8 Great Plants For an Aromatic Garden

Thursday, October 13, 2011

A garden design NJ can be beautiful, productive and even smell good. There are many plants that have flowers that smell good, but the 8 plants listed here are plants that even the leaves release wonderful aromas that can perfume your lawn.

Hyssop (Agastache) - Flowers and leaves both have a heavenly scent. Bees, hummingbirds and butterflies absolutely love the flowers. It is a perennial, hardy at least to zone 5, so it comes back year after year, bigger and fuller each year.

Scented Geraniums (Pelargoniums) - There is a wide variety of scented geraniums and they smell and look so different. The Lemon Rose, which smells exactly as its name implies, is a beautiful plant with small, insignificant flowers. It's all in the leaves. It is a tender perennial and has to come into the house for the cold months in zone 7 or lower. In warmer climates it can be planted in the ground, where it can get quite large and may need pruning back to maintain a certain size. If you do prune it back, put the clippings in a basket somewhere in your house for potpourri. You can put the clippings in water and root them to get more
Pelargoniums. There are a lot of scents to choose from in the Scented Geraniums. There's coconut, lemon, apricot, rose, citronella, and many more. The coconut is really nice but the plant isn't quite so pretty.

Tarragon- Even though this is a culinary herb, it could easily be used for its scent alone. It's a beautiful plant that smells so good and it taste as good as it smells. It's not only good for cooking but makes a really good herbal tea, hot or cold. It's a perennial that's hardy at least to zone 5 with protection.

Lavender - All parts of this plant smell wonderful. French Lavender (Spanish Lavender), which is common in France and grown for its oil content, is easy to grow and blooms in the spring and again later in the summer. I like to cut the blossoms and tie them in bundles and hang them upside down to dry, but cut fresh and used in small bouquets is the best. It's hardy at least to zone 5.

Variegated Plectranthus - This beautiful plant has the smell of fine, old antique wood, with a hint of citrus. It grows fast and is beautiful trailing in hanging baskets. This is a tender plant and can be a houseplant for the winter. Your house will smell so good.

Mint - Mint has such a refreshing smell and is extremely easy to grow. So easy in fact, that it really should only be grown in containers or in a confined area or you will be pulling mint out of every flower bed in your entire yard before you know it. There, the warning came first. Now, about the wonderful smell. One of the best smelling of the mints is the Chocolate Mint. It smells just like a Peppermint Patty. Then there's apple mint, spearmint, peppermint, orange mint etc. etc. Some of them you really have to use your imagination to smell the "apple" or "orange" but they still smell good. A hardy perennial, it will pop up again next spring.

Wormwood (Artemesia) - This is a silvery, lacy plant. The leaves smell like a potpourri that doesn't have a floral base. I think it is actually used in potpourri. It has a very pleasant, clean scent. Artemesia is a hardy perennial that sometimes gets a little too big, but can easily be cut back.

Helichrysum - This plant has a beautiful scent like fresh straw and some sort of fruit. It has green leaves that look frosty. It's a trailing plant that works good in pots or hanging baskets. It will have to come in for the winter but can go back out in the spring.

When planning your garden design, consider some of these great plants. Your garden might as well smell good as look good. Right?

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/6582569

What to Look For in New Homes For Sale

Wednesday, October 12, 2011


If you are looking to move into a brand new dream house, then you should definitely consider buying display homes. There are a lot of advantages, such as top notch design and construction, that you can never go wrong. There are a lot of deals and offers you can choose from, so you can buy a new home according to your preferences. Purchasing new houses for sale can be quite cumbersome. However, with packages and deals from display houses, you will be able to find a house plans and designs that are good for your taste and budget. There are lots of options that you can choose from like the house should be energy-efficient, sustainable and thoroughly green if you want your house designs eco friendly. Look for the home design that is updated with the latest trends and keep in mind that the house plans and designs should meet your needs and requirements.

Before buying a display house, it is good to first look at different design homes. This will let you choose the specifications of your new dream house. There are a lot of design houses available for you to choose from. Depending on the kind of house plans and designs you are looking for; choose the one that is best suited to your preferences. Consider the use and function of the home, as well as those who will inhabit the space.

You will also be able to choose from a variety of different house designs. If contemporary and modern is more your taste, then you should opt for houses with geometric shapes and hard, sharp lines. These are the common characteristics of modern architecture. However, if you like classic house designs, try looking and reviewing different house design to choose which one you think will be best for your dream house.

You will find that there are a lot of new homes for sale available in the market today. Display houses can be a great way to inspect a new house you are planning to buy. A great investment would be in home and land packages. Investing in a land is the greatest thing you can do, as the value rarely goes down.  

Article Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?What-to-Look-For-in-New-Homes-For-Sale&id=4095015

How To Find A New Home Builder

Friday, October 7, 2011

Owning their own dream home is what everyone would like to realize - to be able to look at a home and say, "this is mine." Home means security. Home means life. You will never be at ease until you have a place you can call home. And it must be more than a physical building.

The physical edifice and the space reserved for you and your family determines the quality of life and comfort that you enjoy. Offering your family this space is what you would consider one of the important necessities of life. If you are looking for a new home builder, there are some factors you may want to consider. Your dream home is not just any kind of space. It will be your refuge, the place where you offer welcome to friends and where you keep your family safe from whatever dangers and threats life may present.

Who you choose to build your home will determine the quality and beauty of the home you end up having. Before thinking about getting a new home builder, there is quite a lot you will have to do. Your home will be definitely the materialization of concepts and thoughts you have. Determining where to build, what kind of structure to have for a home, and the building material are things that you would need to consider first.

This might look easy, but it is not at all. It demands careful thought that involves a lot of issues that have to be considered. You need to think about the safety of the place you want to have your home erected on. Is it free from natural calamities such as floods and landslides? What part of the city are you looking in? What kind of home do you want? Would it be just a holiday home or your regular family home? These are questions you will need to ask yourself first and they are questions you need to answer before looking for a builder.

After you have considered what you want, your next step is to talk with a contractor. There are many building firms out there. But they are not all the same. That is something you must consider very carefully. Going for experience and specialization is important. An experienced builder will understand what you want after the first explanation. Some will even help you choose the plans. But experience is not everything you need to look at.

You need to know if the builder has built similar homes before. That is why checking track records is something to take seriously. What kind of builder is he or her? What do they specialize in? What materials does the firm use in construction? Finding a new home builder is not a difficult thing. But getting one with the skills you need is the challenge. When you find one, then you can be sure that you will have your dream home in the end.

A builder with the talents you are looking for will have you design a plan that meets your specifications. He will complete your home with relative ease and efficiency. A good home builder might not mean lesser cost. You may not care how much you pay if your home matches your dreams anyway. And with a great builder, you should have no re-working on your home at some future date.  

Article Source:http://ezinearticles.com/?How-To-Find-A-New-Home-Builder&id=5547952

How To Create A Flower Garden For Beginner's

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

The flower garden design truly is a thing of beauty. Like many people I always wanted my very own. I didn't know where to start, what to grow, or even how. But once I got the basics down I realized that it doesn't have to be very hard. It can actually be very easy to grow your very first flower garden with the right knowledge.

Were going to take a quick tour of the basics of flower gardening. If you can master these things then you too can grow a stunning flower garden.

What Type Of Flower?

There are three different types of flowers. Annuals, Perennials, and Biennials. The main two were going to look at is Annuals and Perennials.

Annuals: These flowers are grown from seed each year and then they bloom. Once their season is over then it is over. You have to replant these each year from seed again.

Perennials: This type usually has some root or a dormant period where they can continue to survive until there next season. So these types of flowers don't really die.

Both of these are suitable for the beginner gardener. Some do find perennials to be a little more work, but usually their not that much more work. Actually, Perennials do very well in environments where the weather is cold in the winter.

You should try to mix up your flower garden design with both of these types. There are flowers of both types that are easy to grow for someone new to flower gardening.

You Need Some Fertilizer

Weather you like it or not your going to need some fertilizer or compost. Even a garden with good soil should still have fertilizer added to it.

There are allot of different types, but the best type of fertilizer is always manure. Yes it does smell, but... it is the most natural form of soil enhancement there is. You just can't beet it.

Not any manure will do. Picking the right manure for the right plants can help the growth of your flowers a great deal. For example, cow manure doesn't heat the same way other types do. This makes cow manure good for flowers that don't like the hot manures. It helps to find out what your plants like better.

You are not just limited to manure. You can get more commercial types of fertilizer if you wish. These fertilizers can be used in conjunction with manure. Just realize that these fertilizers are not really a good substitute for manure.

Watering Your Flower Garden

All of your plants will require different amounts of water. You need to be aware of the plants that need to be watered regularly. For example, most types of roses will need to have plenty of water. At the same time some flowers will not require that much water. In fact you may even harm some flowers by over watering them.

Your location will matter too. If you have a well made flower bed out in the open your flowers may get enough water from the rain. If you live in a dry climate they wont get enough, and if they are in a sheltered area they wont get very much rain water either.

The soil can make a difference in how often you must water. Sandy soil will need to be water frequently because it dries out fast.

A final tip you should know watering your plants deeply is ideal. Simply sprinkling water over them will not always be good enough to get to the roots.

Grow It The Right Way

Each flower you choose to grow will have it's own ideal growing conditions. The idea is to put it into those ideal conditions the best you can.

Some flowers will grow better in certain soil, under certain weather conditions, require different amounts of water, need more space apart, and so forth. Learn about the flowers that you would like to grow so that you can give them their best chance of survival.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/1160515

What to Look for in New Homes for Sale

 

There are thousands of new homes for sale available on the market today mainly due to the recent recession. This has resulted in a decline in the overall home value. What's interesting is that while the housing economy is slowing recovering at a steady pace, home prices remain low across the board thereby making now the perfect time to a new house. Today's article will focus some tips for prospective home buyers as to what should they look when looking at newly built houses.

Does It Meet Your Requirements? Every family has a different criterion when choosing a home. They all have different needs, different requirements and different expectations. When looking at new homes, the first thing to check is whether they meet the requirements. Does it have the enough bedrooms? What about spacious living and dining areas? How does it look from the outside? Does it have a backyard? These are important questions that need to be answered before one makes up their mind about pursuing further.  

New Homes Price The price is an important factor in any type of purchase and new houses are no exception. Although the slow economy has slashed overall home prices, families are still very keen on how much they spend. They want a great home for the best price just like any other person. When visiting new model homes always check the area's overall market value and then compare it with the price of the home.  

Keeping an Eye Out for the Future Everyone is keeping their fingers crossed as the economy continues to smooth out every quarter. With that in mind, people are also keeping a close eye on the future particularly, for any aspects that will enhance the overall value of their home in the coming years. When visiting a new community of homes, pay close to attention to the surroundings and ask about projected future expansions. Many communities set aside space for schools, malls or commercial areas. They increase the overall value of the location in the long run. Furthermore, new homes located near major highways or popular attractions are very likely to add to their overall worth in the future. Know Your Builder Always make sure that your new home is constructed by a reputable home builder that has been in the businesses for a sufficient amount of time and has a good approval rating among the home owners. There are many other things to look for when browsing new homes for sale. However these are some of the most common and most discussed ones. It is recommended that people do plenty of research and browse multiple homes and counties before making a final decision.  

Article Source: http://ezinearticles.com/?What-to-Look-for-in-New-Homes-for-Sale&id=5736668