Gardening Nike

The material of the garden or patio furniture you choose will greatly influence the look of your outdoor space and ultimately just how much you can enjoy it. One of the most popular, and for many good reasons, is rattan garden furniture. This phenomenal option has a lot to offer anyone who wants to relax in comfort, style, and convenience.

Strength Without The Bulk
For the most part outdoor furniture is heavy in weight making it a pain to move. And this is especially common with the tougher and more durable materials. However, with rattan it’s a different story. Rattan has the rare advantage of being very lightweight but also unbelievably strong. This allows you to be able re-arrange, carry, put away, or take out rattan garden furniture with ease. Most large pieces usually only take one person to move yet are much stronger than the vast majority of other woods.

Tons Of Choices
Rattan is also immensely popular and well-known for its huge variety of options. It can be used to make anything from chairs to day beds and in all shapes and sizes. Consumers also have the option of choosing real rattan or rattan effect garden furniture which is a synthetic variety. Many people love the look of handsome natural wood while others are attracted to the very similar yet even more durable synthetic variety, it all comes down to personal preference. In terms of colors while normally brown, it can range from white all the way to black. And, of course you have the option of rattan garden furniture sets which offer multiple matching pieces and normally the best deals.

Adds To Any Space
Yet another reason rattan is so sought after are its versatile good looks. It can work with any garden or patio style with ease. While some pieces are more traditional others are incredibly modern, and some are in-between. Since it is available in mainly neutral colors it can blend effortlessly, particularly brown and black rattan garden furniture. Homeowners also have the option of customizing their furniture with comfy cushions of endless designs, patterns, and colors.

With looks and features like these, rattan tops the competition every time. Light weight, super-tough, available in a wide variety of options, and of course incredibly stylish you cant go wrong when adding rattan garden furniture to any outdoor space.

Variety is the centerpiece of the joy of a beautiful landscape. You can make your landscape more captivating by using dwarf weeping willow trees to emphasize scale and form of your yard.

A dwarf weeping willow tree or Kilmarnock is a perfect ornamental tree especially for small gardens. The tree grows up to 5-6 feet tall.

Due to its magnificent appearance and size, dwarf weeping willow trees make magnificent focal points in gardens and frame front entrances. They also look great near a pond or water feature because their weeping form is evocative of falling water. The tree derives its attractiveness and beauty from the canopy that tends to drop and sweep gracefully on a neatly balanced set of branches. The overall symmetry of the tree gives it a dramatic look that is bound to win the heart of every garden adventurer.

Planting and managing a weeping dwarf willow tree

Begin by selecting a healthy willow to make your cutting from. The spot on the branch where you make the cutting should be two inches in diameter and up to six feet in length. You will need to use a handsaw for a cutting of this size.

Place the cutting, bottom end down, in a bucket of clear water and leave it until you are ready to put it in the ground.

Select a moist site with adequate drainage for your tree. Avoid selecting sites that are too close to buried pipes or side walks as the weeping willow’s roots grow quickly pushing up against them.

Dig a square hole about 18 inches by 18 inches wide on all four sides.

Fill the hole with up to two inches of water and allow it to drain into the ground.

Place the branch cutting into the center of the hole, with the bottom touching the bottom soil. Fill the soil back into the hole while tapping it down to ensure that the soil securely grips the cutting. Fill the hole until the top of it levels with the ground.

Water your willow every two days until it shows signs of growth. You might want to water it daily if your area is experiencing a dry spell. The appearance of new growth on the cutting is a sure sign that it is developing a healthy root system.

Pruning a weeping dwarf willow tree

Prune and trim weeping willow trees annually to keep them in peak health and form. Prune dead branches at any time of the year as they use up nutrients and water that are better put to use in new growth.

Remove branches that cross each other using pruning shears. Thin the weaker upper branches in order to allow sun light to penetrate inner areas of the tree. Trim the branches that touch the ground at around a third of the tree’s height to create a visually well balanced look.

Square foot gardening has been on my radar only slightly less time than any other type of gardening. Until the last couple of years, I had not the time, space, or energy to plant a vegetable garden of any kind, square foot gardening or no. My gardening efforts were limited to a few ornamental flowers in the foot-wide bed outside our front window. Recently, the desire to plant a vegetable garden has been a more feasible goal as I have more space and time for my home and garden. I’ve seen several square foot gardening examples, including my mom’s; she’s very experienced with vegetable gardens, has had success square foot gardening. I’ve been excited all winter to try it in my own garden.

The idea of square foot gardening appeals to me for many reasons, but maybe the biggest in my mind is that a more compact vegetable garden equals less square feet of potential weed terrain. My gardens have not performed to their potential in the past, largely because after I plant, I lose steam and the time I spend working in the garden just isn’t enough to keep up with the weeds. Square foot gardening, maybe in a raised square foot garden, sounds fantastic – less weed potential on two accounts that way!

The compact soil use in square foot gardening appeals to me for reasons beyond the weed factor. I like the idea of efficiency, and by planting somewhere around 16 different vegetable varieties in a 16-square-foot space, square foot gardening gives us the epitome of garden efficiency. Not only is garden efficiency a preference, it’s economical. I won’t need as much peat moss or other garden soil prepping products if I’m only planning to grow vegetables in a small area. Now the only problem will be what to do with the extra garden space! I’m thinking a raspberry bush – a delicious square foot gardening bonus.

Last but not least on the square foot gardening appeal list is the aesthetic appeal. I did a quick online search to check out some square foot gardening and was surprised to find how sharp the beds look! My grandmother’s vegetable garden was amazing, but it wasn’t much to look at – lots of dirt with peas and carrots and other vegetable varieties interspersed. Square foot gardening can be planned around the vegetable variety you want AND ornamental value. There are plans online for endless styles, including vegetable gardens for kids, square foot gardens based on a recipe, and some that just look exotic. I plan to do my square foot gardening in the back yard, but it’s pretty impressive to think that I could put it in the front without compromising on style.

Between the internet and my mother the garden genius, I figure I should be an expert on square foot gardening by the time I can get my husband to build some raised garden beds for our soon-to-be- square foot garden. I can’t wait to choose my vegetable and aesthetic combination and get my square foot gardening plant on!