Herbs are also a great alternative to salt and may also have crafting uses. Herbal soaps are one of my winter projects I like to create.

Decide which herbs you will use the most and buy either seeds or seedling plants. There are certain herbs I seem to be able to grow from seeds and other I struggle with. (Hint: In the fall you can find great prices on perennial herbs.)

Some popular cooking herbs are basil, dill, oregano, rosemary, cilantro, chives, parsley, sage and thyme. Rosemary is one of my favorite herbs for both seasoning and crafting but this is an herb I seem to need to grow from a plant.

To grow an outdoor herbal kitchen container garden you will need one to three containers. I prefer clay pots but ceramic and even plastic are fine. I also like handcrafted pots. Its just adds color and interest to your garden areas.

Choose a container that is big enough to hold all the herbs that you are planting. I find I like one larger container like an 18-inch container and two smaller containers.

Make sure your container is deep enough that you can go several days without watering. If your planting container doesn’t have holes in it, drill a couple of holes in the bottom to aid in proper drainage.

Place about an inch of pea gravel or broken pot shards in the bottom of the container for drainage. Fill the container with potting soil up to ½ from the top of the container and position your herbs. Make sure you give the plants room to grow and do not overcrowd them. Most seed packets or plants that are bought will give you spacing instructions. I fins 6 to 8 inches work well for most herbs.

Once you have your herbs in place pat the soil down and water the herbs. Take tender care of them for the first few weeks until the herbs are settled and start to grow. Often during this time I will cover the container with plastic at night to add more warmth and control the climate around the plants.

Enjoy your new kitchen herb container garden.

Herb Tips:
1.  Pinch the leaves back to encourage new growth.
2.  Do not let the herbs flower because it takes away from the flavor of the herbs.
3.  If you containers are large you can place them on a roller or moveable stand to bring them indoors during the fall if you have cold nights.

For a chance to win a Kitchen Herb Garden check out the Gardeners Rake herb contest.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Garden, container garden, herb contest, small sapce garden

Prairies are also located all over the United States and are divided into three categories; dry, mesic (medium) and wet. These categories are based on the soil moisture available to the plants within the prairie. Many people also refer to Prairie flowers as wild flowers.

There are many types of Prairie Flowers and for more information and varieties check out Prairie Flowers.

Here are three varieties I use in my natural areas. I chose them for their ease in growing and for butterflies or crafting uses.

Butterfly milkweed, also known as butterfly weed and coral weed, is a perennial plant that can grow up to 3 feet tall. This plant is one of my favorite plants to grow. It attracts the monarch butterfly and has many herbal uses and can used in dried arrangement and fro crafting.

These plants can looks somewhat shrubby and bushy. Its leaves are dark green, 2 to 4 inches long and ¼ to 1 inch wide. The flowers are red-orange, orange and sometimes yellow. Butterfly milkweed will bloom from June to August and prefers full sun. It will also tolerate partial shade. It grows well in sandy, well-drained soils and rocky limestone prairies. In my zone 5 climate I grow it in rocky soil where other plants will not grow as well.

Being a taller plant I use it my garden areas in the back with other wildflowers in the front.

The USDA hardiness zones for butterfly milkweed are 4 through 10.

The Indian paintbrush is also known as painted cup and Indian blanket. It is a short plant that only grows up to 18 inches tall. The plant has hairy stems, and the greenish-yellow flowers are hardly noticeable. This plant has a bright red – orange bloom that appears in April through June. The bloom may also be yellow.

Indian paintbrush prefers full sun and only slight shade. Soil conditions should be mostly dry, but this plant can tolerate partially moist soils. This is another plant I grow in rocky soil.

The USDA hardiness zones are 3 through 10.

The yellow prairie coneflower is a perennial that will grow up to 3 feet tall. The daisy-like flowers are yellow and have a brown center. These flowers will return each spring from the same roots and will bloom the second spring from seed. The yellow prairie coneflower prefers full sun and nonacid, dry soil. I have grown this plant both from seed and from a transplant.

It is native to the plains regions, but can grow in all regions. Its USDA hardiness zones are 3 through 9.

The purple coneflower is a stunning perennial flower with herbal uses and makes a perfect garden accent flower. Once started it is easy to grow and low in maintenance. It is used both as prairie flower and in many flower gardens. It’s one of my favorite flowers.

One last favorite for prairie gardens is the Shooting star. It is also called prairie pointers and American Sweet coneflower. Growing to a height of 6 foot, if planted in moist soil, it makes a great background plant or flower for a fence.

Adding a prairie garden to the backyard oasis will give you that open feel and will also be a benefit if you have an area that has soil that other plants do not thrive in. You will also attract butterflies and other beneficial insect to your garden areas.

Technorati Tags: create a prairie garden, flowers, prairie flowers, prairie garden

With any pruning its best to read about the shrub or tree in questions and prune accordingly.

There are many people who do not feel they should prune plants. That it hurts them. But pruning to keep a nice shape and remove damaged, diseased or a branch that crosses or crowds each other is so beneficial to a tree.

Here are a few pruning tips:

Prune shrubs and trees only to retain the shape or remove damage or disease.

Do not prune spring-flowering shrubs such as azaleas and rhododendrons in the fall. Pruning spring-flowering shrubs will remove the blossoms that have already begun to form and you will actually have fewer flowers the following year. Prune these right after the plant has had flowers.

I see many flowering shrubs that have been over-pruned. They do not need to look like a skeleton and show every branch. Over-pruning can be damaging to the overall health of the plant.

After pruning the shrub or tree make sure to pick up all the trimmings. If any of the shrub or tree shows disease, burn this material to stop the spread of any infections. Healthy trimming can be added to compost piles or used around shrub and tree bases. I prefer to let them sit a bit and then use in my perennial beds.

Technorati Tags: fall pruning, flowering shrubs and trees, landscaping tips

Poisonous plants may cause illness if chewed on or touched. It all depends on the plant and the person.

Many flowering plants may look pretty but can have flowers or leaves that will make some people ill. Castor beans are very poisonous and many grow this beautiful plant as an accent plant. I grow it for its beauty and also because it control moles, which I have in abundance in my backyard. But because if its poisonous attributes I grow it behind fencing.

The following you tube will show you a few poisonous but popular flowering plants.

Poison Ivy or Poison Oak affects everyone differently but knowing what it looks like and removing it from you backyard will benefit all. There are certain sumac plants that will make people ill. And many wild plants and weeds will affect people with a rash if picked.

If your yard is very big or contains a wooded area there may be many toxic plants.

One tip is if a plant has a red stem it is often poisonous. One tip I follow is if I don’t know a plant, I don’t touch it.

Learning to identify plants can be both beneficial and a fun project. These videos should have helped you to better recognize plants that may grow in your backyard or community.

Technorati Tags: backyard safety, identifying poisonous plants, plants

photo credit: Cait Vaughn

The following you tube shows this garden and how it was laid out.

I see a lot of different uses for this style of gardening and think I may have to add a garden design like this just to try it out and see how it works.

There were also some nice tips for garden layout, planting certain vegetables, herbs and flowers and why certain plants were planted where they were.

Technorati Tags: backyard gardens, flowers, garden tips, gardening, herbs, vegetables