Easy ways to a new garden personality

Rita Deo Rita Deo
Belgravia Roof Terrace, Cameron Landscapes and Gardens Cameron Landscapes and Gardens Classic style garden
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Owning a garden that is blooming with flowers throughout the year is every gardener’s dream. To achieve this requires a bit of effort and knowledge about seasonal flowers. This information can be can be achieved by reading about experiences of expert gardeners and their experiments with flowering plants. According to experts, gardens require three kinds of flowering plants to ensure that there is greenery and color throughout the year. Besides perennial that bloom through most part of the year, gardens also need small foliage for greenery and also trees that do not grow aggressively and suffocate other species.

The advantage of seasonal flowering plants is that they can be grown in all types of planters and placed around the house to bring color and fragrance indoors too. Depending on the garden size large and small flowering plants can be sown and can also be decorated with arbors, fountains and stone sculptures. Here are a few creative suggestions which will turn a lifeless piece of land into an attractive garden.

Eye catching spots with bougainvillea

Though they grow over thorny bushes, bougainvillea flowers are bright and colorful requiring little care once they are firmly established over a particular patch of land. Belonging to the bracts category of paper flowers these are ideally suited for hedges as the thorns keep out small pests. These attractive ornamental plants are more suited to coastal regions in tropical, European and Mediterranean climates as these are tolerant to hot salty weather.

In this attractive garden arrangement, bougainvillea plants have been placed in ground level vat like clay pots. Arranged like a colorful Japanese garden these bougainvillea plants lend color and beauty to this area due to their flamboyant appearance. Soft pastel colors of other accessories in the garden like small stones and floating flower pots on walls maintain an atmosphere of cheerful greenery and calm in the area.

Placing shrubs

A garden is a showpiece of its owners’ skill and knowledge of plant life which can be enriched with a combination of ordinary shrubs, flowering plants and large trees. Shrubs have evergreen foliage and are able to remain decorative throughout the year. You can either have shrubs with broadleaves or thick flowers and berries that can add luster and color to the garden. When shrubs are interspersed with large trees and small flowering plants they provide an elegant transition by softening the region.

Gardeners use shrubs as backdrops for covering eyesores like heating units and boundary of gardens to block out noise and pollution from the road. Landscapeartists Abelia Peyzaj have used different types of shrubs with colorful leaves to line up the walkway till the door. Black limestone path gets a colorful boost with these shrubs on either side as these are in direct contrast to the dark green lawn.

Bring out the main points with hibiscus

Hibiscuses are gorgeous but delicate tropical flowers that wilt under strong sunlight and die of frost if left out in winter so they must be brought indoors or kept in a glass house. Available in wide variety of single and double colors with thin and thick petals, hibiscus plants do not survive for more than three to four years. Though tropical varieties are the most colorful, these hibiscuses have tinier flowers than the hardier variety called Rose Mallow hibiscus which are perennial and have flowers as large as quarter plates. These eye-catching colors of hibiscus red, yellow, pink, orange and white attract butterflies and birds during spring and summer.  

The attractive row of white hibiscus here are of the tropical variety as they are characterized by bright oily leaves that are not common in perennial hibiscus variety. Kept in a neat row these pretty flowers accentuate the arbor region that is used during spring and summer for afternoon parties and  the wide pots are stored in the summer house during winter.

Bold perennial planting softens the scheme.

Perennials are characterized by bright colors and attractive foliage patterns and are easy to grow which makes them a favorite of both amateur and expert gardeners. These plants are easy transportable in the form of bulbs and shrubs and though upper section of the plants dies out during winter these grow back again during spring. Both colorful flowers and leaves belong to perennial plant category which add color and texture to a garden as they are available in abundant colors, sizes and shapes.

While some perennials can survive till early winter most of them cannot survive beyond October and are favorites of florists as they can be made into beautiful carnations. The perennials over here bring color and life to this vast property spread across several acres with grass and shrubs. These colorful bushes of red, purple, pink yellow and blue perennial flowers are spread across the garden designed in country style with stretches of plain grass interspersed with color.

Create a rose garden

Few people know that roses look as beautiful on bushes as they do on creeper varieties which can be used to create romantic arches in combination with perennials. Both the bush and creeper rose varieties require soil rich in organic material that is well drained along with plenty of sunshine. They can be planted directly on the ground or in small and large pots if you want to keep shifting them indoors and outdoors. Rose gardens need constant care and attention as they tend to attract bugs and insects during early years of growth but regular pruning of dead branches and flowers keeps them strong.

Creeper roses like these need strong support of metal and wood arches to grow rapidly and bloom during summer and spring. For a rose garden you need to have combination of creepers and bush rose varieties that will make a beautiful arbor colorful when all flowers are in bloom. If your garden soil is rich then you may not have to use fertilizers but regular care with water and pruning is essential to maintain healthy growth.

Good spots for a hydrangea

The name hydrangea is derived from Greek words “hydra + angeon” that stands for water vessel and these plants need a lot of water.  Hydrangea flowers are preferred by gardeners for their thick and lush foliage that makes the flower clusters last for a longer time than other varieties. If the soil is rich and soft with plenty of organic mulch then these plants have the ability to grow fast in and flower in thick clusters of pink, red, blue and white.

According to experts, a few hydrangea flower shades like blue or pink are affected by pH level of the soil and blue color in flowers is common when soil is acidic. To make flower clusters last long and colorful allow morning sunshine but move hydrangea flowers into the shade during the afternoon. The lush hydrangea flowers in this garden look fresh and dewy every morning as these bushes are under a large shady tree that protects them from sunlight during the afternoon.

For more ideas on making a creative garden refer to this interesting ideabook.

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