Winter Gardening Looking Towards Spring
Ok, the title "winter gardening" might be a tad bit misleading. I am not suggesting that you actually garden during the winter but you should be using this time to plan your upcoming garden. As you look out at your yard and garden area during the cold months of winter, let your thoughts run wild and you will be amazed at what images you can conjure up. You might even want to try some of your new found ideas this spring! 1. Pour through garden catalogs, flip the pages and fold down the corner anytime you find something you like. Go back to it often until you decide what new plants and flowers you would like to try this spring. 2. Purchase some gardening books or magazines to get new ideas. Look at what other people are trying in their gardens and see if their ideas inspire you to try something new. 3. Look out your windows and try to visualize how you would like your yard and garden to look like. Study the sun....notice the shady spots. 4. Make a list of what is important to you, in other words, what do you want from your yard and garden? Do you want to create a patio area for entertaining, a vegetable garden so you grow all of your own vegetables, a quiet area for relaxing, or maybe an area that will attract wildlife. Anything is possible but it is important to recognize what you want before you actually start any gardening project. Ultimately, knowing what you want will save time and money! 5. Take lots of notes and draw any ideas you might come up with.(even those ideas that wake you up in the middle of the night!) 6. Of course, visit online nurseries to see what they have to offer. Many sites offer suggestions and interesting gardening articles as well. Before you know it spring will be here, you will have a shovel in your hand, and you will have a plan!
Happy Gardening! © 2005, Candee Stark and Flowers & Garden.com This article is provided courtesy of Flowers-and-Garden.com - You may freely reprint this article on your website or in your newsletter provided this courtesy notice and the author name and URL remain intact.
More gardening talk at
Flowers & Garden Blog
RELATED ARTICLES
The Advantages of Silk Flowers
The silk flower is growing in popularity among young couples and families for many different reasons. Many event hosts or planners struggle over whether to choose fresh flowers or artificial flowers.
Adirondack Furniture - What It is and Why You Want It
Adirondack is the name given to a style of furnishings that date back to the late 1800's. During this time period, immediately following the civil war, upstate New York gained notoriety as a popular tourist destination.
Pressure Washing Decks
A beautiful wooden deck, properly maintained, can add
greatly to the aesthetic and resale values of a home.Just look around, decks are almost everywhere.
Cannibals on the Porch
No, ghosts of the Donner Party have not started haunting my porch, nor have others of the human type I may have reference to. I am speaking of cannibals in the insect world of which there are many, but two in particuIar that make me stop and wonder.
Dog Days of Summer
Here are a few tips to keep your garden and a few specific problems from getting away from you during the month of August gardening. Your lawn, again usually three things or any combination of them may be the culprit(s) for making your lawn or patches of your lawn turn brown.
Spurce Up Your Garden With Decorative Birdhouses
Decorative Birdhouses are active garden ornamentation --the presence and movement of birds creates a fluid focal point for your garden. As such, placement is critical for you to earn maximum benefit from your birdhouses.
Butterfly Gardening
Butterfly gardening is not only a joy, it is one way that you can help restore declining butterfly populations. Simply adding a few new plants to your backyard may attract dozens of different butterflies, according to landscape designers at the University of Guelph.
Flowers That Beautify Your Home and Garden
To help gardeners choose flowers, various systems for rating hardiness have been developed. A plant is considered hardy in a region if it can grow and thrive there without requiring special protective measures such as insulating with straw mulch.
Bird Baths in Your Yard
HOOOOOOOOOOOEEEEEEEEEHas summer come in with a bang!Heat waves everywhere.And where is the rain?Yolanda is at camp this week.
Iris Flowers Remind Me Of Mom!
Iris flowers always bring memories of mom to mind. Let me share with you three reasons why.
Simple Lawnmower Maintenance
Do you have trouble starting your lawnmower up in the spring? Before deciding to take your lawnmower in for repair, try these few simple suggestions. After completing them most of the time your lawnmower will fire up and run like a champ.
Light Up Your Garden And Brighten Your Life
Extending Your Living SpaceThe garden is fast being considered to be an extension to your living space and homeowners are putting as much effort into creating a harmonious environment outside as they are inside. A beautiful garden is also considered to be one of the biggest selling features of a home and can certainly help to add value and appeal.
Preparing Successful Seedlings
Growing your own seedlings is very gratifying and far more economic than purchasing them. It also gives you far greater control over your existing growing conditions.
Using Bulbs in Your Landscaping
Naturalized bulbs look beautiful in a wooded setting. You can plant them and leave them to multiply.
Vermicomposting - Worm Composters For Eco-Friendly Waste Disposal and Recycling
Worms are not only the gardener's best friend, they are also the recycler's new found best friend as well. Nature's little waste disposal experts have found a new place in eco-conscious household's across the globe as more and more people are catching on to the idea of using worms' special talents to dispose of their organic household waste.
The Exotic Rose of Sharon
Perhaps you were browsing the pages of a catalog and found a beautiful picture of the Rose of Sharon (Hibiscus Sriacus)? Or maybe you were lucky enough to see a Rose of Sharon in person at a local garden center?Are you wondering whether these will make a beautiful addition to your home? Getting a little knowledge of these beautiful plants will allow you to make a decision.Although once somewhat uncommon, the Rose of Sharon has become a widely loved plant.
Teak Planters - Accent Your Outdoor Space with One
Do you want to add something to your outdoor space that will take it from beautiful to breathtaking? Do you have all of the right teak furniture but feel that something is missing, some accent that will truly make your space unique and worthy of only the highest praise? If so, maybe you should accent your outdoor space with teak planters.Teak planters can be a gorgeous addition to any outdoor space whether it is a formal garden, porch, poolside or entryway because they are beautifully constructed with the highest quality of standards using only the finest Javanese teak.
Creativity with Ponds
Here's where your creative instincts kick in. This is where you make your pond your own.
The Basics of Growing Roses
So you want to grow roses? They are a beautiful choice for your garden and not nearly as difficult to grow as you might think.
Choose a rose that is easy to grow.
Seeding Flowers Indoors: An Inexpensive Way to a Beautiful Summer Garden
Every year you plan that THIS will be the year you have pots and pots of lush plants on your balcony or deck. Then you visit your local nursery in the spring and reality hits -- the cost for your fantasy is just outrageous! Sound familiar?But you can have the planters of your dreams at a fraction of the cost and with a choice of varieties far beyond what the local garden center offers.
|