Winter is on the way. Not a problem. Why not try indoor gardening. Aside from the aesthetic value plants could provide your home with, think of the health benefits - grade school science class has it that plants cleanse the air through utilizing the carbon dioxide and producing more oxygen.

Are you clueless with this kind of gardening? Here is some indispensable information on how to be successful at having a garden that is situated right inside the comforts of your home.

Lighting

One thing you must consider is how the plants will be provided with the necessary light. You have to decide which part of the house you will place your indoor garden. This would help you in deciding which kind of plant you would take care on you indoor garden.

Here are the varieties of plants (usually those that only require medium to low light) that are known to be suitable for indoor gardening:

a. Philodendrons
b. Boston ferns
c. African violets
d. Cyclamens
e. Creeping Fig

Watering

A common mistake most people make in indoor gardening is they tend to over-water the plants, which may lead to harming the roots. Make sure to research on the type of plant you have, because each kind of plant varies on their watering needs.

Potting

Most indoor plants require the use of pots and containers. Make sure that the pot is clean before placing your new plant into it to prevent infection and for a healthy growth of the plant.

Humidity

In indoor gardening, humidity is a big issue. The amount of moisture in the air has effect on the growth of the plants. During mornings, you could spray the plants with water for their much needed moisture.

Fertilization

Just like watering, it depends on the type of indoor plants whether they require constant fertilization or not. If you have achieved to supply your indoor garden with the appropriate amount of light, water and humidity, fertilization may not need much attention.

With these tips in mind, you don’t have to settle for plastic decorative plants in your house. Anyone can maintain an indoor paradise with an indoor garden.

You should consider adding magnolias to your backyard landscape.

Why?

They are easy to grow and relatively pest free. Most have large showy flowers and attractive large leaves. Many are evergreen and attractive year round.

There are many great shrub-sized magnolias for the smaller garden. Check with your local garden center to find magnolias and to find the best time to plant in your area.

As a rule of thumb, it is best to plant in the early spring in the  northern areas  and in the fall in the southern areas.

These tough perennials have a reputation for low maintenance and require little in the way of special care.

Daylilies are very adaptable and can be grown in almost any soil in every corner of the country. They bloom best if given full sun, and they produce more flowers if they are divided periodically. Division is also a great way to expand your planting and share plants with gardening friends.

When they cluster, it’s time to divide them. This is not a hard task and can be done anytime from late spring to early fall. Their roots will have time to grow before winter comes if this task is completed in early September.

The easiest, most effective way to begin is to use a garden fork to lift the clump from the ground.  Start by placing the fork in the ground 6 to 12 inches away from the base of the plant. Gently push down on the handle to pry the clump up and out of the soil. Work around the root ball repeating this process until the roots are freed.

Carefully lift the root ball from the hole.

Look for weak or thin areas at the center of the clump and insert the garden fork. Gently pry until you break the clump. You can further divide this into smaller plants.

Dig a wide shallow hole. The depth should be slightly less than the height of the rootball. The width of the hole should be 6 to 9 inches greater than the width of the rootball.

Place the rootball in the hole and backfill with soil. Lightly tamp the soil into place.  Apply mulch to a depth of one inch to discourage weeds and protect the roots from drying out and from temperature extremes. The area should be watered thoroughly. As a finishing touch, the foliage may be cut back to a length of about 12″ which helps the plant retain moisture while it is getting established.

The appearance of wilting leaves, and leaves that have a water logged look can be a sign that your plant is suffering from frost damage.

Another sign of frost damage can be the appearance of brown patches on the leaves.
Other signs are shown when the shoot tips on your plants start to die back. If the flowers on the plant don’t open fully or they become discolored and then start to die off, then these are also signs that frost damage might have occurred.

There is no treatment for frost damage other than to remove the damaged portions of the plant in an effort to make it look a little healthier. Provided the damage hasn’t been too severe you might not lose the plant.

Sometimes frost damage is not noticeable for a few days after a frost has occurred and this is particularly so if the frost was a very light one.

The best way to protect against frost damage, or to reduce the effect that frost might have on your garden is to choose the best plants for your climate conditions. If you are living in an area that is susceptible to frosts then your best course of action is to choose plants that are frost-tolerant.

By planting in areas that are exposed or where frosts occur more frequently you will increase the chances of losing plants to frosts so it is wise to plant in sheltered spots or areas other than where there are frost pockets.

You can offer some protection to your plants by wrapping them in Hessian cloth or frost cloth until after the period of frost has passed.

There will be times in such climates where it is not possible to know when there will be a frost and these out of season frosts can kill a whole plant.

When you are buying or receiving plants from someone there are a few things that you need to look at before deciding to plant them in your garden.

You will generally get a better quality plant from a garden center and it will be less likely to have disease or other problems that could spread to other plants in your garden.

There is still the possibility that the garden center plant might not be the healthy specimen that you might expect so you should still check it out before parting with your money.

The first thing you need to do is look at the plant and see whether it looks healthy.

This might seem very obvious but we often assume that buying from a garden center will assure us of a healthy plant when in actual fact even garden centers can have problem plants and you don’t want to be the new owner of their problems.

Plants are very good at showing any signs of distress so a plant that doesn’t look healthy, generally isn’t.

Check the conditions of the leaves, stems and roots of the plant where possible.
You should also look at the condition of the soil that it has been growing in, as this will have had an effect on its health.

If you are buying flowering plants it is always best to buy the ones that have yet to flower, as they will withstand the trauma of transport and transplanting better than those that already have flowers.

If there is no alternative but to buy or receive plants that already have flowers then many people suggest that you should remove all the flowers to give the plant a better chance of survival.

While you might be reluctant to do so, you will probably have a better plant that will produce more flowers in the future.

If there is anything on the plant that concerns you seek advice or decide against having that plant in your garden

If you haven’t yet started a garden in your backyard, whether a flower garden or a vegetable garden, there is no time like the present.

The purpose of this garden digest is to bring you information that will allow you  to make a backyard landscape you will be prouc of and you can enjoy with your family.

Visit often as I will bring you the best garden tips on the internet.