Using Logs or Masonry For Your Garden Steps

When you’re planning the landscape of your yard or garden, consider adding a set of steps. You can use anything from round-cut logs to concrete, brick, or stone to create the look you want. Each material varies in difficulty, and also in the style the stairs will add to your landscape.

When planning the size of your steps, try to make them similar to indoor steps, particularly if they are in an area where you will use them often. The tread should measure about 10 inches from front to back, and each should rise about 7 and a half inches. Make sure that the treads are a little lower in the front of the step than in the back, or rain water may collect in your steps.

If you are using anything other than round logs to make your steps, be sure they have a good foundation. It should be in the ground about 6 inches below the frost line to make the steps stable.

Although concrete may not be the most attractive material for garden steps, it is often used. To make concrete steps, first you’ll need a form for pouring the concrete. These wooden boxes should be placed on top of each other, forming your stairway. Mix 1 part Portland cement, 3 parts sand, and 6 parts gravel, and then pour the cement into the form. The treads should be made level using the flat edge of a board.

Another way to make concrete steps is by using pre-formed concrete blocks. While you’ll still need a foundation, it is much easier to build a stairway from concrete blocks. Make sure that you bond the blocks together well. You may also want to consider coating the stairway with a thin layer of concrete to obtain a good appearance. Brick steps are made in the same way as concrete blocks, although they do require a little more masonry skill due to the many joints.

The main difficulty of constructing stone steps is finding the stone. While you may be fortunate enough to have stones available on your property or some stones left when you had the chance to work on patio landscaping, otherwise you’ll need to purchase them. This can make them an expensive choice, although they are also a very attractive and rustic way of building steps. If your stones are very large, you won’t need any masonry bonding. If the steps are freestanding, you’ll need to use mortar.

Wooden rounds cut from logs make beautiful steps, and they are easy to construct. Just set the bottom round into the earth. The next one should placed so that it partially covers the bottom log, leaving a riser. Fill in the ground under the upper round, and then repeat this step until your stairway is complete. This is also an excellent solution for a long slope that is slightly too steep for just a path. Logs can be set into the earth to provide occasional steps along the way.

Walkways To Garden Beauty

The walkways you install into your landscape can make your garden more accessible, retain its beauty, and ad to the overall design. They are an integral part of your garden’s look and feel. Functionally, walkways offer a path through your garden that allow people to traverse them without disturbing the plants, grass, and other things you’ve set out for them to enjoy. It doesn’t take long for the places where people often tread to start to look trampled and faded if there are no walkways to protect it.

The beauty of walkways comes from the aesthetic mix of both the materials used and the shapes they and the walkway’s path take. Just as color can make them match or clash with the overall ambiance of your garden, their shape can either cut through the design or flow with it beautifully.

There are a variety of materials to make walkways from, each with its own design elements and functional properties. Interlocking concrete blocks and cobble-stone style bricks are the most popular choices. A bed of either heavy sand or small-pebbled gravel is usually laid and then the interlocking bricks are hammered into place using a wooden or rubber mallet. Bricks are laid in a similar fashion, being pressed together and tamped into place to firmly set them. This “floating” foundation allows the ground to heave with frost or moisture without dislocating the pathway.

Walkways are so integral to the design of a well-made garden than they are usually planned right from the beginning sketches and drawings before work even begins. Elements like bordering flowerbeds, concrete or rock edges, or bark strips are common walkway enhancers, defining the path’s edges for the eye.

Well-made walkways will have a slope or “crown” to them (a hump in the middle) that allows water to drain off so that it does not puddle on the walkway. This makes the walkway safer to traverse, cleaner, and keeps puddles from forming for mosquitoes to congregate in. The bricks and stones used are usually well-textured so that they have a good frictional quality to give a good grip when walking on them, minimizing slipping and dangerous falls.

Other common elements that are included in walkways are casual seating areas (benches, platforms, etc.), handrails for bridges or raised areas, or lighting elements for nighttime ambiance, and perhaps a great pool background to enhance the whole area. Other additions such as bird baths, feeders, squirrel hutches, pet-friendly plants, and other additions can make lively animals move in and around the walkway to give great entertainment and life to the gardens around the walkway.

Successful Landscaping In A Dry Climate Or Drought

To some people, the prospect of attempting to landscape in a dry climate is an exercise in futility. There are not many plants that will survive without water. When there are times of drought it can be particularly frustrating, because you know that the conditions should be better.However, this is not a time for despair; despite the risks you may have to take with landscaping in a drought induced dry climate, it is not necessarily the case that your plants and your garden will suffer. There are some things that you can do to safeguard your landscape against the ravages of drought and these will also boost the health of your plants when the drought breaks.

There are some practical reasons as to why it is a good idea to grow plants in drought conditions and in areas deemed to be “semi-arid”, where water restrictions are the norm. Plants give us shade and can thus improve the energy efficiency of a home; their aesthetic qualities often provide emotional and mental stimulus and relief; they allow diversity with regards species in landscapes and trees can be planted to replace those lost due to damage age or disease. Above all, trees and shrubs have the important role of creating soil stability, thereby reducing erosion.

Keep the following important points in mind when you are landscaping during drought or drier times:

Do you have enough space for your choice of plants? Any landscape design should include this as a consideration, most particularly in drought. Space should include rooting area and airspace. Don’t plant larger trees near gardens, driveways or buildings and avoid planting them too close to a boundary fence. The tree’s biomass is actually underground and this is where it will be receiving its nutrients. Other plants should not have to compete with a large tree for their resources.

Moisture concerns. In drought prone areas, this is a huge concern. Some trees need a large amount of water to remain healthy, sometimes up to 30 inches of rain a year. These should not be considered in areas of drought. Instead, choose trees that need less water and position plants that require more water in areas where they will be able to benefit from run off.

Selection. Choose trees that do not grow to great heights. There are a huge variety of both deciduous and evergreen trees that do not grow very tall. You should choose deciduous trees that have caliper of 2 inches or less and avoid evergreens with a mature height greater than 6 feet. This way, your plants will not have high water requirements.

Placement on property. Some trees should be placed on lower ground, but there are other considerations for drought affected areas. It is a good idea to know the light needs of your plant. The drier areas around your house that usually receive the most sun are the south and west, whereas the north and east are usually more shaded and damp. Place those plants that need that little bit extra water in the north or east zones of your house and those that can tolerate harsher conditions can be planted in the south and west zones. When you have a landscape containing a variety of plants with a variety of needs, you create diversity.

You can grow a plant through stem cuttings or planting seed that will create a landscape that will bring great beauty to your homes. When you approach your house, it is uplifting to view an array of carefully placed plants.Similarly, looking out of the window from inside can bring about the same emotions. It is indeed possible, using some common sense and careful preparation, to create a successful landscape even in the driest of climates. Making wise, informed choices regarding the plants and the grass you place in your landscape will also assist you in saving money, time and frustration.

Using Vines In Your Garden Effectively

Vines are an excellent choice for a new garden. They are fast growers, and can grow to cover an arch or pergola almost before the start of summer. They are an easy way to soften the harsh lines of new buildings, and can provide shade when grown on an arch or other decorative element.

Vines can also be a great choice for older homes. Many vines make excellent groundcover, and can also camouflage building foundations, walls, or fences.

To choose the right vine for your space, consider the methods by which the vines climb. Some, such as grape vines, require a lattice or fence for their tendrils to grasp. Others, like Boston ivy, are sticky, so they can grasp a brick or stone wall. Some, like the honeysuckle, climb by wrapping around branches or poles. However, keep in mind that these can wrap around other plants, overwhelming them.

To make the best use of your vines, carefully train them to climb against a support such as an arbor, trellis, or wall. If you wish to have vines climbing the walls of your house, you may wish to put up a trellis, so that it can be removed, allowing flexibility in your garden.

To plant vines, simply dig a hole in well-drained soil. If your vines are perennials, take special care to plant them right.

For covering walls or other large obstacles, ivy is the most popular type of vine. Boston ivy grows very quickly, but Japanese bittersweet ivy is also a suitable choice. Winter creeper is another hardy vine to grow against walls, and it can cling easily to concrete, brick, or stone. Many other ivies, such as English ivy and Virginia creeper, are also excellent choices.

Many other types of vines cannot support themselves on the wall, but they can be trained to climb a trellis, and can add color and beauty to many areas. Some of the more colorful varieties include wisteria, with clusters of white and purple flowers, and clematis, which grows large flowers from early summer through fall. Another popular variety is trumpet creeper, with tropical-looking clusters of red and orange flowers which bloom in the late summer. Trumpet honeysuckle grows clusters of re and yellow flowers with a wonderful fragrance, and the scarlet runner bean has beautifully colored, large flowers. Most of these vines are a great source of shade for hot summer days.

For covering areas where grass will not grow well, try periwinkle, a beautiful evergreen vine with blue flowers all summer. Fragrant blossoming annual vines include the nasturtium, the ornamental passion fruit, and the cypress vine, which grows many star-shaped flowers in varied colors, and morning glories.

As you can see, there are nearly endless varieties of vines which can be used to cover walls, arbors, or trellises. They have a variety of leaves and shapes, as well as flower shapes and colors. There is a vine out there for any garden.

Tips On Choosing Landscape lighting

Landscape lights can be an attractive addition to your yard, if they are well placed. Lights can make your yard much easier to navigate, and can also highlight special areas of your garden after dark. There is a wide variety of styles to choose from, so that you can choose the perfect set for your home. In fact, there are so many different types that it can be difficult to choose just one. There are a few things you can keep in mind when purchasing a set of landscape lights for your home.

First, you’ll need to decide between solar lights and electric ones. Solar lights are perfect for an area that receives a lot of direct sunlight during the day. At night, this stored sunlight powers the bulbs, providing a soft light that can illuminate walkways, flower beds, trees, or other garden elements. However, electric lights are a good choice for shady areas, or areas that require a brighter light during the night. Although solar lights do not require any electricity, electric lights only require a little power.

Then, you need to decide where you will be using the lights. If you want to illuminate a walkway, or highlight a particular feature, this will change the type of lights you will need to buy. Spotlights can be a great option for drawing attention to specific landscape feature. If you want to light the end of your driveway, consider carriage lights, which are shaped like a front porch but come on a pole, which can be placed wherever you like.

To light a walkway, there are several types of lights made specifically for this purpose. These lights are better for walkways because they have special shields, so that the light will not shine in the eyes of people trying to walk in your yard. Instead, these shields point the light downwards, illuminating the path.

You may also want to purchase a timer for your lights. That way, your lights will turn on and off at the same time each day. You can also find landscape lights with sensors, so that they will automatically turn on at dusk and off at daybreak. That way, your pathway will always be lit when it needs to be. Either way, automatically turning the lights on and off will save electricity, and also ensure that your lights are on when they need to be.

Once you have purchased your lights, you should position them after dark. This is the best way to tell exactly how much illumination they will provide, as well as which parts of your yard will be lit.

Landscape lights, such as the malibu low voltage landscape lights are a beautiful addition to your home. They add interest after dark, as well as making your yard easier to navigate and much safer. By purchasing landscape lights, you are making your yard much more useful after dark. Take care to choose the right type of landscape lighting materials or products for your yard.

Beautify Your Yard

Building costs today make large houses prohibitively expensive, but you can extend your living space by making full use of your outdoor space. Even your indoor spaces can look larger when they overlook a beautiful lawn and garden. Using glass walls, decks, and other tricks can help achieve this effect, as can using outdoor terraces to increase the usefulness of the space.

There are many strategies for making your terrace, garden, or lawn more livable. Fences, vines, shrubbery, shade trees, and beautiful flowers can make your outdoor space perfect for entertaining and relaxing. When planning your yard or creating a terraced area, you may want to consider installing an electric outlet, which can be used for running lights, a radio, or other amenities that will make your outdoor space more versatile. Installing the outlet now will be a lot easier than when your yard is well established. A barbecue or fireplace can add the excitement of dining outdoors.

One way to liven up your garden is to install a terraced area with a vine roof grown on a lattice. Grape vines can be an excellent solution, and have the added bonus of providing delicious fruit. Other vines which will grow quickly to fill in the space, like hyacinth or gourd vines, can also work for a lattice roof. These will provide a nice cool area during the hot summer months.

If you decide on a terrace to help make use of your outdoor space, try not to make the terraced area stand out in stark contrast to the rest of your yard. One way to blend the two spaces together is to add greenery near the edges of your terrace. This can be accomplished with a variety of flowers or vines in pots, baskets, or other containers. Growing plants on your terrace can help it seem more a part of your garden.

If the bare walls of your house seem harsh when compared with your lush green yard, soften the lines and disguise the material of your walls with pots of plants, blossoming shrubs, or small trees planted right next to the walls. Create interest by combining items at different heights instead of using only short plants or tall trees. These can help blend your walls with the terrace and surrounding yard.

If your terrace is frequently used by everyone in the family, consider adding a small pool. Add a roof to provide some shade from the summer sun. You can use a variety of materials including wood, corrugated plastic, metal, or glass. Glass is one of the best options because it lets sunlight in, but will keep you dry in case of rain. The “parasol” roof can be an excellent choice in hot climates. This roof extends from the walls of the house 4 feet or more, providing some shade.

Outdoor backyard spaces will get much more use if it is more accessible from inside your home. Adding a door from inside can make it easier to use this outdoor space\, instead of walking around the outside of your house. Adding a terrace off a porch, or a pathway surrounded by landscaping plants leading to the terrace, can increase its usefulness. Hard flooring or a serving counter on the terrace can also increase the amount of time you will use it.

An attractive terrace with a roof, fireplace, and low wall can be quite useful. In fact, as a replacement for plain grass, terraces are an excellent idea. Providing shelter from the elements can help make your outdoor space much more useful. Shelter can increase the season for outdoor living into the early spring and late fall.

Create Your Own Backyard Pond

Ponds can be a unique feature of any garden. A backyard pond will become a focal point of your yard. Especially if you have fish in your pond, kids will love it.

However, many people assume that building a pond in their backyard will be difficult. In fact, it doesn’t have to be. A pond does not have to be large or complicated. You can create a simple water feature to add interest in your garden. The sound of moving water is very beautiful and soothing. You don’t need to overcomplicate your pond by adding a lot of features. When designing your pond, there are only two features you need to have: a place from which the water will fall, and a pool for it to fall into.

The water falling into the reservoir will provide the calming sound of running water, and your pond will be a beautiful addition to your garden. The reservoir should not be deeper than 2 feet. Many local regulations consider a reservoir deeper than 2 feet a swimming pool, which will have different and more complicated regulations.

For the sides of the reservoir, you can use a rigid fiberglass shell, or a flexible rubber pond liner. To add additional interest, you can also purchase fish or aquatic plants. These can also help balance the ecosystem of the pond, although it will take a little time to develop.

For the bottom of the pond, use landscaping gravel. Microorganisms will grow in the spaces between the gravel, which will help the ecosystem of your pond develop. These microorganisms release carbon dioxide, which is used by your aquatic plants. Your plants, in turn, release oxygen to be used by the fish. Aquatic plants will also help maintain the continuity between your pond and the rest of your garden.

Once you have installed the pond, make sure that it is supplied with a constant flow of water. Especially if you are planning to keep fish in your pond, make sure there is enough water for them. To determine how much water you’ll need to fill the pond, first calculate the area of the pond in square feet. Then, multiply by the depth, to get the volume in cubic feet. Now multiply this number by 7.5, and you’ll have the number of gallons required to fill your pond completely. Keep in mind that it will evaporate over time, so keep your eye on the water levels in your pond.

Besides these simple steps, there are many ways to design a pond. You can have water falling from a stepped cascade into the reservoir. You can use an electrical pump to bring the water above the cascade, where gravity will bring it down to the reservoir. If you wish to have a simpler pond, you can buy a readymade kit of small bubblers. This and landscape plants to surround the plant, will be enough to add visual interest to your pond.

Beautify Your Home With Landscaping

There are many homeowners who care just as much about the external appearance of their house, as they do the interior. They may even turn to the services of a outdoor contractor or designer to give them some ideas about how to enhance their yard and landscaping.

Whether it is to enhance your home or business for cosmetic reasons or to make it more salable, a licensed landscaping contractor has the special training needed to handle all of your landscaping needs. They can design a driveway, patio or pool area, do decking and yard grading and give you a completely personalized landscape design. They will show you how the use of a pond and bridge, pools, trees, shrubs and flowers can beautify and enhance your home and increase its value.

The Benefits of Having a Landscaping Professional

Like any other professional, different contractors will be experienced in different areas. When you need professional lighting in your landscaping, of course you would not hire a pool contractor. You will want to find a contractor who only installs and specializes in lighting, this will ensure that the best job will be done.

Very few people besides those who have received extensive training, are going to know about the different types of landscape lighting available. For instance, there are contour lights, moonlights and back lights that when placed properly will make the most of your professional landscape.

Time Saving Landscaping Tips

If you do not have any extra time, then hiring an experienced landscaping contractor to design you a landscape that easy to care for. This will reduce the time doing maintenance, drastically. Having a flat surface landscape done will not slow you down when it comes time to mow the grass. You mow in one direction and do not have to move up and down hills and valleys.

You may even decide to have a yard designed around using drought resistant plants and ground cover that will conserve water. This will also significantly reduce your lawn care time.

Smaller sized yards can be made to look deceivingly larger with the secrets that a great landscape contractor will know. It is a technique called “forcing the perspective”, by planting the shrub and foliage to face each other, this extends the rear of the landscape. Making the yard appear longer and wider, this adds more beauty and makes it appear interesting.

The Right Contractor For The Job

A skilled contractor with extensive landscaping experience can do wonders for your landscape. They can correct any existing problems and correct any possible problems. This will increase the value of your home, should you ever decide to sell it. This is why it is very important to choose the right contractor for the job.

Some contractors have a lot of experience fixing landscaping flaws and can use flowers to enhance and add character to your yard. Then another contractor may be an expert at doing concrete work such as driveways, and custom edging to add around your landscaping perimeter.

A construction contractor will be skilled in other areas like building retaining walls, a deck, patio or any other type of outdoor projects.

Use word of mouth for referral, check local phone book and the Internet for resources as well. There are also websites such as www.handycanadian.com, which can as an effective bridge between you and a licensed landscape contractor in the Canada area.

If you pay careful attention when selecting your landscaping contractor, you can be sure to enhance your outdoor area successfully and add beauty and value to your home.

Methods of Propagation

Layering is a gardening method which can be used with plants which easily take root when their stems are in contact with the ground. For example, broad-leaved evergreens such as the Rhododendron are a good choice for this method. Layering involves anchoring the stems of plants into the soil by simply bending them over and burying them. This is most successful when done in the spring or summer. To layer plants with long stems, like vines, simply cover the vine with earth at different points.

To layer trees and woody plants, clear a portion of a branch or stem of its bark, and surround the cut with moist moss, or special plant food made for this purpose. After this area has rooted well, the branch can be cut off and replanted.

Seed propagation is another easy way to grow more annuals. The growing method will depend on the type of seed, as some require planting in frames or pots at first, transferring outdoors only when the plants are larger and the weather is milder. Common plants which are well suited for seed propagation include Hollyhock, Christmas Rose, Columbine, Bleeding Heart, Baby’s Breath, Foxglove, Primrose, and Larkspur.

Many annuals and perennials can also be grown by planting seeds in outdoor beds. A few can be sown in the fall, but most grow best when the seeds are sown in the spring, after the last frost. However, one disadvantage of outdoor growing is that you sacrifice control over the conditions under which the seeds will germinate. For best results choose an area with good soil, and add peat moss and compost. Plant the seeds no more than half an inch below the surface. Water the seed bed well.

For instance, when growing peace lily seeds outdoors, the two most important factors in their success are soil texture and drainage. A mixture of good soil, coarse sand, and peat moss will help your seeds grow well. The bottom of the bed should be gravel or pieces of organic products like dry brown leaves or old flowerposts. The seeds should be sown evenly to give each seed equal space to grow. As soon as the seeds have been planted, the soil should be lightly tamped down, and it should be watered until dark and moist. If possible, the seed flats should be immersed in water, as this is preferable to overhead watering.

When growing indoors, the seed box should not be allowed to dry out until after the seeds have sprouted. This will occur quickly if the pan is placed in a warm, dark place. However, as soon as germination occurs, seedlings should be exposed to full light.

Budding, a method of grafting, is another method of plant propagation. This is best done in August or early September. First, make a T-shaped cut in the bark of the host plant. Then cut a bud along with the nearest leaf and park of the bark and wood, from the plant you wish to grow. Slip the bud into the cut you have made in the host plant. Using rubber bands or spring, secure the graft. In about two weeks, the bud should have joined with the host. The bud will develop as part of the host plant.

Home Landscaping Versus Other Type Of Landscaping

Yard and garden landscaping for the home is not much different than landscaping on a larger scale for huge complexes and businesses. Your yard can look as great as the greenest golf course or the most well-manicured office complex. All it takes is some ingenuity, some work, and some of your spare time. Designing your own landscaping is fun and exciting, as you transform your yard into one the entire neighborhood will envy.

There are several products on the market to help you with your landscaping ideas. You can use software to design and visualize your new yard before you’ve shoveled one bucket of dirt or planted a single flower. There are also plenty of websites and books out there so you can find out what experts think about your climate and geographic area and how that can effect your plans.

There are even great television shows and do-it-yourself catalogs full of ideas and plans to make your landscaping imagination take off. You’ll find out that a lot of landscaping upgrades and ideas are actually very easy to execute and don’t require nearly as much elbow grease or sweat labor as you might have thought. Whatever your final plans are, make sure you’re flexible enough to modify some details if need be and that you’ve got the budget to go ahead with your plans. Remember that landscaping can be done over time and doesn’t have to be completed all at once, so budget accordingly.

Keeping mistakes and problems to a minimum is all about planning and know-how. Make sure you understand what you’re going to be doing, how it’s best done, and how to get it done safely. Doing the research required is not arduous work, but it is very important. There are a lot of resources out there to help you learn what you’ll need to know, so utilize them. Keep in mind that most home improvement stores have experts on hand who can show you how to do many things. They’ll often do this for free, so take advantage of this resource.

Before you begin digging, planting, and building, you’ll want to call your local utilities to have them come out and mark where underground power lines, gas lines, and water and sewer might be. They can usually tell you the approximate depth and will gladly mark it for you in paint or with stakes so you can work around or over them safely. In some areas, it’s against the law to begin digging without getting this done.

While you’re getting that done, check into zoning restrictions for your neighborhood and make sure that your plans are OK. For most, these restrictions usually only apply to larger “permanent” structures and do not apply to foliage, short walls, and other landscaping items. It’s a good idea to check anyway, just in case. Make especially sure to check if your neighborhood has a “housing covenant” which you signed when you moved in. These are often very restrictive, especially for non-standard changes like zeroscaping and alternative desert plantings.

Once you’re squared away with the legalities and the utilities, you can start work. Make sure you’re having fun and don’t worry if you can’t complete all of it in a weekend! It’s a project, not a job, so take your time and go easy on yourself. Your enjoyment of the process is just as important as the process itself is! Happy landscaping!

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