While many types of insects, birds and animals seen in the home are unwanted intruders, others play a vital role in pollinating plants and moving seeds from one place to another.  In fact, without these animal and insect helpers, most plants would be unable to reproduce.

Even though most gardeners understand how important this cycle of pollination and seed disbursal is, few fully understand why it occurs, or how it benefits both the plants and the animals. 

The rewards of pollination and seed disbursal to the plants are easy to determine – they get to spread their seeds far and wide, and start new plants in far off locations.  The rewards the insects, birds and mammals derive are many as well, and they include:
Nectar – nectar is actually a sugary solution, and therefore it is highly prized by all kinds of animals both for its good taste and for the ample energy it provides.  Getting at this nectar is what prompts most pollinating insects, birds and animals to do such a good job.  Nature has provided plants with various ways to attract pollinating insects, birds and animals.  Many types of flowers store their nectar in special glands called nectaries.  These nectar glands are most frequently found in flowers, but they are also sometimes contained in leaves or other parts of the plant as well.  Most plants are designed to protect their nectar stores from non-pollinating insects and animals, through the use of special storage locations that only pollinating insects can reach, for instance.  
The use of nectar and the plants, insects, birds and animals that depend on it is a fascinating study in co-evolution.  The sugar concentrations of many plant nectars have evolved to match the energy requirements of the types of animals, birds and insects that pollinate them.  For instance, bees require a 30-35% concentration of sugar in order to make the honey needed by their larvae in the winter.  Therefore, bees will not visit flowers whose nectar contains less than 30% sugar.  Therefore, the flowers and plants that depend on bees for pollination have evolved high concentrations of sugar in their nectar to attract these pollinators.
Pollen – Pollen is also used by flowers and plants to attract the insects, birds and animals they need.  Pollen is eaten by bees, and it is also used to make a substance called bee bread, which is a high protein combination of pollen and nectar.  This bee bread is used to feed the larvae, which require a high concentration of protein to grow and thrive.  Some plants, such as peonies, poppies and roses, use only pollen as a reward and produce no nectar at all.  Other types of plants produce two types of pollen – their normal pollen and a sterile pollen with is attractive to pollinating insects.  This evolutionary strategy ensures that the good tasting pollen will be eaten while the reproductive pollen will be spread to other areas by the insects, birds and animals that visit the plant.
Of course, this pollen and nectar does the plants no good if the birds, insects and animals cannot find it, and plants and flowers use their bright colors and strong scents to attract these animals and let them know that pollen, nectar, or both await them. 
Some pollinating species rely primarily on their sense of sight, and the bright flowers are used to attract their attention.  Other species, particularly nocturnal ones, rely primarily on smell.  It is the scent of the flowers that attracts these scent oriented pollinators.

Composting your grass clippings is not a difficult process, though it may require a bit more work than you might think and these clippings can sometimes cause problems in your compost pile if not properly composted. Taking a few simple precautions will prevent your grass from turning into a smelly and slimy problem.

Grasscycling is the easiest way to deal with your grass clippings. With grasscycling, you just live the grass clippings on the lawn. If you lave grass clippings where they fall naturally from the mower, they will act like any other natural fertilizer. This will save you money on fertilizer and time on bagging or moving grass cuttings. Any grass mower can become a grasscycler – all you need to do is remove the grass catcher from your lawn mower. You will need to make sure you are mowing when the grass is dry to prevent the old clippings from clogging up your lawn mower and keep the blade of your mower sharp. Let the grass clipping lie like this is the simplest way to deal with them, though it may not be practical if you have young children or pets.

If the idea of grasscycling does not appeal to you, then here is the proper way to compost your grass clippings.

Your freshly trimmed grass has more moisture and a much higher nitrogen level than most other garden materials. Freshly mowed grass can often clump together and this is a problem because there is no room for oxygen to get in. If you compost your grass clippings like this, you may find that you have a serious odor problem to deal with. If you follow the following process, you should be able to reap the benefits of adding fresh grass clippings to your compost and also avoid any sort of odor problem. Grass can also develop a white mold if there is no air getting in.

To start with, you want to add high carbon materials (also referred to as browns) to your compost pile. These types of materials include wood chips, leaves and broken up sticks. Adding browns to your compost will prevent the grass clippings from clumping up the compost and will help oxygen circulate. You want to alternate your layers – a layer of grass clippings and then one of browns.

You can also get the oxygen in your compost pile circulate by aerating it. Aerating or oxygenating your compost pile involves the turning of the material. If you are going to be adding grass clippings to your pile then you need to make sure that you are aerating your compost pile on a regular basis. If your pile is mainly made up of grass clippings then there is nothing for the gas has nothing to ignite and the pile turns into a disgusting slimy mess.

If you are going to be continually composting your grass clippings then you are going to have more grass clippings than other materials in your compost pile. What is the solution? The solution is obviously multiple compost piles. You’ll go through a process all summer where you are rotating between the piles and then consolidating piles as they become more manageable.

If you do not want to have two or three compost piles on the go, you can also try baking your grass clippings in the sun for a day before adding them to your compost pile. You can spread them on your driveway or any other flat surface for at least a day to prevent the clippings from souring up your compost pile.

If you have recently applied pesticides or herbicides to your lawn, then you do not want to add those grass clippings to your compost pile until the rain has washed them clean. You really need to be careful about adding clippings to your pile that have come in contact with chemicals like these.

Another tip that you might find useful is to add lime to your compost pile (or grass heap if it’s mainly made up of grass). This will kick start the decomposing process and prevent mold from forming and your pile from developing a nasty odor.

Follow these simple guidelines and you should have no problem turning your old grass clippings into compost that will benefit your whole garden.

A barefoot rose is not actually something that means you go barefoot in your rose garden. It is a descriptor that indicates that the roots of the rose are exposed. The rose is, essentially, barefoot. Such rose are also sometimes called bare root roses (but barefoot is a much more fun term).

Most people who choose to plant barefoot roses are those who are looking for that “one” rose, the rose that is “just right.” Sometimes a local nursery just will not have what you are looking for. This is where catalogs and the Internet come in. Most of these businesses that send your rose products through the mail will not send the rose in a container filled with dirt. Most of the time it will be a barefoot rose, roots exposed. Such plants, though they can turn out to be very successful and very beautiful, do require some special attention at the outset.

Barefoot rose gardening can be a very rewarding experience, as it allows you to personally choose the plants that you think better reflect your personality and the feel of your landscape. The following steps can help you ensure that your barefoot roses survive and thrive.

First of all, when the rose arrives, you should immediately look it over. Open the shipping container as soon as it arrives. Be on the look out for broken canes and roots. Trim off damaged sections of the rose with sterilized and sharp pruning shears. This can help prevent diseases like rot and crown galls. Next, you should soak the roots over night in water. Soaking the roots will help them rehydrate. If you would like, you can also add a diluted rooting activator solution to the water. If you do add rooting activator or add other mild supplements be sure to save the water to use when you plant the rose.

Proper preparation of the planting hole is important for your barefoot rose. Measure your root system and make the hole one and a half times as deep and as wide as the length of the root system. You should create a small mound of soil at the center of the hole. This mound is meant as a support to the root crown. A new rose bed or soil with a low nutrient value may require that you add a small amount of bone meal or of phosphate rock to the bottom of the hole. Powdered seakelp, though not necessary, sprinkled on the sides and bottom of the planting hole, can also provide the rose with more nutrients.

When you plant your rose, make sure that you do so according to your hardiness zone. It is possible to find this information on the Internet, at a local nursery, or from a local master gardener or horticulture professional. The depth at which you plant your rose is determined by the hardiness zone. For zones requiring more shallow holes, simply fill in the bottom and make your mound higher.

Place the root crown at the top of the mound and arrange the roots down and over the top of the mound. Try to get the roots as equally distributed around the mound as possible. Rose roots grow according to their placement at planting. You want them to be spread and to create a good system. Roots should never wrap around the rose. They should always be spread out. Hold the rose while you fill in the hole with soil. Carefully water the soil around the roots as you do so to ensure that air pockets around the roots are removed. Do not let the rose sink as you do this, as this will change its depth.

After, and only after, the rose has been watered in should you apply root stimulator. If you used the activator in your soaking solution for the rose, this is the time to use that water. Applying activator before the rose is watered in can result in root burn. After finishing with the watering, build up soil around the rose plants exposed canes (make sure the top two bud eyes are still exposed, though). When the first new leaves appear and the bud eyes begin swelling, take the soil away from the canes and create a watering well around the rose’s base.

Now it is time to enjoy the blooms of your labor.

One of the best things about gardening is felling warm, moist dirt in your bare hands, but you will often end up with blistered, chapped, and scraped skin. The solution to this problem is gardening gloves. The more time you spend getting down and dirty in the garden, the more you need gardening gloves. Gardening gloves will be able to ease some of the pain you would otherwise be subject to, letting you spend even more time playing in the dirt.

There are hundreds of different types of gloves on the market, and the kind of gardening glove you buy depends on the way you garden. Some gloves offer protection against specific substances or things, for example, leather gloves are not the best for working with chemicals or water. Many gardening gloves are specialized for pruning thorns, refilling gasoline tanks, or using a chain saw, while others are for general tasks such as raking, digging, and weeding.

After choosing the type of gardening glove you need, you must make sure and pick out the perfect fit. Gloves that are too big have a tendency to slip off while gloves that are too small could cause aches and cramps. Any glove that doesn’t fit could defeat the whole purpose of wearing gloves and cause blistering. To find a glove with the best fit possible, try the gloves on both hands, make a fist, and imitate the movements you make when gardening. If there is no pinching or slipping and the glove is comfortable then you have found your match.

Gardening gloves can be bought in many places and are produced by many companies, causing them all to have a different quality and price. Most gloves can be washed in cool water and then air dried. There are many different types of gloves you can purchase to satisfy your varying needs, such as cotton and cotton-polyester for general-purpose chores. These are among the most popular gloves and are perfect for light chores in cool and dry weather. Leather gloves can also be used for general chores but are heavier than cotton and polyester. Chemical resistant gloves will help protect your hands against oils, acids, herbicides, pesticides, and many other chemicals. Grip enhancing gloves are designed with rubber dots for extra gripping power. Cut and puncture resistant gloves are designed to offer extra protection against sharp edges

If you are the type person that only wears gloves as an optional luxury for various tasks, you should think seriously for using specialized gardening gloves for many of the activities you will be doing outside. There is really no reason not to wear gardening gloves; they protect your hands from the elements and don’t ever cost all that much.

Having a water feature installed can be a very expensive proposition. But, if you would like a pond for your property, it is actually possible to build your own pond. While you can build it by buying needed supplies individually and then assembling a proper pond, it can be difficult to make sure that you get all of the right supplies and it can be frustrating to figure out what you should do, and how to do it. Luckily, however, the do-it-yourselfer can actually build a pond using a kit. This makes the whole process easier and it makes it possible for you to have a water feature on your property without paying all the money for professional installation and without the frustration of trying to do it from scratch on your own.

Putting in a pond requires a great deal of physical labor to complete, even if you are using a kit. A hole still needs to be dug, and the proper components need to be placed. There is no easy way to put in a water feature. But, if you get a kit with step-by-step instructions, and you enlist the help of family and friends, it is possible for you to install your pond with relative ease and at a reasonable cost. There are even some companies that offer different customized solutions. These solutions include things like creating a cascading stream into your pond, or having a waterfall that is shorter or taller than the kit specifies. If you know that you have some specific needs, make sure you visit a specialty shop or buy your kit from a company that specializes in water features and can help you modify your kit appropriately.

There are a few components that your kit should have for proper installation of a water feature. These components include items such as skimmers, liners, pumps, filters, filter support tubes, liners, underlayments, check valves, PVC pipes, PVC glues and primers, rocks, bulkhead fittings, silicone, and bacteria to maintain the balance of your pond. Other things that many kits come with, and that are good to check for, are things like patch tape, waterfall stone, and skimmer bags. Many kits make use of expanding foam as well. Make sure that your kit has all of the items you need before you begin, or make sure that you know where to get items that do not come in the kit.

You kit should come with an owner’s manual and instructions. There are many kits that come with architectural drawings, and these can be very useful. If you have a kit with good illustrations, it can help you more effectively build your pond by allowing you to not only read about what you need to do, but to also see what you need to do. Make sure you read the instructions in their entirety before you begin. Also, make sure that you understand the directions. If there is something that you do not understand, contact the store that you bought the kit from, or contact the company that produces the kit. You should be able to get help from either of those sources. Make sure that your kit comes with a warranty and with support. It is worth it to pay a little more money for a kit that comes with expert advice and everything you need. Costs relating to redoing things, buying extra components, and getting replacement parts if you break something by putting it together wrong can really add up. Making sure that you have access to the manufacturer of the kit, or someone who gives explanations for free can save money, time, and headache further down the road.

A well-placed water feature can be a very pleasing part of your landscape. The running water makes a soothing noise, and it can be very relaxing to look at water. Water is one of those things that provide comfort and interest in many settings. Additionally, a water feature can attract birds and other wildlife to your yard and provide you with beautiful music and fascinating creatures to listen to and look at. Children love water features, and if properly supervised can learn to appreciate the water and find amusement for hours.