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Tips for Good Garden Design and Landscaping

Admin — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 00:39:32 +0000

Good creative skills are essential for the specialised fields of garden design and landscaping. Consequently, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the industry and be able to apply acquired skills in a theoretical and practical manner. Lifestyle Learning Direct., one of the Gold Coast’s premier online learning and correspondence course providers, suggests that in order to be a good garden designer or landscaper you need to be able to:

1. Evaluate a design project, have a clear understanding of a designer’s role, and be able to conduct a meeting with a client.

2. Be knowledgeable about the historical influences on modern garden design.

3. Be able to identify the various ‘hard’ components of landscaping and design, such as garden structures and walls, fences and gates.

4. Have a good general knowledge about soils and plants, and other landscaping products such as compost, gravel, sleepers, pavers, cement, sand, rock and slate, and so on.

5. Be familiar with the pricing structure of various landscaping supplies.

6. Have had practical experience in several areas of landscape design and its allied industries, such as nurseries and landscaping supply yards.

7. Have an awareness of different styles of gardens, as well as lighting and water features and the various types of surfacing materials available for use in garden design.

8. Be knowledgeable about earthworks involved in landscaping and garden design.

9. Have a broad knowledge on the basics of starting a business, business plans, market analysis and ongoing management.

How can you become a better Garden Designer and Landscaper?

To gain professional garden design and landscaping proficiency, it is best to undertake a specialised course that teaches you the essential skills. Lifestyle Learning Direct. is a leader in the provision of writing distance education courses that aim to give students a broad understanding of the industry competency regarding both the theoretical and practical application of this knowledge.

Apart from understanding the application of good garden design ideas and landscaping elements and principles, you need to be conversant with other necessary components such as earthworks, marking out and job costing, as well as basic drawing skills and client/designer communication. As a result, you should develop the ability to apply this knowledge in a broad variety of situations, as well as recognise and correct all manner of design errors.

If you dream of being your own boss, as well as the theory of garden design and landscaping you also need to know the practical aspects of how to set up in business.

For more information in relation to garden design and landscaping, please contact Lifestyle Learning Direct.

A Good Rock Garden Design Requires Careful Planning

Admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 12:51:44 +0000

A rock garden design is a great choice for beauty and elegance simply because rocks are wonderful to look at. We enjoy rock and stone in nature, so why not bring that beauty into your own yard with a stunning rock garden design. However, if you are thinking seriously about this, then I strongly urge you to read a book or two on the topic, look over this site for information, and plan very carefully before you proceed with your project. Why is that, you ask? Because rock gardens are difficult to redesign once they are in place. Rocks are heavy making any structural changes highly undesirable. Most gardeners who implement a rock garden design rarely change it. The design will remain as it is for many years.

One tip to help in designing your garden is to first think about what you like to plant. Don't think about the rocks at first. Think about what you enjoy growing and what you have time to grow. Do you like shade plants, or ones that thrive in sunlight? Do you enjoy shrubs or flowers? After you are clear about what you will plant in your garden, then you can start to consider a suitable rock garden design. For example, if you enjoy shade-loving plants, you are going to want to leave the shady spots available for growing while the portions where you place the rocks will be where the sun shines. The safest rock garden design will leave soil open in both shady and sunny areas. You don't want to expend great effort in designing a garden with no shady spots for growing only to find in a couple years that you want to experiment with shade-loving plants. Leave yourself some options in the rock garden design you choose because most likely your rock garden design will be permanent.

Another thing to strongly consider in the planning of your rock garden design is the location of paths. Paths should not be something you throw in after you've thought of all the other aspects of your rock garden design. Paths should be put in to the design from the beginning. When thinking about where the paths are going to go, you need to think about where the sunlight is going to be through out the day. Do you want your paths in the sun, in the shade, or both? This is also important when thinking about what you will plant along the edges of the paths. Many rock garden designs begin with the paths first and proceed from them, adding in the rock and plant placement afterwards.

A rock garden design can be a practical time-saving and elegant choice for your garden in the long term as long as you take special care in planning it out before execution. The rock garden design will last for years to come and require very little effort in maintaining. Most of your time in this kind of garden will depend on the variety of plants and shrubs you decide to populate it with.

Seven Reasons Organic Gardening Is A Good Practice

Admin — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 08:19:32 +0000

As more and more people worry about just how healthy the food they buy in grocery store is they are turning to organic gardening to replace many foods that are subject to synthetic fertilizers, herbicides, and insecticides. The whole idea behind a natural garden is to use only natural methods to grow fruits and vegetables. There is nothing magical about organic gardening; in fact it uses methods that have been in place for thousands of years.

Here are six reasons why many people are turning to organic gardening to supplement their family food needs.

1. You can use your own waste from the garden and kitchen to make compost. While it may be easier to use chemical fertilizers compost restores the soil and its ability to grow fruits and vegetables naturally. The addition of chemical fertilizers eventually depletes the soil to the point that it is sterile and the food that you do grow has little nutritional value. Composting also cuts down on the amount of waste that is put into landfills.

2. Chemicals of any kind are not used in organic farming. Even though the chemical companies tell us that the chemicals in their products are safe when used according to the directions research has shown that many of these chemicals, which in effect are poisons, can be absorbed through the skin and cause adverse affects. It is important to remember that herbicides and pesticides are produced to kill other living things.

3. There is less harm to the surrounding environment. Chemicals are washed into neighboring properties and waterways, polluting the surrounding habitat.

4. There is less topsoil erosion because rich fertile soil is less likely to wash or blow away. According to the soil conservation service an estimated 30 to 32 billion tons of soil is lost from U.S. farms every year.

5. There is a significant cost savings with organic gardening practices. Once the soil is established through the application of compost it becomes almost self sustaining. There is no need to buy costly fertilizers and pesticides. In fact many pest control recipes can be made from everyday products found tight in the kitchen cabinet.

6. Mulch is the organic gardener\'s best friend. A thick layer of mulch suppresses weeds and keeps the soil moist, reducing the amount of water needed to grow fresh fruits and vegetables.

7. By helping keep the environment and food supplies safe organic gardening practices are a great way to ensure that future generation will have a sustainable world to live in.

If gardening is something you\'ve always wanted to try or is something you are already passionate about then going organic can be a great way to help not only your own health but the health of those around you.

Good Advice on How to Begin a Vegetable Garden

Admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 14:50:28 +0000

Vegetable gardening has lately become just as popular as driving to the grocery store for vegetables. Vegetable gardening can produce a vegetable that are generally cheaper than when bought in a grocery store, and veggies from a home vegetable garden are certainly better tasting by far. Vegetable gardening is equivalent to growing plants or flowers and if the correct steps are used and the plants are given the right care they'll grow and develop into very tasty veggies.The First thing you will have to decide how much space you're willing to utilize for your vegetable garden and then choose a spot in your backyard, in a place that has a good drainage, good air flow, and good deep ground.

As you might know, vegetable gardens have a lot of delicious rewards, a lot of animals, such as birds, rabbits, insects and many others will take a opportunity to take some of your veggies. The way to prevent this is to setup a fence round your garden, or put out a trap to catch the mice, insects and other animals.If you start planting, "remember" the ground must be decently prepared. Good ground for vegetable gardening is accomplished by cultivation and the use of organic materials. The ground must be tilled to control weeds and mix mulch in the ground. Whenever you've a little garden, spading could be a more effective choice than tilling (plowing).

Mulching is also a essential piece of ground preparation. Organic material added to the ground releases nitrogen, minerals, and supplemental nutrients plants need to grow. The most general and most effective sort of mulch you can use is compost. Though the type and amount of plant food used depends on the ground and the sorts of plants, there are a some plants that have individual wants; leafy plants, such as cabbage, spinach, and lettuce commonly grow stronger with a good amount of nitrogen, when root crops such as potatoes, beets, and carrots demand more potassium hydroxide. Tomatoes and beans are accustomed to a lesser amount of the plant food, when plants like onions, celery, and potatoes need a bigger amount.

The one thing that is vitally significant in vegetable gardening is how the garden is arranged, there's not a single plant that will grow in every garden due to varying circumstances. The way to arrange a vegetable garden is to plant veggies requiring only a modest distance together, such as radishes, beets, and spinach, and those that need a lot of room together, such as maize, pumpkins, and potatoes. Try and place the big growing plants toward the back of the vegetable garden and the smaller ones in the front so that their sun doesn't get blocked.

When you are finally done to start setting up your vegetable garden, be sure that you plant at the correct season. If you are dying to get an quick start, you might need to begin your vegetable garden inside in a hotbed and then move when the outside conditions permits it. Whenever you are finished with planting, be sure your veggies pick up the right amount of water, which depends on the sort of plant or veggie.

Vegetable gardening is for numerous people a favorite sort of gardening because you can really taste the fruits of your efforts. Vegetable gardening isn't that pricey to start and the taste of home grown veggies definitely defeat the supermarket veggies.

Good Planning Is Essential To Successful Garden Design

Admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:38:51 +0000

Do you want the perfect garden this spring? Have you already bought some flowers or shrubs to put in some of the empty spots in your garden? Stop right there! The key to great design is to see the end in the beginning. You need to have a clear picture of what you want before you start.

So, the first step to perfect garden design is to determine where your garden is going to go. Draw a map of your property and identify the area or areas you are going to focus on this year. This is crucial to having a successful and stunning garden. The ideas will start flowing once you know where the garden will go.

The absolutely essential next step in great garden design is to evaluate the condition of the soil and determine what needs to be done, if anything, so it will be hospitable to your plants and flowers. The last thing you want to do is spend a lot of money and time only to find out that nothing will grow. Most gardening stores have kits to do soil analysis. Or, you may just want to purchase some new soil for your garden.

The next thing you should consider in your garden design is how you are going to enclose it. You can't just throw a bunch of flowers and shrubs in some dirt and expect to have a good-looking garden. You need some kind of border. Rocks are a favorite border and add an elegant touch to your project. Fencing material, mulch or small shrubs look very nice as well. I personally enjoy using small rocks or pebbles and mound them around the border of the area I've designated for growing. Colored rocks are also available for this purpose. The border can really make the difference between good and bad garden design.

Make sure that your garden area will receive enough water. If for some reason part or all of you garden will not get direct rain water, then you'll want to either see if you can redirect water to it, or install simple irrigation. If you are not forgetful, you can simply water the garden yourself, too. You'll also want to be sure that your garden area won't get too much water when it rains. You don't want rushing water to wipe away your garden every time it rains.

The last garden design element you may want to consider is lighting. After all, if you are going to spend all that time and money on it, why not enjoy it at night as well. Of course, it would be a waste of electricity to over do it. But, if you are having guests for dinner or some other special occasion, it's nice to light up your garden at night. Talk to someone at a garden store about options for setting up outlets outdoors. You'll also want to ask about what kinds of lights are best and most efficient.

Finally, before you buy any flowers or shrubs, be sure to plan out in detail your garden design. Look at pictures of garden designs, talk to your neighbors or ask your friends. Draw out on paper or use garden design software to plan out what exactly what flowers and plants you include and where you will put them.