Your Questions About Gardening

GardenersCardiff answers:

Do you mean a knot garden or some other geometric design using cooking or medicinal herbs or a kitchen garden grouped more for usefulness with an unstructured visual appeal?
Culinary herbs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art21660.asp
http://www.henriettesherbal.com/
http://www.richters.com/
http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/
http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/SavoryHerbs/SavoryHerbs.html
http://www.realtime.net/anr/herbs.html
Medieval herbal
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/medny/herbgdn1.html
Design
http://www.gardeningpatch.com/herbs/herb-garden-design.aspx
http://www.herbcompanion.com/gardening/herb-garden-design-plans-a-21st-century-healing-garden.aspx
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_garden#Herb_garden
USA National Herb Garden
http://www.usna.usda.gov/Gardens/collections/herb.html
History of herb garden design
http://www.bbg.org/gardening/article/history_of_herb_garden_design/
Kitchen gardens
http://exhibits.mannlib.cornell.edu/kitchengardens/

GardenersCardiff answers:

There can never be too many gardeners, welcome!
Why do you need the gravel? Is the soil in the walled garden heavy with clay, does it not drain well, isn’t it a healthy soil? There are several sites to help you evaluate your soil and decide to amend or to build in drainage and garden in raised beds.
Soils are made up of four basic components: minerals, air, water, and organic matter. The minerals, rated by particle size are sand, silt and clay. They make up the soil’s texture but it requires all four components to create a good, loose soil crumb structure and be called ‘rich’ or loamy, meaning it has good tilth.
Http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/soilmgmt.html – r7
How to, with pictures, on testing your soil
http://www.taunton.com/finegardening/how-to/articles/hows-your-soil-texture.aspx

Soil texture and definitions
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/SS169
http://www.uwsp.edu/geo/faculty/ritter/geog101/textbook/soil_systems/soil_development_soil_properties.html
Using soil test results
http://pubs.caes.uga.edu/caespubs/pubcd/C853.htm
Soil fertility
http://taipan.nmsu.edu/mvpfpp/soil3.htm

Getting the bug is easy, and the first lesson is patience, there will be mistakes. Plants each have their own rate of growth and manner of establishment. Take notes by date and note the temperatures, rain/watering, first & last frost dates, first pest dates, so you can be ready ahead of time next year. Keep an annual spread sheet or a multiyear garden journal so you know what you tried before and when you did it. Especially note the results so you do not repeat trying the same plants and techniques not suitable to your garden.
Look up demogardens growing in your local botanical garden. Most regional master garden programs have these to help gardeners know what cultivars grow best in their region.

Building a good composting site is another good idea or consider vermiculture (worm composting). Making you own compost you know how good it is and you use the kitchen and yard wastes to rebuild your soil.

An herb garden is a good place to start with tough perennials for the core plants.

Perennials can be herbaceous and die down to their crown or they can be woody and retain a large, exposed, living structure year round (although they may go dormant for part of the year if you live in the colder zones).
Herbaceous or deciduous perennials are mint, sorrel or bergamot (bee balm). Herbaceous perennials retain underground organs. These are always the roots but can include underground modified stem structures such as bulbs, corms and stem tubers. Above ground stems and leaves are temporary and die down to the basal plate each winter, they essential vanish each winter so you need to mark their locations to avoid digging into their spot.
Culinary herbs of this type are mint, fennel, oregano, burnet, chives, winter savory, & tarragon.

Woody perennials retain an above ground scaffolding of stems with dormant buds. In these plants the leaves are temporary. Woody culinary herbs are thyme, sage, rosemary, raspberies and lavender. These plants give the winter garden a visual presence and make the ‘bones’ of the permanent garden. They are often clipped into the knot garden hedges.
Thyme is an enormous family divided into bush and creeping types. Orange balsam blooms first while English and Wedgwood bloom last in the bush category. It is best to have several so they peak at different seasons.
Thymes are choosy about their soil. They are shallow rooted so are easily frost heaved completely out of the soil in cold climates. In humid or damp areas they can develop rot. They like sandy or rocky soil that is 1/2 sand and 1/2 average loam. They do not like acid soil so need lime or oyster shells added or grow next to concrete walls.

Culinary annuals such as basil, chervil, parsley, summer savory, and dill must be restarted from seed every year to use for herbs. Summer savory despite being closely related to winter savory is warm-weather annual that must be reseeded.
Edible annuals include peas and edible marigold (Calendula officinalis), nasturtiums, tomatoes and cucumbers.
Http://www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/culinaryherbgarden.htm

Fruit can be anything from ground hugging strawberries and dwarf blueberries like ‘Top Hat’ through dwarf, espaliered fruit trees or espaliered raspberries.

GardenersCardiff answers:

. L. Deshpande Garden is located on Sinhghad Road, Pune, it is also very popular as the Pune Okayama Friendship Garden or the Japanese Garden.

The Okayama Friendship Garden at Pune is named as one of the major gardens of Japan, known as “The Korakuen Garden” in Okayama City, Japan. The Korakuen Garden at Japan has a history of around 300years. The Pune Okayama Friendship Garden is spread over an area of 10 acres, representing the culture & intricate ideologies of an authentic Japanese Garden. Japanese Gardens of Pune’s are the most enchanting and highly developed of all present day gardens. They are known for their elegant naturalism and charm.

Pune Okayama Friendship Garden is a nice and peaceful place to spend the time with your family or friends. The entire location of the garden is too beautiful. There grass in the garden is also lush green and well maintained. There are enough wooden benches to sit and some even covered places just in case of Rain / Sun.

Charges are vey nominal and garden remians open till 9 pm