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After you successfully grow ornamental corn, the very next thing that you're going to want to do is dry it properly. Grow and dry ornamental corn with help from a classically-trained chef with experience in both world class restaurants and private dining companies in this free video clip.
Bermuda grasses (Cynodon spp.) are warm-season turf grasses that thrive in full sun in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10. These grasses turn brown and go dormant in the winter, and can become invasive as they spread above ground by stolons and below ground by rhizomes. Hybrid Bermuda grasses are products of common Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) and African dogstooth grass (Cynodon transvaalensis). Bermuda grasses grow in most soil types and tolerate salt and heavy traffic, but do not tolerate shade.
If you think that growing a plush, green lawn requires simply sprinkling grass seed over a patch of soil, think again. For grass seed to thrive, you must distribute it in a uniform manner and provide it with well-drained, fertile soil. Proper timing is also essential. Sow seeds for warm-season grasses in late spring or early summer, when the temperature is between 70 and 90 degrees Fahrenheit, and start cool-season grasses toward late summer or early fall when the temperature cools down.
Grass species and plants that resemble grasses, such as sedges and rushes, have much more to offer gardeners than humble lawns. Color, structure, continuity and even flowers are some of their contributions to garden displays. Ornamental grasses suitable for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zone 5b are low-maintenance as pot plants, often requiring little more than good drainage, a sunny position and watering during dry spells. Choose foliage colors that complement your garden's palette.
Sowing mustard seeds requires you to grow your seeds in the proper style of row. Sow mustard seeds with help from a classically-trained chef with experience in both World class restaurants and private dining companies in this free video clip.
A striking climbing plant, velvet bean (Mucuna sempervirens) offers waxy, dark purple flowers with gold calyxes that dangle in racemes up to 14 inches long. Those clusters are followed by the 1- to 2-foot knobby, velvety, reddish-brown seed pods from which the plant derives its common name. Native to China, the velvet bean can grow trunks up to a foot in diameter and vines up to 80 feet long, so it is best displayed on a sturdy pergola. It is hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 10 through 12.
When choosing a low-maintenance grass for your lawn, remember that no grass is perfect for every situation. Low-maintenance grasses that do well in sunny locations may struggle to survive in shady areas. The key to creating a low-maintenance lawn is to carefully select a turf grass that most closely fits your situation.
Spreading quickly into any available space once established, Bermuda grass (Cynodon dactylon) is a warm-season turf grass. Preferring the warmer climates in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 7 through 10, this perennial grass works well for yards that see a lot of foot traffic -- it also fends off weed seed germination because of its thick structure when maintained properly.
Watering your grass midday has aroused concern over scorched leaves -- the idea is that as the sun strikes the water droplets, concentrated energy pierces the turf's surface for a burnt appearance. However, there is no evidence supporting scorching from sunlight alone, reports the Washington State University Puyallup Research and Extension Center. In fact, there are other reasons why your lawn has been damaged.
"Karley Rose" (Pennisetum orientale "Karley Rose") is a warm-season, oriental fountain grass cultivar characterized by long-lasting seed heads. The Pennisetum genus includes about 120 species of clump-forming grasses native to warm woodlands and grasslands throughout the world. Oriental fountain grass hails from China, southwestern Asia and northern India. "Karley Rose" grass was discovered in 1995 by David Skwiot of Sunny Border Nurseries, who named the grass after his daughter.
"Red Baron" (Imperata cylindrica "Red Baron") is a cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica) cultivar that grows to a mature height of 12 to 18 inches, producing 1/4-inch wide leaves that are green on the bottom and bright blood red in the spring and summer. This cultivar is sometimes sold as "Rubra" or Japanese blood grass.
When considering a lawn grass, study the soil type, drainage functions, amount of shade and the use of your lawn. Also, of major concerns in Florida are drought and water shortages so a drought-tolerant lawn grass may be the best choice. The three most used grasses in Florida are St. Augustinegrass, Bahiagrass and centipedegrass. Bahiagrass and centipedegrass need less watering.
Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum spp.) is a perennial wildflower that tolerates shade and grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3a to 9b. Small, pale green to white flowers appear on the plant in the spring and are followed by blue berries. The plant is most frequently grown for its attractive foliage since the flowers and berries are small and, although attractive, not considered to be showy. Solomon’s seal is usually propagated by rhizome division because it can be difficult to do so by seed. Propagation by seed is possible, however, if you are patient and provide the two…
Mesh erosion control blankets help new plants and grass become established, even on sloped ground. These blankets are typically biodegradable, adding nutrients to the soil as they decompose. The mesh erosion control blanket helps protect your plant and grass seeds while keeping the ground moist to speed germination.
Johnson grass (Sorghum halepense) was introduced as a forage food for livestock to the United States in 1830 from the Mediterranean area. In some regions it is known as Aleppo grass or Aleppo-millet grass. Johnson grass has become an invasive plant that reduces yields of farm crops, and crowds out valuable native plant species. Home gardeners are encouraged to eradicate it quickly if it gets started.
The best way to have a vibrant, weed-free lawn is to nourish your grass and ensure that it is healthy enough to combat weeds. But sometimes, despite good lawn care, weeds can become a problem. One of the most common lawn care questions is whether to apply fertilizer or control weeds first. With so many "weed and feed" products on the market, it can be tempting to apply both at once, but the best results are often obtained by separating and carefully timing applications.
Grass is probably going to have pesticides on it, which means that it isn't recommended to give to your rabbit friends. Learn about grass cuttings for rabbits with help from the Co-Chapter Manager of San Diego House Rabbit Society in this free video clip.
Burlap is a great resource to use when protecting seeds from the harsh elements. Find out how to protect seeds with burlap with help from an experienced gardener in this free video clip.
Watsonia coccinea is a showy flower native to South Africa. It has sword-like leaves and bright tubular blooms arranged along 1-foot spikes. Though coccinea usually indicates a red bloom, the flowers may also be purple, pink or orange, according to the Pacific Bulb Society. In the iris family, Watsonia coccinea is hardy to U.S. Department of Agriculture planting zone 9. It usually is planted as a bulb-like corm, but ambition gardeners can start Watsonia coccinea from seed.
Variegated Aztec grass (Liriope muscari) is a plant with white and silver striped foliage and spiky white flowers that appear in summer. This upright grass grows to heights of about 12 inches, with a spread of 1 to 2 feet. Variegated Aztec grass is a low-maintenance plant that requires virtually no care once established. It thrives in partial sunlight, but tolerates full shade. Also known as monkey grass or border grass, variegated Aztec grass is appropriate for planting in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 6 through 10.
Though a septic tank riser provides easy access to your sewer system, it is also an eyesore that can upset the balance of your lawn and gardens. Rather than leaving the space around the septic riser bare, use various shrubs, grasses and flowers to disguise the riser and minimize foot traffic around the entire area. This area is where wastewater is dispersed, and is referred to as a septic tank system soil absorption field. Look for plants with short root systems that cannot interfere with the riser, as well as those that are low-maintenance and prefer dry soils.
Most plants don’t like “wet feet.” When many plants stand in waterlogged soil, their roots rot and the plants die. Many grasses, especially turf grasses, are bred to have hybrid vigor, which includes a tolerance to drought. In slow-draining sites, these grasses will not thrive. Water-tolerant grasses are better choices for these landscape areas.
Brush cutters are tractor attachments used for clearing land meant for urban or agricultural development. Smaller brush cutters are also known as string trimmers, since they use nylon string for cutting grasses. Using a hand-held string trimmer is more practical for cutting tall grasses than larger brush cutter models, which are reserved for eliminating large shrubs and small trees. Some publications, such as Popular Mechanics and Consumer Reports, offer recommendations for the best string trimmers.
German chamomile (Chamomilla recutita, formerly Matricaria chamomilla) features thick clusters of daisy-like flowers, making it an attractive addition to a yard, patio or herb garden. Additionally, the flowers attract bees and butterflies and you can make the herb into soothing teas. German chamomile grows readily from seeds, which are widely available from suppliers if you don’t have access to an established plant from which to collect your own.
The long, spindly petals of the spider aster give this flower its common name. The spider aster is actually just one form of the common aster (Callistephus chinensis), a summer annual that grows well in most climates. Spider asters grow readily from seed started indoors approximately six weeks before the last expected spring frost. Planting the seeds inside provides the controlled conditions that ensure the asters germinate and become mature enough to flower by late summer.
Poor soil conditions, fungus and insect infestations will cause grass to turn brown despite proper water and fertilizer applications. The cause of the problem must be determined and remedied. Simply planting new grass, and continuing to water and fertilize it will not result in a lush green lawn.
Appreciated for their casual beauty and easy maintenance, many ornamental landscape grasses are especially well suited for low-water gardening, known as xeriscaping. Drought-tolerant grasses need little supplemental watering or special care once they're established in the garden. Proper site preparation and mulching can also improve the drought tolerance of landscape grasses.
The 1920s were a prosperous time for most Americans, including those in Lynchburg, Virginia. If you have an historic 1920’s Lynchburg bungalow you may want to landscape it in keeping with time period it was built in order to preserve its original look. Landscaping trends of the 1920s were all about looking natural and providing spaces from the natural world to come into your garden. You can replicate this look for a traditional 1920’s landscaping.
Growing grass, though typically achieved using only soil, can be grown with pebbles for a decorative and useful touch. Though grass roots will adhere to pebbles, a small amount of soil is required to provide the grass with essential nutrients. Pebbles used in container gardening help lessen upkeep as the drainage provided by pebbles helps maintain optimal moisture levels for roots. Clear glass containers or trays create a distinctive decorating look with the pebbles layers visible under the grass. Buy pebbles or find them outdoors a cost effective approach to indoor gardening.
Serviceberries are tall shrubs or small trees that bloom in early spring. The white flowers hang in clusters, and they are followed by small, reddish-purple berries. In most cases, you will have to harvest the berries when they ripen in summer to extract the seeds because the seeds aren’t readily available for purchase by home gardeners. You’ll need patience to grow serviceberries from seeds because it takes several months to prepare the seeds for planting, and germination may take several additional months.
Lonicera brownii, better known as scarlet trumpet honeysuckle, is an upright-standing vine that produces colorful clusters of tubular flowers. They grow to reach heights of 10 to 20 feet and are further distinguished by their rounded, waxy bluish-green leaves. If you live in USDA Hardiness Zones 4 through 9, consider growing Lonicera brownii from seed to add a little beauty to your lawn or garden.
Zoya grass, also known as zoysiagrasses, is prized for its dense, slow-growing properties. This sod is hardy and adaptable, capable of withstanding cold temperatures and cold weather. Growing zoya grass is labor-intensive and requires a long process of planting plugs of sod to establish the lawn and frequent fertilizing. Although establishing a zoya lawn is a high-maintenance proposition, with time and patience, you can have a plush, thick lawn.
In spite of its name, broomsedge is actually not a sedge at all, but a perennial grass. Most common in the Southwest, the region to which it is native, broomsedge can often be seen in fields, along roadsides and in openings to forests. Broomsedge is considered an undesirable plant in backyards and farm pastures, and a number of ways are available to control this plant.
A carport is a structure that protects a car from the elements and provides cover to stop birds messing up your paintwork after you just cleaned the vehicle. Carports are often built from a simple wood frame with a flat roof and open sides. You can frame a carport to the side of your home inside of a day, while your efforts will provide protection for your car for many years to come.
Many homeowners seek ways to grow a lawn in areas that are not hospitable to large areas of grass. Soils with a high alkaline content, or high pH, literally burn away grass roots. Alkaline soils that are also low in nitrogen fail to give grass a nutrient critical to greening and growth. Planting grasses already adapted to high pH and low nitrogen maximizes your chances of growing a good lawn.
A sodded yard is established by installing turf grass sod and not by growing seeds. Installing sod grass produces an almost instant, carpet-like result and is more practical for certain varieties of grass. Sod grass is grown on commercial farms and harvested in long strips, leaving the roots and a thin layer of dirt intact. Sod is typically cut into squares and sold for landscaping purposes.
Native to parts of Africa and India, the moringa, or Moringa oleifera, is a versatile tree that offers numerous medicinal and nutritional benefits. Also called horseradish tree or drumstick, almost all parts of the small tree or large shrub are edible. Although it tolerates light frost, the moringa tree flourishes in warmer, drier climates. The drought-tolerant, easy-care tree grows from seed. Because moringa does not transplant well, it’s best to plant the seed in its permanent location, where it should gradually develop into a healthy tree.
While broadleaf weeds may threaten large areas of your lawn, weed grasses are more difficult to control. Sedge and bahiagrass are common weedy specimens that can spread rapidly throughout your lawn, choking out your desirable grass varieties. Infestation of weed grasses commonly occur when poor growing conditions damage the health of your lawn, leading to weak spots that allow the weed grasses to take hold and begin growing. Removing the sedge and bahiagrass from your lawn can help enhance the health and appearance of your landscape.
A rolling green lawn beckons you to play a game of croquet, sit in the sun and enjoy the breeze or just contemplate the flowers. A new lawn is planted through sheets of sod -- growing grass with a root system -- that's rolled out onto the soil or from seeds sown in the ground. You'll need to attend to bare spots, which can ruin the expanse of green.
Sod is soil held together by the tangled roots of grass. For sod bricks, a strong grass, such as wiregrass or buffalo grass is preferred, with matted roots that bind the soil together tightly. In areas such as the prairies of Iowa, where trees were scarce, sod bricks became the standard building material for the early pioneers. The method for cutting sod bricks hasn't changed much -- you cut them, one at a time, with a spade.
Timothy grass is an important part of the diet of many domesticated animals. It can be fed to horses, cows, guinea pigs and other animals kept as pets or livestock. Usually timothy grass is cut and dried to make timothy hay. You can also grow timothy grass to feed as a dust- and mess-free alternative to hay for your indoor pets. It requires well drained, sandy loam soil to thrive and must be watered frequently throughout the growing cycle.
Grown throughout the world, millet is an annual summer grass and grain crop that is similar in appearance to the sorghum plant. Producers of millet often grow the grass for forage and wild bird feeding, although in some instances the grass also serves as a small-grain cereal used in recipes. Grown from seed, millet quickly germinates when planted in well-draining, warm soils throughout the U.S. This rapid growth trend continues as millet matures, usually reaching harvest stage within 45 to 60 days of planting.
Most gardeners grow tulips from bulbs, the thick storage organs that some plants create to store energy and protect themselves from heat or drought. Tulip bulbs are planted in the fall and bloom in the spring. You can also grow tulips from seeds, but it is much more difficult. Seeds take several years to produce flowers, and the tulips that grow from seeds may have a different color or size than you expected.
Hybrid delphiniums that are part of the Belladonna group (Delphinium x belladonna) are flowering perennials, hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture zones 3 to 7. They bloom during the summer months; however, if you sow the seeds outdoors--which is typically done in the fall--expect your delphiniums to bloom the second year. To get a head start on your delphinium flowers, start them indoors in the fall and then transplant them outdoors after the last frost in the spring. They will then bloom the first summer.
Crape myrtle and pampas grass are tall plants that lend height and beauty to a garden. Crape myrtle is native to China and grows well in Southern climates. Pampas grass is native to South America and grows well in warm climates, although several varieties can tolerate cold winters in the north. Both plants have the same sun and water requirements, and they make good companions in the garden.
Excessive moisture is hard on a horse’s hooves. It softens them, making them vulnerable to bacterial invasion, causing scabs, inflammation, cracking and splitting. Wet, muddy pastures also make a horse susceptible to thrush, a fungal disease of the hooves. Good pasture management includes keeping livestock in pastures with at least 3 inches of vegetation and firm, not soggy, soil. Sometimes reseeding a muddy pasture by spreading 5 to 10 pounds of grass seed over it in the fall is sufficient. Otherwise, a complete renovation is necessary.
Crushed decomposed granite is a natural material used for walks, patios and driveways. Water permeable, it is the surface of choice for both eco- and budget-conscious homeowners. Occasionally, however, grass and weeds sprout in even firmly compacted gravel. While annoying, the grass is easily dealt with if you take quick action using one of several methods.
Aquaponics blends aquarium and garden environments, combining aquacultural and hydroponic systems. In simple terms, these closed-loop mini ecosystems incorporate fish in the growing environment and produce plants without soil, creating a system in which plants feed off the nutrient-rich water produced by the fish. The soil-free nature of aquaponics makes growing seeds quite a bit different than the traditional gardening process -- generally, aquaponic gardeners start from seedlings rather than seeds. The process varies depending on the type of seed and your aquaponic setup.
Dill, or Anethum graveolens, are annual and biennial herbs that belong to the parsley family. This fragrant, feathery herb grows wild in some areas of the world but is also cultivated for culinary uses in home and commercial gardens. Dill is a popular ingredient in pickling and cream-based sauces. You can buy dill seedlings from gardening centers or grow your own plants from seed. For the tastiest results, it is recommended that dill is grown from seeds.
Lavatera is the genus name for a small group of flowering plants commonly known as "tree mallows." Although Lavateras possess a range of growth habits, all share similar flowers, which resemble those of hibiscus but with a purplish-pink coloration and a dark center. Seed propagation is the most reliable means of growing Lavatera plants at home, but the seeds must be sown indoors two months before the last frost so that the plants are well-established and strong before they are planted outside in spring.
