Younvares Ideas

Court Yard. The very word stirs the imagination. What comes to mind when you think of a courtyard? Is it a royal garden? A secret place? A sanctuary? Even an outdoor sitting room or retreat might be imagined. If your garden or the architecture of your home includes a courtyard take advantage of this delightful feature. The Landscape Design details of your courtyard garden lend themselves to a bit more punch than the rest of your garden.

Designing a courtyard Landscape is as easy as a-b-c: Develop a Design, Designate a focal point and fill in the spaces with plants according to the scale of the garden.
Because the courtyard is such a special feature of your Landscape, the Design aspect is the most important step in your Landscape Design. Even before making Design choices it is important to research appropriate plants for your area, Designs that complement your architecture, and ideas that stem from your imagination and desire for your courtyard use. Even if you plan to install the Landscape yourself, you might want to consult a professional Landscape Designer for this phase. Unlike the rest of your garden, a courtyard must be a little more permanent, so carefully plan your courtyard Landscape Design.

Move on to the next step, Designating a focal point only after the Design has been carefully planned. When choosing the focal point for a courtyard Landscape Design, you have much more choices than simply plants. True, a beautiful fruit tree with a circular border, or a flowering weeping cherry might be exactly what your Design needs. However, you could also choose from a number of other plant Designs such as an herb garden or a mossy path leading to a quiet but beautiful sitting area. Perhaps a water feature; either a reflecting pool or a fountain, will provide the atmosphere you desire. Even a formal or informal sitting area, a grill or a comfy hammock could provide an inviting focal point. It might be a good idea to allow the expert Designer who is helping you with your plan give you suggestions about the focal point, helping you coordinate the mood of your courtyard and the scale of the space.

The final step, choosing and installing the right plants and other details to fill in the rest of the space is actually the most rewarding. It is exciting to watch everything come together and see your dream courtyard come alive. A courtyard Landscape Design provides ample opportunity to add small details or features that will coordinate, yet provide the unexpected. Perhaps a strawberry border to the edge of a flower bed, or a small bronze sculpture, or even a rock garden tucked into a corner will deliver that extra touch that makes the Design. When choosing the fill in elements of the courtyard Design, remember to select the largest plants first to anchor the Design, and then fill in with smaller. The focal point and the large plants should be carefully selected for their permanent home, but the smaller plants can be changed or moved seasonally. Dont forget to include some container plants as well that can be transported to different areas of the courtyard for different uses.

If you are a do-it-yourselfer, and you plan to accomplish a lot of the digging and planting securing the help of the Landscape Designer will save you time and trouble in the long run. They will help you make sound decisions based on their training, knowledge and expertise, eliminating the risk of having to re do the work in the near future. To save money, you might even consider sharing the responsibility of your courtyard Landscape Design with a professional Landscape Designer. Whether you do the entire job yourself, or you hire a Designer, a court yard Landscape Design will bring you pleasure for many years to come.

Im asked this often, so here is the short answer:

N : Nitrogen (Good for growth of foliage)
P : Phosphorous (Good for roots and flowers)
K : Pottasium (Good for fruit & general health of the plant)
Four-letter word?: Yes & No


The numbers (e.g. 3:1:5 or 2:3:2) that you see on a bag of fertilizer represent the proportion of these 3 elements - N:P:K.

Some quick facts:

• A lack of Nitrogen is usually quite apparent when the green foliage of your lawn or plants becomes pale. (Although this is not the only reason for pale leaves)
• Phosphorous does not move through the soil, so it should only be added in small amounts near the roots of plants, so that it can be absorbed easily.
• Potassium deficiency shows up when the edges of leaves and the area between the veins start to go yellow. Potassium helps plants handle changes in temperature.
• Generally speaking, unless the fertiliser is slow release (it will have (SR) after the N:P:K) you should always water your plants straight after applying in order to prevent any burning of the plants, and to help them to absorb the nutrients easily. Wash your hands immediately for the same reason.
  
• The plant family Fabaceae (e.g. Peas, Beans, Acacia, Indigofera, Crotalaria) has a symbiotic relationship with bacteria which actually helps add Nitrogen to the soil naturally.
  

But good-old-fashioned granular or chemical fertilizer is poo-pooed (sorry I couldnt resist that) in many circles these days, rather there is a strong move towards using organic fertilizers instead.

The problem with this particular type of fertilizer has resulted from its over-use, and mis-use. Chemical fertilizers are sometimes applied in larger quantities than can be absorbed by the plants or held by the soil, they then leach down into the groundwater and rivers, and can result in the death of fish amongst other things.
It is also believed that in large quantities over time, they can actually poison the soil and kill off the natural organisms that are essential for plants and organisms in the soil.

My personal opinion is that chemical fertilizers should always be just a very small portion of the food that we provide for our soil and plants. Because the elements are in their basic form, and therefore easily absorbed, they are often great as a short term solution.
But organic fertilizers, such as composts and manures, provide a whole host of other macro and micro nutrients, as well as improving the structure of the soil. For these reasons, they are always better in the long run.