Transform a Garden Space Part 1: Height
There are so many ways to transform a garden space and make a garden shine. However, there are three simple things that consistently seem to work regardless of the garden. These are:
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- Height: Creating a sightline with varying heights
- Color: Using color for major impact
- Texture: Including plant texture in a garden design
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We’ll review these three ways in more detail with a three part series and focus on the multiple options one has to transform a garden space with height first!
Creating a sightline with varying heights
Varying the Height of the items in a garden is paramount to making a space stand out. What do I mean by height? I mean making sure there is a good mixture of things with varying height from ground level to sky level. This can be done with anything from the plants to the containers and even to the fixtures around a garden. Creating multiple layers of height simply makes a space more visually interesting. And, in lots of ways ensures all the plants and the items in a garden have a spotlight of some sort. Let's look at a couple ways to do this.
Using Plants For Height
Mixing low level plants with tall or super tall plants is one of the simplest things to do to add height to a garden. Take for example the Day lilies growing here. These are ground level plants and will get no more than two to three feet tall on the shrub side. They are bordering cosmos and Zinnias which will grow three to four feet tall. All of these flowers are then growing under Giant sunflowers which will rise to over ten feet tall! Layering plants in a garden provides a continuous expansion for our eyes. Giving a person something to look at all the way to the sky!
Mixing in Ground and Raised Beds
A mixture of inground and raised beds across a space is another wonderful way to add height and visual interest in a garden. Take for example the way this yard appeared before any beds were added. The lines were flat, even the areas where inground gardens had been added still appeared flat in the space. However, adding a single raised bed in the corner completely changed the layout even before plants came in. Adding a taller raised bed along the fence line changed things. All of a sudden there were three levels of items to look at and grow in. Plants at the ground layered with height, plants raised up. This can be seen in the far back corner as well. All plants were at the ground level. Having a mix simply makes the space look and feel more interesting.
Note all my raised beds are from Vego Garden!
Using Potted Plants or a mix of pots
Once the layers of plants and various raised beds have been decided, pulling pots into the mix can really add flair. One can simply have fun with pots. From shapes and sizes that are small and round to square or long pots are simply fun. Take for example the two Vego Garden Planters added the top of the shelter above the raised bed Simply adding these two pots pulled even more height to the mix, The raised space now ladders the eyes up another layer and shows a blast of green surrounding the raised beds below it.
Using arbors or Teepees
Arbors or teepees can transform any garden right away! After all they are tall and have shapes and colors of their own allowing plants to climb up them. All of a sudden what was on the ground can sore into a space giving shadows and visuality that just wasn't there before. so never hesitate to add a Arbor for plants to give height to an area.
In Conclusion
Using height in a garden with beds and pots or inground plants is a wonderful way to help a space shine. Come back and we will look at tips for the second item Color; and, how color can transform a space. While your reading, here are some of the other blogs that can help you with growing the plants seen in this space. Ill be adding more soon so check back often.
Herbal Face Food Plant of the Month: Yarrow
It's time for the Herbal Face Food(HFF) Plant of the Month! A monthly dedication to the various plants used by HFF to create their amazing skin care products. This months HFF plant moment is dedicated to the amazing Yarrow.
Yarrow has become one of my favorite wild herbs. Those who don't have it in their gardens probably are not aware of its medicinal and health benefits. Yarrow provides vitamins A, C potassium, zinc, magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and niacin. Yarrow is also commonly known as an astringent with anti-inflammatory properties which is one of the main draws and with all of this its no wonder HFF wants Yarrow in their amazing serums.
About Yarrow
Yarrow originated from Europe and Asia and is now commonly found all around the globe. The scientific name for Yarrow is Achillea millefolium other names include common yarrow (the white wild Yarrow), nosebleed plant or soldier's wound wort. Several of these names tell us clearly that one of the benefits of Yarrow is blood and wound dressing. Dr. Nicole Apelian describes Yarrow in her book, The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies as, “nature's tourniquet.”
Yarrow comes in several colors from white to light pinks and purples to red and yellow. kidadl.com has a great list of specific types including their colors! I have read however that common Yarrow, that grows wild with white flowers is the best and strongest for medicinal use.
Benefits of Yarrow
The benefits of Yarrow are so vast, it truly is an amazing plant for skin. Here are just a few of the uses:
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- Yarrow can be used in teas fresh or dried for nausea or stomach flues, hard menstrual cycles or reducing fevers (as it creates sweating). Women that are pregnant should not drink Yarrow tea.
- Powder from dried yarrow can be used to stop bleeding (many sites caution not to use on deep wounds as it will heal it too quickly from the inside).
- Fresh yarrow leaves can also be used as a poultice for bleeding and the leaves can be used for stopping nose bleeds.
- Yarrow helps reduce swelling in bruises, or sprains or can be used as a antibacterial on scratches or minor cuts.
- Yarrow flowers can be used in baths for itchy skin or hives.
- The leaves and flowers can be made into a tincture with Alcohol or as an oil in olive oil or carrier oils. It can even be made into a salve with beeswax and infused yarrow oil.
- Yarrow can be substituted for hops and barley in beer and and mead.
Continue The Journey: Read more about growing and using this wonderful plant:
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- Growing Yarrow
- Yarrow Tea Recipe (coming soon!)
Brought to you by Herbal Face Food
The plant of the month series brought to you by Herbal Face Food. A company I'm very happy to support. Each of their products are made with 100% plants! The most powerful plants in the world. As they say, "HFF is not plant based it's plant powered" bringing together up to 100 different plants depending on the product. HFF is the only 100% plant based skin care product on the market. Note: I do make a small commission on referrals. As a result I'm able to offer a 20% discount to my readers along with tips on how to grow and use these same wonderful plants in your own home or plot gardens.
Herbal Face Food Plant of the Month: Lavender
Using Coffee Grinds in your Garden
DIY Fall Rosemary Lantern
Amazingly Edible Sunflower
It's no secret I love Sunflowers. They’re on my fence, in my yard and make up about 60% of my tepees and arbors! However, let's talk about the amazingly edible sunflower plant! And not just seeds, all of the plant from the roots to the stalks to the leaves, petals and the seeds are edible. The majority of the entire sunflower can be eaten. It's quite amazing actually that most only know of the seeds; and, is the exact reason for this quick series starting with the leaves of the sunflower plants.
Let's Talk Sunflower Leaves!
Sunflower leaves are simply a joy to me. Why? They are so large, so strong and thick they are like pieces of leather on larger sunflower plants. They are beautiful to look at in a garden adding depth and color, texture and even height. The giant leaves add shade to plants on hot afternoons, helping to extend the lives of cold crops if grown above them. All of this is enough for one to love them. Imagine the excitement when discovering they’re also edible! I won't lie, sunflowers have a bite that's hard to explain; it's an extremely unique bitter flavor. Nutty in a way almost peppery as well. Lets look at ways to eat them!
Young Shoots
Young sunflower shoots are edible microgreens! Unlike their older siblings that get bitter with age, the microgreens are super soft, have a thick feel and at this point are actually sweet. Shoots are often grown in window gardens and used on salads and on sandwiches. Let some of the seeds fall each season and the yard will be so full there will be no issues sacrificing many of the babies to the microgreen category!
Tender Leaves
Tender leaves, those that are still young on soft stalks can be eaten raw in salads. The entire leaf can be eaten at this stage without removing the veins. Although, they actually taste slightly more bitter to me at this stage believe it or not, I prefer the mid adult leaves. One can soften the flavor some by removing the center vein of the leaf.
Large Adult Leaves
Large adult leaves can be cooked like greens, boiled, sauteed or steamed with salt, garlic and butter. The older they get the tougher they get and the longer they take to cook. When using the super large leaves, boiling first is best with a water refresh. I like to harvest the leaves in the mid range size prior to blooming. Once flowers bloom the leaves naturally start to die down.
I did say they are like the bitter lettuces, with a bite that leaves you wondering how to describe them. Serving with savory dishes compliments the bite of this beautiful green! They are also wonderful with mushrooms. The earthy flavor of mushrooms complements the greens well and they do great with fatty meats.
Here is a recipe for eating with fatty meats
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- 5 to 6 midsize Sunflower leaves
- 1 quarter purple onion
- 3 to 4 (or more if your like me 5) garlic cloves
- Balsamic vinegar
- Olive oil
- Salt
- Crushed pepper
- Butter
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- Wash, remove the center and main side veins from the leaves. Add olive oil to pan and heat while dicing garlic and red onion. Add Onion and garlic to oil and saute until slightly brown on a low simmer
- While cooking garlic and onion boil water and blanch the greens until slightly soft and the water is a soft green. Drain greens and add to butter, garlic and online mix.
- Stir fry the greens for a moment coating them with the oil. Add a few tablespoons of water. Add pepper flakes and stir fry in.
- Steam well for a moment and then add a generous amount of balsamic vinegar. Lower heat and let simmer for another 10 minutes or so. If liquid evaporates add more vinegar!
- Once the leaves are stir fried and the liquid has evaporated some add butter to the pan and allow it to sizzle
Add salt and pepper and serve hot!
Relocating Plants
Relocating Plants
Making Cabbage Stew
There are just some foods that one always wants whenever it’s cold outside! There are also some that seem to love a Garden, where whomever is cooking could use most any veggie they may grow. Cabbage stew is one of those foods! At least it always has been in our family; and, somehow even though it’s filled with vegetables my children still love it.
What’s in Cabbage Stew?
Cabbage stew is prominently cabbage, which cooks down to an amazing broth that is simply goodness in a bowl! One can put almost anything in the pan with it and it taste good. Which also makes it one of the best ways to use any produce that has grown over the summer, or has been frozen or stored for the winter. We have made cabbage stew as a straight vegetable soup full of squash, peppers, corn, beans, etc. or added sausages, pork, beef, hamburger, chicken, taco meats, you name it we can simply add it in the pan with the cabbage. Add cornbread as a side and man it’s just plain good! Following is the recipe for one of the more packed versions we make. Go from here and create your own!
Cabbage Stew Ingredients… Oma Style
- 1 Whole Cabbage
- 2 Whole Tomatoes Fresh
- 1/2 Onion
- 1-2 Green Bell Peppers
- 1-2 Jalapeno, Serrano, or other type of hot chili pepper (add extra +heat!)
- 1/2 Squash sliced (yellow summer)
- 1/2 Zucchini squash (green)
- 1 – 2 cups green beans
- 1 cup corn
- 4-5 cloves fresh garlic
- 1-2 Cups Pulled Pork
- Splash of Vinegar (must have add more to increase tartness)
- Tomato Powder (2-4 tsp)
- Paprika (cover top of pan)
- Cumin (cover top of pan)
- Chili Powder (up to 1 tbs)
- Kosher Salt (salt to taste)
- Pepper (to taste)
- Tabasco Sauce (use it at the table for a great kick add as you want it but man this is good)
Preparation
- Slice cabbage and add to pan
- Chop all vegetables and add to pan
- Cover with water, add spices
- Cook on medium heat for or 3 – 4 hours until cabbage as broken down and veggies are soft. If using a crock pot or needing to cook from a longer time period place on low setting.
- As soup finishes taste regularly and add more seasoning as needed.
- Enjoy!
The above assumes the pork has already been cooked and is added as a meat to the stew. IF raw meats are being used, braise in the pan with garlic, onions and a tbs oil prior to adding ingredients and increase cooking time on lower setting to ensure meats are cooked.
In Closing
What makes cabbage stew so wonderful is its versatility. We have made this with all the above or just a few ingredients. Visit me on You tube for a Quick Video on a “left over”version of this wonderful good feel stew! Then open your fridge and make your own bowl of garden greatness!
Gardening Around the World – Episode 2 – Sharpen Your Spades
Meet Richard Chivers, or as I like to call him Spades, of “Sharpen your Spades” on Instagram. Spades was one of the first gardeners I followed over a year ago when I first discovered the #gardenersofinstagram family. He is an avid gardener from Wales, the island of Great Britain, just to the west of England. Over the last year I have watched Spades garden page grow to over 23K followers! If one takes a moment to meander his page, there is no doubt why he is so popular. Not only are his photographs beautiful, they are a sea of calm; and the joy Spades has found in gardening is apparent. Join me on this second episode of Gardening Around the World where I am more than happy to have the chance to interview and share Richards joy, along with a bit of his personal insight into the passion he finds in a garden.
Oma: So Spades, tell us a bit about what drew you to Gardening, when did you start?
Spades: Food actually! I’ve always enjoyed cooking and in 2007, almost by 
accident, I grew some tomatoes in a pot in the back garden. When I harvested the fruit later that year I was amazed by the taste and quality. It demonstrated to me that away from the supermarket shelves, there are so many varieties of fruit and vegetables available if you grow your own. I became hooked quite quickly.
Oma: Oh you are totally right about that! I wonder how many of us did that same thing? Accidentally realize how good fresh really is I mean. Because, that’s almost exactly what happened to me! My kids at the time were very little and they had spit some cantaloupe seeds in our yard. When they came up I realized what they were and for fun let them grow right there in the grass in the backyard. It was fun and the best cantaloup I ever had; I was hooked! I had grown up watching my great grandparents garden but I wanted to try more!
Oma: Where is your garden at? Your yard, an allotment or a local coop?
Spades: 
I have an allotment garden a few minutes away from my house. Allotments are (usually) areas of land owned by the local authority that are divided into plots (gardens) for people to rent and grow their own fruit and vegetables. They are fantastic resources and often very generous in size.
Oma: I find it so fascinating that some are so dedicated that they make the time needed to actually go to another place to garden!! Why? Because gardening takes time, and life is busy. To not be able to walk out to my yard and be right there is foreign to me and I find It so wonderful that so many do that.
Oma: Tell us about your journey to get to your space? How long does it take you? Do you drive or ride a train etc?
Spades: 
Luckily my allotment is a 10 minute walk away. If I drive, which I often do when I have plants and tools to take with me, I can be there in 2 minutes. I agree that it’s much more beneficial to have the garden right outside your house; and, I’d love to have that. However, often in cities, garden space comes at a premium which is why I believe allotments are so important to people and their communities and especially in cities and urban areas.
Oma: This is so true. I didn’t even know about allotments before I started my Instagram journey and reading up on gardening around the world. One thing that learning so much about other people who garden has taught me is how blessed all of us are to have spaces to garden especially those that use allotments or coops. Gardening still takes time!
Oma: How do you make the time to garden; how have you overcome your challenges in order to be successful with your allotment space?
Spades: I think whatever your circumstances, making time to garden is important. I work full time and I try to ensure I manage the time I get to spend at the allotment as best I possibly can. This means I always have a plan of what I want to achieve at the allotment each visit. I have two mini greenhouses in the garden at home and I grow nearly all of my crops in soil blocks, trays and plastic pots there. 
This enables me to manage the seedlings close to home and I simply transport them to the allotment when they are ready to be planted out in the ground. I also try to garden in the most efficient way. Time is precious and I want to make it easy and enjoyable to garden.
One way I’ve done this is through no-dig gardening. I’ve learned a lot from Charles Dowding who is a pioneer in no-dig gardening here in the UK. Not only is No-dig better for the soil and therefore the plants, it saves heaps of time in the autumn and winter months which is traditionally the time gardeners break their backs digging the soil over.
Oma: What is the thing you enjoy most about gardening? Spades: Gosh that’s a hard question. Oma: Kinda is right??
Spades: It’s more than one thing. 
Growing food is incredibly rewarding. To nurture a plant from seed to the point that it provides its fruit is a wonderful feeling. It feels worthwhile. Gardening also provides a direct connection with nature and the environment. Something I feel modern society has lost. I know that simply being in the garden is all that I need to relieve stress and to improve my wellbeing.
Oma: Yes, I sometimes wonder what it would be like if we all once again had a Kitchen Garden. That space right outside our kitchen that held our herbs and spices and vegetables. 
From a stress perspective, I think I hear that the most, the stress relief I mean. I used to work in a high impact high stress position. Hours of upwards of 60-70 a week was an often occurrence. Being the weekend gardening warrior was sometimes the only thing that kept my sanity! Gardening is not always easy though.
Oma: What is the thing you like the least about gardening? Spades: Not having as much time as I would like to do it!
Oma: Hahaha yes! We could all use more garden time…. Hey…. that sounds like a sign I need to paint??
Oma: What do you feel is one of the biggest challenges of gardening in your area; and what do you do to overcome this challenge?
Spades: I live in Wales, which is probably the wettest area in the UK. We get a lot of rain. This clearly has benefits and it’s rare for us to suffer in a dry spell (although the climate emergency has clearly changed that as our recent summers have shown) but it can also be challenging. 
I use raised beds and no-dig to ensure the soil I grow in is in the best possible health and structure. The allotments can often flood – especially in winter, but raising beds and not digging or tilling the soil has really made a difference on my plot.
Oma: What is your favorite plant to grow and why?
Spades: That’s difficult too! I like everything I grow which is why I choose to grow it. 
In terms of vegetables I might pick Beetroot and Tomatoes. I enjoy them both and the beets are relatively easy to grow and the tomatoes are just an abundance – you can’t beat the flavour of both when they are home grown and fresh.
Oma: There is just something about the tomato right? Seeing those large beautiful red or orange or green babies; there is so much you can do with them. The funny thing Is they are actually not the easiest plants to grow in all areas but people still go for them. Perhaps that adds to the allure, conquering the challenge and all! Having grown that perfect tomato!
Oma: Do you want to try and grow something new this next season; if yes what?
Spades: I think it’s important to grow something new each year. Not 
necessarily a new crop but perhaps a different variety of a crop you enjoy eating. It’s one of the best things about growing your own food, the varieties are incredible. This year will be some new pepper varieties and I try to pick a new pumpkin or winter squash to grow each year too
Oma: I love that, yes!! Variety is one of the reasons I love 
painting plants so much. Not only are they beautiful, there are so many different kinds of the same plant. Squash for example, or cabbages or lettuce. I can paint them over and over again and always paint something new. Which makes your statement so right on; there is always something to grow and still be within the range of what one likes to eat.
Oma: Who inspires you? If you could meet any gardener you wanted to, who would it be and why?
Spades: I have a few I’d like to meet who have inspired my gardening. I’ve been lucky to meet Charles Dowding twice in the last few years – his books have
been my number one source for growing vegetables on the allotment. I would love to meet Joy Larkcom who I feel like I know through her fantastic books on the subject and I’d really like to meet Eliot Coleman (New Organic Grower).
Oma: Spades, thank you so much for taking the time to talk to a gardener such as me. We gardeners learn so much simply being around or talking to those that love gardening.
For all of you garden lovers out there give Spades a shout out, tell him Oma says hi and visit his blog at sharpenyourspades.com or Instagram: @sharpenyourspades and Twitter: @spadesharp
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