How to Make Money at Home Growing Small Landscape Plants on 1/20 Acre or Less

How to Make Money at Home Growing Small Landscape Plants on 1/20 Acre or Less 

by Michael J. McGroarty 

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Small town, big town, it doesn’t matter, if you have a small area in your backyard that you can use for planting, then you can make money growing small plants at home. Actually you can make pretty good money on 1/40 of one acre. That’s an area about 30 feet by 40 feet. 

You will be amazed at how many plants you can fit in an area that small, and at how much money you can make. Even apartment dwellers can do this! If you live in an apartment, just to get a feel for how fun and rewarding a tiny nursery can be, find somebody with a little piece of ground that they will either let you use, let you rent it, or do a joint venture with you. 

Is there really a market for small plants? The market is huge, something like 4 billion dollars last year alone, and the demand is tremendous. As a small grower, you have a tremendous advantage over the larger nurseries, their overhead is very high. As a backyard grower yours will be almost nothing. 

You might be asking; "I live in a small town in a rural area, how many plants can I really sell?"

Tens of thousands if you want to. Most people don’t realize it, but large wholesale growers are the largest buyers of small plants in the country. They sell so many plants that they just can not produce them fast enough themselves, so they buy them from where ever they can find them. Just pack them up in a cardboard box and ship them anywhere you want. 

I routinely buy large quantities of small plants and have them shipped thousands of miles to my house. Why do I buy plants if I know how to grow them myself? There are a lot of reasons, but one is because I am impatient and don’t like to grow Japanese Maples from seed. I can buy Japanese Maple seedlings for as little as 75¢ and all I have to do is pot them up and watch them grow. 

I also buy large quantities of flowering shrubs that I would like to start propagating myself. I buy them for 50¢, pot them up, and often sell them the next year for $4.97. But in the mean time I take cuttings from them to propagate for next year’s crop. Then I never have to buy that variety again.

Those are the same reasons that many wholesale nurseries are always looking for great deals on small plants. When they find someone like you, growing in their backyard they are delighted, because they know they can buy what they need for less money from a small backyard grower than they can if they buy from a large nursery. 

It only stands to reason, your overhead is almost nothing, you don’t have to raise the price of your plants to pay for buildings, hundreds of acres of land, trucks, tractors, and dozens of employees. 

How much money do you need to get started? 

Almost none. All you have to do is root some cuttings, and you’re on your way! There are dozens of easy plant propagation techniques that are so easy to learn that young children can do them, and with great success I might add.

This propagation information is available to you free of charge atwww.freeplants.com

The size of the area you need to get started is really up to you, but an area about the size of a picnic table is a start. I’m serious. I root my cuttings in flats that are about 12” by 15”, and can get between 100 and 150 cuttings per flat. In an area about the size of a picnic table you should be able to root several thousand cuttings at a time.

And guess what? As soon as they are well rooted, they have a value and can be sold immediately! Isn’t that cool? Typically a rooted cutting is worth about 50¢. Let’s see now, 1500 cuttings at 50¢ each, that’s $750.!!! Wow!!! The wheels should be turning now. 

But you don't have to sell 50¢ plants, you can grow them until they’re bigger and get more money for them.  That’s what I do, I pot them up in small pots and they sell like crazy right from my driveway at $4.97 each. 

This spring we sold over $25,000. worth of $4.97 plants right from our driveway.  One the people that bought my Backyard Nursery E-book held a sale this spring and sold $2,800. worth of plants her first weekend.  She was ecstatic! Of course we also sold plants for much more than that.  I used to grow Japanese 

Red Maples and we sold those for $45. each,  and they sold like hot cakes! 

This is one of the most fun and rewarding home businesses you could ever get involved in. My kids have learned work ethics, the value of a dollar, and skills that will last them a lifetime.  Anytime they needed a little extra money all they had to do was step out the back door and earn the money they need. 

It costs very little to get started, and the rewards can be quite high.

It’s certainly not a get rich quick plan (because there is no such thing!), but plenty of people have done very well in the nursery business.  All it takes is determination and hard work. You can learn it as you go along. It’s much easier than you think.

Michael J. McGroarty is the author of this article. Visit his most interesting website, http://www.freeplants.com and sign up for his excellent gardening newsletter.  Article provided by, http://gardening-articles.com.  If you use this article the above two links must be active. http://www.1shoppingcart.com/app/?af=1255729

How To Landscape The Front Of Your Home

This article about How to Landscape the front of your home, is written with the "do-it-yourself" in mind, and is intended to show all that you basically need to apply, with simple principles and basic elements for accomplishing the best results possible in making your landscape, outstanding.


After many years of experience in the Nursery and Landscaping field, you get to the point, maybe by intuition, when you are called out to give an estimate, you pretty much could tell how is it going to look when it is finished, and how much is it going to cost, just by looking at the house. It becomes such a routine, but still, each and every house has it's own characteristics, and I would adventure to say, personality. Every project is different, though, and that is why is more interesting.

One reason the character and the personality of a home might be unique in many instances, because of the color and the position of the house on the rough landscape, and many other factors.

Now, that was not always the case. When I'm thinking of my first projects, many years ago, I remember struggling a lot to do my utmost best to create and design the best landscaping plan possible to get the job, and to build my reputation as a landscaper. That was not an easy task, and it was always a challenge. There are several principles and elements in the landscaping design, that you have to keep in mind, and to apply in order to do a good job.

The element of form, the shape of the "line", the size of the landscape relative to the size of the property, and many other principles and elements that you need to keep account of when designing a landscape project.

The purpose of this article is not really to give any definition of the landscaping, or to complicate things in any way, but rather to help the home owners to create their own project, in this case, intended mostly for the front of the house.

Concentrating on the very front of the house, is essential to pay attention to every little detail, since that is the part of your landscape that will decide the character of your real estate, and the first impression for the visitors. Just think of a painting, where the front yard is your canvas, you are the artist, and you must decide the "colors". That's another important element for your landscape project in order to be a success! The colors!

Another important element in designing a landscaping project, is the "lines" in the shaping of the planting surfaces. I believe that for a nice aesthetic design, the lines play a significant role. For myself it always played a very significant role. I also believe that it played a very important part in the success of many of my landscaping projects, the using of curve lines in most of my landscape designs. No matter from what angle you are looking at a curved line design, it will always look beautiful!

I personally, never liked to use too many straight lines when designing the planting space right next to the front of the house. Only if I did not have a choice, like when there was a walkway from the front door and turning to the left or to the right of the house at 90 degrees in a straight line, not too far from the wall of the house. It was always working better when the walkway was straight from the front door towards the street, to the Mail Box. Or if it turned anywhere farther away from the immediate vicinity of the home itself.

Thus, I had plenty room to play with my preferred curve lines in my design.

It always worked and looked much better when I was using curved lines, starting from the side of the house, where usually there is an AC unit, at the left side or the right side of the house. It doesn't really matter. I hope that you can envision the design as we go along in describing the shape of the planting space.

Here we go!

Drawing a curve line in such a way as to hide the AC unit with a few taller shrubs, coming with a fine curved line to the corner of the house, and expanding the line in a loop shape, to give you the chance to plant a little tree to kind of frame the house with some accent planting, on both extreme corners of the house.

Then from that loop line at the corner, I was drawing a curve line allowing room for other shrubs and blooming perennials, bedding plants and some ornamental grasses, as accent planting, going towards the front door to the walkway. Right here, next to the walkway, on both sides of it, I planted another little tree, a topiary or any other tall shrub, for the purpose of framing the landscape, to give it some character and again, accent. The right front side of the house will perfectly mirror the left front side.

Now in between the two corners and the taller trees or topiary plants next to the walkway, you can plant some low maintenance shrubs, about 16 to 24 inches from the wall, and about 2 to 3 feet apart, as foundation planting. These can be Compacta Hollies, Korean Boxwood, Indian Hawthorne, or any other low maintenance shrubs that you like.

Right in front of this row of shrubs that is called the "foundation planting", you can plant in a staggered fashion, so that the back row next to the wall should be visible, some other low growing shrubs, like Yaupons, Helleri, Soft Touch, or any other shrubs that you like. Right in front of the second row of shrubs, as a border, plant some ornamental grass like green or variegated Liriope, Aztec grass, etc. for some nice color variations.

For some nice colors, plant a few bedding plants of your choice, and as they are seasonal, you can always change the colors as you please. This should create a nice unique character to your home.

But wait, I've got ahead of myself, jumping too fast to the planting faze! Assuming that you draw all this on a sheet of paper, you pretty much have the lay out of how your finish project is going to look like. At least you have a pretty good idea.

Now let's mark our project on the ground, and see how is it going to work out. First let's start with the side of the house, where the AC unit is located, be it on the left or right side of the house. Or if the unit is on the back side, then you don't have to worry about it, for now. Only if, and when you will start working on your back yard landscaping.

So, we going to take a flexible water hose, and lay it down in a nice curve line, from the back corner of the house coming towards the front corner, and forming the loop we were talking about. Make it large enough so the loop will accommodate one tree, and three low growing shrubs for a group planting right in front of the tree. I hope you get the picture.

Continue to go with the hose, in a nice curve (again) expanding the line just a little away from the house, to have room to accommodate the shrubs and the rest of the plants described above. Go all the way to the walkway, and end the line a little towards the street, to make room for your next accent tree or topiary.

Look at the lay out of this side of the house, from different angles, and adjust the line until you like what you see. It's not really much to see, yet, but you'll have a pretty good idea. Once you are satisfied with the lay out, mark the line with a landscape spray can, that you can find at the hardware store, and do exactly the same thing on the other side of the house.

Now is the time to measure and see how many plants you going to need. Keep account of the distance you will need between the plants, and then figure out how many can you accommodate, not to make it too crowded, nor too bare. It should be a nice balance, pleasant to the beholder. Remember, this is your work of art, and it should make you very proud!

The hardest part is over! Now let's get our hands dirty, and let the fun begin!

So, the beautiful lay out of our plan is done, let's clean the ground of any rocks and debris and if necessary, let's add some amendments, like cow manure, several bags, some good fertilizer, and spread it on the top, and till it in the dirt. Rake it nicely, and now you can buy the plants, from your preferred Garden Center.

Water the plants until you have time to start planting. The fun part is just about to start!

Lay the plants in their position, and look at the entire picture once again, from different angles. Move the plants as many times as you like, while they are still in pots, until you are fully satisfied as how your landscape is going to look.

Once you have them all in place, leave them right there, and just pull away just one at a time, and dig the hole, and plant your trees and shrubs one by one. Dig the hole large enough so that the roots have room to expand.

Note: under no circumstance should you put any fertilizer in contact with the roots at planting time! This is very important! Sometimes in our eagerness to make the plants grow faster then they should, we put fertilizer to the roots, and that will burn the roots, and the plants will surely die! Best way to fertilize with, is what we call "top dress" with slow release fertilizers. Let mother nature do the job, and we should not force anything on it.

Once you planted all the plants, is time to apply the mulch, about 2 to 3 inches deep, and this should ad a phenomenal beauty and neatness to your landscape project!

Make a nice little flower bed around your mail box, mulch it as well, and plant strategically for even greater accent some nice ornamental trees, in the rest of your front yard.

Once planting is done, water well and make sure that you water slowly so that the water penetrates down to the roots. Just a sprinkle on the top of the soil is not going to be enough. Remember, your new plants just moved in, and they need time to accommodate in their new location. So, please, make them feel right at Home!

If you like this article, and it has helped you in any way, please leave a comment, and help me to improve my service, to you, the readers. Your following me on this blog, is highly appreciated!

http://borlovans-nursery.blogspot.com/

Until next time, Happy Gardening!

Mike Borlovan

How To Grow Herbs Inside In Containers

How to grow herbs inside in containers, for year round use.


If you like herbs and you want to spice up your cooking and salads, it is possible to have them year round whenever you want to use them. Just reach to your windowsill, and pinch off a few leaves of the herbs you grow, and enjoy the best and freshest flavor you can think of.

There is a pretty vast list of how many herbs you can grow, but you can just choose the ones that you really like and use in your kitchen, whenever you like, when you have company over, and you are sure to impress them, as you will get a lot of compliments on your cooking.

The herbs are grown from seeds, and there are annual, perennial, and biennial herbs. A few examples of annual herbs first, would be some that are most commonly used, but you can pick any you love the most.

Arugula Astro, Arugula Rocket, Basil Caesar, Basil Picolino, Basil Pluto, Basil Sweet Dani, Basil Siam Queen, Cilantro Santo, Dill Bouquet, Dill Fernleaf, Sweet Marjoram, etc.

Perennial herbs: Garlic Chives, Lemon Balm, Oregano, Peppermint, Rosemary, Green Sage, Winter Thyme, etc.

Biennial herbs: Parsley Banquet, Parsley Forest Green, Parsley Plain Italian Dark Green, etc.

These are just a few examples of the many herbs you can choose to grow.

As I mentioned above that the herbs are grown from seeds, here is how to grow them.

Like in any gardening, be it outdoors or indoors, the first and most important faze is the preparation of the soil. This is the base and the place where the seeds are buried, and germinate to spring to life, and the place to live. So some basic conditions are essential and they must be met. And the soil is very important to be of the best quality possible, if we want to succeed, and create the best environment for the the plants to live in.

The soil must be of a good quality, nutritious, rich in minerals, for the plants to develop and grow healthy. Remember, these herbs are edible, not just some ornamental plants. You are going to use them in your food.

For the herb seeds, it is necessary to have a fine peat-moss blend of soil with micro-nutrients for a good start, from your local Garden Center. If you are going to grow them in a windowsill, for the source of sun light, the preferred size of the plastic pots would be 4 to 6 inch wide, round or square.

Once you have the soil, the pots and the seeds, that's all you need to start your indoor herb garden.

Fill the containers with the soil all the way up to the lip of the pot, leaving about half inch from the very top of the pot. Take a pinch of herb seeds, and drop them evenly on the top of the soil. Cover the seeds very thinly with soil, and with a fine mist water the soil slowly, to make sure the water penetrates down in the soil. Set them on the windowsill, and you are done. Water and keep the soil moist. Do not let it dry out completely! In a few days, you will see the little herb plants sprouting out of the soil.

Once the herbs have grown to a certain height, keep watering, but make sure that you water gently, by poring the water in a corner of the pot, so that only the soil gets wet. The herb plants are still tender, so be gentle with them.

If you like spicy hot food, you can grow some hot peppers in a pot. But you need only one seed, and it would be better to start the pepper seeds in a cell pack, like a jumbo 6 pack. Once the seed sprouted and they have some real leaves, you can transplant the pepper plant in a 6 inch size pot or larger.

Another solution for the indoor garden is a 'garden tub', if you prefer to have just one long tub with all the herbs in one confinement. so, once the herbs developed enough, you can move them in the garden tub (in size like the width of the windowsill), one by one.

Fill up the tub with the same fine soil, and take each herb out of the original pot, with the soil intact, and plant it in the tub. Keep your little garden watered, and just keep it moist, not soggy, and do not let the herbs dry out completely.

Now you have a beautiful aromatic, flavorous garden at your finger tips. Enjoy the freshest and most tasteful flavour that you ever have experienced in your salads, and your specialty cooking.

Pinch some leaves whenever you like and live well and healthy. These herbs are very rich in vitamins and minerals, and that's a fact.

Happy indoor gardening!

Until next time,

Grand-paw Mike

How To Start A Vegetable Garden

How To Start A Vegetable Garden?

In these days when our economy is in shambles, with no hope in site of improving any time soon, we need to think of cutting our grocery bills, and at the same time to eat healthier and better.

Just think about having your own vegetable garden where you can pluck them out with your own hand, fresh and full of vitamins and minerals, there is nothing really, to compare or even come close to it. They taste better and they are much more nutritious than the produce that is shipped and travels long distance.

For convenience, you probably shop at the supermarket to buy your fruits and vegetables, but honestly, they just cannot compare with what you can grow and eat raw or cooked from your own garden.

If you never had the experience to make your garden yet, and all you have eaten was the produce from your local supermarket, or from the roadside fruit stand, than you are missing out and you owe it to yourself, to think very seriously to start your own garden, if you really want to eat fresh and healthy, and at the same time save some mullah. It is not really that hard, and it sure is not complicated at all. And once you have it, you'll be glad you did.

Just think of the benefits to be outdoors, in nature to enjoy the fresh air, and work in the tranquility of your little paradise. Not withstanding the free exercise you are getting in the process. That's good for your body, mind, and soul. Work with your family, have your children involved, they are going to love it.

And you want to do it right. So it is a good idea to make a little plan, and stick to it.
First, choose a good sunny spot, where you don't get too much shade or no shade at all if possible, and the plot should be free of rocks or debris. The vegetable plants take full sun. But it should be close enough to the house to be able to water with a hose hooked to a spigot, when you need to water if and when it's not raining.

Preparing the soil:

The preparation of the soil is very important, and your success will very much depend on how you prepare the site. If the soil is clay or sandy and lacks nutrients, it must be amended and enriched with composted material, like cow manure, organic fertilizer and minerals if needed. The darker the soil the better. for a garden to strive, the soil needs to have humus. To make it even cheaper for next season, collect the leaves and other vegetation, kitchen leftovers, and make your own compost. The soil will need nutrients to replace those used and depleted by the vegetables as they feed from the soil.

Now think of what vegetables would you like to grow, something you enjoy eating the most. So, buy the seeds for the vegetables you choose, and go from there. This list would be endless, but a few examples would be; tomatoes, bell peppers, hot peppers, squash, radish, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, carrots, spinach, onions (sets). Maybe a few herbs to spice up your cooking with, like, dill, parsley, oregano, basil, arugula, rosemary, cilantro, etc. It all depends on how much space you have, and how large a garden you want to have. Herb plants don't take too much room, and they are fun to grow. Just think of that nice aroma they so freely give, in exchange of just a little LTC. Loving Tender Care.

To have a good and early start with your garden, start your seeds indoors, and plant the transplants after the danger of late frost is past. It depends on where you live. One of the best methods would be to start the seeds in little peat pots, like the Jiffy-pots, so that when you plant the little plants outside you plant them with the Jiffy pot, thus not disturbing the tender roots of the transplants. If you prefer, you can plant the seeds directly in rows, according to the instructions on the seed packets.

Plant the plants according to their size, and group them together. The low growing ones, should be separate from the tall growing ones, as to not block the sun light from reaching evenly on all the plants.
Water well and keep the soil moist. Don't let the soil dry completely out between watering, nor keep it too soggy either.

Once they started to grow, you can water them good, and then leave them alone and give them a chance to drink and feed. Water again before the soil dries out completely.

Now it is time to sit back and relax on a bench, somewhere in the shade, or on your porch, and watch how the little seeds sprout out of the soil. It is very rewarding to see, as the hard part of gardening is pretty much over, except that now and then watch for them pesky weeds to pluck them out, and don't let them invade your little paradise. Wait patiently for the time when you take out of your garden, with your own hand, and enjoy those healthy, juicy vegetables. Eat them raw, in salads, or in cooking and enjoy the good old fashion living. It is good for you! And it is simply, wonderful.

A lot more information is coming periodically, through related Gardening Articles. So please, leave a comment and help me improve the quality of service I'm providing to you, my fellow gardeners, freely. Your following me on this blog, as well as linking to it, is highly appreciated.

Mike Borlovan

Gardening like a Professional with Modest Means

Gardening like a professional with modest means.

You might think it's a real challenge. But it's not. The modest means should be available for free, right around your house.

You don't really have to be a professional gardener to grow quality, vibrant, healthy and full of life vegetables. You need a desire to learn, to experiment, and apply in practice what you've learned.

It is so wonderful to work and relax outdoors, in the tranquility of your little paradise that you will create in the process of making your garden.

This is one of the most rewarding exercise you can get, and very much to enjoy at the same time.

Mother nature is so rich, and so freely giving, that we could never exhaust her of the never ending resources she has. The only thing we need to learn is how to receive and take from her, as long as we do not try to destroy her.

And we need to give some of it back, by composting the leftovers, and help the soil get fertile again, through natural means.

Sometimes the plot we intend to grow our vegetables in, is depleted of the best nutrients it used to offer. The first impulse would be to apply some chemically based fertilizer, but that's obviously not the best solution.

The land is so over fertilized and treated with dangerous pesticides in the lands where the produce is grown, the produce that we purchase from the supermarket shelf, is hardly safe to eat anymore. You don't know what kind and how much fertilizer and pesticides and fungicides was used to increase their bottom line for their productivity!

So what are we going to do? We have to eat fruits and vegetables, we've got to feed our families. Than what? Thanks be to God that created the Mother Nature, for there is an alternative to it: start your own Garden and grow your own fruits and vegetables, if you don't have one already. That's the smart thing to do. That's the safest way to eat fresh fruits, berries and vegetables. Especially today, when most of our produce is coming from imports, and we don't have a clue how were they grown!

We don't need to poison our bodies with chemical fertilizers and pesticides, that we don't even have any idea how much was there applied. We don't know how was the produce handled.

In my humble opinion, the best way to make the soil fertile is through natural means. Let's think of the forest, where the trees have grown and survived for hundreds of years. They even survived fires, and revived again stronger then before. Why?

Because of it's ability to replenish the nutrients by its natural means, without the intervention of the humans. The trees are dropping the dead limbs, and the leaves that decompose, and turns back into the soil, with the help of rain, wind, sun, heat, and our little invisible friends, the micro organisms that feed on them, and thus turn the decaying leaves into humus. That's exactly what the plants need to continue the cycle of life. Humus.

And that's exactly what we should do for the soil in our own garden. Collect the leaves from one year to another, have a pile in a corner of the garden, and let it decay. Just turn it now and then with a pitch fork, and you'll have the best natural fertilizer possible. For Free!

A lot of people are burning the leaves. Well, if they don't have a garden it's OK, I guess. But if they do have a garden, and they burn the leaves, and then they go to the supply store to buy that expensive chemical fertilizer, in my opinion that is a mistake. But, hey, who knows, maybe they have money to burn!

As for you folks, who are passionate about gardening and save the leaves, that's like money in your pocket, as well as prime quality fruits and vegetables, much safer to eat, than a lot of other people who maybe do not care.

If you have also access to some cow manure, or chicken droppings,that's perfect. But the leaves are the cheapest and smart way to make your own compost.

Now there are a lot of ways to make your own compost, of course, food leftovers, sea grass, seaweeds, ground oyster shells, peanut hulls, grass clippings, etc, etc, etc. I don't doubt that. But what I'm saying is that the leaves are the cheapest and the most readily available for almost anyone. And they cost you nothing! They are free.

Spread your compost on top of the soil, till it in the ground and reap the benefits of an abundant crop of fresh, vibrant, healthy, and happy fruits and vegetables from your own garden.

Create your own paradise and live smart, healthy, and well.

Until next time,

Happy Gardening!

Grow Your Own Fruits & vegetables!

If you have your little heaven, like your back yard or even front yard, you are a step closer to a healthier, more self sufficient living!
My, my, my! What a potential! With a little careful planing, you can create your own paradise, in no time. Take a look at your sunny spot, and make a simple plan on a sheet of paper, mark the spot to grow your vegetables.
Make a list of what would you like to grow. This could be endless, but you can limit it to what would you like best. Like, tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, snap beans, peas, kohlrabi, lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, cantaloupes, etc. We could go on and on. These are just a few examples, but just use your imagination, and you'll find out how easy it is.

It all depends on how much space you have, how passionate and how much time you want to spend and dedicate to your garden. and remember, this is one of the best exercise you can have, without paying any fees and dues like at the gim club.

Look at where is the sun coming up, and where is it going down. This is pretty important, to know how to plan your layout of your little paradise.

What are your preferred fruits? Think about it, and plan accordingly. How about some apple, peach, plum, cherry, apricot, and other fruit trees that you would like to have and pick them off the trees with your own hand? It can't be any fresher than that.

All these fresh fruits and vegetables have tremendous health benefits! And what kind of garden would that be, without some berry fruits as well? How about some blueberries, blackberries, strawberries, raspberries, and more. Rich in vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, very beneficial for your well being.

To get some ideas about what seeds, berry plants and fruit trees to purchase, please visit one of my sources at: http://stores.shop.ebay.com/borlovansnursery

This is just the first article post in a series that will follow. Please visit us soon for more information and related articles.

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