Smart Garden

 Beautiful Shade Container Garden Ideas Need new container ideas for your shade garden? This gardener’s collection of planters features lush foliage and a few perennials from her garden. As you explore Bonnie Dumas’s garden and patio in Kansas, you’ll find beautiful hanging baskets, window boxes, and upcycled containers that add color and texture all summer long. Check out some of Bonnie’s planting recipes here. These ever-growing flowers and stunning containers are bursting with rustic charm! If you’re inspired by her container ideas, don’t miss her dog-friendly garden design 1. Splashing Begonia Container for Partial Shade Tropical plants can be used both indoors and outdoors, depending on the season. Begonias and colorful nasturtiums are the mainstays in this 5-foot-long container. Grow this mix in partial shade. List of Plants A) Variegated Snake Plant Sansevieria trifasciata var. laurentii B) Nasturtium tropeolum majus 'Alaska Mix' C) Winged Begonia Begonia x ...

In a small garden, following a few key principles when planning and planting can help your garden feel larger and less cluttered. Whether you have a small garden or a small patio, there are many ways to improve your space. Taking the time to choose color schemes, picking plants that bloom for months and using design tricks like repeating or adding focal points can make a big impact. For limited budgets, consider using gravel instead of paving or lawn. It provides more space for plants in a small space. Install simple lights yourself or, if you want a small vegetable garden, sow lettuce in containers or grow fast-growing plants like spring radishes and short, fast-growing carrot varieties like 'Nantes 2'. 1. Get the landscaping-planting ratio right When planning your patio garden, get a balance of planting and landscaping to make your small garden look beautiful. Garden designs for small gardens should aim for a ratio of about 50 percent planting and furniture to 50...

 8 Small Front Yard Landscaping Ideas  Create a beautiful and welcoming small front yard with these tips and ideas. The best small front yard landscaping ideas can help you frame your home and provide curb appeal while making the most of the space you have. Even some simple garden design techniques like using symmetry and adding seating can have a big impact. Use these landscaping ideas for small front yards to start creating a beautiful and welcoming space. 1. Use symmetry Often associated with classical and formal design, symmetry gives gardens a sense of calm and balance. Use similar plants, pots, and other elements on each side of the center line that runs from the front door to the sidewalk. Keep everything in a simple color palette: for example green, white, and red. For a modern approach to using symmetry, use plants and pots with similar colors and shapes and/or garden art on both sides of your porch. 2. Cover the seat We have gardens that you can enjoy sp...

While this design works hard all year round, it looks spectacular in the fall. 'Blackhawks' large bluestem towers above the display in majestic columns of finely textured purple-black foliage. Below, a large mound of native Arkansas bluestar shines with orange-chartreuse foliage, while the dark green leaves of 'Plum Peachy' short-leaf ironweed contrast with its russet, pale purple flowers. That periwinkle color is echoed in the globe flowers of the low, mounding 'Ozawa' allium. A carpet of Roseanne geranium around the alliums shows off its multi-colored red, orange and green fall leaves. Above the scene, the graceful arms of a weeping lavender twist eastern redbutt are adorned with heart-shaped chartreuse leaves that echo the yellow foliage of Arkansas bluestar. 1. Weeping golden toad lily In summer, the weeping golden toad lily fades into the background of the forest border with its arching habit of bushy, glossy green leaves. It's not until mi...

Take care of this fall garden preparation for a great spring growing season Late fall and early winter are not the times to leave the garden and go inside. Get outside to breathe in the crisp, fresh air and do a couple of tasks that will lighten your spring garden workload! 1. Amend your soil Fall is the perfect time to amend your soil. One of the best things you can apply is composting. Whether you buy it or make it yourself, it adds nutrients and organic matter to your soil to keep it healthy and productive. Add compost to garden beds Pull back the mulch and spread ¼ to ½ inch of compost around the plants in your garden beds. The compost stays in your existing garden soil throughout the winter to mix with natural freeze/thaw cycles. That extra layer, like mulch, can help insulate and protect the roots of newly planted perennials and shrubs from harsh winter temperatures. 2. Continue to manage weeds Even if it seems futile to pull weeds in late fall, do it anyway. There...

Winter-blooming plants are perfect for adding color to the garden during the colder, darker months, helping to extend the season of interest beyond the traditional spring into fall. Grow a large range of winter-blooming plants, including climbers such as winter clematis and winter honeysuckle, shrubs such as mahonia and daphne, and bedding plants such as winter pansies – there's a flower bed for every part of the garden. What's more, winter-blooming plants are suitable for growing in multiple pots, so you can splash color anywhere you like – is a colorful display outside your front door enough to cheer up winter? Some winter-blooming plants also benefit pollinators, providing pollen and nectar to species such as bumblebees, which forage more during the winter months. So these flowers can provide a lifeline to these unseasonably active pollinators, which would otherwise starve. However, not all winter flowers are bee-friendly, so browse our list below to find out wh...