
Plant Your Own Magical Moon Garden
We often think that the bright light of day is the only time it’s possible to appreciate the beauty and peace of a garden. It’s true that many gardens look their best during the day, but Mother Nature has ensured we can also appreciate her beauty at night.
Spending time in a garden is one of the best ways to recharge after a busy day at school, a hectic week at the office, or during a well-deserved vacation. A moon garden is the perfect excuse to get outdoors and recharge at night.
Like Day and Night
Many plants have flowers that bloom and release their fragrance only at night, while others have white or light-coloured flowers and foliage that is silvery or grey. With just a few careful choices and a little bit of hard work during the day, you can experience the magic of a garden that comes alive at night.
Why not involve the children, and create a moon garden as a family holiday project? It is a wonderful opportunity to teach children the basics of gardening, the cycles of nature, and gardening safety tips and first aid for insect bites and stings, as well as minor scrapes and bruises.
Single but not bothered enough to mingle? A moon garden would be a perfect spot to chill out between playing online blackjack Canada, watching DVDs, and eating pizza on the couch.
Location, Location, Location
The first thing you need to do when planning a moon garden is to spend some time in your garden on moonlit nights. Find the spot that gets the best light at the times you would most regularly visit your garden at night.
You would also need to ensure that daytime conditions are suitable for the plants you want to include. After all, they still need sunlight, water, and good soil in which to grow.
Lunar Flower Power
When deciding on plants to include in your moon garden, check that they are suitable for your climate zone. Gardening websites and local nurseries are a wealth of this helpful information.
Try choose plants of different colours, heights, textures, and shapes. Be aware that some flowers are beautiful to look at, but yield little fragrance, while others may not look too impressive, but could rival the complexities of designer perfumes. It is also important to note which plants are toxic, and to take the necessary precautions if including them in your garden.
Among the many different plants suitable for moon gardens are Snow White cornflower, Sweet Alice Lobularia, moonflower (Brugmansia), Diamond Frost or Snow Euphorbia, white bougainvillea, white agapanthus, Felicia daisies, St Joseph’s lilies, snowdrops, white roses, evening primrose, night phlox, evening stock, night gladiolus, Dusty Millers, silver thyme, mugwort, sage, lamb’s ears, and jasmine.
If you have a pond in your garden, you could also plant arum lilies and water lilies. If keeping koi is not too daunting, you could even consider added pearl-coloured koi to the pond.
Planting by the Moon
Creating a moon garden is also a good opportunity to find out if there really is something to gardening according to the moon’s phases. New moon promotes balanced root and leaf growth, so it’s a good time to plant, as is the moon’s second quarter.
If you need to transplant, do it around the full moon, and if you need to prune, do it during the third quarter. The third quarter is also a good time to mow the lawn, while the fourth quarter can be used to harvest, prune, transplant, or just enjoy a good rest.