Welcome to gardening designs

Cold Frame Garden

2010-12-27T04:46:00.000-08:00

A traditional home made cold frame

In agriculture and gardening, a cold frame is a transparent-roofed enclosure, built low to the ground, used to protect plants from cold weather. The transparent top admits sunlight and prevents heat escape via convection that would otherwise occur, particularly at night. Essentially, a cold frame functions as a miniature greenhouse season extension device.

Historically cold frames were built to be used in addition to a heated greenhouse. The name, itself, exemplifies the distinction between the warm greenhouse and the unheated cold frame. They were frequently built as part of the greenhouse's foundation brickwork along the southern wall (in northern latitudes). This allowed seeds to be germinated in the greenhouse and then easily moved to the attached cold frame to be hardened-off before final planting outside.

Cold frames are found in home gardens and in vegetable farming. They create microclimates that provide several degrees of air and soil temperature insulation, and shelter from wind. In cold-winter regions, these characteristics allow plants to be started earlier in the spring, and to survive longer into the fall and winter. They are most often used for growing seedlings that are later transplanted into open ground, and can also be a permanent home to cold-hardy vegetables grown for autumn and winter harvest.

Cold frame construction is a common home or farm building project, although kits and commercial systems are available. A traditional plan makes use of old glass windows: a wooden frame is built, about one to two feet tall, and the window placed on top. The roof is often sloped towards the winter sun to capture more light, and to improve runoff of water, and hinged for easy access. Clear plastic, rigid or sheeting, can be used in place of glass. An electric heating cable, available for this purpose, can be placed in the soil to provide additional heat.

One of the advantages of using a cold frame is that you can raise a huge variety of crops from seed through to maturity within the frame - so it's possible to have vegetable crops ahead of their normal season when they are extremely expensive to buy. Some crops suitable for growing in a cold frame include lettuces, parsley, salad onions, spinach, radishes and turnips etc. One vegetable crop can occupy the whole of a cold frame or you can grow a combination of crops so that they mature in rotation - so you'll get a wide range of different vegetables throughout the year from one cold frame.

Basic build cold frame

Container garden or Pot gaden

2010-12-27T04:29:00.000-08:00

Container garden on front porch

Container gardening is the practice of growing plants exclusively in containers instead of planting them in the ground. Pots, traditionally made of terracotta but now more commonly plastic, and windowboxes have been the most commonly seen. Small pots are commonly called flowerpots. In some cases, this method of growing is used for ornamental purposes. This method is also useful in areas where the soil or climate is unsuitable for the plant or crop in question. Using a container is also generally necessary for houseplants. Limited growing space can also make this option appealing to the gardener.

Many types of plants are suitable for the container, including decorative flowers, herbs, cacti,vegetables, and small trees. There are many advantages to growing plants in containers, namely:

Less risk of soil-borne disease
Virtually eliminate weed problems
Mobile plants gives more control over moisture, sunlight & temperature

Containers range from simple plastic pots, teacups to complex automatic-watering irrigation systems. This flexibility in design is another reason container gardening is popular with growers. They can be found on porches, front steps, and in urban locations, on rooftops.

Sub-Irrigated Planters (SIP) are a form of container gardening.

Repotting

Repotting is the action of placing an already potted plant into a larger or smaller pot. A pot that fits a plant's root system better is normally used. Plants are usually repotted according to the size of their root system. Most plants need to be repotted every few years, because they become "pot-bound" or "root-bound."

This large container garden is used for testing plants intended for use in containers

Garden conservatory

2010-12-27T04:21:00.001-08:00

A garden conservatory is usually a small conservatory usually attached to a private house. In this context, a conservatory is distinguished from a greenhouse in having a role as a living space as well as being used to grow plants. If the space is not used to grow plants is it best described as a solarium.

Garden conservatories are sometimes designed to match the style of the home to which they are attached. On other occasions they are bought 'off the peg' and are therefore in a style which contrasts with the architectural style of the home.

Forest gardening

2010-12-27T01:49:00.000-08:00

Robert Hart's forest garden in
Shropshire, England.

Forest gardening is a food production and land management system based on woodland ecosystems, but substituting trees (such as fruit or nut trees), bushes, shrubs, herbs and vegetables which have yields directly useful to humans. Making use of companion planting, these can be intermixed to grow on multiple levels in the same area, as do the plants in a forest.

In part based on the model of the Keralan home gardens, temperate-climate forest gardening was pioneered by the late Robert Hart on his one eighth of an acre (500 m²) plot at Wenlock Edge in Shropshire.

Robert began the project over thirty years ago with the intention of providing a healthy and therapeutic environment for himself and his brother Lacon, who was born with severe learning disabilities.

Starting as relatively conventional smallholders, Robert soon discovered that maintaining large annual vegetable beds, rearing livestock and taking care of an orchard were tasks beyond their strength. However, a small bed of perennial vegetables and herbs they had planted was looking after itself with little intervention. This led him to evolve the concept of the "forest garden". Based on the observation that the natural forest can be divided into distinct layers or "storeys", he used inter-cropping to develop an existing small orchard of apples and pears into an edible polyculture landscape consisting of seven levels.

Woodland gardening

A key component of Hart's system was the plants he selected. Most of the traditional crops grown today such as carrots are sun loving plants not well selected for the more shady forest garden system. Ken Fern had the idea that for a successful temperate forest garden a wider range of shade tolerant plants would need to be used. To this end, Fern created the organisation Plants for a Future which compiled a plant database suitable for such a system. Plants for a Future adopted the term "Woodland Gardening".

The Agroforestry Research Trust has a 2-acre (8,100 m²) forest garden, next to the Schumacher College in Dartington, Devon. It makes heavy use of ground cover plants to restrict the growth of weeds.

There has been some criticism as to whether the home gardens system developed in the tropics are a suitable design for use in a temperate climate.

In the 21st Century

Forest Gardening was furthered significantly by the work of Dave Jacke and Eric Toensmeier with the publication of the two volume set "Edible Forest Gardening" in 2005.

Forest Garden plots are to be found in various research trials such as those at The Central Rocky Mountain Permaculture Institute, community farms and gardens like Montview Neighborhood farm , and in small yards throughout the temperate world.

A number of studies have looked at forest gardens in the humid tropics, and they can be a significant source of minerals and nutrients, as well as providing income and food security for the owners.

Traditional examples

Forest Gardens appear in many different societies in the wet tropics and go under various names including: Home gardens in Kerala in South India, Nepal, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Tanzania; Kandyan Forest Gardens in Sri Lanka; huertos familiares, the "family orchards" of Mexico; and pekarangan, the gardens of "complete design", in Java.

The seven layers of the forest garden.

Hanging garden

2010-12-27T01:26:00.000-08:00

A hanging garden is a Sustainable landscape architecture, an artistic garden or a small urban farm: attached to or built on a wall.

History

The most famous hanging gardens were the legendary Hanging Gardens of Babylon. They were considered in antiquity as one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and were located in present day Iraq.

Modern

In contemporary use, hanging gardens are a green wall on a ground level facade, a balcony, a terrace, or part of a roof garden; of a home, or skyrise greenery with a residential, commercial, or government office building.

Products

Prefabricated modular hanging wall garden systems have been developed and are on the market internationally.

Raised bed gardening

2010-12-26T23:50:00.000-08:00

Raised bed gardening

Raised bed gardening is a form of gardening in which the soil is formed in 3–4 foot (1.0–1.2 m) wide beds, which can be of any length or shape. The soil is raised above the surrounding soil (6 inches to waist high), sometimes enclosed by a frame generally made of wood, rock, or concrete blocks, and enriched with compost. The vegetable plants are spaced in geometric patterns, much closer together than conventional row gardening. The spacing is such that when the vegetables are fully grown, their leaves just barely touch each other, creating a microclimate in which moisture is conserved and weed growth suppressed. Raised beds produce a variety of benefits: they extend the planting season; they reduce the need to use poor native soil; and they can reduce weeds if designed properly. Since the gardener does not walk on the raised beds, the soil is not compacted and the roots have an easier time growing. The close plant spacing and the use of compost generally result in higher yields with raised beds in comparison to conventional row gardening. Waist high raised beds enable the elderly and the sick to grow vegetables without having to bend over to tend them.

Raised garden bed of lettuce,
tomatoes, basil,marigolds,
zinnias, garlic chives, zucchini.

Raised beds lend themselves to the development of complex agriculture systems that utilize many of the principles and methods of Permaculture. They can be used effectively to control erosion and recycle and conserve water and nutrients by building them along contour lines on slopes. This also makes more space available for intensive crop production. They can be created over large areas with the use of several commonly available tractor-drawn implements and efficiently maintained, planted and harvested using hand tools.

This form of gardening is compatible with square foot gardening and companion planting.

Circular waist high raised beds with a path to the center (a slice of the circle cut out) are called keyhole gardens. Often the center has a chimney of sorts built with sticks and then lined with feedbags or grasses that allows water placed at the center to flow out into the soil and reach the plants' roots. The charity 'Send a Cow' is promoting the creation of these in Africa.

Vegetable Garden Bed Construction materials should be chosen carefully. Some concerns exist over the use of timber such as Treated Pine that was traditionally treated using Chromated Copper Arsenateor CCA, a toxic chemical mix for preserving timber that may leach chemicals into the soil which in turn can be drawn up into the plants, a concern for vegetable growers, where part or all of the plant is eaten. If using timber to raise the garden bed, ensure that it is an untreated hardwood to prevent the risk of chemicals leaching into the soil. A common approach is to use timber sleepers joined with steel rods to hold them together. Another approach is to use concrete blocks, although less aesthetically pleasing, they are cheap to source and easy to use. On the market are also prefab raised garden bed solutionswhich are made from long lasting polyethylene that is UV stabilized and Food Grade so it isn't going to leach undesirable chemicals into your soil and it won't deteriorate in the elements. A double skinned wall provides an air pocket of insulation that minimizes the temperature fluctuations and drying out of the soil in the garden bed.

Renaissance and Formal gardens

2010-12-26T06:06:00.000-08:00

A formal garden in the Persian garden and European garden design traditions is rectilinear and axial in design. The equally formal garden, without axial symmetry (asymmetrical) or other geometries, is the garden design tradition of Chinese gardens and Japanese gardens. The Zen garden of rocks, moss and raked gravel is an example. The Western model is an ordered garden laid out in carefully planned geometric and often symmetrical lines. Lawns and hedges in a formal garden need to be kept neatly clipped for maximum effect. Trees, shrubs, subshrubs and other foliage are carefully arranged, shaped and continually maintained. A French garden or Garden à la française, is a specific kind of formal garden, laid out in the manner of André Le Nôtre; it is centered on the façade of a building, with radiating avenues and paths of gravel, lawns, parterres and pools (bassins) of reflective water enclosed in geometric shapes by stone coping, with fountains and sculpture.

French formal parterre at
Villandry in the Loire Valley

The Garden à la française style has origins in fifteenth-century Italian Renaissance gardens, such as the Villa d'Este, Boboli Gardens, and Villa Lante in Italy. The style was brought to France and expressed in the gardens of the French Renaissance. Some of the earliest formal parterres of clipped evergreens were those laid out at Anet by Claude Mollet, the founder of a dynasty of nurserymen-designers that lasted deep into the 18th century. The Gardens of Versailles are an ultimate example of Garden à la française, composed of many different distinct gardens, and designed by André Le Nôtre.

English Renaissance gardens in a rectilinear formal design were a feature of the stately homes. The introduction of the parterre was at Wilton House in the 1630s. In the early eighteenth century, the publication of Dezallier d'Argenville, La théorie et la pratique du jardinage (1709) was translated into English and German, and was the central document for the later formal gardens of Continental Europe.

Traditional formal Spanish garden design evolved with Persian garden and European Renaissance garden influences. The internationally renowned Alhambra and Generalife in Granada, built in the Moorish Al-Andalus era, have influenced design for centuries. The Ibero-American Exposition of 1929 World's Fair in Seville, Spain was located in the celebrated Maria Luisa Park (Parque de Maria Luisa) designed by Jean-Claude Nicolas Forestier.

Formal gardening in the Italian and French manners was reintroduced at the turn of the twentieth century. Beatrix Farrand's formal Italian garden areas at Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, D.C., and Achille Duchêne's restored French water parterre at Blenheim Palace in England are examples of the modern formal garden. The Conservatory Garden in Central Park of New York City features a formal garden, as do many other parks and estates such as Filoli in California.

The simplest formal garden would be a box-trimmed hedge lining or enclosing a carefully laid out flowerbed or garden bed of simple geometric shape, such as a knot garden. The more developed and elaborate formal gardens contain statuary and fountains.

The features in a formal garden:

Formal garden laid out at the Abbaye de Valloires,
Picardy, by Gilles Clément, 1987

terrace
topiary
statuary
hedge
bosquet
parterre
sylvan theater
pergola
pavilion
landscaping

Roof garden

2010-12-26T05:51:00.000-08:00

A roof garden is any garden on the roof of a building. Besides the decorative benefit, roof plantings may provide food, temperature control, hydrological benefits, architectural enhancement, habitats or corridors for wildlife, and recreational opportunities.

The roof garden of the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan.

History

Humans have grown plants atop structures since antiquity. The ziggurats of ancient Mesopotamia (4th millennium BC–600 BC) had plantings of trees and shrubs on aboveground terraces. An example in Roman times was the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii, which had an elevated terrace where plants were grown. A roof garden has also been discovered around an audience hall in Roman-Byzantine Caesarea. The medieval Egyptian city of Fustat had a number of high-rise buildings that Nasir Khusraw in the early 11th century described as rising up to 14 stories, with roof gardens on the top story complete with ox-drawn water wheels for irrigating them.

Environmental impact

The roof terrace of the Casa Grande hotel
in Santiago de Cuba.

Roof gardens are most often found in urban environments. Plants have the ability to reduce the overall heat absorption of the building which then reduces energy consumption. "The primary cause of heat build-up in cities is insolation, the absorption of solar radiation by roads and buildings in the city and the storage of this heat in the building material and its subsequent re-radiation. Plant surfaces however, as a result of transpiration, do not rise more than 4–5 °C above the ambient and are sometimes cooler." This then translates into a cooling of the environment between 3.6 and 11.3 degrees Celsius (6.5 and 20.3 °F), depending on the area on earth (in hotter areas, the environmental temperature will cool more). The study was performed by the University of Cardiff.

A study at the National Research Council of Canada showed the differences between roofs with gardens and roofs without gardens against temperature. The study shows temperature effects on different layers of each roof at different times of the day. Roof gardens are obviously very beneficial in reducing the effects of temperature against roofs without gardens. “If widely adopted, rooftop gardens could reduce the urban heat island, which would decrease smog episodes, problems associated with heat stress and further lower energy consumption.”

Aside for rooftop gardens providing resistance to thermal radiation, rooftop gardens are also beneficial in reducing rain run off. A roof garden can delay run off; reduce the rate and volume of run off. “As cities grow, permeable substrates are replaced by impervious structures such as buildings and paved roads. Storm water run-off and combined sewage overflow events are now major problems for many cities in North America. A key solution is to reduce peak flow by delaying (e.g., control flow drain on roofs) or retaining run-off (e.g., rain detention basins). Rooftop gardens can delay peak flow and retain the run-off for later use by the plants.”

Urban Agriculture

“In an accessible rooftop garden, space becomes available for localized small-scale urban agriculture, a source of local food production. An urban garden can supplement the diets of the community it feeds with fresh produce and provide a tangible tie to food production.” At Trent University, there is currently a working rooftop garden which provides food to the student café and local citizens.

Available gardening areas in cities are often seriously lacking, which is likely the key impetus for many roof gardens. The garden may be on the roof of an autonomous building which takes care of its own water and waste. Hydroponics and other alternative methods can expand the possibilities of roof top gardening by reducing, for example, the need for soil or its tremendous weight. Plantings in containers are used extensively in roof top gardens. Planting in containers prevents added stress to the roof's waterproofing. One high-profile example of a building with a roof garden is Chicago City Hall.

An extreme example of a roof garden,
in Vancouver, British Columbia.

For those who live in small apartments with little space, square foot gardening, or (when even less space is available) living walls (vertical gardening) can be a solution. These use much less space than traditional gardening (square foot gardening uses 20% of the space of conventional rows; ten times more produce can be generated from vertical gardens). These also encourage environmentally responsible practices, eliminating tilling, reducing or eliminating pesticides, and weeding, and encouraging the recycling of wastes through composting.

Importance to urban planning

Becoming green is a high priority for urban planners. The environmental and aesthetic benefits to cities is the prime motivation. It was calculated that "the temperature in Tokyo could be lowered by 0.11–0.84 °C if 50% of all available rooftop space were planted with greenery. This would lead to a savings of approximately 100 million yen per day in the city's electricity bill."

Singapore is very active in green urban development. "Roof gardens present possibilities for carrying the notions of nature and open space further in tall building development." When surveyed, 80% of Singapore residents voted for more roof gardens to be implemented in the city's plans. Recreational reasons, such as leisure and relaxation, beautifying the environment, and greenery and nature, received the most amount of votes.

Roof garden vs. green roof

A roof garden is actually very different from a green roof, although the two terms are often and incorrectly used interchangeably. A roof garden is an area that is generally used for recreation, entertaining, and as an additional outdoor living space for the building's residents. It may include planters, plants, dining and lounging furniture, outdoor structures such as pergolas and sheds, and automated irrigation and lighting systems. A roof garden reestablishes the relationship between humans and nature that can be lost in urban environments.

It is different from a green roof in that the considerations are primarily of an aesthetic or recreational nature, whereas a green roof is usually constructed to cover a large area in the most economical and efficient means possible with an emphasis towards improving the insulation or improving the overall energy efficiency of cooling and heating costs within a building.

The panels that comprise a green roof are generally no more than a few inches up to a foot in depth, since weight is an important factor when covering an entire roof surface. The plants that go into a green roof are usually sedum or other shallow-rooted plants that will tolerate the hot, dry, windy conditions that prevail on most rooftop gardens. With a green roof, "the plants layer can shield off as much as 87% of solar radiation while a bare roof receives 100% direct exposure".

The planters on a roof garden, on the other hand, can generally range anywhere from 6 in up to 3 ft (0.15 to 0.9 m) in depth, depending on the weight-bearing capacity of the roof, and would be placed more for aesthetic purposes. These planters can hold a range of ornamental plants, anything from trees, shrubs, vines, or an assortment of flowers. Since the planters on a roof garden are placed in random fashion, it would be much less likely to provide the environmental and energy benefits of a green roof.

Science of gardening

The related idea of a living machine is based on the most basic cycle of gardening: using wastes (organic waste and sewage), appropriately broken down, usually in some specialized container, on the soil, and harvesting food which, when processed, generates biodegradable waste, and when eaten, generates sewage. In most of the world, this kind of very tight closed loop gardening is used, despite certain health risks if necessary precautions are not taken. Composting human or pet waste should achieve thermophilic conditions and age for at least a year before being used.

Composting itself is a safe process which, when composed of a variety of different materials, is one of the best forms of fertilization available.

Sacred garden

2010-12-25T06:59:00.000-08:00

A sacred garden is a religiously-influenced garden, often found on temple grounds.

Overview

Religion has been an important influence on garden design. Temple gardens were made in Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. Sacred groves were made in Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome. Sacred trees were important in Celtic and Germanic Europe. Many places were sacred in Vedic India and continue to be so in modern Hindu worship. Buddhism had a significant influence on garden design, with the Zen gardens of China and Japan as famous examples. In Christianity, particularly Catholicism and Anglicanism, Mary gardens are common among churches and institutions.

Ranakpur Jain Temple Garden

Sensory garden

2010-12-25T05:45:00.000-08:00

A sensory garden in Bremen

A sensory garden is a garden or other plot specifically created to be accessible and enjoyable to visitors, both disabled and non-disabled. The purpose of such a provision is to provide individual and combined sensory opportunities for the user such that they may not normally experience.

A sensory garden, for example, may contain features accessible to the disabled individual such as: scented and edible plants, sculptures and sculpted handrails, water features designed to make sound and play over the hands, textured touch-pads, magnifying-glass screens, braille and audio induction loop descriptions. Depending on the user group, other provisions may integrate sound and music more centrally to combine the play needs of younger users with their sensory needs.

Many sensory gardens devote themselves to providing experience for multiple senses; those specialising in scent are sometimes called scented gardens, those specialising in music/sound are sound gardens where the equipment doubles up to provides an enhanced opportunity for strategic developmental, learning and educational outcomes.

Sensory Gardens usually have an enhanced infrastructure to permit wheelchair access and meet other accessibility concerns; the design and layout provides a stimulating journey through the senses, heightening awareness, and bringing positive learning experiences.

Square Foot Gardening

2010-12-25T04:59:00.000-08:00

An updated book published by
Mel Bartholomew in February 2006.

Square Foot Gardening is the practice of planning small but intensively planted gardens. The phrase "square foot gardening" was popularized by Mel Bartholomew in a 1981 Rodale Press book and subsequent PBS television series. The practice combines concepts from other organic gardening methods, including a strong focus on compost, closely planted raised beds and biointensive attention to a small, clearly defined area. Proponents claim that the method is particularly well-suited for areas with poor soil, beginning gardeners or as adaptive recreation for those with disabilities.

Basic Method

The original square-foot-gardening method used an open-bottomed box to contain a finite amount of soil, which was divided with a grid into sections. To encourage variety of different crops over time, each square would be planted with a different kind of plant, the number of plants per square depending on an individual plant's size. A single tomato plant might take a full square, as might herbs such as oregano, basil or mint, while most strawberry plants could be planted four per square, with up to sixteen radishes per square. Tall or climbing plants such as maize or pole beans might be planted in a northern row (south in the southern hemisphere) so as not to shade other plants, and supported with lattice or netting.

The logic behind using smaller beds is that they are easily adapted, and the gardener can easily reach the entire area, without stepping on and compacting the soil. In the second edition, Bartholomew suggests using a "weed barrier" beneath the box, and filling it completely with "Mel's mix," a combination by volume of one third of decayed Sphagnum "peat moss", one-third expanded vermiculite and one-third blended compost. For accessibility, raised boxes may have bottoms to sit like tables at a convenient height, with approximately 6" (15cm) of manufactured soil per square foot.

Rationale

In this method, the garden space is divided into beds that are easily accessed from every side. A 4' x 4', 16 sq ft (1.5 m²) or 120 cm x 120 cm, 1.4 m² garden is recommended for the first garden, and a path wide enough to comfortably work from should be made on each side of the bed, if possible, or if the bed must be accessed by reaching across it, a narrower one should be used so that no discomfort results from tending the garden. Each of the beds is divided into approximately one square foot units and marked out with sticks, twine, or sturdy slats to ensure that the square foot units remain visible as the garden matures.

Different seeds are planted in each square, to ensure a rational amount of each type of crop is grown, and to conserve seeds instead of overplanting, crowding and thinning plants. Common spacing is one plant per square for larger plants (broccoli, basil, etc.), four plants per square for medium large plants like lettuce, nine plants per square for medium-small plants like spinach, and sixteen per square for small plants such as onions and carrots. Plants that normally take up yards of space as runners, such as squash or cucumbers, are grown vertically on sturdy frames that are hung with netting or string to support the developing crops. Ones that grow deep underground, such as potatoes or carrots, are grown in a square foot section that has foot tall sides and a planting surface above the ground, so that a foot or more of framed soil depth is provided above the garden surface rather than below it.

The beds are weeded and watered from the pathways, so the garden soil is never stepped on or compacted. Because a new soil mixture is used to create the garden, and a few handfuls of compost are added with each harvest to maintain soil fertility over time, the state of the site's underlying soil is irrelevant. This gardening method has been employed successfully in every region, including in deserts, on high arid mountain plateaus, in cramped urban locations, and in areas with polluted or high salinity soils. It is equally useful for growing flowers, vegetables, herbs and some fruits in containers, raised beds, on tabletops or at ground level, in only 4 to 6 inches (150 mm) of soil. A few seeds per square foot, the ability to make compost, to water by hand, and to set up the initial garden in a sunny position or where a container, table or platform garden may be moved on wheels to receive light is all that is needed to set up a square foot garden.

Benefits of Square Foot Gardening

Much less work. Conventional gardening requires heavy tools to loosen the soil, whereas in this method, the soil is never compacted and it remains loose and loamy. Weeding takes only seconds to minutes, due to the light soil, raised beds, and easily accessed plants. Harvests per foot of garden are increased due to the rich soil mixture, well-spaced plants, and lack of weeds produced when following Mel Bartholomew's method.
Water Savings. The soil mixture that is advised has water-holding capacities, so that the garden needs water less frequently, and in much smaller quantities than when using other gardening methods. Water is also spared by hand-watering directly at the plant roots, so that there is very little waste
1. U.S. Geological Survey. Advantages of microirrigation. Dec.2010. http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/irdrip.html
and tender young plants and seedlings are preserved.
Very little weeding. One benefit of this close planting is that the vegetables form a living mulch, and shade out many weed seeds before they have a chance to germinate.
Pesticide / Herbicide Free. Natural insect repellent methods like companion planting (i.e. planting marigolds or other naturally pest-repelling plants) become very efficient in a close space and thus, pesticides are not necessary. The large variety of crops in a small space also prevents plant diseases from spreading easily
1. ^ EPA. Biodiversity Loss Affects Global Disease Ecology Biosciencemag.org. Dec.2009.http://www.epa.gov/ncerqa/biodiversity/pubs/bio_2009_59_11.pdf
Accessibility. A plywood bottom can be attached to the bottom of a box, which can then be placed on a tabletop or raised platform for those who wish to garden without bending or squatting, or to make gardening easy for wheelchair, cane or walker users.

Vertical garden or Green wall

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Green Wall at Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario, Canada

A green wall is a wall, either free-standing or part of a building, that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and, in some cases, soil or an inorganic growing medium. The vegetation for a green façade is always attached on outside walls; with living walls this is also usually the case, although some living walls can also be green walls for interior use. For living walls there are many methods including attaching to the air return of the building to help with air filtration. They are also referred to as living walls, biowalls, or vertical gardens.

Types

There are two main categories of green walls: green façades and living walls. Green façades are made up of climbing plants either growing directly on a wall or, more recently, specially designed supporting structures. The plant shoot system grows up the side of the building while being rooted to the ground. In a living wall the modular panels are often made of stainless steel containers, geotextiles, irrigation systems, a growing medium and vegetation.

There are three types of Growth Mediums used in living walls, loose mediums, mat mediums and structural mediums.

Green wall of bitter melon shading a school in the summer.
Primary school in Itabashi, Tokyo

Loose medium walls tend to be "soil-on-a-shelf" or "soil-in-a-bag" type systems. Loose medium systems have their soil packed into a shelf or bag and then are installed onto the wall. These systems require their media to be replaced at least once a year on exteriors and approximately every two years on interiors. Loose soil systems are not well suited for areas with any seismic activity. Reparations are only achieved by re-stuffing soil into the holes on the wall, which is both difficult and messy. Loose-soil systems should not be used in areas where there will be a lot of public interaction as they are quite messy and lose their soil little by little over time as their mediums wet and dry failing out onto the floor in front if not properly designed for. Most importantly, because these systems can easily have their medium blown away by wind-driven rain or heavy winds, these should not be used in high applications over 8 feet high. Loose-soil systems are best suited for the home gardener where occasional replanting is desired from season to season or year to year.

Indoor green wall

Mat type systems tend to be either coir fibre or felt mats. Mat mediums are quite thin, even in multiple layers, and as such cannot support vibrant root systems of mature plants for more than three to five years before the roots overtake the mat and water is not able to adequately wick through the mats. The method of reparation of these systems is to replace large sections of the system at a time which compromises the root structures of the neighboring plants on the wall. These systems are best used on the interior of a building and are a good choice in areas with seismic activity. It is important to note that mat systems are particularly water inefficient and often require constant irrigation due to the thin nature of the medium and it's inability to hold water and provide a buffer for the plant roots. This inefficiency requires that these systems have a water re-circulation system put into place at additional cost. Mat mediums are better suited for small installations no more than eight feet in height where reparations are easily achieved.

Structural mediums are growth medium "blocks" that are not loose, nor mats, but incorporate the best features of both into a block that can be manufactured into various sizes, shapes and thicknesses. These mediums have the advantage that they do not break down for 10 to 15 years, can be made to have a higher or lower water holding capacity depending on the plant selection for the wall, can have their pH and EC's customized to suit the plants, and are easily handled for maintenance and replacements. They are the most robust option for a living wall for both exterior applications and for interior applications. They are the only choice in areas where high-winds, seismic activity or heights need to be addressed in the design. Structural mediums are superior to the other mediums for their longevity and high-level of performance in a variety of circumstances. Depending on the installation, they do tend to be more expensive to install, but lower cost to maintain.

There is some discussion also around "active" living walls. An active living wall actively pulls or forces air through the plants leaves, roots and growth medium of the wall and then into the buildings HVAC system to be recirculated throughout the building. A problem with these systems is that building code still requires that all the standard air filtration equipment that would have to be installed anyway, be installed despite the living walls installation. This means that active living walls do not improve air quality to the point that the installation of other air quality filtration systems can be removed to provide a cost-savings. Therefore, the added cost of design, planning and implementation of an active living wall is still in question. With further research and UL standards to support the air quality data from the living wall, building code may one day allow for our buildings to have their air filtered by plants.

The area of air quality and living walls has been and is continuing to be heavily researched. Much of this begins with Dr. Darlington and his work at the University of Guelph. (Indoor Air |Darlington, A.; Chan, M.; Malloch, D.; Dixon, M. A. Indoor Air 2000, 10, 39-46) Other research has shown the effect the plants have on the health of office workers. "The Effect of Indoor Foliage Plants on Health and Discomfort Symptoms among Office Workers". Retrieved 2010--12--23. This all has stemmed from the Ontario Centre of Excellence. "Ontario Centres of Excellence". Retrieved 2010--12--23.

Function

Green walls are found most often in urban environments where the plants reduce overall temperatures of the building. "The primary cause of heat build-up in cities is insolation, the absorption of solar radiation by roads and buildings in the city and the storage of this heat in the building material and its subsequent re-radiation. Plant surfaces however, as a result of transpiration, do not rise more than 4–5 °C above the ambient and are sometimes cooler."

Living walls may also be a means for water reuse. The plants may purify slightly polluted water (such as greywater) by absorbing the dissolved nutrients. Bacteria mineralize the organic components to make them available to the plants.

Living walls are particularly suitable for cities, as they allow good use of available vertical surface areas. They are also suitable in arid areas, as the circulating water on a vertical wall is less likely to evaporate than in horizontal gardens.

The living wall could also function for urban agriculture, urban gardening, or for its beauty as art. It is sometimes built indoors to help alleviate sick building syndrome.

Green facades

Some popular plants (for temperate climates) include:

Wall of living plants near Atocha station Madrid

Actinidia

Akebia quinata/trifoliata

Aristolochia

Campsis

Celastrus

Clematis

Cotoneaster

Euonymus fortunei

Hedera

Heuchera

Humulus lupulus

Hydrangea petiolaris

Lonicera

Nephrolepis

Parthenocissus tricuspidata/quinquefolia/inserta

Vitis berlandieri / riparia

Polygonum auberti

Pyracantha

Selaginella

Wisteria

Walled garden

2010-12-25T00:32:00.000-08:00

A pergola in the walled garden at
Hillsborough Park, Sheffield

A walled garden is specifically a garden enclosed by high walls for horticultural rather than security purposes, though traditionally all gardens have been hedged about or walled for protection from animal or human intruders. Garden walls may also serve a decorative purpose, but their essential function in the north temperate zone has been to shelter the garden from wind and frost.

The shelter of walling can raise the ambient temperature within the garden by several degrees, creating a microclimate that permits plants to be grown that would not survive in the unmodified local climate. Most walls were constructed from stone, but lining walls with brick, which absorbs and retains solar heat, raised the temperature against that wall, allowing peaches, nectarines and grapes to be grown as espaliers against south-facing walls as far north as southeast Great Britain and southern Ireland.

A typical walled garden where the stone acts as a
slow-release reradiator of solar energy.

The traditional design of a walled garden, split into four quarters separated by paths, and a wellhead or pool at the centre, dates back to the very earliest gardens of Persia. The hortus conclusus or "enclosed garden" of High Medieval Europe was more typically enclosed by hedges or fencing, or the arcades of a cloister; though some protection from weather and effective protection from straying animals was afforded, these were not specifically walled gardens.

Movable blocks to control the movement of hot air in
the heated wall at Eglinton Country Park.

British examples of elaborate walled gardens include Shugborough (England), Bodysgallen Hall (Wales),Alnwick Castle (England), Luton Hoo (England),Polesden Lacey (England), Myres Castle (Scotland) and Muchalls Castle (Scotland). In the United Kingdom, many country houses also had walled kitchen gardens, distinct from the decorative gardens. They received their greatest elaboration in the second half of the 19th century. Many of these labour-intensive gardens fell into disuse in the 20th century, but others have been revived to house primarily decorative gardens, some of which also produce fruit, vegetables and flowers for cutting.

A number of walled gardens in Britain have one hollow wall with openings in the stonework on the side facing towards the garden, so that fires could be lit inside the wall to provide additional heat to protect the fruit growing against the wall. Heat would escape into the garden through these openings, and the smoke from the fires would be directed upwards through chimneys or flues. This kind of hollow wall may be found at Croxteth Hall in Liverpool (England), and Eglinton Country Park and Dunmore House, both in (Scotland). In the 1800's the walls were lined with pipes and connected to a boiler, such work can be seen at Bank Hall in Bretherton.

Windowbox

2010-12-20T04:02:00.000-08:00

A flower box (sometimes called a window box) is a planter's box that is most often placed outdoors and used for displaying live flowers, but it may also be used for growing herbs or other edible plants.

It is usually placed or affixed to an accessible location so the resident of a home may easily work with the plants in the container. A flower box may be installed under a window and supported in place by brackets on the wall below, in which case it may be called a window box. Flower boxes may also be used to line decks, patios, porches, steps, and sidewalks.

Wood, brick, metal, fibreglass and plastic can all be used in flower box construction, with wood being a classical material of choice.

A window box

Window boxes are often used by apartment-dwellers on higher floors, who do not otherwise have access to a garden or place to grow flowers, and allow the plants to be readily seen by those inside the property as well as outside. A window box is usually only 6"-8" (15-20cm) deep so may not support tall plants. Access for planting and maintenance can be via the window from indoors.

Sometimes a box is placed inside a kitchen window in order to grow herbs or other supplies for a chef as an easily accessed miniature kitchen garden.

Zen garden

2010-12-20T01:48:00.000-08:00

The Japanese rock gardens (枯山水 karesansui) or "dry landscape" gardens, often called "Zen gardens" were influenced mainly by Zen Buddhism and can be found at Zen temples of meditation.

Shitennō-ji Honbo garden

Overview

Japanese gardens are gardens in which the plants and trees are ever changing with the seasons. As they grow and mature, they are constantly sculpted to maintain and enhance the overall experience. The underlying structure of a Japanese garden is determined by the architecture; that is, the framework of enduring elements such as buildings, verandas and terraces, paths, tsukiyama (artificial hills), and stone compositions. Over time, it is only as good as the careful maintenance that it receives by those skilled in the art of training and pruning.

Karesansui gardens can be extremely abstract and represent (miniature) landscapes also called "mind-scapes". This Buddhist preferred way to express cosmic beauty in worldly environments is inextricable from Zen Buddhism.

A brief definition of karesansui from the "Bilingual dictionary of Japanese Garden Terms":

"Dry landscape (garden); dry garden. A garden style unique to Japan, which appeared in the Muromachi period (1392-1568). Using neither ponds nor streams, it makes symbolic representations of natural landscapes using stone arrangements, white sand, moss and pruned trees. In Sakuteiki (a garden book with notes on garden making: see the notes) of the Heian period(794-1185), the term indicated a stone arrangement in a part of the garden without water."

Unlike other traditional gardens, there is no water present in Karesansui gardens (or the karesansui compartment of a garden). There is gravel or sand, raked or not raked, that symbolizes sea, ocean, rivers or lakes.

The act of raking the gravel into a pattern recalling waves or rippling water has an aesthetic function. Zen priests practice this raking also to help their concentration. Achieving perfection of lines is not easy. Rakes are according to the patterns of ridges as desired and limited to some of the stone objects situated within the gravel area. Nonetheless often the patterns are not static. Developing variations in patterns is a creative and inspiring challenge.

Stone arrangements and other miniature elements are used to represent mountains and natural water elements and scenes, islands, rivers and waterfalls. Stone and shaped shrubs (karikomi, hako-zukuri topiary) are used interchangeably. In most gardens moss is used as a ground cover to create "land" covered by forest.

Other, mostly stone, objects are sometimes used symbolically to represent mountains, islands, boats, or even people. Karesansui gardens are often, but not always, meant to be viewed from a single vantage point from a seated position.

In the garden book Sakuteiki "Creating a garden" is expressed as "setting stones", ishi wo taten koto; literally, the "act of setting stones upright." At the time the Sakuteiki was written, the placement of stones was perceived as the primary act of gardening. Similar expressions are also used in the text, however, to mean literally "setting garden stones" rather than "creating gardens".

Make sure that all the stones, right down to the front of the arrangement, are placed with their best sides showing. If a stone has an ugly-looking top you should place it so as to give prominence to its side. Even if this means it has to lean at a considerable angle, no one will notice. There should always be more horizontal than vertical stones. If there are "running away" stones there must be "chasing" stones. If there are "leaning" stones, there must be "supporting" stones.

Note that in many cases stone and shaped shrubs (karikomi) can be used interchangeably.

The influence of Zen on garden design was (probably) first described as such by Kuck in the early 20th century and disputed by Kuitert by the end of that century. What is not disputed is the fact that karesansui garden scenery was (and still is) inspired (or even based on) originally Chinese and later also Japanese, landscape paintings.

Though each garden is different in its composition, they mostly use rock groupings and shrubs to represent a classic scene of mountains, valleys and waterfalls taken from Chinese landscape painting. In some of them the view also incorporates existing scenery, e.g. the hills behind, as "borrowed scenery" (using a technique called Shakkei).

Today, ink monochrome painting still is the art form most closely associated with Zen Buddhism. A primary design principle was the creation of a landscape based on, or at least greatly influenced by, the three-dimensional monochrome ink (sumi) landscape painting, sumi-e orsuibokuga. In Japan the garden has the same status as a work of art.

The Karesansui garden in Ryōan-ji Temple

The dry garden at the Ryoan-ji

A famous Japanese rock garden is at Ryōan-ji in northwest Kyoto, Japan.

The garden is 30 meters long from east to west and 10 meters from north to south. There are no trees, just 15 irregularly shaped rocks of varying sizes, some surrounded by moss, arranged in a bed of white gravel/sand that is raked every day.

The rocks of various sizes are arranged on small white pebbles in five groups, each comprising five, two, three, two, and three rocks. The garden contains 15 rocks arranged on the surface of white pebbles in such a manner that visitors can see only 14 of them at once, from whichever angle the garden is viewed.

The garden is not attributed to any single designer, although it is commonly believed that a leading monochrome artist named Sōami (1480?-1525), in association with Daisen-in, designed and laid out the garden. However Ryoan-ji's records are contradictory and indicate some other makers, and the back of one of the 15 stones is inscribed with the names of Kotaro and Hikojiro, who might have been two of the workers that did the actual construction.

Layout

A miniature dry landscape garden

There have been many attempts to explain the karesansui garden's layout. Some of these are:

The gravel represents ocean and the rocks represent islands.
The rocks represent a mother tiger with her cubs, swimming to a dragon.
The rocks form part of the kanji for heart or mind.

See Ryōan-ji for a mathematical analysis of a rock garden.

A recent suggestion by Gert van Tonder of Kyoto University and Michael Lyons, of Ritsumeikan University, is that the rocks form the subliminal image of a tree. This image cannot be consciously perceived when looking at them; the researchers claim the subconscious mind is able to see a subtle association between the rocks. They believe this is responsible for the calming effect of the garden and is also made to have a quiet place for meditation, however their comments are speculation and not supported by Japanese traditions.

Cactus care

2010-12-20T01:02:00.000-08:00

How to care for cacti, including what pots and soils to use, how to transplant cacti, water, light, temperature and food requirements for a cactus.

Cacti are some of the most exciting and exotic houseplants

there are. Most of the species of cacti are easy to grow,

even for the beginning grower. Cacti can be bought at your

local home improvement center or gardening store all year

round, although the summer is the best time to get them.
You will also need to purchase a few things along with your

new cactus.

POT:

First, get a pot to plant it in. When you purchase the

cactus, it has been in the pot that it comes in for a long

time and will most likely need to be repotted. Select a pot

only a little larger than the cactus’ current pot because

one that is too big will cause over watering. Also make

sure that there are holes for water to drain out of the pot,

because without these the cactus will rot and die.

SOIL:

Next you will need soil for your cactus. The best kind is

cactus soil, made specifically for cacti, which you can find

at home improvement centers and gardening stores. If you

cannot get cactus soil, then you can make your own with one

part potting soil and one part sand. Adding a little gravel

to the mixture will also aid in drainage.

REPOTTING:

When repotting your cactus, break the old pot if possible

and remove the pieces. Digging the cactus out of the pot

can cause root damage and should be avoided. Put some of

the fresh cactus soil into the bottom of the pot and place

the cactus on top. Then fill in the sides with more soil.

The cactus should not be heavily watered or placed in direct

sunlight for about a week after repotting to allow it to

adjust to it’s new ‘home.’ After the initial repotting, the

cactus should only be transferred to another pot when

absolutely necessary.

After the repotting is over, caring for your cactus is a

breeze. The most important thing to remember is that cacti

have two seasons, the active growing season during the

spring and summer and the dormant season during the fall and

winter, when they go into hibernation so to speak.

WATERING:

During the active growth season cacti need to be watered

more often than during the dormant season. There is no set

watering specifications for cacti, as it depends on the pot,

the soil, the climate and several other factors. The best

way to learn how much water your cactus needs and how often

is to observe it. When watering the cactus, add water until

there is only about a half inch of dry soil on the surface.

Be sure that the drainage holes in the pot are not blocked

so the water can run out. Do not water the cactus again

until the soil is completely dry. The easiest way to check

the soil moisture is to carefully stick a pencil or a

similar object to the bottom of the soil and check for any

damp soil clinging to it.

During the dormant season, the plant should be watered no

more than every few weeks.

FERTILIZER:

From spring to fall, you should only fertilize your cactus

once every two to three months. A low nitrogen fertilizer

works best, like 5-10-10. You can also use a time release

fertilizer, but they only need to be used once in the

spring.

LIGHT:

Cacti need bright light and inside, southern facing windows

are best. If the cactus does not receive enough light,

artificial light should also be supplemented.

TEMPERATURE:

Cacti can tolerate heat up 90-100 degrees Fahrenheit during

their active growth season. During the dormant season,

cacti do best in temperatures from 45-55 degrees, which they

would encounter in their natural habitats. Studies have

also proven that low temperatures during the dormant season

encourage flower growth.

PROBLEMS:

Over watering is the biggest problem which faces cactus

owners, but can be easily be avoided with proper care. Over

watering can cause root and stem rot. Unfortunately, once a

cactus’ roots or stems start to rot, there is nothing you

can do to save it.

Relatively few pests bother cacti but there are a few, such

as aphids, red spider mites and mealy bugs. When you

purchase a cactus, make sure it is free of insects before

bringing it home. If your cacti at home have insects, treat

them with an insecticide.

As you now see, growing cacti can be fun easy. Just follow

the rules and especially remember, DON’T OVER WATER.

Xeriscaping

2010-12-20T00:46:00.000-08:00

Xeriscaping and xerogardening refers to landscaping and gardening in ways that reduce or eliminate the need for supplemental water from irrigation. It is promoted in regions that do not have easily accessible, plentiful, or reliable supplies of fresh water, and is gaining acceptance in other areas as climate patterns shift.

The word xeriscaping is a portmanteau of xeros (Greek for "dry") and landscaping, and xeriscape is used for this style of garden. Xeriscaping refers to a method of landscape design that minimizes water use.

Xeriscape symbol

In some areas, terms such as water-conserving landscapes, drought-tolerant landscaping, zeroscaping, and smart scaping are used instead. Plants whose natural requirements are appropriate to the local climate are emphasized, and care is taken to avoid losing water to evaporation and run-off. The specific plants used in xeriscaping depend upon the climate.

Examples

The Denver program Seven principles

The Xeriscape concept is based on The Seven Principles:
1. Plan and design
Create a diagram, drawn to scale, that shows the major elements of your landscape, including house, driveway, sidewalk, deck or patio, existing trees and other elements.

Once you've completed a base plan of a existing site, think about how one wants to use your new Xeriscape. Do you want it to be a place for dogs to run? Curb appeal? Frame or screen views? Create a conceptual plan (bubble diagram) that shows the areas for turf, perennial beds, views, screens, slopes, etc. Once finished, develop a planting plan that reinforces the areas in the appropriate scale.

2. Soil amendment
All plants will benefit from the use of compost, which will help the soil retain water.

3. Efficient irrigation
Xeriscape can be irrigated efficiently by hand or with an automatic sprinkler system. Zone turf areas separately from other plants and use the irrigation method that waters the plants in each area most efficiently. For grass, use gear-driven rotors or rotary spray nozzles that have larger droplets and low angles to avoid wind drift. Spray, drip line or bubbler emitters are most efficient for watering trees, shrubs, flowers and groundcovers.

If you water by hand, avoid oscillating sprinklers and other sprinklers that throw water high in the air or release a fine mist. The most efficient sprinklers release big drops close to the ground.

Water deeply and infrequently to develop deep roots. Never water during the day to reduce water lost to evaporation. If you have an automatic sprinkling system, adjust your controller monthly to accommodate weather conditions. Also, install a rain sensor to shut off the device when it rains.

4. Appropriate plant and zone selection
Different areas in your yard receive different amounts of light, wind and moisture. To minimize water waste, group together plants with similar light and water requirements, and place them in an area that matches these requirements. Put moderate-water-use plants in low-lying drainage areas, near downspouts, or in the shade of other plants. Your turf will require the most water and shrub/perennial beds will require approximately half the amount of water. Dry, sunny areas support low-water-use plants that grow well in our climate. Planting a variety of plants with different heights, color and textures creates interest and beauty.

5. Mulch
Mulch keeps plant roots cool, prevents soil from crusting, minimizes evaporation and reduces weed growth. Organic mulches, such as bark chips, pole peelings or wood grindings, should be applied 2 to 4 inches deep. Fiber mulches create a web that is more resistant to wind and rain washout. Inorganic mulches, such as rocks and gravel, should be applied 2 to 3 inches deep. Surrounding plants with rock makes the area hotter; limit this practice.

6. Alternative turf
Native grasses (warm-season) that have been cultivated for turf lawns, such as buffalo grass and blue grama, can survive with a quarter of the water that bluegrass varieties need. Warm-season grasses are greenest in June through September and straw brown the rest of the year.

Native grasses (cool season) such as bluegrass and tall fescue, are greenest in the spring and fall and go dormant in the high heat of the summer. New cultivars of bluegrass, such as Reveille, and tall fescue, can reduce typical bluegrass water requirements by at least 30 percent. Fine fescues can provide substantial water savings and is best used in areas that receive low traffic or are in shady locations.

Use the appropriate grass and limit the amount of grass to reduce the watering and maintenance requirements.

7. Maintenance
All landscapes require some degree of care during the year. Turf requires spring and fall aeration along with regular fertilization every 6 to 8 weeks. Keep your grass height at 3 inches and allow the clippings to fall. Trees, shrubs and perennials will need occasional pruning to remove dead stems, promote blooming or control height and spread. Much of the removed plant material can be shredded and used in composting piles.

[edit]Term history

While many Denver Water employees helped coin the term xeriscape, Xeriscape and the xeriscape logo are not registered trademarks of Denver Water, the water department of Denver, Colorado. They were created by the Front Range Xeriscape Task Force of Denver Department in 1978.

Advantages

Cacti are not the only low water consuming plants
used in Xeriscaping.

Lowers consumption of imported or ground water.
- More water available for other domestic and community uses and the environment.
Less time and work needed for maintenance effort, with gardening simpler and less stressful.
- Little or no lawnmowing
Xeriscape plants in appropriate planting design, and soil grading and mulching, takes full advantage of rainfall retention.
When water restrictions are implemented, by municipality or water costs, xeriscape plants will tend to survive and thrive, while more ornamental plants may be unable to adapt.

Wild garden

2010-12-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

Joe-Pye weed in flower

A wildlife garden is an environment that is attractive to various forms of wildlife such as birds,amphibians, reptiles, insects, mammals and so on. A wildlife garden (or wild garden) will usually contain a variety of habitats that have either been deliberately created by the gardener (e.g.,ponds to attract frogs, newts, toads, dragonflies; nest boxes for birds and solitary bees,hedgehogs or certain insects ; log piles to provide shelter for lizards and slow worms; planting beneficial insect attractant plants including wildflower meadows, etc.), or allowed to self-establish by minimising maintenance and intervention.

Many organic gardeners are sympathetic to the philosophy of wildlife gardening, and will usually try to incorporate some aspects of the wild garden into their own plots in order to both act as a means of biological pest control, as well as for its value in promoting biodiversity and generally benefitting the wider environment.

Choice of plants

Although some exotics may also be included, the wild garden will usually predominantly feature a variety of native species. Generally these will be a part of the pre-existing natural ecology of an area, but managed in a way that is enhanced rather than damaged by the process of cultivation.

As in other forms of gardening, aesthetics plays a central role in deciding what is 'right', but constraints regarding issues such as seed provenance also apply. Wild gardens are by definition examples of water-wise gardening, as the natural species of any ecoregion or micro-climate are those optimal for local water supplies.

There are a few super-beneficial plants that bloom for a long time, and yield abundant nectar and pollen, or bear fruit throughout the year. These plants, such as the Joe-Pye weed, wild figs (Ficus species), and Sandpaper Raisin (Grewia flavescens) support a whole community of beneficial insects and small vertebrates. Goldenrod is another example.

Essential to any true understanding of the wildlife gardening concept is an appreciation of the symbiotic relationships between plants and animals. This interdependence is the result of species evolving alongside of one another over millennia. When one wildlife gardens, one acts always in accordance with the idea of keeping plants that are native to the area preeminent in the garden. Exotics, though they may provide shelter or food, will not compete well with those plants the native animals have always depended upon, either for the nectar and fruits they bear, or the invertebrates they attract.

It is also a good idea to replicate a natural habitat (even if only partially) in the garden, especially if that habitat was the original vegetation of that area, before urbanisation erased it. A good example would be forest in England; Cape Flats fynbos in Cape Town, South Africa; or prairie in the middle USA.

Layout of Garden

There are four basic habitat types which should ideally be included in the garden to maximise the wildlife species that will occur in the garden: the Open Area, the Exclusion Area, the Canopy corridor and the Wetland.

The Open Area is the space of the garden where the area is relatively exposed as regard to other areas of the garden. In most cases this area comprises the lawn, although it may consist of low-growing groundcovers and annuals.

The Exclusion Area is more dense than the Open Area. Trees often are an important component of this area.

Water garden

2010-12-19T23:10:00.000-08:00

A water garden, planted with
water lilies and elephant ears

Water gardens, also known as aquatic gardens, are a type of man-made water feature. A water garden is defined as any interior or exterior landscape or architectural element whose primarily purpose is to house, display, or propagate a particular species or variety of aquatic plant. Although a water garden's primary focus is on plants, they will sometimes also house ornamental fish, in which case the feature will be a fish pond.

Although water gardens can be almost any size or depth, they are typically small and relatively shallow, generally less than twenty inches in depth. This is because most aquatic plants are depth sensitive and require a specific water depth in order to thrive. The particular species inhabiting each water garden will ultimately determine the actual surface area and depth required.

Description

When the aquatic flora and fauna is balanced, an aquatic ecosystem is created that supports sustainable water quality/water clarity. Elements such as: fountains, statuary, waterfalls, boulders, underwater lighting, lining treatments, edging detailing, in-water and bankside planting and watercourses can be combined with the pool to add visual interest and integration with the local landscape and environment.

History

Water gardens, and all water features in general have been a part of public and private gardens since ancient Persian gardens and Chinese gardens. Water features have been present and well represented in every era and culture that has included gardens in their landscape and architectural environments. Up until the rise of the industrial age, that introduced the modern water pump, water was not recirculated, but was diverted from rivers and springs into the water garden, exiting into agricultural fields or natural watercourses. Water features were historically used for plant and fish production for food purposes as well as ornamental aesthetics.

Though a water garden is restricted to a particular type of natural or man-made water feature, used for a relatively specific purpose or intended use, there are many other types of water feature types, styles and designs.

Types of water features

A water garden in
a private residence

Natural Water Feature
Man-made Water Feature
Naturalistic Water Feature
Disappearing Water Feature
Live Water Feature
Sterile Water Feature
Water Garden
Bog Garden
Rain Garden/Bio Retention System/Rain Harvesting
Aquatic Container Garden
Pool/Shallow Pool/Tide Pool
Reflection Pool/Reflecting Pool
Formal Pool
Swimming Pool
Pond/Fish Pond/Backyard Pond/Garden Pond
Naturalistic pond
Wildlife Pond/Habitat Pond
Koi Pond
Swimming Pond
Water Courses
Brooks
Creeks
Streams
Rivers
Runnel
Rile
Weeping Wall
Water Wall
Fountain/Formal Fountain
Disappearing Fountain
Tabletop Fountain
Wall Fountain
Spitter Fountain
Bubbler Fountain
Floating Fountain
Water Falls
Hydroponics
Lotus pool
Rice paddy
Riparian zone restoration
Wildlife garden - with water-source component.
Stream pool
Plunge pool
Plunge basin
Spring (hydrology)
Seep (hydrology)
Bogs
Wetlands
Mangrove swamp habitat
Wild River
Lakes
Halka lever

Water follies

Waterfall and pool in rock garden on
the campus of the University of Alberta

In the sixteenth century, Europe had a renewed interest in Greek thought and philosophy lincluding the works of Hero of Alexandria about hydraulics and pneumatics. His devices, such as temple doors operated by invisible weights or flowing liquids, and mechanical singing birds powered by steam, motivated several European palaces to create similar clever devices to enhance their public image.

In Italy several royal houses constructed large water gardens incorporating mechanical devices in water settings. The best-known is the Villa d'Este at Tivoli, constructed in 1550 AD. A hill cascaded with many fountains and grottoes,, some with water-driven figures that moved or spouted water. Popularity spread across Europe with the well known water garden at Hellbrunn Palace built, with many water-powered human and animal performing figures and puppet theaters, and folly fountains that erupted without notice to surprise one.

Stream gardens

On a constructed stream, placing rocks in the path of the water makes small patterns, rapids and waterfalls. The rocks disrupt the waterflow, causing splashing and bubbles to form, which can make pleasant sounds and micro-habitats for plants , fish, and wildlife. Well placed rocks can stimulate splashing water that adds oxygen to prevent hypoxia, with the more bubbles - the more dissolved oxygen in the water.

Aquatic Flora

Water garden plants are divided into 3 main categories: submerged, marginal, and floating.

Submerged plants are those that live almost completely under the water, sometimes with leaves or flowers that grow to the surface such as with the water lily. These plants are placed in a pond or container usually 1–2 ft (0.30–0.61 m) below the water surface. Some of these plants are called oxygenators because they create oxygen for the fish that live in a pond. Examples of submerged plants are:
- Water lily (Hardy and Tropical)
- Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demersum)
Marginal plants are those that live with their roots under the water but the rest of the plant above the surface. These are usually placed so that the top of the pot is at or barely below the water level. Examples of these are:
- Iris or Flag (Iris spp.)
- Water-crowfoot (Ranunculus fluitans)
- Bulrush (Scirpus lacustris)
- Cattail (Typha latifolia)
- Taro (Colocasia esculenta)
- Arrowhead (Sagittaria latifolia)
- Lotus (Nelumbo spp.)
- Pickerelweed (Pontederia cordata)
Floating plants are those that are not anchored to the soil at all, but are free-floating on the surface. In water gardening, these are often used as a provider of shade to reduce algae growth in a pond. These are often extremely fast growing/multiplying. Examples of these are:
- Mosquito ferns (Azolla spp.)
- Water-spangle (Salvinia spp.)
- Water-clover (Marsilea vestita)
- Water Lettuce (Pistia stratiotes)
- Water Hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes)

Some areas of the United States do not allow certain of these plants to be sold or kept as they have become invasive species in warmer areas of the country, such as Florida and California.

Algae

Algae are found in all ponds. There are hundreds of species of algae that can grow in garden ponds but they are only usually noticed when they become abundant. Algae often grow in very high densities in ponds because of the high nutrient levels that are typical of garden ponds. Generally alga attaches itself to the sides of the pond and remains innocuous. Some species of algae, namely the dreaded 'blanket weed' can grow up to a foot a day under ideal conditions and can rapidly clog a garden pond. On the other hand, free floating algae are microscopic and are what cause pond water to appear green.

Fauna

Fish

Fish in a pond

Often the reason for having a pond in a garden is to keep fish, often koi, though many people keep goldfish. Both are hardy, colorful fish which require no special heating, provided the pond is located in an area which does not have extremes of temperature that would affect the fish. If fish are kept, pumps and filtration devices are usually needed in order to keep enough oxygen in the water to support them. In winter, a small heater may need to be used in cold climates to keep the water from freezing solid. Examples of common pond fish include:

Ricefish (Himedaka)
Mosquitofish
Rosy Red Minnows
White Cloud Mountain minnow

Goldfish (Common, Comet, Shubunkin varieties, Wakin and the Fantail varieties. With the possible exception of some of the fantail varieties, the fancy goldfish are not suited to pond life.)
Crucian carp

Koi (Nishikigoi, Butterfly Koi and Ghost Koi)
Mirror carp
Carp

Weather loach

Golden Orfe
Golden Tench

Eel
Catfish
Bluegill
Black bass
Snakehead
Goby

Crustacean

Crayfish
Freshwater Prawn

Snails

River snail

Small aquatic snails are usually in ponds which have plants. Some people purchase apple snails to keep in their water garden. Another common variety is the Melantho snail.

Herpetofauna

Ponds located in suburban and rural areas often attract amphibians such as Common Frogs and Fire Salamanders, and reptiles such as turtles, lizards, and snakes.

Bird

Wild duck
Domestic duck

Predators

Garden ponds can attract attention from predators such as (in North America) raccoons, Herons, snakes, and domestic cats. These predators can be a danger to fish. Owners of koi are often particularly careful to create protected areas as some varieties are very expensive.

Tropical garden

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A tropical garden on
the Portuguese island of Madeira.

A tropical garden features tropical plants and requires good rainfall or a decent irrigation or sprinkler system for watering. These gardens typically need fertilizer and heavy mulching.

Tropical gardens are no longer exclusive to tropical areas. Many gardeners in colder climates are adopting the tropical garden design, which is possible through careful choice of plants and flowers. Main features include plants with very large leaves, vegetation that builds in height towards the back of the garden, creating a dense garden. Large plants and small trees hang over the garden, leaving sunlight to hit the ground directly.

Tropical plants

The following are some examples of tropical plants to be used in tropical gardens or as indoor plants.

Hoyas

Hoyas are known as the “Wax Flowers” due to their texture and almost unreal appearance. They need relatively warm and humid conditions, but depending on the specific variety of Hoya, they can endure heavy rainfall for some months during the wet seasons just as they may also be exposed to long dry periods. They are commonly used indoors. They need indirect light, but the amount or required light depends on the variety. They need small amounts of water and the soil is to be kept slightly dry since a very wet soil can end up killing this kind of plant. They can be grown in pots that are not too big or in hanging baskets. They grow better if kept at a minimum temperature of 15 degree Celsius (59 Fahrenheit).

Banana plants

Banana Tree

Contrary to common belief, growing banana trees is not that difficult and allow people to enjoy their own bananas. Also these plants can be used as windbreaks. They need fertile soils, large amounts of mulch and organic matter, large amounts of nitrogen and potassium, warm temperature, high humidity, large amounts of water, and shelter from other banana plants. Banana plants are not to be exposed to strong winds and extreme weather conditions (too hot or too cold weather) with an ideal temperature being 26-30 degree Celsius (78-86 Fahrenheit). They stop growing below 14 degree Celsius (57 Fahrenheit). Banana rhizomes are planted upright and their roots have to be well covered with soil.

Bird of paradise

Among the many species of birds of paradise is the Strelitzia reginae, an indigenous plant to South Africa and South America. As a tropical plant, it grows in warm, humid climates. This exotic, colorful plant, with evergreen leaves resembles a bird's peak. It is an outdoor plant provided the weather is not too cold. Otherwise, it is better to keep it in a pot indoors. It needs rich soil as well as sun or partial shade. Another requirement for this plant is a good drainage.

Ferns

Ferns are commonly used to give gardens a great foliage. Most ferns are easy to take of. They basically cannot be exposed to direct sunlight for long periods of time. Moreover, their soil should always be moist. One way to keep ferns moist is by misting them.

Papaya tree

Papaya trees should be planted where they can be kept warm and free from wind and freeze. They need enough water to support their leaves, but it should not be exceed as to a root rod. They also need a well-drained soil.

Orchids

Night temperatures between 12- 18 degree Celsius (55-65 Fahrenheit), and day temperatures between 23 -26 degree Celsius ( 75-80 Fahrenheit) are fine temperatures for orchids. Orchids need sufficient amounts of light as well as humidity. However, there are many varieties of orchids and each of them features specific care needs.

Maintenance

A tropical garden is one of the most difficult gardens to build, or maintain, it becomes more difficult the more your local climate differs from the natural habitat of your plants. Key to a healthy tropical garden are lots of light and lots of water. The large leaves that feature in tropical plants require the soil to be humid at all times, so irrigation might be a must-have for some gardens. Over-watering can kill your plants as well, as it will cause the roots to rot.

A tropical plant that is not cold-hardy should be brought indoors during the winter and returned to the garden for the summer.

Non-tropical climates

Tropical plants that work well in non-tropical climates include;

A greenhouse is a good way to
grow tropical plants in a colder climate.

acanthus mollis
Algerian ivy
canna
crocosmia, aka Lucifer
passiflora caerulea
paulownia tomentosa
secrecia
trachycarpus

Trial garden

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An example of an AAS trial of marigolds in
the Park Seed Trial Gardens.

A garden grown specifically for the purpose of testing and evaluating plants is called a trial garden. Universities, plant breeders, and garden-industry companies frequently have trial gardens, as do many private and public botanical gardens and professional garden journalists. In the classic trials model, newly developed varieties of plants are compared with the closest similar industry standard plant throughout their life cycle—from germination/propagation through maturity, from seed to harvest. By growing new varieties side-by-side with existing ones, researchers can determine whether or not these new varieties are indeed better, and, if so, in what respects.

The Muck Crops Research Station, near Kettleby and Ansnorveldt, in Ontario, Canada, operated by the University of Guelph, tests new species and houses a plant pathology laboratory. Its focus is on plants that grow in muck soil.

Any gardener might enjoy creating his or her own trial garden to see which plants fare best in a specific garden environment. Most trials programs are very formal, with scientific designs including random replicated plots to minimise any risk of bias due to placement of plants. The volunteer judges evaluate entries for desirable qualities such as novel flower forms, flower colors, flower show above foliage, fragrance, length of flowering season, and disease or pest tolerances or resistance. Vegetables are judged looking for such traits as speed to harvest, total yield, fruit taste, fruit quality, ease of harvest, plant habit, disease, and pest resistance.

Terrarium

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Two glass terrariums with plants

A vivarium (Latin, literally for "place of life"; plural: vivaria or vivariums) is a usually enclosed area for keeping and raising animals or plants for observation or research. Often, a portion of the ecosystem for a particular species is simulated on a smaller scale, with controls for environmental conditions.

A vivarium may be small enough to sit on a desk or table, such as a terrarium or an aquarium, or may be a very large structure, possibly outdoors. Large vivaria, particularly those holding organisms capable of flight, typically include some sort of a dual-door mechanism such as a sally port for entry and exit, so that the outer door can be closed to prevent escape before the inner door is opened.

Biosphere 2 in Oracle, Arizona

Flora and fauna

Taxicab or sun beetles in an Insectarium

There are various forms of vivarium, including:

Aquarium, simulating a water habitat; for instance a river, lake or sea; but only the submerged area of these natural habitats. Plants in the water will use some nitrogen present within the system, and will provide areas for organisms to hide and forage.
Insectarium, containing insects and arachnids.
- Formicarium, with species of ants.
Paludarium, simulating a rain forest or swamp environment. It also can be seen as an aquarium interconnected with a terrarium, having both the underwater area as well as the shore.
- Riparium, a paludarium with circulating current through different-leveled pools
Terrarium, simulating a dry habitat, for instance desert or savannah. A terrarium can also be formed to create a temperate woodland habitat, and even a jungle like habitat. This can be created with pebbles, leaf litter, and soil. By misting the terrarium, a natural water cycle occurs within the environment by condensation forming on the lid causing precipitation. Many kinds of plants are suitable for these habitats, including bromeliads, African Violets and Crassulaceae. Animals commonly held for observation include reptiles, amphibians,insects, spiders, scorpions, and small birds.

Size and materials

Vivarium with epoxy-coated plywood walls

It is usually made of a clear container (often plastic or glass). Unless it is an aquarium, it does not need to withstand the pressure of water, so it can also be made out of wood or metal, with at least one transparent side. The new fashion in vivariums are those constructed from epoxy-coated plywood and fitted with sliding glass doors. Coating the inside of a plywood vivarium helps to retain the natural effect of the environment. Epoxy-coated plywood vivariums retain heat better than glass or plastic enclosures and are able to withstand high degrees of humidity. They may be cubical, spherical, rectangular, or other shapes. The choice of materials depends on the desired size and weight of the entire ensemble, resistance to high humidity, the cost and the desired quality.

The floor of a vivarium must have sufficient surface area for the species living inside. The height can also be important for the larger plants, climbing plants, or for tree climbing animal species. The width must be big enough to create the sensation of depth, both for the pleasure of the spectator and the good of the species inside.

Most used substrates are : common soil, small pebbles, sand, peat, chips of various trees, wood mulch, vegetable fibres (of coconut for example), or a combination of them. The choice of the substrate depends on the needs of the plants (type of ground), or of the animals (need to dig galleries for example), moisture (resistance to mold, conservation of water), the risks involved (e.g. the risk of absorption by an animal) and aesthetic aspects. Sterile vivariums sometimes used to ensure high levels of hygiene (especially during quarantine periods), generally have very straightforward, easily removable substrates such as paper tissue, wood chips and even newspaper. Typically, a low-nutrient, high-drainage substrate is placed on top of a false bottom or layer of LECA or stones, which retains humidity without saturating the substrate surface.

Environmental controls

Lighting

A lighting system is necessary, always adapted to the requirements of the animal and plant species. For example, certain reptiles in their natural environment need to heat themselves by the sun, so various bulbs may be necessary to simulate this in a terrarium.

Also, certain plants or diurnal animals need a source of UV to help synthesize Vitamin D and assimilate calcium. Such UV can be provided by specialized fluorescent tubes.

A day/night regulator might be needed to simulate with accuracy the alternation of light and dark periods. The duration of the simulated day and night depends on the conditions in the natural habitat of the species and the season desired.

Temperature

The temperature can be a very important parameter for species that cannot adapt to other conditions than those found in their natural habitat.

Heating can be provided by several means, all of which are usually controlled by a thermostat:

heating lamps or infrared lamps

hot plates and heat mats, providing heat at the base or sides of a terrarium

heating cords or heat mats placed beneath the substrate

more complex equipment generating or producing hot air to the inside of the vivarium

Similar to lighting, a decrease in temperature might be needed for the simulated night periods, thus keeping living species healthy. Such variation need to be coherent to those found in the natural habitats of the species. Thermo-control systems are often used to regulate light cycles and heating, as well as humidity (coupled to built-in misting or rain systems). Light-dependent resistors or photo-diodes connected to the lighting are frequently used to simulate daytime, evening and nighttime light cycles, as well as timers to switch lighting and heating on and off when necessary.

Humidity

Many plants and animals have quite limited tolerance to the variation of moisture.

The regulation of humidity can be done by several means:

regular water pulverization

water evaporation inside (from a basin, or circulation of water)

automated pulverization systems and humidifiers

Ventilation and openings

Access inside the vivarium is required for the purpose of maintenance, to take care of the plants and animals, or for the addition and withdrawal of food. In the case of some animals, a frontal opening is preferable because accessing a vivarium from the top is associated by some species with the presence of predators and can therefore cause unnecessary stress.

Ventilation is not just important for circulating air, but also for preventing the growth of mold and development and spread of harmful bacteria. This is especially important in warm, humid vivariums. The traditional method consists of placing a suction fan (or ventilation slits) at a low level and another exhaust fan at a higher level, which allows the continual circulation of fresh air.

Spanish garden

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A traditional Spanish Garden is a style of garden or designed landscape developed in historic Spain, incorporating principles and elements of garden design from precedents in ancient Persian gardens and Islamic gardens, and the great Moorish gardens of the Al-Andalus era on the Iberian Peninsula. In the 20th and 21st centuries a 'Spanish Garden,' or new gardens in Spain, have continued, interpreted, abstracted, or departed from these traditional planning and aesthetic motifs.

Jardín del Generalife de Granada

Traditions

Traditionally the paradise garden is interpreted with a central cross axis, in the four cardinal directions, with long ponds or water channels (a rill or stylized qanat) where water reflects and flows, set in a walled courtyard. The remaining quadrants often had fruit trees and fragrant plants. Thus, characteristic sensory experiences are refreshing coolness, humidity, sounds, greenery, and fragrance. This type of garden is compatible with the Spanish climate of sun and heat. Provisions for shade are given with the use of arcades, pergolas, trellising, and garden pavilions. Ceramic elements and tiles are often used: in water features; for structural, decorative, and seating elements; and as paving; with solid fields, embellishments and accents; and in pottery. A clarity from the symmetrical simplicity often results.

Historical design eras

Spain has a long tradition of making gardens. Significant gardens were made by:

Immigrants from the Carthaginian and Roman Empires; for example, the Palmeral of Elche in Alicante
Nobility, Christians in the Spanish Medieval period
Islamic rulers and artisans of Al-Andalus, the Moorish Iberian Peninsula or Spanish territories, especially in present day Andalusia in Southern Spain; for example, the Alhambra, Generalife in Granada.
Post-Reconquista Mudéjar design and artisans; for example, the Alcázar of Seville.
Catholic monarchs during the Spanish Renaissance, Spanish Gothic, and Spanish Baroque periods; for example, the Royal Palace of La Granja de San Ildefonso.
landowning and business dynasties during the Romantic and Modern periods; for example, Park Güell.
Civic projects and expositions; for example, Maria Luisa Park and Plaza de España in Seville.
In 21st century Spain, gardens are designed by garden and landscape designers, horticulturalists, artists, architects, and landscape architects; for example, the Olympic village public outdoor spaces for the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Many historic gardens are protected by a heritage designation, Jardín histórico.

Roman gardens

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Reconstruction of the garden of
the House of the Painters in Pompeii

Roman gardens (Latin: horti) were greatly inspired by Greek gardens and were usually in the peristyles. Roman Gardens were indoor. Ornamental horticulture became highly developed during the development of Roman civilization. The administrators of the Roman Empire (c.100 BC - AD 500) actively exchanged information on agriculture, horticulture, animal husbandry, hydraulics, and botany. Seeds and plants were widely shared. The Gardens of Lucullus (Horti Lucullani) on the Pincian Hill at the edge of Rome introduced the Persian garden to Europe, around 60 BC. The garden was a place of peace and tranquillity – a refuge from urban life – and a place filled with religious and symbolic meanings. As Roman culture developed and became increasingly influenced by foreign civilizations through trade, the use of gardens expanded and gardens ultimately thrived in Ancient Rome.

Influences

Reconstruction of the garden
of the House of the Vettii in Pompeii

Roman gardens were influenced by Egyptian, Persian, and Greek gardening techniques. Formal gardens existed in Egypt as early as 2800 BC. During the eighteenth dynasty of Egypt, gardening techniques were fully developed and beautified the homes of the wealthy. Porticos were developed to connect the home with the outdoors and created outdoor living spaces. Persian gardens developed according to the needs of the arid land. The gardens were enclosed to protect from drought and were rich and fertile in contrast to the dry and arid Persian terrain. Pleasure gardens originated from Greek farm gardens, which served the functional purpose of growing fruit. As Alexander the Great conquered parts of Western Asia, he brought back with him new varieties of fruits and plants that prompted a renewed interest in horticulture among Greek people.

Purpose

In Greek civilization, gardens were used to beautify temple groves as well as to create recreational spaces. Cimon of Athens is said to have torn down the walls of his garden to transform it into a public space. Open peristyle courts were first designed by the Greeks to fuse homes with the outside world. In Ancient Latium, a garden was part of every farm. According to Cato the Elder, every garden should be close to the house and should have flower beds and ornamental trees. Horace wrote that during his time flower gardens became a national indulgence. Augustus constructed the Porticus Liviae, a public garden on the Oppian Hill in Rome. Outside Rome, gardens tended to proliferate at centers of wealth.

Parts of a Roman Garden

Private Roman gardens were generally separated into three parts. The first, the xystus, was a terrace that served as an open air drawing room and connected to the home via a covered portico. The xystus overlooked the lower garden, or ambulation. The ambulatio consisted of a variety of flowers, trees, and other foliage and served as an ideal milieu for a leisurely stroll after a meal, some mild conversation, or other Roman recreation activities. The gestation was a shaded avenue where the master of a home could ride horseback or be carried by his slaves. It generally encircled the ambulation, or was constructed as a separate oval shaped space.

Uses

Gardens were not reserved for the extremely wealthy. Excavations in Pompeii show that gardens attaching to residences were scaled down to meet the space constraints of the home of the average Roman. Modified versions of Roman garden designs were adopted in Roman settlements in Africa, Gaul, and Britannia. As town houses were replaced by tall insula (apartment buildings), these urban gardens were replaced by window boxes or roof gardens.

Roman garden designs were later adopted by Renaissance, Baroque, Neoclassical, and even 20th century landscape architects.

Persian gardens

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The tradition and style in the garden design of Persian gardens (Persian باغ ایرانی) has influenced the design of gardens from Andalusia to India and beyond. The gardens of the Alhambra show the influence of Persian Garden philosophy and style in a Moorish Palace scale from the era of Al-Andalus in Spain. The Taj Mahal is one of the largest Persian Garden interpretations in the world, from the era of the Mughal Empire in India.

History

Art depicting two men in a Persian Garden

From the time of the Achaemenid Dynasty the idea of an earthly paradise spread through Persian literature and example to other cultures, both the Hellenistic gardens of the Seleucids and the Ptolemies in Alexandria. The Avestan word pairidaêza-, Old Persian *paridaida-, Median *paridaiza-(walled-around, i.e., a walled garden), was transliterated into Greek paradeisoi, then rendered into the Latin paradisus, and from there entered into European languages, e.g., French paradis, GermanParadies, and English paradise. The word entered Semitic languages as well:Akkadian pardesu, Hebrew pardes, and Arabic firdaws.

As the word expresses, such gardens would have been enclosed. The garden's purpose was, and is, to provide a place for protected relaxation in a variety of manners: spiritual, and leisurely (such as meetings with friends), essentially aparadise on earth. The Persian word for "enclosed space" was pairi-daeza, a term that was adopted by Christian mythology to describe the garden of Eden or Paradise on earth.

The manner in which the garden is constructed may be formal (with an emphasis on structure) or casual (with an emphasis on nature), following several simple rules governing the design. This is said to allow a maximisation, in terms of function and emotion, of what may be done in the garden.

Origins

Hafezeeyeh Garden, Shiraz, Iran.

The origin of Persian gardens may date back as far as 4000 BCE; the decorated pottery of that time displays the typical cross plan of the Persian garden. The outline of Cyrus the Great's garden, built around 500 BCE, is still viewable today.

During the reign of the Sassanids (third to seventh century CE), and under the influence of Zoroastrianism, the presence of water in art grew increasingly important. This trend manifested itself in garden design with greater emphasis placed on fountains and ponds in gardens.

During the Arab occupation the aesthetic aspect of the garden increased in importance, overtaking the utility of the garden. During this time the aesthetic rules by which the garden is governed grew in importance. An example of this is the chahār bāgh (چهارباغ), a form of garden which attempts to emulate Eden, having four rivers and four quadrants, representing the world. The design sometimes extends one axis longer than the cross-axis and creaters water channels running through each of the four gardens to connect to a central pool.

The invasion of Persia by the Mongols in the thirteenth century saw a new emphasis on highly ornate structure within the garden, examples of which include tree peonies and chrysanthemums. The Mongol empire then carried a Persian garden tradition to other parts of their empire (notably India).

Babur introduced the Persian garden to India; the now unkempt Aram Bāgh garden in Agra was the first of many Persian gardens he created. The Persian concept of an ideal, paradise-like garden is perfectly embodied in the Taj Mahal.

The Safavid Dynasty (seventeenth to eighteenth century) built and developed grand and epic layouts that went beyond being a simple extension to a palace and became an integral aesthetic and functional part of it. In the following centuries European garden design began to influence Persia, particularly the design of France and secondarily that of Russia and the United Kingdom. Western influences led to changes in the use of water and the species used in bedding.

The traditional forms and style are still used among the population of Iran. They are also be found in historic sites, museums and affixed to the houses of the rich.

Elements of the Persian garden

Sunlight and its effects were an important factor of structural design in Persian gardens. Textures and shapes were specifically chosen by architects to harness the light.

Elements of the Persian garden, such as the shade, the jub, and
the courtyard style hayāt in a public garden in Shiraz.

Due to the dry heat of Iran, shade is also very important in the garden, without which it could not be usable. Trees and trellises largely feature as biotic shade; pavilions and walls are also structurally prominent in blocking the sun.

Also related to the heat is the importance of water in the gardens. A form of underground tunnel, below the water table, called a qanat is used to irrigate the garden and its environs.Well-like structures then connect to the qanat, enabling the drawing of water.

Alternatively, an animal driven Persian well would be used to draw water to the surface. Such wheel systems could also be used to move water around surface water systems, such as those which exist in the chahar bāgh style. Trees were often planted in a ditch called a jub, which prevented water evaporation and allowed the water quick access to the tree roots.

The Persian style often attempts to integrate indoors with outdoors through the connection of a surrounding garden with an inner courtyard. Designers often place architectural elements such as vaulted arches between the outer and interior areas to open up the divide between them.

Descriptions

The oldest representational descriptions and illustrations of Persian gardens come from travelers who reached Iran from lands to the west. These accounts include Ibn Battuta in the fourteenth century, Ruy Gonzáles de Clavijo in the fifteenth century and Engelbert Kaempfer in the seventeenth century. Battuta and Clavijo make only passing references to gardens and do not describe their design.

Kaempfer made careful drawings and converted them into detailed engravings after his return to Europe. They show chahar bāgh type gardens with the following features: an enclosing wall, rectangular pools, an internal network of canals, garden pavilions and lush planting. There are surviving examples of this garden type at Yazd (Dowlatabad) and at Kashan (Bāgh-e Fin). The location of the gardens Kaempfer illustrated in Isfahan (city) can be identified.

The garden in the Golestan Palace of Tehran.

Styles

The six primary styles of the Persian garden may be seen in the following table, which puts them in the context of their function and style. Gardens are not limited to a particular style, but often integrate different styles, or have areas with different functions and styles.

	Classical	Formal	Casual
Public	Hayāt	Meidān	Park
Private	Hayāt	Chahār Bāgh	Bāgh

Hayāt

Eram Garden is a famous historic Persian garden
in Shiraz, Iran

Publicly, it is a classical Persian layout with heavy emphasis on aesthetics over function. Man-made structures in the garden are particularly important, with arches and pools (which may be used to bathe). The ground is often covered in gravel flagged with stone. Plantings are typically very simple - such as a line of trees, which also provide shade.

Privately, these gardens are often pool-centred and again structural. The pool serves as a focus and source of humidity for the surrounding atmosphere. Again, there are few plants - this is often due to the limited water available in urban areas.

Meidān

This is a public, formal garden that puts more emphasis on the biotic element than the hayātand that minimises structure. Plants range from trees, to shrubs, to bedding plants, to grasses. Again, there are elements such as a pool and gravel pathways which divide the lawn. When structures are used, they are often built, as in the case of pavilions, to provide shade.

Chahar Bāgh

Shazdeh Garden is one of the largest gardens
of Kerman Province.

These gardens are private and formal - the basic structure consists of four quadrants divided by waterways or pathways. Traditionally, such gardens would be used in work-related functions for the rich (such as entertaining ambassadors). These gardens balance structure with greenery, with the plants often around the periphery of a pool and path based structure.

Park

Much like many other parks, the Persian park serves a casual public function with emphasis on plant life. They provide pathways and seating, but are otherwise usually limited in terms of structural elements. The purpose of such places is relaxation and socialisation.

Bāgh

Like the other casual garden, the park, bāgh emphasizes the natural and green aspect of the garden. Unlike the park it is a private area often affixed to houses and often consisting of lawns, trees, and ground plants. The waterways and pathways stand out less than in the more formal counterparts and are largely functional. The primary function of such areas is familial relaxation.

Dariush Grand Hotel, Kish Island, is a newly-built construction.
Its garden combines elements of both Persian and Caribbean styles.