Herb Garden Designs Through Experimentation

Herb gardening is undertaken by both the urban dweller with room sufficient only for a windowsill planter... to the gardener who has both the time and land for more ambitious endeavors.

There are quite a few options we are going to explore if you are up to the challenge of devoting time to maintaining a larger herb garden design.

For example, the formal garden which has its roots in classical design and architecture first arose to prominence as the embodiment of our supremacy over nature by bending and sculpting horticulture into balanced designs.

Your formal garden concept should be a well-balanced thought out design with herbs intermixed among shrubs, flowers and trees. Typically a formal garden will be the focus viewed from key windows of the home. The herb garden contributes to the look of the garden but serves a different function.

Decorative paving and/or sculptures add extra splendor to the use of your formal herb garden design. Some of the most vivid examples of these types of gardens can be found in European gardens where they were first cultivated.

Varying heights of hedges is one of the key features in a formal garden. However it must be balanced proportionately with attention to angles that employ a variety of shapes such as ovals, ellipses, squares and other non-traditional shapes.

Another great herb garden design is the color themed garden. This is an artistic way to give your garden an explosion of color. Some theme gardens concentrate solely on single shades while others are a riotous cornucopia of bold colors.

Ground cover herbs are ideal for use in themed gardens as well. These low growing plants provide texture to the landscape and fills in gaps or hard to plant areas that need more color and volume. And for those singular spots such along stone steps, in-between flagstone or at the base of trees, ground cover herbs fit the bill.

Some of the best choices of flowering herbs are the common lady's mantle, soapwort, roman chamomile, creeping golden marjoram, Aztec sweet herb, bee balm, and lavender.

Do not over think your color themed garden. Keep in mind that some of the most splendid concepts are those that rely on atypical groupings of color.

Your last consideration is planting herbs as companion plants. These are herbs planted in flower and vegetable gardens where each plant benefits from the presence of the other.

Case in point, garlic deters a variety of garden pests and assists with the flowering of other plants. Basil entices bees which in turn pollinate tomatoes. Chives which are usually grown in a border area to help arrest black spot which is a very common disease which attacks roses in particular.

Many herbs such as yarrow, coriander, dill and rosemary provide welcoming terrain for helpful insects both parasitic and predatory that assist in keeping others of the pest population within control.

Herb garden designs are only limited by your imagination. If you can conceive it and it fits your needs, there are no restrictions. Sometimes experimentation is needed to create an herb garden that fits your specific needs.

Joel & Ara'Bella are herbal experts. For more information on herb garden design visit http://www.herbgardeningcare.com/.

New Garden Designs

We believe that Aquaponics should be at the heart of any new urban, patio or garden design.

Gardens with 'use' are becoming increasingly popular. Technology is improving which means that our gardens have greater potential to have a particular use.

Aquaponics means the growing of fish and plants together which can be done in a compact and efficient manner. No soil is used and you will not have to feed the plants or water them.

Aquaponics combines aquaculture (fish farming) and hydroponic (growing plants without soil). In aquaponics, the nutrient-rich water that is produced by raising fish (to eat or admire) provides a source of natural fertiliser for the growing plants. When the plants take up the nutrients, they purify the water that the fish live in. This creates a sustainable micro ecosystem where both plants and fish can thrive. Aquaponics is widely regarded as the most efficient form of gardening known. The benefits are as follows:

Systems are compact and efficient and are therefore ideal for homegrown food production.

No weeding, pesticides or fertilizers are required

They are completely natural and organic

Plants and fish grow rapidly

Uses less that 10% of the water required for conventional gardening

They make gardening available to a wide range of people who may have found it difficult due to urban environments, disabled etc.

They are innovative and creative and therefore generally appealing.

This means that you can create amazing concepts which involve fish (to admire or to eat) and plants at the same time. Its the perfect roof top gardening system. It lends itself equally to the commercial grower as it does to someone who only has a small patio.

Aquaponic systems have a number of advantages which means that they will become an increasing part of new garden designs in the UK. They are compact, they don't use soil, they are organic, they use only 10% of the water normally used in gardening and they don't use fertiliser or pesticides.

They pretty much run themselves to. Apart from feeding the fish and picking the plants there really is not much more you need to do with them. Because the system waters and feeds itself the plants grow amazingly well - much faster than normal gardens.

It will be up to the designers to consider how they incorporate the systems but they will have fun doing so. If you need any further advice or suggestion please do not hesitate to contact us

http://www.aquaponicworld.com