How to build a flower bed

While starting a flower bed requires some planning and forethought beforehand, it’s not as difficult as one might think to build a flower bed from scratch. There are many types of flower gardens and no two are ever quite the same. You can plant a flower bed any way you like – big or small, curved or straight, raised or flat – whatever. Flower beds can also be changed as time goes on or as space permits. Let’s look at how to create a flower bed.

So you want to build a flower bed. Where do you begin? Before starting a flower bed, you need to plan ahead. Take a stroll around your property and choose a suitable location. Take note of available light and nearby structures. Determine the whereabouts of any underground utility lines and the nearest water source.

Before you plant a flower bed, you should make a sketch. This is important, as it allows you to play around with ideas, like the size and shape of the flower bed. It will also make it easier when choosing plants, as these should always be compatible to the area. Use a hose, spray paint or flour to mark out and shape the bed. If building a raised bed, determine the type and amount of edging material as well.

 

How to start a flower bed

Once you know how to create a flower bed, you’re ready to build it. Depending on its location, size and whether or not containers are used, starting a flower bed often begins with the removal of grass. There are several ways to accomplish this – dig it out, apply herbicide or smother it with cardboard or newspaper.

If you choose to dig out the grass, it will be easier to use a flat shovel. Dig down about four or five inches around the bed’s perimeter. Include sections inside the bed as well, especially for larger ones. Then carefully lift out or peel back the sod. Clear out any debris and loosen the soil, working in organic matter. Add some plants, water thoroughly and mulch generously to keep out weeds. Don’t forget to add an attractive border to define the edges.

Most people prefer the no-dig approach. It starts with eliminating the grass as we did in the dig method. While using herbicides can effectively kill grass, it may not be suitable for planting until much later, as herbicides are not environmentally friendly. However, you can easily smother grass quickly and effectively without the use of harmful chemicals simply by using cardboard or newspaper.

You can start the no-dig bed in early spring for summer planting or build a flower bed in fall, as grass begins to go dormant. Fill the area with cardboard or several layers of newspaper and saturate with water. Add about six inches of compost or rich soil on top with another layer of organic mulch (like straw) on top of this. You can plant a flower bed right away if the grass was dug out or within the next season using the no-dig method.

Knowing how to start a flower bed, along with careful planning beforehand, makes building one as easy as that!

Greenery

Greenery is the planting of plants. Planting of greenery is a laborious process. You are to take into account peculiarity of soil, light, humidity, relief. Then to choose landscape plants for greenery, which have necessary frost-, winter-cold- and drought-resistance. Some landscape plants for greenery love a bright light, some landscape plants for greenery prefer scattered light or shade. There are landscape plants for greenery which well naturalized for long-term cold spells. We cultivate only such landscape plants for greenery in our nursery for plots, and heat-loving landscape plants use for interior landscape design for home and office.

Landscape plants for greenery we cultivate in our nursery on the North from Moscow and guarantee their taking root. We have got young landscape plants for greenery in our nursery newly grown from seeds (seedling), landscape plants for greenery grown by cutting shot piece of a plant (graft) and landscape plants for greenery newly grown by layers. Our nursery guarantee quality of the landscape plants for greenery of your garden.. Different methods of propagation supply our company with qualitative saplings in sufficient quantity. We sell our landscape plants for greenery in pots and drugged out with clumps of earth.

Greenery needs some analyses of a soil. It is necessary to carry out:

- topographical survey;

- to find out of the subsoil water’s level;

- analyze fertility of a soil (strongly acid, weakly acid, neutral, strongly or weakly alkaline, how much humus, nutrient elements it has);

- if it is necessary to make a project of drainage system;

- if it is necessary to make a project of automatic sprinkling system;

Landscape plants (trees and bushes) differ from each other by color, size of leaves and flowers, by trunks and sprouts. One is to get to know peculiarity of growth and developing of trees and bushes so that to compose them nicely.

We can also plant on your plot fruit-bearing tree or and bush.

Planting of greenery in a garden, cultivating of landscape plants - trees, bushes, flowers in plant nursery;

Lawn, garden hedge, flower bed plants, garden service and care of;

Garden constructions: driveway, paths, walks, walling; pavilion, gazebo, pergola, arch, porch;

Garden water features: garden reservoir, pond, stream, cascade, waterfall, rocks in a garden;

Interior landscape design for home and office.

III. Ecology

Water resources

Russia has unique water resources, almost equal to one fourth of the global water resources. However, these resources are poorly accounted and managed, and they are unequally distributed across the country. The majority of high quality water resources of Russia are concentrated in the mountain regions, the Baikal Lake, and rivers of the Eastern Siberia and Far East, from where it is difficult to deliver water to other regions of the country. As a result, many regions have to use poor quality water.

For a long time, no real measures were taken to change the situation with water in Russia. In the last 20 years, the situation in the utilities sector deteriorated significantly, and now potable water and international quality standards achievement are extremely acute issues. 11 million residents of the Russian Federation use water, which is unsuitable for drinking. 50 million Russians, i.e. a third of the population use poor quality water daily. The wear and tear of water supply and discharge networks is 70 %.

Current situation is yet not considered as a crisis or even a disaster. At the same time, even now there are several zones, where the water crisis signs in Russia become obvious:

1. Urban water supply.

The existing water supply system in Russia use obsolete Soviet times technology, the key assets are exhausted, and go out faster and faster. Investments and implementation of new technologies for the system re-equipment may not catch up with the obsolescence and breakdown of the key assets.

2. Exhausted tanks preventing urban and industrial growth.

At present, the key water tanks in residential and industrial centers are more and more exhausted in Russia. As a result, in 2020-2030-s, the lack of water may create significant challenges for the growth and development of the main industrial and urban centers in the Russian Federation.

3. Agricultural development.

The overall demographic situation in the world suggests that already in the next 10 years the global food crisis will become more acute. According to experts, due to its vast territories and moderate climate, Russia can potentially become one of the major grain producers in the world. To achieve this, it is necessary that Russian agriculture switches to such a system, which is stably functioning regardless of climatic conditions and condition of (shallow) rivers. This requires new water supply systems with the use of modern international technologies.

Russia's position as regards to the global water situation is twofold:

· On the one hand, the southern regions and the European part of the Russian Federation (i.e. the industrially developed zones and promising regions) are approaching the situation of the European countries and the US, where in the nearest future several regional water crises with potential global impact are expected;

· On the other hand, Russia has significant fresh water reserves (Baikal and Siberian regions).

The following 3 issues are currently the most acute for Russia:

1. Development of the state water management policy.

This is an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary issue, as it requires settlement of various conflicts of interests: cities and residents, agriculture, transport, hydro energy, industry, etc. Development of the state water management policy both at the federal and regional level requires a shift in water resource management paradigm from the water resource distribution concept to the concept of management of reducing and deteriorating resource. Such management requires new approach, and another management process.

2. Establishment of an expert community.

At present, the lack of an established expert community capable of discussing long term water and water management issues as an interdepartmental and interdisciplinary issue is one of the key problems in Russia. Similar processes of expert community establishment are underway in the US, Australia, European countries, and Japan, China has joined this process, and India starts to join it also. Position and voice of Russia in the global water context are extremely important. At present, the Russian Water Association is the site suitable for establishment of Russian expert community and relations with the international water community in the Russian Federation.

3. Establishment of an adequate and correct community attitude towards water (from water conservation to water quality) is one of the most acute issues in Russia.

Forest Fires

A forest fire is most often referred to as a wildfire or a bush fire. Any fire, that spreads uncontrollably over an expanse of vegetation or forest cover in the wild is called a forest fire. A forest fire generally occurs when the vegetation and forest cover in an area is completely dried out due to a heat wave or a drought condition. Once a forest fire begins, it spreads very rapidly and becomes very difficult to control. When out of control, they can cause extensive damage to not only the forest cover, but also to human life and the environment. A forest fire can occur in any area that provides the basic ingredients for a fire: oxygen, heat and combustible fuel. A forest fire is different from other fires because of the wide area that it covers, the breakneck speed by which it spreads, its ability to change directions in a random manner and also to jump partitions and continue to burn.

There are two types of causes of forest fires. Whatever the cause is, the degree of the fire has nothing to do with it. A small source could end up destroying an entire forest, while a seemingly more dangerous source may start a fire that can be easily controlled. Forest fires have two main causes: they are either natural or caused by man.

Natural Causes: Natural causes of forest fires include lightning, volcanic eruptions, and also the sparks that fly off when two rocks collide with each other forcefully or when they fall from a height.

Man-Made: Forest fires are caused by people when they throw cigarette butts in a dry vegetative area, when sparks fly off during the handling of heavy machinery in the forest are or even by the overhead wires running across forests. While more than half of these are caused by accident, some of them are caused by simple human negligence, something that can be very well avoided.

The region in which the forest is located also influences the cause of the fire. For instance an area prone to a lot of rainfall, with very tall trees and possible electric wires, will be more likely to catch fire by lightning, whereas, an area that is more inhabited by humans, is more prone to a fire caused by arson or negligence.

Effects of a Forest Fire

Positive Effects

· Forest fires are important for the life cycle of many trees. What a fire does is, it takes all the warm air above the trees. This warm air makes all the cones in the trees dry up and when the cones dry, they pop and the seeds fall onto the ground giving rise to more growth.

· Any undergrowth that surrounds trees within the forest gets cleared by forest fires. This makes it easy for the new plants to grow more easily.

· Also, any dead and decaying matter in and on the soil gets burned and cleared off, which allows new plants to grow.

· The smoke from the forest fires can also act as an exterminator of poisonous insects within the forest. The fire helps to get rid of diseased plants from within the forest.

Negative Effects

· The first harmful effect of a forest fire is definitely the devastating loss of forest cover. Entire forests can get wiped off due to forest fires, which can severely harm the ecological balance of nature and cause changes in the climate of the region.

· The next harmful effect of forest fires is the increase in the level of air pollution in the surrounding area. The smoke can be very hazardous to humans and animals living in the area and can cause death by excess inhalation.

· Economically speaking, a lot of valuable timber is lost in forest fires, which can lead to losses in various fields.

Managing a forest fire is not an easy task. Firemen have to work days on end to get the fire under control and then finally put it out. So if you happen to visit a wooded area, make sure that you take all the necessary precautions and measures to see to it that you don't, in any way start one.