People Garden

 6 Fragrant Plants That Can Repel Flies Summer and spring are the time for great outdoor activities like picnics or grilling for family and friends. Unfortunately, such outdoor activities attract pesky bugs, one of life's little annoyances. There are many skin sprays and clothing to protect you from them, but the use of toxic chemicals is frowned upon by many. Don't worry, there are some fragrant plants that not only repel flies effectively but are also attractive to look at. Here are 6 fragrant plants that can repel flies. Planting these plants throughout your home has many benefits. Apart from keeping flies away with their special scent, they also display some beautiful flowers to make your landscapes more attractive. Other plants are actually edible, so add them to your savory dishes. 1 Lavender Lavender offers a sweet fragrance and small purple flowers that make it ideal for decoration. Apart from flies, it is often grown for its qualities to repel insects such ...

 6 Plants You Can Use As Soap Did you know that there are some plants around us that can be used as soap? Besides decorating, purifying the air, and helping you sleep better... each plant has its own effects. In today's post, we want to share that you can use plants as soap daily. They are natural plants, which means they don't contain chemicals and of course, they won't harm your skin. Check them out with us! You may not know that soap is best known for creating a lather with gentle cleansing properties. In fact, soap is one of the world's richest sources of compounds called saponins. Research shows that they have antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and astringent properties. So they are safe for you! 1 Clematis Clematis is a popular climbing plant that beautifies any nearby garden space. It displays stunning flowers in a wide variety of colors. The highest concentration of saponins is found in flowers and leaves. First, collect its flowers and leaves, then c...

 Essential fall chores for every tomato grower As the first cold days of fall arrive, those of us still with tomatoes on the vine are starting to look a little closer at the ten-day forecast. Time is running out and the annual race to the first frost begins. Will that beef have enough time to ripen on the vine? What do we do with the green tomatoes still in the garden? When will you get that first frost? Grab a trowel and your gardening gloves, tomato grower; We have some work to do with the fate of your tomatoes this year. 1. How to protect your tomatoes from frost It's always best to have a game plan ready before the weatherman calls for that first frost. How much you still produce in the garden will determine how much effort you want to put into protecting your plants. Cover your plants in the evening before snow falls. Usually, a few spare bed sheets will do, but depending on where you live, you may want something substantial like a tarp or a mylar emergency blanket...

 How to Choose a Plant That Will Last Until Christmas Right now, boxes of poinsettias are being loaded onto the back of trucks and headed to a store near you. Whether or not you end up with a beautiful plant that lasts until the New Year depends on what happens when it reaches its destination. From the way poinsettias are opened to where they are displayed and maintained in the store, you wouldn't believe how often stores handle poinsettias. For a plant so easy to care for, it's surprising how many retailers get it wrong. Before Santa eats cookies in your living room at midnight, your poinsettia is probably dead. This holiday season, let's take a look at retail dos and don'ts. Knowing how they should be handled can give us clear clues that they are not properly maintained. Ultimately, this will help you pick a healthy plant from an unhealthy one. 1. What do poinsettias have in common with bananas? No, this is not the opening line of a bad joke. One of the first t...

 vegetable Gardening secrets every beginner should live by Margaret Roach has a joke she often replays with a friend who is a longtime gardener: "What's the best gardening advice you've ever received?" one asks. "Green side up," replies the other. It's a solid tip, but Roche hopes to offer even more hard-hitting advice to new gardeners with his seminal book, A Way to Garden : A Hands-On Primer for Every Season. In it, he shares insights gleaned from three decades of working his land in New York's Hudson Valley. Among his many pearls of wisdom for beginners, here are a few that will guide you to a successful experience wherever you garden. 1. Don't buy every plant you want at a nursery. This often results in a polka-dot garden, not a coherent landscape. Buy fewer items in large numbers to plant in drifts and repeat elsewhere in the garden. 2. Plants grow. Like the "green side up," this should be obvious but sometimes isn'...

5 Black Christmas Tree Ideas for a Modern Holiday Look Black may not be the most traditional holiday color, but this season, the black Christmas tree trend is putting a chic spin on the holiday classic. It's modern yet timeless and makes a festive statement that will wow guests at every holiday gathering you host. Interior designer Sandra Funk of House of Funk compares the trend to a timeless fashion icon – the LBD – and shares ideas for decorating a black Christmas tree. "Like a little black dress, black is classic," she says. "Light it up with glitter and keep it festive." If you want to trade the traditional red and green for dramatic glam this year, try a faux black Christmas tree. Black is a neutral color that gives wood ultimate versatility. "It's an incredible backdrop against which to set mirrors, feathers, metallics, and twinkling lights," suggests Funk. Dressed in colorful baubles and holiday string lights can be stunning for a mod...

 Here's how to attract colorful and happy songbirds to your yard Part of the beauty of any landscape is the fascinating wildlife that inhabits it, including beautiful songbirds. Wrens, cardinals, swallows, nuthatches, and more are some of their favorite native plants and will fill your garden with their sweet songs if you provide some water for bathing or drinking. You don't have to follow all these tips to please your winged visitors; Choose what works best for your landscape (some of which you may already be doing), and in no time your garden will become a wonderful birding spot. 1. Plant a varied landscape Attracting songbirds to the garden means creating a hard-packed, multi-layered landscape that contains a variety of plants to provide texture and food year-round. When designing and planting beds and borders, think both horizontally and vertically. Includes annuals , perennials , herbs, vegetables , and grasses. 2. Choose the best foods for birds and butterfl...