Create a Garden Room or Garden Office

 backyard design  No Responses »
Apr 292009
 

Garden studios are becoming popular in backyards, particularly small backyard design areas. By designing a garden studio you can create a small getaway that is available anytime. untitled HDR.
Creative Commons License photo credit: aJ Dy

It could be a more relaxed working area or and area that helps with creativity.

The idea of a garden office or garden studio is perfect for people who enjoy the outdoors or gardening. It is also convenient for people who are self-employed and work at home. Your work area becomes a very relaxing haven.

If you have a small backyard or no backyard you will need to plan carefully to make the best use out of every available inch of space. You may even want to consider hiring a professional designer to help out.

The first and most important step is analyzing your available space. Will your area be indoors or out? Natural lighting and a flow with the outdoors are necessary. You will also need to check on any building permits and security issues for your new design.

The Outdoor Garden Studio or Garden Office

Heating, cooling and security for a separate building are main concerns with an outdoor garden studio or office. Also selecting the building location and size in relation to backyard space and landscape design are keys to success.

If your building needs to be small to fit into available space you can actually add to the feel of the room by adding a mini patio, flagstone or creating a garden around the building.  This extends the indoor space outside in a flowing feel. Add a small tabletop fountain for relaxation and you have created a feeling out an outdoor room or secret garden.

You can create the building yourself, hire a builder or buy a small building at most garden centers.

Indoor Garden Studio or Garden Office

Porches, sunrooms, balconies and a room with many windows will make a wonderful garden office. You may also decide to add a small extension onto your home. Some of the most inviting garden rooms I have seen are balconies that have been enclosed but the design from the balcony moves into the attached room creating a larger feeling to the entire space.

Sunrooms and porches are also very successful when re-created into garden studios. By adding plants, container gardens, mini ponds or fountains you bring the feel of the outdoors indoors. The use of vertical garden design and garden trellises will make better use of limited space and create a lush garden feeling. Aus Home Beautiful June 08.jpg
Creative Commons License photo credit: Tammy Manet

And depending on your climate you may need to add insulation to create a more climate friendly atmosphere during the hot summer months or cooler winter season.

By creating a Garden studio or Garden office you can make an environment to work in that offers the comfort and relaxation of being outdoors.

Posted by Denise at 7:01 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Small Backyard Designs: Boxed Gardens

 backyard design  No Responses »
Apr 262009
 

Boxed gardens have been catching on in many backyard gardens, particularly those with small backyard design issues.

Boxed gardens are neat, clean and easy to handle.  Depending on where you placer them and how wide they are will depend if you can easily walk around them or reach across them. Pink Flower
Creative Commons License photo credit: MoToMo

You can have one or two box gardens and place them side-by-side or scatter them around the backyard or even place them on the patio or a balcony. Wherever you place them, just remember to have an easy access to water and adequate sunshine.

A boxed garden is really a frame. To make one, all you have to do is look around your yard, chose a location with six to eight hours of sunlight, prepare the soil, and then frame the space with standard 2-by-4 sections of wood board. I like to make my boxes gardens two to three foot wide.  Any wider and I have trouble reaching the center for garden maintenance.  The length depends on my gardening needs. Nail the corners together for support.

Many gardeners using the boxed gardens use a four foot by four foot size. It’s the size that most square foot gardens use and this method is perfect for square foot gardening

The advantages of these boxed gardens are that they are fast and easy to set up and can be sued in areas that have poor soil. Just add compost and soil or use a lasagna gardening method for building soil.

You can also build a section of the garden one at a time when you need it instead of rushing to put a garden in a few days.

The boxed garden method of gardening is great for small backyard designs, patios and balcony gardens. It is so versatile that it can fit any garden space or family style

Posted by Denise at 10:30 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Small Backyard Design: Window Boxes

 backyard design  No Responses »
Apr 252009
 

Window boxes add to any backyard and particularly to decks, balconies and small space garden areas. And the window box is perfect for the urban gardener who needs to use every inch of garden space available.
Creative Commons License photo credit: thebittenword.com

With proper planning you can grow most of your garden produce in a window box garden set up. And by mixing vegetables, flowers and herbs you can grow a large variety of plants to fit every need.

The you tube below will show you how to make your own window boxes, which may be helpful to those that are working with small backyard design.

The next you tube has planting ideas for your window boxes that you made or purchased. I like to mix window boxes with hanging baskets to get a layered look, which add depth to your garden area and makes better use of the small space that you have for a garden area.

Mini gardens add to any backyard or balcony and give the area an oasis feeling. By using window boxes and hanging baskets in a layering design you will create a lush garden and more privacy to your backyard oasis paradise.

Posted by Denise at 10:47 pm  Tagged with: , , , , , ,

Backyard Postage Stamp Garden Design

 backyard design  No Responses »
Apr 212009
 

In a Postage Stamp garden, a garden that uses a barest possible amount of space, the placement of your plants is critical. You need to utilize every square inch of space but leave room for the plants to breath and receive enough nutrients to grow healthy and produce large crops. Freesia
Creative Commons License photo credit: The Marmot

Below are a few suggestions for plant placement

Its best if you had time in the winter to plan a garden but you may have decided to plant at the last moment or you have just created a space for a garden. If you haven’t planned a garden it is helpful to lay a design out on paper.  You will have a better plant placement plus you won’t forget a plant or two.

One important part of a postage stamp garden is to use as much of the air space as possible. Some call this layering the plants. Train tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and vining plants up trellises, arbors, fences, poles, walls or what ever is available. This keeps the plants off the ground, saves space and promotes healthier plants. Sprawling plants will also choke out over smaller plants and makes weeding more difficult.

I have also found I have less insect problems growing certain plants vertical. One more additional plus is that it is pretty. Mix a flowering vine in with the vertical vegetables and it’s stunning. The flowering vine will also help pollination.

For your small backyard design postage stamp garden it’s not necessary to use rows. As a matter of fact rows use more space. I divide the garden into rectangular, square or circular spaces and plant a certain vegetable in that space. The same applies to seedling that you buy. Plant them randomly leaving enough space between the plants. Plants need enough space to grow and like to touch when mature. Spacing will depend on the plant.

For example tomatoes need one foot on both sides when trellised, lettuce like six inches and you can space beans four inches apart. . The Square Foot Garden book by Mel Bartholomew has a great section on plant spacing.

Its best to leave pathways in your garden if you have to reach more than a couple of feet. This way you can get to all the plants easily. This layout will also give you garden an artistic look. And if you have room on the garden place a small bench to rest. I also place a rain barrel in the center of my garden that I fill with water for quick watering or plants.

I also mix flower, herbs and vegetable all in the same plot. They benefit each other, many flowers have natural insect repelling characteristics and it just makes the garden prettier. I am a firm believer in a garden should be fun.

One other important consideration in your small backyard postage stamp garden design is to make sure you plant tall vegetable on the north end of you garden. Taller plants will shade the smaller plants that need sun. Plant the other vegetables in a descending order according to their size down to the south section of the garden. I do occasionally break this rule during the hot summer months with spinach and lettuce plants to give them a little shade in the afternoon hours.

With intensive gardening and the Postage Stamp Gardening method for using space you should be able to design a small backyard garden for any area, even balconies and patios. Gardens add to the development of a backyard oasis paradise.

Posted by Denise at 11:12 am  Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Postage Stamp Gardening

 Small Space Garden  No Responses »
Apr 202009
 

With the increased interest in gardening, gardening space has become an issue. You may have a large backyard but other areas also need space or you may have a balcony and only a few feet of gardening space available. But with small backyard designs and creativity you can make the best use out the space you have. abundance
Creative Commons License photo credit: ginnerobot

Another issue with gardening and backyard maintenance is time. Everyone wants a lush backyard with shrubs, trees, fruit and vegetables and room for family activities but backyard gardening can take time so setting up a small garden or Postage stamp garden as they are often referred to makes sense.

A postage stamp garden is considered a small area that can produce abundant herbs, flowers and vegetables. It can also be an ornamental garden of annuals, perennials and shrubs planted in the ground or in containers making full use of a very small space. How is a postage stamp garden possible? With careful planning, using intensive gardening practices and careful selection of the plants you grow.

In the last few years’ small growing shrubs and fruit trees have been developed. Fruit tree can also be espaliers and grown on a wall. Grapes and other fruit can be trained for arbors and trellises.

Many vegetables are available in a mini size that will be perfect for the small garden and saving space. And even with larger plants if you grow them vertically you will save an amazing amount of space and I find it helps with insect control too. There are fewer places for the insects to hide. My one word of advice with vertical growing is to make sure your trellised, posts or way you fix for the produce to grow on a wall is firm. Theses plants can get heavy when laden with produce so take extra care to ensure they are sturdy.

There are flowers that also stay compact and if you chose carefully many flowers are edible and serve two purposes, beauty and use. And don’t forget potted shrubs, which can be placed outdoors in the summer months and if the right shrub is chosen brought indoors in the colder months for more enjoyment. Shrubs left outdoors may need to be winterized depending on your climate.

Container gardening and vertical growing are two perfect solutions for the balcony gardener or apartment renter with very limited space. Between hanging baskets and containers you should be able to grow flower and produce and create a nice secret garden oasis. And by trying to combine the style of the indoor space with outdoor space you can create a large feel of space in both areas.

If you feel you don’t have a lot of space for a garden look into postage stamp gardening and intensive gardening for ideas on how to grow in a smaller space and how to save time working in your garden area.

Posted by Denise at 11:36 am  Tagged with: , , , , ,
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