Posts Tagged ‘garden’

After watching last nights episode of Mad Men with Roger Sterlings Garden Party; this dress was our inspirational choice. From that same period depicted, this flower printed dress would have fit in perfectly with that scene. Its made from a light taffata with a very flattering cut in the back. Also be sure to check out the beautiful detailing at the waist with a hidden fan pleat to give the skirt its volume. Also if you are a Mad Men fan, be sure to follow us on twitter, @cabaretvintage, every Sunday night at 10pm to watch the episode live with us and discuss vintage fashion and the comings and goings at Sterling-Cooper.

If you have been thinking about updating your outdoor lighting, there are lots of things to consider. First, what are the advantages? Exterior lights add security to your property, both in terms of protecting it from intruders, as well as making it safer for you to walk your property at night. The second biggest reason for outdoor lights is to add a nice ambiance to your home. If you plan properly, you can accomplish both of these goals with one lighting design.

Now that I’ve mentioned the security factor, you might have decided that is the most important reason in itself for you to install some sort of outdoor lighting scheme. If burglars were to case your neighborhood, there is no doubt that they would choose a poorly lit house to break-in to before a house with lots of ambient lighting and motion sensing spot lights. You could install timer lights for earlier evening, and then fall back on the motion detector lights for all night protection.

The installation of motion detector spot lights aimed at the back or darker portions of your property are also a good idea. You needn’t worry about your guests being put under the spot light at parties. When you have guests simply adjust the motion detector to not register motion. Just remember to turn it back on when the party is over.

As far as personal security is concerned, you should try to have every door way, path way and set of stairs illuminated. The doorway lights can be activated by a motion detector or they can be set to come on with a timer. Pathways or walkways are well suited by solar powered lights. Solar powered outdoor lights have drastically come down in price while they have gone up in quality. The days of expensive but dim solar lights are in the past. These lights increase the safety of your walkways while also providing a cute aesthetic.

Finally, once you have the safety issues covered, and you have made sure that your yard is safe to walk in at night, you may still want to create some extra lighting focal points in order to create a nice evening backyard mood. Different colored spotlights on your front or back door will create a nice effect, as will a colored spot light on a shrub or tree in your landscaping. Another idea is to create a row of low power LED lights along a hedge or walkway to direct attention to this landscaping element. Other backyard lighting ideas include hanging globe lights, old fashioned lamp posts, and rope lighting around tree branches.

Before you start placing lights in your outdoor areas, think about what you would like to achieve. With some careful planning, you might be able to achieve the goals of security and safety while creating a pleasant outdoor aesthetic. Consider installing or updating your outdoor lighting today.

Look for more lighting information at http://outdoor–lighting.blogspot.com where you’ll find plenty of outdoor lighting ideas.

Being an immensely popular source of electricity, solar power and solar lights are now being used by many home decor and landscaping designs and already in many homes throughout the United States and worldwide. Thanks to the realization that solar energy can be converted in to solar powered electricity, the world has taken a drastic turn in to saving energy and conserving the environment. Solar Umbrella Lights are one of them. Many people recommend using solar umbrella lights for outdoor garden umbrellas. You no longer need to hire different lighting systems for outdoor parties. The surprising factor is many garden umbrella manufacturers have already started integrating solar umbrella lights in to the umbrella itself.

Among the variety of solar umbrella lights available in the market, it may be a tough job to determine whats best for your business or garden. Solar powered string lights are another decorative light form that is currently used for garden umbrellas to boost up the party atmosphere, just in case if you were interested. So the basic step in to purchasing solar umbrella lights is to check what suits you best.

While acting as an eco fridnly source of decoration for your business or outdoor party, solar umbrella lights are extremely advantageous when it comes to your electricity bill. That is why many business owners as well as mundane people highly recommend the use of solar umbrella lights.
  
Did you know that solar umbrella lights automaticlly light up whenever there’s night fall? Well, some types comes with a switch so you can decide when to switch them on. Although solar umbrella lights are a savior when it comes to energy the dark side is that you may need an extra battery with charge for back up, just in case. There are some models where the solar umbrella lights cannot be switched off, if not in use. Therefore, this feature too may be taken up as a disadvantage. Despite these cons though it cannot be denied that Solar Umbrella Lights have more positive features in comparison to the negative when analyzed. Thereby it is a highly recommended product, worldwide. 

One of the most popular and beautiful additions to a front or back yard is a koi pond. It can add life and health to any landscaping and requires little maintenance. A clean pond is a sure sign of health and vitality. Many products on the market offer an alternative to the chemicals used in the past. One such line of products comes from Bioverse and they offer the option of a clean koi pond, while using nature’s ingredients.

Using natural solutions to clean any type of ponds limits the amount of foreign organisms to the water and surrounding areas. The cleaners are made of naturally derived ingredients to gently clean the water. Although, just because it’s natural, doesn’t mean it has to be used any more than that of the chemical cleaner. Most of the treatments used should only be directly put into the water once a month to maintain the delicate balance of nutrients.

The following are some considerations when purchasing and using a pond cleaning solution.

1. Make sure it is safe. The health of the pond is only one thing to consider when thinking about safety. Children and pets that may be in contact with the pond should be safe also.

2. Make sure it is eco-friendly. The environment around the pond is also a delicate balance of nutrients and fungi that if contaminated, can directly affect the natural balance of the pond being treated.

3. Is it effective? Although a cleaner being natural and not a danger to the environment, the bottom line is, it should work as a cleaner. It really isn’t worth using if it doesn’t clean the koi pond as described. There are many different types of ponds so a little research wouldn’t hurt before buying a product.

Having a clean koi pond can be easily achieved with the regular use of products such as those from Bioverse. Chemical cleaners can often damage the environment around the pond and possibly harm the wildlife the pond supports.

Trey Casselman enjoys writing and taking care of koi ponds. To get additional information about water clarity products like koi pond cleaner or to discover others such as clean pond products, visit the Bioverse site today.

It can be a painfully frustrating process trying to get rid of gophers from your lawn. But instead of trying every possible trick, method and system, why not find someone who has tried them all and then let them tell you the best way to get rid of gophers.

The first step in eradicating these annoying pests, is to find out about their habits and behaviors, understand what they’re doing and why exactly, they are burrowing under your lawn and causing you such grief!

As a gopher digs under the surface of your lawn there are a few damaging effects that they are having on more than just the visual landscape. Firstly, the piles of dirt that they push out of their tunnels, are fresh soil for weeds to take root, and the vegetation under the piles of dirt is damaged. When burrowing, the gophers pull up roots and expose them. Rocks can also be exposed which pose harm to any garden machinery being used.

Here’s a small list of some of the methods you can try to get rid of gophers: *Trapping – this is the most common but may require a bit of practice in order to get it right. *Exclusion – where you fence off a particular are of your garden that you want to make sure the gophers can’t get into. Use small mesh fencing or plastic netting. *Flooding – this has limited success as the gophers can retreat to an area of the burrows and then close off the tunnels. *Gassing – same as above *Poison pellets – easy to use but care must be taken regarding other animals such as pet dogs or cats. *Repellents – synthetic predator odors

Whatever method you use to get rid of gophers, you need something that is going to be effective and hopefully fool-proof. I’ve had my fair share of frustration with gophers ruining my garden, and have written all about it in a blog.

If you are sick of fighting this battle with gophers (or moles or vols) in your lawn, you are not alone. I’ve written about my experiences and how I was able to Get Rid Of Gophers. This website www.GopherRemoval.info will give you access to help and information about these pests and how to get rid of them.

Having your own herbs in an Italian herb garden has a lot of things to consider. Italy is commonly known for its famous and tastiest herbs in the world. Some of their famous herbs are used for their best cuisines.

The most commonly used herb garden in Italy is the herb basil. It has a lot of benefits not only to humans but also to the other garden plants. Its additional flavor to Italian cuisines is really loved and aside from that it also improves the taste of peppers and tomatoes if you plant basil next to them. Basil also can repel flies and mosquitoes in the garden.

Also used in an Italian herb garden is Parsley, which is a relatively hard herb plant to grow but it is useful in not only Italian dishes but many other types of cuisines. Many generations ago before, there were also planted breath mints in an Italian herb garden. However, it was found that eating fresh, raw parsley after a meal eradicated the bad breath left over from enjoying a flavorful cuisine. The tradition arose to serve parsley on a small dish after the meal. The tradition lives today by using parsley as a garnish on a variety of meals.

Oregano, another herb, sprouts pretty little purple flowers which is believed to be so flavorful if its flowers appear. It is not only flavorful in taste but also very decorative in Italian herb garden.

Seeds of another famous herb known as fennel makes Italian sausages very exciting to eat because of its additional flavor in it. Fennel is a perennial plant that should be replanted and divided every few years because it looses its flavor as it reaches its maturity.

Another herb plant beneficial to the garden is rosemary which is a perennial plant that helps in attracting the bees and is sensitive to frost. Rosemary is a large shrub that sprouts pretty little blue flowers.

Flavors of Italian cuisines will not be complete without this herb named as garlic. Yes it is true that it is not so attractive in the garden but its life span is long and can be stored in the refrigerator for a long time once it is harvested.

Sage is used in a variety of Italian dishes from meats to salads. New shoots of the plant contain the most flavors so it is recommended not to let sage plants to get to woody by keeping them trim. New shoots will be encouraged to grow. Italian herb garden lovers are aware that Sage can be harvested only after it blooms.

There are still a lot of herbs included in an Italian garden but whatever their kinds are, their uses should be considered. Always consider its needs and how you can provide them. They don’t only add flavors to different dishes but also they are used as decorations. Imagine if you have your own Italian garden at home, its like you are always strolling at Italian hillside.

Jack Grant is a passionate gardener who cultivated his skills in Italy. Make sure you get the freshest Italian Herb Garden information and sign up for his Free Herb Garden Secrets Newsletter. Get it now – Click here.