Is your winter garden dull and dreary? Or full of beauty and interest no matter what time of the year? Want to learn to increase the winter beauty in your landscape?Beauty in the winter landscape can be found in: - Winter Blooms -- Yes, flowers in the winter are possible.
- Seeds & Seedpods -- Beautiful snow catching, and eye catching additions to the winter garden.
- Berries -- Sometimes seeds are in the form of brilliant berry clusters.
- Shapes & Silhouettes -- Even without leaves plants can be beautiful or unique.
- Barks -- From subdued to fiery, there are plenty of choices.
- Evergreens -- The classic staple of the four-season garden.
I have to admit that for me, thinking of my garden from a year-round perspective took a bit of time to learn. Even though I am not one to buy plants that are blooming and I like perennials which have staggered bloom times, I still had a habit of planting what would look good at the height of the season, say June and July, leaving me with nothing but a bed mounding with shrub-like herbs, no flowers and an snarl of plants by August and September. Learning to pre-plan...
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garden planning, garding, herbs, landscaping, plants, winter
Posted at: 06:35 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
Herbal Tea is the whole reason I began growing herbs back in the late 1980s. At that time herbal tea was not available in stores and if you wanted Green tea you had to go to an oriental restaurant. I was tired of single herb teas like chamomile and peppermint, so I began to grow my own herbs for tea.
Culinary herbs like rosemary, sage, lavender, thyme and lemon balm not only liven up a garden though scent and texture they can also add amazing flavor to herbal tea. Herb teas are refreshing and especially good in the summer months as ice tea. In addition to herbs you can add rose hips, leaves of fruit bushes, like raspberry, blackberry, strawberry and blueberry for a tasty treat. Flower petals, like hibiscus, add a tangy zip.
The other nice aspect of tea herbs is they have a variety of colors and textures and especially scents that lend themselves to any garden situation. Tea herbs work well in a mixed border or bed and if your space is limited you can grow most in pots and other containers.
Now for a theme bed of their own, tea herbs are...
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garden planning, gardening, herbal tea, herbs, lemon balm, mint, tea
Posted at: 08:20 AM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
The seed catalogs and plant catalogs should be arriving now so you can continue to create your plant list or begin to finalize your plant list. Below are some issues and questions you need to ask when narrowing down your list of plants.
Things to consider when choosing plants –
Are they good for the zone you live in? KNOW your hardiness zone and check the plants to see if they work well int hat zone (Northern Illinois where I am is Zone 5, smaller the number colder the winter)
Will you need to treat them differently if they are not for your zone? (sometimes you can plant a Zone 6 in Zone 5 and do just fine, but a Zone 7 will probably not make it through our winter, but if you expect it to only live one year you will not be disappointed.
How many plants do you want or need of each varieity? Plan for no more than 3 plants of any single kind unless your family is larger than 6 people. Nice groupings of three are attractive and you can mix and match -- like two lemon basil and one purple basil for...
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garden planning, herbs, tasks
Posted at: 03:33 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
I mentioned this before, but I thought I should repeat it before I went forward with garden planning
Choosing a location – Winter sun is different than summer sun but you can get an idea of where the sunniest locations in your yard are by taking a walk around the property about midday. Most herbs need full to part sun so choose a sunny location pace it off and make notes about landmarks, trees, buildings, etc. Pay attention to low spots and those that will hold water. Herbs do not like to sit in water. They prefer a well drained soil. In a few days I will talk about soil needs and discovering what your soil may need.
Once you have chosen your location you can draw your garden layout—
- Orient the drawing so that you know which way is north. Run rows or beds east to west for better lighting. Locate taller plants to the north to keep them from shading the lower ones.
- Beds are best suited for backyard gardens where most of the work will be done by hand. Remember not to make them more than...
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garden design, garden planning, herbs
Posted at: 04:27 PM | 0 Comments | Add Comment | Permalink
