Chantale Rivar Deditions

The cultivation and use of herbs as flavorings and medicines can be traced back to ancient Egyptians, the ancient Chinese and early Greeks and Romans. Bible references and medieval documents reveal that most households used herbs in some way - whether to enhance and preserve food, as dyestuffs, or to keep odors at bay.Today, we grow herbs for several different purposes - to flavor food, for potpourris to scent our homes, for refreshing and invigorating teas or tisanes, for health enhancement or to even to control garden pests. Herb gardens can be planted as a separate specialized type of garden, or you can grow a variety of herbs for different uses in the same garden. You may even intersperse them within your flower borders or vegetable garden, or grow them in containers indoors or outdoors.You do not need a lot of space to have a kitchen herb garden. A three feet by six feet area in the vegetable garden, or a small plot just outside the kitchen door will grow ample herbs for most families. You can even plant your herbs in containers, and may find this is the ideal solution. That way, you can move them indoors in winter, [more..]

People love to spend time in their backyards, either pottering about in their gardens or simply enjoying the feeling of the sunshine while they read a book. Pottering about in gardens or landscaping the grounds of one's house is such a popular hobby, indeed, that a television channel actually exists to cater to the needs of these hobbyists. Home and Garden Television (HGTV) is dedicated to helping the viewer make the most out of not only their homes but their gardens as well. Indeed, so enjoyable are some of these programs that people watch them even if they have no intention of altering their homes or gardens one bit!If you are thinking about landscaping your backyard, there's plenty of research you need to do before you get started. Watching HGTV is one source of information, but of course there are others. Keep your eye out when you visit the homes of your friends and neighbors, and see how they've done their yards. You don't want to be a copy cat, of course, and still less do you want to be accused of "keeping up with the Jones." But seeing their designs with an open mind can quite often provide you [more..]

Dublin's fine parks and gardens are the life of the city. They cover a total area of around 5000 acres and range from botanical gardens to large nature reserves and public parks all of which can provide a retreat from the fast life of the city and a great day out.Covering around 20 acres, Dublin's National Botanic Gardens is an excellent attraction for the locals and tourists alike. Many who have visited the garden think its wonderful features are 'worth travelling for'. There are four types of green house and these help to house the gardens 20000 species of plant. There is also a restaurant however some feel that the food doesn't compare to the standard of the Botanic Gardens.Marlay Park is suburban public in south Dublin and is about 6 miles from the city centre. The parkland is made up of woodlands, a pond and walks. The park's recreational facilities include a golf course (9-hole), several football pitches, a cricket pitch. In order to keep the children busy there is a miniature railway and a small playground.The War Memorial Gardens, dedicated to the memory of the 50000 soldiers who died in the 1914-18 war. In the book rooms the [more..]