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Vine Design Tools

December 4th, 2009 Kent Higgins No comments

Color, texture, structural form, and areas of space are the implements of design, the materials of which it is composed. Here, there is no substitute for personal taste and creativity. Rules like those for the use of complementary or contrasting colors, the play of soft textures against hard are made only to be broken if the effect is carefully conceived and executed.

Your patio planters, for example, may present a striking picture because they contain flowers in assorted brilliant colors; next door, your neighbor may use only shades of pink and white for equal pleasure. Even a combination of shades of green can be enticing, particularly if textures and light or shadow are used in some original manner.

Using Vines Decoratively

Effective decorating, then, begins with the elements of good design. But with the addition of your own discrimination and originality, the fun begins. Before using vines and hanging plants for indoor or outdoor decoration, try to visualize the whole picture – the room or wall, or the whole garden area. Try to “see” in your mind all elements in relation to each other and to the situation. Then, select plants and containers that suit your intention and create the picture you have in mind.

To demonstrate some basic principles of design, create some abstract shapes to represent various elements – a rectangle might be a bookcase against a wall; a small square could be the vine in a bracket above it; a long, thin shape might be a vine trained horizontally, or hanging or climbing vertically. The whole area might be the wall of a room or of a garden. Cutting out similar shapes and moving them about within an area in proportionate scale may help you visualize any effect you want to create.

These design principles are applied or adapted to using vines decoratively indoors (interior decoration), outdoors (landscaping), and in the specific category of container gardening.

Because plants are decorative only if they are well grown and healthy, it is important to provide the right cultural practices for vines and cycad plant in pots, baskets, planters, containers, and in the garden. These are general principles; specific culture for specific vines may need to be addressed for certain plants. Methods of propagating vines and combating insects and disease is also an issue which needs to be addressed.

Visit www.plant-care.com and search the web for cultural information on hardiness that should help determine whether each vine is considered an indoor or outdoor plant in any or all of the widely varying climates across the country. What’s grown indoors in Boston may likely flourish outdoors the year round in Tallahassee; some plants that enjoy cool Northwestern summers can’t take the heat in southern Texas; and those that need protracted below-freezing temperatures to force them into a restful dormancy would pine away where a warm climate keeps them growing all the time.

Also for each vine or group of vines should have some general suggestions on the suitable type of indoor or outdoor decoration – hanging baskets, container-garden accents, shades or screens over arches and pergolas, for example.

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Fall Calls – Starting A Compost Heap

November 10th, 2009 Kent Higgins No comments

There are still flowers to enjoy in the garden in October. Unless there has been an unseasonable freeze, chrysanthemums are at their height, calendulas and verbenas are colorful, and roses are among the best produced all year.

Protecting roses for the winter – North of the Ohio River there are few areas where roses will survive the winter without protection. No one has found (so far) a material that protects roses as well as soil. But don’t make the mistake of scooping out soil from between the rows of roses; this would merely put all last summer’s blackspot and mildew spores to bed with the roses. Bring in fresh soil for the hilling job, piling it between bushes until needed.

Lifting gladioli and dahlias – Most of the gladiolus corms can be dug now for storage. This will leave only the last planting to ripen while freezing weather threatens. Also dig dahlias for storage as soon as frost blackens their tops. Both the gladiolus corms and dahlia roots should be dusted with fungicide after digging to reduce losses from disease during storage.

Moving trees and shrubs – After the first killing frost, trees and shrubs can be moved. The sooner this can be done, the sooner new roots will begin to develop. Don’t forget to mulch the transplanted materials to keep frost out of the ground as long as possible. Also wrap the bark of newly transplanted trees with special tree wrap or burlap to prevent sun scald.

Starting a compost heap – The first leaves falling in autumn should remind you to start a compost pile. This is a good time to do it, for there will be plenty of material from the trees and garden to use. And don’t hesitate to use weeds; the heat that is generated by the decaying organic matter should kill the weed seed.

Storing root crops, pumpkins, squashes and other vegetables – In the northern areas of the Midwest these crops should go into storage this month. Though storage can be delayed until November in areas farther south, it is hardly worthwhile, for so little growth is made in cool weather like growing plumbago plant. Instead of waiting, begin this operation as soon as convenient after the first killing frost.

Planting daffodils and tulips – There is still plenty of time to plant narcissi; and tulips really do better if planting is done in October rather than earlier.

Learn more of what Kent Higgins has to share over at http://www.plant-care.com. Visit now and have your dream come true on having a beautiful vegetable garden with plumbago plant care. You are welcome to reprint this article – but get your own unique content version here.