Feng Shui Garden Tips

This week I was lucky enough to have as my guest on a teleclass, Elaine Giftos Wright, my friend, colleague, and an amazing Feng Shui Master Consultant. Her company, The Wright Way of Feng Shui, has been helping families and businesses around the Los Angeles area and if you heard the class you know that helping people is her passion.

I thought that I would share with you some tips that I took away from out talk; I hope that they teach you a little more about Feng Shui and at the same time pique your interest in the art and science of Feng Shui.

1. Feng Shui means wind & water – everything on earth is made of wind and water the study of Feng Shui is to help you bring energy and abundance into your home and your life. It is not a religion or faith and it certainly is not magic or a get rich quick program. It is a practice that you use over time to add to your home, and should be used in concert with a Feng Shui practitioner.

2. In Feng Shui it is said that your front yard is your past, inside your home is your present and your backyard is your future. That tells me that we should all create beautiful, relaxing, nurturing, and healing gardens in our backyard!

3. There are five elements in Feng Shui (and in the world for that matter) and each of them is associated with a color. The elements are: Water (black), Earth (mustard/gold), Fire (red), Wood (green), and Metal (white). Using colors and elements in the proper areas of your garden will enhance and can help correct areas in your life.



4. Use meandering pathways in your garden to bring in undulating chi (the good kind). The best kind of energy for your home and garden is energy that flows like a brook. A sharp straight walkway into your home will bring sharp, negative energy (Shar Chi) into your home. Soften it by creating a beautiful curved pathway into your home, or if you can’t afford to upgrade your hardscape add beautiful container designs in odd numbers.



5. Create an alternative way into your home. Do you want more opportunities in your life? If you do creating a secondary entrance (meandering) into your home will help draw those opportunities to you.






Do you want more Feng Shui Tips? Would you like a few visuals to help you spruce up your garden? If you live in or near Santa Clarita, you are in luck! Elaine and I will be speaking at Green Thumb’s Spring Opening next Saturday March 24, 2012 at 10 am. The event lasts all day but we’re only speaking in the morning! Elaine and I will both be raffling off some of our services, and Green Thumb always has a wonderful bunch of raffle prizes themselves! They also offer a discount off of merchandise bought that day, and we can even help you pick things out! Green Thumb is located at: 23734 Newhall Ave. Newhall, CA 91321.

We hope to see you there!

Wordless Wednesday

Agave vilmoriniana - Octopus Agave

Euphorbia tirucalli 'Sticks On Fire'(tree)

Echinocactus grusonii (Golden Barrel Cactus)

I’m offering another complimentary telecall and it is tomorrow night!

Joining me will be Elaine Giftos Wright of The Wright Way of Feng Shui and we'll be talking about using Feng Shui in the garden to attract abundance into your life.

This info on this call is good for any climate, any zone, anywhere! All you need is the desire to make your garden shine. Thursday March 15, 2012 at 6:30 pm PST

Check out this link for more information and to sign up for the call: YourGardenGoddess.com

What To Do In Your Southern California Garden in March

Spring has sprung, or has it just always been spring? This year really has been a mild and rain free (not good) winter, and I think both the plants and us humans are a little confused. Well, in any case I’m going to give you a list of chores for this month confused or not.

1. Fertilizing - By the end of the month you should be able to start your plants on their regular fertilizing schedule. Citrus, avocados, hibiscus, and bauhinia to name a few love a low nitrogen organic fertilizer. If you have a California Native garden or a California Native area of your bed, you don’t need to fertilize.



2. Check your mulch - If your planter beds have used up their mulch, it is time to replenish. bring it up to 3” deep. Your mulch will help you conserve moisture, control weeds, and it looks nice. California natives use shredded redwood bark (gorilla hair) or gravel depending on which types of plants you have.



3. Insects Control - You can handpick bugs off your plants, wash them off, or spray with organic insect controls. Another great option is finding the proper beneficial insect for your problem and add them to your garden. I actually found aphids on some of my iris two weeks ago! Early, yes but in this heat – you can see how they might be confused. I simply washed the iris off with water and so far I have not seen them return. (I didn’t even use soap).



4. Plan Ahead for Veggies - Don’t forget to add Tomatomania to your calendar their first event in SoCal is this weekend at Roger’s Gardens (Corona del Mar) and they run right through the end of April ending in Goleta, which I think is a great excuse to hit Santa Barbara! If you want seedlings but don’t want to take the trip to one of their events, you can email me at julie@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net and I’ll be happy to pick up some plants for you provided you live near me.

5. Irrigation Check - If you are in drought-prone areas (all of SoCal this year?) and you don’t have irrigation, you can add a simple drip-irrigation system. You can also install Hunter Precision nozzles or MP Rotators which conserve water. Even California Natives will need some water this summer because we had very little water in the winter when they needed it to store up for the summer. If you can supplement your native’s water through March you can really help them out, they become more resistant to summer drought if they are well-watered now.



6. More Veggie Prep - You can sow seeds for peppers, okra, lemongrass, and watermelons now.



7. Fruit Planting Tip - If you live in LA (city), OC, Ventura, or SFV you can plant avocados, papaya, and mangos. If you live in SCV you should stay away from those but planting guavas, citrus, persimmons, tabebuia, and tibouchina trees is fine. For a wonderful selection of subtropical fruits (and a lot of great information) visit Papaya Tree Nursery. (Call ahead to make an appointment).



8. Mark You Calendar - Plan on spending March 24, 2012 at Green Thumb with Elaine Giftos Wright and I for a Free Seminar at Green Thumb’s Spring Open House. Feng Shui In The Garden is our topic, and we’re going to help you learn how to use Feng Shui to add abundance and harmony to your garden. We speak at 10 am!

Enjoy refreshments, vendor's booths, children’s activities, tool sharpening. Take advantage of 10% savings on most items purchased in store during this Open House Event! rsvp@thegrassisalwaysgreener.net We’d love to see you there! Green Thumb is located at 23734 Newhall Ave. Newhall, CA 91321.

And..



Next week is my next Complimentary Teleclass, also called “Feng Shui In The Garden” (notice a theme?). Elaine and I will be giving a lot of great information that you can use in your garden. The call and the seminar will cover different things; so don’t be afraid to attend both!
This info on this call is good for any climate, any zone, anywhere! All you need is the desire to make your garden shine. Thursday March 15, 2012 at 6:30 pm PDT

Please take a look at this link for more information and to sign up for the call.