One of the grouses about Christmas trees is their needles falling out. Generally, balsam, Fraser and Douglas fir trees keep their needles on relatively long, while spruce pines shed their needles quite fast. Before you go home with your tree, test it for its freshness and pliability – Give it a shake and drop it on the cut end of the trunk onto the floor. Some needles should come out, but that is ok. If a lot of needles fall out, get another tree.

How do you keep your Christmas tree fresh? Saw off the bottom 1-2 inches of the trunk and soak the trunk in warm water. Warm water dilutes away any exuded sap from the cut and helps the tree with absorption. You can also spray the needles with water using a mist sprayer.

You can help the Christmas tree absorb more water by drilling a hole right up the trunk and stuffing it with thick cotton. The cotton helps absorb water into the trunk, acting like a wick. Of course, this only applies for non-potted Christmas trees.

Keep the tree away from heat sources like the fireplace, radiators, heaters and sunlight. If you get yourself a potted tree, wrap wet towels around the root ball and put the tree in a tray or pot filled with a little water. The clothing acts as a wick drawing in water in this case. If you’re worried about needles and debris dropping onto the floor, spread out a heavy plastic sheet underneath the tree.

After applying a fresh coat of paint, you can infuse some lively accents to your home interior by having a few strategically placed plants in specific locations. Plants lend a soft, cozy feeling that creates an inviting ambiance to any visitor, and best part is, they need not be real!

I always wonder why a gardeners life can’t be made simpler with the addition of a few artificial plants. The drawback to maintaining too many live plants is the maintenance and knowledge required to keep them alive and growing. Artificial plants are low-cost, and low-maintenance. And they look so real, you’d need to look really close just to tell the difference.

Furthermore, real plants require adequate sunlight, and this limits your choices to certain species’, assuming you want to feature a certain type of plant, indoors. Ditto on watering. You don’t need to hire someone to do your watering while you’re on vacation, and yet all your plant’s appearance seems to suggest that you’re a master gardener who takes care of them well enough!

So if you are convinced enough to try some artificial plants, try getting artificial plants made of silk. Those made from silk are almost indistinguishable from the real live plants. Avoid artificial plants made from plastic; usually these are made from PVC. PVC may contain plasticizers (to soften them) which may be hazardous to health, and are hard to recycle.

The good thing about having some artificial plants in your home, is they never die or turn yellow. You can also keep a artificial version of a tropical plant, and instantly transform your living hall into a tropical paradise. Ferns or palms make good choices for this purpose. A hanging fern in your bathroom complete with the occasional spray of water droplets on its leaves, enhances the illusion of bathing in a tropical setting.

Artificial plants can get you to use certain spots in your home. An umbrella fern tree in the living room placed next to your couch will also make the couch a more attractive place to kick back and make use of. Throw in a blanket and some new pillows, and you have a refurbished couch, ready to roll in again.

How about running some backlight through your artificial tree? String some lights through its branches for a romantic or cozy evening without having to worry if the tree will wilt under the heat. The visual effect is lovely. And don’t forget the lights can be reused; so if you’re on a tight budget, you can still add it to your artificial plant collection later.

Artificial plants do have their place in the my gardening books. Although I do not recommend having an entire collection of wholly artificial plants, yet having some as part of any indoor (even outdoor decor) plans – is a smart decision!

Window bird feeders are often placed right up against the window, with the part of the window near the feeder often tinted, thus enabling people from within the house to watch the birds without them birds being aware they were being watched.

These window bird feeders are really great, and on the whole not expensive; though they might look as if they cost a pretty penny for certain designs. If you want to invest in a unique design, I can’t imagine that you would be sorry later on. But, if you want something similar, but don’t want to spend anything much, you can make your own alternative, ala DIY style. It takes some time and energy, but it’s not really difficult to construct a simple roof attached over a bowl of some kind.

There’s a sample DIY guide here for constructing a bird feeder, which might be considered “work” for the lazyboned, since bird feeders are quite cheap on the whole.

You can have your window tinted and hang a few regular small feeders out there near the window. The birds will come, and will not be able to see you if you come close to the window.

These types of bird feeders can be bought from any well stocked pet store near you. If you dislike manually finding an online bird store, you can always try your hand at shopping for them online. If you live in an area that has hummingbirds, you might want to consider getting a dedicated hummingbird feeder as well. Hummingbirds are one of the most important pollinators of flowers in any garden, but they can be picky as well, since their long beaks are more suited to probing the inner depths of a flower, rather than for more conventional “beak usage”. Woodpeckers on the other hand, aren’t so picky.

A strategy that is used with window bird feeders is to place different types of bird seed in your window bird feeders, so that hopefully, different types of bird species may be attracted to the bird feeder, thus providing better bird viewing opportunities. The drawback of this method is that it may wind up attracting squirrels, as well as birds. Birds do not really like squirrels, so it’s best to avoid this situation by setting up separate squirrel feeders at a different location, preferably far removed from the bird feeder. Now, you can get to enjoy not only the birds, but the squirrels as well, a win-win situation for all concerned!

Bird baths can turn out to be just as powerful a magnet as bird feeders in attracting birds to a garden. During times of hot weather or droughts, birds are strongly attracted to shallow pools of clean water, which birdbaths provide. If you want to take up birdwatching as a hobby, then having birdbaths will complement your hobby just nicely! Birdwatching can then be undertaken from the comfort of your window sill.

What are the characteristics of a good birdbath?

1. A pool of very shallow water.
2. Gradually deepening in depth, towards the middle.
3. Stocked with cool, clean, clear water even during the hottest of days.
4. Firm standing on the ground, and does not topple over, even during storms.
5. Does not breed mosquitoes.
6. Out of reach of predators like cats.
7. Situated with a good view of the surroundings, and near an overhanging tree branch so birds can quickly take flight there should danger threaten.

As a kid, whenever someone mentioned “birdbath” to me, I used to imagine birds visiting a bird bath complete with towels and scrub brush, just like in the Walt Disney cartoons. They’d be whistling and having fun bathing in the bird baths. Of course, these are just amusing kid fantasies, but it’s true; your kid will love having bird baths just as much as the birds themselves!

Bird baths have been around for a long time, and feature in many classical style gardens. Usually, the birdbaths in these gardens are heavy and have intricate carvings on them. Victorian style birdbaths usually have a price matching their weight, but then again, that is because these bird baths require high levels of craftsmanship and special molds to manufacture. Also, they are meant to last for generations.

You can find bird baths in shops that stock garden and outdoor supplies. Shops that stock garden decor will usually have varying types of birdbaths for sale. The good bird baths are rather heavy, and are probably much heavier than they look upon initial inspection. If you have decided on one, get someone brawny to help you with the lifting; most stores do help you get bird baths to your car, but they won’t be able to help you once you get home.

There are also contemporary designed bird baths these days. They are cheaper (under $100) and designed mostly with practicality and functionality in mind. Usually, they are solar powered and double up as garden fountains. One feature they have, is all year round heating. If you don’t want an expensive and heavy birdbath, then consider the modern range solar powered birdbaths.

Remember for whom the birdbath is for…

At the end of the day, consider how a birdbath appeals to your feathered friends – through their eyes, of course! If you were a bird, would you like visiting that particular birdbath? Why would that birdbath appeal to you? Birdbaths not only attract birds, but are known to draw dragonflies, damselflies, raccoons, squirrels, etc. As long as the birds love it, your birdbath is a success…never mind if you made it yourself, or got from the garden supplier for 50 bucks.