Ireland has lush gardens that cover acres with thousands of plants. We all cannot have such large gardens but you could create a “Touch of Irish” with a mini theme garden or a few additions to your backyard or garden areas.

photo credit: Ivan Walsh

Simple additions of statuary, seating benches and plants common to the Emerald Isle will create an Irish atmosphere.

Use these easy tips to bring an Irish touch to your garden.

Create a stone or gravel walkway around the garden. Some Irish gardens are planted as Gravel gardens are quite popular in Ireland and use shrubs and perennial flowers in the gravel beds. This would be an easy garden area to maintain and would do well in hard to grow area s or as a specialty garden or min garden tucked away in a corner.

Choose vivid green plants with bright flowers. They will show up against the neutral gravel background and add color that stands out in your yard.

Reading benches along walkways or in a nook will add a feel of invitation for reflection or enjoying a book in the garden areas.

And if you are looking for an atmosphere of frivolity, statuary like leprechauns or frog princes can be placed at focal points or just off the walkway on a gravel base.

photo credit: me and the sysop

Plant white clover or shamrock. Clover has a long-standing history in Ireland and has both a factual base and lore that has built up over the years.

Shamrocks have a bulb like seed and are perennials in many areas. They also make excellent houseplants but do need to die back each year and have a quiet spell. If you live in a warmer climate shamrocks look excellent in the outdoor garden areas.

Shamrocks grow year after year. (They may need overwintered indoors in cooler climates.) Clover likes well-drained, moist soil and full sun. It grows by sending out runners. The plants will go dormant in winter and re-emerge in spring. There are white clover and red clover varieties.

If you have room you can add Irish yew as an evergreen tree. Yew can also be grown as a hedge or shaped as topiary. The Irish yew will thrive in well-drained soil and is drought tolerant after it is established. It is suited to heavy pruning so can be shaped for a unique look in your garden.

Other plants suited for an Irish theme garden

1. Lacy ferns
2. Irish moss – excellent groundcover with tiny white flowers in bright green foliage.
3. Holly plants. Holly is considered invasive in some regions so check with your garden center for acceptable holly varieties for your growing area.

An Irish theme gardens will create and relaxing area in your garden and is an easy style of garden to care for. It will also make a great small space garden for a corner or along a wall area.

Technorati Tags: garden ideas, irish theme garden, mini theme garden, theme garden

It’s the beginning of a new year and a perfect time for garden planning. I just read about a theme garden called the “New Years Resolution” Garden.

photo credit: slideshow bob

Most people have read that gardening benefits the mind, body and soul. So the purpose of the Resolution Garden is to inspire positive changes in nearly every area of one’s life.

A New Year’s Resolution Garden will bring your family closer together while helping you relax, make better food choices, save money, increase exercise and become a better steward of the environment. 7 varieties of plants, one packet each, will create an ample kitchen garden.

The New Year’s Resolution Garden provides solutions for many of your resolutions:

BETTER FOOD CHOICES – Carrots. Carrots have many valuable vitamins and make an excellent snack. There are the small finger carrots to the longer carrot varieties. This is another crop I prefer to grow in a container. They are easier to harvest from a container. Just tip it when ready to harvest.

EXERCISE – Pole Beans. Blue Lake is a very easy and heavy producer. I also like the scarlet runner bean. It is color and edible. I like to mix it in containers for a vertical garden. Staking and harvesting make it more of a vegetable where you get exercise.

LOSE WEIGHT – Lettuce or any greens. Spinach, bibb, leaf lettuce or the gourmet varieties are just a few ideas
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REDUCE STRESS – Mixed Cutting Flowers. Flowers add color and atmosphere to the yard, garden areas, and containers and as cut flowers in the home. A packet of mixed cutting flowers will produce bouquets all summer long. One other flower suggestion would be nasturtiums. They are easy to grow, pretty and edible!

SAVE MONEY – Tomatoes. Tomatoes are often one of the more expensive vegetables to buy. Grow several varieties, including cherry tomatoes.

photo credit: Kyle McCluer

SPEND TIME WITH FAMILY – Sunflowers. Sunflowers add color and charm to any yard. They grow anywhere form 18 inches to ten foot depending on the variety. They can be used for bouquets, for crafting and for snacks. They also make great bird food and will attract birds into your garden area.

STEWARD OF THE ENVIRONMENT – Monarda Bergamo. This variety of bee balm will attract birds and beneficial insects but not suffer from the damp like many of the bee balm plants do. This is both a flower and herb with many useful purposes.

This garden can be set up in a very small area and will actually make an excellent patio or container garden. And the colors and height of the different plants will add to your garden décor but not be an overwhelming task.

Technorati Tags: container gardening, new year's resolution garden, patio garden, theme garden

Harry Potter books and movies have been a huge success around the world. And with the newest movie about to be released on July 17th, 2009, a Harry Potter theme garden might be a perfect addition to your garden. This could also encourage your children to take an interest in gardening.
photo credit: tinyfroglet

Creating a Harry Potter theme garden will depend on your growing climate, plants available and a little creativity on your part.

Hagrid, a popular character from the story, had a garden along with a charming cottage. The cottage would be somewhat difficult to copy but a fairie house would be a good replacement and fairie homes have that mystical feel to them.

Pumpkins also grew in Hagrid’s garden. In the current movie Hagrid grows huge orange pumpkins. Any pumpkin would fit in this theme garden including the miniature pumpkins, or the Lumina pumpkins (called ghost pumpkins by some), which are white on the outside and orange on the inside.

Hellebores, which grow in a multitude of colors varieties, grow well in many climates. They are mentioned many times in the Harry Potter series and are used for making potions. The Kingston cardinal is one example of a Hellebore.
photo credit: alice-palace

There are many magical plants mentioned in the Harry Potter movie but they are not real.

But with a little creativity you can substitute actual plants in your own Harry Potter theme garden creation.

For example,

• you could use  Balloon flowers or Chinese lanterns in place of puffapods.
• The money plant has a unique look and would fit into the garden well.
• Flowering cabbage or kale could be used to represent mandrakes.
• Bat plants, Venus flytrap and any evening flower such as a moonflower would add interest to the garden.
• And you will find many herbs would have a look that would fit into this them garden well. Ginger, sage, nettle and wormwood are a few examples.

You will learn more about all the magical plants in the world of Harry Potter by visiting  the plant section of the Harry Potter Lexicon website.

Night lights and garden art would add more interest too as would varying heights in the garden. And any garden seems to benefit from mini pond or rustic fountain.

This is a project your children may really enjoy and lead them to years of gardening. And any theme garden add fun to your garden and backyard

Technorati Tags: plants, theme garden, Theme Gardens