Cool Landscaping Ideas 4 You

The Dangers Of Frost

The weather and climate is greatly influenced by where in the world we live but climate also changes in relation to altitude and the higher up we live the colder it is. For every 300m (1,000 ft) higher up we live the average temperature will fall by around 0.5 degrees C (or 1 degree F). If you live on a hillside, or even a hilltop, you will find that you are more susceptible to frost. People living in shaded valleys can also suffer more than those in is more sunny position and understanding when and where frost may appear is crucially important in relation to gardening, especially with some sensitive plants.

Frost is frozen water and it freezes the water found in plant cells which causes them to burst (as freezing water expands). Some plants are able to recover from such damage by simply sending up new shoots but, sadly, many others can be utterly destroyed by a single exposure to frost. Bedding plants, such as petunias and begonias are incredibly sensitive and not be planted out until the danger has passed.

Wind And Rain

Wind, as I know to my own great expense, can be extremely damaging to plants, especially if they are in full growth. The leaves and foliage catch the wind easily and are battered about endlessly until they are destroyed. I live in an extremely windy area and about three days after a heavy wind many of my trees and shrubs will have blackened leaves. Usually they recover but I still have to take measures to lessen the effects.

Rain can also be damaging. While water is vital to the health of plants too much can cause waterlogging and, in such circumstances, the roots of plants can end up rotting away. Too little water can be equally harmful to plants and those receiving too little water will quickly wilt and die. Happily the gardener can help greatly in both areas by improving drainage and watering the garden when it is required.

Conclusions

Frost, wind and water can all have a profound effect upon our garden and plants that grow in it but by understanding these things we can take measures to lessen the harmful effects. Throughout our site we offer all kinds of hints, tips and advice on how to lessen the effects of such damaging influences but nothing is more beneficial than gaining a full understanding of the microclimate in your garden.

Landscaping Ideas For Front Of House

 

The climate in your garden is influenced by many factors and two which are very closely related are the day length and the amount of sunshine your garden gets. The length of the day is determined by where you live and in which season you are in. Winter brings shorter cooler days with less sunshine that the longer warmer summer days which have huge amounts of bright sunlight. If you live in the extreme North you will see a much more radical difference in day length & sunshine than somebody who lives nearer the Equator. In the North winter will be almost constant darkness and summer almost constant sunshine whereas, further South it is far more balanced.

As well as understanding how where you live can effect the day length and the amount of sunshine you will get you will also need to understand that different parts of your garden will also vary in these factors. One part of your garden will, more than likely, get much more sunshine than other parts and, in effect, the day length will appear to vary. The plants, which we choose to grow in our garden, should be chosen accordingly. Those preferring to grow in direct sunlight or a warmer area should be planted in the brightest, warmest part of your garden but those preferring shade (and therefore cooler places) will not grow well if placed in a sunny part of your garden.

The above may sound rather obvious but unless you understand your garden it is extremely easy to get such things wrong. To plan where to plant your plants you will need to study your garden carefully. An old gardening tip given to me when I first started gardening was that I should always study a garden for a full twelve months before I even begin to plan my design. This is because you will need to determine which parts of your garden get the most sunshine throughout the whole year, you will also need to know the day length for each part of the garden as well as other factors such as cold spots, windy areas, damp areas and the likes. Once you have a complete understanding of the different parts of your garden you will be able to decide which plants are most suited for that particular environment.

Front Yard Landscaping Ideas

Gardens have played an important role in the lives of humans and animals since man first started to cultivate them. The very first gardens, in most likelihood, did not benefit from any form of garden design and were little more than small patches of ground, near to the home, turned over to the provision of foodstuff. Maybe the very first gardeners began to attempt to beautify their land by adding more decorative plants and herbs, such as chives but the concept of garden design, most probably, did not come into existence until man had leisure time, was producing sufficient quantities of foodstuffs to cover his needs and he could afford to turn over some of his land over to a flower garden. 

The first people to employ garden design would have been those people in a position of authority such as lords and kings. In antiquity there has been much written about the hanging gardens of Babylon but there is still something of an enigma around how such lush gardens could be grown in such conditions and at such varying level. Obviously much thought went into the garden design here to ensure that there was sufficient water delivered to ensure that the plants flourished and even top scientists still debate how this could have been made possible back then.

The very first gardens enjoyed by common man would have been in rural districts and would have been rather basic, but just enough to add beauty to their home, maybe just one or two flowers here and there. Over time the cottage garden would have become more of what we would now describe as a cottage garden design but the overall appearance of such gardens often gives the viewer the feeling that there are actually no design concepts at all. This effect is actually rather clever implementation of specific garden perennials, annuals and biennials to give the impression of haphazardness whereas, in reality, much thought has gone into the color scheme.

Of course beauty is often said to be in the eye of the beholder and one person may like the look of one garden whereas another may well detest it. The design of your own garden is often a very personal matter and depends on very many influencing factors such as the amount of space available and the prevailing climate in your area. Today nearly everyone is aware that a well designed flower garden not only adds beauty to a property but it can also add value.
Some folk believe that a flower garden can very much influence your well being and general attitude to life. If this sounds bizarre consider the fact that the immensely successful entrepreneur Lord Leverhulme (of Lever Bros fame) believed in this so much that when he had completed his village of Port Sunlight near Liverpool, England, garden design was to become very important. Lord Leverhulme had played a major role in the design of his village right down to the layout of the rooms of the homes but when his workers moved into their new homes they had no concept of garden design at all as they had never had a garden before. This led to most gardens being left fallow and Lord Leverhulme grew very annoyed and upset. In his usual fashion he decided to take full control of the situation and actually did exactly that, he took back the control of each and every front yard and brought in professionals to plan, design and maintain them! Can you imagine a modern day worldwide organization providing luxury homes (as they then were) to all of their workers which also had professional garden design and maintenance? I know I can't.

Throughout this section of Landscaping Info 4U we will be taking a look at other aspects of designing gardens so check out the list of pages below and, if you can't find anything suitable just now please call back soon as we will continue to add information to this section on a continual basis.