Adding Natural Beauty and Ambiance to Your Garden

If you’re looking for a soothing and aesthetically appealing addition to your garden, then you should consider adding a fountain. Nothing is more relaxing than enjoying sitting on a garden bench and listening to the calming sounds of a water fountain! In addition to the beauty a foundation brings to any garden, installing a water feature is fairly simple and a worth-while investment. Another advantage is the minimal amount of maintenance required to keep your foundation running smoothly and looking beautiful after it’s installed. Read more..

Simple Instructions on How to Plant a Low Maintenance Garden

Gardening can add a new dimension of immeasurable beauty to your yard and life. But perhaps you don’t think you have enough time to dedicate to your garden. Even if you think you are too busy to dedicate spare time to gardening, you would be surprised how much you can do with just a couple of hours on the weekend a few minutes throughout the working week. If you crave a garden, but don’t think you have enough time for one, here are some simple tips and instructions on how to plant a low maintenance garden.

Designate a Space for Your Gardening

Gardening does not need to take up hours of your time. The easiest way to brighten up your yard or outdoor living space without exerting a lot of time, money and effort is to designate a specific space for your garden. A lot of gardens are time-consuming because the plants are scattered throughout a large outdoor area. If you limit your gardening space to one raised bed, for instance, you will not have to worry about watering several garden beds or maintaining a large garden. Start by focusing one area in your yard that needs space and work from there.

Container Gardening Adds Easy Color and Texture to Any Space

Do you want to brighten your yard with color and texture, but don’t have the time or money for a whole garden bed? Consider container gardening, an easy way to add flowers or plants to any part of your home. Moreover, if you are working with malnourished soil, or simply don’t have the space for a full planting, container gardening can fill this void with minimal effort. You can opt for one large planter, a variety of container sizes, or a small-scale container garden. Container gardening is a cost-effective and easy way to satisfy your craving for a garden without having to do the full-scale plant bed preparation, seeding and transplanting.

Choose Hardy Perennials for Easy Year-Round Color

Do you wish you had a garden that boasts year-round color? You don’t have to be a gardening whiz to ensure that your garden is rich in color and texture on a year-round basis. There are many hardy perennials that, once planted and become well established, will present you with blooms throughout the growing season. Perennials are plants that continue to bloom season after season. For this reason, perennials will usually cost you more, but the investment in a long-lasting garden is well worth it. Make sure that you understand which perennials thrive in your climate. You will want to choose the hardiest perennials available in your area for the best low-maintenance garden. Visit your local nursery and ask which plants do best in your area despite minimal care and attention.

Install a Drip Irrigation System for Easy Plant Care

Do you wish you had a healthy, thriving garden, but don’t have the time it takes to water your plants on a regular schedule? A drip irrigation schedule can take care of this for you. Drip irrigation systems are becoming increasingly popular because, once properly installed, they water your garden with maximum efficiency. This system works by dripping water on a continuous basis, thus avoiding over-watering and loss of evaporation. A drip irrigation system can help keep your plants properly watered without you having to lift the hose ever again. Moreover, these systems can help save you water and time, making them an environmentally friendly option for the modern gardener. Visit your local nursery or home improvement store to take a look at the latest drip irrigation systems. They can be tricky to install, so you may want to enlist the help of a professional.

Fast Container Water Garden Options

You want to enjoy the soothing sound of water in your garden, but you don’t have the time, money or resources to create a pond or purchase a large fountain. Fortunately, there are many fast and easy container water garden options that are open to you. If you don’t want to spend the effort in digging (or paying someone to dig) you a pond for a water garden, here are some easy ways to achieve fast container water gardens that are lovely to see and hear.

A Versatile Container Water Garden

Do you want a water garden without all the fuss? If so, here is one quick and fun project that will have your guests oohing and ahhing. This project takes all of a half hour to set up. A container water garden is essentially a large watertight pot with floating water plants. You can use your creativity to choose the container and the type of floating plant that you would like to put on display.

How to Create Your Own Unique Container Water Garden

Begin by finding a watertight pot that is the right size for your garden space and the plant you would like to feature in your water garden. A good choice is a glazed pot that can be used to grow lotus plants. These types of pots are known for their watertight structure. But if you cannot locate a traditional glazed lotus pot, any large watertight pot will do the trick. For the best effect, make sure that the watertight container you choose is at least 18 inches in height. You will also want a container that is at least 24 inches in diameter. When it comes to a water garden, aim for the size of half barrel. In fact, a half-barrel is the ideal size for your water garden, except that they are not watertight. However, many nurseries now sell plastic liners that are fitted to half barrels, which make it easy to transform a half-barrel into the perfect place to create your own water garden oasis. If you choose to use a half-barrel to create a water garden, make sure that you will be placing it in the right location. Remember that these are difficult to move and quite heavy, so they may not be ideal if you are planning to place your water garden on a deck or balcony patio.

Putting Together Your Water Garden

You will obviously need to work with aquatic plants in order to create your own water garden. You will need to fashion a platform on which your aquatic plant will sit. An easy way to achieve this effect is to use a stack of bricks on the plants can sit. However, this method should only be used if you don’t plant to move your water container garden, or if the weight of the planter does not matter. Once you have created a stable platform for your aquatic plants, you are ready to fill the container with water. Once you have filled your watertight container with water, arrange your aquatic plants on the platform in a way that you find pleasing. Let your imagination run free as you work on the composition of your aquatic plants.

Adding a Decorative Touch to Your Water Garden

If you want to hear the sound of water in your garden, you can add a neat decorative touch to your water garden by installing a re-circulating hand pump. This is an easy way to create a working water garden fountain. Simply install a small pump at the bottom of your water container garden with a short hose attached. This will keep the water circulating, which prevents the water from going stagnant.

Quick and Simple Projects to Make your Garden Stand Out

Are you looking for a fun and easy way to make your garden stand out? With just a few hours on the weekend, you can transform your garden using one of these quick and simple project ideas. Here are just a few projects that can make your garden sparkle.

Create a Charming Half-Barrel Fountain

This is a quick and simple garden project that can provide years of texture and soothing water sounds to your garden. Visit your local nursery to get the right parts for this project. You will need a half-barrel planter, a fitted plastic liner for the barrel, a re-circulating pump, a decorative water pump and the appropriate tubing. Part of the fun of this project is that you can individualize your half-barrel fountain to blend in with your yard environment. If you enjoy brightly colored pots and yard ornaments, you can coordinate your half-barrel so that it complements your garden environment.

Make Your Own Decorative Garden Wind Chimes with Recycled Items

There are many easy ways to put together your own decorative wind chimes using recycled items that you can find around the house. Easy recycled items include old spoons, keys and CDs that you no longer need. You can use a metal hanger and sturdy cord or wire to hang antique forks and spoons from the hanger so that you can listen to the relaxing sounds of your own handmade wind chime. You can use just about any resonant material—your imagination is your only limit. You can also use old CDs to create your own dazzling hanging display. These can pull double-duty as they are reflective and are helpful in ridding your garden of pests.

Paint a Few Pots and Watch Your Garden Sparkle

Want to add a little color to your garden? Here is a very fast and simple way to brighten up any patio or deck. Buy three planters of varying shapes and sizes and paint them with bright colors that coordinate with your home. Use stencils to create your own dazzling designs on your pots. Protect your handiwork with paint sealant. Choose flowers that coordinate well with the flowerpot. For instance, for a bright yellow pot, plant blue-blooming flowers with long stems. This will create an eye-catching display that will be sure to please.

Install Window Boxes with Bright Showy Annuals

This is a classic touch that has been overlooked in recent years. Installing window boxes below your windows adds a classic and charming touch that is not easily missed. Coordinate the window boxes to complement your homes exterior. You can choose from a variety of materials, including wood, metal and plastic. Plant showy annuals that complement the window box and your home’s exterior, providing warmth and vibrancy. This is a classic way to add color and texture to an otherwise drab exterior, and you can complete this project in one short afternoon.

Add Stepping Stones to Your Garden

What could be more charming than steppingstones that lead right up to your garden gate? This project is a fast and easy way to enhance the overall appearance of your garden. You can use natural stones that are available throughout your yard and plant them firmly in a well designed garden path, or you can purchase readymade steppingstones in a variety of designs from your local nursery or home improvement garden store.

Decorative Lighting Adds Security and Sophistication to Your Night Garden

Decorative lighting has never been as affordable as it is today. Install a row of solar lights along your garden path, and enjoy the subtle yet moving glow that it imparts across your night garden when the sun goes down.

Quick and Easy Herb Gardening with the Kids

Involving kids in gardening can be a great experience and educational resource for children. If you do not have the time to have a big garden or the space, there are other options you can use. How about planting a herb garden with your kids?

There are many different possibilities on the market for planting herb gardens. The probably oldest way is to get a pot or container and fill it with potting soil. Then add some seeds that you can buy at many garden centers or even at your local department or grocery store sometimes. Spread only a few seeds per pot and then cover with about one inch of soil. Water carefully; try not to reveal the seeds. From there a consistent watering and some patience will bring up the herbs you are looking for within a couple of weeks.

If you are looking for an even easier way, there are other options available. How about an herb kit? An herb kit generally comes with a small green house made from plastic, special growing pads and all the necessary seeds. The kit also includes easy directions and descriptions of the necessary steps. This is so easy, that your children might even be able to grow the herbs completely themselves with little assistance from you. This kit is generally used to sprout the plants and grow them to a certain size, then the plants need to be transplanted into a small to midsize pot. Generally you should have one plant per small/medium pot. Garden stores also offer special herb pots that have several opening on the sides and the top so that you can grow more than one herb in the pot. Your children will most likely need help for the transplanting process, since the still young plants can snap easily.

Another easy way to grow herbs is to buy one of the gardens in a bag. These gardens in a bag come in many varieties and also include herb gardens. A garden in a bag includes everything necessary and all you have to do is add water to the bag. The bag can be used as a pot for sprouting and then as a pot for growing the herbs. No messy pot filling, no getting your fingers dirty and no potting. Gardens in a bag are available at many gardening stores and online.

If you do not want to sprout your herbs from seeds you can always buy the herb plants already grown. Most garden centers offer herbs all year round and nowadays even supermarket offer a select amount of fresh herb plants. This way all your children have to do is keep the plants in a sunny bright place and water the plants. This is one of the easiest ways of herb gardening available. These wonderful herbs are then used in the daily cooking and enhance the flavor of your dishes.

An herb garden can be an easy garden for your children to take care of and a great addition to your household. Herb gardens disburse great fragrances throughout your house and are beneficial to your diet. Cooks all over the world swear on fresh herbs and dieticians will tell you just how great the nutrients in herbs are for your body’s health. Herbs are fairly easy to grow, as long as they have a good amount of sunlight, water and some plant food herbs will grow nicely almost anywhere were it is warm enough.

Include your children and try to make the experience a fun and educational one and they will thank your for it later in their lives. Gardening, and if it is just an herb in a pot can enrich your child’s life more than you know.

Grow a Garden Using Birdseed

Are you feeding your birds every winter or maybe all around the year? Have you ever thought about using your birdseed for something different than feeding the birds? How about growing a garden from birdseed? Maybe you are already growing a garden from birdseed every year and you do not even know it. Sometimes in spring, there are little plants growing under a bird feeder and many of us remove them as weeds or turn them over to have the flower beds ready for new plants.

Birdseed can make for many beautiful flowers. One of the most beautiful ones contained in bird seeds might be sun flowers. Growing a garden from birdseed is cheap. Birdseed bags are full of nice seeds that can be spread all over your garden or just in a small area. Growing a garden from birdseeds is also very budget-friendly. A big bag of birdseeds is just around 5 dollars and can easily cover your whole garden. Leftovers can be stored for next year if necessary. Buying plants or seeds separately from small bags that contain 3-10 seeds per package can add up fast, especially if you want to cover a whole garden.

A garden from birdseeds is also very bird friendly. If you are a bird lover or your kids love to watch birds, a garden from birdseeds will provide you with plenty of opportunities to watch many different species of birds. Gardens grown from birdseeds of course sprout plants and flowers that produce the seeds and food for birds and are therefore an excellent choice for bird watchers and bird lovers. Birdseed gardens are a natural attraction for birds and other small animals that enjoy the seeds of these plants.

To actually go ahead and grow a birdseed garden, there are a few steps that you have to do. First of all, you need to buy a bag of bird food. Then you need to determine where you want to plant your birdseed garden. As with many other gardens, these plants want sun and plenty of water, but they also need to be protected from too hot weather if you are living in a warmer region. After picking a good area for your garden, go ahead and turn over or till the soil, just as if you were to plant a vegetable or flower garden. Removal of weed and stones can be beneficial to the plants. Remove a layer of dirt from the ground, maybe into a wheelbarrow and then go ahead and spread the seed on the patch of your choice. Instead of removing the dirt you can also add topsoil after the spreading of the seeds. Make sure to spread the seeds equally and try not to have too many in one spot. After the spreading of the seed, go ahead and spread the dirt that you had removed over the seeds or the topsoil. Now it is time to water the seeds. Water needs to be applied carefully as to not uncover the seeds from under the soil. Water needs to be applied on a daily basis till the plants sprout and then still daily or at least every two days.

To ensure that your seeds are growing, be aware of birds. Even though you want them to come and enjoy your plants and flowers later on, you do not want them to eat the birdseed you planted in the soil. If the birds steal all your seeds you will not be able to grow your beautiful garden and you will not be able to enjoy the birds later on this year. In general after the starting and sprouting birdseed gardens are very easy to take care of. Besides the regular watering, birdseed gardens do not need much other than sun and nice weather and a little bit of fertilizing here or there.

Planting a Safe Garden that Kids Can Help In

If garden in is your forte, but you haven’t done it in a few years worried about your children, you should consider planting a garden that is safe for the children and that the children can help you with. Planting a safe garden that kids can help in is an easy to accomplish task. There are only a few things that you have to consider to make your garden safe for your children. Read more..

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