Home Improvement Tips

Computers are truly changing our world. Who would have thought we would one day be using computer programs to work on our landscaping?

Freeware is computer software that is copyrighted, but made available by its owners for an unlimited amount of time and for no charge to selected users. If there is any charge for the use of the software or even any requirement to view advertisements or provide confidential information, it is not considered freeware. There is a large number of landscaping freeware programs available.

Landscaping freeware is specifically designed to assist the homeowner in formulating and visualizing a landscaping design. The best programs bring the magic of computer graphics right into your home allowing you to create a 3D image of your home and yard. Once the image has been created, various items such as trees, plants, gardens, and even rocks or statues can be placed in the design. The items can be moved around easily until you are satisfied with the plan.

The programs allow the project to be viewed from all angles including overhead. Some of the landscaping freeware programs have “aging” features. This amazing bit of technology shows your landscape design changing as the years pass and trees and plants grow to maturity. Potential design problems can be anticipated with the aging programs and the design altered to eliminate them.

When the design has been tinkered with to your hearts content and you feel you have exactly the look you were aiming for in your imagination, you can print out detailed plans that can be submitted to contractors for bids. The program will even print out a material list giving the number and type of plants required in the design. The landscaping freeware programs and the plans that can be produced on them are of value even when you are planning on using the services of a Landscape Designer. The first step in the Landscape Design Services agenda is usually the formulation of goals. The freeware plan does this perfectly and visually allowing the designer to have a perfect starting place for suggestions and alternative ideas.

Landscaping freeware should not be confused with shareware or purchased design programs. These are also available but at a cost or with conditions. There is nothing wrong with them, but the consumer should understand the cost involved and be aware that freeware might also be available for download. Landscaping freeware is an example of how computer technology can be used to enhance certain parts of our life that have been part of the human experience since the dawn of time. It is quite possible that cavemen decorated the mouths of their caves, but they lacked anyway to actually see their ideas before the work was actually finished. Landscaping freeware has made this possible for us.

This is the segment of the show where we talk about the top 3 products and what you can do with Landscape Software

People like the idea of having a room outside. Indoor living rooms are more often than not forgotten during the summer months for the new trend of having a living space outside. Outdoor living spaces usually have couches, coffee tables, entertainment centers and especially outdoor heating.

As trends in home and garden come and go, people discover more ways to heat their outdoor spaces. Some are natural, and require a bit of work, like throwing more logs on a fire. Other forms of outdoor heating are convenient, like gas or electrical heaters. How a person heats their outdoor space depends on the dcor they’ve chosen as well as their budget.

It isn’t hard to see how wood burning stoves have been the vast majority of residential outdoor heating systems. It’s only a hop, skip and jump from using a fireplace inside to setting something up outside, on a smaller scale. Take the chimenea for example. This wood burning stove heats and cooks. And as you might expect, it looks very much like a chimney. This type of stove is ideal for people who want to both cook and spend a little more time outside as the weather chills.

Electrical forms of outdoor heating are typically reserved for commercial areas. They are finding their own way into backyards though, because they are so very warm and toasty. They are also discrete. Electrical heating can be tucked away along the roof of a house, done in strips or come in individual heaters. Electrical heating can be expensive though, so it’s important to understand your need before buying them.

Gas and propane outdoor heaters serve many purposes. They can heat large areas, up to twenty-five feet around their base unit and sometimes more. The most common of this type of heater is called the mushroom heater because of the steel cap on top. This cap helps to radiate the heat downwards. It is also called an umbrella heater for the same reason.

Like the wood burning stoves that can double as heater and cooking device, some gas and propane heaters can have dual purposes. In the warm summer months, it isn’t necessary to have a heater most nights. However, many aesthetically designed outdoor heating systems can double as ambience. The soft roar of the gas burning and the flickering light of the heater. This can help create a beautiful evening atmosphere on any patio area.

Before you choose an outdoor heater, be sure to consider what safety precautions you and your family might need. In some areas, an open fire is illegal. It can also be a hazard for small children and small pets. This doesn’t mean you can’t buy a wood burning stove; you would just need to be careful and shelter it safely. Propane and gas heaters of course have their own concerns. To help people feel safer, they often come with a tip-over failsafe device installed. The gas to the unit will be turned off if it is tilted or tips over.

The right method of outdoor heating can add a truly warm touch to any patio or pool deck area. With safety in mind, and knowing what you need out of your heater, be sure to pick the one that most matches what you want. Some are more expensive than others. And some forms of outdoor heating can be very inexpensive and budget friendly. A little work and research goes a long way!

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First consider what kind of rose-garden you will plan. Roses seem to enjoy being arranged in countless ways. Will the first show of bloom to burst into view, as one approaches your home, be on your pergola, or arbor, or rose-covered summer-house? If none of these furnishes appropriate setting, probably your banks or fences will be clothed or beautified. A variety of types is available, and choosing from these will become a delight.

Perhaps your fancy may picture prosperous beds, abounding in a wealth of bloom, to be seen across a sweep of level lawn, or from your favorite room in the house, or even hidden beyond the curve in your garden-walk.

The formal rose-garden, too, is important, especially on the larger place. There are excellent reasons why the rose-garden should have a domain all its own. These fastidious creatures that so well repay your thoughtful care may well be grouped and with greater resulting effectiveness. In no other case, perhaps, does careful planning pay so well as in the formal garden.

In these brief suggestions of rose-garden possibilities let us recall vividly the value of the rose in the landscape. Here again a knowledge of varieties is important. Landscape architects are recognizing more and more the noteworthy species which are valuable in mass-plantings for showy effects, for retaining embankments, for bordering driveways, or even for certain types of hedges.

Or you may wish most for a garden of roses from which to cut bouquets, so that “the glory of the garden” may be reflected in your home. Good taste will suggest the right roses-one for this vase, a bunch for that bowl, a spray for the guest-room, still others for the hallway or the dining-room table, then surely some for boutonnieres, and at times for “state occasions.” Surely anyone who has experienced the exquisite thrill welling up in the soul from the presence of choice roses well arranged will be eager to develop the skill needed to make the best use of nature’s garden-gifts.

Several available spaces for the rose-bed are usually to be found on the average home-grounds. I’ve had the good fortune to visit a number of rose-gardens that are famous-and others that deserve to be-and this may be said of nearly all: that they lie on the genial, sunny side of a generous group of trees or copse, but are open to the gentler breezes, and are not shut in or shaded.

Choose a place, therefore, or establish one, protected either by trees, a hedge, a wall, a building, or by some other wind-break. Even a hedge of roses, or climbers, upon a substantial trellis will avail, although a denser screen is more effective. Choose, too, a place where the sun will shine for not less than one-half of the day, preferably the morning. By this you will see that a space opening away to the south or southeast is to be preferred. We have noted equally successful rose-gardens entirely surrounded by hedges.

The activities of a landscape architect can range from the creation of public

Broad-leaved evergreens are choice plants for a garden, where they are valued for their permanence and particularly for their color contributions to the winter scene.

American holly is one of these. Its fine qualities are now recognized. There are American hollies in Tower Grove Park in St. Louis which are over 100 years old. Over a century they have been subjected to heat and drought, wet seasons, extreme cold, ice storms and city smoke. This is indicative of the ability of this holly to withstand the changing climatic conditions.

The native habitat of American holly (Ilex opaca) is along the eastern seaboard from Massachusetts to Florida and inland as far as Texas. It is listed as native to southeastern Missouri but is pretty much extinct there. One of the hardiest hollies, it will survive winters as far north as the Iowa-Missouri boundary, but beyond that it might be subject to winter injury in some years. Much interest in holly is centered in Maryland and New Jersey. The Holly Society of America, organized in Baltimore in 1947, is a very lively organization. Holly experts have recognized the superior qualities of certain trees in the East, have named and propagated them, and these are now available as pot plants.

In addition to the American holly, there are several other evergreen hollies that are fairly hardy: crenata or Japanese holly – a black berried kind; and cornuta with its well-known variety ‘Burfordi.’

Not so many years ago just like the sago palm plant, holly was seldom planted because it was considered difficult to transplant and grow. Hollies were raised from seeds and since the sexes are on separate plants there was an interval of many years before one could tell which trees would have berries. A red-berried holly tree is a cheerful sight in winter, so naturally when one plants a holly one hopes it will be the fruiting kind.

It is evident that to have a holly certain to be laden with berries in the winter, we must plant only those which have been propagated by cuttings from trees that are known to produce berries. Many named varieties, propagated this way, are now available from nurserymen. A few such varieties are listed at the end of this article. Furthermore, to insure a good crop of berries, one of the trees in the group must be a male tree (unless there is already one in the neighborhood). The bees are the chief transfer agents of the pollen, which they unwittingly carry from flower to flower in their search for nectar. Thus the flowers on the pistillate, or female, trees are pollinated, and the tree will set fruit.

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In spite of – or perhaps because of – the many virtues that vines hold they should be planted with discrimination and respect. Too many vines are too much of a good thing. Misplaced, they are an eyesore. Growing rampant, untrained and unpruned, their disorderly conduct creates a bramble patch.

First of all, a vine must have a definite purpose to serve, a clearly visualized decorative effect to achieve. In selecting the specific vine, several qualities should be kept in mind

Consider, of course, a vine’s color, texture, structural form, at its ultimate maturity. Know that it will neither overwhelm its allotted space nor be dwarfed by it. And consider a vine’s “personality.” Native vines lend charm to a country setting; suave, sophisticated types fit into formal gardens. And consider growth cycle – annuals for quick or changeable effect; perennials more continuing and permanent. Of the woody vines, use evergreens where you need year-round greenery, deciduous types where the tracery of bare stems in winter is to your advantage.

Consider a vine’s climbing habit in relation to the spot where it will grow and the support it will grow on. Stem or tendril twisters need something slim, like wire; clingers will adhere to a rough surface.

And, of course, take hardiness and cultural requirements into account. It’s wasteful to plant a sun-lover where it will be shaded by a tree or wall, a shade-lover where the sun will burn it. Virginia’s favorite vines are risky in northern Maine, or desert growers on California’s cool, foggy coast. Cultural factors should be explored before planting. Your local nurseryman can also tell you what grows well in your area. In a nutshell, be sure you get the right vine for the right decorative purpose, planted in the right place.

Beautiful landscapes are not completed in a season. Long-lived plants take time to establish themselves and provide shade or screening, become a specimen, or cover a wall. While you wait, or whenever you need a thriving vine in a hurry, plant seeds of annuals, or perennials that flower the first season.

There are annual vines and garden vines in scale with small gardens and large ones; to train over fences, wire, twine, netting, trellises, or posts; to climb up and drape a mailbox or scramble down a stony bank. In sections where growing seasons are short, seeds should be started indoors in spring – the vines have a long way to grow. Once they’re outdoors in warm ground, where they get plentiful sun, moisture, and fresh-air circulation, they’ll grow on their own with little care. They make a brand-new house with barren surroundings look like home in a few short weeks.

The familiar morning glories are by no means all the annuals (or tender perennials grown as annuals) you have to work with. There are many colorful and rewarding plants.

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Pruning and spraying trees and shrubs can begin now that deciduous trees and shrubs have lost their leaves. Of course, spring-flowering shrubs such as lilac and forsythia should not be touched now; they should be pruned after they flower.

Although dormant oil sprays are usually not applied until early spring, they can actually be used on any sunny day during the winter when the temperature promises to stay above 40 for eight hours or more.

Transplanting – Fall transplanting can be continued as long as the soil can be worked easily. The later the planting is done, however, the more necessary it is to have a mulch over the roots.

If a tree is not too large, it is sometimes practical for the homeowner to move it with a frozen ball. Trench around the tree now so that frost can get deep into the ground. Don’t undercut the ball until you are ready to move the tree.

Caring for your lawn – Remember that heavy traffic on the lawn is damaging, even when the ground is frozen. There may be dead turf by spring.

Apply a turf fungicide now to areas which were troubled with snow mold last winter. Another way to discourage this disease is to keep leaves and grass clippings from collecting on the turf.

Propagating shrubs – As soon as the wood is hard, but before heavy freezing occurs, take hardwood cuttings of your shrubs. Store them in sand or slightly dampened sphagnum moss until spring.

Planting spring bulbs – If your nursery or garden center is still selling good sound spring-flowering bulbs such as daffodils and tulips, don’t be discouraged from buying them because you think the planting season is past. As long as the soil can be worked there’s still time to plant.

Storing garden tools – After cleaning the garden tools, lawn mower and hose, put them under cover for the winter. Wash out the sprayer and store it upside down with the top off.

Encouraging the birds to winter in Hie garden – Keep the birds around your garden if possible by providing food and water for them. Many winter birds pay their way by eating insects.

Protecting the garden for the winter – From now on protection for the roses is an absolute must just like ficus tree care. Hill up fresh soil around the base of each bush. Wait until after a sharp freeze to mulch the strawberries and perennials, or mice may move into the mulch.

Inspecting vegetables in storage – From time to time examine stored vegetables. Leafy vegetables such as cabbage and endive are prone to rot.

Sowing hardy annuals – All hardy annuals can be sown in the fall. In many parts of the Middle West fall sowing is the only way to produce good plants of such cool-weather annuals as Shirley poppies, larkspurs and calendulas. Just before the ground freezes for the winter, broadcast the seed on well-prepared soil. The seed will remain dormant until spring, then will start into growth long before the soil can be worked.

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categories: landscape,landscaping,garden,gardening,home improvement

There are a vast number of homeowners that enjoy landscaping their gardens. However if you approach garden landscaping in different ways you can come up with a very nice landscaped garden and this can be both a blessing in disguise and an asset. Landscaping a garden will require an investment of both money and time to enable you to plant flowers, trees and shrubs of various types. The time and money will result in benefits for the homeowner as it will increase the value of the property and also possible increase your status within he economy.

It is a good idea to invest in landscaping of your garden, as it is a good way to make a very good first impression if it is approached in the correct direction. When your friends visit your home they will judge you on what the home looks like. It is very true that when people visit your home to assess both your home and your hospitality to make a decision on the type of person that you are.

It is important to properly consider the landscaping that you want to do within the garden, as this will affect the look of your property. It is also important to consider the type of plants that you would like to include in the design of the garden.

There are a lot of people that tend to go for plants, which are a reddish shade as these add an element of beauty to the garden. If you are more concerned with the colours that you are going to have it may be a good idea to consider some of the rubber flowers that you can get.

There is a lot of benefits to health and a well-landscaped garden can have a spiritual impact on the persons well being. A landscaped garden that has trees, plants and shrubs they can actually increase the quality of the air that is around the home.

If you want to landscape the garden yourself it is very important to plan the work before you start and contact skip hire company so that you have somewhere to put all the rubbish.

Environmentally speaking landscaping a garden is a very god way to help the planet around us as plants actually encourage the air to be cleaner. It is worth remembering that every shrub, plant and tree that you put in the garden is helping the environment to be cleaner. It is a good idea to approach the design of the garden with these facts in mind as they may help you to plan exactly what greener you want in the garden.

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Treillage – A highly stylized, ornamental-on-its-own design usually made of one-inch round wood or metal pipe, attached in a formal design against a wall. (This is also a specific term for the wires to which tree branches are tied, in espalier.) When small-leaved vines, like ivy, are meticulously trained and pruned in geometric diamonds, squares, fans, or other patterns, this is treillage.

Arch – Literally, “an ornamental opening through a barrier” like a fence, wall, or hedge; sometimes, an ornamental enclosure or shade for a garden seat. In any case, an arch has a definite decorative purpose. It is never placed where it will stand alone, but is connected to something like a wall, or at least flanked by plantings so it is not solitary in the landscape. If possible, an arch leads from one place to another. For covering an arch, select a vine that is not rampant or can be kept within bounds without constant training and pruning.

Arbor – a series of matching arches lining a long path or walk, preferably with a vista at the end. Sometimes arbors are erected for architectural reasons, and the vine covering is kept light. Otherwise, they may be designed to display a series of related or harmonious vines. An arbor is not completely closed in on top. Its arches are spaced sufficiently far apart to admit air and light, close enough together that the vines are sufficiently supported. It may or may not be topped with a continuous lattice or similar open construction.

Pergola – Nowadays, any decorative garden structure with an open roof. Since the structure is itself architecturally important, vines are not allowed to cover it completely. The terms arch, arbor, and pergola are often used loosely and interchangeably.

Shade, Screen – Structures like heavy, large-scale overhead or vertical trellises called “egg-crate” construction, designed by modern architects for sheltering and defining patios, terraces, and other outdoor living areas. They are an integral part of the contemporary house and may or may not be planted lightly with vines. Both architects and landscape architects design upright shades and screens in which the structural lines and designs are of primary interest, to define and set off specific areas; these may be attached to the house, or may stand alone.

Fence – Boundary or barrier of many types: lattice, picket, wire, board, chain, ironwork, post and rail, basket weave, and endless variations. Twining vines need trellises of some sort, to help them climb smooth fences.

Wall – Boundary or barrier, or sometimes side of a building. If the surface is rough – brick, rock, masonry – clinging vines will usually adhere on their own. For twiners, and vines or shrubs with long, lax stems, get the special nails, hooks, or other supports that hold stems firmly. Sometimes galvanized nails, hooks, or screw eyes are forced into crevices, and the vine is tied to them with string or cord. Wire is more permanent, of course, and copper soon weathers to an inconspicuous dull color; but in warm climates, the sun can heat metal to the burning point. To know more about the weather you can have your own home weather station.

Pillar, Post – An upright on which to train a specimen vine, for accent in the garden bed or grounds. It can be a tree trunk of suitable proportion, with some stubby branches left on for the vine to catch onto, or a cedar post with dowels inserted at intervals. The usual connotation is with pillar roses and clematis.

Tripod – Support for a specimen vine or vining plant that provides a broader, more rounded shape than pillars or posts. Three heavy stakes or light posts are sunk at equal distances, forming a triangle, and tied together tepee-fashion at the top. The vine is planted in the center and trained around the stakes – a striking accent for the flower border or other limited areas.

With proper care, of course, almost any garden vine can be trained to cover almost any kind of structure to create a shade or screen.

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categories: landscape,landscaping,garden,gardening,home improvement

Wherever there is a window or doorway to be framed, a large expanse of wall to be embellished, or a building to be anchored into its setting; where there are harsh architectural lines to be softened, architectural features to be linked, eyesores to be concealed – on buildings of contemporary or any other design – there is a place for a vine to perform a decorative function, and there is a right vine for the job.

On the practical side, vines will grow where there is no room for trees or shrubs, and often where shade and other cultural disadvantages make it difficult for other plants. Vines usually fill out an area and come into flower faster than trees and shrubs. And questionably hardy vines can be planted in the protection of a wall or building, and become hardy.

Select vines to suit the type of architecture and the desired effect. Use varieties with large, coarse foliage on large areas; those with richer, finer texture for smaller areas. Consider texture contrast too – shiny-leaved vines against rough brick, pebbly leaves against smooth surfaces. Use climbers of moderate size and some delicacy on low buildings, more vigorous types with heavier foliage and thicker stems on high walls. For a rigid, formal type of decoration – generally considered more suitable for large, gracious old houses than contemporary types – consider treillage.

For the welfare of your house, select vines also according to their method of climbing. Tendril climbers present no great problem, because they climb on their own separate support. But although some people hold that close-clinging vines help keep walls drier by keeping out rain, and even insulate against summer heat and winter cold, others contend that the tight matting of leaves and sterns holds dampness and invites rot.

Vines that cling by root-like holdfasts can also damage clapboard, shingle, and similar wood walls by the very strength with which they force their roots into the tiniest crevices, often loosening boards and shingles. In addition, it is practically impossible to remove them safely for painting or repairing the wall.

Wall-covering vines should not be planted and left to grow at will. They don’t know the difference between a window and a wall, and gleefully grow upward over both. The effect is not only messy, but also dangerous to the life of the window and its frame. Careful pruning will keep them looking neat and within bounds.

In contemporary architecture large areas of bare wall provide backgrounds for interesting patterns, forms, color contrasts, and textures. On long, low houses, train a vine in a vertical line. To integrate house with garage, let a vine grow horizontally between the two, perhaps over a breezeway. Or lower older, higher houses by a vine trained horizontally under the second-floor windows, or several feet below the eaves. Soften roof lines with vines cascading down and onto the walls below. You can also combine the vines to a howea forsteriana kentia palm.

To disguise a rainspout or soften a sharp corner line, select varieties that can be cut back severely if repairs are needed, and which will quickly grow up to cover again. Train and prune to keep tendrils from latching onto and loosening shingles.

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categories: landscape,garden,landscaping,gardening,home improvement

When you step into a living room – your own or someone else’s – where a vine softly frames a large window with green leaf tracery, you feel an effect of gracious living and the pleasant kinship of the room with its outdoor view. When you entertain – or are entertained on a terrace or patio with the family or friends. even with the smell of the with the BBQ smoking away and the natural way vines spill down from containers along the edge or up and down the steps, your eyes dwell on the refreshment in well-planned design.

When you step up to a garden bed – familiar because you planted it, or intriguing because you didn’t – you appreciate its beauty more if it is unified by a flowering or foliage vine spreading along a fence or wall in the background.

This is the some of the decorative value of vines. Their relaxed, flowing lines blend one element with another, create smooth transitions, soften harsh geometric lines or large, bare areas. Vines are mobile, not static; exuberant, not depressing; in tune with today’s vitality and restlessness, yet somehow soothing, too.

Vines are both artistic and functional in container gardening – a popular way of decorating with all kinds of indoor and outdoor plants such as the sansevieria. The basis is the container or planter, mobile or permanent, carefully designed in relation to its decorative use and the plants it contains.

Anyone can garden in containers, no matter how small his house or yard, how limited his time and money, how impermanent his residence in apartment or house, or how deep-seated his desire for frequent and refreshing change. And anyone who does garden in containers will use vines to soften lines, accent points of interest, tie a group of plants or arrangement of containers together, or simply to have artistry of their own.

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