Free Gardening & Landscaping

Japan is well known for its charming, disciplined and stunningly planned gardens. Many people shy away from attempting to recreate such elegance in their own backyard but as this video shows - it is completely doable! You just need the right plan, the right tools and the confidence and perseverance to see it through.

Botanical gardens are beautiful and are usually filled with a variety of different local plants along with a variety of plants that can be found in different parts of the world. They often have collections like tropical, perennial flowers as well as herb gardens. Often they have plants that will attract butterflies and other beneficial insects such as bumblebees. Botanical gardens can display a mix of different plants that will help to create a space of beauty that is always changing every time you walk through them. Usually these gardens are specially created for the public to visit, but there is nothing that says you can't design your own, in your own backyard.

Here are some of the things you will need in order to create one of your own botanical gardens:

• A blueprint
• Perennial plants of your choice
• Flowering shrubs you prefer
• Evergreen shrubs
• Spring blooming bulbs
• Flowering trees
• A variety of annuals
• A variety of containers
• Edible flowers and herbs

First you will need to decide on the different plants you want that will thrive in botanical gardens by basing it on the region and the amount of sun that your garden space receives. You should try to pick low maintenance plants that are both drought and heat tolerant in order to make a successful establishment of plants. You also will want to pick a few exotic plants in order to make a collection within the garden.

Next you should draw up your own blueprint or an outline of the design that you would like to have for your garden because this will let you make any changes you might decide on during the process of planting. You should make sure that you grow flowers that are for each season to make sure that your garden will always be in bloom.

Once you have finished the blue print and have gotten the area ready for planting it is a good idea to plant the perennial plants first, these are plants that will come back each year and grow taller and stronger each time. These should be planted at the back of the garden and use the tallest first working your way forward to create a layered look.

Next you should plant flowering shrubs that will come out in winter to early spring so that you will have different colors and textures in your garden. Plants like hellebores, winter Daphne and ever greens will provide great color during the usual colorless landscape of winter.

The next thing you will want to plant will be the spring blooming bulbs like tulips and daffodils which will give your garden color after winter. You can place these around trees, shrubs and even the walkways of your garden.

Next you can put in a few flowering trees such as cherry trees and add them as focal points for your garden. Also include specimen trees that will provide your garden with shade. Annual plants can be added in pots for transitory seasons in order to fill in any bare spots in the garden. Use a variety of different interesting and colorful pots and then you can change out the plants in these pots all during the year to add new color and design all year round.

Finally don't forget to plant edibles in garden pots things like colorful vegetables and herbs or you can use raised beds in botanical gardens as well. Just make sure that there is the right amount of light and the soil can be manipulated easily.

It might be a little bit expensive to start one of your own botanical gardens but once you have it started and on its way, you will find that it was well worth it.