HOW TO DROUGHT PROOF YOUR GARDEN

With our fantastic schemes, your garden will look healthy and lush all summer. Keeping your garden green and gorgeous all summer can be tricky but, if you choose your plants carefully, you won't have to worry about them drooping when the weather's hot. Follow our four top tips for a sumptuous summer garden:
1. Choose sun worshippersOne drought-beating strategy is to use plenty of plants that come from hot, Mediterranean climates. These have adapted to conditions with little water and can create a dramatic look. Go for:

* Succulents such as Agaves, echeverias and aeoniums.

* Plants that have hairy or silvery grey leaves, such as stachys (lamb's ears), Russian sage, helichrysum.

* Spiky-leaved plants such as eryngiums or cardoons

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IF YOU'RE FEELING JAPANESE MAKE YOUR GARDEN MATCHES

With greater interest being shown in Asian culture and practicesin recent years, oriental or "Zen" style gardens have also shown an increase in popularity. Featuring design elements inspired by traditional Japanese gardens, oriental gardens typically consist of things such as water from a pond or small waterfall, pagodas and oriental garden lights.
These oriental garden lights are available as solar garden lights, which require no electricity, storing up the sun's energy during the day through a Nicam battery, and then releasing it at night through an LED connector which can hold up to a 15 hour charge. These solar lights are easily installed, cheap, and environmentally friendly.

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SOIL IS IMPORTANT TO YOUR GARDEN

Having a very successful garden is going to mean that you have great soil. The soil has to be healthy for the garden plants to grow, as you want them too. You should think about the type of soil that you are using, but the way that it is drained is more important. You do not want to have rocks in your soil and make sure that it can keep in the moisture.

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The soil is going to be different in most areas. You have to know what type of soil you have and if you need to add anything to it. Plants are not able to grow where there is too much sand or rock. They need to have a soft and moist area.

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You may have to add some nutrients to your soil in order to make it good enough to grow plants. You should not till up the soil when it is wet. This could make it form a ball and it will dry up this way. Dried soil is going to hurt your plants. When you are using used soil, you will need to add some fertilizer to make it grow the way that it should. You do not want to go too heavy on the fertilizer. Put a little bit around each plant and this can help the soil give your plants what they need to grow better.

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CHOOSING PLANTS FOR YOUR GARDEN

Most of the time we run to the plant nursery and buy our garden plants without giving much thought to the type of plant care that must be given to these plants. Things to consider before buying your plants.
1) Do we want perennial plants or annual plants?

2) Does our garden have the right amount of sun or shade?

3) Is the ground well drained or waterlogged?

4) Is the area sheltered or windswept?

5) Is the ph level right for the plants we select?

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When we consider the above aspects of our garden we then can determine the proper plants we need for our garden. We can then get shade loving plants for the shady areas and sun loving plants for the sunny areas of our garden. We can get plants that are suited for well-drained soil and plants that are suited for the waterlogged areas and by knowing the proper ph level with a simple ph test kit we will know if the soil ...........................read more GARDEN DECOR

HOW TO AVOID USING PESTICIDES TO MAINTAIN YOUR GARDEN

It's an unavoidable fact that if left untended, for every flower and plant that adorns our gardens, a greater number of pests will also take root. The good news is that removing these scoundrels from infesting your vegetation does not need to rely on chemicals, nor should it. For each individual species of pest that shows up in your garden abode, there is a natural solution that is cheaper and most importantly, safer to use than pesticides.
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HOW TO LANDSCAPE YOUR GARDEN

I've found that the very first thing that you must do is to determine the suitability of the site for the creation of a garden and then of course the type of soil. Is it heavy soil like clay or sandy, all these things have to be taken into consideration even before thinking of landscaping. Designing is a great pleasure, are you going to have lawn.

So let us go to the lawn. A good extent of open lawn space is always beautiful. It is restful. It adds a feeling of space to even small grounds. So we might generalize and say that it is well to keep open lawn spaces. If one covers his lawn space with many trees, with little flower beds here and there, the general effect is choppy and fussy. It is a bit like an over-dressed person. One's grounds lose all individuality thus treated. A single tree or a small group is not a bad arrangement on the lawn. Do not centre the tree or trees. Let them drop a bit into the background. Make a pleasing side feature of them.

In choosing trees one must keep in mind a number of things. You should not choose an overpowering tree; the tree should be one of good shape, with something interesting about its bark,..............................read more GARDEN DECOR

Adding a Water Feature to Your Yard

Water features, from a simple half-barrel with a recirculating pump to elaborate waterfalls are becoming one of the most sought-after landscape elements among homeowners.Water features lend a relaxing ambience to any yard.

Of course, that calming atmosphere comes at a price: Water features require knowledge and imagination to design and plenty of work to build and maintain.

To ensure the overall success of your project, make sure you get as much information as possible before you start. Web sites such as www.handymanclub.com, the home of The Handyman Club of America, are a great place to learn from the professionals, get useful tips and discover .................read more GARDEN DECOR

GARDENING - GETTING STARTED

One of the thing to remember while gardening is to start small. A small plant bed, about 25 or 30 feet square is perfect, is just enough room for about 30 plants. This will give you a chance to try out your green thumb and if you find that you enjoy your garden you can always expand and increase your plantings.

The next thing you will want to do is choose a site, where do you want to put them? . Gardening must be done in an area that gets at least six hours of sunlight. Try and stay away from large trees that will take your plants water and nutrients, and at least three feet from any fences or buildings. In hot climates it is a good idea to choose a place that will have shade from a part of the intense afternoon sun.

It is possible to have a healthy garden with even ten to twelve hours of sunlight, but the type of plants must be adaptable. While soil can always be improved, a site with good soil is a plus. Avoid areas that have rocky soil, steep slopes, or areas where water stands
Now comes the fun part: start digging. Gardening is not a clean hobby; you’re going to have to get some dirt under your nails. First remove the rocks, debris, and any grass and weeds then dig the spot up about one foot deep. Level up the dirt and add compost or minerals if the needed. If your soil is too acidic, add lime; if it is too sandy, add peat moss. Plants will thrive in neutral to acidic soil with .............................read more click this link GARDEN DECOR

CREATING A FOCAL POINTS IN A SMALL GARDEN

Focal points are used in garden design to draw and direct the eye. Think of a garden, small or large, that was just a swath of plants. Your eye sweeps along, not knowing where to land. A sense of flow is nice, but without a focus, your garden is not really taken in and studied. It is quickly passed over. Now think of a garden you saw with a wonderful water feature, a weeping tree or a dramatic ornament.

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The first thing you notice is this focal feature. Once your interested is concentrated there, you start to branch out and notice other plants and features in the garden. The garden is slowly discovered rather than swept through. You don’t have to have a focal point, but your garden will appear more intentional if you do.

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Small gardens can pose difficulties for creating a focal point. Obviously you don’t want to sacrifice your entire garden space to one large plant or tree. But focal points can be scaled to the size of your garden. Even the smallest space could have one unique, flamboyant plant that calls attention to itself. Think of tall, orange leaved cannas or small weeping Japanese maples.

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So what Constitutes a Focal Point?

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Pretty much any striking feature in your garden:
An unusual specimen (Red twig Dogwood)

A large, architectural plant (Cimicifuga)

A group of plants (a cluster of astilbe, bleeding heart and ferns)

A vibrant color (orange canna)

A single white plant An ornament (Bird bath, gazing globe, statue...)

Large boulders

A dwarf shrub or tree

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You don’t have to start your garden design with a focal point, but you don’t want to throw one in as an after thought. Think about the style of garden you want and the plants you are considering using. Then list possible features that would complement, yet stand out from your basic design. Some designs lend themselves to the obvious focal point: a zen-like garden with a small water feature, a cottage garden with a cement statue, a formal garden with an obelisk.

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If you have a preexisting large tree near your garden, that will become a focal point whether you mean to or not. You might want to enhance it with a bird house or a flowering vine, like climbing hydrangea.

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Larger gardens often have more than one focal point, stopping the viewer has she surveys the whole scene. Small gardens generally only need one focal point, but it can make or break the garden. Don’t let that intimidate you. If you find you don’t like your first choice - welcome to the world of garden design. You can always try something else. One of the best ways to find out what you do like, is to discover what you don’t.

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Positioning Your Focal Point

Resist the temptation to center your focal point and plant around it. Use the 1/3 -2/3 rule and place the focal feature just off center. If you have a small, circular garden, place it towards the rear of your viewing perspective.

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The closer you will be when viewing your garden, the smaller your focal point can be. In a garden next to a seating area, you don’t need drama to catch the viewer’s attention. A view from the dining room window some 60 feet away will be lost unless it dramatically stands out.

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I’ve never found a magic formula for how large to make a focal point. A lot depends on where you are viewing from, plant choices and color. It often helps to use a stand in for the focal point, a chair, ladder or your child.

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Some Focal Point Tips

1.Choose a proven performer. A sickly looking plant or one that perpetually gets eaten or mildewy is not a good choice.
2.Make sure it has a long peak period. Don’t fall for a short bloomer or a plant that only has one season of interest., no matter how spectacular it my be. Plants in small gardens need to pull their weight.
3.It is possible to have seasonal focal points, in succession, but this requires planning and diligent maintenance. The idea behind a focal point is to attract the eye. If you spring focal point, say Bleeding heart, is going dormant or yellow before your next focal point, perhaps tall lilies, have come into their glory, the yellow foliage of the Bleeding Heart will be your current focal point.

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Article Source : http://gardening.about.com/od/gardendesign/a/SmFocalPoints.htm

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