Lighting Design For Gardens

• Evaluate your garden space and how you plan to use it. Choose the places where you want permanent, hardwired lighting with switch capability. Decide if you will need bright lights on your patio, perhaps above a table where you will entertain. Plan where you need safety lights on pathways, steps or in dark corners. Make an evaluation when it is dark. You will have a completely different feeling in the dark than if you imagine the darkness during daylight. Use flashlights and check out lighting from different places and angles. Notice shadows and reflections from water or glass and how they interact with different lighting options.
• Use underwater lights in a pool or garden pond for soft, subdued lighting. Combine them with small fountains to contribute to an overall effect. Both underwater pond lights and small fountains can be solar powered, so proximity to electrical service is not necessary.
• Consider installing solar lights, which work in any season, even if they are covered by snow in northern climates. Solar lights can be moved from place to place for a quick redesign any time of the year. Solar-powered garden up-lighting that highlights shrubs and flowers in the summer can be moved to highlight evergreens, seasonal decorations or other interesting areas of your garden during the fall and winter. Design your garden lighting plan with all seasons in mind.
• Study magazines and catalogs for inspiration for your garden lighting design. Landscape lights are available in a wide range of styles, from sleek and chic to natural, rustic pieces. Small, functional lights are inexpensive and will provide the light you want. Or use your lighting design to incorporate another dimension of artistic expression into your garden. Decorative garden lights can lend sculptural elements to your garden, whether they are turned on or off. Illumination from different sources creates depth and perspective that sunlight does not convey. Diffused light or direct light can change the textural appearance of planting beds and foliage.
• Take into account how your lighting will affect your neighbors. You don’t want to have bright lights shining near their bedroom windows. Try to create a lighting design on your property that doesn’t compete with theirs. Strategically placed lights will enhance your property and will not distract from your neighbor’s.

Garden Fountains

resident. Irrespective of whether or not you believe in luck, water fountains add a lot of beauty to any environment and is a nice addition to any home. However sometimes it is not possible to add a fountain within the home and so you might want to consider adding a water feature to your garden. Garden fountains can be an ideal addition to your garden décor.

Garden Landscaping: Why Do You Need A Fountain?

No one really “needs” a water fountain but it is a beautiful addition to any home and beautifies a garden. In addition to the Feng Shui benefits mentioned above, a garden water feature is a great aesthetic addition to your lawn and the sound of running water is always very calming.

Garden Landscaping With A Fountain

A water feature is an excellent addition to any garden and if you are considering making changes to your garden landscaping, consider adding a water fountain. Before you add a water feature to your garden décor, you must consider certain points.

Location
Before adding a water fountain to your garden décor, you have to choose the right spot for it within your garden or yard. Depending on the size of your fountain, take measurements to ensure your water fountain will fit in the area you have planned and kep these measurements handy as you will need it when you are installing the water feature.

Installation
After you have decided on the perfect location for your water fountain, you must take into consideration how it will be installed in your garden. There will be a fair amount of digging involved so if you have plants in the spot, you have to transplant them to other areas of your garden so they do not get destroyed.

You will also have to decide whether you will be installing the garden fountain by yourself or hiring a professional to do it. Hiring a professional will involve additional costs but if you have no idea how to do it yourself, then a professional is a good idea.

Type of Fountain
There are of course various types of water fountains available in the market. The type of fountain you choose for your garden landscaping needs not only depends on your personal taste, but also on the type of garden you have, your budget, the size of your garden and how important a feature that garden fountain will be as part of your garden décor.

You can choose from a free standing sculpture water fountain or smaller, more integrated fountains. A free standing fountain stands within a pool with the water flowing in and out of the pool. However a smaller water feature fits in with the plants and due to its smaller size is better suited for smaller homes and gardens.

Size of Fountain
The size of the water fountain will have to be proportionate to the size of your garden. If you have a small garden, there is no point in installing a large water feature as it will overwhelm your garden and look out of place. If you have a large garden, you can choose a large sized fountain, however make sure it fits in with the rest of your plants or it will end up looking silly.

If you have taken all these points into consideration and want to add some life to your garden, then we recommend a garden fountain as it definitely adds life a lot of beauty to every garden.

Essential Garden Planning Tips

Garden planning is an art. Therefore like any master piece a lot of garden planning design must be preceded with careful calculation and consideration. Early planning for a garden gives a picture of what ones future garden will look like therefore giving scope for corrections earlier on. For most gardens planning is the key.

• First one must have a clear idea of the amount of space one is working with. Knowing the dimensions of ones garden is one of the most essential garden planning strategies. After one has measured the length , breadth area of the garden the best thing to so is draw a rough map of the garden (preferably to scale) to make the garden planning process easier. On the map, one should start chalking out the garden planning design. This design will include everything a person wishes to incorporate into the garden.

• Next, one can go on to make a planting schedule. Once an initial garden planning design had been made you will have an idea of the kind of trees and plants you want in your garden. Therefore it is a good idea to create a planting schedule according to amount of time each plant takes to grow. For example, if you have plans on planting big trees that give shade put them first on your schedule as they will take a long time to grow to there full size and height.

• Soil is a very important aspect of any garden. Thus, when planning for a garden you must keep in mind the kind of soil you are using. It is important to find out what soil type you are working with before planting or even buying.

To make garden planning easier there are a number of garden planning software available which help with a virtual garden planning design. These software can be easily downloaded or bought on the internet

Things To Remember While Planning For A Garden

1. Check the soil you are using as it is most essential to garden planning
2. Take care of safety measures during your gardens planning stages.
3. Try to use local varieties of seeds and trees when just starting out.
4. Keep all obstacles in mind while planning for the garden.
5. Stalk up on essential gardening tools.
6. When planning for a garden make note on which side the ground slopes, this is essential to watering your plants.
7. Keep in mind the real purpose of the garden and the members of your family when garden planning.

When you decide to create your garden, garden planning is essential to its success. Planning for a garden helps to create something beautiful minus the chaos and extra work.

Reference:

1. Design Your Garden – BBC Gardening

Courtyard Gardening

Courtyard garden design can be a very enjoyable experience, if you have a small area that you wish to decorate. Courtyard gardens can be either large or small depending on the area in which you decide to garden and are excellent when you have limited space to garden. Majority of courtyard gardens are designed in a manner which is found open to the sky, but sometimes it can be covered partially by a pergola. It can also be covered completely using transparent coverings such as glass or polycarbonate. Courtyards can be designed in such a way, that it seems as if it is a part of the house. .

Patio Garden Ideas

When creating a patio garden it is important to understand the entire process and patio garden ideas before embarking on this adventure.

• The things that will be of great importance when designing your patio garden will be flooring for one. Be sure to aim for a surface that complements the design of your home.
• Painting the patio garden walls in colors that work with the interior of your home is very important in creating a beautiful patio.
• An important part of creating a beautiful courtyard garden is adding fixtures and fittings such as arches, pergolas and miniature container plants.
• You can also add a small coffee table and a bench, but make sure that you do not cramp the entire patio.

Always consider you interior accessories when decorating your patio garden in order to maintain a flow from the home into the patio.

Choosing Patio Garden Plants

When choosing  your courtyard or patio garden plants, it is important to understand the space that you have to work with. You can find a host of plants that all well suited for your courtyard or patio garden, such as:

• Adam’s Needle
• Bay
• Bizzie Lizzie
• Chusan Palm
• Lily of the Valley
• Tulip

These plants work are great courtyard garden design ideas as they work well in restricted areas. You can also find a host of other plants that work well with patio and courtyards. These include:

• Dwarf Fan Palm
• Forest Pansy
• Ornamental Cherry
• Passion Flower
• Red Hot Poker
• Rock Rose.

Adding plants to your courtyard and patio garden adds to the beauty of the area creating a magical and tranquil feel. If you have trouble finding plants at the local nursery, you can even buy plants online.

Planning and implementing a courtyard garden is an enjoyable experience and it is a great way to use small spaces in your house to create a masterpiece.

Reference:

1. Courtyard Garden Design – Gardening Australia

Why Have A Perennial Garden?

A perennial garden may prove to be very beneficial to you especially when compared to annuals. Here are some of the reasons why you should consider using perennials to color your garden.

• Plant once and enjoy it for two to three years
• Save time and money on annual gardening
• Adds color to your garden year long
• They increase in size and quality with each passing year
• Variety of colors and textures to choose from

Attaining The Perfect Home Garden Design For Your Perennial Garden

The use of perennials to make a color garden is becoming increasingly popular when landscaping your garden. It is however extremely hard to find the correct kind of perennial that suits your specific needs and preferences. With hundreds of colors and textures to choose from, advice from experts rarely helps us as each person has their own opinion. While choosing the perfect perennial to color your garden, the height, color and time of bloom are the most important factors to keep in mind. It is better to limit the variety of your choice to a few good ones as each involves separate care instructions. The next step is to form a home garden design or a landscaping plan to determine where it will be placed in order to optimize its beauty. The perennials are being used not only to color your garden, but also to add artistic and decorative value to it. The last step would be to care for your perennial garden. If proper care is bestowed on them, perennials have a tendency to grow and improve with age. Basic gardening knowledge in soil preparation, cultivation, spraying and mulching and other such techniques are required to keep the plants contented.

Areas To Plant A Perennial:

Perennials may be used in many forms in order to color gardens. A perennial garden can be created by using them in these specific areas:

• Mixed Borders: It is very common to add perennials to the border, combining them with shrubs and annuals. This adds layering opportunities for flower beds.
• Cutting Rows: Perennials are planted in rows when they are to be cut for sale in bunches. It is convenient to plant them this way and also makes the garden colorful.
• Entrances: Gates, doors and windows are striking places to cultivate perennials. They beautify the entrances and give them a certain grandeur.
• Art pieces: They are often planted around statues and boulders and other forms of garden art.

It is obvious that a perennial color garden can add beauty and exquisiteness to your home. By following the basic home garden design tips mentioned it is fairly easy to create and maintain a perfect colorful garden.