Tag "Landscaping"
Landscaping 101: Pros and Cons of Homemade Weed Killer
But are they as effective as commercial weeds killers and are they more environmentally safe?
Household vinegar has an acetic acid concentration of about 5 percent.
Because it kills only the top of the plant, vinegar is less effective on perennials and more mature weeds, which have a more robust and developed root system.
Environmental impact: Acetic acid will affect the pH balance of your soil, which could be good or bad depending on the plant.
Photograph by Rob Co for Gardenista.. How it works: Like vinegar, salt is a desiccant.
Effectiveness: Salt is often added to homemade herbicide recipes because it kills some plants that vinegar doesn’t.
How it works: Soap is a “surfactant,” meaning it increases the spread of vinegar or salt onto a weed’s leaves.
Let’s Compare These to Roundup How Roundup works: Unlike vinegar or salt, which are topical, glyphosate is systemic.
In other words, if you want to your DIY herbicide to be truly good for Mother Earth, you need to use an organic, non-GMO-verified vinegar in your recipe.
If time is most important to you, then using vinegar or salt in small doses seems to be relatively safe, particularly in areas such as a driveway where you are never going to plant anything and there is no risk of affecting nearby plants.
Landscaping: 10 Classic Layouts for Townhouse Gardens
Landscaping: 10 Classic Layouts for Townhouse Gardens.
Small space, infinite possibilities.
Behind every city townhouse lies a garden.
Here are 10 classic layouts to accommodate dining, lounging, and play in a townhouse garden: Three-Part Harmony In London, a typically long and narrow garden is split up into three separate areas to create a sense of spaciousness.
“Steps of painted concrete with brick lead from the area by the back door up to the garden proper,” writes Kendra.
“The stairs are a focal point in themselves and support tubs of salad leaves and tumbling tomatoes in summer.
A tree fern also adds to the sense that this lower part of the garden is not just a preamble for the rest.” For more of this garden, see Designer Visit: The Black and Green Garden of Chris Moss.
Clean, Simple, and Low-Maintenance Above: Photograph by Douglas Lyle Thompson for Gardenista.
In Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, New Eco Landscapes designed a clean and simple backyard, “laid with local bluestone pavers that require nothing more than an occasional sweep with a broom,” writes Barbara.
Besides the shrubs, the beds are planted with drought-tolerant blue carpet juniper and Hollywood juniper; ground cover of ajuga and pine-bark mulch keeps the weeds down.
Landscaping Ideas: 10 Ways to Save Money During a Garden Remodel
Whether it’s a new patio or a complete garden overhaul, any landscaping project can quickly outgrow its budget unless you plan ahead.
I speak from experience.
In the five years since I moved into my house on a small lot (.15 acres in downtown Mill Valley, California), I’ve changed nearly every aspect of the outdoor space, from the backyard to the front garden.
Every step of the way, there were decisions to make on where to splurge and where to save.
Here are the top 10 ways I saved money on landscape design without cutting corners: Photography by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Don’t toss; transform is a lesson I learned from my friend Jean Victor, who wrote the chapter on Expert Advice: Garden Design in our new Gardenista book: “Avoid the temptation to rip out and discard everything in your existing landscape,” Jean recommends.
Embrace the slippery slope.
Moving soil is expensive; instead of fighting the contours of your garden, try to embrace them.
If the land is so steep that it is eroding, consider stabilizing it with inexpensive Jute Erosion Control Cloth ($2.30 per yard from Online Fabric Store).
Plan a plant swap party.
Landscaping Ideas: 8 Surprising Ways to Use Cor-ten Steel in a Garden
Author: Meredith Swinehart / Source: Gardenista The more we see of Cor-ten steel in the garden, the more it appeals to us.
Landscaping Ideas: 16 Simple Solutions for Sustainability
Author: Michelle Slatalla / Source: Gardenista Landscaping ideas for sustainable gardens are in the forefront of designers’ minds. And concern about climate
