Business, economic development - the unofficial Chamber of Commerce

Horticulture must be one of the highest summertime interests, in the developed World. Along side horticulture, comes a serious amount of garden tools and equipment, particularly for those with experience. Once Summer and Autumn has concluded, winter draws near. All the garden equipment you have need to be organised in the shed. It might not be a nice chore but it pays to be organized!

Garden tools are one of the most problematic collections of house-hold items to manage. Smaller hand tools such as the secateur are quite easy to secrete away in the shed. The key problem is that they can be mislaid over the winter period, this is due to their small nature. But the largest problem is with putting away the oversized tools, which just happen to be some of the most awkward shapes.

Can you conceive of anything more tough than a springbok rake for finding somewhere reasonable to put permanently? Thrust in the digging fork with its deathly forked spikes, the pic hoe, garden rake, push and pull hoe, garden spade and you can cause yourself a lot of harm and pain in the future. If you have children, then the dangers are even deeper.

Apart from anything else, though, it is a better idea all round to have your instruments housecleaned and stacked away safely, precisely where you can encounter them when you need them. That is why garden accessory shelves, particularly fashioned for the function of stashing away garden equipment, are such an significant feature of any garden storage, or garage if that is where you have to store your horticulture things.

A good tool rack will help you to keep your tools in good order, as well as convenient to find. The problem is, which type do you prefer? There are many options, and some of these are very well contrived for the function specified. While separate holders, if safe and robust, might be satisfactory, it is surely better to have a wall rack that is permanently fixed to the shed or garage wall. That way, it is less likely to come tumbling down in a mass on the floor. If you have youngsters, a wall stand that can be lifted out of the stretch of the tiddlers is crucial, as is selecting one that will grasp the fork and other hazardous gardening instruments securely in place.

Nothing divides people as the subject of telecommuting. On one side, people claim that it’s fantastic, there’s no commute, no office politics, no clock-watching, no pointless meetings, no tedious chatter. Others say they just couldn’t find the self-control that’s required to be a telecommuter. They’d be a tad emabarrassed to invite any customers to their home. There’s just too many things going on in the house to even begin the day. Lastly, the company office is great because they wish to escape the house.

Well now there is an option for these critics of telecommuting : garden studios. Garden studios are constructed in your own back garden, separate from your home. A garden studio offers you an opportunity to function in a calm, free thinking surrounding, with greenery all around you, and a neutral place to hold meetings.

The fact that the garden studio is separate from your household is a vital one. It gives you an opportunity to break away from home life to business life. Utilising technology like the web and VOIP, you can also very easily obtain your own phone number purely for the garden studio.

Think about further plus points of a garden office:-

- The development costs for garden studios are low when you compare renting costs for office space.
- They are environmentally friendly : the commute from house to garden uses only natural footprints, not carbon ones.
- You can work anytime of the day. Creativity can’t be turned on and off like a tap, so if you have a new idea, or only want to finish off a job ahead of time, walk into your garden office.
- It’s a soothing, incandescent, natural environment. No glaring light strips, grey walls and general drone a regular office has.

Garden studios can recoup their costs in just a few years, and loan repayments for a garden office can be similar, or even less than, renting office space.

Instead of trying to impose a garden through extensive pruning and soil conditioning, prepare the site for woodland plants, such ferns, shade loving shrubs and perennials. Plants suited to these conditions will grow and thrive without major site preparation.

Limited site manipulation if fine. Lower branches may need to be pruned to allow access into the garden, smaller trees may need to be removed to avoid competition and some organic compost can be added to the site in order to create optimal growing conditions.

Woodland gardens, which mimic the forest landscape, have four vertical elements; the canopy layer, the understory, the shrub layer and the ground layer. Try to incorporate each layer into your garden.

The canopy layer consists of the tallest trees which provide the shade and dictates what you’ll be able to plant. The type of canopy determines the amount of light reaching the ground. Closed canopies allow little to reach the ground and are created by evergreens and large deciduous trees growing close together. Open canopies, on the other hand, create dappled shade and occur when trees are spaced far apart. The understory layer in made up of the smaller woodland trees such as the flowering dogwood. Viburnums, azaleas and other lower growing woody plants create the shrub layer. Ground layer plants include perennials, ferns and bulbs.

The forest landscape changes often so plan accordingly; design your garden giving thought to the seasonal changes in the landscape. In the spring, beneath deciduous trees, quite a bit of sunlight is able reaches the ground through the branches This allows flowering perennials and bulbs to bloom. Though the spring flower display can be stunning, be careful not to plan your woodland garden around these flowers as they will soon disappear and die back to the ground. Include plants with lush foliage which will last through the summer months. As spring progresses and the canopy begins to close, plants such as ferns, mosses and perennials become the focus of the garden as they create a lush green carpet.

In the fall, trees such as sugar maple, dogwood and hickory and deciduous shrubs such as viburnum and summersweet provide brilliant, colorful foliage. After their fall display, deciduous plants drop their leaves replenishing the soil with nutrients that has been stored in their foliage.

Don’t overlook features such as a plant’s form, colorful berries and interesting bark. It is these features which are treasured through the winter months. Berry producing plants also provide wildlife with food.

Many woodland plants can be considered year-round attractions. For example, the dogwood begins the season with flowers and red fruits. After its colorful fall foliage falls to the ground its bark, which flakes with age, provides the garden with interest through the winter. The birch tree’s beautiful form is most noticeable in the winter after it sheds its brilliant yellow leaves. Red twig dogwood is a shrub layer plant which, as the name suggests, has red bark. It stands out wonderfully against the snow and the barren winter landscape.

When planning your woodland garden, be sure to include benches and spaces for rest as gardens in the shade provide a pleasant respite from the hot summer sun.

T Hallinan is a landscape designer and builder in Massachusetts. Visit his garden resource website http://www.gardenlistings.com for all kind of helpful information. For more garden guides visit http://www.gardenlistings.com/resources.htm

If you are a gardener you probably already do a bit composting to recycle yard and kitchen waste. This homemade “Black Gold” does wonders for your plants and soil. But, have you discovered the gardening benefits of harvesting and recycling rainwater to use in the garden?

Many communities nationwide are experiencing either short-term or long-term water shortages. Some communities have begun rationing programs and impose fines if a homeowner uses too much water. Why not try some simple rainwater harvesting techniques and use the water to irrigate your garden? You’ll be able to water your plants when they need it and you may see a bit of savings on your water bill at the same time.

Harvesting rainwater is as simple as placing a rain barrel under a roof gutter downspout. Practically any large, clean container can be used as a rain barrel. For instance, you can use a plastic or metal trash can. However, there are major benefits to using commercially designed rain barrels. Features of commercially available rain barrels include: childproof and pet-proof lids, mosquito screens, overflow hardware, spigots for attaching hoses, and the ability to link multiple barrels together. These features make using your rainwater much easier and safer. Many city water departments will give homeowners a rebate on their water bill if they buy a rain barrel.

You can find durable, heavy-duty rainbarrels at most home improvement stores and garden centers. You can also order them from online suppliers. These rain barrels can be quite attractive also. Some are made to look like traditional round wooden barrels while some are square, or half-round to provide versatility and style when placing one beside your house. Some rain barrels currently on the market are made from recycled shipping containers for Mediterranean foods such as olives.

What are some of the advantages of collecting rainwater for use in your garden? For starters, you will be doing your part to conserve both water and energy. When you use rainwater you will not be using your municipal drinking water and will not be using the energy it takes to pump it to your house. It’s free, so you won’t be billed for it! Rainwater is fresh and naturally low in salt and chlorine so it’s good for your plants. Most of the time it is not cold and won’t shock your plants like water from an underground source can do.

Your grandparents probably used rain barrels to irrigate their gardens. Why not try something old to solve a new problem and conserve water by using a rain barrel? Even if you live in an area with very little annual rainfall you will be amazed when your rain barrel fills up after just one or two rain showers.

Article by Amy Passmore for The Gardening Guide. Visit The Gardening Guide for more information on conserving water in your garden.

This article may be freely distributed as long as the author’s name and live website link appear.

Can we avoid potentially harmful gardening ingredients? The best thing about the world these days is the open mindedness as well as the awareness most people have about products that do more good than harm to the environment. This is important both in preserving the planet as well as not compromising the body’s immune system through chemical exposure.

It is a lot easier to find certain products now that are organic in nature compared to looking for such a product five, ten or twenty years ago. The market is now opening its doors to a lot safer and a lot healthier as well as a more effective way of gardening. Believe it or not, Lowe’s as well as Home Depot now have organic gardening materials at one’s easy beck and call. Such products are clearly a very welcome alternative to the majority of products that are harmful to nature and humans.

There are now gardening products that are good for the plants as well as for you. Fortunately, there is an insect repellant that consists basically of oil made out of orange which does the same functions of an insecticide minus the bad and unhealthy smell. This insect repellant and killer is made out of diatomaceous earth. Also, a soap that kills insects that it so happens to come in contact with is made out of - believe it or not - the fatty acids of potassium salts. Miracle II put in some water is great to throw on ant piles including fire ants probably due to the mineral content.

Those pesky, creepy crawly slugs can be stopped via good old fashioned coconut oil made into a soap. Weeds meanwhile, one of the persistent enemies of the garden, is prevented with the use of a gluten meal made out of corn.

Rosemary oil as well as neem oil is another good repellant as well as killer of those little insects usually found in the outdoors. Worms and caterpillars are also best battled naturally via bacillus thuringienensis.

Mosquitos are best repelled using common and ordinary household garlic. Mint oil could also be utilized to kill away those wasps and hornets from the home. If you do get bitten, miracle ii gel is wonderful for eliminating the itch and speeding up healing.

Fortunately, big name companies are getting to understand the value of getting into the naturally healthy bug killing industry and have now started to offer insect repellents that are based on plants. Most of the ingredients of such products are eugenol and a very minimal risk pesticide as determined by the EPA.

Plus, repellents that are applied directly on the skin have also jumped into the bandwagon of safety. Picaridin is a common ingredient on skin inspect repellents and this chemical proves to feel light on the skin and is recommended by the CDC to be one of their currently recommended repellents. Eucalyptus plants is also used by the product OFF! in their inspect repellant product.

Believe it or not, a just as effective herbicide that is a naturally occurring element is vinegar. It is extremely great to know that hardware stores as well as stores for those who love to do gardening activities already carry vinegar based bottles - basically about twenty percent vinegar based herbicides. This is a product that is used and certified organic. This herbicide also consists of seaweed, liquid fish and tea compost. All these ingredients are generic and are used as fertilizers that are one hundred percent organic.

All in all, the best gardening products are those that use naturally occurring elements from the garden or from nature. What best way to take care and nurture a garden than using the same products that nature also offers. It is also a non invasive and natural way to keep everything in order, wholistically and perfectly in a manner that is free flowing and does not in any way harm another living being or its natural habitat and does not in any way destroy the intricate balance of nature.

Carla Donnelly is a writer on environmental and health issues. Sign up for the free monthly newsletter and get a free vegetarian ecookbook plus a chance to win a that raises the body ph and can help with insect control: http://www.mangolife.com/miracle2webpage2.html

Using Mortars in Your Water Feature

Different types of mortars are used for different applications
but all mortars are made up of the same basic ingredients,
cement, sand and water. Often the use of an additive such as
Bondcrete assists with the workability of the mortar.

Outlined below are different mixes for various applications:

Laying Bricks and/or Blocks BELOW Ground

1 part Cement

3 or 4 parts Brickies Sand

Laying Bricks and/or Blocks ABOVE Ground

1 part Cement

6 parts Brickies sand

Rendering / Bagging Walls

1 part Cement

1 part Hydrated Lime

4 parts Plasters Sand

Rendering / Bagging Ponds

1 part Cement

1 part Hydrated Lime

3 parts Plasters Sand

Pointing Bricks

1 part Cement

4 or 5 parts Plasters Sand

Paving Mortar

1 part Cement

3 parts Plasters Sand

Grout Mix for Pebbles etc

1 part Cement

4 parts Plasters Sand

Tips

Below are some tips to help with the use of mortar:

• Do not guess quantities, always measure accurately

• Always mix ingredients dry before adding water to ensure
mortar

• Ensure mortar is not too sloppy, this can run causing
staining of bricks/blocks/pavers

• If dry cement becomes wet or lumpy and lumps do not break up
discard it immediately

• Do not use mortar when very hot and humid

• Keep all ingredients clean and uncontaminated from soil etc

• Mix mortar with clean water

• Do not add extra water to a prepared mix, this weakens the mix

• Keep a tarpaulin handy to cover work in case of inclement
weather

• Do not add fish or plants to a pond where the mortar mix has
not had the lime flushed with 3 water changes and 12 weeks
waiting time

This article is designed to help Easton Pa. residents select
plants and shrubs for hedges. Not all plants that are suitable
are listed here but most common and easy to raise ones are
listed.

Hedges are one of the major components of your landscape.
Hedges define the limits of your landscape and thus should be
the starting point in your landscape design. Before selecting
plants, you should carefully consider their landscape
requirements and the characteristics of the plants. For example,
deciduous plants drop their leaves in the fall and are effective
screens mainly during the growing season. Evergreens provide
good screening all year. Gardeners considering a sheared, formal
hedge should realize that they may need to be pruned (sheared)
several times a year to remain attractive. In comparison, an
informal, natural hedge is relatively low maintenance. Select
shrubs that grow to the desired height. Planting a tall-maturing
shrub where a short, informal hedge is desired creates work.
Many landscaping problems are prevented by selecting the correct
planting material.

Our plants are well suited for many hedge plantings. We sell
many types of plants and shrubs which can work well as a natural
privacy boarder. Bare-root material is the most economical type
of nursery stock when planting a hedge. However, bare-root
plants are rather small. For the beginner, bare root is the
hardest type of plant to grow out. Container-grown and balled
and burlapped plants are larger, but are more expensive. You
will have better luck with potted and B&B stock…The added cost
will be worth it. Most B&B and potted stock can be planted
whenever the ground is not frozen as long as you have the
knowledge to help the plants along.

Plant spacing is determined by the plant species and hedge type.
Most plantings will range from a spacing of a foot or two to a
couple of feet. Many people will plant the shrubs and fail to
prune them back hard. Pruning generally will make the shrubs
more dense and compact.

The following is a list of shrubs suitable for hedges that we
sell:

Amur maple Acer ginnala 15 to 18 feet natural Barberries
Berberis species 1 to 5 feet natural or sheared Boxwood Species
2 to 4 feet natural or sheared Redosier dogwood (D) Cornus
sericea 8 to 10 feet natural Burning bush (D) Euonymus alatus 6
to 15 feet natural Junipers (E) 8 to 15 feet natural Beautybush
(D) Kolkwitzia amabilis 8 to 10 feet natural Spirea VanHoutte
(D) 6 to 8 feet natural Lilacs (D) 4 to 15 feet natural Yews (E)
Taxus species 2 to 10 feet natural or sheared Arborvitae (E) 3
to 15+ feet natural or sheared Arrowwood viburnum (D) Viburnum
dentatum 6 to 8 feet natural American Cranberry (D) 8 to 12 feet
natural

When you visit Highland Hill Farm at 5275 W Swamp Rd. (rt. 313)
Fountainville Pa. we will be happy to show you these plants. You
can also go to our web site http://www.seedlingsrus.com

Drive In Theatres
Known then as the “passion pit”, Drive In Theatres bring back many happy memories! My birthday being in July was the prime season for Drive In movies. I would invite all my friends over to celebrate my birthday complete with my mother’s homemade barbeque sandwiches which was my favorite.She would make it from sliced rump roast and then lay the meat in an electric skillet smothered in barbeque sauce. Just before dark we would all pile into a car and head for the drive In. I still remember the intermission jingle “Let’s all go to the lobby” with the hot dog, soda drink and popcorn dancing across the screen. The Drive In was the favorite place to go on a date and the after the show we would go to the Steak n Shake for a hamburger and fries. At that time you stayed in your car and your food was brought to you. A tray holder was placed on the drivers side window to hold the food. It was just brought to my attention from my teenage grandchildren that “going steady” is no longer used. I asked them what do you call it now? They replied just “going out”. Makes no sense to me, but that is how times change. Back in the 50’s and 60’s when you were “going steady”, the girl would be given her boyfriends ring to wear. Because they were always too big to fit, we would wrap the back with white bandage tape and then cover that with fuzzy angora yarn in different colors.. way too cool! The only place you could buy the angora in my town was a department store downtown and I can still remember that they did not have cash registers at the counters, but instead the clerk would send your money through a vacuum tube that led upstairs to the cashiers office. It was much like the drive in banking tube that is used today.

Rock n Roll
The summer of 1955 with Bill Haley’s song “Rock Around the Clock” changed the music we listened to forever. I was hooked. Then came Elvis, Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry, Fats Domino, and the rest is history. Every Saturday I would walk downtown to Lindstrom’s Record store and listen to the latest hits and always come home with at least one new 45. In my bedroom next to my bed was my radio that I would listen to every night just to hear the newest songs. Radio at that time was AM only and at night with less interference in the airwaves I could pick up a station from Little Rock which was about 600 miles from where I lived. The commercial that I will never forget was for White Rose Petroleum Jelly. I was so excited the night I heard the song “Sea Cruise” that I ran down to Lindstrom’s to buy it only to find out that it wasn’t available yet. My parents did not like Rock n Roll and would say it sounds like noise. They did however “put up” with it and allowed me to play my record player as loud as it would go which was not very loud when compared to today’s stereos. Now we have a stereo in the living room, a portable stereo in the garage complete with subwoofer, subwoofers on our computers and a subwoofer in the car. My love for music has stayed with me and the music and the equipment to play it with just keeps getting better.

Clothes
Cuffed bobbie socks worn with suede “buckskin” shoes or saddle shoes that came in all color combinations and styles from light weight to the original heavier oxford in black and white. The sleeves were always cuffed and rolled on the girls short sleeve shirts, and finished off with a scarf around the neck. Wool skirts with the length at the middle of the calf with a slit in the back. The favorite hair styles were pony tails, and shoulder length hair that was rolled at the ends with bangs and usually a side part. Barrettes were often used as decoration and to hold the hair away from the face. The boys typical clothes were blue jeans with cuffed legs, a t-shirt with rolled sleeves, or a shirt with the back of the collar turned up. They wore various short hair styles ranging from the butch to slightly longer Elvis style that was combed back and held in place with VO5 Hair Dressing into a duck tail or DA as it was called. Going to church on Easter Sunday was a sight to behold! All the women and young girls (me included) wore a hat adorned with artificial flowers along with white gloves.

Toys and Hobbies
I wasn’t much into dolls as a child because I preferred to be outside exploring or making something with my hands. The one doll that I did enjoy for a short time was the Ginny Doll that is tucked away in a closet complete with all the clothes, accessories and furniture along with a Toni Doll still in the original box almost untouched. The Toni Doll was a Christmas gift and I was evidently at the age that it just didn’t interest me much. Easy Bake Oven has been around for 50 plus years as I was given one for Christmas when I was 8 years old and made and ate all the cakes the first night. Needless to say, I got very sick later that night! One of my weekly downtown stops was the local Hobby Shop that sold Paint by Number products. I would sit at a desk in the sunroom and paint for hours. I painted a black tole waste basket and Kleenex box holder that was given to my Mother as a gift. They also sold magic tricks that fascinated me and I would give magic shows at home on the piano bench covered with a black antique crazy quilt. Two other toys I have fond memories of was the Hula Hoop and the Slinky.

Burma Shave
The old motels are now a thing of the past having been replaced with travel hotels. More rooms in a smaller space, but not as convenient as the motels where you would park right in front of your room. When our family would take car trips we would see the Burma Shave signs along the road and read them out load as we passed them.
DON’T TRY PASSING
ON A SLOPE
UNLESS YOU HAVE
A PERISCOPE
BURMA-SHAVE.

If computers had come along 45 years sooner, I think my life would have been very different. Oh well, better late than never.

About the author:

Barbara Wangelid along with her husband Tobbe are the owners of www.JackandFriends.comwhere you can purchase vintage and retro reproduction signs, enamelware, antique labels, 1950’s retro, Crosley Radio replicas and classic pedal cars.

One of the most important gardening tools of choice comes with the lowest of price tags. In fact, not only can every gardener afford one of these but quite by design, every gardener automatically comes equipped with the single most effective watering tool known to man. I am not talking about curly hoses or fancy watering cans or even denatured, ionized and pre-shrunk water. Nope. I’m referring to the gardener’s index finger. And unless you are missing all ten digits, (they substitute nicely for each other) you have one of these extremely sensitive moisture meters.

The most common cause of houseplant and garden seedling death at this time of year is improper watering but with the use of the common finger, plants can be made 100% safe on their shelves.

To begin with, touch the surface of the potting soil with your finger. If there is any moisture at all left on your finger, if it feels damp at all, then the pot does not require watering. However, if that finger comes away feeling dry then the pot requires water. And water we will by completely soaking the pot so that water runs out the bottom of the pot into the saucer. This soaking ensures all parts of the root ball are wet and makes each root happy, it also flushes out excess salts from the soil. Allow the water to sit in the saucer for an hour to soak up into the pot and then dump excess water.

Do not water again until the soil is once again dry to the touch. Check every few days by touching the soil but do not be tempted to water until your finger comes away dry. Keep the finger in shape and your plants will follow suit.

Doug Green, award winning garden writer, gardens and writes a free gardening newsletter at http://www.beginner-gardening.com.

Bamboo is an interesting plant to grow. It adds character to a gardening display. There are some basic steps to successfully bamboo gardening. These steps are outlined below.

1. Choose a spot that has excellent drainage. Bamboo gardening involves letting the dirt dry out between watering. The soil should not appear clumpy or clay-like. Fertilizer can be added later to make a richer soil.

2. Clear out an area that is about one foot larger than the space needed for the amount of bamboo being planted.

3. The hole should be dug to the same size as the pit the bamboo comes in.

4. Planting the bamboo requires attention to detail. It is important for the buds not to be disturbed during this process. It is also important when filling in the hole that no air remains around the root ball. Fertilizer should also be added to the soil at this point. The plant should be planted at a depth where the top of the existing soil is only slightly below the ground level.

5. The bamboo should then be watered thoroughly and mulch should be laid thickly. Any type of mulch can be used in bamboo gardening.

6. Maintenance depends on the climate and the soil condition. As mentioned, bamboo likes to grow in soil that dries between watering. It may be necessary for the gardener to check the soil often to determine a watering schedule. Bamboo gardening also requires thinning. After the first gardening year the bamboo should be thinned by removing older bamboo. After this the garden can be thinned as needed to separate clumps and get rid of old bamboo.

Bamboo gardening is not too difficult. The mulch should help with watering needs and thinning is simple. Other than that bamboo gardening requires nothing more than the gardener enjoying their work.

About the author: Stephen Kreutzer is a freelance publisher based in Cupertino, California. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides bamboo resources on Just Bamboo!