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Meditation gardens are a great place to come home and relax and unwind after a hard day. Find out about meditation garden plans with help from a home design professional in this free video clip.
Rose of Montana (Antigonon leptopus) is a tropical vine that has an impressive selection of descriptive common names, including coral vine, Mexican creeper, chain of love and Queen's wreath. The fast-growing vine may grow up to 10 feet in one season, blooming in late summer and fall with scores of hot pink and white flowers. Blooms are set off prettily by 4 inch, arrowhead-shaped leaves. Rose of Montana requires little attention to thrive.
Landscaping with rhododendrons is a great way to infuse your yard with some additional color. Landscape with rhododendrons with help from an experienced gardening expert in this free video clip.
If you repot hibiscus properly it will be absolutely beautiful in your yard all summer long. Learn how to repot hibiscus with help from an experienced gardening expert in this free video clip.
Full sun all day is ideal for flower gardens, however, the next best sunshine option is a garden that receives afternoon sun. Many flowers will thrive if they are planted in gardens that are in shade for the mornings and receive full sun in the afternoon. The summer sun can be particularly strong. It may be that your flower garden receives its optimum sunshine levels in summer, when shadows from the house, nearby buildings and walls or fences are not so strong. If this is the case, you certainly want to make the most of that sun by planning your…
Papaver is a category of more than 70 flowers flowers better known as poppies, including, but not limited to, the common poppy (P. rhoeas), the blue poppy (Meconopsis), and the Oriental poppy (P. orientale). These showy beauties are surprisingly hearty for all their delicate appearance and many varieties are quite simple to grow successfully, even for the beginning gardener. Since poppies thrive in loose, neutral soil, they make a fine display next to other warm weather eye-catchers like foxglove, peonies and hostas.
Hydroponic gardening doesn’t have to be expensive, especially when done on a small-scale. Providing your family with fresh vegetables year-round is easy and inexpensive, especially if you stick to loose-leaf lettuce and other salad greens. If you like the results, it’s easy and affordable to expand your garden one section at a time, making room for herbs, tomatoes and anything else you’d like to grow.
Not all landscaping flowers need to be expensive. Get inexpensive, small-scale landscaping flower ideas with help from a gardening professional in this free video clip.
Garden fences don't have to be eye sores - you can actually incorporate them into your overall design. Get ideas to hide garden fences with help from a gardening professional in this free video clip.
Succulent landscaping is a great opportunity to transform your entire yard in a really positive and breathtaking way. Learn about the basics of succulent landscaping with help from an experienced professional gardener in this free video clip.
Setting up a vegetable garden is one of the most fulfilling things a person can do. Get a step-by-step guide to vegetable gardens with help from the owner of a nursery in this free video clip.
The calendula herb, a member of the daisy family, is beloved by natural pollinators like bees. To ensure that your calendula plant gets pollinated, you need to create the ideal environment for your plant to thrive. Once you have a pollinator-friendly environment in place, natural pollinators will transfer pollen from plant to plant. Calendula sometimes have male and female parts on the same plant, so pollination is possible within the same plant.
Landscaping a formal garden always requires you to keep a few very particular things in mind. Landscape a formal garden with help from a landscaping industry expert in this free video clip.
English gardens are commonly know for a few key characteristics that you can bring right to your own home with the right tools. Landscape your yard like an English garden with help from the owner and head designer of Whimsical Gardens in this free video clip.
You can have a beautiful tulip display for yourself by following just a few simple instructions. Get a tulip planting guide with help from a professional gardener in this free video clip.
Brownstone homes -- often located in cities such as New York, Boston and Chicago -- were a popular style of housing built primarily in the 1800s. Also known as row houses, brownstones were built as long rows of residences connected to one another. With no front yard to speak of, the only outdoor space available for gardening is the long, skinny yard in the back of the home. In spite of the limited space, it's possible to have a flourishing garden even in the midst of the city.
Trailing plants add a rustic touch to both indoor and outdoor settings. They may use underground runners or climbing vines to spread foliage. When choosing trailing plants for your garden, consider the climate, soil type and amount of light available. Keep in mind that many trailing plants are considered invasive, even if they are legal to plant, so devise a plan to control runners and seedlings.
Air conditioners that are too large for a space tend to stop and start frequently, which is called short cycling. They use excessive energy and do not remove humidity effectively. Air conditioners achieve optimum efficiency when they cool a space sufficiently while running continuously, which is the goal of choosing an air conditioner to fit a 1,900 square foot house.
More than one-half of heating and cooling systems in U.S. households, such as boilers, are not sized correctly, reports the U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Star website. If you are looking to purchase a new boiler, or replace an existing one, selecting the correct size is important to avoid higher operation and maintenance costs.
An attractive headboard can be the focal point to your bedroom, and making it yourself gives you free rein to customize the color, pattern and size to meet your needs. A double-sided headboard allows you to place your bed anywhere in the room since the back is just as attractive as the front. This works well for oddly shaped bedrooms or large spaces you want to divide. Add a touch of plush padding to the headboard and you have a comfortable back and head support for sitting in bed with a good book.
Using a hydroponic cabinet is a great way for people who live in harsh climates, or those who live in places without a lot of outdoor space, to grow just about any type of plant. Grow flowers and vegetables in almost any enclosed space with a hydroponic system.
You can border your garden with bricks, stones or railroad ties, but for a custom garden edging that's functional and decorative, look to molded concrete. Creating concrete molds is fairly simple, and the results are highly effective at keeping your garden enclosed and looking their best.
National and local electrical codes specify the spacing of residential electric receptacles. Requirements may vary in your region, but, generally speaking, the total square footage of a home does not determine the spacing of the electrical receptacles. Rather, the functional requirements and size of each individual room dictate that room's receptacle needs.
Also known as Kansho-niwa or a contemplation garden, Zen gardens are created for solitude, meditation and relaxation. To maintain the idea of simplicity, plants are kept to a minimum. The garden is covered with sand, stones and a few grasses or plants, where the sand represents water, stones represent mountains and grass represents islands. The grasses that are used in Zen gardens originate from all over the world and are planted in-ground or in containers.
A traditional home with interior wood framing is referred to as "stick-built" since so much of the lumber used is long, relatively narrow dimensional lumber, such as 2-by-4s. If you're trying to determine how much lumber you'll need to build an average-size home, say, one of 1,200 square feet, you'll have to consider the style of home you're building: Homes come in different styles, such as ranch, two-story and bi-level or tri-level. The style affects the amount of lumber that will be required.
Properly sized heating and cooling units will make your home comfortable all year round. Unfortunately, many homes have air conditioners and heaters that are too large or too small for their space. An air conditioner that is too large will cycle for short periods of time and not remove the humidity in the air, while a small unit won’t cool down your home properly. A large heater will short cycle, turning off frequently, and an undersized unit won’t heat your home fully.
Japanese garden canopies are defined by expressions of simplicity in building materials, the use of only natural-colored wood and the integration of plants into the canopy section of the structure. You can place a Japanese garden canopy anywhere within your yard, over a trail or a small bridge, or even along your front walkway. Japanese garden canopies enhance views and provide a place to sit and look out on the world of nature around you.
Like an image from a fairy tale, a windy seaside garden can be just as beautiful in reality with the right trees. Contemplating the beauty of your surroundings offer opportunities for reflection and garden planning. According to North Carolina State University Cooperative Extension, several tree species can survive and thrive in the exposure of a coastal setting. These include palm trees, conifers and deciduous trees such as Southern red cedar and scarlet oak.
Create your own outdoor meditation area with the careful planning of a Japanese garden. Japanese rock gardens, or Zen gardens, consist of a variety of limited plant life, moss and rocks that are planted in soil and surrounded by gravel. Selecting the right kind of gravel involves the careful selection of gravel in the right color, size and consistency that will lend itself to the elegance of a Zen garden.
Homeowners with a concrete surface outside their home already have a sturdy foundation for garden decking, but concrete, unlike soil, cannot easily be adjusted to create a level surface. Constructing the deck's frame first and then using the frame as a guide is the simplest way to lay garden decking on uneven concrete. For both ground-level and raised garden decks, a frame allows you to measure the height for underlying support beams that will make the deck surface level.
Electric boilers heat water using your home’s electrical system; in turn, the hot water heats your home. These types of boilers can be used as a form of supplemental heat or your home’s main source of heat. How large of a boiler you need is based on the wattage of the boiler and the square footage of your home. You can have heat loss due to different types of insulation, so it's wise to have your home checked for heat loss by a professional before you purchase an electric boiler.
Aluminum patio covers provide protection from the weather conditions. Installing a patio cover can increase the value of your home and last for many years. The average cost varies based on the materials used and whether a contractor installs the patio cover. The approximate cost for an aluminum patio cover measuring 20 by 20 feet is between $6,000 and $8,000, according to CostHelper.com.
The identifying feature of Zen gardens is their simplicity in form and content. While in traditional Zen gardens plants are used only on the periphery and mainly in the form of bamboo and evergreen trees and shrubs, contemporary Zen landscaping and design brings together elements such as water and plants to create more welcoming outdoor spaces. Additionally, you do not have to follow strict rules when planning your garden. You can include any features within your space that you find personally pleasing, calming or symbolic.
Borders around a backyard pool can turn an ordinary swimming pool into an inviting retreat. Pool landscaping can provide beauty and color while adding shade for sun protection, and border materials like colored and textured concrete can add safety and decoration to the yard. Take the design of the yard and elements such as the shape of the pool and patios or decks into consideration when planning out the borders.
Before you calculate how much concrete is needed for a 3,200 square foot floor, you need to determine the thickness of the floor and convert the measurements into cubic yards, which is how concrete is sold. If you ordered 3,200 square feet of concrete, you wouldn’t have enough to do the entire floor to the correct thickness.
On a cold winter day, a cup of coffee can warm one person, and a blanket can keep a couple snuggled together. But to keep an entire family warm in 1,600 square feet requires a properly sized furnace. One that is too small will not work adequately, while one that is too large will cycle on and off too frequently.
Brick walls add warmth, texture and natural earth tones to your landscape. When combined with plantings, brick walls serve as a backdrop to highlight your plant’s colors. Before choosing species to plant near brick, determine your site’s soil type, water levels and especially sun exposure. Brick tends to absorb warmth from the sun during the day and release heat at night, creating microclimates that may be slightly warmer than neighboring areas. Choose plants that can tolerate warm temperatures and low moisture.
All plants, whether grown in the ground or in soil-less mediums, depend on 16 essential nutrients for survival. Fertilizers and nutrient solutions supplement nutrient-poor growth mediums. Fertilizers are used in soil-based mediums and are frequently measured in pounds. Nutrient solutions are used in hydroponic systems and are frequently measured in parts per million, or ppm.
It’s extremely important to get the exact right size of boiler for your home. Too small a boiler provides insufficient heat to the home, while too large a boiler wastes heat by creating more hot air than your home can handle. Determining the right size boiler for your home comes down to knowing how much power you need per square foot. Factors affecting size requirements include home insulation levels and materials used in the construction of your house.
Most garden fences are made from wood or metal. Unfortunately, wood rots and becomes damaged by insects, and metal rusts. Making a garden fence out of concrete is inexpensive and allows you to create a more durable construction. You don’t have to be a concrete expert to create a unique garden fence for your yard. Using simple molding methods, you can create concrete fence posts in little time.
When putting in a central air conditioning unit, you need to make two primary considerations in determining what type of air conditioning unit you get. The first of these is the size of the unit, which is generally expressed in terms of tonnage. Units can be 1-ton units, 1.5-ton units and so on. The bigger the house, the larger the unit required. The second consideration is the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio or SEER rating that tells the actual energy efficiency of the unit. Requirements vary by home size.
A garage adds value to a home and protects vehicles, especially in regions of the United States with harsh climates. A key component is a concrete slab floor, which must be durable enough to withstand the weight of one or more cars, their passengers, stored items and equipment used in workshop areas. The concrete's cost per square foot depends on location and coatings.
Japanese gardens are typically made up of a few specific things. Learn how to draw a Japanese garden with help from an artist in this free video clip.
Flower and vegetable gardens do best in flat, sunny sites where the plants get good drainage and air circulation. Some home landscapes feature hilly or sloped land, rather than flat or even surfaces. Homeowners must amend and prepare hills and slopes for gardens, with extra retaining walls and soil amendments for growing. Find the right site for your terrace garden and then give yourself several days for the building process.
"Plants vs. Zombies" is a digital video game that can be downloaded from a number of website hosts including Popcap, Game House and Big Fish Games. The game requires players to acquire, grow and maintain the health of plants, which can combat zombies that have invaded the neighborhood. A large component of the game is the construction of a zen garden as part of your arsenal. Constructing zen gardens requires the growing of plants, transplanting the plants and the purchase of multiple gardens.
A lot of vegetable varieties are great for square foot gardens. Find out about vegetable varieties for square foot gardens with help from a social entrepreneur in this free video clip.
The ideal lawn is smooth, bright and healthy. Unfortunately, because of dry conditions or overwatering, sod does not always set smoothly into a lawn or garden. Crumbling sod must be removed with precision to protect the growth around the damaged turf. With a few gardening tools and little care and patience, sections of crumbling sod can be lifted out of your garden to make room for new nutrients and growth to be added to the area.
Mums are a great solution for gardeners seeking a formal look but wanting an alternative to traditional boxwood hedges. Mums grow fast, remain green throughout the summer months and burst into bloom come fall when the garden has a shortage of color. Shear mums every two to three weeks when they are 8 to 10 inches tall and continue until mid-July. This keeps them compact and prevents early flowering.
Often used in formal gardens, topiaries and mazes, boxwoods have been a garden mainstay for generations. This versatile shrub requires little maintenance as long as you keep it healthy, and generally soldiers on despite some neglect and over-enthusiastic pruning. The most common boxwoods in U.S. gardens are Japanese boxwood (Buxus microphylla), American boxwood (Buxus sempervirens) and Korean boxwood (Buxus microphylla var. koreana). The key to successfully growing a boxwood hedge is preparation.
Cement board is one of the heaviest types of underlayment you can use with your ceramic tile and natural stone installations. As a result it requires a fairly serious amount of physical effort, and if you are not up to the task you will need to hire a professional to install the boards in vertical areas. The price for hanging cement board varies across the nation and based upon the complexity of the installation area.
