Archive for the ‘Gardening’ Category

To keep your leaf blower in tip top condition and to maximise the life and reliability of your leaf blower, it is vital to service it regularly. Here are a some guidelines and tips that will help you maintain your leaf blower in good working order.

Daily Checks on your Leaf Blower

• Clean the external surface of the machine with a cloth.

• Make sure that the throttle lock and the throttle trigger function safely.

• Ensure that the stop switch is working properly.

• Check the housings, and make sure they are free of cracks.

• Make sure that the collection bag is intact and that the zipper is working.

• Make sure that all nuts and screws are tightened properly .

• Give the filter a good clean and replace it if necessary.

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Garden gnomes have inspired an enthusiastic and devoted cult following, both in the real world and in cyberspace. Perhaps nowhere is the garden gnome’s cult status more apparent than in North Devon, England at The Gnome Reserve and Wildflower Garden.

This unique attraction is fun for everyone, with a reserve where garden gnomes can run free, a wildflower meadow, a stream and pond and woodlands. The natural beauty of the English countryside can only be enhanced in one way, gnomes! This unique park does it best, with over 1,000 gentle gnomes in residence. Non-conformists are discouraged, so tall, pointy hats and fishing poles are handed out to visitors so they’ll feel more at home with the gnomes.

Special exhibits walk the visitor through the manufacture and painting of gnomes, and a gnome museum documents the history of this fascinating race. It is rumored that at night, the small army of gnomes on site plants and tends the wildflower reserve and fishes in the pond.

While the Gnome Reserve is perhaps the largest gnome home in the world, garden gnomes are celebrated elsewhere as well, especially on the web. A very cute site called nigelthegnome.com chronicles a Florida gnome’s travels across the United States in pictures. Websites selling garden gnomes abound, most selling traditional gnomes and others selling specialty gnomes.

One of the most interesting gnome websites is a storefront that sells garden gnomes who look suspiciously like George W. Bush! We aren’t sure if they’re illegitimate offspring or relatives, but the resemblance is uncanny. See for yourself at www.bushgnome.com.
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If you visit the Piazza del Campidoglio in Rome then you’ll find three fountains of interest in this imposing square. These fountains each have a particularly interesting history. They haven’t actually been in place in their current setting for that long but each fountain has had a rich and varied background. In fact, the sculptures you’ll see on these three fountains can trace back their roots to the early days of Christian Rome.

The first of the three fountains that you’ll probably notice in the piazza is the central fountain that leads up to the magnificent Palace of the Senators. Although originally planned by Michelangelo when he laid out designs for the piazza, the fountain was only constructed in the reign of Sixtus V who diverted a water supply from the Acqua Felice that could then supply a fountain. Original plans had decreed that this fountain would contain the figure of Jove as its centerpiece, instead it was built around the figure of Minerva who stands as the figurehead of Rome. Minerva’s statue has partly been restored in modern times but the torso was brought to Rome from Cori so it is actually of great historical significance.
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Garden fountains come in a huge variety of decorative styles, from ornately carved wall fountains to floating pond fountains. If you’re looking for a way to bring a soothing ambiance to the sanctuary of your backyard or patio, then a water fountain can be a wonderful feature. The sight and sound of flowing water can have a lovely soothing effect, helping to wash away the stresses and strains of daily life. An outdoor fountain can become a stunning focal point of your garden design. The gentle trickling sound can help drown out the sound of the city and create a peaceful and inspiring environment.

Outdoor water fountains run on either an electric pump or solar power. They come in a range of sizes and styles, to suit all kinds of garden themes. Tiered cascades, birdbaths, wall mounted and traditional pedestal designs are some of the many options available. Designs based on mythical figures, animals and cherubs are popular, as are more contemporary designs. Having a pond fountain not only adds to the atmosphere of relaxation and calm, but also helps keep the water circulating and prevents it from becoming stagnant.
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Garden fountains add a special touch to any environment. They’re beautiful to look at and listening to the sounds of gently splashing water is a great way to push aside your worries of the day. And believe it or not, garden fountains are one of the easiest and most affordable ways to transform any space into your own private sanctuary.

Once you start looking for garden fountains, you’ll quickly realize that choosing the perfect one is going to be your biggest challenge! With so many beautiful styles, sizes and materials to choose from, your options seem endless. Simple or elaborate multi-tiered garden fountains have always been very popular and the tower style with water cascading down the front of a rectangular-shaped piece of glass or stone is today’s trendy style.
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The Tulip Tree has got its name from its tulip shaped flowers. The flowers of a Tulip Tree are located at great heights and typically reach a size of 2.5 inches. The Tulip Tree produces monoecious flowers with yellow-green petals. The corolla has a beautiful vivid orange shade. Some people find the leaves of the Tulip Tree similar to tulips too, at least with a little imagination. The leaves are four lobed and have a notch at the tip. A Tulip Tree leaf will typically reach a length of 4-6 inches in diameter. The leaf colour is bright green and will turn yellow in autumn.

The Tulip Tree is sometimes called “The King of the Magnolias”. It is called Liriodendron tulipifera in Latin, and it belongs to the Family Magnoliaceae. The Tulip Tree is related to the Chinese Tulip Tree (Liriodendron Chinese).

The Tulip Tree is utilized as timber and is very appreciated among carpenters since the wood is easy to work with. Tulip Tree wood has a pale yellow color and is particularly popular in furniture, wood carvings, cabinetry, veneer, jewelry boxes and musical instruments. Earlier, the Tulip Tree was frequently used in canoes created by Native Americans. The Tulip Tree bark has been used as a substitute for cinchona in traditional remedies.

The popular Tulip Tree is known by many names in English, including Canoewood, Saddletree, Tulipwood, Whitewood, Canary Whitewood and American Whitewood. The Tulip Tree is not a poplar, but it is still commonly referred to as Tulip poplar, Hickory poplar, White poplar and Yellow poplar.
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Good garden design starts with thinking before digging.

Garden design takes time. It’s too late to plan your garden when you are standing in the nursery eyeing every new plant that tempts you. Spend some time looking at your garden site, either during the off season, when you can really view it objectively or during the growing season, when your successes and failures make themselves known.

Once you have an idea of how you are going to use your garden, come back to reality and take an objective look at the site before you come up with your garden design. This is of utmost importance in determining which plants and trees you use to achieve the desired effect.

Monitor it during different times of the day and year:

1. How many hours of sun does the site receive?
2. What times of day is it sunny?
3. Does sun exposure change with the seasons? Do trees allow sun in the spring and shade during summer?
4. How is the soil, as far as pH and texture?
5. Are there structures or large trees that will affect plant growth and selection?
6. Are there structures nearby that you would like to camouflage?
7. What plants are already growing there?
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Sometimes, you will want to be able to walk on part of your garden without walking on the grass, essentially creating a floored area at one end of the garden and perhaps also a path through it. The most common way of doing this used to be concrete patios, but they are fast falling out of fashion. Today, more and more people are instead opting for wooden decking.

Decking can be built either straight over the top of grass, or on top of an existing patio. It is not difficult to build yourself: normal decking is just a grate-style frame with beams every metre or so, and then planks of wood fixed to the top. If you’re unsure then you can buy the parts from a garden centre, but if you have built things out of wood before then decking is really a surprisingly easy project. It is best to leave the decking unpainted and natural, both for maintenance reasons and because it tends to look better.

When you assemble your decking, a good tip is to use screws and an electric screwdriver, instead of nails. Not only does this save you some effort, but it is much more likely to hold up against the elements and other wear the decking will get.
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