Gardening To Sell: first impressions are key to home staging
If you plan on selling your house this spring, remember that first impressions are key. It is amazing how far a little landscaping will go in increasing the property value of your home. Focus on:
Keeping it Clean: Prune, rake, mow, seed, water, mulch, weed etc. Even if the inside of your house is immaculate, a frazzled looking yard will make the whole property seem like it’s a mess. If these chores don’t appeal to you, think about contacting your local Green Gardener for quick and easy maintenance.
Decorative Planters: Accent the entryway with fragrant flowers. Whether a large urn or hanging basket, pots full of colourful plants will help invite buyers into your home. Choose hardware that complements the style of you home. Accents like this will help buyers imagine living in the space; plants make spaces feel more calm, tranquil and livable. We specialize in creating lush, organic design, using locally grown plants and green fertilizers.
Structural Plantings: Mind the gaps! Make sure that large features are balanced and used to accent the architecture of the house. Shrubs are useful for hiding gas meters and central air units, or breaking up a flat wall with colour and interest. Choose evergreens for year-long interest, or fruit bearing shrubs. Pick shrubs that flower in the season you wish to sell for maximum impact.
Good landscaping will increase the value of your home, even if you’re not planning to sell anytime soon. Not only do gardens improve the appearance of a house, but also it’s ecological integrity. With the right plantings you can decrease heating and cooling costs on your home, decrease water use in the yard, and even establish food growing plants, such as fruit trees and edible perennials. Whatever your ultimate goal, Green Gardeners can help increase the value of your home through earth-friendly landscaping.
Common Plant Disorders, Diseases and Pests…Top 10 Lists
“What’s wrong with my plant?” You ask as you walk through your garden
and notice subtle indications of malaise to complete devastation of what was recently a thriving healthy plant or garden. It can be overwhelming to identify what exactly has gone wrong. The key is an accurate and speedy response to symptoms. An expert can be hired or a guide on plant ailments can be a great tool to assist you in the task of identification, treatment and prevention such as the excellent comprehensive book title “What’s Wrong With My Plant?” by Steven Bradley.
This post lists a basic top 10 overview of disorders, diseases and pests.
A Plant Disorder stems from the physiology of the plant attributed to environmental factors (such as erratic watering, inappropriate lighting and temperature ranges ) and nutritional deficiencies. Major nutrients are nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (potash) as well as additional trace nutrients in lesser amounts. Each plant requires a fertilizer in different combination amounts.
Read More...Winter Gardening – there is more to do than feeding the birds…
Heat up some cocoa and throw your woolies on, there are a variety of hardy plants such as evergreens, uncut perennials and
ornamental grasses that will add depth and colour to your garden through the winter season. Decorative urns, statues, wood and stone work also offer design permanence through the cold phase.
When the ground is covered in white and your thumb is still feeling green there are still activities you can do to nurture the health and look of your garden outdoors:
- Wrap delicate shrubs and trees before the worst of cold arrives.
- Cover garden beds with more mulch, leaves or soil if you notice plants are beginning to heave out of ground.
- Remove broken branches as they occur and fluff off snow from evergreens to prevent further breakage.
- Apply dormant oil as spring approaches to prevent pest infiltration as they begin to come alive. Be sure to check which plants are sensitive to this treatment to avoid damage: such as junipers, spruces, maples, smoke trees …..
Ingredients for a non toxic dormant oil recipe:
1 cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoon biodegradable liquid soap
1 gallon water
….enough for one mature fruit tree.
On the contrary we may have a mild season too so expect to see the unexpected – possibly your rosebush in full splendour along with yew, rose hips, mugo pine and member of the cedar and sedum families.
In short, even though your garden will be resting it can still be enjoyed and nurtured.
PS. Don’t forget to make a snow angel.
To book a FREE CONSULTATION click here http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
Mildew Prevention in the Garden – The Common Cold of the Plant World
That powdery suspect on your plant is mildew. Your plant may be in good health but like the common cold it can strike when the
factors are just right. Its a highly contagious condition that may not be fatal but severely compromise your plants health.
Any combination of moisture in stagnant air, dry soil, overcrowding and too much shade can result in mildew. With fall being a time for all of these variables to occur below are a few recommended steps for prevention:
- avoid wetting foliage by watering at ground level.
- remove garden debris and deadhead exhausted perennials to deny spread.
- natural fungicide sprays to combat mildew include wettable sulfur, baking soda, apple cider vinegar and garlic concoctions. Be sure to apply these at cooler periods of the day such as early morning or evening. Be sure to test on a small area first and wait 24hrs. Also wear a mask and gloves to prevent any reaction.
To book a FREE CONSULTATION click here http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
Bulb Planting Ideas…and tips to deter squirrels from them
The season has arrived to plant our beloved bulbs. The squirrels are all too excited about this. But so are we.
Green Gardeners can help you dig now to enjoy a blast of colour in the spring and beyond. Consider a vivid spring arrival of a “rainbow garden” using a variety of bulbs. Or a random placement of Scilla adding an complementary indigo touch of magic in the tapestry of your green lawn.
Crocus, Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacynth, Iris, Allium, Snowdrops and Scilla are just an example of hardy bulbs for fall planting which in some zones can extend into December planting. Although in this case as in most – the sooner the better due to unexpected early frost. Bulbs benefit from the winter dormancy and soak up the gradual moisture of melting snow to help them bloom. Applying a mulch will also keep winter weeds at bay.
As for the bushy tailed collectors a few ways to deter them from unearthing your bulbs include:
1) Sprinkling bloodmeal (reapply after rain) or plant several crown imperials (Fritallaria imperius) or Rhubarb -they don’t dig the smell.
2) Cover the planted bed with a layer of sharp gravel – for the same reason we humans wouldn’t want to walk on it barefoot.
3) Place a piece of wide gauge hardware cloth over bed after planting .
4) If you want to keep it really simple – stick to only daffodils and hyacinths….they wont go near them. Not that we know of yet.
Green Gardeners can source the assortment of bulbs perfect for your garden and do the digging and soil treatment for you.
To book a FREE CONSULTATION click here: http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
Fall is the Best Time….
…to marvel at the turning leaves and harvest your edibles but to also do essential work in your garden such as planting bulbs, grass seeding and lawn aeration. Falls moderate temperatures offer an optimal window to plant grass seed, bulbs, evergreen plants and many other species for healthy germination before the onset of winter dormancy.
Also critical to your lawns health and plant root development is aeration as it provides more oxygen to root systems while expelling trapped gases.
So when spring arrives next year your curb appeal and gardens health will already be evident while most people are just beginning the garden enhancement process.
Take advantage of this season and let Green Gardeners help you prepare with fall planting, aeration, seeding and of course, a fall clean up.
To book a FREE CONSULTATION click here: http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
Compost Tea
As the name implies, compost tea is made by steeping compost in water. It’s used as either a foliar spray or a soil drench, depending on where your plant has problems. Why go to the extra trouble of brewing, straining, and spraying a tea rather than just working compost into the soil? There are several reasons. First, compost tea makes the benefits of compost go farther. What’s more, when sprayed on the leaves, compost tea helps suppress foliar diseases, increases the amount of nutrients available to the plant, and speeds the breakdown of toxins. Using compost tea has even been shown to increase the nutritional quality and improve the flavor of vegetables.
How to make Compost Tea:
- First start with good compost, you can use your own home-made compost, buy compost from your local garden supply store or use worm castings.
- In a 5 gallon bucket use 1 quart of compost
- Use an aquarium pump to aerate (not necessary but very helpful)
- Add molasses to increase bacterial activity (good for grasses)
- Add liquid seaweed and/or fish emulsion to increase fungal activity (good for woody plants and shrubs)
- Let steep for 24 hours and then strain.
- This mixture is safe enough to apply to any part of your garden.
We can apply compost tea that we’ve made same / next day from being bubbled. Order now
Happy steeping!
Also, we would be happy to include a compost tea capacity building option with your fall makeover special.
To book a FREE CONSULTATION click here: http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
Decorative Urn Displays for any Season
Decorative urns are the perfect way to add a slight accent or impact on the exterior of your home garden all year round with flowering plants pots. We can customize the right selection of plants to compliment your unique needs and gardens features. Greet your holidays guests with a dynamic display of colour and textures in a decorative urn display suitable for this time of year. We have plenty of holiday urn ideas for the fall and winter season.
To book a FREE CONSULTATION click here: http://greengardeners.ca/book-a-free-consultation/
Fall is here!
The Autumn of 2008 is here. The leaves are changing colour, the days are shorter, and the nights are getting cold.
Although plants will still have a need for water on dry, windy, sunny days, the heat is down making it a great time to plant and transplant in the garden. New plants and transplants will have a chance to get established before the winter and will be well prepared for the dry season of next summer.
This too, means it is a great time to do overseeding. If you’ve got a lawn that you want to keep looking lush, now is a great time to apply new seed.
And, think about next years blossoms. Now is the ideal time to plant bulbs so your garden will burst into spring!
So, although it is getting cooler outside, the gardening season is not yet done! Contact us if you need assistance, coaching, or more information about fall gardening.