Gardens of Rest

If we cherish the belief that a garden design must be a place of restfulness as well as a place of visual beauty, then water must surely be the essential ingre?dient. Of all nature's elements, water is the one that brings a feeling of peace to the landscape. It plays on all the senses- sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste- and offers a cornucopia of design possi?bilities in gardens of all sizes and styles.On a grand scale, imagine a country garden design complete with a lake edged by gently sloping banks, a meandering stream spanned by a Monet-style bridge; on a minimal scale, think of a Japanese water fountain with a stone water bowl providing a cool resting place for native birds.Our Past Heritage of Water Garden Design The role of water in garden design has a long and illustrious history, both in the East and in Western gardens. During .. more»

There are so many great gift ideas for garden lovers these days.? One great idea is to consider lovely solar garden statues.? They come in many shapes and sizes and use the power of the sun to provide hours of illumination in any garden landscape.? Although the shapes vary, there are 3 basic themes to these shapes.? Consider one of them for your garden lover.Animals and NatureMost garden lovers have an affinity for nature and animals.? Dogs, frogs, squirrels, deer, and even snails can be found in various poses with solar light accents or spotlights.? These cute statues can spice up a landscape bed or even a porch step as a greeting.? Consider the type of animals your garden lover likes.? Who wouldn't like to include animals in their plant landscape where nature intended?? Some can even be found holding words of welcome, a clear sign that would entice anyone .. more»

Winter garden ideas, particularly in areas that have freezing temperatures, should be based on what you can do as a gardener to counter it. Yes, for those who are willing to face this challenge, harvesting from your garden will be a very gratifying experience. Basically, the challenge lies in how you can prevent this condition from killing your vegetable. The following are some winter garden ideas that may help:If your garden is in a green house, it will help greatly in countering the temperature problem. The choice of vegetables to plant will play a big role. There are vegetables that are more tolerant to low temperatures than others. Good lists of these are available on the Internet. Check it out, and do some research. You must plant them in October, when conditions are more permitting, and hope that they are fully grown during the freezing months.You need to control your .. more»

Through the use of an effective vegetable garden design scheme you will have a vegetable plot to supply most, if not all of your vegetable needs through out the year.What a lot of people getting involved in the vegetable gardening field don't know is that you have to work at it all year round. You may only be harvesting crops in spring, summer and fall but you will be out in the late fall and through out the winter preparing it for the coming year.Through the utilisation of proper vegetable garden design you will have chores to do all year long and this is turn will reward you hopefully with a bumper crop year on year. Some of the chores that have to be attended to in the late fall / early winter are-Dig the ground to get hard lumps to the surface - the frost will break it down .. more»

A garden is the first point of contact for the visitors. It is an extension of your home and the garden furniture gives an idea about the decor of your home. It is important that you coordinate the outdoors with the indoors, to make your home attractive. Blending the outdoor furniture items with indoor furniture items is the first step towards coordinating. The backyard may have a different theme, but your home and the garden should have a similar theme. If not similar, the style should at least complement each other. It is not necessary to use the same colors. In fact, you can use contrasting colors for uniqueness. However, the furniture type is very important. You cannot have rattan furniture in the outdoors, and wrought iron furniture indoors. This is a mismatch. Rattan garden furniture would blend well with wooden home furniture. The idea is to have some basic .. more»

LED garden lights are the ultimate in energy efficiency; they will light your garden ten times longer than fluorescent lamps and at least twenty times longer than incandescent bulbs. Heat free in use and free from mercury, LED lights are the safest form of lighting to have around the house and garden, especially when there are children around.Because they are so energy efficient when compared to standard bulbs and fluorescent lamps, we use less electricity; this in turn means that there are less carbon emissions from the large power companies. If you've ever sat close to a halogen bulb for any length of time, you will know that they can throw out an amazing amount of heat, LED lights emit very little heat at all, so they're safer to have around, especially on a wooden deck or where there are children.And, if you're really green, because LED lights use so .. more»