Specialty Gardens—Choose a Garden Type
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Specialty gardens have been around for a long time. Usually they're maintained by a botanical business or by a hired gardener. But if you wanted to try a small one of your own, what would you do?

Below you'll many of the different types of specialty gardens with a brief explanation of each.

There's a link to each one, so if you want to read and learn more, click on that garden's name.

This is complete list but a starter to the most common garden types.

I hope what you read here will start you off on a new gardening adventure. And remember, stick to organic fertilizers and organic growing methods.

You can make raised beds merely by heaping soil and compost. Yet when you desire something more lasting and hardy, you will need to frame in your raised beds. Some people use slab wood, the first cuts from logs, the ones with rounded edges. Others use several pieces of lumber to build up the raised beds to a comfortable level.

Don't use railway ties or pressure-treated wood. Both are very toxic.

Vegetable

A vegetable plot is a pleasing pastime. With minimal effort, you can grow fresh, organic fruits and vegetables in your chosen space.

Raising your own produce is not only enjoyable, it is a great way to get fresh air and physical exercise, lower your food bill, and enjoy a broader assortment of delicious, healthy foods.

Wildflower

Wildflower gardens have become a favorite landscape possibility because they add color and natural qualities to any area.

A wildflower plot is fairly low maintenance since it needs little water and little care once established.

There's a common misconception that wildflowers are easily grown from seed.

Some species will need more work from you than simply throwing the seed on the soil and then waiting for them to grow.

Many wildflowers species call for specific soil and temperature conditions, some ongoing attention from you, and most of all, good-natured tolerance.

Rock

When designing a rock garden, the plot shouldn't be bigger than what you can easily maintain.

The best location for this type of specialty garden is a natural incline or terrace, established on a split level or multiple level design.

Many plants are desirable. Broadly speaking, choose plants that are low growing and have a bunching development.

You're looking for plants that will fill in the spaces between the rocks, while also leaving the rocks showing.

Shade

Shade gardens are grown in regions with low or no direct sunlight throughout the day, either beneath trees or on the shady sides of structures.

Shade gardening poses certain demands, because only a few plants are able to grow in shady conditions.

The color of plants might not be as distinct as in a sunny placement, but you can create an interesting garden by choosing plants with varied forms, textures, height and colors.

A good idea to remember is to plant colors that give the impression of coolness in the shade.

Purples and blues will be much brighter and striking than warm colors like reds and oranges, which do their thing in sunny locations.

Tropical

A tropical garden contains plants that normally grow in the tropics.

You'll need a lot of rain or a sufficient irrigation or sprinkler system for regular watering.

These plants normally require fertilizer and deep mulching.

Tropical gardens aren't just for warm regions. Some gardeners in colder climates are growing them through careful selection of plants and flowers.

Cactus

Cacti are almost entirely New World plants, native only in North America, South America, and the Indies. Cacti occur in a broad range of forms and sizes.

Many cacti have a brief growing season and long inactivity, which they've developed in response to yearlong arid conditions with a very brief period of very intense rain.

They are frequently use as ornamental plants, but many are also used as crop plants. Farmers in Texas shred them up and use as feed. In South America, several are prepared into meals.

Several cactus flowers make long tubes that allow access only moths to cross-pollinate the blossoms. There are also specializations for bats, hummingbirds and special species of bees.

Water Container

A mini-aquatic garden in a vessel or container, placed near the house on a porch or patio, can leave you with a unequaled gardening education.

Containers are a good way to examine the idea of water gardening without investing in a more extensive, more enduring pond.

Container

Container gardening is the perfect choice for those with small plots of land.

These self-contained gardens are also ideal for apartment/condo dwellers with or without balconies or terraces.

You can grow vegetables, tomatoes, strawberries, herbs, flower mixes, even small shrubs.

Herb

Herbs have a variety of uses, including cooking, medicinal, even spiritual usage.

Most are very easy to grow, as long as it gets warm enough in your area.

If it doesn't, grow them inside, on a window ledge or a gardening stand placed in a sunny window.

Growing your own herbs can mean never again having to buy irradiated herbs from the local food store.

Bulb

Imagine a landscape flowering with color nearly year round with just a small amount of work to achieve this beauty.

Have you thought about a bulb garden? The plants are really sturdy.

Depending on what you plant, you can have flowers blooming just about all season long.

Japanese

A Japanese landscape is a pleasing pastime. Many are built as and for meditation practice.

These gardens are hard work to do correctly but the rewards are large.

The three main components of a Japanese landscape are rocks, plants and water features.

Rose

For some gardeners, rose gardens are the epitome of beauty. But they're not without work.

Roses are high maintenance plants, so you'll need to be willing to spend lots of time tending to these beauties.

Butterfly

Brilliantly colorful butterflies are the featured attraction when you create a garden designed for them.

And these insects won't just be adding beauty to your gardens. They'll help you by pollinating flowers.

Hydroponic

Another popular gardening method that many are attempting to try.

These gardens are grown without soil, although normally in a greenhouse.

Using nutrient-rich liquids, lettuces and similar plants can be grown up the side of a wall, saving a great deal of space.

Perennial

Perennial gardens have much lower maintenance needs than gardens of annuals, although starting them can take a lot of work.

But once they're established, you can sit back and enjoy the view with just a few easy tasks, such as watering and weeding, and the occasional dividing as your gardens fill out with these beautiful plants.

No Till

The combination of no-till and organic has the possibility to make both the healthiest food and the healthiest soil at the same time.

No-till is normally associated with energy-intensive, chemical-intensive farming methods, but you can do it small-scale as well.

Permaculture

Permaculture is not a garden style per se.

It's a design system that takes everything on your property, and things not on your property (like the sun, winds and precipitation), into account when designing gardens and food systems.