Good Companion Plants for Bird of Paradise

Amazing orange and blue-violet blossoms evoking visions of soaring cranes growth from bird of paradise plants’ (Strelitzia reginae) broad, blue-green leaves. These 3- to 5-foot, clumping perennials anchor innumerable tropical and Mediterranean gardens out of their native South African habitat. Blooming intermittently through the year, birds of heaven bask in sunlight or partial shade across U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11. Proper companion plants enhance their color and kind, and share similar growing conditions.

Growng Requirements

Bird of heaven works best in well-drained, organically rich soil, but is not fussy about soil type. Its moderate salt tolerance makes it a fantastic choice for protected coastal locations. Full-sun plants have shorter stalks and smaller blooms than those grown in partial shade. Most bird of paradise flowers open on the outer lawns. For the strongest visual effect, allow lots of room between the plants and their companions.

Color Compatibility

Choose Business plants with colours which dramatize the bird of paradise plant orange and blue-violet colors. Organic opposites, orange and blue play off each other on the plants themselves and about their companions. Analogous, warm yellows, pinks and browns or cool purples, greens and blues teeming with each other and with all the bird of heaven. Selecting companions that bloom in different seasons always refreshes your garden’s look.

Spring Bloomers

Combining background vines, shrubs or perennials taller than the bird of heaven with lower foreground plants unifies the lawn. For an eye-catching spring display, consider 12- to 15-inch Baby Pete (Agapanthus orientalis “Benfran” P.P. #21,705) for the foreground. A backdrop trellis or fence draped in yellow-flowering, semi-evergreen Carolina jessamine vine — suitable for USDA zones 7 though 9 — highlights the agapanthus’ clusters of clear-blue, tubular blooms. Baby Pete, hardy to USDA zones 8 through 11, retains its mounds of arching, strap-like green foliage all year.

Summer Bloomers

“Orange King” bougainvillea vine (Bougainvillea x buttiana “Orange King”) enhances bird of heaven displays in USDA zoned 10 and 11 using its heavy masses of bronze-tinged, orange blooms. Highlight its flowers’ papery texture using a foreground planting of “Blue Hobbit” dwarf sea holly (Eryngium planum “Blue Hobbit”). Just 1 foot high, this perennial’s silver-blue stems bear blue, conical flowers enclosed in stiff, lance-like blue bracts. Drought-tolerant such as the bougainvillea, “Blue Hobbit” thrives in sunlight and coastal conditions. It’s hardy in USDA zones 4 through 11.

Repeat Bloomers

Insert haunting apricot fragrance to your bird-of-paradise bed using “Conger Yellow” sweet olive (Osmanthus fragrans “Conger Yellow”). This evergreen, 10- to 15-foot shrub, suitable for a privacy screen or ornamental background hedge, has delicate spring and drop clusters of star-shaped, buttery-yellow blooms against deep-green foliage. For a festive touch, combine the sun-loving tree using foreground plantings of grassy-leaved, brilliant-orange torch-flowering “Mango Popsicle” dwarf poker (Kniphofia “Mango Popsicle” P.P.A.F.) intermingled with mounding, royal-purple-flowered Anouska Princess Lilies (Alstroemeria x “Zaprinous” P.P.# 15987). Both perennials flower from spring to fall. The sweet olive oil and 12- to 15-inch alstroemeria grow in USDA zones 8 through 11, and the dwarf poker at USDA zones 5 through 9.

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The way to Dissolve Tree Stumps

Before the arrival of herbicides and stump grinders, removing tree stumps was a laborious and time-intensive task. As a result of modern improvements in horticulture, ridding your yard of tree stumps is as simple as drilling holes and filling them with granules. Many stump-dissolving herbicides are composed of potassium nitrate, a slow-acting chemical that may take several weeks to dissolve stumps entirely.

Drill several 1-inch broad holes through the top of each tree stump by using a 1-inch spade bit and bit extension on a power drill. Make every hole about 12 inches deep and 3 inches from the edge of its stump.

Drill more holes that are around 12 inches deep across the surfaces of the stumps. Drill them every 3 to 4 inches apart from each stump shirt and at a 45-degree angle pointing toward the ground.

Pour potassium nitrate stump removal granules into a watering can that has a narrow spout, and pour the granules into all of the holes that you drilled. Fill the holes with water.

Wait four to six weeks for the potassium nitrate to dissolve the stumps. Keep children and pets away from the stumps throughout that moment.

Examine the stumps for sponginess. Chop spongy stumps with an axe to eliminate their parts. Fill cavities left from the stumps using soil or sod.

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How to Replace a Poor Section of Steel Drain Pipe With PVC

Over time, it’s possible to develop a steel drain pipe that is leaking under a property, such as out underneath the lawn. So the ground is not too saturated, the leaking has to be repaired moisture contributes to sink other damage that was major as well as holes. Replacing a poor section of steel drain pipe with a PVC (polyvinyl chloride) span is a smart option since the piping has a very long lifespan. The plastic that is technical may survive years of growth and contraction from temperature variations.

Shut off the main water valve in the property. The valve is knob or a lever in the side or rear of a building.

Find the leaking part of the drain pipe. Oftentimes, a wet that is visible place will probably be evident on the ground surface that is outside.

Dig a hole. Don’t push the scoop down push down on the shovel it doesn’t hit the pipe under.

Once the section is visible uncover the dirt. Find the threaded of the section ends.

Place the wrench on one end of the fitting of the steel pipe which connects it to the section. Carefully turn the wrench to loosen the pipe section that is bad and matching.

Repeat Step 5 for the other side of the section’s fitting. Remove and fittings and place.

Measure the section’s length with a measuring tape. Measure and mark the value along the brand new, same-diameter PVC piping span with a pencil along with the measuring tape. Cut the PVC pipe into the measured length with a power saw.

Clean the ends of the metal pipes with a rag so that dirt and debris have been removed from the area. Repeat the process with the PVC piping to remove any debris.

Wrap pipe tape around the threads of the metal pipes at the ground with your handson. Place a pipe coupling on each one of both steel pipe finishes by turning them so the coupling’s connection remains on the exterior of the steel pipe. If the coupling is too tight to turn by hand, use a wrench.

Squeeze PVC cement on the ends of the PVC piping.

Press the PVC piping to complete the connection of the drain pipe. Let me dry. Don’t turn on the water source for approximately 24 hours until the PVC cement has completely dried.

Following the drain has dried turn to the water valve. Inspect the place for any leaks.

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Circle Round for Great Garden Design

“All of my life’s a circle,” the pop group The New Seekers sang in 1972. Circles are all around us — from tables and clocks to plates and wheels. Circles also have been in our landscape for millennia — only think of the stone rings of Stonehenge in southern England. They continue to shape the modern garden designs, both formal and informal. They may lie flat on the landscape, framework vistas or make doorways, and they come in our gardens three-dimensionally as spheres. Let us look at a few examples of how this very simple shape can be used to enliven garden designs.

Ginkgo Leaf Studio

I’m passionate about using geometric forms in garden designs, but circles aren’t always simple. If not used carefully, they can become rather synthetic, grating against the other features of the plan. Where circles are utilized, they need to have a visual or functional purpose.

Here we see an almost flawless use of the circle, which acts not only as a full stop in the plan, but as a practical setting to get a seating and conservation area and in addition as a viewing platform overlooking the garden.

Huettl Landscape Architecture

In less-formal designs, circles can be used to add structure, building a statement within naturalistic plantings. The plantings here, though loose, emphasize the shape of the circle, leading the eye inward. The gravel within the circle is kept to a crisp shape with metal landscape edging with a black painted finish.

Thuilot Associates

Set among simple evergreen plants and overlooked by a silver birch tree, this round patio is a perfect setting for reading and possibly getting in touch with nature. The circle for the seating is lively and inward looking, something that a square or rectangle wouldn’t be.

Wagner Hodgson

In the preceding examples we saw that the practical uses of circlesbut sometimes it can be interesting to use them just as a decorative feature. There could not be a more stunning use than these sunken, lit circles within a very minimalistic landscape. The bands appear to replicate the round canopies of the mature deciduous trees and bring a completeness to a very simple plot.

Rather like the omnipresent crop circles found in cereal fields in a variety of areas of the world, these grass circles create an interesting pattern. The group creates movement within the space without competing with the encompassing conventional plantings. Lean metal edging separates the circles from a weed-suppressing bark mulch.

Exterior Worlds Landscaping & Design

The plan of this garden links circles with a sphere that adds texture and dimension.

David Harber

Spheres create a statement, particularly when put in a round pathway. I saw slate spheres such as this one a couple of years back at the Chelsea Flower Show, and since have seen them used as quite powerful water features — most dramatically when lit from the inside, creating a stunning night attribute.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Spheres don’t need to be large or control the space. Small ones can also create lift and interest a garden design.

Living topiary spheres in containers can be moved based on the time or just as the mood takes you. The most prosperous living spheres are shaped from small-leaved evergreens that can be tightly clipped, such as boxwood (Buxus sp) as well as the shrubby honeysuckle Lonicera pileata.

Living spheres also can be created through round mounds planted in grasses or moss.

TerraTrellis

These round iron arbors are a smart twist on the conventional pergola. With its vertical bands, the walkway both includes and concentrates the plantings while directing the eye into a viewpoint at the end of the path: an amazing pierced metal sphere. The metal bands have the feeling of a conventional moon gate.

The conventional moon gate has roots in Chinese garden design, in which it played a significant role in the culture of prerevolutionary China. The structures since we now see them stem from the Chinese influence on English design in the 18th century.

Greenworks Design

Perhaps the ultimate use of a circle in garden design is that this beautifully simple wrought iron metal moon gate. Even though it creates a view and a passing through the garden outside, it’s also sculptural in its own right.

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Bocce, Anybody? Get Some Popular Games Into Your Yard Plans

Get the household from the electronic devices and into spending quality time together outside, inspired from these green spaces devoted to favorite yard games.

McDugald-Steele

A backyard that showcase a nice, long rectangular patch of well-manicured lawn is the ideal playing field for a game of bocce, croquet, horseshoes or lawn bowling.

Affecting Spaces

A plot the size and proportions of a driveway is perfect for a bocce court: 10 to 13 feet wide and 60 to 90 ft long.

Huettl Landscape Architecture

Owing to the long and lean dimensions, a flat side yard is a good location for games that don’t interfere with your daily living. Placing games up near the backyard allows different members of the family to interact or just be near one another while participating in activities that interest them.

Windsor Companies

Artificial turf provides a superior surface for lawn bowling or bocce due to its consistency, durability and very low maintenance year round. Additionally, it helps to conserve water and eliminates the need for weed-killing substances.

To avoid a Brady Bunch backyard seem, landscape with actual neighborhood greenery around the lawn’s gaming area. Utilize Bender Boards to define the separation between turf and real plants.

Installing cushioning underneath the synthetic grass will provide the ultimate game area by removing jagged surfaces.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

If artificial turf isn’t your style, but you desire a surface you do not have to water, look for a floor material that will provide minimal bounce. Decomposed granite, sand or crushed oyster shells are all choices that do not need water. These are especially appropriate for arctic climates and for re-creating a genuine Italian villa feel.

Randy Thueme Design Inc. – Landscape Architecture

An all-gravel landscape works well with minimalist contemporary architecture, giving it the air of a Zen garden. Proper drainage is necessary to avoid the amount of water from the courtroom. Crushed gravel below the court’s surface material will help.

Charles McClure – Expert Website Planning

A perimeter curb will keep balls in play. One that’s constructed 6 to 18 inches from cast concrete, bricks or blocks will do.

The structure adjacent to this playing area offers a luxurious spot for resting between games, turning this backyard into an oasis.

B. Jane Gardens

A fire pit near your yard patch will allow summer parties to last well into the night.

How to Make a Stacked-Stone Fire Pit

Harold Leidner Landscape Architects

If lawn bowling and bocce are not for you, try a round green for placing. This one is large enough for Frisbee tossing and croquet.

SYNLawn

If you are gifted at landscape — or can hire somebody who is — try your hand at developing a giant chess board. Your visitors will be delighted.

Bill Fry Construction – Wm. H. Fry Const. Co..

You could even apply this idea. Alternate concrete or slate square tiles in the driveway so you can play if the mood strikes without committing to a precision lawnmower.

Watch more oversize chess sets

Annette Tatum

Even children’ energy sags after hours in sunlight. Erecting a straightforward tepee is an simple, fast and engaging yard activity. Let kids decorate the fabric, line the tepee with quilts and pillows, and step backwards as they relax and retreat to more hours of quiet, creative play.

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Shape and Pattern Set Gardens' Tone

Shape and pattern are easy words, but how can they relate to the way we design our houses and the design we make for ourselves?

Understanding the ways shapes relate to each other is in the very heart of garden design, for it is these underlying abstract shapes that provide the garden layout its own strength.

At the plan of smaller gardens it’s particularly important that the shapes used and the routines which these shapes make fit your circumstance. Curves, circles, right angles and squares are all shapes which we use in garden design, but how and where we integrate them makes all of the difference in establishing the tone of your backyard design.

Ginkgo Leaf Studio

The Use of Curves and Circles

The routines you would like to make have to tie together all of the functions of this garden. When designing a garden, you are not thinking concerning planting or paving, but how the shapes and patterns that they create will form and make the tone of this scheme you have in mind.

Curves and circles can be hard to use, particularly in tiny gardens where they may appear artificial and driven. Here, the use of arcs and circles entwines collectively the function of the terrace — the curved fire pit and the gorgeous curved bench seating.

Lark Interior Design

It is important that ample curves inside the layout have a purpose, possibly leading the eye to a feature inside the garden or perhaps to something outside the border, such as a vista.

The layout is enforced by the method by which the planting has been clipped to conform, but its essential character is based on its underlying pattern. Curves and circles operate of presenting in a grid.

Kingbird Design LLC

Utilizing Simple Geometric Shapes

The type of layout you use as the foundation of your garden plan will depend on its suitability to the website, considering degrees, views and the style of the building the lawn will adjoin. The easiest of all shapes in garden design is that the rectangle or square, as home walls and boundaries usually imply a 90-degree pattern.

The usage of a single type of shape generates a sense of movement. In this layout, it moves our eyes through the garden to front door.

McHale Landscape Design, Inc..

A normal pattern includes all of the way through this garden scheme with the use of differing heights, textures and materials, all with fundamental 90-degree geometric contours.

C.O.S Design

Differing dimensions of regular shapes may unify a layout and, in the event of smaller outdoor spaces, confirm its use as an outdoor room.

Giving contours differing heights will give definition, but the depth of this sunken also acheives the identical effect.

The Garden Consultants, Inc..

Bringing Two-dimensional Patterns into Life

Regularity of routine conveys during this garden, with the chaise longues fitting into the plot.

Two-dimensional patterns come alive every time a third measurement is brought into play. Definition is given by Box plants in this scheme to the shapes.

C.O.S Design

This asymmetrical layout uses both linear and rectangular shapes to make an abstract pattern which relates pefectly into the modernist building it fronts.

The ease of this planting, for instance, strong strip planting of Black mondo grass (Ophiopogon planiscapus ‘Nigrescens’), reinforces the contours and doesn’t detract from the routine.

Blakely and Associates Landscape Architects, Inc..

Materials Mold the Tone of Your Garden

The normal paved part of this layout could overpower the total appearance, but the use of green strips involving the blocks visually joins both regions and creates a composite pattern.

The substances you choose to finish your chosen contours will mould the tone of your garden. Both hard and soft landscaping materials complement the strong shapes made in this front garden.

Studio H Landscape Architecture

Dynamic paving patterns may produce a sense of movement, but here the use of regular paved squares provides a sense of restfulness.

The curve of the border planting of Horsetail (Equisetum hyemale, zones 3-11)as well as the cylindrical planters help emphasize the formality of the square emitting.

Sometimes nature gives us a hand in producing patterns from manmade contours. Standard square pavers on this patio and steps are given additional emphasis from the clipped evergreen runners. The strong, linear shadow outlines made by the overhead pergola add into entire layout.

More:
Geometry Roots Great Garden Design
Garden Design Essentials: Shape and Volume
Garden Edging: Clean Lines For The Landscape

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