begin. Below we have put together some of the best tips on how to create the best garden pond.
Ask anybody who has a garden pond and they will tell you how much the pond has changed their garden. Not only does it provide a focal point for relaxing and enjoying your garden but it can also become a real haven for wonderful local wildlife. There are a few pointers to take into consideration that will ensure the success of your garden pond project
The Beginning
It is important to really plan your pond project, so dont just rush out and start buying material and pond equipment without considering the best way forward. The first thing is to draw up a plan of your pond and how you would like it to look.
Pond Position
The next step is to plan the best position within your garden for the pond. Point to consider include the amount of sunlight the pond will receive during the year (if the pond is subjected to strong sunlight, algae may be encouraged to grow), distance from the house and household members such as children and pets, position in relation to trees (constantly clearing out leaves is not much fun).
Pond material
There are several different types of material which you may choose to create your pond from, ranging from UPVC to concrete. Make sure that you consider what you want from your pond and where it will be positioned and discuss this with a specialist pond provider company. They will be able to best advise which material to use.
Digging out the pond
Check that there are no pipes or wires where you have decide to dig and then begin digging a hole in accordance with your plan. Remove any sharp stones or foreign debris which you might find. Think about creating shallower areas for wildlife and specific plants.
Fill the pond
It is best to allow the pond to fill with rainwater naturally rather than filling it with tap water. This is because tap water contains minerals which may encourage algae growth. If you have to fill it with tap water then discuss this with a pond specialist who may be able to give advice on specific products to prevent this problem.
Azaleas can be either evergreen or deciduous. Deciduous Azaleas are known as Mollis or Exbury Azaleas. They bloom in the early spring with vivid orange and yellow colors. They can be grown from seed if the seeds are collected in the fall and sown on top of moist peat at about 70 degrees F.
Evergreen Azaleas are known as broad leaf evergreens because they do not have needles. They bloom later in the spring, and are usually propagated in the fall over bottom heat, discussed in detail at http://www.freeplants.com . Rhododendrons are also broad leaf evergreens and are also propagated over bottom heat in early winter.
The best time to prune Rhododendrons and Azaleas is in the spring right after they bloom. These plants start setting next years flower buds over the summer, and late pruning will cost you some blooms next year, so get them pruned as soon as they finish blooming. Its also a good idea to pick off the spent blooms so the plants dont expend a lot of energy making seeds, unless of course youd like to grow them from seed. But keep in mind that they dont come true from seed.
Seeds from a red Rhododendron are likely to flower pale lavender. Cuttings ensure a duplicate of the parent plant. How do you prune Rhododendrons and what does pinching a Rhododendron mean? These are frequently asked questions.
Pinching is a low impact form of pruning that is very effective for creating nice, tight full plants when you are growing small plants from seeds or cuttings. Typically a Rhododendron forms a single new bud at the tip of each branch. This new bud will develop into another new branch, another bud will form and the process will continue. If left alone this will produce a very lanky plant with a lot of space between the branches, forming a very unattractive plant.
So if you are starting with a plant that is nothing more than a rooted cutting all you have to do is pinch off this new growth bud as soon as it is about 3/8 long. Just grab it between your fingers and snap it completely off. When you do this the plant usually responds by replacing that single bud with two, three, or even four new buds in a cluster around the bud that you pinched off. Each one of these buds will develop into branches and eventually a single bud will appear at the tip of each of these branches, and of course you should come along and pinch each one of those off, forcing the plant to produce multiple buds at the end of each of these branches.
The more often you pinch off these single buds, the more branches the plant will form, making a nice, tight, full plant. This is especially helpful with young plants such as rooted cuttings or young seedlings.
But what about larger plants, how do I prune them? I prune mine with hedge shears!!! I just have at it and trim them like I would a Taxus or a Juniper, and guess what? The result is a very tight compact plant loaded with beautiful flowers. My Rhododendrons are so tightly branched that you cannot see through them, and that is the result of vigorous pruning with hedge shears. Sure you can use hand shears, and youll have a nicer plant because of it, but I just use the hedge shears because thats the tool that I happen to have in my hand as I am going by.
Keeping Rhododendrons and Azaleas healthy and happy is as simple as understanding what they like. First of all, they like to grow in a climate that suits their tastes. Many varieties of both dont like it in the north, and to prove the point they will up and die as soon as extreme cold weather hits. Buy plants that are known to be hardy in your area.
Here in zone 5 (northern Ohio) the following Azaleas seem to do well: Hino Crimson (red), Stewartstonia (red), Herbert (lavender), Cascade (white), Delaware Valley (white), and Rosebud (pink). Hardy Rhododendrons include Roseum Elegans (pinkish lavender), English Roseum (pinkish lavender), Nova Zembla (red), Lees Dark Purple, Chinoides (white), and Cunninghams (white).
How should you fertilize Rhododendrons and Azaleas? These broadleaf evergreens are laid back and like to take it slow and easy. Do not fertilize them with quick release nitrogen fertilizers, it could kill them. Instead give them an organic snack, like Millorganite or well rotted cow manure or compost. Millorganite is an organic fertilizer made of granulated sewage sludge.
No, it doesnt smell any worse than other fertilizers, and plants like it because it is plant and soil friendly. It wont burn the plants, and it actually reactivates the micro-organisms in the soil. Thats a good thing. Most full service garden centers carry Millorganite.
A long time ago somebody let the word out that Rhododendrons are acid loving plants, and people are always asking me if I think their struggling Rhododendron needs more acid. The answer is no. Your struggling Rhododendron probably needs a great big gulp of oxygen around its root system.
Rhododendrons do not like wet feet. They dont even like high humidity let alone wet soil around their roots. They like to be high and dry, and like an unobstructed flow of oxygen to their roots. You can accomplish this by planting them in a bed raised at least 10 with good rich topsoil. They will be smiling from branch to branch.
A few years back my friend Larry and I had several hundred small Rhododendrons that we were going to grow on to larger plants. We planted most of them in Larrys backyard which is fairly good soil, but a little sticky. We didnt have room for all of them so we planted the last 105 down the road from my house in a field we were renting. (Never heard of anybody renting a field? You should get out more.)
This had absolutely no water for irrigating and the soil was very dry and rocky. Other plants at that often struggled during the dog days of summer due to the lack of water, but those Rhododendrons were as happy as pigs in mud. They outgrew the ones at Larrys house by twice the rate and we sold them years earlier than the others.
My point? Rhododendrons dont like wet feet. They do well in the shade, but contrary to popular belief they do even better in full sunlight.
Japanese gardening is much different from the Western style garden. Most would say that a Japanese garden is far more soul soothing and inspires meditation. Japanese gardening is a cultural form of gardening that is meant to produce a scene that mimics nature as much as possible. Using trees, shrubs, rocks, sand, artificial hills, ponds, and flowing water the garden becomes an art form. The Zen and Shinto traditions are both a large part of Japanese gardening and, because of this; the gardens have a contemplative and reflective state of mind.
The basic methods of scenery in are a reduced scale, symbolization, and borrowed views. The reduced scale is the art of taking an actual scene from nature, mountains, rivers, trees, and reproducing it on a smaller scale. Symbolization involves generalization and abstraction. An example of this would be using white sand to suggest the ocean. Borrowed views refer to artists that would use something like an ocean or a forest as a background, but it would end up becoming an important part of the scene.
There are two types of Japanese gardening. The tsukiyami garden is a hill garden and mainly composed of hills and ponds. The hiraniwa, which is the exact opposite of the tsukiyami garden, is a flat without any hills or ponds.
The basic elements used in Japanese gardening include rocks, gravel, water, moss, stones, fences, and hedges. Rocks are used as centerpieces and bring a presence of spirituality to the garden. According to the Shinto tradition, rocks embody the spirits of nature. Gravel defines surface and is used to imitate the flow of water when arranged properly. Stones create a boundary and are sculpted into the form of lanterns. Water; whether it is in the form of a pond, stream, or waterfall, is an essential part of a Japanese garden. It can be in the actual form of water or portrayed by gravel, but no matter what, it is crucial to a Japanese gardens balance.
There are several forms and types of plants that are signature of Japanese gardening, the main one being Bonsai. Bonsai is the art of training everyday, average plants, such as Pine, Cypress, Holly, Cedar, Cherry, Maple, and Beech, to look like large, old trees just in miniature form. These trees range from five centimeters to one meter and are kept small by pruning, re-potting, pinching of growth, and wiring the branches.
A garden is a wonderful place to relax and meditate. Whether it is a Japanese garden or Western world garden, designing, building, and planting is a great family event.