While we’ve paid plenty of attention to in our backyard’s design, with new plantings and furnishings, we’ve done very little with our front yard. It’s in need of a makeover, and we’ve decided that this is the year we will tackle it. Our home is a 1964-Streng, a mid-century modern home that resembles the Eichlers […]
Considered "the most influential garden designer of the past 25 years," Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf has done for perennial gardening what artist Leonard Ko
You will find some of the most unique landscapes of the Canary Islands on Lanzarote. Known as the island of a 1000 volcanos, Lanzarote has year-round warm weather, beaches and an incredible volcanic landscape. It is a haven for photographers as there are so many unusual places to discover and capture. In this article I
About three weeks ago (though I was still a little behind then), I started seeds in the greenhouse. I first started growing my own cut flowers last summer and with the take-off of the zinnias, I fell in love. Last year I successfully grew zinnias, dahlias, cosmos, and foxglove. This year I decided to grow some different flowers and I already am seeing sprouts!
A relatively modest-sized home feels more spacious and comfortable thanks to its connection to and interaction with five garden spaces.
Quatrefoil – an ornamental design of four lobes or leaves as used in architectural tracery [the stone frames around stained glass], resembling a flower or four-leaf clover. From the Anglo-Nor…
Rambøll Architecture and Urban Development: Farum Midtpunkt is a famous social housing building from the 1970s, situated in Northern Zealand, Denmark. It is based on modernist principals where the idea was to combine single-family homes with public functions in a closed community. The residents wanted Farum Midtpunkt to be more open to the surrounding areas […]
The winner of the Gardenista Considered Design Awards Best Professional Landscape is Adam Woodruff & Associates of St. Louis, Missouri. Their project
Emotion and restraint weave through Andrea Cochran's well-edited landscapes—a look at some of the landscapes that she has designed, as well as our exclusive (and extensive) Q&A with Cochran.
Our June issue is out now, featuring our annual list of The Top 100 Interior Designers, as well as the Top 25 Garden Designers. Let our Editor Hatta Byng talk you through the highlights, from these not-to-be-missed directories to the Prince of Wales's Cornish house.
Planning the slope your yard is difficult and expensive. But these 50+ hillside landscaping ideas with small budget will bring your dream comes true.
Save money in your garden and keep your plants healthy by dividing them regularly.
Explore Amaia eta Gotzon's 1785 photos on Flickr!
These water-wise plants grow effortlessly in droughty conditions and bloom in an array of colors—and best yet, they aren't all succulents.
Check out 10 of the world's most wildly beautiful gardens with photographer Claire Takacs.
Seen from the street, a gingerbread Victorian cottage near Melbourne, Australia hides its secret: a streamlined rear extension with a sleekly modern silhou
The Okanagan is one of Canada's most pristine regions. Discover the best turquoise lakes, hidden viewpoints and best things to do between Kelowna and Osoyoos.
Designed by Matthew Cunningham, this garden is an ode to Maine: colorful and tough, with perennials that stand up to all kinds of weather and varmints.
If you’re as passionate about Moroccan textiles as I am, you’ll want to bookmark Tigmi Trading. Stat. In addition to a vast selection of kilims and Boucherouite, Beni Ourain, and Azilal rugs, the Australian based company has…
Symmetrical balance is overdone in garden design. If you want your garden to feel balanced but not mirror itself from side to side you just need this one trick.
Private Garden in Burlington, ON We are heading into November, which is a bit of a grey and gloomy month. By late fall, winds have stripped the garden of most of its autumn color. Neutrals like tan, brown, grey and black carry the garden through the winter. This seems like a perfect time to be talking about the uses of grey in the garden. A grey church steeple in a garden in Rosedale, ON. Shades of grey and beige are restful colors. They are undemanding and that makes them feel calm and serene. In this pathway, grey and beige work together to great effect. Brain Folmer's garden near Walkerton, ON To break up to endless variety of green in any garden, the natural tendency is to think of foliage variegation. Grey foliage can the same job. Liz Mallcki's garden, Mississauga, ON The Harrison sister's garden in Hamilton, ON Not only does grey sing sweetly in amongst the greens, it also provides a nice foil for brighter colors. Blue Seakale, Crambe maritima in front of blue Salvia at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Hamilton, ON Brain Folmer's garden near Walkerton, ON Vivid colors seem even more vibrant against a neutral backdrop. In terms of grey foliage, there are leaves splattered with grey like this Lungwart, Pulmonaria. Lost Horizons Nursery Here is the Pulmonaria in a garden (see lower left corner). (Going forward, I am trying to make a point of photographing plants in the context of a garden and not just doing close-up glamour shots.) And there are also leaves broken with grey like this Brunnera 'Jack Frost' ... or this Coral Bells, Heuchera, 'Berry Marmalade'. Here is another Heuchera to show you an example of how this plant might be used in combination with other perennials. There are also solid greys like Lamb's Ears. (And here is Lamb's Ears in a garden setting.) A lovely bonus of grey foliage is that often it has a soft, downy texture. In the next part of my grey series, I will look at some of the many grey plant options.
The Plantation Garden, Earlham Road, Norwich The Plantation Garden is a Victorian garden created in an old chalk quarry by the self-made cabinet maker Henry Trevor in the 1880s. Very much a folly garden, he filled it with exotic plants and ornamental brick spoil obtained from local brickworks. The garden was abandoned in the 20th century, and rediscovered under decades of ivy and elder in 1980. It is gradually being restored to its original state.
Ireland has so many gorgeous towns dotted around its green landscape. Here are 15 gorgeous towns in Ireland that you NEED to see!
Begin je al stilaan te dromen van heerlijk luieren in het lentezonnetje in je eigen achtertuin? Zo’n tuin, die bouw je natuurlijk niet van de ene dag op de andere. E
Everything you need to know and do before buying, selling or renting a home. Find tips, research and step-by-step guides to build confidence around your next move.
A collection of 15 Sensational Traditional Landscape Designs For Your Garden which will blow your mind away with their elegance.
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Worst question, ever, "What plant should I place here?" . Coming to Garden Design after receiving a BS Engineering, I remember well that line of Garden Design thought process. . Not merely a terrible question, it lies in the wrong galaxy of where to base questions about Garden Design. Then came the degree in Horticulture. More galaxies of wrong thinking. That education taught me to be a man with a truck, power equipment, bags of chemicals, monthly contracts, designing to commodify every layer of Garden Design for the maximum need to manage the landscape for hire. And, design the 'landscape' while standing in the street, looking at the house. . What plant goes here? Garden Design begins inside your home, below. What are the views out your windows, where do you mostly live in your home, how do you use the various rooms with window views? What is the style of your interior furnishings? What colors have you chosen? What type of art have you surrounded yourself with? What theme does the architecture of your home present, what theme do you want it to present? Pic, above, here. Looking out the windows, above, of your home are the lines indicating where to place focal points, below. Pic, above, here. More, once those focal points are placed in the garden, from interior views, the views into your home must be Garden Designed, below. Now, we're having some real fun, double axis. Pic, above, here. In addition to the eye traveling from inside your home to outside, the foot must flow as freely, below. How will you handle foot traffic? Lawn, sidewalk, stepping stones, how will feet move easily throughout your property? Flow. Pic, above, here. If you already have trees, below, the paths will situate themselves. No trees? Design your trees, ahead of paths. No sense placing paths, only to move them later due to a tree's growth. Pic, above, here. Canopy trees, above, are the tall trees growing 30' and higher, understory trees, below, give nice shade, yet grow to only about 30'. Tree, below, planted to shade a 2 story home with 11am-setting western sun. More, this understory tree was chosen to be deciduous, allowing the winter sun to heat the house. Pic, above, shot in my garden. Once the mechanics of focal points on axis from inside your home, flow around the entire property and trees are accomplished, a place for dining, below, near the home/kitchen/family room, is designed. Furnishings must match the style from your interior. Pic, above, here. Next layer of Garden Design, below, evergreen shrubs. Hedges with purpose. Pic, above, here. Next layer of Garden Design, below, deciduous flowering shrubs. Pic, above, shot in my garden. Next layer of Garden Design, below, groundcovers. Mulch is a great conceit of the mulch and landscape maintenance industries. Yes, mulch is needed initially, but your Garden Design should include groundcovers to eradicate that need within 3-5 years. Groundcovers are cheaper in the long run, less maintenance, and more lush. Dead brown mulch vs. living green groundcovers. Pic, above, here. Pic, above, here. Next layer of Garden Design, below, perennials/annuals. It's rare I do a perennial garden. Why? High maintenance & too seasonal. Instead, I use flowering shrubs, and a few stalwart perennials needing little care, no water, no fertilizer, resistant to deer. Garden Design, above, is low maintenance, pretty all year, functional for outdoor living, and views from home into garden. Maintenance? Blow, whack, done. And, not much whacking in a year. Pic, above, here. A small Garden Design test, below. Label what you see. Pic, above, here. Pic, above, I shot in a client's garden. Next layer of Garden Design, below. A place in the garden to sit/relax, and have views into your home, above. Pic, above, shot in my conservatory. . This conservatory, above, is 23 steps from the back door of the house, yet realms away in spirit. . Wood, windows, antiques, wood stove, conservatory above, were rescued over a decade's time, stored in my garage, till money was saved for the carpenter/electrician. Not having money for your garden has never been an excuse for me. I had no money, and still had a garden. Only mentioned here because at the front end, fresh out of college with the first degree, I too thought 'money' was what was separating me from the beautiful garden I wanted (aka deserved). The more I learned about Garden Design, it became clear, Garden Design is for all, no excuses, merely how your brain can execute. Game on ! . Garden Design Equation. I completely draw a garden, in the order of the layers described above, before choosing the first specific plant by name. Flow, shapes, placement, uses. . Along the way, I spent decades studying historic gardens across Europe, created my own garden, and toured myriad gardens across USA. Taught at the Atlanta Botanical garden and local college for decades, lectured at symposiums/garden clubs/corporate retreats, designed hundreds of client gardens,written several books, had a TV show, yet at the base of what I do, it's all listed, above, for you to take and create the garden you want, and deserve. . This time knowing 'deserve' in the poetic sense of Wendell Berry. By what you've learned, and created with your own hands in relationship with Nature's realm. . Of course there are templates within the templates, but this Garden Design Equation template, will get you where you're going. . Garden & Be Well, XO T . Tara Templates are being written for a 3 day workshop. A proven method to create a beautiful historic landscape, sustainable for you, and Earth. Who is the audience? Anyone wanting to create their own Garden Design, realtors, interior decorators, master gardeners, horticulture school students, lawn maintenance companies. Allied and collateral professions needing a Garden Designer on their team. Nothing is hard about Garden Design. Oddly Garden Design is wildly counter intuitive, with many layers, seemingly non-existent, yet a base to every Garden Design. What are the unseen layers? . Interested in taking the Workshop? Let me know what you want it to include. Not interested in taking the workshop, let me know what you think it should include.
I have really enjoyed sharing my landscaping makeovers and hearing all of the awesome feedback. It was a lot of hard work that is really paying off. I love my outdoor space. I have been asked several questions about my makeovers with the most frequent one being, "How did I know what plants to buy?" First
A Primer on Growing, Care, Pruning and Winter Protection Much of what I know about Japanese Maples comes from simple observation. They are relatively slo…
How do you design a garden for two artists who have a highly attuned sense of the visual? When I met photographer Maria Robledo and artist Holton Rower, ab
My favorite of my boards on Pinterest is my “Great Garden Paths” board. I have a weakness for garden paths. There is something so incredibly inviting about a path through a garden. It says, “Explore me,” or “Feel free to look AND touch, I’m cool with it.” My favorite garden paths bend around corners, begging […]
Completed in 2015 in København, Denmark. Images by Anders Sune Berg. Cirkelbroen celebrates pedestrians. It reflects the daily life and intimacy that you find around the canal in the Christianshavn neighbourhood, its...
Early spring is the season of hope: for the most beautiful garden ever. And you can have that. You also can lay the most charming front path in the history
4 simple ways to arrange flowers and plants in your garden to get that beautiful layered look that you want... even if you're a beginner!
Our UK correspondent Kendra Wilson has a collector's eye for gardens. Crisscrossing the country with camera in hand, she visits English gardens both grand
