by STEVE BOULDEN

Retaining walls can be used to create raised garden beds, prevent erosion, and stabilize steep-sloped banks. They can be crafted from large river rocks, field stone, railroad ties, heavy timbers, concrete blocks, brick, steel, vinyl, or even small boulders. Whether the walls are supported by anchoring, gravity, pilings, or are cantilevered, quality of construction is critical: retaining walls must be sturdy enough to support the weight of the fill or soil behind them. Walls can vary from large to small, complex to simple, straight or curved. They can line a pool or patio, garden, walkway, or driveway; retaining walls can be used as edging or be designed as freestanding. With so many possible design options, it is best to seek professional advice. Even if you want to build the walls yourself or if they don’t need to be extensive, you should always obtain advice on specifications. Much easier to plan for and install are stone or rock walls, most of which serve as informal dividers between certain areas, field and forest, garden beds, or abutting properties. They can range from low to high in height and from rounded but rugged-edged to more uniformed, straighter edges, for example, if one uses cut slate or pavers. An important note for those in suburban, urban, or areas with shared space, such as condos: many communities implement height restrictions on stone walls; some allow for up to 4’; others limit height to 2’. Usually, the length of your rock wall does not matter as long as it does not encroach on another’s property setback requirements.

Another thing to keep in mind will be the desired functions of your wall: will you be gardening nearby? Will you need to prune behind it? Will this be an additional seating area in your yard? If yes to any of those questions, a height of 2-2 ½” is desirable. There will be other considerations: how permanent you want your stone wall to be, whether a loose (dry stack) or mortared wall will best suit your needs, how to design and structure your wall for proper drainage if necessary, and any special features you’d like. For loose rock walls, you’ll want to stick with a height of 3’ or under – unless you are a stonescaping professional. There are a few common-sense design rules to follow: use larger rocks at the base of the wall; aim for rock and stone placement that offers the closest rock-to-rock fit for wall stability; plan openings and spaces for any gates in advance.

Though some use stonescaping and hardscaping interchangeably, stonescaping refers to stone and masonry work, including rock walls, retaining walls, brick patios, concrete slabs, etc; hardscaping refers to all of those, as well as wooden decks, wire trellises, wooden edging, arbors, tile walkways, slate paths, and more. Hardscaping includes any inanimate parts of your landscape – even the garden globe, lamppost, and birdbath. For more free landscaping plans, design pictures, ideas, and a free landscaping companies and designers directory, visit www.the-landscape-design-site.com.

By Daniel A. Reed

Observing Nature in our own back yard can be a wonderful thing. Few things are as relaxing as watching animals from the comfort of a garden bench, a patio, or from a window in our home.

To increase the level of birds and butterflies (and ultimately wildlife in general), try strategically planting a few of the following trees and shrubs in your backyard habitat.

1. Flowering Dogwood
2. Serviceberry
3. Holly
4. Spicebush
5. Hawthorn
6. Flowering Crabapple
7. Colorado Blue Spruce
8. Butterfly Bush

Birds and butterflies love these varieties because they provide shelter and food.

Before you begin planting, observe how nature “manages” its flora and fauna. Trees and plants do not grow in straight lines. Vary the positions of your plantings to give it a more natural feel. Also, keep in mind that you will probably want to add more to your landscape as time goes by. It is wise to develop a planting plan prior to actually beginning work on the project.

You might also want to consider adding a water element to your landscape design, either through a birdbath or a small waterfall. Many water elements are commercially available from your local “Mega-Mart” or building supplier.

Especially attractive are the small waterfall type elements. Make sure you get one that is relatively realistic looking. Nothing ruins a beautiful natural scene more quickly than rocks that look like they are made from plastic. The animals may not pay attention, but I guarantee that you will find a realistic version far more pleasing to the eye.

If you can’t get everything in place all at once, create your habitat a little at a time. Your efforts will pay off in the long run.

Enjoy!

About the Author: Daniel Reed (aka “The Professor”), having over a decade of teaching experience on the graduate and undergraduate level, started teaching wilderness and nature related courses approximately 2 years ago. Check out his website at http://www.DanielsPrimitives.com and his FREE EZine, “The Naturalist.”

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Daniel_A._Reed

by AMY BASS

If you have a backyard and you aren’t using it to its full potential, it is time to get busy. Why put up with having a backyard that’s drab and never gets enjoyed when you could do something to enhance it? There are a variety of interesting things that you can do with your backyard and the following are just a few backyard ideas that you may want to give a try. Idea #1 – Try Backyard Pools – Have you ever wished to have easy access to a pool during those long, hot summer days? Then here’s an idea: Make use of your backyard and enhance it with a beautiful pool. Whether you go with a cheap pool you set up yourself or a nice in-ground pool, no doubt it is an idea that the whole family will enjoy during the summer.

Idea #2 – Plant Some Roses – Roses are very popular. Do you love roses? Then considering planting some in your own yard. Not only are roses a beautiful addition to any backyard, they are easy to take care of. Make sure you plant them in a place where you can see them so you can get the maximum enjoyment out of them.

Idea #3 – Add Some Seating – Perhaps you would love to sit out and enjoy your backyard, but you just don’t have anywhere to sit. Best solve that problem by adding some seating out there. Benches, lawn chairs, and even a picnic table will do nicely. Once you can sit down, you can easily sit back and enjoy all these other backyard ideas you’ve implemented.

There is no doubt that any one of these backyard ideas will improve the appearance of your yard. Remember, a backyard is to be enjoyed, so start taking advantage of these great ideas for your backyard today.

by Nate Moss

IF you long to have a beautiful garden, whether that means flowers or vegetables to you… if you want to see the astounded looks on the faces of your friends, and the sidelong envious glances of your neighbors… this letter should be of real interest to you. Here’s why:

Anyone can grow a beautiful garden!

Even if you’ve tried and failed, you can have a thriving garden. It doesn’t matter if you’ve never gardened before. You don’t need to spend a fortune – you can start inexpensively. Whether you have a tiny window-box or acres of opportunity… And even if you don’t have a single gardening tool, it’s simple and inexpensive to get started.

Keep reading to find out how you too can get started on the road to being a “master gardener”… f you’ve never gardened before, you might worry that it’s difficult.

And if you’ve ever tried a little gardening and perhaps had trouble with it, you might feel that it’s not as easy as I’m letting on.

I assure you that if you follow a few basics, it is quite easy.

Anyone can do it.

You just need the right information and a wee bit of patience. Don’t let yourself be worried by the questions that plague so many beginning gardeners: How do I start a garden? What do I need to have in order to grow a garden?

Are there any tricks of the trade I should know? Is it costly? How do I maintain my garden once I get it started? Will it take all of my time?

Because so many people have questions like these, I’ve created my simple “Gardener’s Handbook”.

With this easy gardening guide, you will discover the answers to these questions and to many more before you know it, you will be out there putting your green thumb to work! If you’re just starting out – or if you’re trying to improve your existing garden…So if this is what you would like to do click the link on the bottom to see more information,on how to obtain this valuable information. Click Here
About the Author
Freelance reviewer

by Elizabeth Jean

Even if you want a big water garden with a fountain, waterfall, stream, and a variety of fish and plants, make a starter garden first. A small-scale project offers experience you’ll find helpful when tackling larger projects later.

A starter garden brings the beauty of water to your landscape in a minimum of time and for much less cost than it takes to develop a large water garden. It is also more manageable when it comes to time, requiring less than an hour of maintenance every few weeks. You can have a water garden with a fountain in a small space. Sometimes called mini ponds or mini gardens. Starter gardens set by an entrance are a delight for visitors. Tucked into a corner of a patio, they’re a pleasant source of sound or a sparkling focal point when incorporated into the landscape.

You can make a starter water garden with a fountain that’s formal or informal, raised or in the ground. A starter water garden with a fountain is the logical choice for small yards or patios and mini gardens since they all provide a point of interest in a courtyard or in a tiny plot outside of an apartment.

Home or Factory Made Fountains

Urns are popular containers for fountains. And they’re easy to set up. Simply install a small pump in the bottom of the urn and fill with water.

Starter gardens can be handmade or arrive from the factory ready to install. Make one from a ceramic pot or try a small kidney-shaped pond formed with flexible liner and tucked into a flowerbed. A pre-made fountain, outfitted with fish and plants, or an aboveground preformed garden complete with flagstones stacked in a low wall around a liner can serve as a starter garden. There are even portable water gardens.

A starter water garden with a fountain is an inspiration. Many people who begin small find they’ve enjoyed their first creation so much that they want to do a second, more ambitious feature, building on the skills they have learned. Beginning gardens can also provide the first piece of a much larger project. For example, your small pool could eventually become the foot of a waterfall or stream.

Clay pots and pottery shards create a whimsical fountain that takes little time to build or maintain. In cold climates bring such a fountain indoors for the winter. Your starter garden with a fountain could be just a temporary one until you move on to bigger projects. If you dispose of it, you can reuse the flexible liner and move flagstones and boulders in the landscape to another site. When finished with a water garden container, you can fill it with soil and use it as a planter. And you can reuse a pump in a new water feature or sell it to another aspiring water gardener.

Fish and Fountains

For plants and fish, a mini garden should hold at least 5 gallons of water, but leave out the fountain. Splashing interferes with plant growth and creates currents the fish have to fight. Instead, equip minimum-size gardens with a small poolside spitter fountain or a gentle aquarium bubbler to aerate the water without creating too much disturbance.

If water becomes cloudy or foul smelling in a small starter water garden with a water fountain, remove 10 percent of the water from the bottom with either a siphon hose or water pump. This reduces the buildup of toxic organic wastes.
About the Author
Elizabeth Jean is a writer, gardening enthusiast and frequent contributor to Garden-Fountains.com , a premier water feature web site where you can find a beautiful collection of water fountains and garden wall fountains.

By: Lee Dobbins

If you are a beginning bonsai artist then you might want to select and Juniper for your first tree. This is a beautiful species of tree which tolerates a wide range of conditions and is a good species for the cascade or kengai style where the branches in the trunk grow out over the container and below the horizontal edge.

Junipers like to be kept in the full sun and they are rather forgiving when it comes to water although the soil shouldn’t be allowed to dry out and you should make sure there’s adequate drainage. they should be planted in the soil mixture that is 10% peak, 60% soil and 30% course sand.

Fertilizer your juniper once a month starting in the early spring and straight through the summer. Inorganic fertilizer will be more gentle and your plant but if you do go with a man-made chemical fertilizer you want to ensure that it has the proper amounts of nitrogen and phosphorus and potassium. The Juniper will probably do best with a 20-20-20 NPK mixture. Refrain from fertilizing when it is very hot and the first two weeks after you repot the plant.

Repotting should be done every two years until your juniper reaches 10 years of age and then you want to spread out to every three or four years. This is a good time to trim the roots but don’t go overboard with this as gradual trimming his best. You can also take this time to prune unwanted branches. Keep your Juniper out of the full sun for two weeks after repotting.

While wiring should be done in the late fall you will get quicker results if you do it during the act of growing season. However you probably want to wait into you have some experience under your belt as you need to be careful to avoid scarring. During the act of growing season you can remove new shoots by pinching them off gently with the thumb and forefinger. One doing this you want to be sure not to bend the tree or any of the branches.

Just like any other plant, the Juniper can have pests. The most common is red spider mites. symptoms of these mites includes yellowing foliage and if you see this look under the branches for tiny spots then hold a white sheet of paper underneath and they give the branch at tap. If the docs volunteer paper and are moving about then you know you’ve got red spider mites.

You can get rid of the red spider mites with a nicotine solution that can be prepared at home by soaking tobacco and water or you can buy commercial insecticide. After you have treated the Juniper for spider mites and let the solutions it for a day spray the foliage down with water each day during the growing season allowing it to dry in the sun.

With proper care, your juniper can live for years or even decades and can be enjoyed as a living work of art that you’ve lovingly sculpted, pruned and cared for.

About the Author:

Lee Dobbins writes for bonsai.garden-corner.com where you can learn more about the art of bonsai and the juniper bonsai plant as well as other types of bonsai plants.

Article Source: http://www.therealarticles.com

By: Jacob Farin

Every autumn, I receive lots of email from growers telling me how they brought their Venus Flytraps indoors because of a weather forecast predicting frost.

It is a myth, plain and simple, that these North American carnivorous plants must be protected from frost. Ironically, frost is what helps them survive the winter!

Frost is the signal that plants need to know when it is time to go dormant. As Flytraps prepare for dormancy (and yes, they need to go dormant), they produce anti-freeze chemicals that help them survive freezing temperatures.

So, if you prevent your Venus Flytraps from experiencing frost, you prevent them from producing those anti-freeze chemicals. More importantly, you put your plants at risk and make it much harder on yourself.

You see, without any anti-freeze chemicals, Flytraps must always be protected from freezing temperatures. But, at the same time, they still need cool temperatures to slow down in growth and go dormant.

But, without frost, plants rarely enter deep dormancy. At the most, they enter what is called a winter rest. This is when plants are still growing, but they grow very slowly and their leaves look weak and listless. Flytraps in this state of growth actually require more care than those that go completely dormant.

Caring for Venus Flytraps during dormancy is very easy. Once dormant, simply keep the soil moist and protect the plant whenever the temperature goes below 20�F, which is true for any plant grown in containers, carnivorous or otherwise. Flytraps are native to North Carolina, so they are not at all unfamiliar with snowy conditions.

So, let your Venus Flytraps experience frost. Not only will you be helping them produce those anti-freeze chemicals, you will have an easier time caring for them when they go completely dormant.

About the author: Jacob Farin is co-owner of Sarracenia Northwest, a nursery that specializes in the cultivation of carnivorous plants. He is also co-author of Secrets to Growing Beautiful Carnivorous Plants for Your Home and Garden. For more details about growing carnivorous plants, visit http://www.CarnivorousPlantSecrets.com.