Visiting a website about lawn care like  https://www.schwartzlawncare.com/ can help you gain more knowledge about lawn care, but in this article, we will provide you with essential tips for growing a healthy and vibrant lawn. From choosing the right fertilizer to dealing with weeds and pests, we will guide you through the process step by step.

Whether you are a seasoned gardener or a beginner, these tips will help you achieve the perfect lawn you’ve always wanted. So, roll up your sleeves, grab your gardening tools, and start creating the lawn of your dreams.

Lawn Maintenance Basics

It’s important to follow the lawn maintenance basics to keep your lawn looking lush and green. You should cut your grass a little and often to avoid over-stressing it and change your mowing pattern regularly.

It’s also crucial to avoid cutting more than 5cm at a time and to use an electric lawnmower for small gardens and a petrol engine for larger areas.

Fertilizing your lawn every 30-40 days with a mineral-based mixture of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus is also essential. Additionally, you should water your lawn daily, adjusting the amount based on temperature, humidity, and grass maturity.

For newly sown lawns, daily watering is necessary to help seeds germinate and grow strong roots. You can use a hand scarifier or hoe or opt for herbicides or soil overhaul to remove weeds.

Finally, scarify your lawn to clear debris, give roots breathing space, and fill holes with coarse sand to improve water flow and oxygen to roots.

Fertilizing and Watering

Ensure you’re watering your lawn daily, adjusting the amount based on temperature, humidity, and grass maturity. When the weather’s hot and dry, your lawn may need more water than usual to stay healthy.

On the other hand, if it’s been raining a lot, you may need to cut back on watering to avoid over-saturating the soil. It’s important to balance giving your lawn enough water to thrive and avoiding water waste.

In addition to watering, fertilizing your lawn regularly is essential for maintaining a lush green lawn. A mineral-based mixture of nitrogen, potassium, and phosphorus every 30-40 days is a good rule of thumb.

Make sure to follow the instructions on the fertilizer package and apply it evenly to your lawn. Over-fertilizing can damage your grass, so it’s important to use the right amount.

By following these tips for fertilizing and watering, you can keep your lawn healthy and beautiful all season long.

Weed Control and Scarification

Keeping your lawn free of weeds and debris is crucial for a healthy and vibrant yard. Weeds can choke out the grass and steal vital nutrients, while debris can impede water and air circulation to the roots.

One effective way to remove both weeds and debris is through scarification, which involves using a rake or scarifier to remove thatch and other organic matter from the surface of the lawn. This process creates space for water and nutrients to penetrate the soil and reach the roots. It also promotes stronger root growth and overall lawn health.

When it comes to weed control, there are several options available. Hand weeding is effective for small areas, but herbicides can be a more efficient solution for larger lawns. It’s important to choose the right herbicide for your specific weed problem, as different products are designed to target different types of weeds.

Additionally, regular mowing can help prevent weeds from taking hold in the first place, as it removes the tops of weeds before they can go to seed. By incorporating weed control and scarification into your lawn care routine, you can keep your lawn looking lush and green all season long.

Premium Seed and Organic Care

Investing in premium seed and organic lawn care can significantly impact the overall health and appearance of your lawn. By choosing high-quality seeds, you can ensure that your grass will grow strong and healthy, with better resistance to pests, disease, and drought.

Organic lawn care products, such as compost tea and granular compost, can help nourish your lawn naturally without using harmful chemicals that can harm the environment and your family.

When selecting premium seeds for your lawn, look for varieties that are well-suited to your climate and soil type. Consider factors such as shade tolerance, drought resistance, and disease resistance, and choose a seed blend that meets your specific needs.

Organic lawn care products should be used in conjunction with proper watering, mowing, and fertilization techniques, to ensure that your lawn remains healthy and attractive throughout the growing season.

By investing in premium seed and organic lawn care, you can enjoy a lush green lawn that is both beautiful and sustainable.

Lawn Edging and Tools

Using a lightweight cordless string trimmer for lawn edging allows for effortless precision and clean lines that elevate the overall aesthetic of your outdoor space. This tool can easily get into tight corners and around obstacles that a traditional mower cannot reach, ensuring that every inch of your lawn is perfectly trimmed and edged. Its lightweight design also makes it easy to handle and maneuver, reducing strain on your arms and back during extended use.

There are numerous other lawn edging tools available on the market. These include manual edgers, electric trimmers, and gas-powered edgers. Each tool has its own unique features and benefits, so it’s important to choose the one that best suits your needs and budget.

Whichever tool you choose, proper edging is essential for maintaining the health and appearance of your lawn. It prevents grass from encroaching on flower beds and walkways and keeps weeds at bay.

Final Thoughts

To keep your lawn healthy, fertilize it several times a year and make sure to water it regularly. Be mindful of weeds and scarify your lawn occasionally to keep it looking its best.

Invest in premium seed and organic care for your lawn to ensure it stays healthy and vibrant. Edge your lawn to create a clean and polished look. Use the right tools for the job, like a sprinkler and a lawnmower.

With these tips, you’ll be on your way to having the perfect lawn you’ve always wanted. Enjoy the beauty of your lush green lawn!

The post Essential Tips For A Lush Green Lawn appeared first on Derek Time.

Don’t worry, bugs and pests are totally normal and treatable. Additionally, if you’re looking for ways to enhance your garden for the summer, we’ve got you covered! One solution could be to make a plant spray for your garden using natural ingredients. With this spray, you can keep pests at bay without harming your plants or the environment. Stay tuned for our top picks on how you can make your garden the best it can be!

Clean out your gutters

Cleaning out your gutters is essential; we understand that this is probably something you don’t often think about, but we can’t stress enough how important it is to keep on top of your gutter maintenance. If you are relaxing in your garden moss and grass hanging out of your gutters could be a massive eyesore.

The good thing about cleaning your gutters is that it doesn’t only make a massive positive difference aesthetically, but it also has a lot of benefits in terms of practicality. A lot of people don’t realize the number of problems that could occur if your gutters are blocked, some examples would be roof rot and foundation damage. It goes without saying that these problems are very expensive to fix.

If your gutters need to be cleaned it’s probably best to get in contact with professionals to carry out the job for you, attempting it on your own could be pretty dangerous. When thinking about how to improve your garden for summer, cleaning out your gutters is definitely up there with the most important ideas.

Get some artificial grass

Artificial grass can be an amazing, modern touch to your home that you should definitely consider if you’re thinking about how to improve your garden for summer. There’s a wide range of reasons why this could be a good investment for you if you aren’t sure how to improve your garden for summer. Artificial grass will require less attention, for obvious reasons.

If you are the type to leave your grass too long before cutting it then you’ll never have the same problem again, you also won’t have to worry about wear and tear. If you have pets or children, this is an especially brilliant idea! With this grass, your lawn will look immaculate all year long, not just in summer! Getting some artificial grass could really make a massive difference to your garden if you aren’t sure how to improve your garden for summer.

Plant some new flowers

You simply can’t go wrong with plants and flowers, whether gardening is your thing or not. This is a fantastic idea to consider when thinking about how to improve your garden for summer. There are countless different plants to choose from, if you take care of your garden and make sure you remember to water your plants and flowers it will be totally worth your while.

Who knows, maybe this could be a chance to take up a new hobby? The difference will be like night and day, it’s also a really good way to show that you care for your home. One great idea would be to get some hanging baskets, these can look brilliant in summer. Hanging baskets are bound to have your garden looking absolutely fantastic not just for yourself, but for your visitors and neighbors.

Paint your fence

For some of us, it may have been years since we last painted our fence! You might not realize but painting your fence can make the world of difference when it comes to garden aesthetics. If you can’t remember the last time you gave your fence a fresh coat of paint why not head down to the store to get some paint and paintbrushes.

You must take your time to consider which color you feel is right for you. This is because painting can be a very tedious process which means that the last thing that you’ll want to be doing is changing your mind about the colour halfway through. It’s also probably worth messaging some of your friends or family for a little help with this task too, play some music, grab a beer and get painting! There’s no better time to do it than a hot summer’s day.

The post How To Improve Your Garden For Summer appeared first on Derek Time.

As a newbie, you are maybe confused as to which tool is considered the basics. Luckily for you, there are a lot of available tools for you to choose from. This article aims to make your search easier as we will be discussing some of the most common tools used for gardening and would also briefly consider each of their uses.

Let us begin…

Garden Gloves

Some people often do not consider gloves as gardening tools, but a pair of gloves is an indispensable farming tool. Gardening gloves have many functions, and their important use is ensuring your fingers and hands stay protected from dirt and injury. Gardening can be a bit hazardous especially if you cultivate thorny plants. It is your beloved gloves that would protect you from scratches, splinters, and scrapes.

Gloves also protect gardeners from allergic reactions that may occur due to some chemicals, fertilizers, and plants. Therefore, they are not optional, especially for people who happen to have sensitive skins. There are various types of gardening gloves to choose from, you can visit here to find out the various types of gloves and decide on which best suits your needs.

You may also consider touchscreen gloves if you enjoy listening to a podcast or music as you work on your garden.

Hand Trowel

Regardless of whether you are planting in raised beds, containers, or in the yard, a tool that must not be found missing in your tool shed is a hand trowel. It is used for various things; from digging to turning the earth up to pulling out stubborn leaves.

This tool is also a perfect choice for gardeners living in urban areas. This tool typically tends to get lost while you work since setting them down is very easy. Due to this, we recommend that you get one that comes with a bright handle, this way you can easily spot it when you misplace it.

Pruning Shears

This tool is also one that is important regardless of the kind of gardening method you practice. With pruning shears, you can handle several trimmings and cutting jobs effortlessly. You can also use them when you want to harvest fruits, vegetables, and herbs.

They are also handy for cutting small branches and some thick stems, which makes them very helpful in late summer when vines and vegetable stems have gotten way thicker.

Rake

A rake is indispensable if you own a yard. Just the same for your garden, you may consider getting a bow rake for several purposes. One major thing you can use a bow rake for in your garden is to spread mulch. It can also be used to level the soil, break hard dirt during spring, and of course, gather leaves in a pile.

A bow rake is even more important if you plant in your yard, a community garden plot, or raised beds.

Hose and Spray Nozzles

Except you only make use of self-watering sets like the garden patch growbox for your garden, you would need to occasionally water the garden. If you are an urban gardener, you can simply use a watering pot for this. But if you plant in your yard, then you would have to use a hose as this is the best method you can use to water the crops.

While traditional garden hoses are not completely eradicated yet, the newer lightweight hoses, also known as expendable hoses, are a lot more convenient since they are more easily maneuvered.

You would also need a spray nozzle alongside your hose. Also, ensure the spray nozzles are adjustable. This would help prevent wasting water between the garden beds, and it will also ensure that the water being sprayed is properly delivered.

You can look for a nozzle with adjustable patterns that would allow you to lightly spray water on new seedlings. Then pour enough water to soak established crops or plants that require a lot of water during the summer heat.

Wheelbarrow

If you are one of the lucky few who owns a fine big garden in your yard, then you will be needing a garden cart or a wheelbarrow for easier gardening. These are very useful as they can be used to move compost, dirt, and leave piles across the yard.

You can also use them to transport new sprouts to the garden beds. If you will be using it more for moving compost or soil, then use a traditional cart because it is easier to carry them from point to point. On the other hand, if you only use it to move plants and tools, then a garden cart is more advisable.

Hori Hori Knife

The Hori Hori knife is sometimes called a garden knife and it originated from Japan but is now very common among gardeners all over the world. You can visit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hori_horito find out more about the Hori Hori knife’s origin.

This knife is made of stainless steel that is curved up slightly. This makes it ideal for cutting roots and cutting through the soil. It can also be used for weeding; some gardeners also use it in place of hand trowels, since it can be easily used to dig holes and transplant seedlings.

Conclusion

As someone new to gardening, you may find yourself feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the tools available to you. While every tool is important, some are considered a must-have if you want to make gardening less tasking and more enjoyable. Some of these important and common gardening tools are the Hori Hori knife, hand trowel, gardening gloves, hose, spray nozzles, bow rake, pruning shears, wheelbarrow and so much more.

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So, what you need to do is, let your garden space speak for you. In short, make your garden and landscaping an extension of your creative side by adding to its charm yours and expert ideas.

Nowadays, most of the people have the desire to spend their valuable time with the beauty of nature. In order to fulfill their wish, they’d love to have a beautiful lawn space and a spacious house. In fact, both, the landscape and the garden are essential key points for those people who’d love to cherish exquisiteness of the natural surroundings.

Uplifting the visual appeal of the garden space requires a lot of time, money, effort, and also might require a professional home lawn care service. Opt for a lawn care service, when you think that you do not possess an ample amount of time or do not have the basic knowledge of the various things.

Now, you might be thinking as to how you will be able to enhance the beauty of your garden. Well, for this, you need to have little knowledge about the things that have the ability to add impressiveness and value or hire Roseville tree experts for your lawn. Because the attractiveness of your garden space is bound to be easily uplifted with the help of these below-given tips.

Have a thorough look at the 6 perfect lawn care tips that have the power to enhance the beauty of your garden. One thing more, before we dive into the tips. If you are a DIY fanatic or you planning to undertake the lawn care on your own, you might need to buy professional gardening tools from your local hardware store.

Tip#1: You Need To Light It Up

Well, each one of you might be pretty much aware that, adding lights to anything ought to add beauty in it, only if the lights are used perfectly. Want the flowers and the plants to look more beautiful than they really are? Why do you just add colorful lights to uplift their visual appeal?

As a matter of fact, the solar lights that change their colors amid the night can really be an imperative way to enhance the garden. Such lights have the power to add mystical charm and beauty to the garden space.

Do you know, what is the best thing about such color changing solar lights? They have an auto switch that adjusts the brightness of the lights.

Tip#2: You Need To Pay More Attention To Your Home Garden Design Layout

Planting bright colored plants on the background of a white fence is a work of art yet there is a whole other world to a white picket fence. You have the option to use it to include the illusion of profundity if your in-home yard is a little one. Try to use flat layering, planting short bushes before the fence and taller bushes past the fence or close to the house.

Besides, when anything is possible then for what reason should your flower beds backyard space be limited to the ground? Make a beautiful arbor at the passage or just before your front door. To accomplish this look gives your home lawn a novelish appeal.

Tip#3: Keep In Mind That Direction Matters

It is in every situation better to put full sun plants that require somewhere around 6 hours of natural sunlight in the westbound side of your house. The natural sunlight amid the morning or in the eastern part is not that much powerful.

Read Article: Low Maintenance Landscaping Ideas for Large Yards

That is the reason planting full sun plants on the eastern side of the house may not really kill them but rather they will neither grow nor bloom to their fullest degree. This implies a diminished number of blossoms, not all that solid and crisp looking foliage and consequently decreased intrigue to your house landscape and garden space’s beauty.

Tip#4: Hire A Gardening Designer Near You

What if you need to make an ideal plan for your garden space revamp venture? It is highly recommended that you open up your smartphone and search for “Home lawn care near me” and recruit an expert landscape and garden designer. Likewise, you can even hire a talented contractual worker for Landscaping in your general vicinity who can give the best plans to make revamp your lawn.

Aside from the above ideas, you can choose popular accessories to make sure that the appearance of your lawn space. There are numerous show-stoppers including a little wellspring, sound systems, water highlight garden carpets, and so forth that you can incorporate into your planting.

Tip#5: Adding Garden Furniture

Front or back yard garden furniture has a ton of consequences as it urges most of the people to open themselves to the great pleasure that nature gives bringing calm, satisfaction, and culmination in everybody’s life.

It is considered to be imperative to choose a piece of garden furniture with many contemplations and thought as it will assist you in setting the theme of your garden area. While you opt for garden furniture, you should take a gander at the type of use in your garden.

Tip#6: Adding A Water Feature

To add to the aural intrigue of your home garden space what can be superior to anything installing a water highlight?

It would not just breathe life into your house garden yet additionally pull in wandering birdies for a short visit in this manner making your garden even more beautiful and energized. All you need is an expert who can provide affordable lawn maintenance tips and assist you with the underground wiring and building some portion of it, a few rocks/stones, a couple of articulate themes or decorations. You can make it further appealing by playing with lightings and diverse water stream designs – sprinkle impact, a ringer wellspring, and so on.

Each house is unique as are it’s cultivating needs, conditions, and necessities. Aside from these home gardening ideas, to make your lawn really delightful, it’s important to have a decent comprehension of feel, measurements, finishing and the sense to ideally using space.

The post 6 Perfect Lawn Care Tips To Enhance Beauty of Your Garden appeared first on Derek Time.

Although it is best to call a professional tree removal service like Fort Worth tree maintenance to cut a tree, people with some skills and experience can do it themselves. This post shares the steps to remove a tree from a yard.

Collect the safety gear

The first step for tree removal is to collect the right safety gear as it keeps you safe from the risk of falling tree and branches. You need a helmet to protect your head from the falling branches. The earmuffs and safety glasses to keep the eyes and ears protected for dust and debris. Moreover, you can wear some cushions under your clothes to protect your body from injuries by the falling branches.

Create an estimate of felling zone

Every tree has a felling zone that is the area where a tree can fall after cutting. The falling region is circular, and the person needs to create at least two escape routes before cutting the tree.  You can use a scale or straight stick to estimate the felling zone.

To estimate the felling zone, stand with your face towards the tree and hold a stick in your hand in front of your face. Now, look at the top of the tree and the head of the stick and move back or forward until the top of the stick and tree comes in a straight line.

The base of the stick and base of the tree should also be in a straight line. You might need to move back or forward several times to bring the top and bottom of the stick in line with the tree. When you do it right, the tree will fall up to the position where you are standing. As it is a rough estimate, the actual felling zone might be a few feet larger than you think.

Clear the felling zone

After estimating the felling region, you need to clear the area to prevent any damage from falling of the tree. Cut the shrubs, bushes and remove any items under the tree within the felling zone. If the tree is already tilted to one side, it would fall on that side in 95 percent cases. You need to create two escape routes in the felling zone that you can use to escape when the tree is about to fall.  It is best to create the escape routes at an angle of 45 degrees and away from the line of falling.

Blocks in the felling zone

Sometimes there are things like a room, building, a structure, statue in the felling region that you cannot remove. In such cases, it is best to call a tree removal experts Chicago instead of cutting it yourself.

Plan the notch

You need to plan the notch at a spot on the trunk from where you will run your saw or axe to cut the tree. The notch should be made at a comfortable height as you can always shorten the stump by cutting it afterwards. Make a 70 degree cut on the side of the trunk facing the direction you want the tree to fall.

Cut to a depth of the 1/5th of the diameter of the trunk. Make the next cut horizontally to meet the first cut to create the notch. Make sure both the cuts meet at a point that is not more than 1/5th of the diameter of the stem.

Make the felling cut

To create the felling cut, you need to move to the opposite side of the notch and cut horizontally slightly above the previous cut. Cut deep enough to create enough space to insert a wedge. Then insert the wedge and continue with the same cut until 10 percent of the stem is left, or the tree begins to fall.

Escape safely

When the tree begins to fall, it will make a sound. You need to get away using one of the escape routes.  Once the tree fells down, you can remove the branches with the saw starting from the base. Cut all the branches and put them in loader truck to transfer. You can carry the entire trunk or cut it into small parts before transporting it to the required place.

Final Words

The steps mentioned above are useful for cutting a tree from a yard. After removing the tree, don’t forget to clean the area by picking the small branches, leaves and debris. Use a garden rake to clean the small wood pieces and debris from the field. Following the above steps, anyone with some skills and experience can remove a tree from a garden.

The post How to Remove a Tree from Your Yard? appeared first on Derek Time.

When it comes top roper lawn care, there is no tool that can do everything. This is because you need to attend to different things, like grass cutting, weeding, fertilizing, etc. But with the right tools, you’ll achieve all of this without consuming much of your time and effort or hire lawn care service provider like Citrus Heights tree experts for your lawn.

Below are the 10 basic lawn tools that will help you achieve the perfect lawn:

1. Aerator

An aerator is useful for making sure that the soil on your lawn is less compacted. This will allow penetration of the water and thus, will result in better growth and health of your lawn.

Soil compaction is a result of thatch buildup and foot traffic from the family, pets, guests, and anyone who sets foot on the lawn. When the soil is too compacted, it won’t be able to hold enough oxygen. This will cause the vascular system of the plants to malfunction and the roots won’t receive enough water.

2. Fertilizer Cart

If you’re aiming to bring more life back to your lawn, you’re going to need a fertilizer cart that will disperse the fertilizer to your grass. If your backyard appears patchy, you can load grass seeds to your cart instead and spread them evenly on the ground.

3. Wood Chipper

Not everyone has heard what an Austter Small Wood Chipper is. However, it’s an exceptional tool especially for lawns that require demanding maintenance. This powered tool can attend to multiple tasks. It can cut bushes, twigs, leaves, and grasses.

This tool will cut them into tiny pieces and will even disperse it to one place for easy cleaning and storing. Not only that, you can use the cuttings to transform into useful materials like mulch, fertilizer, and pressed wood.

4. Lawn mower

Every house likely has a lawnmower. However, it’s still worth including it here as it’s a very useful tool. It will maintain your grass, which is essential for lawn care. When getting a lawnmower, make sure to fit it on the needs of your lawn. For example, you don’t need a large one if your lawn is small and requires minimal maintenance.

Lawnmowers are mostly expensive. However, it will still depend on the type you’ll get. They can be electric, gas powered, or battery powered.

5. Hand Weeder

Before, people use wood-killing products to eliminate weeds in their lawn. However, this is strongly discouraged now as the chemicals will potentially harm your grass and other plants. Also, these products have no 100% assurance that they will kill the weeds completely.

With a hand weeder, you can solely eliminate the weeds. This tool will not only remove the weeds on the surface but also their roots. This will ensure that they will not grow back.

6. Leaf Rake

A leaf rake is not the same with the garden rake. This tool is longer in size and more flexible to use. This will let you gather debris from your lawn without exerting too much effort.

7. Lawn Shears

Lawn shears are useful for trimming and cutting areas of your backyard that are unreachable of your lawnmower. There are different types of lawn shears available, so you need to determine first what and where you are going to use it. There are shears that will require you to bend to trim the grass. There are also others that have long handles, allowing you to cut or trim while standing.

8. Shovel

With all the powered lawn tools coming out, there’s still no denying that the shovel is still a must for every household. It’s a flexible tool that comes with sharp blades. It also comes in various shapes, ideal for removing dirt and debris that are quite to remove. For example, animal debris.

9. Wheelbarrow

If you don’t have any powered tools that will help clean the dirt and debris on your backyard, then it’s wise to get a wheelbarrow. This will help you clean and transport a great amount of dirt and debris. It is also helpful in transporting gardening tools.

The ideal wheelbarrow will have high sides on its bins and two wheels that are easy to push. If your lawn is not that big, you can get a smaller one, which is easier to maneuver.

10. Watering Hose

A watering hose is essential for providing water to your plants and grass keeping them healthy. Make sure to get one that is significantly longer so you can reach all parts of your lawn. Also, get a hose that is lightweight and easy to recoil. This will make it easy and fast for you to store it.

Conclusion

Having a wonderful home also means having a beautiful backyard. This also means that you have to take in extra effort to care and maintain it. Taking proper care of your backyard is quite a huge task. But with the right tools like those mentioned above, you will have your lawn looking healthy and attractive in no time!

The post Landscaping Essentials: The 10 Basic Tools You Need for Lawn Maintenance appeared first on Derek Time.

Set the Color Scheme

In case you are remodeling or want to revamp your garden, that is the perfect occasion to think about paving. Material and color-wise. A perfectly curated garden has to be harmonic, and everything has to be in balance, including colors of plants and paving material. If you opt for gray stone, keep in mind that it goes well with purple and yellowish flowers. Reddish brick tones go well with greens and pastels, while black paving needs some intense orange and red tones.

Planting Scheme

If you care about aesthetics and harmony, you can’t just randomly plant flowers everywhere without thinking about their size and color. You need to make a scheme before you start planting. It can be a simple drawing in color, to showcase how your garden will look once everything blossoms. Try creating a pattern that repeats throughout the garden, use greenery as a base, and then play around with arranging flowers.

Do Not Forget About Seasons

Keep in mind that not all the plants blossom at the same time. You can find year-round plants, but you can also incorporate plants for each season so that you always have something going on in the garden. But if this is your first year, focus mainly on spring and summer bloomers. And then, as the seasons change, you can add more appropriate plants.

Embrace the Boundaries

If your garden is small, then the fence certainly represents an eye-catching element and steals the show without really doing any favors. The best way is to merge it with the rest of the garden by relying on climbing plants. Or, if it is a wooden fence, paint it in white, and hang some hanging flower pots, lanterns, or creative metals as decoration.

Light It Up

If you want to spend some time outside during the evening hours, it is important to have proper lighting. You can play with fairy lights, lanterns, etc. If there is enough room, you can install an outdoor stone fireplace, which will be perfect for cozy nights outside.

The Water Element

If space allows you, you can add a miniature pond with a few fish, or a fountain. This is something that is also recommended by Feng Shui, which literally means, water and wind. It is recommended that water is flowing or moving, and it has to be clean. It is considered that it can increase the flow of Chi energy.

The Seating Area

This is the place where you will spend the majority of your time, so think about the materials of your outdoor furniture, how you will maintain it, etc. It is always better if you can have some type of gazebo covering that area. It will protect you from the sun, and it will also protect the furniture from bad weather.

Vegetables and Herbs

One of the perks of having your own garden is that you can plant the herbs and vegetables you need. You can rely on garden boxes to organize everything and create a functional space. This can also look very chic if you add small signboards that say something about the plants in each box. Your garden can be a mix of both colorful flowers and vegetables. You just have to think about everything carefully.

Sculptures and Decoration

You can use sculptures that work as fountains, sculptures in the shape of animals, etc. It is essential to accessorize your garden with style by adding details that will enhance its overall appearance. Do not go over the top, and do not use too many colors; flowers are colorful enough. Whitestone sculptures are always a safe choice, as well as metals.

Go Green

Many cannot imagine a garden without flowers in several colors. However, lush green gardens are trending, and they look surprisingly good. Different textures, leaf sizes, shades of green, all make your garden look more zen, and it gets even better in the fall when the leaf colors start to change. You can also opt for only white flowers and greenery, or only orange, etc.

The Bottom Line 

A beautiful garden requires some dedication and care, but once you see the results, you will love gardening and planting. It is also a very calming activity, so if you had a stressful day at work, dedicating some time to the plants will help you calm down. We hope our tips for designing a garden-inspired you to dedicate more time and love to your outdoor area. It’s crucial to think about wildlife control so you don’t have problems with wildlife intruding your home.

Author’s Bio:

Karen is a BS graduate in Architecture. Her love in home design brought her to write some blogs that help to give ideas in their dream house design. She also helps businessmen and entrepreneurs through writing on how business signs help in building their brand and company name.

The post 10 Garden Design Tips That Will Make Your Garden Blossom appeared first on Derek Time.

Unfortunately, after sometime when you come to sink your feet into that lush, radiant grass that you work hard for, those pesky weeds are there grazing in your toes. Once you have spotted one, you’ll see more. They seem to be multiplying very fast until it becomes an uncontrollable problem.

Don’t worry, you can still get your lawn back to life by getting rid of those weeds. Although we consider weeds a nuisance, they are still plants just like grass, shrubs or flowers. It means that they can grow back just like our favorite garden plants.

Low-mowed grass, compacted soil and water-deprived lawn all encourage weeds. Here are some tips on how to remove them from your grass for good.

WEED IT OUT

The first thing we have in mind is of course by removing these pesky grasses from our lawn as soon as possible. The simplest one is by ripping them out by the stem and pull them out, so they can’t grow. It may be traditional, but it’s the easiest and cheapest way of removing weeds.

Some weeds are just tenacious and hard to remove. If you can’t get the whole root, then you can cut as much as of their top. You must remove the head so that any seeds removed, it will be hard planting them again. Use any tool that will allow you to get as much weed as possible and try not to spread any seeds.

USE HERBICIDES

If the traditional way of removing these weeds is not doing the trick, then it’s time to turn to herbicides for completely getting rid of it. Before jumping into buying herbicides, we should know these few things first.

Identify the weeds

Knowing your lawn enemy before stepping out and buying herbicide is the first thing you need to do. We all know that no single herbicide, weeding technique or lawn care tactic works against all weeds. How you remove weeds in your lawn depends on what kind of weeds you have.

Buying Herbicides

Once you have identified the weeds in your lawn, it’s time to buy the best weed killer to completely remove them. Go to your nearest local gardening supply to help you out or if you have time, you can also go online to check out some shops on the internet and have them deliver the product at your doorstep. The best advice is to choose a treatment that is both for type of weeds and what stage they are in.

We have what we call pre- emergent herbicides, which prevents the germination of seed weeds. They are best to be applied to lawns in spring and fall. For much established weeds, you need to use the post emergent one. Using this kind of herbicide is for weeds that are actively growing above the ground and if you think pulling pesky weeds is no fun at all.

Applying Herbicides

You may feel excited on using that concoction to remove those weeds, but before applying, make sure to follow safety first. Read the instructions and carefully follow them: how much product to apply and when to use them. These chemical weed killers can be dangerous to people, pets and even in your own lawn.

Synthetic herbicides are the usual response to chronic weed problems, so unless you have that problem, you might just as well do some traditional ways to remove them.

PROPER LAWN MAINTENANCE

Yes, it may take your time and effort, but keeping your lawn healthy is one of the best ways of keeping away those weeds. Keep up a lawn maintenance schedule to keep it weed-free.

In the fall, seed your lawn and give it air. Before winter, give your lawn one last short mowing and fertilization. When spring comes, start fresh with a pre-emergent herbicides and hand pick any lingering weeds. Mow your lawn regularly during spring and summer, and make sure not to remove more than a third of grass at a time.

Crowding out weeds is also an effective way to keep them from growing. Weeds are opportunists, and they take root whenever they find the space and can catch a few rays of sunlight. By seeding those spaces is the best way to keep them out.

Provide your lawn with infrequent and deep watering. Lawns need about 1 inch of water per week. Avoid frequent, light watering and also watering too little. Both can encourage weeds to grow back again.

The post Rid Your Garden Lawn of Weeds with These Tips appeared first on Derek Time.

The pen and paper can give you leverage and help to get started with planning, but it has limitations. For instance, the plans you pen down are non-editable, non-accurate, and they need considerable works. Moreover, you don’t know every plant type and its care-taking methods, which can limit your options.

Therefore, step up for the digital trends and take help of your smartphone and other digital devices for the planning works. There are several online and offline landscaping application on Android, iOS, and windows that can develop the best plans in no time. These applications also provide you the flexibility to edit the plans and integrate more elements at any times.

However, there are hundreds of them online, and finding the best amongst them is challenging. So, this article will present you with a list of 15 amazing apps that are simple to use and advanced in performance. Have a look:

Gardroid

Gardroid is a well-written, clean UI application developed specifically for plant gardeners. The application contains data about the plants that you can plant in your area and the condition they will need to thrive. It includes a complete guide of the optimal pH, sunlight, water, and other factors that can affect plant growth.  It also provides you with information about the best plantation and harvesting seasons of every plant specifies.

Gardroid interface also has a progress meter that indicates the plant growth based on the plantation day.

Download Android

Sketchup Free

Sketchup is a high-level 3d designing software. The application is one of the leading software for the interior and architecture companies for planning buildings and interior.

The application provides you a 3d space for building a highly precise real life-like stimulation of your place. It also allows high-quality graphics and rendering to facilitate your work. The professional landscapers Taringa also prefer it due to its flexibility of use. You can create new designs from scratch, download one and edit, or use the in-build tools to build one.

Sketchup is a considerable choice for landscaping because it lets you get a rough idea of the final looks without modifying the real place.

Download Trial

Plantifier

Plantifier is a community-based application that runs on Android and iOS devices. For accessing it through any other device or platform, you have to depend on its web version.

The application is not for designing or developing a garden, but for recognizing plant specifies. If you see any unrecognized plant around your place, just upload it pictures, and the application will take care of the rest.

The professional community behind the Plantifier app will recognize the plant and provide you with all the details about it.

GrowIt!

Gardening and landscaping become much more fun with a social network that shares your interests. The GrowIt! application focuses precisely on this fact. The app is like a social media platform developed only for gardeners and landscapers. It allows you to upload pictures of your place, find the best plants for your home, get in touch with experienced gardeners, and a lot more.

The community also comes in handy for queries and question about different aspects of gardening works. It also offers an explore feature that presents you with details of the plants that you can grow in your area.

 Downloads Android/iOS

Agrobase

Agrobase is the most distinct gardening application available in the market. One reason for its uniqueness is that it focuses on the health of plants rather than area design. The application was basically an agricultural application that found its application in gardening.

Agrobase contains information about bugs, plant species, and climatic factors. It helps you to choose the most promising plants for your place and take care of it. It will also guide you with the symptoms of insect induced plant disease and help you to prevent them.

Further, the application has a regularly updated database of pest, diseases, weeds, and more. It also guides you with the pesticides, insecticides, herbicides, and more.

Download Android

iScape

iScape is, by far, one of the most flexible and innovative gardens designing application. The application comes with inbuilt options for flowerbeds, trees, and more that enable you to plan everything virtually.

The best part is that everything is accurate and aligned with the real place. You can click a snap of your location and upload it on the application. iScape will use that image as a reference, and then you can design it with the drag and drop options.

The application is available for iOS as a free and paid version. The premium update will cost you $9 to $19 depending on the plan you choose.

Download iOS

Houzz

Gardening and landscaping is an exciting hobby, but it’s a tricky job. No matter how good or experienced you get in this work, there are always instances when you need professional assistance. Houzz can help you with it.

It contains a database of professional landscapers in your area and provides you details of the facility they can provide. The app also offers high-resolution pictures to give you an idea of the latest trends.

Apart from the garden, the application is also valid for other interior and exterior designing purposes. It even has a database of verified product and reviews that you can refer.

Download Android/iOS

Home Outside: Landscape Design for Everyone

Home outside is an extremely good landscape designing application. The app comes with 700 elements and over 29 palettes to facilitate the designing work. The application is freeware, and all these features are available for use without any payment.

Moreover, even the application is developed with non-professional in mind and offers very flexible options for them. It provides templates, sample designs, sketch tools, drag and drop elements, and a lot more.

Download Android/iOS

My Lawn

The gardening and lawn care product developers, Scotts, came up with My Lawn application. The application is a complete guide for designing the garden as well as taking care of it.

The application comes with an easy-to-follow plan for maintaining your lawn. It also offers personalized recommendation depending upon your location, plant types, weather conditions, and lawn size. It even has a store that you can use to buy lawn tools and other products that you would need.

Download Android/iOS

Leafsnap

Leafsnap is a plant recognition software developed by the researchers at Columbia University, Smithsonian Institute, and the University of Maryland. The application contains high-resolution pictures of various flowers, leaves, fruits, and more. Its primary purpose is to identify the plant species though leaves and other parts.

The application is helpful for the vegetation of Northeastern United States, Canada, and is expanding toward the other counties.  Some regional versions like leafsnap UK also contain information about the local species.

Download iOS

Planter

Planter is the perfect app for people of both beginners and professional level of skills. The app enables you to create an arrangement for your place and also offer a grid system for it.

Apart from the designs, Planter also offers information related to the different types of vegetable and their growth cycles. It contains data of over 50 fruits and vegetables. The best part is that the app also allows you to add your favorite plants for a more personalized experience.

Download Android

Perennial Match

While most of the application focus on garden designs and plant species, Perennial Match helps you to mix-matching them. The application creates an interface for multiple plants and compares them based on their growth need. It examines their required temperature, sunlight, water, and other factors.

The app helps to ensure that the water or other supplied that compliment the one plant doesn’t damage the others.

Download iOS

NatureGate

NatureGate is like a digital encyclopedia for your garden plants and trees. The app contains information about over 700 varieties of plants and more are still being added.

The feature that makes a NaturalGate distinct from other such application is that it isn’t limited to just plants. This application also has support for butterflies, birds, and insects that relates to gardening.

As for the app usage, it pretty simple. Just upload the picture, and it will present you with the required data.

Download Android/ iOS

GardenTags

Garden tags are a blend of social media platform and a plant encyclopedia. It has a massive community of over 100,000 people who share the picture and information over the platform. They share problems, solutions, design, ideas, and a lot more on the website.

The application also has pre-fed data of over 20,000 plants that come in real handy for recognizing plants and managing them.

Download Android/iOS

Homegrown with Bonnie Plants

Bonnie plants are trusted vegetable and herbs supplier firm in the United States since 1918.  Their application is developed to complement their works and provide you with the insides about the plants.

The application will provide you with details of over 250 vegetable plants and their harvesting seasons. It also contains tracks the progress and compares it with the data from previous years.

Moreover, homegrown application has integrated support for weather check that comes in handy for planning your moves. It even offers you easy to access notes and picture processing features to compliment your work.

Download Android/iOS

The Final Words

Gardening and landscaping is a skill which needs time and patient. It takes years to master its aspects and become professional. However, they all start with just one simple step, and these applications will help you with them. They teach you the basic of plants and also introduce you to some unique species.  Even professionals use these apps to help them with plant recognition and design planning.

Therefore, they are must for anyone who loves their garden and the green landscapes around them. Download them and get the head start that you need for attaining that dreamlike looks of your place.

The post 15+ Gardening and Landscaping Apps to Download Now appeared first on Derek Time.

It is, however, vital to note that as far as the prevention of diseases in this regard is concerned, the disease triangle is an important thing to note. It is worthy of note that diseases can only occur on the condition that three things happen at the same time. First and foremost, there has to be a host plant as well as a disease-causing organism and finally environmental factors.

What this simply implies is that if one of the aforementioned factors is not present, the disease won’t occur. It, therefore, suffices to say that for you to prevent diseases; at least one of the factors must be absent. Therefore, instead of hanging around for the disease to occur in your garden, you may want to consider prevention as the best attack. Here are a few tips to help you avert a disease invasion of your garden.

Carefully study plants before purchasing them

One of the most potent yet easiest ways to avert a disease invasion of your garden is to avoid a situation where they will have access in the first place. One of the most complex yet necessary things to learn in gardening is what and how a healthy plant ought to look like. In light of this, it is essential to study relevant books and relevant catalogs. Ignorance of how healthy plants should look like leads to a spread of the disease to hitherto healthy plants.

Aside from taking the time to look at the plant from the top, you may also want to check the root of the plant. Roots ought to be firm, and well-spaced around the root ball. If you detect that the roots are dark, it is not a good sign at all. If however, you think the top is healthy, it won’t take much time before the effect of the rotted root kicks in. making use of Miracle-Gro PottingSoil may also be a good idea in this regard

Bugs should be kept at bay

What many are aware of is the fact that the damages caused by insects to plants are a lot more than cosmetic in nature. More often than not, bacteria and viruses can only find their way into a plant via seepage. Also, some insects function as vectors for viruses transferring them from plant A to plant B. one common carrier is known as Aphids as well as thrips. Leafhoppers also convey Aster Yellows. It is also worthy of note that attacks from insects are one sure way to get garden plants under undue stress thus making it too weak to fight diseases.

Right fertilizer should be applied

Fertilizers are indeed an important aspect of gardening and can be a vital catalyst in ensuring that you get the right volume and quality of yield. However, if you do not apply it in the right quantity, you run the risk of getting the roots burnt thus limiting its ability to get water absorbed. This on its own predisposes the plant to unusual stress arising from cold, drought and heat. The differences between plants that are deprived of nutrient are usually smaller in terms of size and are usually have leaf spots. Also, another factor that can put pressure on the plant is the excessive presence of a certain type of nutrient.

You may, therefore, want to get a soil test carried out by an extension worker who should guide you on the right nutrient level your soil needs.

Get it pruned

As far as trimming shrubs and trees is concerned, it is much more ideal to get it done during later part of winter as against the spring season. The reason for this is simply that wounded limbs are at great risk of being infected during the course of winter. This, therefore, gives room for establishment while the plant is dormant. It should, however, be noted that late winter pruning goes a long way in ensuring that diseases are prevented from spreading to new points. Of course, there is always the possibility that the same damage could reoccur during the course of the winter, it is better to do the needful in time.

H2O

Water is life and regularly watering your garden is very much ideal. However, you should know that as much as plants need water to survive, diseases also do.  It is therefore imperative to note that the way you go about it is what counts at the end of the day. A number of diseases causing organisms require water to carry out functions such as growth, reproduction, and movement. Therefore, if you seek to starve them of the environment they crave for; deploy watering methods which will limit the water in the foliage of the plant. For this purpose, drip irrigation and soaker hoses are ideal.  If you are however watering using your hands, make sure that you remove the leaves from the way as the watering goes on.

A high number of the leaf related problems occur when the leaves appear wet meaning that you should avoid overhead sprinkling as much as possible. If you, however, want to take this route, ensure that you do so at a time when the leaves will dry out quickly while the roots retain as much water as possible.

Give your plants the right spacing

When you are spacing transplants, be as careful as much as possible; also monitor the established plants even as they spread. More often than not, when plants are crowded, they tend to create their own humidity which permits the entry of certain diseases such as rust, and downy mildew.  By increasing the spacing, you permit the free flow of air thus keeping the foliage dry and diseases at bay. You should note that plants that are poorly spaced usually suffer stunted growth due to the competition for water, light, and nutrients.

In conclusion, the health and vitality of your garden is a core function of the deliberate inputs made in that direction. The aforementioned points if well applied will doubtless put your garden on the path to continuous productivity.

The post 6 Must-know Tips to Keep Your Vegetable Garden Healthy appeared first on Derek Time.