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: Low Water Gardening, Xeriscaping

Creating a container based water garden is a wonderful way to get your very own water garden started, without needing much space at all to do it in. It's also easy, quick, and fairly inexpensive to create as well.

Container water gardens can be made as small or large as you'd like them to be, but keep in mind that the larger your garden is, the more space you'll need for the water garden container to be placed. On the opposite end of the equation though, if you create your water garden too small, you won't have much room for some of the gorgeous water loving plants you'll start finding out about.

Many people create container water gardens in half barrel sized gardening containers, because these are readily available at most discount department stores. Often they come with a liner included too, which is something you'll need for creating your water garden. If the flower container you've chosen to use doesn't have a liner included though - and the container is also not waterproof - you'll need to buy a liner that will fit into that container you've chosen.

Now, water garden plants have their roots submerged below the surface of the water level even in a container garden, so they need special soil that works well in that wet environment. The plants you buy will often come in that soil already, but you'll usually need to buy some sort of pebbles or peat moss that will be placed on top of the soil before you submerge your plants. This material will help hold the soil in place instead of letting it float out into the main water area of your garden.

Once you've chosen a container and liner to create your new water garden in, place it where you'd like it to reside because it will be heavy once you've gotten the garden created. Put the liner into your container according to instructions, then fill it up with a water hose. Let that sit for at least twenty four hours or so, to be sure that there are no leaks. This sitting time also allows the chlorine to evaporate from the water too.

The next step is to create "shelves" on the bottom of your container. Stack pieces of bricks on top of each other, or turn an old plastic garden container upside down and put a brick on it to keep it from floating up to the top. The stacks of bricks and containers are what your new water loving plants will sit on to make sure they're at the growing height they need.

Some water loving plants will need to have their leaves only at the surface of the water, and the rest of the plant will be fully submerged. Other water garden plants however, need to have their soil base at the surface of the water instead, so you'll need to sit those plants onto some type of shelf or raised surface.

Your new water garden will also be much more interesting if the plants are not all the same height. When you choose plants for your garden for instance, try getting one which may grow two to three feet tall at maturity, and one that only grows a foot or so. Then get one which floats on the surface of the water, and another which will cascade over the side of your water garden container too. These varying heights and sizes will make the garden much more attractive and appealing.

Once you have your container and shelves ready, now you simply need to put a bit of pebbles or peat moss into the top of each plant container that you'll be putting into the garden, then submerge the container into the water and sit it on the shelf you created for it.

Once you have all your new plants in place, you now have a beautiful self contained water garden to enjoy to your heart's content!

Tags: Container Water Garden

Hanging Baskets

Hanging baskets are one of the best ways to bring immediate color to areas of your home and garden, where growing plants in the conventional way may be difficult.

They can be positioned by the entrance door, to add a welcoming note for visitors, or to bring color to shadier areas. It's just a matter of providing a suitable bracket from which to hang the basket. Do remember that even a small basket, when filled with potting compost and well watered, weighs a great deal. So make sure your bracket is firmly fixed to the wall . Special anchor bolts, rather than simply a screw and a plastic wall plug are the order of the day.

As with all planting, you should consider the conditions of the area where the basket is intended to hang, before choosing your plants. So, if your basket is intended to brighten up a shady area, you should consider using a fuchsia as the centerpiece for height and surrounding it with shade tolerant plants such as impatiens, otherwise known as "Busy Lizzy". This plant originates on the floor of tropical rain forests. From this, you can understand the conditions it likes best: warmth, plenty of moisture and not over-bright conditions. For planting in the sides of the basket, trailing lobelia is ideal, as it tolerates both sunshine and shade.

If you are planting for an area that gets a lot of sun, you should use a geranium for your height giving central plant and under plant with petunias. When established these will tend to spill over the sides of the basket, although you should also plant the sides of the basket with contrasting lobelia.

No plants give of their best in windy conditions and by hanging up there in mid air, hanging baskets are at more risk of windy conditions than plants at ground level. Although hanging baskets can tolerate a certain amount of wind without detriment, do avoid areas that are prone to wind. For example, sometimes two buildings together tend to take on the conditions of a wind tunnel and amplify the windy conditions.

Trailing lobelia, in particular, does not like wind and, if you find the tips of this plant turning brown, too much wind is probably the cause.

In order to get the maximum flowers from your baskets you should make sure they never dry out and have an adequate supply of high potash fertilizer. You can give them this by either mixing a slow release fertilizer in the compost, along with some moisture retaining crystals, or you can give them a liquid feed of a high potash fertilizer as recommended by the maker's instructions.

You should water the baskets as often as once a day in very sunny or windy conditions. You might find baskets in shadier, sheltered areas can go a bit longer between watering, although the fuchsia/ impatiens shade basket will appreciate being sprayed with a fine mist of water on hot days — provided the sun is not shining directly on them.

Dead head your plants regularly, to encourage more flowers, and you will be rewarded with a very long season of continuous color.

Tags: Hanging Baskets