Tips for Planting Perennials and Tour Around the Backyard Farm

I thought I would give you a new tour around the backyard today and give you few tips about strategic planting that I use. 

When I buy plants, I think ahead... how tall will they get? That is very important when it comes to placement of the plants. For example look at this picture below... I started on the left with ground cover that doesn't grow too tall, followed by taller and then taller plants (The dark leafed plant in the back will still get taller - it's a late bloomer). Tall grass is placed in he back.

And look at this same setting from a different angle. It still works, doesn't it?

I took this picture of the same plant just recently, when all the plants got even taller. Also did you notice that I like to incorporate rocks into my garden? I love how they add that sharp edgy look to it.

The beautiful greenery is in great contrast with the grey rocks. 

And how about all the different shapes you can play with? I just love the contrast the rocks create. We didn't have to purchase the rocks, I got them from people who were getting rid of them - bonus!

Besides different sizes, I also love combining different shapes, textures, and colors. You can see an example on the picture below - how the thin grass breaks up the space in the front of the bee balm. And then the lavender plant (first year for this one so it's still tiny, but again, I am thinking ahead) and pointy leaves of iris.

...or over here by our pond I placed an ever green bush with hostas and cat tails in the background...

Think outside the box when it comes to designing your garden. I like placing garden decorations into our garden beds, they add an extra touch to the whole picture.

I am in love with these terra-cotta glazed garden balls.

Don't throw out that old barrel planter. The rustic look adds a little vintage to your design.

Every year we somehow change something in the backyard. Either things begin to over grow or we just have a better idea ;-)

I spoke earlier about the different textures and shapes. I have another example below, where my husband added this drift wood into the equation. And as a ground cover, to make everything look neat we choose either gravel or free mulch that town offers for us to come pick up.

Don't forget you are not limited if you only have an option to use planters... In the next post I will give you some tips for container planting ;-)

I hope you enjoyed this year's tour! Enjoy the end of summer in your garden :-)

Start Your Garden this Year - Part 3. Garden Beds

Now, that you found your location, it's time to plan what kind of garden beds best suit your particular location. Some things to consider are: How much space do you have? What is your budget? And what is your styled in general?

I decided to go out of my blog post today and redirect you to my Pinterest board called "Garden Beds". I have been collecting images of different kinds of beds and gardens in general and I hope that will help you visualize your options available for your space. Here is the link you can click on... and get inspired... There are some pins that have detailed instructions about how to build those particular beds. And when you are there, you can follow me ;-)

Garden Beds at The Little Backyard Farm Pinterest Board

My personal garden beds style is called raised beds (photo above), which are great for small space, but my absolute dream layout would be this one - "never-ending" rows of produce in the middle of a meadow or forest.

Because of our lack of space, I sometimes go outside the box and create a garden bed in some odd places, away from the actual garden. Like this corn/pumpkin bed. I dug up some grass next to our porch and it turned out to be the best spot out of the whole yard - best soil and great sun! One year I had great corn and pumpkins and last year I had giant sunflowers. So don't feel like you are limited to just one spot! Go out... outside of the box ;-)