Informal designs the laid-back look in VS .NET

Creation EAN 13 in VS .NET Informal designs the laid-back look

Ironically, the stiff-upper-lipped English gave us the relaxed cottage garden in which plants grown for household use were mingled in a seemingly haphazard fashion, usually in a small front yard Favorite herbs included flowery calendula, chive, monarda (bee balm), artemisia, and damask roses alongside fragrant lilacs, lily-of-the-valley, mock orange, and dame s rocket

But in fact, the layout underlying these cottage gardens was often as geometric as those of the monasteries What made these gardens seem informal was the lavishness with which plants were crammed together, often climbing up the side of the dwelling and around the door, and flopping onto the walkway so that hard surfaces seemed softer Today, the trend in American gardens is toward a more natural look in garden design Beds and paths are shaped with flowing curves, emulating those you see in a woodland, meadow, or on a hillside Garden ornaments, too, may look as though they were left casually behind wooden wheelbarrows, antique tools, or perhaps a thatched birdhouse

Beginning gardeners invariably think first about flower color, and the more boisterous the better Some never tire of the unrelenting yellow of marigolds or the magenta of petunias But usually, like a Lothario ready to settle down, a seasoned gardener begins to look beyond superficial flashiness to more lasting qualities: foliage color and texture, the shape of the entire plant, and fragrance In all of these attributes, herbs are champions Before you go on to plant selection, though, you need to understand some of the hard stuff

Winter is the best time to see the structure of your landscape, or what the experts call its bones What does your garden look like after annual herbs have given up the ghost and all but the evergreen perennial herbs are dormant below ground In a well-designed landscape your eye should discern rhythmic lines in your paths and the edges of your beds You should see some strong vertical lines tree trunks or an arbor, perhaps with the bonus of a snow-shrouded garden ornament such as a statue Landscape designers use the word hardscape to refer to the permanent, nonliving parts of your garden These include natural elements, such as boulders, as well as everything made of rock, concrete, wood, or plastic

Every landscape needs paths, both for visual reasons (to create a sense of movement and boundaries) and for practical reasons (to get you from one area to another without tromping through the growing beds) Formal herb garden designs often have intersecting paths with an ornament placed in the center, which also serves as a focal point to draw the eye in You can widen

the path to create a terrace, giving you room to kneel or stoop when you want to harvest a sprig of mint for tea, cilantro for salsa, or sweet Annie for a dried bouquet Widen the path a bit more and you have a spot for a bench where you can kick back and relax In a formal herb garden, the paths are generally straight, except when surrounding a circular knot garden In a cottage-style or mixed garden, you have the freedom to include sinuous curves, perhaps winding under an arched trellis of passionflower (Passiflora spp) or hops (Humulus lupulus) You can create a path with turf, gravel or other small stones, bark mulch, or flagstones Think about adding in some low-growing herbs between steppingstones Traditionally, the material of choice for paths in herb gardens is aged brick, which speaks to the plants history Permanent and solid, the texture of brick is a perfect foil for feathery leaves, and the mellow color of brick varying from red through yellow is a lovely counterpoint to the many shades of green you find in herbs