Designing your garden should be an art form; one that stirs your soul and feeds your imagination. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a garden that not only allows you to be creative in design, but to make use of natural surrounding as well. The idea of designing your garden around your natural habitat is nothing new or profound. It takes advantage of the local species and natural beauty of the landscape. Mother nature provides flora that is best suited for your climate and soil composition, ensuring healthy and strong plants and foliage.

The Four Pillars of Habitat

Always keep in mind the four pillars of habitat when designing any garden. The four pillars are food, water, shelter and cover.

These four pillars nourish the environment and give back to the earth.

Food:

The plant life in your garden can be a natural food for the inhabitants of the environment. Some good examples of environmental food sources are trees and berry bushes.

Another way of feeding the environment is to choose a particular wild animal that lives in your area and design your garden around the feeding needs of that animal. What plants will feed that creature. If you have wild turkeys in your area, you could plant acorns, beeches, crabapples and hawthorns. A favorite to most gardeners is the monarch butterfly. To attract these to your garden you could plant Asters, Bee Balm, Coreopsis, Coneflower, Lupine, Black-eyed Susan, and yarrow, and also butterfly weed.

You want to plant a range of both flowering and berrying plants in your garden to keep the food going all year. Summer plants are ones like elderberry and shrub dogwood. Fall is a great time for plants like winterberry and chokeberry for attracting birds.

Don’t forget to plant different grasses for another food source for different species. Grasses like Switchgrass, Bluestem and Indian Grass are great for borders.

Water:

Water is essential to provide in any garden where you desire to feed nature’s animals. A garden pond is useful and beautiful. A birdbath made from natural materials or designed for your natural habitat would be wonderful for the birds in your area. Butterflies will enjoy a plate of damp sand.

Shelter:

Wildlife needs to have shelter from the elements. Those who winter down with us during those long cold months especially need to have shelter for survival.

Trees can be excellent shelter as well as food. Pines and cedars are two prime examples of trees that are used for both food and shelter for birds and insects.

If you plant Hollies, Pussywillows, Serviceberry and Viburnum together you will make an excellent nesting sanctuary for birds.

Cover:

This is an important provision to include in your natural garden design because it provides not only shelter from the elements, but protection from predators as well. Most wildlife is dependant on cover to survive on a day-to-day basis.

Cover can consist of thorny plants such as Hawthorns and Wild roses, which are also very good food sources as well. Rabbits and other small animals will benefit from a brush pile (logs at the bottom and twiggy stuff at the top). Another good cover is a pile of rocks. These will provide shelter, cover and homes for critters such as chipmunks.

When you design your natural garden with the four pillars in mind, you will not only have a environmentally friendly garden, you will have one of beauty too.

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Birds are wonderful additions to our gardens as they provide us with activity, color and beautiful songs. Designing our garden around attracting songbirds or native birds is easy once you learn some simple bird attracting tips.

Tips:

There is more to attracting birds then hanging a birdfeeder, or providing birdhouses and a birdbath. These items are good as starters but you really need to plan your garden around some basic requirements like landscaping plants to attract the birds, trees and scrubs to shelter and nest the birds and of course a garden with natural sources for food will keep birds coming back to your garden.

Different bird species will need different elements in the environment; decide what type of bird species you want your garden to attract before planning your garden.

Consider your needs and the present landscape while designing your garden. It is not all about the birds, your garden will have human visitors too. Make sure that you take a look around at the existing landscape to be sure that what you are planning for the birds will co-exist with what your landscape is like now.

Your garden does not have to meet ALL of the needs of the birds it attracts. The surrounding area to your home will provide some of the basic needs such as nesting trees. You do want to provide consistent food source and cover from predators and inclement weather.

The cover and food sources you provide in your garden will vary depending on the types of birds you are planning on attracting to your garden. Learn about the species of birds before planning your garden. Find out what trees, shrubs, and ornamental grasses they prefer.

Food Sources:

During the winter months sunflower seeds offer the oils and carbohydrates that birds need for high energy to survive the cold. In warmer weather birds need nectar, insects, fruits, berries and other succulent plant parts.

Birds also use a lot of plant material when making their nests. If you have ground feeders they love “leaf litter”. Leaf litter is a term referred to all the falling leaves on your ground. Insects hide during the fall, winter and spring under these leaves and are food source for ground feeding birds. Leave some undisturbed leaves in a section of your yard for your birds that are ground feeders.

Nesting Sites:

This is where knowing the bird species you are planning on attracting to your garden will come in handy. Some birds prefer cavities for nesting while others prefer birdhouses, nesting on the ground, or in the high branches of trees.

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Do you use a lot of herbs and spices whenever you are cooking? If you do, perhaps instead of buying these from the grocery, you can get this for free by making your own organic herb garden. In fact, it is so easy to do that even kids can get into it.

So what kind of herbs should you plant? Since they are going to be used for cooking, why not go for herbs that are either Italian or Thai. These herbs are called culinary herbs. Other examples that you can plant for cooking later on include basil, bay leaves, chives, dill, marjoram, oregano and parsley.

Chances are you would like to start from the very beginning which means you have to buy herb seeds. These are sold in packs and it is best to read the instructions before opening them.

Some organic herb seeds can be sown directly to the soil while others have to be raised in seedbeds. Best of all, you do not have to worry that much about pests because they are not that frequent when compared to planting fruits or vegetables.

One herb plant that you should avoid mixing with others is mint because it acts just like a weed and has the tendency to kill the rest. But since you need it, it is best to grow it in a pot so it does not harm your other crops.

Organic herb gardening is not different to organic farming because similar techniques are used to make them grow. The first step is to find the right location that offers adequate sunlight and drainage. Also, check on the soil conditions because what you have in your backyard may not be suitable for it.

When the soil is ready for planting, the rest of the work is easy since you just have to monitor their progress daily. You should also use compost bins so you produce your own organic fertilizer that can be applied to the garden.

Aside from making an organic herb garden outdoors, you can also do the same indoors so it is much closer to the kitchen. Instead of planting these on the ground, you will have to buy organic containers. These can be made from clay, plastic or wood. The important thing is that it provides excellent drainage and good air circulation.

When you use pots for your organic herbs, do not use soil but a mixture of peat, perlite and vermiculite. They need to be watered regularly so make sure it is moist and not damp. Since they also need sufficient sunlight, you can place these outdoors and then bring them back in when it is too cold or put these in the western or southern windows of the home.

Regardless if your herbs are grown indoor or outdoor, you still have to deal with pests and weeds. You can pick them off by hand or get other insects to do your dirty work. Mulch is another solution and you should apply at least 3 to 4 inches or 8 to 10 cm in order for it to be effective.

Herb gardening is a lot of fun since it can be used for other things aside from culinary like for cosmetic, craft, household or medicinal purposes. But if you are into cooking, then organic herb gardening is good for the kitchen.

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Organic Gardening is perfect for you and perfect for the environment. With the world’s problem now with global warming, one must wonder and suggest ways of helping find answers to such. Big or small, everybody can have their share in the solution.

Organic farming may be one because it is like recycling what is already available in the environment to be able to produce the greens. The gardener is helping the environment by growing plants and more so, by helping in diminishing waste in a natural way.

Synthetic is Out
With organic gardening, one must rely only on his/her ability and on whatever nature has for them to be able to come up with the crops. This requires more work, patience and long hours and trial and error procedures on the part of the farmers but once they see the results, they won’t feel bad at all.

With organic farming, the gardeners depend on the environment to supplement their crops. For example, composting fallen leaves, clipped grass, animal manures and other resources would create fertilizers. In making compost, one may opt to do it by oneself, periodically checking on the compost to see if it needs more water to it, or more materials should be added on it. Or they may just pile up what others may consider as trash and let nature, the microorganisms, earthworms and the soil itself do the composting naturally.

The latter is easier to do but takes longer period of time and the result will not be as good as the compost done the way that was first discussed. A good compost will serve as the plant’s fertilizer and likewise a pesticide. If you opt to do the latter, make sure to use only the decomposed materials from the pile so as to come up with better use of such with your crops.

Choose Your Plants
In organic gardening, it is best to know first the condition of the environment that you are in. Study the soil and weather before choosing the right produce fit for your site. This way, it will not be as hard maintaining the crops.

Gardening Systems
There are certain terms in organic gardening that has evolved through time because this is being done since the early years.

Rudolf Steiner quoted Biodynamic farming. While a no-till approach for small time production of grains was invented by Masanobu Fukuoka, a Japanese writer and at the same time, a farmer. This he also called the Natural Farming. Other gardening techniques for small scale production are the French Intensive, Biointensive and Small Plot Intensive kinds of farming.

The abovementioned are formal organic farming systems that have specific requirements and techniques.

Gardening Tools
To complete your gardening set-up, you would have to have tools. Now don’t be swept by the oh-so-many fancy gardening tools that are available in the market. Some are just to fancy as to having a real use with what you really need to do.

But to start with your organic experience, you might want to try having some or all of the following. A folding saw with a rubber handle is recommended as long as its blade is replaceable. A Moth-Blocker will be most beneficial, on the other hand, for crops like that cauliflower and broccoli because this will hinder the moths from laying its eggs on the produce. A Row Cover or Shade Fabric can be bought or can be done at home if you know how to do such. This will provide the needed shade for your plants. Of course, you have to invest on a good digging tool because you will need this a lot, just like a hat, which you should also have to protect yourself from the sun’s rays.

With everything ready and with the proper information that you are now equipped with, organic gardening is perfect so you may want to start with it as soon as possible. Mother Nature will surely thank you for doing so.

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Organic gardening isn’t just for people who have backyards. This is because you can also do it when you live either in an apartment or a condo with the help of organic gardening containers.

Organic gardening containers have advantages despite their limitations. They may serve as décor when this is placed in the balcony or patio, it can easily be brought indoors during the winter and you will not encounter that many problems normally found in the garden like weeds, insects or soil borne diseases.

When you decide to buy organic gardening containers, you should also use premium potting mix instead of soil since it is much lighter and provides excellent draining for whatever you are growing. Chances are you will also be using nutrients so make sure you follow the directions since too much organic fertilizer will burn the roots.

Organic gardening container plants require more water than those you plant. This should be given in small amounts half an hour after initial watering so you avoid drowning your crops. It is best to hang them instead of putting them on the ground and if there are no holes, go ahead and make a few. Since it gets pretty hot during the summer, you can add mulch which really helps prevent it from drying out.

What plants or herbs work well with organic gardening containers? Some examples of these are capsicum, carrots, bush beans, eggplant, lettuce, onions, peas, radishes, spinach and tomatoes. Strawberries will also grow well here so if you want to know more ask someone at the local gardening shop or do your own research online.

Plants inside organic gardening containers need sunlight. Ideally, this should be about six hours everyday preferably in the morning rather than the later afternoon. If the area where you plan to put them is quite windy, it is best to group these together with the tallest along the walls to give cover for the others.

What is the ideal organic gardening container? Fortunately, it can be made of clay, plastic or wood. The important thing is that it can drain the water because your plants will die if it is unable to. Since they come in different sizes, you have to know the right one to get from the store.

Your basis should be the average root depth as well as the diameter of the plant. If your plant has 6 inch deep roots and grows about 10 inches wide, the ideal organic gardening container should be 8 inches deep and 10 to 12 inches wide. There must always be a small room for allowance because it is possible that whatever you are growing will grow to be bigger than you anticipated so better to be safe than sorry.

Should there bugs like hookworms around your plant, bring them to the sink and wash the leaves. If there are slugs, sprinkle diatomaceous earth on the soil so you can get rid of them.

If there aphids on your plant, get some other insects to kill them by buying a pack of ladybugs so they will eat it without causing any collateral damage to your produce.

You could say that organic garden containers are an innovation to gardening. This is because you can do it almost anywhere like in a condo or an apartment so that you no longer have to buy organic fruits or vegetables from store when you can just get it from the balcony or the window.

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Raised bed gardening is a way of growing plants inside beds that are raised up above the normal level of the soil in the garden. They’re typically housed inside a wooden frame, generally rectangular. The soil may be mixed in with tilled soil underneath, or it can simply be new soil placed on top of untilled ground.

There are many great benefits to growing plants in raised beds. One of the biggest benefits is the ability to harvest more produce from the same space. Raised bed gardens can actually double or even triple the amount of produce harvested from the space! This is due to the fact that the square footage needed for pathways is reduced considerably, and more space can be devoted to the plants.

Another great benefit to growing in raised beds is the fact that you can improve your soil conditions more readily, and you can even grow plants in areas with extremely inhospitable soil. If your garden is typically very sandy or you have a lot of clay, it can be difficult to grow much in it. But if you create a raised bed, you can simply put your own purchased or created soil mix into the frame and grow your plants in that.

Weeds are also much less of a problem in the typical raised bed. Because the soil is confined, it’s much easier to spot any weeds that do pop up, and the weed seeds in the existing soil are buried under far too much soil to sprout in most cases.

The frames can also be built with a bottom and placed on tables so handicapped and elderly people can reach their plants to care for them more easily. This is a major benefit for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to properly care for a garden.

This type of gardening was made popular by Mel Bartholomew in his book and television series called Square Foot Gardening. He developed a system that requires about 80% less space than traditional types of gardening.

Instead of being just a standard raised bed, the bed is divided into sections that house plants of various sizes. It uses special soil mix that is free of weeds and is ideal for growing almost any kind of plants. It uses less water, is all organic, and uses far fewer seeds than traditional gardening. His system claims you can produce 5 times more in the same space of a traditional garden.

The system divides each square foot into a grid, based on what type of plants you wish to grow in that section. If you want to grow a large plant like broccoli or cabbage, it would take one entire square foot, so that section wouldn’t be divided at all. If you want to grow radishes, you might section that square foot into sixteen separate spaces, each one housing a single radish!

Other similar systems have been brought out. Cubed Foot Gardening is very similar to Square Foot Gardening. The creator of this particular system is Christopher O. Bird, and he credits Mel Bartholomew for creating the original system. Bartholomew even gave the system an endorsement!

You don’t have to use a grid system at all. You can use a raised bed to plant a wildflower garden or an herb garden with no definable organization. This works just fine. You don’t have to restrict yourself to a grid-based system if you don’t want to. Raised beds are very flexible!

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Flowers are not immune from disease, and you should be prepared to take action to help your flowers if they fall prey to one of these diseases. Flowers can be attacked by all sorts of things, like bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

Fungi can live dormant in the soil, even without plants, for quite a long time. Even if you grow your flowers in an area that’s been bare for a long time, fungi can still be there, waiting for you to plant something that it can attack. So don’t think starting with bare soil will protect your flowers.

Fungi are very difficult to kill, because they reproduce through spores that can spread very quickly. A single plant infected with a fungus can spread up to 100 million spores! Some fungi can enter a plan through the roots, and some enter through the leaves. You need to work hard to get rid of a fungal infection completely so it won’t return.

Bacteria can’t live in bare soil for very long. They can’t grow and multiply without moisture and warmth. Bacterial infections are more prevalent in areas where the weather is warm and wet. Bacteria is often spread through things like overhead watering that causes water to splash up onto plants. Bacteria often get into a cut stem or leaf, so you should watch for damage to your plants.

Viruses can’t multiply in the soil. They are only able to reproduce inside the cells of a plant. They are usually transmitted by insects, or they can infect seeds or pollen that can be spread to other plants. Viruses usually enter plants through cuts in the stems or leaves.

The most important thing to do to take care of your sick flowers is to properly diagnose the problem. You can use books or online resources to attempt to identify any problems. You’ll really need to have some sort of resource available that can help you identify any problems, because you won’t be able to properly treat your flowers if you don’t know what’s wrong with them.

You can also visit your local garden center or extension service to ask for advice. If you aren’t able to identify a problem on your own, you can visit one of these places to seek help. You can simply describe your problem, but it would be best to take in pictures of the problem if you can. Sometimes pictures can help much more than a description.
If possible, you should try treating your flowers with organic methods first.

Chemicals can sometimes damage your plants as much as the disease, and they’re also very bad for the environment. Don’t automatically go for those fungicides and chemicals, because you can often treat your problems organically.

Some flowers are more delicate than others. Roses, for example, can be highly susceptible to a wide variety of problems. Roses can get a problem called black spot, blistered leaves, and flowers that won’t open due to bugs called thrips. Be sure to know what problems your flowers can be susceptible to, so you’ll already be prepared to take care of any problems by the time they occur.

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The first thing you need to do is learn a little bit about flowers in general. You need to learn the difference between annuals and perennials, for example. Annuals need to be replanted every year, but perennials keep blooming year after year.

Always be sure to plan your flower garden carefully. You must choose flowers that will grow well in your area. You need to plan the location carefully, so your flowers get just the right amount of sun and shade for that variety. You also need to be sure your plants don’t get too much water, but they also need to receive enough.

If your soil is sandy, you should add some compost and peat moss, because sandy soil won’t hold moisture very well. If you have clay soil, you’ll have to add some sand and compost to encourage better drainage. Compost is very, very important for any garden. Compost helps provide nutrients, and it also sets up an ideal drainage condition.

Be sure not to plant your flowers to deep. If you plant flowers too deeply, the water might end up draining away before it can reach the plant’s roots. Flowers don’t do well if they’re planted too deeply.

You should plant perennials and annuals together. Perennials will bloom every year. After a growth period during the spring and summer, they usually die during the winter, and they come back up the next spring.

Annuals only bloom for a single season. Perennials are usually grouped into early, mid, and late season bloomers. By planting a wide variety of these in your garden, you can be sure to have blooms all year long.
Every summer you’ll need to start clipping off dead blossoms. This is very important for annuals, especially.

If you clip off dead blooms, annuals will bloom even more. Be sure to throw the clipped blossoms out far away from your garden so you don’t spread any diseases.

You should work to make sure you have some good beneficial insects in your garden. Not all insects are bad! Butterflies, bees, and beetles are critical to flower gardens for pollination. Your flowers won’t do very well without being pollinated!

Ladybugs, mantis, lacewings, dragonflies, and other insects help kill harmful insects. These insects prey upon other bugs like aphids, which can be hard to get rid of. You want to encourage beneficial insects to visit your garden and stay there.

Remember to plan your garden carefully from the start. You can’t exactly move your flowers around very easily, so it’s critical to plan right from the start. You want to be sure to choose flowers in colors that complement each other.

You could group white, blue, and purple together. You could group pink and red. You could group red, yellow, and orange. You can add white to any color scheme, and red also goes well with almost any color. Color scheming is extremely important in flower gardens, because appearance is one of the most important parts of a flower garden.

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