The Golden State: Where & How to Live, Secure, Visit, Enjoy and Thrive in California

15 Basic Ways To Landscape Your Homepage

In any rock garden good drainage is essential. When you begin to excavate, dig the ground for a depth of at least one foot. Kill the excavation with coarse gravel, broken stones or clinkers. Cover this base with a topsoil mixture of soil, sand and leaf mold. Bury the rocks for your garden about halfway in this prepared ground. Set them on their broadest bases, sloping inward and down to carry water to the plant roots. Arrange the rocks in a series of dishlike patterns to form pockets holding as much soil as each plant requires for rooting.

Selection of plants varies according to locality. Hardy dwarf permanent plants with neat growing habits are best for most gardens. As you plant, work from the lowest to highest sections, packing the soil firmly about the roots as each plant is set out. Rock gardens look best on a rise of earth.

HERB GARDENS

Herbs are so easily grown that no garden should ever be without some of the more useful favorites. They can be raised successfully in pots, divided tubs, window boxes, tucked into flower borders or planted in a tiny area of their own. Most herbs favor a sunny location with well-drained topsoil.

Parsley, used for garnishes and seasoning, can be easily grown from seeds or bought as already established plants. Chives are perennials. Plant them in clumps and cut off the tops as needed for kitchen usage. The perennial sage, used in dressings, can also be grown from seed or bought as started plants.
Other easily grown herbs in popular use include; rosemary, basil, thyme, mustard, dill and beverage spicing mint. Dried flowers of the fragrant lavender plant can be made into useful and delightful sachets.

Good Tools

GOOD TOOLS ARE CHEAPEST in the long run. if the proper types are bought when needed.

With good tools, maintenance of the home yard is quick and easy, leaving a maximum of spare time to enjoy the fruits of your imagination.

A basic kit could consist of steel rake, hoc, bamboo rake, spading fork, garden trowel, hand cultivator and ihovel.

The floral rake weighs about two pounds, will cost from $2.50 to $4.00 and is valuable to smooth and level the soil before planting. A bamboo rake (or its more expensive steel wire counterpart) is the most common method of raking leaves and debris from lawns or behind shrubs.