Gardening/Lawn Care

Many people find gardening an incredibly relaxing hobby. A hobby that allows them to get in touch with the earth and themselves. On the other hand, according to real estate appraisers, landscape design is one of the main reasons homes sell, and beautiful plantings can increase property value 15 percent. Plants are a valuable addition to a home, especially trees. They increase in value as they mature. Whether you just became homeowner or you already mastered Your gardening and landscaping you will find practical and easy to implement gardening tips and projects. LOOKING FOR A LANDSAPING CONSULTANT? – call our referral center 317-797-3880 or click here to request a referral. Backyard Landscaping Basics Decorating Your Lawn for Maximum Impact Great Lawn in No Time at All Grow a kitchen herb garden in 5 easy steps Japanese Garden Planning the Perfect Lawn Design Planting Your Rose Garden

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Gardening

Whether you just became a home owners or you are already mastered you gardening and landscaping you will find a few good tips and tricks

Backyard Landscaping Basics

Unity in Your Backyard
One of the main goals of any backyard landscaping project should be to achieve a sense of unity. This can be accomplished in your backyard via repetition, consistency or by selecting and designing your overall backyard landscaping around a particular theme.

Repetition in Your Backyard
Repetition is important because if you have too many different kinds of plants and decorative elements in your backyard, it can make your backyard look cluttered. In order to achieve a sense of repetition, choose selected plants or plant groups, and repeat them throughout your backyard.

Consistency in Your Backyard Landscaping
Along with repetition, it is important to have a sense of consistency in your backyard landscaping. Consistency refers to unifying a backyard by choosing plants that have similar height, color, sizes, and textures. By keeping your plant or decoration selections consistent, you create a sense of unity that makes it feel as if your backyard is not a series of bits and pieces stuck together, but a uniform whole. To create a sense of consistency you might choose two or three favorite colors and limit your plant selections only to those that feature your selected colors.

Your Backyard Theme
Of course, one of the simplest ways to unify your backyard landscaping is to choose a particular theme, such as a cottage, rose, or even a butterfly garden theme, and then design your backyard. Select only those plants and decorative elements that are appropriate for your preferred theme.

Decorating Your Lawn for Maximum Impact

Sometimes, a well-manicured lawn just is not enough to win that coveted "Lawn of the Month" award from your homeowner's association. But with these lawn decorating ideas, you are sure to put together a look that will win the contest and get rave reviews from your jealous neighbors.

So the race is on to see who will win the next lawn award. You cut your lawn perfectly and you edge it ever so gently. You water it exactly like you are supposed to and provide it with life-giving nutrients. But you never wake up to the award sign in your front yard. What's missing? The answer might just be some creative lawn decoration.

• Wood or Cement Benches.Decorating with a well-placed wooden or cement bench will do wonders for your lawn. Not only are they convenient and comfortable, but there is just something about a lawn with a wooden or cement bench. It gives the lawn an air of relaxation.
• Trellis.A bamboo or wooden trellis is a great decorating idea for you to add to your lawn. Your trellis can be decorated with vines and flowers. You can even build a walkway from your home right up to and through the trellis into your backyard. This is a very chic project.
• Pond and Fountain.For the water and fish lovers, decorating with a pond or fountain in your lawn will give it that wildlife refuge look. Get a good contractor with a reputation for installing ponds and fountains, and you will soon catch the eye of everyone in the neighborhood.
• Rock Trail.Soft, round stones are a very beautiful and extremely affordable. A trip to your local home and garden center will provide you with several styles to choose from for decorating. A rock trail around your home is great for the view as well as getting in your daily exercise.
• Pine Straw Islands.Pine straw islands are a great decorating idea if you want to reduce the overall size of your lawn. You can also plant flowers and shrubbery in your pine straw beds to add to the aura of your lawn. Pine straw is easily obtained and affordable, as well.

Great Lawn in No Time at All

Your neighbor is out in his yard every weekend, weeding, planting, mowing. Of course his yard looks great. But guess what? Even if you don't have weekends full of spare time you can still have a spectacular yard. It all comes down to making a few wise landscaping and gardening choices. Here are a few pointers to help you get a gorgeous yard in no time.

You don't consider landscaping your number one priority? Unbelievable! Good thing you don't have to in order to have a good looking yard. Here are a few landscaping and gardening tricks you can use for a great yard in a fraction of the time.

Think Groundcover
Grass is great - all that beautiful green - but a little less lawn means a lot less time working on the yard. Beautiful ground covers like bearberry, lilyturf, or Baltic English ivy don't require mowing and can make great landscaping fillers, especially in hard to maintain areas - corners, slopes, etc. Just watch out for groundcovers marketed as "extremely vigorous," since vigorous is sometimes a synonym for "crazy plant that will take over your yard."

Know How to Water Your Lawn
Think you need to be out there every night, moving the sprinkler around? Think again. One of the best gardening time savers as well as overall lawn health booster is less frequent, deeper watering. Once or twice a week should do it.

Mow the Lawn a Little Less Often
Turns out longer lawns are happier lawns. Rather than giving your lawn a close shave each and every Saturday without fail, let it grow a little. It'll shade out weeds, develop a strong root system, and give you back a big green smile. Just make sure you don't let it get out of control and cut it back vigorously all at once. Removing no more than 1/3 its length at a time is a good rule of thumb.

You don't have to devote your life to landscaping and gardening in order to have a great yard. Make a few wise choices, and you'll have a great yard in no time at all.

Grow a kitchen herb garden in 5 easy steps

Herb gardens are relatively carefree, which makes them ideal for the novice gardener. And with minimal planning and preparation, your herb garden -- whether on a windowsill or in a flowerbed in your backyard -- will produce flavorful herbs that can be cut fresh for you to enjoy anytime in your low-carb recipes.

Choose the herbs you like to eat
Select the herbs you already use when planning your garden. Low-carb advocate Karen Barnaby, executive chef at The Fish House in Stanley Park, Vancouver, British Columbia, names basil, parsley, tarragon, mint and cilantro as the herbs she uses most often. Barnaby's cookbook, The Low-Carb Gourmet offers several low-carb recipes that include the fresh flavor of herbs.

Shirley Jump, an author from Fort Wayne, Indiana, has enjoyed eating low-carb for nearly three years. "I use basil, rosemary and cilantro a great deal. I grow them in my garden, as well as dill, oregano and thyme," she says. One of the simplest ways to enjoy the taste of herbs in recipes, she says, is to experiment: "I love to slip fresh herbs under the skin of a chicken so they infuse into the meat when it's baking."

Don't stop with the aromatic plants you have known all your life. "Most people don't realize that herbs can be used with desserts," says Barnaby. "Basil goes well with strawberries, mint pairs nicely with blueberries, lavender is wonderful in creamy desserts like custards, and whipping cream with tarragon is quite fine with blackberries."

Select a location
Location is everything, especially when choosing the perfect spot for your herb garden. Planting it close to your home makes spur-of-the-moment picking easy. Wherever you plant, keep in mind that it's much easier to maintain a garden where every plant is easy to reach than one where plants are inaccessible. Most herbs, especially those used for culinary purposes, like sunny, hot and dry conditions.

Strawberry jars and large pots make wonderful containers and can be placed on the patio close to the door. "Many herbs are variegated, fragrant and beautiful, which makes them ideal for window boxes," says Deb Bragg, a master gardener from Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Most herbs flourish in full sunlight, although a few herbs -- such as angelica, catnip, chervil, chives, feverfew, germander, lemon balm, lovage and sweet woodruff -- tolerate or prefer at least partial shade.

Plant the herbs
While some herbs such as lavender require special soils, Bragg suggests that even poor soil is sufficient for most herbs. But if the nutrient level of your soil is a concern, add compost for nourishment. Mulching is also a good idea because it cuts down on weeding and watering and improves the soil.

Maintain your garden
If you have planned and planted well, the herb garden only requires watering and weeding. Watering deeply every few days to moisten eight inches or so below the soil encourages root growth and is actually better than sprinkling the soil surface every day. You can weed daily or weekly, but weed you must because weeds compete for the same nutrients and water and can stifle the growth of your herbs.

Harvest your fresh, beautiful herbs
Once your herb garden begins growing, you can harvest it every day. To enjoy the most flavor, take early morning cuttings or young leaves before their plants bloom.

Herbs are celebrated for many uses, but they most often earn their keep by being wonderfully fragrant and delicious for cooking. Fresh, homegrown herbs picked just moments before you use them add so much zest to cooked and uncooked dishes, you'll wonder how you ever managed without them!

Herbal Vinegar
Adapted from a recipe by Paula Cox of Leo, Indiana

Pour one pint of boiling white wine or cider vinegar over 1/2 cup cleaned fresh herbs. Cover the container tightly and set in a cool, dark place. Lightly shake the container daily. In two to three weeks, strain the vinegar and place in a decorative jar with a sprig of the herb, then cork and label.

Herbal Butter
Recipe by Karen Barnaby of Vancouver, British Columbia

Place 1/2 cup room-temperature sweet unsalted butter and 3 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs in a blender or food processor and mix until smooth. Roll into a log and refrigerate. It can be sliced and put on meats and vegetables. Garlic, shallot or green onion and citrus zest can also be added.

Pesto
Adapted from a recipe by Paula Cox of Leo, Indiana

Place 4 cups packed fresh basil leaves, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 cup grated Romano cheese, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons pine nuts and salt to taste into a blender or food processor. Mix until it is the consistency of soft butter. Drizzle 1 cup of olive oil into mixture and stir. Serve immediately

Japanese Garden

Japanese gardening has long been embraced by western gardeners. Living in a world that is increasingly chaotic, the Japanese garden - with its emphasis on serenity, contemplation, and quiet - has become increasingly appealing.

To seriously consider whether to cultivate a Japanese garden or just incorporate some of its elements in your existing garden, you'll first need to learn some of its defining characteristics.

With its focus on simplicity, it comes as little surprise that Japanese gardening relies on just a few natural elements: sand, stone, and plants. During the 15th century Zen Buddhism ushered in one of the most common styles of Japanese garden: the dry landscape garden.

Dry Landscape or "Flat" Garden
Dry landscape gardens consist of sand, stone, and moss. Usually they take the form of a flat, geometric surface. The sand, or gravel, is raked into ripples to represent water. On top of the sand one or two vertical stones are placed at a distance from each other. Rocks are typically covered in moss. The simplicity of such gardens is intentional as their minimalist features are thought to promote a clear mind.

Strolling Garden
As its name suggests, strolling gardens are designed for slow, relaxing walks that promote tranquillity. Such gardens carry visitors along narrow footpaths that wind through moss-covered landscapes that change with every few steps. You'll encounter different arrangements of rocks, bushes, and wooded areas. Water also plays an important role in strolling gardens - you'll hear and see water falls and streams. A moon bridge will lead you over a pond reflecting the surrounding foliage. As with all Japanese gardens, the strolling garden is designed to promote relaxation.

Tea Garden
Tea gardens provide a special place for enjoying a much beloved tradition of the Japanese: tea drinking. These small tea houses, which are open and airy, often overlook a pond surrounded by large trees and other plants. Tea gardens are small, often consisting of no more than 300 square yards.

Japanese Gardening Tips
If you want to stay true to the Japanese gardening tradition, stay away from too much color. Rich hues of green dominate most Japanese gardens along with patches of white gravel and stones. Also, Japanese gardens - unlike classical French gardens - endeavour to embrace nature in its pristine form. Try to maintain a natural look and you'll likely be closer to aping the tranquil feeling enjoyed in an authentic Japanese garden.

Planning the Perfect Lawn Design

Very few homeowners love their lawns enough to plan them out before they develop them. But if you want an award-winning lawn, you should follow these lawn design tips.

All homeowners could benefit from practical lawn design ideas. These are the basic suggestions of lawn care specialists that will give you the best looking lawn on the block. From initial planning to final development, follow these five simple design steps for maximum impact.

1. Map It Out.Take out a pencil and paper and sketch out your proposed lawn design. Sketching your lawn design on paper gives it a finality that it didn't have before. It will also prompt you to get started.
2. Know Your Landscaping.Either before or after you begin sketching out your lawn design - you should take a casual stroll around your property to see all of its various characteristics. See what's already there and what you would like to add.
3. Make Your Beds.One of the best things you can do to get that picture-perfect lawn is to include some various flower and plant beds in your design.
4. Cutting Plan.The way you cut your lawn depends a great deal on your particular design. Your cutting lines should be done in such a way so as to highlight the best aspects of your lawn design and deemphasize the worst aspects.
5. Consult a Professional.A trip to your local home and garden center will give you access to a variety of professionals that will be more than happy to help. Show them your lawn design and find out if there are ways you can improve upon it.

Planting Your Rose Garden

Proper planting is essential to growing and sustaining a beautiful rose garden. Here are a few tips on planting that could improve your likelihood of cultivating healthy, vibrant rose bushes.

Gardening Tip #1: Location is Everything
It's important to pay attention to where you plant your roses. Regular exposure to wind can wreck havoc on their petals and leaves. Be sure to plant them along a border such as a wall or hedge than can allow for plenty of air circulation while mitigating the negative effects of strong winds.

Good soil drainage is also important for healthy rose bushes. Test a spot by digging an 18-inch hole and filling it with a bucket of water. If the hole doesn't drain within a few hours, you may need to take steps to improve the soil's capacity to drain through tilling and other gardening methods.

Also be on the lookout for less obvious threats to your rose bushes, such as close proximity to cramped walkways - you don't want the postal carrier or family members regularly brushing against your bushes. Keep bushes away from gutters where large amounts of rain or debris might fall. Finally, avoid planting your rose garden near a big tree or plant; rose bushes don't like to compete for sunlight and water.

Gardening Tip #2: When to Plant Your Rose Garden
If you don't live in an area where winter freezes are common, you can plant your rose bushes in late fall. If freezing temperatures are a threat, however, wait until the spring to plant your bushes. Early planting gives you an advantage in that the bush has already started growing by the time spring arrives. However, freezing temperatures can kill a rose bush.

Gardening Tip #3: Enrich the Soil
Rose bushes will do better with rich soil. You can improve the quality of your soil by adding peat moss or compost. It's also a good idea to remove any existing roots and rocks within the depths of the 18-inch planting hole.

With a little planning, preparation, and physical labor, you can have a beautiful rose garden.