Welcome back to Home and Garden Guide Online. In a recent essay we talked about Native Plants in conjunction to water conservation gardening.

Here’s an excerpt: “Water shortages are common and in some regions, your water usage may even be restricted.” Read the complete article here.

The following essay was found by our editor in Wikihow and was a great adddition to our previous post so we bring it to you in hope that you receive value in it and your visit again and again with us here at www.homeandgardenguideomnline.com

Thank you for being here, please feel free to let us know how we are doing and if we should continue our efforts or make any changes that would make your visit even better.

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Patios have always been popular in America and beyond. Especially in the warmer regions of the West and southern states, like Florida.

The purpose of a home patio is a place to gather with friends and family in a relaxing and comfortable environment. There are probably as many patio landscaping ideas as there are patios. The best patio landscaping ideas are inspired by your own imagination. The design depends on many aspects of course.

The main thing to consider is making comfortable and appealing, your very own getaway spot in the garden, one that serves your purposes and lifestyle.

To get started, thumb through some of the top rated garden design magazines. By doing this you’re sure to notice certain features of different patio designs that you really love. Perhaps a certain type of patio lighting will be just the thing to make your patio come to life!

You might see a certain style of paving stones that create just the right focus you want for your patio.  Look for home and garden guides online or magazines that have a directory that gives product manufacturers and details telling you where you can purchase certain item.

If the magazine doesn’t give the information you should still tear out that page and start a folder that you can take with you to various vendors, who can help you match up with the right product for your needs.

Now that you have a sense of the look for your patio, it’s time for more practical considerations.

The functional aspect of your patio landscaping ideas plays a big part in how happy you’ll be with your final design. If it looks like it belongs in a magazine, but doesn’t suit your lifestyle, it doesn’t work.

For example, if you love to entertain, you’ll want to consider the style and placement of patio furniture, including a dining table large enough to accommodate your family and guests.

If you enjoy the backyard barbecues you may want to consider a design that includes an area just for that. Maybe you’re looking for patio landscaping ideas that offer more privacy, with the patio serving as a little getaway spot when you want to kick back with a cold drink and a good book, in this case your patio furnishings might consist of a couple of chaise lounges and a small fire pit.

The patio should also provide some shade for those hot summer afternoons. If there are no mature trees in your location, you might want to construct or purchase an awning or arbor structure.

Plants indisputably bring the patio setting to life, creating a softening effect to an otherwise bare patio. Hanging plants can be filled with bright summer annuals and replanted each spring. If your patio landscaping ideas lean towards the function of a retreat, you might want to partially surround the patio with planter boxes.

Perennials can be a good choice, as they come back on their own each year and are less maintenance intensive than annuals. You might also enjoy a partial surround of ornamental grasses, both as a windbreak and for the soothing effect of the rustling grasses in the breeze. Many of these look spectacular in winter. Pots of bulbs on the patio makes a splendid spring flower display.

In conclusion…as you can see there’s no limit to the best patio landscaping ideas. Choose those that inspire you to spend many happy hours, enjoying your little piece of heaven.

Related information:

Check out our friends over at Backyard Oasis for some Colorful Patio Plant Designs

Garden Seat/Table Plans
Simple blueprints of a unique
combo garden seat table for your patio.

“If you’ll learn and practice a consistent, organic garden weed control program you can enjoy a virtually weed free garden!”

Weeding is NOT one of my favorite gardening chores, but it is a neccesity. In this essay learn some tips and tricks to make this chore a little easier on you, your time and your back.

First and foremost…before you consider using herbicides, try these natural approaches to garden weed control.

Weeding a garden…no matter how you approach it does require persistence on your part, but if you consistently nip those weeds as soon as they crop up, over time you’ll find that fewer and fewer of these peskyinvaders will be found. 

The first tip of  organic weed control, refrain from ever tossing pulled weeds into your compost pile.  Bag up those weeds up and get rid of them! Never ever mix them or use them as mulch.

The next tip… as soon as spring is coming on strong, take advantage of mild cool mornings and go out in the garden and start plucking the weeds from every area of the garden.

Create a plan of action and tackle one area at a time. Use one bucket to sit on and another bucket with a handle to carry to the trash. 

Your garden weed control program must be repeated at least once a week in most gardens.

The faster you get them out, the quicker you’ll reach the virtually weed free goal. Some weeds put out long tap roots quickly and you know what happens then don’t you?  Well, the root breaks off and will comes back stronger than ever!

If you get a jump on weeding early then just a few weeks after the arrival of hot summer days, you’ll notice a definite decrease in the number of weeds.

You’ll notice this decrease of weeds and areas that were the worst will take less time to weed. Your garden weed control program is starting topay off– your starting to save time for other gardening projects!

Mulching as a weed preventer.  In these water conscious times, more gardeners are seeing the value of mulching. Yes, a layer of mulch helps the soil to retain water, but it also doubles as a weed interupter. If you’ll spread mulch about 2-3 inches thick, it tends to block out the needed sunlight weeds need and it helps suffocate any would be weed.  You may still see one pop up, but it will be much easier to pull – root and all!

Consider installing an automatic watering system.  Most gardeners prefer using drip feeders or flat strips of finely perforated hosing.  This allows you to water right at the base of the plants you want to grow and will help starve and depleat the areas of soil where weeds tend to take over.  

Also,  slow, deep watering makes your plants more vigorous and helps save water.

Note:  In a recent article we talked about Native plants used to conserve water…you may want to check it out here.

When to water?  The best time to water is early in the morning. Watering in the middle of the day can shock your plants, flowers and vegetables, while wasting water that evaporates quickly. Watering too late in the day is an invitation to molds.

Raised beds usually mean that you’ll naturally enter into the organic garden weed control objective.

Because garden soil always contains weed seeds, you always deal with more potential for weeds.  In raised beds you probably will use nursery soil and composted amendments plus fertilizers to fill them.  This will mean that you’ll be starting from a baseline soil that will produce a lot less weeds.

Raised beds are also easier to care for, as you can sit comfortably on the edge of the bed, instead of crouching for hours.

In conclusion, keep in mind that  the real secret to the whole garden weed control strategy is that you must remain unrelenting in your weekly weeding and remember to apply fresh mulch as soon as the weather warms.

If you follow these tips, by mid-summer, you will have control over the weeds and a virtually weed free garden will leave you with more time to enjoy other home and garden activities.

Related products and information:

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from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit

Thousands of years ago, Roman soldiers played hopscotch to test their strength and speed, sometimes hopping over 100 feet carrying heavy weights![1] Today, hopscotch is a backyard game enjoyed by children (and lighthearted grown-ups) all over the world. Here's how to play this classic game, along with some variations to make it more challenging.