Backyard Garden

To all of you who love gardening and enjoy the wonderful world of plants and beautiful landscapes - welcome.

Ahh - spring is here! Trees and shrubs are putting out their first tender growth. Forsythia, dogwood, cherries and others are bursting with colorful display of blossom. It's time to ready your soil for growing seeds. Garden centers are already offering flats of strawberries, vegetables, herbs and annuals ready to be planted.

Discover the pleasures and rewards of planning, planting and maintaining your backyard garden as you harvest your first crop of tomatoes, or delight at the sight of early crocus, tulips and daffodils emerging to announce the beginning of springtime.

We have a large number of informative articles on annuals, perennials, flowers, shrubs, common as well as exotic plants and trees of all kinds.

You will find guides to growing and caring for specific popular plants such as roses, geraniums, sunflowers and various spring and summer bulbs. Learn how to attract birds, butterflies and wildlife to your backyard garden by selecting and planting the flowering shrubs and plants they prefer.

Backyard gardening does not have to be a chore. If you plan ahead with well laid out foundation plantings, you can elect to do nothing more than keep the plants in good condition and keep the grass mowed. Or you may well want to elaborate by setting aside a small area for a few vegetable plants. Beans, radishes, tomatoes and peas are all easy to grow and manage until harvest. They will provide you with much better tasting and fresher vegetables than you can get at the supermarket.

If you are not into vegetable gardening, you can plant flowers either from seed, cuttings or starter plants. There are no rules - begin with some plants that appeal to you and plant a few in a group. Just remember to select flowers that will grow in the area you have in mind. For shady spots, choose impatiens, hostas, coleus, ferns and other shade loving or shade tolerant plants. There are even some roses that do well in partial shade. Other common flowers such as standard roses, marigolds, zinnias, geraniums and most annuals will want to be in the sun. Flower beds can be a focal point by surrounding them with a natural looking free form border of wood or stone.

Flowering shrubs such as lilac or hydrangea, as well as berries or fruit trees can be introduced into your landscape one or two at the time so as not to break your budget. Plant them in strategic locations to complement the rest of the area.

For those of you who like ornaments, get one or two boulders or a decorative item such as a statue, a whimsical stone frog, turtle, etc. You could add a bird bath, small plastic pond or fountain, a comfortable bench or other outdoor furniture where you can relax in your leisure time.

Only the boundaries of your backyard garden and your imagination are the limits as to selection of plant materials and other items you can use to make your garden as elegant, elaborate, practical or functional as you choose.

We hope you enjoy your visit with us here at Backyard Garden.