The Vegetable Gardening Design

When it comes to growing your own food, it pays to plan ahead of time about how you want to set up your own garden. Poor planning can result in poor plant growth, and you may end up with no vegetables at all, or at the very most, stunted, tasteless food. Before you plant the first seed, there are several steps that you need to complete, and only by planning ahead can you make all parts of your garden work together to improve its overall vitality. Vegetable gardening design can make all the difference between a complete failure and a rousing success at harvest time.

From Blueprints to Growth

Vegetable gardening design encompasses everything from the size of the garden to how long it will take to pick the vegetables as they ripen. First, you need to decide about what size garden you are prepared to take care of, as this will decide how healthy the plants are when it finally comes time to pick them. A good rule of thumb is to grow a garden within the means of what you are willing to take care of as a smaller but well cared for garden is much more rewarding than a larger, neglected garden. As such, deciding the size of the garden is the first step of vegetable gardening design.

At the same time, you also need to decide what style of garden you wish to cultivate in vegetable gardening design. One of the more popular gardening styles is French vegetable gardening, and you will be able to grow more vegetables in the same size plot. However, there are many different types of styles to choose from, and you also need to decide what types of plants you want to grow. All of these decisions need to be taken into consideration before you plant the first seed, and once you've made the decisions, you can finally start designing vegetable gardens.

Even with all of the steps of vegetable gardening design finished, you will still need to prepare the soil for vegetation. Aeration of the soil will allow more oxygen to reach plants, and fertilizers like compost or manure can provide greatly needed nutrients for the plants to grow strong and robust.

Consider starting your own compost piles or bins if you haven't already, and you can fill them up with materials like grass clippings or excess food that you would just end up throwing away anyway. With vegetable gardening design and preparation complete, you can finally plant the seeds, and in a few months, you will have a fantastic, plentiful harvest.

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7 Tips to a Successful Garden

A beautiful garden is one of the most sort after additions to any home. A beautiful garden
takes many hours of dedication and hard work but can be achieved by not only gardening experts but beginners as well. One of the most important gardening tips for any avid gardener is to have good gardening advice. Below are some basic gardening tips to get you started on creating your dream garden.

Gardening Tip 1. Consider your plants health as well as your own. Ensure you keep yourself well hydrated whilst gardening. As most gardening is done in the sun, involves physical labour and is very engrossing, it is easy to work away for hours on end without noticing the time flying by. Keep drinking lots of fluids and make sure you are wearing adequate sun cream and a hat. Your garden will only suffer if you are in bed for a few days with dehydration or sun stroke. Remember, skin cancer is still one of the top killers so dress appropriately.

Gardening Tip 2. Design your garden before you start digging. Your time and energy is precious so don’t start digging holes and planting plants without having a garden design first. You may choose to employ a professional garden designer or you may just want to draw your desired garden on a piece of paper yourself, depending on your budget. Either way if you have a plan of what you are doing and what you want to plant where, you will save yourself many back breaking hours digging and planting unnecessarily.

Gardening Tip 3. Make a list of the tools and materials you will need. After creating your garden design, list the tools and materials that are required to create your masterpiece. You may need specialist equipment like heavy earth moving machinery that needs to be hired and booked in advance or you may wish to plant exotic plants that need to be ordered and grown specially. You don’t want to get half way through your project only to find you cannot get a piece of equipment on hire for 2 weeks. When this happens it is very frustrating and can sometimes hold up the entire job.

Gardening Tip 4. Plan your gardening activities with small tasks and regular breaks.
You will no doubt be full of enthusiasm and excitement about your new gardening project but do not over do it. Gardening is an extremely good method of exercise and is good for your health as you are outside in the sun and fresh air. Make sure you break your activities into small achievable tasks and take breaks in between those activities. This way you will not burn yourself out and your gardening will be more enjoyable.

Gardening Tip 5. Use the correct gardening tools for the job. Some gardening tools are designed for specific tasks and can save the gardener a great deal of time. If you need to purchase gardening tools you can compare prices and makes quickly and easily over the internet. If possible purchase tools with long rubber handles as they are easier on your muscles and joints as they are less prone to jarring.

Gardening Tip 6. Consider the maintenance requirements of your garden. Before creating your garden you need to decide how much time you want to spend in the future maintaining it. If you want an easy maintainable garden you should investigate ideas like weed suppression methods in your flower beds. This can be achieved by using a special mesh that allows water and moisture to permeate through but doesn’t allow plants (primarily weeds) to grow through. Bark mulch is another good method of weed suppression and gives your flower beds a professional and natural look.

Gardening Tip 7. Choose the correct plants for your gardens location. Some plants are very choosey about where they live. Some like hot weather and lots of sunshine, whilst other plants prefer a cool, shaded and moist environment. Before purchasing your garden plants do some research on whether those plants or plant types will grow in the location in which you are going to plant them. If the plant does not like where it is planted it will be stunted in height and of poor appearance and in the worst case will die. Probably not the look you are after.

Gardens can become the show piece and social gathering point of many homes and communities. No matter where you live or what type of garden plants you like with some basic planning and design you can create a wonderful garden that you and your family and friends can enjoy for many years to come. The most important thing about creating your garden is that you enjoy yourself whilst doing it.

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The Basics of Designing Gardens

Just like the ad says "Just Do It,"; this is exactly the perspective one needs in getting good at garden designs. You can always move plants around your gardens and as your ideas and taste change, your gardens can grow with you. There are some simple elements of garden design. Think of designing your garden with living art in mind being creative and free to try whatever suits your taste. There are no limitations to the creativity that is within, no comparison or fear of failure. Although gardening successfully requires learning certain skills, when all is said and done a garden's beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Just go for it and let your gardens be the expression of you.

Garden design and its principles used may be called by different names. There are three basic concepts when combined together will bring about good garden design. Ultimately your gardens' design is up to you and should reflect your own personality and flare.

Order, balance and proportion are the basic structure of the garden. Order is symmetrical through repeating plants or colors. Bold or bright additions bring balance as well as adding some texture. Texture is an important ingredient. Gardens come to life with different textured plants much like the human race. All different but flowing together and being brought together through unity and harmony creating comfort and peace. When all of the parts of the garden are flowing together it is captivating and ones' spirit is caught up in the beauty.

Using a limited color pattern, repetition of plants and a clear focal point creates this environment. Theme gardens are very soothing: all one color, butterfly gardens or cross gardens keep you flowing in like unity. You'll also hear a lot of talk about starting your garden with good bones. That basically means creating an outlining foundation, with trees, structures, paths, etc. for the rest of the garden to build off of. Evergreen is a favorite of the good bones.

Having a focal point is a big benefit for every garden. With no focal point the eye starts to wander here and there without every getting a grasp of a main feature. This is not creating the harmony you desire for your gardens or creating any curb appeal.

Beginning gardeners seem to pick the same flowers or foliage over and over again which has no visual interest. Planting an architectural, bold leafed plant, can restore this visual interest instead of the monotony of likeness.

Last, but not least, is adding color to your gardens. Experimenting with your favorite colors is a good way to see what works best for you. The best advice to heed though is to start out with 2-3 colors to keep the artist palette limited. You can always add new colors to your gardens by eyeballing it along the way. This way you keep the living painting flowing in the harmony you wish to relate. You will then have a peaceful retreat that you have created and enable others to share that intimate part of you.

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Hydroponics Gardening:Food Growing for All

Hydroponics gardening is great for anyone who wants to do some gardening but may not have the space or a lot of experience.

Hydroponics gardens are different from regular gardens in that there isn't any soil involved, which makes them great for indoors. The word begins with hydro for a reason! Hydroponics gardening isn't anything new, either, as it's been around since as early as 600 BC. The other wonderful thing about hydroponics gardens is that they can be grown anywhere. For example, NASA uses indoor hydroponics gardening for growing produce during lengthy missions. Lettuce is also being grown on U.S. submarines.

To get started with hydroponics gardening, you will need to germinate seeds just as you would for any other type of garden. Then you choose a growing medium. The medium can be anything from composted bark to peat moss to sand to nutrient-enriched water. You can also purchase kits that have everything you need to get your hydroponics gardening started—and growing. For the beginner, this is probably the best way to go, as you can get everything you need along with expert advice.

The benefits of gardens grown using the hydroponics gardening method are many. They allow you to grow your produce organically, without harmful pesticides or fertilizers. And since water is re-circulated in a specialized system, you also conserve water. This is great news for people who live in drought-stricken areas or in places where water is scarce. Even in these places hydroponics gardening is possible.

Hydroponics gardening is also very low-maintenance. Because the produce is grown in water, you don't have to do any digging. Even better, with these gardens, there's no weeding involved either. Plants grow faster, too. Thirty to forty days from seed to fruit or flower is average. This is 30-50% quicker than plants grown in soil.

Also, hydroponics gardening makes it possible to grow produce year-round. This means you can enjoy fresh vegetables and fruit anytime of the year without paying outrageous prices for them. Plus, since there's really no telling just how fresh the produce is in your local market, you'll never have to guess about freshness and purity again. You'll know because you grew it yourself under circumstances you control.

This is an important advantage that hydroponics gardening has over traditional gardens. When you grow plants in soil, even under the best of circumstances, you don't know for certain that your plants are truly getting the nutrients vital for them to grow. In gardens grown hydroponically, you know your plants are getting the very best nutrition right at their root system. This not only ensures the highest quality possible, but it also takes the guesswork out of your hydroponics gardening.

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Repairing your Garden Hose

With the old familiar variety of garden hoses as well as black Poly irrigation systems, there are two major problems that occur along the length of the hose or pipe, one is cracking and/or splitting of the hose/pipe and the second problem is the familiar kinking of the hose/pipe. So what can you do about it besides going out and buying a new hose or roll of poly' pipe? Well there is at least one repair method that should help with either problem. Without the cost and problems of putting expensive joiners into your watering system.

Split Hoses/Pipes

What do you do once your garden hose or irrigation pipe has developed a crack or split after your son has mowed over it or you've managed to drive over it once too often?

With either type of system, you could cut out the section of the damaged hose or pipe and put in a joiner, but sometimes this is impractical or impossible. Then why not look at repairing it instead of replacing it. Use the same method as you would for a kinked hose. Which is listed below.

Kinking Hoses/Pipes

Once a garden hose or irrigation pipe has jack-knifed back on itself at a particular spot, it will continue to do so for the life of the hose/pipe. This is because it has become weakened at that point. Again you have the option to cut out the weakened area and join the remaining parts of the hose. Or you will have to look at repairing the weakened area to stop it kinking in future, you can do this by bracing the weakened area/s by the following method . . .

What you will need to repair split/kinked hoses or irrigation pipes

An excess section of garden hose or irrigation pipe A Sharp knife or blade Container of hot water Measure and cut off a small section of hose/pipe, approximately three inches long, or as long as is needed to cover over the weakened or broken area. Cut this section down its length on one side only.

Soften the hose or pipe section in hot water. Open it up and wrap this like a bandage around the weakened section of hose/pipe.

This acts like a splint over the weak area, strengthening it so that at that point it will not kink or fountain out water anymore.

If you are repairing a split area of the hose you may have to look at sealing the hose with something like a silicon sealant. But you will find that simply putting the hose splint will greatly reduce and/or stop the leak.

The hose or pipe splint will not move off of the weakened or split area because it rehardens fairly quickly as it cools, this tightens its grip over the weak part of your hose/pipe.

Repeat this procedure for other areas that are split or are prone to kink of the garden hose or irrigation pipe that you are using.

So if that garden hose or irrigation system of yours is split in one or more places or is kinking all the time, and it is frustrating you no end, then do something other than throwing it out. Either repair it or at least keep the old hose or pipe to repair your future watering systems.

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Ten Basic Rules For Gardening

Ten basic rules for gardening

Rule #1 - Buy plants from a very reputable source--I prefer nurseries over discount stores and warehouse stores.

Rule #2 - Select plants that will grow in your climate--consider your high and low temperatures.

Rule #3 - Plant your plants in the right place in your yard--sun-loving plants in the sun, shade-loving plants in the shade.

Rule #4 - Provide your plants with complete nutrition. Most fertilizers and plant foods don't. Spray-N-Grow and Bill's Perfect Fertilizer provide major and minor elements identified by botanists as necessary for plant growth and production.

Rule #5 - Water your plants properly.

Rule #6 - Keep your plants bug free. Look for bugs on your plants as often as possible. Apply an organic and environmentally friendly bug killer if necessary.

Rule #7 - Watch for plant disease. Spray your plants with Physan 20 or Serenade if you see any wilting, black spots, etc.

Rule #8 - Weed around your plants or use All Down Organic Weed and Grass Kill or Burnout Weed and Grass Killer.

Rule #9 - Deer, rabbits, squirrels and other animals may try to feast on your plants. If you see evidence of munching, use a humane animal repellants. It may take a little detective work to figure out what type of hungry animal is invading your garden.

Rule #10 - Gardening is a physical activity--take care of yourself. Wear a hat and gloves. Use sunscreen and watch for stinging insects. Use safe products

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Landscape Garden Design

If you're thinking about some new ideas for your landscape garden design, Exterior Worlds has plenty of good ones to get you started. Just dive in and start planning.

Landscape Garden Design: Gathering Places & Focal Points

Your landscape will be more interesting and enjoyable if you consider:

• Outdoor kitchens. These structures create a focal point for your yard and, similar to the kitchen inside the home, become a natural gathering place. It is imperative that you have a good layout so that all your appliances fit and are convenient for use. Landscape designers and landscape architects will help you during the planning phase to check your deed restrictions concerning rules regulating such items as size, lot coverage percentages, height, and color materials.

• Patio design. A patio creates a transition space between the house and the yard. Depending on your preference, your patio design can run the gamut from an elegant open-air greenhouse to an outdoor living room. Patios affect the emotional and physical space of the interior by changing the view out the window.

• Landscape lighting. Expertise is essential in landscape lighting design, planning and installation. "About 50 percent of the technical work has to do with placement of the light fixtures," explains Jeff Halper, landscape garden design specialist with Exterior Worlds. "You really don't want to see the nuts and bolts of the system. You only want to see the beautiful effect created by the lights."

• Other hardscapes. You have many choices with hardscapes, the non-plant material of your yard. They include pool decking, entry walks and pathways, gates, decks and arbors, retaining walls, driveways and motor courts.

Landscape Garden Design: Themes

Many homeowners like to choose a theme for their landscape architecture. One popular choice is classical landscape design, which is a type of formal landscape design that uses linear, clean lines to develop an orderly look. These "lines" can be drawn with rows of trees and well-trimmed hedges or perhaps a seat wall made of perfectly arranged terra cotta tiles. Greenery can soften any harshness.

Another idea is an English garden design, which is noted for its informal approach to gardening and is hugely popular in the United States. Houston's semi-tropical climate is well suited for vine-covered arbors, riotous rose gardens, dazzling azaleas and beds of seasonal color-all plant materials that fit well within the English garden's impression of abundance.

If your home's architecture is a good match, think about a modern landscape design. In this style, boundaries between areas of color, textures and shapes are undefined-or conversely, sharply defined. Color and composition create the emotional response. Combining freshness and flair, these designs use dramatic geometric shapes to convey a point of view that is elegant and natural. Water and light are often used, as in beautifully-lit outdoor water fountains, to enhance the sensual loveliness and liveliness.

Don't forget a "green" green garden. That is, one that is ecologically helpful, practical and sustainable. "With a design for a green garden, the goals are similar to any other landscape project. However, we do put a special focus on reducing the Big Four of ongoing landscape maintenance: watering, trimming, weeding and mulching," says Halper.

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