Bonsai trees are an artform that captures what time and trial does to old trees

Valuable to know garden and plant items that make your life enjoyable

Plant material for bonsai trees

I have been a bonsai tree enthusiast for many years now. My preference is for tropical plant material, but I love a wide variety of material. Vines make great material for these little trees. They are hardy, flexible, and fast growing… a great combination. There are many flowering vine choices as well. The plant material choices can be outdoor material and indoor material.

You can plant your tree into the ground in or out of the pot. This makes them easier to care for, contain, and can also be an option for outdoor plant material during wintertime. If you have outdoor material that is not hardy enough for the cold weather of your grow zone, you can keep them in a cold frame or in a garage with windows (not too much light in winter though so they can stay dormant as needed).

This article will give you a feel for how much the tools, resources, and well established professionally started trees cost. You will be pleasantly surprised.

Plant material that attract hummingbirds and butterflies

I love having hummingbirds around. They are a joy to watch. These little birds are a colorful marvel of activity and energy. They do well on living with neighboring predator birds as well. Having families of owls and hawks did not bother these fast moving birds that lived nearby at my home. We had alternating nesting of both of these birds.

If you have a plentiful supply of the flowers they enjoy, you can experience their visits on a regular basis. Butterflies are also attracted to the same flowers… bonus!

I am sure that you probably know that you can use hummingbird and butterfly feeders too. The landscaped flowers are the easy maintenance way to enjoy their visits. The feeders can be supplement for them. These are also included in the article link above…

Fruit and Nut tree plant material

Fruit and nut plants are great to have in your yard. They are attractive and provide much appreciated fruit and nuts. If fruit trees are what you like, you will need to be prepared to perform pesticide spraying and pruning. With berry vines, a trellis is an attractive option. An arbor is even better… it can have a trellis design included. Simply using steaks and fencing framework is also possible.

The sap in fruit plant items is sweet, they will attract animals and bugs. You may need fencing and containers to protect them and allow you to be the one consuming the fruit. Trees that produce nuts are going to be attractive like this as well.

Framework for growing your landscaping

You can use any kind of framework you like for growing your vines. I love the idea of growing living fence as well. Espalier apple trees are very popular for this task. You weave the branches in a criss cross pattern. They will grow stronger, thicker, and together over time. Vines will grow like this over time too. You can grow your greenery on many kinds of frameworks. I really like the arbor that are like an archway. These can be lined up to make a long covered walkway.

Landscaping for quail

I have had a tremendous fondness for quail! Having raised chickens, ducks, geese, pheasant, and quail, I enjoy and recommend all of them. While both of the game birds (Ring-necked pheasant and Bobwhite) are high strung, I enjoyed the Bobwhite the most. They are such a tremendous joy to raise and live with. They develop the skills to survive and fare well in the wild very quickly. Quail are a very social bird and do not do well if isolated.

Bobwhite pair

The hatching process is adorable!

I watched the hatching process for the quail in the incubator and it was amusing. The first egg hatched a chick and it was a sad little fellow. Soon another egg started peeping and the chick moved over to sit by that egg. The second egg hatched and then there were 2 happy, excited chicks. The 2 chicks move to the next egg that started talking… and so on until the entire collection of chicks hatched. They are an extremely social bird from the time that they hatch.

Quail need landscaping that they can hide in, retreat to, and feel safe around

Quail prefer areas like fence lines with lots of thick vegetation at the base. This situation allow them to run along the path and stay concealed and sheltered. Even if there is no fence, if you have plenty of sheltering vegetation that flows through your yard, they will feel concealed, protected, and safe.

With these birds, their safety comes from hiding. They will come out into the open near these sheltering landscape areas where you get to enjoy seeing them. Another wonderful thing to having them visit is that they have unique calls that are wonderful to hear. They are very social and talkative and you may even come to understand what the different calls mean.