Have you ever driven past someone’s home and thought how magnificent their yard looks? Perfectly manicured with incredibly gorgeous gardens – and that is just the front yard; imagine what their back yard must look like! How did the come up with it? Did they use professional landscapers or was it a do-it-yourself project? It really doesn’t matter as you too can create and maintain that “perfect” yard look and it won’t take all that much more effort than you are currently doing (even if it is none). Here are a few ideas for figuring out what “your” perfect garden should look like:
Drive around – observe everyone’s yard, take pictures of your yard before you start and take pictures of all the landscaping ideas you like. Piece together your yard pictures with the neat landscaping pictures in order to get a clearer sense of what you want.
Magazines – pick up a few gardening magazines to get an idea of the latest trends and newest innovations.
Books – buy a gardening book that is specific to your geographic region and climate zone.
Visit local nurseries – see what is in stock, learn terminology and different plant names. Visit a few nurseries out of town to view a greater variety of plants available (especially native ones).
Draw up your own plans – you don’t have to be an artist or architect to do this and you really don’t need a professional doing it either. You just have to try and draw your area to scale.
Get some rope/string and visualize – lay out the rope in the pattern or flow you want your garden or landscaping to take shape of.
Soil testing – get a few soil samples and take them to a nursery for soil testing to determine the ph factor of your soil. Then you can adjust with compost or organic materials to achieve the best ph for proper plant growth.
Gardening tips are a different matter, unless you sit there an observe someone gardening; you will not pick up any tips by driving around. You know what tips really are? They are common sense approaches to particular problems in our life; we call them tips because sometimes we all need a little “insider” information or help. Here are a few gardening tips you may not know:
Do not water in the evening or at night – this can create disease or rot.
Always research your next gardening project – don’t jump in without first, the knowledge and second, a plan.
Don’t buy plants impossible to maintain – it is a waste of money and time.
Use mulch – it lessens your gardening maintenance, keeps moisture in the soil, reduces weeds and enhances the beauty of your garden.
Weed barriers are a waste of time and money – and they don’t work. Why? Because the weeds grow on top of the barrier.
Keep it real – go native with plants whenever possible. It will lessen your costs, maintenance time and eliminate plant loss.
When planting – always put water into the hole before you insert the plant and again after you have filled in the hole.
Pruning – stay ahead of the game; taking a few minutes each week to trim is easier and faster than pruning back months of growth from bushes and shrubs.
All these gardening ideas and tips are relatively simple and easy to perform, you just have to do it. Don’t forget to grab your copy of my Free Gardening Tips ebook which will help you even more!
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