Get a jump start on growing food and flowers this spring with raised garden beds

The popularity of small space gardening has exploded over the past couple of years, due in part to increased awareness about food safety, the financial stresses of the economy and a growing desire to be eco-friendly.

Some of the most enjoyable, user-friendly gardens, like vegetable and herb gardens or cut-flower gardens, perform exceptionally well in raised beds. Plants tend to perform better in raised beds than in regular beds because there is less soil compaction (since you're not treading between the plants) and they allow for excellent drainage.

"I've been gardening in raised beds for over 30 years, and I'm convinced they're the best way to grow," says Paul James, HGTV's Gardener Guy. "One of the things I like most about raised beds is that they warm up faster in spring and stay warmer longer in the fall, which means a longer growing season and an extended harvest."

While raised beds are extremely functional, they can also add style to your yard or garden. The organized appearance of the beds lends a handsome structural element.

Quality, durable materials last longer and look better. Western Red Cedar is a strong choice for building garden beds because it is easy to work with, rot-resistant and ages beautifully, maintaining its shape and strength over the years, even when exposed to extreme weather. If you're concerned about the environment, you can take comfort in the fact that it is an authentically sustainable, renewable green building material.

Making your own raised garden beds is an easy and fun project - having a helper will make the job easier. Follow these tips and get growing.

* Plan ahead to keep the bed size manageable. A bed measuring about 3 feet by 6 feet is a good size. You'll want the bed to be at least a foot high - if you want it higher, just add another board, but keep in mind that you'll need to add extra soil.

* Buy the materials you'll need: Western Red Cedar boards (2 x 6 work well) - four 3-foot lengths and four 6-foot lengths; Western Red Cedar posts (4 x 4), for corner supports, cut to 18 inches each; 3-inch galvanized screws, about 35 to 40.

* Cut the ends of the 18-inch post lengths to a sharp point with a saw - these pointed ends will go into the soil to support the bed.

* Lay two post lengths down and place two 3-foot planks on top of them (to equal 12 inches in height) and line up the edges along the sides and to the top of the posts (the unsharpened end). Pre-drill holes using a bit that is smaller than the screws, then put in the screws. Repeat with the other 3-foot boards and 18-inch posts to form the other short end of the bed.

* Now you're ready to add the long sides of the bed. Place one of the short sections you just made on a level surface, with the pointed ends up. Line one of the 6-foot boards up so that it is flush with the face of the short end, pre-drill holes and then add the screws to secure it. Repeat with a second 6-foot board to equal 12 inches in height.

* Align the second short (3-foot) side of the box with the 6-foot board so that the face is flush with the end of the boards. Pre-drill holes and then drill in screws to secure. Finally, add the other two 6-foot boards on the opposite side to complete the final side of the bed.

* Flip the box over - it's now ready to install. Before you put it in, prep the area you'll be using by turning over the soil and then leveling it out as best you can. After you've installed the box, fill it with a blend of soil and compost that is best for the type of plants you'll be growing.

Courtesy of ARAcontent

Small Garden Design for Front Yards

If there is one place that small space gardening should be more widely practiced, it is in front yards. We have surrendered the front of our homes to foundation plantings of overly pruned evergreens and uninspiring dots of geraniums. It is intimidating to experiment in full view of every passer-by, but the pay off is great and I think you’ll find most people, neighbors included, will be delighted.
Front yards actually lend themselves to gardens. We just don’t see it any longer. Driveways, walkways, sidewalks and entrances all cry out for some type of soft framing. And even city dweller should have at least a front stoop to fill with flowers.
If you have room for more than a container in your front yard, add some curb appeal and interest to your home.

Entry Ways

The obvious choice for entry ways is matching pots on either side, containing anything from topiary evergreens to cottage annuals. These are obvious, but still great choices. If you have an awning or cover over your entry way and a square of soil, you have the perfect situation for a flowering vine. Think of roses, clematis, morning glories and trumpet vine.

Walkways

If you have lawn surrounding your walkway, you have a place to put a flower border. If your walkway curves, rim it with casual flowing plants like geraniums, lady’s mantle, Dianthus, catmint and valerian. If you have a straight path to your door you have at least two options. You can go with the formality of straight lines and create a border of low growing shrubbery, like box or germander. You could soften the formality with plants like lavender, sedum, yarrow or even roses.
Or you could change the look entirely by creating a curved border along the straight pathway and filling it with anything you like. Soft cottage pastels or hot, spiky plants like Celosia and zinnias. Either way, it’s more intriguing than a straight concrete pathway.

Driveways

The area along side driveways is often wasted space. Wouldn’t you rather pull into a garden oasis than a landing strip to your garage? Driveways can be edged, like pathways, or taken to extremes. Who needs to mow that little section between your driveway and your neighbors yard? This may offer just enough space for you to play with dwarf evergreens or large imposing plants like Cimicifuga, Eupatorium or canna. Create a sitting area with a gravel path. You may never sit in your front yard, but it will beckon you home just the same.

Sidewalks

If you’re lucky enough to have a sideway, you may either have that strip of lawn between the sidewalk and the road or perhaps a small square area where the city planted a tree. Either one of these is an opportunity to garden. No one wants to mow that detached stip of grass. And you can make it that much more enjoyable to walk along with a casual border of plants that can withstand a little foot traffic and road salt. Be prepared for some vandalism, intentional and accidental. But eventually people learn to appreciate your efforts.
That solitary tree planted out front can be spruced up with some hardy ground covers or Hosta, primrose or ferns, depending on the soil and exposure. Think of it as a place to play and experiment.
Take a drive around town and see if you can find a house that stands out because of its front yard plantings. You’ll have even better luck finding some interesting front yard landscapes when you travel to Europe. Now take an honest look at your home the next time you pull into your driveway. Can you see the opportunities?

Front Yard / Entryway Gardens

By Marie Iannotti, About.com Guide

Waterfall garden designs for small yards

Waterfall landscape design, perfect for a small space garden.

The remarkable thing about waterfall landscape design is the sheer transformative power it has on hardscape and softscape elements. There are many different types of landscape design in the world, some formal, some traditional, others historical and cultural in origin.

The beauty of waterfall landscape design is its universal application to any of these styles. There is no landscape where a waterfall of some kind cannot add value and presence. This is because water itself is a life-sustaining substance that does not possess a form of its own, but rather reflects and supports the forms around it with an essence uniquely its own.

In every landscape master plan, there is always some place within that plan where waterfall landscape design can be incorporated into one or more specific elements that we create. Just a few of these elements are discussed here today in order to give you a sense of the potential this particular aesthetic can add to the value and beauty of your home.

Waterfall landscape design is a cornerstone of pond and natural swimming pool construction. Perhaps nothing else makes a pond look more natural than a waterfall. In order to create the appearance of actual mountainsides and cliffs; we build them using only materials such as boulders and limestone.

We place each of these stones by hand, making sure to lay them in patterns like rock formations in the wild. We then conceal silent pumps behind the rocks to drive the force of water from an unseen source. This creates the impression of a mountain stream pouring over the edge of a mountain into the silence of pristine waters.

When people hire us to build them a swimming pool, they want us to build more than just a place to go swimming. A custom luxury pool is so much more than that. It is an architectural landmark and a focal point for gathering and celebration. Because the swimming pool works on so many levels to establish the landscape as a realm of outdoor luxury living, it is common for us to build a waterfall into the fountain or spa area of the pool.

In a very real sense, a Japanese garden is a type of waterfall landscape design in its own right. Originating in the East as a carefully manicured environment dedicated to sacred space and meditation, the Japanese form has become popular in the West as a personal environment of retreat and rejuvenation.

While not every one of our clients wants a Japanese garden for the same spiritual reasons as its historical progenitors, it is nevertheless true that clients who invest in this element later tell us that it adds a remarkably calming presence to their landscape and ultimately becomes something of a private sanctuary that is uniquely personal to them and far removed from the stressors of the outside world.

Koi ponds are often built to closely resemble ponds in nature, and for all intents and purposes, fall into the category of pond landscape design. Others, however, are deliberately mathematical in their proportions and look more like pools of liquid geometry in modern landscapes filled with abstract forms and contemporary architecture.

In such a setting, waterfall landscape design can add just a touch of the natural to contemporary landscape design without overpowering the absolutes of Mentalism that define it.

Custom fountains can be built to look like actual waterfalls, or they can have waterfalls flowing into them. We feel that either of these constructs works better than the generic three-tiered fountain that has become something of a stereotype in landscape design.

Our fountains are designed to be a little more unique and personal than that. We see the fountain as an expression of individual feeling that reflects a state of mind our client aspires to experience in calm repose at the end of the day.

Jeff Halper has a passion for landscaping and landscape design, for more information visit Exterior WorldsWaterfall Landscape Design or Landscaping Design you can read more about


Jeff Halper

Had Enough Of Those Pesky Squirrels, Try Squirrel-proof Bird Feeders

by Larry Jordan

There are several species of ground squirrels and tree squirrels in North America that can create problems for bird enthusiasts. If you have squirrel problems, a squirrel-proof bird feeder may be your best solution. The Fox Squirrel and the Eastern and Western Gray Squirrels are species of tree squirrels that are most commonly involved with causing problems for home owners and bird watchers.

Squirrel-proof bird feeders come in a variety of shapes, sizes and styles. They range from the weight activated hopper feeders like the Homestead Super Stop-A-Squirrel to the simple baffle-topped feeders. For the serious backyard birder there is the Droll Yankees' Yankee Flipper that uses a battery operated device, activated by the squirrel's weight, to (harmlessly) propel the squirrel off of the feeder.

One of the major problems bird watchers have with squirrels is that the squirrels take over the feeders and scare the birds away. But that's not the only problem. Depending on the season and what's available locally, the squirrel's diet is made up mostly of nuts, fruits, plant buds, seeds and flowers. However, squirrels are not vegetarian. They also eat bird eggs and nestlings that they will snatch right out of a birdhouse. They may pounce on unsuspecting birds at feeders also.

There are two clear strategies for solving the problem of keeping squirrels away from your feeders and birdhouses. You can prevent the (cute) pesky rodents from gaining access to your treasures, or you can give them a better, alternate place to dine.

Let's tackle the preventative strategy first. There are some very simple ways to keep your birdhouses and feeders safe from squirrel damage. And let me add here that it is imperative to keep your birdhouses safe from possible predation. You can build your own predator guard from my plans or you can purchase squirrel baffles, which come in a variety of styles, sizes, shapes and colors.

What you want to do is to keep squirrels away from your feeders and birdhouses right from the start. Squirrels are very persistent and once they find an easy source of food, they will try to overcome any obstacle you may put in their way.

Squirrels are extremely agile and can leap eight feet or more and climb almost anything. For this reason alone, if you have squirrel problems in your yard, keep your bird feeders and birdhouses at least eight feet away from any tree limbs or man-made structures and install baffles on the supporting posts.

If you must hang your bird feeders in trees, you will want to keep them away from the main trunk and equip them with a dome baffle or simply use a squirrel-proof bird feeder that is designed with a dome-type top.

Another popular style of squirrel-proof bird feeders is the caged feeder. The caged feeders consist of an inner feeder that contains the seed, surrounded by a wire cage that prevents squirrels from getting to that seed. They simply put the food out of reach for the hungry squirrel.

Even the most persistent squirrels should be thwarted by any of these squirrel-proof bird feeders or baffle feeder combinations. So let's consider the second strategy of giving the squirrels a better alternative than your bird feeders or birdhouses for their banquets.

This strategy involves setting up a squirrel feeding station somewhere away from your bird feeders with the food stuffs that squirrels really like. There are several different squirrel feeders that not only let the squirrels enjoy the nuts, sunflower seeds and fruit they like the most, there are some that let you watch their antics as they feed on one of their favorite foods, corn on the cob.

So whether you love squirrels or hate 'em, these are some solutions to the "squirrel dilemma" that many birders face. You may even have some new thoughts on how you can live with squirrels and keep your bird feeders and birdhouses off limits to these cute, furry critters.

Larry Jordan has been bird watching for many years and building birdhouses for over 26 years.If you are looking for quality bird and birding products, please visit his online store at Birds In My Yard for some great deals and great service.For more information on bird watching, bird houses, feeding wild birds, birds in the news, bird conservation, and some great bird photos go to The Birder's Report and sign up for his newsletter or his RSS Feed.

Choose The Best Bird Feeders

The most fulfilling thing for many bird keepers is to have the best bird feeder. A bird feeder which you won't have to worry or keep an eye on to keep away squirrels and other animals targeting the bird's food. One which will be able to attract as many birds to your garden as possible and one which will give a good viewing of how the birds are feeding and to know the level of the bird's feed. To be able to attract and keep many birds in your garden you require a well designed bird feeder, one which will make the birds enjoy visiting your garden. The bird feeder should be able to hold a sizable amount of the bird's feed. It should have many perches for the birds.

One of the special classic bird feeders is the wooden cedar wild bird feeders. These bird feeders are designed to add charm to your garden while at the same time making your favorite birds enjoy their meal. The feeders are designed to be the excellent choice feeders. They are designed in different sizes smaller ones being able to hold mealworms and small sized grains. They are designed for one to be able to add suit cakes at the sides.

These bird feeders are designed to keep off squirrels that are always a bother to bird keeping farmers. The feeders are designed in a way to enables one to add a squirrel baffle protection device. They are designed in different shapes to make your garden beautiful.

Hummingbirds - Helpful Facts and Feeding Tips

Hummingbirds are among the earliest birds to migrate north from South America. They will sometimes arrive in their summer feeding grounds before nectar plants like azaleas have a chance to bloom. That's why it is a good idea to hang your Hummingbird Feeders just as winter winds down. You may attract the earliest travelers and help to keep them nourished until springtime plants are in bloom.

If you're wondering which Hummingbird Nectar Recipe to use and are confused about which one is best for Hummingbirds then the following information should be very helpful. As you may have discovered there are many nectar recipes out there, but the one most closely resembling nectar produced by many flowers attractive to Hummingbirds contains only 1 Part White (refined) and 4 Parts Water. To create the nectar boil the mixture until it dissolves, let it cool, and pour into your Hummingbird feeders. The excess can be stored for a day or two in the refrigerator. Honey, brown sugar, and artificial sweeteners or coloring are NOT suitable for Hummingbirds.

These ingredients can actually cause toxicity and lack of nutrients. Regular white table sugar is much better than raw unrefined sugar because it is almost pure sucrose which is the most common sugar found in flower nectar. Nearly all of our commercially available sugar is produced from crushed sugar cane or sugar beets. During the refining process liquid is separated from the plants and used to make molasses.

The process to refine raw sugar also removes impurities or contaminants which either originate in the plant or come from harvesting. Any trace minerals or nutrients that may be present in unrefined sugar are not beneficial to Hummingbirds. The impurities in unrefined sugar may cause faster spoilage and fermentation of the nectar solution possibly resulting in illness or death to the Hummingbird. Unrefined sugar may also contain higher levels of iron than white sugar which can poison Hummingbirds because they are unable to metabolize large amounts. Nutrients such as proteins will come from eating insects, not from natural or artificial nectar. So, please keep to the basics and don't try to substitute ingredients when making your homemade nectar.

The early arrivers are also susceptible to low body temperatures which can induce them into a sleep-like state known as torpor. A Hummingbird cannot fly unless their body temperature is up to 68 degrees. This enables the Hummingbird to conserve energy in cold weather. So, if for some reason one of these tiny birds gets stuck in your garage on a cold night it may welcome your warm hands until its body temperature is raised back to a normal level. It may even feed in your palm with some of your homemade nectar until it can fly again!

The care and maintenance of your Hummingbird feeder is especially important when temperatures reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit. The warmer weather can become a breeding ground for bacteria which is why nectar feeders should be cleaned thoroughly with boiling water and refilled with fresh nectar every 2 or 3 days. A bristle covered bottle brush will help to clean all of the nooks and crannies. If you are having trouble with tiny ants you can try smearing a drop of vegetable oil along the hanging wire of your Hummingbird Feeder, this is usually enough to dissuade the ants away. Some feeders are designed with ant moats and specially tapered feeding holes. These types of feeders can be half filled to deter bees because the specially tapered feeding holes are designed to stop the bees' tongues from reaching far into the nectar.

If you follow these basic tips everyone will fully enjoy your Hummingbird feeders. It will be great fun for you and all of the wonderful Hummingbirds which come to visit your backyard!
This article is free for republishing
Published at Sooper Articles http://www.sooperarticles.com

Special Bird Houses - Protect And Preserve

Wooden bird houses come in many sizes, styles and purposes. A wooden bird house is more than a crafted box for birds of all types to nest in; the size and style of the house will dictate the type of bird to use it. All birds require different types of nesting entries, exits, sizes and locations.

Before making or purchasing a wooden bird house, take a good look at the type of birds you enjoy in your garden and neighborhood. Maybe there are birds you see only occasionally and wish you could attract to your yard more frequently. Perchance you have birds in need of habitat for the winter or to shelter against larger predators in your region.

Decide which birds you need a house for and why. Wooden bird houses, although functional, can be exciting miniature projects for even an amateur wood worker. Your end product will not only provide shelter for a bird family, but can be a collectible and colorful addition to your environment. So once you have decided which birds you need to build houses for, take the time to research exactly what those birds will require inside and out.

The design specifications are crucial to a dry and safe shelter. The size of the entry and/or exit is specific to avoid larger birds, snakes or other critters hurting the babies or taking over the shelter. If this aspect of the bird house is not correct, the shelter will not be used by any birds. The interior is the next section of a wooden bird house that is critical to a safe habitat; for example, some require a mesh to drop down from the exit providing an interior grip or climb.

So do your homework and build or purchase the appropriate bird houses based on safe design. The result will be preserving many happy bird families from year to year.

Read more about Wooden Bird Houses. Visit our site for lots of Wooden Bird Feeders Information.

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10 Things to Know Before Buying Bird Houses

1. Bird houses are big assortment of types, every to magnetize different species. Make a choice for house that suits to the feathered friends

2. Nesting houses magnetize birds that want to nest in hollow nesses. Such are bluebirds, woodpeckers, starlings, sparrows.

3. Your bird house must be in proportion to the size of birds which visit your home. Chickadees, wrens like little houses and so they feel secure.

4. Our bird houses are constructed to have resistance to the weather. They can stay out all the cold season to give shelter to certain species

5. You have to clean the bird house once a year , and make disinfection with a soap and some water.

6. in case your bird house is on a tree it have to be located above range and away from predators

7. Bird houses add personality to your yard. The kind of birds depends on the size and type of the house

8. Bats keep away from the yard mosquitoes and other pets. There are also bat houses for these animals

9. Wooden and bird houses from metal can revise paint when they are exhibited to the elements. The natural weathering is a share of their looks.

10. You can magnetize birds to your yard with food, water, shelter. The bird house is a mode to make the wildlife feel welcome any time and attract them to be back every year.



Limoeg Veigroeg is owner and editor of http://www.wildbirdscomfort.com where you can find information on every type of bird houses , bird feeders and all for wild birds. Wild Birds Comfort provides detailed information in decorative bird houses , custom bird house ,wooden bird houses, wren bird houses and discount birdhouses sale, as well as bird feeders.