What’s topiary?! You have certainly seen in parks and other houses’ gardens bushes that look perfect, trimmed in sophisticated shapes: pyramid, sphere, spiral or even in the shape of different objects such as cars, bicycles, letters and sometimes animals. If you are tempted to practice this art (because in the end it takes much skill to model such forms of greenery) perhaps the first thing you should know is that not all plants are equally suitable for this task. The most appropriate plants, due to the texture of its leaves and the dense crown, are: cranberry, cypress, oleander, myrtle, buxus, rosemary bushes, laurel and ivy.
Month: June 2020
Outdoor kitchens
We talked a lot about regular kitchens, so it’s time to approach the outdoor kitchens subject. Starting early in spring and up until the autumn’s end, the garden should be the primary place for relaxation and having dinner in the cool shade of the trees is more than a blessing. Have you ever thought that the garden could be the ideal space for cooking, protecting your house from excessive heat created by the oven, while you are preparing a nice meal for your friends and family?
Well, this is a worthy idea to be taken into account, the benefits being undeniable.
For starters, when it comes
Tools organizing
Of course, when you want a neat garden, you know you must have all the necessary tools. We are not going to enumerate them here, but we wonder how much attention do you pay to the tools organizing activities.
Ideally, you should have a home annexed structure dedicated solely for this purpose – a shed. This would provide you plenty of space, but its absence shouldn’t keep you from knowing exactly where you rake, broom or lawn mower are. If you don’t have a shed, you could, for instance, build a large “toolbox” in a corner of your
Gardening for children
Gardening for children – education in more than one way.
Have you ever thought that, perhaps, your desire to have a beautiful garden originates sometime in your childhood? It’s very likely, so it’s now time for your kids to learn to love the greenery around the house, cherish the plants and care for them.
You can start encouraging your child to have his or her own small garden. For this, you have to find a bucket or a basket and make sure you have enough fertilized soil to fill about three quarters of the volume. Let your child pick the plants, but make sure you direct him
Surveillance systems for your backyard
Are backyard surveillance systems truly necessary?
Your efforts in having a beautiful garden are starting to show, so it’s time to talk a little about protecting it from uninvited guests. And how else if not by using a backyard surveillance system?
Why is it necessary?
- To discourage any attempt before it actually occurs. Cameras mounted in plain sight will discourage any potential offenders and the chances that they will act will decrease considerably.
- For remote monitoring the back and front yard and, most important, the area in the immediate vicinity of the house.
- If a felony does happen, you will have all the material to help the Police identify the offenders.
- For
An Italian patio for an Italian themed garden
Have you ever dreamed about having an Italian themed garden?
If you didn’t get the chance to see the Italian Gardens at their home, you most certainly saw them in a documentary or a movie and you have a pretty good idea about how they look. It may seem quite a challenge to approach an Italian style near your home, but the result makes it worth it every effort.
An Italian garden doesn’t require very much space, has a wild vibe, and can be created just as easily on a flat or slope surface.
The first step in recreating this theme is to build a shaded
Your lawn – The green carpet
A beautiful lawn is one of the main attractions in each garden and also each owner’s pride. If you decided to give that extra bit of attention to your green carpet so it looks perfect, we are, again, here to help you.
Choose the type of lawn that suits you. Your first option is the seed lawn, which is easy to plant, but it has to be chosen with regard to the environmental conditions such as type of soil, rainfall, light and so on. Another option is the one in furrows, which is very easily planted and more durable
You have to prepare
The outdoor shower – Delight in the garden
During the hot summer days, an outdoor shower is a blessing, and you owe it to yourself to just give in to this delight.
The simplest solution to achieve this is to turn to the hose you usually use for watering your plants.All you have to do is to find a private spot and hook the hose to a tree branch after you have mounted a shower head. That’s it! Because we are talking about cold water here, your summer delight won’t last very long, therefore you don’t need to worry too much about the water drain system. A layer of gravel will be sufficient to ensure a satisfactory drainage.
If you find the hose option
Automatic Irrigation Systems
If you have a garden, you probably know by now that, in order to keep it tidy and the plants healthy, the most important factors are the soil, water and light. In case one of these is inadequate or unsatisfactory, the health of your plants will have to suffer and their aspect as well.
Water is, obviously, a vital element when it comes to having vigorous plants, therefore, watering your plants, especially in a dry season, must be the number one priority. The first impulse is to arm ourselves with a hose and supplement the water quantity whenever necessary. Easy to say, but harder to implement. For instance, your lawn needs 1 gallon of water per square foot every day. Yes, every day! After a simple calculation, if you have a medium sized lawn, you will need 1-2 hours each day to irrigate it. Moreover, you also need a long hose, a high pressure water supply, and the results won’t be spectacular. The watering will be uneven, the activity tedious and, during vacations, you will have to ask (or even pay) someone to do this for you. What’s the solution? Easy! An automatic irrigation system. It will evenly water the garden and it will do it only when necessary (modern automatic watering systems are equipped with moisture sensors, so you don’t need to stop them when it rains outside).
The secret of success in terms of efficiency and efficacy is their design. This is why, when you are going to purchase such a system, you must be extremely careful to each of its components:
– the controller/programmer – the element that stores your watering schedule and transmits the start signal to the solenoids.
– moisture sensor – the element that transmits the controller a signal to let it
Lawnmower – What mower suits you best?
The garden surrounding your house needs quite a bit of investment if you want your green oasis to look beautiful, clean and healthy. Part of your investments should definitely be a lawnmower.
If you have come to the conclusion you need to buy such an item, first of all you need to decide which type (there are plenty of them) suits you best considering your gardens characteristics (area, land slope and the existence of narrow spaces). You also have to consider how much time you are willing to dedicate to this activity.
Lawnmowers can have an electric motor or a combustion one and the electric ones can run on batteries or can be
Lattice fence panels and trellis
Lattice fence panels have that particular property of being, simultaneously, decorative and practical elements. They are beautiful, environmentally friendly, easy to build and often a saving solution for both appearance and functionality of your garden.
For practical uses, we need to start with them protecting us against the hot sun rays. This is very important – first because UV radiation does terrible damage to the skin and – second, for your personal comfort. This protection wall will be much more antithetically pleasing if you plant climbing
Garden Wedding – The altar
If you want to say “I do” in your beautiful garden, subscribe to us and find out how you can have a perfect garden wedding.
Since this is a very complex subject, we decided to break it into pieces and discuss ideas for your garden wedding in more than one article. We are going to start with the altar.
Important! Before planning your garden wedding, make sure your minister, priest or person who is going to tie the knot is available to come to your location. We all see them in movies, but, depending on each country’s laws and religion, this might not be possible in some places.
Let’s get back to the altar.
Keeping your dog in the backyard
Keeping your dog in the backyard
We know lots of you are animal lovers and, in this article, we are going to tell you how your backyard can be a blessing for your dog and how not to turn it into a curse.
Keeping a dog in an apartment is possible, but it is a lot harder than keeping him in a house that also has a backyard. However, having a backyard is not enough of a living arrangement for your 4-legged friend. If you want to keep him happy (and of course you want that), there will be some sweat and effort.
- Build him a house of his own
Building a
How to choose the flowers and plants for your garden
Choosing the flowers and plants that are going to form your garden is one of great satisfaction, it can offer both healthy and emotional benefit. You must take into account how much time you can dedicate to your garden. You must know well the hours of sun or shade that your garden will have. Does…
Read More “How to choose the flowers and plants for your garden” »
Cheap Garden Furniture
We want to help as many of you as possible, therefore this is a rather international blog. For this exact reason we cannot say something like: ”If you want cheap garden furniture, go to Ikea”, simply because in some countries or towns, you might not have an Ikea store. Now, Ikea was just an example, it goes the same for any other store.
Instead, we are going to let you know on some little tips to keep your budget as low as possible, without mentioning a certain store.
Don’t stop in the first shop. Although this is basically common sense and, hopefully, everyone knows you shouldn’t buy the very first thing you see, we are going to teach you how to do a little research
Watering tips for perfect plants
Can you imagine a garden without those beautiful trees, flowers and decorative plants? We sure can’t, but keeping them in shape is not an easy task. It all starts with the watering – the most important process in taking care of everything that is green. However, we noticed some people are lacking basic knowledge in this field and, no matter how hard they try, the plant end up dying before their time.
Here are some watering tips to help you with this:
1. Concentrate on the root area.
The water feeds the plants trough the root, so watering the foliage may prove very
Backyard beach
Some of you are fortunate enough to be living near a sea or ocean. Perhaps this article is not for you. However, the vast majority of us lives in crowded cities where the blue waters are far away. Fortunately, we can bring the beach in our backyard. Read on and find some great ideas!
Sand
What’s the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the beach? The sand, of course. Well, that’s what you should start with. The more sand you get, the more spectacular the effect will be. Place some garden chairs and
A cinema in your garden
Do you have an impressive movie collection that you would like to see over and over again with your friends, in a special ambiance? The ideal solution is a cinema right in your garden. Although it seems hard to accomplish, things are actually very simple, the investment is minimal and the results are spectacular.
The first step is to choose where you want the projection to occur. Make sure you have access to electricity and the light sources in the environment (neighboring houses, street lighting and car headlights) are not reflected on the
Japanese Gardens
Don’t you just love Japanese gardens? If you do, and you decide on decorating your own garden in this style, you should know this is not just landscaping, but an art based on very strong philosophical principals and various symbols; such a garden represents the elements of the entire universe. Fire is rendered by iron poles, stone represents earth and air, water and life (plants and animals) appear in their natural form. Also, if you are planning on creating a Japanese garden, there are some principles you need to strictly obey:
Asymmetry (Fukinsei) – which controls the balance in the composition. A Japanese
Small garden tricks
Perhaps the space around your house is small and you find it difficult to achieve that spectacular look you keep seeing on our website? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. There are a few simple tricks to come to your aid.
Plant flowers with bold colors
By creating a focal point of color, the size of your garden will become considerably less significant. For this purpose, we recommend planting roses, especially that kind that falls in cascades. This type of flowers has the power to offer a lot of amplitude.
Separate the space
You can create a “flower island” right
More garden lighting ideas
Lighting the area surrounding your house is of utmost importance! Primarily, because nighttime dangers are numerous and secondly, because visual-wise, light ensembles look positively stunning.
There are many options when it comes to garden/yard lighting:
– Pillars of different shapes, sizes and designs, suitable to be integrated into any architectural design, easy to install and with a relatively low price;
– Lanterns, for a familiar air space, which, like pillars, there are a variety of models;
– Illuminated
A small pond in your garden
To enjoy the beauty of the garden you carefully decorated even more, during summertime, you could create a small pond right in the heart of it and perhaps populate it with some colorful fish.
There is a really easy way to do that. First of all, you need to find a large recipient that’s able to contain water. For instance, a nice looking bucket will do just fine. However, please keep in mind that such objects, if made of copper or zing, don’t make a good environment for fish. Once you found this recipient, clean it thoroughly so there are no toxic substances left and make sure it is deep enough to host
Plants vs. Mosquitoes
By now, you must be enjoying the summer, your tan that’s becoming more beautiful with each passing day and long evenings spent in the garden. But with summer it’s not just about the joy. Let’s not forget this is the season when the nagging war against the mosquitoes starts. What can be worst than the marks they leave on your skin or the annoying buzz in your ears? Of course, there are several solutions to deal with them, and are going ahead of each other with several types of substances. But these are chemicals and they could cause serious side-effects,
Bird Houses in your Garden
Each year, you consider it your duty to transform the garden into a friendly environment for your friends and family. Today, we are asking you: have you ever considered the more… unusual guests? The ones you never invite but nevertheless they always come to make your day more beautiful? We are referring, of course, to the birds, butterflies and ladybugs.
If you love the sound of birds, you have to think about making their stay as comfortable as possible.
1. If you don’t have a water fountain, place a big vessel
Lucky plants for your garden
If you are passionate about the art of Feng Shui, the one that shares a philosophy based on Japanese culture and traditions, then you probably already know that any form generates a certain kind of energy. So what plants should you plant so they could bring your force, plentiful and healthy? In general the succulent plants with thick fleshy leaves and colored in dark green.
The Peony is considered by the Chinese the king of the garden and it is thought it brings wealth. Regardless of color it brings abundance and prosperity, but the red one is said to bring girls their soul-mates as well. Specialists say
A relaxation corner in your garden
A garden is meant to bring added value to your home, to enhance it, but first and foremost, it is a place dedicated to relaxation and quality time spent with your friends and family. After all, what can be more pleasant than lying in the shade of an old tree with a good book in your hand or having friends over for lemonade after a long hot day?
We would like to remind you that the dream garden can be achieved by anyone and it needs creativity in the first place. Only after that should you worry about the budget.
Decorate using tires
Writing the previous article was really fun and it gave us the idea to further on explore how tires can be used to decorate your garden or backyard. We showed you how to create an amazing swing and, in this article, we are going to show a few great ideas that will make you think twice before throwing away the tires you no longer use. We believe that, with just a little patience, anything can be transformed into something beautiful!
1. Tire planters
Use plywood to create a bottom for your planters and attach 4 wooden legs (they could logs