Cleanliness In California

In California each month brings its own special interest. Either it is the appearance of specific flowers coming into bloom or garden tasks to be performed. During the fall there is a gradual slowing down of plant growth, permitting the gardener to get along with the fall cleanup, garden sanitation, pest control and the planting of spring bulbs, annuals and perennials. December is the beginning of the dormant, season in California. After the fall cleanup of pulling weeds, renovating lawns, gathering up flower pots, boards or what have you to eliminate the hiding places of pests, raking up leaves from under shrubs, getting rid of ants, slugs and snails and using a multi purpose spray, there still remains some tasks to be done before putting

And part of that maintenance involves watering the yard and garden more fully and heavily than they did during the cold winter months. Unfortunately using so much water for the yard and garden can rack up some hefty bills, and in some parts of the country there are actually restrictions on how much you can use because of water shortages. There are actually several ways to get free water for use in the yard and garden though, so we'll look at those here. 1. Water From Your Roof. Even if it does not rain in your area often, when it does you might be surprised to find out just how much water can be captured for later use. And you'll be able to capture extra water even if it just sprinkles lightly too. The roof of your house is a large collection surface, which channels the water into specific areas. Normally this is done with house gutters. Any rain - even from a light sprinkle - runs down your roof to the gutters, and is channeled out through pipes which are usually placed at the corners. This rain provides those areas with much more water than the rest of the yard gets, because you can literally collect tens and hundreds of gallons of water from the roof depending on how hard it's raining, and for how long. Instead of letting that water simply exit the gutter drains though, you can put barrels underneath of them instead, and

You can use your living room or dining room, just add some potted plants and flowers and buy some floral plates and glasses. You can also use a public garden or park, just make sure it is convenient for your guests and that you know the restrictions on food, drinks and activities. If neither of those can work, you can use a friend or neighbor's garden. Just make sure you ask first and do the cleanup and setup and let the garden owner help with the guest list. You are going to want a theme and some activities for your garden party. You can have a Garden of Eden theme and decorate with snakes and apples and serve plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables. For an activity, you can do a plant swap. Ask each of your guests to come to the party with a potted plant and when everyone gets together, swap plants with someone else. To decide who swaps with who, you can draw names out of a hat. Another activity your guests may enjoy is flower arranging. You can get a flower expert to come to your party and teach your guests how to arrange flowers in a vase correctly. You definitely can't have a party without food! It is a good idea to keep the food light with fresh ingredients. If you have herbs in your garden, be sure to include them into your party food. Start with a chilled soup like gazpacho. For a main dish, you can serve quiche and meats like salami. For a desert, you may serve fruit