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I don't know what it is about a garden that has always
drawn humans to them. But they've always been very
popular, and an integral part of peoples' lifestyles.
Most religions feature gardens as the settings for
some of the biggest events According to Christianity,
humanity was started in a garden and the son of God
was resurrected in a garden. The Buddhist build
gardens to allow nature to permeate their
surroundings. Almost every major palace and
government building has a garden. But what's so great
about them? They're just a bunch of plants, after all.
Of course, the reasoning is fairly obvious behind why
people grow food in gardens. It's to eat! If you live off
the fat of the land and actually survive on stuff from
your garden, it's easy to understand the reasoning.
But I'm thinking about those people who plant flower
gardens just for the sake of looking nice. There's no
immediate benefit that I can see; you just have a
bunch of flowers in your yard! However, after thinking
extensively about the motivation behind planting
decorative gardens, I've conceived several possible
theories.
I think one of the reasons people love gardens so
much is that while we have a natural desire to
progress and industrialize, deep within all of us
is a primal love for nature. While this desire might not
be as strong as the desire for modernism, it is still
strong enough to compel us to create gardens, small
outlets of nature, in the midst of all our hustle and
bustle. Since being in nature is like regressing to an
earlier stage of humanity, we too can regress to a time
of comfort and utter happiness. This is why gardens
are so relaxing and calming to be in. This is why
gardens are a good place to meditate and do tai chi
exercises. A garden is a way to quickly escape from
the busy world.
I've thought at times that perhaps we as humans feel
a sort of guilt driving us to restore nature and care for
it. This guilt could stem from the knowledge that we,
not personally but as a race, have destroyed so
much of nature to get where we are today. It's the least
we can do to build a small garden in remembrance of
all the trees we kill every day. It's my theory that this is
the underlying reason for most people to take
up gardening as a hobby.
Gardening is definitely a healthy habit though, don't
get me wrong. Any hobby that provides physical
exercise, helps the environment, and improves
your diet can't be a negative thing. So no matter what
the underlying psychological cause for gardening is, I
think that everyone should continue to do so. In the
USA especially, which is dealing with obesity
and pollution as its two major problems, I think
gardening can only serve to improve the state of the
world.
Of course I'm no psychologist; I'm just a Educated
Landscaper.
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Perennial flowers are strong, local flowers that come
back every year without having to replant or do any
extra work. During their off seasons, the flowers and
stems die back and you can hardly even tell the plant
is there (rather than just dying and looking like
hideous brown clumps in your garden). When it's time
to bloom, entirely new flowers shoot up where the old
ones were.
Before deciding whether to put in perennials or not,
you need to make sure that your soil has proper
drainage. If the water stays saturated for long periods
of time, you should build a raised bed. To test, dig a
hole and fill it with water. Wait a day, and then fill it with
water again. All traces of water should be gone within
10 hours. If the hole isn't completely dry, you will need
to build a raised bed.
Picking your perennials can be a complicated
process. The goal should be to have them flowering
as much as possible during the year, so you should
create an outline of the year. Research the different
types of flower you want, and create a timeline of
flowering. If you plan it right, you can have a different
type of flower blooming at any point in the year. Getting
just the right mixture of plants can give your yard a
constantly changing array of colors.
When you go to buy the plants from your local garden
center or nursery, you might be able to find a custom
plant mixture for your area. This takes the really tough
research part out of the job. Usually these blends are
optimized for the local climate, and do great jobs of
having flowers always grow in your yard. If one of
these isn't available, you can ask the employees what
they think would be a good mixture. They should be
happy to help you put something together which will
be optimal for whatever you desire.
You should definitely use mulch when planting
perennials. This will reduce the overall amount of
work you have to do, by reducing the amount of weeds
and increasing the water retention. Bark or cypress
work great. As for fertilizer, you should use it sparingly
once your plants start to come to life.
When you actually go to plant the plants, you should
put them in small, separate clumps. This is because
they tend to spread out, and if you have too many too
close together then they will end up doing nothing but
choking each other out. Fertilize with long last fertilizer
like Osmocote after the planting operation is
complete. In no time at all you should start to see
flowers blooming and enjoy.
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If you're not the type of person that wants to spend
their time managing an elaborate fruit or vegetable
garden, you might consider planting and maintaining
an herb garden. While the product might not seem as
significant, you'll still enjoy the constant availability of
fresh, delicious herbs to flavor your meals with.
First you'll want to choose the herbs that you'll plant.
You might have a hard time doing this because of the
huge scope of herbs available. But the best way to
choose is to do what I did; just look at what you have
in your kitchen. By planting your own collection of
these herbs, you can save money on buying them
from the grocery store while having the added benefit
of freshness. Some of the herbs you might start with
include rosemary, sage, basil, dill, mint, chives, and
parsley among others.
When choosing an area to put your herb garden, you
should remember that the soil should have extremely
good drainage. If the dirt gets watered and stays
completely saturated, you have no chance of ever
growing a healthy plant. One of the best ways to fix the
drainage problem is to dig a foot deep in the soil, and
put a layer of crushed rocks down before replacing
all the soil. This will allow all that water to escape,
thus saving your plants.
When you are ready to begin planting herbs, you might
be tempted to buy the more expensive plants from the
store. However, with herbs it is much easier to grow
them from seed than it is with other plants. Therefore
you can save a bundle of money by sticking with seed
packets. Some herbs grow at a dangerously fast rate.
For example, if you plant a mint plant in an open
space then it will take over your entire garden in a
matter of days. The best way to prevent this problem is
to plant the more aggressive plants in pots (with holes
in the bottom to allow drainage, of course).
When it comes time to harvest the herbs you have
labored so hard over, it can be fatal to your plant to
take off too much. If your plant isn't well established, it
isn't healthy to take any leaves at all, even if it looks
like its not using them. You should wait until your plant
has been well established for at least several months
before taking off any leaves. This wait will definitely be
worth it, because by growing unabated your plant
will produce healthily for years to come.
Once you've harvested your delicious home grown
herbs, you'll want to use them in cooking. Why else
would you have grown them? Well first the process
begins with drying them out. This is easily achieved by
placing them on a cookie sheet and baking them 170
degrees Fahrenheit for 2 to 4 hours. After they're
sufficiently dried to be used in cooking, you can
consult the nearest cookbook for instructions on using
them to effectively flavor a dish.
If you want to store your herbs for later usage, you
should keep them in a plastic or glass container.
Paper or cardboard will not work, because it will
absorb the taste of the herbs. During the first few days
of storage, you should regularly check the container
and see if any moisture has accumulated. If it has, you
must remove all the herbs and re-dry them. If
moisture is left from the first drying process, it will
encourage mildew while you store your herbs. Nobody
likes mildew.
So if you enjoy herbs or gardening, or both, then you
should probably consider setting up an herb garden. It
might require a little bit of work at first to set it up for
optimal drainage, and pick what herbs you want
to grow. But after the initial hassle, it's just a matter of
harvesting and drying all your favorite herbs.
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You may ask, What are Louisiana Irises?
From the bayou country of south Louisiana and the
neighboring lowlands of sister states comes the
Louisiana Iris. John James Audubon was the first to
call a Louisiana Iris by that name. With the Purula
Warbler, he painted a rose-colored iris and in his
notes designated it as a Louisiana Iris.
Louisiana irises consist of five species, most of which
are indigenous to the Gulf Coast area, but two of the
species (I. brevicarlis and I.fulva) can be found upward
along the Mississippi Valley and in the pine woods of
the neighboring states. These irises are lovers of
water and boggy conditions. You have a poor drainage
area this plant will grow and give you a good flower
show.
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February Issue will include: Spring Clean Up, Drainage solutions, Trees Pruning, Outdoor Kitchens, Knockout Roses and Shade Gardening
Plan Before You Plant,
 LAWRENCE L. HOYLE
WEB-LANDSCAPE-DESIGN-IDEAS
phone:
770 924-0304
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