Container gardening gives you an advantage of ideal gardening soil, guaranteeing some good success. Simple peat moss mixed up with some good potting soil along with perlite and vermiculite would help in holding the moisture for a longer period of time. Firstly, just look at your area and decide on the container size you would like and then decide on the plants which you want to plant in your container garden. Do some calculations about how much sunlight is available and when, since many plants would not like to be exposed to sunlight through out the day while some require sunlight for almost whole day. Do some research over what plants would flourish in your surrounding area and in the container because some plants needs a fair bit of place to grow properly.

After considering the size of the container, make a check over the drainage holes it has; they should be adequate in the bottom and see how much depth would you need since plant’s roots would grow and they would not like to stay all congested up after the soil getting filled up otherwise it would be a total mess. Remember that the garden plants for containers are not able to move downwards because of surface water and at the same time lack of surface water will quickly finish them as well.

Get the largest containers you can possibly afford to fulfill this gardening hobby and give some good tailoring to the greenery considering the sunlight’s availability. Make sure you water your plants daily when hot summers hit. You can also get containers that are self-watering for your ease. Having a container garden is easily affordable fulfilling your desire at the same time so what are you waiting for? Go get some greenery and enjoy its pleasure and design a small yet cute garden in a container.

When we talk about growing herbs, there is an entire history attached to it. Herbs are used since ages for preparing medicinal remedies; some of them even are proved to be working by medical science today. The human body can benefit from medicinal herbs in more then just a couple of ways such as cleansing the body and getting rid of all the toxins and bacteria that builds up inside us due to waste material getting stuck in our colons with time causing illnesses, many vital organs start getting strengthened having more resistance power to fix their own problems and also keeping the immune system in good shape and strong in order to stop the outside intruders (diseases) from making us a target.

There are several herbs that count as medicinal herbs today and are being used effectively as or in medicines by professionals and doctors such as Ginseng, Aloe, Eucalyptus, Chamomile, Gingko, Garlic, Ginger, Spearmint, and Peppermint. Besides these famous medicinal herbs comes a list of herbs never even heard of or people know very little about them such as Butcher’s Broom, Blood Root, Devil’s Claw, and Sassafras along with several others that only professionals are aware of. Do not think that herb is a cure to everything since each medicinal herb has its specific quality of curing something.

In the current medical world, most of the medicines carry dangerous side effects with them and this is where medicinal herbs come into play keeping you safe. What can be better then to grow more and more medicinal herbs and stay away from all the health diseases and disorders?

Above mentioned information clearly reveals the importance and advantages of growing medicinal herbs. I am sure that by now you must have got an idea that why medicinal herbs are important.

Soon you will see your neighbors curious about how you did all the arrangement and the smile on your face would be right through your heart. Just make sure that the time of the year matches with the types of flowers you are arranging in your garden. Season matching with flowers is very essential to enjoy the true beauty. It would not be only your home enjoying the beauty of flowers but the occasions coming along would benefit from it as well such as a party at your place or Christmas coming up or may be some long not seen relatives visiting you. Family and friends are left delighted with decoration done by flowers. It is very cost-effective along with providing natural beauty and a cleaner environment to breath in. Color preference is something your arrangement should be based upon. Make sure the existing displays or your house color matches the setup. Internet has a made the life lot easier for people, it was not easier before to shop for outdoor flowers so do a little surfing and pick up the ones matching your mood from the internet.

If you think you are getting confused or this task seems to be harder then you expected then remember that your florist awaits you with his expertise and advice to offer, ask him or her what to purchase and how and where to plant it. A good flower arrangement in your home & garden would give you a pleasant feeling and will set you in a mood whenever you glance at it so why not give life this positive change right now?

Shrubs are different from each other, so you should know which shrubs to go with for your garden. Your landscape will bring diverse results with diverse kinds of shrubs. Your plan should be a little futuristic focusing on what you really want and what would you get by planting a certain type of shrub. Shrubs are all about adding beauty and color to the garden and here a few most recommended shrubs you might want to go for.

Azalea tops the list; these are flowering shrubs that stay at the peak of beauty at the time they bloom. You would only get a flower per stem but stems are quite a lot meaning that it is going to be a color-mania at their bloom time. Acidic garden soil best suits these shrubs and they need a shady position to grow. Azalea does have a few various species as well so a little research is required to see what would suit you and which ones need pruning regularly.

Then comes the hardy shrub rose, this shrub type is also popular because of its different colors. They do not ask for deep and expensive maintenance and are disease resistant as well unlike the other roses. The best part is that these shrubs bloom almost in every season spreading their beauty and colors in your garden. They do not really have any planting requirements so plant them anywhere you want to see a beauty boost in your garden.

Hydrangea plants also count as shrubs adding lots of color to the existing beauty of your garden. They would suit around the borders and relatively in large bunches; most gardens seem to be incomplete without this shrub.

Many people have misconceptions about shrubs being color-less or just green, let me tell you that along with the above mentioned shrubs almost all the others carry fantastic colors with them and that is why they are so important for a garden to look bright and blossoming.

One of the oldest roses and the one with which I associate cottage gardens is the moss rose, Rosa centifolia ‘Muscosa’, named for the reddish-green moss on the flower buds. The blossoms are soft delicate pink, fully double and possess a spicy fragrance that announces ‘cottage garden’ to the world. Like all the old roses it prefers a soil that is on the heavy side, but is not fussy as to whether this is of acid or alkaline persua­sion. A sunny position is essential well away from the drip of overhanging trees which can cause the balling and browning of blos­soms. A vigorous grower, I can remember this particular rose invading the elderly hawthorn hedge in my grandmother’s cot­tage garden. In mid-summer it cheekily waved fresh wands of foliage above its sup­port, each garlanded in pink cabbagy blos­soms. Despite attempts to curb its activities, it became inextricably bound up with the hawthorn and there it remains to this day.

The gallica roses are the parents of the modern rose and had a big part to play in the development of the moss rose. Rosa gallica itself is known as the French rose, and more importantly its cultivar the old red damask, R. gallica ‘Officinalis’ as the apothecary’s rose. It was this latter that was thought during the Middle Ages to be able to pro­vide a cure for almost every known human ailment. Rosa gallica is a rather lax shrub, scarcely ever more than T5 m (5 ft) high with saucer-like pink blossoms which are followed by bold, rounded, brick-red hips. Its partner, ‘Officinalis’ is of similar habit, but with fragrant, semi-double, rosy-crim­son flowers. There is also an old cottage garden rose popularly referred to as ‘Rosa mundi’, but really R. gallica ‘Versicolor’, which occurred as a branch sport from the apothecary’s rose and has semi-double flowers that are striped with red and white.

Damask roses are derived from R. damas-cena, a short shrubby character with large clusters of red, pink or white richly fragrant flowers and vicious thorny stems. They are ancient roses of mixed parentage, believed to be old hybrids rather than true species, but so old that their origins are lost in the mists of time. There are innumerable named cultivars in modern catalogues, but for interest and cottage garden authenticity I would select the double soft pink ‘Trigin-tipetala’, an old kind that is used in the production of attar of roses.

Climbing and rambling roses find no place here, but the diversity that remains is still overwhelming. Those just mentioned would be a must in my cottage garden, but there are others that are worthy contenders and to which I must introduce you. Rela­tives of the moss rose, like its progenitor, the cabbage rose, R. centifolia; with both fragrant flowers and foliage it is an absolute delight. There is the dainty China rose, R. chinensis, the forerunner of the delightful fairy roses typified by R. chinensis ‘Minima’. We have sweet briars, R. rubiginosa, that can be utilized as a hedge and the ramanas rose, R. rugosa, which is equally at home in a difficult corner. This boisterous fellow has yielded many fine cultivars, amongst which the pale rose-pink ‘Frau Dagmar Hastrup’ reigns supreme. Not only are the blossoms lovely, but so too are the rich crimson hips. And there are dwarf burnet roses derived from R. pintpinellifolia, which make low thickets of thorny branches thronged during early summer with tiny sweetly scented blossoms.

Roses with cottage garden associations are nearly as many as the pebbles on the beach. If you are unsure about what you require, then visit one of the very many good collections that are growing in gardens open to the public and judge for yourself. Mid-summer is the time to check out the flowers, but many have useful and decora­tive fruits too and these should be looked at again during early autumn.

Providing that competition from weeds and other neighbouring plants is kept to a minimum, the production of good sized healthy bulbs is almost assured. That is providing that you maintain the foliage for as long after flowering as possible. The function of bulb foliage at this time is to develop the bulb for the next season and ensure the initiation of lower buds. By the time that the leaves have died down next spring’s flowers should be latent within the bulbs. No amount of feeding or replanting at this time will have any effect. Unsightly bulb foliage is usually a constant source of irritation after all the flowers have faded as it begins to look jaded and unhealthy. How­ever it is vital that it remains for at least six weeks after flowering, preferably until it disappears of its own accord, in order to build up the food reserves in each bulb.

Some gardeners lift, divide and store their bulbs, replanting in the autumn. This is unnecessary unless you want to fill the gaps that they leave with summer bedding or hardy annuals. In that case the bulbs will still be in leaf, so lift carefully and line them out in another part of the garden until all the foliage has died back naturally. Then is the time to lift, dry and sort them prior to storing in a cool dry place. Apart from tulips, I would seldom contemplate the dis­turbance of healthy bulbs unless it was clear that they had been in position for many years and were in desperate need of dividing and replanting.

The potential bare patches created by bulbs which are dying back can be filled with some of the hardy annuals if the seed is scattered amongst the receding foliage. Cornflower, night scented stock, Virginian stock, clarkia and godetia all hide the foliage well and their growth is not impeded by its presence. Remember that these annuals will take nourishment from the soil in which the bulbs are growing and so take appropriate measures with bonemeal or hoof and horn during the early spring.

Medlar

I am thinking now of the medlar, Mespilus germanica, an easily grown fruit of unusual taste and appearance borne on a tree with a quaint gnarled ‘old man’ look about it. With bright green foliage and white or pinkish tinged flowers, it is a considerable asset to the olde worlde garden. If one is a purist about these things, it can be treated as an apple in all respects, although I prefer to leave it alone except for the removal of untidy branches. The fruits form during summer and should be allowed to hang on the tree until late autumn, after which they can be spread out in a cool airy place until bletted. This really means that the fruits are starting to decay, and it is at this time that they are ready for eating or converting into wine or jelly. The taste for medlars is an acquired one, but if you are really interested in producing fruit rather than considering the tree purely as decorative, then get the cultivar ‘The Nottingham’. This is often available as a standard or half standard grafted on to a pear, hawthorn or quince rootstock.

Quince

The quince, Cydonia oblonga, and the med­lar are closely related and desire similar garden conditions, except that the fruits of the quince are used when ripe and should not be picked until they are fully mature. A number of kinds are in cultivation, all excel­lent decorative trees, but not always easy to come by. The Portugal quince is the most likely to be encountered and is the best sort for cooking and preserving. The apple and pear-shaped cultivars differ only in shape and keeping quality, while ‘Bereczki’ is well thought of by those with a delicate palate. The quince is a handsome spreading tree with broad green leaves, white spring blos­som, and lovely grey bark. An easy going character for which I have a strong affec­tion.

Peaches, apricots and nectarines

I also like to see a peach or apricot in the cottage garden. Usually a hit and miss affair outdoors when it comes to fruit, they are very much a part of old cottage gardens where they can still be seen clothing south­erly or westerly walls. Fruit is anyway a secondary consideration when they are grown outside, it is for the sparkling pink blossoms that bedeck their naked branches in early spring that most cottagers grow them. If a peach or two can be secured this is an added bonus, but not a major consider­ation.

The number of cultivars available that have any prospect of flourishing outside are somewhat limited, especially amongst the apricots. ‘Moorpark’ is the easiest to get hold of, a large rounded, yellowish fruit with one side a reddish-brown colour. It is seldom ripe before early autumn, so if you hope for something earlier then try ‘Early Moorpark’. Peach cultivars are more abun­dant, the American ‘Amsden June’ being the earliest while the handsome large fruited ‘Duke of York’ runs it a close second. The best known of all though, is ‘Peregrine’, a late summer kind with medium-sized fruit of excellent quality. We must not forget nectarines, a sort of smooth skinned peach amongst which ‘Early Rivers’ and ‘Lord Napier’ are the most common.

The cultivation of peaches, nectarines and apricots in the cottage garden is very similar. Remember that if you seek fruit, and indeed flower, that apricots bear fruit on spurs as well as on young wood. This means that when pruning apricots, unwanted laterals should be cut back to two buds instead of being removed altogether. All three kinds enjoy life on a sunny wall in an alkaline soil.

Of course it would be easy to justify the inclusion of apples, pears, cherries, plums and other top fruits here because they often form an integral part of the cottage garden and have been traditionally planted in the ornamental part. However, I think that I have probably gone down the road as far as I can with fruits of culinary value, that is unless you include the nuts. There are in­numerable nuts that can be grown in the garden, but the most appropriate are the cobs and filberts.

Cob nuts and hazel nuts

The cob nut is the type in which the outer husk is very short, while the filbert has a longer outer husk which totally enfolds it. Several cultivars are available, amongst them ‘Cannon Ball’, ‘Cosford’ and ‘Kentish Cob’. Nuts will grow in almost any soil, but a free-draining loam is ideal. They grow well in the shade and can be interplanted with other shrubs in a border, but at least two different varieties should be grown to ensure adequate pollination. Nuts are rather different from other fruiting plants in that they produce both male and female catkins which are pollinated by the wind. These appear before the foliage, and onee their work is done, the bushes can be pruned so that just enough nut-bearing wood remains to give an acceptable crop.

The bushes should be encouraged to develop an urn-shaped framework, the lead­ing growths being shortened and thinned. Wood that carried a crop the previous year must be spurred back. Occasionally wands or suckers spring up from the roots and these should be torn away. Nuts are ready to harvest during early autumn, just as the foliage is turning a lovely butter-yellow. After picking, spread them out in trays in a cool, well-ventilated building. They will be ready for use during the winter.

The nuts also have amongst their number several varieties that are grown exclusively for foliage colour. The golden-leafed hazel nut, Corylus avellana ‘Aurea’ has golden leaves throughout the year, but I am afraid that I cannot get too excited about this as it needs very careful placing in partial shade if leaf scorch is to be avoided. This does not happen with C. maxima ‘Purpurea’ which sports handsome purplish leaves on an upright shrub of stately aspect. This is lovely next to the pendulous willow-leafed pear, Pyrus salicifolia ‘Pendula’ which forms a round topped small tree clothed in a tumbling cascade of silver-grey foliage. One of the best of the silver or grey-leaved sub­jects for the cottage garden and one of the few that is reliably hardy.

I think that they are possibly the best colonizers of builders’ rubbish that there are. If faced with uncompromising clay sub-soil, then make pot marigolds a priority. They are large seeded, easily handled, and can be sown in their final positions quite readily. Their only disadvantage is that unless great care is taken over the removal of fading blossoms, large quantities of viable seed will be scattered and you will be troubled with young plants for the foreseeable future. In the informality of a mixed border this can usually be tolerated, unless the progeny are from the seed produced by an Fj hybrid. In this case it will almost certainly be very poor. Another reason to select older open pollinated strains of marigolds rather than brash modern hybrids.

Modern cultivars of the mallow, Lavatera trimestris, need treating with a similar re­serve. They are perfectly acceptable if the old plants are to be cleared and volunteer seeding is not to be allowed. Where cottage garden traditions are more strictly adhered to and chance seedlings are allowed to prosper, then it is important that from the outset only open pollinated non-F, hybrids are grown. These reproduce themselves more or less to type and, while without selection will tend to slowly deteriorate, produce quite tolerable plants even if allowed to regenerate for eight or ten years. All the mallows have bold mounds of glossy green leaves and spires of open cup or saucer-shaped blossoms. The species itself is pink and, although occasionally grown, was long since superseded by that old cot­tage garden favourite ‘Loveliness’. In general garden terms the Fleuroselect award winning varieties ‘Silver Cup’ and ‘Mount Blanc’, which are pink and white flowered respectively, recently ousted ‘Loveliness’ from many seed catalogues. It is still avail­able though, and I believe should be the mallow of our cottage garden. The seed of mallows is quite large and can be sown where the plants are intended to flower. If you have an excess of seedlings, then these are one of the few hardy annual types that will respond to transplanting.

Wallflowers and other spring flowering sub­jects which are associated with cottage gar­dens are often also important formal bed­ding subjects. As intimated earlier, formal bedding schemes are definitely out, so re­gard these plants in a different way and treat them as our great grandparents did; merely as additional plants for the border. As long as you choose the standard wallflower culti­vars and avoid the true dwarfs, then this mental transition is not difficult to make. Use mixed strains like ‘Fair Lady’ or ‘Per­sian Carpet’ for making bold  drifts of colour, but utilize single colours such as ‘Blood Red’ and ‘Cloth of Gold, for filling gaps in mixed plantings.

Wallflowers are the gilliflowers of old, not only providing rich colour for the late spring garden, but filling the air with a sweet fragrance. If they remain in good health following flowering allow them to remain, for strictly perennials, they will develop a woody framework and take on the venerable look that wallflowers in cottage gardens should have. Do not forget that other wallflower Cheiranthus allionii, which the botanists now tell us is not a wallflower at all, but which will remain with me as the Siberian wallflower for ever. I have men­tioned elsewhere how useful this bright or­ange, sweetly scented perennial plant can be when associated with the lovely white Iris florentina. However, that is not its only great association for it can be mixed with the azure hummocks of forget-me-not with tremendous effect.

Forget-me-nots are great traditional plants of the cottage garden, but ones which deteriorate quickly if not properly main­tained. Always grow fresh plants each year if you wish to maintain quality as most culti­vars are truly biennial. If they seem to persist it is unlikely that the same plants are flowering each year. Usually it is seed that has dropped into the centre of the crown that germinates and produces what appears to be a perennial plant that the gardener believes is ‘reverting’. Individual forget-me-not plants do not revert, but strains deteriorate with each succeeding generation if not rigorously reselected and nowadays a number of the cultivars popularly grown are of F, origin.

The only forget-me-not that is truly per­ennial and likely to find a place in the cottage garden is the moisture-loving Myo-sotis scorpioides. Sometimes its selected form ‘Semperflorens’ is grown as a perennial in the mixed border on heavy soil or where there is a damp or waterlogged patch. Otherwise the named kinds should be rep­laced each year after flowering. At present there is little to choose in popularity between ‘Blue Ball’ and ‘Royal Blue’, and if you need a white form there is a variety referred to as alba offered by one or two seedsmen. Myosotis are best produced as boxed plants for transplanting during the autumn. Open ground plants are very diffi­cult to manage and almost impossible to get established unless you remove them to their permanent quarters very early in their life. Apart from their value as low growing plants for the front of the border, all the forget-me-nots mix well visually with old fashioned tulips of various kinds and offset the bright colours of wallflowers. Alone they are a little frothy and misty, but as a foil or contrast they are superb.

Polyanthus and pansies

You could not say the same about the polyanthus, for these are available in a wide range of brilliant colours which can be used to highlight particular garden features. They need using with an element of caution, for some of the more recent hybrids tend to have an iridescence that gives a certain brashness that is not in keeping with our concept. Some of the older, smaller flowered and cheaper strains are the most appropri­ate. Avoid any of the ‘Pacific Giants’, the blue-flowered hybrids and those derived from the ‘Cowichan Strain’. Admirable though all of these are, none are really compatible with the spring garden as I see it. If you can get hold of a few of the old named varieties that can only be increased by division after flowering, then do so. These were the true inhabitants of the cot­tage garden, along with fairly mediocre seed raised plants. I am not suggesting that mediocrity be brought into the garden, but where a lot of plants are needed or economy is the order of the day, then select a popular mixture of a seed-house strain. Good colour forms can always be selected and divided to bulk up stocks of desirable plants.

Most pansies have now become so far removed from the little heartsease Viola tricolor, that it is difficult to include them in the cottage garden. I much prefer the face­less violas, for these are of smaller size and equal diversity with a flowering period that often outlasts its cousins. Most are derived from V. cornuta, a most useful blue-flow­ered plant itself which can be raised from cuttings as well as seed. There are separate colours available, but I much prefer a rus­tic-looking mixture like ‘Toyland’. Seed raising is perfectly adequate for this, but do replace the plants each year and weed out any self-sown seedlings. Violas grown well are a great asset, when repeat flowering or growing as second generation accidents they are a disaster. If you must grow pansies, and on reflection perhaps you should, then do not be any more ambitious than trying ‘Swiss Giants’. This strain has all the col­ours that you are likely to require in accep­table shades and the flowers are weather­proof and of sensible dimensions. A new cultivar that I have recently tried in which the flower size is modest and the varying colouration pleasing is called ‘Duet’. Splen­did little plants of similar stature to the bedding violas provided a scintillating show of restful colour from late spring until the first sharp autumn frost.

Other biennials

Another plant that gives value for money, but of which I am always rather nervous, is the double daisy, Bellis perennis, a form of our native wild daisy. Technically a peren­nial, this is another case where it should be treated as a biennial, for if left to seed, a host of undesirable weedy seedlings will become established not only in the border, but in the lawn as well. The majority of popular strains are in shades of pink, red and white and are derived from the full double form of the daisy called monstrosum. There are also a few separate named cultivars about like the red flowered ‘Etna’ and soft pink ‘Alice’.

Named varieties are also making an ap­pearance amongst the sweet williams, although none have acquired great popular­ity. Every gardener that I have spoken to regards the mixed auricula-eyed strains of sweet williams as unbeatable. I have to admit that, for vigour and reliability, I have to agree. Treated as wallflowers they can go on for ever. Well almost, for they are truly perennials and if looked after as such and regularly fed will come up with a good show for a few years.

Relatives of the pinks and therefore within the embrace of the dianthus, they revel in a well-drained, alkaline soil in full sun. I think that they are excellent as mem­bers of the mixed or herbaceous border, but many gardeners grow them for their top quality cut flowers. Whatever your justifica­tion, they are important members of the cottage garden, providing colour and char­acter at that in-between time after the spring flush has finished but before summer blossoming has commenced. Apart from conventional sweet williams there are some annual ones available from certain nurseries that can be sown in early spring for flower­ing the same year.

Handpicking of perennial weeds is useful, but more certain results can be obtained by using a weedkiller containing glyphosate. This is a translocated weedkiller which is absorbed by the foliage of the weed and then transmitted throughout the sap stream, kill­ing the plant entirely but not polluting the soil. Early spring is the ideal time to make an application, just as the plants are begin­ning to shoot, for the chemical is more readily absorbed and translocated at this time. Spraying in spring usually catches any pieces of root missed during handpicking as these will also be producing small shoots.

There is not a lot of difference between planting a new border and refurbishing an existing one. An existing border will doubt­less contain a number of plants that resent disturbance, or in the mixed border there will doubtless be shrubs that must be worked around. Some herbaceous subjects resent disturbance so much that they sulk and refuse to flower for several years after being moved plants like paeony and Christmas rose as well as any members of the pea family, such as Russell lupins. These must all remain where they are, unless they are exhausted, when plants like lupins can be increased by cuttings of young shoots taken as they emerge from the crown in early spring.

Once soil preparation is completed, the areas which various groups of plants are going to occupy can be marked out with sand. It is useful to have an idea of where you are going to put each plant variety and I find a rough sketch on paper a useful guide. Do not be hide-bound by your original ideas as these were in all probability made at the kitchen table and imagination and reality do not always tie up. Use the sketch as a basis upon which to work. Do not be so dogmatic that you have no flexibility. As long as certain basic principles are adhered to there is little that can go wrong in the planning of a mixed or herbaceous border. The arrange­ment of colour and Contrast is purely per­sonal, so are shapes and heights, and their combinations. What is not flexible is the quantity of plants necessary to create a satis­factory effect. Single plants do not create an attractive picture, nor in a cottage garden context do square, circular or oblong blocks of plants. Do what you wish about colours and contrasts, but stick to groups of five, seven or nine plants and arrange them in an irregular fashion.