A Solid Landscape Design and Labels for Hostas Can Boost Your Home’s Curb Appeal

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Put Out Labels for Hostas Now to Make Spring Yard Design a Breeze

labels for hostasWhether your are thinking about putting your house on the market next spring or just feel ready to dig in and give the yard a facelift, quality landscaping is a proven way to increase your home’s curb appeal and, therefore, its value. Hostas are one of the easiest care plants to incorporate in landscape design, so grab some labels for hostas and a plan for the layout of your landscaping and get started.

Hostas are Easy to Care For

As you plan your landscape design, the more you can use hostas, the less work you’ll have down the road. That’s because these hardy plants grow well without a lot of attention, often needing only to be divided when they grow too large and lush. Hostas are available in a palette ranging from lemony-green to dark green or blue-grey. There are also several color choices for variegated hostas. Once they take off you’ll want to cut them down in winter so make sure you place labels for hostas where you can keep track of what you have positioned where.

Solid Groupings Make an Impact

You can clump similar colored plants together to create a pleasing effect. For small clusters, use an odd number of plants. For larger plant clusters you can use any number of plants and it will look good. Homogenous groups of hostas underneath a mature tree create a lovely skirting that dress up thetree trunk. But hostas don’t just look great when you put them in like groupings, they can be incorporated with other plants as well.

 

Ideas for Using Hostas in the Yard

Hostas also look great when interspersed with other plants, mixing colors, sizes and even shapes. Think about placing perennial hostas next to some of your vibrant annuals for a vivid contrast. Lush, verdant hostas look great paired with hot pink or stark white impatiens, for example. If you’re nervous about how big hostas might get in the ground, incorporate them into your design using large pots. Always use labels for hostas to keep them organized. To use hostas more sparingly, consider making smaller sized plants your choice for a sidewalk or driveway edging.

When it comes to planning your landscape, be sure to think about how much time you want to spend planting annuals. Use perennials, like hostas, as much as possible to make your landscape a low-maintenance item. Hostas will grow well, year after year and can be used in multiple ways. A lovely yard can boost your home’s value by 10-15 percent. So do the work once and enjoy the benefits for years to come. When shopping for labels for hostas, there’s no better place than Kincaid Plant Markers. Your quality design deserves quality items and that’s exactly what Kincaid provides.

Now is the Time to Put Out Your Plant Markers for Perennials

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Plant Markers for Perennials Will Help Guide Your Fall Trimming

plant markers for perennialsAs we officially enter fall it’s time to think about which perennials will need to be cut back for the winter and which can be left until spring. If you put out plant markers for perennials now, you can feel secure about your cutting even after distinctive leaves and blooms disappear. Some plants enjoy being divided and transplanted during cool weather. Others can continue providing pleasure and usefulness through the winter. Here are some guidelines to help you decide which perennials to cut down, which to leave and which should be divided now.

1. Visual Interest
One reason you might decide to hold off on cutting back your plants is to maintain some visual interest in your yard. Ornamental grasses that truly come into their own during fall can safely be left alone and enjoyed long after winter arrives. The contrast of straw-colored stalks against white snow can be pleasing. Some gardeners enjoy this contrast so much that they don’t cut back ornamental grasses until after the first blooms of spring have come and gone. Clearly labeled plant markers for perennials will let visitors see how your summer plants can be beautiful even in a more bleak landscape.

2. Winter Birds
Many gardeners plant with an eye to the wildlife they hope to attract. Butterflies, bees and hummingbirds are all welcome visitors to the spring and summer garden. But why should you stop thinking about attracting wildlife in fall and winter? Many of your perennials will produce fall seeds to feed hungry birds. The list of seed-producing perennials birds will enjoy includes: Purple Coneflower, Aster, Rudbeckia, Agastache, Astilbe, Erynglum and many more.

3. Evergreens Should be Left Alone
Some perennials (Shasta Daisies, Aster, Bearded Iris, Poppies etc.) boast a rosette of evergreen leaves at ground-level. Go ahead and cut back the stems, but leave the rosette alone in fall. Other evergreens which don’t need fall trimming include: Lavender, Liriope, Phlox, Hellebore, Sempervivium and others. You could trim these after their first blooms appear or avoid trimming altogether. The verdant green is pleasing during seasons of dark and grey.

4. How Much to Cut
If you do decide to cut back a bushy perennial, you don’t necessarily need to cut it right down to the ground. Especially if you plan to divide the plant and root some of it in another spot. Just trim back half or so of the stems. Transplanting in cool fall is perfectly fine since the pre-frost ground will still allow roots to grab hold. Just be sure to use plant markers for perennials you move so that next spring you don’t forget what is where!

Perennials are great garden additions for many reasons. They can provide something interesting and attractive in your landscape long after annuals have disappeared. Feel free to experiment with cutting down, not cutting down, dividing and moving. These hardy plants can normally withstand your gardening learning curve. When it comes to plant markers for perennials you want signage that shows the same kind of hardiness. Check out our top-notch markers at Kincaid Plant Markers and continue reaping the garden benefits nearly all year long.

Nameplates for Plants, a Great Addition for Today’s Victory Garden

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Start Your Garden With Seeds and Nameplates for Plants and be Ready to Grow Your Own Food

nameplates for plantsMaybe you’ve heard the phrase Victory Garden or heard someone referred to as a Victory Gardener. Did you ever wonder the origin of the term? Victory gardening has changed a bit over the years. What started out as a necessity of war has now become a title of expertise. All you need are a few seeds, some nameplates for plants and a couple of garden tools and you’ll be ready to earn the badge of Victory gardener for yourself.

The History of the Victory Garden

The term Victory Garden dates back to the days of World Wars I and II. With the whole world in armed conflict it was hard to transport fresh food across great distances. Instead, governments encouraged citizens to meet their own produce needs by growing food right at home. This meant less strain on mass transit and meant there was more food available at low prices to feed hungry soldiers. Growing food at home was one way for all citizens to help achieve ultimate victory in the war.

Victory gardening today is not about winning a war, but it is still a matter of self-reliance and good stewardship of the earth and your own health. Victory gardening is about being wise. People who grow and eat local do themselves and the earth a favor. So here is a primer on becoming a victory gardener in your corner of the world.

1. Become Informed
You need to be intentional about what you plant and when. Not every part of the country has the same soil or the same climate. This means that some produce will grow better in certain regions than in others. Become informed about your local soil, climate information and what produce is most likely to thrive where you live.

2. Become Prepared
Now is not the time to be planting in the ground in most areas of the country, but it is a good time to clear the area where you hope to plant next spring. Get rid of weeds now. Mark out your garden plot so you know how many plants you’ll need to nurture through the winter.

3. Become a Nursery
You can use winter to grow plants from seed to seedlings indoors. Get some quality nameplates for plants so that your seedlings are clearly identified as they grow. By nurturing seedlings through the dark days of winter, you’ll have a head start come next spring when the ground warms and softens once again.

4. Become a Composter
Composting is smart for everyone. You can buy a compost bin or you can construct your own compost area in the yard. Non-protein food waste will provide rich nutrition for your soil and make your garden plants grow lush and delicious.

It doesn’t take a lot to become a victory gardener. This winter you’ll just need some soil and nameplates for plants. A pitchfork or shovel to stir your compost pile is an important tool. Next spring you’ll need a shovel to keep the soil well-tilled. Apart from a hose, that’s just about all you’ll need. Check with your local nursery for seeds to grow and check out Kincaid Plant Markers to get your nameplates. Next spring, you’ll be excited to see how very self-reliant and healthy you can be. Victory!

Plant a Winter Garden and Identify Plants With Metal Garden Markers

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Metal Garden Markers Can Distinguish Where Your Winter Garden Plants Are Located…Even When the Snow is Falling

metal garden markersYou may be gathering in those last few juicy tomatoes from your garden – especially this year when early summer rains delayed much of summer’s produce in some parts of the country. Soon it will be time to cut down the garden and turn the soil. But, before you tuck your gardening tools into bed for the winter, consider trying your hand at some winter gardening. With protected planting boxes, a trowel, straw and some metal garden markers, you could still be gardening even when snowflakes start to paint the landscape a cottony white.

Some Like it Hot – Some Like it Cool

Not every delicious garden vegetable is a heat-worshipper. There are plenty of sweet and scrumptious vegetables that actually prefer the cool. No plants can survive freezing, but with a little protective care, you can nurture lettuces, broccoli, spinach, carrots and more in the midst of those dark, snowy winter months. Just imagine it.

How to Get Started

Now is the time to get some planting beds ready for this gardening adventure. You’ll want your plants to be well on their way before temperatures really start to plunge. One or two raised wooden beds is all the space you’ll need to begin. If you use soil from your summer garden, be sure to liven it up with some fresh compost. Also, to protect the soil from freezing when things get truly frigid, try lining your box with straw or tuck some heavy blankets underneath and around the box. Cool weather plants don’t need heat, but freezing may kill them.

Frozen May be a Popular Movie, But Plants Don’t Like Freezing Weather

You can start your plants inside now labeled with metal garden markers and then move them to your planting boxes once they’ve gotten a solid start. As long as days are sunny and dry – go ahead and leave the planting box lids open to the fresh air. You can do this even in the deepest days of winter so long as the temperature is above freezing. When the thermometer says freezing, keep your boxes snuggled in straw and wrapped in cozy blankets. You could choose to place your boxes near the house to gain a bit of radiant heat all winter.

It’s true that once deep winter arrives, your plants will go dormant so you won’t actually see them growing. But until then you can pluck fresh lettuce, spinach, arugula, cabbage, mustard, broccoli and so on. Then, next spring, you will have a great head start for the cool, pre-summer garden. If you live in a temperate climate, you could actually grow and harvest all winter long. But for those living in cold areas, winter gardening can extend the vegetable growing season and provide a jump for the following spring.

You can find instructions on how to build your planting boxes in books or online. For the best metal garden markers, Kincaid Plant Markers provides top quality markers season after season. Order yours today and start your own winter garden adventure.

It’s Not Too Late to Add Markers for Roses

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Adding Markers for Roses as Part of Your Fall Rose Care

markers for rosesThe fall calendar is full of many outdoor activities. Apple picking, pumpkin carving, leaf raking and….getting some of your summer landscaping ready to face the coming winter months. If you are blessed all summer with glorious roses, then you want to take care of those plants this fall as you prepare for winter’s cold and dry weather. Pruning, mulching, watering and markers for roses are all recommended as part of your fall to do list.

During the harsh winter, your roses face several challenges. To begin with they can become very thirsty. Secondly, the cycle of freezing and thawing which happens in the ground and with exposed limbs can be deadly. Last, there are pests which can eat or survive to damage your plants next spring. Here’s how to protect against these common rose enemies.

Pruning
Not every rose will need the same kind of pruning. The important thing to note is that during warm, summer months, pruning will encourage growth. Severe pruning for winter needs to take place when you run no risk of prompting tender shoots that will be blighted by winter weather. This usually means around late November (do it over your Thanksgiving holiday).

Climbing roses: Once the leaves are dead and gone for the season and the branches(canes) have stiffened, lay them down in preparation for mulching. Little pruning is required.

 

Shrub roses: You will want to cut these back but since they haven’t got a graft junction as hybrids do, winter will not be quite as risky for them. Still, trim them down low enough that you won’t have lots of branches being exposed to warming (in the winter sun) and freezing (in the winter night).

Hybrid roses: On hybrid roses you will want to prune away any spindly or weak limbs. Leave three to five strong canes 12-18” high.

Watering
Soak roses well before the ground freezes. Plants will get thirsty over the long, dry winter months.

Mulching
After the leaves on your roses have died, be sure to pick off any remaining ones. Otherwise fungus or other blights can linger all winter long and cause hinder growth come spring. You will be mulching to shield roots and graft unions from expansion and contraction as well as from the drying effects of winter blasts.

Climbing roses: Cover the canes you have laid to the ground completely with mulch
Shrub roses: Make sure there is three to four inches of mulch in the rose bed. You can feed with fertilizer several weeks before the first hard freeze but, mid-September is too late.

Hybrid roses: Bury the root and juncture spots in eight inches of mulch.

Before you mulch is the time to identify your plants clearly with markers for roses. Your roses need and deserve your care and attention all through the year. By marking them, you can draw attention to their beauty in summer and be aware of their exact location in winter. Kincaid Plant Markers make the best markers for roses. Kincaid markers will stand up to every season and continue looking great and reading clearly. Order yours today and be prepared for your fall rose duties.

Your Own City Garden: Make a Living Wall, Then Identify Your Plants

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Garden Markers Identify Your Plants as You Plant Your Vertical Garden

identify your plantsLiving surrounded by buildings and city life can be exciting, but it also leaves many people yearning to be refreshed by greenery and living plants. Vertical gardens are the city-dwellers’ answer to planting a garden when space is limited. A little bit of space, a little imagination and markers to identify your plants are all you need to transform cinderblock into your own secret garden.

You can create vertical gardens indoors or out and they can do more than provide lush aesthetics. They can be used for functional purposes, too. Here are a few ways to put a vertical garden to work for you.

1. Visual Enlargement
Square footage is at a premium when you live in the city. If you are lucky enough to have a patio space, it’s likely to be small. But you can make that little space look far larger with some vertical gardening. If you look at a fence or wall surrounding your patio it’s easy to feel closed-in. But by greening up the walls you will turn a patio into a garden that feels more spacious. Treat your patio like a real garden and use markers to identify your plants.

2. Visual Interest
You may look out on an alley or directly at a brick wall. But place a vertical garden in front of that wall or bleak building façade and you will be tempted to open your curtains more often just to drink in the view.

3. Visual Invitation
The space issue can be challenging when you live in a metropolitan area. If you have any outdoor space, you want to use it. Planting a vertical garden along a wall will draw your guests outside. Your wall garden will make it easier to entertain because everyone won’t want to stay indoors when there is such a beautiful area beckoning them to come and enjoy. Your vertical garden will provide the added benefit of being a cool space. When the cement and concrete heat up in summer, your plants will offer a cool retreat.

4. Visual Barrier
The thing about living in town, is that there are always people. Sometimes that is thrilling. Other times, you just want a little personal space. An artificial fence in the form of a vertical garden works great. Your green screen can be just enough to give you back the privacy you crave.

At Kincaid Plant Markers we love plants and gardens of every variety. We love seeing the gardens our customers create and hearing about the many ways plants are making life more enjoyable. We make quality plant markers because we know that having a way to identify your plants is one of those finishing touches that makes your work seem complete. If your space is limited, consider a vertical garden. Then choose some of our stainless steel markers to identify your plants.

Green Gardening: Go Native and Then Identify Your Plants

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As You Identify Your Plants You Build Appreciation for Local Vegetation and Wildlife

identify your plantsIf you’ve ever taken a stroll through a Conservation area or park, you probably noticed at least one section that was entirely devoted to native flora. These plots of ground are important as many regions of the country are experiencing the growing disappearance of native plant life. Yet, you don’t need to be a professional conservation agent in order to help native plants maintain a foothold in your area. Instead of using non-native decorative plants in your landscape design, consider incorporating plants which are indigenous to your area. Then, identify your plants with garden markers to encourage others to do the same.

Why Native Plants

Native plants require far less maintenance compared to non-native ones. In general, they will require less water, less pesticide treatment and less fertilizer. Native flora is well-adapted to your region so it will often be more disease-resistant as well. Thus, a big reason to Go Native is that it means the plants will grow well without much work and less chemicals are being mixed into the soil.

Who Will Enjoy Your Native Landscape

Since adding native plants into your garden will actually be a restoration project, you can expect your native flowers, grasses and shrubs to be attractively in sync with your surroundings. Not only will you enjoy the harmony a native garden provides, but the smaller creatures which promote healthy gardens will be likewise thrilled. Insects (think pollinators like bees and butterflies), wildlife and even beneficial microorganisms will thrive in a native environment. You, your visitors and tiny animal life will all enjoy your native garden.

What to Plant

A native garden will resemble a hothouse garden in the sense that you still need to consider shade, sun and soil when planning where to position each plant. And, like a non-native garden, you’ll need to spend time initially training out weeds and waiting for plants to become firmly established. Use markers to identify your plants as you put them in the ground to avoid confusion when it comes time to pull weeds. However, once you’ve gotten things on their way, your native garden will flourish with much less care than the cultivated non-native variety.

Where to get the Best Plant Markers

Your native landscape will use less water, require fewer chemicals and encourage healthy biodiversity. You want to celebrate this with quality plant markers to identify your plants. The best plant markers should be able to read clearly and should stand up to all kinds of weather conditions. That’s exactly what you’ll get when you order Kincaid Plant Markers. Our markers are used in official botanical gardens and other public venues and are valued by serious gardeners everywhere. Start your own native garden movement and do it with Kincaid Plant Markers.

Labels for Greenhouses Help You Identify Your Plants During the Winter Growing Season

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Kincaid Labels for Greenhouses Are as Durable as Your Commitment to Gardening

labels for greenhousesFor many Americans another season of gardening is drawing to a close. This summer was feast or famine in much of the nation. Some areas endured parched months while others were inundated by drenching downpours. Now, nearly everywhere, as days grow shorter, daylight lessens and temperatures cool, the ability to grow flowers and vegetables is winding down. Unless, you are fortunate enough to have a space for a greenhouse. These wonderful micro-climate environments allow you the pleasure of extended, almost year-round growing. With a simple structure, the proper light and ventilation and labels for greenhouses, you can keep your green thumb busy with little regard for the calendar page.

Greenhouses can be as simple as some handmade ground level boxes with glass lids or as complex as re-created tropical realms. The simplest and least costly greenhouse is the cold frame structure. This greenhouse relies on the warmth of the earth and the sun to nurture young plants. Should temperatures unexpectedly drop, gardeners compensate by adding extra protective layers – think sacks of leaves or blankets. You can extend your growing season with a cold frame greenhouse and then, later on, use it to store your bumper crop of root vegetables on a straw bed over the winter.

The more versatile, and therefore more costly, greenhouses are structures which can be heated and ventilated acting as plant nurseries long after the ground itself is hardened by cold and the sun shares little warmth. Potted vegetables and flowers can be nurtured in these more complex structures. Complex simply means that with a little insulation (double-paned glass or foam) and a space heater set to 55*F-85*F, you can grow warm season vegetables and plants even when the thermometer registers COLD. Just imagine enjoying juicy tomatoes, crisp cucumbers and flavorful squashes in the bleak midwinter.

With less cost and attention to managing the climate you can still bring in a second or third harvest of cool season veggies such as broccoli, lettuces and peas. Cool weather crops do quite well in a protected but not too fussy environment. Break out the labels for greenhouses because you will be wanting to plant several varieties to grace the winter dinner table.

Flowers and plants also benefit from a home greenhouse. Don’t throw out your summer ferns just when they’ve reached their abundant foliage. Instead of sacrificing them to the first frost, bring them into the greenhouse and have lush ferns at the start of next outdoor season. Keep geraniums, mums and impatiens healthy and ready for next years’ landscaping too. Only the most tropical flowers will demand precise greenhouse conditions.

So depending upon how long you choose to garden, choose the greenhouse that fits your needs. A cold frame will give you a few extra weeks or a couple of months. A heated greenhouse will allow you to grow and protect all winter long. In either case you’ll want labels for greenhouses that can stand up to all kinds of weather. At Kincaid Plant Markers that is precisely the kind of durability you can expect. We’re a Midwest company that understands changeable conditions in the garden and we offer markers that can stand up to it all. Check us out and see how we set the standard for quality.

More Than Just Plant Markers – Kincaid is About Giving

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Crafting Excellent Plant Markers and Responding to the Needs of Our Neighbors

plant markersOur family wants to be directly engaged in making a difference in the lives of others. Through our company, Kincaid Plant Markers, we hope to help you as gardeners, business owners and retailers take pride in your plants, keep them organized and create whatever statements in your landscaping that make you happy. Long before we started our business of plant markers we were trying to help the less fortunate in our community. Today, we still believe that we must be responsible community members by giving to those in need in our community.

For decades, my wife and I have served the hungry once a month at St. Joseph’s Open Door Food Kitchen. Sometimes a person might need help for a few weeks. Other people become familiar faces to them, folks who need more than just a little help. Each time our family serves happily knowing that we are helping our fellow neighbors.

Our family-owned business now gives back through the dollars we make at Kincaid Plant Markers. For over 10 years, I have been a board member and volunteered with the Second Harvest Community Food Bank, an organization that provides families and school children with fresh and non-perishable foods. For some families this may be the only food they have to put on their family’s table. Now our family has decided to use our business to help the families who come to Second Harvest even more.

Every plant marker that you purchase from us benefits the Backpack Buddies program at Second Harvest. Volunteers at Second Harvest fill backpacks full of food to give to school children in need every Friday so that they will have something to eat on the weekends, when they won’t be nourished by school meals. During the 2014 school year, Backpack Buddies provided meals for over 3,200 children in 50 schools over 18 counties.

This year, our plant markers have also helped fight hunger in a different way. More and more schools in the St. Joseph, MO, school district are creating community gardens. This means more children can learn to grow their own foods, appreciate fresh, non-packaged foods and then take some locally-grown food home to their families. At Mark Twain Elementary School, our Kincaid Plant Markers help children learn what different vegetables look like throughout the growing season. When the children first planted their seeds last spring, they proudly placed one of our markers in various areas of the garden. As the growing season began, they saw how their tiny seeds became a part of a larger plan as their green beans began sprawling out and mingling with the tomatoes, lettuce, corn, turnips, onions and other produce. Over the summer, and this fall, they are enjoying the fruits of their labor.

We enjoy the fruits of our labor all year long with excellent customers and the knowledge that we’re helping many children and families in need with every sale. Thanks to all of you who help us help others by purchasing Kincaid Plant Markers. Today, know that your markers aren’t just making you happy, but they are feeding others’ lives and dreams, too!

Transitioning Garden Markers During the Growing Seasons

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Garden Markers Share Space as Seasons Begin to Change

garden markersSome of your early summer crops are being harvested and clumps of disturbed earth where plants were uprooted are beginning to populate your yard like a prairie dog town. As those plants begin to disappear until next year, they leave a little space for you to plant some fall season vegetables. As you transition your garden plants from summer to fall, garden markers can help you designate where to plant your cooler weather plants.

Planning Ahead

Gardeners often seem ready for spring. Our cooler or colder winter season (depending on where you live) gives us ample time to dream about the flavors, colors and textures that come with the cool spring and then summer. But the transition from summer to fall is more likely to sneak up on us. We’re busy weeding, watering and harvesting when we suddenly realize we should have planted our fall seeds weeks ago. Sometimes plant markers can help us remember that the transition will be coming and that our garden is full of flavor nearly year-round.

Staking For the Season

Some summer crops will remain with us and produce until the first hard frost. Other summer plants will be harvested and plucked from the earth, leaving a nice spot to put in the next crop. Garden markers could come in handy in those rotational spots. You may choose to put both your summer and fall markers out at the same time to help you remember to get those crops in early enough to produce before the first frost. You can even put the season name underneath the plant name. For those of you who are experts with garden time and always remember when to plant, you may just want to swap out your garden markers when you put your fall seedlings in the ground.

Timing Your Planting Just Right

There is no one certain time to plant autumn plants. It depends upon each plant’s growth cycle. The days it takes to mature vary from plant to plant. Modern Farmer online suggests that the best way to find out exactly when you should plant is to look at how many days it takes for your plant to mature. Next, find out the average first day of frost for your region’s plant season. Since you want to make sure that your plant has plenty of time to mature, subtract the number of days it takes for the plant to mature from the date of your first frost. Then, just to be sure an early frost won’t get your plants, give yourself some plant insurance with subtracting a few more days.

If you want to personalize your garden markers by putting the names of seasons on the plate with the plant’s name, Kincaid Garden Markers can provide just the marker for you. Our stainless steel posts and plates can weather all the seasons and help you get your next season’s garden off to a timely start.