How to design a garden
If you are trying to decide between a large or small garden, container or bed garden, flowers or vegetables (or maybe both), having a garden, means making a lot of choices. Whether you are designing a garden from scratch, or trying to improve on last year's garden there are tips that can help make the process a lot easier. However, the good news is that there are lots of tips to help you along the ways. Here is what you need to know about how to design a garden-
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- Learn from last year's mistakes-Obviously, if you are starting from scratch, then this tip does not apply to you. However, if you are planting again, it can be helpful at the end of every gardening season, to look over your disappointments and make notes of what not to plant next year, or what to watch out for earlier in the season. Then when you open up your seed catalogs and order things, you will know what will struggle for survival in your area, and what will thrive.
- Start off on the right foot-Now that you know what will work, and what won't, now is the time to focus on increasing your chances of success. Experts agree that a healthy plant is better able to withstand diseases and pests, so make sure your choices are as healthy as you can possibly get them, right from the beginning.
- Always mulch early-It is important not to get distracted by waiting to see what plants have self-seeded, and which tender perennials made it through the winter. Keep in mind that waiting for flower seedlings to emerge means that you are also giving weed seedlings time to pop up, virtually everywhere. Gardening experts stress that the best way to prevent this to mulch early. While you may lose a few self-seeders, you'll make up for it with more time to plant, because you'll be doing less weeding.
- Plant more shrubs-There was a time that shrubs seemed to be on the outs when it came to garden design. The problem with this is that most shrubs are hardy, easy to care for, and many times drought resistant. Today gardeners are realizing the above state benefits of shrubs as well as the fact that they're textured, and have flowers and berries. They also don't require months of endless pinching and primping. Simply put their low maintenance, and who doesn't need more of that in their garden.
- Plant more fragrant flowers-Don't overlook the added layer of putting scent into your garden. It can be difficult, but it is doable. Today's commercial rose growers (along with many other flower breeders), have bred out scent, for longer bloom periods and larger flowers. However, there are still heirloom growers who can supply you with flowers that smell and worst case scenario, you can start your own from seeds. Push my Vegetable Garden to the Limit
- Push your vegetable garden to the limit-There is no need to hold back on planting the veggies that you want. Plants are fairly inexpensive and if you have the room load up on that produce you have always dreamed of. Half the fun of vegetable gardening is harvesting baskets of produce. There are plenty of places to donate what you can't use, so there really is not reason to hold back.
- Plan for a year round garden-Today the availability of plants and seed means that there is no reason to limit your gardening just to summer. You want to make sure that wherever you are landscaping or planting, in your yard, that it looks good throughout the year.
