Ten Reasons to use Concrete in Gardens

Concrete is a great choice for a fountain or pond in many gardens, and the options keep growing. You can get it stamped or acid-stained on walkways, or decorate it with imprints of leaves or nuts. The local garden club recently bought a preformed concrete water fountain as a water feature for their flower garden. Now they will be coming back next year to make a concrete pond to capture the water overflow from the fountain. The nice thing about the fountain was it came in sections , so it was easy to put together.
While some projects require a contractor; others, a handy person can complete. Either way, there are myriad things to love about concrete in the garden. Here are Nine:
*1. It can be made to look old — even when it's new.
*2. You can do it yourself
If you are tackling a basic project, it's easy to learn. Edging a walkway, for example, is a repetitive process just about everyone can do.
*3. It lasts Wooden edging will rot and need to be replaced eventually. Concrete will last forever. (There's a downside to that, too. It's hard to get rid of it if you change your mind.)
*4. It can be modern or rustic
Concrete can look hard and sleek, perfect for a contemporary home and garden. Or it can be treated to look old and textured, more in place near a historic cottage or rustic cabin. Concrete gets a natural patina over time.
* 5. It's weather resistant
*6. Add other materials to it Rocks can be part of the design or a waterfall with just concrete can feel more urban and sleek,
*7.Concrete can be decorated You can throw ice cubes on it before it hardens to give it an unusual finish. Baking soda fizzes and makes it look old. Or add watered-down color (two-thirds water to one-third paint) in a paint sprayer.
*8. You create any type texture Some contractors have texture forms or you can make your own to make concrete look like old bricks, slate, textured brick — you name it.
*9. Concrete can be colored just about any color you want. The color choice is almost unlimited. Different chemicals gotten from a cement supply house will color the concrete differently.
*10. Plasticity The most important reason to use concrete is it's plasticity allowing you total control of the form.
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Wooden Garden Bridges

Wooden Garden Bridges - A Beautiful Touch For Your Garden
By Anne Clarke My garden has a simple Koi fish pond, plenty of flowers, a porch swing and a beautiful pine wood bridge. I believe that wooden bridges are a beautiful touch for any garden pond, Japanese-style dry river bed, miniature garden, or even above your waterfall or reflecting pool. The garden bridges I have seen range in style and beauty, elegance and simplicity, length and width, made for all kinds of gardens. A wooden bridge will be a perfect addition for your garden that will best suit your needs for virtually any outdoor dcor, garden design, and can even be custom designed to fit perfectly among the specialized creations in your yard. There are wonderful wooden bridges available to suit the smallest possible waters or ponds to the most elaborate waterfalls, reflecting pools, and they can be used in any dry garden dcor. In other words, you do not have to have a pond, waterfall, or even a dry, stone garden to create a beautiful new look with a wooden garden bridge. When you find a place for the perfect garden, waterfall, a reflecting pool you prefer or if you already have one of these consider a bridge for your garden dcor. There are four post as well as six post wooden bridges designed in pine, redwood and more. Most of the outdoor bridges on the market today are available at very decent prices. In addition you can build your own garden bridges with kits, materials, equipment and instructions. Build-your-own garden bridge projects are not only fun, but they can also save you a lot of money. A wonderful place for meditation, reflection, contemplation, or just to relax and unwind, a wooden bridge contributes to the overall ambiance of any yard or garden. Relaxing at home in your own beautiful outdoor creations, whether your garden is floral, rock, contemporary or cultural a wooden bridge is always a lovely addition. You may be the very best judge and have the very best eye for your own garden, but consider the wide variety of wooden bridges. There are wooden bridges with tall posts and tightly placed together vertical beams, or wooden bridges with four to six poles using ropes or horizontal pieces of wood in between and more. There are tall bamboo railings you can install, and there are bamboo bridges with wooden bases that are perfect for your oriental, stone or miniature garden. The list goes on. Get a bridge for your garden in all kinds of styles and designs to choose from. Have a look at all of the possible benefits of a wooden bridge and the many styles available on the market today. Arch bridges with poles or without poles, straight bridges, bridges with stairways all of these are possible considering the space and type of garden, pond, or waterfall you have. The most important thing about your garden is that you enjoy being there. Therefore, if you love your garden as a hobby you will likely want to have a different kind of garden than one that is lowmaintenance. The point is that when you are able, you have a beautiful sort of sanctuary all your own. Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching, gardening, and fashion. For more of her articles on fountains, please visit pondepot.com, supplier of high quality Water Fountains and Pond Pumps. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke http://EzineArticles.com/?Wooden-Garden-Bridges—A-Beautiful-Touch-For-Your-Garden&id=48311
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Thinking About A Garden Pond ?

Why You Should Have a Garden Pond
By Anne Clarke Are you still having some trouble deciding whether or not to add a garden pond to your yard? Well, I am going to try to convince you that you should most definitely have a garden pond. Here are some of the many benefits and pros to having a garden pond: Visual Beauty. There is something about the sight of water that is absolutely mesmerizing. Add a waterfall or water fountain to your garden pond, and you will be hypnotized for days. Auditory Beauty. After a stressful day of work, there are few things more soothing than the sound of water gurgling, cascading, or even dripping. Again, a waterfall or water fountain will increase the auditory beauty, just as they will increase the visual beauty. Pets. If you add koi to your pond, you are not simply adding a piece of garden decoration, you are adding a pet. It can be very fun and quite intriguing to take care of koi. And if you do get koi for your pond, expect that you will, indeed, have to take care of them as pets. You will need to make sure that they are fed and that the aquatic environment is optimal. Gardening. Most garden ponds do not simply consist of a hole filled with water and fish. They also have many aquatic plants and plants surrounding the pond. You can really have fun with gardening and landscaping around the pond. Easy installation. You can create a basic garden pond in a day. More complicated ones, with cascading waterfalls, etc. can take much longer. But a basic garden pond is very easy to install. You can just dig a hole and line it with pond liner, or get a set pond hard shell. With a little bit of digging and some water and a few plants you have got yourself a pond! Easy to run. These days, you can get solar pond lights, solar filters, solar pumps, etc., making your pond very easy to run. And since solar power is free, you will have no running costs! Interest. There are few things more boring than a backyard that is simply a huge expanse of grass. If you want a grassy field, go to a park! In your own backyard, you have the power to create any sort of environment that you want. Why not make your landscape interesting? Getaway. Adding a garden pond to your yard is the first step to creating your own getaway. Once you beautify your yard, you are going to want to spend more and more time in it. It will become the perfect place to go when you want to escape from the rest of the world. Guests. Although you should build a garden pond for yourself, it is nice to know that your guests are sure to love it, too. Your garden pond can be the center of many outdoor barbecues and get-togethers. Add a few floating candles to your pond, and you are set to go! Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on garden ponds, please visit Pond Depot. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Anne_Clarke http://EzineArticles.com/?Why-You-Should-Have-a-Garden-Pond&id=25586
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Large Tree Sculpture

This tree sculpture project has been going on for a while. I can't believe the size of these. you can see more tree sculpture here

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10 Reasons for A Garden Not Grass

I got this list of 10 Reasons for A Garden Not Grass over at bountifulbackyards.com some good reasoning here.

1. Americans spend $30 billion every year to maintain 23 million acres of lawn. That's an average of $1200 per acre, per year. The same sized area could still provide a beautiful space for recreation and feed a family of six if converted to edible landscaping as opposed to traditional landscaping.

2. The food you grow in your garden is infinitely fresher, tastier and nutritionally superior to store - bought foods that travel an average of 1,500 miles to your table.

3. The bounty you obtain will allow you to share the unique gift of homegrown, gourmet - quality fruits and vegetables with your friends and neighbors.

3. You will lessen your dependance on the intolerably wasteful factory - farm megacorporations that despoil our environment to produce carcinogenic "nourishment".
4. You can eliminate the need to maintain an unnatural and energy - intensive lawn and transfer that time and energy to build something that is both functional and beautiful - your edible landscape.

5. The simple act of gardening improves all aspects of health - physical, emotional, spiritual and social - to enable us to build strong bodies, strong families and strong communities.

6) You will have the ability to teach your children, friends and neighbors how they too can drastically improve their health and quality of life through gardening.

7) Instead of merely protesting the negative actions of others which all of us get wrapped up in at times, you can make a direct positive impact on the vitality of your home, and therefore community, and therefore our world in general.

8) Gardening is unbelievably educational - you will learn more about biology, chemistry, meteorology and countless other life sciences and their interaction with each other as you cultivate your nourishing garden.

9) Kids just can't get enough time in the garden! Rather than having your children dull their minds with video games, television and the internet, they can be getting a real hands - on education, develop a positive work ethic, and get a great workout to boot.

10) You will be giving a gift back to nature - providing habitat for native birds and beneficial insects as well as stopping the harmful input of petrochemicals - and she will return the favor in abundance with delicious food as opposed to useless grass!
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