Sunday, December 14, 2008

Tulip Trees The King Of The Magnolias

Writen by William Berg

The Tulip Tree has got its name from its tulip shaped flowers. The flowers of a Tulip Tree are located at great heights and typically reach a size of 2.5 inches. The Tulip Tree produces monoecious flowers with yellow-green petals. The corolla has a beautiful vivid orange shade. Some people find the leaves of the Tulip Tree similar to tulips too, at least with a little imagination. The leaves are four lobed and have a notch at the tip. A Tulip Tree leaf will typically reach a length of 4-6 inches in diameter. The leaf colour is bright green and will turn yellow in autumn.

The Tulip Tree is sometimes called "The King of the Magnolias". It is called Liriodendron tulipifera in Latin, and it belongs to the Family Magnoliaceae. The Tulip Tree is related to the Chinese Tulip Tree (Liriodendron Chinese).

The Tulip Tree is utilized as timber and is very appreciated among carpenters since the wood is easy to work with. Tulip Tree wood has a pale yellow color and is particularly popular in furniture, wood carvings, cabinetry, veneer, jewelry boxes and musical instruments. Earlier, the Tulip Tree was frequently used in canoes created by Native Americans. The Tulip Tree bark has been used as a substitute for cinchona in traditional remedies.

The popular Tulip Tree is known by many names in English, including Canoewood, Saddletree, Tulipwood, Whitewood, Canary Whitewood and American Whitewood. The Tulip Tree is not a poplar, but it is still commonly referred to as Tulip poplar, Hickory poplar, White poplar and Yellow poplar.

Apart from being an appreciated timber tree, the Tulip tree is also planted as a shade tree and ornamental tree. It is a remarkably fast growing tree and can grow 50 feet tall in eleven years.

During spring and early summer it will blossom with beautiful flowers. The twigs of a Tulip Tree will turn red and become shiny during the winter, which will add colour to the garden.

The fruits of the Tulip Tree are also very beautiful. Immature fruits are green and will gradually turn brown as they mature. In fall, they will be ripe and have the shape of small cones. Tulip Tree fruits are popular among squirrels, rodents, rabbits, birds and other wild animals. Bees and butterflies will instead eat the nectar from the flowers, and the deer will happily browse the new twigs.

The Tulip Tree is though, adaptable and will withstand most tree diseases and pests. Plant your Tulip Tree in moist and nutritious soil, ideally close to water. Tulip Trees are very found of moist soil and will often grow near marshlands, streams and rivers. Acid soil should be avoided. The Tulip Tree requires direct sunlight, but this is usually not a problem since the Tulip Tree grows fast and becomes very tall. The oldest known Tulip Trees are older than 15 years.

In North America, Tulip Trees are found from the Great Lakes to Florida in the south. Forest growing Tulip Trees will typically reach a height of 100 feet and form a tall limb-free bole. If a Tulip Tree is planted in a more open area, it will instead grow a pyramid shaped crown that eventually turns oval with age.

Read more about tulip trees and African tulip trees

Easily Improve The Look Of Your Home By Maintaining A Beautiful Lawn With A Lawn Sprinkler System

Writen by Tim Gorman

Everyone loves a luscious green lawn. Short of installing artificial grass, the only way to maintain a green healthy lawn is to have an efficient lawn sprinkler system. Maintaining a beautiful lawn improves the look of your home. Your neighbors will love you. Your beautiful lawn creates a more attractive space and adds to your enjoyment.

Watering your lawn by hand may reduce stress . Some die-hard lawn care experts suggest a special hand type sprinkler for certain areas of a lawn so all the areas are irrigated uniformly. With the innovative and creative technology available, there is a lawn sprinkler system that can accommodate everything from the tiniest side garden to a large estate.

You can get information about your region, the soil type that is located in your yard. You will know exactly what to do to keep your lawn healthy.

You not only need an efficient system, you have to choose the correct type of sprinkler to bring out the best in your lawn. When you put in a new lawn a sprinkler becomes more important because the water requirements increase. There are several style of lawn sprinklers to choose from.

The lawn sprinkler that will make lawn care a joy rather than a job will depend on the size of your yard, how your lawn is laid out and the type of soil you have. The rate of water flow is also important. The oscillating and the revolving sprinkler are the most common for home use.

The five major type of lawn sprinklers available in your national chain hardware store are:

1)Impulse

2)Oscillating

3)Rotary

4)Stationary

5)Traveling sprinklers

Impulse sprinklers have a single water outlet. You see these sprinklers usually on golf courses. These sprinkler types sit close to the ground. This lawn sprinkler will cover a large area in a circular pattern.

Oscillating sprinklers have many jets. These types of lawn sprinklers spray water from a long tube These sprinklers can accommodate a large areas quickly. These sprinklers spray in a rectangular or square For newly seeded lawns, this may be a good choice. This lawn sprinkler has a gentle spray.

Rotary sprinklers have a unit that spins. This sprinkler has at least two arms that have water jets on the ends. These sprinklers spray water very quickly. They cover a small radius. These sprinklers are suggested for smaller lawns.

Stationary sprinklers are the least expensive and come in ring or

"salt shaker" styles. They are low to the ground They spray water in an uneven circular pattern stationary sprinklers These are not recommended for larger yards.

Sprinkler hoses can be used in specific areas that are oddly shaped. The flow rate is low. The coverage for these hoses is uneven. The shelf life for these type of hoses is low.

Traveling sprinklers hoses have two arms that rotate. They spray water in a circular pattern.. Also called self-propelled sprinklers, they water large irregular patterns over of several hours and are ideal for long alleys. These sprinklers are ideal for easy and efficient watering of landscape areas with flowers, shrubs, bushes, or small trees

Lawn sprinklers systems help keep the neighborhood green. Watering the lawn can be a pleasant and fulfilling experience when you use the right tool for the job.

For more essential information about finding the best lawn sprinkler system, sprinkler heads, sprinkler timers, lawn sprinkler pumps, garden sprinklers and lawn sprinkler repairs please visit Best-Lawn-Sprinklers.info

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Pruning Your Bonsai Correctly

Writen by Steve Welker

One of the primary methods used to limit the size of a bonsai tree is pruning. Pruning is the careful remove of parts of the tree to shape it and limit the size. Properly pruning your bonsai is critical for the health and design of your tree.

The frequency and degree of pruning is heavily dependant on the size, age and type of tree being pruned. Deciduous saplings are not pruned at all the first year and are usually only pruned once the second year. With conifers it is best not to prune them at all until the third year.

If you are trying to increase the trunk thickness of a deciduous tree that is 3 to 5 years old you should cut it back twice a year. You should wait to do this cutting until the tree has grown to about 2/3rds of the planned final height. How many leaves you leave on the tree depends on the size and shape of crown that you are trying to develop. Usually you will leave from 1 to 8 leaves.

Mature trees that are more developed are usually not pruned until there are 5 to 8 leaves on the shoots. While the tree is growing the there is a hormone released from growing shoots that flows downward under the inner bark (bast) that prohibits buds from forming below. When you remove the growing shoot then the hormone production stops so the next bud down will start to develop. Since the development of this new bud starts producing the hormone again you will only get one new bud to start growing.

If a shoot has any leaves growing on it then the tips are usually removed in the late summer. This gives the shoot time to thicken and harden to survive over the winter and to develop new buds. The method used to remove these tips is called pinching and is normally done with tweezers or your finger tips. This will cause the tree to stop growing for the season and start preparing for winter. However, if the soil nitrates are high then the tree will probably continue growing instead of preparing for it's winter dormacy.

If you need to remove large branches from deciduous trees it is best done during the peak growing season. This peak season runs from early spring until mid summer. If you do the cutting during this time the cut area will heal much faster. When removing large branches you should use concave or wen cutters. These create a concave wound that will heal better with less scarring. You should always use a wound sealant to help protect the tree. Japanese paste works very well and is easily removed once the cut has healed.

With conifers you can safely remove large branches even during the winter as well as during the growing season. On a conifer you might want to consider leaving part of the branch intact on the tree. This can be turned in to a jin for cosmetic appeal.

Proper pruning is critical for the proper development of your tree. It allows you to control the size and appearance to create exactly the visual image that you want. Like many things proper pruning takes time and practice. Be patient and if in doubt about removing something then leave it. You can always cut it off later.

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