The evergreens most commonly used for foundation planting around homes prefer fairly light, well drained soil in which has been incorporated peat moss or other well rotted organic matter. They are relatively shallow rooted and so deep beds need not be dug.

Spreading type evergreens should be planted at least 3 feet away from foundation or walks to give them plenty of growth space.

Frequent watering of both tops and soil is necessary, especially during hot, dry summers. Fertilize in the spring, using a balanced garden fertilizer. Do not overfeed. especially if slow growth is desired.

Dogs should be kept away from evergreens, by use of small fences.

By topping or pinching side growth, evergreens can be trained to desired shapes without too much trouble. Mugho Pine “candles” (the new growth) are commonly cut back to their length in the spring to produce a compact growth.

When Pfitzers or other spreading type evergreens grow too long and “leggy”, they can be pruned in mid-summer by cutting off the long branches. Make the cut so that it is hidden behind a new, shorter stem and the pruning will not be noticeable.

Conifers and aglaonema maria can greatly enhance the beauty of a home and care should be taken to remove dry, dead branches around the base. Do not prune around the base of healthy trees, or spaces will appear between the ground level and the level of the first branches.

As with other evergreens, conifers should be protected from dogs.

A number of insect pests attack evergreens and conifers, particularly sucking and boring insects and so, as soon as the first signs of any damage are noticed, a control like malathion should be applied.

Conifers and other evergreens are subject to “winter kill’ or wind burn.

This commonly occurs when the soil is dry in early winter. Thorough watering to soak the soil well around the roots in late fall or early winter is recommended to help overcome this wind burn ó never let evergreens go into the winter season dry.

More Plants Care Articles

House plants suffer from two main causes, over watering and under watering, but there are also other ailments that afflict house plants. Here are some house plant care tips to help alert you to potential problems and how to cure them.

More house plants die from over watering them. If your house plant is drowning, the stem and foliage will become soft and begin to decay. Allowing the house plant to dry out may save it.

An under watered house plant will display dry, brown edges on the leaves. Begin to mist your house plant twice a day to save it.

If your house plant has a musty smell, place a thin layer of crushed charcoal on the top layer of the soil to absorb the smell.

A house plant that is bending over is most likely being over fed, cut back on the feeding and the house plant should straighten back up.

A house plant can be sun burned if it is placed in direct sunlight. Placing your house plants in filtered sunlight is the best way to avoid giving them a sun burn.

If the leaves are falling off from the bottom of your house plant, touch the plant’s soil and see is it is soggy wet. If it is, the soil has poor drainage and the house plant is not getting enough oxygen to it’s roots. Let the soil dry out and take a knitting needle and long nail and give your plant an acupuncture treatment by inserting the knitting needle or nail into the soil in several places to aerate the soil.

If you have pests on your house plants, buy a sticky fly strip and cut off one inch of the fly strip and place somewhere on the house plants foliage to catch the pests. If it is a large house plant, use more than 1 piece of the sticky fly strip on the house plant.

Growing hibiscus plants requires planting them at least three feet apart. Grow hibiscus plants using the hibiscus care tips in this free video on tropical plant care.Expert: Stan DeFreitas Bio: Stan DeFreitas, also known as Mr. Green Thumb, has experience as an urban horticulturist working for the Pinellas County Extension Service and has taught horticulture at the St. Petersburg College. Filmmaker: Demand Media
Video Rating: 4 / 5

Bob Walsh Enterprises proudly announces the publication of their new web page ‘Poinsettia Plants – Care and History’.

The goal was to publish this web page, http://www.bestindoortropicalhawaiianhouseplants.com/4.htlm, to coincide with National Poinsettia Day, December 12, 2010. This day was authorized by Congress to honor Joel Roberts Poinsett, the first United States Minister to Mexico, who is recognized as being the first person to bring this very popular holiday plant to America around 1825. Mr. Poinsett died on December 12, 1851.

The poinsettia plant is not only the favorite festive Christmas Holiday plant, but it is one of the best-selling plants each year in the United States. Poinsettias represent over 85% of the potted plant sales during the Holiday Season. Ninety percent of all poinsettia plants are exported from the United States. The poinsettia is commercially grown in all 50 States.

‘Poinsettia Plants – Care and History’ not only celebrates the rich history of the poinsettia beginning with the Aztecs in its natural habitat in Mexico, but also offers readers detailed information on how to provide the best care for poinsettia plants. The beautifully designed videos one finds on this page add to the informative text that brings the rich history of poinsettia plants to life. This timely created and published web page explains the connection of this colorful winter-blooming plant and how it has endeared itself to the American public’s psyche both socially and religiously at this time of year.

It details the efforts of one immigrant German-American family who single-handedly dedicated themselves to make the poinsettia “The Holiday Plant” here in the United States and grows over 80% of all poinsettia plants for commercial sales that help California to be the top poinsettia producing State in the USA.

This poinsettia producing family is credited with creating 90% of all poinsettia varieties found in the world today. There are over 100 different varieties of poinsettia plants.

The poinsettia plant is often misunderstood as to what the actual flowers are. This page provides clear definitions and descriptions of the various parts of this holiday plant. The page also addresses the misconception that the poinsettia plant is poisonous.

‘Poinsettia Plants – Care and History’ provides detailed information and tips on how to care for poinsettias not only to have them survive the Holidays themselves, but also be able to enjoy them until it is time for the Easter lily to arrive on the scene sometimes in March or April.

All the detailed information on the care of poinsettia plant doesn’t stop there. It provides a year-long process of care that allows its owner to regrow the plant for the next holiday season.

In honor of National Poinsettia Day, Bob Walsh Enterprises proudly introduces Poinsettia Plants – Care and History to share with the world the rich and brightly colored history that is hidden under its own spectacular beauty that ultimately can be celebrated well beyond the holidays themselves.

If you have a garden, and are in the market for some new gardening tools, check out how stainless steel garden tools can benefit you.

Stainless steel is a metal alloy that is extremely durable and rust resistant, so it is no wonder why so many gardening experts recommend your tools be made of stainless steel. It is not only gardening items that stainless steel is utilized in, but in various other every day commodities that require the durability that the metal provides.

If you are in the market for new garden tools and are checking out what stainless steel has to offer, you can take a look into the purchasing process by first identifying your needs. Determining the exact items you will need to keep your garden in pristine condition is the first part of the buying process. This means writing down or sectioning out all of the task you wish to accomplish in your garden.

Once you have your set of tools you will need identified, you could create a budget to determine how much you can afford to spend on your new items.

Gardening tools are not that expensive as parts, but buying a whole set to help keep every aspect of your garden in a fast growing condition can be a pricey expenditure. Setting a budget before hand is the best thing you can do to keep yourself from breaking the bank on your gardening instruments.

After the tools are selected and the budget is set in place, you can go about the buying process by checking out what your local hardware stores have to offer, as well as what is available in the vast marketplace that the internet withholds. If you are looking for a quick buy into some items that you may use on the same day as you walk into the store to purchase them, then check out what your area has to offer with its local establishments.

If you are looking to get a good deal in a much larger marketplace, check out what the internet has to offer.

Doing a little price comparison both locally and through the internet can save you bundles on your items, as well as buying them together in a set rather than piece by piece. The internet is a preferred method of shopping simply because there are better deals offered, but local establishments could be utilized for the many weekend sales they offer.

Overall if you are looking to keep your garden in pristine condition, check out how stainless steel garden tools can benefit you.

You can learn about garden tool storage, and get many more articles about garden tools by visiting gardens tool

Choosing the Right Garden Shovel for the Job

One of the most widely used tools for gardening is the shovel, but many gardeners have little knowledge about what type of shovel to use for various projects they are working on. Using the right shovel can help you complete the job quicker, easier and also help minimize body stress–like an aching back.

Below are several of the more common garden shovels with an explanation of what each garden tool was designed for. While you may find other uses for certain shovels, the main intent is to help gardeners find garden shovels designed for specific jobs and make gardening and other farm or household chores more enjoyable.

Round Point Shovel:  The round point shovel is probably the most widely known and used shovel in any homeowners tool shed. It has a long, straight handle with a very pointed tip. The flat area on either side of bottom of the handle is great for placing one or both feet to dig deeper into the soil.  It is mainly used to move dirt from one location to another by digging, shoveling or scooping up the soil or debris.

 Garden Shovel:  The garden shovel is very similar to the round point shovel in appearance, but often has a shorter handle with a D-style grip at the end. It is slightly smaller and lighter so it is easier to handle. By using a short-handled garden shovel you are better able to get into tight, cramped areas where a long handle would be forever bumping something behind you. The general purpose of the garden shovel is to move dirt or debris from one location to another by digging, shoveling or scooping.
Irrigation Shovel:  This shovel design is also similar to your standard round point and garden shovels. The shank design is straighter so it enables the user to dig ditches or holes for planting trees, shrubs and flowers. It is easier to get a real vertical edge on the hole or ditch you are digging by using this type of shovel.
Transplanting Spade:  The name pretty much gives this shovel’s purpose away–it’s used for transplanting. When you are transplanting trees, shrubs and other bushes you can use a transplanting spade so you don’t disturb the roots as much as you would with a garden shovel. The width of the head is very narrow and slim in appearance and it has a rounded tip. You can get transplanting spades in either a long handle or the shorter, D-handle style. If you are working in a tight area or prefer a light weight type of spade then choose the shorter, D-handled transplanting spade.
Square Point Shovel:  The tip of the shovel head is flat and the overall shape is square, thus the name square point shovel. This shovel design is often used for leveling or putting a very straight edge on ditches, pathways and other projects where you want a nice straight line. You can also use it for shoveling snow, gravel or dirt. For cleaning out a garden shed, greenhouse or even mucking out livestock pens/stalls that have corners you can’t beat the square point shovel. It makes getting every bit of dirt out of the corners a breeze.
Scoop Shovel: The scoop shovel is one of my favorites. It has a huge head that can hold a lot of material. Often it is found with a shorter, D-style handle.  This shovel works best for lightweight materials such as leaves, bark, or other dried materials. Because of the load it can hold you don’t want to use it for heavy or wet materials unless you have a great deal of upper body strength to lift it without straining your back. The scoop shovel is a favorite among farmers for cleaning stalls and scooping up the barn/shop floor sweepings. It is easy to get it all in one swift scoop, leaving very little debris behind.

While there are still many different types of shovels on the market, each designed for different jobs, these are the most common ones used in gardens, farms and around the house. The next time you go to the hardware store in search of a few new tools be sure to look at all the shovel designs available. Add a few new ones to your collection and you can save yourself time and body ache.

Article by Mrs Gardener

The initial item for a Gardening Beginner to look at is Garden Tools. The basic garden tools you need are:

– Spade and Fork

– Hoe

– Rake

– Trowel

– Hand fork

– Wheel barrow

– Watering Can

– Secateurs

* Fork and Spade

These are needed for hole and trench digging, shifting soil, digging over beds prior to planting and removing unwanted plants. In addition, a fork is handy for breaking up larger lumps of soil and coarse raking. Taller people should look out for one with a longer handle.

* Hoe

A hoe is required mostly for removal of annual weeds from around wanted plants. You can opt for either a draw hoe or a push hoe depending on which you prefer.

* Rake

A rake is useful for levelling soil in preparation for laying turf or planting a flower bed. It is also useful for breaking up soil.

* Trowel

A trowel is an essential gardener’s tool for digging holes for smaller plants, dealing with plants in pots and any small job for which a spade is rather large. For trowels and hand forks, it is worth the expense of stainless steel tools as cheaper ones can often bend.

* Hand fork

The hand fork is handy for those jobs where a fork is too big. It is particularly used for meticulous weeding in flower beds and tubs/planters.

* Wheel barrow

A wheelbarrow is valuable for transporting heavy things around the garden – usually soil, compost etc. Although metal barrows are sturdier, they are also heavy and sturdy plastic ones can be found – avoid a plastic barrow if it appears to be weak.

* Watering Can

The watering can is primarily for watering individual plants, planters and tubs. In addition it can dispense liquid plant food. If you use liquid weed killer you must have a dedicated watering for it as the residue left could harm other plants. For watering large beds, a hose and possibly a sprinkler can be invaluable.

* Secateurs

Secateurs are required for pruning anything from roses to fruit. They can be used on branches of up to 1-2cm thickness although this will depend on how good yours are. They are also valuable for cutting back dead vegetation and perennials and cutting down the volume of prunings before throwing away. Your secateurs will be well used – if you discover a brand/design which is long-lasting and works well stay with it.

As you become a more advanced gardener, you will doubtless wish to purchase further more specialist garden tools but these are the basic essentials. Visit my blog to find out more about gardening basics.

Birds & Blooms’ gardening expert, Melinda Myers gives her top five picks for gardening tools
Video Rating: 5 / 5

Related Gardening Tools Articles

A home garden can be enjoyable to have instead of the person going to the park to enjoy the sun, trees and plants. Taking care of your home garden can be easy or difficult, depending on what kind of home garden you have. A well placed home garden tip can also be a great thing to know for the home owner. There are many different home garden tips that can solve a lot of problems in a home garden.

Home Garden Tip Number One

One home garden tip is to make sure that your garden is watered and exposed to at least a few hours of sunlight or essential artificial light for it to thrive, according to its needs. The amount of water you give your plant will depend on what kind of home garden plant you have in the garden. Some plants enjoy a lot of water while others do not need as much. On the other hand, exposure to sun light is a necessity for most plants.

This home garden tip is one thing that is essential to have thriving plants in your home garden.

Home Garden Tip Number Two

Another tip that may be helpful for a home garden is to keep the garden well drained and well trimmed. Many professional gardeners layer gravel and rocks at the bottom of the filler soil that usually stands in any garden. This is especially helpful for a smaller garden since there may not be enough space for the water to drain to. This home garden tip may not be necessary for a bigger garden with more soil that can absorb excessive amounts of water.

A well trimmed garden is a deterrent to flooding since leaves and other debris may clog the drains. This may also mean that it is best to rake, sweep or clean through the garden several times a week depending on the amount of leaves and debris the plants may shed.

This home garden tip can also guarantee that your garden is well maintained as well as clean.

Any number of home garden tips can be essential depending on what kind of garden you have as well as the needs of the garden. The need for a helpful home garden tip can also stem from the experience of the gardener or the home owner. While a lot of people can take care of their own garden single handedly, especially those with small gardens, some need a lot of help for even a small garden.

A garden adds beauty to the surroundings with its colorful treasure of trees, plants, flowers, butterflies, fruits and more. Gardening is an infinitely pleasurable exercise and a hobby for some. If you have enough space to plant herbs or small plants, it becomes your garden. So, it is not a tough task, even if you do not have the experience. Here is a gardening tip for amateurs – start small instead of overdoing things at your first shot.

Gardens tend to have a soothing effect on our minds. You can just sit or lie on your back on the lawn you mowed or in your garden to relax and unwind. The garden should not only look good, but should also be in a place easily visible to everyone. Here is a gardening tip – Build your garden in front of the house. It not only adds to the beauty of the place but also creates a delightful impression on people entering your house.

Basics Of Gardening

The first important gardening tip is to learn the basics of gardening. Most people are very taken in with the idea of creating a garden but you need to know the basics before taking the plunge. One would start dreaming about flowers, fruits and vegetables all over the place even before beginning to build the garden. Which plants to grow, where to plant it, how to do it, and when to do it are common confusion areas for novices.

Selecting The Right Place

Another important gardening tip is to choose the right location for your garden. You should get a great view of the chosen place from inside your house. Now that the problem of where to garden has been dealt with, you have to think of what to plant. If you want to grow any particular plant, you should first check out whether the climatic and other conditions are conducive to its growth. If you live in a place that is hot, then make sure you do no plant in areas exposed to afternoon sun, which is hotter and drier than the morning sun. Also, ensure that the chosen place is not directly exposed to heavy, dry winds.

Selecting The Plants

After the location is finalized, the next gardening tip for you is – choose the right plants. Select appropriate plants in accordance with the environmental conditions in your area. You can grow roses or vegetables – it is up to you. Herbs are ideal for any place as their growth can be controlled, if there is not enough space.

Common Problems

Lastly, here is an important gardening tip for you on tackling the common problems. If your garden is attractive, you can expect unwanted visitors like pests, insects, animals, children to cause damage to your plants. You should be careful and safeguard your garden. You cannot keep watch 24 x 7. However, while you water your plants, make sure that you check for changes in the color, or if insects have damaged the stems, leaves, or the plant itself.

You should also prune the extra growth of the plants so that they are not only healthy but also serve their purpose.

With a helpful gardening tip or two, your green thumb, care and attention, you too can create a beautiful garden at home.

Article by Kenneth D. Tafolla

A home garden can be enjoyable to have instead of the person going to the park to enjoy the sun, trees and plants. Taking care of your home garden can be easy or difficult, depending on what kind of home garden you have. A well placed home garden tip can also be a great thing to know for the home owner. There are many different home garden tips that can solve a lot of problems in a home garden.Home Garden Tip Number One

One home garden tip is to make sure that your garden is watered and exposed to at least a few hours of sunlight or essential artificial light for it to thrive, according to its needs. The amount of water you give your plant will depend on what kind of home garden plant you have in the garden. Some plants enjoy a lot of water while others do not need as much. On the other hand, exposure to sun light is a necessity for most plants. This home garden tip is one thing that is essential to have thriving plants in your home garden.

Home Garden Tip Number Two

Another tip that may be helpful for a home garden is to keep the garden well drained and well trimmed. Many professional gardeners layer gravel and rocks at the bottom of the filler soil that usually stands in any garden. This is especially helpful for a smaller garden since there may not be enough space for the water to drain to. This home garden tip may not be necessary for a bigger garden with more soil that can absorb excessive amounts of water.

A well trimmed garden is a deterrent to flooding since leaves and other debris may clog the drains. This may also mean that it is best to rake, sweep or clean through the garden several times a week depending on the amount of leaves and debris the plants may shed. This home garden tip can also guarantee that your garden is well maintained as well as clean.

Any number of home garden tips can be essential depending on what kind of garden you have as well as the needs of the garden. The need for a helpful home garden tip can also stem from the experience of the gardener or the home owner. While a lot of people can take care of their own garden single handedly, especially those with small gardens, some need a lot of help for even a small garden.

More Gardening Tips Articles

            The first thing you need to decide is where to put your garden.  Then you need to look at your soil in your chosen garden spot.  Lastly you can decide what and how much to plant.  In deciding where to put your garden, choose a well-drained and sunny site, with no large trees near by if possible.  Tree roots will absorb nutrients and water that your garden needs and a large tree will shade the area too much.  Also consider how much a young tree may grow in the coming years.  Most flowers and vegetables need a full day of sunshine, but there are some varieties of plants that will tolerate some shade. 

After choosing your garden’s locale, take a look at the soil in the area.   Plant nutrient absorption is dependent on a soil’s pH, which is a measure of acidity or alkalinity. The minerals in a soil and the amount of rain that passes through the soil determine its acidity or alkalinity. You are shooting for a pH of close to 7.0, which is neutral, that is, it is neither alkaline, nor acidic. Soils with a pH below 7.0 are acidic, and those with a pH higher than 7.0 are alkaline. Most plants absorb nutrients best in a soil with a pH between 6 and 7.5. Test kits are available if you want to go to the trouble, but a good guideline is that acidic soils are more common in the eastern half of the United States, where rainfall is greatest, and alkaline soil is more common in the western half of the U.S.  Add ground lime if the soil is too acidic, or garden sulfur if it is too alkaline.  Most plants do best in a soil type known as loam, which contains roughly 50 percent sand, 25 percent clay, and 25 percent silt. You can add sand and compost to clay soils to improve its structure. 

After you’ve prepared your soil, you can decide whether you want traditional garden rows or the newer square foot garden.  I like the square foot garden which is divided into squares, so you can do one or two squares at a time and not kill yourself digging 30 rows at one time.  It’s less time consuming in the long run.  When one square stops producing, you can re-mulch it and replant another crop immediately.  When you add your mulch more often this way, it helps improve the soil faster than a traditional row garden.  This type of successive gardening helps with crop rotation.  Just move everything over one square the next time you plant.  It may help to map out your garden to help you remember what you planted where. Square gardening also helps facilitate companion planting which puts everything in closer proximity.  Onions and garlic are never farther away than a few feet, which helps deter some pests. You can also plant a square of marigolds and nasturtiums to deter pests. 

Before planting seeds, you should break up or till the soil. Some gardeners turn over the soil with a spade, while others break it up with a garden fork. I have found the t-handled hand garden tiller to be the best method for a small garden plot (under about 30 small rows or squares.) After tilling the soil, rake out any large debris, and then rake it smooth before planting. Some gardeners choose not to loosen the soil because the oxygen that enters the soil when it is tilled quickens the breakdown of needed organic matter in the soil. Instead, they just dig a small hole for each seed or plant. To keep the soil loose so that roots can develop easily, they keep it covered with a good layer of mulch. This organic matter encourages large populations of worms, whose tunneling breaks up the soil.

Every good gardener has a well-maintained compost pile.  Garden, yard, and table wastes may be composted for a good fertilizer. A compost pile may be built by layering different kinds of waste in a wire or wood bin. It’s helpful to leave on side open for ease of access.  Manure or greenery adds nitrogen to the pile to generate heat. Heat facilitates rotting and kills harmful organisms. Slightly dampen the pile and then cover it to facilitate the process. As heat builds up, the waste decomposes into a nutrient-rich compost. Some things you can add to the compost bin are grass clippings, leaves, wood ashes, fruit peels, vegetable matter, coffee grounds, egg shells, and animal manure, especially rabbit and chicken wastes. Adding wood ash adds needed potassium to the soil.  Other materials that can be used as mulch include bark chips, pine cones, newspapers and cardboard. The compost should be mixed and watered ever so often.  After a few months, the new compost can then be either dug in to the garden soil or applied around plants as a fertilizer and mulch. Mulching in bare spots between plants will also keep down weeds, but it is important that the mulch not touch the garden plants, or they may begin to rot. The mulch also keeps the soil from drying out. If plants look pale and weak in midsummer, add some new compost or other fertilizer again.

After preparing the soil for your garden of delights, you can decide what to plant and how much you want to plant.  Most beginners so too much seed and don’t thin the plants enough, so don’t over do.  Seeds need to be planted at different depths, depending on the seed’s size and its need for light. Seeds contain stored food that provides the energy needed for sprouting, or germination. Small seeds don’t hold much food, so they are sown on or near the soil surface, where they will not need a lot of energy to push through the soil. Larger seeds have enough food to be planted a bit deeper, which gives the root system more time to develop as the seedling grows up through the soil. As a general rule, a seed should be planted three times as deep as the seed is wide. Some seeds, such as lettuce, need light to germinate and must be sown on or very near the soil surface. Once the seeds are sown, the gardener gently presses down the soil so that the seed touches soil, which helps keep the seeds moist. Flower bulbs need to be planted at a depth that prevents them from sprouting above ground too early, when the weather may be too cold. Bulbs should generally be planted at a depth that is at least three times the bulb size.

After sowing your seed or planting your bulbs, young plants will need to be watered regularly.  Most plants need about an inch of water a week, so if nature doesn’t provide the needed thirst quencher, then you will have to do it yourself.  One way to water plants is by using plastic milk jugs or cola bottles with small holes punched in the bottom.  These should be filled with water, and placed beside a plant. Watering larger areas usually requires a sprinkler. Evaporation of water from the soil can be minimized by covering the soil with a protective layer of mulch. Mulch acts as a barrier that slows evaporation by reducing the amount of air and heat that reaches the soil surface. Most gardeners water in the early morning, when the air is cool and still, but the sun will soon dry the leaves. This helps to avoid plant diseases that thrive in cool, moist conditions and to reduce water lost through evaporation. 

Gardeners who want to plant in early spring, while there is still a threat of frost, should use a cold frame. A cold frame works like a small greenhouse to protect young plants from the cold. It can be as simple as a wood box with no bottom, and a piece of plastic or glass over the top. The clear plastic or glass cover traps heat from the sun. Another way is to have a small green house to start and protect young plants.  Any old shed can be easily converted to a gardening shed with a few shelves and a table or two to work on.  It helps if it is well lighted or has windows or sky lights to let the sunshine in.  

            After your garden is planted, the next thing you have to worry about is weeds.  But if you’ve mulched well, it shouldn’t be a big problem.  You can hoe up the roots or dig out the long tap roots of some weeds.  Some of these weeds, though, are quite edible and can be left or transplanted in another area of the garden.  Sorel, which has a lemony taste, is one weed that can be a good addition to a beginner’s garden.  It can be a good salad green.  Another good green is the common dandelion.  The dandelion’s leaves are edible if collected early in the spring before they become too bitter. The young leaves are used for salad greens and the larger older leaves for potherbs. The root of the dandelion can be used as a laxative and is also roasted and ground as a substitute or adulterant for coffee, and the flowers are sometimes used for making wine. Wild ginger is another.  Its roots make a good tea.   If you’re planting flowers as well, daylilies are a good addition and can also be eaten. The roots, as well as, the flower are edible.  These might make a good border around your vegetable patch. 

            The last thing on the list for a beginner is to watch out for bugs.  Insects that are good for the garden are pollinators, like bees and wasps, and insects that eat bad insects, such as the preying mantis and the ladybug.  Other good things for the garden are earthworms and rolly-pollies.  Snails and slugs are the biggest pests and should be eliminated if possible.  Placing used coffee grounds throughout the garden may help deter these.  Some swear by stale bear traps, which are tin cans placed in the ground with a little stale beer added to it.  The snails crawl into them and can’t get back out.  If you’ve laid walking planks between your garden plots, you can periodically lift them and destroy the snails you find there, as well.  There is an assortment of other insects that cause problems in the garden, so you may want to consider using a pesticide, but these can destroy beneficial insects as well.  It’s best just to had pick in a small garden and destroy what you know is bad.  Caterpillars can be nasty invaders, too, along with the tomato hornworm.  Onions and garlic helps deter some pests, as well as marigolds and nasturtiums.  Plant these in several areas of the garden. 

Some additions to the garden that will make your little piece of earth a little piece of heaven is a water pond, a fire pit, and a bird bath.  A small decorative water pond near the garden can bring beneficial frogs to the garden to help control insects. A stylish bird bath is also a nice addition that will bring birds to the garden to eat the insects.  A fire pit is a nice place to sit beside on a cool evening and also keeps you supplied in wood ash.  You can burn pine cones and other small fallen yard debris.  Benches, trellises, and other additions can help beautify the area.  These can be very simple or highly elaborate and as decorative as you desire them to be.  Your garden should be as beautiful as it is healthful, so eat the fruits of your labor fresh from the vine, and feast your eyes on all the beauty that God has provided us. So now that you have the basics of garden graces, sit back and relax a while in all your heavenly places. 

How to keep your tomato plants healthy. Award winning garden expert Steve Brookes shares great fun and informative gardening tips.
Video Rating: 4 / 5