The Alternative Broadcasting Online News Station

To achieve Koi pond aeration, there are some things you can do. One, you can go to your local hobby store or pet supply store and purchase one of those small air pumps, hook some tubing to it, along with an air diffuser or sometimes called an air stone, and place it in your pond. I still have the original one I bought about eight years ago, and it’s still working. This has run for almost eight years non-stop, they are very durable. It works two fold, one, to supply air to the pond water and, two, it helps to keep a hole open in the ice during the winter.

Another way to obtain Koi pond aeration is to have different kinds of under water pond plants such as Anacharis and Hornwort. These plants will grow and spread out very well under water. Just kind of put them in small bunches in the bottom of your pond. Just so you know if your plant them in some kind of pot, chances are very good that your Koi will pull them out. Koi are always tugging and uprooting something.

Waterfalls also provide a great way to help aerate the Koi pond. By constantly having water running down a waterfall and crashing into the pond, will help naturally aerate it.

The combination of all the above suggestions will give you the results you need for proper Koi pond aeration.

Robert Dorrance has had a pond for the last eight years and would like to share his experiences with you. Be sure to come by and download the free e-book, How To Build A Beautiful Backyard Pond. Find out more at http://www.Backyard-Pond-Guide.com

Thinking of buying a hammock to relax and unwind? With so many hammocks on offer, it is difficult to decide which one is best. Discover the pros and cons of different types of hammocks and which hammock will be the best for you.

Hammock retailers offer hundreds of different hammocks, but all of them can be divided into three groups according to material: fabric, rope and string hammocks. Each material has its pros and cons.

Fabric hammocks can be quilted, or made of cotton or mesh. A well-made fabric hammock is durable and doesn’t require much maintenance. Fabric hammocks are comfortable, and cotton fabric offers the most comfort. Unlike rope hammocks, there will be no prints on your body. Fabric hammocks are also very good for young children - their little fingers and toes won’t get caught in the holes. On the downside, fabric doesn’t provide much ventilation. So if you lie in a fabric hammock on a hot day, you might get a bit sticky. On the other hand, fabric is an ideal choice for cooler climates.

A rope hammock is the first thing most people think of, when picturing a hammock. Rope hammocks offer the most traditional look. They are usually made from cotton or polyester rope. They are very durable, don’t require much maintenance and cost less than other types. A big advantage of a rope hammock is that it “breathes”, letting you get the most benefit from breezes on a hot day. Rope hammocks are reasonably comfortable, but the rope might leave impressions on your skin. Hammocks with smaller spaces between the ropes are more comfortable.

The last type is string hammocks, which are also called Mayan hammocks. String hammocks are hand woven, and most of them come from Mexico, Guatemala, Nicaragua or El Salvador. They are reminiscent of tightly woven webs made of fine cotton, in a weave that might take more than a mile of string. String hammocks are the most decorative - they come in exotic, tropical colors, to create a relaxing holiday atmosphere.

Mayan hammocks are extremely comfortable and provide good ventilation, but don’t leave any prints on your skin. They are also very light-weight, so string hammocks can be used for camping or taken to the beach. There is one disadvantage though - it is easy to damage a string hammock. Any sharp object can easily cut the string, so they are not as durable as rope or fabric hammocks.

One more thing you should know is that rope and fabric hammocks can have spreader bars at the ends or be stave-less (traditional hammock without bars). You might think that spreader bars add comfort, but in fact it is the other way around - hammocks without the bars are more comfortable, because they wrap around your body better. If for appearance reasons you prefer hammocks with spreader bars, go for hammocks with 3 hanging points instead of just 2 - these have much less chance of tipping over.

How much a good hammock would cost?

You might be surprised to find out that a good hammock might not cost much at all. Rope hammocks are usually the cheapest, but you can also find a very good Mayan or fabric hammock for under a hundred dollars. That is of course if you already have suitable trees. If not, you will also a need hammock stand. In this case, you would be better off buying a package (hammock and a stand together). You can get a good-looking, safe and comfortable package for 200-250 dollars, even though some decorative wooden stands cost as much as 500.

The best way to shop for hammocks is to look at online stores that sell discounted hammocks.

Visit AllHammocks.info for tips on getting hammocks and hammock chairs, price comparison and reviews of trusted hammocks retailers.

Most riding lawn mowers are machines fun to ride and extremely
cool to look at. However, they are just a dream for many
gardeners who can not afford one of these powerful gardening
equipment. A riding mower can be a practical time saving machine
for professionals as well as for beginner or amateur
landscapers. If you are on of those homeowners, lucky to
maintain a large yard, it can be a good idea to invest in a
riding mower.

We will explain first the type of mowers on the market and then
which one would fit better with your current needs. Basic riding
mowers are actually those featuring rear engines. They use to
come with small horsepower engines, usually mounted under the
operator’s seat. These mowers have reasonable power sized
cutting blades and fit perfectly into small lawns with less than
1 acre. The next level up is for medium horsepower riding lawn
mowers; these mowers use to include their engines at the front;
there can fit larger engines due to the space. They have a
stronger and faster cutting capacity. Medium riding mowers provide better performance
on hilly gardens and are the perfect complement for yards
between 1 and 3 acres. Commercial riding lawn mowers are
designed for really large yards, including sport fields, they
can be extremely expensive for homeowners and won’t really
provide their best performance in yards no bigger than 3 yards.

Here you can find some important points to have in mind before
you decide on the most suitable model that would better fit with
your necessities. The final choose will depend basically on:

* The type of terrain of your mowing area as well as the size
of it. And what other tasks would you like to do with your new
lawnmower?. It is also very important to know whether or not the
area includes slopes or hilly areas. The most flat is your
mowing area the better performance you will get from the machine.

* It is always extremely important to select a comfortable seat,
especially when you will be sitting for a long time. You will
save a lot on back injuries and other common diseases related
with sat jobs. There is no choice with that, it’s preferable
that the mower’s seat be comfortable enough, don’t make the
mistake that most do, it worth.

* Does the garden include trees or rocks that require permanent
change of direction during the mowing process? It’s very
important to find all the finishing touch to choose amongst
steering wheels and tires.

* There are different bagging or recycling grass options; here
you have mainly to mulching or to bagging. While mulching will
cut the grass into fine clippings and then give it back to your
lawn, providing nutrients to it, the second will just fill up a
rear bag, being easier for the rider to empty and replace it
with new ones.

* There are many attachments on the market to choose from. You
probably just need a riding lawnmower including normal features.
In addition, you can usually attach other features, like the
ones to remove snow during winter time.

Flowers have been given a special significance for centuries. They have long been treasured for their scent and their beauty. Perhaps nobody has esteemed flowers, however, as highly as the people of the Victorian age. For them, flowers were so important they even used them to convey secret messages. Using flowers, gentlemen and ladies became more courageous in expressing their feelings. As the English poet Thomas Hood so eloquently stated, “Sweet flowers alone can say what passion fears revealing.”

Here are some special flowers and the sentiments assigned to them in floriography, the floral language of the Victorian era.

Aster: Symbol of Love, Daintiness
Azalea:First Love
Camellia (Pink): Longing For You
Camellia (Red): You’re a Flame in My Heart
Camellia (White): You’re Adorable
Carnation (Pink): I’ll Never Forget You
Carnation (Red): My Heart Aches For You
Carnation (Solid): Yes
Carnation (Striped): No, Refusal, Sorry I Can’t Be with You, Wish I Could Be with You
Carnation (White): Innocence, Pure Love
Carnation (Yellow): You Have Disappointed Me, Rejection
Chrysanthemum (Red): I Love You
Chrysanthemum (Yellow): Slighted Love
Daffodil: Unequalled Love, You’re the Only One
Daisy: Innocence, Loyal Love
Dogwood: Love Undiminished by Adversity
Fern (Maidenhair): Secret Bond of Love
Forget-Me-Not: True Love, Memories
Gardenia: You’re Lovely, Secret Love
Ivy: Wedded Love, Fidelity
Jonquil: Love Me, Affection Returned, Desire
Lavender: Devoted Love
Lotus: Estranged Love
Moss: Maternal Love, Charity
Orange Blossom: Eternal Love, Marriage and Fruitfulness
Orchid: Love, Beauty, Refinement
Peony: Bashful Love
Primrose: Happy Love
Poppy: Hopeless Love
Rose (Pink): Perfect Happiness, Please Believe Me
Rose (Red): Love, I Love You
Rose (Thornless): Love at First Sight
Rose (White): Innocence and Purity, I am Worthy of You
Rose (Yellow): Decrease of Love, Jealousy
Rosebud (Red): Pure and Lovely
Spider Flower: Elope with Me
Tulip (General): Perfect Lover
Tulip (Red): Believe Me, Declaration of Love
Tulip (Variegated): Beautiful Eyes
Zinnia: Absent Love

Revive the romance of times gone by. Give a bouquet of flowers that not only has a special scent or special beauty, but a special meaning. Share the secret language of flowers.

About the Author

Sherri Allen is the editor of an award-winning website devoted to topics such as family, food, garden, house&home and money. For free articles, information, tips, recipes, reviews and coloring pages, visit http://www.SherriAllen.com/

Many of us flip through garden magazines, all the while thinking that it takes years, a professional, or tons of money to landscape the gardens featured in the glossy pictures. This isn’t necessarily true. You can design a breathtaking garden and be the envy of the neighborhood by following some of the following tips.

Know What You Like and What Works
Drive around your neighborhood and see what’s out there that grows well in your zone. You can jot down what you see on index cards, so they are organized and handy. Start gathering page clippings from magazines and collect some pictures of the designs that interest you. This can help you decide what garden style you like. You’ll have an easy reference for plants and placement too.

Select Location and Color
Next, look at your notes and clippings and choose the color scheme you‘d like to have in your garden. Don’t forget to keep in mind if you’re designing and planting in shade, sun, or partial shade or partial sun. Are you looking for something bright and vibrant or something more calming and soothing? Consider starting with a foundation of shrubs and accenting with some perennials, bulbs, ornamental grasses, and annuals for more seasonal color. Perhaps, you want all flowers. Decide on a shape that compliments your house style. Straight styles give a more formal appearance while curves give a more informal feel. If you don’t feel confident selecting colors, you can use a color wheel to help pick contrasting and complimenting colors.

Budget and Create a Plan
Decide how much you are able to and want to spend on your new garden. Do you want to start with a foundation and add to it gradually? If so, start with purchasing your most expensive plants and shrubs first. Use these as a focal point for your garden. Start watching for sales and discount plants at garden centers and nurseries. Tell everyone you know that you’re starting a garden and would love it if they could give you divisions of their perennials or seeds they have saved from their garden. Let family and friends know that you have a wish list of plants that would be the perfect gift idea. If you have access online, do a search for seed swaps. Many gardeners love to help a new gardener. Many are willing to send seeds for the cost of postage or will trade for something else that you may have that they are looking for. A great resource for free items is http://www.freecycle.org Look for a group in your area, join the group, and post letting the group know that you would be interested in garden plants and seeds. You may get lucky and find that a member of the group has already offered some plants up for grabs. Don’t forget to ask your local garden club when they are having their sales too. You can also start some plants from seed yourself. Many seeds are very easy to direct sow and a little can go a long way.

Here’s a partial list of easy to grow seeds:

Candytuft
Asters
4 o’clocks
Sunflowers
Pansies
Violas
Impatiens
Dianthus
Larkspur
Salvia
Cupid’s Dart
Morning Glories
Moonflowers
Zinnias
Calendula
Marigold
Cosmos
Sweet Alyssum
Bee Balm
Poppies
Nasturtium

Don’t forget if you decide to sow into containers, there are many inexpensive containers such as yogurt containers, milk jugs, egg cartons, and plastic ice cream buckets. You can also call your city and see if they have free mulch available. Don’t hesitate to strike up conversations with your neighbors while you’re out for a walk. You never know, the topic of gardening may come up and they might be more than happy to offer you some seeds or divisions.

Design Away
Now you’re ready to design. You can sketch out your idea beforehand. Keep the following in mind as you design.

Scale- Judge the size of the area and choose plants that aren’t going to be too large, too wide, or too small for the area. Keep in mind the plant’s size when it’s met it’s mature growth.

Balance-Don’t place your plants where one area is too compacted with plants and another area is too airy. Try and achieve a good balance of small, medium, and large plants. Balance offers visual stability. It can be created with space between plantings or the visual weight of your design. This can be created with lines so that your garden is pleasing to look at from all angles.

Focal Point- Your focal point will be the area that your eye is drawn to first. This can be your prized flowers, tree, or shrub.

Rhythm- This is visual flow. The eye wanders throughout the entire garden design, but comes back to the focal point. It can be achieved with repetition and contrast.

Harmony-Unity- This is when plants have a way of appearing connected and a part of one another. This can be achieved with color, texture, groupings. Unity is lost when your plants look too separate or your color choice makes one plant look lost amongst the rest.

Color- Color impacts the entire design process. Use a color wheel if you don’t feel confident selecting colors that go well together.

If all of this is too confusing and overwhelming, check out some garden catalogs. Many have suggested designs. It’s also best to place your containers out and arrange and rearrange where you want to plant them before you start digging.

Accessorize (homemade garden art)
To add some interest and whimsy to your garden, consider some homemade items or trash to treasure works of art. Ideas such as making your own stepping stones, garden markers, terra cotta bird baths or toad houses, painted rocks and pavers, and fun wind chimes are simple projects that can add a lot of interest to your garden area. Look around for unique items you could add to your garden such as milk cans, wooden chairs, ladders, tricycles, wagons, trunks, roofing shingles, mailboxes, or even dressers. The sky is the limit on what you can create. Use your imagination.

There you have it and you didn’t have to hire a pro, spend thousands of dollars, or take years to achieve a pretty garden. You won’t be a new gardener for long. Soon, it will be you sharing starts, cuttings, seeds, divisions, and tips.

About the author:

Sara Noel is the Editor/Publisher of http://www.FrugalVillage.comand http://www.HomesteadGarden.com
Visit both these sites for tips on budgeting, gardening, homesteading, supplemental income, crafts, organizing, and simple living.

Moss can make some garden elements and even entire shady gardens look and feel aged and established. The trouble with garden moss though, is that sometimes it may not even grow at all on its own. And if it does, it could take a very long time to become established.

Here’s a way you can accelerate and establish a beautiful green moss cover over your garden rocks and concrete features. This method doesn’t work well on resin statues and artificial landscape rocks.

First stir a fist size clump of porcelain clay into 3 cups of water to form a thin paste. You can usually get porcelain clay from local hobby shops.

Then combine the clay mixture with one cup of undiluted fish emulsion and one cup of fresh, shredded moss. Fish emulsion is a plant fertilizer made from whole fish. It’s usually available at retail nurseries and garden centers.

Mix everything together and paint it on your rocks and concrete objects with a paint brush. Keep things in the garden slightly moist by misting and taking care not to wash the mixture off.

Remember that moss grows naturally in patches, likes the North side of objects, and takes readily to cracks and crevices.

Use this formula in shady gardens and in moist locations and you can most probably have moss on your garden statues and landscape rocks in a few weeks.

Written by Steve Boulden. Steve is the owner and chief designer for S&S Designed Landscaping in Carlsbad, NM. He is also the creator of The Landscape Design Site which offers free professional landscaping advice, tips, plans, and ideas to do it yourselfers and homeowners. For more free landscaping and garden ideas, visit his site at www.the-landscape-design-site.com/landscapeideasgallery.html

Roses have long been a favorite among all types of gardeners,
and roses continue to enjoy great popularity today. In addition
to their beauty as cut flowers and in bouquets, roses are among
the most useful and attractive flowers to grace the landscape of
any home.

As a matter of fact, the exterior of any home can be made more
graceful and more inviting through the use of wonderful
landscape roses. Choosing the right ones, and ensuring that they
compliment the overall style of the home, is very important to
the overall success of the landscape.

Fortunately, the number of ornamental landscape roses make
finding them an easy task. The difficulty consists of choosing
the right ones from this variety. There are a number of classes
of roses whose characteristics make them great for use as
landscape ornamentals. For instance, the gardener who wants to
grow roses up and over an archway or a trellis may want to use
tall growing tea roses. Tea roses are renowned for their nodding
blooms, therefore all who pass under the arch would be treated
to the beautiful sight of roses in full bloom.

To accent a wall or other permanent structure, a true climbing
rose is often the best choice. True climbing roses can be
trained to many different effects, including climbing up the
length of the structure, or accenting the tops and sides of a
wall or building.

The Polyantha or modern day Floribunda rose is a great choice
for gardeners looking for a vibrant splash of color for the
background. These popular varieties of roses have large sprays
of blooms, and they are popular choices for providing color in
the landscape.

If roses are to be planted in front of other plants in the
landscape, miniature or low growing China roses are a perfect
choice. Roses can even be used as hedges, with modern Shrub
roses and Rugosa roses being excellent choices.

Of course, as with any aspect of gardening, color is an
important consideration. After all, every gardener’s goal is a
garden full of colorful, vibrant and healthy plants.
Fortunately, roses come in so many shapes, sizes, textures and
colors that there truly is a rose for every gardener.

The goal of choosing the best color roses for the landscape
should be to compliment the color of the surrounding landscape.
For instance, a spray of plain white tea roses can be striking
against a dark red brick home, or an arrangement of pink roses
can be the perfect compliment to a stone or marble entranceway.
With so many colors of roses to choose from, it should be easy
to find colors that compliment and enhance any decorating scheme.

One popular trend in the world of landscaping is to use a
variety of different plants and flowers in the landscape.
Whereas single species landscaping was in vogue a few years ago,
most of today’s gardeners like to use a mix of different colors,
species and styles of plants. Doing so not only makes for a
vibrant garden, but it is thought to enhance the health of the
soil as well.

Fortunately, roses lend themselves well to this mixture, and
roses can be a beautiful part of an overall landscape of plants
and flowers. In addition, there are roses suitable for a variety
of climates. Choosing the best rose varieties for your specific
climate should mean fewer pesticides, few disease issues and an
overall healthier garden.

Dear Friends,

Whenever I think of any design, be it interior design or
product design, a few things very naturally come up in my
mind. These are in the form of questions.

The best part is, answers to these questions can give rise to
a very successful design in itself. Let’s see how.

If I am planning to design a piece of furniture, let’s say
a double bed, immediate I start relating to what I already
know about double beds, some picture/image I have already
seen, something I have seen in some furniture shop, etc…
Then I start thinking about what material I should think
about, the budget, dimensions, age group of people who are
going to use it, etc… If you answer these questions one by
one on a paper, you will get a blueprint of the design
process, so that you can convert in into technical drawings,
with all the joinery details and finally the product.

Amongst above mentioned questions some are directly related to
function of the double bed as a piece of furniture.

What does this mean?

When I ask myself, what should be the dimensions of a double
bed? I have very little freedom to decide the dimensions of
the bed, because there are certain norms to be followed in
order to serve it’s basic function and that’s comfort.

But what if I say that I will keep the overall surface area
of the bed same , but make it round in plan. Will it be ok..

Now here I am trying to achieve both function and aesthetics,
without sacrificing the comfort of the person who will use it.
So during any design process there will be times when the
designer need to take some decisions where he has to keep
aside his wildest ideas and pay attention to function first.

That’s why the true success of an interior design project is
a good balance between function and aesthetics.

Expressing this kind of balance through design is not an easy
task, because function is universally accepted, but aesthetics,
not always.

What does this mean?

Beauty is always relative. A washbasin has a common universal
function of an appliance to be used for washing hands, but it’s
beauty is relative. What is beautiful for me, might not hold
true for you.

So a design expression can have a unique style of the
designer himself. It is possible that the designer is more
comfortable with certain kinds of materials/finishes/color
schemes, etc.. which can reflect in his designs.

In spite of these personal touches a good designs always
caters the needs of the user first. A good designer has
a certain kind of convincing power in his/her style which
he uses to expresses in the design without sacrificing the
likes/dislikes of the user.

There are designers who are more comfortable in designing only
a certain kind space such as bathrooms, bedrooms, living rooms,
public spaces such as restaurants, clubs, gymnasiums.

Of course this is entirely of a personal choice, but there
is this same message in their designs, shell out your ego
and design for the best parameters with worst possibilities
taken into considerations. This is what gives birth to
a great design.

I hope this article was helpful.

Copyright 2005 Shrinivas Vaidya
About the Author

For more powerful and in-depth concept level knowledge of
bedroom design visit Bedroom-Design-And-decorating-Ideas.com.

I will freely admit that I devour every article that I can lay
my hands on which deals with anything related to gardening.
Everyone has something which they are passionate about in life,
mine is my garden.

My friends tell me that I am obsessed, and maybe I am. I think
my partner is obsessed, in his case it’s golf, but as yet I
haven’t heard any of his friends telling him that he is obsessed.

The compelling joy of being a gardening enthusiast is the
creativity of it, because you can see really tangible results
for your labour. Watching your favorite roses blooming, or the
pleasure of eating your own home grown vegetables, well, I think
that takes a lot of beating.

However each to his own!

One of the reasons why I enjoy writing articles on my passion,
is because I know that they will be read by people who most
likely share my enthusiasm, and can relate to what I am talking
about.

One hears the term “Organic” so much nowadays, that I decided to
do some deeper research into the suject, and I am sharing with
you in this article some brief findings from that research. So
the following paragraphs summarize some of the work of various
gardening experts who are completely familiar with all aspects
of gardening. I must say that I found some of the information
totally fascinating.

Since we are discussing the term “Organic” in a gardening
context, it might be a useful start to define exactly what that
means, so here it is, “Organic gardening is the way of growing
vegetables and fruits with the use of things only found in
nature”. Really simple isn’t it, but most certainly not
commonplace any more in today’s world I suggest.

Having led up to all of that, a good question might arise as to
exactly why you would want to indulge in organic gardening as
such! Well, as the title of this articles suggests, here are six
good reasons why you should do so, in my opinion at any rate.

1. You can easily make compost from garden and kitchen waste,
alhough this is a bit more time consuming than buying prepared
chemical pesticides and fertilizers. However it certainly helps
to put garbage to good use, and so helps the environment.

2. Organic farming does not use chemicals that may have an
adverse affect on your health, which is especially important
when growing vegetables. The chemical companies do tell us that
the chemicals we use are safe, provided that they are used
according to direction. Research has shown however that even
tiny amounts of poisons absorbed through the skin can cause such
things as cancer, especially in children. Quite a sobering
thought is it not!

On average, a child ingests four to five times more
cancer-causing pesticides from foods than an adult, which could
lead to various diseases later on in the child’s life. Remember,
pesticides contain toxins that have only one purpose, which is
to kill living things!

With organic gardening, these incidents are lessened.

3. Less harm is caused to the environment, because poisons are
not washed into our waterways to give but one example, causing
death to the native fish and polluting their habitat in most
cases.

4. Organic farming practices also help prevent the loss of
topsoil through erosion. The Soil Conservation Service says that
an estimated 30 - 32 billion tons of soil is eroded from United
States farmlands every year, and that’s only one country.

4. Cost savings, because you do not need to buy costly chemical
fertilizers and pesticides with organic gardening. Many organic
recipes for the control of pest and disease come straight from
the kitchen cupboard, and sometimes other plants can even be
grown as companions to the main crop. One example of this is the
marigold, which helps to repel aphids from vegetables.

Mixing 1 tablespoon of liquid dishwashing soap, and 1 cup of
cooking oil, can make a cheap garden pest spray for example. Put
3 tablespoons of this mixture in 1 quart of water and spray on
to your plants. You will find this to be very effective!

5. A simple mulch of pine needles will help to suppress the
growth of weeds, as well as keeping the moisture in. Another
simple and much safer solution!

6. Organic gardening practices are much more likely to help keep
the environment safe for future generations, and all of us who
are responsible ciitizens, should always bear this in mind

The whole subject which is part of an on going worldwide debate,
is far too complex to cover in such a short article, but I do
hope that at least I have left you with some food for thought.

Imagine the overall benefits to be had in our environment, by
many people undertaking even some small changes.

Follow some simple tips to make it much easier to choose a plant
container for your indoor or outdoor gardening .

What Are Ideal Plant Containers? They should be attractive, even
if not an objects of art. If they are to be placed outdoors they
need to be strong, durable and able to resist all kinds of
weather.

This is especially true of the large sizes, which usually remain
outdoors all year around. In the North, alternate freezing and
thawing is a problem in winter; in tropical climates, excessive
heat, humidity, and moisture are to be considered. And in
semiarid areas, there is the effect of scorching sun to keep in
mind.

The ideal container must be large enough to hold a substantial
amount of soil. It should have good drainage facilities through
holes or other openings at the bottom or sides, though this is
not absolutely necessary.

It must not rust, at least in a single season, and it should
have a wide enough base to rest firmly wherever you place it.
Besides this, it needs to be heavy enough to withstand average
winds. In severe storms, movable containers can be shifted to
temporary safety.

How Durable Are The Plant Containers? Resistance to rot is
another requirement. Wooden con-tainers–except those made of
rot-resistant redwood, Western cedar, and Southern red
cypress–will need to be treated with a wood preservative.

Except for permanent containers, movability is another feature
of the portable garden. Large boxes and planters can be fitted
with wheels, and garden centers have redwood tubs that rest on
platforms with wheels. A hole in the platform corre-sponds to
the hole in the tub. Large containers without wheels can be
pushed on iron or wooden rollers by two or more persons.

What Size And Of Which Materials Do You Want Your Containers To
Be Made? An unlimited variety of planters and plant containers
are available for your home and garden. These range in size from
small house-plant pots to large boxes and urns.

Equally variable are the materials from which they are made.
These include wood, glass, ceramics, aluminum, bamboo, straw,
plastic, fiberglass, terra cotta, concrete, tin, cast iron,
zinc, copper, and brass, each with certain advantages and
disadvantages. What you select will depend on availability,
cost, background, and its appeal to you.

In addition to traditional circular pots and tubs, there are
modern and ultra-modern forms–square, rectangular, triangular,
hexagonal, and octagonal. Also eligible are old iron kitchen
pots, kettles, pails, jugs, casks, vases, crocks, jelly tubs,
barrels and nail kegs, Japanese fish tubs, old sinks, bathtubs,
bamboo soy tubs, and novelties such as driftwood, wheelbarrows,
donkey carts, spinning wheels and boxes attached to roadside
mail boxes.

There are also bird cages, decorative well heads, animal
figures, and strawberry jars. Woven baskets may be used to
conceal unattractive containers. Even tar paper pots, handled by
nurserymen and florists, are worthwhile if painted or covered to
improve their appearance.

There is a huge selection of plant containers available for any
situation in which you want grow plants plants, as well as to
suit your budget. Just follow these simple tips to make your
choice easier.

Helen Wall http://www.plantergardening.com Exploring the world
of container gardening, from choosing pots and planters, plants
and shrubs to gardening tips and techniques.