1. What is its purpose? Is it for privacy, to control pets or children or for landscape design?
2. What styles will suit your home? Remember, building a fence takes time and cost money. Although there are fences that are more cost effective there is always cost involved so make sure you have placed the fence in the right area.
3. Check for any local fence restriction in your area and always contact your local utility companies before digging.

The following you tubes on how to build a fence will help you with any decisions and show different fencing styles. These you tubes are produced by home depot and are a bit commercial but they have great information that will help you.

I plan to add a small fence to the front yard that will be mainly decorative. This fence is more of a cottage style design with its main purpose being décor and to help block some of the noise from the highway.

And in the backyard I should add a fence for my dog Taz (the spaz) but so far I have not decided on what style would look good and also contain the Australian Shepherd Cattle dog with attitude. I don’t like the metal look but don’t want a high wood fence either. My selection for this fence design may take some time.

Technorati Tags: backyard design, backyard fences, fences, fencing, how to make a fence

A hybrid tea rose is a cross between the hybrid perpetuals and old-fashioned tea roses. They are the most popular roses in the world and perhaps the most popular flower, as roses are many gardeners favorite. The hybrid tea rose has all the virtues you look for in a flower: beauty, fragrance and easy care. They also come in so many color variations and will grow in many different climates.

photo credit: Jami Dwyer

What makes these roses different from other Roses is that they generally produce only one blossom at the end of the stem, rather than clusters of flowers. They have more of an open form rather than bushy habit. They are repeat bloomers throughout the growing season, particularly if you keep them deadheaded or picked and they offer some degree of fragrance. The fragrance will depend on the variety.

A signature of hybrid teas is the long, pointed bud. The plants will grow anywhere from 3-6 feet tall, depending on the growing conditions.

The long, strong stems make them great as cut flowers.

Choosing the Right Hybrid Tea for You

Hybrid teas are as easy to grow as other rose varieties. For success in growing them choose a variety suited to your climate and zone. So look on the plant tag or research the rose types at a library or online. One other very important key to a successful rose bush is to make sure that it is planted properly.

But your first points to consider when buying the rose bush is:

• If your summers are humid, look for mildew resistance. Certain ways of planting will also help mildew but get extra help with proper plant selection.
• Where summers are dry you will want to look for heat tolerance and vigorous root systems. I would also advise to make sure the roses are planted in such a way that you have a mulched area to help hold in moisture.
• And most of all, check the planting tag and be certain of the growing zone if you live where winters are harsh. You may also want to provide extra protection.  Use a burlap wrap or plant by a wall or hillside for wind protection in colder areas.

Tip: Roses with thick petals are hardier in variable weather locations and last longer as cut flowers.

Backyard Oasis Projects will be having a mini rose garden project using the Hybrid Tea Rose. You will be able to see a rose garden be created from the start. As the season is still cold the first steps will be to select the rose varieties and prepare the rose garden bed area. Check out “The Hybrid Tea Rose Backyard Project.”

Technorati Tags: backyard projects, growing tea roses, hybrid tea rose, selecting hybrid tea rose, tea rose garden

photo credit: crabchick

This is a perfect time to make a suet bird feeder. It will attract birds to the yard; add entertainment while watching their antics and will also provide a break in the day.

This was one my favorite things to make when I was a child. And it was always late January or February when we made the suet bird feeders.

How to make a suet bird feeder

First down beef fat (suet) to get liquid. Be very careful at his stage of the project.

Next allow the fat to cool down to a pasty state. You do not want to work with this when it’s too warm. It will cook the seeds. Mix in nuts, seeds or sunflowers. The bags of bird food works well for this project.

Form the mixture into a ball about four to five inches in diameter. Place the ball inside a mesh bag.

To make sure the seed ball has solidified I will place ball into the freezer.

When you feel the seed ball is firm its time to feed your birds. Hang your feeder from a nail on a post, a tree branch close to the trunk or in shrubbery. This placement will allow woodpeckers and other insect- and seed-eating birds to feed.

Make sure that the feeder is high enough that cats cannot torment the birds.

Technorati Tags: backyard, easy backyard project, feeding birds, suet bird feeder

photo credit: JulieFinestone

Here’s how to clean up your backyard and get it back under control.

Clean up the weeds, leaves and shrubs.

Grab your garden tools and a wheelbarrow and start first by cleaning up the fallen leaves. You can also pull out the weeds growing along fences and the sides of your house at the same time. If you have a compost pile add the fresh material into the pile.

Next trim your shrubs with a garden trimmer. For a nice trim its best to step back and take a good look at the shrub. Remove any damaged or diseased branches. After that you can trim the top and sides. It depends on what type of shrub I have on where I dispose of the cuttings. Shrubs with leaves go in the compost pile for the garden areas. Evergreen shrubs are put in a pile to be used for mulching material around shrubs and trees.

Mow the lawn and trim the edges

After the leaves, weeds and shrubs are tidied up, its time to mow the yard and doing any neglected backyard trimming. Mow your lawn on a low height setting to trim down the grass. This will let you get a good look at the lawn area. Get your weed whacker out of storage and edge any fences, sidewalks, drives and shrubs and trees.

This is when I look at the difficult trimming areas and decide if I will be creating mulch layering in these areas.

Clean up the clutter.

Start eliminating the clutter by placing any tools and belongings back into the garage or a storage shed. If you need more storage space, organize your existing space or buy building or small storage shed for your backyard.

If you have an item in your backyard that has sat in one place waiting to be fixed or used one day, wither fix it or move it on. Someone else will appreciate that old doghouse that has not been used in years or the canoe hidden in grass.  And yes, it’s hard to part with those “I’ll do it next week” projects.

Landscape your backyard.

If you feel you backyard needs made over just take a few minutes and sit down and take a look. What would add comfort or ease to the backyard? Is there a certain plant or tree you have always wanted. Do you need more room to entertain or would you like to make the yard easier to maintain?

Install paving stones to make a path or a few new trees and shrubs will give a new look to the yard quickly. Put a bench in your backyard for reading relaxing or to enjoy the garden area.

By adding new landscaping and creating areas in your backyard you will add interest to the yard.  You will also find yourself spending more time enjoying and taking care of backyard projects that will keep the yard clean and tidy.

Technorati Tags: backyard clean-up, backyard landscaping, backyard oasis, backyard projects, clean up backyard

photo credit: steve conry

You may also need to move plants quickly such as I need to do and when that is the case you need a holding bed to put any plants in to keep them healthy until you can plant them.

I had to move all my plants out of my front raised bed area and find perennials that were moved when a hillside garden was washed out in a flood we had this summer. So all told,  I had at least11 perennials varieties to move. The perennial groups were large so its fair to say I had over 175 plants that need to be planted as soon as possible.

Creating a holding bed for plants

So I took two large 10-inch posts measuring 10 foot in length and laid them parallel with a three-foot distance in between. I used two bales of straw on the bottom, 10 buckets of rotted sawdust, 5 bags of rotted leaves (referred to as leaf mold) and about 4 wheel barrels of dirt (yes dirt, not soil). I added a little compost on top and put the plants in.

Once the plants were in I watered them and then covered the mixture with grass clippings to help retain moisture.

This should hold the plants until I can get them in their new home – two weeks at the most. I will water them again tomorrow and then leave them alone for a week.

Tip: The plants will determine the depth of your holding bed. Shallow rooted plants need less depth while shrubs or trees will need more depth.

I set up the temporary holding bed in a semi shady area so the plants should do well and not suffer in direct sun.

To make a quick holding bed any large wood boards or beams should work. Dresser drawers and old crates will also work. And I have seen hay bales used too.

As long as you can create a temporary raised garden bed area anything that will hold soil will work.

photo credit: lepiaf.geo (back on 8th)
All you are doing is creating an area where you can hold plants for a few weeks until you plant them in their new garden location. You need a soil mix that the plants can live in, water and to place them in the ground and not disturb then until you are ready to plant them again.

I have used temporary holding beds many times in the past. It has saved plants and been a big help when I find plants, trade plants or have to move a large amount of plants quickly.

Technorati Tags: backyard oasis, landscaping, moving plants, perennials, plants, raised beds, temporary holding bed