Drought-Resistant Landscaping: Planting for Low Water Areas

The so-called “dry garden” requires little maintenance and little watering, so it is ideal if you want to arrange a garden in a low water area. It is also a response to climate change, faced with declining water supplies caused by drought.

In order for the dry garden to work well, it must be done in autumn, to benefit from the precipitation that will allow better rooting, applying a slow release fertilizer can be very beneficial as well.

A dry appearance of the garden will require several preliminaries:

• Choose the sunniest place in the garden
• Choose the best drained place
• Choose a porous soil
• Select plants that tolerate winter moisture
• Mulch to maintain soil moisture

A dry garden can have different styles, including:

• Contemporary dry garden
• Dry Japanese garden
• Modern dry garden

Selection of plants according to the style of the garden

For example, for a dry Japanese garden, you may use Japanese maple or Fescue Gautier. For a contemporary dry garden, you can opt for Pennisetum setaceum, yucca, soil coverings such as woolly thyme or Turkish grass, succulents etc. This type of garden can be done on different levels.

Cacti are also ideal in a dry garden, as well as sempervivum.

A dry garden also includes decorative arrangements such as a water fountain, colored gravel to delimit the different spaces, wood.

The mineral predominates in a dry garden, so it is necessary that the gravel and the rocks around the plants are privileged. 

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Water-Wise Landscaping: How to Conserve Water in Your Garden

Conserving water becomes much easier when you apply a few simple principles in your garden. A water-wise landscaping can be based on xeriscape design. The name of this style of landscaping comes from the Greek word “xeros”, which means “dry”.

The most important step for your garden in xeriscape style is detailed planning. Only by organizing everything before you start planting can you get the best results.

The right choice of plants

To significantly reduce the consumption of water in your garden, you must not use plants that need to be watered on a daily basis. You will have to look for herbs and flowers that grow well in drier conditions too and do not require much care, and also apply a good organic compost to provide nutrients to the plants.

Efficient irrigation

The water economy varies depending on how you have managed to separate the plants that need less water from those that need to be watered daily. The best irrigation system is one that wets the soil by drip, so you will be able to control the water needs of each plant.

Most plants will need to be watered additionally in the first two years of life. After that, once their roots have developed enough, the watering process can be more sparse.

Soil enrichment

If you want your xeriscape-style garden to have a good start, you will take into account the important role that soil enrichment has, before starting to plant. The generous addition of organic matter will improve the way water penetrates the soil, as well as the way the soil retains moisture.

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How Privacy Fences Can Make Your Property Look Better

 

Privacy fences can be an excellent source of good curb appeal, as long as you use them properly. The most important way your privacy fences can make your property look better is by concealing certain areas that you don’t want anyone to see.

 

There might be places where your kids or pets like to play, or where you’re currently working on a DIY project. Or there might be a hidden sanctuary that you want to keep off-limits to the public. By concealing these areas and drawing attention to the most presentable parts of your lawn, yard and garden, you can choose exactly what visitors can and can’t see, to effectively put on a “show” of the best places from around your property.

 

Privacy fences can also be used to create a better appearance because of their aesthetic appeal. For instance, stylish wooden fences can be used not just to conceal certain areas of your garden and yard, but also to attract attention away from areas that are not so noticeable. In this case, the fence itself becomes the center of attention and blends in with its surroundings to produce increased curb appeal and a better overall appearance for your property.

 

Some privacy fences can blend in well with the vegetation and with your exterior fencing to create the impression that there are no actual fences and that everything on your property simply blends in with the environment. Appealing privacy fences made of wood or metal are an excellent addition to this type of landscape design.  Using the best fertilizer on your lawn and garden can improve the curb appeal for that portion of your yard that is visible from the street as well.

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The Benefits of Using Organic Fertilizer Right Before Winter

You’ll often hear gardeners and experts in organic fertilizer saying that it is good practice to adapt your organic fertilizing practices to the late autumn, when your lawn and plants need the most support before the freeze arrives. Following are just some good reasons why you might consider this practice as being of paramount importance:

 

• Organic fertilizers provide plants with the nutrients they need to grow and thrive. Applying your fertilizer before winter can help replenish the nutrients that have been depleted from the soil over the growing season.
• Fertilizers can also improve the structure of the soil, making it more fertile and easier for plants to grow in.  
• Some fertilizers, such as those high in phosphorus, can encourage the growth of strong and healthy roots. This can be especially beneficial for plants that are going dormant over the winter months. Moreover, organic fertilizers are much safer than any other fertilizers in the industry, so they can strengthen the soil and the roots of your plants with no adverse effects.
• Fertilizing before winter can also help plants tolerate cold temperatures far better. This fact is especially important for plants that are sensitive to frost or freezing temperatures.
• Finally, you can use organic fertilizer to help promote healthy growth in the spring. When plants have a strong foundation of healthy roots and are well-nourished, they are better capable of withstanding the stresses of the growing season and produce a greater amount of flowers and fruit.

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Should You Keep Your Cat Off Your Lawn?

There are many reasons why you might want to keep your cats away from your lawn. While they don’t mean to cause any harm, they might damage parts of the lawn just by playing, running or chasing insects. Younger cats are playful and can end up damaging your lawn and garden. So if you want to protect your lawn, it’s important to keep them away from it, either using a net or a fence, or natural deterrents such as plants and herbs that cats don’t like.

 

Cat urine is also a significant issue that has to be mentioned here. Lawns are sensitive to the excess nitrogen in cat and dog urine, and can be severely affected by it. Brown spots will develop in the grass over time, and the affected areas can be very difficult to nurse back to health – though it can be done sometimes by using organic fertilizer and adjusting the soil’s pH. Moreover, if the affected parts of your lawn are not treated in time, they can die out completely, and you’ll have to reseed them or replace them with sod.

 

It’s important to note that cats can still be trained to stay away from your lawn, even if they’re not as easy to train as dogs. Younger cats can be conditioned to stay away from the lawn if you actively discourage their behavior and teach them to associate something they don’t like with being on the lawn.  Applying safe and effective fertilizer products from https://www.therichlawncompany.com/ can help keep your lawn looking it’s best.

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Proper Lawn Maintenance – 3 Types of Pests to Look Out for

 

Lawn maintenance can be difficult if you’re not aware of the pests that are most likely to hurt your lawn. While preparing your organic lawn pest control solutions and insecticides, make sure you learn as much as possible about the following pests:

 

1. Grubs are beetle larvae that come from a variety of scarab beetles. They usually appear in the spring and early fall, and they’ll usually start feasting on your lawn at this time. The grub life cycle leads the beetle larvae to maturity by summer, when female grubs lay their eggs in the soil. These new grubs gradually grow and feed on the grass roots up until the late fall, when they start burrowing into the ground for the winter.  Companies like The Richlawn Company have products that you can apply to stop the grub life cycle.
2. Cutworms are another type of pest you’ll want to keep an eye out for. Most types of cutworms are about 2 inches in length, and they produce adult moths that are a dull gray color and develop about 6 times each year. You can observe the presence of cutworms primarily during the evening and nighttime. In the day, they shelter into the ground, and in the night they like to feed primarily on short grasses, which are hit hard in most instances.
3. Sod webworms are larvae that damage your turf and gradually grow into sod webworm moths. As they grow, the worms can reach lengths of about 1 inch, and their color is usually brown or green with dark spots. Sod webworms typically appear 2-3 times per year during the spring and the summer. After being born, it takes them about six weeks to develop into adult moths.

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How to Keep Pets Outside Your Garden and Protect Your Flowers

 

A physical barrier can be one of the most effective way to keep pets out of your garden. You can use a fence to enclose the entire garden, or just put a fence around specific plants that you want to protect. Transparent materials are available to enclose the garden and make it off-limits while also ensuring that the flowers can remain visible and continue to receive adequate sunlight.

 

If you don’t want to put up a fence, you can use netting to protect your plants. This can also be extremely useful for protecting vegetables and fruit trees from birds.

 

Some plants have natural deterrents that can help keep pets away. For example, you can plant herbs such as rosemary, basil, and peppermint around the perimeter of your garden to deter pets and pests alike. If you prefer not to use other plants, commercial repellents are available that can help keep pets away from your garden. These can be sprayed on plants or applied to the ground around your plants.

 

Finally, it’s always a good idea to train your pets to stay out of the garden. You can do this by consistently using positive reinforcement when they stay out of the garden and safe negative reinforcement, such as withdrawing treats or exclaiming a firm “NO!” as soon as they enter the garden.  It is recommended that you use the best compost for garden as it will help your plants and the roots of your plants to be protected as well.

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