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Do it yourself Gardeners need all the information they can get especially when it comes to using the correct terms and having some fast handy knowledge.

Conservatories are used as a Solarium, Spa Enclosure or Greenhouse. In the daytime enjoy the warming sun light & evenings the moon & stars. However, they are great for a gardener who loves to continue their gardening throughout the winter.

To get a jump on this season's flowers, plants, and veggies, start seeds indoors before transplanting outside. But you don't need to buy a special growing light... an ordinary florescent light fixture works well for growing seedlings. The florescent lights (often seen in hardware stores and gardening centers), come in a variety of lengths with two lights per fixture. For growing seedlings, the intensity of the florescent lights should consist of one "warm" light and another "cool" light to give off the right amount of light for optimal growing conditions. The light should always be kept two to three inches from the tops of the seedlings and they should be exposed for approximately 15 or more hours a day. For convenience, plug your light into a timer. After four to eight weeks, your plants will be hardy enough to transplant into the newly thawed ground.

The difference between annuals and perennials is that annuals are flowers that bloom only once; their whole lifetime lasts just one growing season. One example is pansies. You go to the nursery or the hardware store in spring, buy some plants already blooming, plant them in your garden or window box, and they die in the fall, never to return.

Perennials, on the other hand, keep coming back year after year; they don't die each fall, they just go dormant until the weather warms again.

Flowers from bulbs are perennials; plant some bulbs this fall, and chances are they'll provide you with blooms year after year. When you see a garden with a clump of iris or tulips or daffodils that is bushy and thick with flowers, you know those bulbs were probably planted years ago, as often the flowers multiply over the years.

Make a compost pile. Start with a large wooden or metal bin that will hold decomposing material and won't leak. (You could consider using chicken-wire bins but you then you run the risk of attracting rodents and other wild animals into your yard.) You can toss in all kinds of materials ranging from grass clippings to dead leaves to kitchen scraps such as rotten vegetables and nitrogen-rich eggshells. To speed the process along, try to add in only small pieces and add manure, blood meal or cottonseed meal, all which accelerate decomposition. If the bin starts giving off heat, your compost pile's a winner. One last tip: Aerate the pile regularly with a pitchfork to keep the microorganisms working at full efficiency.

Gardening is exercise. Recent research indicates that 30 minutes daily of moderate exercise such as gardening lowers blood pressure and cholesterol levels, helps prevent diabetes and heart disease, and prevents or slows osteoporosis. You may even live longer. That's all good news for gardeners.

"Tread the Earth Lightly" and in the meantime… May your day be filled with…

Peace, Light and Love,

 

Author's note: This article was originally written for GreenThumbArticles.com