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Landscaping & Gardening Information
Wind Chimes Soothe The Soul
They can be pretty to look at and soothing to hear, but did you know that that wind chimes also have healing effects? Just listening to the tones of the chimes can help calm your mind and release stress. Calming your mind, the tones of the chimes help to release all that stored up stress. This soothing effect helps open our spiritual awareness and has been used by many cultures for centuries.
Basic Lawn Care - Mowing, Scarifiers, Aeration, and Watering Tips
The arrival of summer heralds a time of increased wear and tear for the average garden lawn. Children's yard games, barbecue parties, outdoor sports and generally more activity in the garden means your lawn is set to come in for something of a beating and without a little TLC is likely to start showing more than a little worse for wear. Stomp all over any living thing and it doesn't respond too kindly but with a little help, your lawn can remain looking great all through summer and beyond!
Cast Aluminum Furniture
In days gone by, outdoor furniture was cast from iron. Today, cast aluminum furniture is used more often. Cast aluminum carries all of the grace and charm of cast furniture, but avoids the blight of rust and peeling paint.
Agio Patio Furniture
The fresh air of the early spring solstice and the celebration song of the earth call us to leave the safety and comfort of our indoor winter haven. We venture forth to explore the new life that is springing up all around us, and habitually look for a place to relax and absorb the sounds and smells swirling through the air. Agio Patio Furniture may be just the answer to true enjoyment of the new season?s arrival.
It?s Gardening Season!
It?s gardening season again! Are you ready? Whether you are a seasoned gardener, or are looking to start gardening, you will likely need supplies and plants. If you shop smart, and use the tips below, you can get that garden running with very little money. And you can save a lot of money on your grocery bill as well.
Vermicomposting - Worm Composters For Eco-Friendly Waste Disposal and Recycling
Worms are not only the gardener's best friend, they are also the recycler's new found best friend as well. Nature's little waste disposal experts have found a new place in eco-conscious household's across the globe as more and more people are catching on to the idea of using worms' special talents to dispose of their organic household waste. If you have ever pondered on the idea or are in the least bit interested in giving your world environment a helping hand then you might like to delve a little deeper into the world of worms...
About Window Ledge Gardening
The growing of flowering or foliage plants on window ledges is a form of gardening in which most people can indulge. Those who live in flats, and others who have no gardens, and especially invalids who are confined to their rooms, derive an enormous amount of pleasure from this form of gardening.
Vegetable Growing for Beginners
If you have never grown vegetables before the first thing that you need to decide is where to plant them in your garden. Most vegetables need 6-8 hours of sunlight a day although greens can manage with less. Choose a site in an area that will not be shaded by buildings or trees and one that is near to a water supply. You will not want to have to cart water any further than absolutely necessary. Protect the site with a fence to keep out dogs, rabbits and other animals which can damage your crops.
How to Create a Zen Garden
When you hear the term "Zen Garden" the picture conjured up is of a dry landscape with rocks surrounded by carefully raked gravel which invites you to withdraw from the noise of the world outside and to enter into silent meditation. Some say that zen priests adopted the dry landscape style in the eleventh century as an aid to create a deeper understanding of the zen concepts, but others hold that the Japanese Zen Garden is a myth. They claim that it is a late 20th Century western creation that has nothing to do with the Japanese Garden Tradition and that the dry garden style is not unique to zen temples but can be found associated with many other buildings.
Bonsai Trees - Our Own Little Forest
Bonsai trees have been grown in China and Japan for centuries. Buddhist priests were the ones that created them and, in some centuries time, everyone could enjoy the little trees. And, by little we mean little: a bonsai tree can live up to hundreds of years without being more than 1m high. By regularly cutting down the branches and by shortening the roots, the growing is stopped. More, by not providing the full required elements to grow, the trees remain little. Those really interested in Bonsai trees should know that this is a hobby that requires a lot of responsibility and time, because they are living trees, not some dead wood.
Decorate Your Outdoor Spaces on a Budget!
Many times when the weather becomes sultry, the only place we want to be is in our favorite chair on the porch, sipping ice-cold lemonade! So, if we are to spend our summer months languishing with Mother Nature, why not treat our "outdoor room" to a little freshening up, and make our time outdoors more enjoyable! Here are some great, easy ideas you can use to add your own personal style to a much used "summer home"!
Buying a Lawn Mower
Anyone with a lawn, no matter how small will at some point need to cut the grass, up root any weeds etc. Like most people, I normally manage to do this at weekends. Unfourtunately for me, recently, the cable on my lawn mower was cut when trimming the grass at the weekend.
Gardening is Good Therapy
Many of us garden just for the sheer joy of it. But did you know that all over the country the healing aspects of gardening are being used as therapy or as an adjunct to therapy?
Although this might sound like a new concept, garden therapy has been around for decades. For example, the Garden Therapy Program at Central State Hospital in Milledgeville, and in regional hospitals in Atlanta, Augusta, Columbus, Rome, Thomasville and Savannah, has been helping people for over 40 years through gardening activities known as social and therapeutic horticulture.
So what exactly is social and therapeutic horticulture (or garden therapy)?
According to the article ?Your future starts here: practitioners determine the way ahead? from Growth Point (1999) volume 79, pages 4-5, horticultural therapy is the use of plants by a trained professional as a medium through which certain clinically defined goals may be met. ??Therapeutic horticulture is the process by which individuals may develop well-being using plans and horticulture. This is achieved by active or passive involvement.?
Although the physical benefits of garden therapy have not yet been fully realized through research, the overall benefits are almost overwhelming. For starters, gardening therapy programs result in increased elf-esteem and self-confidence for all participants.
Social and therapeutic horticulture also develops social and work skills, literacy and numeric skills, an increased sense of general well-being and the opportunity for social interaction and the development of independence. In some instances it can also lead to employment or further training or education. Obviously different groups will achieve different results.
Groups recovering from major illness or injury, those with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and mental health problems, older people, offenders and those who misuse drugs or alcohol, can all benefit from the therapeutic aspects of gardening as presented through specific therapy related programs. In most cases, those that experience the biggest impact are vulnerable or socially excluded individuals or groups, including the ill, the elderly, and those kept in secure locations, such as hospitals or prisons.
One important benefit to using social and therapeutic horticulture is that traditional forms of communication aren?t always required. This is particularly important for stroke patients, car accident victims, those with cerebral palsy, aphasia or other illnesses or accidents that hinder verbal communication. Gardening activities lend themselves easily to communicative disabled individuals. This in turn builds teamwork, self-esteem and self-confidence, while encouraging social interaction.
Another group that clearly benefits from social and therapeutic horticulture are those that misuse alcohol or substances and those in prison. Teaching horticulture not only becomes a life skill for these individuals, but also develops a wide range of additional benefits.
Social and therapeutic horticultures gives these individuals a chance to participate in a meaningful activity, which produces food, in addition to creating skills relating to responsibility, social skills and work ethic.
The same is true for juvenile offenders. Gardening therapy, as vocational horticulture curriculum, can be a tool to improve social bonding in addition to developing improved attitudes about personal success and a new awareness of personal job preparedness.
The mental benefits don?t end there. Increased abilities in decision-making and self-control are common themes reported by staff in secure psychiatric hospitals. Reports of increased confidence, self-esteem and hope are also common in this environment.
Prison staff have also noticed that gardening therapy improves the social interaction of the inmates, in addition to improving mutual understanding between project staff and prisoners who shared outdoor conditions of work.
It?s interesting that studies in both hospitals and prisons consistently list improving relationships between participants, integrating with the community, life skills and ownership as being some of the real benefits to participants.
But in addition to creating a myriad of emotional and social benefits, the health benefits of being outdoors, breathing in fresh air and doing physical work cannot be overlooked. In most studies, participants noted that fresh air, fitness and weight control where prime benefits that couldn?t be overlooked.
Although unable to pin down a solid reason, studies have shown that human being posses an innate attraction to nature. What we do know, is that being outdoors creates feelings of appreciation, tranquility, spirituality and peace. So it would seem, that just being in a garden setting is in itself restorative. Active gardening only heightens those feelings.
With so many positive benefits to gardening, isn?t it time you got outside and started tending to your garden? Next time you are kneeling in fresh dirt to pull weeds or plant a new variety of a vegetable or flower, think about the tranquility you feel while being outdoors in your garden. Let the act of gardening sooth and revitalize you. Soak up the positive benefits of tending to your own garden.
If you have someone in your life that could benefit from garden therapy, contact your local health unit to find out more about programs in your area. Not only will the enjoyment of gardening help bond you together, but it will also create numerous positive mental and physical benefits for both of you.
So get gardening today for both your physical and mental health. You?ll enjoy the experience so much that you?ll immediately thank yourself.
How to Grow a Pineapple
The first thing you need to grow a pineapple is a pineapple. The pineapple (ananas comosus) is a bromeliad; in fact, one of the few in its family that is edible. However, the fruit of an unripe pineapple is poisonous and will irritate both your mouth and throat. Even the ripe fruit of the houseplant pineapple is not nearly as luscious and sweet as that grown in the sands of the tropics; still, the pineapple is a striking, interesting, and unusual plant to add to your collection.
Mowing the Lawn
This is more of a follow up on my original article posted yesterday. As I have now finally managed to buy a new lawn mower, with safetey and usability in mind, I have been chopping away at that lawn this morning.
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