We are always talking about growing our own food and gardening with the environment in mind but that doesn’t mean you can’t add some great items to your yard and gardens to make it inviting and beautiful. One of my favorite things to add is trellises. These can be a great addition to flower beds, raised vegetable beds and gardens. They also make smaller trellises that are great with cucumbers and squash and a number of other low growing vegetables.

Another wonderful addition to any garden is the garden arbors. Many have trellis sides so you can grow many of your favorite flowers or vegetables right up the sides of the arbor. Arbors can be show pieces in the garden and add to the flow and look. You can place a chair under the arbor or just keep it open. In some cases, it’s wonderful to allow the arbor to fill in the sides and the top creating a beautiful canopy of blooms. Just writing about it makes me want to go out into the garden right now and just take it all in!

Everyone knows that in order for everything to come alive next year much has to die between now and next spring. In sounds like a bad thing but is, in fact, a wonderful thing that happens every year and we get rewarded for it each and every year as well. However, many people are quick to hire a gardener or landscaper in the spring and forget that it is just as important to have a skilled professional take care of your yard in the fall as it is in the spring and planting months.

Fall is a great time to get those compost piles turned and ready for winter by adding leaves and other natural debris to have rich and wonderful soil next year. There is a certain amount of green that should be added to the brown and your yard guys can take care of that for you. One of the things most people don’t think about is adding a hardscape such as a patio. The fall is the perfect time to add these types of outdoor living spaces and they will be ready to go at the first sign of spring.

It’s been about a year ago that we decided to build a patio out back and a pond. By spring, we realized that we were in way over our heads and needed some help with this project. We found a company online that had built some wonderful ponds and contacted them to come out and meet with us. Hiring Teacup Gardener was one of the best decisions we have ever made!

We found out that they are contractors and also build patios and other outside projects. They were able to help us finish out the entire pond project plus our patio in a little over a week’s time. Unfortunately, they had to redo some of the things we had done wrong in order for everything to work in concert. The knowledge they brought to the project far exceeded our expectations. Now as we sit out on our patio and listen and watch the birds and other wildlife that have come into our yard due to the addition of our water feature, we feel blessed that our vision has come to life despite our mistakes and missteps. It’s good to know that there are professionals who care that are still around!

Organic gardening is not easy. Pests and underfertilization are just two of the many problems facing a gardener wanting to go it greener. But I have discovered that organic vegetable gardening is much easier with the help of a cedar raised bed. I am thrilled with the yield I’m getting this year already, and it’s only May. Pests, many of which have a natural aversion to cedar, seemed to miss my tender young seedlings altogether this year.

And the number of plants I was able to pack in to this raised bed is nothing short of crowded. But lest you think that I didn’t provide enough space, relax: that’s another known fact about container and raised bed gardening; you can plant your plants much closer together, and thus maximize your space usage.

I think this is the first year I will have been able to say that I went organic all the way, from planting to harvest, and I do not believe it has been any harder than the usual in-ground gardening I do. In fact, I think it’s been easier so far! Updates to follow.

The first time I heard this term I was thinking in terms of some kind of new fangled bed that was in the floor that could be automatically raised up at night so you could go to sleep.  Consider my disappointment and then excitement when I realized they were talking about a raised garden bed!  Yes, I was surprised to find out that there was raised bed kits that came with everything you need to create a wonderful flower or vegetable garden right in your backyard..

Some of the kits are small enough to use on patios, decks or landings in places that don’t have much of a yard.  There are some weight restrictions that you do have to adhere to and use light soil mix but it can be done.  For a avid gardener stuck in a place with no land space to garden, that’s a God send! Raised bed kits are one of the most versatile of garden structures because they can be placed just about anywhere in your yard. You can put them around trees, in the front or back yards and use two or more to expand your garden to the size you desire.  They’re a great green idea!