September 2018

The Italian style – is a variety of regular style. This is a small garden near a country house or a park surrounded by wall or a cut green hedge. The surface of the Italian garden (just as the regular) is divided into simple geometrical forms by diagonal and direct paths. Often there is a reservoir or a fountain in the center of the composition, surrounded by flower beds or a paved platform. Beds and reservoirs are made in formal style (a circle, an oval, or square).

A raised on some steps patio adjoining to the house, is a characteristic element of the Italian court yard. On this terrace are placed garden furniture, flowerpots with flowers and sculptures. By the way, sculpture is an integral attribute of the Italian style. Sculptural registration of fountains, grottoes, flower beds, avenues gives to the Italian gardens strong emotional feeling. Trees and bushes in the Italian parks are usually cut in the form of a cube or a sphere.

See also: Italian Garden Pictures, Italian Garden Videos, Landscape Style, Japanese Garden

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Landscape parks or as they are named English parks, have appeared in the18 century in England which is considered the founder this of the landscape gardening direction in Europe.

Contrary to regular style the landscape kind does not isolate a garden in cotrary; it enters surrounding landscape into organic communication with it. «Thus, – as A.E.Regel writes, – artificiality is obvious here so, as naturalness in regular style: natural lacks of a place should be corrected or obliterated, natural beauties should develop whenever it is possible, and if they are absent they have to be created; but the main condition is the law: all should seem natural, natural, without the slightest trace of artificiality».

The asymmetric configuration leads a person to a closer harmony with nature. Being released from rigidity of the symmetric plan, each site can be solved with more number of its natural landscape qualities. Movement becomes more free. It is possible to see every object of a landscape and to take pleasure from it or from its parity with other elements of landscape more, than from its parity with in advance ordered drawing of the plan.

In such garden the subjects that are not equal on size and form, take places so that make an impression of steadiness. Such placing of plants also is like natural. That is why it is more natural for a small garden site. The free picturesque lay-out, as a rule, more corresponds to a site, its realisation demands less excavations, retaining walls, screens and designs, and consequently, is more economically. It is especially important that it causes less destructions and better unites with all surrounding landscape.

From this style we can borrow receptions of optical increase of space and strengthening its depth that is extraordinary important for small modern garden. Types of Flowers in an English garden are not landed much. Flower beds are placed near the house or a reservoir. All landings are diversed and landed in groups. Character of plants, combination of their form and colour, even autumn colouring of foliage has a great importance. The house in a garden with landscape style is not a dominant; on the contrary it disappears among greens of trees. Paths are twisted, besides paving tile it is widely applied gravel elimination or natural stone.

The landscape kind came from the East – from China where regular style in general has never existed. Later, when from open spaces of this huge country the quivering perception of nature has moved on the Japan islands, the art of the Japanese gardens began to influence the gardens of the whole world.

See also: English Garden Pictures, English Garden Videos, Italian Style, Japanese Garden

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Cayenne (French) Tropical Garden

The French Garden

French Garden

French Inspiration in the Garden

French Garden Pictures and More information about French Garden

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Type:  Annual Flower

Species:  67

Height:   up to 1,5 m

Growing:  Europe, Asia

Flowers:  Blue

Kingdom:  Plantae

Unranked:  Angiosperms, Eudicots, Asterids

Order:  Ericales

Family:  Polemoniaceae

Genus:  Phlox

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For the health of your reservoir are vital not only plants, but also living creatures: small fishes, green pond frogs, tritons, predatory water bugs and mollusks. Their presence in the garden water area will provide isolation of an ecological chain, because the biological balance is created and supported thanks to the interdependence of all its links – from the elementary to the higher. Such organization like in natural type allows the garden pond to exist cleaning itself.

The most simple fish that doesn’t need care is the gold crucian. Adapting to any conditions, it finds food on the bottom of the reservoir, and reconciled with the lack of oxygen during winter time. The silver crucian, white bream, red-eye and some other small fishes of open reservoirs don’t feel very good in the conditions of a small garden pond. You will have to feed up and watch the water aeration.

From many decorative breeds Carassius auratus are very suitable for a garden pond – the goldfishes healthy and adaptive, which small flock will quickly render habitable water area and can successfully winter under ice if the water volume in the reservoir is not less than 10 cubes. During warm time they need to be fed up, but with approach of colds it is not necessary to feed them, because they have to be prepared for winter rest.

In the end I would like to state one more argument in protection of the garden reservoir organised in natural type. On many garden sites in the early spring when the snow has already melted away, the sun shines and there is a light breeze, the water-supply lines don’t work yet. Such plants as coniferous, evergreen ericaceous, roses and even geihers, require urgent watering, because the evaporation of moisture from plants is already very active. At this time watering for them is the matter of life and death. And the water for these purposes can be taken from the garden pond, and you can also make cleaning after winter, to cut something off or remove the sunk rubbish from the bottom.

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In order to take care of your reservoir and water plants it is necessary to have special pond scissors or secateurs, nippers and a net on long sliding, bars. The leaves that starts losing their turgor and beginning to turn yellow and dark red need to be accurately cut off on 20 – 30 cm. below the water surface and taken away from the reservoir. In spring when the trees blossom, the pollen and dry scales of the aments that finished blossoming, gather on the water surface with a dense bed that interfere the penetration of oxygen and sunlight in the water, this rubbish needs to be taken away by net, as well as autumn leaves that fell from trees. If the reservoir is very small you will have to take much more care of cleaning the rubbish in order not to let it set on the bottom of your reservoir.

Such shallow plants, as (Juncus effusus), lake cane (Scirpus lacustris) and Tabernemontana (S. tabernaemontani) Albescens and Zebrinus are not necessary to be cut off for winter. Their dried up hollow stalks do not only decorate your snow-covered reservoir in winter, but also allows oxygen to get in the water under the ice. They have to be cut off in spring when the ice will completely melt away.

The newest biochemical preparations developed by German scientists especially for conditions of a private garden will help to facilitate taking care of the health of your reservoir and its inhabitants. They allow regulating different processes occurring in the water area. With the help of these preparations it is possible to influence on quality of water, its chemical compound, level of alkalinity and rigidity, presence of oxygen in the water and the components useful for health of pond’s fauna. Specially intended biologically active additives and chemical compounds are capable to improve and modify the quality of water, that was primary unsuitable for a decorative reservoir and its inhabitants. They will neutralize harmful components, adapt new water and stabilize the biological balance, for example, in the presence of stressful factors during long summer heat or at excessive quantity of fishes, because of wrong mode of their feeding or at the surplus of decaying fossils on the bottom.

These preparations were developed by serious scientific institutions for conditions of the maintenance of private reservoirs, that is why they are non toxical for the humans and pets and are on sale in a package convenient for application. Many of these preparations have a wide, universal and prolonged spectrum of action thanks to what they provide healthy existence for water areas, and for its all inhabitants without any additional efforts from your side. The application of these preparations allows you to avoid the usage of difficult and expensive cleaning equipment: filtering systems, pond vacuum cleaners etc. In specialized shops you will be given a detailed consultation on this question. Keep in mind that in some cases it is more economically to buy a larger package which can be used several times. Being engaged in creation and accomplishment of decorative reservoirs in the conditions of different gardens, I could test some of these preparations, therefore I can confidently recommend them to you. Of course it is possible not to use them at all, but in many cases they considerably facilitate your life.

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If the garden reservoir has not so big sizes, the area of its water surface is insignificant, try to use for landing not specific plants, but grades and garden forms. As a rule, they are not only more interesting, but also much less tall and aggressive, than their natural colleagues. So, for example, Typha latifolia in nature perfectly well fixes the coastal line and clears water, but for a garden pond it is too big, therefore try to use instead of it Typha. minima, Typha angustifolia or Typha gracilis. The iris marsh (Iris pseudacorus) will not suite for every garden pond- it develops very large curtains, and its grades, such as: ‘ Variegata ’, ‘ English Cream ’ and ‘ Kentucky Moonbeam ’ will not only decorate and diversify the water decor, but also will not take too much place.

Perfectly well look near the water all the hygrophilous grasses, and first of all sedges. For landing to insignificant depth will do such plants as ennobled sedge (Carex elata) ‘Aurea’, coastal sedge (Carex. riparia) and its grades, palm sedge (Carex. muskingumensis) and its grades, Carex. Panacea and many other things.

Do not plant too much, keep yourself in hands, because it can turn out so that in a year or two there will remain only memories from your pond. And for normal ability to live of all water community it is absolutely necessary, that not less than 40 % of water surface has to be free from shade- the sunlight should get into thickness of water.

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Often, using for landing of water plants special mesh or any other plastic containers, we absolutely forget that they are very visible in the water. Plastic, that is visible from the bottom, certainly, spoils the general impression. Therefore if you use containers for landing of water plants, take care their decoration with ground, sand, gravel or a pebble according to the general style of decoration.

Do not forget that water plants develop very quickly, especially in the limited conditions of containers. Very often, once in two or three years you will have to completely dismantle them from the bottom and terraces in order to divide and replace plants. These are absolutely unnecessary efforts, that is why it is better to make a bigger reservoir and to plant the plants directly in the ground, poured above the waterproofing surface.

It is expedient to use containers only for landing of dwarfish water-lilies, which should grow on depth of only 20 – 40 cm. where it is risky to leave them for the winter period, or in the mini reservoir in the raised bowl. With the coming of steady colds the capacities with dwarfish and thermophilic need to be lifted from the water and distributed for wintering: something in a cellar, something deeply in a deeper pond, something to dig in garden beds. In most cases there is no necessity to cultivate water plants in containers. Do not make your life more complicated.

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