Backyard Gardens And The How To's
The snow has melted, the air is starting to warm up, and the smell of springtime is in the air. It might be time to start getting your garden ready for the glorious spring and summer that are to come. And if you're sick of your backyard garden, it also might be the perfect time for a clean start. We asked readers to submit pictures and descriptions of their "theme" backyard gardens and patios. Here are our top picks - maybe they will inspire you!
1. Butterfly Garden: Rosemary Willis has designed this gorgeous garden just to attract butterflies. Featuring bright colors and sweet scents, this garden is irresistible to these fluttering insects, not to mention a joy to behold by humans as well. Rosemary's butterfly garden is beautiful, aromatic, and full of life, giving the butterflies and their observers a wonderful place to visit.
An English garden is one of the oldest types of backyard gardens in the world. Certain very specific types of plants and flowers are very intrinsic to the English garden. The English have very traditional gardens that include wild flowers, hedges, and paths. Some designers have also including garden globes and statuary in their otherwise traditional English gardens.
3. Cat Garden: Sissy Nye-Robison has done the unthinkable - she has designed an entire garden around her beloved cats! She's planted plenty of stands of catnip and cat grass, as well as installed birdhouses and butterfly-attracting plants to give her kitties some excitement. Hardy wisteria plants and small trees are designed to allow the cats to climb or perch. Sissy notes that cat lovers should make sure to check that everything they plant is non-poisonous for pets.
Among the new specialty types of backyard gardens is the black and white garden designed by Pilar Sota. The contrast between dark and light plants is obvious during the day. Even at night they are beautiful as the white plants pick up the light from the moon.
Tea Garden: the creator of this great smelling garden is Janice LaRoux. In it, she has planted more than 50 varieties of plants that can be used to make tea! Jasmine, peppermint, and cinnamon create a whirlwind of flavors when the visitor walks in the garden. To add a finishing touch, Janice has used large decorative teapots hidden among the tea plants and leading a path to her backyard patio.
Our favorite backyard gardens include the butterfly garden designed by Rosemary Willis, with bright colors and heady aromas. Joshua Rakham chose an English garden with natural growth and formal hedgerows, and the whimsy of gnomes, fairies and globes. Sissy Nye-Robison's pets love a cat garden full of catnip and other safe cat-friendly plants to attract butterflies and birds, and wisteria and plants suitable for climbing. Pilar Sota chose a striking black and white theme that is as beautiful in moonlight as it by day. Finally, Janice LaRoux set off her backyard patio with a tea garden using more than 50 different plants and tea pots to add to the theme.
Published October 8th, 2007
Filed in Gardening