Gardening Services Guide

Archive for the ‘General Gardening Tips’ Category

Some of the best free gardening tips focus not on just what you can do to help your plants grow, but how you can combine plants in the garden to optimize the appearance of the landscape. Rearranging your flower gardens is not just inexpensive, it is actually free. Gardening tips for making the most of your garden spots include:

* Keep taller plants to the back and center of the landscapes. This adds depth to gardens and will actually make them look bigger, even if they are just very small patio or corner gardens.

* Use perennials as the foundation of your garden design. A few larger perennials will keep the “shape” of the garden and prevent having to redesign the landscaping every year. Bushy perennials that are chosen for both their leaf color as well as for the flowers that they have. Dark green leaves provide a lush look to the garden whereas variegated or light color leaves provide a tropical or exotic look. One of the most popular free gardening tips is to share clippings or cuttings of perennials with your neighbors to expand your flower garden without having to actually purchase any plants.

* Plant annuals towards the front and edges of the garden. Annuals usually have the brightest and most long-lasting flowers but they only live one season. Planting them on the outside of the flower garden draws attention to the whole garden, again making it appear bigger. The thicker and denser foliage of the background perennials also helps to frame and display the annuals.

* Organize plants in bunches, rather as just individuals plants. A denser group of plants in bunches make the display more appealing and highlights the flowers and presentation.

* Try uses monochromatic color schemes to really make an eye catching display. Themes of different varieties of white flowers for a very soft or romantic garden. Oranges and reds make a striking looking presentation. Darker and brighter colors of flowers draw attention to the garden whereas lighter or white gardens tend to look larger.

There are some plants that actually help each other grow when planted together. Many of the plants can also provide benefits to other species with regards to repelling insects and plant diseases. Some plants that benefit from being planted together are:

* Roses and Marigolds – roses naturally attract aphids, which will eat the leaves and flowers. Marigolds, when planted around roses will naturally repel these insects.
* Garlic – garlic planted in both perennial and annual gardens helps to keep most leaf-eating bugs away.
* Bee Balm – both an herb and an eye-catching flower this plant will attract bees, butterflies and hummingbirds to the garden to help with pollination.
* Dahlias – both repel bugs and provide nitrogen to the soil

By following these free gardening tips and planning the flowers in your garden keeping in mind the flowers that grow well together will help your garden stay insect free without the use of herbicides.

Many rose gardeners love using many different types of roses for gardening