Rock Gardens are one of the most effective landscaping features.
They also provide that all elusive curb-appeal that adds signicant value to a home at minimal cost.
There are few features in the garden that provide such a variety of interests in so little space as a well-planned and carefully planted rock garden.
The smallest plot may contain a rock garden which will house a representative and charming collection of alpine plants; but, on the other hand, there are few features in the ordinary garden that are so neglected and so ill-understood.
It must be remembered that the chief function of the rock garden is to provide the plants grown in it with conditions, so far as possible, similar to those existing in their natural haunts.
The alpines and high alpines are the most typical of all rock plants and are mostly natives of the high mountain crags and screes of the Alps and Himalayas.
The ideal rock garden, therefore, should, so far as possible, provide the soil and natural conditions pertaining in these regions.
During the short alpine summer the plants are subjected to fierce and baking sun; many of them, therefore, have thick leaves covered with down or hair to protect them from its shrivelling rays.
The roots, too, at this time need ample moisture, and this is provided by the melting of the snows on the mountain tops, whence it permeates through the scree of the moraine.
Also, to live in their natural haunts they require to be very deep and strong rooted, very often with a much greater root run than the foliage and flowers which their roots support.
Enjoy. DT.
New for 2006- Granite Flexible Preformed Rock Ponds
Gerry Fung
10fa
So you've decided to build your very own backyard water garden. You are in the process of actively planning out your design, and you're visualizing the end-result. But have you paused to consider what kind of pond construction you will be using? Do you know what kind of pond constructions exist? The majority of garden ponds utilize one of two types of constructions: a preformed shell, or a pond liner.
Traditionally, preformed ponds are large shells, which are extremely burdensome and difficult to transport. For example, a typical preformed pond kit would come in a box that is 60” x 48” x 24”, which is too large for many car trunk sizes. Liner kits, on the other hand, present many difficulties for the beginner pond gardener. Since every liner pond shape is different, pond gardeners must customize their own pond and ensure that it is level, and that it does not have excessive wrinkling.
Recently, Algreen Products Inc. has helped leverage both these problems by introducing a flexible preformed pond. The folding preformed/liner hybrid is created with a proprietary blend of materials, which allows it to hold a customized shape. Yet it is easily transportable, since a typical folding kit comes in a box one-sixth the size of a regular preformed kit.
The only problem with the folding pond shell was that it was a dark solid black color. Black is a color that does not occur naturally in a pond environment, nor is it very easy to disguise. No matter how much landscaping you apply around the black shell, it is still extremely difficult to hide the fact that you are using a preformed pond.
New for 2006, Algreen is proud to announce the development of a granite flexible rock pond kit! This new folding pond shell has all the benefits of its black preformed predecessor, but both the pond and the streamlet look like rock.
Algreen advertises that its folding pond includes 3 built-in plant shelves, is weather-resistant, and is able to withstand extreme temperatures from 0 F to 105 F. Each pond shell features textured ridges, which are strategically placed to allow beneficial bacteria to form growth colonies, which significantly reduces algae-buildup in the pool.
Currently, there are two sizes of granite pond shells available from GardenSuperMart (GardenSM.com): a 144 gallon shell, and a 72 gallon shell. Both pond kits come complete with:
- The granite flexible pond shell
- A flexible streamlet
- An energy-efficient, heavy-duty Super Flo pump (500 or 306 gph, for the 144 gallon and 72 gallon shells respectively)
- A telescopic riser and diverter for the Super Flo pump
- Four fountain heads
- Two 6” silk water lilies
- Tubing and clamps.
At the time of this article, GardenSM.com has the lowest pricing for these granite pond kits. GardenSM.com has the 144 gallon granite kit priced at $166.14 USD, and the 72 gallon granite kit priced at $126.14. As part of their Grand Opening Special, GardenSuperMart is also including a FREE solar-powered frog light with the purchase of every folding pond kit.
This article can be viewed in its entirity (with pictures) at /www.gardensupermart.com/tips/granite.asp target=_blank>http://www.gardensupermart.com/tips/granite.asp>http://www.gardensupermart.com/tips/granite.asp. Further information about the granite flexible pond kits can be obtained at /www.gardensupermart.com/buypond/pics/granite_preformed.html target=_blank>http://www.gardensupermart.com/buypond/pics/granite_preformed.html>http://www.gardensupermart.com/buypond/pics/granite_preformed.html.
About the AuthorGerry Fung is a Sales and Marketing representative for Northbridge Products Inc.
2c
http://www.aaarticles.com/article25878.html
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Lily-Ornate Fountain Unveiled in Sofia
Sofia municipality announced a competition for the design of a new fountain in its place and a lily-covered idea won and was realized to the joy of those Sofia citizens who frequent the garden. Photo ...
[Koehler Home Decor] Cherub Garden Fountain ($107.94)
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[Stacks And Stacks] Fountain - Cascade ($229)
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GROUPING AND ARRANGEMENT
The arrangement of shrubs naturally varies according to the purpose which they are to fulfil. If they are to serve as individual specimens in the rock garden, clearly no "arrangement" is required. If planted in groups to form a background or shelter, it is usually desirable that several plants of a kind should be placed together; though even here full space should be allowed for each individual plant to develop.
This grouping together of, say, three to half a dozen specimens, is not only more effective than scattering single plants about indiscriminately, but it makes it easier to give each group of shrubs the special soil in which they thrive best. (For soils suitable to each species, see the Alphabetical List of Plants, p. 121.)
The fact that we can have a continued sequence of bloom from flowering shrubs almost all through the year, provided they are carefully selected, is often overlooked. It is necessary, therefore, to select shrubs not only for the colour of their flowers, their suitability for their situation, but also for the time of year at which they flower.
Care must be taken that specimens whose colours clash and which bloom simultaneously are not placed together. Associate shrubs whose blooms harmonize in colour and time of flowering, and allow the blooms of the specimens in flower to be set off and enhanced by the foliage of shrubs whose flowers are over or still to come.
The stronger-growers must be kept in check by periodical pruning or they may overpower the more beautiful but perhaps less vigorous plants.
When planting shrubs as backgrounds, too great a regularity is to be avoided, and care must be taken to see that they do not present a straight, forbidding line.
Rather should they afford projections and bays: now running forward into the rock garden, now forming sheltered recesses in which plants may find welcome shade and protection.
During the summer the soil round the shrubs should be kept well hoed and should be forked over each winter, except in the case of Rhododendrons, Azaleas, etc., these requiring a mulching of well-rotted leaves or peat.
Where a shrub is seen to be doing badly or to be exhausted, well-decayed manure should be thoroughly worked into the soil round the roots.
Continued from ...Rock Gardens - How to Plant Them by A. Edwards
Rock Gardens | Rock Gardening Design
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