Gardening Features

How To: Build a bio-intensive garden

John White of Southwest Yard and Garden along with Kitty Schafer teach you about bio-intensive gardening. Bio-intensive gardening is the combination of two techniques. Part of the technique involves composting top soil with other coarse organic material into a lasagna style mound. Add 2 inches of straw to the soil and spray with water. Add 2 inches of green material that you have collected from other area of your garden, such as bug eaten greens or specific greens for composting. Then add som...

How To: Put together a Zen garden

Zen gardens and gardening are serene places and activities. If you want to make your own Zen garden and add some harmony to your life, watch this video to learn some general guidelines for going about it. These tips are for full-size Zen gardens, not the desktop models.

How To: Care for fresh-cut flowers

In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to take care of fresh-cut flowers. First, make sure you selected good quality flowers. Then strip off the leaves. Cut the stems at an angle to be able to fit in the vase. Make sure the water in the vase is clean. You can also make a preservative by mixing fresh water with a bit of soda and bleach. This video is very descriptive and clearly explains all the instructions. This video provides very good information. This video will benefit those viewers w...

How To: Identify problems squash, melons, & chile plants

This video answers some questions on how to identify some of the problems that occur in vegetable gardens: for example, if there are missing leaves on your tomato plant, then it is an indication that they are being eaten by something. In some cases, this pest is the Tomato Hornworm. The Mosaic Virus and Curly Top and Tomato Spotted Wilt also attacks tomato plants.

How To: Build a proper drip irrigation system

This video illustrate us how to build a drip irrigation system. Here are the following steps: 1. To build a drip irrigation system you need a pipe, hydro cyclone, screen filter, Pressure building pump and micro filter.step 2: Connect the pipe to the water source and let it pass through the hydro cyclone to settle down all the sand. 3: Now from the hydro cyclone pass it through the pressure gauge for building up the pressure ant then this pipe passes through the network of horizontal and verti...

How To: Test lawn irrigation systems

In this Home & Garden video tutorial you will learn how to test lawn irrigation systems. John White presents this video. This is done by a simple can test. Take a few cans of the same size with vertical walls and flat bottom. Place them around the sprinkler head at different distances and make sure they are horizontal. This will show whether the sprinkler is spreading water evenly. Then you can time it and measure the amount of water. This way in future, you will know how long to run the syst...

How To: Grow chillies from seeds

Chilli plants will thrive on a sunny window sill or in a greenhouse. They have a long cropping season, so you could still be harvesting fresh chillies in December. You will need just two small pots to sow your chilli seeds; use a good quality seed compost and keep them in a bright place to ensure they germinate.

How To: Plant dahlias with the Dahlia Guy

The Dahlia Guy is going to show you step by step how to plant dahlias. First, you want to bury your tubers at 2-4inches of depth and place a stick right next to the eye so you know exactly where the dahlia will be. Also, you want to place a timed release fertilizer in the hole and then cover it up with the dirt. Now, take a 16inch long stick and use that to space out the dahlias in your garden. Some tips to use are use name tags at the beginning of the of the planting and at the end of the di...

How To: Take cuttings from a blue flower sage

In this gardening tutorial, Martin Fish from Garden News shows you how to take cuttings from Salvia patens or blue flower sage. Cuttings are a way to root new plants from a larger plant. Watch this how to video and you can get tips on how to take a cutting and root a blue flower sage plant.

How To: Carve and stlye bonsai

Bonsai is an art that many people can't take up. It requires patience and a right amount of knowldege when it comes to pruning, repotting, etc. So in this tutorial, you'll find out how to carve and style using bonsai methods. Sit back, pay attention, and good luck!

How To: Care for a Cymbidium Orchid

Cymbidium orchids are beautiful flowers. They are perfect decorations for spring time, Easter and many other occasions. If you are thinking of using these lovely flowers around your home or garden, check out this tutorial and learn how to care for them properly so that they last a long time.

How To: Sow sweet peas from seed

Learn how to grow sweet pea plants from seed with Monty Don's step-by-step video advice. Follow these Gardeners' World step-by-step guides to garden projects from the BBC. These lovely tutorials on gardening will grow your green thumb and make your gardens grow healthful plants. Sow sweet peas from seed.

How To: Style an old yamadori bonsai

The previous owner chose this view. The trunk is naturally hollow. Dead wood is coming toward us. Branches are coming to the back so we will have to do some manipulation. The two parts of deadwood play together in an interesting dance. The piece of deadwood can be improved and the branches can be moved more to this side of the tree as a front. This is what we'll go with. (Using various tools, the bark is removed from the left side deadwood). Height has been added to the branches. Lots of torn...

How To: Make a DIY terrarium

In this how to video, Decor It Yourself takes on terrariums. Brooklynite Amy Merrick shows us how to make our own potted constructions and glass gardens. Dress up your home with these cute, little terrariums.

How To: Plant indoor winter paper whites and amaryllis bulbs

Domino Magazine editor Cynthia Kling shows you the easy way to plant paper whites and amaryllis bulbs. These are bulbs that you plant indoors in the winter and they bloom indoors in the spring. Paper whites and amaryllis bulbs are incredibly ease to plant. You can prop them in dirt, rocks or sand. Stay tuned for more detailed tips on planting paper whites and amaryllis bulbs.

How To: Take care of overgrown houseplants

Nicole Pantaleon shares some plant care tips for your household plants. She shows you what to do when your green thumb becomes too green, resulting in a mammoth, overgrown leafy beast lurking in the corner. Learn how to cut back and trim down your house plants, how to re-pot a plant, and how to fertilize and water your house plants. Nicole also gives you tips on the type of pot and soil you should use for household plants.

How To: Use soil block makers to start seeds

A soil block maker is a cool device for starting your seeds. All you do is fill a container with soil and use the block maker like a cookie cutter. Then you'll have little blocks of soil to plant your seeds in, and you can easily transfer the block to your garden. Now stand back and watch your plants grow!

How To: Choose the right evergreen tree for your landscape

In this video from nmsuaces we learn about choosing the right evergreen tree for your landscape. Upright Junipers are very good for the landscape. A topiary pruned juniper is something that the homeowner can maintain in the spiral form it is. An Austrian black pine is good for lower types of settings and low end soils. A Tanyosho pine can get to be about 10-12 feet and that would fit many landscapes. A Japanese black pine is a fast growing tree, and grows twisting an irregularly. Deodor Cedar...

How To: Grow Japanese ferns

If you've ever tried to plant in the shady part of your garden, you've probably run across ferns. There are literally hundreds of them to choose from with a wide range of plant form, size and always with a beautiful delicate texture. One of my all time favorites is the Japanese Painted Fern. If you'll take a little closer look, you can see how this plant got its name. This plant looks as though it has been meticulously hand painted. This subtle variegation helps the Japanese fern to stand out...

How To: Read tree growth rings

This video explains how tree growth rings function and what they can tell us.The growth rings are formed in 2 (sometimes 3) layers of wood that are the spring growth and the summer growth. Ring width can vary depending on the specie of the tree, the environment in which it has grown and the amount of water it has used. By counting the rings you can tell the age of the tree.By analyzing the growth rings, you can see the years in which there was a drought where the tree once stood, because the ...