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.

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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.

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There are many fruit trees and other varieties of fruits that can be grown in containers. Growing fruit in containers is a perfect solution for people who want fresh fruit but have limited garden space or live in a city. And with the emphasis on recession gardens and growing you own produce and fruit the small space fruit orchard is catching on.
photo credit: Marina Cast.

If you are looking for fruit that will produce the first year soft fruits are you best choice. Strawberries, currents, gooseberries, and grapes work well. These can be bought in compact varieties or dwarf rootstock. But this may not be necessary because the size of the container will usually restrict the size of growth of the plant.

Watermelon, cantaloupe, melons, kiwi and vine peach also grow well in containers, And if you like nuts, try growing peanuts indoors.

And although growing you own fruit is easy and rewarding with fresh fruit with limited chemicals or no chemicals its important to realize that growing fruit in containers will not produce the quantity that will be produced in a garden area. But your crop is usually enough for your needs.

Containers for the Small Fruit Orchard

Half the fun of growing in containers is selecting the container. Consider the pot as an addition of art in your backyard and home. You want the select the right size for your fruit crop but color and a container that adds to your décor or expresses your personality is also important.

The best containers for growing fruit are those only slightly larger than the existing rootball. This would be an additional 2 to 3 inches in diameter.

As a rule of thumb, most fruits do well in a pot that is 18 inches in diameter and at least 16-18 inches deep. Melons will need a larger pot. I prefer to grow them in a planter box so that I can trellis the plants easily and make sure they have enough fertilizer and water.  
photo credit: allyrose18

Strawberries can be grown in smaller pots and work well in hanging baskets or window boxes. I grow my strawberries in hanging baskets and have a crop of berries that produce all year long.

Container tip: Large pots will get heavy from the soil so set them on casters to make moving them around the patio, balcony in and out of the house easier.

One final consideration in selecting a container for your fruit is to make sure it has adequate drainage and a water tray for catching excess water.

With proper sunlight, fertilizer and watering, you can raise great fruit in a small space garden or orchard area.

You will find it rewarding and you may want to mix a few herbs or flower in your containers for more color and fun.

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Small fruit varieties grow well in limited space garden designs. There are many fruit trees that you can train as espaliers or to grow in containers but strawberries, brambles, and melons will grow well in containers and on patios and balcony gardens with little care.
photo credit: quinn.anya

Raspberries are a good choice for fruit container for the small space garden. There are summer and fall-bearing varieties. Raspberries also cost quite a bit in stores and have been heavily sprayed for insects, so by growing your own you will save money and have a cleaner fruit

The summer bearing raspberry plants will produce fruits in early summer, with the season lasting around five weeks. The fall-bearing varieties, which are known as everbearing, will give you two crops each year – one in early summer and a late crop min fall. In my zone 5 this is late September and into October.

You can choose red, gold, purple or black raspberries for your fruit container garden. Some of the good red and yellow varieties of raspberries are named ‘Anne;’ and ‘Autumn Bliss.” If you want to go in for black or purple varieties, you can choose between ‘Brandywine’, ‘Munger’ and ‘Royalty are great selections in black and purple raspberry varieties.’ These varieties are summer bearing.

Blackberries also do well growing in containers. My suggestion for blackberry plants when selection a variety to grow is to get the thornless variety. The sting of a blackberry thorn seems to be worse than any other bramble bush. Brambles are usually spaced one foot apart when planted.

Another option for blackberries or raspberries is to train them to grow on trellises. You will make better use of the space and I also grow a small crop of lettuce or herbs in front of the berries for better use of space and to add color to the garden area.

Melons are also a nice fruit for the mini garden area, but they will take a large container. Melons will need plenty of water, fertilizer and soil that drains well. The reason for a large container is to ensure that the melon plants have enough fertilizer to produce a good crop.

Peach vine or Vine Peach is also a favorite heirloom fruit that I grow. It has a wide variety of uses and takes very little space. I grow this crop on a trellis and usually mix in a vining flower for color.

There are many fruits that will grow all year long. Strawberries are a perfect example. As long as they have fertilizer and decent lighting you will be able to harvest a crop all season long. I tend to grow most of my strawberries in hanging baskets. They take less space, look great and produce well this way.

Care of you fruit garden

I only use organic insect control on my fruit plants. By checking the plants regularly and making sure the plants have the proper water and fertilizer I rarely have an insect problem. I also check and remove any weak stems or leaves.

Raspberry plants tend to attract Japanese beetles so I grow an okra plant and place it 20 foot away from the berry brambles. It’s a pretty plant and Japanese beetles like the plant but the plant doesn’t agree with them. It’s a natural insect control for the raspberry plant.

Other insect controls are a homemade insect spray.

Most fruit varieties dislike frost and extreme cold and will damage easily if exposed to frost. Keep your fruit container gardening efforts in a cool place, away from the frost. And if they are located outdoors cover the crops during the late fall.

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