Let Tetra show you step-by-step how to design, build and care for the perfect water garden. For more information, visit www.tetrapond.com
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A garden pond is a truly lovely feature to have. Many people enjoy sitting in their garden, relaxing and watching the fish swim through their pond. It’s a great thing to do in order to clear your mind and just have a little ‘down time.’ But, how do you truly care for your garden pond in order to ensure a long time of enjoyment from it? Here are some great tips that will tell you how to do just that.

Pumps and Filters -

One of the most important things you can do to keep your pond up and running is to purchase a pump and filter which can be purchased easily, either online or at most aquatic centres. This is also extremely important if you have fish in your pond. Without a pump and filter, which cleans and keeps the water moving, your pond water will become dirty, full of algae and bacteria and stagnant. A pump moves the water, constantly recycling the water that is in the pond, while the filter cleans the water and ensures that the water is clear and a happy habitat for pond fish. The most important part of the filters job is to act as a mini sewage system for the pond. In simple terms the media within the filter creates a huge surface area, which becomes home to many millions of helpful bacteria.

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Without a pump and filter, some fish will die. Koi fish are a good example of fish that really need the perfect environment to live.

Surface Issues -

Another way to care for your garden pond is to ensure that all leaves, branches or twigs are promptly removed from the surface of the water. Many times people place their ponds in backyards or gardens that have trees and shrubs. When you do this, the wind can easily blow debris into your pond. Ensure that your fish are happy and cozy and that your water stays clean by removing this debris. You can utilize a net in order to do this, but most people simply scoop it out with their hands.

Water Change -

After the winter, it is usually recommended that pond owners to a partial water change. This will remove the stale, sometimes dirty and murky water and replace it with cleaner, healthier water. You shouldn’t remove all of the water in your pond. Most people do about 20% to 50% in order to maintain a clean and healthy pond. Simply ensure that you do not damage the fish when you do your water change. Always leave enough water for them to swim comfortably in and so they will not get lodged on rocks or other objects in the pond and be above the surface of the water.

Taking care of your pond is very important if you plan to enjoy it for a long time. Most people put a lot of time and money into getting their ponds in the first place, so utilizing these tips and ideas for caring for your pond will help you protect your investment.

Having a garden pond at your home is an incredible investment that provides your entire family with a lush environment in which to relax.  A simple pond can be enlivened quite easily with the addition of a small waterfall, a few statues, beautiful fish or lovely aquatic plants.  However, you will find that it is necessary to protect that investment.  One of the most common options is the use of garden pond netting to cover the surface.  What is this?

Garden pond netting is little more than netting designed to be placed over your pond.  It helps to protect your pond from a number of different factors.  For instance, leaves and other debris will not fall into the water when your nets are up, which can provide benefits.  As leaves decay, they release nutrients and chemicals into the water that allow algae to thrive.  Pond netting keeps these leaves above the surface of the water and helps ensure that you are able to clean the leaves out more easily.

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In addition, garden pond netting or another type of pond cover, can help ensure that your fish remain safely within their watery home, rather than being able to leap out of the water.  This will also discourage predators, such as herons and other birds from feasting on your fish.

If you winterize your pond by removing delicate aquatic plants and fish during the cold months, then a solid pond cover is also a necessity.  This works in the same way that a pool cover does, in that it deflects rainwater, falling leaves, snow and sleet, and other items that can harm your pond.  Remember, the more preventative measures you take, the less hassle and expense you will have when it comes time to reopen that pond when the weather warms up.

If you find that garden pond netting simply falls into the water, then you should invest in a frame, or several frames, to help hold the netting out of the water.  This will also ensure that you are easily able to clean the netting, as you will only have to remove each frame, dump the leaves and debris away from the pond and then return the netting and frame to its place.

Garden pond netting and pond cover solutions can be valuable additions to your gardening efforts, helping you save time, money and effort, while keeping your pond clean and beautiful.

If you are interested in herb gardening then it is quite important for you guys to follow some useful instructions that can help you to design your garden effectively. Usually, people try to draw some rough sketches and blue prints to design their gardens but it is not so important if you have good observation and proper guidelines. Furthermore, a lot of people also consider this task difficult but the scenario is quite opposite to it. designing your garden is indeed a fun task and you  can easily design it according to your own will and requirements.

Below, I am going to share some exclusive designs of herb gardens with you guys that are quite important and famous in these days. By following the techniques and ideas you can easily conceptualize your garden without any huge trouble or delays. So, what are you waiting for? Just read below and let your imaginations mould in actuality.

Butterfly Design:

If you are inspired by the colors of butterflies and want to see them around your garden then it is quite important for you to design your garden according to the butterflies theme. Butterflies love flowers and the herbs that produces nectar. So, it is important for you guys to plant those flowers and herbs that are rich in this element and this technique will automatically attract them. It is not necessary to plant only those seeds that can attract butterflies. You can choose a specific spot in your garden where such flowers can be planted. Some famous flowers and plants that can actually help you to attract butterflies are butterfly weeds, lilac, dogbane, nettles and milkweed. So, feel free to specify a location for these flowers and bushes too in your garden while doing herb gardening.

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Zen Garden Design For Your Herb Garden:

For those who love mediation, Zen garden design is best and it can easily be designed and arranged without any trouble or difficulty. Usually, this type of herb garden has been introduced by monks who loved mediation and this type and looks of garden gives an alluring and soothing feeling to the viewer. The essential flowers and requirements for this type of garden are suitable flowers, rocks. It’s because these garden necessities provides proper depth and atmosphere that totally leaves a relaxing feeling.

Above, I mentioned only two types of herb gardening designs and if you are willing to know more about them I will recommend you guys to follow the links below.

By reading the post above, I am sure that it will be a lot more easier for you to design your own herb garden without any trouble and difficulty. Feel free to ask any questions regarding these herb gardening tips by following my instruction above.

Join Dave as he walks through Azalea Hill at the USNA. The garden puts on such an incredible display that thousands make a trek to view these blooming shrubs. Azaleas are easy to grow shrubs that thrive in high filtered shade or partial sun. The Azaleas Collection is just one aspect of the dramatic flower filled grounds. Then it’s off to explore the rich foliage filled gardens of the National Tropical Botanical Garden on Kauai. The McBryde Garden showcases a rich collection of rare plants endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, saved from extinction by the hard work of the NTBG team of botanists. Visitors can walk at their own pace along the Palm Walk or Canoe Garden to take in vistas of hillside, ocean and a rushing valley stream. In this episode of Garden Travels, Dave’s favorites include: Oakleaf Hydrangea and Matilija Poppy.
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You can have the most elaborated back yard from the entire neighborhood, but if it isn’t functional you have built it in vain. We all want to have beautiful and flourishing gardens, but when we have a family, we must also take into consideration the needs of the other members of it. Divide the space of your yard in two or three visual spaces, one for play and relaxation, one for gardening and maybe one for pets.

An open space, covered by lawn is ideal for your children. Here you can install a table for open air lunches or for a romantic summer evening dinner.

Do you have a fireplace? Keep a portion of your garden especially for depositing fire woods, but make sure it is at a considerable distance from the house or animals that can cause damage.

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How about pets? You can build for these little members of your family special spaces, in which they can play and exercise. Before you plant bushes and ornamental plants, surround the pet space. Cats and dogs tend to be attracted exactly by the things we try to keep them away from.

Keep the by-passers’ eyes away from your personal life. Before planning the scenery, you must have in sight a place for the garbage cans. It wouldn’t be very nice to have a wonderful garden right next to the garbage cans. These can be efficiently hidden in some kind of surrounded space, decorated on the sides with life fence.

Functionality is an important factor in your garden, so you have to think about children, little pets and family assets before you plant anything. Save a portion of the yard especially for you, in which you can plant whatever you want and leave for the others some space to breathe freely.

You will find it more satisfying this way, once the whole family is happy with your garden and they might even bring their personal ideas for it. It is important that personal space is respected and that is why the garden must not be very wide, taking up all available space. Build from time to time a pathway or some benches where you can just relax and admire your work.

www.canaclothing.com update and preview of garden set up for flower season
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Creating fun garden with our kids means involving them to all stuff like the evolution and design of the garden and working together to produce something unique. Introducing them to something new like gardening would be a good start for their formative years. Teaching children how to garden from age 5 to 10 will definitely give them the idea and interest about nature. We can let them grow flowers and plants do some little gardening on a pot, mini flower box or we can let them garden with us on flower beds.

Gardening can be a learning experience to children. Everything that they do with some explanation could be a gained knowledge. Introduce them to all the tools and plants that they use for gardening: from shovels to wheelbarrows and from vegetable plants to flowering plants. It would be great to let the kids choose what plants, flowering plants and what container box are they going to use. They can have hanging baskets, window boxes or simply bed gardens. But we need to make sure that they choose the right thing. We can give them several options as not to spoil the garden design.

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Children are fond of playing with dirt or mud. It would be of great interest for them if you garden together. We do not need to worry because we are also supervising them while doing the job. Getting dirty for children is a great learning experience and they will surely treasure it until they grow up.

We can also give our children credit for helping us do the gardening. Make them feel that they are part of the gardening activity. We can give them their own flower box garden with their chosen design. If they ask for their favorite cartoon character as their choice, we can either have the box painted or buy a figurine and let it stand beside the mini container box for your kids.

Children will be very happy about involving them in an activity like gardening. They will be pleased learning and at the same time playing. I hope that every parent involve their children for interesting and educating activity like gardening.

Propagating your own plants from seeds is much more rewarding and less expensive than buying seedlings from the garden supply shop. One of the first things you will need is a box or tray approximately 3 to 4 inches deep, 12 to 14 inches wide, and 20 to 24 inches long.

Once you have your planting box, fill it with a suitable seed raising mix. A good medium would be 80-85% washed river sand and 15-20% peat moss. If you prefer to buy a bag of seed raising mix, visit your local garden supply store. One you have your medium, fill the box almost to the top, and then pat down the medium firmly.

Prepare the medium for planting your seeds by making rows across the box. They should be one quarter to half inch deep and 2 inches apart.

The seed should be distributed 8 or 10 to the inch in the rows and then be covered. Move the box to a warm shaded place.

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It is important to water regularly during germination, however the soil should be kept moist not wet. If the water starts running out the bottom of the box you are over doing it and the soil will become waterlogged. If this happens, the seeds could rot and fail to germinate.

If you can cover the box with a piece of glass or even saran wrap, this will hold the moisture, creating a microclimate, which will hasten germination. Once the seedlings germinate the lid can be removed and the seedlings can gradually be introduced to stronger light – next to a window would be ideal.

When the plants are one inch to an inch and a half high they should be thinned to one or two inches apart in the row, to give them space enough to make a strong stocky growth. If you wish to keep the plants that have been thinned, they must be planted two inches apart each way in boxes similar to the seed box.

When the weather becomes mild, the box of plants should be set out of doors part of the time so that the plants will harden in preparation for transplanting to the garden later. Give the seedlings a good watering just before transplanting so that a ball of earth will stick to the roots.

By raising seedlings in this controlled climate of germination, they will be hardier and flourish. You will also have the added satisfaction of having done all the work yourself.

You look at your garden and think of how beautiful it is with colorful and fragrant flowers, some trees, shrubberies and other plants, it’s almost perfect. Except there’s one thing missing. A pond. You’re not alone. Many homeowners want to improve their garden and have a pond with pond plants. It’s time to visit a garden centre near you for more information on creating a pond or even adding plants to an existing pond in your garden.

First, let’s talk about ponds. If you already have a natural pond, good for you. All you need is some creativity, some pond plants and probably some help from others and you’re ready to go. For those who don’t have plants yet there are some companies that offer their services and make a man-made pond for you. You can also specify the sizes and you can work on shapes depending on how big your garden is. Decide on how deep the pond should be. A good pick would be 18″ for you to have some fish in your garden, also. But remember the pond should be fully under the sun. If it would be the main attraction of your garden, keep it away from trees so the water won’t get dirty and ruin your pond with its falling leaves.

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Then you can move on to choosing the pond plants that you need in your garden. The queen of the pond is the water lily. Water lilies come in various colours. Garden centres have various kinds of white lilies, pink shades of lilies, red lilies and yellow lilies. They need to be planted where there’s lots of sunshine and it should be away from moving water. A beautiful white water lily native to the UK is the Alba, which grows leaves up to 25 cm; you need a big pond for this kind of water lily.

You would also need marginal plants. These plants grow on the shallow area of the pond, provide balance in the pool, and of course added beauty. There is a wide array of native marginal plants to choose from. The Sweet Flag is the green iris. It has a fragrant smell when crushed. If you want a plant with pink flowers, get the Purple Loosestrife. If blue is your thing, the Water Forget-me-not are the ones you might like. They’re perfect for small pools.

For floating plants, choose the large duckweed. This kind of duckweed is on top of the list of experts. They’re green above and purple below. Native oxygenating plants include the hair grass, they look like needles and they’re green. One that’s easy to grow is the hornwort and grows best in deep water. These kinds of plants are essential for the fish in your pond as it releases oxygen for them.

When you finally finish setting up your pond, do take care of it, including the pond plants and animals that live in and around your pond. What an amazing feeling it would be for you to have your own pond full of living beautiful things for you to admire and take care of.

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This video describes the different basic things to think about when planting a garden… Should you use transplants or seedlings?
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Waterlilies and other aquatic plants can be planted successfully at any time from early spring into the summer. It is preferable to plant in early spring as then it is possible to achieve a good display during the succeeding summer. Aquatics planted during the summer rarely achieve full maturity until the following year.

All aquatic plants enjoy a heavy soil, so use a clay-loam soil from the garden or a proper formulated aquatic planting compost. When collecting soil from the garden, ensure that it is weed-free and does not contain any other organic debris that may decompose and pollute the water. It should not be from land that has been recently dressed with artificial fertilizer as this is likely to be very soluble and leach out into the pond water, thereby providing ideal conditions for the establishment of green water discoloring algae.

Waterlilies and other aquatic plants should always be fed using a slow release aquatic plant fertilizer in either a tablet or sachet, which during the growing season can be pushed into the compost next to the plant. Plant waterlilies and marginal aquatics in the same manner as when potting other plants into pots, but ideally use proper aquatic planting baskets.

Although marginal plants will grow in traditional pots, they will not prosper in the same way as when cultivated in planting baskets. Always plant a single species or variety in one container. Never consider mixed plantings as these will end in a tangle with one species or variety almost certain to dominate. Once planted, top-dress the compost in the baskets with fine gravel to prevent fish from stirring up the compost in their search for aquatic insect larvae.

Submerged aquatics are planted in a similar fashion, except that many more are used in a container. The larger sized planting basket will accommodate ten or twelve bunches, for most submerged aquatic plants are sold as bunches of leafy cuttings fastened together with a lead strip. Be sure to bury the fastening in the compost when planting. If left above the surface of the soil, the lead rots through the stems of the cuttings. These then detach and come floating to the surface of the water. Top-dress the planted baskets with well-washed fine gravel.