Heller Greenhouse260-238-4040

My fancy fantail goldfish is becoming increasingly interested in the silk plant in his tank and keeps trying for a nibble. He loves peas and things but I thought it might be nice for him to have a real plant as its healthy for him to eat and oxygenates the water. What plants are low maintenance and ok for gravel digging fish like my fantail? And how would I look after this plant properly?

Any of these plants will do well for beginners. http://www.aquariumplants.com/Beginner_Plants_s/17.htm
You want to have some sort of lighting so that your plant will grow. I recommend full spectrum lights designed to give plants the full spectrum of visible light so they have a wide range of light wavelengths to get their energy from.
The plant species I linked you to don’t need CO2 injection (a pain in the butt) or fertilizer (dangerous to your fish). If your goldfish roots it up, just rebury it. These plants are hardy and will do fine.

I especially recommend aponogetons. My first plants were aponogetons; I bought a pack of bulbs from Walmart for three dollars for five to ten bulbs and two of them grew into very beautiful plants with no special care whatsoever.

If you want a plant that your goldfish won’t eat, try this one: http://www.aquariumplants.com/Ludwigia_Broad_Leaf_Ludwigia_repens_p/bp017.htm (read the review that someone wrote)

I’m especially interested in learning greenhouse and gardening techniques that aren’t expensive to maintain after the initial setup costs.

I would be in a colder climate with 500-10,000 dollars to invest. Its a relaxing activity I think I’d enjoy that could pay off as fuel and energy costs continue to rise.

I’m especially interested in websites or books you think might help me out.

Thanks!

When I first started it was the library, Barnes and Nobel (they have excellent books there), your local nurseries, and of course, catalogs which have enormous amount of information describing plants, flowers and pricing of greenhouses.(www.greenhouses.com)
The best books I have found were:
Better Homes and Garden "Garden ideas and Outdoor living"
Better Homes and Gardens "New Garden Book"
"1,001 Gardening Secrets The Experts Never Tell You"
"Jerry Baker’s" numerous books(Master Gardener)and of course my favorite, Paul James"Gardening by the Yard" on HG TV. Hope that helps!

i live in Nevada. I have no clue whatsoever on how to take care of a lawn let alone plant flowers but i know i want to learn being this as our first house with a backyard.

Pretty decent size i’d estimate around 25×15. The grass is totally dead (if any at all) at the moment but the owners are planning on resodding it for us.

So any tips or websites on how to care for it and what types of flowers to choose for Nevada’s climate.?? Really want something low-maintenence.

You can check at your local retail store that sells seeds and find out what zone your in. Any greenhouse in your area would be able to help you – most only sell plants that will grow in your area.

Any seed/plant catalogue will give you some great ideas and show you what the flower will look like then you can start to decide exactly what you want your back yard to look like.

Good luck and have fun with it. Gardens can give you years of pleasure.