Bring some life to your patio with some container pot plants! In this article, we look at several of the best patio plants for the garden and patio area, with special emphasis on easy to grow varieties. Click here to bring your patio to life!
Decorating the backyard in the first phase refers to the planning and design. For some people, creating the perfect backyard is instinctive: they know
Count us in for cocktails by the pool and al fresco dinners!
backyard retreat ideas for some dreamy yards to spend your free time. These are some of my favorites from a simple hammock to a shady nook.
Discover creative small balcony design ideas to transform your outdoor space. Make the most of limited space with our stylish suggestions for a cozy retreat.
Hey everyone!! Last week sort of got away from me and I wasn’t able to get a favorite things post up, oops! I am back this week and hopefully you will be inspired by the images that I found! First, I have some exciting news!! Next week I will be away for a couple of...Read More »
Isn’t it amazing how physical perspective can change a garden? Below are four views of the same section of the garden we built on Coos Bay.
What if you stopped thinking of your backyard as a tiny bit of lawn, trapped by a fence, and instead began thinking of it as an outdoor room, with dirt for a floor and the sky for a ceiling? This is an approach that works particularly well for townhouse backyards, and it can work for you, too. Here’s a little inspiration.
Is there anything more beautiful that Secret Gardens? Sit back and enjoy the view! : ) Are you going to plant one this year???
Außenbereiche sind vor allem die Plätze, deren Design man an letzter Stelle plant. Das muss aber nicht immer so sein. Das, was Ihr Haus umgibt, ist genauso
Thoughts about our garden. “We desire,” the Emporer dictated, “that in the garden there should be all kinds of plants.” Charlemagne the Great I do a lot of writing about gardens, but our own personal garden has never been the subject of this blog. Our garden is always a backdrop to my thinking about gardens and gardening—a sort of character in my story whose face is never revealed. There are many reasons for this: first, our garden is just in the process of being established; I’m a terrible photographer and our garden is surrounded on three sides by unattractive roads and on one side by our unattractive house; and mostly because the act of gardening feels profoundly personal to me. It was designed for us, for our own pleasure, so the idea of opening for public consumption is a bit terrifying to me. BEFORE: The garden area when we bought the house. But I love other blogs that openly share their own gardens. James Golden’s View from Federal Twist is a brilliant blog about two wonderful gardens. That James bears his own soul through the garden is a source of endless inspiration to me. I’m just not that brave. And Scott Weber’s Rhone Street Garden is another fantastic blog. Scott transforms his small garden into and endless expanse through the lens of his camera. Through his images, I see and enjoy Scott’s garden much in the way he probably does. Nasella tenuissima and Salvia 'Caradonna' So in homage to other bloggers who bravely open their own gardens to public scrutiny, I am adding a few images of our own “in-process” garden. This spring marks two full years since I began smothering a triangular wedge of lawn in our sunny side yard. This area was too small to be a usable lawn, and too close to the road to be an enjoyable outdoor use area, so it seemed like a practical area for a garden. The sipping terrace which my brother-in-law calls the "duck blind" in late summer The house we bought was a neglected mid-century ranch which we essentially gutted, so my wife and I have poured our resources and time into renovating the house room by room. The only way to afford the renovation was to do everything ourselves, so that has left little time and money for the garden. The assembly of plants—and assembly is a much more accurate term than design—is a result of what we could get cheaply, what we could divide, what was available, and what would survive the mid-summer heat and humidity. This approach is probably entirely familiar to most gardeners, yet entirely problematic from my point of view as a designer. The garden becomes a product of impulse purchases and ad hoc decisions, not careful planning. Kniphofia 'Salley's Comet' with Pleioblastus viridistriatus, Nepeta "Walker's Low' and Eschscholzia californica But I’ve decided to embrace this non-designed approach. Design has its limitations, too. Any designer who has ever installed a garden, walked away, and then visited that garden five years later learns that design is not a singular vision set to paper; design is a thousand of little decisions and actions made through the life of the garden. Iris 'Persian Berry', one of the most exquisite colors I've ever seen With no real design to speak of, the garden has only a sort of guiding philosophy: plant only that which gives us pleasure. To use an admittedly pretentious term, our garden is a sort of “pleasaunce” by default, an archaic term for pleasure-garden. The concept of a pleasure garden is a bit antiquated these days. We are now much more likely to call non-food bearing gardens ornamental gardens. But “ornamental” is such a poor descriptive phrase. Who picks plants like they would pick wallpaper? To match their exterior trim? The worst gardens are those that aim to be merely decorative. No, we pick plants to live with us because they give us pleasure. I was recently re-acquainted with the idea of pleasure gardens when I re-read one of my favorite garden books, Rose Standish Nichols’ English Pleasure Gardens. It is a book I often pick up, read a chapter, and then put it away for a while. This century-old book is a compelling story of the English garden as viewed through three centuries of garden history. Throughout the book, one theme keeps emerging throughout the millennia: gardens exist for our pleasure. Christopher Lloyd’s writings have also been an inspiration of late. Perhaps I’ve spent too many years designing gardens, too many years of balancing client’s desires with safe plant selections. I love the almost garish quality of Dixter’s Long Border. The way it thumbs its nose at “tasteful” gray, pink, and blue color harmonies. The way it mixes tropicals, shrubs, perennials into one boisterous expression. Like Dixter, I would love a garden dedicated to nothing but horticultural craftsmanship. ''Beware of harboring too many plants in your garden of which the adjectives graceful and charming perpetually spring to your besotted lips,'' Lloyd warns as he clutches a black-leafed Canna. I love that. Dixter’s great triumph (and perhaps its downfall) is that it employs every tool in the planter’s toolkit all at once. The result is a hot mess, but one of the purest expressions of horticultural exuberance I’ve ever known. And what a joy that is. Cotinus 'Royal Purple' center (coppiced yearly), Savlia sclarea, Miscanthus 'Morning Light' and Alliums Perhaps all gardening is an attempt to re-create Eden, but our garden has absolutely no paradisiacal qualities. As a result of its placement next to an ugly house and an ugly road, we’ve adopted a more postlapsarian style. In the border, we have an ecumenical selection of wetland plants, desert grasses, South African bulbs, native forbs, and color foliage shrubs. Anything goes as long as it goes. The other side of our yard, we are beginning another more restrained garden evocative of a woodland edge. But in the border, there is no room for restraint, only more and more plants. Nasella tenuissima, Salvia 'Caradonna' and Allium 'Purple Sensation' In this blog, I am often guilty of heaping too much meaning on gardens, burying a simple act under too many metaphors. Perhaps it is an effort to justify my own profession, to add more significance to my calling than actually exists. If a garden exists simply for our own pleasure, what then? Perhaps that is enough. All I know is that gardening is hard work that reveals many agonies and few ecstasies. So despite the garden’s many flaws and failings, when the afternoon sun hits a patch of Feather grass and silhouettes the violet stems of Salvia ‘Caradonna’, it is enough for me. For now, I am pleased. Phlomis tuberosa and Hibiscus 'Fantasia' The ever ubiquitious, but entirely useful Spiraea 'Goldflamme' with Zahara Zinnias Our native-ish garden, planted this srping.
HGTV shares some of the best shrubs for shade gardens, including shade shrubs such as oakleaf hydrangeas, Euonymus, viburnum and elderberries that will add color to your garden with their flowers and foliage.
Written by Los Angeles Interior Designer Brooke Giannetti, Velvet and Linen is a blog about Brooke's life with her Architect husband (also known as Steve), her three children and her ever evolving design style.
Are you on a hunt for stylish yet affordable clothing but don't know where to begin? Look no further! In this article, we have handpicked an array of online stores offering the best value for your money, without compromising on the fashion quotient. From chic dresses to trendy tops, classic office-wear to cozy loungewear, revamp your wardrobe with high-quality pieces that come with small price tags.
[halves] [/halves] [halves] [/halves] [halves] [/halves] [halves] [/halves] [halves] [/halves] [halves] [/halves] [halves] [/halves] SO EXCITED about today’s post! If you remember, I partnered awhile back with Frongate to dress my outdoor dining area at my…
As an interior designer, you’d think that designing outdoor spaces would be easy for me. hint hint it’s not! Decorating patios, decks, outdoor living spaces..it’s a whole new ballgame and it’s not the simplest. One of the main reasons my deck sat vacant for 8 months after I moved it was because I had no idea what to do with it and even more than that, I couldn’t afford to make it look nice. That’s what I thought at least! Outdoor furniture is so expensive…am I the only one who is always stick shocked by how much an outdoor sofa is? However this year, I decided to do what I can with what I have and stretch my dollar far to make my deck useable and cute! I learned a lot while I was piecing it together and ended up transforming my deck for under $50. Now I want to share some thrifty ways I did this with you! Don’t break the bank! : Prioritize money If you have a budget, no matter how small, prioritize the bulk of the cash towards furniture. Furniture is the base of the space (obviously) and even if all you can afford this season is a new set of chairs, you can still bank on that and thrift for the accessories. I use 75% of my funds for furniture and then 25% for decor. : Lighting Maybe your house is like mine – there is one dingey outdoor light from 1985 that gives off […]
Get your outdoor space ready for summer with these delightful ideas for patio decor! Get tips from a group of bloggers decorating their patios and porches.
Blogger Chrissy Marie shares her outdoor patio makeover in her backyard. Check out all these ideas to help makeover your backyard patio! Read more here!
California-Style Patio with new Outdoor Furniture -
You only need to get started with the small ideas that are pretty easy to implement. Here is a list of ideas that can help you improve your backyard on a budget.
I am thrilled to be inviting you back to my home to share with you some cozy and stylish ideas to help you create a beautiful and magical outdoor living oasis. Cozy and Stylish Outdoor
Don't let a tiny deck or patio stop you from enjoying outdoor living. Use these space-saving small patio decorating ideas to create an outdoor oasis.
Bring some life to your patio with some container pot plants! In this article, we look at several of the best patio plants for the garden and patio area, with special emphasis on easy to grow varieties. Click here to bring your patio to life!
Beinvenue friends…and beinvenue SUMMER! Today I am thrilled to hosting the “Spring Into Summer” Porches, Patios and Outdoor Spaces...
