Stunning Herb Garden Ideas You'll Want to Steal

We recently visited the Herb Garden at the Cooperative Extension Botanical Gardens and took a tour of the many different varieties of herbs grown as a demonstration for what's possible in our desert climate.

Any misconceptions about

 growing herbs in a hot, dry place, would surely dissipate upon entering the herb garden courtyard that is maintained by the University of Nevada Cooperative Extension's Master Gardeners. 

The area is full of inspiration and is a perfect example of how careful placement and design can yield beautiful results.

This unique setting allows for morning sun and afternoon shade, ideal for growing herbs.

Interplanting of flowers allow for great pollinator activity and a thick layer of wood mulch on the ground suppresses weeds while holding moisture near the plants to conserve water. 

The are some fun and creative ways to use containers for growing herbs mixed into the garden.

A  potted bird bath is a double feature for growing Variegated Lemon Thyme while providing much-needed water for when our feathered friends come to visit.

 

A spiral support for potted herbs is a great idea for gardening in tight spaces, such as patios or balconies.

A short walk further into the demonstration garden, past the masses of Penstemon and the scent of Chocolate Flower, leads you to rows of various herbs surrounded by large shrubs of Lavender.

The Master Gardeners are growing several different varieties of Lavender in this area, as well as multiple varieties of other herbs like basil, oregano, and sage.

The garden was designed in such a way that no matter where you are standing, you are overwhelmed with the brilliant contrasts of foliage as well as an assortment of color from the flowers of annuals or perennials mixed with the flowers of the herbs themselves.

The addition of scent from the leaves of the herbs as well as the flowers is intoxicatingly fresh, leaving you with an overall sense of relaxation and well-being.

Herb gardening has many benefits that reach beyond the visual aesthetic of the plants, and with a little care, consideration, and planning, you can reap the many health and wellness rewards of having your own herb garden oasis.

Click here for more information on the Cooperative Extension Botanical Gardens or here for the UNCE Master Gardeners.

Don't forget to take a look at our Star Note #215 Growing Herbs In The Desert!

5 Epic Dad's Day Gifts!

We rounded up some great gift ideas for Dads who love to be outdoors!

The backyard fire pit is where everyone wants to hang out on a summer night!

Whether you're roasting marshmallows or snuggling up in the cooler months, this gift would be the perfect memory maker.

Find a new use for something that needs a new life!

These truck succulent planters are fun and manly at the same time.

The possibilities are endless!

If you're handy with a paint brush, these pots would be perfect for anyone that's a fan 

of Star Wars and plants!

This gift keeps on giving! Give dad an endless supply of his very own limes to go with his relaxing backyard brew!

Give dad the ultimate place to relax with his very 

own putting green!

He'll be able to practice his putt until his heart's content

 right in the backyard.

Changing lives with the Seeds of Change Garden!

Posted by Star Nursery on Monday, November 9, 2015

Crestwood's Garden Summer Camp

This summer, Crestwood Elementary is piloting a summer program designed to teach students about Permaculture design, gardening, art, cooking, and nutrition. They are working with scientists, teachers, and permaculture gardeners with a three week curriculum. This curriculum will be available free of charge to other Nevada schools so that they can use it when designing their own summer programs.

The students participating are exploring topics from:

hands on science learning
 art projects
 Permaculture
 responsible living
nutrition exploration

With the help of groups like Green our Planet, Garden Farms, The American Heart Association, and lots of enthusiastic parents, teachers and community partners like Star Nursery, this summer camp is thriving. 

The students are beaming and can't wait to give us a tour of the garden.

Our host and tour guide, Luisa, will be starting the 4th grade after this Summer.

She stops at every garden bed to tell us what's growing in them.

Lavender, tomatoes, marigolds, pumpkins are all just a few of the overflowing garden varieties that Luisa recalls by name just by looking at the plants.

She explains that they created the outdoor classroom bench out of mud and then painted it to look like a very long caterpillar. That caterpillar is where students sit and take notes under a large mulberry tree while the teacher writes on an outdoor white board.

After the tour we followed Luisa back into the classroom where a fresh from the garden lunch was well on it's way to being prepared. Students circled a table where a local chef was delegating food prep tasks to each of the children.

There's a definite excitement in the air to taste what they've been growing.

Thanks for inviting us Crestwood! We're happy to help!

#starsummerlovin

This Saturday, June 13th!

Join us this Saturday at all Star Nursery locations at 2pm!

We'll be learning how to respect the desert outdoors.

Hope to see you there!

Here Comes the Rain Again

We had a great time this past First Friday in the Kids Zone!

We spent the evening making, decorating and shaking our very own rain sticks! 

Traditionally these sticks were made by the Aztecs out of pieces of fallen dried cactus and pebbles or dried beans.

When you shake the stick it makes the sound of falling rain and it is said that these sticks were used to bring about rainstorms in South America.

We made our sticks out of recycled PVC pipe, two PVC end caps and some pea gravel!

You'll thank us when the rain comes to the Desert Southwest!

Happy First Friday!

Join us tonight at First Friday, downtown Las Vegas.

You'll find us in the Kids Zone off Main St. and Coolidge (different from our usual spot) from 5-9pm.

We'll be recycling irrigation materials into our own beautiful music makers!

Hope to see you there!

Ride Revival

We wanted to share another how-to-make-some-old-junk-pretty post because, well, it's just fun.

So we took an old bike that was on it's way out and rescued it from the landfill. 

This bike will now live out it's second life as an unconventional planter!

Here's how we did it:

Take your run of the mill junked out bike and clean it up as best you can so that you can apply a primer.

Trust us on this, you don't want to skip this step as daunting as it may seem.

Spray on the primer to the areas that you'll be adding color. 

Be liberal with the primer as it will only help your color to go on evenly and with less paint.

Spray on your color when the prime is dry.

Use an old piece of cardboard to sheild any areas from paint that you don't want covered.

Next, you can start planting your basket.

We used:

Filthy Rich Gold Potting Soil

1 1gal Rooster Grass

3 4" Intenze Celosias

2 4" Illumination Vinca 

1 molded coco liner

Use the liner to fill the bottom of the basket and act as a base so that your soil 

doesn't fall through the wire.

Then fill the liner with soil until you've reached the correct height for the plants you'll be filling in.

Stage the tallest toward the back. In this case, we've divided (cut the root ball in half) the grass to fill the entire back side of the liner. Don't worry, it will recover from the cut.

Next place your medium sized celosia side by side horizontally in front of the grass.

Lastly, place the vinca side by side in front of the celosia and let it spill from the basket.

Make sure to water everything in with Dr. Q's Plant Tonic to avoid the plants going into shock.

For the seat of the bike (that was not there) we placed a 1/2" piece of pvc pipe about a foot long into the pipe where the bike seat would have gone.

This will act as a support for the pot that goes on top of it.

We potted up a beautiful Hacienda Creeper vine and placed the pot onto the pvc pipe, pushing the pipe all the way through the root ball and the soil.

Again, water thoroughly with Dr. Q's Plant Tonic.

Voila!

New life.

Earth Day Everyday

Have some old or broken furniture that you're not sure what to do with?

Plant it!

In honor of Earth Day, we encourage you to reduce, reuse, or recycle something that you would otherwise throw away. Turning this chair into a planter was a cinch!

Here's how we did it:

Take a chair that is missing the seat and remove any pieces that are still attached. 

Use a medium grit sand paper to even out the surface and get rid of any imperfections.

Picking the paint color is a good majority of the fun. We wanted something that was cheery and bright and would really make the green of the plants pop. 

It's a good idea to use a primer before you paint if your furniture is a dark color like this one.

Next you'll want to pick out the pot and the plants to go in it.

We went with a plastic terracotta colored pot to contrast the yellow paint.

Remember, whenever you're planting into a container, you want to make sure to use a potting soil as opposed to a garden soil or mulch.

Here are the plants we chose:

Little One Verbena 

Baby Snapdragon

Cherry Star Million Bells

Place the plants that will give you the most height towards the back and the shorter (or trailing) ones toward the front so that you will easily be able to see your selections.

Get creative and see what else you can transform into a beautiful living piece of garden art!

Rockin' Garden Art

Star Nursery's Kids Garden Club was out at First Friday last week and we had a blast painting lucky river rocks.

It seems like such a simple activity to paint a rock, but both the kids and their parents seemed to get more than just a pretty take-away from the night. 

There's something quite soothing about taking a brush to a smooth surfaced stone and making it your own.

We saw all sorts of things painted on rocks that night. From bugs to footballs, and peace signs to abstract colors and shapes.

Exposure to art opens up a whole world of imaginative possibilities to children and they're eager to dive in. Allowing them to create something in their own way gives them a sense of being and personal importance. 

The garden can be an outlet for children to observe art in nature and painting planters or making garden sculptures is a way for kids to express what they are feeling and seeing in the growing process and space. Adding plants or art to a garden gives a child a sense of ownership to the space. They'll want to return again and again to observe the many changes the garden undergoes.

So give it a try! Paint a rock and see where it takes you!