Garden ideass

With the right plants, your backyard can become a goldfish sanctuary. Here are the garden plants and flowers that goldfish love the most. Goldfinches are primarily seed-eating birds that regularly visit bird feeders for niger (thistle) and sunflower seeds. However, you can also attract these birds by planting favorite plants in your yard. As a bonus, you can watch the goldfish show off their acrobatic skills as they fly through the garden, land on flowers and dance. Here are the plants you need for your goldfinch garden. 1. Sunflower Sunflowers are one of the best plants to attract goldfish because sunflower seeds are one of their favorite foods! A wonderful thing to do for wildlife is to put spent flower heads back in place. This is especially true for sunflowers and other flowers in the daisy family. These flowers produce abundant seeds that attract finches, buntings, native sparrows and others, serving as natural bird feeders while the seeds last. 2. Purple Coneflowers ...

Fall lawn care secrets for healthy  Take advantage of the cool fall weather to fertilize, control weeds, and improve the health and appearance of your yard. A little work now will pave the way for a lush, green carpet when temperatures warm up again in the spring. Try these fall lawn care ideas to ensure a healthy lawn next year. 1. Adjust your mowing height If you raise the height of the mower in the summer to reduce heat stress on your lawn, return the mower deck to its normal height in the fall (about 3 inches is ideal for most grasses). Mowing your lawn a little shorter in the fall helps prevent the grass from sinking under leaves and snow. However, avoid cutting the grass too short. Tightly mowed turf has fewer roots and allows weeds to gain a foothold. 2. Water your grass a lot If a summer drought persists into the fall, consider watering your lawn twice deeply before the onset of frost. Fall lawn care, which includes several inches of deep soaking, helps transit...

Top Tomato Cages  If you want to harvest large quantities of tomatoes , investing in a good tomato cage (or half a dozen or so) is a necessary first step. Although you don't need a cage to grow tomatoes, they help keep the plants healthy and increase your chances of a bountiful harvest. Plus, they hold your plants so they don't take over your entire gardening. "One of the best reasons to cage your tomatoes is because they keep the fruit off the ground and prevent disease and pests," says Gary Spoonmore, co-creator of ParkSeed's From Seed to Spoon app. "A cage can provide the necessary support and prevent plants from breaking or being knocked over." 1. Happy Trees Heavy Duty Tomato Cages Our top overall pick is the Happy Trees Large Heavy Duty Tomato Cage. This heavy-duty cage is extra sturdy and works well for all tomato varieties, including large tomato plants and heavy crops of fruit. It's made in the USA from thick-gauge galvanized st...

Flowering shrubs for hedges Cover your yard with flowering hedges instead of fences to add color, texture and fragrance to your backyard space. Check out these top picks for flowering shrubs that you can use to create fast-growing privacy hedges. 1. Azalea Grown for their showy spring flowers, azaleas (Rhododendron spp.) light up the landscape with their trumpet-shaped blooms in a wide range of colors. Some, like the encore azalea (pictured here), bloom on new wood throughout summer and fall. Most azaleas are deciduous and have smaller leaves than true rhododendrons. 2. Beautyberry Although American beautyberry (Callicarpa americana) bears small pinkish-white flowers along its stem in late summer, the fruit that follows is what makes this shrub so spectacular. This native plant's flowers develop into bright purple berries in the fall. In zone 6, beautyberry may die back in winter, but will sprout from the base in spring. 3. Beautybush True to its name, beauty bush (Col...

 Seattle Edible Landscape   The South Seattle Edible Residence is home to an aspiring chef who sought to redesign his entire property to reflect and support his passion for food. Raised bed annual gardens, beehives, perennial plantings and mushroom habitats have transformed the yard into an edible, functional outdoor living space. Perennial garden beds and extensive production of herbs, berries, vegetables, medicinal crops and pollinated flowers. Fruit trees, patios, stone walkways, trellises and covered seating areas provide structure to the garden and create comfortable spaces for year-round entertaining. The front yard has dozens of perennial edible plants. Beautifully combined, the various patterns and colors provide year-round interest and create a welcoming entrance to the home. The shady sides of the property are cultivated by Pacific Northwest natives and focus on edibles such as sal, evergreen huckleberry and wild ginger. The backyard serves as the primar...

 Drought-tolerant vegetables Whether you live in a dry climate or are looking for ways to reduce your water use, these drought-tolerant vegetables are a great addition to your garden. We all know that vegetables need water to grow, but what happens when you water your garden can get complicated. You may live in a dry climate where drought is common. Or you can use well water and be careful to use a sprinkler or irrigation system regularly. Whatever your reason, choosing drought-tolerant vegetables is a great strategy when planting a water-sensitive garden. Is soil type a factor in drought conditions? A soil's ability to retain moisture depends on what the soil is made of. Some basic soil components are sand, clay, silt and silt. Your soil may contain a mixture of these types or be highly concentrated in one type. The particle size of clay, sand, silt, and silt indicates how much moisture the soil retains. For example, clay has a smaller particle size, which gives it a ...

Ideas for strawberry pots that aren't strawberries While the strawberry pot is mostly used to grow strawberries (hence the name), there are plenty of other uses for this type of plant. For example, if you want to grow flowers to add some color to your garden or front porch, keep your favorite herbs nearby, or display your succulent collection, the possibilities are endless with this hole-filled container. Discover what a strawberry pot is and get planting tips and ideas to help you use this unique planter. What is Strawberry Pot? A strawberry pot, also known as a strawberry jar or strawberry planter, is a container with several open pockets randomly scattered around its sides. The idea is to place the strawberry plant at the top of the container and then the strawberry runners can grow daughter plants through the openings on the sides. This system allows you to grow multiple strawberry plants in one "track". Usually made from fine terracotta, strawberry pots ...

 Colorful ground cover plants Low-maintenance groundcover plants offer a simple solution for filling in bare spots under large trees, on sunny slopes and in other challenging areas. In addition to adding welcome color, these plants act as living mulch, protecting the soil from erosion and drought. The following perennial groundcovers work well in a variety of situations without requiring much care. 1. Evening primrose Native to the southwestern U.S. and Mexico, evening primrose (Oenothera speciosa) makes an excellent heat-, drought-, and moisture-tolerant landscape plant. It will reward you with cup-like pink flowers that open in mid-summer evenings or on cloudy days. Although it's easy to grow, it can spread aggressively in the best of circumstances, so make sure it has room to roam. 2. Golden Moneywort Also known as creeping jenny, golden moneywort (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') is a fast-growing ground cover that produces mats of small chartreuse leaves alo...

Yellow Flowers to Grow From tall to small, yellow flowers add a cheerful pop of color to the backyard. Check out our favorite yellow blooming flowers for your garden. They say that if you have a yellow personality, you will be happy, friendly and fun. I'd say the same goes for yellow flowers, right? You'll find yellow flowers for a wide range of garden styles, from high-impact modern landscapes to romantic cottage flower beds. Consider these 10 yellow flowers that will make a welcome addition to your garden. 1. Sunflower Show your yellow love on a whole new level. Sunflowers can grow over 15 feet tall. As you can imagine, they love a nice, warm summer. Attractive to bees and birds, sunflowers shine if you're looking for an easy way to attract wildlife to your backyard. 2. Yellow blanket flower These short-lived perennials bloom best in full sun and well-drained soil. The 3-inch flowers attract butterflies and the plant grows to about 18 inches. 3. Daffodil Amon...

Garden for a beautiful spring You know that point in late winter when you think the cold weather will never end? Spring fever is hitting and you can't wait to enjoy your garden in the sun again. The landscape may still look dull, but visions of colorful tulips and daffodils and fresh green grass dance through your head. Although it's too early to plant (check your area's last spring frost date), there's plenty of gardening work you can do before the weather warms. Before everything starts growing again, check each of these five things off your to-do list and prepare for your perfect spring garden. 1. Celebrate early bloomers Some plants such as crocus, hellebore and camellia bloom very late in winter. If you have any of these early blooming flowers in your yard, take advantage of them. Remove any debris, such as last year's dead leaves or twigs, that may obscure the flowers from view. Try placing a few colorful flowers in a vase inside if it's too c...

 Great indoor vining plants  Including indoor vining plants in your houseplant collection will bring wildness into your home. Many types of plants shoot out vining stems to creep up a wall or bookcase, from delicate creeping figs to heavy monsters. This article includes recommendations for popular vining houseplants and expert tips on how to use them to make a room feel like an exotic indoor jungle. 1. Arrowhead Vine Named for its distinctively shaped leaves, arrowroot vine (Sygonium podophyllym) is a fast-growing tropical vine that thrives as a houseplant. Give it plenty of bright, indirect light, consistently moist soil, and warm, humid conditions, and the vines will grow up to 6 feet tall. To give a room a dramatic jungle look, train it to grow a moss pole or a small trellis. Arrowhead vine varieties come in many colors and shapes. For example, 'Pink Splash' has hot pink streaks on dark green leaves, and 'Snow White' has white spots on deep green leaves....

Popular Shrubs You Can Trim This Month February can be a busy month for pruning, providing a great opportunity to prune many popular late-winter shrubs and trees, as well as cut perennials left over from winter. Depending on your location and climate, you may add several plants to prune to your to-do list, which already includes shrubs and flowers to plant in February. Gardeners in colder areas, with a later frost, are better off waiting until the temperature rises and transplanting or transplanting. To help you trim and shape your backyard in the coming months, take a look at seven popular plants you can trim in February to keep them in shape and give you a spectacular display of flowers this year. 1. Clematis Clematis are popular climbing plants and there is a huge range of different clematis to grow. They can grow fast and spread, so should be pruned. The most important aspect of pruning clematis is knowing which pruning group your plant belongs to - there are three gro...