Spring has sprung, which means it's time to plant all those delicious vegetables and lucrative cash crops. If you are like me, every year you meticulously plan every aspect of your garden before dutifully neglecting it all summer. I decided enough was enough and built this simple automatic watering system.
Succulent Kalanchoe plants are very easy to multiply. The first thing that you need is a healthy mother plant. Take a small leaf section from the base of the plant. Clean the dirt up on the leaf. Set the leaf out to dry in a nice warm area where you don't get direct sunlight because you don't want the leaf to dry out. The area around the stem of the leaf will get calloused over. Once it is calloused over you are ready to plant the leaf. You need some well draining soil such as seed starting m...
Cactus can do very well in containers if attention is paid to several things. One, use terracotta, it breathes well. Also, make sure there is a hole in the bottom because the soil shouldn't be sitting in water. And importantly use a Cactus soil mix, a mix that has a lot of sand, a lot of perlite. Although most plants don't thrive in mixes with a lot of sand, because it dries too fast, Cactus requires this condition. In fact, over watering is the number one way to kill a Cactus. To place the C...
Repotting a plant is a simple task when you know all the right steps. Whenever a plant outgrows its container, it should be replanted in a new pot.
A perfect, green lawn and colorful flower garden are worth your time and effort. Don't let weeds ruin your hard work.
Looking to give your kitchen a good cleaning this spring? Don't go out and spend a ton of money on sanitizing sprays and cleaning equipment. Cleaning and sanitizing your kitchen is easy, effective, and inexpensive, because everything you need is likely in your kitchen!
In this video tutorial, viewers learn how to grow tomatoes. Begin by some tomatoes at a supermarket. Then extract the seeds from the tomatoes and wrap them into a paper towel. Then place the seeds in between the pages of a phone book to quickly dry them. Now plant about 8-10 seeds into a small pot with soil. The seeds should be planted 25 inches deep into the soil. As the plants grow larger, change the pots to a larger size. This video will benefit those viewers who enjoy gardening and would ...
How to divide and re-pot onions and herbs
Southwest Yard and Garden teaches viewers how to prepare garden soil for planting. You can use compost to work this into your soil. You can make your own compost and you can also buy compost. First, you can use a flat bladed spade or a sharp shooter spade to double dig your garden soil. First, you should dig double deep into the soil and turn the soil to the side. What you want to do is dig a trench. Go back to the beginning of the trench and dig a second depth. You will want to get below the...
An associate from Garden Years discusses the danger frost poses to small, outdoor plants. Since you don't have a lot of control over the weather, there are a few tips you can follow to try an avoid any unwanted damage to existing plants. The host examines a peach tree to identify when a plant is blooming and thus very delicate. If a plant is fully blooming, then any temperature below freezing (32 f) can damage the blossoms. Aside from putting cloth over the plant, mulch is also very helpful i...
In this video from billjackjane we learn how to bury waste after the bucket is full in Bokashi compost. Dig a trench 3 feet wide and 1 1/2 feet deep. Drop in the waste. Make sure all the excess juices have dried off. Spread it around a bit. Cover it with soil. In about 4-6 weeks in will be completely broken down. It will be a rich black soil which you can plant in or transfer to other parts of the garden. This will give us the most benefits. For more information about this visit
Love fresh garlic but don't have the outside space or right climate to grow it? Not to worry! This video is here to show you how to grow your very own fresh picked garlic indoors. Follow these easy steps and you'll have a delicious seasoning in a couple of weeks, and full grown heads of garlic in a couple of months!
To care for:Venus Flytrap: It is a great project for children, however, there are a few things to remember to look after this plant. Firstly it is best to use cover to protect the plant, as they have a tendency to dry out quickly. Also be careful not to overfeed the plant insects.Gloxinia: Many people buy this beautiful plant in bloom, however, after bloom they throw away the plant as they think they have killed it by over watering. All you do is stop watering it so it lies dormant, and then ...
This housekeeping how-to video offers five tips for cleaning up your dog's accidents. Follow along and clean up dog accidents properly with help from the Dog Channel's five tips. Learn to clean up urine or soil, keep your home smelling fresh and prevent future accidents.
Starting your own seedlings is a great way to save money, have a wider selection of varieties and gain personal satisfaction. Here are easy to follow tips on getting your seeds off to a great start.
In this how-to video, you will learn how to choose the right sage plant for your garden or landscape. The Texas Ranger is one type of plant to choose. They do well in hot, dry climates and heavy soils. They do not need a lot of maintenance. Selective pruning is useful for this particular plant. Green Cloud has dark green foliage and is a lot thicker. Scarlet Sage attract Hummingbirds. These have little insect problems if you do not give them too much water. Mexican Sage dries very well. It ca...
Southwest Yard and Garden featuring John White, Dona Ana County Extension Agent, hosts a 6 minute clip with co-host Master Gardener Valois Pearce both of Dona Ana County, New Mexico host a short web show featuring plants that can easily survive on smaller amounts of water over typical plants. They begin by discussing the full sun Ice Plant, which comes in many species and colors as well as their hardiness, but unfortunately are easy targets for wildlife. They then move onto the Gopher Plant, ...
This video shows you how to re-pot your houseplants. When your geraniums have overgrown, cut your clippings. Let the clipping cure: i.e. the wound that you created needs to seal and cure, before planting. Set them aside, in order to allow them to cure. Once that is done, submerge the tip of the fresh clipping in a pot filled with fresh soil. Remember to remove dead leaves.
John White from Southwest Yard and Garden teaches viewers how to fertilize and care for their fall lawn. Fertilization is recommended at 1 pound per month. As you reach September and October, reduce your nitrogen to 1/4 a pound and as October comes around reduce this even further to about half a pound. You will need turf fertilizer and on this package there will be three numbers in the order representing nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium. In late fall you will want to use a fertilizer with ...
This video is a tutorial on how to start growing tomato plants from seeds. The instructor first explains that it is important to make sure your seeds are fresh and within the proper date frame and that you pick a good artificial soil mix for proper growth. The tutorial goes over a few different fertilizer products that you can choose from, yet they are not completely necessary for growth if the soil is of a high quality. The instructor then fills plastic mini pots with soil and then uses a pe...
This video is how to germinate a seed in your home using as an example, a watermelon seed. Take a container and fill it about three quarters full with potting soil. You could use a Styrofoam cup, for example. Now take a seed or several seeds and put it on top of the soil. Cover the seeds with soil that is about three times the size of the seed. Press lightly on the soil. We the container soil with some water. Then place the container in a sunny and warm location in your home until it starts g...
Make everyone in your neighborhood green with envy over your lush lawn with these landscaping secrets. Learn how to get your lawn green with this Howcast landscaping guide.
In this tutorial, we learn how to grow pineapple almost anywhere. First, buy a pineapple and cut the top off of it. Let the top of this dry out for around a week. Now, pull off all the dried up dead stuff from the bottom of the pineapple head. You will now need a large pot with soil and you will dig a hole in it. In that hole, place your pineapple head inside of it and place dirt around it, but not covering the leaves of the top of the pineapple. Now, water your pineapple and let it grow. Alt...
If working an area with poor or eroded soil something must be done to improve the soil so plants will grow. A great tip is to use about 50% organic matter and 50% native soil, mix it together, put it around the rocks, then plant Thyme or other creeping plants. This will help the plants to establish themselves. Don't put organic matter under the rocks because over time it will allow the rocks to sink.
First of all you have to start by terracing all the lands. Now select the varieties of trees that you want and start planting them in your garden. These trees shall help you in checking soil erosion. You may also use rocks fro land scalping and also checking soil erosion. Now you can plant ‘daisies’ all around the garden. These grow very fast and then they help to bind all the soil together. However you have to check their growth because they compete with other plants for the nutrients. They ...
John White of Southwest Yard and Garden along with Kitty Schafer teach you about bio-intensive gardening. Bio-intensive gardening is the combination of two techniques. Part of the technique involves composting top soil with other coarse organic material into a lasagna style mound. Add 2 inches of straw to the soil and spray with water. Add 2 inches of green material that you have collected from other area of your garden, such as bug eaten greens or specific greens for composting. Then add som...
This video shows that it is possible to plant 100 tulip bulbs in less than 50 minutes, and it is easier and less expensive than you think.
First of all whenever there is low rainfall and higher heat then there are problems.You shall notice that there are brown colored needles which dry up and then drop of. Sometimes they start at the tip and then move towards the branch. This shows drought and you need to soak in lots of water to overcome. However if you notice the brown needles going from the middle to the tip then these are due to natural process. Another problem is the presence of spider mite. Take a white sheet of paper and ...
Southwest Yard and Garden shows viewers how to prepare the soil in order to plant Irises. You can see if your oil needs to be prepared because it would look like it need nutrients. Irises deplete the oil they are in so you need to restore their nutrients to the soil. First, you should get your soil tested to see what nutrient should be added to the soil. First loosen the soil. Next, add in the nutrients. Start with alfalfa pellets to add Nitrogen. Add a little bit of sand to loosen soil - don...
To prepare for planting take a fork and poke it into the ground and loosen up the ground. Do this throughout the beds so that the ground is completely loosened up. After you finish loosening the soil take a shovel and dig to the bottom of the bed and turn the soil over. If there are leaves in the bed go ahead and turn the leaves over into the soil. It will provide extra compost for the soil. Add some rabbit manure to the soil to provide extra nutrients. Turn the manure into the soil so that i...
Spring is a great time to put down mulch. Dave Epstein helps you figure out whether yours needs replacing this spring and, if so, how much to put down. Mulch improves the look of your garden bed, keeps weeds down and keeps moisture in the soil. You want to be careful not to add too much soil as it can keep moisture out and rain or water will not be able to reach the soil.
This video will show you how to take good care of your trees by feeding the roots with verticle mulching. Drill holes in the soil about 15" deep, and put in compost and nutrient materials. Use an auger to drill several 3" holes around the tree. It works best when you moisten the soil first. Use a spade and trowel to fill the holes with the compost and nutrient mixture. You can also use a spading fork to break the soil, sprinkle the mixture on, and the mixture will fall into the cracks in the...
Phyllis Stevens gives us some tips on planting Tulips in the winter. We start by taking a container filled with Potting Soil, then we Plant the Tulip Bulbs. You should fit up to 3 bulbs per pot. Putting some Crocus on the top of the soil doesn't hurt. Bury the bulbs in the garden, covering with Leaves and pine-needles. In the Spring (February-March) we will take the pots out from the soil and Sink them down into the Planter Soil. Once they are finished blooming take them out from soil and put...
In this video, Charles M. Teaches us how to re-pot a Bonsai tree. But before this, he explains how to make Bonsai soil. The ingredients to Bonsai soil are as follows: Potting soil, (from your local Home store) Hummus, Decomposed Granite, and a bucket. Take a couple of scoops from each ingredient and add to the bucket. Now you have your Bonsai soil and are ready to move along. Charles next explains how to handle the Bonsai itself. First, you want to remove any extra branches. Then you take it ...
Most jobs get easier when you use the right tools, including gardening. This video will show you how to assemble a gardening tool set.
Turning over your soil mixes the nutrients and makes the ground more suitable for planting. Watch this video to learn how to turn over soil.
Southwest Yard and Garden shows viewers how to use recycled paper in compost! In order to compost paper you should first shred up the paper into pieces. Then you need to work in the paper into the soil or sand. You should work the paper into the soil in equal parts. Make sure you mix nitrogen into this composting paper. You need to mix nitrogen into it or it will not decompose and the process will not be fed. So first mix your paper with soil and sprinkle in nitrogen. You also need to water t...
Growing plants in the Southwest is different then other climates. We learn how to grow plants in water. Salt is a factor that we need to be cautious of. Salt is in soil and in water. Water, once absorbed leaves a layer of salt. It can be avoided by watering in a certain way. Changing the water frequently, a dish underneath a potted plant to drain the water and flushing out the salt and re-potting periodically. Sometimes extremes measures must be taken to hydrate a plant. In this case putting ...
In this tutorial, we learn how to grow strawberries easily in a container. First, you will need your refrigerated bare root strawberries laid out in front of you. Next, prepare your soil by using a high quality potting mix and adding 1/3 compost to the mixture. Take your soil and place it into a plastic bin, then add in some water. Mix the water with a trowel, then place your soil into a strawberry jar up to the first row of pockets. Next, plant your strawberries into the pockets on the side ...
Every one knows what ivy is, but most think of it as the poisonous ivy that gives a horrible itchy rash, but poison ivy isn't the only kind out there. There's beautiful ivy that can make your home more elegant than ever. Growing the prolific ivy plant will convince you that you have a green thumb while adding fresh beauty around your house, indoors and outdoors.
