» Garden Design Organic Gardening Blog
Great Big Plants Blog about gardening and plant care

Archive for the 'Garden Design' Category

Crafts, Garden Design

Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence

Add some interest to your border garden with a handmade fence or trellis you can construct from twigs and branches you collect. 

Mother Earth News has a wonderful article with complete instructions for how you can transform branches into a wattle fence like the one pictured above.

If you are interested in a more complex, environmentally friendly solution - check out the video library at Whistling Willow - their fences, garden gates, trellis and teepees are magnificent.

�

Bookmark to:
Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to Del.icio.us Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to digg Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to FURL Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to blinklist Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to reddit Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to Feed Me Links! Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to Technorati Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to Yahoo My Web Add 'Create Your Own Unique Garden Fence' to Newsvine 

25 Jul 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Garden Design

Create a Water Garden for Your Home

On Martha’s Stewart show today she featured gardens and in particular the beauty and simplicity of creating a water garden.  Martha says:

Not only will a water garden enhance your landscape, but you’ll also soon notice new wildlife that will be attracted to it. You’ll be delighted by the number of birds, dragonflies, butterflies, and frogs stopping by for a visit.

In literally minutes she created a water garden small enough to have indoors in a container.  Her show also featured beautiful outdoor water gardens.

The photo above is courtesy of the California Wizard who shares thoughts on creating beautiful container water gardens for the patio.

As with any garden, feeding your plants is essential. Remember the energy drink for plants that will create healthy, beautiful plants for your decorative water garden.  Great Big Plants energy drink.

The beauty of water gardens have been the inspiration of many painters, none so famous as Monet’s water gardens of Giverny. 

Bookmark to:
Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to Del.icio.us Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to digg Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to FURL Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to blinklist Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to reddit Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to Feed Me Links! Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to Technorati Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to Yahoo My Web Add 'Create a Water Garden for Your Home' to Newsvine 

23 Jun 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Garden Design

Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings

Gardening is no longer just a hobby; a way to add beauty to your yard or an additional food resource; gardening is now gaining popularity as a source for energy savings. 

The latest garden location is your rooftop!  A recent study shows that Chicago has more green roofs than any other city in North America.

Pictured here is the roof of the Chicago City Hall, from the Planetizen blog.

In a recent article, Green Roofs Take Root, in National Wildlife magazine, Janet Marinelli reports about the new phenomena of enhancing existing rooftops with a full blown garden to save energy costs which add unexpected beauty and even provide a habitat for rare and lovely birds.

Interested in adding a little green to your rooftop?  Contact a group like Green Roofs for Health Cities which provides valuable resources.Â

Bookmark to:
Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to Del.icio.us Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to digg Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to FURL Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to blinklist Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to reddit Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to Feed Me Links! Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to Technorati Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to Yahoo My Web Add 'Unusual Garden Locations: Providing Energy Savings' to Newsvine 

08 May 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Garden Design

New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan

 

 

Would you love to have a garden but the thought of tilling the land and getting a plot ready for plants is holding you back?  Not to worry.  Lee Reich has a great plan for a beautiful garden, complete with arbor and white picket fence, designed for the notive garden.  And guess what?  No tilling!  He starts by laying down wet newspaper to kill the grass in the designated area which in turn becomes a compost.

 

He offers 11 tips for starting a new garden:

 

  1. Minimize soil disturbance; always try to preserve the nature layering of the soil.
  2. Place your vegetable garden as close to your kitchen door as possible.
  3. Site your vegetable garden where it will be bathed each day in at least six hours of direct summer sunlight. 

 

For the rest of Lee’s tips, read his entire article:  Easy Garden Anyone Can Make.

 

 

With every garden – make sure you have plenty of Great Big Plants on hand to energize your plants!

Bookmark to:
Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to Del.icio.us Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to digg Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to FURL Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to blinklist Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to reddit Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to Feed Me Links! Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to Technorati Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to Yahoo My Web Add 'New to Gardening? Try this Easy Garden Plan' to Newsvine 

25 Apr 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Sites, Garden Design

A Tour of Spectacular Gardens


I recently set my computer screen saver to rotate through the photos saved on my computer.  I found myself mesmerized by the garden photos I’d forgotten I had taken over the years; my own garden, hotel gardens, parks, estate gardens.  The romance and the beauty of a beautifully crafted garden is amazing. 

Bliss writer,Yolanda Elizabet Dinteloord from the Netherlands, recently wrote a post about gardens frozen in time; the spectacular beauty that can be found at the gardens of palace Het Loo (pronounced Het Low) near Apeldoorn. She does a wonderful job of sharing photos of the garden today and over time.  The photos are amazing – take a quick break from your day and visit with Yolanda the palace gardens.  Go ahead, dream a little.

 

Photo of Kensington Gardens, courtesy of Kensington.net.

Bookmark to:
Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to Del.icio.us Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to digg Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to FURL Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to blinklist Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to reddit Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to Feed Me Links! Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to Technorati Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to Yahoo My Web Add 'A Tour of Spectacular Gardens' to Newsvine 

21 Apr 2008 GBP 0 comments

GBP News, Garden Design

Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens


  

Forbes has compiled a listing of the most beautiful gardens in America.  So often when we think of spectacular gardens the images of European and United Kingdom gardens come to mind and they certainly have the most historic; but the US has a few beauties of their own. 

Check out Kykuit (pictured here), The Rockefeller Estate, Pocantico Hills, N.Y.  The beaux arts garden’s main features are classical sculpture, terraces with fountains, pavilions, elaborate urns and former New York state Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s collection of 20th-century sculpture. Numbering 70 pieces in all, works by Brancusi, Moore, Picasso, Matisse and Calder are displayed here.
 

Or the Old Westbury Gardens also found in NY.  The Old Westbury Gardens has 88 acres of formal gardens, tree-lined walks, ponds and statues. There are stately willows, sycamores, maples and cypresses. Flowers include 2,000 boldly colored tulips, pansies, forget-me-nots, irises and poppies.
 

Looking for a dry look?  Check out this garden in California:  The Ruth Bancroft Garden was the first in the United States to be preserved by the Garden Conservancy at its inception in 1989. It is a “dry” garden with a vast collection of cactus in fantastic colors and shapes. The Ruth Bancroft’s garden has hundreds of varieties of succulents from dry areas from around the world.

For the complete article and listing of the top American gardens:

For the most beautiful gardens in Europe, visit this site.

Bookmark to:
Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to Del.icio.us Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to digg Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to FURL Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to blinklist Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to reddit Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to Feed Me Links! Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to Technorati Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to Yahoo My Web Add 'Planning Summer Vacation: Consider a Trip to the Most Beautiful Gardens' to Newsvine 

17 Apr 2008 GBP 0 comments

Gardening Advice, Garden Design

Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard

In the March/April 2008 edition of Backyard Living magazine you’ll find a gardening plan for creating a beautiful haven for you and the local hummingbirds to enjoy.  The plants used are:

Yellow Asiatic lily

Red Bee balm

Orange butterfuly weed

Trumpet vine, and

Zinnas

Planted decoratively around a birdbath and birdfeeder, it creates an irresistible spot for hummingbirds to visit. 

Need a recipe for hummingbird sugar water? Backyard Living offers this one: Mix four parts water to one part sugar.  Boil for 1 or 2 minutes.  Cool before filling the feeder and refrigerate leftwovers for up to a week.

Photo courtesy of Aco Hardware who also offers a long list of plants that hummingbirds are attracted to.

Bookmark to:
Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to Del.icio.us Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to digg Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to FURL Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to blinklist Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to reddit Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to Feed Me Links! Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to Technorati Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to Yahoo My Web Add 'Attract Hummingbirds to your Yard' to Newsvine 

27 Mar 2008 GBP 0 comments

Decorating, Garden Design

11 of the Best Gardens

Garden Design magazine recently featured eleven of the most spectacular gardens, complete with the design layout.  The great thing about the winners is that they are from a variety of climates and topography.  They aren’t all the traditional Midwest green with azaleas - creativity and a harmony with their natural surroundings seemed to be a theme. My favorite, the Residential Award of Honor created by Sawyer/Berson Architecture and Landscape Architecture of NY/NY, is an urban garden.  They created a Manhattan rooftop garden that is spectacular.  When you think of the big city: New York, Chicago, London, Hong Kong, you don’t think lush gardens - you typically think skyscrapers and cement, yet, Sawyer Berson has created a lush oasis picture above.  I enjoyed dreaming of sipping my morning coffee overlooking one of the most magnificent cities.  See what you think. ��

�

Bookmark to:
Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to Del.icio.us Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to digg Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to FURL Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to blinklist Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to reddit Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to Feed Me Links! Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to Technorati Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to Yahoo My Web Add '11 of the Best Gardens' to Newsvine 

15 Feb 2008 GBP 0 comments