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As you plan the grounds around your house, try to keep your flower
garden as close as possible to a terrace, porch, window, doorway or deck.
In these locations a flower garden is an integral part of the overall
planting scheme and serves as a transition between the house and the general
landscape.
The plan or outline of the garden should be bold and obvious. Trees and
shrubs help point up the plan and give the garden form. They also make
it more exciting by providing shadows, texture contrast, and an interesting
skyline. Evergreens are especially useful in northern gardens because
they are still colorful in the winter when perennials and annuals are
absent. Try to include a background against which to display your flowers.
And enclose the garden as completely as you can so that it becomes a definite
unit within the landscape.
Paths, fences, benches, pools and other features emphasize the design
and help create a mood. For example, brick paths and picket fences give
a garden a colonial air, while gravel paths and louvered fences make the
very same garden appropriate for a contemporary house.
Perennials and annuals are the two major kinds of flowers you can grow,
and by combining them you can have a spring to winter color display with
little effort. A lovely garden is possible if you select plants on the
basis of their height, growth habit, season of flower, color, and preference
for sun or shade. This information is available in all reliable catalogs
and on seed packets and plant descriptions. As your interest increases
and you learn more from reading and experience, your garden can become
a masterpiece of floral art, beautiful in its total effect as well as
in the perfection of individual flowers.
There is rarely space in the average yard for borders that are wider than
4 feet, but this is ample space for a distinctive planting. The tallest
flowers are placed in the back or center of the beds, depending on whether
they are to be seen from one or both sides. Medium and short flowers are
graded down in front of the tall ones.
For unity, repeat the use of one kind of plant in various parts of the
garden. For example, plant a single peony at each end of the garden and
group several together near the center. Later in the summer, a large group
of phlox may brighten each end of the garden, and a few scattered plants
in the center ensure a touch of color there as well.
Get started with organic
gardening or find great gardening
gifts at Clean Air Gardening.
Visit Flower Gardening Tips if you are looking for a site that is completely focused on flower gardening.
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