Tips To Design A Mexican Style Garden

Mexican Designed Gardens combine character with elegance and like the Hispanic culture should include a space for socialising! In the same way as Mexico is vast the types of Mexican style gardens have variations also, there are Mexican Water Gardens but more commonly the garden can be a courtyard style with a water feature if room allows it.

A Mexican courtyard garden is designed around people with evidence of the varied Mexican landscapes such as lush tropical forests, desert and coast. So the aim is to focus on the people who will enjoy it and visit it, then building the props and plants with this in mind which should mirror the diverse beauty of Mexico.

Some Mexican courtyard gardens may focus on one favourite place or aspect of Mexico which also works very well, so if you have been to Mexico this is an option. It could be a loving tribute to the relaxing coasts of Mexico, the diverse mountain regions or the native feel of the northern deserts.

When you have your theme decided then immerse yourself in lots of photos online of the aspects of this style to help you further define what props and plants will fit in your garden well. Remember that the socialising area is central to the plan, and this will ideally include some form of outdoor cooking facility as well as the area to relax, eat, drink and be merry! The end result should give a feel of native and colonial design with colours, plants, terrracotta and practical plants like herbs and vegetables are very much part of it.

Once you have set aside the entertaining area the next step is to put in the roots of this courtyward style which means choosing tiles which should have earthy tones, like terracottas, reds or browns, can include nature designs such as cacti or the sun and traditionally would have been handmade ceramic tiles.

Having chosen the socialising area your aim is to make this welcoming, cheery and functional so a good choice is a hand made brick oven or barbeque. The dining and relaxing furniture is typically rustic wood and/or wrought iron tables, benches, chairs. Look forward to the great evenings you will have there and feature wrought-iron candelabras for lighting.

If you have space for a water feature it can be a small fish pond or a small water feature made from old terracotta pots, it doesn't need to be big to have the desired effect. Of course if you do have the space for a larger feature then go for it, watch out for the pink flamingoes though!

You'll notice that there has been mention of terracotta once or twice already, so to get it out of the way you can use used and broken terracotta earthenware in as many ways as you can think of in your Mexican garden. You can put little cacti in them or herbs just go for it.

Which leads us onto cacti and plants. Lots of cacti and tropical type plants, if possible cultivate lemon, orange, nut or banana trees if your climate allows. A small vegetable garden is a must also and if you haven't grown your own vegetables before it is a great experience and they taste heaps better than what we get in most supermarkets. Go for well kept flowerbeds alsoo and large arrangements of hanging baskets. Some plants to consider are aloe vera (great healing properties), flowering agave, fuchsia, golden trumpet, hosta, orchid, acacia, caladium, rex-begonia vine, hibiscus and rex-begonia vine.

Props to consider are bright wall frescos, wrought iron gateways, pottery and ceramics painted with traditional designs, as well as Aztec style cushions and tablecloths if you wish. To make the evenings more pleasant you can put of a straw type roof on the entertaining area. This is best done using scaffold towers for your safety or that of any workers. When it is all finished sit down and enjoy a well deserved drink in your new garden.

Tips To Design A Mexican Style Garden

Enhance Your Garden With a Wall Fountain

The elegance of a wall fountain will certainly increase the tranquil atmosphere of your garden as well as increase the retail value of your property. Such an addition is not new in the outdoor setting as it was often the source of water for the household in ancient times. This fountain brings the sight and sound of falling water to your outdoor living space increasing the enjoyment you will have just sitting there taking in the natural setting you have created.

Although they have a different appearance than most fountains, wall fountains operate in basically the same way. There is a basin that serves as the pool into which the water falls from the fountainhead. Pipes or tubing take this water through a pump, hidden inside the fountain, from the pool back up to the top in a continuous motion. The water can fall in a wall of water, spray from the head or even replicate waterfalls by pouring over several shelves or ledges on its way to the pool.

You can have the water in a wall fountain coming from the mouth of an animal or a mythical creature or even pouring from a watering can or teapot. There are numerous designs to choose from and they are easy to install. You simply hang the fountain on a garden fence or attach it to a wall. You can even have this water feature on your patio if it is large enough. The trick to the installation is to make sure that the water pipes are hidden behind the feature over which you have the water pouring.

There are ready made water wall fountains available for purchase in home improvement and garden stores both online and off. You can also create your own wall fountain using any materials that you have on hand, such as a sheet of clear glass to create a wall of water or even a gnarled branch of driftwood on which you place different containers.

Whatever the design of the wall fountain, the components remain the same. You will need to have a basin in which you have a submersible pump, tubing from the pump to the fountain head or spout and some direction for the water to fall back into the basin. It is a challenging task to build a large wall water fountain, but it is possible if you have time and patience. You do have to look at the area in which you want to place the fountain so that you can landscape the area to complement the design of the fountain. Then it will look as if the fountain is a natural part of the garden.

When you search online you will see many examples of wall water fountains, maybe even the ideal outdoor wall fountain! This will give you ideas for creating your own unique designs that will have your visitors asking where you bought it or how you came up with the design. If you purchase a ready-made wall fountain, the package will contain all the directions and parts you need for assembling and hanging it in whatever part of your garden you decide is best. This is the simplest and easiest choice, but there is a wealth of information available online to help you build your own.

Enhance Your Garden With a Wall Fountain

Homemade Water Garden Fountains

Making a homemade garden fountain can be quite a simple task. You can also build quite elaborate fountains although it may not be quite as easy. You first have to decide just what it is you are contemplating. Are you looking to make a simple garden fountain that will sit on your patio table as a focal point? Or are considering an in ground pond with a relatively large fountain? Either way there is going to be some planning required.

The table top homemade garden fountains: This is a great way that you can really use your creativity here. Chances are you probably have many items around your home that you can use to make up your fountain. There will be some items that you will need to purchase such as a small pump and tubing to make your fountain flow. You can start by using several different sizes of clay flower pots. For the base of your fountain try and find a ceramic flowerpot or even large bowl. Then you can use your clay pots to create different levels in your fountain allowing the water to flow through them. You can vary the positioning of them, by allowing some of them to fill with water, and then spill down onto the next pot which would be placed upside down.

To position your pots at different levels, use a variety of different size stones and build them up. If you can find some small pieces of shale they work well as ledges. Then once you have the various pots strategically laid out the way you want them then you can start adding some accessories. You can add either some real plants or some artificial ones. Purchase some artificial moss and position this around your pots and on the ledges. It's from this point where you can be creative. You may have thought that you didn't have the talent to do this but once you start you will see how easy it really is.

The outdoor pond fountains: You have lots of choices here for your fountain as there are many on the market that you can purchase. If you really want to customize your pond consider making your own fountain head. A great medium to make a fountain head out of is ceramic. This doesn't mean that you have to settle for one of the store bought ones either.

If there is a ceramic hobby shop near you then you could go and purchase a piece of unfinished ceramic and do it yourself. There are actually ceramic pieces that are designed for fountains or you can modify it with your own creativity. The ceramic shop will give you instructions on how to prepare your piece so that it can be used in your fountain setting. The two important aspects will be inserting an opening for the water to flow through, and to make sure the piece is glazed. This is one sure way of having a unique fountain head for your garden fountain.

Homemade Water Garden Fountains

How to Build a Fountain From Three Garden Pots

Although the idea of using pots as garden fountains is not a new idea, I came across a way of building them that I hadn't seen before and would like to share that with you. The idea is simple. First you will have to choose the pots you will use for your fountain. You need a basin, a base and the pot you will use as the fountain. Choose the shape of the main fountain not only for its appearance but also how it will function. Smooth pots with very little taper on the bottom will be quieter as the water will cling to sides as it falls. Some pots have ridges or rings that will cause the water to fall off producing more sound.

You start with a large sized terracotta or stone bowl as your foundation. This will be the basin pot where the overflowing water will fall. Drill a hole out of the bottom center of the bowl if there isn't one already. Now take the cord from your pump and run it through the hole. For larger holes, cover with duct tape and fill with Bondo. Smaller holes can be filled in with silicon. When that has dried, coat the inside with a water sealant. Now you should be ready to place the basin in your desired location. Although not crucial, try to make the basin as level as possible.

The base pot is a pot that is turned upside down and houses the pump. Choose a pot that has a base diameter the same as the base diameter of the main fountain pot. Soak the pot overnight in water. This helps make it easier to cut notches around the top rim of the pot. These notches allow water to come in that gets pumped up through the fountain tube.

Cut a piece of tubing about a foot longer than the height of the fountain pot. Attach this to the pump. Now feed the base pot down over the tube through the hole in the bottom of the pot. Seal the gap around the tube with more silicon. Now you should have your basin with an upside down pot sitting in the middle of it with a pump inside and the tube sticking out the top of the base pot.

Now take your fountain pot and test fit it by feeding it down over the tube and placing it on top of the base pot. If everything looks good (it should be plumb and level with the tube sticking out the top higher than the height of the pot) you can take off the fountain pot and run two thick beads of silicon around the top of the base pot. Run one bead towards the outside to help hold the pots together and one on the inside to keep water from running in between the two pots.

Once everything has dried, fill with water and test. Now you will have to adjust the height of the tubing to get the desired effect you are looking for. Finish by filling in the basin with rocks.

Ideas for Gardening in Containers

Containers are perfect if you don't have a lot of space in your garden but want to grow your favorite plants and flowers. You can still experience the joy of gardening when using a container filled with elegant blooms. All you really need is a large enough container to hold your plants and good potting soil. Keep the plant in its preferred area of the garden and watch as the container takes shape and creates a lovely addition to the garden space.

Colorful Bushes

Bushes can be used inside containers for colorful and inviting focal points around the garden. Use a larger container to hold the bush and add a stunning effect to the space. Hydrangeas with their snowball blooms look lovely inside containers and placed at the entrance to an outdoor pergola or garden walkway. Another stunning bush to add is the hibiscus bush. With the white and pink blooms and crimson red centers, this vibrant bush looks especially beautiful because of its cascading and billowing effect over a container. Watch how it spreads into the garden area with its giant blooms. To keep the bushes healthy inside the container add a layer of mulch to help retain water during the hot summer months and to prevent weeds from shooting up through the soil.

Vegetables

Why not plant a vegetable patch inside a container? With the ability to manipulate the soil to accommodate these edibles, a container is the perfect spot for growing delicious blooms like squash and tomatoes. Use a larger container and one that is lower to the ground, so the vines can sprawl over and down the sides. Add an ever-hardy zucchini plant to the container to produce a plethora of fruits to use in your favorite dishes. Use a container inside the garden for growing your favorite cool weather lettuces like bibb and arugula to use in salads while adding a vibrant green color to the garden space. Don't forget to add a deep container for carrots. Their long roots need more space than most vegetables so make sure you have a large enough space for these crunchy delights.

Herbs

Herbs love to be crammed into a container space so don't be shy when it comes to planting one large herb container for your garden. To create height and balance, add the taller herbs in the back of the space like dill and cilantro. Add medium-sized herbs to the middle of the container like basil and sage. The different shades of green and various textures add a stunning design element to the garden while producing fragrant herbs to use in your favorite dishes. Along the front of the container, add a draping thyme or oregano to cascade over the container and into the garden space.

Useful Gardening Tips

A garden is a treasure house of happiness for most owners. One can forget all their work tensions and stress of life by spending quality time in their garden area, but for that you'll need a garden that's not only lush green and colorful but a healthy one too. If you are just about to start setting up your garden, however small or big, some of these tips might be mighty handy for you.

- Plan a garden that you can easily maintain and also one that suits your home and personal needs. Often we make the mistake of building a large and fancy garden which cannot be maintained in the absence of additional help.

- Give your garden a multi colored hue, if you do not have favorable climate for exotic plants or flowers do not plant them since they would need extra care and the chances of survival are lesser. Often we make the mistake of planning a garden based on what we see in gardening books. It always makes sense to incorporate plants that are more suited to local climate and conditions and that which need minimum of care.

- Make your garden a riot of colors not only with the flowers you plant but also with trees that have different colored leaves. In the absence of seasonal flowers you won't be deprived of color in the garden.

- Keep your garden weed and insect free, it makes for a healthy garden one where you can relax and your children can play safely.

- While buying new plants for the garden make sure they are healthy and well taken care of. Ensure that you have the right planting conditions and soil ready before bringing the plant home. You should check a new plant for shape as well as signs of disease and insects.

- If you have a large garden, you might think of decorating it with different ideas. Ornamental clay pots or earthen figures are often a good way of decorating the garden. Securing a reading zone or a reading area for you could be a good idea for all of those who love the idea of a good outdoor read.

- Buy yourself a set of good and sturdy gardening tools that you will be able to handle yourself. Tools should always be kept clean and away from small children. Allot a separate place for gardening tools as well as manure and pesticides; remember to keep them away from children.

- Introduces variety to garden decoration. A corner of your garden could be set up to be a small pond, replete with water lilies and lotus plants; it gives that exotic touch to your garden and relaxes you too.

Gardening is a relaxing recreation. For all of you who want to have that ideal garden, go ahead and plan for it, you could involve your children or take the help of friends who could pitch in to build a garden both relaxing and one that will be an integral part of you.

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