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About Fourth of July Flowers Many U.S. citizens adorn their gardens with blooms in hues of red, white, and blue to herald the Fourth of July. American flags may be dotted around the landscape, and patriotic bunting and other touches are displayed proudly. Fireworks came to us from the Chinese, who named their explosive shells after flowers. The resulting explosions mirrored the forms of our most lovely blooms. There are Chrysanthemum, Lotus, Peony, Morning Glory, and of course Ground Bloom pyrotechnics....

Ficus Tree Division You need to divide a large ficus if the plant has become rootbound. If you aren’t familiar with that term, it’s when the tree roots get heavily tangled and compacted. Rootbound plants cannot grow since the roots are not able to deliver water and nutrients to the canopy. When to split a big ficus? Ficus tree division becomes necessary when the roots outgrow container space and cause the vigor and health of the plants to suffer....

Keeping fire pits safe is essential for enjoying them. A few easy precautions and rules will ensure everyone is safe and has a good time. Are Backyard Fire Pits Safe? It certainly can be safe, but safety and risk depend on how you construct, install, and use a fire pit. Knowing how to make a safe fire pit is the first step. Here are some important considerations before and during construction or installation:...

About Floating Pond Plants What are floating plants? This unusual group of plants takes all their nutrients from the water, bypassing any need to have their roots in soil. They’re often food for local wildlife, like duckweed, or provide protected spaces for fish spawning, like parrot’s feather does. Water lettuce and water hyacinth are two of the best-known varieties. If you have a larger pond or another enclosed body of water, learning how to use floating plants can go a long way toward your man-made feature look more natural....

Keep reading for some fragrant desert flower ideas to perfume your garden. Choosing Fragrant Plants in Dry Climates When you think of sweet-smelling flowers, often the tropical beauties come to mind. However, the desert is an altogether different environment. The extreme heat and cold, blazing sun, and lack of water mean plants have to be very tough. Cactus is a perfect example, and while many do get flowers, few actually smell nice....

What is Gypsum? Gypsum is calcium sulfate, a naturally occurring mineral. It has been touted as beneficial for breaking up compact soil, especially clay soil. It is useful in changing the soil structure of excessively heavy soils which have been impacted by heavy traffic, flooding, overcropping, or simply overly weatherized. One of the main uses of gypsum is to remove excess sodium from the soil and adding calcium. A soil analysis is helpful in determining if you need to apply gypsum as a soil amendment....

About Ginseng Pest Control Ginseng pests include bugs that eat ginseng as well as other insects or wildlife that live on and injure the plant. In fact, you can define garden pests as anything that interferes with the desired growth of your ginseng, including rodents. Treating ginseng pests is a little tricky since you intend to consume the plant yourself when it is mature. That means that standard pesticides may not be appropriate for ginseng pest control....

Birdhouse Gourd Design Creating birdhouses out of gourds begins with growing the gourds, known as bottle gourds or birdhouse gourds. Once you teach your kids how to make a gourd birdhouse, they’ll be excited to add their own personalized designs. Plant the birdhouse gourd seeds next to a fence or other support, making sure all chance of frost has passed. Gourds will grow all summer long, and won’t be ready for harvest until late in the fall....

About Grape Nematodes It not only happens with grapevines; many plants may fall victim to grape root knot nematodes as well. These plant parasitic nematodes, microscopic in size, are possibly in the soil before planting and destructive in full orchards or gardens. Root knot nematodes of grapes feed on and cause swelling in young roots and secondary roots, creating galls. These nematodes may be transported in soil, particularly waterlogged soil that rushes down hills with strong rainfall....

When to Harvest Grapefruit Grapefruit most probably originated as a natural hybridization between the orange and the pummelo (pomelo) or Citrus maximus. It was first described in 1750 in Barbados and the first record of the word “grapefruit” used in Jamaica in 1814. It was introduced into the United States in 1823 and is now a major commercial export of the state of Texas, which has designated the red grapefruit as its state fruit....

Stop Grasshoppers from Eating My Plants Learning how to control grasshoppers begins with prevention and an understanding of how these pests feed and reproduce. Grasshoppers lay their eggs in the soil during fall, where they hatch the following spring. Once hatched, they begin feeding on grasses and broadleaf plants. Gardens that are well irrigated with an abundance of vegetation available are quite favorable to grasshoppers. Therefore, they will stick around as long as this food supply remains abundant....

Which Herbs Like Full Sun? Like most plants, herbs generally want more sun. These herbs will thrive in full sun, but if you can only provide partial sun, between three and six hours per day, they’ll be fine: Chives. This onion relative can grow in only partial sun, but you’ll get more chive blossoms in full sun. Chervil. Grow chervil to use fresh in salads. It will reseed itself readily, even in a spot with a little shade....

Growing Heritage Gardens As we become more aware of climate change and how it affects our health and food supply, we are more likely to consider heritage garden design. Often, ethnic gardening allows us to grow vegetables that aren’t available from large grocery chains. In the process, we become more aware of our unique traditions. A heritage garden is a form of living history. If you aren’t sure what to plant in your heritage garden, search for old gardening books, usually the older the better – or ask older members of the family....

Learn how to care for Japanese juniper and enjoy this low maintenance plant in your garden. About Japanese Juniper Shrubs Blue green foliage and elegant prostrate stems characterize this juniper plant. The dwarf, evergreen shrub makes a perfect addition to most sites with an adaptable nature and its only main requirement is full sun. As an added bonus, deer seldom bother this needled plant and it remains green throughout the winter....

Cultivation of Oyster Mushrooms What are oyster mushrooms? Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) is a variety of mushroom that grows especially well indoors. While many mushrooms will grow only in the wild (making mushroom hunting a popular hobby and certain mushroom price tags especially high), oyster mushrooms will grow with a very high success rate in a box or bucket with virtually any moist, organic material to feed on. How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms at Home So how do start growing oyster mushrooms?...

Saguaro Cactus Characteristics Saguaro have barrel-shaped bodies with peripheral stems called arms. The exterior of the trunk is pleated due to the way it grows. The pleats expand, allowing the cactus to gather extra water in the rainy season and storing it in its tissues. An adult cactus may weigh six tons or more when filled with water and requires a strong internal support skeleton of connected ribs. A young growing Saguaro cactus may only be a few inches (8 cm....

Carpenter Ant Damage Carpenter ants do not eat wood, but they remove wood as they create tunnels and galleries for their nests. Their primary food sources are proteins and sugars. They feed on living and dead insects outdoors. They are attracted to honeydew, which is a sweet liquid produced by aphids and scale insects. Indoors, carpenter ants feed on meat and sweets such as syrups, honey, and sugar. Carpenter ant tree damage is caused primarily by the ants burrowing tunnels to build their nests....

Houndstongue Plant Information Houndstongue is a biennial plant found in most areas of the continental United States. You’ll see it growing along roadsides, trails and other disturbed areas including pastures after overgrazing. If it’s on your land, you should be reading up on how to remove houndstongue. You can recognize houndstongue weeds if you know something about their growth cycle. The first year weeds appear as rosettes with oblong leaves that feel like a dog’s tongue, hence the name....

How to Grow Moss Indoors Learning how to grow moss indoors is a simple task; in fact, this can be a good project for parents and children to do together. Start with a clear glass container that has a lid, such as a terrarium or a large jar. Place about an inch (2.5 cm.) of pebbles in the bottom of the container, then top that with about an inch (2.5 cm....

What Makes Blueberries Sour? The first thing to do when garden blueberries are sour is to determine the characteristics of the cultivar you have chosen. With hundreds of types of blueberries available, the cultivar fruit taste can vary from tart to sweet. If your bushes are intended to produce tart or sour fruit, you may want to select new cultivars. A common cause of sour blueberry fruit is over-production on a bush....