DIY Garden Plant Markers

For gardeners planning an expansive vegetable and flower garden this growing season, or for those planting a small plot with their children, DIY garden plant markers can be a fun and effective way to track the produce’s progress. Make gardening more personal with these great ideas:

Frozen juice lid markers

One simple design for dangling plant markers uses household items, like the metal lids from cardboard tubes of frozen juice, the metal and cardboard hangers from the drycleaners and Sharpie markers. To make the base of teh marker, remove the metal hanger ends from the cardboard tube. The ends of the wire will already be formed into the perfect hook shape for hanging the lid labels. Untwist the original hook of the wire hanger and use wire cutters to snip the wire at the center to create two wire posts for your markers. Next, wash the juice lids and use a drill to make a hole about a half-inch from the edge of the lid. Finally, label each lid with the name of the plants and decorate with colors or drawings. Hook the lid on the wire and poke the other end into the dirt.

Up-cycle broken blinds

Snip individual blinds into 12-inch segments and label with the name of the plant for an ultra-simple and cost-effective DIY garden marker.

Smooth Stone Markers

Rock collectors can use permanent markers or acrylic paints on smooth river stones for an earthy take on garden markers.

Clay markers

Craft and hobby shops sell polymer clays that can be formed into a variety of shapes and hardened by baking. Try rolling out a half-inch slab and using a sharp knife to cut the clay into even rods. Use rubber stamps to press the name or a picture of the plant into the clay, and bake the clay according to the packaging instructions. The resulting markers will be simple and elegant.

Photos by: Doug BeckersOrin Zebest

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Organic Pest Control

The first step is to identify the pests in your yard.  If you are in doubt of something bring it down to your local garden centre for them to have a look at!  Most likely the knowledgeable staff will have seen these critters before.

Insects would rather die than eat neem oil.  Investigate this natural product – it is completely safe.

Making mixtures with 1 tablespoon organic dish soap in a spray bottle of water will work wonders on your aphids if applied on a regular basis. Some fanatics even soak and strain out pureed garlic to make the mixture even more potent.

If you make your garden is attractive to your pests’ enemies it will surely naturally help your battle.  If this does not work: ladybugs and preying mantis can also be bought, but in my opinion it is best to create a beautiful garden to naturally allure them to you.  Planting robust perennial beds and shrubs for birds, frogs, and toads is a smart move.

Building healthy soil is a must.  It is always great to top up your soil with some fresh new earth mixed in with compost.  This creates a healthy environment that prevent the bad guys from hanging around the musty corners of your garden.  Also keep your beds clear of leaves and debris.  A tidy garden is a pest free garden.

If a plant is so badly plagued with something it is better to throw that plant out than have the pest spread to the rest of your garden.  I know this is very hard for us gardeners, but you have to look at the bigger picture:  the health of the entirety of your backyard ecosystem.  Take out the plant carefully as to not shake out any of the bugs.

Companion Planting is great for many reasons (link to one of my earliest articles on this here)  Marigolds are one of the best natural flowers for pest control. Other great companion plants are basil, catnip, petunias, peppermint and garlic which are all great for digging animals.  Peppermint also wards off flies.

Photo by: cygnus921

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Environmentally Friendly Fertilizers

If you are an individual who has a home garden and does your own gardening, you obviously know the need for a good fertilizer. This is a necessary gardening product that can assist many of the plants you grow in your garden to grow faster and healthier. For best results, only environmentally friendly fertilizers should be used so that you can benefit the environment as well as your garden specifically.

Environmentally friendly fertilizers are essentially organic and contain no harmful chemicals that are manufactured by factories. Because those that are non-organic are considerably faster at working, those that are environmentally friendly will generally take a longer time to work their magic. At the same time, however, a truly good fertilizer carries no risk of burning or dehydrating your plants due to their lack of high salt content.

An environmentally friendly fertilizer will have to be broken down over time in your garden. The soil will require more time to digest it, which will then allow necessary nutrients to be broken down and available to plants. The most common fertilizers that are preferable in organic and healthy gardening are those made from a high concentration of nitrogen and usually incorporate fish emulsion, potassium, which typically utilize sulfate of potash or greensand and phosphorous, which contain bone meal and rock phosphate.

Fertilizers that are environmentally friendly will always only include all natural ingredients that naturally break down in the soil and deliver plenty of nourishment to the plants in your garden. They also help to keep the water supply safe, whereas chemical fertilizers can have a great negative effect.

Photo by: Doug Beckers

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Butterfly Gardens

Butterfly gardening involves planning your garden to attract and encourage butterflies. The plants and flowers must provide food, water, and shelter.  If your garden is too windy they will not come so take the time to build a wind block with shrubs such as noninvasive bamboo or a yew hedge.

It is necessary for butterflies to keep their little bodies warm for flight! Our delicate wing-ed friends enjoy flowers of similar colors grouped together, just as humans do. But did you know butterflies see more colors than we do?  The more colors they have to choose from – the longer they will visit you! But not only are we looking for plants that are colorful but they must be rich in nectar.  It is vital that there are bright blooms throughout the seasons to provide a reliable habitat for your visitors to feed on.  The most important blooming season is mid to late summer when butterflies are most active.

Here is a list of ideal plants for butterfly gardens for those of you who are blessed with a sunny spot:

  • Butterfly Bush
  • Coneflower
  • Peonies
  • Turtlehead
  • Butterfly Weed
  • Petunia
  • Heliotrope
  • Annual aster
  • Autumn Joy Seedum
  • French Marigold
  • Lantana
  • Sunflower
  • Happy Returns Day Lily
  • Nasturium
  • Goldenrod
  • Milkweed
  • Yarrow
  • Hollyhock
  • Globe Flower
  • Blanket Flower
  • Joe Pie Weed
  • Black eyed susans
  • Beebalm
  • Zinnias
  • Lilac

Search images on your computer to see the wide range of colors that these plants come in.  And head down to your local garden centre to make your exciting new plant choices for summer.  Whatever you do:  do not use any pesticides on your garden as this can harm butterfly populations – use organic solutions always.  Certain butterflies like certain plants.

Do some research about what the butterflies of your area like. When in doubt – use native plants.

Photos by: Chris Potakojeffreyc42

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Container Gardening Ideas

Those without much yard space may want to consider container gardening as a way to add some color and interest to their outdoor living spaces. Even gardeners who are fortunate enough to have adequate room in their yards to practice their hobby in will want to use containers as a way to add accent to patios and doorways. Almost anything that can be grown in a traditional garden will thrive in a container as long as proper drainage is present.

Gardening with culinary herbs in containers is a great way for the home to cook to always have a ready supply of available, fresh herbs to use in meal preparation. These containers can be placed close to the kitchen door for easy access. One of the benefits of growing herbs is that the process of snipping off a bit to use will result in further growth of the plants, ensuring that there will be plenty available for later use. Some people also like to grow common household vegetables in a container garden, and salad ingredients such as lettuce and radishes work especially well for this.

Those with an artistic bent may want to create a container garden that showcases their talents by using colorful ornamentals in flowerpots and planter boxes. A typical gardening method is to place taller plants in the center of the pot or the back of the planter, with medium sized plants in the middle, and trailing plants that spill over the edges at the front of the container.

Photos by: daryl_mitchellslideshow bob

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Green Walls

If you have a balcony only big enough for two chairs or if your back yard is minuscule you can still enjoy nature’s beauty! Search the search the words “vertical planter”  to view a wide variety of vertical planters available for all budgets online.  Also check out your local garden centre or farmers’ market because some vertical planters even come ready-made-  spilling over with bright annuals.  If you are on a very low budget you might want to try filling a shoe organizer with soil and nestling in little plants where each shoe was meant to go!

 

Put up your vertical planter on a south facing wall near a water source.

If you would like to create your own unique planter there are many exciting choices to mix and match on your wall space. You can create an edible vertical garden with lettuce or strawberries.  Or a desert style wall with succulents  like sedums or hens and chicks.  Cascading vines can be luscious such as ivy, potato vine and creeping jenny.  If you want to go into traditional bright summer annuals mingle them with some sweeping classics like white bacopa, ferns and nasturtiums. Experiment with interesting grasses which swoop down and gently blow in the wind.  You can also experiment with herbs such as parsley, mint, thyme, basil, and oregano.  Remember less colour for your annuals can sometimes be more!

Also once this gorgeous work of art is installed do not neglect it.  Water it ever day or two.  If something doesn’t work pull it out and replace it with a new plant friend.  Deadhead your flowers for renewed and vigourous growth.  Fertilize when necessary.

Photos by: quinn.anyajam343

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Edible Petals

Foraging for food is all the rage these days in trendy restaurants, but what about foraging for exotic flowers plucked straight from your garden.  You can’t get any fresher than that!  Plan ahead for this summers’ beautiful garnishes: you can use flowers to jazz up a plain salad or accent a special cake.  Flowers as a food accessory can add romance to a meal or just delightful seasonal charm to the table.  You can even freeze flowers inside ice cubes for an unusual contemporary look and delicious flavour. Bright yellow calendulas, smashing oranges of nasturtiums, the brilliant blue of cornflowers, the deep red of roses all can bring our senses to life.

Special desserts including ice cream can be enhanced with the flavours from home grown roses and lavender.  Remember when you eat the flower you can only eat the petals.  And go easy at first if you are new to flower munching as some of them are hard to digest. Only eat flowers that you know for sure that the source is organic and free from pesticides.  You can store your flowers for up to a week in a dark cool place in a vase of water if you picked them in another garden.

Here is a starter list for edible flowers:

SPICEY: nasturtium, cornflower/ bachelor buttons, carnation, calendula, chrysanthemum

SWEET: nasturtium, violets, arabian jasmine, daylily (cut away the bitter base), cornflower, squash flowers, gardenia, pansy

BITTER: sunflower (steam to improve the flavor), snapdragons, marigolds

PERFUME FLAVORED: rose, lavender

TANGY: english daisy

PINE-LIKE: rosemary

BLAND: impatiens, hollyhock

The following garden flowers all have a variety of tastes:  bee balm tastes like earl grey tea, borage tastes like cucumbers, chamomile tastes like apples, carnations taste like nutmeg or cloves, hibiscus when boiled has a pleasant flavour, and lilac tastes like lemon.

NEVER  ever ever eat azalea, foxglove, oleander, rhododendron, lily of the valley, calla lily, daffodils and wisteria as these are very poisonous.

Photo by: allan*

 

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The best air-purifying plants

An indoor garden that includes air-purifying plants can be both beautiful and beneficial to the home environment. One factor to consider when combining the hobby of gardening with a love of pets is to check to see if the plants you want to grow indoors are toxic to pets. Carefully selecting pet safe, air purifying plants is a positive way to decorate your home or office.

It’s essential to select air-purifying plants that will thrive in the lighting situation inside the house.  Low light plants that are beneficial in removing toxin from the indoor air include varieties such as: Pothos, Dracaena, snake plant and the rubber plant. Peace lilies are popular in office settings and are also good for the home environment.   They require plenty of water but will thrive in medium light.

A bright sunny location for indoor gardening is an ideal setting for growing the multi-purpose aloe vera plant. In addition to helping clear the air in your home, the gel inside will soothe and aid in the healing of burns. Vibrant colorful Gerber daisies are another good choice for a sunny indoor garden location.

English ivy, ficus, Boston ferns, date palm tress, bamboo palm and Chinese evergreens are excellent choices of air-purifying plants. As with any gardening experience, greater success is achieved with the plants when advice from garden experts is sought out and followed.

To gain the maximum benefit from air-purifying plants, there should be a variety of plants placed in numerous locations within the home.

Photos by: woodleywonderworksJIGGS IMAGES

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The Best Healing Plants

More people than ever these days are interested in attaining a simpler lifestyle. For many, this means growing a lot of their own fruits and vegetables in their home garden. Even urban dwellers with little more than a small patio space that can only hold a few containers are participating in this gardening trend. However, most people don’t know that healing plants can also be grown using home gardening techniques.

One of the easiest healing plants to grow in a home garden is chamomile. Chamomile is commonly made into tea and has a variety of healing properties. Chamomile tea is often used as a sleep aid, to calm the nerves and to relieve an upset stomach. It grows well among cucumbers, onions and other herbs.

Another medicinal herb that is easy to grow in the average garden is St. John’s Wort. This plant has antidepressant properties. St. John’s Wort leaves can easily be made into a flavorful tea that will help reduce anxiety, insomnia and help produce a general feeling of well-being.

One of the most popular healing plants that home gardening enthusiasts routinely plant is garlic. Garlic is heart-healthy, tasty and is very simple to grow. Besides being a delicious addition to almost any meal, garlic also has antibiotic properties.

Many resources exist for those who are interested in growing their own healing plants at home. Whether the intended growing space is a large back yard or just a few pots on a porch or patio, anyone can grow healing plants at home.

Photos by: matsuyuki

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Paradise in the City cont’d

This article is a continuation last week’s article. Now that you have chosen your container and pondered over what type of small green haven you are installing we will move on to watering and plant suggestions.  Whatever plant you choose:  remember to turn your pots on a regular basis so that the flowers all get equal attention from the sun and there is no lopsided growth.

Watering

If you do not have time to water every day or two, maybe you should invest in a very small irrigation system.  Go down to your local garden centre or irrigation centre to talk to them about their most easy to install systems.  If this is a hassle maybe you want to try xeriscaping. Also drip trays are excellent for plants that need to retain some water for later.

Plant suggestions

Some ideas for sunny areas: petunias, salvias, pansies, primrose, bacopa , coleus, dahlia, fuchsia, heuchera, brugmansia, bougainvillaea, canna lilies, osteospermum, geranium, grasses, creeping jenny, sedums, the sweet smelling heliotrope, lantana and potato vines. If it is very shady experiment with ivy, ferns, cyclamen, moss and impatiens.  Because of the containment aspect you can plant invasive grasses or mint without fear of them spreading to your whole garden.

Vegetables:  lettuce, tomatoes, squash, and edible flowers such as nasturtiums.

Herbs:  Mint, Basil, Parsly, Rosemary, Thyme.

Photos by: RameshngRobot B

 

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