To the
ordinary person, a garden is seen as a piece of ground for growing flowers,
fruits or vegetables, or as a place of recreation. But to an avid gardener, the garden is full of potential, mystery
and individuality. Besides the
conventional garden of roses and flowering plants, other categories of
gardening have sprouted forth to cater to the differing needs and tastes of the
modern era.

The garden
styles chosen and types of plants grown reflect on the person doing the
choosing and growing in his or her particular patch of earth (or water). Let's take a stroll down the garden path
below and experience some of the unique qualities and personalities of various
types of gardens inhabiting the lives of people around us.

The Water Garden

Water gardens are exotic looking and its serene
beauty provides opportunities for all kinds of reflections. Not many people would be able to resist the
soothing atmosphere of a pond, rippling in the sunlight and filled with
different types of watery inhabitants.
Pond gardening is not difficult and is considered an easy start for rank
beginners in the gardening world. Just
follow and remember four simple rules for pond gardening:

·
Ponds need aquatic plants, fish and water snails for
ecological balance.

·
Grow aquatic plants in their own pots using the usual heavy
clay garden soil (forget fast draining soil mixes).

·
Keep 75% of the water surface covered with vegetation.

·
If the above three rules are followed, the pond water should
never need to be changed.

For those who
do not have a natural pond or man-made pool, an old barrel or ceramic/ nursery
pot could be transformed into a mini water garden, enticing children to peer
into its mysterious depths. There are
two kinds of water gardens – still or active.
Gardening can be done in the first but not the other. This is because an active garden usually has
moving water like a fountain that tends to be noisy and splashy. Most aquatic plants prefer calm water with
the exception of watercress.

Aquatic plants
grow faster than anything else and need to be controlled or it would soon take
up all the space of the water garden.
Water lilies and a few other aquatic plants with floating leaves are the
easiest to control and maintain. The
ideal depth of a water garden is about 18 inches. For an in-ground pool, a special pond liner made of polyvinyl
chloride (PVC) or ethylene propylene diene monomer (EP rubber) need to be used
to line the inside.

When the
structure of the water garden is ready for occupation, it is time to fill it
with a mixture of life forms. The
star-like flowers of the water lilies (Nymphaea),
which could come in purple, lavender or pink, brighten up the pond as they
float serenely on the water surface, while the water lettuce provides a
different texture to the cool landscape.
Fishes such as goldfish and guppies will help to control algae and
mosquito larvae, and aquatic or water snails will help to eat the decaying
vegetation and algae. Once the water
garden has achieved a natural balance, the water does not need to be changed.

The Hydroponic Garden

No-soil gardening is used to describe the Hydroponic
Garden. The concept of hydroponics came
from a group of scientists who managed to isolate and study the six ingredients
needed for plant growth – temperature, light, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide and
mineral nutrients. They found that with
the right combinations of these ingredients, without the benefit of soil, the
plants grew and at a healthy rate too.
As hydroponics gain in popularity with gardeners, its other advantages
were realized, for example, there is no heavy soil to dig, no weeds to pull and
no soil pests or diseases to worry about or overcome.

The basic
principle of hydroponic gardening is growing plants in a sterile medium
(instead of soil) and a small pump cycles a nutrient solution over the
roots. The two basic systems listed
below have been proven to be practical for home gardeners:

·
Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) Gardens – The plants grow in specially
designed channels such as gutters or PVC pipes and a thin stream of nutrient
solution is constantly passed over the roots.
This system is easy to build at home and are well suited for a variety of
vegetables and herbs.

·
Ebb-and-Flow Gardens – This garden is best for
growing anything potted, such as houseplants.
It uses a watertight tank or tub, which is periodically filled and then
drained back into the nutrient reservoir.

The medium used for root growth of hydroponically
grown plants need to be a porous yet stable and inert material, for example,
gravels, coconut fiber, polyurethane foam, rock wool or expanded clay. For light requirements, the high-intensity
discharge (HID) lamps provide the most effective and efficient supplemental lighting. The two preferred types of lamps are
high-pressure sodium and metal halide, which produce much more light per watt
of electricity than fluorescent tubes.

Before
transplanting into the hydroponic system, the nutrient solution has to be
prepared. A ready-mixed formulation is
recommended, as it will simplify matters considerably – you do not have to buy
several different kinds of fertilizer or accurate weighing equipment. Besides keeping the nutrient solution in
balance, the solution's pH need to be maintained between 5.9 and 6.3 and the EC
(electrical conductivity which depends on the amount of dissolved salts)
between 1.6 and 2.5. Water also needed
to be added regularly, as the plants will consume water faster than the
nutrients. Some of the common plants
grown in the hydroponic garden include tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuces and
peppers.

The Container Garden

The Container
Garden is the perfect answer for condominium or apartment owners who do not own
any plot of soil or have a backyard to start a garden. Some of the most spectacular gardens could
be found on the rooftops, patios or balconies of the world's largest
cities. A small space is all it takes
to create a little garden hideaway.

Gardening in small spaces means having to plant in
containers and having to choose what plants to grow carefully. Plants could grow up on trellises or hang
out from something overhead. The
containers used are limitless and up to the imagination and creativity of the
gardener – from custom-made pottery to antique bathtubs, clay pots, wooden
planters, plastic containers and so forth.
The only requirement for the container is to have drainage holes at the
bottom. For hangers, wire baskets lined
with moss and filled with a growing medium is best as they allow the plants to
grow all over the basket surface including the bottom.

A bag of dry,
soil-less mix is usually used for container gardening. The mix is then soaked with water before
planting. When choosing plants for this
style of gardening, look for plants with long blooming periods (short annuals),
bulbs, perennials, herbs, vegetables, shrubs or citrus fruits. As the plants take roots and grows in the
containers, it becomes necessary to check on the moisture content as the soil
could dry out quickly in hot weather.
Fertilizers (liquid or solid) also tend to wash out of container soil
faster than garden soil so this aspect need to be monitored as well. At the end of day, growing and blooming
plants will provide great pleasure and a sense of achievement for the garden
owners.