Before taking up the garden vegetables individually, I shall outline the general practice of cultivation, which applies to all. The purposes of cultivation are three to get rid of weeds, and to stimulate growth by (1) letting air into the soil and freeing unavailable plant food, and (2) by conserving moisture.

As to weeds, the gardener of any experience need not be told the importance of keeping his crops clean. He has learned from bitter and costly experience the price of letting them get anything resembling a start. He knows that one or two days’ growth, after they are well up, followed perhaps by a day or so of rain, may easily double or treble the work of cleaning a patch of onions or carrots, and that where weeds have attained any size they cannot be taken out of sowed crops without doing a great deal of injury. He also realizes, or should, that every day’s growth means just so much available plant food stolen from under the very roots of his legitimate crops.

Instead of letting the weeds get away with any plant food, he should be furnishing more, for clean and frequent cultivation will not only break the soil up mechanically, but let in air, moisture and heat all essential in effecting those chemical changes necessary to convert non- available into available plant food. Long before the science in the case was discovered, the soil cultivators had learned by observation the necessity of keeping the soil nicely loosened about their growing crops. Even the lanky and untutored aborigine saw to it that his squaw not only put a bad fish under the hill of maize but plied her shell hoe over it. Plants need to breathe. Their roots need air. You might as well expect to find the rosy glow of happiness on the wan cheeks of a cotton-mill child slave as to expect to see the luxuriant dark green of healthy plant life in a suffocated garden.

Important as the question of air is, that of water ranks beside it. You may not see at first what the matter of frequent cultivation has to do with water. But let us stop a moment and look into it. Take a strip of blotting paper, dip one end in water, and watch the moisture run up hill, soak up through the blotter. The scientists have labeled that “capillary attraction” the water crawls up little invisible tubes formed by the texture of the blotter. Now take a similar piece, cut it across, hold the two cut edges firmly together, and try it again. The moisture refuses to cross the line: the connection has been severed.

In the same way the water stored in the soil after a rain begins at once to escape again into the atmosphere. That on the surface evaporates first, and that which has soaked in begins to soak in through the soil to the surface. It is leaving your garden, through the millions of soil tubes, just as surely as if you had a two-inch pipe and a gasoline engine, pumping it into the gutter night and day! Save your garden by stopping the waste. It is the easiest thing in the world to do cut the pipe in two. By frequent cultivation of the surface soil not more than one or two inches deep for most small vegetables the soil tubes are kept broken, and a mulch of dust is maintained. Try to get over every part of your garden, especially where it is not shaded, once in every ten days or two weeks. Does that seem like too much work? You can push your wheel hoe through, and thus keep the dust mulch as a constant protection, as fast as you can walk. If you wait for the weeds, you will nearly have to crawl through, doing more or less harm by disturbing your growing plants, losing all the plant food (and they will take the cream) which they have consumed, and actually putting in more hours of infinitely more disagreeable work. If the beginner at gardening has not been convinced by the facts given, there is only one thing left to convince him experience.  Having given so much space to the reason for constant care in this matter, the question of methods naturally follows. Get a wheel hoe. The simplest sorts will not only save you an infinite amount of time and work, but do the work better, very much better than it can be done by hand. You can grow good vegetables, especially if your garden is a very small one, without one of these labor-savers, but I can assure you that you will never regret the small investment necessary to procure it.

With a wheel hoe, the work of preserving the soil mulch becomes very simple. If one has not a wheel hoe, for small areas very rapid work can be done with the scuffle hoe.

The matter of keeping weeds cleaned out of the rows and between the plants in the rows is not so quickly accomplished. Where hand-work is necessary, let it be done at once. Here are a few practical suggestions that will reduce this work to a minimum, (1) Get at this work while the ground is soft; as soon as the soil begins to dry out after a rain is the best time. Under such conditions the weeds will pull out by the roots, without breaking off. (2) Immediately before weeding, go over the rows with a wheel hoe, cutting shallow, but just as close as possible, leaving a narrow, plainly visible strip which must be hand- weeded. The best tool for this purpose is the double wheel hoe with disc attachment, or hoes for large plants. (3) See to it that not only the weeds are pulled but that every inch of soil surface is broken up. It is fully as important that the weeds just sprouting be destroyed, as that the larger ones be pulled up. One stroke of the weeder or the fingers will destroy a hundred weed seedlings in less time than one weed can be pulled out after it gets a good start. (4) Use one of the small hand-weeders until you become skilled with it. Not only may more work be done but the fingers will be saved unnecessary wear.

The skilful use of the wheel hoe can be acquired through practice only. The first thing to learn is that it is necessary to watch the wheels only: the blades, disc or rakes will take care of themselves.  The operation of “hilling” consists in drawing up the soil about the stems of growing plants, usually at the time of second or third hoeing. It used to be the practice to hill everything that could be hilled “up to the eyebrows,” but it has gradually been discarded for what is termed “level culture”; and you will readily see the reason, from what has been said about the escape of moisture from the surface of the soil; for of course the two upper sides of the hill, which may be represented by an equilateral triangle with one side horizontal, give more exposed surface than the level surface represented by the base. In wet soils or seasons hilling may be advisable, but very seldom otherwise. It has the additional disadvantage of making it difficult to maintain the soil mulch which is so desirable.

Rotation of crops.
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There is another thing to be considered in making each vegetable do its best, and that is crop rotation, or the following of any vegetable with a different sort at the next planting. With some vegetables, such as cabbage, this is almost imperative, and practically all are helped by it. Even onions, which are popularly supposed to be the proving exception to the rule, are healthier, and do as well after some other crop, provided the soil is as finely pulverized and rich as a previous crop of onions would leave it. Here are the fundamental rules of crop rotation:

(1) Crops of the same vegetable, or vegetables of the same family (such as turnips and cabbage) should not follow each other.

(2) Vegetables that feed near the surface, like corn, should follow deep-rooting crops.

(3) Vines or leaf crops should follow root crops.

(4) Quick-growing crops should follow those occupying the land all season.

These are the principles which should determine the rotations to be followed in individual cases. The proper way to attend to this matter is when making the planting plan. You will then have time to do it properly, and will need to give it no further thought for a year.

With the above suggestions in mind, and put to use , it will not be difficult to give the crops those special attentions which are needed to make them do their very best.

Joey Simmons
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/learn-about-cultivating-vegetables-675724.html

Indoor plants can make your home look clean and beautiful. Many people prefer to take care of indoor plants nowadays because of the convenience it affords the. Bonsai plants in particular needs to be watered once in a week so owners need not worry that it would easily wither. Also, scientific studies proved that indoor plants can actually reduce the pollution from dust and other particles in your home.

On the other hand, a bonsai plant that is usually exposed to sunlight should be watered once a day or according to its requirements. You should observe the soil in your bonsai plant once in a while to ensure that it would not become dry. You should also note that you need to water the bonsai plant gently or leave its soil undisturbed at the very least. The water requirement from one bonsai plants can vary so adjust the water you put in accordingly.

In addition, the demands for taking care of indoor plants present a different challenge from taking care of outdoor plants. In an indoor plant, you need not worry about exposure to the outside environment like snow, extreme heat, or rain so your bonsai plant would remain well protected inside your home. Note that bonsai plants can also be grown outdoors but many people prefer to grow them indoors since it would make their home more attractive. Bonsai plants are also more vulnerable to extreme elements when they are left outdoors, for example, because its roots retains moisture, the plant can easily freeze because of the water content it retains.

However, it would be best if you set aside the time to expose your bonsai plant to the morning or afternoon sunlight. It should also get at least four to six hours exposure to sunlight per day. Fertilizers are also a necessity for your bonsai plant to grow healthy since it grows in such little soil. On this note, ensure that it receives the amount of fertilizers it needs, liquid fertilizers are especially recommended. Spraying a water soluble fertilizer on your bonsai tree once every two months would also help your bonsai tree retain its beauty.

Finally, most bonsai trees that are widely available already had their training. All you need to do in this case is the periodic trimming so that your tree would remain miniature. You should not trim all the new growth in your tree because leaving some new growth is necessary to keep it healthy. Taking care of your indoor plants properly would ensure that they will remain healthy and beautiful. The tips stated above cover only the basics on taking care of your indoor bonsai tree but it would surely help in growing a more attractive and healthier indoor bonsai tree.

Patrick Desnoyers
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/how-to-take-care-of-your-indoor-trees-90684.html

Gardens, employing flowers as their primary elements, are called flower gardens. Plants, shrubs, trees and the other contributing components are present as well, but the focus is on flowers. These flower gardens are usually cultivated for ornamental purposes.

How Did The Idea Evolve?

Todays flower gardens have an interesting history behind them : While pruning, some farmers noted a few colorful weeds. They liked the colors and so left them there. The concept of tolerating these beautiful weeds, gradually caught on and led to the culture of cultivating flowers.

Knot Gardens

Flower gardens arranged artistically, are known as Knot gardens. Knot gardens are designed by a systematic composition of plants, herbs and shrubs. The plants are planted in a pre-calculated way so that when they grow, they end up forming a desired design. Most common ones are rectangle-regions or square-compartments. The edges are given shape with herbs planted in queues, with almost no space left in-between. These are also cut accordingly to maintain the width of the edges throughout in synch. The fence in this fashion, often brings paths in flower gardens, for the visitors to walk through.

These paths derived by boundaries, are sometimes filled with sand, gravel or concrete, and the trend of growing lawn in the regions traced is now on the rise. The number of square regions a Knot garden can carry, depends on the size of a garden and varies in the range of one to ten. These types of flower gardens were first designed in the times of Queen Elizabeth I in UK.

Plants used to form Knot flower gardens are lemon balm, hyssop, costmary, germander, marjoram, acanthus, mallow, chamomile, rosemary, calendulas, violas, thyme, southernwood, santolina etc. Such flower gardens are also called parterres.

Herb Gardens

The gardens with plants used for medicinal and cooking purposes are known as herb gardens. Some flowers are edible, one can eat them freshly-cut, while some others may only be eaten when cooked or baked. Flower gardens are at times, cultivated to grow medicinal plants too, such as aloevera. In ancient times, there were no modern physicians, just the nuns and monks, who were said to heal pain by using extracts of plants.

Aloevera is still widely used today for skin treatments, especially for treating acne. The others herbs falling in this genre are : rosemary, parsley, sage, marjoram, thyme, mint, rue, angelica, bay, basil etc.

Tips For Your Domestic Flower Gardens

Flower gardens need that extra attention from their creators:

- The color, aroma, height, leafage are all attributes of the plants, should be studied carefully before sowing their seeds in your flower gardens. One thing to be kept in mind is that no two plants with similar colored blossoms should be placed beside each other.

- Spacing between the plants should also be worked out in advance.

- A well-examined flower-seed-mix can be used to take care of the arrangements and designs of the flower-plants.

- Different plants bloom in different seasons. Paying due attention to this fact, the plants should be grown in such a way so as to make the flower gardens look colorful throughout the year.

Peter Finch
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/tips-to-create-a-perfect-flower-garden-100588.html

You can create beautiful and structurally sound designs in your yard through the use of landscaping bricks. Available in numerous designs, colors and styles, they can be used for short walls, flowerbed retaining walls and for paving a sidewalk or even your driveway.

Landscaping bricks are also available in many sizes to meet the needs of whatever project you are working on. Additionally, larger blocks are manufactured to look like landscaping bricks, making the installation for larger projects faster to complete. Bull-nose landscaping bricks look nice surrounding small flowerbeds and two-edge bricks can be used when both edges will be visible.

Building a sidewalk, for instance, is fairly easy with landscaping bricks, but be prepared for some physical labor. You can begin your project by lining the area in which you plan to site your sidewalk. Straight walks are easier to work with and will require no cutting of the bricks as will a curved walk. Dig down at least eight inches and insure your path is level and square.

There should be a minimum of two inches of extra space on both sides of your dug area to allow for the placement of edging bricks. Place the edge landscaping bricks in place by using a rubber mallet. They should be set tightly together with no extra space between them.

Make Allowances For Drainage

Pour gravel into the dugout for the sidewalk to a depth of four inches to allow for water to be absorbed into the ground instead of lifting your bricks up. Once it is level, allowing at least one-quarter inch slope, running away from house, add a layer of fiber material to stunt weed growth. The type of fiber issued in flowerbeds will work fine.

Now pour two inches of sand on top of the fiber and using a piece of wood, such as a two by four, cut to length to match the width of your sidewalk, scrape it over the top of the sand to form and even, level surface. If it not even or has low spots, your landscaping bricks will not be level.

Begin placing your landscaping bricks on top of the sand at one corner. The best design for a sidewalk made of landscaping bricks can be obtained by placing two bricks side-by-side and two more running the opposite way. Pack them down by using a rubber mallet. This will give a basket-weave effect and adds to the appearance of the finished project.

Once all the landscaping bricks are in place, pour sand over it and sweep to fill in any gaps between the bricks. Clean off excess with water and you’re done.

anonymous
http://www.articlesbase.com/gardening-articles/complete-edging-with-landscaping-bricks-110723.html

flowers play a significant role in Christmas decorations, all over the world. People decorate their homes and work places with a variety of flowers in nearly all possible colors. Churches and chapels are also decorated with flowers and this adds to the beauty of the ambience in the highest magnitude. Some of the most popular Christmas flowers are Mistletoe, Christmas rose, Poinsettia, Ivy and Christmas cactus.

Christmas flowers are used mostly to decorate the entrance of the homes, the Christmas trees as well as churches and even public places. These flowers on Christmas are also used as excellent gift items to be exchanged among friends and family. Bouquets, flower wreaths, and flower baskets… are available across the choicest collection and in the most attractive prices so that you could afford them without burning a hole in the pocket. However there are numerous flowers that exclusive and special and thus also very expensive.

Christmas flowers add to the beauty of the atmosphere and spread elegance and fragrance to the ambience. There are several religious connotations also surrounding the flowers on Christmas like kissing under the mistletoe and various others in the genre. Therefore no Christmas celebration is complete without the Christmas flowers playing an integral part of the entire celebrations and revelry.

Christmas decorations play an important part in the preparation of the event. No home, no workplace and even no public squares are free of elaborate Christmas decorations. People start decorating their homes for Christmas, days in advance and with portable are artificial Christmas decorations now available in the market, people with time constraints can also decorate their homes colorfully and in no time. However, what still remains a favorite with all; all throughout the world are handmade Christmas decorations that add a personal element to the entire ambience.

There are a number of elements that generally accompany all Christmas decorations. A few of the most significant ones have been mentioned below for your perusal:

- It is important that you plan a theme for Christmas, a little in advance so that you could creatively design every part of it. Rather than rushing at the last hour it is better to devote time also for the planning bit of it.

- Try to engage every member of the family in the Xmas decorations so that they feel very much a part of the entire creative endeavor as well as use their creative inputs as well.

- Try to keep the Christmas decorations simple yet elegant, subtle yet innovative and thematic yet safe at least for the families that have infants. Many a times we tend to be careless about the glass Christmas decorations as well as light decorations and that may prove perilous for young children and babies.

- Christmas decorations like ornamented Christmas tree, Santa Claus and nativity scene (crèche) are the most popular elements, all over the world.

- Homemade Christmas decorations add a distinct aura to the entire place and therefore in case you were interested in doing it this way, try using reuse stuff, recycled products and a variety of regular articles that you could put to use.

Jenny Rodes
http://www.articlesbase.com/holidays-articles/christmas-flowers-integral-for-christmas-decorations-673432.html