Tips for Planning Your Butterfly Garden

Here is an article written by Sandra Wilson that I thought would make an interesting addition to you garden area by your pond. (This has nothing to do with Bufferfly Marketing which is THE hot topic on the Internet Marketing websites this month.)


When creating a butterfly garden, the possibilities of what to include in your butterfly garden design are endless. Below aresome suggestions to help get you started when designing your butterfly garden plan. They are designed to spark the creative process of your mind and get you started on your way to creating a lovely and well-suited butterfly garden.

- First, before you even begin your butterfly garden, find out which species of butterflies are in your area. Consider taking an exploratory hike around your location with a butterfly identification book to find the butterflies that dwell close to your property. This may take a little extra time and some research on your part but the results will be worth the effort. After you have compiled your list of local butterfly species, be sure to write down in your butterfly garden plan what these particular species of butterflies use for nectar and food plants.

- Be sure that your butterfly garden plan includes a location that provides at least six hours of sunlight per day. Butterflies are cold-blooded creatures and therefore, do better where they are warm and sheltered.

- Wind can be a butterfly's worst enemy so be sure to have plenty of wind protection in your butterfly garden design. You can plant tall shrubs and other plants in order to create a windbreak. Know the direction of your area's prevailing winds. The first choice, however, is a nice 'tucked away' location that avoids heavy winds.

- Keeping the above points in mind, choose a suitable location to have your butterfly garden. The best of all worlds would be a butterfly garden placed on the south side of your home with windbreaks on both the west and east sides. You may also wish to be sure that you are able to view you butterfly garden from inside your home as well as provide seating outside from which to observe the antics of the butterflies.

- If your area permits, a possible suggestion for location of a butterfly garden is provided by Barbara Damrosch in her book Theme Gardens. She suggests the use of an old basement or home foundation if such is available around your home or the place you wish to have your butterfly garden. As an alternative, you can excavate an area and build a stone wall around the excavation to simulate an old construction foundation. Remember to cover the bottom of the excavation with several inches of gravel where you do not intend to plant your nectar and food plants for the butterflies. This will save you from a muddy walk through your butterfly garden after a rain.

There are many creative ways for constructing a butterfly garden.Take your time to design a garden that you will enjoy and be proud of later when all is said and done.

Checkout the authors website: http://flowergardenlovers.com/

Start Your Own Bonsai Forest

For those of us in the Northern part of the country, Spring is still a little ways off. If your "green thumb" is wanting to get to work how about starting your own forest in your home?

Bonsai Boy of New York can help you to get going and get growing with hundreds of super Bonsai plants. They grow their own plants and having been selling on the Internet since 1993.

Stop by Bonsai Boy of New York and checkout his selection of Trees Under $30

eBay Auctions Added to the Garden Store

I've just added an area on the Garden Store page where you can find current auctions on eBay for garden pond, water garden and related items. The current insert lists garden water fountains that you can bid on or buy. Just click on an image to go to eBay. If you don't already have an eBay account to buy or sell, you will be directed to the location where you can sign up for one.

From time-to-time I will update this area for current auctions of other related items. Let me know if you find this helpful.

Henry

Watch the Winter Olympics and Think Spring Garden Ponds

I just added links to the Winter Olympics on my Great Garden Ponds web site. Now you can easily find web links to the Olympics coverage and checkout suppliers for your Spring garden pond project from the same site.

Order Your Spring 2006 Garden & Seed Catalogs

I just added two more pages to my Great Garden Ponds web site; www.greatgardenponds.com One of the pages has links to companies that have been providing us with those wonderful garden and seed catalogs for many years. Now you can request a catalog to be mailed to your home or, browse over all the beautiful photos and dream of spring on-line from my web site.

I have also added a Garden Store page with several Top Picks for Your Garden Pond along with links where you can order flowers to add to your garden area around the pond or your home. I will be adding more products to this page over the next week or two. I want to make sure I get the most current product information before I add too many links.

It's midnight right now and only 10F. above outside according to my atomic clock with inside/outside temps. Looking over these photos of garden ponds and beautiful flowers sure helps me to think warmer thoughts as I get ready to head up to bed.

Wishing you a beautiful spring.
Henry

Ways to Turn Your Backyard into a Personal Retreat Center

Do you need a special place just to relax and unwind from the day? How about turning your backyard into a personal retreat space? With just a little bit of planning, you can transform your backyard into an oasis. Don't worry that your yard is too small. Even the smallest of areas can have one or two decor items. These items do not have to be large! Just a few carefully chosen items can have a big impact. Whether a large yard or a small courtyard, you can incorporate some beautiful design elements and provide a special place to relax and enjoy the outdoors.

Choosing backyard decor does not have to be a difficult task, but it can seem overwhelming at first. By taking it in tiny steps, the design can become more manageable. You'll want to begin the process by sketching out an overview of how you would like your complete backyard to look. Would you like some special spots to enjoy bird watching? If so, then a bird bath and bird feeder would be parts of your chosen decor. Maybe you would rather relax by a small fish pond or even a quietly bubbling fountain? If you are having trouble deciding exactly what elements you would like to incorporate, visit some of your local home and garden centers and look around for particular displays that you find appealing. You can find other ideas in gardening magazines and even by a visit to a local botanical garden.

Some popular items now include gazing globes, garden gnomes, stone statues, bird baths, fountains, and of course garden ponds and bridges. Statues come in a variety of styles including those of animals, mermaids, angels, and saints. Likewise, fountains are available in a variety of styles and prices. While the larger fountains can be very expensive, there are smaller options which cost less and take up less space.

Building a garden pond is more of an extensive undertaking but is definitely worth the effort. To learn more about building a Garden Pond or Backyard Water Pond visit: www.greatgardenponds.com

NEWS FLASH -- Only 6 More Weeks Until Winter Ends

According to that famous Groundhog in Pennsylvania, there will be six more weeks of Winter until Spring arrives.

That's not much time to make plans for your new or upgraded backyard Garden Pond or Water Garden. If you have not started working on the planning yet, what are you waiting for?

Visit the Pond Building page at Great Garden Ponds and read the article, "How to build a Home Pond the Easy Way" to get your creative juices flowing. Our site has many great suppliers that provide information and tips for you too.

Happy Garden Pond Planning.