Gardening Gifts Ideas For The Holidays

Gardening is a passion for many people. They spend a lot of time in arranging their garden and taking care of their plants. They not only exert physical effort in gardening but they also invest their emotions in it. As garden enthusiasts, having healthy plants and creating a beautiful garden is what makes them happy just like artists who have finished their masterpiece. For the plant lovers, their garden is their work of art and their masterpiece.

window flower boxes

If you have friends who love to garden, it wouldn't be hard for you to think of what to give them for the holidays. There are a lot of gardening gifts available such as seed and herb kits, gardening tools, and other gardening materials. Here are other ideas on what to give your garden enthusiast friends for the holidays:

1. Window Flower Boxes. If your friend doesn't have one yet, then this will be a good option. Window flower boxes are not just any plant containers. They can totally accentuate the plain windows of a home. Since you are giving this to your friends, they can just put it on the porch or somewhere that will not lose the balance of their home's exterior design. You can choose from a lot of styles such as hay rack trough window box, fiberglass window boxes, and PVC Window boxes.

2. Planter Box. A planter box can be very useful for the garden. Your friends can even bring their plants and flowers insdie their home or just anywhere. There are modern planter boxes today with beautiful designs so that they can be a good decoration for the home as well. They can may also come in different sizes that can fit anywhere even in their center tables.

3. Glass Terrariums. Terrariums are ecofriendly ornaments that your friends would definitely love to have. They are so modern yet easy to maintain. It can be of different types such as globe terrariums, bubble terrariums, or hanging terrariums.

Sometimes, any gardening gifts would be appreciated by your friend who is a garden enthusiast because these will be useful for their passion. But of course, we want to give the best for the people we love and care for that is why we search for something special. The above-mentioned gardening gifts are very useful not only for their garden but also for their home. They are modern decorations that every plant lover would appreciate.

Flower Window Boxes For Limited Gardening Spaces

Not all of us are fortunate to have a wide space outside our home where we can put our plants and flowers or create a relaxing garden. For those who are living in urban areas or in apartments, you can hardly find a space for gardening. What people usually do is use a planter box where they can put their plants and flowers.

Self Watering Window Box

Another useful tool to use for gardening in a limited space is the window box. Flower window boxes are installed on windows where garden enthusiasts can grow their plants and flowers. The trend nowadays is the use of decorative window boxes which are not only for gardening purposes but for home decorations as well. They have different kinds of designs that are made to fit in any types or colors of windows and any house structures.

Wood is a common material in home decorations but they are not ideal for an outdoor planter box such as the flower box. So the most widely used window boxes today is the PVC window box. They are made of Cellular PVC, a material that can best replicate the appearance of wood but has better properties. Unlike wood, PVC window box does not rot, crack nor twist which makes them ideal for outdoor use.

A lot of designs for flower window boxes can be found in your local hardware store and on the Internet. They are usually made in standard sizes. But if it doesn't fit on your windows, you can ask for custom window boxes. They will be specifically made according to your preference and to your windows' requisites.

A limited space is no longer a hindrance in gardening. Flower window boxes are a great way to grow our plants even if we don't have a back or front yard. Using decorative window boxes can even make our home or apartment windows more beautiful and attractive. Choose a design that will best match with the color and beauty of your flowers to create a stunning home exterior.

Grow Your Plants Anywhere Using A Planter Box

Gardening was once a tedious job for most of us especially for those who are too busy with their other priorities. But today, gardening can already be done easily. Container gardening is the best way for us to enjoy gardening even when we have so little time to spend for it. It has made gardening possible for plant lovers who cannot find time to do their passion.

By using a planter box, we can now grow plants and herbs anywhere even inside our home or office. Planter boxes today are made durably and artistically. They can have elegant designs that are ideal for residential and commercial use. Yet, they are even more functional than you thought. They are not only for the people's eyes but for the plants' health and survival as well.

Using a flower box to take care of your favorite flowers will make gardening easier for you. You can place them in your porch, in the kitchen or in the windowsill so that you can check on them any time. For a much better choice, you can get a self-watering flowerbox so that you do not have to water your plants from time to time and avoid them from leaking into your floor and mess up your home's interior.

The best advantage about using a planter box or a flowerbox is that you can put them anywhere. As mentioned above, they can be placed on the porch, in your living room, kitchen, or even outside your window. Accentuate your windows by placing custom window boxes and planting colorful flowers on it. Choose fragrant flowers so that the aroma can go inside your home. Custom window boxes are like planter boxes as well but they are just installed on the windows.

So if you love to garden but you cannot accommodate it in your daily schedule, container gardening is the best solution for you. Using a planter box for gardening needs less maintenance, the health of your plants are very well taken care of, can be done both indoor and outdoor, and most of all they are very trendy.

How Can We Make Our Patio Look Good

A Patio is a paved outdoor space used for dining and recreational activities that adjoins the residence. It is usually made of concrete or stone slabs over a base. This base is often a layer of compacted stone chips, a layer of sharp sand, and a layer of cement mortar. Most homeowners use their patios to receive guests and visitors so they make sure that it looks very presentable to anyone. Nowadays, there are a variety of fixtures and decors that would complement the design of your patios. Whether it will be modern or contemporary, classic or old fashion, there are a myriad of things you can add to your patio to deliver an impressive statement of beauty to the eye.

I have some friends who are fond of making their patios stunning by installing some structures that add more style and to make the place attractive to guests. So for those of you who want to make their place look good but don't have the idea how, here are some  great ideas when it comes to decorating your balcony, patios, receiving areas and other places in the house where people gather around.

Hanging Baskets

Hanging Baskets are suspended containers used for growing decorative flowering plants. They are typically used to place flowers and plants on buildings, apartments and houses where garden space is lacking. We can also use them as replacement to potted plants if we do not have any room at home for an indoor garden. We can hang them on trees, free standing home frames, pillars and walls to add something that would make our home stylish and elegant.

Flowerboxes

Flowerboxes are mini gardens that contain decorative flowers. This is one of the best options to include in your patio. The good thing about flower boxes is they can be transferred from one place to another. If we want to make changes at home, we can just move the box freely without any hassle of setting it up again.

Planters

Planters are container gardens. They are bigger than pots and baskets. They can instantly brighten the porch, deck, balcony and patio. There are different types of planters to choose from. We can select from fiber glass, wood, metal, wrought iron to pvc planters. These wide selections of planters are perfect to match the design of our home.

The above mentioned structures can give the illusion of fullness to our patio. They will be an eye comforting addition that would provide us the luxury of using our patio with our leisure activities. So why not try making use of our patio as an ideal place to hang out with family and friends?

How to Clean Flower Window Boxes

It is best to clean the flowerboxes once or twice a month to avoid fungus and bacteria to infest the plants and flowers in them. It is necessary to remove the fast growing fungus as not to infect the plants that may lead to contaminating others. There are some few basic tips on how to clean our window box. However, the process of cleaning will depend on what type of flower window boxes we have. There are some boxes that made from wood, hard plastics, and aluminum. The cleaning guidelines will be for all types of boxes.

1. First we need to prepare the materials that we need for cleaning. We need the plastic scrubber, sponge, cleaning solution (liquid soap).

2. Brush off any dirt or debris that is on the flower box. Use a stiff brush for clay and a plastic scrubber for plastic. It would be best to use brushes first because some fungi are hard to remove. But be careful not to totally damage the container.

3. Wash the container box with the liquid solution with the sponge. Scrubbing more would remove the dirt completely.

4. Disinfect by rinsing with hot and boiling water.

5. Let the box dry completely. Expose it to sunlight if possible. The ultraviolet rays I the best disinfectant.

6. Scrub salt build up off of the boxes by making a baking soda paste with a little water then scrub wooden flower window boxes with a fine steel wool, and hard plastic boxes with a plastic scrubber.

After washing the flowerbox, we can fill it in with our favorite flowering plants. Cleaning Flower boxes are not always part of our daily routine. They can be done weekly or even monthly. It may take time to clean the flower boxes but the contribution to cleanliness is always the key to our healthy lifestyle.

We are definitely going to enjoy the beauty of a clean container box. It would be a great contribution of beauty not only to our home but to the environment as well. We sure need to develop the green living behavior to preserve the Earth.

Best Way to Replace the Traditional Gardening

Gardening is a way of making ourselves busy throughout the day. Starting your day in the garden helps you relax and think of nothing but the beauty that it brings. These days, gardening is catching up with the modern world in terms of technology, style and quality of materials. Whether you are living in the countryside or within the city, gardening is now possible anywhere. One of the most innovative ways to make this happen is by using a flower box which is today's modern form of gardening without the hassle of its traditional counterpart.

Flower box or container gardening makes growing plants more convenient and stylish compared with traditional gardening in the yard or anywhere else that requires a large area. These tools also promote indoor gardening which is perfect for people living in urban areas with less space to accommodate a garden. Growing plants indoors does not only give you the pleasure and joy of having live plants in fancy containers but it also accentuates your home. Modern planters are fully customizable and can be ordered according to your specifications. Any color, style, size or design is possible. Other types of flower boxes include PVC planters, raised bed gardens, customized flower boxes and self watering window box. Window boxes are commonly used by home owners to add more design and style. It can really make the exterior of your home attractive as it can add color to a home no matter what the season. Both flower and window boxes also save you some space outside or inside the house because you do not need a big area to have container gardens.

Instead of growing a garden outdoors why not try to have custom window boxes installed on windowsills? It would be a lot better to have something that will get the attention of people whenever they pass by the apartment or building. It is nice to have custom window boxes if we want to check out the invigorating landscape outside our apartment or condo units.

The container boxes mentioned above make huge difference if we add it to our home structure. For those who are into green living, let us try to discover some difference in our surroundings that make our home an ideal place to live in. We can insert some ideas that would provide us with relief after a rough day. It is a bit expensive but the comfort that it brings is priceless.

How Can Gardening Be A Blissful Pastime?

Gardening is the latest trend when we talk about home based pastime ideas these days. We can’t deny the fact that a lot of people are into "Go Green" activities not just only to help preserve the environment but also to keep them busy and make gardening as an alternative for exercise. But how can we really make gardening an enjoyable pastime? Do you have any idea? If you have nothing in mind yet, let me share some great ideas we can do while gardening.

Mind Set

Creating a great atmosphere to make ourselves comfortable is essential for gardening. It's boring if we are not prepared for the activity. Preparations include mind-set, tools for gardening, containers or flower boxes and plants. It would be easier if the things that we need are already organized and ready to utilize.

Sharing Gardening Ideas

Sharing some gardening tips with neighbors makes gardening more fun and interesting. If you have friends and neighbors who also have gardens, it can be a source of motivation or a good reason to start a friendly competition. By doing this, you will not only have more reason to keep on gardening but you can also interact with your fellow gardeners and learn more. Discussing great gardening ideas like creating flower window boxes or indoor flower box gardens and other gardening tips and secrets are excellent ways to level up your skills.

Gardening together

Community gardening is the best way to interact with our neighbors. It would be easier and certainly no dull moments when working together. We can share ideas and products of our labor to everybody. It is also cost friendly to share our gardening activities with the community. It asks for fewer expenses but gives great outcome. It is not only an individual happiness but a community bliss. However, if community gardening is not possible, we can ask some friends, relatives or a special someone to help us out with a nice mini flower box garden at home. The idea makes gardening looks simple but memorable.

Work Out Partner

Gardening and yard care are unique forms of exercise that allow you to do something relaxing, creative and fun while you work various muscle groups and get a moderate level of cardiovascular exercise as well. What is truly great about gardening is we can use our whole body while working. Gardening involves different kinds of exercises including, stretching, weight lifting and a light cardiovascular workout.

Gardening maybe an old school activity, but it is a great pastime for us. There are some who are fascinated with mini gardens at home like custom window boxes and indoor container gardening. If we try to Google different kinds of gardening, it will definitely provide various selections of modern gardening ideas.

Are you already gardening? If so, I salute you because you are promoting not only a greener environment but also health and wellness. For those who are not active in gardening, we can start for some small box gardens.  This way, we can combine the joys of growing our favorite gift plants with a light exercise regimen.

Campanula: A Plant Gift

A Campanula is a bell-shaped bluish violet flowering plant which means “little bell” in Latin. There are different species and colors for Campanula and all of them goes very well on a designer pot. Growing more of it can be very appealing if placed in a window box and it can absolutely be ideal in a hanging basket. Every individual gazing at this plant will love its heartiness, abundant periwinkle blue buds and starry flowers. Most flower shops are offering this fascinating flowering plant for mostly all occasions.

We can have Campanula as a Birthday and Sympathy plant gift. We can also have it as a gift for Mother’s Day, Congratulations, Get well soon, Thanksgiving, Anniversary and even on Housewarming celebrations. It definitely provides a long period of bloom which is absolutely useful if we want to see a long lasting flowering plant gift every day. Having this eye-catching blooming creation in our house with custom window boxes would be very relaxing knowing that the flower gives a pleasant comfort in our eyes.

Campanula ranges from $30 – 40 in the market. Not bad as a gift plant for various occasions. It would be an impeccable plant gift to buy for someone special to us.  To order plants online can be of great convenience if we have a tight schedule and what we see online will be the same as what the receiver gets when the plant is delivered. The main advantage of ordering plants online instead of having it delivered yourself is the thought that you do not need to do the traditional way of buying..

The uniqueness of every gift plant on a flower box will bring joy to every receiver. But Campanula is not just an ordinary plant gift on our garden. It will be a form of attraction for every guest that we invite for some gatherings at home. The thought of having it inside the household will absolutely give happiness to the master of the house.