Not quite the same as unity, but an important part of it, is harmony - a restful quality created when all parts of a design or decorative effect add up to one style or mood. An extreme example may illustrate the point. Setting an urn of clean, stark contemporary lines beside an ornate, Victorian garden seat would be inharmonious; each style is foreign to and unsympathetic with the other. But a low fence is in harmony with the rose that clambers over it; vining plants can unite harmoniously the upright plants in a window box with the box itself.

There are innumerable techniques for unifying a design, of which the following five are probably basic.

1. To have unity, a design usually has only one focal point or center of interest. For example, a vine or other planting and its container can be the object of interest against a wall; or the vine can be so arranged that it supports a center of interest, like a fireplace. Any attempt to use it for both purposes can result in either chaos or complete lack of interest.

2. To have unity, a decorative effect should be designed to hold the eye inside the picture. The flowing lines of vines are particularly effective here. Training a vine around a large window, for example, holds the eye and keeps it from wandering off.

3. To have unity, the elements of a design can often be arranged so that they interlock or overlap. Here again, vines are useful. Without a vine planted at its base, a tall shrub may seem entirely separate from the tub it is planted in; when a vine overlaps the container below and the shrub above, the two are tied together.

4. To have unity, the important parts of a design must be in pleasing relative proportion or scale. The vine selected to blend a shrub like yucca branched and its tub should be neither so small that the shrub overpowers it, nor so large and bold that it dwarfs the shrub.

5. To have unity, a design or decorative effect should be executed with restraint, moderation, good taste. Too many elements create a disturbing, helter-skelter, cluttered appearance. So a single wall bracket or hanging basket, or a matching or harmonious pair, is generally preferable to a varied assortment.

Create your own unity in the landscape with vines!

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Outdoor lighting is a functional addition to your yard, but it can also add beauty, too. Outdoor lighting will add security to your property, and be esthetically pleasing as well. If you choose the right kinds of outdoor lighting, your home will look more inviting for visitors. Plus, you can increase the safety of your garden features by lighting stairs, decks, and patios. Line your pathways with a beautiful string of lights, or make your pool glow with landscape lighting. Properly placed lights will emphasize the beauty of your garden, spotlighting its most impressive features. Gazebos, fountains, or other garden structures might get lost in the darkness, but when illuminated, you can enjoy them at dusk as well as midday.

Flood lights can be used to draw attention to interesting areas of your garden. Recessed lighting is the perfect way to spotlight small areas or specific plants. When choosing lighting for your yard, consider both electric and solar lights. Electric lighting involves wires buried underground, but solar lights do not shine as brightly as electric lights. Consider the effect you want, as well as where you will be placing them, before choosing a type of outdoor lighting.

When you decide to use landscape lighting in your yard, make sure that they are installed correctly. If you aim the lights in the wrong direction, you will not highlight the areas you want to highlight with your lights. If you are lining pathways, your lighting will look odd unless the lights are evenly spaced along the path. Keep in mind that your garden will look different in the darkness, so check out your lighting placement in the dark first before you finalize your lights positions. There should be the same number of lights on both sides of a path or other structure so that it is symmetrical. If you are using the kind of landscape lights that come on a post which sticks in the ground, all of your low voltage lights should be the same height. Otherwise, your lighting will look haphazard and not put together.

Landscape lighting is a beautiful way to highlight areas of your yard. Besides using lighting as a safety feature, light the areas that youd like to use after dark. Youve worked too hard on your yard for it to disappear into the darkness at nightfall. Once you install landscape lighting, you can sit on your patio or deck and enjoy your garden after dusk.

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If you are making out your seed orders for annual flowers, you will want to include those that are sure to produce results. It is too bad that all of our colleges and universities cant have the extensive annual flower trials that are seen at Penn State. But this is done on a smaller scale in many states.

Before you order, why not check out your own state agricultural college or agricultural experiment station to see if they have tried out any of these annuals. They will probably have a list of varieties they recommend for your particular locality.

Do you have a cold frame? If not, you dont know what you are missing. If each person who has a new home would put in a cold frame 3 x 6 feet, and then in addition to it have a little bed 3 x 10 feet in which to grow plants, his yard would soon be the envy of all his friends and neighbors.

If you do not use the cold frame and little nursery bed for anything but growing for one year the new plants and garden seedlings you buy, it will pay for itself. The loss that most gardeners take in new plants and plant seedlings that they buy is appalling. They tuck them between other larger plants in a flower bed or in some border planting and then forget them.

Here they are shaded or have to compete with roots of big plants, so they are crowded out. Besides this, all too often you forget that you have tucked them in. If you are raising baby chicks you keep them by themselves until they are pretty well grown. New and young. plants should be treated the same way.

It will help a lot if the soil in the cold frame and the nursery bed is mixed up just as if you were going to use it to pot up African violets. If you can work it to a depth of 12 inches and have it about equal parts soil, sand, and peat, you are going to be amazed at the way your plants grow.

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By being creative with lighting around the landscaping of your home or business, you can create some lovely enhancements to the structure. Landscape lighting can add very subtle changes an add charm and elegance to the building. There are many ways this can be achieved to showcase the landscape and its best features.

Embedded lighting or even small stand alone lights can highlight pathways throughout the landscape. The plants can be showcased and flooded with lighting depending on size and location. Any pond can be lit up with flood lights or have the border highlighted to gain a viewers attention.

By changing the color of the lighting, one can make a noticeable difference in the scene and provide an interesting visual. Putting the colored lighting in the loop can create even more range and interest. The colors on the loop will change the landscape several times as each color is cycled through.

Using solar landscape lights to light the upper portion of smaller bushes and trees will also showcase the beauty of the landscape. You can use special strobe lights can also add unusual elements. The various different landscape lighting methods can be used altogether or separately, the choice is yours. The landscape will be a determining factor to consider when putting your plan into effect.

Either solar lights or an electrical circuit can be used. The voltage will either be 12 or 120 volts and solar power can be effective in warmer climates. The constant exposure to sunlight will keep the solar power functioning at top performance.

Do not limit your creativity when using different ideas with landscape lighting. You should try different methods until you find the look you feel suits your landscaping needs.

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When you're planning the landscape of your yard or garden, consider adding a set of steps. You can use anything from round-cut logs to concrete, brick, or stone to create the look you want. Each material varies in difficulty, and also in the style the stairs will add to your landscape.

When planning the size of your steps, try to make them similar to indoor steps, particularly if they are in an area where you will use them often. The tread should measure about 10 inches from front to back, and each should rise about 7 and a half inches. Make sure that the treads are a little lower in the front of the step than in the back, or rain water may collect in your steps.

If you are using anything other than round logs to make your steps, be sure they have a good foundation. It should be in the ground about 6 inches below the frost line to make the steps stable.

Although concrete may not be the most attractive material for garden steps, it is often used. To make concrete steps, first you'll need a form for pouring the concrete. These wooden boxes should be placed on top of each other, forming your stairway. Mix 1 part Portland cement, 3 parts sand, and 6 parts gravel, and then pour the cement into the form. The treads should be made level using the flat edge of a board.

Another way to make concrete steps is by using pre-formed concrete blocks. While you'll still need a foundation, it is much easier to build a stairway from concrete blocks. Make sure that you bond the blocks together well. You may also want to consider coating the stairway with a thin layer of concrete to obtain a good appearance. Brick steps are made in the same way as concrete blocks, although they do require a little more masonry skill due to the many joints.

The main difficulty of constructing stone steps is finding the stone. While you may be fortunate enough to have stones available on your property or some stones left when you had the chance to work on patio landscaping, otherwise you'll need to purchase them. This can make them an expensive choice, although they are also a very attractive and rustic way of building steps. If your stones are very large, you won't need any masonry bonding. If the steps are freestanding, you'll need to use mortar.

Wooden rounds cut from logs make beautiful steps, and they are easy to construct. Just set the bottom round into the earth. The next one should placed so that it partially covers the bottom log, leaving a riser. Fill in the ground under the upper round, and then repeat this step until your stairway is complete. This is also an excellent solution for a long slope that is slightly too steep for just a path. Logs can be set into the earth to provide occasional steps along the way.

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