Increase Your Success When Transplanting Seedlings

Transplanting seedlings is one of my favourite tasks in the garden. There are a few simple things to consider to give your young plants the best chance to flourish - you want them to thrive, rather than just survive.

Timing

Think about the time of year. Just because certain seedlings are available at your nursery, don't assume it's the right time to plant them out. If you're not sure, read the label - most tell you the best time of year to plant. You could look in gardening books, research online or ask family or friends who are gardeners (they might even give you some seedlings if they've bought too many).

You can plant tender plants before the risk of late frosts has passed, provided you listen closely to weather forecasts and are prepared to cover your 'babies' with protection or enclose them in a cloche.

Hardening Off

If you've grown your seedlings from seed you probably know to harden them off before planting. But if you're buying them from a nursery take a look at where they've been living. Have they been in a glass-house, under shade or exposed to the weather? If you seedlings have been grown outside exposed to the weather, they won't need hardening off. But if they've been pampered, they'll need a bit of toughening up to prepare them for the real world.

To harden off your seedlings you need to leave them outdoors for a longer time each day. Protect them under a porch or behind shade-cloth, bringing them indoors at night for the first few days. After a couple of days, you can expose them to the morning sun. At the end of a week, they'll be tough enough to transplant to their permanent plot.

Planting Out

The garden bed they are being planted in should already have been prepared with layers of organic matter, compost and mulch. Water seedlings 10-15 minutes before planting out.

Before removing seedlings from their containers, arrange them where they will be planted. When you're happy with the arrangement, use a trowel to dig a hole about twice the size of the rootball. Doing this prep work reduces the length of time that the roots will be exposed (drying out).

Fill each hole with water. This supplies moisture to the plant's root zone rather than the surface where it may quickly evaporate. Gently ease the first plant from its container, working from the bottom and sides to loosen it. Don't try and pull it from the container by its stem - you may damage it. Only handle these young plants by their individual leaves or by the root ball. Keeping the rootball intact will help prevent transplant stress, but gently tease the roots to loosen them.

Place the plant into the ground at about the same level that it was growing in its container. Backfill the hole until it is almost level with the soil. I like to add some organic fertilizer at this stage, to give my 'babies' a head start. Just use a small amount - you can add more later. Finish backfilling, pressing the soil lightly around the roots to ensure good soil-to-root contact.

Water them in well, avoiding overhead watering, immediately after transplanting. Water daily for about a week until seedlings are well established. Bring mulch around the plant, leaving about a 10cm (4inch) diameter clear around each plant.

Other things to consider

Avoid transplanting vegetable seedlings when the weather is expected to be excessively hot. If you can, choose a day that is cloudy or transplant late in the afternoon or evening so that your plants can recover through the cool of the night, without sunlight beating down on them. If you can't do this it's a good idea to provide some temporary shade, particularly in hot weather.

An initial watering with an organic seaweed fertilizer will provide a wide range of nutrients and help reduce stress on your young seedlings.

Get all your equipment ready before you start - hand trowel, gardening gloves, kneeling pad, your water bottle and hat.

Tomatoes are an exception to the rule as far as planting depth goes. You can plant them right down to the first set of true leaves. They will grow new roots right up to the soil level, making them more sturdy.

Seedlings from the Cucumber family (cucumbers, squash, pumpkins, melons) do better planted in hills. This allows for better drainage and warms their soil to give them a better start.

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Duranta - A Must Landscape Bush For A Mild Winter Garden

Duranta erecta is a fast growing shrub that reaches about 4-5 meters (20-25ft). With consistent pruning, it can be kept to lesser dimensions and so is suitable for small as well as larger gardens. Although originating from sub-tropical North America and Mexico, it is also suitable for those Mediterranean climates that do not experience winter frosts. It is known by a variety of common names such as Sky Flower, Golden Dew Drop, and Pigeon Berry.

There are a number of varieties belonging to the species, possessing a plethora of names, which seem to differ from place to place. They are all similar to each other however, and this makes it possible to grow different plants together, thereby creating a subtle variation on a theme.

In a number of small but significant ways, Duranta erecta has landscaping features that are almost unique to the species. From my experience, the shades of green are unmatched in the gardening world. The most common types possessing foliage of a very special medium hue, while some have lovely gold colored leaves.

They all have gorgeous, violet-blue flowers that though individually small, grow in a mass, creating a powerful effect. There is often though, considerable variation in this regard within the species. The blooms also appear at the same time as the tiny, orange berries, which hang down in panicles. The violet and orange together, makes for an unusual but attractive combination. There seems to be some confusion as to whether the berries are poisonous or not.

The medium leaf texture means that Duranta erecta associates well with trees and shrubs that have similar foliage. It therefore goes well with the usual Mediterranean type plants like Pistachio, Olive, Pomegranate, and Sumac, but less successfully in my opinion with the course leaves and large flowers common to plants like Hibiscus. A quite stunning effect can be created by combining the golden-leaved Durantas with grey-leaved shrubs like Leocophyllum, or with deep, purple-leaved bushes such as Cotinus.

In most garden situations, Duranta needs regular pruning and trimming to maintain bushy, compact growth. Care must be taken however, not to remove all the flower buds at the same time. With a little bit of sensitivity and common sense, this is not too hard to achieve, as the plant flowers so profusely through the summer. Alternatively, it can be limbed up as a small tree. To grow it on a single trunk is rather difficult, as the plant grows so rapidly, but it can easily be turned into a multiple-stemmed tree.

My name is Jonathan Ya'akobi.
I've been gardening in a professional capacity since 1984.
I am the former head gardener of the Jerusalem Botanical Garden, but now concentrate on building gardens for private home owners.
I also teach horticulture to students on training courses.
I'd love to help you get the very best from your garden, so you're welcome to visit me on http://www.dryclimategardening.com or contact me at jonathan@dryclimategardening.com

Professional Heating and Air Maintenance

Your homes central heating and air conditioning unit, or HVAC, is a key element in your home's energy consumption and comfort level. For these reasons, it is important to have your home's system routinely serviced by a professional technician. It is recommended that your it should be serviced by a qualified technician once every one or two years, depending upon your region's climate and your home's size, age, etc.

It is important to choose a qualified, dependable heating and air specialist to perform any required maintenance of your HVAC system. Having an experienced service technician evaluate its performance is the only way to ensure that your central heating and air conditioning is running efficiently and safely. Keeping your home's system properly maintained will extend your equipment's life and improve the capacity the system can handle. Here are a few things to be sure that your hired service technician should perform.

Any qualified service technician should thoroughly inspect your complete HVAC system. A comprehensive inspection should be made of all elements including cooling coils, primary and secondary drains, blower components, condenser coils, electrical connections, heat exchanger and burners, all safety controls, heat anticipator settings, as well as your system's thermostat and all its included components. After inspection of all these elements, the technician should replace, repair, tighten, adjust, and/or clean any of these components as needed.

A standard scheduled professional maintenance should also include the cleaning or replacement of any air filters found in your home. The technician should lubricate all moving parts incorporated in your home's HVAC system, as well. Freon should also be added by the technician when deemed necessary. If needed, your unit's airflow should be adjusted to ensure efficient temperature rise or decrease. All debris should also be removed from your outdoor condenser unit.

While the heating and air service professional is at your home, he or she should monitor the amperage and voltage draw on all motors, air conditioning and heating cycles, flue draft, and air conditioning operating pressures to ensure proper refrigerant charge.

It is important to have a professional service technician perform scheduled maintenance on your home's system. Qualified A/C techs require the necessary tools, skills, and experience to keep your home's A/C running efficiently, avoiding costly repairs in the future.

Mr. Oliver is a marketing agent of James River Heating and Air Conditioning Company. The heating and air conditioning contractor provides comfort service in the areas of heating and air conditioning throughout Richmond Virginia and surrounding areas. For information on their Heating and Air Conditioning please visit their website.

5 Factors to Consider When Choosing Doors, Windows and Skylights For Your Home

When looking at one of these windows, doors and skylights, whether you are replacing old ones in your current home or buying ones for your new home, there are some factors you will want to take into consideration. These are called fenestration factors.

According to Wikipedia, fenestration is defined as, "Products that fill openings in a building envelope, such as windows, doors, skylights, curtain walls, etc., which are designed to permit the passage of air, light, vehicles, or people."

The National Fenestration Rating Council (NRFC) has developed a rating system for you to compare the performance of different fenestration products. NFRC is a third party, non-profit organization that sponsors certified rating and labeling programs to help consumers compare the energy and performance features of windows, doors, and skylights. NFRC's programs set minimum performance standards, or mandate performance levels. This is where ENERGY STAR comes in. ENERGY STAR enables consumers to easily identify NFRC-certified products with superior energy performance.

There are five (5) characteristics to consider when looking at a fenestration product.

1. U-Factor - This measures how well the product prevents heat from escaping your building envelope. The rate of heat loss generally falls between 0.20 and 1.25. The lower the U-Value, the greater the product's resistance to heat flow, and the better its insulating value. The U-Factor is particularly important during the winter heating season.

2. Solar Heat Gain Coefficient (SHGC) - The SHGC measures how well the heat caused by sunlight is blocked. It is expressed as a number between 0 and 1. The lower the number, the less solar heat is transmitted into your home. Atypical range is 0.25 to 0.80. Blocking solar heat gain is particularly important during the summer cooling season.

3. Visible Transmittance (VT) - This is expressed in a number between 0 and1, and is a measure of how much light comes through your fenestration product. The higher the VT, the higher the potential there is for daylighting. Generally, products range from 0.20 to 0.80.

Daylighting is the practice of placing windows or other transparent media and reflective surfaces so that, during the day, natural light provides effective internal illumination. Energy savings from daylighting are achieved in two ways-either from the reduced use of electric lighting or from passive solar heating or cooling.

4. Air Leakage (AL) - Any air which filters through cracks in the product's assembly results in heat loss and gain. AL is measured in cubic feet of air passing through one square foot of window area per minute (cfm/ft2.). The lower the AL value, the less air is leaked. Most industry standards and building codes require a minimum AL of 0.3 cfm/ft2. The AL rating is optional and manufacturers can choose not to include it in their labels.

5. Condensation Resistance (CR) - This measures the ability of the product to resist the formation of condensation on its interior surface. The higher the CR rating, the better the product is at resisting the formation of condensation. The CR rating is optional and manufacturers can choose not to include it in their labels. The CR does not predict condensation but rather measures the potential for its formation.

When looking for windows, doors or skylights take these characteristics into consideration. The better NFRC ratings will result in increased energy savings and great comfort for you and your family.

Chuck Warrender, an experienced custom builder, opened UBuildIt in 1988 to show people how to become Owner-builders and save money or gain equity on their own custom home building and remodel projects. Chuck designed the UBuildIt System for Owner-builders who want to build more home for their money by directing their own construction projects. UBuildIt's Construction Consultants guide Owner-builders every step of the way and provide a proven system, professional advice and trusted resources. UBuildIt now has over 100 franchises across the US. Learn more about Chuck and how to build or remodel your own custom home at UBuildIt.com

The Best Sago Palm Care

If you are looking for a tree to brighten up either the home or garden then a planting shade tree may be just what you need. They have the ability to make the space around them look tranquil and homely and they also make everything seem a little more attractive within the garden. However, you do need to ensure that you choose the right tree for you and your needs.

Choosing the Right Shade Tree for Your Needs

There are so many different types of trees which you can plant in order to give you shade from the sun. However, care does need to be taken otherwise you could end up with a tree which is completely unsuitable.

Things you need to take into consideration include:

How tall the tree will grow

How much care the tree will need

How much light the tree needs

All of the above will make a difference to which tree you actually select. Obviously some grow bigger than others and if you are looking for a tree for your small garden, a huge oak tree may not be what you need!

So you need to take into consideration the needs of each tree you are considering. Are you looking at planting a specific shape of tree? It may sound strange but trees do grow in different shapes but most people do not really take much notice of that. It is also important to not plant the tree too close to the house. It is a well known fact that trees can drain the moisture out of houses and that can cause the walls to crack and become damaged over time. So, space the tree a good distance away and that way your home will stay safe.

You will need to consider just how hardy the tree you are planting is. If you purchase a sago palm plant for example, it will need specialist care and attention and it may not be suitable for all weathers. In order to find out you need to do your research and the same goes with all different types of trees. You cannot expect the tree to grow and protect you from the sun if you do not even bother to take the time to research its needs and look after it properly.

Overall some trees are better for shading you from the sun than others and some good ones include maple, oak, honey locust and ash trees. You just have to make sure that you do the right amount of research and know what the tree needs in order to help it survive.

Andrew Caxton is the editor and journalist of many information websites like http://www.home-decorating-reviews.com , who has written more articles and newsletters on palm trees . A website with tips on sago palm care.

The Soil Benefits

The most important element in determining a garden's success is according to experts its soil. Paying attention to soil quality dramatically improves the odds of producing healthy, verdant plants.

As gardeners have categorized the three basic types of soil, these included clay-based, sand-based and loam-based. Loam-based soils are considered the ideal since they provide a consistency that allows most plants to thrive. Loam consists of 20 percent clay, 40 percent sand and 40 percent silt. But if the soil of your own garden contains too much sand or clay, there is no reason air: adding amendments will allow you to tailor the soil to successfully meet the needs of your plants.

Soil classification is a contentious subject, from the structure of the classification system itself, to the definitions of classes and types, and finally in the application in the field. Every classification system starts with its own individual definition of soil. The essential problem is that soils do not reproduce or have DNA like living organisms, so no "objective" criteria can be used to choose among classifications. The most qualified specialists in the world can and do spend hours arguing about a soil's classification. Thus, instead of fighting it is better to assess its quality.

First, begin by assessing the existing soil quality. The soil that contains too much clay will have a wet, sticky consistency with large clumps. The problem with clay-based soils is their prevention of sufficient air flow, but their high nutrient levels make them an important part of a good soil mix. Sand-based soils, on the other hand, will exhibit a light, granular texture as shown in. The drawback with sandy soil is that while it allows ample drainage and air flow, it's low on nutrients. Loam, which is the best type of soil, will exhibit a rich dark color and have a light texture with just a hint of stickiness that allows it to hold nutrients. Even in gardens with loam-based soils, however, mixing in a bit of clay-based and sand-based soil will help ensure a nutrient-rich, evenly aerated consistency.

Once you've established a great base soil in your garden, the next step is to add organic material to increase existing nutrient levels. Whatever amendment you select to nourish your garden-compost, grass clippings, ground-up leaves, etc.-be sure to consistently monitor the soil quality and add new amendments as needed.

Soils are also affected by human habitation. People can alter soils to make them more suitable for plant growth through the addition of organic materials and natural or synthetic fertilizer, and by improving their drainage or water-retaining capacity. Human actions also can degrade soils through the depletion of nutrients, pollution, soil contamination, and soil compaction, and by increasing the rate of erosion, which is the relocation of soil through the movement of water or wind.

Thus, keep in mind that whatever you do might have an impact to the overall appearance of your garden. Planting in containers is different than planting in the garden and therefore demands a different type of soil. Since water tables and other conditions in containers are unlike those in the ground, the best option for container plants is a high-quality potting mix (generally not the least expensive). Using this medium for your potted plants will ensure that they thrive at the same level as your garden plants.

Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including Gardening, Society, and Employment

What is Compost Tea?

Organic gardeners all know compost is fantastic stuff. But now, there's something even better and that's compost tea. If you start with a good compost you'll have a versatile elixir for all your garden needs.
Compost tea helps prevent foliage diseases and at the same time increase the nutrients to the plant and shutdown the toxins hurting the plants. It will improve the taste/flavor of your vegetables. So why not give this tea a try either by buying it or brewing it yourself. You won't believe the results!

Four ways that good bacteria work:

Help compete for the nutrients

Dine on the bad varmits

Help produce antibiotics to use against the varmits.

They shove the bad varmits out.

Compost tea that is correctly brewed has a wealth of microorganisms that will benefit your plants' growth and health as well as the soil that they live in. Compost tea can be considered yogurt for the soil. The microorganisms living there are both good and bad. What the tea does is make sure the good guys win by introducing helpful bacteria, fungi, protozoa and beneficial nematodes.

Harmful bacteria lives best in soil that does not have good air circulation. Good bacteria lives best and will thrive in soil that is well ventilated with oxygen. This is where a good compost tea, made the right way, comes in. When you have well oxygenated compost you automatically get rid of 3/4 of the bad varmits. Also by using harmful insecticides or chemical fertilizers we reduce the number of beneficial microorganisms in the soil.

Plants produce their own energy and food and half of that goes to the roots and some of that goes into the surrounding soil and guess who gets that? Correct, the good guys, and then it turns into a beneficial cycle.

The following is taken from the internet and shows compost tea is becoming a force in gardening.

National Organic Standards Board Compost Tea Task Force Report April 6, 2004 Introduction In 2003, the National Organic Standards Board convened a Compost Tea Task Force to review the relevant scientific data and report their recommendations on What constitutes a reasonable use of compost tea? The Task Force was composed of 13 individuals with knowledge and expertise in organic farming practices, organic certification, EPA pathogen regulations, compost, compost tea production and analysis, plant pathology, food safety and environmental microbiology.

Throughout their discussions, members consistently acknowledged the growing interest among certified organic and conventional growers to use compost teas, and the need to develop effective biologically-based tools to manage plant fertility, pests, and diseases.

A primary reason for producing compost tea is to transfer microbial biomass, fine particulate organic matter, and soluble chemical components of compost into an aqueous phase that can be applied to plant surfaces and soils in ways not possible or economically feasible with solid compost.

This article is provided courtesy of http://www.basic-info-4-organic-fertilizers.com You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.