Green Belles!

When it comes to planting your garden the first thing you need to focus on is planning your garden. Once you have a line on the things you want to plant, where you want to plant them, and what the needs of your individual plants will be it is time to really dig in and get your hands dirty. Of course, for many gardeners this is the best thing about growing a summer garden (though some will argue that the results are the best thing). Either way, many gardeners relish the idea of getting their hands in the dirt in order to really get their garden underway.

Before the planting begins however you should take a calendar and mark the days that each part of your summer garden will be planted. Different flowers and vegetables have different growing seasons. Some prosper by earlier plantings while others prosper by later plantings. If you are planting a summer vegetable garden then it is quite possible that some of the plants will need a precise number of days between planting and harvesting. Both the plant and harvest days should be noted. This also however provides an excellent opportunity to plant more of the vegetable (and some flowers) every two weeks to provide a continuous rotation of the vegetable you love well into the gardening season.

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One of the most recognized manufacturers of Oak Garden Furniture are the Amish from Loudonville, Ohio. They use North American Red Oak or Cherry to create their beautiful Garden Furniture that is great for your patio. The tops, sides, face, face-frame and shelves are of solid oak or cherry wood, though pieces of oak and cherry veneers may be used. The Amish our proud to proclaim that no particleboard, no pressboard, and no masonite type materials used on any of their furniture only real oak grown on their own property.

The natural variations in solid wood grain make the cherry and oak furniture beautiful. Each piece of Garden Oak Furniture is unique in characteristics as oak wood grain varies in color. When you use a natural wood stain the coloring will vary if you want to have a consistent color you need to use a different stain.

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As a child, I remember many sunny summer afternoons sitting on the porch shelling more than my fair share of peas and butter beans in the deep dark heart of the old south. There were other vegetables we grew in our summer gardens that had to be picked and stored for winter but the peas and butter beans always seemed to take the most time and attention and are one of the things I sorely miss having left my home in the south for much cooler climes. One thing though, has never gotten away from me and that is the deep and abiding love I have for the smell of freshly plowed soil and the taste of vegetables fresh from the garden.

I point out the fact that my childhood favorite summer garden vegetables only seem to flourish in the south to drive home the fact that you really will need to research the vegetables you plant in your summer garden as they relate to the specific area in which you live. Not all vegetable plants are created equal in their tolerance for temperature or rainfall (or lack thereof), which could greatly impact their suitability for your particular vegetable summer garden depending of course, on where you are located.

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Just like the Nike ad says “Just Do It,” this is exactly the perspective one needs in getting good at garden designs. You can always move plants around your gardens and as your ideas and taste change, your gardens can grow with you. There are some simple elements of garden design. Think of designing your garden with living art in mind being creative and free to try whatever suits your taste. There are no limitations to the creativity that’s’ within, no comparison or fear of failure. Although gardening successfully requires learning certain skills, when all is said and done a garden’s beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. Just go for it and let your gardens be the expression of you.

Garden design and its principles used may be called by different names. There are three basic concepts when combined together will bring about good garden design. Ultimately your gardens’ design is up to you and should reflect your own personality and flare.

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