The Flower House

How to Keep Deer Out of Your Garden – Naturally

2010-08-21T10:46:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Earl Williams
The Affiliate Mini Mall

Deer are beautiful animals, and many people enjoy watching them. However, deer can wreak havoc on your garden, and they carry ticks. It can be very frustrating to have your gardening efforts sabotaged by a hungry deer, but you need not resort to synthetic chemicals or violence (tempting though it may be!). Here are some tips for keeping deer out of your garden naturally.

1. Build a fence. Yes, this is somewhat obvious but it is one of the most effective solutions for keeping deer out of your prized plants. Inexpensive fencing can be erected within hours, and there are almost-invisible options (netting or vinyl fencing) so your view and the sunlight aren't blocked. The recommended height for keeping deer out is 8 feet, but gardeners have had effective results with 5-foot fencing as well. Anything under 5 feet, however, and the deer can jump it.

2. Fabric softener is reputed to repel deer. They dislike the strong scent. Try pinning some scented dryer sheets around the area you want to protect.

3. Since deer dislike strong, soapy scents, some gardeners have found grated bar soap to be an effective barrier. Try Fels Naptha or strong deodorant soap. Some people recommend bars of Irish Spring or Ivory. Sprinkle the grated soap around the garden to make a barrier.

4. Distract the deer with something better. If your garden seems to be right along a deer path, plant something especially tasty to deer along the path and then angled away from your garden. Some farmers have saved vegetable gardens by planting better fare away from their gardens.

5. Salt is another distraction that can deter deer. Hunters have known for centuries that deer will be attracted to salt. Set a salt lick where you know there are deer, but far from your garden. Again, it helps if you can intercept and redirect their path.

6. Cats and dogs can both be helpful in deterring deer. The scent of cat and dog urine (and gardeners know how kitties like to use the soft soil of a flower bed for a bathroom) repels deer. If your cat is not using your flower bed (lucky you!), try sprinkling some of its used kitty litter around the garden to make a barrier.

If you have a dog that like to bark at deer, its presence can be extremely effective at keeping deer away. If possible, have your dog spend warm nights outside near your garden.

If you decide to go with any of the above options that involve sprinkling a repellent on the ground (such as the grated soap), make sure you go beyond the border of your garden. This way, the deer will turn away before they get to your plants. If the repellent is too close to your garden's edge, the deer will be more likely to ignore it since those tasty greens are right within their reach.

Throughout the growing season, vary your strategies to keep the deer confounded.

About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.shoptamm.com

Create an Energy-Efficient Home

2009-10-06T17:03:00.000-07:00

Publisher: Earl Williams
The NetMarketer

With the rising cost of utilities, there has to be a way to stem the flow of money out of your home. I’ve got good news - there is. Create an energy efficient environment in your home and the utility companies won’t get so much of your money, plus you’ll be helping the environment.

Energy efficiency affects everybody. Using less fossil fuel means less pollution, something that bothers us all in one way or another. Energy efficiency also saves you money and there isn’t anyone who couldn’t use more of that. Products that use less electricity, water and heat are good products to have in your home.

Most people don’t know where to start when it comes to checking their homes for places where they can tighten up. Call your local power company. Many offer free home inspections for energy efficiency. They will give you a report and might suggest ways to solve your energy problems.

Here are a few ways that you can help with that process.

1. Look at your energy bills. Many give you a breakdown of how much energy you use each month. They also compare that energy usage with the same month a year ago. If your energy has increased, something needs to be done. If you energy bill was already too high, find ways to bring down the cost.

2. Take inventory of your daily activities around the home. Do you wash dishes with the water running? Are you washing clothes even if you don’t have a full load? Do the lights and televisions stay on all the time? All of these things add up to energy inefficiency.

3. How are the seals around your doors and windows? Old houses have single pane windows that are not as energy efficient as double or triple paned ones. If you window forms condensation when you cook in the kitchen, that’s a sign that the air is coming in contact with colder air somewhere and forming droplets. Check all entryways and windows for drafts.

4. Turn off lights when not in the room. We are all guilty of forgetting to turn off a light when we leave a room. It takes practice to get in the habit of turning off appliances, lights, fans and computers.

5. Use ceiling fans. To cool the air in the summer, keep your thermostat set at a constant temperature and use ceiling fans to circulate the cool air. You will use less energy than if you crank up the air conditioner.

6. Clean vents. In bathrooms it’s easy for vent fans to get clogged with dust. In air ducts, change the filter every three months to avoid too much dust in the air. The air conditioning has to work harder to cool the home if there is a dirty filter or the vents are not cleared of dirt and dust.

7. Use gas logs. Wood burning fireplaces can be messy and dangerous if not properly maintained. Natural gas is more efficient and you still stay toasty on cold nights.

An energy efficient home saves money. Everyone can do their part to lower bills and reduce the use of fossil fuels. Take a trip through your home and see what ways you can start right now.

About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.affiliateminimall.com

Living Green

2009-09-22T19:53:00.000-07:00

Copyright: Earl Williams
The NetMarketer

Composting 101

Have you ever noticed how some people have beautiful, vibrant flower gardens or grow large, scrumptious looking vegetables almost with ease? They might have a green thumb, but chances are it better that it’s their soil. If you use compost, your soil has a richer composition that is better for your veggies and flowers. As an example, I grew a one-pound bell pepper using just compost and a 10-foot tomato plant in a flowerpot. This healthy and sturdy soil produces those gorgeous flowers and mouth-watering vegetables everyone wishes they could have in their own gardens. Guess what? Now you can have them. It just takes a little know-how about composting.

Composting is not hard. The entire family can get in on the act. If you have a family garden, composting will be quite helpful to you. Let’s discuss the benefits of composting as well as how to create a compost pile that can enrich your soil naturally and produce those growing beauties.

Composting is Healthy for the Environment

Creating compost reduces the amount of trash in the landfill. We throw away a lot of food, which is the majority of our waste. Using those food scraps in compost gives precious nutrients back to the soil instead of the garbage heap.

Basically composting is the process of using plant matter and other materials to enrich the soil. You let the items decompose and blend them in with the soil as nourishment for whatever you are growing. You can also use compost as mulch in flower gardens instead of wood chips or pine needles. If you have a flowerbed around your house, compost is the best thing to grow beautiful flowers.

Getting Started with Your Own Compost Pile

So how do you begin? First, find a place to compost. You can buy compost bins (MANTIS® ComposT-Twin) or make your own. With an inconspicuous place in the back yard, you don’t even need a bin. Compost will decompose in a pile all by itself.

Once you’ve chosen your location and storage unit (or none at all), it’s time to begin filling it. Composting problems occur when the wrong things are added to the compost pile. That’s why it’s important to know what you can safely and effectively add.

What to Include in Your Compost Pile

There are two types of compost materials that fill two needs of the compost pile. First, there are the wood products. Those include wood chip, straw and leaves. You can also throw those pesky weeds on the compost pile as well. These materials add pockets of space to the compost pile so air can reach everything that goes into it.

Secondly, you have the food material and grasses. Grass clippings, fruit rinds, vegetable waste, and even coffee grounds make great compost. Compost needs to be moist for the bacteria to survive and digest properly. This type of material is what provides the moisture.

As long as your compost pile has air and a moderate amount of moisture, the bacteria, along with insects and worms will do their job. When these two things are absent, you get the yucky foul smell of garbage. If this does happen to you, just add a little lime to your pile and the smell will go away. Constantly turn the compost pile over with a rake or hoe so all the material gets air. Ever wonder why food sent to the garbage doesn’t just decompose? It’s because it doesn’t get air in the garbage pile.

Compost is ready when the ingredients are not recognizable anymore. It usually takes on a dark brown color once it’s ready.

Use your leftovers and lawn trimmings to grow a beautiful lawn, flowers or vegetable garden by creating a compost pile. You can start anytime. Why not today? To learn more about Green Living and green products: Click Here Now

You may republish this article in its entirety, provided you leave the byline, author's note and website hyperlink intact.

About the Publisher: Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He uses the affiliate programs to setup Affiliateminimall.com where you can fine discount shopping along with great coupon deals. To learn more visit: www.affiliateminimall.com

Rose Gardening Tips for Getting Started

2009-05-04T19:28:00.000-07:00

Rose gardens are a beautiful addition to any lawn. They not only improve the beauty and atmosphere; but they are also a great outlet to relieve stress. The problem is: if you’ve never done it before, starting a rose garden can be pretty daunting. Here are a few tips and suggestions to help make rose gardening a little bit easier.

The first thing you need to do is decide what kind of roses you’d like to plant. There are lots of varieties to choose from. A good way to get started is to visit local rose gardens and the gardens of your family and friends. Your decision should be based not only on what looks best, but also on how much space you have, and how harsh the winter conditions are in your area.

Once you know what kind of roses you want, you need to start planning and preparing your garden. The spot you choose to plant should get at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. You should also be aware of the landscaping in your yard. If you have an area that floods during heavy rains, then that’s probably not the best spot for your roses.

Once you’ve picked a spot; prepare the area by working compost or humus into the soil. You can use excess humus mixed with manure to plant your bushes. After planting is done, cover your garden bed with mulch for extra protection.

Once your bushes are planted, they will still require some care; including watering, fertilizing, and pruning. Bushes should be watered at the base of the plant with about an inch of water once per week. The amount of water used should be adjusted depending on how hot it is outside and how much rain you’ve gotten.

Fertilizer should be applied about every 6 weeks, starting in mid-spring and ending some time in August. While you can prune dead or diseased growth during the growing season, any major pruning should be done in early spring while the plant is still dormant.

While maintaining a healthy rose garden requires a lot of work, taking these steps will help get you started in the right direction.

Composting is Key to Organic Gardening

2009-03-05T07:29:00.000-08:00

Publisher: Earl Williams
The NetMarketer

Compost is a great tool for any gardener. It helps your garden hold just the right amount of water, makes it the right texture for plant growth, and provides it with beneficial natural organisms. While you can buy this type of product at the store, it’s cheaper to make it yourself. You also get the added benefit of knowing that you’re not just throwing your yard waste away; it’s actually doing something beneficial.

Before getting started on your compost pile, you should know what to put in it. To get good compost you need carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and water. Grass clippings from your yard provide carbon, and nitrogen comes from leaves in the fall. To make sure your pile gets water, build it somewhere where it will be rained on; just be sure it’s not completely soaked with water. Lastly, you can add oxygen simply by mixing the pile. If you can’t provide enough nitrogen or carbon to your compost pile, you can always add a little fertilizer. The type will depend on what nutrient you’re lacking.

There are two different types of compost piles you can make; the first is a cool pile. To make a cool pile, simply throw your clippings and leaves in the bin as they come and stir the ingredients occasionally. This is a good option if you don’t have a lot of time to devote to composting, but it takes about a year to get useable compost. You shouldn’t add diseased plants or weeds to this mixture because they can be harmful.

If you need your compost sooner than a year, you should try making a hot compost pile. Unlike cool piles, you need to have a significant amount of yard waste available to start a hot pile; at least 3 feet by 3 feet. This mixture will require mixing much more often. You can mix it anywhere from once every two weeks to once every couple of days. The more you mix, the faster you get compost. This type of pile will kill weed seeds and diseases because it reaches much higher temperatures (about 160°), but may also kill beneficial bacteria.

When you compost pile no longer resembles what you put into it, it’s ready to be used. Just mix into your soil for strong, healthy plants.

Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his online marketing business using some of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He makes it easy for anyone to build their ideal online business and earn a substantial income from home. Learn how to start your ideal business and start making money online by visiting his website: http://www.netmarketer.org

Soil Requirements For Garden Flowers

2008-06-07T18:18:00.000-07:00

Copyright: Earl Williams
The NetMarketer

The loveliness of flowering plants needs little embellishment by description. Certainly every gardener seeks the beauty and color that can be brought to his grounds by a variety of flowers. The proper arrangement of flower beds in your garden and attentive care to them can insure you a continuing bloom of lovely flowers year after year. For with planning, it is possible to maintain flowers in your garden during the entire length of the growing season.

Borders and beds are planted with flowering annuals and perennials, which bloom at different periods during the year. By choosing carefully initially, and by caring for the flowers thereafter, the blooms will overlap each other, so that there will never be a period when an old bloom disappears but that a new one will start to show its color. Preparing the soil for flowerbeds or borders requires greater care than planting a lawn. For one thing, digging must be deeper. It is not too much to dig the bed 2 feet deep, although 1 1/2 feet is suitable.

It is, of course, possible to grow flowers in a shallower bed than this, but the deeper you dig, the better your production will be. All heavy lumps should be broken up. It is a good idea to spread some sand, cinders or ashes in the bottom soil to break it up. Also, you might work manure, well-rotted compost, grass clippings or peat moss into the bottom. Do not firm the bottom soil down, but let it settle naturally.

Good loam should be used for the topsoil, well-rotted manure, humus, peat moss, well-sifted leaf mould or heavy sand. Wood ashes are fine for spring, and lime may be used for loosening the soil. You might think about the character of your soil and consider the particular fertilizer, which contains the elements your soil needs most. Should you use manure, be careful not to let it touch the roots of plants.

The problems of color should be kept in mind when planning flower borders and beds, so that while there is sufficient contrast in texture and color of the flowers, there is at the same time an attractive blending. A plan for a bed of annuals, for example, might be designed to stress zinnias, with contrast provided by such softer flowers as chrysanthemum, scabiosa, nasturtium, cosmos and candytuft. The situation of the flowerbed is important. Ideally, it should be close to the house, facing south or southwest. Any location that gets good sun, however, will produce well.

The border should be located away from trees or shrubs. These plants absorb more than their share of moisture and nutrients from the soil and, because of their strength, can overpower the more delicate flowering plants. A good background such as a stone wall or a fence adds to the beauty of a flowerbed or border, and evergreen shrubs make a pleasing backdrop. Edgings need not be restricted, as they so often are, to one color (e.g., the white of alyssum). Coral-bells, whose lovely foliage makes a handsome edge, are an all-season flowering plant, and they provide unusual cut flowers. Baby pansies, violas, portulaca, ageratum, dwarf double nasturtium and dwarf marigolds are multi-colored flowers.

You may republish this article in its entirety, provided you leave the byline, author's note and website hyperlink intact.

About The Author:Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his SFI marketing business, which is one of the largest Affiliate programs on the Internet. He makes it easy for anyone to build their ideal online business and earn a substantial income from home. Learn how to start your ideal business and start making money online by visiting his website: http://www.earlsfiblog.com

Container Grown Tomatoes

2008-04-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the Tomatoes grown from seeds in containers. Check out the 8-foot plants next to the greenhouse. They are Pork Whoppers

Some Of Ms. Dot Creation

2008-04-16T20:17:00.000-07:00

All the Flowers were grown by Dot.

Opportunities to improve your business

2008-04-05T20:21:00.000-07:00

Publisher Earl Williams

Internet marketing networks may be trying at time, especially when you had hopes and dreams of making money quickly. A key ingredient in making more money is to build up a steady clientele basis. The best way to build up a large number of clients is to provide the ones that you have contact with, with a friendly, helpful atmosphere and experience. Clients want to feel that their needs are being met and that you value their opinions.

It is imperative that you handle all clients and potential clients as if they are the most important person you deal with. This provides them with a sense of satisfaction and they will continue to do business with your company. Happy customers are sure to tell their friends and family about the above expectations service that they have received from your company. This will in turn continue to help your company climb the financial ladder. An even brighter point is that Internet marketing is one of the cheapest business and types of advertising that you can do for your company.

Like any business, running your own Internet marketing corporation will be first filled with a series of trial and errors. It will take time for you to learn what works best for you and for your company. You will find that certain types of jobs require you to be skilled in some areas while others do not. For example, if you want to design your own website, but you are not skilled in web design, it may be a better alternative to pay someone else to design and run the site, until you have time to take a few web design classes. This may cost you money to pay someone else, but having a well-planned and designed web page can draw the attention of more clients.

If you find that you are becoming overwhelmed with the task of running your own business, do not be afraid to hire someone to help you. If you believe that it would be beneficial then you may want to take on a business partner, especially if you will need help when it comes to crunching numbers, you may need someone who can handle the financial aspect of the business. If you believe that you only need help part time or with the book keeping and initial contact with the clients’ side of the job, try hiring someone to be an administrative assistant.

Having help may mean that you have to cut down on some of your profits for yourself, but the more people that you have who are helping to establish the business, the more potential you have to make more money. Allowing yourself time to grow and learn as a business owner can benefit your business and help you to stay focused. It is not a process that you will have work out immediately, but through trail and error, you can make the best of your company. Remember that you need to learn to enjoy what you do and not focus just on making money.

You may republish this article in its entirety, provided you leave the byline, author's note and website hyperlink intact.

Earl Williams is a real entrepreneur who is making money with his SFI marketing business. He makes it easy for anyone to build their ideal online business and earn a substantial income from home with a real home business. Learn how to start your ideal business and start making money online by visiting: EyeEarner