A Backyard Garden adds color, variety, and fresh vegetables or fruits to your diet. It also provides fresh air, exercise and can offer time together with family. Depending on how you design your backyard garden and its purpose will be the deciding factor on if it’s functional or decorative. What ever your needs, the garden will add to the beauty and relaxing factors of your backyard oasis
photo credit: NatalieMaynor

There are many different types of gardens and it helps to narrow down the purpose that your garden will serve. A garden can tend to grow and get to big, which add to the work and takes away from the fun. You may also not have enough time to work in the garden area so its best to think small and keep the fun in gardening. Plants that are properly tended will be healthier.

Will you choose a flower garden, vegetable garden or combine the two? Is your garden space limited and container or balcony gardening would suit your lifestyle better? Are herbs your passion? I myself combine all of these and like to redo the patio and deck areas about twice a summer. It just makes my backyard oasis an exciting retreat for all my friends and family.

One tip I will pass onto you is I find it a timesaving step to group my plants that need the same care in the same area. I also group any plants that need additional watering as close to my water source as possible.
photo credit: Markles55

Here are a few more tips that have saved me time in the past. Perennial flowers take less time and last from year to year. Properly planned, you can have a perennial garden with color from spring until fall. And just to make sure, I add annual flowers to the flower garden border and where any of the perennial plants are a little thin. Herbs will work just as well, and I have to admit I really like adding vegetables like colored Swiss chard or scarlet runner beans in flower gardens.

Vegetable gardens require a little more work and planning. They also take more knowledge in how to plant and harvest numerous kinds of produce. Vegetables also add color and texture and are a very pretty addition to any yard. With proper choices there will be fresh vegetables all season long. And again I add flowers to my vegetables gardens. It adds color and fun and several flowers repel insects and small animals.
photo credit: net_efekt

If you set up a vegetable garden in a raised bed you can grow many varieties of vegetables in a small area. Growing vertically and square foot gardening principles offer advice on how to get the most use out of limited space. I grow many of my vegetable varieties in hanging baskets or containers. This gives me fresh vegetables that are either going on my porch or just a few steps away from the door.

Another way of growing both vegetables and flowers would be in mini theme gardens or on windowsills. What is all comes down to is keeping your backyard garden fun and it will add to that festive backyard oasis feeling you have created for your home.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Garden

This entry was posted on Friday, January 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Backyard Garden. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.