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How to Create Paved Areas and Water Features

by: Hege Crowton

Planning your driveway and walkways so that they take up a minimum amount of room yet still provide a strong enough surface for the traffic they will bear, calls for careful thinking.

The well-designed house and grounds have the garage close to the house and near to the street. The garage situated way in back of the house is a hangover from horse-and-buggy days when the stable had to be remote from the house.

Today when the majority of home owners have cars, space can be saved by using a garage path that also serves as the house path, or feeds into a short house walk. But though the driveway can be a short one, plan for off-street parking� have your driveway at least 20 feet from the street.

Most home driveways break down under heavy service trucks and traffic because the soil under the driveway is wet. Adequate drainage for wet spots, therefore, is a necessity.

Good driveway materials are stable, and should not get washed away by storms or shovelled up with snow. If, however, the driveway must be long and does form an important feature of your landscaping, a stable material may have to be passed up in favour of one like gravel or crushed rock, which will blend better with the surroundings.

Well-designed walks with neat edgings, steps which seem to be-long where they are placed, and intriguing little paths that lead you deeper into the garden, can do much to improve your grounds.

You can scarcely lay too much emphasis on your selection of material. Concrete paths and steps, for example, while often just the right thing; can form too sharp a contrast with the surrounding turf and planting.

Informal walks of wood butts (perhaps slices of telephone poles), flagstones, or tanbark may be much more suitable. Colonial houses are traditionally set off by brick; modern houses favour wood; small houses seem to call for flags.

Garden Pools and Fountains

Water, in almost any form, enriches a garden and delights the senses. Modern houses are bringing garden pools right into the patios and terraces. Ideal is water in movement, a splashing fountain or a narrow little brook running through the grounds and between flowers over clear stones.

But even a spigot with a wooden bucket below it or a tub to fill with water and use for plunging cut flowers can bring a verdant, cool feeling into the garden.

Using the sound of running water and the evaporative qualities of a fountain or pool to bring relief from the heat is a trick we have learned from the gardens of Japan, Spain and other hot climates.

A pool in the garden highlights the good features of your setting, and it should always be placed so that its surface will be seen from several points, or at least from the most frequented spot in the garden.

The shape and materials of the coping around the pool have much to do with its appropriateness in the setting. Flagstone, brick and tile are all good depending on the degree of formality of the pool. Sometimes the best solution is no visible coping.

Fountains can be made with only a small supply of flowing water, and the same water can be used over and over if you install a small motor and pump for an electric pumping system.

A vegetable garden can also be a source of great enjoyment. It should be out of sight in a corner, or screened with shrubbery, because of the seasons when there is nothing growing in it. But it can be a decorative addition to the garden, particularly if there are grass walks and attractive flowers around it.

About the author:
Hege Crowton is an expert copywriter.
She is known for doing in-depth research before writing her articles.
Many of her articles are posted on
and she also does a lot of writing for

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Things You Should Know About Gardening
by: Gerardas Norkus

Gardens come in different varieties like the plants you find in them. There are several gardening tips that can be used for all type of gardens.

1.Mulching protects your garden topsoil from being blown away. It also provides nutrients as it decomposes and improves the appearance of your gardens. Mulching has other benefits and is one of the most recommended gardening tips by gardeners and farmers alike.

2.Healthy plants are more disease resistant. Plant are like people, a person with a strong immune system can combat diseases. A healthy plant does the same.

3. Pests can be eradicated by cleaning the plant with a watery solution of soap. Just make sure to rinse after. This gardening tip is best heeded for fruit bearing trees or edible plants.

4. Using compost fertilizers are a great way to have healthy plants. It is also a great way to save money on expensive fertilizers. Non -organic fertilizers also tend to leave chemical residues that can accumulate in garden soils and harm not only the plants but the gardeners as well. They cause toxins to go to the water supplies. Another gardening tip recommended not just by farmers and gardeners but also by environmentalists.

5. There are several plants that are only suitable for a specified climate, a certain kind of soil or can only grow with certain plants. You have to know what plant grow in the conditions you have in your area this is for you to avoid unnecessary purchases. This is a money saving gardening tip.

6.Landscaping is a good investment which can double the value of your home. This is one gardening tip that can earn you money.

7. Growing grass on bare ground is an easy way to make your home look better and appreciate in value. This is one gardening tip that promotes earning money while growing grass legally.

8. Aside from looking great in your home, trees also provide some sort of protection from direct sunlight exposure and strong winds.

9. Vines on the walls, fences and overhead structures also would offer some protection and would also look great.

10.Flowers are beautiful, but they are also expensive. Get one that is resistant to many elements. Flowers from your local community already have developed resistance to conditions present in your area.

11.For most gardens plants, their roots go only as deep as 6 inches. Putting fertilizer deeper than that would be a waste of money. Put them shallower as they seep down when the plants are being watered.

12.Earthworms are important to plants. They till and aerate the soil for the roots to breathe. Non-organic fertilizers can kill them. This gardening tip dates back to the old days of gardening.

13. Having several kinds of insects that are beneficial to your garden would be good. These insects can be encouraged to stay by having diverse plants in your garden.

14. Spot spraying weeds with household vinegar, instead of using commercial weed-killers, can eradicate them. This is another environment friendly gardening tip.

15. Avoid putting too much mulch on tree trunks, this would encourage unwanted pests to reside on them.

16. Use plant varieties that are common to your area or have been taken from an area with similar conditions.

17. Be sure to know the plants that are poisonous. If you are intent on growing them, make sure to have the necessary cure available in your household. Take note of this gardening tip, it can save your life.

18. The best time to water plants is during mornings.

19. Before planting a new plant in your garden, you must consider its height and size when it matures. This garden tip can help you save money in the future.

20. Newly transplanted plants may require special attention during its first week. This is to reduce the stress and shock it got during transplantation.

And last but not the least of the gardening tips...

21.Plants are living entities. If you want them to grow in your garden you have to treat them as such. They need to be taken care of. They are like your pets, you look out for them. In return you get that feeling of contentment watching them thrive.

A good way to take care of them is to consider that plants might have some feelings too.

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