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Aesthetic Gardening for Edible Landscapes

It is possible to create beautiful landscapes that not only provide natural beauty, but can also provide food and other useful items. There are many edible plants and vegetables that are also very attractive. Since fruits and vegetables are getting more and more expensive, smart people have decided to grow them themselves.

The majority of people who build edible landscapes utilize perennial vegetables, since they return every spring with no need to replant. After they’re planted, they’ll go on providing beauty and food for as long as you tend them.

Most of them just need regular water and feeding, and occasionally weeding and pruning, as well as insect control. If you plant the right vegetables, they can keep you supplied with delicious food for many years to come. Usually they will die in winter but revive in spring, experiencing a new growth cycle.

Perhaps you are a little leery of this idea – after all, doesn’t a vegetable garden require a lot of care? This is certainly the case for traditional vegetable gardens; however, edible landscapes require only a little bit more work than other landscape plants!

You can utilize various kinds of edible plants to substitute for the features of more traditional landscaping. Try a fruit tree instead of a regular tree. Perennial herbs can serve as ground cover or small bushes. Decorative vegetables can be used in place of flowers or landscaping borders.

Beautiful mixes of edible and non-edible plants are also possible. Herbs are great edible plants to add to traditional flower garden beds. To achieve a different look, you can combine different kinds of plants together.

Sage and oregano work very well as small shrubs, especially as edging for larger shrubs. Try planting curly parsley among flowers such as lobelia, dianthus and pansies. Strawberries also work well in flower gardens.

Leaf lettuce looks pretty as an accent. Plant a section of varying types and colors of lettuce, and then add a border of ornamental grass.

Edible flowers are also a wonderful idea. There are plants which give in more ways than one. Snap peas, for instance. Besides producing peas, they also give you the gift of beautiful pink, white and purple flowers on attractive vines.

Fava beans grow white and red flowers. The purple globe-shaped flowers produced by chives make them stand out from other herbs. The blossoms on the dill plant are a delightful shade of yellow. Savory nasturtium flowers come in a wide array of bright colors. The herb sage produces purple and blue flower blossoms. You can also find blue and purple blooms in salvia.

Requiring little maintenance (and delicious), perennial herbs and vegetables are a fantastic idea in any landscaping. Dandelions, chives, rhubarb, sweet potatoes, ginger, asparagus, sorrel and more are all wonderful to look at and to eat as well.

May 18 2008 | Gardening | No Comments »

Some Ideas For Using Outside Solar Lighting

There are several different ways that one is able to use outside solar lighting in a garden. The only thing which will actually limit how you use them is your own imagination. Below we offer just a few ideas of ways in which outside solar lighting can be used for enhancing the look of a garden.

Idea 1 – Why not use either spotlights or spread your decorative solar lighting around so that it can highlight or provide focus on a specific place or object within the garden. It could either be something like a tree, plant or a statute that you have and want to show at its best in yours. By offering a contrast between a dark background and the lit object will make it stand out even more.

Idea 2 – Using shadowing can really enhance certain features within your garden. You need to situate the outside solar lighting very low down to the ground and in a position below the item that it is you wish to make a feature of at night in your garden. Ideally use either solar floodlights or spotlights below the object in order to enhance it further. If you can before you install the lights mount them on a post or stick so that when it comes to placing them in the ground you will find it much easier.

Idea 3 – Why not consider mounting some outside solar lighting in a high position so that they can then be aimed down on to a certain object. For example placing a solar light above a tree will then cause a dappled effect on the ground when the lights come on at night. This can help to soften the look and feel of a certain part of the garden which may be full of lines and angles.

Idea 4 – Instead of having the lights directed on to the object from above why not place them in a position where the decorative solar lighting will shine directly upwards. This will then provide you with a way of providing focus on to a particular plant which would normally be hidden by the dark because of its height.

The great thing about outdoor solar lights is that you are not restricted to where they need to be mounted as we have shown you from the ideas above. In fact they can be positioned just about anywhere in the yard or garden, however you must ensure that the panels on top which store energy collected from sunlight are in a position of being able to get direct sunlight throughout the day.

Once you have decided on the position where your outside solar lighting is to be located then you need to leave them turned off for between 5 to 7 days after they have been installed. This will enable the battery inside to reach full charge and only after this can you start considering using them.

May 18 2008 | Gardening | No Comments »