If you are longing to have a beautiful garden of flowers but you do not have a large backyard, do not worry-you do not need one! You can create beautiful flora combinations in containers, without the need for a backyard at all.
You could simply put your containers in your front yard, to compliment you lawn. If you do not have any grass, you could even set them on your front steps.
When you are working with containers, the possibilities are endless. In addition to the beautiful effect that it will have on your yard, working outdoors in the sun can have great health benefits for your skin!
Working in the sun can help your skin to get the sun and air that it needs to look and feel healthy. Why not accomplish two great things at the same time?
First, you need to get a container that is large enough to hold all of the soil that you need, along with drainage holes to let out any excess water that is not absorbed. You need to purchase some good potting soil, that will keep your plants looking and feeling healthy.
Fertilizer is important to supplement with, and of course, you need to water them regularly. These are just the basics-design and layout can be a little bit more complicated.
Managing the different shapes, colors, and varying heights is a bit of balance game. The first thing to look at is the location of the container.
Make sure you know if it is located in the sun, or in the shade-it may even be a combination, depending on the time of day. All the plants you select for your containers should like the same growing conditions.
If you have a combination of shade and sun, there is a general rule that will help you-for a location with morning sun and afternoon shade, choose more shade loving plants. For a morning shade and afternoon sun location, look for more sun loving plants.
Think about the number of flowers that you want to fill your base with. Because you control their environment, you are able to plant them much closer together than you normally would in your garden.
Keep this in mind when choosing what sizes you want to get. Once you know what your limitations are as far as sun and shade exposure, you can worry about the sizes and shapes.
There are three basic groups for you to choose from: uprights, fillers or bushy varieties, and trailers. For a mixed container you will need plants from each group.
Choose your upright ones first. You may want to include Lantana, Caladiums, and Carex Toffee Twist Grass-these are all very good examples of uprights.
Next, select three filler plants such as Argyranthemum, Heliotrope, or Impatiens. These fillers do not have to be the same.
You might want to choose two that are alike, and one that is different to add a nice variety and balance at the same time. Last, select one to two draping plants to cascade over the side-these will add a very beautiful, romantic quality to your arrangement.
Examples of good cascading varieties to use would be Helichrysum, Million Bells, or Ivy. Now you can move on to color.
Consider what colors you have decorated with inside your home. What looks good to you, and what combinations have been successful?
Consider continuing those colors out on to your patio. If you do have a garden in another area, maybe you could mirror what colors you already have, or compliment them.
There are lots of interesting and creative places to look for color ideas-you can even look at some of your favorite artwork for inspiration. There is no better place to look than the paintings of renowned artists when deciding how to mix and combine colors.
You may want to try basing each container off of one of your favorite paintings. It can be very fun to get creative with your design and placement.
Once again, make sure that the sun and shade combinations still work with the kinds of flowers that you want to choose. Make sure that you also research how each of the varieties like to be watered.
Watering too much can be just as bad as not watering enough-if you want them to stay alive and looking fresh, it is going to take a little bit of effort on your part. If you are unsure about where to begin still, try getting a gardening book, or talk to a professional-you will be able to begin creating beautiful outdoor works of art in no time.
Author Resource:-
Jack R. Landry has been in the health industry since 1992. He specializes in health supplements, vitamins and Moringa.
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