Posts Tagged ‘Landscaping’

Starting Your Own Flower Garden

Posted in Flowers on November 24th 2009
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Field Of Flowers

Starting Your Own Flower Garden: audio file (audio file opens new window)

When you buy a house you want to have a wonderful garden where children can play and you can sit back and unwind. A garden is one place where we feel we are one with Nature and enjoy the small pleasures of life. But without potted plants and flowers, a home garden is incomplete. Before you choose the plants to grow in your home garden, walk around the neighborhood and take note of what kinds of plants are being planted. That will give you an idea of what grows well in your area.

When planning your garden, be aware of the bloom time of the flowers. Planting perennials with different bloom times near each other will insure a garden that has blooms all season long. Remember also to plan for the height of the plants, putting the taller ones in the back.

Bad conditions or wrong nutrients can keep flowers from growing well and may even kill them. Areas that don’t drain well or where water pools after rain should be avoided when planting. A soil with a pH range of 6.0 to 7.4 is best for most annuals. Before you start work with your garden beds, test the pH with a home soil test kit and add lime sulfur as required to put the pH in its proper range. After the pH is in the proper range, spread 2 to 3 inches of compost, and cultivate it at least 8 to 12 inches deep.

Annuals in your perennial garden are something to think about! Annuals give you season long color, easy propogation, they’re cost efficient, and provide first season interest. If you’re just starting a perennial garden annuals are a great choice to fill in gaps. I remember my first garden. I bought a couple of plants thinking “This is gonna be great!” A few weeks later I realised this wasn’t true. I needed a whole lot more plants and they cost a bunch! I opted for some annuals and I had a really pretty garden by the seasons end. Annuals can certainly help to fill in a garden while you wait for perennials to mature.

You need to select healthy plants if you’ve decided to grow annuals this year. Many people choose to grow their annuals from seed. Others choose to purchase their plants from green houses. While both ways are acceptable, always remember; You must choose carefully if you’re buying from a green house. Usually, garden centers are happy to share their information about soil, sunlight, water, and wind shielding requirements for each plant with their customers.

Deep green plants should be sought out; spindly plants in cell-packs have been stored there too long and should be avoided. It is also wise to check for signs of disease by examining the leaves and stems and removing the plants from their pots to check the roots. Roots should appear firm and white, and contain no spirals or kinks.

When planting flowers, it is important to remember to follow the instructions on the tag for the plant. Always buy plants that will thrive in the conditions in which you intend to grow them. A plant that loves sun will not do well in a shady area and you will only be disappointed with the results.

Bulbs also work well in a perrenial garden. When your bulbs finish blooming your perrenials are just ready to get started and they’re now filling in the spaces and hiding the soon to be dormant foliage of your bulbs. This is a great way to extend color in the garden for a good 6 weeks.

Summer bulbs can be used to fill in areas that need color when perrenials have finished. Keep in mind that most summer bulbs do need to be dug up and stored over the winter. The good part is that next season when you replant them you can totally redesign with them.

Naturalized bulbs look beautiful in a wooded setting. You can plant them and leave them to multiply. After the bulbs bloom the foliage will die down, but you can interplant bulbs with ground covers for a carefree and beautiful garden. For a natural look you should arrange your bulbs informally. If you toss them and plant them where they land, with small adjustments for spacing, it’ll look much better than if you arrange them.

If you need plants that will do well growing against a wall there are many choices including clematis, wisteria, climbing hydrangea, golden hop and star jasmine. Clematis is a variety that produces purple/blue bell shaped flowers and fern like plant life. Wisteria is a hardy climbing plant that boasts lilac colored flowers that grow in the shape of beans. My personal favorite climbing plants are the star jasmine, which produces leather like, dark green leaves and beautiful white blooms that have an unmatched, abundant perfume.

Planting wild flowers in your garden, or simply scattering wild flower seeds around an area of your yard are both ways to take advantage of Mother Nature’s treasured gifts. Wild flowers are carefree, colorful, and tend to attract bees, butterflys and birds. So planting wild flowers not only gives you an easy maintenance flower garden… it also promises to be a constant source of interesting activity throughout the year.

Follow these simple bits of advice and keep your garden in glorious bloom all summer long.

Growing Flowers for Beauty and Cutting

Posted in Flowers on November 19th 2009
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Flower Garden Border

Growing Flowers for Beauty and Cutting: audio file (audio file opens new window)

To create your own flower garden, start with a sunny spot in your yard. A garden spot that gets 6 to 8 hours of direct sun a day is ideal. It should be within easy reach for watering, since a cut flower garden will need daily watering during any dry spells. You’ll also want to design it to make it easy for you to reach all the flowers in it, so a raised bed that can be approached on four sides is perfect. If you decide to plant against a fence or as a border, make sure that you can get to all the plants without stepping on others by putting in footpaths or trenches for walking.

The best way to start your garden is with bulbs planted in the autumn. Daffodils and tulips are among the most popular spring bouquet flowers. By getting them in the ground in the autumn, you’ll be able to start cutting early in the spring.

Naturalized bulbs look beautiful in a wooded setting. You can plant them and leave them to multiply. After the bulbs bloom the foliage will die down, but you can intersperse bulbs with ground covers and other perennials for a carefree and beautiful garden. For a natural look you should arrange your bulbs informally. If you toss them and plant them where they land, with small adjustments for spacing, it’ll look much better than if you arrange them.

Perennials are the basic flowers for any garden. Each year they die and renew themselves for the next growing season. They are long-lived and last for many seasons. Perennials are also, historically, among our oldest plants. They have been cultivated for centuries and often, as a result of breeding and crossbreeding, bear no resemblance to their wild forebears. In some of the perennials, the blossoms have become so specialized through centuries of cultivation that they no longer grow ’seeds.

Annuals are also of use as a filler between shrubs set some distance apart. This permits the shrub to grow, yet prevents too stark an appearance. The sowing of annuals, of course, depends upon the class to which they belong. The hardier flowers, such as larkspur, poppies and cornflowers, can be profitably planted in late fall. The ground preparation must be just as careful as for spring planting.

Flowers can add a perfume as well as a visual aspect to your outdoor area. You may choose climbing plants that flower each year. These will take several years to reach their full potential but once they do they will create climbing plants of color on a gazebo, a fence or even up the side of a house. If you are looking for a variety that will provide lots of color, try the blue trumpet vine. This climbing plant blooms from autumn through summer and has bright blue flowers on a twining stem.

There are a number of ways to solve the problems of short-flowering periods and the resultant unsightly spaces. One way is to intersperse perennials with annuals and other bulbs and flowering plants whose bloom occurs either later or earlier than that of the perennials. Some perennials are easy to transplant: chrysanthemums, for example, can be moved from one place to another with no noticeable effect on their vigor. This is another way to keep color and bloom throughout the growing season. A garden of perennials, either by themselves or mixed with annuals and other bulbs, should be placed along a path, or as a border, with a background of trees, shrubs, a wall or fence.

The background shows the brilliant coloring to best advantage. Some varieties can flourish in the shade, such as anemone, lily of the valley, day lilies, sweet pea, primrose, hollyhock, harebell and peonies, but these flowers must be chosen carefully and faced so that some sun reaches them every day.

Roses are an entire subject of their own, but they deserve special mention when discussing cut flower gardens. Rambling and climbing varieties of roses are especially suited to cut flower gardens, putting out masses of blooms and responding to cutting with even more flowers. Trail a rambling rose along a wooden fence rail and you’ll have sweet smelling roses for your bedroom dresser all summer long.

Bleeding Hearts – heart shaped, pink to rose flowers needing moist soil and partially shaded location.

Chrysanthemums – single, semi-double, and double flowers in all colors but blue. They need moist well drained soil and full sun location.

Crocus – blooms in early spring, though there are varieties that bloom through autumn

Delphiniums – very tall flowers of many colors, though, mostly blue needing moist, well drained soil and full sun location.

Geraniums – easy to grow flowers of many colors needing mostly any soil type and full sun or partial shade location.

Giant Flowering Onion – grows 3 to 4 feet tall, with huge purple blooms. Great as a back border in a cut flower garden. Blossoms from mid-spring through early summer

Hosta – showy flowers with bright foliage from 4 inches to 3 feet. They need moist well-drained soil and, partial to deep shady location.

Hyacinth – tall clusters of blossoms that are stunning in arrangements. Pink, blue, purple and white, they grow up to 12 inches tall. Bloom in early to midsummer from fall planting.

Lupine – large spiked 3 to 4 foot tall flowers of many colors needing a cool location.

Phlox – soft pastel flowers, some with a contrasting center, ranging from low lying to tall flowers needing moist soil and full sun or partial shade location.

Rudbeckia – yellow, daisy like flowers with contrasting centers needing any soil type and full sun location.

Windflower – also known as anemone, with daisy like deep pink and white flowers, booms through midsummer

Early in the spring, you can start planting gladiolus. These huge, showy blooms are a mainstay of cut flower arrangements, and come in just about every color imaginable. Gladiolus bulbs can be planted as early as two weeks before the last frost. If you plant a new set of gladiolus every two weeks, you’ll have cut flowers from early summer all the way through the first frost.

In early spring, you can also plant your annuals. Snapdragons, cosmos and zinnias all bloom at different times during the summer, which will extend your bouquet season into the fall. Don’t forget to include filler flowers in your cut flower garden. Foliage grasses and flowers like alyssum, baby’s breath, and Queen Ann’s Lace can fill spaces in your bouquets and add a lacy, delicate touch to a vase full of flowers.

These simple bits of advice can keep your garden in glorious bloom all summer long.

Choosing Accessories for Your Garden

Posted in Landscaping on November 9th 2009
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garden accessories
Choosing Accessories for Your Garden(audio file opens new window)

Even some of the best designed gardens can often be improved upon with the use of landscaping accessories. There are many different accessories to choose from and so you really shouldn’t have a problem finding something to suit you. You just need to know what is available in order to know what will best fit in with your gardens needs.

Flowers and plants are rightly the central attraction of your garden, but they needn’t be the only one. Garden accessories can add character and fun to your garden as well as serving various useful purposes. From sculpted row markers and border fences to fully-functional fountains and ponds, here’s what some of the best-dressed gardens are wearing this year.

Decorative trellises and arches do more than serve as supports for climbing plants and vines. They can be a beautiful accent on their own. Whether you choose a simple iron fan trellis in a corner of the garden, or build an elaborate arbor or gazebo to support roses and ivy, they’ll add a graceful note of natural beauty and add to the enjoyment of your garden. If you allow colorful flowers to grow around it, you will notice how homey it actually makes your home feel. You truly cannot go wrong with an arbor as it looks great on both lawn and patio.

There are some great benefits of adding lights to your landscape area. Not only do they add a touch of class but they can add a sense of security to the area and even the house. The lights can really help to brighten up any dark areas around the yard and they can also make it easy to see at night whilst you are out in the garden. They also help the landscape to look extremely impressive and it adds that little something extra to the balance. They really are an inexpensive way of adding extra charm and style to any landscape.

Lighting allows people to stay outside in the warm months and enjoy socializing or relaxing in the garden. They are absolutely great for entertaining and it really does help to make people feel very welcome. Overall you really cannot go wrong with a little landscape lighting.

Birdbaths and Pedestal Birdbaths are a great way to invite birds into your garden. Whether set into the ground as a small ?pond? or on a pedestal, they can add a touch of old world elegance to a shrubbery or foliage garden that will benefit from the pollination efforts of your feathered friends.

Fountains and Ponds The ultimate accessory for any garden to have has got to be its own pond or fountain. Even small spaces can sport running water with a concealed circulating pump and a nearby power source. A trickling waterfall over rocks or a full-sized pond complete with Koi can both bring a measure of satisfaction and serenity to your garden.

When it comes to landscaping your garden, rocks do often make a great addition and they come in a variety of different sizes and colors to suit every gardeners needs. You can make pretty features, use them as stepping stones and you can even build small little walls for the garden too. Whatever you decide to use them for, there is certainly no getting away from the fact that stones can be great for landscaping.

Besides looking nice and adding a natural quality to your landscaping, rocks are very durable. This makes them great for walkways and retaining walls, or just to decorate a small pond or waterfall. They can be functional or just for looks. No matter what, using rocks or stones will make any landscape more interesting to look at. The type of rock or stone you choose will depend on what its use will be.

Boulders are normally rather large rocks that work well for use in water landscapes. They can also be used to mark a driveway or the entrance of a garden. They can be very dramatic, and if placed correctly, will attract plenty of attention. Very large flat boulders can even be used as a place to sit and enjoy nature.

Lawn ornaments include things such as garden Gnomes and bird baths. They are things which look good and add that little extra something to the garden. You can purchase lawn ornaments in all different styles and sizes so you should easily find something to suit you and your needs. Always remember that whatever you decide to purchase for your garden, it does need serious consideration. This is because you do not want to purchase something which either does not fit or simply looks out of place. So, be sure that it will suit the garden and that you measure it beforehand.

It is best to consider the whole theme of the landscape in order to get accessories that blend or add something special to the area. So, if you want to decorate a secluded area of the garden you could consider using trees, shrubs, a wooden bench or anything you like that can add peaceful surroundings. If you are building a water feature in your land, you could add extra features such as stones or slabs and some nice plants and flowers to add some extra color to it.

Adding Landscape Accessories

Posted in Landscaping on November 9th 2009
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Garden Statue
Adding Landscape Accessories(audio file opens new window)

Planning your landscape can be very rewarding work. When it comes to actually building your landscape the work is worth while with the end result in mind and you will feel extraordinarily proud of what you have produced. You could be transforming your garden completely with water features, a patio, decking or basically anything that you want. However, the thing that really helps to give it that extra special look is by adding some accessories to the landscape.

Adding accessories to any landscape has many benefits that are easy to see. They can help to lighten up areas or to add a little bit of extra charm to open spaces. Without using accessories, the landscape may be missing that vital ingredient to make it look and feel complete. It can really turn an open barren space into somewhere that either you can relax yourself or you can entertain others.

Even some of the best created gardens can frequently be improved upon with the use of landscaping accessories. There are many different accessories to choose from and so you really shouldn’t have any difficulty finding something to suit you. You just need to know what is available in order to know what will best fit in with your landscaping needs.

Thinking about your garden as a barren wall in your living room. Before choosing what to hang on your living room wall, you take cues from the style of the room. Think of your garden in that context, from the size of the space available to the arrangement of trees, shrubs and flowers and the architecture of your home. These will be the cues used in choosing and spacing your garden accessories.

Each part of your garden may have a different mood or feeling and can furnish an opportunity to incorporate different types of garden sculpture. Such pieces produce interest year round and serve to animate and differentiate a space; a strongly planned element can even inspire the theme for the plantings.

Gardeners trying to introduce too many pieces into their garden produce too many distractions for the eye to absorb or enjoy. The garden becomes complicated and cluttered. Under the less is more principle, one well-suited piece will develop a presence and a focal point, introducing harmony rather than chaos into the garden. The less is more principle does not mean you are limited to uniform arrangements of statuary in your garden. Multiple pieces and styles can work comfortably together if they are not part of the same grouping.

Lawn ornaments include things such as garden Gnomes and bird baths. They are things that look substantial and add a little extra something to the garden. Statuary is one of the most common and versatile additions. You can purchase lawn ornaments and statues in all different styles and sizes so you should easily find something to suit  your gardening needs. Remember to take considerable time deciding what to purchase for your garden. This is because you do not want to bring home something which either does not fit or simply looks out of placement. So, be sure that it will suit the garden and that you measure it beforehand.

Cutting a piece of statuary out of cardboard and placing it in different locations throughout your garden can help you get a feel for where each piece looks its best. It will also give you some time to think about why you want to add that particular ornament to your garden setting. This may be a time consuming practice but well worth the effort.

The most imperative thing to keep in mind when choosing the right piece of statuary is the overall style of your home and garden. Whether you have an urban, contemporary or country garden, the statuary you select should be compatible with the style and feeling of your house and garden. Most likely, you wouldn’t place a classical statue in a contemporary-style garden. However, classical statuary makes a wonderful feature for a more traditional home or garden.

Birdbaths are a wonderful way to invite birds into your garden. Whether set into the ground as a small pond or on a pedestal, they can add a touch of old world elegance to a shrubbery or foliage garden that will benefit from the aesthetics of our feathered friends.

It is best to consider the whole theme of the landscape in order to get accessories that add something special to the space. So, if you want to decorate a secluded surface of the garden you could consider using trees, shrubs, a wooden bench or anything else you like that can add peaceful surroundings. If you are developing a water feature on your land, you could add extra items such as stones or slabs and some nice plants and flowers to add some extra color to it.

Just like a picture on your wall, garden statuary looks best with some kind of frame. Some choices are using a  background of traditional clipped box, yew or a mixed border of grasses to frame your statuary in the landscape. A stone wall or trellis covered with roses or even a simple wooden fence maybe all you really need.



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