Design

Let’s Talk About Color

– Posted in: Design

I thought it was the end of the world when I discovered my daughters didn't see the colors in my garden the way I did. A garden I toured in Buffalo helped change my mind. Read the rest of my blog post to find out how.

What Placeholder Plants Can Do For You

– Posted in: Design, How-to

When I finally grasped the concept of placeholder plants, it changed my life. Well, what I mean is, it reduced my garden maintenance load and I enjoyed my garden more, with less work. Not precisely life-changing, but definitely life-improving. A placeholder plant is a garden-worthy plant that you happen to have a lot of, which [...]

The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden: Book Review

– Posted in: Book reviews, Habitat gardening, Native/Invasive

I picked up Roy Diblik's The Know Maintenance Perennial Garden from the library shelf because I knew the author supplied the plants for the Lurie Garden in Chicago, working closely with designer Piet Oudolf, and I wanted to learn more about the naturalistic style of gardening that both of these men espouse. Yes, there is [...]

How to Have the First Bloom on Your Block: Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day March 2015

– Posted in: Design, Mud Season, The Earliest Flowers, What's up/blooming

It is more important to have the first bloom on your block than the first tomato. The first outdoor bloom is a potent morale booster, signifying that the back of winter has been broken. However, to have the very first flower blooming in your neighborhood is not a matter left to chance. You must employ [...]

Make That Lingering Snow Earn Its Keep

– Posted in: Design, Front of the House, Hardscaping and Projects, How-to, New House, New Gardens
Use That Lingering Snow to Design Your Garden

The snow is melting, but not fast enough to suit me. I've already taken pictures of where the snow melts first, so I know where to plant my spring-flowering bulbs this fall. In the spirit of making lemonade out of lemons, I realized this lingering snow was the perfect opportunity to outline a new garden [...]

How to Analyze An Area of Your Yard to Improve It: The Parking Pad Bed

– Posted in: Design, How-to, New House, New Gardens, Parking Pad Bed
ask yourself these questions before you redesign your yard

In case you are just joining in: About two-and-a-half years ago our family moved from our long-time rural home to a different 19th-century farm house about twenty-five minutes from our previous one. I have been renovating the landscape around the house in a non-systematic frenzy and writing about it as time permits. (Previous posts are [...]