Home Garden

Have you always wanted to have your own garden, and yet because you live inside a condo, you’ve never really got around to doing it? Well, don’t lose hope – it’s never too late to get started with indoor gardening. You can choose some plants that live well inside and which you can put in small pots and just place these in your porch or by your window sill. You can get the satisfaction of seeing your garden grow right inside your home, and if you decide to plant herbs and spices, you can even get the pleasure of eating your own produce!

Planting Herbs Indoors

Herbs and spices have been around for centuries. In fact, history even says that some countries were conquered because they have the best spices which were considered high valued commodities in the past. Herbs are loved for the distinct taste and aroma that they contribute to ordinary dishes. Other than being used for cooking, herbs are also known for their medicinal properties and the health benefits that they give the body. Sometimes they are also used for fragrance and beauty skin care products. What’s great about herbs is they can be grown indoors and are not really that difficult to raise.

You can start your herb indoor gardening by planting oregano, thyme, basil and parsley. If you have just these four herbs, you can already have a kitchen full of possibilities, because of the flexibility of these herbs as culinary taste enhancers. Tarragon is another good herb that you can plant and use as a spice or as tea. It is known for its unique taste and its relaxing effect on the body.

You can plant these herbs in small pots, or if you do have a yard outside, you can make a bed of soil and plant your herbs there. If you don’t have the luxury of space, just use small pots and hang or place these by your window so that you can easily reach out for them whenever you need them for your dishes.

If you please, you can buy decorative pots, plant herbs in them and scatter these around your house. Make sure there is enough drainage for the water to come out and that your plants are still exposed to the right amount of sunlight, even when they are indoors ost of the tie. Choose brightly colored pots that can also enhance the look of your living room or dining area.

Indoor gardening can be quite relaxing, and the benefits that you gain out of it are abundant. Read on plants other than your usual herbs and spices, that may grow well indoors and start appreciating a taste of nature inside your home.

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Measuring and controlling soil moisture is critical to growing and maintaining healthy plants. To a novice, many of the terms regarding soil moisture can be confusing. In this primer we attempt to define and relate the various technical terms related to soil moisture, and to describe state of the art soil moisture sensors.

The best way to think of soil is to use the analogy of a sponge. When you dip a dry sponge into water it will absorb water slowly until it is completely saturated. When you pull it out of the water, water will gush out quickly, because of the effect of gravity, and after a few minutes the water will drip out of it at an increasingly slower rate until it stops dripping. The point at which the sponge is full of water, yet gravity can no longer pull water out of it is analogous to the measurement we call field capacity. When the soil has been saturated, and any excess water has been removed by gravity, the soil is at field capacity. This is also referred to water holding capacity (WHC).

Now suppose you take a vacuum cleaner and place its hose on the sponge. If powerful enough, the suction of the vacuum cleaner will pull water out of the sponge, until most of the water is removed. Note that regardless of how strong the vacuum is, a little bit of water will remain in the sponge, and it will appear moist. To drive out all of the water from the sponge, you would have to heat it. We compare this to soil where the vacuum represents the roots of a plant. The roots suck water out of the soil with a pressure determined by capillary action. The plant will be able to suck excess water out of the soil until the capillary pressure can no longer overcome the soil’s tension to retain the water. This point at which a plant’s root can no longer extract water is called the “willing point”, which as you can imagine is a critical parameter.

One more important term is the “plant available water”. This is the available amount of water in soil that can actually be used by the plant. Just because soil may have water in it doesn’t mean that the plant has enough “suck” to pull it out. So the definition of plant available water is the holding capacity minus the wilting point. Good soils have large plant available water, meaning they have high holding capacity, and low wilting points, so that water is available, and easy for the plant to extract.

As soil varies in composition, so do these parameters. Soil types are defined by their particle size. Sand is coarse – of course, and clay is made up of very fine particles, while silt is a medium particle size. Because clay soil has very fine particles it tends to hold moisture well, but it also holds on to it so the wiling point of clay is quite high, making it difficult for plants to extract the moisture. Sandy soil is very porous and so water flows out easily, and a result it has low holding capacity. The perfect soil has high holding capacity, and a low wilting point. To achieve this perfect soil, soils of different particle size are mixed together with organic matter such as humus.

Now that we have discussed how soil holds water, we can discuss how to measure soil moisture. Since the purpose of measuring soil moisture is to know if plants are getting enough water, we would want to measure the water that is available to their roots. Ideally we would measure the water with an “artificial” root. One very accurate method of doing this is with a tensiometer, which measures the water as a function of pressure. Since it measures pressure or tension its units are also in terms of pressure. The tensiometer doesn’t tell you what the absolute moisture content of the soil is, but hearkening back to our soil moisture analogy, tells you how much pressure it takes to suck water out of the soil.

Many technical articles describe results from tensiometers and give units in pressure such as bars, etc. Now if you happen to know what sort of soil the tensiometer is measuring, then you can compute the absolute soil moisture or at least get an estimate of it. A clay soil may have high moisture content, and at the same time have a high pressure, rendering the moisture useless to the plant. While tensiometers are accurate, and provide useful information they are delicate and expensive scientific instruments that require specialized knowledge to operate and interpret. They are also slow in the sense that they have to come into equilibrium with the surrounding soil before a measurement can be made, so they are not ideal for use in making quick measurements.

Another similar approach to the tensiometer is the gypsum block. This is essentially 2 stainless steel electrodes that are encased in plaster. As moisture absorbs into the gypsum resistivity decreases. The gypsum serves as a salt barrier. Many cheap soil moisture sensors consist of two stainless steel rods that insert into the soil. This approach is highly inaccurate due to salts in the soil which can wildly change the resistance of the soil, and thus give inaccurate readings of moisture content.

The gypsum block sensor partially overcomes salinity issues with the gypsum barrier. The main disadvantages with gypsum blocks is that they are typically slow and bulky. After a block is placed in the soil, there is a lag before the gypsum comes to the same moisture level as the surrounding soil. Because they are large and obtrusive they can’t be used in potted plants. The output of a gypsum block is an electrical resistance, this is in turn related to moisture in the units of pressure with the use of look up tables.

Modern soil moisture sensors use electronics to measure the dielectric constant of the surrounding material which happens to be related to moisture content. These sensors are also known as capacitive soil moisture sensors, or TDR soil moisture sensors. These sensors are small and unobtrusive so they can be used with potted plants, provide instant readings, are simple to use, are very affordable, and many are low power. Because of their low cost and low power requirements, these sorts of sensors are being massively deployed in irrigation systems in wireless mesh networks such as Zig bee networks.

These sorts of electronic probes measure the soil moisture in absolute terms, namely the volume of water to the volume of soil, also know as VWC. Another related soil moisture measurement unit is GWC or gravimetric water content, which is defined as the mass of water, to the mass of soil. VWC and GWC are related by the bulk density of the soil, so if you know the density of the soil you can convert from one to the other. VWC is more commonly used. VWC is also related to pressure, to convert from one to the other the type of soil must be known. As was mentioned, a clay soil may have a high VWC, but a plant may have a hard time extracting water from it.

Accurate measurement and interpretation of soil moisture data, can allow individuals or computerized systems make decisions about water usage, saving valuable water resources, and promoting healthy plants.

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Have you ever considered setting up a garden for your entire family? Wouldn’t it be neat having a space for everyone to enjoy and to work together in? Here are a few tips for you to think about and consider when you start planning for a family garden:

1. The garden needs to be green. You might say this is pretty obvious. I am however referring to the new definition of the word “green”. The garden needs to be environmentally friendly. You want to add something to the planet, not create more damage. So carefully consider what kind of garden you want and the types of vegetables, flowers, shrubs or trees that you want to plant. What type of layout do you want to have? Will you have a pond, a small waterfall, or just plants? These are all questions you need to consider before you put the shovel in the ground the first time.

2. The garden needs to be functional. Now you are really starting to wonder where I am coming from. What does functionality have to do with a garden? Your garden could be the most elaborate in the neighborhood, but if it is not functional you have wasted your time, money and effort. While beautiful and colorful plants may be visually appealing, they may not be the optimum usage of space for your family. Consider having several smaller spaces in your garden for different uses, for example: a sitting area; a quiet meditation area; a children’s play area and/or an area for pets.

3. Consider the needs and desires of the entire family, including your pets. Everyone has a different opinion as to what is beautiful or not. Some people are formal and want every leaf just so, others just want a place to run and play. Think about a spot for picnics, or open spaces to play in. Think about what would make this a fun, yet relaxing and entertaining space that the entire family will enjoy. You’ll be surprised what you can come up with. Get the entire family involved. Go to home and garden shows and go visit public gardens. See what others have done and go for it.

4. Do you know what you want to get out of the garden? I think I have already touched on this, but it is important. What area of the world do you live in? Do you have 4 seasons? Or are you in a hot environment? The area you live in and the climate changes you experience will give you some things to consider. You might not want to have an acre of green grass if you live in a desert type of environment. And if you live in the north, tropical plants will not be a good fit. So please keep in mind the region you live in before you start your garden project. Also consider using plants that are native species to your region, as they will be hardier and not upset the local bio-system.

5. Will you have a need for privacy? Are you looking for a private spot to meditate or to relax? This would imply that you might want vines, or bushes to give you privacy. Or how about a small maze that ends in a seating area? Let your imagination soar.

Hopefully this has given you some food for thought. Getting a garden going will be something the entire family can get into and it will be good for the environment and planet. It will also give you something to be able to enjoy when you have time off and need to get away – right in your own backyard!

I never considered myself creative until I took up gardening, but gardening is definitely one activity that brings out the creative juices in even the most creatively challenged of us.

Gardening is an activity that gets in your blood and your bones. It can take over your thoughts and makes you obsessive. A dear friend of mine and fellow gardener sums it up best in her email signature:

There is a very fine line between “hobby” and “obsession”.

Excessive amounts of time spend on the follow activities may be a sign that you have crossed over the line:

• Buying gardening magazines
• Joining garden clubs
• Viewing public and private gardens
• Researching your favorites plants online
• Spending hours searching for new and interesting plants
• Visiting nurseries and botanical gardens near and far

These are all signs that must be heeded!

There is something very rewarding about digging in the dirt and seeing the fruits – or flowers – of your labour. Gardens are a never-ending, always evolving project. You are never done. If closure is what you are looking for, gardening is not the activity for you.

In spite or your hard work some of your favourite plants which have been thriving for years suddenly decide to move on, never to be seen again. On the other hand, there are those surprises that you never planted that suddenly appear to delight you for years to come. An exact science it is not. An ever rewarding “hobby” or “obsession” it is.

Joining a garden or horticultural club or association is one way to share your obsession without getting glazed looks in return. Ah – people who understand your passion for hemerocallis (daylilies) and heucheras. Who will share their favorite plants with you and offer you their wisdom to go with it. Life is good.

So nurture your artistic side and let the creative juices flow. But be forewarned. When the dirt gets under your nails the passion may enter your blood, and when that happens, there is no turning back!