Zamioculcas zamiifolia

Zamioculcas zamiifolia Plant has become increasingly popular in recent years and I believe it deserves all the attention it’s been getting.

The Aroid family has given us more dependable house plants than any other group and Zamioculcas zamiifolia is no exception. This is a worthwhile house plant to add to your collection.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia makes a great room accent and practically thrives on neglect. This easy-going house plant is forgiving if you forget to water, tolerates low light, and rarely needs fertilized. Want more? It also seems to shrug off pests.

Growing from rhizomes, it has thick, upright stems bearing narrow, dark-green glossy leaves. Keep the leaves clean by gently wiping them with a damp cloth. Don’t use leaf shine products, which can damage the plant.

Small, insignificant flowers — consisting of a spadix surrounded by a spathe — may appear at the base of plants in summer, although Zamioculcas zamiifolia s rarely flower indoors.

A slow-grower indoors, Zamioculcas zamiifolia plant rarely needs repotted. Keep it in a small pot (no more than 2 in (5 cm) wider than the old pot) with drainage holes to prevent root rot.

Overwatering Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a sure-fire way to kill it. To avoid soggy soil, use a fast-draining mix. You can add sand or perlite to a potting mix or use a cactus mix.

Watering Tip: Despite being drought-tolerant, your Zamioculcas zamiifolia  will be healthiest with regular watering. Water thoroughly then allow it to dry out a bit before watering again.

CAUTION: All parts of this plant are poisonous. Keep it away from children and pets who may play with or ingest this plant.

Zamioculcas zamiifolia Care Tips

Origin: East Africa

Height: Slow-growing, but can reach up to 3 ft (90 cm) indoors. It grows much taller in its native habitat.

Light: Bright to low light. Keep it out of direct sunlight which can scorch its leaves.

Water: Water thoroughly and allow the top 2 in (5 cm) of soil to dry out between waterings. Soggy soil will cause the rhizomes to rot.

Humidity: Average indoor humidity.

Temperature: Average room temperatures 60-75°F/16-24°C

Soil: Fast-draining medium works best to avoid root rot. Mix 1 part good-quality all-purpose potting mix and 1 part sharp sand or perlite. Cactus mix works well, too.

Fertilizer: Feed 4 times a year with a balanced liquid fertilizer diluted by half.

Propagation: Division of rhizomes. Leaf cuttings can be propagated. Just pull a leaf off the stem and stick the cut end in moist potting medium. Don’t bury the leaf too deep or it will rot. Be patient — the cuttings can take several months to grow.

Retaining Walls

What do Retaining Walls refers to?

Retaining walls are the structure that holds or retains soil behind it. There are many types of materials that can be used to create retaining walls like concrete blocks, poured concrete, treated timbers, rocks or boulders. Some are easy to use, others have a shorter life span, but all can retain soil.

Gravity Wall or Geogrid Reinforced Wall?

Several questions must be considered in order to build the proper type of retaining wall. As an example, is the soil sand, clay, or something in between? What is above the wall? is it a driveway or something heavier like a pool? Will the ground above or below the wall be level or sloped? What is the height of the wall? All of these factors will determine whether you will need a Gravity Retaining Wall or a Geogrid Reinforced Retaining Wall.

Gravity retaining walls are walls that depend on their own weight and setback to retain the soil and are typically shorter in height.  retaining walls are ideal for this type of wall, because as they are stacked together they lock into place to form a setback. This setback helps the wall support the pressure from the soils behind it.

Reinforced retaining walls are walls that use some type of reinforcement to give more strength to the retaining wall structure, thus improving its ability to retain the soils behind it. For SRW’s (Segmental Retaining Walls), we refer to this reinforcement as geogrid or grid. Geogrid is placed between courses of blocks in the wall and rolled back into the slope or hillside during installation to create a stronger and more stable soil mass. In layman’s terms, the blocks, the geogrid and the reinforced soil mass work together to make one large, heavy retaining wall structure. Sometimes grid is not a usable solution on a project due to space or other site conditions, so alternative reinforcement materials need to be used – such as no-fines concrete, soil nails or earth anchors. These types of reinforcement typically require a local engineer for the design and a certified contractor for the installation

What is Hardscape ?

Hardscape refers to the hard landscape elements in any landscape projects , especially any masonry work or woodwork , It is also considered one  of the two major sub-categories of landscaping

Hardscape elements  include paved areas, driveways, retaining walls, gazebos , pergolas, stairs and walkways any other landscaping made up of hard wearing materials such as wood, stone, concrete etc.

Also from an urban planning designer perspective, Hardscape can include most water features such asfountains and even small pools that is because these elements require a barrier to retain the water, instead of letting it drain into the surrounding soil.

When thinking about how to far to go with your hardscape project, it's wise to strike a good balance between the amount of hardscape and the amount of softscape

So , let's see what are the main hardscape elements for any projects ,

    

   ·         Stone retaining walls 

·         Concrete patios
·         Brick patios 
·         Flagstone patios
·         Tile patios
·         Stone walkways
·         Gravel paths
·         Stone landscape steps
·         Wrought-iron fences
·         Wooden fences
·         Wooden decks  
·         Wooden arbors 
·         Wooden gazebos 
·         Masonry and/or wooden pergolas