If you want a green landscape but don’t have a lot of time to spend caring for it, shrubs are a good choice. Properly selected shrubs are easy to care for and can provide year round interest.

Happy Shrubs Are Easy Care Shrubs

Just like in other forms of gardening, choosing shrubs for the landscape means paying attention to the conditions the shrub will be planted in and knowing what you want from the planting. If you have never had your soil tested, a soil test is recommended before you spend a lot of money on landscaping. You will also need to look at the area to see what type of soil you have (sandy, organic or clay) and what type of light each area receives.

Plants that are happy where they are placed will grow as expected and won’t need excessive coddling. Happy shrubs are easy to grow shrubs. You can find the needs of plants by examining the plant tags, catalog descriptions or good reference books. When you shop for plants, have a list of what will grow well in your conditions so you won’t be tempted to buy shrubs that just look nice or that are on sale.

Pay attention to the adult size and shape of shrubs, which will also be listed on those tags or in references. Small and cute now doesn’t mean the shrub won’t become a huge mess later. Also pay attention to how far from the house or walkways that you plant your shrubs. When they reach adult size, you don’t want them to cover a window or make it impossible to reach the doorway. You can prune most shrubs, but constant pruning doesn’t equal easy care.

Remember that there may be many cultivars of the same species of shrub, and some of those may suit your property better than others. For example, there are arborvitaes that grow into trees and those that stay low and globe-shaped. There are junipers that hug the ground and those that grow tall and narrow. There are dwarf versions of many types of shrubs. Some varieties may be more winter hardy in your zone than others.

Some Easy Care Evergreen Shrubs

Arborvitaes or cedars come in a number of sizes. They have soft, flat needles and a pleasant smell. There are some arborvitaes with variegated foliage for additional interest. Arborvitaes will grow well over a large area of the country.

There are numerous forms of juniper in several shades of green and gold. Junipers have sharp needles, and there are some forms that will grow as far north as Zone 4 and as far south as Zone 7.

If you have acidic soil and light shade to full sun, a holly may be right for you. Hollies have broad leaves but are evergreen. Some hollies become quite large over time, so choose carefully. If you have both male and female plants, you will be rewarded with red berries in winter.

Other acid-soil lovers that prefer some shade and protection from winter wind are the azaleas and rhododendrons. There are large and small varieties of both. In the right location, they require little care and will give you beautiful spring flowers. Some varieties are not evergreen in all climates.

For the drier southwestern areas, Manzanita is a broad-leaved evergreen shrub that develops small, bright-red, apple-like fruit in summer.

Easy Care Deciduous Shrubs

Lilacs grow so easily they have become wild in many areas. They will grow in all areas except the far south and desert southwest. They can become large, so use them where they have plenty of room. Full sun and good air circulation are best for lilacs. You’ll be rewarded with lovely flowers in spring.

If you are in California or the Southwest, you may want to grow Ceanothus in one of its many forms instead of lilacs. They have nice foliage and pretty, blue summer flowers that attract butterflies.

Viburnums are easy to grow, with a wide range of flower and fruit types, but four feet tall is generally considered a small viburnum. They are best used where they don’t need to be pruned and are allowed to have their natural shape. There are viburnums for Zones 3 to 8.

Forsythia is another shrub that looks best when allowed to develop its natural form. It’s hardy from Zones 3 to 8. Beautiful golden flowers cover it in spring.

The Burning Bush, or Euonymus alata, is a widely planted shrub in Zones 3 to 7. It has brilliant-red fall coloring. It prefers full sun and a yearly pruning is recommended.

Don’t forget the new shrub roses. These come in various sizes, from groundcovers to large shrubs. There is a wide range of colors. They bloom all summer and don’t require spraying. They may die back to the roots in cold climates, but they quickly recover. Dead branches will need to be pruned out each spring, but after that little pruning is needed.

Barberries are thorny shrubs with small leaves. Many have deep purple or crimson foliage all year. They come in various sizes and prefer full sun in Zones 4 to 7.

For the western coastal areas, a hardy native shrub, Holodiscus discolor, or Cream Bush, with its sprays of creamy white, sweet-smelling flowers, is a good choice.

In the coastal southwest, Rosemary becomes a large fragrant shrub with beautiful blue flowers. It’s tough and drought-resistant and is great for cooking.

Living bamboo hedges, screens, and wind breaks are attractive and excellent as an alternative to bamboo fence panels. If you choose a living fence you can even harvest some of it yourself for the purpose of making your own fence panels for elsewhere on your property, or use the harvested material to make a bamboo wind chime or bamboo fountain, a table or other furniture. Alternatively you could choose an edible species, such as Phyllostachys flexuosa ‘Zigzag Bamboo’, and take the option of having a living fence that can be harvested for food.

Hedge

Bamboo garden hedges are really impressive. They can be pruned, trimmed, or cut in a similar way that you would with any traditional hedging. There are a lot of species of bamboo plants that grow at different heights and spread in different ways. Some will spread faster than others by sending out runners but can be controlled to ensure they spread and grow where you want them to. An example species would be Phyllostachys heteroclada ‘Solidstem’, an aggressively spreading bamboo that is also edible and and suitable to grow in wetter climates. This species will grow to a maximum height of 24′. Wow, that’s some hedge.

Privacy Screen

Cultivation of bamboo species for garden privacy screens is a great option. You can grow an ornamental bamboo variety that can be cut or trimmed to achieve the desired outcome for your garden design. The differences between privacy screens and hedges is that screens are taller whereas hedges are much shorter, and hedges generally have a more formal appearance. An example of a suitable species would be Phyllostachys nigra ‘Hale’, being too tall for a hedge but making an excellent high branching bamboo screen plant with a moderate spreading habit and growing to a maximum height of 20′.

Windbreak

Bamboos are ideal for commercial wind breaks as well as domestic garden windbreaks, and can also be cultivated, cut, trimmed, or harvested. The benefits these plants provide include; wind force reduction, flexibility, root mass, stability, cultivation and suitable species. For a good windbreak you may like to consider a species such as Phyllostachys bambusoides ‘Giant Japanese Timber Bamboo’. This is an excellent high branching species for windbreaks or screens with aggressive spreading, growth to a maximum height of 72′ and maximum culm diameter 6″.

Colours and Variations

Bamboo plant species come in a variety of colours with some leaves being dark green and some pale, some have variagated colouring and there are a variety of cane colours to choose from. For example, Hibanobambusa Tranquillans ‘Shiroshima’ has variegated cream and white striped leaves that make for a stunning hedge and the species can grow to a maximum height of 16′.

Caroline Ord-Hume provides a comprehensive resource full of guides and tips about bamboo fencing and gardens, bamboo plants, and bamboo products at her Bamboo Inspiration website. Visit http://www.bamboo-inspiration.com for more information and guides about these environmentally friendly fast growing plants and related products.

Water is a big necessity not only for quenching the thrust but also for the mental rest. The importance of water has made it go wherever the human beings are may be in the shapes that people can adore. The water fountains are that kind of only. The water fountains or waterfalls generate a pleasurable impression around you providing you calmness and giving a break from the hectic day schedule. And this pleasure can be attained anywhere you are residing or working.

Due to the increased competition in this modern era, everybody desires to be at the top for which they are striving hard keeping all the possible factors in mind. At the time of designing any working place the customer’s comforts and requirements are given the top notch priority. To make the atmosphere more alluring and soothing people go for water aids that can beautiful and at the same time can bag a huge amount of luck for all. It creates a fresh environment that is healthy and closer to the nature.

There are two main types of water fountains and that are described below:

1. Indoor Water Feature
These kinds of water feature entail in house water fountains and waterfalls. They can be wall mountable, free- standing or can be placed as table top. This water feature can be installed in your house or garden as well.

2. Outdoor Water Feature
The outdoor features comprises of big commercial water fountains that can be customized as well.

The outdoor water arrangements include commercial waterfalls that you can primarily place in your office. The Commercial Water Fountains can be easily seen in the different venues as Work Places, Medical Offices Hotels, Banks and Law Offices, Public Places such as Parks, Cinema Halls or Libraries, etc.

There is a huge range of it available in the online or offline market such as commercial water displays, commercial water features or outdoor water displays, etc. A lobby of a hotel can be embellished with a tall free-standing fountain that will contribute positively towards it’s beauty. A small standing water feature placed at the side of the law office can enhance the comfort of a small office.

A giant sized water fountain placed at the center of the office with a company logo build a favorable rapport amongst the people walking in. It significantly contributes the increased volume of output as the presence of the water features at the workplaces decrease the existence of the negative ions in the air due to computers, televisions and electronics. As a result the employees feel healthy and happy. So if you are planning for business progress, employee’s well being or want to be prosperous in your commercial ventures then it can prove to be a great tool of help for you.

Water fountains are useful for the health of the employees as they. If the employees get pleasant atmosphere to work in, the output of the workplace will definitely improve. It will definitely provide you several benefits.

Commercial Water Fountains are now available in a lot of Custom Features and designs, you can choose from which you will find ideal for your home. Feel free to visit: Commercial Water Fountains.

If you are looking for stones to use in your landscaping design, then you are in luck. Stones for landscaping come in a wide variety of different colors and sizes to enable you to find exactly the right look for your particular landscaping design.

Finding the Right Stones

You may be able to find some great stones in your own yard. If you live in an area that is rocky, then you may be able to find some rocks simply by digging in your yard. Your landscaping design will thank you for the added visual interest and texture.

Purchasing Stones for Landscaping

You should have no difficulty in finding stones to purchase for your landscaping design. Most garden stores and home improvement stores carry a wide variety of different colored and sized stones. You may also be able to locate a private landscaping company that sells stones, as well. They may even deliver them right to your home if needed.

Color and Shape Variety

You will be able to find any color, shape, or sized stone that you want or need for your landscaping plan. You can find anything from perfectly round stones that are manufactured to more natural looking stones that are more free-formed in size and shape.

Stone Retaining Walls

Stones can be used for other purposes besides a walkway. If you see a retaining wall in your landscaping plan, then using stones or rocks will be great. Stones and rocks will help give your landscaping design beauty and security.

Borders and Gardens

If your flowerbed or garden needs a border, then stones and rocks are a great choice. They will help to enhance the beauty of your garden or pond. They can add color and texture to your garden to make it more visually appealing and interesting.

Best Stones To Use

Two of the many kinds of stones are flagstone and river rock. These rocks are great for any landscaping project – from retaining walls to borders to stepping stones. Flagstone comes in many different colors to help match your outdoor décor. River rock is a little smaller in size, but it comes in the same variety.

If you need to fill in areas, then river rock is an excellent choice for this purpose, too. It will work well to keep weeds from coming up in spaces left in flowerbeds.

Using landscaping stones will most assuredly add beauty and interest to your landscaping design. Why not try it?

Landscaping takes a lot of effort and a person loves to show off their work, so it is only natural for a person to finish their landscape project by adding landscape lighting. There are a variety of lighting choices, as well as, a variety of ways to use lighting to highlight and accent the landscaping. A person will find that landscape lighting is just the final touch their project needs.

To begin adding landscape lighting a person needs to start with identifying what it is they are going to do. This includes their needs and anything special they wish to do. A person should start by listing everything they wish to light up. Good choices are walkways and driveways. Also any special highlight lighting should be noted. Sometimes people wish to spotlight a certain aspect of their landscaping, such as a sculptured hedge or bush. After a person understands what they want to light up they need to decide the method and type of landscape lighting to use.

There are five main landscape lighting methods. There is up light where the lighting is on the ground and shines up. Down light is where the lighting is mounted above and the light shines down. Ground light is on the ground, but unlike up light, it shines at the ground not up. There is also spotlight, like mentioned earlier, used to highlight certain objects. Finally there is backlight where a light is mounted behind an object to make it stand out in the dark.

Besides the lighting method there is also the consideration of the type of light. There are both solar powered and traditional electric powered landscape lighting options. Solar lighting is powered by the sun and are fairly easy to set up. Some solar lights include a solar panel for power. However, there is no digging to install electric. Electric lights are more reliable, though. They do require the burying of electrical wires, however, new wireless models require no wires at all and are as easy to set up as solar lighting. With electric, though, there is the cost of electricity where with solar lights there is no extra utility cost.

After decided on the lighting method and the type of lighting, a person is ready to purchase and install their landscape lighting. Landscape lighting adds a touch of class to a landscape project. It shows off the hard work that was put into the project and shows the pride of the home owner. Landscape lighting is also helpful to light walkways and provide a sense of security. There are so many choices in landscape lighting that a person can easily find the landscape lighting that works for them and their needs.

If you are looking for a great gift, then you may want to consider giving tools to use for landscaping a year. At the first sign of spring, many people start yearning for time spent outside working on their yard. With excellent landscaping tools, you can help to make their landscaping more efficient and less taxing on them physically.

Choosing Shears

Every gardener needs a good pair of hand shears of clippers. They are a excellent choice for trimming shrubs, bushes, and even small trees. The great thing is that you can buy inexpensive shears and still receive the same results.

Spades and Shovels

A spade is used for digging and a flat shovel is used for creating bigger spaces or removing dirt. There is quite a variety in the different shovels, including different sizes and shapes. Handles are different lengths as well. If you are going to use it for digging in a small area, then you will want a shorter handle length. If you are using it predominantly for moving dirt, then you will want a longer handle.

Rake It Up

The best and most useful of the landscaping tools that you can purchase is a metal rake. Rakes come in all different price ranges, but a rake with metal teeth will last longer and will be a lot stronger for those landscaping jobs. Rakes can help you move dirt and debris from any landscaped area with very little effort and time.

Wheelbarrows and Garden Hoses

In the landscaping process, you will find that wheelbarrows can help you quite a bit. They can help you to move dirt, plants, or debris from one area to the next. Carrying supplies in your yard is also made easier with the wheelbarrow. If you want to carry around your garden tools, you may want to consider purchasing a cart to carry them. Carts cost less money and they weight quite a bit less, which will make it easier to maneuver in your yard.

Garden hoses come in different lengths so you need to evaluate the distance from your water spigot to the areas that you will need to be watering. You will also want to consider purchasing a hose rack or wheel to store your hose on and keep it free from kinks that can keep the water from flowing through your hose efficiently. Storing your garden hose neatly will help keep your lawn uncluttered and neat.

Landscaping tools are a great gift for yourself or for someone else. A few other tools that can be quite helpful in landscaping include water cans, lawnmowers, gloves, pole pruners, and trimmers.

You can buy landscaping tools on a budget. Much of the above listed tools can be bought for very little money, but they can make a huge impact on how your lawn will look for years to come.

Have you ever considered landscaping with rocks? Not only does this add some texture to your garden, but it is also very attractive and doesn’t have to cost the earth. The beauty of using rocks is that you don’t necessarily have to spend a lot on materials, as you might already find you have a wide variety of rocks on your land to begin with.

My wife and I decided to go for landscaping with rocks because we were constantly turning up stones in our garden. The stones came in all manner of shapes and sizes which made it easy to create deep and meaningful displays in simple arrangements.

The first idea we had was to knock up a circle of stones around the four small trees towards the right hand corner or our back yard. Landscaping with rocks around each of the trees really helped to define the space. Each tree had its own little collection of stones circling it, a bit over two feet in diameter.

After that success, we decided to use the flat rocks we kept finding to make a walkway. We found this to be quite different from the tree design, because of the sheer time and effort that was required to uncover the stones and arrange them suitably, particularly because of the bad weather we were experiencing at the time.

Next, We laid a sheet of plastic over the grass and weeds growing by the trees and used the stones we had already laid to weigh it in place. We then put some red mulch over the plastic which gave us a nice, professional look. This high priced look came at very low cost, with the only expenditure being that on the mulch and the plastic sheet.

My wife came up with the idea of digging a small ditch to hammer a spike into numerous parts of the clay earth. This went some way to help the land absorb more water, which was proving to be a problem. We then filled the ditches with gravel and sand, before arranging some stones over the top.

After a great deal of sweat and perseverance, the walkway was completed. This time-consuming task was well worth it in the end and turned out to be quite cheap, apart from the hours of work we put in!

On the whole, landscaping with rocks already in your garden is a cheap way to spruce up your garden and give it a modern feel. The colors and textures of the stones are beautiful and contrasting, and we frequently receive comments from our guests about how nice the garden is looking. We are so happy with our garden now, and especially satisfied that we achieved our goal cheaply and relatively painlessly with resources already on our land.

So why no give it a go yourself. If you’re creative, there are so many things you can achieve when landscaping with rocks. It’ll save you money, and you’ll by happy in yourself, knowing that you’ve really accomplished something that looks so professional off your own back.

This blog is on cheap landscaping ideas. One of the main hassles of a garden is not planting, but weeding. Weeds grow with remarkable speed and can quickly overtake a garden. Using a poison or herbicide like roundup is not recommended as you might kill your plants. I know that the manufactors claim the product breaks down in the soil very quickly but I find with my lawn edges after a second dose of roundup no grass is growing there six months later.

In moving into a new rental property I had a large front garden with a nice quickkerb concrete border to highlight the beautiful weeds. So I began to weed, got sick of it and left it for a month. Big mistake, there were now more weeds than ever. I was going to have to have mulch it or spend everyday in the garden. With the landlord not interested in paying for it it was going to have to come out of my own pocket. Now I don’t mine paying for gardening supplies, plants, etc when its my own place, but I’m certainly not keen on giving my landlord a free ride.

So I needed a cheap mulching option, that would look good, work, but not cost too much.

I chose three basic supplies, newspaper -the local rags free and it doesn’t take long to build up a stock pile of papers, sugar cane mulch – its comes in a big bags and is cheap, and finally a few bags of bark – not so cheap, but as you will see its used to give colour not as a mulch so only a little bit is required.

Step One:-

Prepare the garden, yes this means a huge effort and weed the whole garden by hand. Rake over the soil so its nice and smooth and then apply the newspaper. The thicker the better.

Min. six sheets thick. Spread it out and then with a hose wet it all down so it soaked. The now heavy paper won’t blow around in the wind and will mold better to the grounds surface.

Step Two:-

Next spread out the sugar cane mulch. If you cant access cheap sugar cane mulch, try straw, but ensure it has no seeds in it. Make sure all the paper is covered. It doesn’t have to be deep, just enough to cover all the paper. Once again apply water to damp down the mulch. Once watered it takes on a lovely golden colour.

Step Three:-

Now apply the bark. Just grab handfulls and throw it around. You don’t want to totally cover the yellow mulch, the barks mainly to give colour and to contrase with the mulch.

I have found this to be a very effective mulch. A year later and few weeds can get through. Nutgrass was the only successful one and I pulled those out by hand and even the nutgrass gave up the fight. The beautiful browns and golden colour unfortunately fade under the harsh sun, but by that time you should have plenty of flower to make up for it. Best of all – NO WEEDING, yes.