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Gardening must rank as one of the top summertime pursuits, in the developed World. Along with horticulture, comes a huge amount of garden tools and equipment, particularly for those with a huge interest in Gardening. Then, for many, the summertime and autumn seasons woefully come to an ending, and it is time to get the storage configured and everything put away for the wintertime. Don’t we all just detest that task!

One of the hardest items about the house to store is a forged garden spade. Tiny hand tools such as the trowel are rather easy to hide away somewhere. The main issue is that they can be misplaced over the wintertime period, this is due to their size. But the bigger issue is with storing the larger tools, which just happen to be some of the most difficult forms.

Lawn rakes are one of the most awkward bulky tools to store, finding somewhere reasonable to put it for an extended period of time can be very difficult. Hurl in the stainless fork with its deathly spikes, stainless spade, border spade, springbok rake, forged hoe and you have a formula for tragedy lying in wait for you. If you have youngsters, then the dangers are even bigger.

With all of these factors in mind its is advisable to have have your tools house cleaned and then stored, in performing this it will make it easy for you to acquire them in the springtime That is why garden accessory stands, particularly designed for the function of stacking away garden accessories, are such an critical feature of any garden shed, or garage if that is where you have to stack away your gardening things.

Good tool racks make instruments easier to find, as well as keeping your equipment in good condition. The issue is, which rack do you prefer? There are many options, and most of these are very well fashioned for the purpose specified. While detached holders, if secure and strengthened, might be acceptable, it is surely stabler to have a wall rack that is all of the time secured to the garden shed or garage wall. That way, it is less likely to come collapsing down in a mass on the floor. If you have youngsters, a wall stand that can be lifted out of the range of the youngsters is crucial, as is selecting one that will carry the hoe and other serious horticulture accessories firmly in place.

Patio landscaping doesn’t have to be expensive, you can do a lot of the work yourself and save some money as well. Start by making a plan, what do you want to do with your patio landscaping, is it entertaining on the patio, or children play area or just a place to enjoy the setting sun?

Your patio landscaping design should reflect your lifestyle and activity level. A barbecue area is almost a given with new patio landscaping design. Building a barbecue area that is permanent is a good choice for sunnier climates, where protection from snow, rain or other harsh winter conditions. If you live in an area that is known for rain or harsh winter conditions you may want to incorporate a protective building in your patio landscaping design. Many building centers offer do it yourself kits for building an pergola and with a supply list and just few tools and a few days you can have a structure incorporated into your patio landscaping design.

Another popular option for your patio landscaping is a pond or water feature to encourage interactivity with nature in the patio landscaping. Water features can be a simple one piece with all parts included in the installation or the more complex design of a live water pond, with water purification systems and life within the pond itself.

Your patio landscaping requires a good base to ensure long term use, whether you use concrete, stone tiles or even gravel of some sort to remove water and eliminate the building mud or requiring mowing each year.

Your patio landscape will be a beautiful place to spend summer evenings with family and friends.

The garden gazebo is a thing of beauty, it has been known that in the past kings and queens had enjoyed gazebos in their royal gardens, setting up a trend of garden gazebos for history’s rich and famous.

Using a garden gazebo to any property is a wise step, it seems that what was true many years ago is even more convincing today. Some people use a garden gazebo to increase the value of their property, gifted gardeners can use a garden gazebo to create a division between parts of a garden. In some cases, a big enough garden needs a garden gazebo to hold all the tools that are needed to manicure the flowers and mown.

These days almost anyone can own a garden gazebo, and assemble a garden gazebo in the backyard, garden gazebo kits offer the beauty of a wooden gazebo, many gazebos are available in a huge variety of shapes and sizes, ranging from Victorian and Amish styles to small to party size in diameter. Garden owners can purchase a garden gazebo kit and build their own gazebo by themselves, the kits can range in price and in quality, but the concept of DIY and the average low price allows almost anyone to experiment and enjoy his own garden gazebo.

Garden gazebo kits differ not only in price but also in the material of which the garden gazebo is made of. These kits range in price depending on type of wood, which is generally either pine or one of a variety of types of cedar, and size. Each wood has its own benefits for your garden gazebo and once you have finished constructing the gazebo, you can choose to paint it, stain it or let it sit out and absorb the elements, allowing it to change to its naturally weathered color which is usually a light shade of grey. After you have decided on which wood to use for construction of your garden gazebo, you should figure what you need in terms of size.

Once you set your mind of actually getting a garden gazebo, you will need think about the material and the weather in your area, these will have a significant effect on your gazebo and what you can expect of it. Most garden gazebos are made of wood, pine or cedar or the most popular ones, but there are many different gazebo kits out there, and it is common to find metal gazebo kits made of vinyl or aluminum.

The huge advantage wood garden gazebos have is that they fit into a garden naturally, adding natural wooden quality that accents and compliments any garden. If you plan on purchasing a wooden garden gazebo, you will probably have to decide between pine or cedar wood. While pine is more affordable, cedar is less prone to rot.

Thanks to the modern design of gazebo kits, constructing your own fashionable backyard structure has never been easier. All you have to do is set out all of the parts the gazebo manufacturer sends to you and then assemble them according to the instructions. Once you have built each of the walls of your garden gazebo, you should bring over some friends to help you tilt up each wall and put on the roof. While it is not incredibly trying work, it will generally take a day or two to complete

Daniel Roshard is a interior designer fascinated by gazebos and garden architecture, currently studying garden design and integration of gazebos to public parks and gardens. Daniel is writing reviews and tips for the Garden Gazebo Page

It seems that there are always questions this time of year about winterizing plastic ponds. To begin with, clean out all the gunk (composed of fish and plant waste) at the bottom of the pond. Specialist garden catalogues have a little gizmo that attaches to a hose and when the hose is run, the gizmo acts like a vacuum cleaner, sucking debris from the bottom of the pond. Or, more simply move your pond pump to the pond bottom and direct the output to the ground and not the filter. If you don’t remove the plant debris, it will continue to decompose. Decomposition uses oxygen as one of its primary fuels and this means that oxygen will be taken from the water to fuel plant decomposition. If there is an ice-layer over the pond, and there will be shortly, the water will not be able to replace that oxygen and the pond will go into an anaerobic (without oxygen) state under the ice.

Now, you’ve never quite smelled something until you’ve taken a whiff of a pond that’s in that state. It is basically your very own backyard sewage system. Aside from getting rid of the smell, the reason you remove the bottom layers of material is so any fish you’re leaving in the pond will have enough oxygen to survive the winter. And survive they will as long as you stop feeding them when the water gets cold - the water (at less than 50F) is really too cold for them to feed and any food will simply rot. The fish will survive as long as the water doesn’t freeze solidly to the bottom of the pond. If the pond is three to four feet deep, it will not freeze and your fish will be fine. Shallower ponds will either have to have a bubbler, a pump left running to keep an open area open or the fish removed to an aquarium for the winter.

But start with removing the gunk.

Doug Green, an award winning garden author, gardens and answers questions in his free gardening newsletter at http://www.water-gardens-information.com

Plant ‘em if you’ve got ‘em. If you don’t have ‘em, get ‘em. They are not referred to as “Jewel of the Landscape” by accident. Those wonderful ornamental flowering crabapples offer a distinct landscape feature for every single season, are easy to grow, generally require little maintenance and somewhere at a local nursery or garden center there is one with your name on it.

First, let’s chat a bit about crabapples. Both apples and crabapples are in the rose family (Rosaceae) and the genus, Malus. This is where size really matters. Trees that produce fruit in excess of two inches in diameter are considered to be apples. Trees that produce fruit two inches or less in size are considered crabapples.

There are several wonderful varieties of crabapples such as Dolgo and Hopa that do produce fruit large enough for nibbling on and which are more frequently used for making jelly. What we will be sharing in this article, however, is information about a baker’s dozen of my favorite ornamental crabapples. Here we go.

1. Malus ‘Adams’ (Adams Crabapple) has a rounded shape with a mature height of approximately 25′ and spread of 20′. It is adorned with pink flowers, orange to red fall color and ” to 5/8″ red fruit which holds well into the winter. Considered hardy in zones 4-7, it also has good disease resistance.

2. Malus ‘Indian Magic’ (Indian Magic Crabapple) is somewhat vase shaped in form, with a height of 18′ and spread that is similar. It has red buds that open to deep pink flowers, and has glossy orange to red ” fruit that persists all winter. The foliage is dark green, turning orange to reddish in the fall. This one is disease resistant and considered hardy in zones 4-7.

3. Malus ‘Donald Wyman’ (Donald Wyman Crabapple) exhibits a rounded form at maturity with a height and spread of approximately 20′ each. It has large white flowers, 3/8″ red fruit which persists well into the winter, and glossy green summer foliage. Hardy in zones 4-7 it has excellent disease resistance.

4. Malus ‘Liset’ (Liset Crabapple) is an 18′ high by 15′ wide spread and has a dense rounded form. Its flowers are a deep red color, the foliage is shiny purplish, and the fruit is ” red to maroon in color. It is very disease resistant and rated for zones 4-7.

5. Malus ‘Pink Spires’ (Pink Spires Crabapple) is one of my favorites where space is limited, because it is upright in form and only has a 12′ spread. It can even be used in boulevards for this very reason. It ultimately attains a height of 20′, has profuse pink flowers and small, dark red fruit. The foliage is reddish in the spring, becoming green to bronze during the summer. This crab has great hardiness, being rated for zones 2-7.

6. Malus ‘Profusion’ (Profusion Crabapple) becomes a 20′ high tree with a 25′ spread at maturity. It exhibits bronze foliage in the spring, becoming more green over time. The flowers are reddish with a pink center and the fruit is a deep red. It has shown good disease resistance and is rated for zones 4-7.

7. Malus ‘Red Jade’ (Red Jade Crabapple) is my favorite of all the crabs. It reaches a maximum height of 10′ with a spread of 12′, has a distinctive weeping form and extremely interesting branching habit. Although a zone 4-7 tree, I have one that is doing famously here in the northern reaches of zone 3. With a little protection from the winter winds and rabbits, it has been a real success story for us. In addition to its branching characteristics it exhibits white to pale pink flowers and nice green summer foliage. As I now look out my window on this mid-January morning, I observe the small red fruit contrasting with the fresh snow. This crab really makes a statement along the edge of an ornamental pond or waterway or in a secluded courtyard.

8. Malus ‘Red Splendor’ (Red Splendor Crabapple) has an upright spreading form with a height and spread both of 20′. It is adorned with single pink flowers, small red fruit persisting through the winter and foliage that turns reddish purple in the fall. A zone 3-7 tree, it has shown excellent disease resistance.

9. Malus ‘Royal Gem’ (Royal Gem Crabapple) has a very small and compact form with a height and width both being 5′ - 8′. This zone 3-7 variety has red flowers, yellow fall color and great disease resistance. Because of its small stature it makes a great accent or specimen plant.

10. Malus ‘Royalty’ (Royalty Crabapple) displays a height and spread each of 20′ and an upright rounded form. Its flowers are dark red, the fruit deep red and up to ” and it has glossy red to purplish foliage all summer. This zone 3-7 tree is very hardy and also blight resistant.

11. Malus sargentii (Sargent Crab) is a very small spreading crabapple with dark green foliage, fragrant ” flowers with red buds opening to white. The small red fruits hold on until the birds get them. It achieves a height of up to 8′ and a spread of 15′ or more. A zone 4-7 plant it is one of the very best specimen crabapples available.

12. Malus ‘Snowdrift’ (Snowdrift Crabapple) is one extremely hardy hombre that will brighten any yard. It has been a favorite of mine for many years, displaying pink buds opening to masses of white flowers, has glossy green summer foliage and small orange to red fruit which holds well into the winter. Its zone 3-7 hardiness makes it very useful in the north country.

13. Malus ‘Spring Snow’ (Spring Snow Crabapple) is an unusual variety in that it does not fruit. It attains a mature height of 20′ with a spread of 15′, is somewhat upright in form, has pink buds opening to white flowers and has glossy green summer foliage. Although a zone 4-7 tree, I have used it with good results in zone 3. It displays good heat tolerance as well as disease resistance.

While there are many other nice crabapples to select from, this is a pretty good list to start with. Grace your yard in the spring with those beautiful blooms, in the summer with the developing fruit and lovely foliage, in the fall with the changing colors and mature fruit, and winter brings a wonderful view of the branching structure, the persistent fruit and if you are lucky a visit by the Bohemian or Cedar Waxwings. If you don’t already have a flowering crabapple, by all means bring home one of these orphans from your local garden center. You will be glad you did.

William Henry is a co-owner of Gizmo Creations LLC, a landscape and website design company, located in the Brainerd Minnesota Lakes Area. Henry is a licensed landscape architect and has over 20 years of landscape design experience. For more articles on landscape design and a forum where you can post your questions on landscape design and plants go to Gizmo’s website at http://www.gizmocreations.com