Cactus gardens are something many gardener's feel are only used in the desert southwestern part of the United States. And many people who are unfamiliar with cactus plants, assume they're just an ugly, prickly, almost alien looking thing that crops up in the hottest and dryest parts of the world.

Cactus plants do grow wild in the desert southwest, and they do thrive in extreme heat and drought conditions. But this is one of the things that makes them so wonderful to use in a home garden. You see, anyone unfamiliar with cactus plants doesn't usually know that they produce some beautiful flowers too. In fact, most cactus plants produce flowers, and most of the plants also put on a wonderful color display throughout the year too.

Most flower blooms on cactus plants resemble more cultured and cultivated plants too. Not only are the flower buds themselves similar in shape to other types of plant flowers, but you'll find a wide variety of colors available for the cactus flowers too.

A prickly pear cactus for instance, can create flower blooms which look a bit like tulips or roses. You might see some that are peach and white, or some that are solid red. And these cactus plants are beautiful with large flowers sticking up on each sharp spine. Not only do these cactus plants create flower blooms though, the Prickly Pear cactus also changes color throughout the year. Sometimes it's a pale green color, and sometimes it will turn pink. Still other times you'll see the cactus pads turn a deep purple color too.

Prickly pear cactus are also edible, much like most cactus plants are actually, and it produces fruit pods in addition to flowers throughout the year. Both the fruit and the cactus pads can be eaten. Some people fry them with butter, while others will make cactus jelly and jam from the pads.

There are many cactus plants which grow quite tall - over 15 feet in some cases - and there are plenty which grow small as well. Most will spread themselves out over time though too, so you have to be careful not to plant them too closely when creating a cactus garden.

Cactus plants usually only need about an inch of water every one to three months, so watering - or not watering rather - a cactus garden is one of the most difficult things for gardeners to accept. If you water a cactus garden too much though, the plants will actually die off. Instead, you have to make sure the cactus stay quite dry. If you live in an area that gets regular rain, you may even have to create a container based cactus garden so that you can move them to a dry spot while it's raining outside.

Tags: Cacti, Prickly pear cactus, Cactus Gardening

Xeriscaping is the act of creating naturalized gardens using plants, flowers, shrubs and trees which are acclimated to the particular area you live in. Xeriscaping is becoming very popular, because when you create your garden based on flowers and plants which grow naturally in your area, you end up needing to water and care for them much less.

Xeriscaping is particularly useful for creating gardens that need little to no watering, and it's used the most in the desert southwestern area of the United States, because water is quite scarce in those areas.

When most people start thinking about how to create a garden which uses little to no water other than natural rainfall amounts, they immediately think of creating a cactus garden. And cactus gardens can be quite beautiful in and of themselves, but this is not the only way to create a beautiful garden which doesn't need supplemental watering from you.

One excellent way to help reduce the amount of water your plants need for instance, is to buy special water crystals to add to your garden soil. These crystals are designed to absorb and hold water for long periods of time - usually about two weeks - so that you can water your plants less yet still have them be healthy and beautiful.

The water crystals absorb water each time you water your garden, then they slowly release that water to the plants over time. You can buy potting soil which already has these crystals added, or you can buy the crystals themselves and add them to the existing areas of your garden they're needed most.

You can also help your garden plants and flowers conserve water by simply giving them a good thick layer of natural mulch. Use dead leaves, dry grass clippings, sawdust, wood chips, or even tree bark pieces to cover the ground around your plants. This covering will help keep the soil from drying out so fast, thus you won't need to water your plants as often even in the dry heat of summer. The mulch will also keep your plants from being ravaged by the bitter winter cold as badly too.

There are of course, many types of plants which require very little water to thrive too, and they're not all cactus plants. Cactus are plants which probably have the lowest water needs of any kind of plant though, and there are many which are quite beautiful throughout the year. Most cactus plants create blooming flowers, and many of them change to various colors in different seasons too.

Besides cactus plants though, other gorgeous plants grow quite well even in the worst of the drought seasons. These low water plants are often very unique too, and they really make your garden stand out from the neighbor's. Some of the best plants to use for low water gardening needs are the Desert Mallow and the California Poppy. These often have flowers which range from light peach to orange in color, but you'll sometimes see them in other shades as well.

The leaves on these plants may seem a bit strange to someone who has never seen them before though, because they're a paler green color and they're a bit hairy. These plants draw butterflies and hummingbirds though, so they'll be an excellent addition to your xeriscaping garden plans.

Tags: Xeriscaping, Low Water Gardening

When you're ready to start planting a garden of any kind, the first thing you'll need to do is actually plan where things will be planted in your yard. By planning your garden first, you'll be able to create a beautiful landscape out of your yard, while making sure all plants and flowers compliment each other in color, height, texture and more.

You'll also be able to make sure you're not creating problems in your garden, that may make things difficult later in the growing season. If you're planting wildflowers which grow as tall as two feet for instance, you won't want to plant those right in front of a tulip garden which has flowers that will only grow to about ten inches in height.

One of the first steps needed in garden planning is to choose which flowers, bushes, shrubs, or plants you'd like to have in your garden. Choices are made for a variety of reasons too. Some people choose their flowers and plants based on color, while others may choose what to put in their garden based on how easy the plant or flower is to grow. Still others will plan gardens based on various needs their yard areas have.

If you have an area of your yard which isn't easily accessible for watering for instance, you might want to consider creating a small cactus garden, or planting flowers which require very little supplemental watering throughout the year. Likewise if there is an area of your yard which seems to be the first to flood when rains come, you'll want to plan a garden area for that space which includes plants and flowers who thrive with lots of water.

Once you've chosen the kinds of plants and flowers you want to have in your garden, the next step is to make sure you know what the sunlight, soil, and water requirements are for those plants. Plants which have similar needs for sun, soil and water should be planted in similar locations. If you try to plant a shade loving plant right next to a sun loving plant, one or the other of those plants is likely to die soon. And sometimes both with die, if the location you choose for them isn't quite appropriate for either one.

Now that you have your plants and their garden locations chosen, the next planning step involves how to arrange multiple plants into one garden area. And this part is fairly simple. If all of the plants you've chosen for one area of the garden will be about the same height once they're fully grown, then you can choose any layout design you'd like for them. You can plant like colored plants together for instance, or stagger the colors for a variagated look.

Usually there are some plants which will grow taller than others in your garden though, and when this is the case you'll need to make sure you plant the tallest growing plants towards the back, and the smaller ones in the front. This way the tallest plants and flowers won't hide the smaller ones once they're fully grown.

Tags: Garden Planning, Flower Garden, Cactus Garden