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It's about that time of year; the time of year when you kick yourself for not planting more tulips. Unless you've surrendered to the deer or live somewhere perpetually warm, you've probably got a clump or two of tulips. Their bright, cherry colors bridge the gap between daffodils and a fully awakened garden. They do get eaten on occasion and they have an annoying habit of disappearing after a year or two, but how much effort does it take to pop a few more in the ground, in the fall?

I was surprised to see that garden centers are now selling sprouted spring bulbs for transplanting. I guess they anticipate our regrets for not planting our own last fall. Of course, there are plenty of cut tulips and potted tulip plants available, if you just want to enjoy them for the season. I always like to pick up a bunch of red tulips, as soon as they're out in the spring. I only learned recently that tulips continue to grow after they are cut. That's why they twist and bend in the vase.

My favorite tulip planting tip from a reader was to plant your tulips in your fenced vegetable garden. The deer can't reach them, but you can enjoy them as you're getting your vegetable garden going or you can cut them and bring them indoors. Here are more tips for enjoying your tulips and caring for them once they're up.

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Featured Plant: Tulips originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Friday, March 12th, 2010 at 01:17:02.

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How To Find A Good Landscaping Designer

There are no free landscaping design services unless you do it yourself or getting someone that you know to do the job who doesn\'t mind if you don\'t pay them, you are going to need to hire a landscaping design company to design and create the yard of your dreams. There are many advantages to hiring a landscaping design company, besides of course that you will have to pay them, but as long as you choose the right landscaping design company, then it will be well worth every penny spent.

Of all the different landscaping companies out there that you have to choose from, there are a few in particular that are really worth considering, such as the following.

The Landscaping Company

This is a fantastic company that you can check out and which you will definitely want to consider if you are looking for a fantastic, top of the line landscaping design company. They have been in the industry for over a decade now and so you can certainly trust in the knowledge and expertise that they have to offer.

Over this time they have been creatively building beautiful and functional landscapes for residential and commercial properties all around North America, and with an emphasis on fine detail and lasting strength, their friendly experts will increase the appeal and functionality of your yard, leaving you with just the results that you were hoping for.

Grunder Landscaping

Another company that you can go through for expert landscaping design services is the Grunder Landscaping Company. They also have a great deal of experience to offer, and they will never come in and bombard your design ideas, although they will certainly have their own input to offer and want to ensure that you get the best results.

Their mission is to enhance the beauty and value of every client\'s property while exceeding their expectations and keeping it affordable.

These are just two of the best examples when it comes to the different landscaping companies that you can turn to for this, so the best idea is going to be for you to take some time and check out the other options that are out there. You want to find a company that you are going to be comfortable with and that is going to be affordable, because landscaping services can get to be quite expensive, depending on which company you opt for.

Learn more about landscape architect. Stop by William Horny\'s site where you can find out all about landscape design and what it can do for you.

Vegetable Gardening: How To Prepare A Raised Bed Garden

William Moss from CBS this Morning and HGTV prepares a Raised Bed Garden for planting with Patti Moreno, host of http://www.GardenGirltv.com Please visit http://www.wemoss.org and http://www.urbansustainableliving.com Distributed by Tubemogul.

Dill Weed

Dill weed is attractive enough to qualify as "edible landscaping." Like the variegated sage plants, for example, it serves double duty, offering visual appeal prior to being harvested as a culinary herb. Other contributions of dill weed to the landscape include its use:

In Butterfly Gardens
As a fragrant plant
To attract beneficial insects

Dill weed is de rigueur for butterfly gardens. For, as Marie Iannotti points out, they are a favorite food source for black swallowtail caterpillars.

As for fragrance, About.com's Gardening Guide notes that the "entire plant is extremely fragrant."

Finally, Marie observes that dill weed attracts lacewings and syrphid fly adults, which "will feed on the pollen and lay their eggs nearby. Their larvae feed on aphids."

If the above facts have convinced you to try this herb in the landscape, consult Marie's article on growing dill weed to learn more.

Dill Weed originally appeared on About.com Landscaping on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 08:08:01.

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Is There Such a Thing as Good Garden Design?

A garden designer once told me that good garden design was a lot like pornography: You can't define it, but you know it when you see it. Certainly good garden design is subjective. My tastes seem to change daily, so my garden's design is constantly evolving. I do favor a certain sense of order, but my plants usually have their own way, despite my best efforts.

I was at a garden talk recently and the speaker was a garden designer who specializes in naturalistic garden design. He feels that a successful garden design is one where you don't even realize the space has been designed. I'm not sure that's ever going to be my aesthetic. I like natural areas, but I love billowing boarders and flowering hedges. David Beaulieu has an interesting piece on the evolution of garden design, from geometric order to cottage gardens, sweeping lawns and minimalism. Do you think you're garden aesthetic can be categorized, or do you find yourself constantly experimenting.

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Is There Such a Thing as Good Garden Design? originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 01:58:03.

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Garden Landscaping Design Ideas For A Gazebo

A gazebo can certainly add character to one\'s garden. Of course, the size of the gazebo should be in accordance with the area of your garden. It will not do to have a small gazebo in a large garden or a large gazebo in a pocket garden. There are several garden landscaping design ideas for adding a gazebo. These garden landscaping design ideas can be from a landscape architect or a person with a great eye for beauty.

Open Or Close Gazebo

A gazebo can be open or close type. The open type is usually held up by columns much like those of Greek design while the close gazebos may have doors and walls. Japanese garden landscaping may have some form of gazebo integrated into them but these are most likely to have Oriental or Japanese leanings instead of the traditional Victorian or Greek gazebo. The Japanese garden landscaping with gazebos usually have open gazebos. These gazebos are usually made of natural elements which is the one thing that most Japanese style gardens have. They prefer products with natural materials in their garden.

For open style gazebo, the garden landscaping design may lean more towards having some flowering hedges or bushes around the gazebo itself. These are usually low bushes which do not interfere with the entrances of the gazebo itself. Sometimes the parts of the open gazebo where the people are supposed to pass are left without hedges to give easy access. Close gazebos usually have woven walls or glass walls that give an illusion of semi privacy for those in the gazebo. Many people prefer this idea of a close gazebo to shield them from prying eyes.

Pathways And Other Garden Structures

Another example of garden landscaping design using gazebos is to make a pathway from one area of the main house to the gazebo. The pathway can be anything from flagstones, wooden slabs, straight cemented path and others. The pathway can also be bordered by ankle high to knee high hedges for easy leading. These hedges can be flowering or non flowering plants, depending on the preferences of the home owner. Other garden landscaping designs with gazebos for large areas are to place the open gazebo near or beside a towering tree or to place close to a pond.

Other garden structures such as fountains, waterfalls, fire pit and others are great and practical to put by the gazebo. Some gazebos may also serve as a cabana or a green house. Garden landscaping design ideas for those who wish to have a gazebo are plentiful.

Get more about landscape design and you can click here for details.

How to Build Floating Decks

In what sense do so-called "floating decks" float? Well, the term refers to the fact that such decks aren't attached to a house. Being free-standing, floating decks are easier for beginners to build, for two reasons:

You don't have to worry about doing any damage to your house (in the process of attaching the deck to it).
If your floating deck is a small one, its portability affords you more flexibility, both during construction and afterward (to correct mistakes).

In other words, building a small floating deck is the perfect project for the non-carpenter who would like to dabble in a stress-free construction project. So are you looking for an excuse to build a small floating deck? Here's one reason why you might want to build one:

Do you have a problem area in your yard? The solution to some problem areas may very well be a small floating deck -- for example, a small area between your house and a large pine tree that always looks pretty much like a weed patch because grass and flowers fail to compete successively with the pine for the available water. Building a small floating deck here could transform the area into a usable space.

This tutorial shows pictures of a small floating deck in the process of being constructed. And not to worry: the accompanying instructions are written for non-carpenters.

View tutorial: How to Build Floating Decks

How to Build Floating Decks originally appeared on About.com Landscaping on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 08:29:15.

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Winter Interest Photo Challenge Winners

Who knew winter could be so fascinating in the garden? I still can't wait for it to be over, but I've gained a greater appreciation for winter more after seeing the photos submitted in this first garden photo contest of the year. Thanks for trudging out in the snow to share your garden highlights with us. I can't wait to see what you photograph this summer.

Here are the winners of the Jan/Feb 2010 Garden Photography Challenge - Winter Interest. Congratulations! The photo here was submitted by Rebecca Huss (Rebeckia), who took 1st Place with her Leucojum vernum var. carpathicum or Snowflake.

Thanks, everyone, for posting such great shots. Don't forget to get your photos in for the next challenge - Spring Bulbs. We sure could use some signs of spring.

Photo: Rebeca Huss

Winter Interest Photo Challenge Winners originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 06:36:28.

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Gardening Question of the Week: All Tops, No Potatoes. What Happened?

Landacre wrote in with an interesting problem. He husband planted potatoes, but "...all he got was a green bush and the same potato attached at the bottom." I've had years when my potoatoes weren't very large, but I've always gotten a few from each plant. And since growing anything underground for the entire season is a leap of faith, it's got to be very disappointing to pull up nothing.

Poor potato production is usually caused by one of two things:

The temperature stayed too warm. Potatoes like to cool off in the evenings. Keep piling on the soil, as the plant grows, or at least give it a good 4" of mulch.
Too much nitrogen, too little phosphorous. We always talk about wanting our plants to develop a good root system, but this is one time when it really matters. Choose a fertilzier with a low 1st number (nitrogen) and a high 3rd number (phosphorous)

Potatoes also need a lot of water, especially while they're in flower. But since the tops of the plants grew well, water probably wasn't the problem. Have any of you experienced this and do you have any advice to share with Landacre?

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Gardening Question of the Week: All Tops, No Potatoes. What Happened? originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Wednesday, March 10th, 2010 at 01:37:37.

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Small Trees: Which Are Your Favorites?

I recently posted about dwarf trees, an extreme example of which is mugo pine. The popular mugo pine tree is such a dwarf that it acts as a ground cover. Talk about an odd juxtaposition of terms: We don't often speak of a "tree" as a "ground cover"!

Today I want to broaden the topic of conversation a bit. A tree can be considered a "small tree" without qualifying as a "dwarf." For example, I consider Kwanzan cherry trees to be small trees: they're small in comparison with a mature red oak tree. But they're not dwarf trees: You wouldn't plant a Kwanzan cherry tree in a foundation planting.

So with that distinction out of the way, let me ask you: Which are the best small trees? Click the link below to inform us of your favorites.

Let us know: Which Are Your Favorite Small Trees?

Small Trees: Which Are Your Favorites? originally appeared on About.com Landscaping on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 08:25:27.

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Weed Control Without Chemicals

The snow is pretty much goen around my house and the first thing that seems to be greening up is the creeping ivy. Or maybe it's the rosettes of garlic mustard. I haven't gotten close enough to check, but I'm finding it very frustrating that my two nemeses are back already. Clearly those bags of pullings I left to fry in the sun last summer didn't do the trick. Can the dandelions be far behind?

Is your idea of weed control getting down on your hands and knees and pulling? There are easier ways and they don't have to be nasty, harsh chemicals. About's Landscaping Guide, David Beaulieu, gives us 5 kinder gentler ways to get rid of unwanted plants in Weed Control Without Chemicals.

Photo: � Marie Iannotti

Weed Control Without Chemicals originally appeared on About.com Gardening on Tuesday, March 9th, 2010 at 01:01:29.

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Thoughts For Different Landscaping Ideas

Many folks glimpse at their old, tired yard, full of weeds, and wish that they could have a yard like they see on television. Attractive collections of landscaping together with gravel path ways, multi-colored flower beds, decorative rocks, a pond, and maybe even a gazebo or some other seated space. Even if they would never be willing to put the time or work into making that reality, they could very very easily achieve a basic patio or flower bed to increase the aesthetic value of their yard. To much more fully understand of what you'd want in the yard, you should take some time to glimpse at some landscaping ideas.

Millions Of Concepts

Any given website may well have tens of thousands of backyard and front yard landscaping ideas posted up by members, and while some of them may be better than others, you'll likely discover a thing that you think is absolutely perfect for your yard. It may perhaps be the positioning of trees. It may well be the style of brick used inside a patio, or the cut of wood in the railing for a balcony.

The point is that you can find probably thousands of various landscaping ideas which you discover to become really beautiful and well within your spending budget, no matter how large or small it may be. However, if you need to skip towards the best on the finest, you'll desire to take a glance at a magazine, television show, or the showcase section of a internet site. These will give you what quite a few men and women take into account towards the really finest landscaping ideas that they have come across.

For Any Budget

It doesn't matter if your finances is a single hundred dollars or ten thousand ? you'll still be in a position to locate landscaping ideas to fit your yard and make it extra lovely. Granted, a larger budget will be able to do a lot additional, but even a smaller one can go a long way towards generating your yard much a lot more attractive. Of course, you shouldn't head into looking at landscaping ideas hoping that you just can get a patio made out of imported marble from ancient European castles, but you may be able to afford a a number of hundred square foot patio with a thousand dollars, for example. Other projects like flower beds, paths, and lighting will most most likely be cheaper although projects like land contouring is usually much more costly.

If you're thinking of upgrading your yard with some beautifying projects, first take the time to glimpse at quite a few distinct landscaping ideas. They're not difficult to obtain, and you may perhaps locate some thing for you to like much more than what you had had in mind. Some on the most gorgeous projects may be found in magazines and on television, but you can just as quickly come across those projects on the web with a bit of searching. landscaping ideas can assist your yard become as lovely as you want it to become.