Ground covers will cut down on your backyard and gardening maintenance. These handy plants  will also control erosion and are great for those hard to plant areas of your yard, like banks and under shady trees. There any many different ground cover varieties so finding a ground cover to meet your climate and gardening needs should be relatively easy.
photo credit: put_the_needle_on_the_record

This last summer I went to an auction at a greenhouse and picked up eight different varieties of ground covers. I placed them in a holding garden until I would be able to use them this spring. The weather is finally improving in my zone 5 growing climate so next week I should be able to divide the ground cover and start re-designing the backyard and garden areas.

I have a terraced bank I will use some of the plants in and empty spaces along a storm pathway. I will also be using some under the row of trees in the front yard. These trees have roots that want to pop out of the ground making mowing dangerous so I plant to mulch the area and add mostly round covers and a few shade loving perennials for added color and as focal points.

Ground Cover tips

• Ground covers work well near the house in front of shrubs and bushes, and in areas you do not want to mow.  And if you choose a tight-growing ground cover it will help to suppress weeds.
• If you plan to use ground cover to suppress grass or weeds make sure the ground is grass and weed free first. This will help the ground cover to grow and acclimate to its new home faster plus the plants will form a cover to help keep weeds and grass choked out for years to come with little work
• When choosing ground cover make sure to find plants that grow in you climate and check to see what lighting requirements they have.
• Ground covers come in low growing varieties that don’t need mowed and taller varieties. They may or may not have flowers. The only precaution I know of is that some ground covers will spread, so again check growing instructions or ask your nursery for information on the plant.
  photo credit: D G Brown

One of my favorite ground covers is thyme. I like the fragrance it emits when you walk on it. There is also a pretty moss ground cover that looks wonderful in rock gardens and on stone walls.And by adding flowering bulbs or a few annual flowers in the ground cover you will create a inviting look with very little work or care needed.

Ground covers will add to the beauty and ease of your backyard garden tasks. You may want to consider adding them to your garden design.

Technorati Tags: gardening tips, plants

The fun of gardening is to create unusual or unique gardens for your backyard or garden area. One such garden, a theme garden, is an Aerial Garden. An Aerial Garden is a garden that is suspended or elevated in the air. These gardens make use of unused space in rooms or patios, are great for small space gardening and can be used as a room divider or to create privacy.
photo credit: sarcozona

I used a pre-made garden arbor for my Aerial garden. It was only a few dollars at off-season prices and I set it up in minutes. You can also make an outdoor divider quite easily.

Outdoor Aerial Theme  Garden

1. Find or purchase two square posts that measure 2” by 8” and the length that will fit you desired location. You will also want 20 to 25 slates measuring six feet long.
2. Place the posts about 4 feet from each other. Next pour cement around the bottom of the posts to make them secure. Add the wooden slates or thin pieces of wood and attach them horizontally from one end of the post to the other. I like to find old barn board for these projects.
3. Space the slates in such a way that you will be able to hang your aerial garden from the slates. Mixing in hanging plants will give more color, texture and interest into your aerial garden area.

True aerial gardens make use of epiphytic plants, also known as air plants. These plants get there  nutrients from the air and will grow on the bark of a tree or on moss. My favorite of these air plants is the staghorn fern. Orchids and bromeliads are also popular air plants.
photo credit: cliff1066

Take the hook that is on the back of the epiphytic plants and hang it from the slates of your outdoor room divider. Stagger the way you hang the plants and mix in other hanging plants to add creativity and flair to your plant divider. colorful pots will also add to the arrangement.

You have just created a very decorative and unusual garden and created additional privacy in your backyard.

Your Epiphytic Plants can be brought in during the cooler winter months and over-wintered. You may even want to create an indoor aerial garden and mix herbs in with the Epiphytic plants. You will have added color and texture plus fresh herbs.

Technorati Tags: creative gardening, staghorn fern, Theme Gardens

The Obamas Vegetable Garden at the White House

Michele Obama, along with help from twenty-three fifth graders from Bancroft Elementary School in Washington, started to dig up the new 1,100-square-foot Victory garden plot in the White House Lawn on Friday March 20. The gardens location is near the Obama girls’ swing set and will be visible to people passing by the White House if using E Street.  
photo credit: Super Is Sunny

There has not been a vegetable garden on the White House lawn since Eleanor Roosevelt’s victory garden in World War II. With the tough economic times facing Americans and other countries this is the perfect time to realize the importance of growing your own fresh organic vegetables and fruit in you own backyard. And for a small amount of money spent you save hundreds or thousands of dollars on your food bill.

The organic garden will help provide food for the first family’s meals and formal dinners, but its most important role, according to Mrs. Obama, will be to educate children about healthful, locally grown fruit and vegetables at a time when obesity and diabetes have become a national concern.

“My hope,” the first lady said in an interview in her East Wing office and as reported originally in the New York Times, “is that through children, they will begin to educate their families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities.”

There have been many successful school community gardens in the last few years and the students from Bancroft Elementary have had such a garden since 2001. These student will be helping through the growing season to plant, harvest, and cook the produce grown. Vegetables, fruits and herbs are planned for the garden. Vegetables top the list with 55 different varieties being planted. Heirloom seeds are are being used in the garden.

The Obama family will also help, including the President. As gardening is relaxing and great exercise, the garden will benefit them  with better fitness and fresh organic quality produce. Promoting healthy eating has become an important part of Mrs. Obama’s own agenda.

As reported in an internet article, The first lady, who said that she had never had a vegetable garden, recalled that the idea for this one came from her experiences as a working mother trying to feed her daughters, Malia and Sasha, a good diet. Eating out three times a week, ordering a pizza, having a sandwich for dinner all took their toll in added weight on the girls, whose pediatrician told Mrs. Obama that she needed to be thinking about nutrition.

The Obamas having a garden that is set up along the Victory garden or Recession garden idea of organic food production and saving energy with small farm principles should send a message about healthy eating. I think it also sends a message to save money and help you, your family and the community.

The Obamas White House garden will be a focal point of interest this summer. And as interest in garden has picked up all across the United States you may want to consider you own recession garden or join in a community garden near where you live. Check out the $20 Recession Garden challenge for additional information

Technorati Tags: organic gardening, recession garden, victory garden