November 2017

Welcome to the Keepers' Fall 2017 Newsletter! In this edition, you'll find: Fall Planting Pointers Green Words for Green People A Walk Through the Garden Eco Friendly Tips Recipe for Chai Tea

Planting Pointers for Fall

Each spring many of us gear up to work in our yards and gardens, but fall is actually an ideal time for yard work. We at Keepers of the Garden promote maximum yard work in October and November. If you want to start a new garden, empty out the old space in the fall, when everything is identifiable and presents itself in its worst shape. All transplants, perennial divisions of Hostas. Lilies, grasses, and spring bloomers are best done in the fall as the root systems are well established and the cool nights help them settle in before the ground hardens.

Here are a few ideas for bringing your garden to life in the fall before putting it to bed for the winter: FERTILIZE ORGANICALLY: When preparing the soil for the next year, add organic slow-release fertilizers that will enhance your soil over time. Feeding the soil is essential to healthy plant life. Balancing your acidic and alkaline trees and shrubs is imperative to the life of your plants. PLANT TREES: By the time autumn rolls around, the fluctuating hot temperatures of summer have subsided. Rainfall is more plentiful and cool nights give plant life a reprieve. Therefore, new trees, shrubs, and flowers have a greater chance of surviving than they would have in a hotter season. Feel confident in rearranging and discarding plants in the fall. PLANT CHOICES:  Consult with your garden coach or garden center for species of plants, trees, and shrubs that align with your soil, lightening and water conditions for your property, and make purchases that may look dormant now but will bloom next year if planted in the fall. Many garden centers offer sales on leftover stock, however, be cautious to choose for purpose in your garden instead of discounted price.

Green Words for Green People

Many of us have a passion to protect our planet and preserve our natural resources for future generations. Environmental concerns and energy implications need a working green vocabulary. The following is a small list of definitions to understand eco-oriented information: Organic Agriculture:  This is an ecological farming system that promotes natural biological cycles that improve soil fertility.

Natural Fibers: These are certified organic fibers from organic agriculture, like cotton, bamboo, and hemp. These are all used for clothing, home linens, and washing products. Certified Organic Cotton:   The cotton is grown without pesticides or fertilizers. Did you know that conventional cotton farming ranks fourth in U.S. for using pesticides?

Fair Trade Certification: This certification guarantees the consumer strict economic, social, and environmental criteria for agricultural production.This term is connected with recycling and is when natural products like paper, trees, wood, and rubber are made into recycled , carbon-based products such as clothes, shoes, plant containers, and building products. Green Lifestyle or Green Living: This describes a lifestyle reflecting a commitment to our environment. Individuals who choose products for their home or personal attire that are produced with minimal impact on our environment which are produced with socially responsible working conditions are living green .

A Walk Through the Garden

Do you have a garden landscape you can walk through? By carefully choosing appropriate plantings for your garden, you can enhance the maintenance and look that compliments your lifestyle with nature. Plants that are more drought-tolerant grouped together from those that could use more water is key to maintaining soil conditions for specific plantings. Being water-wise with drip irrigation or emitters ensures consistent conservation of water to all plants and the health of their root system. If you create your landscape so you can walk into the garden, then create a design with four seasonal interests, fragrance, pops of color, and types of textures. Any garden is like a fine-designed tapestry. What appeals to your senses will show in your natural surroundings if you take time to organize the weave and interplay of your plantings.

Plant in masses! It is easier to appreciate a grouping of the same type of foliage along with the ease to prune and fertilize like items, then to attend to pockets of scattered plantings. Having a heart i n every garden is the key. Planting with organization is imperative. We at Keepers of the Garden spend time weekly restructuring gardens, transplanting, and adding new plantings to enhance like items and create order. Viewing a garden should unfold a sense of serenity. Whether, you are cultivating your large structural trees or layering your plantings, keep order in mind that this creates a peaceful, simple view. With a walking garden , hard and soft structural shrub add purposeful movement to any place. Placement of evergreens with different shades of green, shapes, and sizes form the framework as the garden matures.

With the endless number of compact varieties of evergreens and shrubs, homeowners in a condo or single-family home can embrace a refurbished planting that has layers of structural interest for any season. Whether you want to create pathways to meander thru or a garden that is viewed from inside your home, the mingling of various elements is key to the eye. Remember , the delight of any garden is to enjoy some aspect from any season. Just by placing objects within natural surroundings can be very powerful. Any structural find from an antique road trip, a family garden heirloom, can lend sufficient structure and personality to your outdoor space. •

Eco-Friendly Tips

ALUMINUM:  It takes 95% less energy to make aluminum from recycled aluminum than raw materials. GLASS: Making a glass container from recycled glass creates 50% less water pollution and 20% less air pollution. One recycled glass bottle saves enough energy to light a 100 watt bulb for four hours .

PAPER : Forty-four million newspapers are thrown away in U.S. alone each year which is the equivalent to throwing 500,000 trees into a landfill each week. If each person used one reused paper shopping bag once a week, we could save 60,000 trees!

Chai Tea: A Perfect Fall Treat

For centuries, this  beverage has been referred by people around the world for its delicious flavor and health benefits. The blend of tea, herbs, and spices has been known to preserve health and increase peace of mind. The following recipe came from healthy living publication from central California.  Ingredients 2 ½ cups water                        1 whole star anise                     1 whole cinnamon stick            3 cloves                                       4 peppercorns 4/5 cardamom pods cracked 2/3 thin shavings ginger root ¼ c turbinado sugar  3-4 Tbsp. lose Black tea or 4/5 tea bags In sauce pan, combine water spices and sugar, bring to boil then cover and remove from heat. Steep 5 -15 mins. Return to heat bring to boil, add tea Remove from heat—steep 7 minutes. Strain tea and spices. Add milk, serve immediately. Chai Ice Cubes:  cool mixture, pour in trays and freeze.

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