Sunday, July 5, 2009


You can have a garden regardless of where you live. In fact, there are 2 types to choose from and once you figure out what you want, you can already start working on it.

The first one is outdoor gardening. This can be done in your home either in the front or your back. Since you are working within your property, you can plant just about anything including bushes, flowers, fruits, shrubs and vegetables.

Once you buy what you need from the nursery, you have the option of planting these directly on the soil or in a container. If you live on your own lot, you can do what many homeowners do and that is to do both.


If you are from the city and live in an apartment or condominium, you have no choice but to work with container gardening.

With container gardening, everything you plant has to be placed inside a pot. These containers are usually made of plastic or terra cotta and this can be purchased in various colors, sizes and shapes. If you have a few old containers which you are not using, this can be used as well.

The difference between container gardening and conventional gardening is that you don’t use regular soil. This is because real soil tends to harden after repeated waterings.

The absence of real soil has many advantages. You don’t have to worry about weeds, soil borne diseases and you have complete control with regards to moisture, sunlight and temperature.

Similar to container gardening is raised bed gardening because you are using freestanding structures that can be relocated. You can choose to work with a raised bed made of wood, stone or concrete and the best part is that it does not require that much maintenance.

When you are working with a raise bed garden, you use real soil together with compost and manure. This gives adequate drainage to whatever you put there which is excellent since you don’t have to bend over that much to check on them.

Aside from working in the confines of your home, you can also do some gardening if there is a vacant lot in your neighborhood. Such spaces are called community gardens and because of the large area, you share this with other gardeners so that everyone will benefit from it.

If you think that there are only a few of these around, it is estimated that there are over 18,000 community gardens both in the United States and Canada. This number is expected to grow since reaping your harvest is much cheaper than buying these from the supermarket.

Another form of outdoor gardening is water gardening. This is usually made of a pond that contains plants, fish or a combination of both. How big your pond will be depends on the availability of space.

Homeowners who have wide open areas can put a bridge in the middle of the pond, a waterfall and other accessories. Those who have small spaces will have to do without those things and settle for the basic design which consists of a few plants and fish.

The second type of gardening is indoor gardening. This is because instead of working in your front lawn or backyard, this is done inside the house. So you don’t make a mess, plants are usually placed inside containers. While most can be placed on the floor, windowsill, shelf or table, there are a few which you can also hang on the ceiling.

Indoor gardening does more than just provide beauty to the home. It also helps purify the air as it absorbs airborne pollutants. This is probably the reason why it is allowed inside offices as well since these buildings are airtight.

Some examples of plants you help purify the air include bamboo or reed palm, Chinese evergreen, dracaena, English ivy, snake plant and weeping fig. If you do some research, you are sure to find a few more.

Knowing what type of gardening you want to focus on is the right step in selecting a location. Unlike pets, you don’t have to clean their waste but you have to do other things like trim the branches and water the plants regularly so these will be able to bear fruit or bloom.

No comments:

Post a Comment