Houseplants and Gardens

Thankfully, planning the layout of your herb garden is not rocket science nor does it have to be like any of the magnificent garden of the world like Kew Gardens in England or the Longwood gardens in Pennsylvania. These gardens are artificial in nature and require the skill of professional horticulturists to grow and maintain them. Your herb garden layout is much simpler and will not require anywhere near as much work.

A real herb garden needs to still look and grow like they were meant to.  Not only will this help the herbs, but will save your back.  Let the herbs themselves help you plan your herb garden layout.

What Resources Are Available to You?

Take an honest look at what resources you have for your herb garden layout.  If you already have a greenhouse, you have a great place for seedlings or herbs that need a more Mediterranean climate in order to grow, like basil.  If you don’t have a greenhouse or a large garden plot, away from car exhaust and tons of shade, then don’t fret.  Just use a simple steel rack and flowerpots in your kitchen or front porch as your portable herb garden layout.  An herb garden doesn’t have to be all in one patch of ground in order to be a useful, satisfying herb garden.

What Herbs To Grow?

Take a look at what herbs you usually use in your cooking and start from there.  Now, if you want to grow mint, you must keep in mind that mint demands a lot of space and will choke any other herbs or flowers growing nearby so it needs to be in a space all on its own.  However, herbs like parsley don’t mind a little company.  

As you can now see you just can’t plant herbs willy-nilly into the ground.  That’s an herb garden layout that’s a recipe for disaster.  You have to actually do some homework as to what kind of soil your herb prefers, how far apart it should be from other herbs, how much sunlight it needs, and when its growing season is.

As they say don’t run before you can walk. Why not start of with a few hardy herbs such as thyme, parsley, chives and dill until you get the hang of it. Your herb garden layout will vary from season to season as your experience grows and understanding of what plants need to flourish. You will soon start to reap your harvest of fresh organic herbs and your cooking and life will be richer for it.

Just imagine your pasta and pizza without the finishing touch of oregano or the delicious mince dumplings without the pinch of sage! The outcome is sure to be bland and boring. This is what the herbs do for you’re your culinary skills - they uplift the taste and flavor of any dish. In addition to that they make the dish look colorful and inviting. Thus the defining character of any dish is the work of appropriate herbs. While you can buy them in the local grocery stores, it is always better to home grow them in your backyard; the addition of garden fresh herbs will definitely make your cooking and dining experience even more enjoyable.

Plant type

Before getting started in the task of herb gardening, you must learn about the different types of herbs. The herbal plants are of three types:

Annual—the herbs like basil, chamomile, dill, chives, lavender, lemon, mint, oregano rosemary, sage, tarragon or thyme are planted each spring and live for only one season.

Perennial—the herbs like catnip, balm, lovage, marjoram or thyme live for many years. Although they shake off the leaves during winter, their roots remain alive and in the turn of spring they bloom into new foliage.

Biennial—The plant like Parsley grow for two years. The first season is for growing foliage, next the seeds are formed. After that they die at the end of the second season.

Choice of the location

For herb gardening the question as to where to plant is very critical. Not all the herbs have same light or temperature requirement. While most of the herbs need exposure to the sunlight for at least 6 hours per day, the herbs likes chives, cilantro, dill, and mint are grown in the shade.

Soil type

Make sure of the soil requirement of a particular herb before planting one. In general an extra rich and over fertilized soil is not suitable for planting good quality herbs. Over fertilization kills the flavor of the herb by reducing the essential oil content of the herbs. The herbs do better in the moderately rich soil. In addition to that, your herb garden must have excellent drainage quality, so that soil does not contain extra water. Growing herbs in raised beds or containers is also a good idea.

Daily care of your herb garden

Just like with vegetables, other herbs require about an inch of water per week. However, those planted in containers tend to dry out more quickly and hence need more frequent watering. To get a better grip, with the soil keep garden beds weeded.

One interesting thing about herb plants is: they have inherent power to resist pests and disease attacks. This is due the aromatic natural oil, they are bestowed with; the aroma repel pests and insects naturally. Still, herbs are susceptible to the attack of insects like aphids, and diseases such as powdery mildew.

Keep these information in mind when you are going to start your herb garden for the first time; your care for your herb garden will result into great pleasure everyday all through the year.

The first thing that greets you as you step into a Japanese garden is the calmness and serenity of the place. The Japanese gardens reflect men’s efforts at harmonizing the beauty and force of the nature in an effortless fashion. With the essential presence of water body, thin streams, short bridges or artificial hillocks created with gravels and rocks; in the final shape the Japanese gardens become resonant with the mellow notes of spirituality and tranquility.

You can find three basic styles when it comes to Japanese gardens:

• Hill and Pond (Chisen-Kaiyu-skiki)
• Flat Garden (Hiraniwa)
• Tea Gardens (Rojiniwa)

The basic rules are more or less same, while the particular features are incorporated in lieu with the specific type of the garden.

In the Japanese gardens you will come to find a rare bonding with nature. Despite the use of many artificial structural elements like bridges or water bodies or artificially created hills, Japanese gardens are created to reflect the nature in her most unadulterated form. Thus “harmonious asymmetry” becomes the rule for Japanese gardeners and simplicity becomes the inspiration behind their work. If you are going to recreate the Japanese magic in your garden, then follow the thumb rules described below.

The illusion of time and space

To the eyes accustomed to European style of gardening, where the perfectly manicured plants vie for your attention in every possible nook and corners of the garden, Japanese gardens may seem to offer an illusion of emptiness at a first glance. There are so many things, yet the garden looks so vast and spacious—this trick of space management is the first lesson with regard to the Japanese style of gardening.

Selection of plants

The Japanese gardens try to reflect the permanence of nature. That is why it is the evergreen trees that become the dominating feature of Japanese gardens. The plants in the Japanese gardens represent the seasonal cycles. Because of this selection, the Japanese gardens are not discarded during the winters. The essence of the four seasons can nowhere be better felt than in the changing appearance of Japanese garden through the year.

Bringing the balance

In an ode to nature, the Japanese gardens strive to represent the nature in a miniscule, but in its closest form. As for example, in a Japanese garden, you can not accommodate a pond that is a perfect square in shape. Because nature never produced s such a geometrical wonders. Similarly, in your pursuit of imitating nature, you have also to incorporate the spirit of balance. As for example to create a mountain in your small garden, you can make use of the small rocks, but not the huge ones.

Fencing

Creating the right enclosure has great symbolic value. The fencing is created with the aim of locking up the serenity inside the garden uninterrupted by the goings on in the outside world. Sometimes, small windows are created on the solid walls to lure the passer by with the beauty that lies inside the garden enclosure.

Ornamentation with the lanterns

No Japanese garden is ever complete with stone lanterns in variety of designs and styles. There are three main varieties of lanterns that are used in the Japanese gardens: the Kasuga style lantern, the Oribe style lanterns and the Yukimi or Snow-Viewing lantern.

In short, Japanese gardens are the reflection of natural balance between change and constancy. A little introduction to Zen philosophy can prepare you for the better perception about the Japanese style of gardening.

A small strip of green in your backyard completes the charm of your sweet home. What can parallel the experience of a relaxed weekend amidst the chattering of the birds in the greenery right in your backyard or retiring in the lap of nature at the end of every tiring day! Your tryst with nature will become even more enjoyable if your garden—even if it is small one—is neatly manicured and artistically landscaped. When it comes to landscaping the garden, many people are led by the misconception that you need an expert help to give your garden the desired shape and look. But in reality, it is possible to design your own garden according to your taste. In fact, landscaping can be all fun and easy if you are armed with proper information.

What is garden landscaping?

Landscaping is often described as a pursuit of art, backed up by the scientific knowledge. The aesthetic sense in you makes the garden alluring, while the scientific knowledge serves the practical purposes. Thus in order to get started in your landscaping endeavor, polish up your finer senses of aesthetics and try to acquire information about basic landscaping designs.

According to the basic grammar of landscape designing, there are major five elements of landscape designing. They are:

• Color
• Texture
• Scale
• Line
• Form

Color: The color is added by the selection of flowers and particular shrubs and plants. The color schemes most commonly used in landscape designing are: monochromatic, analogous and complementary. While the monochromatic color scheme consists of different shades of one color, analogous color schemes are based on the colors which stay side-by-side on the color wheel. Complementary color schemes on the other hand comprise the hues that stay directly opposite each other in the color wheel.

Line: You can create the landscape in a line that is either straight or curved. While straight line has certain force of itself, curved lines appeared to be gentle to the eyes of the beholder and they create an illusion of movement.

Form: Lines are closely associated with that of the form. The form depends on the type of the plantations and their growth habit. Form relates to the aspects of size or area of the garden.

Texture: This factor is not influenced by the plants alone; there are many other objects in the garden like bridge, path etc that add to the roughness or smoothness of the landscape.

Scale: This refers to the size or dimension of any object in terms of the total area of the garden. Good landscaping depends on the sense of the scale and symmetry.

These were the basic elements of landscape design. Add your imagination and creativity to these basic elements to create your private retreat of peace and tranquility.

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No matter where you live in the world most cultures like to use herbs in their cooking to provide the flavours and aroma that we have all come to love. With the enormous spread in popularity of Gourmet Cooking shows on television we are encouraged to expand our culinary tastes to include dishes from all over the world . As most professional chefs prefer to use fresh herbs in their cooking why should we not follow in their steps and grow our own basic herb garden at home.

It is quite easy to put in a basic herb garden to grow the ones used the most. Most of the common herbs used as spices in cooking can be successfully grown in average soil but some do request rich soil, such as oregano.

Additionally, some herbs in a basic herb garden such as parsley are biennial in nature. This means the first year they are grown they will not be useful for seasoning. It is during the second year that the crop can be used. Ideally, with parsley, , plant a new crop of seeds one year after planting your first parsley plants so that in a couple of years they will overlap, providing u sable seasoning every year.

Most of the herbs grown in a basic herb garden such as, parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, oregano and basil are tolerant of direct sun, but will require a minimum amount of water to survive. You can harvest leaves, sprigs and twigs from any of your herbs as they are growing giving fresh organic herbs for your kitchen.

However, some plants like thyme is a very forgiving plant and if it dries out will likely come back when an appropriate amount of water is given. Since some have different soil requirements and can grow under slightly different conditions, having them separated by variety can help get them started and keep them growing throughout their life.

Plant Herbs Close To Where They Will Be Used

In most cases it is easier on the grower to plant the basic herb garden close to the kitchen for easy harvesting of the fresh crop. Remember, the entire growth does not have to be cut and used at once. With the right care, the spices will continue to grow and be usable during the entire season. Drying or freezing the extra cuttings at the end of the season can possibly supply the spice throughout the winter, often lasting until the next crop produces the following year.

If you are little short on space why not consider companion growing? When planting a basic herb garden that would take more room than available, certain herbs can be planted among other plants, especially tomatoes. Parsley can play well with other plants specifically tomatoes, asparagus and among roses. Broccoli and cauliflower also welcome rosemary in their midst. Basil also likes to grow alongside tomatoes too.

The only problem with planting herbs among other plants is that they can be mistaken and trampled on inadvertently when weeding, pruning and maintaining the other plants in your mixed garden bed. A basic herb garden is a valuable addition to your kitchen supplies and really wont take to much of your valuable time to look after.

Constructing a water feature within the property revives the landscape and the yard and can turn into  an exotic area.  The options are numerous when undertaking designing a water feature to insure its success.  One of the main decisions will be to determine on the location of the pond.  What will be the purpose of the pond?  Is it strictly to look at or will the focus be mainly for plants? You will need to decide if fish or frogs will live in the fish pond.  If a landscape architecture contractor will be responsible for constructing your new pond be sure to go over all of these concerns during the development phase.

Once the water feature has been installed now it is time to add some character and interest along with beauty to the area around the water feature. This is the easy part.  Prior to picking out your plants find out if your area has a list of plants that are restricted.

Buy the foliage for your koi pond from relialble vendor.  Do a little bit of research.  It is probably not a good idea that you purchase the plants online; if you were to have any issues with them it can end up being very hard to return the pond plants to the store if it becomes necessary.

You might want to select the tropical water lily, which has a lovely blooming flower.  There are also many of plants that are generally used around the borders of the pond.

For a complete list of pond plants and detailed planting and care instructions be sure to visit Pond Pleasure.com.  You will be amazed at the many effects you can create with the use of the right plants for ponds around and within your pond.  Start dreaming about your pond now!

Bonsai plants are very attractive specimens of an age old practice. Because bonsai trees are so attractive, many people love to display them in their houses. Indoor bonsai plants will need extra care since they do not reap the full benefits of natural sunlight and natural weather conditions. In spite of their hardy appearance, some bonsai plants may be fragile when it comes to light and water.

Watering Your Indoor Bonsai

When you bring a bonsai tree indoors it will require sufficient lighting to replace the natural sunlight that it would have been receiving outdoors. Your plant will also benefit if it is placed in a well ventilated area. The type of bonsai you have will dictate how often you need to water it, as will the state of the soil it is planted in. Many trees and plants must have wet soil, even though several others have no problem surviving drought conditions.

A bonsai plant will respond well to frequent misting as it soaks up the humidity. You can use a humidity tray, but be certain that your pot is placed on some small rocks or a stand, and not sitting directly in the water.

Pruning and Cutting

The indoor bonsai tree will still need to be regularly pruned and cut to maintain its appearance. Just because bonsai plants look frozen in time does not mean that they do not grow. You need to repot your bonsai, whether it’s indoors or out, every year to three years, depending on the variety. The branches will also need to be maintained to keep its style intact.

You might need to reduce the amount of fertilizer you use during the winter, depending on the variety of your bonsai. This is due to the fact that some bonsai species become dormant in this season, and will not need the level of nutrients that they do in the warmer seasons. Your indoor bonsai might not fully experience the whole cycle of seasons because it is in an artificial environment.

You need to be on the lookout for pests and other irregularities that might appear on your indoor bonsai tree. Because they are inside, they will be quite attractive to spiders, mites and other outdoor insects. You need to use a soft brush or damp cloth to carefully clean the branches and leaves of an indoor bonsai.

I decided to have a go at growing tomatoes in pots this year and have been very pleased with them. My garden plot has always produced a good crop year on year. I know the ones in the ground will work fine – they have done for thirty years. But growing my tomatoes in containers is anew departure for me.

The comparison between the pot grown tomato and those in the ground.

I grew 2 varieties this year moneymaker and an Italian cherry tomato variety. I’m sure what variety they are - everything seems to grow easily enough to me. I started off the seeds indoors in march and let them grow on in my conservatory. I always have far to many plants and ended up giving most of them away to friends. I planted them out as 2 – 3 foot high plants in early June and a month later picked the first tomatoes. As I speak in late august I still have many fruits to pick so it has been a good year. There were a few differences with the pot grown tomatoes that are worth mentioning.

Firstly the moneymaker tomatoes were slightly smaller than the ones grown on my plot.

Secondly there were not quite as many cherry tomatoes in the containers.

Other than that the results were very similar. You may not know that the taste of home grown tomatoes is far superior to shop ones. For the container grown tomatoes

 I did treat them differently and with a bit more care.

1. Make sure you put tomato plants in a really big pot.

I like the root systems to have plenty of room and not become pot bound. You also need a big container to have enough depth for the support canes. I used standard clay flower pots as I like the look of them but just use any large containers you have.

1. Water your tomatoes even if it rains.

We have had a dreadful summer in the UK this year and it has rained constantly. I had to check the pot grown plants more regularly as they did appear to be wilting on some days. The plants grown in the ground do not need this. I think what happens is that the leaves do not let the water get to the pot. They almost protect the pot from getting wet. Not much of the water can get to the roots directly. So I made sure to check them often.

1. Be ruthless with pinching out side shoots on the tomato plants.

I only pinch out once or twice a season when growing tomatoes in the ground because they seem to do fine. I have learned this through trial and error. The moneymaker plants in pots were pinched out once a week to ensure that the fruits I did get were big enough and juicy enough. I never bother pinching out cherry tomatoes. You can leave them alone safe in the knowledge that with regular watering they will give a good harvest.

1. Remove excess foliage once you have the tomato fruits.

I have always done this to tomatoes and do not know where I picked this tip up. Eventually your tomato plant will have all the tomatoes growing on them and you can then remove any leaves that stop direct contact with the sun. I prefer the tomatoes to ripen on the plant and this helps speed up the ripening process. Taking the leaves away will let the tomatoes grow a bit larger.

If you have missed this tomato season then I encourage you to plan ahead for your tomato growing in 2009. Pots and containers are excellent for growing tomatoes so give it a try. They are a lot of fun and be grown on any sunny spot you have.

Every gardener has his own set way of growing things, this is what makes him suitable for certain gardening styles. If you know this yourself and your gardening style, then you will adapt the growing of your organic garden to your abilities. This will be a big help for the yield of your vegetables. Doing this will pretty much give you an edge over other gardening enthusiasts. But the Question is, just what are these different gardening types? This article will cover some of the types that you may consider suit you.

Residential Gardening

You will find that this type of gardening is the most common of all the gardening techniques. If you have just started or are a beginner may not be ready or inclined to produce vegetables for commercial reasons yet, Thus, residential gardening will be just right for you. The main objective of residential gardening is to try and sustain a family of two with a regular supply of vegetables.

Residential gardening requires very little space. It can also be done in window boxes on balconies and on many other small areas that are available to you, that is as long as they have enough of a light source. Growing this way is easy for you to monitor, also it is easy to maintain as well, which means you can keep on top of any nasty little pests. The best thing about residential gardening is that way it ushers the gardening wannabe with ease from having no prior planting experience to expanding to the various other gardening styles

Specialized Gardening

Specialized gardening is normally for non residential areas that are often marketed as parks, botanical gardens, amusement parks and other tourist attractions fall under this category. Normally a staff is required to maintain these places, this is due to there size, also administrative skills will be required on top of gardening expertise.

Indoor Gardening

Indoor gardening comes under the huge scope of residential gardening. The types that come in this category are conservatories, greenhouses and academic institutions. Buildings with heating and air conditioning may used to grow certain types of plants. If you are the type of gardener who really loves cultivating plants in and out of season, then indoor gardening is for you

Water Gardening

If you want a garden that requires only minimal supervision, then water gardening will be for you. This can normally be quit a bit of a challenge for most gardeners, this is because it moves away from the traditional gardening techniques that most people are used to. But this style appeals to many because of the aesthetic look it brings to there garden.

So there you have a few different styles to help give you an idea on what may suit you, there are many more for you to choose from yet. Just do a quick search on the internet and choose the garden style to suit you

Here is an important aspect of organic gardening and I’m sure that you will relate to it very well. Just imagine this, you are famished, you are waiting to be fed, you also have not bathed. The thing is you have spent so much time taking care of others and working, so much so you have not had time to look after yourself.

Just think how you would feel? For a certain amount of time, you might be able to accept this. You may still carry on for a while and ask for nothing in return. But as the days pass by, you will feel the negative effect this is having on you. So much so, the effect on you would be that you will not have the energy you once had. You would grow weaker and weaker, until you could no longer carry on the way you used to

Now ask yourself, how is this related to the organic method of gardening? Well that is easy, you should compare this to the state of the soil. Soil is very important in this type and for all other types of gardening. The soil is the base for everything. It is the bed, or the home of your plants

Depending on where you are located, the soil that you will have to work with will vary to a high degree. What you will need to do when choosing what you are going to grow, is only plant anything that is suitable to the soil you have available to you. When you have picked the right kind, then you are now on you way to the first steps of your gardening adventure using the organic method.

As said above, the soil must never be left untended. It must never go hungry. Or else, what happened in the example above will also happen to the soil. You need to constantly feed soil. You have to bathe it and you need to take care of it, just like how you would tend to yourself.

You will know from your school days that the soil needs water, sunlight and air. But if you do everything organically now. Does it make out any difference? Yes, it makes a lot of difference. Although you still have to feed your soil and the plants water, you will have to add something else. Whet you will need to add is organic waste placed in the soil.

Have you ever heard of composting? This is the process where you culminate decaying natural material like leaves, grasses, peelings of fruits or vegetables, even manure and fish heads, all these will act as you soils to act as fertilizer. This is the organic remember? You if you follow this way you cannot resort to anything synthetic.

Not only are you going to feed the soil, you also have to attend to it regularly. Mulching is like massaging the soil to keep its shape. This way, you will be able to get rid of the pests that your soil has got through the coming days or months.

By doing this it will actually help you prevent getting far bigger problems in your garden. There are many types of soil that you will find, they need different types of care and attention. As an example, clay can hold up water better than the sandy kind of soil. You will need to know these kind of details, so you will to be able to improve on your organic gardening adventure.