Author: Dennis Hickey

Food for Thought

A well-kept lawn is a beautiful sight and a standard attribute of residential yards. But it’s also very one-dimensional. Grass may be the largest irrigated crop in the country, but it’s also sadly inedible. All of the time and energy that goes into creating and maintaining an ornamental lawn, shrubs, and assorted plants would be better spent tending to an equally eye-catching landscape filled with food! With some helpful tips and tricks, you can transform your yawn of a yard into a produce-producing powerhouse.

 © istockphoto.com

Start Small

The process of gardening should be enjoyable, so be sure to start small. Rather than dig up the yard and transform every inch, choose a family-favorite food to add to existing flower borders, or pot some herbs and use them to fill out empty spaces in the landscape.

Beware of Foot Traffic

Be mindful not to place your edible garden too close to passersby on the sidewalk or street, or too tight to walkways leading to the front door. Dogs will see your plantings as an opportunity to pee, while kids may wind up stomping over your veggies. Direct foot traffic away from the garden with rocks, solar lights, a small fence, and other landscaping accessories.

Choose Low-Maintenance Edibles

Be honest with yourself about the amount of time you’re willing to spend tending to the garden. Swapping out a lawn for edible landscaping that requires a ton of maintenance defeats the purpose. Prioritize perennials, which require less upkeep than annuals.

 © istockphoto.com

Create an Edible Ground Cover

Plant spreading varieties for an easy way to turn a yard into an edible garden. Nasturtiums, for instance, are self-seeding annuals that add a pop of color in the spring. Herbs like oregano, thyme, and marjoram can withstand foot traffic, and they release a delicious fragrance into the air.

 © istockphoto.com

Accent With Ornamentals and Structures

Not everything has to be edible! When building out an edible garden, create dimension and intrigue by incorporating shade-tolerant ornamentals in areas that don’t see enough sunlight for edibles to thrive. Break up the greenery with garden structures like trellises and statues.

Take Note of Size, Texture, and Shape

Without proper planning, an edible garden will look messy. Different edibles vary in size, texture, shape, and even color. Keep these variations in mind as you design your garden. Group together like plants, ensuring that low-growing ones are situated at the front of the flower bed and high-growing ones in the back.

Know What You Like

Incorporating edible plants into your landscaping should be about taste as well as looks! If you’re not a fan of zucchini, why plant it? Figure out which foods you desire most, and consider how those plants can be used. Blueberries, for example, offer beautiful spring flowers, vibrant color, and delicious flavor, and they also make for great hedge plants.

Be Mindful of Sunlight

Be sure to plant edibles in locations that receive enough light. Most edibles do best with 6 to 8 hours of full sunlight. Cool-season plants like lettuce and cabbage can tolerate a little more shade.

 © istockphoto.com

Create an Edible Trellis

A number of edibles are known for their bounty as well as their aesthetics. Vining edibles such as beans, peas, squash, tomatoes, cucumbers, and melons can be trained to grow vertically (and beautifully) along a trellis.

Welcome Wildlife Allies

Bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies are just some of the pollinators that improve the success of a vegetable garden. They help plants set fruit, ensuring a bountiful harvest. Welcome wildlife allies by planting attractive flowers like lavender and providing sources of shelter and water for these busy workers.

Article written by Alexa Erickson  for bobvila©

Source: 10 Tips for Turning Your Yawn of a Yard into an Incredible Edible Landscape (msn.com)

There’s no arguing that a healthy, green houseplant looks good just about anywhere. Something about those lush leaves or beachy palm fronds can really amplify the vibe in any space. But when it feels like you’re only seeing green, adding a pop of color from a flowering indoor plant can be a sight for sore eyes.

Before you go running off to the closest greenhouse, keep in mind: Your new blooming buddy might require more TLC than that snake plant in your corner. Like any species of plant or flower, each has its own set of “rules” for ensuring it blooms and grows to its fullest potential. While these vary, Erin Marino, plant expert and director of brand marketing at The Sill, has some general tips:

© Photo: Getty Images/Carol Yepes Flowering indoor plants

• For light: “Indoor plants that bloom usually require more sunlight—bright direct to bright indirect—and frequent waterings than other plants,” she says. “You’ll want to make sure your space receives enough bright light for your new houseplant to thrive and support its flowers, or that you invest in supplemental lighting.”
• For water: According to Marino, you’ll probably find yourself watering flowering plants more often than those that don’t bloom. That means you may want to invest in a good self-draining pot: “It depends on the specific plant whether it likes to dry out between waterings or remain semi-moist,” she says. “Either way, good drainage is key.”
• For soil: Fertilizing your blooming houseplants can also help encourage more flowers. “Fertilizer isn’t food but nutrients, similar to those your plant would get out in its natural habitat,” Marino says. She suggests always checking the fertilizer label for directions and notes that some flowering plants, like orchids, even have their own fertilizers developed just for them.

Ready to add some color to that green thumb? Below are six flowering indoor plants to check out (as if you needed another reason to expand your collection…)

6 pretty flowering indoor plants for beautiful blooms

1. Phalaenopsis Orchid© Provided by Well+Good Caring for tropical plants can be hard indoors but the amount of light, humidity, and temperature often have to be juuust right. Want a jungly feel, but don’t want to turn your living room into a greenhouse? The phalaenopsis, AKA the “beginner orchid,” is a good place to start. “This is one of the easiest varieties of orchids to grow as a houseplant,” says Marino. Although these plants only open once a year, their flowers are total knockouts for 3 to 4 months. Marino suggests unclipping the stalks of the orchid’s blooms, so they grow naturally and really spark that wild, jungle vibe.
2. Peace Lily© Provided by Well+Good Fun fact: While peace lilies “bloom” in white, their real flowers are the spike-shaped spadix, or barb, that’s sits inside the white leaf. Regardless, the stark contrast between its vivid white leaves and its lush green stalks make it an instant classic in any space. “I love the peace lily because it’s such a full, bushy plant which makes for a great houseplant,” says Marino. “It’ll add a pop of green to any space year-round.”
3. African Violets© Provided by Well+Good These hearty houseplants are a low-maintenance way to incorporate color in your indoor plantscape. “They can adapt to a wide range of conditions and there are many varieties to choose from, with all different colored flowers,” says Marino. Pro tip: Marino recommends trying the bottom-up watering method to feed your African violets, allowing them to pull water up from a saucer through drainage hole. This will keep their potting soil moist while their fuzzy leaves remain dry.
4. Bromeliad© Provided by Well+Good Bromeliads are a beautiful flowering plant known for their lasting blooms. With over 1,000 different species (including the pineapple, which yes—you can grow in your living room!), these plants come in a variety of vibrant colors. The best part is, they’re pretty easy to care for. Joyce Mast, a horticulturist and Bloomscape’s resident plant mom, says light to medium indirect light should suffice with a little bit of water about every two weeks.
5. Anthurium© Provided by Well+Good Planning some serious summer entertainment post-COVID? Welcome your guests over with a bright, leafy anthurium. “The anthurium symbolizes hospitality with its open heart-shaped flower and inspires happiness and abundance,” says Mast. “These beauties will enjoy a warm and bright spot in your home and a bit of extra humidity.”
6. Christmas Cactus© Provided by Well+Good Despite their nickname, these plants are actually tropical in origin and make an excellent addition to any indoor garden. The Christmas cactus (or Zygocactus, if you want to get technical) grows in long, segmented vines that bloom at the end in whites, pinks, corals, and deep reds. While they’ll look great on a windowsill, Mast recommends giving their lanky vines some room to stretch out in either a hanging planter or on a floating shelf. “Just make sure there is never any standing water in the saucer of the bottom of the pot,” she says.

Article by Francesca Krempa for Well + Good

Source: 6 Flowering Indoor Plants That’ll Add a Pop of Color to Any Space (msn.com)

You likely wouldn’t be surprised to learn rock gardens originated in East Asia, but many of the modern iterations we see today have their roots in 17th-century Europe and America. Early Asian rock gardens were focused on unusual rock forms, while Western rock gardens were inspired by beautiful mountain ranges that people wanted to recreate on their own properties. Either way, both sides of the world developed rock gardens to bring joy, peace, and tranquility into their daily lives, and these rock garden ideas will assist you in doing just that in your own backyard.

Whether you have sprawling green space or a minuscule patio, there are plenty of rock garden varieties to fit your landscaping needs. From classic Japanese gardens to modern outdoor art fixtures, our favorite rock garden ideas below are sure to inspire.

 © Bryan Mullennix – Getty Images

 © Wolfgang Kaehler – Getty Images

Bliss Out

Ryōan-ji is Japan’s most famous rock garden, residing in the capital city of Kyoto. This garden is enclosed by clay walls and serves as a meditation space for monks studying at Myoshin-ji school of Zen Buddhism.

 © Jim Steinfeldt – Getty Images

Desert Dreams

This desert scene is from Moorten Botanical Garden, an iconic Palm Springs destination for exploring the area’s unique flora and fauna. Several varieties of cacti offer a fun twist on the classic rock garden.

 © fotolinchen – Getty Images

Green Peace

This rock garden offers the best of both worlds, with plenty of greenery and flowers surrounding the stones. Plus, the water feature makes for some lovely background noise.

 © NurPhoto – Getty Images

All Who Wander

This tranquil outdoor space belongs in the historic Chicago Botanic Garden. A large stone path creates interest and keeps your smaller rocks looking pristine.

 © wweagle – Getty Images

Sweet Streams

This beautiful streamside rock garden is lovely inspiration for those with more narrow space or who love being close to water. It serves as a stunning backdrop for all of your outdoor gatherings.

You can view more images of rock gardens by clicking the link below.

This article was written by Lauren Wicks  for Veranda©

Source: These 12 Rock Garden Ideas Will Bring Tranquility To Any Home (msn.com)

Creating stunning borders is the highlight of having a garden. Seeing those rich beds in full bloom and bursting with colour is what makes all of those hours of weeding and digging worthwhile. But thriving, luscious flower borders can be expensive – especially when you are starting from scratch.

Fortunately there are ways to get rich herbaceous borders on a budget. So let me share my top money-saving tips for frugal flowerbeds that can still take your breath away.

FRAMEWORK OF FEATURES

When designing any flower border, you need a framework of strong, reliable specimens that will anchor the planting. These are your permanent fixtures – once these are in place you can work around them with seasonal varieties.

Shrubs, trees and evergreens provide a great base for your flowers, as well as giving the border structure in winter. Plant a few feature specimens throughout the border.

A few smaller garden trees that are sure to brighten up your borders are:

• Acer palmatum (Japanese maple)

• Prunus (cherry)’Kiku-shidare-zakura’

• Salix caprea (Kilmarnock willow)

• Prunus (cherry) ‘Amanogawa’

However, these are not always cheap. You can save money by buying young plants and letting them grow to size, if you have the patience. Or for an instant effect you can try fast-growing shrubs that will quickly fill the empty spaces such as:

• Hydreangea

• Rosa glauca

• Spiraea japonica

AFFORDABLE ANNUALS

For fast results, sow annual flowers. These germinate, bloom and set seed all in one season, so they act fast and can transform a bare plot.

They come in all sizes, shapes and colours imaginable, so it’s worth scouring your local garden retailer for seeds that you love.

• Poppy

• Aster

• Cosmos

• Sweet pea

• Zinnia

• Dahlia

• Begonia

• Verbena

• Sweet alyssum

• Sunflower

PRETTY PERENNIALS

The cheapest way to buy new plants is from seed. But they can take a long time to reach maturity, leaving you with a half-empty bed.

However, there are some varieties that grow fast. These are all strong perennials that will flower in one season:

• Achillea

• Delphinium

• Coreopsis

• Agastache

Sow them in early spring and you can have striking, flowering plants by the summer.

These popular herbaceous border plants will flower the second year after sowing, so it’s worth getting them in the ground too:

• Lupin

• Aquilegia

• Foxglove

DIVIDE PERENNIALS AND BULBS

Make more plants for free by dividing what’s already in your garden. Large perennials and groups of bulbs can become congested, which reduces their flowering.

Dig them up, split them and replant around the garden for more, and more vigorous, plants. Divide perennial plants in spring or autumn, and bulbs as soon as flowering is finished.

Article written by David Domoney

Source: How to Create a Herbaceous Border on a Budget (daviddomoney.com)

“Don’t get too attached,” said my friend Kathleen. My first sugar snap pea plant was suffering an infestation of some sort, and it looked faded and thin. “Gardening is rife with heartbreak,” she added. This was one of many tidbits my friend offered during my first tentative foray into gardening. While this was not the advice I wanted, embracing failure was exactly the insight I needed to succeed. 

As a writer, I’m intimately familiar with the phrase “murder your darlings,” a reference to letting precious turns of phrase surrender to the delete key in service of the larger work. But when it came to attempting a garden of my own, overwhelm and fear of failure immediately shrouded me in doubt. Did I want to build raised beds or sow directly into the ground? What could I plant where? What if critters ate everything? 

During the first summer of the COVID-19 pandemic, my friend and I conferred about gardening via the Marco Polo video messaging app. I’d pepper her with questions and she’d offer  abundant gardening know-how and encouragement, taking obvious delight in mentoring a novice. Her advice to not give up if a plant didn’t survive—the ultimate fate of my sugar snap pea plant—gave me the gumption to keep growing.

If you’re a novice, the idea of designing your own garden might feel daunting, as it did for me. This is especially true when comparison-itis strikes; how could my seedling of an idea compare to the lush, sophisticated bounty of experienced gardeners like Kathleen? For me, the trick to getting started was letting inspiration be my guide and dividing the project into achievable steps, nurtured with patient advice from other gardeners.

GIVE YOUR GARDEN A PURPOSE

It might seem like gardening is simply a matter of choosing a location and creating a grid for planting. However, it can be inspiring to start by giving your garden a purpose. Do you want to grow your own food, herbs or flowers—or all of the above? 

My friend Kathleen is an “all of the above” gardener, her front yard a head-turning neighborhood floral oasis, complete with bird feeders and bright, chalky-blue Adirondack chairs. Her gardening aesthetic runs in the direction of nuance and detail, Latin plant names embedded in her memory like those of treasured friends. She even created a spreadsheet for me to plan my next garden, including what supplies to buy and when. 

In contrast, my plant vibe tends more toward instincts and appetites: ”How hard will it be to grow a rainbow coneflower bed like my neighbor around the block?” or ”Will this taste good in a salsa?” In fact, “pico de gallo” was my first garden theme, a nod to my insatiable appetite for summer-grilled steak and shrimp fajitas and an idea that felt simple, achievable, and delicious. I planted zesty serranos and jalapeños, cilantro, and Roma tomatoes bursting with bright summer flavor, supplemented with red onion from my farmers market and grocery store limes.

DECIDE WHETHER TO START WITH SEEDS OR PLANTS

There’s no right or wrong way to go when deciding whether to start from seed or purchase plants. Neither method is necessarily better except in two respects: timing and space. Timing matters because seeds need more time to grow and often must be planted indoors a few weeks before the last frost of the year. That’s where space comes in – you’ll need somewhere indoors to start seeds under a grow lamp until the seedlings are hardy enough to plant outdoors.

Because I got started late in the season, seeds were not an option. My small town northwest of Chicago has a quaint Victorian town square with a bustling farmers market, so I got most of my plants there. However, the “Fourth of July” slicing tomato plant I scored for two bucks at the local hardware store turned out to be a family favorite, too—including my tomato-averse middle child. 

Tip: Wherever you get your plants or seeds, chat up the growers who work there. Experienced local gardeners can be invaluable assets who are often happy to share their knowledge.

START WHERE YOU ARE: DESIGN YOUR GARDEN BASED ON YOUR NEEDS

If you don’t feel ready to plant a full-scale garden on your first try, that’s okay. Consider a kitchen window herb garden, or plop a cherry tomato plant into a hefty pot and see what happens. Whatever your available space and knowledge level, you’ll want to give some thought to which type of garden to plant.

Getty Images

CONTAINERS, RAISED BEDS OR IN THE GROUND?

The sizable garden my dad grew during my childhood seemed effortless—probably because I wasn’t the one doing the bulk of the work. He’d till the soil with a pitchfork, shirtless under the optimistic rays of Midwestern spring. By late summer, we’d stand in the garden before dinner, unable to resist savoring crisp green beans and the tender tang of deep red slicing tomatoes plucked straight from the vine. 

Because I wanted to start on a smaller scale, I opted for a container garden. Buoyed by early success with spring lettuces and herbs, a couple of pots quickly grew into a collection that claimed half of our brick patio. Easier to weed, container gardening is ideal for people with limited space or mobility issues, where bending down to tend plants can be challenging. The potted plants are convenient to move around to capture sunlight throughout a day or season. You can add cages to support tomatoes and potatoes and trellises for climbers like cucumbers and beans. However, container gardens require more frequent watering and are not ideal for larger produce like melons or squash. 

For my second growing season, I ordered pre-made raised bed kits recommended by Kathleen rather than build them myself, since I’m about as handy as Homer Simpson. A raised bed garden has sides made from wood or metal and is a good option for areas where the ground is nutrient-poor or dense from clay composition. Once you’ve done the work of building and filling the raised beds, you’ll want to amend them with compost each season before planting. Raised beds are easier to access for weeding and harvesting. Root vegetables like carrots, parsnips and turnips like the extra depth of raised beds full of fluffy soil for setting down roots. If you’re not handy, you can order raised bed kits from garden centers like I did.

Gardening directly in the ground like my dad used to do is a great choice for people with ample growing space in a sunny spot, but you may need to add nutrient-rich topsoil and compost. Your local cooperative extension service is an invaluable gardening resource for learning about additions you may need to add to the soil. This national network of university departments provides help to farmers and gardeners, answering questions about plants, pest control, and soil quality. Once you’ve dug your garden, the sky’s the limit in terms of what you can grow within your hardiness zone.

KNOW YOUR GROW ZONE

Not every type of plant thrives in every environment due to variations in soil type, amount of annual rainfall, and length of growing season. The U.S. is divided into 13 plant hardiness zones developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, based on average annual minimum winter temperatures. 

To find your planting zone, the USDA has a searchable plant hardiness zone map. Seed packets and plant tags list the optimal zones for planting; if you’re unsure, check with local garden center staff, online gardening websites and your local cooperative extension service are good resources.

Accepting that gardening can at times test your will or even break your heart wasn’t the only thing my friend taught me. Gardening is also inherently about generosity, both from the plants themselves and the people who love growing them, ready to share advice, suggestions and homegrown produce.

Article WRITTEN BY TONI MCLELLAN for Kitchenaid.com

Source: Designing Your Own Garden | KitchenAid Stories