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Building closet organizers
Closet organizers can be a valuable space saving
technique in your home. Closets are a much used part of the
home, but they are, typically, poorly organized. That can cost
space that could be used to store other belongings. This lack...
Choosing the Right Roses for your Garden
There are literally hundreds of types of roses that you can grow in your garden. With such a selection to choose from, it can be extremely difficult to choose the rose that's right for you. To make this task a bit easier, We've outlined a few...
Concrete Cutting: Shedding Light On Your Basement Remodel
Basements or cellars (depending on which part of the country you are from) are primarily seen as dark and dingy parts of a home. In most cases they are considered a useless area or are used as a “catch all” for family discards that haven’t quite...
Decorating, Where There's a Will There's a Way
Decorating anything is one of the easiest things in the world! And when it comes to decorating your home, if one has a will and there is always a way. It helps, of course, to know about materials, including building materials, textiles and fabrics...
No More Estate Agent Fees
Follow a few simple guidelines, and marketing your own home can be easy. And it will save you thousands. The recent property boom has a lot of people thinking of selling. Unfortunately, the costs of selling can really eat into your profit....
So You've Decided to Finish Your Basement!
When a family decides to finish a basement space, there are so many factors to consider it can seem overwhelming. What does your family want to achieve within the new basement? Are you looking for a play area, a family room, a work-out room,...
Solar Power How It Works
Solar power
How it works seems like a mystery to some, but we've all seen it used to power everyday things like calculators. It is also used to supply electricity to the appliances and lights we use in our homes.
Even utility companies use...
The Solar Energy Industry grew 67% last year. Are you making the best decision for your future?
Are you considering using renewable energy resources to heat water or generate electricity? Would you like to be independent from the grid? Want to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions you and your family produce? Great! You are not alone in...
The Value Of Building Home Equity
There are numerous advantages to owning a home. One of the serious advantages is the equity that is built over time. As equity builds, you create a pool of money to access in trying times. Home Equity Equity is simply the value of a property...
Things to Know About Fountain Pumps
When replacing a fountain pump or choosing a new one, first there are some key terms to keep in mind:
"Head" :
This is the maximum vertical lift of the pump. For example, a 6' head means the pump is rated to pump water up to 6 feet high....
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How to Transplant Irises
In my experience, irises are among the easiest flowers to transplant.
One spring many years ago, an older friend of mine dug up an iris bed at her home. They were bearded irises -- a lovely shade of lilac purple -- and she moved some of them to a different location. The irises had already started to grow and were about four inches high. She didn't know what to do with the remaining irises, so she put them in a box, intending to give them away.
As it turned out, the irises remained in the box for more than two weeks. By now, she didn't feel she could give them away because she didn't think they would grow. I offered to take the irises and plant them, just to see what would happen.
The irises were not one bit bothered about being in a box for more than two weeks with no water and no dirt around their roots. I planted them, they started growing, and they're still going strong more than 25 years later.
In the past two decades, I have thinned out the irises and planted them in other locations. I have also found irises growing by old homesteads where no buildings remain (I live in rural Wisconsin) and have dug them up and transplanted them in my yard. Each year in early June, the irises bloom in a variety of colors: white, blue, yellow and purple.
Here's how to transplant irises:
1. Prepare the new flower bed where you intend to plant the irises.
2. Use a shovel to dig up the roots that you want to transplant. Irises have very tough root systems. If the irises are exceptionally thick, a trowel probably won't do the trick. Stick the shovel into the dirt among the irises and start digging. And don't worry about cutting the roots with the shovel. You won't be able to avoid it. Irises spread by their roots, so many of the plants will be connected. Even a short section of root stands an excellent chance of
transplanting.
3. Dig holes with a trowel about four inches deep and eight to ten inches apart. Put the iris roots into the holes and cover with soil.
4. Water the transplanted irises thoroughly. For the remainder of the season, water the irises a couple of times each week, especially when rain is in short supply.
Observations about irises:
1. From what I have seen of the irises growing in my flower beds, they are tough plants that are quite drought resistant. Like any plant, they will do better when they receive plenty of water, but during years when it has been dry, they have still survived extremely well. And of course, the irises that I dug up from old homesteads didn't have any help at all during drought years, and *they* made it just fine.
2. The irises in my yard seem to do equally well in full sun or in partial shade.
3. Trimming the iris leaves after the plants are done blooming to give more room and more light to other plants nearby doesn't seem to bother the irises. For the past couple of years, I have trimmed irises growing next to my rose bush, and the following year, the irises have come back as strong as ever.
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LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the farm books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm" (trade paperback 2003); "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback 2004); "Preserve Your Family History (A Step-by-Step Guide for Interviewing Family Members and Writing Oral Histories" (e-book 2004). You are invited to sign up for the free monthly newsletter, Rural Route 2 News -- http://ruralroute2.com
About the Author
LeAnn R. Ralph is the author of the farm books "Christmas in Dairyland (True Stories from a Wisconsin Farm" and "Give Me a Home Where the Dairy Cows Roam" (trade paperback 2004); http://ruralroute2.com
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