Landscaping lighting can really make a huge difference in your garden, get expert tips and advice on plants, yards, and gardening in this free video. Expert: Carolyn Holt Bio: Carolyn Holt owns her own landscaping business, Carolyn’s Gardens, and has been a professional landscaper for over 30 years. She also has a degree in horticulture.

Graham Potter demonstrates initial styling of a yamadori scots pine.

Different Types of Roses-Shrub Roses

Of all the rose types, the Shrub Rose is somewhat confusing because a rose, any rose in fact, is actually a shrub. Most varieties of roses can be considered shrub roses including hybrids, modern roses, old garden roses, and even miniature roses.  The term “shrub” refers to the appearance of the rose plant, which in general resembles that of a bush or shrub. Shrub roses are a great colorful alternative to use anywhere you would plant another type of shrub.  

Shrub roses can be used as a screen or hedge plant for privacy, as a border, in the background, and any other way you can think to use this bountiful bush. The blooms are not really scented but are available in a range of colors. Pink, red, white, and yellow are all common colors for a shrub rose’s abundant and vibrant flowers.

Unlike many other roses, Shrub Roses are perfect for planting anywhere. They’re “plant-friendly” and can mingle into any mixed assortment of flowers. In addition, Shrub Roses are very winter-hardy and they have excellent disease tolerance. These round easily-maintained bushes are not typically considered a “small” plant. Several types of shrub roses can exceed six feet in height. If desired, Shrub Roses can be trained to grow like hedges.

The modern shrub rose types are smaller than their ancestors. Several modern shrub rose types have been popularized in recent years. Different types of ground cover rose types such as Cliffs of Dover, Flower Carpet and Jeepers Creepers have been a treasure for homeowners with sloped or uneven lawns. They also grow wonderfully in hanging baskets and containers. Regardless of the variety you choose, Shrub Roses can be a wonderful feature at the entrance to your garden or home.

If you purchase your shrub from a nursery, you’ll want to dig a hole that is double the width and length of the pot that contains your shrub. Gently cut away the wrapping around your rose. Disturb the root ball as little as possible. Once you have the plant free from its container, place it in the hole. Fill in the remaining space with loose soil and soak the plant with water. Make sure the plant is in a very sunny location. All the different types of roses require plenty of sunlight and this rose type is no different. The direct light combined with moist soil will ensure maximum flower production.

Fortunately, Shrub Roses require very little maintenance. The soil should always be moist. If you live in a climate that receives very little rain during the summer months, you’ll want to water your shrubs twice a week. If you’re looking for gorgeous results and optimal growth, fertilize your roses in the spring and fall with organic fertilizers. Pruning these rose types is does not really happen it is just a matter of a general tidying up. Shrub roses will release their own dead foliage, creating a neat appearance through every season. Their flowering season is long flowered by very pretty ‘hips’.'  Purchase this type of shrub if you’re looking to purchase a recurrent bloomer that will profusely bloom several times annually.

Before you plant another green shrub, consider planting some different types of Roses instead. The biggest problem you will have with these types of roses are picking from the wide range of rose types available!

The majority of the dwarfed potted trees which are called bonsai are developed from ordinary nursery stock or from somewhat dwarfed trees found in a natural habitat. This is where the art of learning how to grow bonsai lies.

Let us consider the second group, the trees brought from natural habitats. From mountains and ragged woods, a tremendous amount of material is dug and brought to the training beds of dwarfed potted trees specialists each year. There it remains for several years to be established, trained and finally “made-up.”

In the ease of naturally occurring, partially dwarfed trees, there is need only for a few wires and a little training. Trees that have lost the greater part of their roots are a more serious problem. Some of them die because of their inadequate root system, particularly if the first summer is hot and dry. To illustrate, I will now describe the collection of Japanese Black Pine.

On the mountain of Shodoshima or Shodo Island which is located in the Seto Inland Sea National Park a countless number of Japanese Black Pine for dwarfed potted trees have been dug by professional collectors. Many renowned and valuable dwarfed Black Pines were produced from the material collected here.

I am writing this at my home which is situated at the foot of the Shodoshima Mountain. On the islet opposite my house a Black Pine was collected many years ago, which became the most precious and dearest of all dwarfed potted Black Pines. There are still some stories or legends circulated concerning it.

Seeing the spot through Bald Cypress (Taxodium distichum) and Cypress-Pine (Callitris glauca) in the Acclimatization Gardens as I am writing, I vividly recall the days when collectors came to the island in autumn and spring. The surface rock is granite. Higher up on the mountain the rocks weather into coarse whitish sand and the layer of soil is very thin; at lower levels there is a greater depth of soil and always some moisture. The district is one of the lowest in rainfall in Japan. The summer is very hot and almost bone dry.

On the upper parts of both sides of the ridge, Black Pine dominates; next comes Red Pine (Pinte densiflora) and in far lesser numbers the Needle Juniper, Rhododendron reticulatum, Rhododendron kaemferi, Bush Clover (Lespedeza bicolor) and Balloon-flower (Platycodon grandijlo-rum). The pines are very dwarfed in size but in most cases they are older than the larger ones seen at the lower levels on the mountain. Three feet is generally regarded as the maximum height of dwarfed potted trees. To keep within the golden rule of the art of bonsai, the larger trees are often sharply pruned.

For example, on discovering a very dwarfed pine five or more feet in height with a trunk five or more inches in diameter, if the lower branches are three feet from the ground and picturesque in form (or promise to be so if trained), the upper portion of the main trunk is sawed off. It is important that when healed the cut surface should be inconspicuous. Undesirable branches are cut off. Then the digging begins.

The trench is dug out carefully, cutting off all the roots outside a radius of a foot all the way around the tree, and to a depth of a foot or often less. Only the tap root remains uncut. First the straw rope is coiled cautiously and rather firmly thrice or more horizontally around the ball and then all around the surface of the ball, so the very porous, coarse, sandy soil ball is firmly held about the roots; the tap root is finally sawed through, and the tree is removed.

You may wonder at the proportionately small size of the ball, but usually seventy per cent or more of the trees collected survive and become well settled as dwarfed potted trees; occasionally in very dry, hot summers, fifty per cent or so succumb. For such collected stock the art of bonsai requires training by wire after a year or two, when the plants are well established.

Is it too early too be thinking about your tomato plants? Not if you’re the kind who wants competition for tomato growing who wants the earliest and sweetest tomato around the neighborhood. The fact is, growing tastiest and best bunch of tomatoes doesn’t just happen overnight. Sample some of the science experiments on sale at your grocer’s this winter, if you don’t believe it. Start early with some time tested tomato growing tips to insure you bragging rights this year. The fact of the matter is, it’s never too early to grow tomatoes, whether for competitive purposes or for your personal gains. But the point is, if you can learn in growing tomatoes on your own, you can provide your family with the best nutritional and natural foods, right?

It is a common scene that when you want something, off you go to your nearest local grocery store to buy things you need like your groceries: tomatoes and other vegetables, fruits, meat and other household needs. But today, you can’t be sure that what you are buying are safe and natural. If you want to have the best tomatoes, try to learn how to grow tomatoes on your own.

But the problem is, if you want to learn more things on how to grow your tomatoes as juicy and as delicious as you want them to be, you need to have a sort of learning tool like a book guide or something like that. With a book guide, it would be easy for you to learn everything about tomato growing and you can assure yourself that what you are doing is the right thing that would not compromise your produce. But that won’t be a worry for you because right now, there are dozens of tomato growing book guides that are now being promoted on the Net and all you need to do is to learn some of them by reading reviews so you can be sure that what you have chosen is the one you need in order to learn how to grow your tomatoes the right and natural way. And when you do learn all these things, who knows, maybe you can sell your good harvest to have a profitable income, right?

Learning how to compost is one of the most earth friendly things you’ll ever do. If you didn’t know, composting is a process of turning your kitchen and yard waste into nutrient-rich soil. Composted soil is a fabulous fertilizer and it helps with most every gardening problem, including disease, drainage, and even pest problems. It’s a natural way to give health to your soil in a manner that doesn’t pollute your soil with poisons or chemicals.

By composting, instead of just tossing your kitchen and yard waste into the trash, you’re substantially reducing the amount of garbage sent to the landfill, which in a real way helps cleanse the Earth. The world’s landfills are bursting at the seams, while the population keeps growing, and this is becoming a more and more critical issue.

Many families can reduce the garbage headed for the landfill by half or more, by composting all they can. If you recycling everything you can, there ends up not being much to send to the landfill in the first place. The Earth and every future generation will thank you.

Believe it or not, by composting, you’re also actively reducing greenhouse gas emissions in what can be a significant amount. With composting, you’re not only reducing the amounts of greenhouse gasses created in the landfill, but composted soil actually pulls the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide out of the environment. In fact, it’s possible for a person who actively tills compost into the land around just their home, to offset a year or more of the average American’s carbon emissions.

Think about what an impact it would make if every family composted instead of sending their waste to landfills. The soil around our homes would become healthy and nutrient-rich, the landfills would become controllable, and our greenhouse gas emissions would minimize too.

Learning how to compost is easy; there are plenty of resources on the net - a simple search can give you all of the information you need. Then, just get started with a compost bin or even make one yourself and begin with just a little investment in time.

Different Types of Roses-Shrub Roses

Of all the rose types, the Shrub Rose is somewhat confusing because a rose, any rose in fact, is actually a shrub. Most varieties of roses can be considered shrub roses including hybrids, modern roses, old garden roses, and even miniature roses.  The term “shrub” refers to the appearance of the rose plant, which in general resembles that of a bush or shrub. The types of roses known as shrub roses are ideal for most parts of your garden.  

Shrub roses can be used as a screen or hedge plant for privacy, as a border, in the background, and any other way you can think to use this bountiful bush. The blooms are not really scented but are available in a range of colors. Pink, red, white, and yellow are all common colors for a shrub rose’s abundant and vibrant flowers.

Unlike many other roses, Shrub Roses are perfect for planting anywhere. They’re “plant-friendly” and can mingle into any mixed assortment of flowers. In addition, Shrub Roses are very winter-hardy and they have excellent disease tolerance. Rose bush care maintenance of these is easy but they are not suitable for growing roses in containers. Many older Shrub Roses can grow up to six feet in height. If desired, Shrub Roses can be trained to grow like hedges.

It’s generally the modern shrubs that are much smaller in size. Several modern shrub roses have been popularized in recent years. Different types of ground cover rose types such as Cliffs of Dover, Flower Carpet and Jeepers Creepers have been a treasure for homeowners with sloped or uneven lawns. They also grow wonderfully in hanging baskets and containers. Regardless which of the different types of shrub roses you choose,Shrub Roses can be a wonderful feature at the entrance to your garden or home.

Once you have decided which type of rose you want, just dig a hole that is double the width and length of the pot that contains your shrub rose. Use a sharp instrument to cut the plastic pot away. The idea here is to disturb the roots as little as possible. Once you have the plant free from its container, place it in the hole. Backfill the planting hole, thread it down gently and give a good soaking. Make sure the plant is in a very sunny location. Generally speaking, Shrub Roses require a minimum of eight hours of full sun on a daily basis. The direct light combined with moist soil will ensure maximum flower production.

Fortunately, Shrub Roses require very little maintenance. The soil should always be moist. If you live in a climate that receives very little rain during the summer months, you’ll want to water these types of roses twice a week. If you’re looking for gorgeous results and optimal growth, fertilize your roses in the spring and fall with organic fertilizers. Pruning is not necessary with this shrub, as it is basically self-cleaning. Shrub roses will release their own dead foliage, creating a neat appearance through every season. Some of the prettiest roses are ‘ever blooming.’  Purchase this type of shrub if you’re looking to purchase a recurrent bloomer that will profusely bloom several times annually.

Before you plant another green shrub, consider planting some different types of Roses instead. The biggest problem you will have with these types of roses are picking from the wide range of rose types available!

A short film by Roland Achini about Maurice Maggi, a guerrilla gardener in Zurich Switzerland. This is part 1 of 2.

Professional landscape design plan for a large Mediterranean garden. Go through details and principles used to create this Mediterranean landscaping idea.

This was all shot on sunday(Aug. 24th) at the 68th annual Nisei Festival in Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. These are all amazing bonsai trees. The owners were all extremely nice and very helpful to anyone with bonsai questions. One of the owners even let me eat some of the grapes off of their bonsai tree…j/k. This was all shot with my new Flip Mino and edited with windows movie maker. Please watch in high quality cuz it just looks so much betta!