Flower Garden Design Ideas: How To Create An Amazing Garden!

A flower garden can be a peaceful and beautiful refuge from the rest of the world. Sitting in the midst of fragrant flowers while reading a book or strolling along paths lined with flowers in cheerful colors can help you to wind down after a busy, stressful day. With some planning and work, a lovely flower garden can be yours to enjoy. Planning Flower Garden Designs Creating beautiful flower garden designs takes much planning and consideration. You will need to consider the types of flowers and combinations of colors you desire for the garden. You will also need to think about the placement of borders and shrubs as well as seating and ornaments. It is a good idea to choose an overall style for the garden and stick with it. When you begin your flower garden designs project, you should make a scale drawing of the design to help visualize your concepts. Shapes in Flower Garden Designs Decide upon the shape and pattern for your flower garden designs. Rectangular flower garden designs are a traditional shape and always popular. Circular shaped gardens add interest to the standard rectangular lawn. Flower gardens planted on a diagonal to the house can make a lawn appear larger than it actually is. Styles of Flower Garden Designs There are a number of styles of gardens that you can plant, and many of them are not too difficult to achieve. Some favorite flower garden designs are listed here. Rose Flower Garden Designs Rose Gardens are easy to plant and beautiful to see. In addition to modern roses, include fragrant, old-fashioned varieties of roses whose scent will delight. Plant bulbs in the beds and border them with seasonal flowers to keep the garden full of color during the blooming seasons. Cottage Flower Garden Designs Informal cottage gardens have an old-fashioned, rustic look about them. These flower garden designs incorporate the use of flowers, plants and vegetables. Shade Flower Garden Designs Shade gardens are good flower garden designs for spaces with many trees blocking the sunlight. There are many flowers that do well in shady areas, including impatiens, begonia, azalea, hosta and viola. The lack of leaves on the trees in spring allows spring bulbs to grow, filling the space with color. Wildflower Flower Garden Designs Wildflower gardens are flower garden designs that feature plants indigenous to the area where the garden is located. These gardens tend to require less pampering than some of the other types listed here, usually not requiring much weeding or amendments to the soil. Butterfly Flower Garden Designs Butterfly gardens are delightful flower garden designs, planted with flowers known to attract butterflies. Plants such as marigold, lilac, coreopsis, lavender, black-eyed susan and goldenrod are all good choices for butterfly gardens. Hummingbird Flower Garden Designs Likewise, hummingbird gardens are a good choice for those who enjoy spotting these small birds. Hummingbirds like richly colored flowers with sweet nectar and a tubular shape. Red and fuschia flowers in particular tend to attract hummingbirds. Some hummingbird garden favorites are morning glory, petunias, azalea, rose of sharon, delphinium and honeysuckle.

Control Pests From Breaking Into Your Gardens And Spoil Your Gardening Spirit !

Unwanted insects in your garden are just that: unwanted. Unwanted insects may eat and destroy your crops, something shared by any farmer or home gardener. Organic gardening is a means of controlling unwanted insects naturally, without the use of dangerous pesticides. There are many ways to control garden unwanted insects naturally that are also cheap, easy and good for the earth.

Protect your organic soil and beneficial insects
While pesticides may eliminate the pest, they most often cause more harm than good. Unfortunately, many home and commercial gardeners are unaware of alternatives to pesticides. That's because s are a big part of our culture. Reaching for a quick fix-albeit a dangerous fix-is a deep seeded and detrimental habit.

Yet apart from damaging the soil and being a health hazard to people-including our children-pesticides present a major problem. They eradicate species indiscriminately, causing helpful garden co-habitants to disappear along with the harmful ones.

An organic garden with beneficial insects
Indeed, the fact remains that not all insects are unwanted insects. Any kindergartner can tell you that bees help flowers. He or she could also tell you that a ladybug is good luck. But more than just good luck, ladybugs are a highly helpful natural pesticide to have in your garden, feeding on a myriad of insect unwanted insects including aphids if you ever see little alligator like insects around your garden, leave them be! These are the larval stage of ladybugs. Obviously, s are not as intelligent as your average kindergartner-they kill bugs on a wholesale level while upsetting ecosystems and ruining your plants as well as your soil.

Are your garden pests resistant to pesticides?
Commercial farmers today have a strong reliance on pesticides. Large companies sell pesticides to farmers who use them on their crops. Over the years the unwanted insects become resistant to the pesticides and increasingly larger amounts must be used. So it is that the farmer pays more and more money and dumps more and more of them onto his/her crops-our food. The result is a coated crop and a pesticide resistant bug, a crop that is more susceptible to the insect pest.

Are you harming the local bird population?
Recent studies have been conducted concerning pesticides' effect on local bird populations. Birds eat the insects, which have ingested the pesticides. Because the pesticide is an indiscriminate poison, the bird is targeted as well. Furthermore, if the birds do not immediately disappear, their eggshells become thinner and thinner and often break when parent birds sit on the eggs. This is a huge problem with bald eagles in North America. With no insects and no birds those predators which live off of the birds disappear too, causing a huge disruption in the local ecosystem which is never beneficial to growth of any kind.

Birds eat insects!
Encourage birds to come into your garden by placing a bird bath in the garden and by planting plants that will attract birds such as sunflowers. There are even perennial sunflowers that not only attract birds year round but, can also be planted like a hedge and repel deer and other animals. Helianthus maximillani.

Natural pest control is rooted in a vigorous, balanced ecosystem. Years of pesticide use may be so disruptive to a local ecosystem that the land may become unusable after only a few years. They remain in the soil and become more concentrated with each year of use, eventually rendering the soil unable to produce vigorous plants.

The soil can heal
However, there is hope. Some products like methyl bromide can be amended by simply adding organic matter to the infected soil. The result is addition of the organic portion of this pesticide to the organic matter that you already added and liberation of the bromide ion. At the very least, you can add organic matter to a laden soil to simply dilute the concentration. However, you can also look up the MSDS online for that to learn how to amend it.




Organic alternatives to pesticides
There are many natural, organic alternatives to pesticides that are more long lasting, safe, vigorous and generally effective.

One of the simplest pest control devices is a barrier. By covering a row of crop with a light netting (which allows the sunlight to come through) flying unwanted insects are effectively kept away from the plants. These are generally used for food crops. Cabbage can be protected from flea beetles and green beans from Mexican Bean Beetles.

Another simple method of pest control for a small garden is handpicking. Many slugs and Hornworms can be handpicked off of plants with great success. Drop unwanted insects into a dish of soapy water to kill them. Certain moths and bugs can be knocked out of trees with a stick; allow them to fall onto a large piece of cloth so that they can be gathered and, later, submerged in a soapy solution or incinerated.

Beneficial Insects Will Control the Bad Insects
Some insects like the Ladybug and the Green Lacewing are called beneficial because they are the good guys who are on the hunt for the bad guys that are feeding on your plants. Here is a list of beneficial insects, with links to where they are offered by an Earth friendly distributor.


Green Lacewings Chrysoperla carnea
Green Lacewings are an all purpose beneficial insect that feed on insects such as aphids and other insects that will come and feed on your plants. Green Lacewings are perfect for a backyard garden, larger garden, or a greenhouse.

Easy way to get rid of slugs and aphids!
Certain varieties of plants are more resistant to insects. Some research into the types of plants you grow and the unwanted insects common to your area could prevent a lot of pest problems. Also, some plants themselves are pesticides. For instance, planting tobacco around your vegetable garden is an excellent way to discourage slugs and aphids!

How native plants can revive your garden
Buy local transplants to avoid bringing non-native unwanted insects into your garden. Add mulch and other simple barriers around your crops, check your garden regularly. Healthy plants are naturally more resistant to predators; just like having a strong immune system. All of these methods are natural and easy preventative measures to help you obtain a pest free garden.

If your preventative measures did not work, there are many, natural and organic plant sprays that can control unwanted insects. A mixture of Petroleum oil and water sprayed onto a plant is a natural pesticide that has been used effectively for hundreds of years. Many oils, shells and plant extracts can also be used as safe, effective, natural pesticides.


Natural pest control is a safer and, ultimately, more effective means of keeping a vigorous organic garden. With a little more knowledge it becomes obvious that the use of non-organic pesticides is not only ineffective but dangerous and irresponsible. By understanding your native habitat ecosystem and working in partnership with establishing a balance of beneficial insect predators such as ladybugs, praying mantis, and birds, as well as planting species that naturally prohibit invasion by unwanted insects, you too can have a vigorous garden by working in partnership with your garden.

Landscaping Tips: Concrete Pond Construction

Good concrete pond construction means not taking shortcuts. Improper methods can lead to more money spent on maintenance, repairs, or replacement than on the cost of the initial construction. Since good concrete pond construction equates to having one that lasts a lifetime or longer, follow these rules of thumb to get it right – the first time!

Keep in mind that for suitable concrete pond construction, you need to pour the concrete to a thickness of four to six inches. After deciding on the dimensions and outlining the area, all soil (and rocks!) should then be dug out. Forms then need to be built and placed where concrete is to be poured, along with the proper placement of cut-to-fit reinforcement bars (rebar).

For digging out the area for concrete pond construction, you will need shovels, picks, a crowbar, and, of course, a wheelbarrow. Some other necessary items include a carpenter's level, string, stakes, sheets of plastic, and a long two-by-four.

Pouring the cement in concrete pond construction should be done in one day, unless the pond is very large, and then it must be poured in sections. Pour cement in the bottom of the pool first, then the sides. If shelves have been dug out, pour cement there, next. Finally, pour cement for the top of the pond and for any coping that may be involved.

After you have completed these first steps of your concrete pond construction project, you need to let the cement cure for several days under plastic. Treating with muriatic acid at this stage helps prevent high pH levels in water later, which benefits fish and plants. After the acid treatment, apply several coats of paint made for pools or masonry sealant, allowing each coat to dry thoroughly.

Concrete pond construction can be a true learning experience. It's best to start with a smaller pond, then if you meet with success, you can then move on to a larger project. But once you get the hang of concrete pond construction, there's no limit to where you can go from there. So learn, build, and then build some more!

Balcony, Patio, and Courtyard Gardening

People choose balcony, patio, and courtyard gardening for many different reasons. Some are moving from a large house to smaller accommodation, some don't want the hassle of a large property, and some chose to live in rental property to avoid the high-cost of owning a home. Whatever the reason, this doesn't mean we can't garden. No space is too small for a small space garden. One plant in a container is a garden. In fact, ever more gardening options are available in terms of pots, half-barrels, window boxes, troughs, cast-iron planters, recycled materials – the list is unending with possibilities.

Planning a Small Space Garden

When planning your small space garden several steps are fundamental. The first consideration is to determine what purpose this space will serve. Do you want to grow vegetables, herbs, entertain family and friends, meditate, create a place of peace, healing, a memorial garden – the list is endless. Next, walk around your space and really look at what you have. Where are doors, sheds, permanent planters located? Is there any clutter? Clear out the clutter by asking yourself: 'Do I love it? Have I used it in the past year?' If it no longer serves you, turf it out, paint it or fix it, give it to somebody who needs it.
If possible, take a chair and sit down, move it around, and think about where the energy feels best for you. Wherever that is, place your seating such as a park bench, lounge, Muskoka chairs, dining furniture, swing, etc. Do you want a formal or informal setting? What features do you want? Features such as water, flowers, vegetables, herbs, wind chimes, wild life, colour, etc. add the finishing touches to your small space garden. Finally, make a plan particularly if you are going to use large features such as a half-barrel. Once filled with soil you will not want to be moving it.

Creating a Small Space Garden

Containers. Generally speaking natural materials such as wood, clay, stone, or cast iron in all their forms make better companions for plants. Remember that wet soil weighs a lot so if you garden on a balcony weight restrictions may apply. Containers made from lighter weight materials such as fibreglass are ideal for roof or balcony gardens. Styles of containers include hanging baskets, wirework stands and baskets, wood window boxes, sinks, troughs, galvanized buckets, old shoes or boots, bathtubs, old tires, and all manner of recycled objects.

Scale. Scale is extremely important in small space gardening. For example, small plants look more balanced in small containers, large plants in large containers. I especially like the effect of vines growing on trellis in half-barrels with smaller plants edging the container. In the half-barrels I use, I have grown many different vines but have found that the effect of scarlet runner pole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) is really a knockout with their gorgeous red flowers and you can eat them too.

Microclimates. Which plants prefer which location? Choose plants according to the conditions suitable for their optimum growth. Plants such as begonia (Begonia x semperflorens), coleus (Coleus x hybridous), and Fuchsia (Fuchsia x hybrida) prefer shaded areas while geraniums (Pelargonium x hortorum), marigolds (Tagetes erecta), and petunia (Petunia x hybrida) prefer full sun. Wind can be a major factor and damage fragile plants. Choose plants that are wind tolerant such as many of the grasses; the sound of the rustling of the grasses as the wind blows through them is very pleasing to the ear.




Soil. I buy pre-mixed potting soil from the garden centers or shopping malls. These are generally lighter in weight to carry, sterilized to prevent weed seeds from germinating, and contain a lot of peat moss that helps loosen the soil so that it doesn't compact in pots. I also buy organic soil that doesn't have artificial chemicals added as I dump my pots of used soil into the garden where I grow vegetables.

Watering. Check daily as container plants often dry out more quickly. This is especially true if you are using clay pots. Make sure pots have drainage holes, as roots sitting in water will rot. When there has been excessive rain or water, empty saucers that are full. If you garden on a balcony sit plants on something to catch the water so that it doesn't run down on your neighbours.

Fertiliser. Due to frequent watering, container plants require fertiliser on a more consistent basis then plants in the ground do. Use organic fertilisers such as blood meal, bone meal, or fish emulsion, particularly if the soil is going to be added to the garden at the end of the season, as chemical fertilisers harm the wildlife.

Function. When you are creating your small space garden you are actually designing an outdoor room. Keep in mind that this can be colour co-ordinated to appear as an extension of your home. I move my indoor plants outside for the summer (which they love) and design these areas as garden rooms.

Focal point. Create a focal point such as a large pot, tall plant or tree, colour, or a water feature. Perennial vines such as Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) will grow in a large container and come back year after year. Create a sense of mystery by hiding a plant or ornament behind something else to give the pleasure of discovering it.

Colour. In a small space, use three colours such as pinks, blues, and whites; reds, oranges, and yellows; reds, whites, and blues; or reds, whites, and purples that provide continuity rather than too many colours which tend to be distracting. Cool colours make the space appear bigger and brighter while intense colours shrink spaces. A white and green colour theme called a 'moon garden' is more formal and particularly at night is spectacular. Many white flowers are fragrant at night as well.

Lighting. I especially like the small Xmas lights hidden in plants and interwoven throughout a trellis with climbing vines. Up lighting with small spotlights can focus attention on a particular area for evening entertaining.

How To Make Your Own Moss Landscape Rock and Garden Statues

Moss can make some garden elements and even entire shady gardens look and feel aged and established. The trouble with garden moss though, is that sometimes it may not even grow at all on its own. And if it does, it could take a very long time to become established.

Here's a way you can accelerate and establish a beautiful green moss cover over your garden rocks and concrete features. This method doesn't work well on resin statues and artificial landscape rocks.

First stir a fist size clump of porcelain clay into 3 cups of water to form a thin paste. You can usually get porcelain clay from local hobby shops.

Then combine the clay mixture with one cup of undiluted fish emulsion and one cup of fresh, shredded moss. Fish emulsion is a plant fertilizer made from whole fish. It's usually available at retail nurseries and garden centers.

Mix everything together and paint it on your rocks and concrete objects with a paint brush. Keep things in the garden slightly moist by misting and taking care not to wash the mixture off.

Remember that moss grows naturally in patches, likes the North side of objects, and takes readily to cracks and crevices.

Use this formula in shady gardens and in moist locations and you can most probably have moss on your garden statues and landscape rocks in a few weeks.

How to Make the Most of Your Garden

WHEN you buy a new house or decide to improve your old one, you are, of course, concerned with every foot of ground that goes with it, for modern living and modern gardening can make every inch of your property usable and desirable. New methods of soil improvement, grading, fencing and terracing make even sloping, hilly lots, hitherto undesirable, now attractive and choice. Modern chemistry has brought new nutrients to the soil and has provided weapons against the traditional enemies of the garden: disease and insects. Hardier bulbs and seeds make gardens more successful as well as wonderfully vivid. Fabulous hybrids have lengthened the list of flowering trees and shrubs, creating specimens for every colour and design scheme, every type of house and garden. New gardening equipment and materials speed the time-consuming garden tasks. New ways of living bring us into the outdoors, and barbecue meals and comfortable lawn furnishings make a small suburban back yard as luxuriously enjoyable as was previously possible only on a large estate.

Architecturally, today's house is much more a part of the outdoors than was yesterday's. Large picture windows, glass walls, glassed-in sun porches and terraces all combine to make the garden a part of the house. Consequently, the view becomes that much more important. A beautiful garden, a luxuriant turf and healthy blossoming trees all add as much to the interior of your home as your draperies or wallpaper. The effort and time you spend on your lawns and gardens will repay you in every way, indoors as well as out.

When you plan your grounds you will be governed by many of the principles you employ in decorating your home. Proportion, texture, colour, line, harmony, and function -these are terms that apply to landscaping as well as decorating. And if you have large grounds you will benefit from careful planning just as much as does the owner of a third of an acre.

Garden books are filled with formal plans for perfect gardens and grounds, but you will want to consider not the perfect garden in itself, but the one plan that will be perfect for your particular family. Analyse your family, its needs and habits; then design your grounds to best satisfy its prejudices, desires and demands.
The thing to do is hold a family council and talk over what you want to do. Of course, you will be governed by questions of cost and available space. Draw a plan of your property in fairly large scale, about 1/4 inch to the foot. Now make a list of the things the family wants, such as a barbecue, tool house, drying yard, rock garden, fences, playhouse, badminton court, better lounging facilities.




Unless you are fortunate and have spacious grounds, you probably won't be able to work everything into your program-but with Planning, you can do things gradually. You can plan your garden so that it never looks bare and yet is always roomy enough for the additions you intend to make in the future. And some projects will serve more than one function. For example, if you need a driveway and have young children, a blacktop that can be used for hopscotch and bicycle riding will serve a double purpose, and easily justify its cost. Or a fence that cuts off an unpleasant view can also act as a windbreak and a handsome background for a lounging area. A retaining wall can double as a rock garden when planted with hardy dwarf shrubs and other rock-garden species.

Generally, most grounds are divided in three ways: the public area, the area that can be seen from the street; the service area, which includes garage and parking facilities, delivery facilities, clothes-drying equipment, outside storage space and garbage disposal; and the private area, located in the rear of the house. Here is your back yard, available for games and lounging; a terrace or outdoor dining area; the children's playground and a garden with flowers, fruits, vegetables, walks and, perhaps, pool.

In each division there are things to strive for-and to avoid. In your front, or public area, for example, plan for a minimum of care. Select flowers and shrubs that will help you present an attractive face to the passer-by at all times without any undue fussing on your part, so that when you can't manage to give as much time as you would like to your grounds, the front of your house will still be presentable. In your service area, plan for off-street parking; for deliveries that can be made without intrusion on the privacy of your lawn or terrace; for a drying yard that won't be seen from the street. For your private area, use the largest part of your plot; take advantage of existing trees and the shade afforded by your house and garage for lounging spots. Have seats in pleasant corners and screen off the children's play areas from the rest of the garden.

Needless to say, landscaping can be a never-ending adventure, a pastime that is as gratifying as it is beautifying, for the creation and care of flowers and trees, vines and shrubs, lawns and fences, brings luxury to the home, happiness to the family, and pleasure to all who behold the beauty of a "well-dressed" house.

7 Factors Needed for a Compost Pile

Compost, made from decomposed grass clippings, leaves, twigs, and branches, becomes a dark, crumbly mixture of organic matter.

Learn how composting works. Even a newbie to composting can make good quality compost. It can be compared to cooking as art or part science. The following 7 factors will help you master the art of composting.

1. Materials
After a time anything that was once alive will naturally decompose. But, not all organic items should be composted for the home. To prepare compost, organic material, microorganisms, air, water, and a small amount of nitrogen are needed.

These items are safe to compost at home:
* grass clippings
* trimmings from hedges
* vegetable scraps
* leaves
* potting soil that has grown old
* twigs
* coffee filters with coffee grounds
* tea bags
* weeds that have not went to seed
* plant stalks

These items are Not safe to compost at home:
* weeds that have went to seed
* dead animals
* pet feces
* bread and grains
* meat
* grease
* cooking oil
* oily foods
*diseased plants

2. What To Do To Make It Work
There are small forms of plant and animal life which break down the organic material. This life is called microorganisms. From a minute amount of garden soil or manure comes plenty of microorganisms.

Nitrogen, air, and water will provide a favorable environment for the microorganisms to make the compost. Air circulation and water will keep the microorganisms healthy and working. The nitrogen feeds the tiny organisms. You may have to add a small amount of nitrogen to the pile.

Putting on too much nitrogen can kill microbes and too much water causes insufficient air in the pile. You just cannot add too much air.

3. Beneficial Microorganisms
Bacteria are the most effective compost makers in your compost pile. They are the first to break down plant tissue. Then comes the fungi and protozoans to help with the process. The arthropodes, like centipedes, beetles, millipedes and worms, bring in the finishing touches to complete the composting.

4. Smaller is Better
The materials will break down faster if the microorganisms have more surface area to eat. Chopping your garden materials with a chipper, shredder, or lawnmower will help them decompose faster.




5. Size of The Pile
The activity of millions of microorganisms generates heat in the compost pile but a minimum size 3-foot by 3-foot by 3-foot is needed for a hot, fast composting pile. Piles that are any larger may hamper the air supply needed in the pile for the microorganisms.

6. Moisture and Aeration
If you can imagine a wet squeezed out sponge with its many air pockets, then this would be the ideal enviroment for the microorganisms in the pile to function at their best. Pay attention while your pile is composting, to the amount of rain or a drought you may have. Water in a drought and maybe turn the pile in a lot of rainy days. The extremes of these two may upset the balance of the pile. The use of a pitchfork would come in handy at this time.

7. Temperature and Time
Keep your pile between 110F and 160F and the beneficial bacteria will love it. Not too cool nor too hot.
The temperature will rise over several days if you keep a good ratio of carbon and nitrogen, maintain lots of surface area within a large volume of material, and maintain adequate moisture and aeration.

-Importance of Compost-

+Compost has nutrients, but it is not a complete fertilizer.

+Compost provides nutrients in the soil until plants need to use them.

+ It loosens and aerates clay soils

+ Retains water in sandy soils.

-Using the Compost-

+ A soil amendment, mix 2 to 5 inches of compost into gardens each year before planting.

+ A potting mixture, add one part compost to two parts potting soil.

+ Make your own potting mixture by using equal parts of compost and sand or perlite.

+ A mulch, prodcast 2 to 4 inches of compost around annual flowers and vegetables, and up to 5 inches around your trees and shrubs.

+ A top dressing, mix finely sifted compost with sand and sprinkle evenly over lawns.

The final thing I would suggest once you have mastered the art of composting is to look very seriously at making your very own aerated compost tea. This elixir will give you results that are hard to believe.

Tools Every Do-It-Yourself Landscaper Needs

There is no doubt that choosing to do your own landscaping is the best way to go for many people. Not only do you save a lot of money by not hiring professionals to do the work, you also will get to enjoy a lot of time outside. Landscaping is good exercise and a great way to spend an afternoon.

Any do-it-yourself landscapers will require a variety of tools, from basic to high tech, in order to get the job done right. Here are some of the tools that are essential for doing your own landscaping.

Software: Yes, believe it or not, a good landscaping program can be essential when you are designing the layout of your lawn and garden. I use the Master Landscape & Home Design by Punch! Software. I bought this program for my wife back in 2003, and we have used it a lot ever since. The 3D Photoview technology allows us to put in digital pictures of our home and garden and then implement any changes on the screen before we put them into effect in our yard. The PlantFinder allows us to find plants that are the most appropriate to the soil and climate conditions where we live, and it even has a calculator to help us estimate the costs of the plants from different stores. This is about as high tech as I get when it comes to landscaping, though.

Lawn mower: You might not realize it, but mowing the lawn is an essential part of any landscape. A lawn mower is therefore a critical part of doing your landscaping yourself. Buying a lawn mower can be a tricky business- you can get models with everything included but the kitchen sink. The fact is, a second hand lawn mower that works can be just as good as a brand new model straight from the catalogues. If you have a large area to mow, you will probably want to invest in a riding lawn mower to save time and aching muscles.




Weed Whacker: There are points on your lawn that your mower just won't reach, around fences and right beside patios, around any fruit trees or berry canes. For these, you will need a good weed whacker. The best models come with several attachments, appropriate to chopping down a variety of weeds- especially if you have slacked off and allowed some of the hardier varieties to grow up. These can be death for the average string-and-coil whacker, and you will need some good plastic to stand up to them.

There are several other tools that every landscaper needs, most of them relatively low tech in comparison to those above. A variety of shovels, rakes, and pruning instruments are all essential, as are a good pair of gloves. All of these tools will be dependent on what you have planted in your landscaping, and more complicated designs may even require some basic knowledge of electricity, carpentry, and hydroponics.

Separating The Good Weeds From The Bad

In your fight against weeds you've probably come across any number of different types. And chances are equally likely that you went straight for the herbicide, or started pulling them up as soon as you saw them. But believe it or not, some things that look like weeds can actually help be helpful to keeping your lawn green and healthy. And conversely, things that look like flowers and add color to your lawn could be hurting it.

The good

Clover is a plant that most lawn owners immediately think of as a weed that needs to be killed. But before you start digging up or spraying your clover patches, consider the fact that it may be helping your lawn. Contrary to most other weeds, clovers can actually add nutrients to your lawn, and even help to keep other weeds at bay. By taking up space on your lawn that could otherwise be occupied by malicious weeds, clover can promote a healthy yard. It even has the added bonus of looking nice. So next time you see clover on your lawn, before you immediately start pulling it up, think about its benefits to your lawn first.

The bad

Dandelions are to most people, a nice looking plant. They add a bit of color to the lawn, and can even be eaten. But they are actually a weed, and a bad one at that. The presence of dandelions in your lawn means that it has a problem, either with the soil or the grass itself. You should remove dandelions as soon as you see them, because they are deep rooted and take up a lot of space that should be used by your grasses roots. They take up more than a fair share of nutrients and water as well, making it harder for nearby grass to grow the way it should. After pulling or killing the dandelions, be sure to check the soil and maybe add some fertilizer to it to ensure your neighboring grasses grow in strong.




The ugly

While not technically a weed, when different species of grass start growing on the same lawn the effect can unattractive. Just imagine a whole lawn of perfect Bermuda grass, with spots of wild growing meadow grass. It throws off the whole look of your yard. It is risky to kill the intruding grass with herbicides, because it can kill your existing lawn as well. You need to make sure you get the whole root pulled up, or the grass can easily grow back. After you get the other grass out, make sure your soil has the appropriate nutrients and plant the type of grass that is in the rest of your lawn. Be sure to keep an eye out for intruding grass, because you may not consider it as a weed.

Not all weeds are created equal, as we can see. Some are malicious, such as the dandelion, while others can actually help your lawn stay healthy like clover. And still others aren't even weeds, but can make your lawn look unattractive. Whatever the case, be sure to be constantly checking and maintaining your lawn and weeds won't sneak up on you.

How The Medieval English Planned a Home and Gardens

Andrew Borde is the first writer who gave directions in English about how to plan a house and grounds. Much of his advice was practical, although often he saw fit to drag in a somewhat irrelevant quotation from the Bible, or a passage from some classic author to which we should not attach much importance. He was soon followed by Thomas Tusser with "A Hundredth Pointes of Good Husbandry," which has been interestingly edited under the auspices of the English Dialect Society. Hill's "Profitable Arte of Gardening" and his "Gardener's Labyrinth" also add to our information concerning the gardens of the Tudor period.

The choice of site was given careful consideration, and an unexpected importance was attached to the view. "After that a man have chosen a convenient soil and place ... he must afore cast in his mind that the prospect to and fro the place be pleasant, fair and good to the eye to behold the woods, the waters, the fields, the dales, the hills as the plain ground." In the opinion of all the early writers, the garden and orchard were always to be located as near as possible to the house, and to be considered as an integral part of the same premises.

The approach to the house and gardens was through one or more courtyards, where peacocks sometimes answered the purpose of watch-dogs. "The peacock is a bird of more beautified feathers than any other that is, he is quickly angry, but he is far off from taking good hold with his feet, he is goodly to behold, very good to eat, and serve as a watch in the inner court, for that he spying strangers to come into the lodging he fail not to cry out and advertise them of the house."

Doves too dwelt in the courtyard or in the garden. "A dove-house is also a necessary thing about a mansion place," Borde says.