Use Of Structures In The Garden For Added Personality

A Garden Structure Adds A Focal Point For Your Garden

You may have beautiful plants and trees in your garden, but if you feel like something is missing, it is. The element you are missing in your garden is a garden structure. Garden structures aren’t necessarily used for anything other than decoration, but this decoration is essential to provide a focal point for your garden.

Garden structures can also define the space or “rooms” in your garden.

We talk about “rooms” in a garden because when you create a garden you are essentially creating outdoor rooms where you will want to spend your time outside.

If all that you want for your home is a manicured lawn with some bushes planted around the house for decoration, chance are that you don’t spend a lot of time out in the lot where your house sits.

However - if you create a garden - this means that you want to sit outside and enjoy it. This also means that you need to install the right structures that will make your garden an extension of your home and a place where you will want to sit instead of watching television.

Build It To Last

The first mistake that many people make with a garden structure is that they build something flimsy. A wimpy structure in your garden looks like a cheap decoration. And after a few seasons, it may even start to fall apart and look unkempt.  This defeats the whole purpose of adding structure outside in your garden.

So if you are going to put up something like an arbor, make it big and sturdy. If an arbor is attached to a fence and serves as the entrance to your home, it should be sturdy and permanently anchored so that it adds value to your home, not becomes an eyesore. Remember, the goal of an arbor is to have vines and flowering plants growing up around it. As these plants tend to decompose whatever they are growing on, the structure needs to be sturdy for the long haul.

Make A Grand Statement

The next mistake that people make is to build something too small. One of the trendiest garden structures right now is the pergola. This is a four columned structure with a slatted roof that is wonderful to grow vines on and sit under during the warm months. However, a pergola should be large enough to fit a patio table under - along with a barbecue - to be functional for guests who may come over in the summer months to enjoy a fun get-together under the shade of your garden.

Match Made In Heaven

The final mistake that gardeners make when they build a garden structure is to build a structure that has nothing to do with the architecture of their house. If you have a Tudor-style home, then you should have classic-looking garden structures. Just as well, a modern home cannot be made to look old-fashioned with a picket fence and lattice work surrounding it.

Matching your garden structure to the style of your home, making it big, and making it sturdy will not only enhance your garden but will also give added value to your home.

See also: WriteYourselfRich.net

What Are Some Shade Loving Plants For The Garden?

Ground Covers Grow Well In Shaded Areas

If you have a garden that doesn’t get any sun, you may be blessed with lots of trees that provide beautiful shade, or you may simply have buildings or walls that don’t allow for sun to shine into your outdoor areas. 

Either way, there are many plants that thrive without a lot of sun or even a lot of water. In fact, many of these shade loving plants are also overall low-maintenance.

Non-flowering Shade Loving Plants

There are many plants that are colorful and decorative in their own way even though they don’t necessarily flower. These are plants like bamboos, mints, boxwoods, heucheras, ferns, hostas, and variegates.  These plants have distinctive leaves and add a beautiful variety to any garden that doesn’t get sun.

Flowers That Love The Shade

Many people think that because their garden doesn’t get any sun that they can’t have beautiful flowers. Actually, many flowers grow in the shade and provide beautiful color for a longer period of time than the flowers that need sun. The shade loving flowers include periwinkles, hydrangeas, some varieties of roses and azaleas, just to name a few. Some of these flowers can be grown in pots as well, so if you are looking at a terrace garden that doesn’t get a lot of sun, these flowers are perfect. 

Groundcovers

Groundcovers are for those bare dirt places in your garden that don’t get a lot of sun and also the places where nothing seems to grow. A good ground cover will take over these places and not only beatify them, but are practically no-maintenance.  Groundcovers are especially good under trees and around drainage ditches and other places that need something more than just grass or weeds to hide bare dirt. Many ground covers even bloom for added color in a dark corner of the garden.

The only thing that you have to watch with ground cover is that you have to make sure that they don’t take over the whole garden; so they may need to be cut back occasionally. Easy-to-grow ground covers include winter creepers, periwinkles, creeping raspberry, various ivies, sedge grass, hen-and-chicks,  and bluebells, which are only a few of the ground covers that grow almost anywhere and are perfect to fill in the bald spots of a shaded garden.

Trees

If you have an urban garden, you may have a small dark space that is walled in or doesn’t get sun because of neighboring buildings. There may not be enough room for large trees, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a few trees to anchor your garden. The trees that fit neatly into these types of gardens are called understory trees. Understory trees live under taller trees, so they don’t get very big and they don’t need a lot of light.

Some examples of understory trees include dogwood trees, persimmons, serviceberries, winged elms, greenbriers, and spice bushes.  Some of these trees flower in the springtime and go perfect with a ground cover or other shade flowers to create a perfect little urban garden.

So as you can see, no matter where you live or how much shade you have, you can make a beautiful garden with the right kinds of plants and trees.

See also: WriteYourselfRich.net

What Are Your Hard Landscaping Options?

Hard Landscaping Options Add Value To Your Backyard

If you are looking for hard landscaping options - like fences & walls, paths & driveways, decks & patios, and water features – they can be made from almost anything: including rocks, wood, brick, and metal. And hard landscaping options like these are used to define the structure of a garden. 

The possibilities and materials for hard landscaping options are as endless as your imagination - and can make a garden really spectacular if you plan them right.  

                                                                  

Finding hard landscaping materials locally isn’t that hard.

A trip to the local woods is a great place to find rocks - or you can go to a landscaping company and inquire as to where you can buy inexpensive landscaping boulders. Scrap metal can be found at salvage yards, and antique stores have old pieces of wrought iron that they may just be giving away. Being creative and being resourceful is the key to creating hard landscaping options if you are on a budget.

Hard Landscaping Options: Driveways And Pathways

Depending on where your garden is located and how large it is, you may be able to have a pathway or driveway running through it. A pathway or driveway can be made of almost everything, including stone, bricks, concrete, blacktop, or gravel. They can be curved or straight and are the perfect place for borders of flowers or ornamental grass.

Hard Landscaping Options: Fences And Walls

Fences and walls are other hard landscaping options that can be made of anything. While fences and walls are generally put around the perimeter of a garden, they can also be placed around a certain part of the garden, like the center. Walls can provide privacy as well as shade and can be covered with vines or anything durable like seashells or colorful tiles. Walls and fences can also be painted any color, which makes them one of the most creative hard landscaping options that you can add to a garden.   

Hard Landscaping Options: Decks And Patios

Decks and Patios are what really let you enjoy a garden, especially at daybreak and sunset. The possibilities for decks and patios are absolutely limitless; however, they are the one hard landscaping option that should really be installed by a professional. This is because a deck or a patio becomes a permanent part of your home and a poorly built deck or patio will eventually have to be torn down if it becomes dangerous or an eyesore.  

Hard Landscaping Options: Water Features

There is nothing as stunning as a pool or a fountain in a garden to really make it look spectacular.  A pool should be installed by a professional, but fountains are easy to make. You can buy all of the materials for a do-it-yourself fountain from the local home improvement center and make it out of almost anything that can be water-proofed.

Hard Landscaping Options: Raised Flower Beds

Raised flower beds are another hard landscaping option, which are especially attractive if you have poor soil in your area. Ground-level flower beds can be professionally built using quarry stone - or raised flower beds can be constructed from painted plywood that is cut and assembled into rectangles. Pre-made raised flower beds can also be purchased from your local home improvement center.

Any of these hard landscaping options will add distinction and definition to your garden, and also improve your time spent in your backyard.

See also: WriteYourselfRich.net