Great Landscape Design

Houseplants to help clean the air inside your home? You bet! Studies by scientists at NASA and other respected institutions suggest that it can. Plants are notoriously adept at absorbing gases through pores on the surface of their leaves. It's this skill that facilitates photosynthesis, the process by which plants convert light and carbon dioxide into chemical energy to fuel growth. Clever plants! Studying the air-purifying capacities of indoor plants we have found that plants can absorb many

ALOE VERA - Aloe barbadensis Aloe Vera is a very common house plant these days. In Florida we get to keep these outdoors as well. They flourish in temps above 45 degrees. Aloe provide us with many great remedies. Most people know that the gel from the plant is good for your skin and will help heal cuts and burns. A sunburn staple for Floridians. What most people don’t know is it helps remove toxins from the air. When there is an excess of chemicals in the air, the leaves on the Aloe Vera

When to water sparingly Cactus and succulents as well as plants with thick leathery leaves that do not transpire moisture heavily will suffer in wet conditions. Similarly plants with thick fleshy roots or moisture storing structures on their roots are not to be overwatered. These plants should be given just enough water to barely moisten the pot mixture throughout and should be planted in a potting medium that drains readily. Water this type of plant in several stages from the top a little each

When a plant needs ample watering Never water routinely every so many days. Water when a plant needs it. Learn about your plant’s need for water .Then adjust watering according to these general guidelines. Plants need ample watering: When they are actively growing, i.e. it has young leaves or flower buds. If its leaves are thin and delicate and tend to brown at the tips if dry. When they are located in warm rooms with direct sunlight. If it has many large leaves which transpire heavily. If its

Signs of dehydration and over-watering Stem and leaf wilt signal dehydration, but you should avoid waiting for this sign. In addition, the soil mixture may pull away from the side of the pot. At this stage a plant is stressed, and repeated treatment of this sort is ill advised. Watch for these signs of dehydration: Leaf growth is slow. Leaves become translucent. Leaves or flowers drop prematurely. Leaf edges become brown and dried. Lower leaves curl and yellow. Frequent watering with small

How to evaluate soil moisture Know the conditions you’ve given your plant to thrive in. Plants can be grown in almost any container, but some containers are better suited for plant life than others. Clay pots are porous and tend to draw moisture from the soil, so plants in clay pots will more easily dehydrate. But if the container is enameled, or if it is metal, glass, plastic, or other non-porous material, the container will not leach moisture. Because these pots conserve water, you must be

If you’ve enjoyed indoor houseplants for any length of time, you’ve probably lost a plant or two. Insufficient and excessive watering are among many reasons a plant might fail despite what seem like pampered conditions. In some cases, pampering may be precisely the problem. Water serves as an important transport medium, allowing nutrients to travel from soil to plant cell. But too much water in the soil layer forces air from the root zone, reducing the plant’s oxygen supply. Unfortunately, there

Gardenguy's Tropicals 411 Here is Robert of Crownewourth Tropicals of Sarasota's list of his 10 best houseplants that will help you remove toxins from the air and make you breathe better and sleep better.  1. Aloe Vera  You will find that the low maintenance Aloe will serve a couple of purposes for you. They not only cleanse the air but we all know that the gel of the aloe plant has a number of healing properties. My Dad used to blend it into drinks. I would shake my head and make a face

Chart of air-filtering plants NASA researchers set out to find the best ways to clean the air in space stations. Their Clean Air study found the plants below are effective at removing benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene, xylene, and ammonia from the air—chemicals that have been linked to health effects like headaches and eye irritation. There are other benefits to having these plants around, we’ve noted before, but the graphic below from Love the Garden shows you at a glance the plants