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April begs me to do something outdoors! How about you? The weather is about right all over the USA for gardening. Besides planning what to put into your garden as far as plants, you need to think of the special additions that make a garden unique.

Gardens need “bones” to ground them. No pun intended! Garden sculptures, hedges, specimen trees, and shrubs all help make good bones!

Now what about those extra touches that make your garden distinctively yours? Below is a list of ideas that you can use with your own twists to create all kinds of garden goodies for your own garden, or to give as gifts!

Broken plates-don’t throw away those chipped plates, especially the pretty ones! Stick them into the garden with the chipped parts hidden by the dirt. Alone or grouped, they make a statement! Uneven numbers work best.

Mirrors and Cds-reflective surfaces attract birds and are fun in the sunlight. Make mobiles and hang from tree limbs! With a large mirror, one can place it against a fence, behind the plants and enjoy the reflections of your garden lighting. Our dog uses our big mirror to scope out squirrels without being seen. Funny to watch! She crawls into the greenery beneath the trees and watches in the mirror for any unsuspecting squirrel to enter the bed. She hasn’t caught any yet but she sure likes to chase them!

More mirrors!-broken mirrors can be found in the trash and snatched for use in your garden. Glue with mirror adhesive to fences, garden sheds, and anywhere you want to make a space look larger. Use the pieces in a loose mosaic form and you have a one of a kind piece of art!

Rusted metal anything-the rusted look is very “in” now and metal can be found easily. Use your imagination and use large rusted metal car parts, old gates, iron grates from demolished old homes, and any metal you can get your hands on to create unique garden elements. If you cannot cut or weld these yourself, try finding someone who can and offer to trade a piece of garden art for their work.

Fabric-how about an old beach umbrella that you strip down to the bare spokes and cover with silk greenery and tiny Christmas lights? Inserted into the ground where light and a bit of fun are needed, the look is very “partyish”! Even better if you drape tulle, chiffon, netting, etc. over the umbrella! Swagged like you were draping a scarf over your shoulders. If it is to be a permanent fixture, use it as a trellis! Wonderful with lights!

More fabric-these same fabrics can be used to make “tent like” areas for the private enjoyment of your family. While not usually found in trash bins, the fabric can be had very inexpensively in close out bins at fabric stores. Bamboo poles make the structure. Even more dramatic beside a pool. An informal cabana!

Pottery-broken pottery is found at garden centers and nurseries. Sweet talk them into letting you have some! Large broken pots look great as is, or can be faux painted to look as though they are centuries old. Or try smaller pieces glued together to make a sculpture all your own. Paint, glue mirrors or tile pieces to make a mosaic, or leave as is. Make this large enough to make a “statue” in your garden! You can add the necessary “works” to make this a fountain!

Lamp stands-old lamps taken apart, tall stands of any kind, and anything that you can add that is tall and slender can be weatherproofed to make a grouping of candle stands for the garden. Again, three, five, or seven work best. With or without candles, these are attractive and catch the eye! Especially among low growing flowers. Or you can line your driveway with these for a luminary look!

Fence Posts-an old, tall, but sturdy fence post makes a great pole for use as a flag hanger. Just screw the hardware into the post. Mine has plant hangers and a small lantern hung from it also. A welcoming sight!

Potpourri of Ideas-Are we there yet? Are your creative juices flowing? Here are some off the wall ideas. Do you have a broken box fan? The square grates are wonderful for painting and hanging as faux gates, wall decor, or wherever your imagination takes you! Snip out a design from the grate for an even better look. Have an old touchier lamp? It too is great for painting and “planting” in the garden, decked out with plants on the top. Bury the bottom to keep it from tipping, or you can add concrete to the base. Look around the house and garage and see with new eyes. Check out the dumpsters and the neighbors trash! Old TV tables can be cut out for plant pots to sit down in. How about window frames? Old pool balls, golf gear, fishing gear, boat parts and oars, wooden anything! Some of these things need to be painted with clear or colored outdoor spray paints to keep them looking good, whether the look is “old” or new.

A note: Always think about this…in some places, taking something from someone’s trash or going through a dumpster, is illegal. Please check local ordinances before you take a chance. And, another thing to keep in mind…sometimes you may find people with “not so nice” intentions hanging around dumpsters. All I am saying is…always be careful! Happy Decorating!

Jane Parr-Whitehead has been a professional Home Decorator for over 15 years. She now offers “Home Decorating via the Internet” from her site. Editor of a Home Decorating Newsletter, once a month, enjoy reading about Home Decorating, Decorating Childrens rooms, Animal Print Decorating, and much more. Visit her site at http://Decorativeartsbyjep.com/

All great gardens have one thing in common. That is, they offer something during each of the four seasons. Through spring and summer the colorful flowers of perennials, annuals and flowering trees and shrubs are the focal point in the garden. Once the summer flowers begin to fade, the brilliant, colorful foliage of autumn brightens the garden. In the winter, it’s the evergreens, berries and bark which provide the garden with color as the form and shape of the plants become more prominent.

Green is the dominant color in the garden in the spring as everything seems to be rapidly putting out new growth. The bulbs and perennials which do flower in the early spring do so against a backdrop of green foliage and brown earth. Bulbs are earliest blooming plants in the garden and are essential to the spring landscape. Some bulbs will even provide color until more perennials begin to bloom in May and June.

Early flowering perennials such as iris range in color from white to yellow to purple and in size from a few inches to 4 feet. For spring foliage, plant some hosta, they grow in a wide variety of greens, from blue-green to yellow-green and they’re the perfect backdrop plant for the spring flowers.

Perennial borders peak in mid summer as a wide range of sun-loving flowers begin to bloom. Part of the mix include some leftovers from spring and, towards the end of summer, there are signs of the later blooming flowers as well. Annuals are also in full bloom mid-summer. Though most have finished flowering, fully leafed out shrubs can add a lushness to the garden.

A third wave of blooms begin brighten up the garden once again as the summer flowers begin to fade. The colors in the garden begin to change a bit in the fall with many perennials blooming in shades of yellow, orange and purple. Among these flowers are the annuals, which continue to flower until the first frost. Later in the season, the flowers, especially those of the sedum and black-eyed Susan, turn into brown and rust colored seed heads. They fit in perfectly with the colorful fall foliage of the surrounding trees. The foliage of the late season perennial is attractive on its own.

Once the blooms of the these flowers fade deciding whether to cut them back is up to the individual gardener. Some perennials will collapse to the ground anyways while others will remain standing though the winter with their showy seed heads creating off season interest in the garden.

Winter, the season in which many gardeners forget about the landscape, can offer color and visual interest through evergreen shrubs, bark, plant form and seed heads. For example, a clump of ornamental grass could be left standing through the winter. Redtwig dogwoods are great against the snow and birch trees have colorful, flaking bark. The winter landscape truly would be empty with the hardy evergreen trees and shrubs. Garden walls and fences become more prominent as the foliage which screens them in the summer disappears. Hedges, as well as walls, make a stronger statement in winter.

With some careful planning, it is possible to have a beautiful garden year round. Even in winter, when everything seems to be stark and barren. A few choice shrubs or trees can provide winter interest and a well thought out garden can flower from early spring until the first frost.

R Birch is the publisher of http://www.gardenlistings.com

Article Source: Sustainable Living Articles

Anyone can be a farmer. Growing plants can be done almost anywhere. You don’t have to have large fields and hundreds of acres. You have to have imagination. People who grow dope do it in cellars and in caves. Select plants to raise that that you see being sold in quanity by local nurseries or garden centers. In our area arborvitae are in hot demand. These plants can be started from cuttings or you can buy rooted cuttings. Thousands can be grown in a 20′x20′ area in small containers. Arborvitae are not the only plants that you can choose. Dwarf conifers and bonsai are other avenues to consider. The first thing to consider is what plants you like. They make a nice starting point. I like arborvitae. Plus they are easy to grow. There are many varieties to select from. They are compact and very popular. A 2-3″ rooted cutting in 3 years should be 2′ if growing conditions are optimal. These might sell for as much as $5-10 depending on your market and quality. If you were to raise 1000 of them that might be $5-10,000. You can market them just as I do on the internet. Being small you can ship them via UPS practically anywhere.

An example of a plant that is not suitable for small plot urban farming is an Oak tree. It is very fast in growing (good), but has a big tap root, and is best marketed when over 6-8′ tall. You will use up your space with a hard to confine, large tree that is not suitable for close compact container production. Shipping will also be more costly as starter plants tend to be larger hence larger shipping fees per tree. Besides I have sold many people 50 -100 arbs at a time but no one, 100 oaks at a time. My largest order for arbs to one homeowner was 265.

Try to target plants that will sell multiples to a customer rather than just one at a time. If you target single plants to individual customers you need high value plants for your sales cost per unit will be higher. You will hear the same story from your customers about 1 plant as you will about 10 plants. I can tell you without a doubt that each customer will tell you about his property and his neighbors dog. I would rather hear the story once for each 10 plants that I sell. That is why I like plants that sell in multiples to a single customer. Additionally an unusual or exotic plant is seldom purched in quanity and the buyer has little knowledge of the plant. They will have many more questions about this plant. This translates to a higher amount of time spent on a smaller volume of product sold.

Arborvitae are commonly used evergreen shrubs or trees useful in urban areas where low maintenance and durability is needed. Many cultivars with forms such as being globed in shape, columnar, or narrow pyramidal, tend to be near buildings, doors, and walkways. Other forms which are larger are used for screens and buffers that are planted in rows. These plants will be easy to raise on your small urban lot.

The form of arborvitae is small, medium, or large depending on the cultivar. Some reach 50′, others only 3′. Most prefer full sun to partial sun. Planting in dense shade conditions should be avoided. A moist , well drained, loamy soil in full sunlight are ideal conditions for growing healthy arborvitae. These plants will tolerate rocky, clay, urban conditions of heat drought and pollution. The most important pest we have is bagworms which must be controlled to prevent complete defoliation. Some cultivars have multiple leaders which also prove to be a detraction for the plant. Pruning out multiple leaders in some cultivars is a simple remeady.

As you raise these plants if you find that you are selling more than you can raise on your property, an add in the newspaper such as, “Wanted: land to grow trees on” will help you find vacant parcels to use in growing more stock. This land may be free to use as many owners want in urban areas land to be used as it is then maintained. We have had many offers of free land to use in raising nursery stock. (You should check with your local BTK Code Enforcement Officer to make sure that this use is acceptable.)

Another suggestion is that you work for another local urban grower. They may have facilities set up that they would allow you to use after hours. When they see that you are a willing go getter, they might even ask you to grow special plants that they don’t want to grow because the volumes are light or they are to intensive in labor. At any rate it is the best way to learn the trede and its secrets. Most nurserymen will tell all their trade secrets because its the best way to help the industry and build a network of reliable and knowledgeable associates.

Article Source: http://www.articlegarden.com/

You can see more articles by Bill at his web sites www.seedlingsrus.com