Zinnia: My Small Garden

 This year Zinnias were the garden stars along with sunflowers and glass gem corn

My Small Garden, Photos2

 

My Small Garden Photos

A great year for corn and sunflowers. 

 

Nasturiums

I Have a serious liking for nasturtiums.

Create a Balcony-Container Garden

Balconies and containers make a great garden.

If you want to create a balcony garden then there are a few things you need to do.

First and possibly the most important step is to ask yourself, how much time do you have to spend taking care of the garden? Balcony gardens usually take the form of plants in containers and may actually require more attention than a backyard garden does.

Balconies can be hot, dry and windy spots and this means that your plants will need to be watered frequently. You will also need to check on them regularly to determine if watering or other attention is required. Pests and diseases can affect the balcony garden.

The second determination you will need to make is how much sunlight the balcony receives. This, in part, determines what you can grow. If your balcony is heavily shaded then most vegetables are out but shade plants are in.

This is where the right plant, right place (RPRP) guideline comes in handy. You place a plant in the location where its needs are met and that plant will flourish if something is lacking, water, soil, food, then the plant may die or languish. So select your plants with knowledge and care.

Now that you know the light conditions, you can decide how much space you want to allow for the garden. You will need room to move around to care for and harvest. What else do you use your balcony for?

The last question is are you growing herbs, vegetables, fruit, yes you can grow dwarf apple trees on a balcony if the conditions are right, or ornamentals.

Once you have answered all the questions you can draft your garden plan. This does not need to be elaborate, a pencil sketch on a piece of paper will do. Simply indicate where the plants will go and be sure to include anything else that may be on your balcony, chairs, for example.

The plan is not carved in stone and you can make adjustments as you go; it is designed to keep your focused and not to get carried away.

It is easy enough to buy more plants than you can use when you visit a garden centre. It can be difficult to resist some of the floral beauties that are teasing you into taking them home.

Use your garden plan to develop a plant list and do your best to stick to the list. It can be helpful to talk with the garden centre manager or a horticultural expert and explain your plan, before buying.

Balcony gardening is as rewarding as any other form of gardening as long as you follow the few simple steps that I have outlined. Most importantly, have fun gardening is a joy, not a chore.

Deck and Small Garden:

A friend filled the deck containers today. so soon, I will plant the flowers I have started indoors. This is an experiment as I have not started flowers from seed before, vegetables, sure.

The Small Garden will be cleaned and prepped next week.

Favourite Fower Photos

I do not have one favourite when it comes to flowers, but many. This is one. Do you have a favourite Post a photo in the comment section.

Garden Design Fundamentals

There are two things that you need to remember when designing a garden. Pay attention to both and you will create a space that you and your family can enjoy.

The first one is simple: It’s your garden. You do not have to please anyone else with your plant choices but yourself.

The second one is what I call the right plant right place rule or RPRP. When you place a plant where the conditions give it what it needs (water, soil, light) that plant will do well and reward you with fruit and flower throughout the season.

For RPRP to work you need to know three things:

One: what are the conditions where you are planning to garden, for example how much sunlight and/or shade?

Two: Be sure the plant gets the water it needs. If you are in a dry area, use plants that can tolerate the dry conditions, if the site is wet, use plants that like it wet.

Three: will the plant grow in your garden hardiness zone.

More on zones in a future hub,

Talk with the staff at the local plant nursery, ideally seek out the manager or owner when you have specific questions.

Now that you have the bare essentials we will move on to the other design elements that will help you create a garden that everyone can enjoy.

Basic Garden Design Elements:

· Line is likely the most important design element and certainly is the one you will most often use in your design. For an informal look use, a curved line, for a more formal one use straight lines..

· Texture is defined in 3 categories. 1-Coarse includes plants, structures and hardscapes that are bold and large. 2-Medium texture takes in many plants and smaller structures. 3-Fine includes plants such as ferns and grasses and structures that are thin and delicate.

· Form is the shape and structure of your plants, hardscapes or garden structures.

· Colour is the visual POP in your design. Blues, Purples and Greens are calming and seem to move away from you. Whereas warm colours like red, orange and yellow seem to bring things closer to you.

· Scale or proportion in the landscape is simply the size of your plants or structures and how they relate to each other and the area you are landscaping.

You now have the basics. It does not matter whether or garden is large, small or somewhere in-between if you follow RPRP and apply the five design principles you will enjoy the results. Happy gardening.

Planning a new or First Garden?

It is not difficult to grow your own vegetables, flowers and herbs. There are three things that you must consider if the garden is to be successful; the sun, soil and water. The garden will need six to eight hours of sunlight per day in order to produce vegetables or flowers.

Soil comes in three basic types, clay, sand or loan. The ideal soil is a sandy loam. There is a simple way to determine the type of soil in your garden. Pick up some soil with one hand, roll it into a ball. If it forms a ball that breaks apart readily it is loam. If a ball does not form, it is sand. If a ball forms but does not break apart easily, it is clay.

This primer will help you plan and design your first garden; it does not matter what you decide to grow, vegetables, flowers, herbs or all three, the steps are the same.

Step One:

There are two questions you need to answer at this point.

1- What do you want to grow?

2- How much time to you have to garden, each day, and week?

It is important to match your schedule to your interests; you do not want to start a garden that is too big, as it is likely to become a burden and that will take all the fun out of the project.

It is equally important not to put in a garden that is too small as your yield, what you get back for your labour, will be smaller than you expected and you will be disappointed and perhaps discouraged.

Step Two:

Now is the time for the garden plan. Don’t panic, this is simple; a plan helps you stay on track, makes maximum use of your gardening time, is fun and can be changed whenever you desire.

You now know what you want to grow and how much time you are willing to commit to the growing and maintenance. Now you must determine:

1- Where will your garden grow? The backyard most likely but were, well for most cut flowers, herbs and vegetables you want a spot that gets full sun for 5-6 hours a day, minimum.

2- How big will it be? The size depends upon what you want to grow and how much. A good cut flower garden can be fairly small in feet 6x6 will do; same for a herb garden. Now unless you are prepared to convert your whole backyard into a vegetable garden and even then, you are not going to grow all the food your family needs, so pick you 3-5 favourite vegetables and focus on them.

3- Homework time. You need to know the plants you plant to grow, the public library can be a great source of information as can the Internet. You can also visit a local plant nursery and have a chat with the manager.

4- Put the right plant in the right place and it will thrive.

Read this hub, for details on building the garden bed. Speaking of reading, if you are planting seeds read the seed package. The information there is meant to be followed, so do so. If you are using plants then read the tag that should be in the pot with the plant, the same story; If it is not then ask.

Gardening is a rewarding activity that does not have to be difficult or time-consuming, just be sure to build the garden that matches your needs, wants and schedule.

Consider keeping a journal. Record what you planted, how it fared and anything else that you notice. This information will be valuable when planning next year's garden.

Annuals Can Add Value to the Garden

An annual plant is a plant that usually germinates, flowers and dies in one year. 

Some love annuals because they make excellent cut flowers; some because annuals are easy to grow; some love them for their brilliant colours while others just love to create a new garden every spring. 

The reasons do not matter as they are all sound; if you love to garden and enjoy bright vivid colours then annuals will satisfy your needs. I am very fond of annuals and cannot imagine a garden that does not have a few. 

They enlarge the palette but perhaps, more importantly, they enable me to make simple but noticeable changes to my garden and perhaps even better, they give me a reason to get out in the garden.

You can add annuals to your garden, throughout the growing season.

Annuals bloom continuously and produce prolific amounts of seed and this requires the production of many flowers; all making a win-win situation for any gardener.

The choice you have when selecting annuals is quite large so you will need a plan. The first step is to consider your climate, the soil and the amount of sunshine available. Now if you have been gardening for some time, you will have these answers. So the next step is to answer this question; what function will the annuals serve? Are you creating a cutting bed or adding a splash of colour to the border.

Annuals not only come in many different colours but heights and their foliage will have different textures and shades so if you have an existing garden and want to add some annuals to your perennial border make sure what you add is a comfortable fit with what is already there.

When you visit the plant centre you may become overwhelmed by the rows of annuals stretched out before you so get a plan before you go. Let's take a look at one of m favourite annuals the cosmos.

Cosmos:

The cosmos is a rapidly growing plant with delicate and graceful flowers. They will grow to between 4 and 6 feet tall. Some years back we had cosmos planted across the front edge of the front yard, creating a lace-like fence between our yard and the sidewalk.

Cosmos will grow well in full sun in most soils. You can start them indoors five to six weeks before the last frost date or you can sow them directly after the danger of frost has passed. The plants should be 12 inches apart and the seedlings will transplant easily. If the location is very windy you may need to stake them.

Flower Photos

Flowers for an icy day 

Photo: Late Season Visitor

Stepped out on my deck today and spotted this guy visiting sunflower