Bentwood furniture seems to tie the backyard in with the patio and home area. Bentwood pieces can include benches, planters, rockers and love seats. The Garden areas also benefit from bentwood garden art with the use of trellises, arbors and plant stands.

photo credit: Mike and Kelly Schellhouse

The Amish are on my property this week cutting hickory for their bentwood rockers they are so well known for in this area. They have been harvesting small amounts of Hickory wood on and off for about 15 years from the property.

The rockers have become a family tradition and each artist signs his rocker on the bottom and becomes known for his style. I have two handmade rockers with hickory that has been harvested off my property and used by the Amish to create furniture.

The Amish will be here two weeks collecting small hickory pieces no larger than four inches in diameter. As they collect and drag the branches off the hill they sort them for size then bundle them for transporting home.

Although the Amish use hickory and oak for their style of rocker, many use a softer wood like willow or pine. Basically if a branch can bend it can be used for furniture or garden art.

Harder wood such as hickory holds up better than the softer wood but with proper care all wood branches will work well indoors or out. The branches  need to be dried and treated properly before the furniture is made.

I particularly like the look of bentwood on the patio. It brings nature a little closer to the home and seems to blend the two spaces into one.

The You Tube video below shows Jeffrey Dreisbach creating a unique piece of furniture from branches.

His work is more artistic than what the local Amish make in my area. But the idea of collecting wood and creating furniture and other useful home products is the same.

There is a fun side to harvesting wood and branches from the woods and creating a useful but rustic piece of furniture.

Over the next two weeks it will be a learning to watch the Amish harvest the wood they need and still not abuse the land. The way they trim the hickory trees keeps the trees usable for lumber and shade but still supplies them with branches needed for their wonderful bentwood rocking chairs.

photo credit: navets

Bentwood furniture may be a style that you would like to add to your patio, porch or backyard garden area.

For more information on the Amish rocker check out my article on The Gardeners Rake;  Amish Tradition and Harvesting Hickory

Technorati Tags: amish bentwood furniture, backyard garden area, backyard patio, bentwood furniture

Why plant a Wildflower Garden?

photo credit: lissalou66

There are several advantages to wildflower gardens.

• They have a delicate beauty and seem to fit into any landscape.
• Once established wildflowers are easy to maintain and use less water, a plus in areas that suffer from droughts.
• They seem to adapt to whatever weather conditions that you have even if your summer is cold, damp or too dry.
• Wildflowers are usually flowers native to the area and they grow strong with little insect or diseases.
• Bird love wildflowers and will provide entertainment with their activity.

Planting wildflowers is also good for the environment and for wildlife. Wildflowers feed the birds naturally and will provide safe cover for rabbits and chipmunks.

Perennial wildflowers will come back year after year and provide an easy way to have a beautiful garden of flowers with less work and expense. Add rocks to the garden area or old root pieces and you have a rustic look that will add peace and tranquility to a section of your backyard oasis.  I like to tuck wildflowers in small corners that are usually overlooked.
photo credit: DTraveler

When planting your wildflower garden, make sure all weeds are out of the garden area you have selected. This will give you wildflowers a better chance of establishing themselves.

You can purchase wildflower seeds at a gardening store or nursery. You might even be able to gather some yourself to use the following year or ask friends who collect seeds if they any extra wildflowers seeds.

I try to pick seeds that are perennial flowers. Your garden will take less work with perennial wildflowers and will save you money and time.

And make sure you buy enough seeds to cover the area of land you wish to use. The seed packets will give you this information or ask an employee for advice. And in many stores you can get the roll out mats with seeds embedded in the mat. I have used these and they work very well.

How to plant a wildflower garden

Prepare the soil by loosening it with a rake or shovel. I add compost to ensure it is rich soil that will help flowers to grow well for years to come. And make sure all weeds and weed roots have been removed for the soil.

Loosen the soil again on the day you plan to plant the flower seeds. Dig a small hole, and drop in one or two seeds for wildflowers. Continue this process until the area is planted. I like to sprinkle some seeds about the area and then use the rake to mix them into the soil. You get a more natural look using this method.

Water the seeds frequently. Keep the area lightly moist until seedlings appear. This is usually a week or 10 days. You may wish to add a protective border around the area where you have planted seeds to protect you newly planted wildflower garden from children and pets.

Wildflower gardens are beautiful and once they start to grow you will be able to enjoy their color and fragrance for many years to come.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Garden, backyard oasis, flowers, wildflower garden

There are many theme gardens that people use in their backyard garden planning. A theme garden is popular because it usually takes less space than an ordinary garden and acts as a focal point in backyard design.
photo credit: fotologic

With the trend in outdoor kitchens and the popularity of barbeque pits a barbecue garden is a must for many garden areas.

Since most outdoor kitchens use creative landscaping design ideas and Barbeque centers are kept on the deck or patio. It makes sense to grow this theme garden in containers and close to the cooking area.

The Barbeque garden is set up to take limited space and it uses only three potting containers. Two containers should be 24 inches in diameter and one, at least 15 inches in diameter. You will also need potting soil, compost or organic fertilizer.

Plants for your Barbeque Garden

1 tomato plant
1 Red pepper plant
1 Habanera plant
1 flat leaf parsley plant
1 upright rosemary plant
1 trailing rosemary plant
1 Chive plant
1 Dill plant
1 Mint plant
1 Oregano plant
Thyme plant – French is a good culinary variety
3 Basil plants
photo credit: Tambako the Jaguar

When placing your garden remember it will perform better if it’s located in an area that receives at least 6 hours of direct sun.

Start designing your Barbeque garden by checking the bottoms of the garden pots or containers you selected to make sure they have good drainage holes. I would also suggest pots or containers with color since your garden is all about growing herbs for the kitchen. Make your containers spicy and creative like your garden herb selection.

Fill all three pots with potting soil and lightly pat the soil down. Its best to leave three or four inches of space between the top of the soil and the top rim of the pot. This acts to catch water, plus I like to add mulch to the top of the container to help keep the soil moist and conserve on the soils moisture.

Add organic fertilizer or compost to the potting containers. Mix lightly into the soil with a fork and pat the soil back down.

In the first 24-inch pot plant the tomato towards one side of the pot. This will become the backside of the planting design. Next, plant two of the basil’s in front of the tomato toward the center of the pot and the thyme at the very front edge.

Add the dill plant to one side of the basil/thyme and the parsley on the other side. For the final step place a tomato cage or trellis around the tomato. If you are using a trellis place it behind the plant. I like the look of a trellis in this garden design.

For the second 24-inch pot, plant the pepper plants, side-by-side at the “back” of the pot. Space these plants one foot apart.

On one side of the container plant the trailing rosemary. And on the other side plant a basil and mint plant. Add the tomato cage or trellis where both peppers can use it.

To create a nice design I place the third medium sized planter in between and in front of the larger planting containers. This will create a triangle shaped mini garden.

In the medium 15-inch pot, plant the rosemary towards the “back” of the pot. Next place the chive and oregano in front and space accordingly.

Water all of the pots thoroughly and add compost or mulch to the top or each planter. This will shade the soil and help retain moisture.

You can add a few small growing flowers, edible flowers or trailing flowers to the plants in front for color. There are also several different varieties of the herbs I suggested that have more color such as Golden thyme or purple ruffles basil.

You might consider adding two small pots in the front of the planters off to the side of the medium planters for flowers.

One edible flower that I consider a must for the barbeque theme garden is the nasturtium.  They are easy to grow, colorful and have a peppery taste which will compliment any barbeque meal.

This mini theme garden is practical and colorful. It will make a great addition to your backyard oasis paradise and kitchen garden area.

Technorati Tags: backyard design, Backyard Garden, backyard oasis, barbeque garden, herb garden, herbs, small space design, Small Space Garden, small space theme garden

The backyard hobby greenhouse has several useful purposes and will benefit many gardeners. With the use of a hobby greenhouse you can extend your growing season if your climate has a short growing season or you can grow specialty plants that need that extra care that a small controlled environment can give them.
photo credit: soapbeard

A hobby greenhouse is not large enough to produce vegetables or flowers on a commercial basis but it will provide a place for tomato or pepper plants, fresh salad greens and will create a wonderful area for seedlings and plant cuttings.

They can also work successfully on a balcony garden area or on a patio.

The smallest hobby greenhouse is not large enough to walk into but is accessible for all sides from the outside.  It resembles an old-fashioned phone booth made of glass or plexi-glass and has clear shelving to promote the use of all available light.  This style is designed to hold as many plants as possible in as small a place as possible.

There is also an inexpensive variety of this mini greenhouse that is covered with a zippered tent of clear plastic.  These greenhouses can be used to extend the gardening season and temporarily house new plants, sick plants or additional houseplants. They also work well for over-wintering outdoor plants if you have a patio that can be enclosed or a spare porch area.

The advantages of a mini hobby greenhouse are that they can be used when needed and stored the rest of the year. They also take up less space than a more permanent larger greenhouse.

If you have more room or prefer to leave a hobby greenhouse up for a longer period of time there are greenhouses large enough to walk in and are made or clear glass or plastic. They are usually the size of a storage shed. The “Solar Prism” is a very popular variety of the small walk-in greenhouse.

The design of the solar prism captures the sunrays and will shoot them back into the greenhouse at all angles. This will make the most possible use of any sunlight available, which makes this variety great for cloudy regions or short growing climates.

Larger greenhouses will have misting systems for water and automatic vents for cooling but these will be more costly and also require more room in the backyard area.

The hobby greenhouse will add to your backyard garden oasis by giving you more control over the climate for certain plants and extend you growing season.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Garden, backyard hobby greenhouse, backyard oasis, cutting, greenhouse, hobby greenhouses, plant care, plants, portable greenhouses, seedlings

Kitchen gardens were always a part of the backyard plan in the past and with the return of the recession gardens and popularity of the outdoor kitchen area the kitchen garden is again becoming popular.
photo credit: themissiah

A kitchen garden was set up to be small and easy to access from the home and preferably near the kitchen area.

It was also set up to include the favorite vegetables, herbs for cooking and a few fruits.

Basil, oregano, garlic, onions, cucumbers, tomatoes, leaf lettuce, rhubarb and strawberries are a few of the items most often selected.

Kitchen gardens can be set up in a very small space or even on the balcony or patio. They are often grown in containers if space is limited.

Here are a few ideas to consider if you plan on creating your own kitchen garden area.

Choose a site that receives full sun during the growing season. This would be at least six to eight hours of lighting. If you live in a cooler climate try to select a site that thaws early. You will be able to work your soil earlier and get in your lettuce and other small vegetables.

Raised beds, using windowsills or container gardening would also help you plant earlier if your climate is cooler

Select a site that will permit access to a storage shed and water so that your gardening supplies will be close by.

The garden area should drain well and have the proper soil mix. Both drainage and soil can quickly be improved if you add compost, peat or fertilizer.

Design your kitchen garden to include the vegetables you use the most but also to be ornamental garden. This way you have the benefits of fresh garden produce but the beauty of a unique garden landscape. This is easy to do with vegetables of different colors, the use of vining plants and including flower, which can be edible, in your garden.
photo credit: tristanf

One other advantage of a kitchen garden is that it is usually is within easy reach which makes weeding and picking the harvest easy. And if it’s close to the house you shouldn’t have to worry about damage to your crops from deer or other small wild animals.

Add a kitchen garden to your backyard or patio area.

It will add color to your garden oasis and fresh produce to you table. And with planning it will take very little room or time to maintain.

Technorati Tags: Backyard Garden, backyard oasis, garden oasis, kitchen garden, landscaping, recession garden, small backyard design, Small Space Garden