From the Persians to the Romans, the Chinese to the pre-Columbian civilizations of the Americas, just about every culture on the planet from just about every era has developed a distinct approach to growing and keeping plants.
Today there are as many different types of gardens as there are cultures in the world. What kind of garden people design is a function of what they want to do with it, what kind of land they have to work with, and how much attention and resources they have to devote to it. Modern gardeners can choose to take their inspiration from those that have gone before them, or create a fusion of several different techniques.
Some are driven by practicality — like having a shady spot where you can't grow anything else other than shade plants. And some are the product of a grand vision, like a garden that imitates the highly manicured French formal garden.
No matter what your knowledge level is, or what resources you have to work with, you can draw a bit of inspiration by studying these different types of gardens, and learning about people's various approaches to the art and science of growing plants. Here are a few of the major "schools of thought" on gardening.
Country gardens — With an emphasis on wildflowers, color and aromatics, this style of gardening that developed in rural areas of France and England was often cultivated around a small cottage with a lot of surrounding space. A country garden works with the natural terrain — rocks, trees, ponds, etc. — rather than trying to change them. Plants are allowed to grow a little bit wild and close together, but still with an overall plan that leads to nice aesthetics year-round.
Cactus garden — For people who live near the high desert or in extremely dry prairie areas, there may be no other option than cactus gardening. Still, the desert is a biome teeming with life, including plant life. While often slow-growing, succulents and other desert plants offer the advantage of not needing much water. So once a cactus garden is established, they won't need much maintenance.
Formal garden — The massive and painstakingly maintained formal gardens of European royalty are likely outside the scope of the average gardener today, but the focus on clean lines and manicured order may offer some inspiration to those who prefer a garden with a more sculpted look. In a classic formal garden, hedges and topiary are paired up with architectural features like pillars, canopies, fountains and narrow walking paths that cut their way through the grounds in intricate patterns.
Shade gardens — Necessity is the mother of invention, and many people grow shade gardens simply because they can't grow anything else but shade-loving plants in a particular spot on their property. Classic shade garden plants include hostas, geraniums, daylilies, bleeding hearts, irises, ferns, columbines, primroses, lilies and foxglove. Conditions for a good shade garden are similar to those for a good rock garden, and some people like to combine the two.
Terraced gardens — Designed for areas where hills predominate, terraced gardens can require quite a bit of design work and planning. The advantage of this approach is it makes gardening on steep slopes possible. My backyard is terraced with railroad ties, so my herb garden might be considered a type of terraced garden. This style of garden takes advantage of plants that "trail," or grow to spill over the edge of something. This type of gardening might be considered a cousin of raised bed gardening.
Water gardens — The water garden is centered on or in a water feature, which might be a manmade pond, or a natural stream. The idea is to create a small habitat for both plants and animals, where they can live together in balance. Water plants, such as water lilies, bulrushes, arrowheads and others, are cultivated to grow on or in the water. Once established, frogs, snails, salamanders, birds and other animals may visit your water garden.
Rock gardens — Rock gardens create an environment for the many plants that have evolved to grow in rocky areas where there is very little soil. These plants can flourish off just a little bit of poor soil, in the cracks of stones or in shallow, rocky soil. Mosses and lichens may also be cultivated to grow on the stones. To start a rock garden, all you need is a few large and small rocks, piled together in an aesthetically pleasing way. Rock gardens work well with container gardening or Zen gardens.
Raised bed gardens — For many gardeners, having to bend at the waist frequently is an issue. Raised bed gardening can address that problem. Another advantage of raised beds are that you can improve on the soil you have, by adding in quality soil amendments easily. Just pile it on top of the poor soil, and you've got a garden. These types of gardens can require a little planning and maybe a few power tools too, though.
Rainwater garden — This ecological approach to gardening is designed to effectively filter potentially polluted runoff water before it is deposited back into natural aquifers as groundwater. These gardens are purposefully placed in a low-lying area and populated with water-loving plants. Rainwater gardens are often planted downhill from a manmade surface that is impervious to rainwater, like a street, sidewalk, driveway or parking lot. Rain gardens are environmentally responsible in that they can prevent pollutants from seeping back into our rivers, streams and groundwater.
Wildlife garden — This type of garden is made from plants specifically selected to attract wildlife, like butterflies, bees, birds, frogs and others. Wildlife gardening synchronized very well with organic gardening, and special attention should be paid to using native plants when possible — after all, the animals will be native, so the plants should be too. Plants with food sources for animals are especially important. Choose flowers with plentiful nectar and long blooming times, and watch the butterflies, hummingbirds and others stop by for a snack.
Indoor garden — Synergizing well with container gardening, hydroponics and kitchen gardening, the indoor gardening approach lets you bring a little of the outside inside. With a containerized indoor garden, you can control almost every aspect of the plant's environment, from water and fertilizer to temperature and sunlight. There's many advantages to this, but there are a few special considerations as well — particularly since the plant is depending almost entirely on you. Maybe that's a scary thought to someone who has a few dead potted plants in their past. But relax — it happens.
Community garden — More an idea than a type of garden, the community garden is a place where the responsibilities of running a garden are shared — as are the products. Often planted on rented plots of land in urban environments, or else started in a disused area needing a little touch of nature, these gardens are as wide and varied as the people who tend them. They can draw upon any style of gardening imaginable, and contain any plant the tenders can get their hands on. This blog started off as a blog about PennWell's Community Garden. It'll be my first one ever, and I'm pretty excited about it, personally.
Container gardens — Sometimes space, money and soil quality don't align quite right for putting plants in the ground. But you don't have to have plants in the ground to have a garden. Window boxes, pots and other planters allow you to grow as many flowers, herbs and other plants as you have places to put them. Containerized plants can be planted in the ground later, or brought inside and outdoors as conditions warrant — this allows some plants to survive in our climate that might not otherwise. There's so many tips and tricks for container gardening that I might want to do a whole post on it sometime. I started as a container gardener myself, and still grow a few plants here and there in pots.
Native plant gardens — The idea of xeriscaping is to use plants that grow naturally in your area. The advantage of native plants is they're uniquely suited to the local climate, and because of that they will be easier to care for in the garden. The Great Plains has some amazingly beautiful plants, and I love learning about them. Wild Things Nursery is a local business that specializes in native Oklahoma plants, and I buy a couple of items from them every year. Sometimes, if you know local plants well enough, you can spot one in the wild and bring it home. I've done this successfully with black-eyed Susans.
Kitchen gardens — I cook, and I garden, and the two go really well together. My neighbors are used to me walking out into my yard with a butcher's knife to grab a handful of rosemary for some spaghetti sauce. If you're going to have a garden, I figure, you might as well have one that pulls its own weight. Flowers are freeloaders, but herbs and veggies contribute. The kitchen garden contains useful stuff for the kitchen, obviously, and I think you'll find that having a kitchen garden makes you want to cook and try new things — both in the kitchen, and in the garden. One of my favorite things to do is to grab a new plant that I'm not sure what I'll do with, put it in the ground, and start looking up recipes. Sometimes it doesn't work out, but sometimes I'll stumble onto something delicious.
Sustainable gardens — This approach emphasizes a landscape that is in tune with what might occur in nature. Organic methods are used, and plants are selected to need as little as possible from the gardener. In a sustainable garden, priority is given to native plants and plants that need little water. Some sustainable-minded gardeners choose to use only what the local environment offers to keep their gardens growing. You can collect rainwater in barrels, or use gravity to channel water to your garden with trenches, troughs or gutters for irrigation. You can gather up grass clippings, weeds and dead leaves to use as compost. Pests and nuisance weeds are minimized with effective use of companion planting, spacing and the encouragement of beneficial insects and animals. Using plants to improve your life is what gardening is all about, and creating an environment where your efforts also improve the lives of plants is where sustainable gardening gets its inspiration — the ultimate goal being a balanced, mutually beneficial symbiosis between you and the plants you grow.
Square foot garden — Another approach to gardening that attempts to do more with less resources (namely space), square foot gardening is a relatively recent idea. Square foot gardening, which emphasizes organic methods, a strong focus on compost and closely planted raised beds, has influenced my style of gardening pretty strongly. That might be because the idea was popular when I first started gardening a few years back. Advocates of this style of gardening say you can get more vegetables and herbs from a smaller plot using square foot gardening. Because square foot gardens are often small, they're easy to access when standing at the edge, and they're easy to cover up with a cold frame or anti-pest cage.
Hey, Thank you so much for this post. Its really helpful.
ReplyDeletetree trimming equipment
pole warranty