~Pics and green text, from Better Homes and Gardens.~
1. More Landscaping, Less Lawnscaping.
For the first time ever, Americans spent more on landscaping than lawn care in 2004. Part of this trend is driven by cold, hard economics: landscaping is an investment that pays off in higher home values and less maintenance. But the real driver here is the immediate payoff: more comfortable and useful outdoor living space.
I love how this looks, and from articles I've read this trend started a couple of years ago. Business has been b(l)ooming for the garden centres and nurseries around my neck of the woods.
2. My Big, Fat Greek Containers.
Container gardening has been on the fast track for a decade, and home gardeners are finally realizing that the bigger the pot, the better. Large containers have more visual impact and require less frequent watering. Also spurring the trend to big is a new generation of inexpensive resin pots that look great and weigh less -- much, much less -- than traditional terra-cotta.
I've started buying larger containers, and a few of them are resin. They're so much easier to handle and move to different areas of your deck or yard. DH for some reason, still insists on lots of little pots though. He can water those ones!
3. Vertical Gardening.
We're no longer willing to let our plants lie down on the job. Today, more gardeners are using trellises and arbors, combined with vines and climbers, to add a third dimension to our landscape. Besides relieving the monotony of ground-hugging plantings, vertical accents increase privacy and create instant focal points even before their plant buddies mature.
We have a couple of twig trellises that DH made. I'd love something as nice as the one in the pic, but it wouldn't really fit in with our landscaping/house. Would the pole beans I planted the other year count as vertical gardening?
Your thoughts, Buds?
More to come.....
1. More Landscaping, Less Lawnscaping.
For the first time ever, Americans spent more on landscaping than lawn care in 2004. Part of this trend is driven by cold, hard economics: landscaping is an investment that pays off in higher home values and less maintenance. But the real driver here is the immediate payoff: more comfortable and useful outdoor living space.
I love how this looks, and from articles I've read this trend started a couple of years ago. Business has been b(l)ooming for the garden centres and nurseries around my neck of the woods.
2. My Big, Fat Greek Containers.
Container gardening has been on the fast track for a decade, and home gardeners are finally realizing that the bigger the pot, the better. Large containers have more visual impact and require less frequent watering. Also spurring the trend to big is a new generation of inexpensive resin pots that look great and weigh less -- much, much less -- than traditional terra-cotta.
I've started buying larger containers, and a few of them are resin. They're so much easier to handle and move to different areas of your deck or yard. DH for some reason, still insists on lots of little pots though. He can water those ones!
3. Vertical Gardening.
We're no longer willing to let our plants lie down on the job. Today, more gardeners are using trellises and arbors, combined with vines and climbers, to add a third dimension to our landscape. Besides relieving the monotony of ground-hugging plantings, vertical accents increase privacy and create instant focal points even before their plant buddies mature.
We have a couple of twig trellises that DH made. I'd love something as nice as the one in the pic, but it wouldn't really fit in with our landscaping/house. Would the pole beans I planted the other year count as vertical gardening?
Your thoughts, Buds?
More to come.....
