Southend Council cuts treehouse down to size with demand that it stands just 18 inches from the ground
Perched on stilts at the end of his garden, the tree house provides no end of fun for Simon Clifford’s children, but a neighbour complained it overlooked their property.
Read more on Daily Mail
Hillside Landscaping: A Complete Guide to Successful Gardens on Sloping Ground
Price: $11.26
Hillside Landscaping: A Complete Guide to Successful Gardens on Sloping Ground
Product Description
When it comes to slippery slopes, one thing you don’t need is a steep learning curve. That’s why Sunset is releasing a new edition of its popular Hillside Landscaping book. Hundreds of photographs illustrate just how beautiful hillside gardens can be, accented with elements such as streams, terraces, and boulders. Step-by-step instructions guide you through basic construction techniques for walls, paths, steps, waterfalls, and more. The garden chapter includes top plants and how-tos for rock gardens and water gardens. Whether your slope is slight or imposing, you’ll find both inspiration and specifics here. Features:
Extensive design guide features dozens of ideas in beautifully photographed hillside gardens
Guidance on controlling erosion, managing drainage, installing irrigation, and protecting the garden from sun and wind
Special chapter on enhancing your hillside with water features and rocks
Hillside Landscaping: A Complete Guide to Successful Gardens on Sloping Ground
Hillside Landscaping: A Complete Guide to Successful Gardens on Sloping Ground
Santa Cruz High clubs break ground for campus garden
SANTA CRUZ — Dreams of bringing healthy greens and fresh fruits grown by students to students at Santa Cruz High School came one step closer to coming true Friday after two campus clubs broke ground for an organic garden behind the old pool.
Read more on Santa Cruz Sentinel
Designing a water garden is fun and easy, it can be created by a person or by a professional landscaping company. A water garden design should factor in the space allowed, the plants desired, and the climate of the area the garden will grow in.
Digging A Hole
Making a water garden in one’s back yard begins by digging a hole in the ground. When planning the dig, gradually slope the sides to allow different plants optimal growing conditions. Some water plants flourish in deeper water and others are suited for shallower water.
Some water garden designs will begin with a shelf for plants that enjoy one foot of water or less and from that point the pond will slope to around eighteen inches and the deepest point over twenty-four inches deep. This will allow for a variety of plants to be grown in one water garden.
Choosing Pots
A water garden design should be planned similarly to a container garden because that is essentially what a water garden is. One difference is the type of pots needed for water gardens, water garden plants will do best if they are fabric pots which allow the water to flow freely around the soil and the roots.
Also even the smallest water plants will need a pot at least ten inches wide to allow the water plants room to grow. Water garden designs should figure places for pots to be placed to allow the particular plant the most sun, water depth, and soil that it needs to be healthy and thrive. Some plants will need the long “window box” type of plastic planters to allow the plant room to grow.
If fabric pots are unavailable or undesired plastic pots will also work well for water garden designs. The pots can be placed on cinderblocks while young to encourage them to grow faster and lowered slowly as the plant matures.
Choosing The Types Of Plants
There are too many beautiful water plants to talk about each in detail; however there are some general buying guidelines to follow when selecting appropriate plants for the region in which one lives. The United States is divided into ten climate zones; these zones are based on the date which there is no longer a risk of frost for that year.
Water plants labeled tropical will only do well in extremely hot conditions; they prefer the very edge of Florida, Texas, and southern California. Most other areas even in the south will not have consistent favorable temperatures for enough of the growing season.
Plants labeled hardy will grow in most areas of the United States except for extreme climates such as Alaska and a few other pockets of the country. Hardy plants are ideal for most peoples water garden designs as there is a large variety of plants that can suit anyone’s taste.
Ann Marier has written articles on garden issues such as bird problems providing helpful tips and advice. Read her latest articles on garden design offering a new insight and ideas.
Landscaping With Fruit: Strawberry ground covers, blueberry hedges, grape arbors, and 39 other luscious fruits to make your yard an edible paradise.
Product Description
Fruit trees, shrubs, and vines are true two-for-one plants. Many varieties are strikingly beautiful — well suited to doing double duty as delicious sources of sweet, organic fruit and as ornamental additions to the home landscape. Backyard fruit plants also tie in perfectly with the growing locavore movement. It’s difficult to find food that’s more local than one’s own backyard!
“Luscious landscaping,” as author Lee Reich calls it, takes fruit-bearing plants off the commercial farm and replants the prettiest and tastiest specimens in suburban and rural yards. Spring blossoms, summer and fall fruit, and the year-round presence of the plants themselves bring a special magic to the home landscape. Pillowy pink blossoms on peach branches or the bright orange fruit of persimmon trees perk up their surroundings with color and drama.
Beautiful plants, yes, but these landscaping additions also provide sweet, nutritious fruit. Homegrown, organic varieties bear almost no resemblance to commercially produced fruits,which are bred and selected to withstand shipping and refrigerated storage conditions. It’s hard to believe that Alpine strawberries and those grown in California and shipped across the country are even related!
Fruitscaping is a complete, no-nonsense guide to growing temperate-zone fruit, with information on everything from planting and pruning to pest control and harvesting. Readers will find all the basics of landscaping with fruit — site analysis, climate assessment, understanding soil and sun, plant selection, and optimizing growing conditions. An encyclopedia of 38 plants includes information for each entry on hardiness, size, potential pests, special care and pruning, harvesting, and visual appeal.
Landscaping With Fruit: Strawberry ground covers, blueberry hedges, grape arbors, and 39 other luscious fruits to make your yard an edible paradise.
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