Arizona Palm » hardscape

Proper Boulder Planting in Hardscape Landscapes

Rick — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 11:58:56 +0000

Okay, you are probably laughing right now, saying,”Proper Boulder Planting? You’ve got to be kidding!” But no, we are serious. How you place your boulders in your yard can make the difference between a yard with a bunch of rocks thrown on it or a nice, aesthetically pleasing yard. There are a few rules.

The number one rule is, plant those rocks! Don’t leave them on top of the ground. They look like they fell off the truck. Each rock should have ¼ to 1/3 of it buried and the soil smoothed around them. Rocks in their natural state look this way, as they have been there for centuries with soil accumulating around them.

Secondly, never put rocks in a row. When have you ever seen rocks in their natural state lined up like soldiers? Never! Randomness is important. Plant irregular groupings of rocks, and intersperse those wonderful drought tolerant plants between them. Once in a while you can have a rock by itself, but again, not a lot of this or it gets repetitious. When you place rocks in a group, be careful not to plant them so the tops are even. Again, it helps to be a little random. Sometimes you can group three or more rather close together at the base of a slope and establish a planting area above. Let a little dirt cascade between the rocks. A row of rocks looks like a strafing run and needs to be avoided.

Sometimes if you can find the right two rocks, they can be placed close together and at the same plane (I know, I just told you NOT to do that, but bear with me) and can look like a rock that has broken. That’s pretty cool.

Watch the color and texture of the rocks. It’s good to get the ones that are similar close to one another. Another effective thing to do is to get the faces of the rocks at the same plane. Not necessarily lined up, but staggered at the same plane. In other words, the front surface of individual rocks may be upright from top to bottom, yet at an angle from side to side. Repeat the same side to side angle, but don’t line the rocks up.

So there you have it. Those are some basic ideas that can assist your hardscape design. However, the lesson on proper rock placement can be similar to my son’s experience with fine wine. He once asked a vintner to tell him what a good wine was. His answer was succinct; “If you like it, it is a good wine.” The same is true of your rockscape. If you like it, it is a good design.

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Landscape Design: The Art of Eucalypts, Daylilies and Rock Gardens

Rick — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 23:51:42 +0000

Landscape Design is, at its core, an aesthetic choice. As a home owner, or long term renter, you may have considered sprucing up your yard with the myriad of possibilities that landscape design has to offer. From tree houses, to koi ponds — turning up the volume on your exterior space will no doubt provide a lasting experience for you and your guests. However, land scape design, if done properly and by a professional, is by no means cheap. Consider the costs, but as you’re evaluating whether or not a particular tree or shrub is worth the price tag, keep in mind that spending time out doors is beneficial for your health and, no kidding, your life span.
What Is It?
Landscape design is the art of creating, designing, or modifying the features Your Garden or landscape to suit your aesthetic and horticultural sensibilities. Landscaping is often divided into hardscape design and softscape design. Landscape designers attempt to make your creative outdoorsy dreams come true.
Who Needs It?
Nature-lovers.
Benefits
Well-designed gardens reflect strong symmetry and structural forms. A qualified landscaper will tell you you’ll need to assimilate your backyard’s “hardscape” – the retaining walls, decks, pergolas, waterfalls, pools, and ponds – with the “softscape” of planting and turf. If you’re talking about a backyard in Brooklyn Heights, the chances are slim you’ll be incorporating pools, waterfalls, or ponds in your landscaping plans, unless, of course, you’re a billionaire bud of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, counseling the Department of Parks and Recreation.
Your softscape is dedicated to a horticultural “look,” say, one inspired by a Peruvian Jungle, a Mexican desert, or simply eye-catching native plants, placed at cool angles, with multiple and narcotic focal points. Zoom in on any famous landscape painter to cop a harmonious look. As you step out the backdoor, or though an arbor, then navigate a path through your backyard, it’s all about feeding the mind with different spaces, surfaces, and experiences.
For instance, in choosing plants or flowers, you may be drawn to color. Members of the Westchester Garden club might call a color strategy tacky, but with the guidance of a talented landscaper, you surmount their protestations. If you like blues, he or she might suggest Caryoptersus (“Snow Fairies) whose clumps of fuzzy green leaves are topped with blue curls in autumn. If you dig striped grass with burgundy inflorescences, your landscaper might lay down some Miscanthus Sinensis – or, “Gold Bar.” Into lavender? A knowledgeable landscaper’ll turn you on to Cercis Canadensis (“Hearts of Gold”) whose big, sexy heart-shaped leaves burst with lavender-red flowers in the spring.
(In these shady financial times, a shrewd landscaper will also know that suppliers are throwing away royal palms, oak trees, tabebuias – you name it. He’ll be able to pick up a lot of plants, trees, and flowers for 30 to 40 cents on the dollar.)
A wise landscaper will also hip you to the supreme importance of soil quality. They love the smell of dirt. Some landscaping mystics will tell you, there’s no real scientific process involved – it’s an inherited thing. But while raving about the wonder and mysteries of nature, you want a landscaper who knows his or her way around the scientific usefulness of organic fertilizers and sprays, including kelp meal, rock phosphate, green sand, humate, and compost. Not only is good soil paramount, so is proper watering, irrigation, and drainage. When the roots of your backyard’s population of trees, plants, and flowers go down, you want a nice thick soil layer that retains moisture, so everything thrives.
Some landscaping gurus will advocate laying down special tea microbrews to nourish plants and control foliar diseases. (Like the one developed by Norbert Viet.) The process breaks down organic matter, allows vitamin uptake to the plants, and prevents disease. Any discerning landscaper’ll enlist an army of earthworms, too. Dutch-born landscaping genius, Hendrikus Schraven, has refined an organic approach to soil health that includes carefully nurtured microorganisms.
If you’re living large, with a house to die for and money to burn, there are many high-end landscapers with a fleet of Bobcat loaders and excavators who’ll insert a picture-perfect waterfall into the scenery. One with ancient rocks and looks like it’s been part of the gorgeous landscape for at least a couple of centuries. These high-end landscapers are experiencing especially hard times, so if ruthlessness is a dominant personality trait, offer them half what the job normally costs. They’ll happily do tree houses, hot tubs, trellises, decks, bridges, and landslide restorations, too.
Risks
The biggest risk is suddenly not being able to afford the maintenance costs of your awesome oasis of Peruvian monstrosi, bougainvillea, and Alexandria palms. If this turns out to be an unhappy twist of fate, don’t fret. Replace your miniature rain forest with lettuce, beets and tomatoes – a.k.a. landscape reality – and enjoy saving money and eating well.

Robert Rava is a writer for Yodle, a business directory and online advertising company. Find a contractor or more garden care articles at Yodle Consumer Guide. Landscape Design: The Art of Eucalypts, Daylilies and Rock Gardens
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Landscape Design

Rick — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:51:40 +0000

You and your eco-conscious wife want to go green. Looking for inspiration, you wander through the lush, 250-acre forest, flower and plant habitat of the New York Botanical Gardens. You marvel at the 3,000 fragrant roses of the Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden, and are wowed by the exotic tropical rain forest in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Later, you resolve to turn your weed-infested backyard — more closely resembling a junkyard of trashcans, beer bottles, and the rusting remains of discarded bikes — into a horticultural Eden. To that end, you decide to hire a landscape designer. What Is It? Landscape design is the art of creating, designing, or modifying the features Your Garden or landscape to suit your aesthetic and horticultural sensibilities. Landscaping is often divided into hardscape design and softscape design. Landscape designers attempt to make your creative outdoorsy dreams come true. Who Needs It? Nature-lovers. Benefits Well-designed gardens reflect strong symmetry and structural forms. A qualified landscaper will tell you you’ll need to assimilate your backyard’s “hardscape” – the retaining walls, decks, pergolas, waterfalls, pools, and ponds – with the “softscape” of planting and turf. If you’re talking about a backyard in Brooklyn Heights, the chances are slim you’ll be incorporating pools, waterfall, and ponds in your landscaping plans, unless, of course, you’re a billionaire bud of Mayor Mike Bloomberg, counseling the Department of Parks and Recreation. Your softscape is dedicated to a horticultural “look,” say, one inspired by a Peruvian Jungle, a Mexican desert, or simply eye-catching native plants, placed at cool angles, with multiple and narcotic focal points. Zoom in on any famous landscape painter to cop a harmonious look. As you step out the backdoor, or though an arbor, then navigate a path through your backyard, it’s all about feeding the mind with different spaces, surfaces, and experiences. For instance, in choosing plants or flowers, you may be drawn to color. Members of the Westchester Garden club might call that strategy tacky, but with the guidance of a talented landscaper, you’ll surmount their protestations. If you like blues, your landscaper might suggest Caryoptersus (“Snow Fairies) whose clumps of fuzzy green leaves are topped with blue curls in autumn. If you dig striped grass with burgundy inflorescences in October, he or she might lay down some Miscanthus Sinensis – or, “Gold Bar.” Into lavender? A knowledgeable landscaper’ll turn you on to Cercis Canadensis (“Hearts of Gold”) whose big, sexy heart-shaped leaves burst with lavender-red flowers in the spring. (In these shady financial times, a shrewd landscaper will also know that suppliers are throwing away royal palms, oak trees, tabebuias – you name it. He’ll be able to pick up a lot of plants, trees, and flowers for 30 to 40 cents on the dollar.) A wise landscaper will also hip you to the supreme importance of soil quality. They love the smell of dirt. Some landscaping mystics will tell you, there’s no real scientific process involved – it’s an inherited thing. But while raving about the wonder and mysteries of nature, you want a landscaper who knows his or her way around scientific usefulness of organic fertilizers and sprays, including kelp meal, rock phosphate, green sand, humate, and compost. Not only is good soil paramount, so is proper watering, irrigation, and drainage. When the roots of your backyard’s population of trees, plants, and flowers go down, you want a nice thick soil layer that retains moisture, so everything thrives. Some landscaping gurus will advocate laying down special tea microbrews to nourish plants and control foliar diseases. (Like the one developed by Norbert Viet.) The process breaks down organic matter, allows vitamin uptake to the plants, and prevents disease. Any discerning landscaper’ll enlist an army of earthworms, too. Dutch-born landscaping genius, Hendrikus Schraven, has refined an organic approach to soil health that includes carefully nurtured microorganisms. If you’re living large, with a house to die for and money to burn, there are many high-end landscapers with a fleet of Bobcat loaders and excavators who’ll insert a picture-perfect waterfall into the scenery. One with ancient rocks and looks like it’s been part of the landscape for at least a couple of centuries. These high-end landscapers are experiencing especially hard times, so if ruthlessness is a dominant personality trait, offer them half what the job normally costs. They’ll happily do tree houses, hot tubs, trellises, decks, bridges, and landslide restorations, too. Risks The biggest risk is suddenly not being able to afford the maintenance costs of your awesome oasis of Peruvian monstrosi, bougainvillea, and Alexandria palms. If this turns out to be an unhappy twist of fate, don’t fret. Replace your miniature rain forest with lettuce, beets and tomatoes – a.k.a. landscape reality – and enjoy saving money and eating well.

Robert Rava is a writer for Yodle, a business directory and online advertising company. Find a contractor or more home articles at Yodle Consumer Guide. Heavy Metal Music and Bands

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Garden Decor Single

Rick — Sat, 07 Jul 2007 06:51:11 +0000

Garden Decor Single Reviews

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Light Switch Cover Single Garden Herbs Kitchen Decor

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Trend Lab Two Picture Frame Set

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English Garden Single Fragrance Oil Pack 6 Bottles .5oz

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Polyester Single Face Satin Ribbon, 1 Inch, 25 Yards per Spool, 51 Colors

There are 2 Styles(single face and double face), 8 Sizes and more than 356 Colors for Your Choice. Beautiful satin ribbon is good choice for Gifts Packing, Garment Deco., Wedding Favor Deco., Holiday Deco. , Scrapbooking, DIY Handcraft….

Bedtime Butterfly Light Switch Plate

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Add a cute and colorful touch of spring to Your Garden decor theme with this adorable switchplate cover. The pastel butterflies and flowers are sure to brighten up any room they grace. A great accent in a kid’s room, a bathroom, a playroom, or even your office.

Resin. Measures approximately 3″x 4.5″ and fits any standard single switchplate. Installation screws included….

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Planning a Flower Garden

Gardening can be a very relaxing and enjoyable hobby. It is a creative activity, which can add color and appeal to your home and yard. Gardening is more than just throwing some plants into the ground, though. For the most enjoyment, and the biggest impact, you’ll need to do some planning, and make some decisions about your garden.

Probably the most important consideration for your garden, is the type of garden. Do you want a herb garden or a vegetable garden? Do you want a flower garden? Do you want flowers that only bloom during the spring, or a variety of flowers to bloom from spring through fall? Or if you want, you can have different gardens in your yard. Maybe a plot near the house for growing herbs, and then maybe some flowers in the corner of the yard to add a touch of color.

Once you know what type of garden you want, you can choose the location. If you want herbs or vegetables, the best place for them is near the house, so that you can access them easily when cooking. If you want flowers or shrubs, you can place them just about anywhere you’d like in the yard. One thing to keep in mind as far as location is the amount of sun that your yard gets. Either take some paper, and draw a rough map of the yard, or simply list the various sections of your yard. Then, beginning in the morning, check the yard every hour and note whether the various sections of the yard are in sun or shade. If an area gets 6 or more hours of direct sunlight, it is a full sun location. 3-6 hours of sun is partial sun/partial shade, and less than 3 hours is full shade. Once you know the amount of sunlight each part of your yard gets, you can choose the appropriate plants.

You will also need to decide on the layout for your planting beds, and what you want to plant. Depending on your tastes, you can lay out your planting beds in strict geometrical shapes, or you can plan them in more free-flowing shapes, like an amoeba. The design is up to you, and what you prefer. You’ll also need to decide on how to plant the flowerbeds. You can plant a single type of plant, in neat rows, or you can have several groupings of different plants. If you are going to be planting different plants in one bed, make sure that they are all compatible. You’ll want to choose plants that have similar needs as far as soil, water, and sunlight.

Be sure to address visual appeal when you plant. Use plants of varying colors and textures. Just be sure that the colors and textures don’t clash. You can add a vertical dimension to your flower bed by planting taller plants in the middle or in the back of the flower bed, reducing the height of the plants as you go towards the edge of the flowerbed. For the most visual appeal, you should place plants in odd numbered groups, three, five, or seven plants in a group, which will help the planting to look more natural.

When you’re planning your garden, you may also want to plan where you want to place Accent Pieces in your garden. If you have taller plants, you may want to place a couple of Garden Stakes or a gazing ball among them to add some appeal. Tall accent pieces can also provide a visual anchor among shorter plants.

A poorly planned garden can just look like a jumble of random plants. A well planned garden will have a much greater visual appeal. So, take the time to plan out your garden. Keep in mind that you can always change your mind as you go along. Use your imagination, and make your garden unique.

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