Creating raised garden beds is a wonderful way to get a garden started easily. When you plant your flowers or vegetables in raised garden beds, you don't have to pull weeds first, turn soil, or dig out a lot of rocks and other debris. Instead, you simply choose the location you want your garden bed to be, lay down your bed retainer walls, and fill it with dirt.

Raised garden beds are popular because they're easy, but also because they allow you to start growing seeds and small starter plants earlier in the season. A raised garden bed will become warmer earlier in the season than a ground based garden bed, and that allows you to start your gardening earlier in the year.

The first step to creating your raised garden bed is to choose the materials you'll use for the walls of the bed. There are a wide variety of materials that can be used to create your garden bed. Rocks for instance, can be piled together into a rock wall design. Bricks can also be used to create a more formal looking garden bed too. Wood or railroad ties are easy, attractive and sometimes even free too.

Regardless of what you choose to create your garden bed with, you'll need to gather enough materials to make the bed as high as you'd like it. Some people like to create garden beds just a foot or two tall, while others create tiered garden beds which have multiple levels ranging from a foot or two in height, to four or five feet at the tallest level. How you design yours is completely up to you of course, and your budget.

Once you've decided on the materials you'll use to create your raised garden bed, the next step is to choose the location for the bed. Where you place your garden bed will depend on how much space you need, and how much sunlight you'll need too. If you're building a raised garden bed to plant a vegetable garden for instance, you'll want to place the bed in a location which gets at least five to six hours of sunlight each day.

Now that you have your materials and location chosen, it's time to build the bed. And all you need to do is simply lay out your material in the design you want for the garden bed to create the bed frame. Once the frame for your garden bed is ready, then you just need to fill it with soil. Put enough soil into the new garden bed to bring it to at least one or two inches below the top of your garden bed frame.

All that's left now is planting. You can plant small starter seedling plants in your bed, sow seeds directly, or put more mature plants in, whichever you prefer. After planting your plants in the new garden bed, surround them with some type of mulch material such as tree bark or dry grass clippings, so the plants and bed won't dry out too quickly during hot spells.

Tags: Vegetables, Flowers, Raised garden beds

Creating a private garden space is a lot of fun to do, but it also provides you with years of enjoyment after the fact too. Sometimes called garden rooms, or outdoor rooms, a private garden space is made to be private. A sanctuary you can retreat to anytime you'd like, to enjoy nature, smell the beautiful flowers growing, and simply destress from the everyday hustle and bustle of life.

When planning your private garden, the general goal is usually to create a quiet place to retreat from the world. This garden doesn't have to be fully private, but it does have a much more calming effect when it's at least semi-private. So consider the location of your garden before starting to create it. If you must place the garden near busy or noisy areas such as close to the street, there are tactics you can use in your planning and design which will help dampen the noise and distractions. If possible though, you'll get the best results from a private garden space by creating it away from everyday noise and activity.

Private garden spaces usually tend to be on the small side, and many people turn small backyard patios or gazebos into their private garden space. The garden can be as large as you'd like though, depending on your own personal preferences and budget restrictions.

One of the first things you'll need to plan for is what kind of barrier you'll use for your garden. One of the reasons a private garden space is often referred to as a garden room, is because many people like to create living walls for their garden area. And these walls make the space seem more like an outdoor room because the garden space is more enclosed. If you prefer not to have your garden enclosed too much though, you can simply create an entranceway to your private garden space using an arbor or arch.

Living walls can be made by simply putting up inexpensive materials such as a chain link fence or wooden trellis, and using fast growing flower vines. Flower vines can easily be trained to grow up and over fences, trellis materials and arches too, and as these vines mature they create a thick living wall which separates your garden area from the rest of the world. These vines also tend to sheild the area from everyday noise and activity, plus they help to make the garden space cooler than the rest of the yard area may be as well.

An alternative way to create your private garden space quickly, is to simply buy flower pots and containers in a variety of sizes, then buy plants which have already started to grow. Arrange your flower boxes, pots and containers around the perimeter of the garden space, then plant the new flowers into them. If you choose flower pots and containers which have varying sizes and heights, you'll be able to strategically place them in locations which will block out everyday activities from your main line of sight. This type of private garden space won't always block out much noise though, so it's best located in a more secluded area of the yard.

Tags: Private Garden