A garden suggests there might be a place where we can meet nature halfway. Michael Pollen

Guest post by Cynthia Jackson

This fall season has given us the glorious beauty we prize living in the Midwest. We have enjoyed extra weeks of warm weather reclining on our outdoor garden furniture. A longer than average color palette of red, orange and yellow leaves which danced on the trees for many days, now which may seem like months ago. Many of you may be tired of gardening at this point, but I would encourage you to use this season to devote time and attention to your garden.? In the days ahead, appreciate your bounty, study your garden’s strengths and limitations, and indeed plan for its future. Changing how you do things during your gardening time can help you to get more done as well as paying more attention to the task at hand. Changes such as having new garden sheds can help you to keep everything you need close to you during your work and it can keep everything stored away neatly so it isn’t making more mess in your yard. But this could be something that is the last thing on your mind. If you’re really strapped for time and winter gardening isn’t for you but you can’t let your beautiful outdoor space die out, I know of people that hire garden care companies like Trugreen Arkansas that can maintain your garden throughout winter, offering services such as grass seeding, aeration, disease and pest control, weed control and lime application. The upcoming months will reveal the framework of your garden.? As the leaves and flowers continue to fade away, strong lines and patterns stand out.? Some are man-made and others are gifts from mother Nature.? Watch and learn from your garden’s form and plants.? A garden needs continual editing.? Using the basic principles of landscape design;? linemost important and useful design elemt, everything in your garden involves line;? form-which is your garden’s volume and mass;? texture-reffering to the surface quality; and finally? color-which in your gardens is both for plants and hardscape, planning and facilitating these principles will reflect the beauty of your garden in all seasons. ?