Learn About Gardens

Every professional chef and every household cook recognizes the importance of fresh herbs to their gastronomic creations. No diner would dispute this either. However, whether you buy your herbs fresh or dried, there are problems. When you buy fresh, you normally have to buy more than you require and they are relatively expensive, whereas, if you buy them dried, they could be old and dried herbs lose their strength over time.

Why then is it that most domestic cooks use fresh or dried herbs from the supermarket? Ease, probably. We lead busy lives and it is easier to get a few boxes of dried herbs at the supermarket along with your groceries than it is to cultivate your own.

Not that it is difficult to raise your own herbs and even spices, but you have to purchase the seeds, plant them and remember to water them. You can minimize the problem of trying to remember to water them quite easily, by growing your herbs in a window box or in trays on your patio or deck, so that you see them every time you take a break on your patio. You will also remember to bring them in if frost looks likely.

If you have children, growing herbs and spices in window boxes or trays can be a good induction to gardening for them. Herbs take very little looking after really, just requiring watering every day. They are pretty tough and fertilizer is not necessary as most herbs have a fairly short life. Maybe only a month or two in some instances. Others last a lot longer.

First decide how many varieties you want to cultivate. How much room do you have for instance? The best way to start is look in your cupboard and see which herbs you use most often. Are any of them seeds? You could have a go at planting these. Look them up in a book or on the Internet.

Sometimes it is better to soak the seeds first before sowing them, others do not need this handling. Second, which herbs have you read about that you would like to use but never seem to have in the house? Try sowing those too.

If all that does not sound like fun, then you can buy small herb plants in the garden nurseries. Most of them stock the most common herbs in Spring. Whichever way you go, read up on how to cultivate the herbs you have selected. I promise you, it will not be a long read, as they really do take care of themselves except for the watering. if you buy seeds rather than seedlings, all the details you need will be on the seed packet and such packets are very cheap to buy.

The advantages of having your own herb garden are manifold, but you will be teaching gardening to your kids or grandkids, you will have fresh herbs for cooking and you will have gorgeous aromas wafting around your patio or deck.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Are you thinking of holding a party in the near future, but are not sure whether to have a picnic in the park or a barbecue party at home? People do enjoy both kinds of party, although some may have a first choice. One of the big differences between a picnic and a barbecue is often the food.

After all, you are usually permitted to have a barbecue and cook food in your own backyard, but there may be bylaws on cooking food on an open fire in a park or picnic site for fire safety purposes, so most people take pre-cooked meats and sandwiches.

There are advantages and disadvantages to both kinds of party, but we will start by looking at the food aspect, as most parties centre around food. An advantage of having a picnic is that you will be able to muck in with your fellow picnickers more, because you will have already cooked the chicken wings and legs and completed the sandwiches the night before.

You will have tins of sausage rolls and small cakes and all you will have to do is put them out for people to help themselves. If you run out of sandwiches, people can make their own with the sliced bread that you will have brought just in case.

The disadvantages of a picnic are that you also have to tie your time up the day before making all the food and you will need transport to get there with your hampers, bottles, flasks, plates, beakers, tissues, flannels towels and whatever else you normally take with you. People may not even like your choice of sandwiches and if you let them make their own with what you provide, there could be a terrible mess. Your sandwiches could also curl up overnight of go off in the heat of the day or in the back of the car. This is a particular danger with pork, chicken and eggs.

You may have to erect a tent or rig up a shelter for those who can not stand strong sunlight. You may also have trouble with ants and wasps and the toilet facilities are often abysmal. Also if it starts to rain, you have little option but to pack up and leave for home or a pub

Barbecue food on the other hand is cooked there and then and cannot go off. The only danger is under cooking, but it is not too hard to get it right. There is not much chance of preparing vast quantities more than you need either as the chef will see when his food is not being taken away.

This is one of the disadvantages of barbecuing though, someone has to stand there all day and cook, although this can be done in turns and there is usually a bunch of men eager to show off their expertise as a barbecue chef.

With a barbecue you have the advantage of cover if it rains and the toilets are better than in the park and if it gets chilly later on in the evening, you could use a patio heater to extend the party.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the outdoor heat lamp. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

There are several varieties of gas lantern. They are chiefly used to produce light when you do not have a battery lamp or access to an electrical socket. In fact, they are most frequently used for emergency situations, when the power goes out at home, when you are camping or sitting in the garden later in the evening. They offer much more light than most torches and they are handy because you can stand them on a table, carry them, or hang them up.

There are quite a few models of gas lantern. However, they vary not only in design, but also in the type of fuel they burn. Some people like the old fashioned style kerosene or paraffin lanterns. They like the design, the historical aspect and possibly even the smell.

Their benefits are that the fuel is low-priced and easy to come across. However, their disadvantages are that they smell and are very hazardous if knocked over. The storage of surplus paraffin or kerosene is also a serious risk, should a fire break out.

If you want one of these old design kerosene lanterns, they are widely available at camping, army surplus and hardware stores. If you are going to use them for emergency lighting, it is best to have four or five on hand, clean and ready to fill.

The wicks should be trimmed and the glass clean. Keep them in plastic bags to stop dust building up on them. Keep one already filled with kerosene so that you can fill the others by its light. It is safer and less wasteful this way.

However, the modern equivalent of the kerosene lantern is the propane gas lantern. Propane gas lanterns burn with a very clean flame, which is also quite hot, so it does warm up its immediate surroundings, possibly to a distance of a foot or two. Therefore, it can keep faces warm on a cool evening in the garden.

Propane gas lanterns are fueled by gas canisters. They come in various sizes from quite small to large, but the gas does burn for a long while. The small canisters are best for emergency use and the larger ones for use on camping trips or in the garden. They are fairly inexpensive, are clean to burn, provide some heat, are light weight and are very safe.

On the safety side of things, it is clearly very important that you abide by the manufacturer’s directions when using any form of gas lantern, because they are all a potential fire hazard, particularly when camping in a wood.

Become acquainted with the operation of the lantern you make your mind up to use before you have to use it. The gas lantern may get hot so be careful with it and get used to lighting it in the daylight so that you know what you are doing, when you need the gas lantern for real. One last suggestion, if you are taking a propane gas lantern on a camping holiday, take enough canisters with you. The merchant should be able to let know you how many hours they will last for the use you are going to put them to.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the propane outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

If you have converted your garage into a workshop or home office, you are sure to need heating of one form or another. This is because most garages are not built to the same standards of insulation as the main domestic building. However, that need not be a problem. You may even have the opposite problem during the summer, as garages often do not have windows, or at least large ones, either.

Ventilation could be another matter that you will have to cope with, but we will come to that later. If you have a plentiful supply of dead wood, you could set up a pot-bellied stove, but you will have to vent the flue outside. This is very easily done, since most garage walls are only one brick or block thick. However, if they do not burn correctly, there can be a smell, which you may find disagreeable.

Or you could use a paraffin/kerosene heater. They are cheap to buy and are readily portable. These heaters do not necessarily have to have a flue. They are easy to turn on as many of them have an electric starter. Some also have a thermostat to control the temperature. They can be a hazard if there are children around as they can be tipped over. However, for most people, the problem would be the smell given off.

You could use an electric hot air heater. They are quite cheap to buy, are easily portable and do not require a flue, but they can create a very dry atmosphere and are costly to run.

One of the most common choices these days is a gas heater. There are many different types of gas heater, but most run on butane or propane. Most of the models are fairly inexpensive. The main advantage of a gas heater is that they give consistent heat, are fairly cheap to run and are portable. Or at least many of them are.

You could have one built in, but it is hardly worth it, unless you are using gas that needs to be vented. Propane gas heaters also come with or without thermostatic controls. A propane heater could also double as a patio or deck heater on chilly evenings.

These gas heaters come in two forms: vented and unvented. The unvented models are the portable ones. They use the air from the room and the vented models have a flue that vents directly out of the garage. The slight disadvantage of the unvented model is that you have to keep the room airy at all times.

Therefore, if you choose a portable, unvented propane heater, you must leave a window partly open in order to allow the exchange of air and these heaters can be used as patio or deck heaters during the spring and autumn/fall. However, the vented gas heaters are fixed and have a flue attached, so they cannot be taken outside. Furthermore, if you decide on a vented model, you would be better off getting a professional in to install it for you by the book.

Owen Jones, the author of this article, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with the propane outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

A lot of people over the age of twenty have a sort of love-hate relationship with birthdays. They love to have a party and be the centre of attention and a lot of fun, but they hate getting older. But I believe that people ought to celebrate their birthdays. After all, you enjoy going to someone else’s birthday party and so you are morally obligated to put one on for others too.

And birthday parties ought to be a load of fun. It does not have to be a children’s type party, of course, but you could still get dressed up and play games.

You could have a barbecue for all your friends and family and do it cowboy style. Have a barn dance that would make ‘JR’ proud. The food for this is straightforward enough. Start by providing plenty of Texas sized spare ribs, half-pounder hamburgers, T-bone steaks, and jumbo size hot dogs with loads of bread and salad.

For music, it has to be country and everybody has to put on cowboy clothing, although it would probably be better to leave the sidearms at home. Annie Oakley style costume for the ladies and Buffalo Bill style for the gents. If it is going to be a big party, ask everyone to bring their own favourite dish, in true Southern style. That would be a great way to celebrate an adult’s birthday for the family.

If you do not go much on the macho cowboy idea, you could try a Caribbean style barbecue. Dress in flash short sleeved shirts and vivid colours or swimming costumes. The music could be reggae and calypso and the food would be grilled fish and chicken with salad and plenty of fresh fruit. Provide hot and not so hot chilli dips and barbecue sauces. You could have a go at limbo dancing too, that is always good for a laugh.

Or perhaps you would rather a humorous barbecue party and all dress up like the hillbilly family ‘The Clamperts’! That would be fun. The men could wear old velvet hats and old clothes tied up with string like Jed and Jethro and the women could come as Ellie May or Granny. I suppose that the original food like possum and bullfrog might be difficult to get hold of in some areas, but you could just provide what you like for this one. Steaks, hamburgers and fried fish; bread and salad with cake to finish.

Another favourite type of barbecue for a birthday do is the Luau. An Hawaiian barbecue is really something else. You will have to have bright colours and plenty of tropical Hawaiian decorations. You could provide half coconut shells for drinking out of and lots of coconut and pineapple based drinks. You should ask your guests to wear loud Hawaiian shirts and grass skirts, provide plenty of leis and hula music and a ‘loudest Hawaiian shirt’ contest is compulsory.

If none of those takes your fancy, how about a ‘Vicars and Tarts’ barbecue? You can use your own imagination on that one though. Any more tea and crumpet, vicar?

If your barbecue party is to last into the evening and it might get chilly, you could hire or borrow some patio heaters, just so as to give you a few extra hours in the garden.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many subjects, but is currently involved with the electric outdoor heater. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

If you have a nice garden, then you probably have a patio of a deck so that you can get every last scrap of enjoyment out of it. Most patio furniture is left outside for a lot of the year so it is best to get high quality garden deck furniture. High quality garden deck furniture is essential if you expect it to withstand the rigours of all kinds of weather and yet last a reasonable length of time too.

Another factor, particularly these days, is the ecology. People want to have as little impact on the ecology as possible, thereby reducing their carbon footprint, as they say. The manufacture of plastic involves polluting the atmosphere with more CFC’s and disposal can cause problems too. Plastic can take decades and decades to bio-degrade.

Metal patio garden furniture also has its issues. It has to be mined and fabricated and people are starting to worry about robbing Mother Earth of her minerals, but at least old metal can be recycled. That leaves us with timber and especially hardwood. Before, there was a great deal of alarm in almost every country about logging, but a lot of countries have the problem under control now after sustained pressure from the West.

Most people realize these days how important it is to look after our planet. There is even a special day to help people remember the Earth’s dire state called ‘Earth Day’. Using hardwood from replenishable sources is the best way to maintain our forests.

Garden furniture made from hardwood from a guaranteed sustainable source is the most ecological way out. If you maintain your hardwood furniture according to the manufacturer’s recommendations for the type of wood you have, it will last for a decade or more. Far longer than any plastic or metal furniture, which you might well have to replace every two years or so.

Acacia hardwood offers a hard wearing and comfortable alternative to teak. In fact, this type of wood is much like teak, as if you leave it untreated it will transform to a silvery grey color. However, it is best to treat all hardwood once or twice a year with suitable oil in order to maintain the warm tones of the timber.

Most people will have a garden patio furniture set of up-right chairs, loungers and a table or two or a nest of small tables. However, there are a few other pieces of furniture that will help you get more enjoyment from your garden. It is nice to be able to sit in the garden after it gets dark or when it is a bit nippy too. This can be achieved easily with a few accessories.

I suggest a patio heater, an electric mosquito killer and suitable lighting. Patio heaters are not dear any longer and a single upright propane heater will keep up to eight people warm, depending on their seating pattern. An electric mosquito killer will usually keep a whole garden clear. In fact, some will keep a quarter of an acre or more clear of flying insects. These two items may provide enough light for you, but is best to have a few spots to highlight a plant in bloom or to read by.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Aldermen Want Downtown Patios, Rooftop Gardens Open Later
Patrons of the 70 outdoor patios and rooftop gardens in downtown Chicago would be free to indulge until the witching hour, under a pilot program advanced Wednesday by a City Council committee.
Read more on The Huffington Post

After you have finished buying in your garden patio furniture and you have set it out as you like, it is time to sit in one of your new patio chairs with one of your favourite drinks and maybe a pen and paper, and take stock of the situation.

Is your garden patio a bit crowded or do you have loads of room? Are there other things you would like to have out there? How about plant life? Do you have enough plants and bushes – eye candy? Will you be using it only in the daytime or in the evening or even at night too? Will you need lighting, for example?

This is where your own personal stylishness can be added to your shop bought furniture to make the patio truly your patio. So, if you live in a house that only has a small garden, you might want to think about things that hang rather than things that must be sited on the ground, which will take up walking space.

If you do not have much room, but you want to grow plants with edible fruit such as strawberries or tomatoes, you could get some hanging baskets. You can hang them from bushes or standard lamps or fix them to a boring wall. Similarly, you could grow herbs or other small flowers in a window box which has been fixed to a wall or placed on top of it. Or put shelving up and put boxes and pots on that.

If your patio is too bright, you could grow sunflowers or put up a trellis or an arbour and grow vines or clematis up it. Bamboo grows quickly too. If it is too shaded, plant lots of bright yellow and white flowers and maybe paint the walls white or pink, if you are not keen on glare.

If your garden patio is a much larger, you could add garden accessories in order to further your enjoyment. For instance, you could construct a barbecue area out of stone slabs or bricks. You could add a fountain too. A fountain makes the very soothing sound of running and splashing water and fish are a delight to watch.

For the colder months, you could construct a fireplace, if local bylaws permit or get a patio heater. They are very efficient and can keep a fair radius warm, depending on the ambient temperature.

You will probably need some form of lighting too, if you reckon on spending some evenings on your patio. I suggest a few spotlights to highlight your favourite flowers and the fountain and a broader beam light that you can read by. Do not put these lights near where you intend to sit because they will be a magnet for flying insects. However, they make a good distraction from you and will keep all but the blood sucking insects away.

For parasites such as mosquitoes, you should get some form of mosquito trap. Some are very good and promise to keep a quarter or even half an acre clear of mosquitoes and other such nuisances.

For all these extra accessories you will need power points. Therefore, if you plan your garden with pen and paper as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, then you will be able to show the electrician where you want the points and what-not in your new garden patio layout.

Owen Jones, the author of this piece, writes on many topics, but is currently involved with commercial patio heaters. If you are interested in patio heaters too, please click through to Residential Patio Heaters.

Should you be after to boost the outside feel and look of your property, maybe it’s an ideal time that you should consider outdoor deck lighting. In case you have your interior lighting down pat, then you certainly should switch your concentrate on lighting up your exterior premises. Deck lights are one type of lighting that you ought to not ignore to look into.

Some great benefits of Nice Outside Lighting:

Everyone’s already heard how exterior lights will keep us secure. Various outdoor lights can alert thieves from far from your premises. Some types of lighting like lighting patio decking have other great benefits. Allow me to share just some of the advantages which you’ll get from deck lighting:

* Your deck is a wonderful option in case you are fed up with dining at home. Dining because of the refreshing air around you combined with stars above is obviously relaxing. Your friends and relations will definitely enjoy this type of experience. If you choose to dine out though, you may require some lighting to be able to set the ideal mood. That’s where good terrace illumination is available in.

* Deciding on a good lighting for your deck means you don’t ever need to shorten your evening. Now, using an illuminated deck, you could casually have a vino or two whilst being seated with somebody close to you. Additionally you can enjoy more time with your children. Not like playing games or speaking to your sons or daughters about their day by yourself deck.

* Outdoor deck lights are the simplest way to keep every single family member secure. Correctly positioned deck lighting will assure that no one would miss find a step as a result of any obstacle.

Some Suggestions on Outdoor Deck Lighting:

You will find a number of ways for deck lighting. Actually, you’ll find numerous choices that you could easily go missing. Below are a few excellent suggestions that you would like to take a look at to light a deck:

* A sensible way to be sure that most people are safe is by using step and floor lights. These lights might be directly create to your deck wood. Using these types of lighting, you’re must be certain about finding a step. Many of these lights usually to produce soft glow so that you don’t really need to take into account annoying light glare.

* You may also use tinted lamps that happen to be normally waist high and great for lighting your deck. Small globe lights can also be an excellent alternative. Most of these dwarf-like lamps could add for the elegance with the deck. They could be natural attractive pieces on their own.

* One additional idea should be to use small lamp posts which can be just a couple inches high. You could possibly choose short scones or tinted lamps that may be linked to the bottom in the railing of your respective deck.

* Should you have tables around the decks, you could utilize center table lighting. You can opt for soft light which means that your guests don’t get annoyed with this particular glare. You may also select center light pieces which are hooded or shaded.

Starting outdoor deck lighting may be one of the best choices you’ll ever make. If you need night enjoyment for a longer period with the family or friends who matter for your requirements, buy some really good light on your deck.

Pay a visit to www.deck-site.com to discover a fantastic collection and great comprehensive ratings on the best outdoor deck lighting available just about anywhere on the net. They have a vast number of solar patio lights that you can pick from.

Garden Design and Patios

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Home Page > Home Improvement > Gardening > Garden Design and Patios

Garden Design and Patios

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Posted: Jan 08, 2010 |

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When thinking about garden design, 99 times out of 100, you are going to incorporate a patio of some description in your design. Following the Alan Titchmarsh methodology for garden design, you start with a blank piece of paper, put on the things that will remain the same (house, boundaries etc.) then put on the places you want to sit, i.e. the patio, before you link them with paths and fill the remainder with lawn, flowerbeds etc.

That’s easy enough. The chances are that there is an existing patio in the right place or you have already established a spot that you sit in when you are relaxing in the garden. The only time you might not know where this is to be is if you have moved in to a new house and haven’t experienced all the seasons yet.

When I produce a garden design, assuming there is enough space, I like to have a place to sit in the sun towards the end of the day and also an area in the shade for those few days of the year when it is actually hot! The shady area should be big enough for a table and chairs as I think it is best to eat in the shade – if it’s not warm you wouldn’t be eating outside anyway. If natural shade is not available, providing the shade is always a good excuse to incorporate a pergola of some description into the garden design.

Assuming you know where to put it, the next question is what to make it out of? Of course you may be influenced by existing structures, the most obvious one being the house. If you live in a modern brick built house, a modern man made flag patio may look best even though it doesn’t sound as romantic as reclaimed Yorkshire stone flags. Similarly an 18th century cottage probably wouldn’t look right with a deck surrounded by stainless steel balustrades (although Diarmuid Gavin may disagree).

Assuming, for the sake of this article, you have a real blank piece of paper, let’s look at the pros and cons of the most common types of patio – stone flags, deck and loose aggregates – usually gravel.

Stone flags – look good, (unless you really try hard to pick a type or colour to clash with their surroundings) are hardwearing and are reasonably easy to maintain. On the downside they are probably the most expensive material to use although price per square metre will vary greatly – from as little as £15 for man made “budget” range concrete of the type builders use to surround new build properties, to over £50 for new, natural, Yorkshire stone flags. If you are paying to have the patio built, a stone patio can be expensive if a lot of earth needs to be removed, for example to bring down the level sufficiently below a damp proof course. Even if that isn’t the case, there is still a lot of labour involved in laying the correct base, mortaring the joints etc.

Decks – look even better (perhaps) when they are new, and should be reasonably hardwearing (pressure treated timber should easily last 20 years+). Decks are also a good option if you have a difficult location as you can simply build over the top of rough or sloping terrain, making them a cheaper option in lots of situations. Looking at basic materials alone, a basic, pressure treated, softwood deck should cost in the region of £15-20 per square metre.

On the downside decks can be a health hazard in the winter when they become very slippery in the wet and I have read reports about them becoming havens for rats if you like to eat out a lot and drop food down between the cracks.

Loose aggregates – such as gravel and slate chippings are definitely the easiest and therefore cheapest option. Basic gravel will cost say £60 per tonne, delivered, and I would estimate a tonne to cover 10 square metres to a reasonable depth. Assuming the ground doesn’t need much levelling it’s a quick and easy job but probably not a great long term option. Even if the loose material is laid on a weed suppressing underlay, weeds will still germinate in the loose material and eventually begin to encroach. If you want an informal look it may be to your advantage but usually a weed free patio is considered more desirable. A lot also depends on what the patio will be used for as gravel is not a great surface for table and chairs.

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Of course there is another option (not to mention other materials) where different surfaces can be combined. Have a look at my website www.newleafgardens.com for some examples of mixing and matching hard landscaping materials.

Article written by Tim Staves.

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