Archive for April, 2011
Questions And Answers On Garden Design Magazine
Kylee asks…
Graphic Design magazine comparison?
i’ve just started a graphic design course and my first assignment is to compare 2 magazines. I have chosen guitarist australia and a gardening magazine. some of the things we have to talk about are:
Theme and style, functionality and the delivery platform.
These 3 things might be obvious to an experienced designer, but im not sure what to talk about.. can someone help?
Home Gardener answers:
Well, the two themes would probably be something like guitars and gardening.. I would think….
As far as style goes – I’ve never seen either magazine, but I would imagine that the guitar one is a lot edgier and funkier than the gardening magazine. You can probably elaborate pretty heavily on this section without too much effort.
Are you into guitars? Gardening? Hopefully you’ve chosen two magazines that interest you… And will be able to tell pretty easily if they are functional. Are they mostly ads? Packed with info? Effective layouts, typefaces, graphics, etc? Most importantly – will they grab and hold the attention of their target audience? The effectiveness of the magazine is probably determined by the bottom line.. So the more subscriptions and purchases, the better.
Delivery platform – is that just the type of paper, size of magazine, etc..? Not sure what is being asked, exactly.
This should get you started..
Susan asks…
I need a picture from a design magazine ad showing a kitchen with copper design that was built in another room
there was an advertisement that showed a picture of a kitchen that was built in a hexagon shape with tall ceilings with copper design elements with an through bar feel. i cannot remember the magazine, but it would have to be American ARchitecture or Better Homes and Gardens, albeit, it may be an older publication. PLEASE HELP< I WANT THAT KITCHEN!!!
Home Gardener answers:
That’ll be tough to find if you don’t remember the magazine name. You can go to google, click on the search images button, then type in the word kitchen and all these photos of kitchens will pop up. Try hexagon kitchen.
Jemima asks…
What is the best INTERIOR DESIGN magazine for my 28 year old wife?
She is too modern for a “Better Homes & Gardens” but still too midwest to go full on sheik, comtemporary unbanite style.
Any suggestions?
Also looking for books if you know of good ones.
Home Gardener answers:
Http://teensthemes.com/black-and-white-contemporary-bedrooms.html
Graham asks…
free floral magazine subscription?
do u know where i can find a free floral magazine subscription? maybe floral design or general garden?
Home Gardener answers:
Visit Lowes.com
The have a Garden Club magazine free subscription.
I highly recommend the Lowes Creative Ideas magazine also. Really neat ideas.
You have to register on their site to sign up for the magazines.
Richard asks…
Are there any agents or reps to help me get my products to market?
I have been designing home and garden products for eighteen years. My one of a kind products have been featured in the best home and garden magazine and some books. I already have some products in the marketplace but have many more projects that I am working on at this time. If you can help, please let me know.
Home Gardener answers:
Brandssl.com
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Questions And Answers On Home Vegetable Gardening
Lynn asks…
I messed up – do I need to move my vegetable garden?
I am in Memphis, Zone 7. I planted a “Square Foot Garden” (raised bed garden) full of vegetables at my new home. Bell peppers, peas, beans, tomatoes, watermelon, squash, herbs, etc. I thought the spot I chose was full sun. Not sure how I messed this up… It appears my beds are getting only about 3 hours of sun a day, from noon to 3:00. Do I need to move the beds? It won’t be easy, but it is possible before the plants get too big. To think I dug up all that grass underneath them. Sigh. Thank you!
Home Gardener answers:
You do not need to move the beds this year, but 3 hours of direct sunlight will have an impact on the production of your plants. If, after the end of your harvest, you are unsatisfied with the quantity, or the timeliness of your harvest, consider relocating the gardens. Gardening is not a science, but an art, which takes time, effort, and patience, and which produces a tremendous amount of enjoyment, not to mention food.
Good luck.
Susan asks…
What is the most enviro-friendly way to “control” snails in a vegetable garden?
My friend is trying to get her organic garden producing for home use but she is being over-run by snails in the garden bed. My suggestions ranged from a layer of aluminum foil smothered in oil (assuming if they can’t slide theu can’t stick they can’t travel) to upwrite steel barriers covered in oil or honey…..something natural and sticky. Does anyone have a fool-poof and safe way of diverting the attention of snails….?
Home Gardener answers:
There’s a lot of mildly abrasive things people have used to discourage snails – sawdust as mentioned, diatomaceous earth, and wood ashes as other examples. The drawback is that when these items get wet, snails can just glide over them anyway, and, of course, it’s already a moist environment to begin with or snails wouldn’t be there.
I don’t know if it’s environmentally sustainable for everyone to control their snails this way, but snails will NOT cross a band of copper 3″ wide or more. Even copper screening. There’s something about the metal copper than sets up an electrolytic reaction with snail slime, and they quickly turn around and leave, without crossing. I know they used to sell rolls of 3″ wide copper for this purpose (brand name Snail-Barr I think), but I don’t know where now. Doesn’t matter, you could make your own out of any thickness copper sheeting. One way to use this would be by gardening in raised beds, and nail this copper barrier all around the outside of each raised bed. An entire garden could be protected similarly. This is a snail control that lasts forever, once installed.
There’s also a non-toxic snail bait sold, that could be used to eliminate any holdouts after you installed the copper.
I think these items could be purchased from http://www.naturescontrol.com, I’m sure there are many more sources as well.
John asks…
do you have to buy dirt for a vegetable garden?
Can you plant vegetables just into the ground or should you buy special dirt?
If the soil at your home is poisonous should you create a garden for vegetables with purchased dirt in a box with a base?
thanks in advance
sorry! goodness i assumed dirt and soil were one and the same.
things do grow on our SOIL but testing has shown it is poisonous and i dont want to eat infected vegetables from the SOIL/dirt
Home Gardener answers:
You don’t need waste your money for buying waste, you normally get a lot of kitchen waste which is a high quality manure.
Just use this manure in your soil.
Shelley asks…
small black ants in vegetable garden?
Hi! Well I am relatively new to having a garden. We bought a new home and there was an existing garden, approx., 6′ x 6′ . I have cleaned all of the weeds and old herbs etc., out and want to begin planting my stuff. As I dug into the dirt in 2 different locations there are 2 large areas where there are MANY little black ants, which BITE HARD all over. What do I do to get rid of them before I begin planting? What ever I use I want to make sure won’t effect my vegetables . ANY help is greatly appreciated ! thank you SO much, wishing you all a GREAT day! Meegan
Home Gardener answers:
Sprinkle ground with Sevin powder to kill the ants, it is safe for plants.
Chris asks…
D0 any of you Home gardeners know of a good cheap way to support climbing vegetable plants?
My garden space is only 22×10,butting up to the house.I want to plant cucumbers and a couple of different bean plants.
Home Gardener answers:
That’s a big space for just cucumbers and beans. Go grab some old pallets from a store somewhere around you. You can cut them down into many things you can use in the garden. Break them down and you can use the wood for steaks to hold up the beans, you can make a “support” from pieces of pallet and cheap wire for your cucumbers, you can even make raised beds from pieces of pallets. Last year we made our compost bin from pallets my husband got from work. Free wood and a little imagination and you can have a great garden.
Don asks…
What are your priorities in the vegetable garden this week?
I’m hoping to get my beans and courgettes planted out and have some sweetcorn to germinate at home…
I’m very new to this having only grown tomatoes in containers before! I’m in London and thought we were past the risk of frost by now – not so?
Home Gardener answers:
We can get frosts in April and May though generally mid May is a good time to start planting. There are lots of other things you can start now and the BBC Gardeners World site has lots of info. I’ve planted seed potatoes, onions and spinach but these are under cloches. You can also buy frost protection fleece quite cheaply from garden centres to protect your plants if the forecast is for frost. My priority is to keep my five cats off the veg bed ! (another reason for the cloches).
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Questions And Answers On Southern Homes And Gardens
Alana asks…
What would you like to ask? When you compost horse manure, how do you do it to make sure it is done properly?
My horses and our family live in Southern California and would like to recycle our horse manure as part of our home gardening system. I would like to make sure that the following pests are taken care of:
1. bermuda grass seed from hay 2. e. coli and other bacteria are managed 3. ph level correct 4. do I need to worry about horse intestinal worms when composting? You never see this topic in gardening books
Home Gardener answers:
You need to start off with a compost bin that is the proper size to enable the compost to reach the optimal temperature.
In a good working compost pile, the temperature can reach 150F +. This is good because this temperature will kill the weed seeds and any pathogens in the manure, as long as it isn’t carnivore (cats and dogs) or omnivore (pigs and humans). Carnivores and omnivores carry bacteria in their guts that are zoonotic (transmissible to humans). It takes even higher temperatures to kill these bacteria, and even then it is not recommended to use on food gardens.
I have built a 2 bin system, 4′x4′x’4′. This size allows the compost to build enough heat to do the job properly. You can make it bigger, but you must make sure you turn every part of it over so that it gets heated thoroughly.
The pile should be turned over every couple of weeks. To tell when to turn your pile you need to watch your temperature. They actually make compost thermometers. They look like oversized turkey thermometers.
If your manure is in wood shavings, you will want to add some blood meal to the compost. Blood meal will add the nitrogen that is needed to break down woody material. You don’t have to add any kind of compost starter because the manure itself will have enough bacteria in it by itself. There are three stages to compost breakdown. The first stage the compost is heating up. This all works through bacterial action. Then another sort of bacteria begins its stage and heats the compost even higher. It will reach a peak after about 2 weeks and the temperature will start to drop. Then a third type of bacteria takes over and completes the process.
Turning your compost is an important part of the process. It allows the compost to heat back up again and the decomposition goes much faster. When the temperature drops, it is time to turn your compost over. This is why I have 2 bins – I can turn the compost into the empty one to start the process over again. If you have the room, I would build a third bin to store the finished compost. To check the pH, you need a pH test kit.
So, all your questions are answered because of the heat the pile generates. I am including a link to the compost thermometer.
Http://www.leevalley.com/garden/page.aspx?c=2&p=57098&cat=2,33140&ap=1
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