The idea that an appealing outside is your best offense for intriguing potential buyers is based on the simple concept that first impressions really count. The great thing about learning some key elements of landscaping is that you can apply them to a home that you are just settling into, as well as one you are about to sell. For those who are selling or buying real estate in Tampa Bay Florida, some extra curb appeal advice will go a long way.

Florida is popular for nature-lovers. Instead of trying to keep up with garden hobbyists, present a clean, green impression, rather than a mini-arboretum. The decluttered impression that you want for the inside, should apply to the outside. Imagine a buyer coming to view your Tampa Florida Real Estate house and all they can think is either, "how will I keep up with all those tropical flower beds?" or "how long will it take me to undo all of this?" Not that you should tear down all your hard work from a spectacular garden; just be sure to have it freshly pruned, trimmed and weeded for buyers, so they don’t feel like they have to have a green thumb if they want to buy your home.

Select your plants according to how much sun and water they need. Then, focus on buying smaller selections (or larger if your budget allows) of some of Florida’s award-winning specimens like the East Indian Holly Fern, which is wonderful for mass ground cover, and the Dwarf Golden Dewdrop for a beautiful border shrub with its yellow-gold leaves. Make up for size with color, with the purple-blooming Princess Flower, or the Yellow Elder, that will grow quickly (up to eight or ten feet tall). The plants you pick should attract the eyes to the house with their complimentary shades. For example, forest green trim on a house is complimented by shrubs with yellow leaves, and homes with neutral features can always use a few splashes of dramatic color in their landscaping.

Take a picture of the front of your house with you as you visit nurseries and garden shops. Garden professionals can suggest which colors and varieties will work best for your particular home. They should also be able to tell you what kind of mulch, pebble or lava stones you should use for each. The colors of these can also add a lovely contrast of color.

Plant a few annuals near the mailbox and an odd number of shrubs or hedges in front of the house to create depth. Make your house inviting with colors that compliment, but don’t complicate. If your house is basic in design, plant a few romantic Magnolias or exotic Calathea to break up the lines. Likewise, a house with a modern exterior can be dressed down for the conservative eye with neatly trimmed Serissa Foetida hedges and simple splashes of annuals.

If you want something even more simple, try buying big, decorative pots and filling them with a few shades of hardy flowers. This takes care of catching the eyes of the buyer, yet implies the perfect level of impermanence for the more fickle-natured. You can offer to leave the pots, or take them with you if the buyer doesn’t want them. This can be a quick fix for those who are trying to move, sell and maintain a family and full-time job at the same time. There are plenty of ways to get elaborate with landscaping, but if you need to keep things easy, focus on complimentary colors, hearty specimens and as neat of an exterior as possible, so buyers and visitors will see your house as a breath of fresh, tropical air.

Bob Lipply is a licensed broker associate with Remax Realtec in Palm Harbor, Florida. He has many years of experience in selling Tampa Bay Florida Real Estate and has helped many families relocate to Florida and find their dream homes. Visit his website at Tampa Real Estate or contact him direct at 1-888-423-5775. e-mail address is info@lipplyrealestate.com

Deciduous trees dazzle us with the brilliance of the golds, oranges and reds they display before dropping their leaves in the autumn. However, you don’t have to be satisfied with autumn leaf color alone. Consider planting fall flower bulbs.

Spring-flowering bulbs are universal symbols of spring. Many of us wait to see the cheerful little crocus as it pops through the last of the winter snows. The delicate narcissus, the colorful tulip, and the sunny daffodil are all spring flowering bulbs that bring out smiles after long, colorless winters. Just as spring-flowering bulbs bring a welcome burst of color as they usher in the season, fall flower bulbs offer you a last blast of vibrancy to keep in memory through a long, colorless winter.

There are two main differences between spring flower bulbs and fall flower bulbs. Spring flower bulbs are planted in the fall and need a cold period of winter dormancy to flower. Fall flower bulbs are typically planted in the spring or summer. Most fall flower bulbs aren’t winter hardy and need to be lifted in the autumn and stored until time for the next spring planting.

When selecting fall flower bulbs, always choose those that are firm and blemish-free. A good rule of thumb to remember is “the larger the bulb, the larger the bloom.” The bulb is actually a tiny womb for a flower. In fact, if you split a bulb in half, you frequently can see the bud and in some cases, even see the flower. Everything the flower needs to grow, except water, is contained inside a bulb. Although the differences between them are slight, many of these flower storehouses that we commonly call bulbs are actually rhizomes, corms and tubers. Look for these labels in addition to “bulbs” when purchasing fall-flower bulbs.

The dahlia, which grows from a tuber, is a beautiful late-summer flower that blooms until the first frost. Blooms can range from button to dinner-plate size in virtually every color except solid blue. As all fall flower bulbs, they are easy to plant and easy to care for, requiring only that you lift them in the fall for winter storage.

Colchicums are perhaps the best known but least planted fall flower bulbs. They are unique in that they only need sunlight to grow and will bloom sitting on your potting bench or even on your kitchen table! Large flowers, resembling the crocus, are typically pink. Although they need soil to make roots and foliage, because the bulb must be planted partly exposed, colchicums are a target for snails and slugs, which will peel the bulbs like an onion.

The saffron crocus is a fall flower bulb that does double duty in your flower garden. Lilac flowers display the burnt orange-red stigmas that are the source of the spice, saffron. The flowers only last for two days. Pick the stigmas on the second day, air dry them and you have just harvested flower and fruit gardening guides homegrown saffron to season your dishes.

Linda is the driving force behind our flower gardening section. Tulip Flower and Bulb Flowers section of http://www.gardening-guides.com

Morning coffee with the internet has become a tradition of mine in recent years. The internet holds a much greater variety of information than the newspaper, as well as less depressing things to read at the beginning of the day. No one should have to wake up with murder and mayhem in their face. A more pleasant mindset is found in waking to check the weather, respond to a note from a friend, or reading about an exciting new plant. This morning I went to look for further information on a particularly nifty new plant on one of my vendor’s sites. Not finding that I clicked on another link that caught my attention in their Garden Writers section.

"Meatballs, Soapboxes and Tuna Cans", to be precise.

To a person who has never been employed within the landscape industry, that phrase would bring to mind food. To insiders it would have a far different meaning. Of course where I worked it was baseballs and cubes. So this morning’s coffee was sipped between chuckles.

The author (head of sales) I would venture to say is younger than 50. Those over 50 feel that these balls, cubes, footballs or tuna cans are a staple that is required in the landscape. For the life of me I have never understood why we must have them. What is so necessary about using a shrub far to large for its placement and whacking off it’s limbs to shape it into an unnatural form? Off with its head! It should wear a size 42 long jacket, but we will force it to fit comfortably into a 10 short. It is interesting to note that also helpless poodles have also fallen victim to this manner of unnatural shaping and they are not plants. A month ago I witnessed a house cat shorn in this manner.

Mr. Woods, who wrote the afore mentioned article, has developed the opinion that it is an inherent human instinct. That we humans have so little that we actually have complete control over that our psyche has tuned in to the helpless shrubs in our yard. While I giggled often while reading his words, it struck me that he has a good point. Why else would we so cruelly inhibit the wild beauty of a shrub? In my early years I had no reason to argue with my father, the professional landscaper as to why we must do this. Quite the contrary, originally I assisted him in his whacking while trying to mimic his methods. It wasn’t until I started to design plantings and began to see plants for their own individual beauty that I began to question this barbaric practice. It has come to be a long standing argument between us over the years. He refuses to budge from his Pro Juniper stance, insisting we simply MUST have the prickly old things. Yews and Burning Bushes have their place and are quite lovely if not placed where they can be gently shaped not beaten in submission twice a season.

During my contracting days, I would arrive at a clients home for a meeting about a landscape facelift to find the sad remains of Burning Bushes, Yews and Junipers that had resided along the walk or foundation for decades. All of them left much to be desired in the looks department after the last harsh whacking. Common sense told me that following decades of cruel treatment, the poor things have given up growing hair. Why should they continue to grow it if for the past 25 years every attempt was quickly lopped off? How much squelching of creativity can a being endure before throwing in the towel? In voicing this thought to successful lawyers and surgeons , I must admit I was rewarded with raised eyebrows. Why do we insist on planting a shrub that will grow eight foot tall and 12 foot wide in a 30 inch wide space and insist it does not exceed those confines? I am in agreement with Mr. Woods, it is one area to have complete control over in our lives.

So there I stand with this super successful professional, a man of high learning, who wants to know how we can coax this spent row of 5 foot tall trunks and stems along his walk into growing more hair in the bottoms. He thinks that fertilizer cures all of man’s cruelty. (Remember that you must see things through the eye of the plant?) How am I to explain this to this person! My professional self developed a cunning approach. “A landscape has a life expectancy of about 20 years. Yours seems to be about 5 years overdue for replanting.” If this was not enough to convince the customer, I would go on to ask how long the wallpaper in their kitchen had hung there. Explaining that redecorating outdoors was just as necessary to variety in life than it was to keep up to date with their interior décor. But they wanted back what they had before it turned into bare branches! The issue of certain control may very well be the answer.

Now I am not against hedges. I am not anti-evergreen. Pruning, thinning and shaping is of definite necessity to full and lovely shrubs and even some trees. Even every other aspect of life we look for the right thing to accomplish the task, but when it comes to the plants we place in our yards we seem to fall short in the search for the proper element. Proper planning should be the first consideration and whacking could become almost obsolete. It is good to know that plant breeders are busily developing new Arborvitaes and Yews that will stay in a nice little meatball shape without whacking. News that will lessen the maintenance you must forfeit your weekend to perform, alleviate the need to butcher the bushes and make all the hedge trimmer companies hold their breath over next year’s third quarter earnings.

As for the aspect of proper planning vs. constant replacement, if the space is 30 inches wide, then it would be best to consider installing only those shrubs that will never exceed 4 foot in width. Remember, a little shaping is good and a harsh whacking is lowering the life expectancy of the elements in your landscape. Proper planning is one of the best tools in creating a low maintenance planting.

Whack-O-Matic Tammy Clayton Copyright © 2005 Tammy Clayton

Read more great Gardening articles at: http://www.lostintheflowers.com

About the author: Raised by a highly respected & successful landscape contractor in the metro Detroit area, Clayton wanted a career in anything but landscaping! Now an award-winning landscape designer, Clayton runs Flowerville Farms, a mail-order nursery in Michigan. Read more at LostInTheFlowers.com.

The bright yellow flowers of the marsh marigold (Caltha palustris) are easy to mistake for the cowslip (primula veris). Both are widespread over Europe, Asia, and the U.S. However, the cowslip is a denizen of fields and pastures while the marsh marigold inhabits sloughs and stream banks.

The marsh marigold has been used for medicinal purposes throughout history and has appeared in literature as far back as the time of Shakespeare. The complete plant is edible but bitter in taste if eaten raw. Most often, the leaves are cooked and eaten like spinach.

Related to and resembling a large buttercup, the marsh marigold sprouts from large tufts of growth that spawn large, glossy, kidney-shaped leaves and long, hollow stems, which seem to split into two flower stalks, each bearing a single blossom that may reach two inches in diameter.

You may see wild marsh marigolds in bloom from mid-March through June, but then this demure plant seems to vanish as quickly as it appeared in the spring! Definitely a wildflower, the plant is an herbaceous perennial that is also well-suited as an addition to garden pond edges. Tolerant of light levels from full sun to part shade, the marsh marigold is also a good choice for container gardening in shallow water features.

To grow the marsh marigold, soil should be kept mucky. This is one plant that does like wet feet! Even during dormancy, be sure to keep the soil moist. Propagate the plant by dividing its roots in the autumn.

Linda is leading author of the Flower Gardening section of http://www.gardening-guides.com

Well-dressed porches everywhere wear colorful hanging baskets and fantastic mixed containers for summer. Even if the occupant’s budget only allows one 10” pot hanging pot there will be brilliant color somewhere on that porch. The well-dressed porch is a must do thing whether your porch is a tiny point of entry or a Victorian wrap-around the code is that flowers are supposed to spill color from the facia toward the ground. If there is a railing then an assortment of pots and more plants of varying types begin to cluster up on the flat surface. Planter boxes and clay pots appear like runway markers down the sides of wide front porch steps. Stately terra cotta pots and urns mark the front approach to many a home. Many different styles of well-dressed porches can be chosen from and created but the fact remains that you must dress that porch. I am all for this dressing of porches. There is no bare rail space left on my own deck any summer. There have been years that the front porch was virtually hidden behind the curtain of flowers and ferns.

Greenhouses across America do a fabulous job of turning out a lot of beautiful annual containers. Delight will seize your senses the moment you step into the retail greenhouse in April and May. The warm humid atmosphere is a jungle of rainbow colors all grown to perfection. Your hair may go flat in there but it is worth the leisurely trip down the aisles. It could be hours later before you can manage to drag yourself back outside again. The showing of jungle flora at its finest can hold rapt attention for very long spans of time.

The selection of the perfect color statement for the porch is not made quickly or easily; finally you complete the mission inside the glass bubble. The pots are loaded into your vehicle and you are off to deck out your porch and patio. Some merely hang the pots just as they are from the hooks at the roofline. Others remove the hanger and slid into the yawning cavity of ornamental pots and urns strategically place for visual effect. Moss baskets, clean plastic pots and new terra cotta all filled with a garden of earthly delights festoon porches, decks and patios from sea to shining sea by Memorial Day.

The greenhouse did its job keeping that container feed and watered in optimum performance levels at perfect temperatures for its rapid growth. The fact that you get to cast your eyes upon that beauty every day fills your soul with a feeling nothing else would impart. The convenience of being able to walk in a store and carry out very mature and lovely mixtures of plants only hardy in the tropics is one that America enjoys with gusto.

The adoption of a moss basket while visually stunning compared to the same in a plastic hanging pot shows you nothing of the road that lies ahead for the two of you. Consumers like the fact that that huge 15” moss basket is light as a feather and easy to tote around. The one fact that everyone seems to not grasp is that the beautiful things you have just adopted are planted in a mixture designed to not hold moisture and drain out very rapidly. Those plants are addicted to drip-line water and food… intravenous nutrition turned on and off by a computer if you will. While they will adjust to you only feeding them once a month, they cannot go without the correct amount of moisture throughout a day in the hot dry air and relentless sun. Not if you want them to remain lush and alive, which is most likely the full intention behind you purchasing them.

Plastic containers planted by a greenhouse will hold moisture twice as long as a moss basket. The breeze can go right through the moss causing it to air-dry the potting medium at a rapid pace, add heat to that air and the dryness happens even faster. Inside a greenhouse there is no breeze, the still air is filled with humidity. That non-moving humid atmosphere breeds pests and disease. To ward off rot and other unwanted occurrences, the growers must use rapidly drying content in their pots or face loosing vast quantities of plants to problems that occur in the greenhouse bubble. Once out in the real world, you must supply enough moisture to the same pots to help them thrive in an alien atmosphere.

Fuchsias in moss baskets even when watered before you left for work will most likely be beginning to droop by about 2 pm and you will not be home for at least 4 more hours. If you only for one evening forget to water those Ivy Geraniums they will show signs of damage by the next morning. An occasional slip up is usually repairable, but let it happen one too many times and you will undoubtedly have a basket full of toast colored has-beens. The best outcome with all of these beautiful plants is achieved if you repot them in a larger container than the one you got it in with real soil mixed with a bit of sphagnum and pearlite for drainage and cover the top of that sphagnum core with some soil as well. That simple inch of soil around and under the existing quick-dry core will help it hold moisture better until you return home at the end of the day. Real soil in a moss basket is not going to work however as the soil will wash out with draining water and deposit mud on the floor beneath it. Moss baskets are very thirsty things. You might consider creating your own drip-line irrigation system for them and other hanging baskets. All the parts are available at Home Depot, including inexpensive timers you can put on your hose and set to go on and off at intervals throughout the day. This would be the optimum solution as even when you go on vacation, it will water your hanging pots and you will not have to rely on a neighbor or family member to do this for you.

I have found that I have far better luck with my annual baskets if I buy the plants small and pot the baskets myself with real soil and pearlite so they do not get water logged. No the pots will not be overflowing until the end of June, but if I forget to water them one night they will be fine and not get too dry before the next morning. I can with my busy schedule keep nice looking plants on the front porch until the frost takes them out at the end of well-dressed porch season. One of these days when I find the time to install a drip-line water system I will go back to buying my hanging plant baskets from a local greenhouse. Until them, I am just as happy with not cooking them all to a crisp while I am madly dashing through my hectic schedule that does not take me past the front porch so that I am reminded to water the plants everyone sees from the road. Some day I will have lovely moss baskets of fabulous red & purple Fuchsias there instead of dependable old Geraniums.

Read more great Gardening articles at: LostInTheFlowers.com

About the author: Raised by a highly respected & successful landscape contractor in the metro Detroit area, Clayton wanted a career in anything but landscaping! Now an award-winning landscape designer, Clayton runs Flowerville Farms, a mail-order nursery in Michigan. Read more at LostInTheFlowers.com.

If you look closely at the natural landscape, you’ll never see a large area populated by a single species. Why then would it make sense to plant a single crop in a field or in a section of your garden? It doesn’t. Companion planting makes a lot of sense.

Single crops may be easier to harvest, especially for commercial purposes, but the plants and the land both suffer for it. Farmers have learned that rotating their crops and allowing fields to “rest” with plants that can be turned back into the soil can lessen their dependence on fertilizers. That is only part of the solution to a healthy ecosystem and successful crop production.

In nature plants constantly seek out symbiotic relationships with other plants and animals around them. We are only beginning to understand the workings of these relationships. Companion planting attempts to provide a more natural environment that will help your plants thrive.

Native Americans throughout the western hemisphere were practicing companion planting when the Europeans landed. Maize (corn), squash and beans were referred to as “The Three Sisters” among many of the eastern nations when the first colonists arrived. In this situation the corn provides support for the beans and the squash suppresses weeds and keeps the soil cool and moist by virtue of it’s large leaves. This was the elementary school explanation and probably the first and last time most people gave companion planting much thought.

Besides shade and structure companion planting provides much more remarkable benefits. My experience has found companion planting to be an effective means of organic pest control as well. Combining vegetables with herbs and flowers in the same growing vicinity accomplishes a few things, which I can attest to with relative certainty.

By always having something in bloom in your garden you have a better chance of attracting beneficial insects into your garden. Herbs, flowers and even some weeds can deter some pests or act as trap plants to give pest insects something else to eat besides your vegetables. In some cases, companion plants are even thought to improve the flavor of their neighbors.

Some companion plants that we have had good luck with in our gardens

Radishes: Whether or not you like the taste of radishes they make good companions for many vegetables. They are a deterrent to most pest insects. We have had particular luck growing radishes with beans, cucumbers and members of the squash family. They seem to deter the various beetles that can decimate these crops. Radishes do not do well with members of the cabbage family.

Onions: Members of the onion family also tend to benefit a variety plants. Carrots, beets, members of the cabbage family, lettuce and tomatoes all do well with onions. Peas and beans however are not so compatible with onions.

Annual Herbs: Dill and basil seem to help our tomatoes. Basil is said to repel white fly and aphids. Dill seems to be one of many herbs and flowers to attract parasitic wasps. Parasitic wasps help control tomato hornworms by laying their eggs in the hornworms. The wasp larvae feed on the hornworms and kill them before they can do much damage.

In general the more diversity in your garden, the more successful your efforts will be. By creating a garden in harmony with the natural environment you will benefit all the inhabitants living nearby, including yourself and your family. Try companion planting this season and watch your garden grow.

Chip Phelan, a contributing editor for Organic Gardening Review, is an organic gardener living in Rhode Island. Organic Gardening Review is a resource center for organic gardening enthusiast. Find us on the web: http://www.organic-gardening-review.com

Looking for a place to share organic gardening info? Visit our Organic Gardening Discussion Forum at: Organic Gardening Forum.

What is CPTED? The official book definition is "the proper design and effective use of the built environment that can lead to a reduction in the fear and incidence of crime and an improvement in the quality of life." It is simply a goal to reduce opportunities for crime that may be inherent in the design of structures or in the design of neighborhoods. In other words, make your home or neighborhood unappealing to burglars and thugs.

Cities and Counties throughout the country are adopting CPTED ordinances requiring site plan reviews with crime prevention in mind. Law enforcement officers who are specially trained in CPTED are now working closely with Planners, Architects, City Officials, and Educators to ensure the proper design of structures, schools, and neighborhoods. These experts know how the design and use of the environment can control human or criminal behavior and reduce the fear of crime. They used natural means such as landscaping to deter criminals. Access control, natural surveillance, different aspects of lighting and its effects on human behavior, all deter crime.

Many landscape specialists incorporate CPTED into their layout & design of landscapes. Each of the following CPTED strategies are low cost guidelines that they apply to reduce the fear and incidence of crime and improve the quality of life.

1. Natural Access Control guides people entering & leaving a space through the placement of entrances, exits, fences, landscaping & lighting. Access control can decrease opportunities for criminal activity by denying criminals access to potential targets & creating a perception of risk for would-be offenders. Walkways & landscaping should direct visitors to the proper entrance & away from private areas. The design should create a perception of risk for would-be offenders. Walkways should be installed in locations safe for pedestrians & keep them unobscured.

2. Natural Surveillance is the placement of physical features, activities & people in a way that maximizes visibility. A potential criminal is less likely to attempt a crime if he or she is at risk of being observed. At the same time, we are likely to feel safer when we can see & be seen. The landscaping should be selected and installed to allow unobstructed views of doors & windows. The front door should be at least partially visible from the street. Shrubs & bushes near windows should not restrict full visibility of the property. Sidewalks & all areas of the yard should be well lit.

3. Territorial Reinforcement is use of physical attributes that express ownership such as fences, signage, landscaping, lighting, pavement designs, etc. Defined property lines and clear distinctions between private & public spaces are examples of the application of territoriality. Front porches or stoops should create a transitional area between the street & the home. Property lines & private areas should be defined with plantings, fences or retaining walls. Use thorny plants along fence lines and under windows to deter access by intruders.

4. Maintenance is a well maintained home, building or community, and creates a sense of ownership. A well kept area tends to make someone feel like they will be observed by neighbors or business owners as it is obvious people care about the area. Keep trees & shrubs trimmed back from windows, doors & walkways. Keep shrubs trimmed to 3 feet & prune the lower branches of trees up to 7 feet. Use exterior lighting at night & keep it in working order. Keep litter & trash picked up & the yard neat & free of items that might attract theft.

You can find links to more CPTED resources at www.kicklighter-landscaping.com.

John Kicklighter is the owner of Kicklighter-Landscaping. His business is near St. Louis, MO.

Tomato Seeds Vs. Tomato Seedlings?

Whether you start your own tomato seeds or buy tomato seedlings, growing them organically will produce healthier plants and better tasting tomatoes.

Tomatoes are one of the most popular summer crops grown in the U.S. High in vitamins and minerals, tomatoes are a healthy and delicious addition to any back yard garden.

Tomatoes are native to the tropical areas of Central and South America, where they grow as perennials. However, in most of the United States tomatoes are grown as annuals. In the southern states they can be grown directly from seeds planted in the ground, but in the north they must be started indoors seven to ten weeks before the last frost in your area, and then transplanted to the garden as seedlings. If you don’t have the time or space to start your own tomatoes indoors, tomato seedlings are available almost everywhere at planting time. Tomato seedlings should not be transplanted outside until nighttime temperatures are above 50F, unless you have a means of protecting them if the temperature drops.

Determinate Tomatoes Vs. Indeterminate Tomatoes

Determinate tomatoes are the bush type. They need less staking and are the better choice for growing in containers. I have had great success growing bush type tomatoes in containers of straight organic compost with just some PH adjustment. All tomatoes prefer a slightly acidic to neutral soil (6.0 – 7.0). Determinate tomatoes set all their fruit and then ripen all at once. For this reason determinate tomatoes are also a good choice for canning, especially if you have a small crop.

Indeterminate Tomatoes are the vine type. This type of tomato continues to make new fruit right up until the first frost, and is a good choice if you want fresh tomatoes for the entire season (I suggest growing some of both types).

Indeterminate tomatoes can be left to sprawl on the ground, but this makes them harder to harvest and more susceptible to rotting from contact with the ground. For this reason most gardeners use some method of support to keep their tomatoes growing in a more orderly fashion. Wire cages are the simplest method of supporting tomato plants. They come pre-made in varying sizes or can be made from fencing and can contain a plant without the need for “training” (pinching back the suckers that occur between each leaf and stem junction. These turn into additional stems.) Hint: If you make you own cages, use a mesh large enough to get your hand through.

Indeterminate tomatoes may also be staked and trained to have only one stem, or they can be grown along a trellis and trained to have two or three stems. These two methods also require that you tie the tomato stems to the supports as they continue to grow. While training tomatoes is more work, by limiting the number of stems and therefore the number of tomatoes, the resulting fruit will be bigger and juicer (for that one slice tomato sandwich). Caging however will save you time and produce ample amounts of tomatoes that are superior to what you’ll find in the supermarket.

Hybrid Tomatoes Vs. Heirloom Tomatoes

Heirloom tomatoes have not been altered and will produce fertile seeds that can be saved and grown to produce the same fruit in following years. Hybrid tomatoes will have sterile seeds or seeds that will produce one of the original varieties that made up the hybrid in the first place. I personally believe it is important to preserve heirloom varieties. Also, by saving seeds and replanting them, the resulting plants will become more adapted to your specific climate and soil type.

Hybrid tomatoes are acceptable to the organic gardener, provided they have not been genetically altered. Many hybrid types of tomato are resistant to disease and or insects. The VFN indication on plant labels refers to resistance to Verticillium Wilt, Fusarium Wilt and Nematodes respectively.

Whether you choose to grow heirloom varieties or hybrids, good organic gardening practices, will lessen the chances your plants will succumb to insects or disease. The use of plenty of rich organic compost, companion planting with herbs and flowers, generous mulching and regular watering, will all enhances your plant’s overall health and productivity.

Tips on Growing Organic Tomatoes

As with all plants, tomatoes benefit from the generous use of organic compost added to the soil.

Use plenty of mulch, not only to conserve water and hold down weeds, but also to minimize contact with soil born disease. (I prefer natural mulch to plastic. I use seaweed but leaves and glass clippings work well also)

When planting seedlings, don’t loosen roots as you would with some transplants. Remove lower leaves and plant so only the top leaves are above the ground. If plants are very “leggy”, they can be planted on their side with the top turned gently upright to protrude from the soil.

Water plants regularly in early morning preferably. Watering should be done at ground level rather than spraying the leaves.

Apply fish emulsion periodically to organically supply trace minerals that contribute to healthy plants.

Top dress with more compost midway through the season

Companion plant with basil, dill or borage to attract beneficial wasps whose parasitic larvae feed on hornworms.

Good luck with your organic tomatoes. If you haven’t grown them before your in for a treat!

Chip Phelan, a contributing editor for Organic Gardening Review, is an organic gardener living in Rhode Island. Organic Gardening Review is a resource center for organic gardening enthusiast. Find us on the web: http://www.organic-gardening-review.com

Looking for a place to share organic gardening info? Visit our Organic Gardening Discussion Forum at: Organic Gardening Forum.

It was a sunny winter’s afternoon; another perfect Sydney day. I was on my balcony enjoying the sunshine when I heard a familiar voice. It was my neighbour Tom.

"Hey Dean. My garden’s looking good," he said in a proud and confident tone. "But I can’t help but feel there’s something missing."

"Like what?" I asked.

Tom, massaging his chin and gazing out over his own version of the botanical gardens then leaned over his balcony looking me straight in the eye and in a firm voice said…"bamboo."

"Explain?" I responded with a puzzled look.

"Privacy my friend, privacy," Tom retorted.

I thought a moment, looking a little puzzled and then it hit me!

"Yes, privacy! Bamboo would give us the privacy we’ve been looking for," I exclaimed although I wasn’t sure how.

Let me fill you in. I live close to the beach in a block of four town houses. Tom lives next door with Jenny and the other two dwellings are occupied by another two couples. Until recently, we had a full view of the water but always knew it would one day be gone since we bordered a large block of vacant land. As it turned out, a large two level block of apartments was given the all clear to be built by the local council and developers didn’t waste any time in getting it up.

Our view was gone but we knew that was coming. With the building up we had another problem…lack of privacy. Suddenly blinds which I had hardly ever used were being closed constantly to keep inquisitive eyes out. We searched for answers and found none until Tom uttered the magic word…bamboo!

"So Tom, what do you know about bamboo?"I asked in a not so confident tone.

"Plenty Dean, plenty", he replied in an almost sarcastic fashion.

We both went downstairs into the garden area. Tom led the way. He reminded me of one of those gardening experts on television. I was almost in awe.

"Well Dean",Tom said resembling some botanical icon that I could have put a dozen names to."Bamboo comes in a heap of different varieties. See this corner over here, I think we’ll put in some 0ldhamii. Do you know it grows up to 40 feet?"

"Yes," I replied. "I’ve heard that!" The truth be known, I had no idea at the time.

Tom then quickly paced up and down the length of our fence.He stopped and looked at me and said in an authoritative voice.

"You know, for height I think we might put in some Chinese Painted Bamboo…or how about some Giant Buddha Belly.Do you know it also can grow to over 50 feet."

"Amazing I thought," looking high up into the sky then replying a little sarcastically.

"I just hope we’re not in any flight paths!"

Tom didn’t hear me. He was in bamboo heaven. He was kind of talking to me but to himself, if you know what I mean. He grabbed his chin again and spoke in a soft but stern tone.

"We’ve got to be careful with the running varieties of bamboo Dean."

I hesitated slightly and then responded a little shakily… " Your…you’re right. Can’t have that running bamboo taking off on us." Then I thought to myself…"running bamboo? What’s running bamboo?"

Tom was in his own bamboo world.

"No problems. I like the look of Black Bamboo. Although it’s a virulent runner we can contain it in pots. On the other hand, I also like Temple Bamboo. It’s a slow runner and looks really good."

Tom was taking notes and drawing a diagram of his bamboo project. He was inspired. I’d never seen him so excited about a gardening project. Yes he loved his gardening but I always got the impression it was a chore that had to be done. Not so on this on this occasion. He just couldn’t wait to get started.

And so began my first introduction to the wonderful world of bamboo. Several months later and it’s all starting to take shape. The bamboo is in the ground and growing at a furious pace. In 12 months time, we’ll have all the privacy we need. Our water view might be gone but you know, the trade-off is certainly worth it. Those chats on the balcony now start off with a hello, how are you and quickly turn into a conservation on bamboo as we marvel at this versatile plant and the problem it solved for us.

Dean Caporella is a professional Journalist and Sports Announcer. He takes an interest in a wide and varied number of topics. In the last few years, a close friend introduced him to the wonderful world of bamboo and it’s many uses. "I just love the stuff!" he declares. From a privacy barrier on my fenceline to my "Lucky Bamboo" plant on my window ledge." Learn more about bamboo at http://www.bamboogalore.com.

1. No Perch

Tree holes in the wild have no perches, so the birds that use nest boxes do not need them. They can be a disadvantage in that they may attract House Sparrows, an invasive species that often takes over nests from our native hole-nesting birds.

2. Diameter Of Entrance Hole

Most of our common hole-nesting birds can use an entrance hole 1-1/2 inches in diameter. This size also keeps out Starlings, another invasive species that takes over nest boxes from native species.

3. Inside Flooring Dimensions

The inside dimensions of the box are important and should be at least 4 inches by 4 inches so that there is room for the young to develop.

4. Overall Height Of House

The distance from the bottom of the entrance hole to the floor of the box should be at least 5 inches. This keeps the developing young well down in the box and away from predators that might approach the entrance hole.

5. Easy Access For Cleaning

You must be able to open the box, either on the side, front, or top. This helps in two ways: to monitor the progress and health of the young; and to clean out the box at the end of the season.

6. Ventilation

There must be holes or slits at the top of the box sides or along the top of the front of the box to let hot air out when the sun beats down on the box in summer.

7. Drain Holes

The bottom of the box needs to have holes or cut off corners to allow any water to drain out of the box.

8. Mounting

Check to see if there is some way that you can attach the box to a pole, such as holes or a bracket.

9. Wood Material Of Choice

Be sure that the materials the box is made of are 3/4 inch thick wood or a similar material that will insulate the birds from cold and heat. The only exception to wood is Purple Martin Housing — many are made out of Metal.

10. Roof Overhang

The roof should overhang the entrance hole by 1 to 2 inches. This both shades the entrance hole and keeps the rain out.

Courtesy: Cedar Creek Woodshop

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