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Small and Simple – Water Garden Ideas

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 16:02:41 +0000

Stylish, elegant, attractive and relaxing; These are a few of the qualities a garden needs in order to become the place you love most, the place which offers you the tranquility you need. Every garden is beautiful as long as it hosts at least one aquatic element. Even if it is a small river or a fountain, a pond or a pool, the aquatic element represents a sensorial point of attraction as well as a system of environment’s natural adjustment.

An idea of a water garden would be creating an artificial water course which gives birth to a beautiful fountain. Fountains represent an attraction wherever they are located. A fountain in a garden gives the impression of continuity, of time going by and also, of an aristocratic view upon what stylish really means. The base of the fountain can hold an assortment of aquatic plants, such as arrowheads, papyrus, and brightly blooming water lilies.

Another interesting idea for a water garden can be represented by the marvelous waterfalls. Of course, these have to be created with a lot of taste, as not to transform the piece of art into kitsch, a mistake in which everyone might fall very easy. For example, a waterfall could be made of artificial water lily leaves, surrounded by metallic statues which can represent a child collecting river rocks. The surroundings could be formed of rocks and pebbles, containing one and only spot color, a water salad.

In addition to this, using contrasts is another plus of your water garden. If you have water curtain trickling down a black plastic front, you can use this element in order to create a spectacular effect. How? The answer is simple: through introducing a contrasting element. So it is that you have to expose that corner of your garden by putting a decorative plant on the background (a decorative onion) colored in contrasting shades.

For the ones who don’t know, the decorative onion looks like a purple fluffy ball which would perfectly oppose the non-colored aspect of your waterfall. Another idea would also stand in the wonderful water mills which give the impression of a picturesque piece of heaven. They are preferred by many persons owing to their never ending similarities with our ancients, with our past and that is exactly the reason why they are used in every other possible environment (terraces, charades, cocktails, etc).

The idea of a crawl has also been highlighted a lot lately due to its enlightening atmosphere and tranquility effect created especially by a carpet of shells lying on the bottom of it. The sea side atmosphere along with the imaginary sound of the waves and a path of sand at the edges of the crawl, all lead to a mystical atmosphere of magic.

There are a lot of ideas based on the perfect water gardens concept but each of them must be adapted to a person’s needs and expectations. A simple river can be transformed into an oasis if you know how to add, where to add and how much to add.

Jason Boonstra is the author of “The Ultimate Water Garden Manual” – compulsory reading for anyone considering a water garden. This website contains valuable information on how to easily create & maintain your own stunningly beautiful Water Garden with lively & healthy fish…

The Basics of Japanese Gardening

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:59:10 +0000

Things to keep in mind for a beautiful garden

Main principles on the garden’s design

Bring the Japanese feeling into your garden with these basic steps. First of all, embrace the ideal of nature. That means, keep things in your garden as natural as possible, avoiding to include things that could disrupt this natural appearance.

For example, don’t include square ponds in your design as square ponds are nowhere to be found in nature. Also, a waterfall would be something closer to what exists in nature if we compare it to a fountain. So you also have to consider the Japanese concept of sumi or balance. Because one of Japanese gardening design main purposes is to recreate large landscapes even in the smallest place. Be careful when choosing the elements for your garden, because you don’t want to end up filling your ten by ten courtyard with huge rocks.

As a miniaturized landscape, the rocks in the garden would represent mountains and the ponds would represent lakes. A space filled with sand would represent an ocean. By that we assume that garden masters were looking to achieve a minimalistic approach, best represented by the phrase “less is more”.

The elements of time and space

One of the things westerners notice at first are the many portions of empty space in the garden. In fact, these spaces are an important feature in Japanese gardening. This space called ma, relates to the elements around it and that also surround it. The concepts of in and yo are of vital importance here, they are best known to the Western civilization by the Chinese names yin and yang. If you want to have something you have to start with having nothing. This is an idea quite difficult to understand, but it is a rule of thumb in Japanese gardening.

An important clue in the development of a garden is the concept of wabi and sabi. There’s no literal English translation for those words. Wabi is about uniqueness, or the essence of something; a close literal translation is solitary. Sabi deals with the definition of time or the ideal image of something; the closest definition might be time strenghtened character. Given the case, a cement lantern that might appear unique, would lack of that ideal image. Or an old rock covered in lichens would have no wabi if it’s just a round boulder. That’s why it is important to find that balance.

Ma and wabi/sabi are connected to the concepts of space and time. When it comes to seasons, the garden must show the special character of each one. Japanese garden lovers dedicate time to their gardens every season, unlike the western gardener who deserts in fall just to be seen again in spring.

A very relaxing view in spring is given by the bright green of new buds and the blossoms of the azaleas. In summer, the lush foliage in combination with the pond offer a powerful and fresh image. The vivid spectacle of the brilliant colors of dying leaves in fall are a prelude for the arrival of winter and its white shroud of snow.

The two most important gardening seasons in Japan are spring and winter. Japanese refer to the snow accumulated on braches as Sekku or snow blossoms. Yukimi, or the snow viewing lantern, is another typical element of the Japanese garden in winter. The sleep of the garden in winter is an important episode for our Japanese gardener, while for the western gardener spring is the beginning of the work at the garden. Maybe because of the eastern point of view as death like part of the life cycle, or perhaps the western fear to death.

About garden enclosures
Let’s see the garden as a microcosm of nature. If we’re looking for the garden to be a true retreat, we have to ‘set it apart’ from the outside world. Because of that, fences and gates are important components of the Japanese garden.

The fence and the gates have both symbolism and functionality. The worries and concerns of our daily life have to stay out of this separate world that becomes the garden. The fence protects us from the outside world and the gate is the threshold where we leave our daily worries and then prepare ourselves to confront the real world again.

The use of fences is based in the concept of hide/reveal or Miegakure. Fence styles are very simple and are put in combination with screen planting, thus not giving many clues of what hides inside. You can give a sample look of your garden by cutting a small window in the solid wall that encloses your garden if that’s the case. Sode-gaki, or sleeve fences, are fences attached to an architectural structure, that will only show a specific view of the garden from inside the house. Thus, we’re invited to get into the garden and enjoy it in its entirety. That’s what makes the true understanding of the garden, to lose in it our sense of time and self.

Basic Arrangements
Despite the fact that certain rules are applied to each individual garden, don’t think that there’s just one type of garden. There are three basic styles that differ by setting and purpose.

Hill and Pond Garden (Chisen-Kaiyu-skiki)
A China imported classic style. A pond or a space filled with raked gravel fronts a hill (or hills). This style always represents mountainous places and commonly makes use of vegetation indigenous to the mountains. Stroll gardens commonly use this style.

Flat Garden (Hiraniwa)
It derives from the use of open, flat spaces in front of temples and palaces for ceremonies. This is an appropriate style for contemplation and that represents a seashore area (with the use of the right plants). This is a style frequently used in courtyards.

Tea Gardens (Rojiniwa)
Function has a greater importance than form in this type of garden. The Roji or dewy path, is the main point of the garden, along with the pond and the gates. This would be the exception to the rule. The simple and sparse plantings give a rustic feeling to the garden.

Formality has to be taken in consideration
Hill and pond and flat styles may be shin (formal), gyo (intermediate) or so (informal). Formal styles were to be found usually at temples or palaces, intermediate styles were suitable for most residences, and the informal style was used in peasant huts and mountain retreats. The tea garden is the one that always fits in the informal style.

The garden components

Rocks (ishi in Japanese) are the main concern of the Japanese garden. If the stones are placed correctly, then the garden shows in a perfect balance. So here are shown the basic stone types and the rules for their positions.

The basic stones are the tall upright stone, the low upright stone, the curved stone, the reclining stone, and the horizontal stone. These must be usually set in triads although this doesn’t happen always. Two almost identical stones (by way of example, two tall verticals or two reclining stones), one a little quite smaller than the other, can be set together as male and female, but the use of them in threes, fives, and sevens is more frequent.

We have to keep away from the Three Bad Stones. These are the Diseased stone (having a withered or misshapen top), the Dead stone (an obviously vertical one used as a horizontal, or vice versa, like the placement of a dead body), and the Pauper Stone (a stone having no connection to the several other ones in the garden). Use only one stone of each of the basic types in any cluster (the rest have to be smaller, modest stones also known as throwaway stones). Stones can be placed as sculptures, set against a background in a two-dimensional way, or given a purpose, such as a stepping stone or a bridge.

When used as stepping stones they should be between one and three inches above the soil, yet solid underfoot, as if rooted into the ground. They can be put in straight lines, offset for left foot, right foot (referred as chidori or plover, after the tracks the shore bird leaves), or set in sets of twos, threes, fours, or fives (and any combination thereof).

The pathway stands for the passage through life, and even particular stones by the path may have meaning. A much wider stone placed across the path tells us to put two feet here, stopping to enjoy the view. There are numerous stones for specific places. When observing the basic design principles, we can notice the exact character of the Japanese garden.

Water (mizu in Japanese) plays an important part in the composition of the Japanese garden because of Japan’s abundant rainfall. Water can be represented even with a raked gravel area instead of water. A rushing stream can be represented by placing flat river stones closely together. In the tea garden, where there isn’t any stream or pond, water plays the most important role in the ritual cleansing at the chozubachi, or water basin. As the water fills and empties from the shishi-odoki, or deer scare, the clack of bamboo on rock helps mark the passage of time.

The flow of water, the way it sounds and looks, brings to mind the continual passage of time. A bridge crossing the water stream is often used as a landscaping complement. Bridges denote a journey, just as pathways do. Hashi, in japanese, can mean bridge or edge. Bridges are the symbolic pass from one world into another, a constant theme in Japanese art.

Plants or Shokobutsu may play a secondary role to the stones in the garden, but they are a primary concern in the design too. Stones represent what remains unchanged, so trees, shrubs, and perennials have to represent the passing of seasons. Earlier garden styles used plants to make up poetic connotations or to correct geomantic issues, but these have little meaning today.

As the the Heian style diminished under the Zen influence, perennials and grasses fell out of use. So, for a long time, there were only a few plants that tradition allowed for the garden. However, in modern Japan, designers are again widening the spectrum of materials used. It is highly recommended that native plants are chosen for the garden, because showy exotic plants are not in good taste. Be aware that native plants are used in the garden, because it is in bad taste to use showy exotic plants. Although pines, cherries and bamboo immediatly remind us of Japanese gardens, we encourage you to use native plants of your locality that you can find pleasing. If we choose evergreens as the main plant theme and combine it with deciduous material that may provide seasonal blooms or foliage color we can recreate the look of the Japanese garden.

Now the next thing taken in consideration in a Japanese garden are the ornaments or Tenkebutsu. Stone lanterns are, for westerners, a typical impression of Japanese gardens.Stone lanterns are not important components of the Japanese garden. The reason is that ornaments are subjected to the garden’s design. Lanterns, stupas, and basins are just architectural complements added when a point of visual interest is necessary to the design.

A good way to finish yor garden design could be a well-placed lantern. The three main styles (although with many variations) are: The Kasuga style lantern, is a very formal one featuring a stone base. In the Oribe style lantern, unlike the Kasuga style, the pedestal is underneath the ground. The Yukimi or Snow-Viewing lantern is set on short legs instead of a pedestal. Consider the formality of your garden setting to choose the appropiate lantern.

When possible, elements from outside the garden can be included in it. For instance, you can work a far away mountain including the scenery in your design, framing it with the stones and plants existing in the garden.
The borrowed scenery (shakkei in Japanese) can be: Far (as in a far away mountain); near (a tree just outside the fence); High (an element seen above the fence) or low (like a component seen below a fence or through a window in the fence).

As much as it is perceived to contradict our sense of enclosure, it reminds us of how all things are interconnected.

The feel of your garden
The Japanese garden is a subtle place full of contradictions and imperatives. Where firmly established rules are broken with other rules. If you meet the Buddha on the road, you must kill him is a Zen paradox that recommends not to stick so tightly to rules, and the same goes for Japanese gardens.

When building a Japanese garden, don’t get too attached to traditions that hold little meaning for you. It would have no function to recreate a Buddhist saints garden. This also applies to trying to remember the meaning of stone placements, as this method is no longer used in Japan, or even in the United States, due to the lack of meaning for us in the modern world.

That’s why we have selected a few gardening suggestions that do hold relevance and integrate them into a garden. These three ideas on gardening will give direction to achieve perfect results.

First
The overall setting of the garden should always be right for the location, not the other way around.

Second
The stones should be placed first, next the trees, and then the shrubs.

Third
Get used to the concepts of shin, gyo, and so. This is of great help to start working on the garden.

Have in mind that the real Japanese gardens are the traditional ones in Japan. What we can do in America is to shape a garden in the Japanese style. Rikyu once said about the perfect Roji: “Thick green moss, all pure and sunny warm”. In other words, techniques are not as important as the feeling you evoke in your garden. Said in other way, the feeling is more important than techniques.

Flower Garden – 5 Tips To See A Riot Of Colors!

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:57:41 +0000

In this article, we look at some essential gardening info that will help you as a beginner at gardening to apply to caring for your flower garden so it can flourish. To have a healthy garden, it is essential to know about the basics of gardening, such as energy sources for your plants, containers and fertilizer use besides water and drainage requirements for the variety of plants you intend to grow.

For those that live in flats and hostels, the need to grow their own vegetables may be limited due to lack of space, but the rising costs in the market are a good incentive to grow them in small, portable containers that are cheaply available in many sizes and budgets. Besides veggies, one can grow flowers and greens of many different varieties with ease and a little bit of effort in the right sized containers inside a house, which is why the kitchen garden concept is such a popular one for many flat-dwellers. Even persons with a limited budget can have a beautiful, healthy flower garden at little cost with all the basics of gardening taken care of. We cover some of these below: take a look!

- Adequate supply of sunlight, water, fertile soil and planting bulbs at the right time in the right sized container is very important for the health of the plant. Besides this, timely watering, pruning and trimming, plant food doses and just enough mulch to ensure the plant grows is necessary for the beginner gardener.

- Bulbs need to be planted at the right depth in the right season for them to grow out well, be they shrubs or tall, flowering plants. Be sure not to heap up excess soil or too much water without providing for drainage as this can aid development of rot due to over-heating.

- Plant perennials and annuals so that you do not need to replant them and these flowers give you beauty and joy for many years to come.

- Move dead-heads of the flowers so that new blossoms will be encouraged to bloom and ensure you don?t dispose off the deadhead in the same space or mildew will attack your plant.

- Permit pollinator insects like butterflies, beetles and bees to naturally fertilize the plants as these transfer pollen from one to another plant, especially for the flowering variety.

Colour in the Garden

admin — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:55:58 +0000

Gardeners, like all artists, use the power of colour to create and enhance the mood and impact of their landscape design. Through our understanding of the properties of colour we can elevate our compositions balance and unity.

Each colour holds its own lexicon of meanings, both personally and globally. Whether you fall into the category of a pictorial landscape gardener or and avid horticulturist, the colours you select in your garden will determine its emotional value and character.
Some techniques that will aid your colour palette selection include placing the blossoms of your selected plants together to see how their colours interact. It is also beneficial to place differing background materials (vines, shrubs, trees, plants) against your blossoms to see which ones best aid your colour design, and whether you want your leaves to complement or contrast your blossoms. Colour themes that you can create in your garden include:

Monotone Gardening

This glamorous gardening concept, first used by Vita Sackville-West at Sissinghurst, refers to the use of a solitary colour (in Vita’s case white) with your various greens as your background. Colours that work best are white, pink, yellow and blue. (Actually blue-grey, as true blue is almost impossible to find for an entire growing season.) Monotone gardening is particularly effective in a parterre garden or balcony situation. If you decided to monotone garden remember to balance your blossoming times throughout the year and to use a background leaf that has grayish hues in it as it will create a softer background for your colour choice. Also, avoid using various tones of red. If you choose to attempt a monotone red garden, beware mixing blue-reds with yellow-reds. A white monotone garden will look particularly beautiful at dusk and in the evening.

Analogous Colour gardening

Analogous gardening was used to spectacular effect by England’s Gertrude Jekyll. This gardening colour regime refers to the use of any 3 consecutive colours on the colour wheel. (In Gertrude’s example, Red – Crimson – Violet) An analogous garden is generally a theatrical, yet visually delicate experience. This colour scheme works best in a “secret garden” or in a sweeping border backed by a copse of trees. However, keep in mind that analogous gardens are rarely restful, as they demand attention to their modulations of colour. Plantings that work well for this colour theme include opium poppies, mallows and lobelias in shades of pink, crimson and scarlet.

Complementary Colour Gardens

This refers to the usage of colours directly opposite each other on the colour wheel (such as Red and Green). Gardens created with this colour scheme evoke a strong sense of power by intensifying each of the colours chosen. Colours opposite each other, such as yellow and violet, compete with each other for visual dominance by pulling our eye back and forth between them. This gardening style is exciting and intense. Some combinations that are effective include yellow Primroses set against a grouping of violet Grape Hyacinths. The paintings by Gaugain show this to a spectacular effect. Monet’s gardens at Giverny used complementary colour schemes in its borders to create visually powerful designs.

Mixed (Clashing) Colour Gardens

Walking through a garden with a mix of all the colours of the rainbow enlists joy and delight. It’s nearly irresistible when you are at a nursery or ordering online, to resist each successive colour and plant you encounter, for each one holds its own history and meaning. A mixed scheme will look vibrant and fun. It is generally the garden we remember from our childhood, and depending on the time and light of the day, each colour will “hold court” for a short period of time. When working with this colour scheme remember to use plenty of white to separate, refresh and strengthen your colours. The majority of Monet’s Gardens at Giverny and those in his paintings were mixed colours

What colours mean

Blue – Symbolizes authority, dependability and truth. Blue in your garden will cool surrounding colours, while it gives your composition a sense of serenity. However, keep in mind that sky blues will lift your spirits, while grey-blues will add a hint of melancholy.

Red – Conveys passion, power and Drama. Red is the colour of love, and conversely hate. Use red in your garden in all its guises (crimson, scarlet, magenta, cerise, etc.) to bring excitement and vivacity.

Yellow – Symbolizes happiness, spontaneity and fun. Yellow in a garden creates visual motion, drawing the eye from blossom to blossom. It also captures the sun in your design and enhances the sense of effortless, airy design.

Violet – Conveys spirituality, aristocracy and mystery. Violet adds a sense of majesty to the landscape and mixed with yellow, creates an arresting image of beauty and youth.

Green – The background of all gardens. Green is the colour of vitality, growth and regeneration. The colour green has the power, depending upon its intensity and clarity, of dimming, brightening, refreshing or overpowering your garden design. Its predominance in your landscape makes it the colour you most need to analyze in your design.

Orange – Symbolizes equality, peace and luxury. The usage of orange in the garden creates an inviting and outgoing design. Orange is also the colour of autumn, and depending on its hue, will give a warm hue throughout its location

Colour Hints

o Vivid, bright colours in a distant flowerbed will make it appear closer to the viewer.

o Blue tones will make a bed recede into the distance.

o Warm colours near a patio will give it a more outgoing and “fun” feeling.

o Separate clashing or mixed colours with white blossoms.

o Use scarlet blossoms to make the green of your leaves more intense.