Your 2011 Garden Plans

So the calendar year is coming to its end and the world of gardening is for the most part in its winter slumber. What a better time than now to think about your garden plans for 2011? Having a well defined garden plan doesn’t require extensive effort, nor does it require a lot of time. Planning a good garden just takes a little thought. Let’s take a look at some things you can incorporate into your garden plans in 2011.

This year, perhaps it is time to try a garden structure, like a new deck or a gazebo. Placing a garden structure in your landscape can be a beautifully painful experience without the proper plans. Should you decide that this is the year to build something in your garden area, it is wise to have well developed construction plans for any gardening structures you want to build. Having a detailed plan of all the materials you will need, as well as how the materials fit together, is essential for ensuring that your gazebo, deck or fencing will go up with few problems.

Looking at the garden, perhaps this is your year for a garden fountain or a garden shed, in which case careful planning and landscaping will need to be undertaken. Making sure that all your desired landscaping additions fit properly into your yard is a crucial step in any of your 2011 garden plans, as you may have to adjust the desired size of the garden additions or the size of the garden itself. Should major landscaping need to be done, remember to take advantage of local landscapers to help you get the work done properly.

In terms of styles that you can incorporate in your garden this year, keep in mind that color is always a plus in the garden, as are garden structures like ponds, fountains and statues. Be creative and see which outdoor accessories are best for your space, don’t be afraid to try something new.

Happy New Year!

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6 Ways to Lengthen Your Growing Season

As fall approaches in many parts of the world, gardeners are now asking themselves how they can get at least a few more months of produce out of their garden. You may find that some of the solutions are even easier than you expected.

1. Prevent frost from damaging plants with individual cloches.Covering your plants as the weather turns cooler will certainly help them produce longer. Some people like to keep it simple and just cover their plants with milk cartons or soda bottles with the bottoms cut out. You can also use upside-down pots, cardboard boxes, buckets or just about anything else that will fit over your plants. Others take a more sophisticated route and purchase water-filled cloches that add an extra layer of protection as the sun warms up the water around the plant. The water-filled cloches are generally a lot less likely to fly away during a storm, but a rock on top of a bucket or a few inches of soil around the edge to anchor it in place often help.
2. Build tunnels that cover whole rows or beds.If you’d like to just have a few cloches to deal with in your garden, explore the possibilities that wire hoops or PVC pipes offer. Simple tunnels can be constructed by draping plastic sheeting over your framework and will keep plants frost-free and just a bit warmer. Do remember to open them up on the warmest of days, though, and don’t forget to keep an eye on them on windy days. Burying the plastic along the sides of your cloche will help them from turning into kites or landing in your neighbor’s garden.
3. Build cold-frames or hot beds.A small, simple structure over your garden beds can capture a lot of heat and allow you to grow long into the fall and winter. Short plants like lettuce, herbs, carrots and bushy beans will do fantastic in cold-frames. Just picture a mini-greenhouse sitting only 1-2 feet high. If you want to get really advanced, look into hot beds which have a heat source underneath the ground.
4. Take advantage of stored heat in sun-soaked walls of your home, garage or other building.Walls gather a lot of heat during the day and even on a cold winter day, you could have a temperature difference of 10-15 degrees F. Make use of this free solar energy (especially with south-facing structures) by building a simple lean-to greenhouse or adding trellises for climbing plants
5. Build a greenhouse for full wind and frost protection.A greenhouse is certainly one of the best ways to extend your growing season…but also one of the most expensive due to its considerably larger size. But if you can find a way to keep and maintain heat in it (even with solar heating methods), you can often even maintain tropical temperatures in some of the coldest of climates. A greenhouse is also a great place to start seedlings for the following year.
6. Store heat in painted milk-jugs and other containers.You’ve likely noticed that a black car really heats up on a summer day. The same principle can be applied in your garden beds just by tracking down old. Empty plastic bottles or barrels can quickly be painted black to hold in more heat. You can set them into your cold-frames, greenhouses or tunnels to help capture more heat during the day and keep plants warmer at night.

These were just a few of the many ways that you can extend your growing season into the fall and get a jump start into spring. If you’ve enjoyed this article and want to learn more about vegetable gardening, stay tuned for more vegetable gardening tips over the coming weeks. Or visit Tiffany Muehlbauer’s primary blog, No Ordinary Homestead, where she not only discusses more about gardening, but also about cooking, home renovation, parenting and much more about her expat life in Germany.

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Tree Planting | A Simple Guide to Pruning Trees

As the fall is drawing closer, many of you will be ready to do some tree pruning in preparation for the winter months. For some this task is a rewarding one, for others it is more of a pain than it is a pleasure. This article will serve as a simple tree pruning guide for those who perhaps have never done it before, or for those who are unsure if they are doing it properly.

Before we get to far, let’s remind those who are unaware, why we prune trees in the first place. Basically, tree pruning is undertaken to either thin out a tree’s crown branches, which facilitates growth and also circulates air through the tree. Tree pruning is also undertaken in order to remove damaged or diseased branches, as well as for cosmetic purposes.

A fundamental principle of pruning is that you want to protect the trunk of the tree and the stems from which the branches grow, I’m sure a mutilated tree wasn’t part of your garden plans. Further, it is important to make sure you are always pruning on the branch side of the stem collar. For those who are unaware, the stem collar is located at the base of the branch where that branch connects to either a larger branch or the trunk of the tree.

Following the process outlined below produces optimal results:

1. Starting on the underside of the branch you are pruning, make a small wedge-shaped cut on the branch. This cut needs to be deep enough to ensure that the branch comes off, but not so deep that it harms the stem collar.
2. Move further down the branch and make a cut starting from the top that goes through the branch. You will be left with nothing more than a stub.
3. Begin reducing the size of the stub by cutting the remainder of the branch off. the wedge you made in step one will weaken the stub and ensure it breaks off.

Keep in mind that dead branches can be pruned at any time, however the best time to prune deciduous trees is when their leaves fall.

There you have it, an essential tree pruning guide. Happy pruning!

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Privacy Plants | Landscaping Tips

Let’s keep the neighbor’s eyes away from you while you sunbathe around the clock for the last few weeks of summer. After all there are some things we should keep to ourselves. Let’s take a look at specific plants we can use to keep our yards a secluded place for us to enjoy.

If you have a small garden or a backyard which is unfenced, you are lacking privacy. While fencing itself can be expensive, using privacy plants such as subbery with fast growing foiliage can give you the same type of privacy for a fraction of the cost. These plants aren’t completely isolating, as they do allow the sunlight to come through, but they provide enough coverage to allow you to enjoy your space in peace.

Bamboo plants are excellent for use as a natural fence and they becoming more popular amongst gardeners. Further, building a waist level rock wall and then topping that wall with plants and other shrubbery can provide a functionally beautiful landscaping piece. Whichever plants you do choose, be sure to stick to perennials and evergreens to limit the amount of replanting you need to do on a yearly basis.

The simplest privacy plants to use are climbers like honeysuckle, ivy or sweet pea. All you have to do is build a trellis and let the plants do the climbing. Even better, you may have an existing frost fence which you can leverage by allowing the plants to climb it. Always check with your neighbors when you have a shared fence to make sure that they are ok with what you are doing.

If a shrubbery border is what you are planting, then juniper bushes will give off a lovely aroma while providing you with the screening you desire. While these plants will attract wildlife, you can buy varieties with thorns or prickly leaves to stop intruders from coming into your yard. Nothing like a good prickling!

As you can see there are options available to ensure you can achieve backyard privacy while also presenting a natural aesthetic to your neighbors. Factor in the lower cost compared to fencing, and privacy plants are definitely a good choice for your next landscape design.

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Landscaping For Shade And Wind Block

Beyond the creation of shapes and planting schemes, landscaping and garden designs rely on a lot of other details and considerations that are often overlooked. Some are specific to certain areas and dependant on climate and location and some are universal to all areas and design styles. Issues of wind, weather, and shade are usually issues for consideration in most areas.

Creating shade for smaller gardens and landscaping areas is usually a simple task of using smaller plants, shrubs, or structures. On the other hand, shading a large area like the roof of your home would require larger trees, time, and patience. If you are looking to shade a larger area like your home, then large deciduous trees should be considered for specific placement in side areas, backyard, and the front yard landscaping. How long it will take will depend on the type of trees, your climate, your home, and your budget. If your budget only allows for small immature trees, it may take several years to get the effect you want. Regardless, it will be worth it. If you use of an air-conditioner for example, shading the unit can increase its efficiency up to ten percent.

On a small scale, to reduce heat radiation around your home and also cool down the air before it has a chance to effect the temperature of your home, you can shade the pavement, concrete, and the ground around your home with groundcover plants, trees, and shrubs. To shade your driveway or patio, consider using a long row of shrubs. To simply shade a sidewalk or other hardscape walkway, You could also plant a large hedge. You could even construct a trellis planted with climbing vines to shade an area instead of using the shrubs or bushes.

One of the nice things about using vines in your landscaping is that they often provide shade from their very first growing season. Used mostly in the backyard and not generally with front yard landscaping ideas, the most common uses for climbing vines are often combined with trellises or lattice works. Usually there is a style and type that works well with most home styles but you will still need to consider if they will work with the style of your home.

Shrubs with non-invasive root structures can be planted close to the home to cool the ground surface directly next to the home. Try to choose a variety that will fill in quickly and start shading the windows and walls in as short as time as possible. Again, how long it takes all depends on the size and type of shrubs and plants you start with.

Another consideration for growing shrubs right next to the house where there is often excess moisture, is to use shrubs with loose foliage. Homes in slightly wet areas will do well to let light winds flow easily around the house, which will keep the house as well as the soil surrounding the house reasonably dry as well as cool.

To create protection from wind which in turn will also help minimize heating and cooling costs, a row of dense shrubs or trees can be planted. If you plant shrubs and trees that have low crowns, they will be the best to break strong winds that are close to the ground. For obvious reasons of having foliage all year long, the most popular kind of windbreak plants are evergreens.

In order to block the wind from the ground right up to the treetops, you should consider the types of landscaping plants and their mature size and shape and plant them as close together as space will allow. Another option would be to construct an earth berm, fence or wall. Obstacles like these will also help to lift the wind over your home. Make sure you choose the option that also fits well with your home and landscaping. It’s one thing to be able to block the wind, but so often in our quest to fix one problem, we can create an eye sore without knowing it.

One more thing to consider is that if you are looking to get warmth and sunshine from the sun in winter, you should consider the natural travel of the Winter sun and try to not block too much of it. Take assessment of your patios, porches, play areas, and other functional areas, and figure the sun, shade, wind, and weather into the plan. Along with a little research into the types of plants you’ll use, These considerations will put you one giant step ahead of most landscape designs.

This guest post was written by Steve, from www.the-landscape-design-site.com & www.landscapingvideos.com

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Gardening Tips | How to Make Gardening Hurt Less

So you love gardening, but you have a pesky knee, back or hip issue that prevents you from really ‘digging’ into your gardening and landscaping tasks. You want to get outside and enjoy what nature has presented to you but you just do not feel comfortable getting down on your knees or walking across your garden. Truly, nothing can be worse than that crippled feeling one feels when they are no longer able to fully enjoy their favorite pass times. Fortunately, there are products and processes available to relieve your pain and get you back into the garden again. In this article we will highlight some basic equipment and remedies that will help you overcome your pains in the garden.

Firstly, one of the basic functions of gardening is walking, therefore it is only obvious that if you take care of your feet, they will take care of you in the garden. Specifically, many people often struggle with joint pain in the knees and hips, which is aggravated while tending to ones garden for long periods of time. One solution for this nagging pain is to try an orthopedic insert in your shoes. Using a supportive insole in your gardening shoes will help to better align your knees and hips, which will work to better distribute your body weight across those areas and therefore alleviate points of pain.  Sticking with our shoes, it would also be wise to ensure you are wearing appropriate footwear while in the garden. Although sandals are comfortable, they are certainly nowhere near as naturally supportive as a good pair of walking or running shoes.

Moving a little higher on the body, a common complaint voiced by gardeners is that they experience consistent knee pain and that this pain is aggravated by the constant kneeling that occurs during gardening. When it comes to improving comfort while kneeling, there are several products available. One such product are knee pads, which can bought in several varieties and sizes to suit each gardeners needs. There are also pads which can be purchased that work as a knee pad in the sense that you would put the pad in the spot you are hoping to kneel, and then simply kneel on it. This pad would not be attached to you in anyway, which can present a less-bulky solution.

Lastly, we can look at the tools you are using for gardening as an area in which we can alleviate pain. Many gardeners find that they experience joint pain in the upper portions of their bodies, especially when they are involved in larger landscaping projects. Such projects would include digging a new garden or digging a hole for tree planting. A simple solution to these types of problems would be to utilize ergonomically shaped gardening tools, such as shaped shovels or shaped rakes. These tools not only make you feel better while gardening, but as a result you will actually be more productive.

You can see that when it comes to making your gardening experience more pain-free, you have a plethora of options available.

Dontel Montelbaun is regular contributor to www.livetogarden.com and is a believer in consumers enjoying their gardening experience as much as possible.

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Planting Trees | Landscaping Tips for Using Trees

Let’s pretend that you live in an area of the suburbs that is heavily developed. You thankfully have a backyard large enough for a modest deck and perhaps a garden of similar stature. Further, image you enjoy spending your time outside. While you may enjoy spending time outside, the fact that your neighbors have the opportunity to look out their back windows and right onto your property can be upsetting and discouraging. After all who would want to have others watching their every move. Another result of the increased development in your area is that you have very little natural shade. Sure, your house casts a shadow over your land at a certain point, however it provides little refuge from the hot midday sun. Your solution to these problems is simple. You need to start planting trees.

Trees are great for a variety of reasons. They help clean up the environment, they provide resources for us to build our homes with as well as live our day to day lives and they provide a beautiful aesthetic for our landscape designs while also offering us privacy in our yards. If you do happen to live in our hypothetical suburb with little privacy and shade, then a tree would solve both your problems. A collection of trees outlining your property, or built up in the most exposed corner of your yard, would eliminate the amount of your backyard your neighbors can see. This would allow you to get outside and enjoy the fresh air without worrying about nosy neighbors seeing what you are doing.

Should you decide to purchase trees for the sake of avoiding the sun, be sure to place them in an area where they will provide the most shade for your landscape. Perhaps this is against the home, fence or on their own in a specific area of the yard where you want to create an oasis. Using trees for the purpose of reducing shade is an excellent practice, as you are cutting out the sun with a natural, aesthetically pleasing method.

Another benefit of using trees in your landscape is that they can attract various birds and other wildlife that can add an even greater sense of the outdoors to your suburban landscape. Asking a landscaping professional to help you with your tree identification and selection can help you determine which trees are the best for your landscape.

Dontel Montelbaun is a regular contributor to www.livetogarden.com and is a strong believer in using natural privacy objects and shade barriers.

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Landscaping Ideas | Part 3 – Your Guide to Patio Lighting

So you are outside sitting on your patio watching the sunset beyond your wooden fence, just between the knool post of the fence and your gazebo support beam. As you slowly sip the wine, beer or whatever you are drinking on this warm summer night, you realize that once that sun goes down, you’re light is gone and the fun is essentially over. Other than the street light about a hundred feet away you have little outdoor light for your patio. If you have patio lighting, you can enjoy your patio longer into the evening, which is especially handy if you have friends over, or just want to enjoy the summer’s night. Let’s look at some common patio lighting options that can both provide functionality and landscape aesthetics to your outdoor room.

Torch lights are the most traditional style of patio lighting that you can find. Presenting a very manual setup and take down, these patio lights are not the most convenient to operate, however they do provide users with a more tropical aesthetic. If you live in such an area or have done the landscaping to support such a decor then these torches are for you. You can also find torches with mosquito fighting properties to ensure that you are enjoying the night in comfort.

Hanging lights are another option for you patio. Hanging patio lights offer users the flexibility of being able to move their lighting wherever they wish. Further, these lights are easy to install and require only the flipping of a switch to turn on. If you have a smaller patio or a shorter summer season, these lights would be an excellent choice for you.

Lastly, in ground patio lights are another form of outdoor lighting that is very popular. This style of patio lighting offers users a more ‘high class’ aesthetic, which would blend in well if the rest of your outdoor decor and landscape also shared that design. These lights do require a large investment in regards to purchasing and installation, but what they add to your landscape more than makes up for any costs.

It is very easy to see that there are in fact several options for patio lighting, each with it’s own advantages. It is up to you the homeowner and patio user to determine which option is right for you, as well as how each option fits into your landscape design.

Dontel Montelbaun is a regular contributor to www.livetogarden.com and is an advocate for late nights outside enjoying the company of good friends.

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Gardening as it Pertains to Life

Gardening is a simple game, similar to life itself. Gardening and landscaping are all about taking what you have and maximizing the potential, similar to how we in life often try to maximize our own strengths in order to better our situations. In both cases the results are the same, we end up with beauty surpassing what we had before. Our gardens become more colorful, or at least leave us with the feeling of learning something new, and our lives become more satisfying, or at least different than they were previously.

I have always maintained that planting a seed is similar to having a child. In either case, you are starting something new, something exciting. You have no idea what will happen to the seed, only the best intentions. How you grow the seed is up to you; one can use a plethora of methods ranging from organic gardening, container gardening or even chemical gardening if the mood strikes you. Regardless, you want to grow the seed into the most beautiful and special plant within your garden.

Of course, the plant will eventually die. Fading back into which it came, as all things do, the plant will give itself to you and to your garden but then fade back into the foundation of its landscape. Such is the way of life and such is unavoidable. We as gardeners and as people are simply unable to avoid such a fate and simply bound to do our best at growing the best flowers and develop the best landscapes that we can. We are charged with enjoying the moments we spend with our seeds (both forms), knowing they will pass and that as they pass, each one becomes more and more precious to us.

I am in no way a master gardener, nor a master of life. However I do know that in each case, we need to enjoy what we have in front of us, knowing that it can all be taken at a whim.

Dontel Montelbaun is a regular contributor to www.livetogarden.com

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Landscaping and Gardening for Shelter and Privacy in your Backyard

When it comes to keeping your backyard a sacred and enjoyable place, your personal privacy plays a vital role. If you are like me and live in a suburban neighborhood, you will reach a point where you just expect to be under the constant microscope of your neighbors constantly peering into your backyard during the spring and summer. This can be both unsettling and very annoying, especially when going after that bronzed look we all love. That being the case, we should all be aware of the many landscaping and gardening options available that help keep our backyards a private place. Let’s look at a variety of outdoor living options that include outdoor shelters, as well as some gardening tips for keeping the backyard private and shaded.

When it comes to outdoor living, as mentioned, privacy and shelter from the sun can be tough to come by when living in a suburban city. Therefore, it is important that as much as possible, we take advantage of the variety of shelter and privacy options available. For instance, a temporary shelter such as an outdoor umbrella or an awning, present options that are both cheap and easily managed. Looking at permanent structures, we can see that there is much more effort as well as investment that goes into these outdoor living materials. That being the case, these structures often present the best value to the consumer, lasting years longer than the temporary shelters. Types of permanent shelters that can provide excellent privacy outside are trellises, pergolas, arbors, gazebos or even adding an extension to the roof of the home.

When it comes to gardening for the sake of shelter and privacy, the use of trees is an obvious recommendation. Tall trees that are thick leaved do the best job at preventing outsiders seeing into your yard. These trees also provide excellent shade, which depending on what you are looking to accomplish with your landscaping, can be an added benefit to your landscape.

Overall, when looking at which shelters make the most sense for your particular landscape, it is important to have a firm grasp on what exactly you want your shelters to accomplish. For example, privacy is a concern discussed above and if this is your concern, you want shelters that are less transparent and provide more coverage of your backyard. On the other hand, if you are looking to reduce sun exposure to your backyard, then shelters and plants that provide a more porous blockage of the sun are ideal.

Dontel Montelbaun is a regular contributor to www.livetogarden.com and is a supporter of private outdoor living as well as smart landscaping initiatives.

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