Gypsum & Lawn

Garden centers and lawn-care companies   services often advise applying gypsum (calcium sulfate) to your lawn to “decompact” a hard soil. This is supposed to accomplish softening by improving the structure of the compacted clay soil, adding gypsum as a soil-softening amendment is not necessary in non-agricultural areas.

Urban soils are generally mixtures of subsoils plus native and nonnative topsoils. In home landscapes, high levels of organic and inorganic chemical additives are common. They may also be highly compacted and layered, and gypsum does not work well on layered soils. In such landscapes it is pointless to add yet more chemicals in the form of gypsum unless you need to increase soil calcium. Adding gypsum to sandy or nonsodic soils ( low in sodium) is a waste of money and natural resources and can have negative impacts on plant, soil and ecosystem health. Excessive soil calcium may release cations like aluminum or tie up nutrients like phosphorus. In our noncoastal soils, the soil calcium (Ca++) concentration is much higher than the sodium (Na+).

Really want to know why gypsum doesn’t work here? In arid parts of the country, sodium occupies many of the cation exchange sites in the soil. And since it is only a +1 charge, soil colloids tend to disperse and can be easily compacted together causing a poor soil structure. Adding gypsum (CaSO4) allows the Ca++ to release and replace the soil-bound Na+.The released Na+ is leached out as Na2SO4, and the soil tends to granulate due to flocculation (fluffing up and colloidally glued together on the microscopic level) with more Ca++ on the exchange sites. This granulated condition improves soil structure, and soil is then less prone to compaction. Since there is far more calcium than sodium on exchange sites in our Louisiana soils, adding calcium via gypsum has little or no effect on most of our soils.

Instead of gypsum, consider core aerifying in spring, summer or early fall to reduce the compaction and improve plant health. Aerifying with large half-inch hollow tines and punching about 25 holes/square foot will produce good results. Very compacted soil can benefit from several corings each year (common with sport fields). This does not minimize the benefit of have a high Ca and Mg level reading in your soil test, but coring does physically reverse a physical compaction of soil particles. Yes, coring is an expensive service to buy, and most lawns really don’t need it; but it won’t hurt. And if the soil is compacted, it’s usually the best solution to the stifled growth.

Boat Gardens

Each of us dream of having a boat of his own , to have a lovely time , but to have a boat at your garden is one of the new ideas in gardens designing .
Boats can be used as a planter , as a Pergola , even as a dining table , below you will  find a lot of this crazy ideas , hope you will love them .

Even in the international Exhibition , As in  2006 exhibition at the New York Botanical Gardens, Chihuly created this wonderful “Yellow Walla Wallas”

Best Plants For Bathroom

Adding plants to your bathroom is a good idea, but is also an excellent way to pamper your bathroom. Bathrooms are oftentimes the perfect environment for tropical houseplants. Their typically low light and high humidity are ideal for many houseplants. Let’s look at plants for your bathroom, even plants for a bathroom with no window.

What to Look for in Bathroom Plants

Light
The best bathroom plants have low light requirements. Many bathrooms have small or no windows. While low light plants can live on little light, they do need some. Make sure that your bathroom fixtures use fluorescent light bulbs, as fluorescent produce the wavelengths of light that plants need from the sun.

Water

With plants for your bathroom, you want plants that thrive in a humid and moist environment. While many succulents need low light, high humidity will kill them and, therefore, they would not be happy in a bathroom.

Location
Because bathrooms tend to be small, placing plants on the floor is often not an option. Most bathroom plants will do well on a shelf or hanging from the ceiling. If your bathroom has a window, a window sill is good as well.

Best Plants for a Bathroom
Now we will have a few plants that do very well in a bathroom environment.

Boston fern

Philodendron

Aspidistra Elatior

Spider plant

Orchids

Lucky Bamboo

Pothos Plant

Peace Lily

Zamioculcas zamiifolia

Choosing plants for your bathroom is easy job, once you know what to look for when deciding on the right bathroom plant for your home.

How To Make Sense of a Fertilizer Label

 You want to make sure your plants are getting the nutrition they need to do you proud, but there are so many choices when it comes to selecting fertilizer. How do you know what is really in the bag? There are certain rules that all fertilizer makers must follow when they label their products and understanding these rules can make comparing fertilizers much easier.

Here's How:

1.        Major Ingredients: Most commercial fertilizers have 3 numbers on the front label, separated by dashes. For example: 5-10-5. This is the fertilizer analysis or percentage by weight of the 3 major nutrients plants need: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, in that order. These are abbreviated as N-P-K.

So if you purchased a 10 pound bag of fertilizer labeled 5-10-5, it would contain 5% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus and 5% potassium. The remaining 80% could be comprised of other nutrients and filler.

2.        1st Number = Nitrogen: The first number gives the concentration of nitrogen in the product. Nitrogen encourages foliage growth, among other benefits. A 5-10-5 fertilizer would contain 5% nitrogen by weight. So for every pound of fertilizer applied there is really only .05 pounds of nitrogen. (The 10 pound bag mentioned above would contain .5 lb. nitrogen.)

3.        2nd Number = Phosphorous: The middle number refers to the concentration of phosphorous. Phosphorous contributes to many fundamental plant processes such as rooting and setting flower buds. A 5-10-5 fertilizer would contain 10% phosphorous by weight or .1 pounds of phosphorous. (The 10 pound bag mentioned above would contain 1 lb. of phosphorus.)

4.        3rd Number = Potassium: The final number states the concentration of potassium. Potassium contributes to the overall health and vigor of plants. Again, a 5-10-5 fertilizer would contain 5% potassium by weight or .05 pounds of potassium. (The 10 pound bag mentioned above would contain .5 lb. potassium.)

5.        Complete Fertilizers: Fertilizers that contain all three major nutrients are considered complete fertilizers. There are specialized fertilizers which are called incomplete because they lack one or more major nutrients such as a fertilizer labeled 0-20-20.

6.        Fertilizer Ratio (An easier comparison): An easier way to compare the numbers is to break them down to the fertilizer ratio or the amounts of the 3 major nutrients in relation to each other. A 5-10-5 fertilizer has a ratio of 1-2-1. This becomes important when looking for a fertilizer for a specific need. A 1-2-1 ratio is often recommended for vegetables, which need plenty of phosphorous to set fruit. 1-2-1 could be 5-10-5, 10-20-10 or any similar extrapolation.

7.        Other Ingredients: Any additional ingredients will be listed on the side label. This may include other nutrients like calcium, magnesium, iron, micronutrients and even the percentage of organic matter.

8.        Organic fertilizers: Organic fertilizers must specify which nutrient(s) is organic and it must be identified as either synthetic and/or natural, by percentage. For example: 20% of Nitrogen organic (6% synthetic, 14% organic). When a fertilizer is labeled "organic", it simply means it contain carbon atoms. It can be naturally produced from plant or animal tissue or synthetically manufactured.

Tips:

1.        Having a soil test done before you start adding amendments will tell you what you actually need. If your soil pH is too high or too low, your plants will not be able to access some nutrients, even if they are present in the soil.

2.        There is no one size fits all fertilizer. Fertilizer choice depends on the type of plant being grown and the soil it is being grown in.

3.        Always follow the label instructions when using any registered garden product. Just because a little is good, it doesn't follow that a lot is better.

4.        You can use less of fertilizers with high analysis numbers than with lower numbers. Five pounds of 10-20-10 would give you the same nutrient value as 10 pounds of 5-10-5.

5.        Organic fertilizers made from natural ingredients often have lower concentrations of the three major nutrients, so you will need to use larger amounts. However, they do contain many other nutrients that feed both the plant and the soil. If you are using a synthetic fertilizer, you should supplement with some type of organic matter such as compost or manure, to maintain soil health.

Types of NPK Fertilizers

Fertilizer is a material that is added to the soil to supply one or more elements required for plant growth and productiveness.  The major three elements are nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus), the secondary elements are calcium, sulfur, magnesium, and other elements are boron, manganese, iron, zinc, copper and molybdenum. Fertilizers enhance the natural fertility of the soil or replace the chemical elements taken from the soil by harvesting, grazing, leaching or erosion. Organic fertilizers include poperly managed barnyard manure, compost and green manure. Manure contains nitrogen and phosphate content. It is sometimes modified with superphosphate to make it a better balanced fertilizer. Compost, decayed to a relatively stable, amorphous state, is made from plant materials mixed with manure and some soil. Green manure is a herbaceous plant material plowed into the soil that has not undergone decay. Artificial fertilizers are inorganic fertilizers formulated in appropriate concentrations and combinations supply three main nutrients: nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (N, P and K) for various crops and growing conditions. N (nitrogen) promotes leaf growth and forms proteins and chlorophyll. P (phosphorus) contributes to root, flower and fruit development. K (potassium) contributes to stem and root growth and the synthesis of proteins. The common inorganic fertilizers include ammonia (82% nitrogen), NPK combinations, urea (46% nitrogen), superphosphate, mono and dibasic ammonium phosphates (containing nitrogen and phosphate), calcium ammonium nitrate, potassium chloride (muriate of potash).  

Top Houseplants for Low Light Conditions

All of us love to have an indoor plant at his home , office , but most of us do not have a plenty of indirect sun light for his plants .

In this Article we will discuss the top home indoor plants which needs a low light conditions

1- Lucky Bamboo

2- Golden Pothos vine

3- Snake Plant

4- Ferns 

5- Spider Plant ( Chlorophytum comosum variegatum)

6- Dracena marginata

7- Aechmea Bromeliads

Jacaranda Tree

Jacaranda tree is one of the famous and popular trees all over the world , as it can be used at home gardens , Streets, Urban designing ....etc.

This lovely tree often spans the width of a front yard, and is covered in beautiful lavender purple blooms every spring.

Plant the tree in an open spot with sandy soil and full sun. Keep the soil moist deep down by soaking it with a hose for half an hour, but letting it dry out in between waterings.

 Care for a jacaranda tree almost always includes pruning. In order to give it the best shape to show off those blooms, smaller branches should be trimmed early in the spring. Clip off suckers that grow vertically and keep one main trunk with some major branches leading off from the middle. Keep excess branches cut, to prevent the weight of the tree from splitting the trunk.