Tag: plants

Real-Life Tarzan: Plant-Lover Spends Over $26,000 Turning Home Into Jungle

A plant-lover has spent 20,000 pounds ($26,000) on turning his home into an indoor jungle complete with 3,000 plants. Jonny Balchandani, 34, has slowly been transforming his home for the last decade after falling in love with nature and plants. His five-bed home in Castlemorton, Malvern, England, has been taken over by indoor plants, with over…


A Non-Expert’s Guide to Keeping Houseplants Alive

Big, leafy indoor plants have been all the rage and one of the most popular fads for the past few years. They’re obviously not a new thing, but it seems that every new home turns to these green beauties to decorate and fill each nook and cranny of space. But for me, indoor plants have…


Garden Birds Are Struggling: Four Ways to Help

More than a quarter of Britain’s birds are now on the RSPB’s red list, meaning that their numbers are in severe decline. Some of the recent additions to the red list are thought of as common garden birds, such as the greenfinch. Others, such as the swift and house martin, only spend spring and summer…


Urban Gardens Are Crucial Food Sources for Pollinators – Here’s What to Plant for Every Season

Pollinators are struggling to survive in the countryside, where flower-rich meadows, hedges and fields have been replaced by green monocultures, the result of modern industrialised farming. Yet an unlikely refuge could come in the form of city gardens. Research has shown how the havens that urban gardeners create provide plentiful nectar, the energy-rich sugar solution that pollinators harvest from flowers to…


Why Are My Plants Turning Yellow?

Are the leaves of one of your favorite plants turning yellow, but you can’t tell why? There are several possible causes for the discoloring of foliage. Here’s an infographic created by Safer Brand to help you figure out what might be happening to make your greenery go yellow, and how you can go about fixing it. The…


Tips for Starting Your First Organic Vegetable Garden

The basics for success in any garden are sun, soil, and water. Most vegetables and fruit thrive with 6-8 hours of direct sun each day. Since sunlight is required for photosynthesis—the way plants make food–make sure the plants are exposed to as much as possible. Soil that drains quickly and is nutrient rich is critical,…


Received Potted Flowers as a Gift? Here’s How to Keep Them Alive

By now, you surely know that Valentine’s Day was last week. If you didn’t give flowers and you need to make up for it, you may want to give an entire plant. Or maybe you did get a plant and want to know how to keep it alive. Several potted flowering plants are commonly given…


How to Start Garden Seeds Indoors A Basic Technique

I can’t tell you how excited I am to start garden seeds indoors while there’s still a blanket of snow on the ground. Watching seeds germinate and seedlings grow, and looking forward to summer crops and beautiful blooms while the weather is dreary, brings life to an otherwise gloomy winter. Aside from helping me to…


Can Gardening Save Your Life?

A meta-analysis of studies on gardening shows that short-term or long-term gardening can reduce depression, anxiety, and stress, elevate mood, regulate Body Mass Index, increase the quality of life, provide a sense of community, and improve cognitive function. Every gardener knows how great they feel after being outdoors among nature and tending to their plants….


Fall-Blooming Rhododendron

Q: I have many native and hybrid rhododendrons. One of my hybrids is now blooming and covered in buds. The flowers are much smaller than usual, and this past spring it had hardly any blooms. Never have I seen this plant bloom at this time of year. Not complaining. Just confused. A: Your rhododendron is…