Friday, April 10, 2009

Landscaping Your Summer Garden


As you plan your summer vegetable or flower garden, it is important to keep in mind to work with the natural flow of your landscape or terrain rather than against it. Many a novice gardener will painstakingly try to change the natural landscape of their lawn or planting area only to be dissapointed. Plan your vegetable, flower, or fruit gardens to flow with the natural landscape.

To find the natural flow of your garden area or lawn, it will take a few steps to accomplish this. First thing to do is to survey your lawn, not just visually, but to walk the enire terrain. Study the slopes and inclines, measure the area, and make notes of your findings. Be sure to makes notes on the condition of the soil, any drainage problems, direct or indirect sunlight, and any other information that will help youdecide which area of your lawn would be best for your summer garden. If you find areas that may not be hospitable to plants or a vegetable or flower garden, you might consider turning this area into a water feature or any other creative, decorative addition to your lawn.

When you have decided on the area for your summer garden, determine whether it gets direct or indirect sunlight. For direct sunlight, you may need to create shade for those plants. Try planting these in the shade of shrubs, taller growing vegetables, or even using rocks to create some shade. Using artificial shade works well too such as climbing vines on trellises or planting in the shade provided by your privacy fence.

Once you become familiar with the flow of your lawn, you can begin to plan for the type of vegetables, flowers, fruits, or other greenery you desire in your garden. Vegetables are probably the easiest to landscape, because they're planted for their harvest rather than their beauty. Flower gardens, on the other hand, are planted to achieve beauty and add color to your landscape. During this planning stage, it is a good idea to decide if you want a certain color scheme, certain types of flowers, or a combination. This is a personal decision, but it will have a huge impact on the overall appearance of your garden and lawn.
Another point to consider in landscaping your summer garden, is how much time and effort you're willing to spend on taking care of your garden. Some plants require more maintenance and care than others, sodo your homework on the types of plants you want to use in your garden.Vegetable gardens require more constant attention than the flower or plant garden. They will not flourish or survive long without regular care.

If you feel that you don't have the time needed to maintain your gardens or lawn or you simply don't know how to landscape your summer gardens, consider hiring a professional landscaping company. They can provide almost any service you need for your lawn. Before you hire outside help, check into their maintenance program and find out the details of their maintenance services. You could also ask to see if they provide a low maintenance landscaping service that you could duplicate on your own.

Landscaping, for many gardeners, is what they most look forward to when the planning stage of their summer gardens begin. But for others, it may be the step they would rather skip and move on to the planting phase of the growing season. Which ever the case, the hope is that the tips and recommendations provided here will be useful and help you get started landscaping your summer gardens.

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