Natural Ways to Combat Aphids

Finding an infestation of aphids on one of your favorite plants is not something you want to see in the garden.

One of the tricks I learned to combat aphids is to keep the leaves clean, even if it is just a routine spray of water.  Once you experience aphids, you don't want to go there again.

Frugal Family Home has an excellent post on aphids that is very informative on all aspects of these pests. Click here to go to the article.

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Prune tomato plants for a healthy productive crop

Proper pruning can be an effective practice for producing strong and productive tomato plants.

Click here for an article from Old World Garden Farms on how they prune their tomato plants.

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DIY Concrete Countertop For Your Outdoor Kitchen

Concrete is a durable and inexpensive solution to your outdoor kitchen countertops.

I've worked with concrete on many outdoor projects for decades and many of them are still intact and functional.  In addition, concrete was fun to work with and once I started, it was so addicting that I kept thinking of new projects to work on.  Try it!

Click here for an excellent article on creating a concrete countertop for your outdoor kitchen.

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Beginners Guide to Succulents

Succulents seem to be all the rage . . . I'm seeing them everywhere!  I've always loved hens and chicks, but I have not had luck growing them.

They are perfect plants for container gardening and so cute.

Click here for a beginners guide to growing these little beauties.  I'll be updating this post as I find more links.

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Blue Plumbago: How to grow

Before an unusually brutal winter wiped out most of my paradise, my blue plumbago stood out like a shining gem.  It was started from a cutting from my mother-in-law's garden, like most of my other plants.  The cutting grew into a beautiful bush that always had butterflies hovering around it.  

When we get our paradise beautiful and thriving again, the blue plumbago for sure will be prominent in the garden again.

I highly recommend this beautiful bush for your landscape.

Click here for an excellent article from Plant Care Today on growing these beauties.

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Homemade Mosaic Planter

Love this planter idea that would work so well for a raised bed by adding enough rows to suit your taste.

If you love working with concrete and being creative, this project is perfect for you!  Also a great idea for stones for a path.

Click here to see how this one was made!

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Grow a Lemon Tree in a Container

If you use lots of lemons in preparation of meals and beverages, there is nothing like having your own supply. Once established, your lemon tree will provide you and your friends with more than enough!

Want to know the secrets of one gardener who grows lemon trees in containers?  Click here.

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Start lettuce from seed

Every year I say I'd like to grow my own lettuce from seed, but never get around to it.  I was reminded again by an article on the Birds and Blooms website.

Growing from seed really takes little effort.  You just need the right place to get them going

Click here for the article from Birds and Blooms . . . the photo source is from that article.

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Creative Ways to Grow Herbs

I love growing herbs close to the kitchen.  In fact, they are beautiful grown indoors.

Container gardening is my preferred method of gardening since the plants are portable and can be moved from outdoors to indoors.

Click here to go to an article from The Empress of Dirt on being creative growing those herbs.  

Photo source is also The Empress of Dirt.

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Christmas Cactus Care

When I found the following articles, they peaked my interest in trying to grow Christmas Cactus again.  If you are also an amateur at growing these beautiful plants, check out the following articles.

Click here for the article from WikiHow, How to Care for a Christmas Cactus.

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Common Gardening Mistakes

Mistakes . . . we all make them!  We are not aware of some mistakes.

I ran across an excellent article on common gardening mistakes that all gardeners should read.  Some I was not aware of and through the years, I have done a ton of gardening research.  You never stop learning!

Click here to go to the very informative article 15 Common Gardening Mistakes Everyone Makes.

Some things to keep in mind . . .

Through my years of gardening in moderate zone 9 climate, the "rules" for winter depend on the weather.  It is not a bad idea to push the limits and experiment in certain climates.  For example, my best success in propagating hibiscus was during the winter when the temperatures were consistently in the 70s.  For one thing, I broke the cardinal rule of not hard pruning during the winter months.  

The experiment was a monumental success and I had a record number of hibiscus ready to plant in the spring and had enough to give away to other gardeners who were happy to share cuttings and surpluses of their own.  You never know unless you push the limits.

The photo is a version of my garden back in 2000.

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Discover Hypertufa Plant Containers

Hypertufa plant containers are so cute!

I've made lots of concrete plant containers and have heard of hypertufa, but have not yet made any.  The great feature of hypertufa is less weight than concrete.  I love my concrete containers, but huge containers are almost impossible to move around.

Fine Gardening (photo source) has an excellent article on hypertufa, including Peg's secrets, whose containers are shown in the photo.

Click here to go to the article.

Click here for an excellent guide to concrete and hypertufa recipes . . . great information!

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Those pesky weeds!

Now is the time to cut down next season's weed population.

October is a perfect time to take care of those pests since we are out there doing seasonal maintenance.  Actually, anytime is a good time to avoid the over-population of the pesky weeds. 

The secret is to not let the weeds set seed.  Pull them out or kill them before they have a chance to seed.

Anytime I am walking around the garden, I make sure to go out with a plastic grocery bag and pull weeds here and there as I encounter them.  It is so much easier to keep them under control if you routinely pull them out as you are just wandering around.  

Want to identify the weeds that grow on your property?  What Weed Is It is an excellent article for starters.  It includes links to other articles and publications.

Weed Management Guide for Florida Lawns is another resource for Florida gardeners as well as gardeners in all zones since it includes some great information about weeds in general.

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Fabulous Stepping Stone Inspiration

Stepping stones are a quick way to add color and sometimes functionality to an area of your garden.

My favorites are the colorful mosaics like the ones in the photo.

Making your own stepping stones can be a fun experience the whole family can participate in.

Click here for an article that features 23 stepping stone projects!

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DIY Lace-Like Stepping Stones

Here's another creative DIY project to add some pizazz to your garden design.

Karen from Mindful Matters came up with a most unusual way to use lace doilies to paint these stunning stepping stones.  What really makes them special . . . they glow in the dark.  How cool is that?

Her painting technique will work for a number of projects.  Anywhere there is a surface to paint on!  How about a boring concrete carport floor or that back room floor that needs to be painted . . . garden containers, walls . . . you get the idea, you are limited by your imagination.

I will be incorporating Karen's painting technique for a future project for sure!

Click here for Karen's article on how to make these gorgeous stepping stones.

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DIY Fake Rocks and Boulders

There is no limit to what you can create with this type of project.

You may simply want to add some large fake boulders in your garden design, make the facade for the waterfall and pond you have been dreaming of or a raised bed that doubles as a place to sit.

Once you know the basics of creating a rock, the method is the same no matter what the size of the project.

I've worked with concrete for garden projects for more than 10 years and I must say that for me it has been a very satisfying and addicting endeavor.  One project leads to another!

Click here to go to the article, "How to Make Fake Rocks and Boulders" from eHow.  You will also find links to other methods of making rocks, boulders, etc.

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