Garden Plan Decisions

This is a picture of part of a very small garden I designed in England. As you can see it contains various 'heathers' and miniature 'fir' trees. It's about 8 years old, here, I'd think.

The trees were slowgrowing, but after a few more years they grew until a decision had to be made - were they getting too big?

When you create a garden plan, you have to recognise that, hopefully, the plants will all grow and changes will need to be made - or some plants will over-shaddow and dominate others naturally.

It is hard to design a garden that will look good when it's planted and also 30 years later, without some plants needing to be added, or others getting swamped.

While the cedar (on the left) was small, this arrangement looked great ... about 12 years. But then the decision had to be made. What was most important? The cedar or the heathers?

Both were important to start with. They needed each other for interest.

Which would you choose? A magnificent cedar, or a collection of heathers?

Pete

technorati tags:Garden, design, plan, heathers, cedar

Very Expensive Pond

I know that when there are very small children in a family it is unwise to have water features that they can drown in, and it doesn't take much depth, but as far as possible I try to have some sort of water feature in any garden design.

It's surprising how much soil you have to remove to put in a pond. I'll give some suggestions at another time as to what can be done with the material you remove.

The first and most essential thing to do before you start digging is to find out if there are any underground pipes that you can possibly hit.

If it's at all posssible to get in a small mechanical excavator - I suggest you do so, but if employing someone to use it, give them the plan of the pipes. Plans are usually available from the local council. Repairing broken pipes is very expensive!

Placing a pond where sewage pipes will run underneath or close by is often illegal. It's best to check local regualtions and do the right thing.

Can't you just imagine relaxing by a pond like this pond from www.watergarden.com ?

Pete

technorati tags:Garden, design, pond, water, feature

Garden Rocks

"You can add a lot of rocks to your landscapewithout hauling them in your car. The catch is, you make the "rocks"right there in your garden. It's an easy and inexpensive way to adddepth and texture to your landscape design." Meriel Bradley show you how at at the hgtv website. If you click on this link it'll take you to the page with full instructions and more pictures:

Make your own rocks

I like the idea of making large, boulder-size rocks in a cardboard box to help retain the cement and mold and forming the rock where you want it to bein the garden. Then you can just rip off and discard the box when thecement has set. Anything larger than a box sized rock gets a bit heavy to drag around, and three visits or more to the physiotherapist starts to get expensive. I know from experience!

I'm sure there are plenty of other ways to do this, and to make them look aged, and if you've tried a method that works well, please let me know and leave a message.

I have to say that most of my gardens feature rocks of some sort in the design and plan - sometimes just 5, sometimes 30 tons of them. I'll continue to buy 30 tons from the quarry!

technorati tags:Garden, Design, Plan, Rocks

Winning Garden Plans

Can you use at least chunks of these prize winning eco-friendly garden designs and turn them into your own?

Just because one of the designer hase used silver birch trees, these could easily be replaced by something tropical or whatever grows in your area.

I think you'll find it's worth taking a look. The plans are great.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/4225517.stm

Pete

technorati tags:Garden, Plan, Design, eco-friendly, winning

Garden Plan Program

Here's a free program that will help you design and plan your garden. You can enter sizes, features, plants, and more and see the result in 3D and plan form.

The choices might be somewhat limited and the plants on offer for you to use might not quite be the kind that grow in your area, but you can see the effects of selecting plants of different heights and colors and produce a pleasing outcome.

I warn you, playing with this can be addictive!

Try it by clicking here

Have fun!

Pete

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technorati tags:Garden, Plan, Design, Program

In Times of Drought

I live in an area which I guess you could call sub-tropical. We only get a light frost for one day a year. But I've also lived in England and made gardens there - and there were plenty of times the ground was frozen for a week or more ... and yes, I know there are plenty of places where the ground is frozen for a month or more.

Anyway, world weather patterns seem to be changing, and we are in the middle of our worst drought for 100 years. The garden plan has to incorporate new features - though not the kind to admire. Some plants are standing up to the drought better than others, but I've burried flowerpots next to the stem of many plants, so that the holes are really close to the roots. I can then ensure that the roots get whatever water I provide by filling the pots. If I were just to water on the surface, the chances are that most wouldn't reach where it's needed. Pots in the soil are not elegant, but as the lower leaves grow over them, they become less obvious.

Mulching obviously helps prevent water evaporation, but it also can prevent light rain reaching the soil. I always leave some space between the plant stem and the mulch so that rain or watering can be effective. Doing so can also help prevent rot and fungus problems.

Happy gardening!

Pete

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technorati tags:Garden, plan, water, drought

Garden Designs Using Trees

The lovely people at The Tree Foundation of Kern www.urbanforest.org have provided great information on pruning and topping trees.

They've supplied a guide at

http://wwwstatic.kern.org/gems/urbanforestkernorg/pruningtips.pdf

Pruning fir trees is never recommended and is very rarely successful in maintaining them in a good shape.

When you design a garden, plan only to plant them when you have enough space for them to mature.

Take care,

Pete

PS A lot of people get injured lopping trees. Using a tree service that employs a certified arborist is recommended!

technorati tags:Garden, design, plan, tree, pruning, lopping

Best Garden Designer

One way to plan a garden is to take a walk around your locality and see what everyone else has created. This will give you ideas for successful features that you would like to incorporate into your own design and tell you what plants grow well and those that don't.

Magazines and websites provide a lot more ideas for thought. Don't rule out overseas examples - look for the design ideas and then use the plants that grow in your area.

This is a picture of a wonderful garden created by Marianne Ford, in the UK

http://www.marianneford.co.uk/index.html

Love your site and your work Marianne!

Curved paths always add interest.

More later.

Pete

technorati tags:Garden, Plan, design, paths, plants

Plan a Garden Wherever you Work

Garden where you work

Could you plan or design a garden for wherever you work?

This interesting article that appears in 'The State' may get you thinking. I've heard of factory employees, offices workers and many others setting up 'gardens at work' - and enjoying eating the fresh produce for lunch. Window boxes, fruit trees, tomato plants grown on hay-bales and much more. I even read of one place where they dug up a couple of car park spaces to create some extra area for plants. The gardeners on the staff seemed to get more enjoyment from being at work and factory productivity increased too.

Here's the article from 'The State' :

Interested in starting a garden at your office? Here are a few tips:

• Get the approval of supervisors and groundskeepers. It helps if you put together a garden plan.

• Plan a meeting to find out who is interested in participating in the garden. Announce the meeting with fliers and e-mails.

• Choose a garden site and have it approved. Look for good sun exposure, water source, drainage, soil condition, access and possible tool storage areas. Depending on the site, raised beds might be the best option.

• Create a garden design. Decide how the site preparation will be done and who will build raised beds. A community workday for all company gardeners can be a fun way to get the work done.

• Check with local garden centers to see whether you can get a discount on group purchases. Ask whether the company will help buy supplies or plants.

SOURCES: www.openlands.org, www.wkkf.org, celosangeles.ucdavis.edu

technorati tags:Garden, Plan, Design, Work, Office

Welcome to Garden Design News

Welcome to Garden Design News.

I've been designing gardens for over 40 years.

Here I'll try to keep you up to date with ideas you can use no matter where you live and what you want to grow.

I hope you'll return often. Please let me know if you have any problems you'd like suggestions for.

I'll be supplying information from professionals in many fields and from different regions - but my own speciality is using rocks and stones to maximum effect.

Hoping I can help you create the garden of your dreams with minimum effort and expense.

Best wishes,

Pete Taylor