Garden Sprinklers - The Fountain of Youth For Plants in Beautiful Orlando

If you live in Orlando, you know that garden sprinklers are the lifeblood of a beautiful landscape. Knowing the correct ones to install to make the most of your garden is easily accomplished by working with a professional landscape maintenance company. The yard looks dry and you know you're supposed to water. So you go to your local lawn and garden store to look at garden sprinklers, and then it hits you...there are too many choices for Orlando homeowners...square, round oscillating, water-pistol type...it's a buffet of garden sprinklers!! What's going to work best in your yard? Here's a quick review of different types of garden sprinklers available to you, as an Orlando homeowner.

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Most fixed garden sprinklers spray water through a pattern of holes in the top of the sprinkler. The size, shape and pattern of these holes, and water pressure, determine the area covered. Generally, they are the lowest priced sprinklers. Smaller lawn or garden areas in Orlando are watered quickly and effectively by stationary sprinklers.

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Oscillating sprinklers spray multiple streams of water out of openings in a spray tube that "oscillates" back and forth, watering a rectangular pattern. Oscillators water medium to large areas and are one of the most popular designs. They are widely promoted throughout the Orlando area and, as a result, prices vary greatly.

Pulsating garden sprinklers are the most efficient and versatile because they operate on lower pressure, yet will discharge more water in a given period of time and cover a greater area than other garden sprinklers. The spray is strong and close to the ground, making it wind-resistant...this is very important in the Orlando area.

Rotary garden sprinklers spray water from the tips of two or three spray arms that spin as the sprinklers water the lawn. These are designed for watering small- to medium-sized gardens...found in all areas of Orlando.

Traveling garden sprinklers are self-propelled to cover large, irregular areas. There are basically two types: wind-up and tractor. Watering is done by two arms like a rotary sprinkler and the width of coverage can be changed by adjusting these arms; a shut-off valve is recommended for this type of garden sprinklers in Orlando landscaping.

Permanent sprinkler systems are the most efficient method available for watering lawns in Orlando neighborhoods. They're also the most convenient. No bulky hoses to lug around...no mess...you just set the timer and let the system do its thing. Permanent sprinkler systems cost more money up front, but they save you lots of time and hassle.

No matter what kind of garden sprinkler you use, your goal should be to minimize water usage...one of Orlando's most precious resources. Grass grows long, healthy roots when you water it deeply but infrequently. An inch of water a week is a good rule of thumb if it hasn't rained. Frequent, shallow watering causes shallow roots to grow, which makes your grass susceptible to drought and other problems. Also, try to water early in the day to avoid evaporation. If you don't water wisely, it is easy to lose more than half of your irrigation to runoff or evaporation.

As human populations grow, it becomes more and more important that we water with wisdom. Find an experienced landscape maintenance company in Orlando that can evaluate your yard and eliminate all the features that waste water and recommend native, drought-tolerant plants.

Garden Sprinklers - The Fountain of Youth For Plants in Beautiful Orlando

Richard Gilliland works with GreenMark Landscaping in Orlando and provides expert advice on Garden sprinklers and Orlando landscapers

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Exploring Downtown Orlando - A Beautiful Walk Around Lake Eola

After our interesting visits to the Orange County Regional History Center and the Well's Built Museum of African-American Culture and History, we decided to continue our explorations of downtown Orlando and its surrounding historic neighbourhoods. After driving through beautiful residential areas, framed by majestic oak trees adorned by Spanish Moss, we decided to take a stroll around beautiful Lake Eola, which is just minutes from downtown's Heritage Square, home of the Orange County Regional History Center, and every second, third and fourth Saturday of the month is also home to a lively farmer's market. By this time, the sun was starting to set and Lake Eola and the surrounding highrises were bathed in the golden hues of sunset.

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Lake Eola is one of Orlando's more than 300 lakes and is surrounded by established residential areas and highrises ringing the downtown core. The park extends over 43 acres (17.2 hectares) and provides generous sidewalks around the lake on a 0.9 mile (1.4 km) loop around the water, which is enthusiastically used by walkers and joggers. The lake itself can be explored on paddle boats, and other facilities include a playground, a small outdoor cafe, gondola rides, and the Walt Disney Amphiteatre for special events.

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Lake Eola is intricately connected with Orlando's history. Even the origin of the name Orlando may be connected to Lake Eola: the first European settlements in the Orlando area grew around an old army post: Fort Gatlin. According to one story, a U.S. soldier by the name of Orlando Reeves, was killed by an American Indian's arrow while on sentinel duty in what is today Lake Eola Park and may have given name to this town. Originally, Orlando had been called Jernigan after a Georgia settler, Aaron Jernigan, who settled in the area in 1843. The origin of the town's name Orlando is not certain, however: another popular story claims that a certain Judge Speer named the settlement after the Shakespeare Character "Orlando" in the play "As you Like it."

Be that as it may, the town was named "Orlando" in 1857 and was centered around the cotton and cattle industry. Demand for beef was fuelled by Cuba while cotton plantations thrived until the Civil War, which stole away the area's workforce, compounded by a devastating hurricane in 1873. "Orange fever" hit Central Florida in the 1870s, aided by the completion of the South Florida Railroad in 1880.

The Great Freeze of 1894 to 1895 destroyed Florida's citrus industry and it took 15 years to recover. Florida's citrus industry peaked in the 1950s with more then 80,000 acres (32,000 hectares) of plantations.

Orlando's first airport opened in 1922. Orlando also plays a significant role in the defense and aerospace industry: during World War II bomber pilots were trained here. A missile factory was built by in 1956 by a forerunner of the Lockheed Martin company, which still serves as the backbone of the area's technology industry today.

Tourism became Central Florida's main draw. From an early entertainment park in 1895, to the creation of the Cypress Gardens Adventure Park in 1936, the opening of Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom in 1971 really laid the foundations to Central Florida's tourism boom. Other Disney attractions followed, including Walt Disney World Resort, Epcot, Disney-MGM Studies, and Animal Kingdom. Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, followed by Islands of Adventure in 1999 and Universal City Walk, an entertainment complex.

Indeed tourism is Central Florida's main industry today, with more than 50 million visitors annually and yearly revenues of bllion. Tourism combined with high-tech and the citrus industry are the three dominating economic sectors in Central Florida.

After our walk around historic Lake Eola we strolled back into downtown and grabbed a table on the street patio of "Tijuana Flats", a Mexican restaurant located right on Heritage Square, and just one of many diverse kinds of eating establishments in the downtown core.

While savouring some tasty and very filling Mexican food, we watched the early evening street life in Orlando's downtown. We reflected on how different the downtown area is in comparison to the newer and very spread out tourist-oriented hotel and resort areas, which often seem rather devoid of character. Here in the downtown area you really get a feel for the history and the community that started developing in the first half of the 19th century. The downtown and Lake Eola areas, all of which are on an easily walkable scale, have a much more authentic ambience to them which we thoroughly enjoyed.

For more information about Orlando contact the Orlando Convention and Visitor Bureau. The Orlando Regional History Center can be found at http://www.thehistorycenter.org.

Exploring Downtown Orlando - A Beautiful Walk Around Lake Eola

Susanne Pacher is the publisher of a website called Travel and Transitions (http://www.travelandtransitions.com). Travel and Transitions deals with unconventional travel and is chock full of advice, tips, real life travel experiences, interviews with travellers and travel experts, insights and reflections, cross-cultural issues, contests and many other features. You will also find stories about life and the transitions that we face as we go through our own personal life-long journeys.

Submit your own travel stories in our first travel story contest (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/contests.htm) and have a chance to win an amazing adventure cruise on the Amazon River.

"Life is a Journey Explore New Horizons". The story with photos is published at Stories and Photos (http://www.travelandtransitions.com/stories_photos/orlando_lake_eola.htm).

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