Flower Garden Design Ideas: How To Create An Amazing Garden!

f_11310577474_home-interior-design-06100902.jpgA flower garden can be a peaceful and beautiful refuge from the rest of the world. Sitting in the midst of fragrant flowers while reading a book or strolling along paths lined with flowers in cheerful colors can help you to wind down after a busy, stressful day. With some planning and work, a lovely flower garden can be yours to enjoy.

Planning Flower Garden Designs

Creating beautiful flower garden designs takes much planning and consideration. You will need to consider the types of flowers and combinations of colors you desire for the garden. You will also need to think about the placement of borders and shrubs as well as seating and ornaments. It is a good idea to choose an overall style for the garden and stick with it. When you begin your flower garden designs project, you should make a scale drawing of the design to help visualize your concepts.

Shapes in Flower Garden Designs

Decide upon the shape and pattern for your flower garden designs. Rectangular flower garden designs are a traditional shape and always popular. Circular shaped gardens add interest to the standard rectangular lawn. Flower gardens planted on a diagonal to the house can make a lawn appear larger than it actually is.

Styles of Flower Garden Designs

There are a number of styles of gardens that you can plant, and many of them are not too difficult to achieve. Some favorite flower garden designs are listed here.

Rose Flower Garden Designs

Rose Gardens are easy to plant and beautiful to see. In addition to modern roses, include fragrant, old-fashioned varieties of roses whose scent will delight. Plant bulbs in the beds and border them with seasonal flowers to keep the garden full of color during the blooming seasons.

Cottage Flower Garden Designs

Informal cottage gardens have an old-fashioned, rustic look about them. These flower garden designs incorporate the use of flowers, plants and vegetables.

Shade Flower Garden Designs

Shade gardens are good flower garden designs for spaces with many trees blocking the sunlight. There are many flowers that do well in shady areas, including impatiens, begonia, azalea, hosta and viola. The lack of leaves on the trees in spring allows spring bulbs to grow, filling the space with color.

Wildflower Flower Garden Designs

Wildflower gardens are flower garden designs that feature plants indigenous to the area where the garden is located. These gardens tend to require less pampering than some of the other types listed here, usually not requiring much weeding or amendments to the soil.

Butterfly Flower Garden Designs

Butterfly gardens are delightful flower garden designs, planted with flowers known to attract butterflies. Plants such as marigold, lilac, coreopsis, lavender, black-eyed susan and goldenrod are all good choices for butterfly gardens.

Hummingbird Flower Garden Designs

Likewise, hummingbird gardens are a good choice for those who enjoy spotting these small birds. Hummingbirds like richly colored flowers with sweet nectar and a tubular shape. Red and fuschia flowers in particular tend to attract hummingbirds. Some hummingbird garden favorites are morning glory, petunias, azalea, rose of sharon, delphinium and honeysuckle.

Going Down Under With Your House

f_01310577483_interiors-27.jpgOne of the biggest home expenses over time is the cost of energy. Going down under is one way to combat this cost. No, I am not talking about Australia!

Going Down Under With Your House

One of the best ways to save money on utilities it to build a house that takes advantage of the surrounding terrain. One option for really brining this to fruition is to go nearly or completely below grade. Better known as an underground structure, this approach drastically cuts the cost of utilities over the life of the property and gives you an opportunity to build something very creative.

When you go down under with a house, you can have depths from 10 inches to nearly the full height of the house. We are not talking about a house under a lawn. One of the more popular designs for these structures is the atrium layout.

The atrium house is essentially a four sided structure facing an open atrium in the middle. The outer walls of the house are positioned flush to the ground or built up berms. The major living areas all face into the atrium. Windows and glass doors are used to facilitate heating with passive solar energy. Access to the ground and garages are provided through stairways. By taking this approach, the house has the benefit of being protected from wind, is temperature regulated by the ground in an indirect geothermal gain strategy and has a nice open atrium that can be used for just about anything.

The interesting thing about this approach is the appearance above ground. The top of the house is flush or nearly flush with the ground. This provides protection from wind and an escape from noise pollution. The design also provides you with a lot of area to get creative with landscaping. Most people will put in exotic landscaping to take advantage of the situation. Japanese gardens, small forests and so on have been used to striking effect.

One area where you need to be careful with an underground house is drainage. Pumps should be sufficient to remove just about everything, but you need to plan for it at the outset. You don’t want to be sitting in a very expensive pool after that first rain.

Taking care of your vinyl flooring

f_21310577577_cactusflower2.jpgVinyl is easily one of the most versatile types of flooring. It is extremely durable and can look like anything, from stone to wood and other natural materials. While vinyl floors are easy to care for, there are some general rules you should follow to keep your vinyl floor clean and vibrant throughout its life in your house.

Sweep or Vacuum

Dust, grit, sand, and any other abrasive materials can scratch vinyl, even with the protective surface layer. Sweep or vacuum your vinyl floor regularly. Vacuums have trouble suctioning to vinyl at times, so you might be better off using a broom. Placing mats at all the outside entrance areas can greatly reduce the amount of dirt and grit on your vinyl floor.

Wash and Mop

Mop your floor weekly or monthly, depending on the amount of traffic you get and how dirty your floor gets. Stay away from rag mops, as they have a tendency to leak water into the cracks between the vinyl flooring. Wash your vinyl floor with a mild, non-abrasive cleaning agent, preferably one that is specifically recommended by the manufacturer. Don’t use any abrasive cleaners, paste waxes, or solvents-many of these products can scratch and discolor your floor.

Protection from Furniture

If you’re moving furniture over a vinyl floor, pick it up or slip a sock over the furniture legs. If you have chairs or tables on a vinyl floor, get gliders or another type of protection for the bottom of your furniture’s feet.

Polish

Polishing your floor is a great way to maintain its sheen and add extra protection to your floor. Do it every so often with a polish that is approved by the manufacturer and safe for your floor.

Wipe up Spills

If anything spills on the floor, wipe it up immediately. Don’t use soap, as that can dull your floor with an extra layer of film. Use a clean cloth and regular water to wipe it up.

In all, vinyl floors really are some of the easiest floors to own, and remain one of the most popular types of flooring on the market. Unfortunately, too many people don’t take proper care of their floors, and they grow dirty and dull. But by simply cleaning your vinyl floor regularly and ensuring it gets the proper care, your floor will last many years longer than most, and retain its health and beauty well into old age.

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