Rooftop Gardens Are Oasis In The Sky

Rooftop gardens are surprising, impressive and fun. Maybe it's because they are so counter-intuitive that people view them with admiration and wonder. They are a step away from reality. An organic, natural phenomenon in a completely unnatural place. Rooftop gardens make a refreshing change from the usual mundane concrete roofs of buildings. They can be the crowning glory, the highlight of a building. One of the world's most famous examples is Kensington Roof Gardens in central London. Created in the 1930s, they cover 1.5 acres and include three separate styles of garden - a Spanish/Moorish garden, a tudor inspired garden and an English woodland. And the great thing is they have largely remained as originally planted but have matured, giving the gardens a natural, bedded in feel. The Spanish Gardens include palm trees and Moorish colonnades, the woodland garden has a river and grassy banks and the Tudor garden even has herringbone brickwork. The gardens have always been popular with Londoners and tourists - in the early days the public were charged for tours which raised money for local hospitals. Now they are Grade II listed and many of the trees are protected by tree preservation orders. They are currently owned by Virgin Group's Richard Branson and form part of a glamorous restaurant and party venue. And not only do they play host to countless trees, shrubs and flowers but also flamingos and ducks! The same landscape designer, Ralph Hancock had already been to the USA where he had created "The Garden of the Nations" on top of the 11th floor of the Rockefeller Centre in Manhattan. It was an ambitious project, inspired by the gardens of Holland, Italy, England, Japan and Spain.

The English Garden included turf imported from England, and Cotswold stone. The site housed a horticultural centre where the public could buy bulbs, plants and even garden furniture and guided tours of the gardens could be enjoyed. The site was a venue for numerous plant and flower shows and meetings of New York gardening clubs. During the second world war the Japanese gardens were taken down and replaced with a Chinese garden. Sadly over the years the gardens have been neglected and very little of the original design remains. Who knows, maybe one day someone will be inspired to restore them. The City of London boasts several rooftop gardens most impressively at No.1 Poultry and at the Liffe Building above Cannon Street railway station which both have landscaped shrubs and plants, not just a simple lawn. The Corporation of London, which is the local government body for the City of London is working to encourage more roof gardens in the Square Mile. Other notable roof gardens include the New Amsterdam Theatre on Broadway in New York. At the turn of the 20th Century performances were often held on the roof. Remember these were the days before air conditioning when a light breeze was welcomed by audiences! The gardens remain but are no longer used for performances and are not open to the public.
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Landscape Gardening Tips On Landscape Gardening

Landscape Gardening - Multiple Tips On Landscape Gardening This commentary on landscape gardening will deliberate over the effectiveness of making use of tips on landscape gardening in order to work out various landscaping problems.
Provides You With Professional Advice You are aware of what precisely you want implemented and wish that you could hire the services of a landscape specialist to execute the project. Regrettably, you are constrained by your finances. However, luckily, there are scores of tips on landscape gardening. By putting in a little effort delving into the subject, you can easily handle any landscaping issue by means of professional tips. It does not make sense to commit the same faults previously made by somebody else and not to be forewarned. You do not have to resort to the difficult trial and error method when expert guidance is at your disposal. Tips on landscape gardening can help you carefully invest your time and resources.
Tackles Several Gardening Issues Tips on landscape gardening can sort out a whole host of landscaping concerns:
1. The kind of plants that will flourish in the soil conditions present in your area
2. A cost-effective means of setting up a pond in your garden
3. The most suitable time to grow shrubs
4. The easiest method of doing away with old turf
5. Shortcuts that will expedite the landscaping project
6. Merging a novel landscaping project with a deck that already exists
7. Purchase of landscaping materials in an economical manner
8. Growing plants that bloom all through the year
9. Setting up landscaping beds to take into account seasonal factors
These tips are very useful for any kind of a landscaping project, and will help in structuring the process effectively, curtailing the costs, and in providing the latest expert advice and information.
Hi-Tech Suggestions Living in a technologically advanced society has many advantages, one being that the latest information in the field of science and technology are instantly conveyed to the end user. Tips on landscape gardening cover more than just suggesting the kind of plants to grow. These tips focus on locating the most modern landscaping supplies and techniques to resolve longstanding issues. Not long ago, landscaping called for loads of supplies, like wood logs, which needed to be restored every so often. These days, you can avail of tips on landscape gardening, which spot the most recent supplies available in stores that do not fall to pieces in the ground. Some time back, a consumer was confronted with an insect problem, which lasted for a complete season before the consumer could get his hands on a product that could effectively eliminate the pests. The insects by then had damaged quite a bit of the landscaped area, necessitating expensive substitution.
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Gardening in Small Spaces

Gardening in a small space can present challenges, but opportunities, too. A garden, especially a small one can form a calming, tranquil, cocoon around us. If your piece of terra firma is petite here are some guidelines to help you create an intimate garden you’ll love to retreat to.

First Things First First decide how you will use your garden. Is it to be an outdoor “living and dining room”? Do you entertain a lot? Do you need a space for the kids to play? Once you analyze how you’ll use your garden, the next step is to sketch it out. Start by drawing a plan of the yard including the walls of the house and any existing permanent features such as walkways and trees. Then, decide what your sitting/dining needs are. Do you want a table for six close to the house, or a small café table for two tucked into a little nook? If you have young children, is a sand box planned? You get the idea. Think about all these things, and plot them on your sketch.
Principles and Elements of Design For best results pay attention to tried and true principles and elements of design. Here are some basics:
Scale Scale is the relative size of a space or element in relation to the surroundings it is placed in. In a small garden, it’s important to keep all the elements in balance. For example a huge tree is overwhelming in a small space.
Lines Gentle, curving lines are restful. Sharp, jagged diagonals or verticals create excitement, but in a small garden may be too busy and disorganized. Rectangular forms are a good choice for small gardens because they are clearly defined.
Form or Shape Form in the garden is defined by the shapes of things in the garden including the plants, trees and shrubs. In small gardens, rectangular forms, whether in the shape of a flower bed or a patio, create an uninterrupted line, making the space seem larger. A small garden is perfectly suited to vertical gardening. You can double your garden space with climbing plants.
Texture A variety of textures creates interest in a garden. In a small garden, plants are likely to be viewed close-up where different textures can be fully enjoyed.
Colour Use colour to manipulate space. In small spaces, cooler colours – like blue, purple, green and white – open it up and make the garden seem larger. In a small space limit the varieties and colours of plants you use. Masses of one colour are more effective.
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Great Garden Design in 10 Easy Steps

Behind every beautiful garden is a great garden design outline. Who better to give a quick lesson on how to begin planning your own garden masterpiece, than garden design expert and one of the popular hosts on Garden Architecture, Haig Seferian? Here are his quick and easy tips to ensure that you can plan a beautiful garden and keep it looking fabulous all year long.

· Don't have too many colours in your garden design. Choose two or three colours and spread them throughout your garden to make more of an impact.
· Look at the architecture of your home to help you select the theme of your garden. The two should compliment and reflect one another.
· Think about form composition and remember that two forms work better than three. For example, curvilinear + modular = great design!
· Consider all of the many different elements and principles of a garden when you begin designing. For example, line, space, texture, repetition, harmony, and unity are all important features in any great garden plan.
· Keep it simple. The best designs are always the ones that are very clean and simple in nature.
· Consider all four seasons in your design. A well-designed garden should look beautiful all year long.
· Choose plant combinations that compliment each other.
· Take advantage of existing trees, views and vistas. Incorporate them into your garden design.
· Take into careful consideration how much entertaining you do before you decide on the size of a patio or a deck.
· Don't forget the water feature. Be sure to locate a water feature in an area so that it can be seen from both inside and outside of your home throughout the year.

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Winter Garden Checklist best Gardening Tips

In winter, alternately freezing and thawing causes the ground to heave, thus exposing plants’ roots to frigid temperatures which can cause serious root damage. A good snow cover protects plants from this intermittent freezing and thawing, but then you can’t always count on a reliable snow cover. Mulch such as compost, straw or shredded leaves help moderate the swings in soil temperature. The important thing to remember is to mulch after the ground is frozen. If you do it too soon, you'll create a nice cozy home for critters (like mice) to spend the winter.

Protect your Roses All but hardy species roses should have some winter protection. There are as many ways to do this as there are gardeners. One way is to prune the rose back to about knee high and draw soil around the base of the bush to a height of 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12 inches). After the ground freezes up, draw some more soil up around the rose bush.

Dig Up Tender Bulbs Summer flowering bulbs such as canna lilies, dahlias and gladioli should be dug up after the first frost blackens the leaves. Wash off any soil that still clings to them and air dry indoors for a couple of weeks. When completely dry, store them in dry peat moss in paper bags or cardboard boxes and keep them in a cool frost-free spot. Check throughout the winter and discard any that have mildew.

Resist Being Too Tidy Resist the temptation to be too tidy. Many gardeners like to cut all their plants down to ground level. But, the seed heads attract and feed winter birds. And, if you mulched your perennials, the stalks will help to hold the mulch in place. The hollow stalks of some plants (like dahlias) should be cut down however, because they may harbour insects. Anything that is diseased should be removed and discarded.

Plant Some Vegetables Yes that's right, fall is a good time to seed some veggies. In spring, we’ve all gone out into the garden and discovered a carrot or some parsley growing where no seed was previously sown. Seeding at the end of the season can mean a crop two to three weeks earlier next year. Lettuce, carrots, parsnips, spinach, parsley and onions are often successful when planted in the fall. Timing is important and late season seeding should be done just before the ground freezes up.

Keep Watering Keep watering shrubs and trees right up until the ground freezes. Evergreens especially need a good store of moisture heading into the winter months. They don't lose their leaves and continue to give off moisture throughout the cold months.

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