How to Create a Tutti-Fruity Herb Garden

 Backyard Garden  No Responses »
Sep 282010
 

One of the more entertaining backyard activities is introducing your child to gardening. Herbs are easy to grow, have many unique characteristics and will get your child asking questions abut gardening and what herbs are.

One fun and different child’s  garden is a tutti fruity herb garden. All the herbs will smell like their favorite fruits or candy. A tutti-fruity herb garden will introduce the child to the idea of growing an aromatic herb garden and that gardening can be fun. Be sure to explain to your child that these herbs are for smelling only and that no one should ever eat anything in the garden without asking an adult first. This even pertains to vegetables. Your children should know not to eat anything that they haven’t shown you first.

You can make a day out of creating a tutti-fruity herb garden by taking them to your local gardening center or greenhouse and letting them select a few of their favorite scents. You may want to include a few soft and touchable herbs for more color and interest.

Good plants to let children try are pineapple sage, lemon balm, or any of the scented geraniums. Scented geraniums come in scents like apricot, lime, orange, and strawberry. Children also enjoy plants in the mint family, especially peppermint, spearmint and chocolate mint. Chocolate mint is a favorite for children of all ages!

A few other positive points in herb gardening is that they take little small, grow well in containers and can be grown indoor and all year long if your child enjoys growing plants.  They will also make a great windowsill garden or hanging basket garden.

Letting your child grow his or her own herb garden is a fun way to learn about nature, gardening, and cooking. It will also give your child a sense of accomplishment, create curiosity about nature and boost self-esteem. Gardening is a wonderful hobby that you and your children and enjoy for years to come and have fond memories of summer, gardens and growing experiences.

Posted by Denise at 10:05 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

How to Build an Herb Garden Container

 backyard oasis  No Responses »
Aug 262010
 

Herb gardens make a wonderful small space garden and add color and most of all flavor to your backyard, patio or balcony area. Herb gardens are also great for the beginner gardener as they are easy to care for and are not bothered by insects as much as other plants.

Sage Advice
Creative Commons License photo credit: garryknight

One way to create a small space herb garden is to select your favorite herbs to use in meals and bouquets. For a small space garden you can pack them into a large container. This will create a full and stunning pot. You can then nestle them along a garden border, directly into the garden for a creative focal point or place near the house or even in the kitchen.

If you want to create a small herb garden that will become a focal point in a backyard or garden you may want to make an herb container

How to create an easy herb container

Create an outline of the herb container to help you plan the mini garden and plant layout. Choose a large container to hold the herbs, at least 1 foot by 1 foot.

I have found an old dresser drawer makes a fast and cute mini garden. Add legs, drill drainage holes and its ready to go. If you don’t have small legs brickes work well and you can vary the height of the container.

Place a 1-inch layer of broken pot pieces down on the bottom of the herb container. This help to prevent the water from flooding out the bottom and ensures a gradual drain and no wet feet for your herb plants.

Next place equal amounts of compost and potting soil into the container until it reaches 5 inches from the top of the lip of the container.

To plant your herbs you will want to gently pull apart each root ball on the herbs. This allows the roots to spread in the pot, which encourages growth.

Dig one hole per herb plant with a small garden spade to make space in the container for each plant. Dill and fennel will do best in the back of the pot and add height to the container and container arrangement. Tarragon and thyme will do best in the front of the container, as they will tend to spill and cascade over the pot. Insert the herbs into the hole and gently press down to ensure a snug fit and to cover the roots with soil. Most herbs take 6 inches of space to grow thick and full.

Place the herb container in full sun or if indoors near a window or add additional lighting. Make sure the herbs receive between 4 and 6 hours of direct sunlight each day.

If you add a 1-inch layer of mulch around the herbs in the plants in the summer the soils will stay moist and the plants will require less watering.

By pinching back the herbs you will stimulate new growth and free up nutrients to young shoots. Dry the herbs you pinch to use in the winter months for seasoning soups and other meals.

The Gardener’s Rake is sponsoring a kitchen herb contest with the support of  Hometown Seeds. It begins August 27, 2010.

Posted by Denise at 9:23 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

Garden styles for the backyard garden

 Backyard Garden  No Responses »
Jul 152010
 

While looking for gardening ideas I found a different gardening technique I had not heard for before. It’s a rather unique garden structure that looks like it would work well in small garden areas or a backyard that has certain uses if different areas of the yard.


Creative Commons License 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.

Posted by Denise at 9:06 pm  Tagged with: , , , , ,

Plant a Small Space Patio Herb Garden

 backyard design  No Responses »
Jul 012010
 

A patio herb garden makes a great small space garden and serves a double purpose of producing herbs for cooking or for crafting purposes.

Restaurant courtyard, Straight Street, Damascus.
Creative Commons License photo credit: jemasmith

Planting an herb garden on your patio isn’t only a practical use of space, but it also adds atmosphere and greenery to your patio.

These simple steps will help to make planting your patio herb garden a breeze.

First choose herbs to plant in your patio herb garden. What herbs do you sue the most? Take a look at your kitchen shelves for help with your selection. Basil, chives, dill, oregano, parsley rosemary, sage and thyme are the most popular herbs and are easy for even a first time gardener to grow. Once you have determined the herbs you would like to grow its time to select pots and containers.

Study your patio, them choose different sizes and shapes of containers to give your patio herb garden a unique and fun look. You may want to go with a rustic look, match containers to go with your landscape or make a garden that would appeal to children. With containers the atmosphere you can create is unlimited.

Make sure that your containers have holes in the bottom for good drainage, and then fill the bottoms with small rocks or gravel.

Next fill your containers with composted soil mixed in a 2 to 1 ratio with sand. Leave a 1-inch space at the top of the container. This gives you room to water without running the pot over and creating a mess.

Water the container and allow it to drain before planting your herbs. This step also settles the soil mix. I usually let the containers set overnight.

Next plant your herbs. It’s best to keep oregano, rosemary, mint and thyme in separate containers. They tend to grow large or spread and take over the container. You can grow the other herbs together in large shallow pots or a window box in your herb garden.

Last of all, it’s time to place containers on your patio in a location where they get at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight. Herbs have a variety of different colors and textures and add depth to a small space garden area, like a patio. Add a few edible flowers in your herb garden for more color. Nasturtiums are an edible flower.

Lavender and rosemary are more difficult herbs to grow but you may want to consider growing them. In many areas they are perennial if brought indoors during the winter months.

One other idea you may want to consider when planning your herb garden is making part of the garden into a vertical garden. This would be perfect for a small patio with a corner that gets direct lighting.

This patio garden could be a compact as 3 foot in length if you use vertical growing methods or a few hanging baskets.  It could also be a growing wall or barrier to create more privacy on the patio.

Herbs are easy to grow and have so many uses. You will be surprised how much this small garden will add to your home and patio space.

Posted by Denise at 3:11 pm  Tagged with: , , , ,

Small space perennial garden ideas

 Small Space Garden  No Responses »
Mar 162010
 

Small spaces work perfectly for mini perennial gardens. I spent today moving some of my perennials and planning out my small space terraced gardens on graft paper, then on the computer.

trip files e 357
Creative Commons License photo credit: echoforsberg

My front yard is going to be small terraced gardens, seven mini gardens in all. One will only be two foot by 3 foot and the largest, a rose garden; will be 4 foot by 8 foot.

As I spent most of the day moving a perennial garden, my two areas for perennials will be the first areas I work on.

The one small space garden will have rock cress and a moss ground cover in the front. Behind that I will plant a few varieties of herbs and small variety hosta plants. The last section in the back will be red sedum on the sides, bee balm in the center and one other taller perennial flower. I haven’t decided which one yet.

The other perennial garden is located near a tree so I will need to set up a shade garden in this area.

I dug up close to 150 perennials today. I put them in my transplant garden area overnight until I fix their new home or repot them for sale or trading for other new plant varieties.

You don’t want your plants you moved to have the opportunity to get dry roots so you need to make sure the roots are wet and that they are placed in soil as fast as possible.  That’s were a transplant garden can come in handy if you cannot plant them on the same day.

My terraces areas are set up on a hillside with a 30-degree slope. The area is being terraced to help redirect and prevent any runoff flooding from across the road. The road drains are all clogged and they said they would not replace them for 15 years so prevention is the best step to take. I say this after the downstairs of the house was ruined last year.

I am also place a mini mound garden area with shrubs and very hard perennials up by the road to help redirect any water if I have this problem again.

I am planning hardscape stairs in two places and laying them out in such a way that if I have any rain problems the rain will be carried away from the house and any gardens areas.  I think think the look of stairways curving through gardens will also add interest to the gardens and landscape.

The other small space gardens will be an herb garden, a flower garden and two veggie/flower garden mixes. The vegetable gardens are being planned for near the patio area and near the kitchen area. This will be a perfect location to run outdoors and select a few fresh vegetables to add to a meal.

These garden areas should be easy to maintain. They will make a problem yard less work and they will also help control any future water problems.  And above all they will add color and interest to a rather ordinary yard.

Posted by Denise at 10:11 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , , , ,
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