Planting Fruit Trees For Your Garden

Fruit trees bear at different times of the year. For example, there are apples for early season, midseason, and late season (well into fall), so it is wise to select trees for the season you want. Just how long it will be before trees will bear is another consideration; apples and pears bear in 4 to 6 years; plums, cherries, and peaches bear in about 4 years.


Besides considering bearing season and length of bearing, you should also think of size. In addition to standard-sized fruit trees there are dwarf varieties that grow only a few feet. There are also different kinds of apples, peaches, or cherries; your local nursery will tell you about these. Your nursery also stocks the type of trees that do best in your area, so ask for advice. Your trees must be hardy enough to stand the coldest winter and the hottest summer in your vicinity.

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Soil PH And Its Effect On Your Garden

As you may have observed from your gardening experiences plants can be fussy things. The right location, amount of sunlight and 101 other factors influence your plant's growing ability. One factor which is very beneficial in understanding before putting that new plant into the earth is soil pH.


What is Soil pH?


Let's get all scientific for a moment and learn what pH is. In chemistry pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline a solution is. Okay chemistry lesson over. Basically soil pH is a measure of how acidic or alkaline your soil is. Soil pH is measured on a scale of 1 to 14. If your soil has a pH value of less than 7 then you have acidic soil. On the other hand if your soil has a pH value of greater than 7 then you have alkaline soil. A pH value of 7 is neutral, meaning you have neither acidic or alkaline soil.

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The History And Evolution Of Banana Hybrids

Bananas are the world’s favorite fruit and many nations depend on banana trees to supply its citizens with this delicious food product to save them from famines. Bananas are available on markets year round and are rich in vitamins, minerals, and fiber, containing only small hollow seed that are infertile. Ornamental bananas, ‘Musa ensete’ and ‘Musa nana’ are inedible but in high demand for landscaping.

India is the world’s largest producer of bananas and Alexander the Great found them growing there in 327 BC, when he conquered India. Soldiers of Alexander the Great returned to Greece and Persia with bulbs from banana plants, ‘Musa accuminata,’ where they were distributed and planted.

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Gifts for the Gardener

Is there a gardener you need to buy a gift for?   Christmas is as great a reason as you can get to buy gifts for that special gardener.  You don't have to look far to find great gifts for gardeners.  Every year there seem to be new gadgets coming out and several on-line websites have wonderful gardening gifts.  A couple of them are www.gardenscape.on.ca/ and www.behnkes.com. Both sites have an abundance of unique gifts for the gardener.  Local hardware or home improvement stores will also have a good line of gifts for that special gardener in your life.

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The Basic Necessities For A Budding Green Thumb

A Garden gives life to a home. It's the green and blooming plants that seem to refresh anyone who sees them. However, gardening isn't as simple as putting the plants into the soil. You must know the basics and you have the necessities.

In Budding Green Thumb these are aspects to consider; sun, view, wind, drainage and garden style and especially the plant selection.

There are basic necessities you will need in building your most promising garden. Whether you have a small or large ground, these necessities will play a big part on beginning your most promising garden. These consist of spading fork, planting shovel, hand cultivator, Iron Rake, weed spud and a pair of shears, Hose reel, mower, garden roller and wheelbarrow.

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How to Coax Fresh Vegetables From the Garden All Winter Long

Autumn typically signals the end of home grown vegetables from the garden, but with a little ingenuity you can harvest garden fresh produce well into the winter months. My Central Pennsylvania garden continues to supply fresh vegetables during the fall and winter when most gardeners in my growing region are content to dream about next summer’s bounty. Read on to discover simple tricks that will fortify your garden against the onslaught of frigid weather.

Fall often delivers brief cold spells with a few frost filled mornings, sandwiched between weeks of milder, frost-free conditions. The problem is that a single touch of frost can wipe out every tender annual growing in the garden. Fortunately, a little protection will enable frost sensitive vegetables and herbs to survive a cold snap, and reward the resourceful gardener with an opportunity to enjoy extended harvests.

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The Organic Gardener

It’s not always easy to be an organic gardener. Even committed organic gardeners sometimes long to spray herbicide on goutweed or pesky poison ivy. When Japanese beetles or rose chafers arrive in throngs just before your garden party, you may suffer an urge for the good old days — the time before you understood that spraying an insecticide would kill beneficial bugs along with the bad, aggravating your pest problems. But there are also problems that are more easily addressed with organic solutions.

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