Even if you don't live in a drought area where water is scarce - and perhaps especially so - xeriscaping your lawn or garden will create a unique and beautiful landscape. Some people view xeriscape as just a bunch of rocks and dry, colorless plants, but the truth is there is much beauty to be found in the desert. Blending the vivid and muted colors as well as the sharp and soft textures of the flora can be both intriguing and delightful. Limit lawn grass by creating a rock base layer on the ground. Choose contrasting colors of rocks to...

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Every garden needs mulch. It serves several important purposes.  The two biggest are moisture retention and weed control. A good, thick layer of mulch will hold in significantly more moisture than the soil alone would normally retain.  This is one of those multiple blessing kind of applications.  It's good for the environment, because you're not needlessly funneling excess water through to the aquifer.  It's good for your wallet, because you don't have to water as much.  It's good for your garden, because the plants are more resistant to the occasional lapse if you miss a scheduled watering.  In other...

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Enjoying the view of your flower garden should not have to end when the sun goes down, especially when there are so many wonderful options for garden lighting on the market today. If you are considering adding or changing lights in your garden, you should first decide what theme or mood you want to create. Perhaps you have several dainty, pastel flowers and want to establish a romantic mood; or maybe your garden contains large, bright colored flowers and you prefer a more festive theme. You may even have a xeriscape garden where you would like to create the...

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Just like in real estate, the three most important factors in gardening are location, location, and location. This point was driven home to me recently when I moved my papaya tree ten feet to the left. One day in the full Florida sun and the leaves turned yellow and shriveled to nothing. One day. Before you ask, I had the little tree in a container awaiting planting in the ground. Did you know that there are male and female papaya trees? Apparently you don’t need both to cross pollinate, but you need to have a female to...

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There is likely no better way to interest a young boy in gardening than to help him start a terrarium filled with alien-looking plants that eat bugs. Carnivorous plants are unique and offer a wide range of interests to occupy young minds. Some of the more common plant insectivores are the venus fly trap, pitcher plant and sundew. Such plants excrete a type of nectar or odor which attracts various insect species on which they prey. When the lured insect tries to extract the nectar, it becomes trapped on the plant's inner surface and is then consumed. It is...

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