Landscape Gardening

Landscape gardening has often been likened to the painting of a picture. Your art-work teacher has doubtless told you that a good picture should have a point of chief interest, and the rest of the points simply go to make more beautiful the central idea, or to form a fine setting for it. So in landscape gardening there must be in the gardener's mind a picture of what he desires the whole to be when he completes his work.

From this study we shall be able to work out a little theory of landscape gardening.

Let us go to the lawn. A good extent of open lawn space is always beautiful. It is restful. It adds a feeling of space to even small grounds. So we might generalize and say that it is well to keep open lawn spaces. If one covers his lawn space with many trees, with little flower beds here and there, the general effect is choppy and fussy. It is a bit like an over-dressed person. One's grounds lose all individuality thus treated. A single tree or a small group is not a bad arrangement on the lawn. Do not centre the tree or trees. Let them drop a bit into the background. Make a pleasing side feature of them. In choosing trees one must keep in mind a number of things. You should not choose an overpowering tree; the tree should be one of good shape, with something interesting about its bark, leaves, flowers or fruit. While the poplar is a rapid grower, it sheds its leaves early and so is left standing, bare and ugly, before the fall is old. Mind you, there are places where a row or double row of Lombardy poplars is very effective. But I think you'll agree with me that one lone poplar is not. The catalpa is quite lovely by itself. Its leaves are broad, its flowers attractive, the seed pods which cling to the tree until away into the winter, add a bit of picture squeness. The bright berries of the ash, the brilliant foliage of the sugar maple, the blossoms of the tulip tree, the bark of the white birch, and the leaves of the copper beech all these are beauty points to consider.

Place makes a difference in the selection of a tree. Suppose the lower portion of the grounds is a bit low and moist, then the spot is ideal for a willow. Don't group trees together which look awkward. A long-looking poplar does not go with a nice rather rounded little tulip tree. A juniper, so neat and prim, would look silly beside a spreading chestnut. One must keep proportion and suitability in mind.

I'd never advise the planting of a group of evergreens close to a house, and in the front yard. The effect is very gloomy indeed. Houses thus surrounded are overcapped by such trees and are not only gloomy to live in, but truly unhealthful. The chief requisite inside a house is sunlight and plenty of it.

As trees are chosen because of certain good points, so shrubs should be. In a clump I should wish some which bloomed early, some which bloomed late, some for the beauty of their fall foliage, some for the colour of their bark and others for the fruit. Some spireas and the forsythia bloom early. The red bark of the dogwood makes a bit of colour all winter, and the red berries of the barberry cling to the shrub well into the winter.

Certain shrubs are good to use for hedge purposes. A hedge is rather prettier usually than a fence. The Californian privet is excellent for this purpose. Osage orange, Japan barberry, buckthorn, Japan quince, and Van Houtte's spirea are other shrubs which make good hedges.

I forgot to say that in tree and shrub selection it is usually better to choose those of the locality one lives in. Unusual and foreign plants do less well, and often harmonize but poorly with their new setting.

Landscape gardening may follow along very formal lines or along informal lines. The first would have straight paths, straight rows in stiff beds, everything, as the name tells, perfectly formal. The other method is, of course, the exact opposite. There are danger points in each.

The formal arrangement is likely to look too stiff; the informal, too fussy, too wiggly. As far as paths go, keep this in mind, that a path should always lead somewhere. That is its business to direct one to a definite place. Now, straight, even paths are not unpleasing if the effect is to be that of a formal garden. The danger in the curved path is an abrupt curve, a whirligig effect. It is far better for you to stick to straight paths unless you can make a really beautiful curve. No one can tell you how to do this.

Garden paths may be of gravel, of dirt, or of grass. One sees grass paths in some very lovely gardens. I doubt, however, if they would serve as well in your small gardens. Your garden areas are so limited that they should be re-spaded each season, and the grass paths are a great bother in this work. Of course, a gravel path makes a fine appearance, but again you may not have gravel at your command. It is possible for any of you to dig out the path for two feet. Then put in six inches of stone or clinker. Over this, pack in the dirt, rounding it slightly toward the centre of the path. There should never be depressions through the central part of paths, since these form convenient places for water to stand. The under layer of stone makes a natural drainage system.

A building often needs the help of vines or flowers or both to tie it to the grounds in such a way as to form a harmonious whole. Vines lend themselves well to this work. It is better to plant a perennial vine, and so let it form a permanent part of your landscape scheme. The Virginia creeper, wistaria, honeysuckle, a climbing rose, the clematis and trumpet vine are all most satisfactory.

close your eyes and picture a house of natural colour, that mellow gray of the weathered shingles. Now add to this old house a purple wistaria. Can you see the beauty of it? I shall not forget soon a rather ugly corner of my childhood home, where the dining room and kitchen met. Just there climbing over, and falling over a trellis was a trumpet vine. It made beautiful an awkward angle, an ugly bit of carpenter work.

Of course, the morning-glory is an annual vine, as is the moon-vine and wild cucumber. Now, these have their special function. For often, it is necessary to cover an ugly thing for just a time, until the better things and better times come. The annual is 'the chap' for this work.

Along an old fence a hop vine is a thing of beauty. One might try to rival the woods' landscape work. For often one sees festooned from one rotted tree to another the ampelopsis vine.

Flowers may well go along the side of the building, or bordering a walk. In general, though, keep the front lawn space open and unbroken by beds. What lovelier in early spring than a bed of daffodils close to the house? Hyacinths and tulips, too, form a blaze of glory. These are little or no bother, and start the spring aright. One may make of some bulbs an exception to the rule of unbroken front lawn. Snowdrops and crocuses planted through the lawn are beautiful. They do not disturb the general effect, but just blend with the whole. One expert bulb gardener says to take a basketful of bulbs in the fall, walk about your grounds, and just drop bulbs out here and there. Wherever the bulbs drop, plant them. Such small bulbs as those we plant in lawns should be in groups of four to six. Daffodils may be thus planted, too. You all remember the grape hyacinths that grow all through Katharine's side yard.

The place for a flower garden is generally at the side or rear of the house. The backyard garden is a lovely idea, is it not? Who wishes to leave a beautiful looking front yard, turn the corner of a house, and find a dump heap? Not I. The flower garden may be laid out formally in neat little beds, or it may be more of a careless, hit-or-miss sort. Both have their good points. Great masses of bloom are attractive.

You should have in mind some notion of the blending of colour. Nature appears not to consider this at all, and still gets wondrous effects. This is because of the tremendous amount of her perfect background of green, and the limitlessness of her space, while we are confined at the best to relatively small areas. So we should endeavour not to blind people's eyes with clashes of colours which do not at close range blend well. In order to break up extremes of colours you can always use masses of white flowers, or something like mignonette, which is in effect green.

Finally, let us sum up our landscape lesson. The grounds are a setting for the house or buildings. Open, free lawn spaces, a tree or a proper group well placed, flowers which do not clutter up the front yard, groups of shrubbery these are points to be remembered. The paths should lead somewhere, and be either straight or well curved. If one starts with a formal garden, one should not mix the informal with it before the work is done.

Ansyari : http://neo-gardeningtips.com

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Spiritual Gardening

The time when humankind decided to move from silent knowledge to reason was the same time it moved from hunting and gathering to agriculture. Agriculture was not undertaken because big game had died off, or any such reason, but rather because humanity wanted to experiment with thinking, social organization, etc. The human and grain gods made a deal at that point to help each other out. A similar deal was struck with e.g. the bovine god. Cows, in return for the loss of a certain measure of freedom (reduction to the status of property, having their children taken away from them, etc.), received in return freedom from random predators and the condition of something to be protected and defended by some pretty intense little monkey-like creatures.

Similarly, the way back to silent knowledge is through hunting. However it is possible to apply much silent knowledge to the practice of agriculture – hence these lessons.

Q: How should I control insects and diseases in my garden?

A: Put three pieces of copal (or any acrid incense, such as patchouli) in your censer, and waft the smoke towards each infected plant as you walk down the row. At the same time, ask the afflicting agent to please leave your plants alone because you need them. You should feel as though the incense smoke is carrying your thought towards the plants. It’s a good idea to leave a plant or two (maybe the one or ones at the end of each row, so you remember) for the insects or disease. Don’t waft incense at these plants. Tell the insects or disease that these plants are for them. Be nice about it. Be sincere. Mean what you say. Say it out loud.

Frankincense (or any light, happy incense such as sandalwood) is used to prevent disease and insect infestations (where copal is used to cure infected plants). Waft the incense towards each plant in turn, sending that plant the wish that it will grow well and be fruitful. It is best to be naked when you do this (or any gardening), simply because that is the most joyous way of doing it. This means gardening at night, in the moonlight, so the neighbors won’t see you.

Q: Will this method work for anyone?

A: It will work for anyone who believes in it and means what they are telling the animals or plants. Actually, the incense is completely unnecessary. That’s just for you, to help you pay attention to what you’re doing and give you the sense that you’re doing something “magical”. It’s the thoughts and desires that you have and express that are the gist of the matter.

Q: What do I do about gophers?

A: Dig out the gophers’ burrow and put a trap in it, to trap one gopher. It must be a trap which catches the gopher alive and unhurt. Take the captured gopher to a cage in a dark, protected place, and give it food and water every day. Talk to it gently when you bring its food and water. Tell it you won’t hurt it – in fact, you’ll let it go – but it must take a message back to its brothers.

Keep this up (talking gently to the gopher when you feed it) until you have gained its trust. This doesn’t mean friendship or petting it, but rather until it knows it has nothing to fear from you. How long this takes will depend upon you and the gopher. When you sense that it is calm (unthreatened) in your presence, tell it that it and all its brother gophers must leave your garden and orchard. Appoint some other place on your land where you don’t care if there are gophers, and tell the captured gopher that it and its fellows must move to this other place. If you want to sweeten the deal, promise that you’ll plant sweet potatoes or beets at this other place just for them. If you do make a promise like this, you must keep it.

Then, after repeating this message to the captured gopher for some days (until you feel it has “understood”), release the gopher back into its tunnel, bidding it to take this message to its fellows.

This same method will work for cutter ants. Stand over their trail while they are working (it won’t work if they can’t hear you), and ask them to please find food in some other direction, as you need these trees yourself. Be polite. One such treatment should be enough. If it isn’t, repeat the next day, but ask them why they didn’t obey you the first time. Write down their answer as you are writing this (by automatic writing). You may have to work out some sort of compromise or make a deal with them.

Q: What about planting our own bananas?

A: Bananas are your angels. Anything coming from them is love – love – love, from the tenderness of young leaves to happy, humorous browning splotched leaves, to the spongey, thick, soggy stems. And the tall, older leaves. They all fully participate in love. Of all plants, these will give and receive love more than any other. Their blessings come down with a gentle, steady flow of love droplets.

This is why you must always have bananas growing close to wherever you live (preferably fruiting, not ornamental, varieties). If you ever go North at least grow one as a pot plant. There is no greater gift you can give to those in the North than these plants.

Q: What about Biodynamic techniques?

A: Yes. Steiner’s techniques as enunciated in his lectures on agriculture are excellent. He was a genius, and in touch with the spirit keepers of agricultural knowledge (as were also the founders of Findhorn). However, Steiner’s techniques are no more valid than the ones we are channeling to you; they are merely more detailed, more specific, and more complex. A professional farmer would do well following Steiner. And anyone who elects to use Steiner’s methods would do better making the formulations themselves rather than buying them ready-made. The important thing is to put one’s own, personal vibration into the soil and plants. Stirring plain water – joyously – for hours and then spraying it on the soil or plants is better than using store-bought formulations and not stirring long enough, or stirring without a joyous heart. Everything you do in agriculture should be done with joy, or else you are better off not doing it at all. Fortunately agriculture is innately a joyous occupation, so this isn’t hard to do.

Q: Steiner had a lot of wacky techniques for dealing with weeds, insects, and disease; but even Pfeiffer and his other followers admit they don’t work. Why not?

A: Because they doubt they’d work. It is your (and Pfeiffer’s) doubt that keeps these techniques from working. If you had no doubt whatsoever that they’d work, they’d work.

That’s the only reason your rationalist / materialistic world “works” – that when you turn on a TV, it turns on – is because you believe it. If you believed in these techniques with the same certainty that you believe turning a key in an ignition will start a car, then they would work.

Q: How should I graft?

A: As usual. However, fill the censer with frankincense (or sandalwood). Cense the tree from which the scions are to be taken. Tell it that you are sorry to hurt it, but that the twigs you are taking will become new little trees. Ask if this is okay.

Cense the scions with the wish that they take and prosper. Cense the rootstocks and apologize for hurting them, and tell them they will be getting new “heads” which are more productive, and that they will soon be living in the actual earth. If you feel that a particular scion or rootstock objects, then don’t graft that one. It wouldn’t take anyway. Then graft as usual, but as you do each graft talk to the stock and scion and wish them well, that they may join and prosper and be fruitful.

After grafting, run your hand gently up the rootstock and scion, and as you do so visualize in your mind’s eye the graft taking and healing, the tree growing from a sapling to a young tree to a mature tree; and as your hand passes above the top of the scion, look up and see the mature tree full of fruit.

Then bend down and kiss the graft, with the wish that it will take and the tree prosper. Do this with true love and good feeling. And then commend the tree to the earth.

(excerpted from Bob Makransky’s book Magical Living)

Bob Makransky is a systems analyst, programmer, and professional astrologer. For the past 30 years he has lived on a farm in highland Guatemala where he is a Mayan priest and is head of the local blueberry growers association. His articles and free monthly astro-magical ezine are available at: http://www.dearbrutus.com Or, you can subscribe to Bob’s free monthly ezine by sending an e-mail to: MagicalAlmanac-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

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Seaside Gardening

Gardening along the coast presents even the most skilled gardeners with challenges not encountered elsewhere. Natural conditions along the coast create a very hostile environment for garden plants. Wind, salt spray, dry sandy soils as well as actual sea water can make gardening along the coast difficult. All of these factors can cause problems for landscape plants and effect how they grow. In fact, few plants can survive full exposure to the ocean so site preparation and plant selection is perhaps even more critical here than anywhere else. Despite these difficulties, however, there are techniques and guides you can follow to create a more favorable environment for your favorite plants.

Building windbreaks as protection from the elements is essential to creating hospitable garden spaces along the coast. Windbreaks should be planted with indigenous seaside plants. Here in Massachusetts, Rosa rugoas, bayberry and eastern red cedar have developed along the coast and have proven their ability to survive the harshest of seaside conditions. They also create more diversity in the garden as well as a habitat for native wildlife. Find out what grows naturally in along the coast in your area and use those plants to create a protected garden space. Begin the screen with a planting of lower growing shrubs such as the above mentioned bayberry and rosa rugosa. This will be the first line of defense against the ocean winds and salt spray. Next, plant rows or massings of taller evergreens such as eastern red cedar, this will dampen the winds even further. Though the goal is to provide protection and create a retreat and from the harsh seaside winds, design a planting plan which still allows for beautiful views.

Along with wind and salt, dry and sandy coastal soils can present gardeners with a challenge. Sandy soils are very well drained and don't hold enough moisture to satisfy the needs of most plants. This holds true for some distance inland as well. In order to remedy this situation till the soil and add a fairly large amount of compost, manure and peat moss. This will help the soil retain the moisture necessary for plants to survive.

Follow standard planting practices. Dig holes for trees and shrubs about twice the diameter of the root ball and just as deep. Place the plant in the hole being careful not to disturb too many of its roots. Also, always plant so that the top of the root ball meets the existing grade of the garden. Planting too high or especially too low will result in early plant decline. Begin backfilling the hole, at about half way fill the hole with water and let it settle. I usually do this twice to make sure there are no air pockets. Finish backfilling the hole then create a saucer around the trunk of the plant, mulch well and water again.

When planting a lawn along the coast the sandy soils create the need for extensive site preparation. For lawns to thrive the soil requires a certain amount of water retention. For best results, begin with 6" of topsoil. Topsoil holds moisture well, provides necessary nutrients and will prevent the leaching of fertilizers. When seeding, use a mix of Kentucky bluegrass, fescue and rye. However, use a higher percentage of the drought resistant varieties of turf such as fine fescue, red fescue and hard fescue. Be sure to water your lawn deeply. Shallow, frequent watering leads to weak root systems which remain close to the surface. An alternative to a vast lawn is to allow native grasses to grow into a meadow, just be sure to mow them at least once each season to prevent trees and shrubs from taking hold.

With proper planning, tree and shrub selection and planting technique, seaside gardens can thrive. Gardeners along the coast will find the work involved in overcoming difficult site conditions well worth their time and effort, after all the greater the challenge the greater the reward.

T Hallinan is a landscape designer and builder in Massachusetts. Visit his garden resource website http://www.gardenlistings.com for all kind of helpful information. For more garden guides visit http://www.gardenlistings.com/resources.htm

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Flower Gardening

Flower gardening is becoming more and more popular every day. Flowers can brighten everyone’s day, they smell nice, and are a great hobby. Flower gardening is simple, inexpensive, and loads of fun. Flower gardening can be done for yard decoration, simply as a hobby, or even professionally.

There are some decisions that have to be made before even flower gardening can be started. You must decide if you want annuals that live for one season and must be replanted every year, or perennials that survive the winter and return again in the summer. When buying and planting, pay attention to what kind of flowers thrive in your climate as well ass the sun requirements. When flower gardening, you must decide what type of look you want before planting. For instance, mixing different heights, colors, and varieties of flowers together in a “wild-plant style” will give your garden a meadow look and can be very charming. If short flowers are planted in the front of your garden and work up to the tallest flowers in the back you will have a “stepping stone style”.

You can order seeds for flower gardening from catalogues or buy them from a nursery. Most people will go to the nursery and buy actual flowers and then transplant them. After you have prepared your garden area and bought flowers, it is a good idea to lay the flowers out in the bed to make sure you like the arrangement and that they will be spaced properly. One of the easiest processes in flower gardening is the planting/ if you have seeds just sprinkle them around in the flower bed. For planting transplants dig a hole just bigger than the flower, pull the container off, and set the flower in the hole right side up. Cover it with the loose soil and press down firmly, then water.

Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one. Although they might make it on their own, a bag of fertilizer applied in the early spring is a good idea. Pinch back any blooms after they start to fade and keep them good and watered. To save yourself work during the next season of flower gardening, rid your garden of all debris and spread out organic nutrients like peat moss or compost. Don’t forget to turn over the soil to properly mix in the fertilizer and rake smooth when finished. If you have perennials planted be careful not to disturb their roots in this process.

Flower gardening is as easy as 1, 2, and 3: simply decide what to plant; plant it, and water, water, water! Flower gardening is undoubtedly gaining in popularity and gives anyone excellent reason to spend some outdoors and test out their green thumb.

Maintaining a flower garden is even easier than planting one.? Visit us at wotflowers.com to see how.

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Gardening

Have you ever tried starting plants from seeds? It’s actually one of the most fun and rewarding things I like about gardening. Plus, it doesn’t cost you much either.

The basic materials you will need for this are containers, soil or a soil-less mixture, light, water, a fan and a plastic cover. In case you’re wondering, the plastic cover will be used for the containers.

The first thing is to put soil into your container, then sow the seeds in it, water and, once done, cover the container securely with the plastic. Now place the container in the brightest and sunniest are of your house for maximum exposure to sunlight. However, there are exceptions to note. For example, the seeds of plants like nasturtium, schizanthus, phlox and verbena grow best in the darkness so don’t put them in the light.

The next move is waiting for the seeds to germinate. This period will vary depending on the kind of seed you used. For instance, if you used marigolds, the germination process will take three days. That’s a short germination phase. In others, germination takes as long as 40 days. After the seeds have germinated, remove the plastic cover to expose the seedlings and turn on the fan. The force of air from the fan when applied to the seedling will make them stronger.

After a while, note that the seedlings develop a second set of leaves for the plant. That’s the signal to start transplanting the remaining seedlings outdoors or possibly into a larger container. Once these have been transplanted, the next step is to nurture the plants with regular watering and prolonged exposure to sunlight. They need warmth to grow.

Here is a procedure for transplanting seedlings outdoors. First, leave the containers out in the open for a few days to allow the seedlings to acclimatize themselves to their new surroundings. Second, wait for the seedlings to acquire a more “hardened” look. This takes about a week or sometimes less. Again, the length of time varies depending on the kind of seeds used. Third, once hardened, transplant the seedling. Fourth, nurture the seeds with regular warmth and watering.

Kadence Buchanan writes articles on many topics including Gardening, Home Improvement, and Shopping

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