Plant a zero scape tea garden

In this "zero-scape tea garden", all of the future maintenance is taken into account during the planning stage. This will insure that the work required for up-keep will be minimal. Your goal is to plan and plant in such a way as to allow for the natural growth to enhance the beauty of this garden year after year.

The placement of this garden on your property is the first consideration. If you place the garden in the front area of your home, you should do so in a way that will increase the "curb appeal" of your property. In order to do this you plant so that, from the street, all that is showing of the tea garden is the contrasting choices of plants and flowers. The seating is blocked from view. A side or rear garden will add an element of surprise to your property.

Now that you have decided where the garden will be planted, you are ready to start the selection of plants, trees and shrubs. Do this only on paper at this point. Make a list of the plants that fit the following criteria.

TREES: You choose the trees based on three main considerations. First you must choose, from local nurseries, trees that are native to your climate. Next you should choose trees that, when full grown, will be no taller than twenty five feet. Most of the non citrus fruit trees will be within this range. Thirdly, you must choose for year round color.

FLOWERS: Next you will want to decide on the flowers to be planted. You want contrast in the color of greenery as well as height and and texture of the foliage. The color of the blossoms should be color that not only go well with the colors on the house, but color that also look good on you.

You will choose a selection flowers. You want some flowers to bloom while others are not yet open. Do this by planting spring blooming plants next to summer blooming plants. The folliage from one will create the background greenery for the blossoms of the other. Mix your colors and greenery as if you were arranging flowers in a vase.

At this point you know where you want the "Tea garden", and what plants you want. Now you will start the actual design of the garden.

You create a walking path to the future garden area by marking the path. Use "cake flower", the kind used for cooking, to mark the path. This will not harm the soil or grass if you should change your mind during this planning stage. Remove the current ground cover from the path area. If it is sod or grass, simply use a shovel and remove the grass to the root.

Even if it is only a few feet from your house, you want this path to curve. This path should be at least three feet wide and no more than four feet wide. It does not need to be a consistent width, as a matter of fact, varying the width of the path will give a more artistic look to the path. Make sure that the curve flows evenly, (no

sharp angles or straight lines). You will use this path during the planting of the garden to prevent damage to the outlying areas.

A walking surface is laid onto the path now. This walking surface should be one to two inches above the level of the ground on which you place it. For a nice walk you can use brick, stone or even poured cement in the shape of stone.

Connecting to this walk, clear an area that will be used for the table and chairs. For seating of two people, clear a six foot by six foot area. For seating of three to four people, clear an area of six foot by eight feet. For a larger group of people you may need as much as a six foot by ten foot area cleared. You clear this area of every living thing. Scrape it level. Cover this area with household carpet. This carpet is to be installed up-side down using ten-penny nails to secure it to the ground. Round off all the corners on the carpeted area creating an oval effect. With the "jute" side up on this

carpet, water will drain through and yet grass and weeds will not be able to grow. Carpet is far superior to commercial "weed cloth". This carpeted area will later be covered with brick or pea gravel. The brick can be easily cleared of leaves with a blower. The pea gravel is easy to rake clean of leaves once your trees are growing.

The choice is yours as both brick and gravel will look equally nice over the carpet. Until you are finished with the planting you will leave the carpet uncovered.

Purchase your plants now. One ornamental tree will be planted four feet into the yard, from the spot where you will have the table, and four feet away from the edge of the carpet. Mark that spot with a wooden stake. Tie a color marker to it to indicate the primary leaf color or blooms of the tree. At a distance of half the future height of that tree, you may mark a spot for a second tree. Remember that no tree should be placed closer to the carpeted area than four feet. The shrubs will be planted in the four foot area between the carpet and the trees. Stake the spots for the shrubs and mark them with a color coded tag to indicate the flower and shade of green of the shrub. There is no need to mark the area for the flowers at this time.

You will now prepare the holes for the plants. The size of the hole will depend on the size of the plant at the time of purchase. Dig a hole two times the width of the root ball on your trees and as deep as it is wide. Fill the hole one fourth with pearlite. this will allow for drainage. Add a two inch layer of compost. Next you want to add soil that is best for the tree you have chosen. Your nursery will tell you what soil to use for that tree. With the shrubs you will do the same. Each plant will get the soil it prefers to start it's new life in your garden. The excess soil you will use to create small mounds between the plantings in order to add interest to an otherwise flat landscape.

You will now cover all the planted area as well as the mounds with weed cloth. Secure the weed cloth to the soil with plastic steaks or ten-penny nails. Cut holes in the weed cloth where you wish your flowers to be planted. Remove the old soil and use potting soil in the holes for the flowers. Over the top of the weed cloth you will put four inches of an ornamental top dressing. You can use shaved redwood, (known as gorilla hair), or bark. Mulch will work also if it is clean and of a color that complements your planting. The weed cloth must be covered, not only for looks, but also to keep the moisture in the soil and temperature even for the roots of the plants.

Last you will sweep off any debris from the carpet and cover it with brick or pea gravel. If you choose the pea gravel (regular gravel does not rake easily),you can find colors that will add to the warmth of the garden in winter. Light colors are best even if you go with brick. The red brick will create too much heat in summer months and has even caused flowers, planted close to it, to be cooked by the heat. Stick with light colored brick, stone or pea gravel. Wash off the walk and all rock and brick. Water the plants well until they are established. As this is "zero-scape", you will only need to water until you see growth on your plants. After that, water only during unusually dry times.

Place the table and chairs now and invite your first guest to an outside "Tea". Relax in the joy of knowing that the work is all finished, forever.