As February begins, darkness descends a little later and the dew on the grass smells sweet, as spring is on the horizon. After neglecting it over the winter months, you start to think about venturing into the garden and preparing it for the spring and summer ahead. Now is actually a good time to perform a good old-fashioned spring clean, plant some seeds and start to prepare your garden for many happy days in the upcoming months.
A Thorough Spring Clean
Winter will have left you with a rather big clean up job on your hands as dead leaves and branches are strewn across your turf. One of the first jobs is to rake the lawn and compost the debris. You may notice bare or damaged patches on your lawn, now is a good time to re-seed them for a full, luscious lawn in the summer. Make sure you keep the grass well watered until the patches begin to germinate.
Lawn edges will start to grow ferociously in early spring, make sure you trim them regularly to keep them maintained. Weeds will also start to grow rapidly around this time so weeding regularly, although it’s somewhat of a tedious task, can help you to keep on top of even the keenest of weeds and save you a big job in the future. If you have any topiary or shrubs, make sure you shape them now to get rid of any dead, browning leaves and then regularly trim them to keep them in optimum condition. [click to continue…]
Garden art is more than the framing structure for your garden; it can provide a place to sit or lounge either by yourself or with family and friends. Whether your garden art is custom-made, recycled, or simply furniture, below are examples of ways to enhance the look and feel of your garden.
Mosaic Tile Morrior
Custom Garden Art
There are a variety of online guides for creating custom garden art, whether it’s in the form of pottery or mosaic tile masterpieces. Consider adding personal touches to your garden by planning a family weekend and designing custom art for everyone to enjoy. One of our recent blog posts “How-To: Turn Ordinary Outdoor Furniture & Accessories Into Mosaic Masterpieces” is the perfect place to get started!
Bathtub Garden Art - Cepolina.com
Use Recycled Items for Garden Art
If you’re looking for a way to enhance your garden on a limited budget, recycled items is the way to go. Any number of household items can be reused as garden art. Think about transforming old furniture (such as unique coffee tables, old bathtub, storage cabinets, or baby cribs) into garden gems.
Granite Birdbath - blog.duncraft.com
Furniture Garden Art
Outdoor furniture, commonly benches, tables and chairs, can liven up your garden. Other ideas are trellises or walkway coverings for a romantic garden and birdbaths, or bird feeders that provide at-home bird watching.
What are your favorite garden art pieces? How have you enhanced your garden?
There are numerous landscape and garden styles, from traditional to creative designs. The most important thing to remember when designing your garden is to work with what you have. You don’t want to overcrowd a small space with too many plants and bushes, and on the other hand, you don’t want to leave large backyard feeling empty. Below are three types of gardens to consider when deciding to plant your garden escape.
English Garden: Utilize shrubs, annuals, perennials, and bulbs in a design that complements the architectural style of your home. Other decorative elements might include an arbor or bird bath. TLC’s “How Stuff Works” webpage has a variety of plants to consider when planting your English Garden.
Wayfaring Travel Guide - English Gardens
Oriental Landscape: Water, rocks and evergreens combined with a variety of plants create this distinctive layout. DoItYourself.com has insightful tips for creating your own oriental garden.
Mimosa Landscapes - Oriental Garden
Xeriscape Gardens: Low-water plants and flowers, as well as design ideas to reduce water evaporation encompass a xeriscape garden. For additional Xeriscape tips be sure to read our blog post X-Rated Yards: Xeriscaping.
Ygoy.com - Xeriscape Garden
Are there other types of gardens that you enjoy spending time in? Out of the three we discussed, which is your favorite?
Keeping your beautiful plants healthy and happy throughout the hot summer months can be hard work and that means regular maintenance is necessary.
Foldable Kneeler / Buy.com
You must be sure that your garden is weeded, mulched, watered and fertilized. Here are three tools to help you with your summer gardening.
- A Kneeler or Cart. Keeping the weeds out of the garden is therapeutic for some and a chore for others. In some cases it’s absolutely necessary to have some type of cushion under your knees. This foldable kneeler can be used as a seat or a kneeler and folds up for easy storage. We also liked this garden hopper. You can avoid kneeling altogether and use the cart to carry your garden tools.
- A Watering Wand. Sometimes your hose just doesn’t reach the plants you need to water. A watering wand is the best tool to fix this problem. The most common complaint about watering wands is that they break easily. We found this sturdy one from Fee Valley Tools.
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West County Gloves
Some Good Gloves. Gloves are essential for the garden. You’ll avoid broken nails and infected cuts by wearing them. They are great for digging small holes to plant new flowers, spreading mulch and weeding. You’ll leave the roots of your weeds in the garden without a good grip. Our favorite pair of gardening gloves from West County Gloves are made from two recycled water bottles. They are reasonably prices at only $28.00.
These tools are just a start! We loved this article from HGTV with more cool gardening gadgets.
Karen Lawes is owner of many home improvement sites including WindowExpertsUSA.com. She is also owner of CostOwl.com, a site dedicated to providing cost information on a variety of purchases, focusing on home improvement topics.
Xeriscaping literally translates from Greek as “dry scene,” as it reduces or eliminates the need for supplemental water. If you live in a region that does not have easily accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water, you might want to consider planting with water reduction in mind.
dbarkitecture.com
Benefits of Xeriscaping:
- Less fertilizing
- Don’t have to worry about pest control and expensive chemicals
- Less garden maintenance such as pruning, and no more wasteful trimmings
- You will help save the environment while saving you time, effort, and money
In order for your xeriscape garden to be successful, there are several things to consider. Efficient xeriscaping requires native species that need less water and can withstand the heat. This doesn’t mean you can only plant cactus and yucca. There are a variety of tough desert lawns, turfs, and flowers that are bright and colorful. Be sure to plant in grouping s and ensure the plants can be deeply rooted to endure harsh climates.
Xeriscaping articles/videos:
Why Xeriscape?
Xeriscaping: Environmentally Wise Landscaping
EarthEasy – Xeriscape
Have you tried Xeriscaping? Do you have any favorite Xeriscape plants?
English Garden
Spring has sprung and so should your landscaping! This image is a beautiful example of what you can do with stone walls, beds of roses and several strategically placed bushes. What are your landscaping plans this year? What types of flowers are you planting?
Interview with Devoted Gardener and Amateur Landscaper, Mary Ellen Cochran
Mary Ellen’s philosophy is: “If things work, they work. If they don’t, the reason is usually pretty obvious (not enough water or light, for example), and if the reason is not obvious, I am perplexed and blame the problem on the plant. Rip it out. Start Over.”
Mary Ellen, a retired high school teacher, now spends her days perfecting her plants and flowers instead of her students. During the spring and summer months she spends hours each day working in her garden and after the hard work, she enjoys her wine while sitting by her creation. Mary Ellen has transformed three backyards and the following is a Q&A with her for this week’s blog topic: Waking Up Your Garden for Spring.
Q. When is the best time to start prepping your lawn or garden for spring?
A. I start to clean up the garden during warm days in February and March. I cut back grasses and shrubs, such as Blue Mist Spirea, Japanese Spirea, Butterfly Bush, etc., and plants I had left intact to create interest during the winter. I also pruned a small pine tree this March, hoping to encourage a more interesting growth pattern. I have made a mistake in the past pruning back my roses too early, because the new growth froze. [click to continue…]
