It is that time of year again when the cold weather takes hold and you find yourself needing to find some new and exciting garden creations. We have all seen them, the mass produced flowers just lying there as if they were an inventory for the store. These things may be beautiful in a garden, but the reality is that they have been over done.
In order to get a more natural look to your garden and one that will make the plants and greenery appear to have flow and life, you need to go back to the drawing board and start with a much better plan. One that will allow room for the growth of your plants as well as room for them to reproduce. When this happens the flowers will have more room to bloom and grow. This alone will add quite a bit to the beauty of any garden creation and it will not cost you nearly as much as the over done flowers in the grocery stores.
So what can you do? Well, if you want to try something a little out of the ordinary in your garden creation, you can create your own piece of art by using a piece of stone or a piece of clay. One thing I have found that works really well is to use a large piece of boulders that you have sitting around your garden area. Once you have made your boulder and placed it in the location you decided upon, you need to start placing pebbles around the boulders. Once you have enough pebbles on the surface of the boulders, you will be able to build up a very nice and sturdy base upon which you can sit and enjoy the beauty of your creation.
For your boulder, you should have a plan that has the boulder sitting upon a flat surface such as a flat rock garden area, a sidewalk, or an area of your backyard that is slightly elevated from the rest of the dirt. If the boulder is round and somewhat irregular, you may want to place a flat pebble in front of it before you place your plant material down. This will provide a bit of a cushion for your plants, and will also make the process of planting the plant material easier once the boulder has been placed in the location. You may find that this method is best for large or irregular shaped boulders, and not for rectangular and square ones.
When it comes to planting your garden creation, you will need to choose the plants that will best suit your garden and your style of landscaping. Your garden is not complete without a few different types of plants, and you can use the types of plants that best compliment and accentuate your hardscape features. For instance, if you are creating a water feature that is made up of flowing water, you will probably want to include a small pond or fountain in your garden. Other plants that work well with flowing water include ferns and any type of root system that will provide food for the fish in your pond.
As far as hardscape features go, there are literally hundreds of options. Some people prefer to use natural materials in their garden creations, while others use materials that are more suited to providing different styles of decor. The most popular materials for garden creation are rock, wood, concrete, bricks and ceramics, and stone in particular. Of course, some garden creations are very basic and functional, such as a simple pot sitting on the ground, but if you are looking for something a bit more decorative or elaborate, there is no shortage of options available. Most people create their own gardens out of large rocks and boulders that they buy from the market, but there are also kits available that will allow you to create something very unique by combining different materials. No matter what style of garden creation you choose, you will be able to find everything you need to make it work by visiting your local home improvement store.