Beautiful Camp at Home with Your Own Indoor Fire Pit or Fireplace

The best part of summer is camping--escaping out into the great outdoors as temperatures soar, and cooking your dinner on an outdoor fireplace. The worst part of summer camping is, of course, the crowds! With your own outdoor fire pit, however, you can have the best of both worlds and camp out in your own back yard.

There are outdoor fireplaces to suit every price range and style. When deciding which outdoor fire pit to buy, ask yourself a few questions. What is your budget? Who will be using it? How much space do you have? Once you know the answer to these questions, you can start looking around at the different options for your outdoor fireplace, because the last and most important question to answer is, "What style do I like?"

Outdoor Fire Pits and Fire Rings

Fortunately, you have choices. The simplest fire rings start at under a hundred dollars; this style is made from fire-safe materials and usually comes with a simple grill. Some are collapsible for easy transportation. The more decorative the outdoor fire pit, the more it will cost, but your choice really depends on what will fit in your yard, space-wise and style-wise. These smaller outdoor fireplaces are great if you don't have much room or have a small budget.

Outdoor fire pits are larger structures on legs which protect the surface they stand on. Such fire pits act as a focal point and place around which to gather, and while they are a little more expensive than fire rings they do have the advantage of looking more attractive.

When it comes to features, some outdoor fire pits have wheels for easy relocation. Screens are a popular addition; they help prevent accidents and make your outdoor fireplace a great place to enjoy a balmy summer night (or even a mild winter evening). The screens and higher-up flames make such fire pits a little safer, too.

Outdoor Fireplaces are Elegant and Welcoming

The most expensive, but also the most beautiful, outdoor fireplaces can cost thousands of dollars, but they provide a wonderful focal point to an elegant garden. Some outdoor fireplaces even sit at the center of granite tables, making them a welcoming option on colder evenings. They act as showpieces, the heart of a large backyard gather.

If you don't need to cook, an outdoor fireplace is a great addition to your yard. These free-standing structures enclose a warming fire and can be used to provide light, heat and atmosphere year-round. The forms of such outdoor fireplaces range from a pretty pagoda-style to simple cylinders and cubes.

Set up an outdoor fireplace, and you'll have a pleasant, cozy place to welcome your guests for many years to come.

Lovely Grow Lights for Indoor Gardening

Plants need light in order to grow. They use light for the process of photosynthesis, which allows plants to convert sunlight to energy. Most plants get their light from the sun, but this is usually impossible if you are attempting to grow plants indoors. In this situation, you will need to offer your plants the light they need with indoor growing lights. A grow light, also known as a grow lamp, produces bright light that gives your plants what they require to thrive in a greenhouse, or in a room in your home.

There are many different types of growing lights available for the indoor gardener to use. One popular type of grow lamp family that you will come across as you shop for grow lights are HID lights, or high-intensity discharge lights. This type of grow lamp produces a strong light, which is what is needed for good plant growth. When plants have to struggle to reach for a weak light source, they develop spindly stems, which is the opposite of what you want to produce, namely, a stocky and sturdy plant stem. There are many different types of HID growing lights available, including the High Pressure Sodium light. As the name implies, the High Pressure Sodium light uses sodium as the medium through which the electrical charge is run, producing the light that is contained inside the grow light. You will find a High Pressure Sodium light is available in several different wattages. You might use a lower wattage to light a smaller amount of square feet, or you could use several smaller lights grouped together to light a larger space. A HID grow lamp will also require a ballast. The best ballasts are the newer digital ones, because they offer greater control over the amount of electrical current that is allowed to flow through the tube of the lamp.

The idea behind these lights is that you want to, as best as possible, use them to mimic natural sunlight. Sunlight is the brightest form of natural light, so a bright light bulb is what you want. But the light also needs to imitate the color spectrum that sunlight produces as well. It is important to note that the light color spectrum that your plants require may change over time. For example, young seedlings need light in the blue color spectrum, which promotes plant growth, while mature plants that you want to set fruit and flowers require red and orange light spectrum. Your grow light might only produce one type of color spectrum, or it may offer a complete color spectrum, so you will want to check this prior to making a purchase.

Using Containers for Indoor Gardening

Gardening is a hobby many people love to bide their time with. It gives one a sense of accomplishment when they see their flowers or plants blooming after a few weeks or even months of tender loving care.

The plants also add to the aesthetics of the room and sooth the occupants of the home or office as well. There are many forms of indoor gardening. You could have flower gardens, hanging gardens, vegetable gardens, fruit gardens and bonsai gardens.

As with the many types of indoor gardening there are indoor gardening tools available to help you make your indoor garden blossom even better. There are fertilizers, insecticides, implements and indoor gardening lights to substitute sunlight.

For those who do not have a place to garden outdoors there is always container gardening. Containers are used to grow plants on windowsills or on the balcony of an apartment and are useful when it comes to moving the plants from place to place, be it to optimize sunlight or to redecorate the place.

Container gardening is also useful when you have to move from your home; you will not have to leave your beloved plants behind. There are many designs, sizes and colors of containers and pots that can be used to grow indoor plants.
Plastic containers are economical and last a lifetime, however, many people like to use hand crafted clay containers for their plants.

These containers are very attractive and give a very natural look to the place. Wooden containers made, much like barrels, are another good choice for indoor
gardening containers.

Indoor gardening is a very satisfying pastime and there is a lot of advice out there for the beginner and even the seasoned gardener to learn from. There are also scores of manufacturers offering implements ranging from the very basic to the most sophisticated for indoor gardening enthusiasts.