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Trees & Houseplants : Home & Garden

Bluebeard Plants

Bluebeard, or blue spirea (Caryopteris x clandonensis) is a hybrid, shrubby herbaceous plant. Gardeners value its attractive foliage, winter interest, low maintenance requirements and lavender or purple flowers that attract butterflies and bees in late summer and fall. Numerous bluebeard cultivars o

English Lavender Plant Habitat

English lavender is the most popular species of lavender plant in the United States, but its biggest claim to fame was as the foundation of the lavender oil industry in 18th century England. The hardiest of the lavender plants, English lavender can grow in harsh soil, chilly climates, and dry region

How to Trim Mature Lilac Bushes Without Killing Them

Lilacs are lovely, colorful and fragrant shrubs that grow in a variety of sizes. These hardy, easy to grow plants can survive almost any pruning done to them. When done correctly, pruning a mature and overgrown lilac will add beauty, life, and vigor to the plant and the flowers without missing bloom

How to Grow Hosta Inside

Hostas are perennial plants grown for their large, attractive leaves. They are available in a variety of shades, including light green, deep green, blue-green and variegated. In the summer, lavender or white blooms appear on stalks rising from the center of the plant; in some varieties, they are qui

The Effect of Motor Oil on Plant Growth

Some people dump used motor oil anywhere that offers a convenient spot for them to do so. They pour it onto the ground in wooded areas, in roadside ditches, into storm drains, and even into or near creeks or rivers, unaware of---or unconcerned about---environmental damage that results from irrespons

How to Overwinter Geraniums in the North

Geraniums are treated as an annual in most of the northern United States and anywhere there are freezing temperatures in the winter. However, these plants do not mind a little cold weather and are perennials in places with no killing frosts, growing as large as bushes. Insects don't bother them and

List of Different Kinds of Flowers

Flowers appear in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and forms.Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty ImagesFlowers appear in thousands of different varieties, shapes, sizes, colors and forms. Some flowers bloom in the summer, while others decorate the winter, spring or autumn landscape. Growing...

How to Grow Cordon Sweet Peas

Sweet pea is the common name for Lathyrus odoratus. Sweet peas are an old-fashioned variety of flower that produce blossoms on runners that form over the ground or climb upon vertical supports, such as fences and trellises. Some sweet pea growers use the cordon method of training these vines to prom

How to Rid Your Yard of Snakes

For anyone going into the yard and encountering a large snake, getting rid of snakes from your yard is probably going to be your next project. Here are some common ways to keep these unwanted reptiles from infringing onto your property.

How Tall Does a Crimson King Maple Grow?

A cultivar of Norway maple (Acer platanoides), crimson king is appropriate to grow in U.S. Department of Agriculture hardiness zones 3 through 7. Provide it any moderately fertile, well-drained but moist soil in a sunny location and it prospers.

About Casabanana Fruit Seeds

The cassabanana is a member of the cucumber family and is also called a sikana or musk cucumber. The fruit and seeds are used for food, medicinal and decorative purposes.

What Causes Black Soot on Gardenia Bushes?

When certain kinds of insects use your gardenia bushes as food, it leads to a process that attracts sooty mold, which is a thin layer of black mold on leaf surfaces. While it's not a true disease or a parasite, this condition blocks the foliage from receiving sunlight and that reduces photosynthesis

Carnations & Cultivation

Carnations (Dianthus), available as annuals, biennials and perennials, come in a wide range of sweet-smelling blossom choices. Commercial carnation cultivation requires the use of a greenhouse to produce abundant florist-quality blossoms. Home gardeners can grow carnations during the warm summer mon

How to Transplant & Garden a Hosta

If you are looking for something to spice up a shady part of the garden, you can't go wrong with hosta. An herbaceous perennial, hosta's soft, attractive foliage compliments most other shade garden plants. With a low profile, it fits perfectly into the front of a bed or snuggled beneath taller peren

How to Grow Flowering Ground Cover in New Jersey

Growing ground cover is an attractive alternative to planting and mowing a lawn. Once established, a good ground cover does not need weeding and will continue creeping and growing for as long as you let it. Imagine a lawn covered with low-growing flowers that you never have to mow, and you'll get th

Do Beans Grow Better in Soil or Clay?

Beans are the second most popular crop grown in U.S. gardens and come in an array of varieties, from those good for fresh eating to those best for drying and storing. Beans are relatively easy to grow, but as with any vegetable crop, paying attention to the quality of your soil will help you to impr

Methods of Control of Soil Pollution

Soil pollution contributes to water and air pollution.red algae image by antoine perroud from Fotolia.comSoil pollution occurs when a chemical is introduced into the soil in higher than normal quantities or that normally doesn't occur at all. Soil pollution may result in water pollution...

Spots on the Leaves on My Crab Apple Tree

Crab apple trees that have leaf spots are suffering from a fungal problem that might not cause immediate visible damage to the tree. Over time, however, fungal diseases progress through the crab apple and cause problems such as dieback, a smaller production of flowers and, in severe cases, the death