, 2 ft. wide by 15 in. deep, for given a good start healthy roots will penetrate less profitable fields.

It can be generally assumed that any plant with large leaves can be grown into mature specimens if time and conditions are available.

The glossy green leaves of Ficus lyrata are shaped like the body of a violin and have faint yellow veins running through them, but the overall impression is purely green. Not particularly easy to care for, it does better if the roots are allowed to grow through the bottom of the pot and into a container filled with moist peat. It takes many years to reach maturity but a height of 20 ft. is quite possible when plants are growing in large pots. However, by the time plants attain this height they will have almost inevitably lost most of their lower leaves. Conditions required are warm, moist and shaded; the temperature should not fall below 16C. (60″F.).

Philodendron bipinnatifidum are a dark, glossy green in colour. Excellent plants fir situations by a large pool, particularly if it is possible to allow the aerial roots into the water.

Another pest that ruins the appearance of affected plants. Easy to detect but very difficult to kill off completely once they have made a home in the tangled branches of such climbing plants as stephanotis and hoya. One is often invited to visit the greenhouse of an enthusiastic amateur and see the wonderful range of plants being cultivated under one roof.

Many of these plant collections are managed extremely well but often enough an incredible infestation of mealy bug will be shrugged off with the comment, ‘Of course, there is a bit of bug about.’ The sad part of it all is that a thorough drenching spray regularly repeated would lead to considerable improvement.

Mealy bug is another pest that may be encountered. Not very particular about which part of the plant he inhabits, he does have a penchant for finding his way between twisting stems and overlapping leaves where he can he particularly inaccessible to any pest control that may be used. One consolation is that mealy bugs are not difficult to see, as they wrap their young in a cotton wool-like substance. Adult bugs are very similar to small wood lice and powdery white in colour.

Abide by the fertiliser manufacturer’s instructions and better results will be a little larger, and procure a properly balanced potting compost. It is seldom, if ever, that one sees good-quality plants growing in what is often referred to as garden dirt. Composts should contain peat, sand, fertiliser and all sorts of other ingredients if potted plants are to do well.

There are many varieties of adiantum to choose from, all of them delicately beautiful, reasonably easy to care for and supremely adaptable. Plant them in dish or bowl gardens, as individuals to stand on top of a pedestal, Or in hanging baskets. To see them at their best the latter method cannot be bettered.

Like fertilisers, all insecticides should be used as instructed, as that seemingly harmless little extra may well cause leaf scorch and other damage. Pests should be treated as soon as they are seen, as any delay will make their control just that much more difficult.

A number of indoor plants may be propagated by this method, and it is also an excellent way of reducing the height of rubber plants which are getting out of hand. Plants are air-layered simply by removing a section of the outer bark and wrapping a handful of wet sphagnum moss around the exposed area, or by making an upward cut through the main stem and wrapping wet sphagnum moss round the incision.

Relax; it is not nearly so dreadful as the foregoing may suggest. In actual fact the house plant grower is not too much troubled by pests, and if you follow my earlier suggestion about purchasing plants from a reliable source then the chance of introducing pests to your collection of plants is further reduced.

Fortunately, the majority of really poisonous insecticides are not available to the general public, but even those that are considered safe should be handled carefully. Certainly, when handling insecticides rubber gloves should be worn as general practice, and any plants that need treatment, particularly with a liquid solution that is sprayed on, should be treated out of doors.

On most varieties stems will, quite naturally, become leafless and woody in time. When this happens and the plant is no longer attractive the stems should be cut to within a few inches from their base. Keep the potful of stumps as they usually grow again from the base. The stems can then be cut up into sections some 2 to 3 in. in length.

After dusting the ends with rooting powder the cuttings should be pressed horizontally into a seed box filled with moist peat until the pieces of stem are almost covered. Any growth buds (small swellings on the stem) that can be seen should be uppermost. As soon as the first two leaves have opened, pot into 31-in. size pots. Many dracaenas (D. Redcdge in particular), and philodendrons with larger leaves can also he propagated in exactly the same way.

Dracaena massangeana is one of the more impressive foliage plants though space demanding, but good value if the room can be afforded. When freely planted in beds of compost or when growing in their natural habitat they become quite substantial plants.

Aglaonema is widely distributed in South East Asia. 16 to 2eC. (6o to 70F.). The suitable temperature for Aglaonema is less than 16C. (60F.); for a short period this may do little harm, but it is essential to provide adequate warmth if these plants are to do well.

A. rhodocyanea is one of the most exotic and unusual of all potted plants. Large, strap-like overlapping leaves form a perfectly watertight urn (hence the common name). When purchasing, look for plants with lighter grey colouring as the darker ones are less attractive. To prevent damage to the natural grey bloom on the leaves it is important to ensure that they are not cleaned or rubbed in any way.

When buying plants in flower it is best to select those that arc more backward in order to get the longest life possible from them. The ideal stage is when the pink bract is a little above the water level in the urn. Plants that have developed to the stage where the blue flowers in the otherwise pink bract are fully open should be avoided.

The larger leaved ivies are better where a bolder effect is sought, but all these are vulnerable to red spider mite in hot, dry conditions, so a watch should he kept for their presence.

As the name suggests, II. Mini Green has smaller, more congested leaves that are crinkled at the edges. Of the variegated plants for outdoor use, and as durable indoor plants, the best small-leaved ivies are those with basically grey colouring.

Ivies may he used for almost every purpose, as trailing plants, upright plants on stakes, climbing plants against the wall or, very effectively, as hanging basket plants. In this respect they may he used in conjunction with other plants, or as individual specimens filling the basket.