Small Garden Design Tips

“>Have you always wanted a garden, but thought you didn’t have enough space?  Its time to think again…with a small garden design you  can enjoy gardening, even in the smallest of spaces.

Whether you live in an apartment, condo, row house, or just have a small yard, there is always space to create a small garden.  Your only limitation is your creativity!

Have you always wanted to grow flowers, roses, vegetables, or herbs?  All of these are possible with a small garden design.  Whether its container gardening on a small deck, patio, or table top to carving out a small area in a backyard, you can brighten up your outdoor space with a small garden design.

Not sure where to start?  That’s where Small Garden Design Tips comes in…here you’ll find tips and ideas to get you started with your small garden design.

Technorati Tags: container gardening, flowers, herbs, roses, small garden design, small space gardens, vegetables

“>After the first bulbs of spring bloom – crocus, hyacinth, tulips, jonquil – the beauty of the peonies, a sure sign of spring begin to bloom.   With their sumptuous flowers in colors ranging from white to yellow, light pink, dark pink and red, peonies are a perrenial favorite.

Peonies grow with lush foliage providing large blooms that are often fragrant.  They grow from 2 to 4 feet in height and provide booms that are great cut flowers.  With few pest, they make a great addition to any small garden design for adding blooms from spring to early summer.

Peonies love sunny areas and can survive for years undisturbed.  They usually require little to no maintenance, although they may need dividing if they become overcrowded.  At the end of the blooming season, cut down the foliage.  Because they’re perennials, the peonies will re-sprout and bloom the next season.

Notice ants on your peonies?  Whatever you do, don’t break out the insecticide or despair.  Ants are seem to be attracted to some peonies, especially the unopened blooms.  They won’t do harm.  Once the blooms open, the ants seem to go away.

Looking for more info on peonies?  Check out the Frequently Asked Questions at the  Heartland Peony Society.

Technorati Tags: flower garden design, flowers, perrenials, small garden design, spring garden

Did you know the USDA has updated the Plant Hardiness Zone Map for 2012?  Seems the USDA has remapped the planting zones for the United States.  Learn more by visiting the interactive USDA Plan Hardiness Zone Map.

What does this mean to small garden design?  It means that planting zones around the country have been adjusted to the gradual warming that seems to be occurring around the country.

I don’t know if you’ve noticed a change where you live, but I have noticed a big change this year.  As you can see by the picture accompanying this article, it is the end of January and here in the Philadelphia area, my hyacinth, crocus, and tulip bulbs are sprouting quickly!  Should the unusually warm weather take a turn, all my spring bulbs will be freeze and there goes my beautiful spring bulb small garden design!

Are you experiencing the same thing where you live?

Technorati Tags: bulbs, crocus, flower garden design, flowers, hyacinth, perrenials, spring garden, tulips

Looking for plants for your small garden design that span the seasons, adding beauty spring, summer, fall, and winter?  Then look no further than ornamental grasses.

Benefits of 0rnamental grasses for a small garden design…

• They come in varying textures and colors.
• They are easy to care for and require little effort.
• When ornamental grasses go to seed, they add beauty to fall and winter landscapes as well as providing seed for birds.
• Many ornamental grasses are perennial, providing beauty year after year.

Want to learn more about ornamental grasses for your small garden design?  Check out this article about Carolyn Kolb of Wind Dancer Gardens.  The articles relates how she started Wind Dancer Gardens, where she specializes in ornamental grasses.  The article also provides details on how to plant ornamental grasses, and even contains a short video where Carolyn discusses 4 types of ornamental grasses and how to plant ornamental grasses.

Technorati Tags: ornamental grasses, perrenials, small garden design, small garden design ideas

Read recent review in Los Angeles Times with authors Susan Morrison & Rebecca Sweet of Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces.

The authors discuss vertical gardening craze and their new book.  The article also provides pictures of vertical garden ideas for small garden design!

Technorati Tags: container gardening, garden, herb garden design, small garden design ideas, vertical gardening, vertical gardens

When space is limited, going vertical can provide you the space you need to create your small garden design.  Many plants, vegetables, and even herbs can be coaxed to grow vertically, making them perfect for a small garden design space.

There are various methods for creating a vertical small garden design.  Here are some ideas I’ve come across. Building a Vertical Pallet Garden Vertical Gardens can be Lush Masterpieces Vertical Garden goes Green with Recycled PET Bottles As with container gardening, the options for vertical planters can be endless…shoe bags hung to hold individual plants, old rain gutters, wooden frames, and more.  Check out some of the books devoted to Vertical Gardening. Do you have any vertical gardening idea that you can share?

Technorati Tags: container gardening, small garden design, small garden design ideas, vertical gardening, vertical gardens

Using household items as planting containers is a great “green” way of recycling items.  Use your creativity to turn shoes, boots, bowls, old pails, and other household items into containers for herbs, flowers, vegetables, and other plants in your small garden design.

Check out this short video that shows how you can use household items for small garden design and spruce up your container gardening.

What household items have you used for unique garden containers?  Share your ideas by commenting!

Technorati Tags: container gardening, small garden design, vegetable container gardening

When it comes to picking flowers for your small garden design, there are two broad categories of flower types – perennials and annuals.

What’s the difference?  Perennials will grow back year after year.  Annuals typically only last for one growing season and must be planted again every year.  I say typically, because some annuals will reseed themselves.

In this short article, I will touch on just a small sampling of the many choices you have for perennials and annuals that work well in gardens that get full sun to partial sun.

If your small garden design is going in the ground, consider a small perennial flower garden designed to provide beautiful blooms year after year.  The flowering plants you have to choose from are endless.

Choices for early spring…there are endless varieties of bulbs for tulips, daffodils, hyacinth, irises, and lily varieties to choose from.   Peonies are also an early spring bloomer.  They make great borders, grow low compact almost like bushes, and are hardy for colder regions.  Another early spring bloomer that comes in a variety of colors from pinks and yellows to blues is columbines.

For late spring and summer, daisies and flowers in the daisy family such as Echinacea or purple coneflowers, yellow and red gaillardias, and black-eyed Susan, which are actually biennials, all provide great color.  Dianthus can be found in a variety of colors from white, pinks, reds, and purples to all combinations of mixtures.  Asters and mums are great for late summer and fall with a great selection of colors to choose from.

Many perennials will spread and can fill your garden space over time.  Instead of planting all perennials, another option is to mix perennials and annuals.  This way, you can have some plants returning each year while experimenting with different annuals to add variety to your small garden design each year.  Experimenting is what makes small garden design so much fun!

Are you working with a small garden design on a deck or patio?  Try container gardening for your flower garden design, and consider annuals.  While perennials will grow back every year, they also tend to want to spread, which makes them difficult to maintain in container gardening.  Also, if you live in an area where you get cold weather or freezing weather, the flowers may not survive the winter in a container.

The varieties of flowers to choose from are endless.  Some annuals for full sun areas to consider…pansies in early spring, grazania, geranium, marigolds, petunias, zinnia, cosmos, and portulaca…the choices are endless.

Summer has just started.  If you still want to plant flowers, it’s not too late.  Consider planting annuals that will bloom into the fall – asters, mums, and marigolds, just to name a few.

What new annuals and perennials have you tried in your garden this year?  Leave a comment and share your experiences.

Technorati Tags: annuals, container gardening, flower garden design, perrenials, small garden design

After a very rainy May in the eastern USA, I have finally gotten my gardens and containers planted.  In addition to planting some usual favorites, I’m trying some new plants…at least new to me.

The most unique plant I’ve added to my collection…a Solanum pyracanthum or “porcupine tomato”.  Orange thorns coming out of the green leaves drew me to this unique plant.  I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

This plant takes full sun – great for my patio – and flowers with electric blue blooms.  Can you imaging how the electric blue blooms will look with the orange thorns?  I just had to buy one to see what it will look like in bloom.  Once it blooms I will post some images.

Unsure if this plant can take the east coast winter, I’ve planted it in a small container.  This way I can bring it indoors over the winter and will hopefully have it for my garden next year.

If you’ve grown a porcupine tomato, I’d love to hear your experiences with this plant.

What’s the most unique plant you’ve added to your small garden design this year?

Technorati Tags: container, container gardening, small garden design ideas, small space gardens, unique plants

At my local university Ag Field day recently, I looked to purchase a local breed of tomato seedling for my vegetable garden design.  Unfortunately, the variety I wanted was already sold out by the time I arrived.   One of the vegetable specialists convinced me into purchasing a Black Krim seedling.

I didn’t notice, until after I purchased the seedling, that the Black Krim is an heirloom variety.  Not knowing much about heirloom tomatoes, I decided to do some research.  Here’s what I found out…

My first question…what is an heirloom tomato?  Heirloom varieties are defined as being open-pollinated cultivars.  The draw to heirloom varieties is that they have lots of flavor, look beautiful, and are easy to grow.  Heirloom seeds have been passed down through several generations.  Heirloom varieties are genetically unique, and have evolved resistance to pests and disease, while adapting to specific growing conditions and climates.  They come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, flavors, and sizes.

Heirloom tomatoes can be described in different ways –

Commercial heirlooms – open-pollinated varieties introduced before 1940 or are more than 50 years old

Family heirlooms- varieties whose seeds have been saved and passed down from generation to generation

Mystery heirlooms – these arise accidently from natural cross-pollination or mutation

Heirloom tomatoes are not commercially available.  They are not shippable over long distances, do not ripen perfectly and do not have a uniform shape.  These imperfections are what make them appealing to gardeners.

What is open-pollination?  This is when a cultivar or plant can be grown from seeds and will come back “true to type”, meaning the next generation comes back looking identical to its parent.

How do heirlooms compare to F-1 hybrid breeds of tomatoes?  These are the ones we consider “supermarket tomatoes”.  Seeds collected from F-1 hybrid tomatoes typically don’t germinate when planed the next season and may be sterile.  If they do sprout, they will not have the same characteristics as their parents.

The attractiveness of hybrids for commercial growers is their ability to produce more transportable fruit, with minimal spoilage.  They also have a more consistent color and shelf appeal.  While hybrids have outstanding characteristics, the ability to reproduce is not one of them.

There are many varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  Here are some popular varieties:

Big Rainbow – large yellow tomatoes with red swirls and mild, sweet flavor

Black Krim – dark red to brown, can be grown in containers with rich flavor and considered to hail from the Isle of Krim on the Black Sea

Brandywine – one of the most popular heirlooms with large pink fruit and a slightly tart taste

Green Zebra – light-green stripes against an amber background, with a tarter flavor

Cherokee Purple – deep, dusky pink purple, beefsteak in style with a dense, juicy texture

Technorati Tags: container gardening, small garden design, vegetable container gardening, vegetable garden design, vegetables

Spring is officially less than a week away!  A recent trip to the Philadelphia Show, the crocus blooming in my front small garden design and the hyacinth that are quickly sprouting, have me actively thinking about the rest of my small gardens.  I am beginning to plan what to plant this year.

Small Garden Design containing hyacinth and daffodils

I have already planted some lettuce, micro greens, and arugula.
Lettuce likes cooler weather, so you can put in the seeds now and you will have
lettuce before you know it!

Have you started thinking about what you’ll be planting this season?
I am always looking for new ideas, so share some of yours by commenting.

Technorati Tags: flower garden design, flowers, garden, gardening, hyacinth, small garden design, spring garden