Container Gardening

If you're trying to find a way to have a garden but you don't have a yard, or you're just trying to add interest to an outdoor space, consider container gardening.

1. The key to a container garden, the potting soil. There are so many brands on the market, but you can also mix your own by combining two parts of peat moss with one part of builder's sand.

2. Think outside the box or pot when you're choosing your container, as long as you provide good drainage there are so many things that can become plant containers. From baskets to old shoes or even pottery can find new life in your garden.

3. Choose your plants carefully. Plants with like temperaments in the same pot, so group sun and water lovers together in one spot and shade lovers in another.

4. Don't forget to put some drainage material in the bottom of your container, broken pots, packing peanuts or pebbles are all good choices.

5. Add some potting soil, arrange your plants and then fill with additional soil around the perimeter.

6. Once your container is finished, water it well. I like to dissolve an envelope of unflavored gelatin in a quart of water. It makes a nitrogen rich plant food that helps the plant retain water!

Happy Day After Valentine's Day!

Chocolate covered strawberries, champagne and roses, signs of Valentines Day but all with challenges. From how to keep the flowers lasting long to how to keep the stains from setting in.

1. If you got flower's you want them to last, but flowers only come with one pack of preservative. How can you replicate it? Well preservatives have three main components sugar for food, citric acid for controlling the ph and an antibacterial ingredient to kill germs. To make your own, a capful of hydrogen peroxide or bleach will take care of the antibacterial. And for the sugar and citric acid it's a two-fer, a tablespoon of powdered lemonade mix has them both!

2. How about chocolate covered strawberries? If you have chocolate on your clothes, scrape away as much as you can with a dull knife, then working from the back of the fabric rub white shaving cream into the spot with a soft bristled toothbrush. This method should push the stain back out of the fabric. As for the strawberries, lay the item over a sieve in the sink. Then pour boiling water over the stain, through the sieve. It will loosen and remove the stain in short order. This also works well on red wine stains.

3. Champagne stains can be treated with club soda. It contains both sodium and carbonation these elements work together to keep the spill from becoming a stain. As with any stain removal tip, make sure you test the item in an inconspicuous spot to make sure that the solution won't damage the fabric!