How To Grow And Handle Fresh Herbs From Your Garden Beds Or Your Container Garden. ( Aerogarden)

Aerogarden

In any recipe calling for herbs, use fresh herbs. Preparing the herbs for your dish is easy. The more tender herbs like mint, parsley, basil and cilantro can be gathered in a bowl and snipped with scissors. This is the fastest and safest way to chop the herbs. If your recipe calls for the more hardy herbs like oregano, rosemary, or thyme you should use the stripping method. Hold a branch of the herb upright in your fingers and run the fingers of your other hand down the stalk stripping the tiny leaves free. The flavor will be more intense if you have gathered the herbs from your herb gardens or container gardens because they will be absolutely the freshest herbs available.

The best way to have fresh herbs is to plant and grow them yourself. No longer is there a designated “herb garden”. They can be found in your flower beds, along walkways or in pots on your porch. Many ambitious gardeners are finding new ways to incorporate herbs into their garden beds and their container gardens.

Many gardeners are unaware of the beauty of flowering herbs and never consider planting them within their flower beds. Some herbs that have beautiful flowers are purple coneflower, catmint, bee balm, yarrow, pinks, lavender, pot marigold, borage, feverfew, and nasturtium which is particularly lovely in fresh salads.. Many other herbs, such as parsley are excellent next to flowers of all sorts because of their spectacular foliage. When planting red or blue flowers, place purple basil around them for an artful arrangement.

Another area to consider is to use herbs as ground cover. The herbs that are suitable to this are the low growing oregano, chamomile, woolly and other creeping thyme, mint, and rosemary. Not only will it look pretty but it will be absolutely fragrant. Just be careful of the mint family, they tend to take over everything.

One of the best ways I have grown herbs is in containers. In fact, I like container gardening so much I wrote my eBook “Container Gardening Secrets” (available at ContainerGardeningSecrets.com), so everyone could enjoy this type of gardening. The beauty of a container garden is that it is portable and can be changed at a moment’s whim. When there is no more room in your garden, start a container garden which you can place on your door step or patio. Use them to fill in bare spots that come up during the gardening season or put them on a sunny window sill in your home for easy harvesting. Best of all you can bring your herb containers inside over the winter months and continue to harvest for months to add to your tasty meals or to be used for medicinal purposes.

Another way to employ pots in your garden is to plant invasive herbs such as mint into a pot and then plant pot and all into the ground. This is an easy trick to keep those “creepers” from taking over your garden beds.

Plant a container garden near your door with the cherry pie scented blue flower heliotrope and other fragrant herbs such as rosemary, thyme and basil. Every time you walk by you will be greeted with there delicious scent.

Some herbs that have grown on rocky hillsides over the centuries such as thyme, oregano and lavender are perfect for cracks in flag stone paths or walls and rock gardens. They thrive in hot dry areas with good drainage. Some believe that those herbs grown in these conditions produce much better flavor.

Now is the time to plant your herbs, whether it is in a garden bed, a cracked wall or a container garden. Use your imagination. Consider color height and texture when planting your gardens. Not only will it be visually pleasing but your cooking will improve too!

Happy Gardening!

Copyright © 2006 Mary Hanna All Rights Reserved.

This article may be distributed freely on your website and in your ezines, as long as this entire article, copyright notice, links and the resource box are unchanged.

-Aerogarden-

Garden Design: How To Choose And Place Garden Art In Your Backyard. (Aerogarden)

Aerogarden

Your backyard should relax and refresh you, but it should also delight you! Choosing garden art that reflects your personality and makes you feel good is an important key to creating the ultimate backyard.

Art can mean many things to many people but basically there are 3 types:

1. Formal Art

Think larger stately pieces that you see in more traditional backyards, like a classic sculpture of a Greek goddess or a stone angel. Heavy iron garden ornaments like obelisks and sundials also work well with most backyard landscape designs.

These pieces create an old-world feel and lend a sense of drama to the yard. Others might include columns, carved fountains, birdbaths, and classical architectural salvage.

2. Semi-formal

This is the most popular type because it suits so many styles of backyards. It‘s more relaxed in theme, a little more nostalgic and decorative.

For example, light hearted sculptures of animals or children in concrete, resin or bronze, contemporary metal sculptures of flowers and insects, stained glass stepping stones, artistic birdhouses, and hand painted garden pots, copper wind chimes.

3. Informal Art

I call this art “your imagination gone wild”. Everyday objects are placed in the garden to create art that is fun, whimsical, and even campy.

I‘ve seen all kinds of items used as garden décor like: old rubber boots planted with flowers, a nostalgic wire bedroom headboard , an antique window frame, an old-fashioned bathtub, a dressmaker’s dummy, and fancy china plates.

Remember that the type of art you choose should be in keeping with the feel of your backyard but it should also be an expression of you.

The most important thing is that you should feel some emotional attachment to your garden art.

Tips for placing Garden Art

In the garden, art becomes a focal point. Your eye is naturally drawn to it and it commands your attention. So where you place it is important. Put garden art:

• In a boring, bare part of the yard to add interest and stimulate conversation

• At the end of a path to add drama

• In any area to add comic relief. I have a cute bronze frog lying on a back on a lily pad beside my waterfall and pond.

• In front of an ugly spot to hide dead patch

• Directly in line with an unwanted view of the neighbour’s yard to create privacy

• On a wall or fence to visually break up the long monotonous line. I have a beautiful concrete painted face hanging on one part of my fence and a mirror hanging on another to add interest.

• In front of a colourful burst of foliage to punctuate the space. My classical white bird bath looks gorgeous just in front of my huge pink rose bush

• Hidden behind some greenery so it just peeks out a little to create a feeling of antiquity. This will put plants in the spotlight.

• Within the frame of a beautiful view to enhance the view even more. My backyard is on the lake and the view is made even more beautiful by a large fountain of Poseidan the sea God that we have made part of the view.

• In a rock garden to create feeling of garden gallery. The rocks are natural pedestals for the art and create a wonderful playground for eye to bounce around in and land on art.

Don’t forget about the view from inside. Take a look out your window to see where you might place art so that it draws you out into the backyard.

Finally, less is more. Too much garden art will make your backyard look junky. All you need is a few interesting pieces to personalize your backyard and give it a sense of place.

Deborah Boland © 2006 All Rights Reserved

-Aerogarden-