Landscape Gardening Garden Nursery Guide
Landscape Gardening For The Creative Mind
By Joel F Morningstar
Landscape gardening is possible if you are creative. Landscape
gardening is another style that offers pretty green scenery for
all to marvel. There are plenty of gardening books and websites
available to assist anyone who wants to review their options and
turn into a green thumb.
Flowering trees, bushes and perennials are important, but so
are front steps, a front walk, a driveway and paths winding around
your arbors and trellises. For all of these features, low-maintenance
natural stone is the popular material of the day.
Flowers are not the only plants that can adorn these structures,
however. Edible plants can add a whimsical and delicious touch
to a pergola. Flowering trees should be pruned after they have
finished blooming. Prune as little as possible.
Formal And Informal Lines In Your Landscape Design
Landscape gardening may follow along very formal lines or along
informal lines. The first would have straight paths, straight
rows in stiff beds, everything, as the name tells, perfectly formal.
The other method is, of course, the exact opposite. There are
danger points in each.
The formal arrangement is likely to look too stiff; the informal,
too fussy, too wiggly. As far as paths go, keep this in mind,
that a path should always lead somewhere. That is its business
to direct one to a definite place. Now, straight, even paths are
not unpleasing if the effect is to be that of a formal garden.
The danger in the curved path is an abrupt curve, a whirligig
effect. It is far better for you to stick to straight paths unless
you can make a really beautiful curve. No one can tell you how
to do this.
Natural Garden Paths
Garden paths may be of gravel, of dirt, or of grass. One sees
grass paths in some very lovely gardens. I doubt, however, if
they would serve as well in your small gardens. Your garden areas
are so limited that they should be re-spaded each season, and
the grass paths are a great bother in this work.
Of course, a gravel path makes a fine appearance, but again you
may not have gravel at your command. It is possible for any of
you to dig out the path for two feet. Then put in six inches of
stone or clinker. Over this, pack in the dirt, rounding it slightly
toward the centre of the path.
A Natural Drainage System
There should never be depressions through the central part of
paths, since these form convenient places for water to stand.
The under layer of stone makes a natural drainage system.
A building often needs the help of vines or flowers or both
to tie it to the grounds in such a way as to form a harmonious
whole. Vines lend themselves well to this work. It is better to
plant a perennial vine, and so let it form a permanent part of
your landscape scheme. The Virginia creeper, wistaria, honeysuckle,
a climbing rose, the clematis and trumpet vine are all most
satisfactory.
The Beauty Of Natural Colour
Close your eyes and picture a house of natural colour, that mellow
gray of the weathered shingles. Now add to this old house, a purple
wistaria. Can you see the beauty of it? I shall not forget soon
a rather ugly corner of my childhood home, where the dining room
and kitchen met. Just there climbing over, and falling over a
trellis was a trumpet vine. It made beautiful an awkward angle,
an ugly bit of carpenter work.
Of course, the morning-glory is an annual vine, as is the moon-vine
and wild cucumber. Now, these have their special function. For
often, it is necessary to cover an ugly thing for just a time,
until the better things and better times come. The annual is ’the
chap’ for this work.
Along an old fence a hop vine is a thing of beauty. One might
try to rival the woods’ landscape work. For often one sees festooned
from one rotted tree to another the ampelopsis vine.
Including Flower Beds Along The Side Of The Building
Flowers may well go along the side of the building, or bordering
a walk. In general, though, keep the front lawn space open and
unbroken by beds. What lovelier in early spring than a bed of
daffodils close to the house? Hyacinths and tulips, too, form
a blaze of glory.
These are little or no bother, and start the spring aright. One
may make of some bulbs an exception to the rule of unbroken front
lawn. Snowdrops and crocuses planted through the lawn are beautiful.
They do not disturb the general effect, but just blend with the
whole.
Bulb Gardening
One expert bulb gardener says to take a basketful of bulbs in
the fall, walk about your grounds, and just drop bulbs out here
and there. Wherever the bulbs drop, plant them.
Such small bulbs as those we plant in lawns should be in groups
of four to six. Daffodils may be thus planted, too. You all remember
the grape hyacinths that grow all through Katharine’s side yard.
A Flower Garden
The place for a flower garden is generally at the side or rear
of the house. The backyard garden is a lovely idea, is it not?
Who wishes to leave a beautiful looking front yard, turn the corner
of a house, and find a dump heap?
Not I. The flower garden may be laid out formally in neat little
beds, or it may be more of a careless, hit-or-miss sort. Both
have their good points. Great masses of bloom are attractive.
The Wondrous Effects Of Blending Colours
You should have in mind some notion of the blending of colour.
Nature appears not to consider this at all, and still gets wondrous
effects. This is because of the tremendous amount of her perfect
background of green, and the limitlessness of her space, while
we are confined at the best to relatively small areas.
So we should endeavour not to blind people’s eyes with clashes
of colours which do not at close range blend well. In order to
break up extremes of colours you can always use masses of white
flowers, or something like mignonette, which is in effect green.
Summing Up The Main Points
Finally, let us sum up our landscape lesson. The grounds are
a setting for the house or buildings. Open, free lawn spaces,
a tree or a proper group well placed, flowers which do not clutter
up the front yard, groups of shrubbery these are points to be
remembered.
The paths should lead somewhere, and be either straight or well
curved. If one starts with a formal garden, one should not mix
the informal with it before the work is done.
Attracting Wildlife To Your Garden
Growing organically gives nature a chance to thrive in your garden
- by growing organically you will soon find that more wildlife
is attracted to your garden which is an amazing bonus for most
gardeners.
You can even save money by growing your own organic fruit and
vegetables as well because you will find that growing your own
is often cheaper than buying from the supermarkets.
Grow many varieties rather than just one or two, for only with
several sorts of plants available can you do much in a pictorial
way. Keep in mind always the over-all picture of the garden, and
create a series of small pictures within that framework which
harmonize with each other and with the design as a whole and you
cannot go far wrong.
About the Author:
Joel F Morningstar has written a number of articles on landscaping, gardening, backyard ideas and home improvement including
Patio Garden,
Miniature Fruit Trees,
Pepper Plant,
Lawn Swing,
Fast Growing Trees,
Stone Walkway,
Deck Ideas,
Swing Set Backyard.
Keep a lookout for more of his articles on this website.
Little Known Landscaping Facts....
What credentials should I look for in a good landscaper?
A good landscaper will have a photography
album of all the landscape designs that he or she has created.
They will have a background with an education in landscape
architecture or have plenty of actual experience in landscaping.
If you want to see an actual landscape they have designed and
planted, the landscaper should not balk at showing you or providing
you with the contact details of the owner of the property. It
is in their best interest to have happy and satisfied clients.
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