Five Steps to a Beautiful Garden

Raleigh, N.C. - OK, you've seen all the garden magazines, and you've been to your friend's house with the garden that says "Wow!" Now you want to try your hand at designing one that's an extension of your personality.

"Like your wardrobe, your garden is uniquely yours," says Bayer Advanced Garden Expert Lance Walheim, co-author of Landscaping for Dummies. "Don't be afraid to choose colors and textures that show off your personality."

Of course, a great garden takes planning:

• Work with what you already have - If a large tree is already part of your landscape, make it a part of your new garden design by layering. Plant smaller trees next to it, then shorter shrubs next to those. Fill in with plants and flowers that grow lower to the ground for a balanced look.
• Keep your good looks growing all year - Choose plants and shrubs that provide more than one season of color. By using a combination of flowers, fruit and foliage, and interesting barks, your garden's beauty will appear different each season. Azaleas can show off bright blooms from early April through July. Hawthorns flower in mid-spring, and have orange-to-red leaves in the fall and berries in winter. Summer-blooming crape myrtles have shiny, peeling bark and orange-red color in autumn.
• Looks good, tastes great - Many fruit and nut trees have fragrant flowers, gorgeous foliage and delicious fruit. The textures and colors of many vegetables make them ideal for planting with flowers. Low-growing berries work well as ground covers.
• Don't forget about fragrance - A variety of scents will add an extra dimension to your garden. Fragrances evoke emotional responses, and certain scents will set specific moods. Put strongly scented plants - citrus trees, gardenias or roses - toward the center of the garden and lightly fragrant ones - like paper whites, lilies of the valley or scented geraniums - closest to pathways or edges.
• Protect against pests - Snails and slugs are among the most frustrating and destructive garden pests. They'll consume almost anything with fruit, flowers or foliage before you even know they're there. Bayer Advanced™ Dual Action Snail and Slug Killer Bait Granules quickly attracts and kills snails and slugs. And there's good news for the 64 million pet owners in the U.S. This product can be used around pets and wildlife.

About Bayer Advanced

Bayer Advanced lawn and garden products are created by Bayer Environmental Science, a business unit of Bayer CropScience LP and part of the Bayer AG family, a Fortune Global 500 company that makes such well-known brands as Bayer Aspirin, Aleve® and Alka-® Research Triangle Park, NC, is the business headquarters of the company''s NAFTA Region. Kansas City, MO, is the company''s core technology center. The global headquarters of Bayer CropScience is located in Monheim, Germany.

Bayer Advanced products deliver Better Science. Better Results.™ and carry a money-back guarantee. They are available at major retailers and independent garden shops across the United States. You can learn more by visiting www.bayeradvanced.com or by calling 1-877-BAYERAG.

Luckie Strategic PR Media Contacts

Lori Merricks (205) 877-9736, lmerricks@luckie.net
Mariesa Woodring (205) 877-9705, mwoodring@luckie.net
Leigh Ann Monitor (205) 877-9795, lmonitor@luckie.net

Products Mentioned In This Press Release

Dual Action Snail and Slug Killer Bait Granules