Garden Composting Container Gardening Garden Design Flower

Place containers on tables and benches. This helps not only normal people but also people who are physically challenged to access easily the container. You should think before you start gardening.

Whether you have to grow vegetable plants or plants that are creatively potted to donate or sell or whether you want to decorate a courtyard or deck. A clear understanding of the purpose of the project guides you to start and implement the project. Terra-cotta or plastic pots, hanging baskets or window refrains are normally used as containers to grow plants. No doubt that these make wonderful containers but thinking practically any type of container, that which holds soil, that which drains water, that which accommodates the plants you grow can make a solid, suitable container. Ceramic bowls, buckets, tubs, teapots, beach pails, crocks, stacks of old tires, baskets, half wooden barrels, ceramic flue tiles, sinks and bathtubs, crates, toys, wagon, dump trucks, football helmet all make good solid containers for your plants to grow. Containers of different sizes, fertilizers, potting mix are the various materials that you need to grow container gardening. The larger containers makes you accommodate larger plants that can be grown to maturity. You have to think about the drainage and porosity of the containers. Lack of holes in a container can cause smothering of your plants. Be sure that you choose a container with holes. On the other hand plants can suffer if the container dries out too quickly. Containers made of unglazed terra-cotta and wood can keep the plants from being waterlogged as they dry out faster than plastic. But they have to be watered frequently. But either type of larger containers retain moisture in a better way than the smaller ones. Once again it all depends on the type of materials you choose, the type of plants you grow, the type of climate you are in, and your willingness to water the plants. If you choose containers made of wood, be careful not to choose containers made of pressure - treated wood. As these contain toxic chemicals that can harm both plants and people. Choosing rot resistant wood, such as cedar or painting your container with exterior grade paint or opaque stain, prevents your wooden container from rotting. You have to choose the plants and schemes of your choice ; whichever that appeals to you most or whichever that catches the eye of the passer - by or onlooker or whichever that brings you a healthy breath... so, it is a matter of your choice. You have to feed your plants and reap them. It is necessary, even as plants feed themselves through photosynthesis, to cultivate them by adding necessary nutrients to the soil. You have to keep your plants moist and cool. It should be moist but not waterlogged or swampy. If you notice any fertilizer salt build - up in the bottom, water it thoroughly till the salts drain out through the holes in the bottom of the container. The frequency level of your watering the plants depends on the nature and type of the plant, the size of the container and the plants exposure to sun and wind. Your container may need watering daily and do not be surprised by it. Whenever you notice dryness in the soil which is a couple of inches deep then you should know that it is time to water your plants. Here are a few tricks to protect your plant moisture and coolness of the soil in summer :

- Mulching the plants in the container with peat moss or any other organic material.
- Water - holding polymers hold a lot of moisture; they can be tried.
- You have to group your containers in such a way that each plant shades another's roots.
- If one container is small then place it in a larger container to keep the roots cool and the gap should be filled in by peat moss, compost or shredded paper or another way is to make collars of cardboard around the pots.

You can run a cotton wick, like the one in a mop strand from a container that is filled with water up through the bottom of the holes in a container, just below the roots, to manage water through long weekends in your absence.

When you are gardening or landscaping your garden there are a few things to be considered like planning your garden, deciding on soil nutrition to help better growth, the type of soil preferred by your plants, deciding on background, color, and trellis needs if any, maintaining clean areas to prevent insects and pests, planning the right spot for a water garden, planning for plants that would grow better in another part of the garden, deciding on a shade garden, recycling the yard waste or requiring fresh composting and so on. The list of tools for gardening are turning fork, rakes, one leaf, one garden, shovel, weeder, wheel barrow or garden cart and small hand tools. You have to find those tools that fit the size of your hand and maintaining its sharpness helps you use it in a better way. After planning for your gardening and equipping yourself with the necessary tools, you can start your gardening.

- Test the soil ; you can take it to the Agricultural Agency for this purpose ;
- decide on what plants, herbs, shrubs and flowers that you are going to plant in your garden. You can refer to magazines and books on gardening for this purpose;
- according to pH level of plants create a landscape design;
- you have to decide on the work that could be accomplished by you and that which could be accomplished by hiring workers;
- dig the area; if the area is large buy or rent a tiller to do the job; gardening beds one at a time can be created by using hand tools;
- next break in large clumps, add manure and compost for fertilization and rake up into the soil;
- choose an irrigation system that requires only a faucet turn or turn of an automatic timer when it is placed properly in your garden;
- plants like flowers, herbs and vegetables can be planted together and grown to their full maturity if you provide full space and group them according to their soil, moisture and light requirements. You can also decide on setting up a separate area for a vegetable garden.

What is the art and craft of cutting plants into decorative shapes called ? This is called as topiary. The forms are abstract sometimes and usually represent forms of animals or geometrical shapes. This art was famous in Roman gardens and renaissance saw its revival when Francis Bacon wrote in praise of topiary. From then on, this art has witnessed going in and out of fashion at regular intervals. The Arts and Crafts movement associated topiary with 'pre-Raphaelite' gardens and serious hedge-clipping was encouraged by this. Great Dixter is popular for its topiary. The taste of topiary was encouraged by enthusiasm towards garden restoration and period gardens. In topiary, shapes that are highly deliberate are given to plants. This art delights the eye by its care and craftsmanship.

Emptiness is one of the important aspects of Japanese gardening. One of the important concepts is wabi and sabi. Wabi meaning solitary and sabi meaning patina. One should strive for the balance between the two. Japanese visit their gardens in all seasons where as westerners desert their garden during the fall. One more important concept is garden enclosures. Fences, gates, lanterns and maples are all very important here. The garden is viewed separately as a person who has no worries or problems or concerns. The fence protects us from the outside world while the gate is the entrance for us to both give up our worldly cares and get ready once again to face the world. To view the garden, only way is to enter it. There are three basic styles in Japanese gardening, they are :

1. hill and pond or chisen-kaiyu-skiki,
2. tea gardens or Rojiniwa,
3. Flat gardens or Hiraniwa.

The first style is brought from China wherein a pond decorates the front of a hill. The real pond or pond represented by raked gravel and the hill denotes a mountain area where native plants belonging to the hill are grown. All stroll gardens are hill and pond.

Tea gardens emphasize a Roji or a path wet with dew along with a basin and gates as the focus of the garden. Plantings should be thinly scattered. It strives to give a rustic feeling.

Formality of the garden is yet another design consideration.

Rocks play an important role in gardening. Proper placement of stones ensures the layout of the rest of the garden. Basic stones are the tall vertical, the low vertical, the arched, reclining, and the horizontal. They set these stones usually in triads, fives, and sevens. Stones that are withered or that have a misshapen top called as the diseased stone, a dead stone and stone that has no relation with the other stones in the garden or pauper stones are the three types of bad stones that are to be avoided in here. Stones can also be used as a sculpture by setting it against any background in a 2D style or as a stepping stone or a bridge. The pathway symbolizes the journey through the life.

Water or Mizu plays another important role in here. The inner meaning of water here, the sight and sound of its soft flow reminds one of the soft passage of time. Bridges here represent moving from one world to another which is a popular theme in Japanese art.

Plantings or shokobutsu play a secondary role in here when compared to stones in the garden.

Ornaments or tenkebutsu like stone lanterns, are important. If your garden is less formal then the ornaments or lanterns also must be less formal.

Borrowed scenery or shakkei can also be used in here. There are four types of borrowed scenery. They are :

- Far - the mountain in a distance;
- near - a tree that is just outside the fence;
- high - that which is above the fence;
- low - that which is below the fence; or seen through a window in the fence.

You have to incorporate three principles to set your garden in the right manner :

1. The design must be suitable to the site .
2. First place the stones correctly, next place the trees and then the shrubs.
3. Follow the rules of shin, gyo, and so. Get acquainted to it. This sets the right mood.

Designing a dry creek bed garden can be done by anybody. It is not that difficult. First determine the shape and size of the dry stream bed. Then take a backhoe or a shovel and dig 1' - 1 1/4' of soil in your garden. Prepare the ground in such a way that the surface becomes flat and the sides are angled. To avoid weeds from popping through the surface place landscape fabric over the whole surface including the angled sides. Use 1/2" of crushed pea gravel to cover the bottom and sloping sides of the dry stream bed. Because the migrating of weeds during rains or when someone walks on it will be prevented by the sharp edges of the gravel. Adding river rock along the sides of the dry stream bed, gives a natural look. Four large rocks with flat surface should be used to support a flagstone bridge. Position the rocks firmly in place with cement so that they do not move with freezing or cessation of frost.

Design your garden with palm trees. Create your own landscape, a garden, a walkway, shrubs and herbs coupled with beautiful palm trees in your own garden or patio.

You can design your own garden in small spaces. For a person who loves greenery, space doesn't matter. Even container gardening is a type of gardening for all those who love gardening but are short of space. First of all decide what you want from your garden - whether it is the color of the flowers, or the fragrant odor from the herbs, or the green shrubs that matter the most to you...then plan your garden... the shade and light matters, the type of garden soil.... and more. Then plan your budget...garden plants that suit your garden, perennials that can be easily taken care of with low maintenance budget...creating focal points in your own small garden... choosing the right plants for a small space....and gardening on the patio and terrace. In this way, you have to choose the right kind of plan for a small garden and just implement it to make your small garden look wonderful and beautiful.

There are a number of videos available on garden design on the internet. They give you pictures and ideas related to garden design. For more information on this just browse online.

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