Happy Garden - January 8, 2009

This week we have an article about Landscaping on a Budget as well as more tips from readers. Do you have any gardening tips or photos to share with the ThriftyFun community? Please submit them here...

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Photos:

• Garden: Butterflies To Be

Tips and Articles:

• Invest In The Proper Snow Removal Equipment
• Install Your Own Sprinkler System
• Get Buckets from Bakeries
• Landscaping on a Budget
• Use A Salt Solution For Your Icy Driveway
• Growing Edible Flowers
• Keeping Kids Hands Clean in the Yard

New Requests:

• Growing Amaryllis in Texas
• Bugs on Plants That Were Brought Inside
• Transplanting a Lilac Bush
• Caring for Sweet Broom Plants
• Hydrangea Isn't Getting Much Greenery
• Plant's Leaves are Turning Yellow
• Pruning a Jasmine Plant
• Rooting Fruit Tree Cuttings
• Planting Eunomy Suckers
• Annuals to Plant with Profusion Zinnias
• Getting Rid of Fungus in Grass
• Using Plastic Containers in the Garden
• Can You Reuse Potting Soil?
• Pruning a Hibiscus
• Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons
• Japanese Colored Dandelion Flowers
• Rooting the Top of a Norfolk Pine

Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

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Garden: Butterflies To Be

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Invest In The Proper Snow Removal Equipment

Grandma J here in MN. Got our share of the white stuff (snow) this winter, more coming. Considering we should prepare in October, it takes the first snow storm for us to do this.

Save your back and maybe your HEART! Investing in good snow removal equipment is essential, even for the basics. I bought a push shovel for about $25. Not a scooper of snow, just push it. Then have another one for scooping. Make sure you try them out in the fashion you will hold it, bend with it, etc. ERGONOMIC tools are there.

For my birthday in December, hubby bought me a new snowblower. Never touched one in my life. Always used the shovel. So when he was in the hospital before Christmas having a total knee, I had to learn to use it. Had to call him for help on the cell phone. Tucked it under my ear, you know how we multi task, and it flew across into a 3 foot snow drift. Me, screaming DON'T HANG UP. DUH! Did not run any trees over, got the property cleaned up nice, I might say.

I also have a scraper blade, looks like a garden hoe on the straight down. A MUST. Pops under the ice chunks, packed snow that you can't shovel off. Use it like a lever.

THEN HIDE your snow tools (but in a handy place for you) so they can't be borrowed by ANYONE! Family forgets where to return things they take "just for a bit".

If you find snow, ice sticking, take an old candle and rub the blade edges. SLICK.

Also, get a couple ice cream buckets and fill with an ice sanding element. Can be sidewalk salt, can be sand (what do you do with the sandbox stuff in the fall? Fill some buckets before dumping the rest into the garden!)

Anything left over can be stored till the next year. DO NOT SET the bag on the basement floor. Salt eats cement in long term position and mega amounts.

Source: Joyce's experiences in life.

By Joyce from Benson MN

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Install Your Own Sprinkler System
By Jess StewartMaize

My husband has been bugging me to have a sprinkler system installed since we bought our house four years ago. He finally gave up on having the system installed, went to Home Depot and figured out how to do it on his own. This is what we did.

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Get Buckets from Bakeries

Go to your local grocery store bakery and ask if they throw away their icing buckets or donut glaze buckets. If they do, I am sure they would love to give them away instead. I am a cake decorator in one and I give away tons of buckets.

Reasons I have personally heard for getting the buckets: planting tomatoes (on ground or even hanging), collecting vegetables from garden, storing pet food, collecting honey, making wine, making pickled cucumbers. One lady picks them up for the local dog shelter to let the dogs chew on them. I am not so sure that is a safe practice but she says that it is fine!

So, help save the landfill and save some $$$$ too by asking for free buckets. We carry 3 different sizes too! And the labels on the buckets come off easy. Fill the bucket with warm water and let sit for a day or so, the label will peel right off!

Johnsgirl from Demorest, GA

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Landscaping on a Budget
By Ellen Brown

A big landscaping project can be a budget buster, but with a little creative planning it doesn't have to be. Here are some tips for creating a beautiful landscape without breaking the bank.

The Plans

Hire a landscape designer or landscape architect to develop the plan, then do the work yourself. Another idea is to do what you can yourself, and hire out the rest. This way you'll get the advantage of a professional design and save money by doing some or all the work yourself.

Hiring a professional planner isn't in your budget? No worries. Consult with friends, family, and local garden centers, or look in books and magazines and at your library for free plans and ideas. Drive around your community, or take a stroll around your neighborhood to get ideas. Pay close attention to yards and gardens with a grade and exposure similar to yours. Work at your own pace so you can spread out the cost of the work. Prioritize your tasks. You don't have to get the whole landscaping project done in a single day, week, month-or even a single season.

The Materials

Look for inexpensive (or free) alternatives. A stone retaining wall may be expensive, but concrete blocks from a recently finished construction project work just as well. Pay close attention to sites where buildings are being torn down. These are sometimes great opportunities to get free materials for hardscaping, as well as free plants.

If there are no alternatives to an expensive part of your project, reevaluate how important it is to your overall plan. For example, if you skip the pond, maybe you could afford to buy the outdoor furniture you want.

Watch for sales. Nurseries and garden centers tend to offer specials around the summer holidays, especially Mother's Day, Memorial Day, and Labor Day. This is the perfect time to pick up bargain priced trees, plants, as well as other decorative landscaping materials. Garage sales and estate sales are other great places to look for decorative elements.

The Plants

Throw a 'garden warming' party. In lieu of gifts, suggest that your guests bring you cuttings or starts from their own gardens. People love to share their flowers and plants, and this is a great way to give your outdoor space special meaning.

Plant trees to give your landscape instant structure and draw attention away from portions of your plan that remain unfinished. Shrubs fill in even faster than trees and can be purchased in smaller sizes to save money.

Start with smaller perennial plants, trees, and shrubs. They are usually much cheaper, so if you suffer a few losses, your budget will be able to absorb the replacement costs. Then use annuals to fill in the gaps until your new landscaping gets going. A couple of flats of colorful bedding petunias are usually enough for full-season color.

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Use A Salt Solution For Your Icy Driveway

If you need to salt your driveway or stairs, try this. My salt from last winter absorbed some moisture during the fall, and the salt bucket had as much water in it as salt. I scooped up a bunch of both and spread it out and had great results! The water becomes salty, so the water *and* the salt clear the ice! Make it really soupy so the water spreads way out. I tossed a bunch onto my ice-covered driveway from inside my garage door, and half the driveway ice melted.

By Polly from Cedar Springs, MI

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Growing Edible Flowers
By Ellen Brown

Many cultures have used edible flowers in their traditional dishes for centuries. And with a growing interest in global cuisine, edible flowers are once again coming back into vogue with the gardening masses. Whether you grow them alongside your vegetables or in containers, edible flowers are a wonderful way to bring added color, texture and flavor to your favorite summer dishes.

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Keeping Kids Hands Clean in the Yard

I have four children and in the summer time when they are outside a lot, I save small pieces of soap and put them in a knee high (or pantyhose) and tie the knee high to the outside water tap so that they can easily wash their hands without running in and out of the house so much.

By Gail from Montgomery, PA

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Growing Amaryllis in Texas

I live in San Antonio, TX but I do not know my zone. Can amaryllis thrive in the yard? It gets hot here in the summer. Could I plant them under a crape myrtle? Is special soil required? Thank you.

Augusta

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Bugs on Plants That Were Brought Inside

I have brought plants inside for the winter and have little tiny brownish colored bugs all over a new sprout. They fall from the windowsill to the counter and they are getting really aggravating. I have tried wiping them off with a wet paper towel but they just come back. I have also tried spraying them and the whole plant with a mixture of water/dawn dish liquid. Any suggestions?

Amanda from NC

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Transplanting a Lilac Bush

I have a small Lilac bush growing near a large well-established one. I'd like to know how deep I need to dig and when to transplant it? Should I start it in a bucket for awhile first? I live in the Midwest near Chicago.

Sharon from Hickory Hills, IL

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Caring for Sweet Broom Plants

I have 2 Sweet Broom plants. Should I cut them back in late fall, early winter?

Hardiness Zone: 8a


John from Myrtle Beach, SC

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Hydrangea Isn't Getting Much Greenery

How do I care for my hydrangea bush? I get some blooms every year but not a lot of greenery. I'm not sure if it should be cut back, pruned or just left alone. Please help!?

Hardiness Zone: 7a


Justina from Philadelphia

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Plant's Leaves are Turning Yellow

My plant is dying. I bought this plant in July and it was doing very well. Three months later (winter) its leaves started turning yellow and then drying out. I don't know it's name or how to treat it. I get no sunlight, so I provide it with artificial lighting. I began spraying it with water two weeks ago, but I see no change. Please help. The only plants that do well here so far are bamboo shoots.

Hardiness Zone: 7a


Loyda from New York City

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Pruning a Jasmine Plant

I have had my jasmine plants all over Texas. They are now in a colder climate and are no longer flowering all year long. I need to know when is the best time of year to prune them and how far down I should cut. They are in large buckets and are growing upward on a six foot trellis. They are looking pretty sad. Please help. Hardiness Zone: 7a Randy from Abaline, TX

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Rooting Fruit Tree Cuttings

What is the longest cutting I can take off of a fruit tree, dip in rooting hormone and have it root?

Hardiness Zone: 7b


Lisa from Arkansas

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Planting Eunomy Suckers

I have a nice bush probably a Eunomys, that has 3 foot suckers, can I plant these?

Hardiness Zone: 7b


Lisa from Arkansas

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Annuals to Plant with Profusion Zinnias

I would like some suggestions for annuals I can put with Profusion zinnias. They are heat tolerant and don't take much water. I have a tendency to plant the wrong kind of flowers together. Some need more water then others, so I would like to know what to plant with the Profusion series. These will go in my flower boxes on the south side. They get full sun. Thanks!

Hardiness Zone: 6a


Terri from Missouri

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Getting Rid of Fungus in Grass

I have a fungus on my grass. I had a commercial service which I gave up on it and after that is when I got this fungus. It seems the grass is very weak do to all the chemicals this company laid on it and the fungus just took over. Any suggestion on a natural product, I'm afraid to use any more chemicals. Thank you.

Hardiness Zone: 10b


Carlos from Florida

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Using Plastic Containers in the Garden

Would someone kindly explain to me about plastics in gardening? I would like to use the bottoms of vinegar bottles as starter pots for u-name-its. I'm just worrying if they are outside, in the sun, if anything could taint veggies and herbs grown in them. How do I know when the vessel's life is over?

How about same thing with those kitty litter buckets (some are opaque yellow, pickle buckets are green), and light unrecyclable restaurant takeout clam shells. Anything definitive out there? We thank you very much!

Jane from Baltimore, Maryland

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Can You Reuse Potting Soil?

What do you do with your potting soil when you re-pot a plant? Do you reuse it or discard it? It seems wasteful to throw it out, surely you can keep using it?

Laura from Gillespie, IL

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Pruning a Hibiscus

When can you prune a hibiscus plant? It is outside in a bed facing south. We live in the Houston area.

Hardiness Zone: 9a


Jan from Houston, TX

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Lemon Tree Not Blooming Or Producing Lemons

My lemon tree does not produce any fruit. It is about 8 feet high, full of leaves and very healthy.

Peter

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Japanese Colored Dandelion Flowers

Does anyone know where I can get the Japanese Colored Dandelion flowers or seeds?

Hardiness Zone: 6a


bcborys from Bloomingdale, Michigan

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Rooting the Top of a Norfolk Pine

My new Norfolk pine broke off at the top cluster of branches. Can I root this or plant it? Please help, thanks.

Dorothy

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Crafting for Fun and Money!

If you are an avid crafter, capable writer and own a digital camera, you are eligible to participate. Submit your craft projects to ThriftyFun and we will pay $15 for any crafts that we publish.

More Information:
Click Here: http://www.thriftyfun.com/post_craft.ldml