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10. A Place to Be at Peace Consider where in your garden feels the most private and peaceful, and put a seat there. Think of this as your place of peace — different from a social gathering spot, this is meant to be a solo retreat or a place for heartfelt one-on-one conversations. But even more important than the particular chair or location? That you actually devote time to using your outdoor space, reconnecting with nature, your breath and your heart’s desires.
7. Rock Cairn Like a bit of DIY art for your garden, a cairn of stacked stones invites creativity into your landscape. To give your cairn visual weight and importance, start with a hefty rock as the base and stack gradually smaller stones on top. Position your cairn in a spot you’d like to draw the eye to, such as the end of a garden path.
All Drama This eye-catching fall container by designer Stephanie Town of Garden Stories packs a major punch in a covered entryway. The design is all about dramatic contrast. Bright chartreuse Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’) sits alongside purple heart (Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’) and a hot-orange turban squash. A tall purple cordyline at the back of the container adds vertical interest above pale purple aster (Symphyotrichum sp.) and ornamental pepper. Clusters of artificial leaves provide more pops of color. “A lot of my clients like an added touch of Halloween,” Town says, “so I’ll add a wooden cutout of a cat, skeleton or a raven.” Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Partial sun
. Dark Beauty Proving that you don’t need to rely on reds and golds to have an arrangement feel like fall, these seductive dark designs by Kathy Molnar Simpson of KMS Gardens and Design stand out with their cool color palette. “Interesting and unusual color combos will still read fall as long as the majority of elements are fall materials,” Simpson says. “The colors in the majority of elements should have some relationship to each other. I think complementary combinations, rather than opposite color combos, tend to work better in fall.” Here she used a range of purples, blues and lavenders, including Vertigo purple fountain grass (Pennisetum purpureum), ‘Ruby Perfection’ ornamental cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata ‘Ruby Perfection’), lavender-pink mums (Chrysanthemum sp.), purple-stemmed Swedish ivy (Plectranthus ‘Mona Lavender’), ‘Carnival Plum Crazy’ coral bells (Heuchera ‘Carnival Plum Crazy’), blue plumbago (Ceratostigma plumbaginoides), mizuna and green artificial berry stems. Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Partial shade
Find Pro For More IdeasNeed a pro for your landscape design project? Let Houzz find the best pros for you Find Pros Garden Stories 2. Color and Texture Feast With feathery Red Rooster sedge (Carex buchananii ‘Red Rooster’), chunky ornamental peppers, curly ‘Peacock Red’ kale (Brassica ‘Peacock Red’), ruffled ‘Marmalade’ coral bells (Heuchera ‘Marmalade’), glossy croton (Codiaeum variegatum) and graceful, sunset-hued coneflowers (Echinacea sp.), this entry arrangement is bursting with color and texture. As a bonus feature, designer Stephanie Town of Garden Stories stuck a few stems of preserved lotus pods into the center of the arrangement. “I think putting anything unusual in a container gives it drama,” Town says. A few of her favorite dried ingredients for fall containers include seedpods, pumpkins, gourds, curly willow, birch branches, branches with dried leaves cut from trees, and reindeer moss, for hiding any spots with bare soil. Another tip from Town: “Tuck a bundle of large cinnamon sticks at the back of a container for a nice aroma.” Water requirement: Moderate (hand-water two to three times per week) Light requirement: Partial to full sun; the container here sits on a...
Courtyard The courtyard garden is simple and low-maintenance, with an emphasis on maximizing outdoor living space. A handsome recirculating fountain, which is uplit at night, acts as the focal point and fills the space with the sound of trickling water. Poured-in-place concrete slabs form steppingstones that snake around the house, with vine-decked screens adding privacy.
Set a Budget and Consider Phased Construction Establish how much you can afford to spend on a landscape redesign. If you have enough funds set aside for the entire project, you can complete the design and installation at once. It’s also possible to break up a project into smaller, more budget-friendly phases. This is called phased construction. Tip: If you do decide to phase the construction, it’s best to first work with a professional on a complete master plan. He or she will be able to tell you what makes the most sense in terms of installation order and which projects can be bundled together.
Set within a shaded woodland garden carpeted in ferns, this screened-in garden house belongs to Massachusetts-based landscape designer Hilarie Holdsworth. Designed as a spot for reading and relaxing, the garden house brings all of the comforts of being inside — soft cushions and blankets, screened sides to keep out bugs and a lamp overhead — to the serene setting of the garden.
Build Raised Beds Raised beds can help those with poor soil or drainage issues expand the growing space for fruits, veggies, herbs and flowers — and also save your back. For long-lasting raised beds, choose timber such as cedar, pine or redwood that is naturally rot-resistant. Fill completed beds with a mixture of fully decomposed compost, native topsoil (as long as it isn’t contaminated) and some added grit, such as sand or a succulent potting mix, to help with drainage.
. Paint Your Fence “The rule of thumb here is, the darker the better,” says Darin Bradbury, director of MINT Pool + Landscape Design. “The first thing we do on all our projects is paint the boundary fences black or off-black.” The reason: “Not only does the dark color give those vertical surfaces around the garden a uniform finish,” he says, “but it creates the perfect backdrop for all that green foliage.”
‘Sally Holmes’ Rose (Rosa ‘Sally Holmes’) Loved by: Margie Grace of Grace Design Associates in Santa Barbara, California Why this rose: “It looks like a wild rose — five petals and a burst of stamens,” Grace says, adding that it has an “old-timey” and “unpretentious” look. Special features: “The buds are a lovely pale pink,” with the petals turning white as they age, Grace says. The rose hips, which form after the flowers, also are decorative. This climbing shrub is also known for its subtle spicy scent. Gabriela Yariv Landscape Design Growing tips: Grace doesn’t offer any specific tips for growing ‘Sally Holmes’, stating that “it’s tough and unfussy.” Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 9) Water requirement: Medium Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Mature size: Climbs to 15 feet; can be trained as a shrub
3. ‘New Dawn’ Rose (Rosa ‘New Dawn’) Loved by: Will Lehnert of Outdoor Space Design in Columbus, Ohio Why this rose: ‘New Dawn’ has a long growing history and is considered one of the best repeat-blooming climbing roses. It “can soften arbors [and] trellises and add a lot of dimension and texture throughout the year,” Lehnert says. Special features: This vigorous grower produces clusters of medium-size light pink flowers on glossy green foliage. It’s known for its disease resistance and sweet, fruity fragrance. David Austin Roses Growing tips: “These are some of the easiest climbing roses to grow,” Lehnert says. His biggest gardening tip: “Keep them watered!” Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 9) Water requirement: Medium Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade Mature size: 8 to 12 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide
Old Garden Roses This historic group is made up of several classes, including alba, Bourbon, centifolia, China, damask, Gallica, hybrid perpetual and noisette — many dating from the late 1700s, when roses were brought to Europe from China. This group of roses includes the predecessors of modern classes of roses, such as hybrid tea, floribunda and modern shrub roses. The fragrance of old garden roses is unmatched, and they possess old-fashioned form and beauty. Extremely vigorous compared with many of today’s modern roses, they’re also more resistant to fungal diseases, such as black spot, making them a great choice for those who want more of a low-maintenance rose. Many old garden roses bloom once a year in spring to early summer, although some repeat blooming throughout the growing season. The growth habit of old garden roses makes them perfect for use as hedges or large shrubs, or they can be allowed to climb up walls, a pergola or arch. Pastel colors of cream, pink and peach are largely favored by this group of roses.
The whimsical gardener. This person is simply fun, frequently raising eccentricity to an art form. Found objects used in unorthodox ways are held in high regard by this gardener. Hunting grounds include thrift stores and flea markets. Color abounds. Each item tells the story and reflects the personality of its owner. The challenge faced by the whimsical gardener in designing a garden is, as with the collector, how to bring continuity to the space. A dark green hedge or ground cover can earn its place in this garden as a mediator between colors, shapes and textures, giving the eye a place to rest.
The artist. A garden belonging to the artist will be in a constant state of flux, as the artist is rarely satisfied with the end product. This garden will most likely provide spaces for small vignettes that will illustrate balance, whether symmetrical or asymmetrical, with particular attention paid to textures, shapes and colors. This garden will delight the senses, with particular emphasis on the tactile. Sculpture will find prominence in the garden of an artist. The story of the artist will be found in the palette of the garden. Since this type of garden celebrates small vignettes, the artist will be as content in a small urban garden as in a sprawling country space.
Name Your Garden You will find that if you name your garden, it will begin to take on a personality. Spending time in your space, feeling the sun warming your skin and hearing the breeze rustle through the trees, will begin to draw on memories of special places, events and people in your past. After all, your garden is a partnership between you and the earth. Do you feel most comfortable in hidden-away spaces, in open fields or on overlooks where you can see all that is happening around you? The answers to questions like these will dictate what your space should become.
2. Set a Seductive Mood With Paths Serpentine pathways create the sensual vibe of an unfolding story. The entire garden is not visible from any single juncture. A sense of mystery is established as the garden is explored and discovered anew at every turn. A quick straight path is not to be found in this garden.
1. Create a Private Entrance The romantic garden is not open to everyone. Unlike the garden of the extrovert, where the gate may be transparent and open, the entrance to the romantic garden is solid and private. The gate comes with a lock. Softening this hardscape with delicate vines or softly textured plants gives a subtle hint of what is to come while establishing boundaries.
The dining area at the back of the yard sits on the same limestone used for the path and water feature, here as smaller bricks laid in a herringbone pattern. The designers chose this pattern as a formal garden nod but used a longer, narrower brick to update it. Most of the paving sits on a concrete base. Closer to the honey locust tree the bricks are dry laid (seen in the foreground in front of the planting bed) and don’t have a framed edge. This protects the tree’s roots, which were much more extensive than the designers had anticipated, and also prevents any cracking or breakdown of the paving. It’s also another move that makes the design feel less rigid and more contemporary.
like to use dark-colored fences in smaller gardens (in this case Iron Mountain by Benjamin Moore) as they visually recede, blurring the perimeter and making the space appear larger. The dark color is also more contemporary and helps make the clipped beech hedge pop. The designers maintained the fence’s traditional style, per the request of the homeowners, as it’s shared with the neighbors. The design team also preserved a 30-year-old wisteria growing along the back of the house, shown here on the left. A new eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis) grows opposite the wisteria.
2. Metal Obelisks Long used by English gardeners to add structure to overflowing perennial borders and kitchen gardens, metal obelisks are just as useful for adding interest to garden beds off-season. Try placing a single obelisk in an empty garden bed or at the end of a garden walkway to act as a focal point.
11. Sweet Box (Sarcococca ruscifolia) You’ll generally smell the fragrance of sweet box in winter or early spring before you spot the small cream-colored flowers hanging from the undersides of the stems. The deep green, leathery leaves look attractive year-round and are often used by florists as long-lasting cut greenery. Where it will grow: Hardy to 0 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 17.8 degrees Celsius (zones 7 to 9) Origin: Native to China Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Partial to full shade Mature size: Grows slowly to 3 to 5 feet tall and wide Seasonal interest: Evergreen foliage and fragrant winter to spring blossoms
Care Tips for Growing Trees in Containers Put the right plant in the right place. As with any plant, choosing a variety that thrives in your climate, sun and moisture level is the only way to ensure it will thrive in your garden. With container-grown plants, you have the advantage of being able to move them. If the first placement isn’t working (not enough sun, for example), move the plant to another spot. Choose dwarf varieties, if available. In general, smaller trees make better varieties for containers. If you see dwarf hybrids of trees that are not on this list, such as dwarf apples, gingko and others, they may make good container plants. Ask for advice at your nursery before buying a tree to grow in a container. Start with a large container. Once you bring a potted tree home from the nursery, repot it into a larger container than it came in. Grow a tree in the largest container you can, aiming for a soil depth of at least 2 to 3 feet. Make sure the container has a drainage hole. June Scott Design Watering. Plants grown in containers dry out more quickly than those planted in garden beds. Set up a consistent watering schedule for your potted tree to give it the water it needs; ...
The owners wanted to have a pond to attract birds, insects and frogs. Richard designed it with wildlife in mind. “Although it’s fairly straight-edged, there’s a pebble beach to help creatures get in and out.” The pond planting includes a small variety of waterlily, Pontederia cordata (pickerel weed), and Iris pseudacorus. There are quite a few plants in the garden that will also bring in insects, including some Eupatorium maculatum (Atropurpureum Group), the tall, feathery purple plants seen here, and Veronicastrum virginicum ‘Fascination’, which attracts pollinators. “If you bring in insects, then you also bring in birds, which the owners are quite keen on,” Richards says. “There are several feeders throughout the garden as well.” At the back of the deck against the fence are some Hebe pinguifolia ‘Sutherlandii’. “There are eight or nine plants, and they’ll grow into a cloud,” Richards says. The silver ball is the owners’ decoration, bringing in a flash of light and interesting reflections amid the plantings.
Pop in Late-Blooming Perennials Nurseries are packed this time of year with late-summer and fall-blooming perennials. Just adding a few coneflowers (Echinacea spp.), black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) or heirloom chrysanthemums can transform existing container displays. The flowers will add color through fall and come back in spring for another bloom period.
After removing summer annuals past their prime, fill in the gaps with cool-season bloomers in fall colors. Although they may look tender and delicate, pansies are actually some of the most cold-tolerant annual flowers. When planted now while soils are warm, they’ll bloom from fall to spring. Don’t wait too long, though — pansies planted late, in soils with temperatures below 45 degrees Fahrenheit (7.2 degrees Celsius), tend to have stunted growth and fewer flowers.
Rain chain. Transform the sound of falling rain into a musical burble with a rain chain. Used in place of a downspout and connected to the gutter of your home, a rain chain directs the flow of water running off your roof into a series of beautiful linked cups. To enhance your rain chain even more, consider adding pretty stones, river rocks or tumbled sea glass to the ground where the water will eventually flow.
Serence garden . Bell. The sound of a ceramic or metal bell or chime brings a feeling of serenity to the garden. Hang one from the eaves over your porch or from the branch of a tree farther out in the garden. If you meditate, pull up your cushion, and use the bell as a signal to begin and end your practice.
. Flower mandala. Creating one of these ephemeral works of art is not difficult (you can make it as simple or as complex as you like), and it’s a lovely way to unwind and meditate. You could create one as a decoration for a gathering in your backyard, or make a mandala of flowers and leaves as a personal meditative practice.
6. Plant a climbing rose. Increase the charm of an arbor or outbuilding by planting a climbing rose, such as this David Austin ‘Bathsheba’ variety, to ramble up the side. The vigorous plant sends out 10-foot-long canes with apricot-colored flowers that have a classic tea and floral fragrance. You’ll want to order your roses soon, as new varieties sell out quickly, for planting between January and mid-May, depending on your climate.
Butterfly hosts Oak trees (Quercus spp.), like this one in Santa Barbara, California, are important habitat plants for all kinds of wildlife. Oaks host a number of butterflies and moths.
In general, it’s best to give each medium- or large-size edible plant its own container — possibly tucking herbs or pollinator-friendly plants like marigolds around the base if there’s excess room. Lettuces and smaller plants like radishes and strawberries can be planted multiple plants per container. Container-grown edibles are big “feeders,” meaning they take a lot of soil nutrients to grow quickly and produce well. Fertilize with a well-balanced organic fertilizer according to package instructions.
Shrubs need a soil depth of 18 inches to 2 feet. Small trees need a soil depth of 2 to 3 feet.
Dividing ornamental grasses. Ornamental grasses benefit from division when they lose their vigor or become too big. The best time to divide plants is when they are beginning an active growth phase. For warm-season grasses this is in mid-spring, as the soil temperature moves near 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1 degrees Celsius). For cool-season grasses, growth begins in late winter to early spring when soil temperatures are from 50 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit (10 and 18.3 degrees Celsius). Cool-season grasses can also be divided in the fall as the soil temperatures drop and root growth resumes. Do not divide grasses when they are flowering. Grass clumps that are riddled with dead zones can be dug up and divided. Discard the dead portions and replant the healthier parts to their original depth. Digging down 12 to 18 inches will get you enough root mass to make successful divisions for larger grasses. Smaller grasses do not need to be dug so deep. A shovel with a sharpened blade and a strong handle will allow you to dig up most grasses. In tough cases you can use an ax to divide clumps while they are still in the ground. Each division should have at least three healthy stems (culms). When d...
Cutting back grasses. Ornamental grasses should be cut back annually. After plants go dormant in the fall, prior to the start of growth for the new season, cut them down to between 3 and 12 inches tall. For cool-season grasses, cut back by late winter or in late summer, as plants are coming out of dormancy. For warm-season grasses, cut back by early to mid-spring. Leaving several inches of stubble helps protect the crown of the plant from winter weather and provides a visual placeholder in the garden. For many years the standard practice was to cut back grasses as they began to die back in the fall. In recent years, however, more and more people are leaving their ornamental grasses up through winter. This adds winter interest to the garden and provides valuable habitat for birds and other overwintering wildlife, including butterfly larvae, birds and bees. In areas that are fire-prone, however, ornamental grasses should be cut back as they dry out in order to reduce fire risk, particularly near structures.
ornamental grasses require very little maintenance. They likely don’t need to be fertilized and only require an annual cutting back and infrequent division to be happy. Early to mid-spring, as new growth begins to emerge, is the prime time to care for your grasses. Here’s what you need to know about caring for perennial grasses.
Landscape by Aloe Designs Aloe Designs Small edible gardens can benefit from an orderly layout as well. In this urban garden the designers used galvanized stock tanks drilled with drainage holes as planting beds for greens, herbs, tomatoes and other crops. The tanks, arranged on either side of a gravel and paver path, provide order to the design and make watering, checking for pests and harvesting a cinch.
. Sombrero Granada Gold Coneflower (Echinacea x hybrida) Granada Gold is a sunny new addition to Darwin Perennials’ Sombrero line of coneflowers — which all stand out for strong winter hardiness and mounding habit. Plants bloom from late spring to late summer with large golden-yellow flowers that resist fading, even in baking heat. Plant in well-draining soil in sunny borders and watch as bees and butterflies flit from flower to flower. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 9) Water requirement: Moderate; low once established Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 18 to 20 inches tall and 22 to 24 inches wide
Lakota Santa Fe Coneflower (Echinacea hybrid) This new coneflower hybrid stands out for its incredibly bright mixed flower colors — one can spot blooms in sunset shades of red, red-orange and magenta pink on a single plant. The carefree plants resist deer, tolerate a range of soil types, are drought-tolerant once established and attract bees and butterflies. Lakota Santa Fe stays fairly short (topping out between 12 to 16 inches tall), and makes a nice addition to containers or as a hot-colored accent in mixed borders. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 8) Water requirement: Moderate; low once established Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 12 to 16 inches tall and 16 to 18 inches wide
‘Morello’ Agastache (Agastache ‘Morello’) With nonstop blooms from May until October, ‘Morello’ agastache, also called ‘Morello’ hummingbird mint, provides a steady splash of burgundy-rose to garden beds. The tall, densely packed flower spikes are rich in nectar and act as magnets for bees, hummingbirds and other pollinators. Plant in soil rich in organic matter and with good drainage — essential if overwintering plants in beds. Pair with bee balm (Monarda spp.), purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9) and salvias to create a pollinator garden. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 15 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 26.1 degrees Celsius (zones 5 to 10) Water requirement: Moderate Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 27 inches tall and 22 inches wide
5. Martha’s Vineyard Bigleaf Hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Hortmavi’) With long-lasting pink blooms and a compact plant form, this hydrangea variety is a useful new addition to Monrovia’s Seaside Serenade collection. The small size makes Martha’s Vineyard a suitable border or container plant. The deeply saturated color of the mop-head blooms is not influenced by soil pH like some other hydrangeas. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 25 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 31.7 degrees Celsius (zones 4 to 9) Water requirement: Moderate to high; keep soil evenly moist Light requirement: Partial shade to filtered sun Mature size: 3½ feet tall and 3 feet wide
Create a pinch point to home in on a sightline. This idea works for gardens of nearly any size and isn’t dependent on having a stunning vista. By narrowing the view, you can more clearly direct a viewer’s gaze just where you want it and emphasize a focal point. Place a pair of midsize structural evergreen plants — like clipped boxwoods, pittosporum or privet — on either side of a sightline. You can do the same with walls, hedges or fences. In this Mediterranean-style garden, two mature boxwoods framing the path help define the sightline to the cafe table set on the terrace.
Banyon Tree Design Studio SaveEmail 2 Pathways laid out in a straight line are easy to incorporate as linear features and capitalize on sightlines since the center of the walkway is, by default, kept clear. Remember to place an object or plant as a focal point at the end of the sightline so your eye is drawn to something.
6. Maximize growing space. Look for ways to increase planting opportunities without taking up floor space. Add trellises to fences, invest in a living wall, train fruit trees into espaliers and look for tall, skinny containers to plant.
1. Celebration of spring. Welcome the season with a sunny arrangement of mixed bulbs of various heights and delicate pansies tucked to fill in around the base. Here, a pair of deep urns planted with medium-purple tulips, yellow daffodils, pink ranunculuses, grape hyacinths (Muscari sp.), pansies and variegated English ivy makes a glorious entry arrangement. It can be tricky to get bulbs planted in combination to bloom at the same time. To re-create this look, choose a bag of early, midseason or late-blooming bulbs packaged together and plant them in a container according to the instructions. If you missed planting bulbs last fall, pick up potted bulbs from your local nursery and plant them together in a container. Look for ones that are just beginning to bud for a coordinated bloom time. Water requirement: Moderate to high Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Underplant — even in a tiny space. Part of what helps a garden feel like a secret oasis is a sense of the plants dominating the space and nature being at the forefront; when you think of what makes the great outdoors such a good antidote to modern life, it’s about exactly that sense of feeling small and insignificant in comparison to Mother Nature. So pack in that foliage for maximum escapism! And it’s possible even in the smallest spaces to max out on foliage, and underplanting (cultivating smaller plants around taller plants) is a great way to increase your greenery — even if you have space only for pots. The plants in these containers burst out in all directions, adding a lovely, unstructured aesthetic to an otherwise ordered and contemporary backdrop, in terms of the wooden raised bed and brickwork. Keeping all the plants green also makes for a lush and wild jungly effect.
7. Window frame. Use recycled objects and simple structures as focal points at the ends of pathways or patios. Here, a wooden window frame and a clipped shrub encourage your eye to linger on an area of the garden that would be easy to overlook. The screen also serves a practical purpose — marking a subtle grade change in the landscape to keep a visitor from walking over the edge of the patio.
Bliss Garden Design SaveEmail 2. Container among foliage. Work focal points into garden beds to provide a resting spot for one’s gaze amid drifts of plants. For example, an empty ceramic container nestled in the bed draws one’s focus and then encourages the eye to wander over the surrounding plants in a slower appreciation of the bed.
Make property boundaries disappear. Dark fences visually recede, reading more like the shadow cast by a tree than a man-made barrier. To further draw the eye away from property borders, plant beds in the foreground with silver and pale green foliage.
7. Hydrangeas grow well in pots. Add luxurious blooms and attractive foliage to your patio with a few big pots of hydrangeas. Tucked among seating areas, they bring a welcome touch of the garden to outdoor rooms. Tip: Ask at your local nursery to find a variety of hydrangea that is best-suited to potting, and choose a large pot with plenty of room to grow.
One of the best things about this exhibition is the element of surprise. I peeked over the wall of the Japanese garden and saw the top of Turquoise Marlins and Floats beckoning me inside. I couldn’t wait to round each corner and see what awaited.
Carmel and Red Fiori dotted the sides of the Great Lawn. They almost look as if they’re dancing, which is fitting as this is where the garden will host its “Concerts in the Garden” series this summer.
Below the soil line is where tightly placed plants can do a world of good. If we design our gardens so that plants with deep taproots are placed among a larger group of plants with fibrous root masses, we’ve effectively taken over the soil. All the plants we want are getting what they need. Very few weeds can get the water or nutrients they need when we’re planting for below-ground structure, while the plants we do want are thriving because they’ve been provided the niches they prefer. These orange blooms are deeply rooted butterfly milkweed (Asclepias tuberosa) among prairie grasses. This wild space can teach us how to use the same plants at home.
Burns and Beyerl Architects SaveEmail 9. Enclose the space. This may sound counterintuitive to making a small space feel larger, but it’s something that might work for your space. “When you enclose a small space even more, you play up its coziness and make it intimate, something that’s hard to achieve with large spaces,” Arthur says. “This also takes it to the next level of feeling like an outdoor room.” Pergolas are great for creating an intimate feel, but you can get the same effect with plantings. Architect Gary Beyerl’s backyard (shown here) is 10 feet by 20 feet. Because he has apartment units attached to his home, he wanted to do something that would afford him privacy. He used vertical plantings like humongous trumpet vines and a redbud tree to create an envelope of plant material. “By extending the plant zone up the vertical surfaces of an urban space, you can make a lot of visual greenery work to your advantage,” he says. “I’ve got a verdant environment even though it’s tiny.”
A Romantic Border A classic white picket fence festooned with fragrant roses — what could be more romantic? The beauty of this one is that passersby can enjoy the flowers, since they're planted on the outside of the fence. Key design features: Restraint in both color and plants Repetition of colors and plants down the entire border Gaining height by using the fence to support climbing roses Color notes: A restrained palette of pink and blue is accented with chartreuse. The deeper shades of purple provide depth, ensuring that this combination will still turn heads even in late summer. Plant selection: Climbing 'Mary Rose' provides height and fragrance. Billowing mounds of golden creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') and May Night salvia (Salvia nemorosa 'May Night') form the lower tier. These perennials are tolerant of low water, poor soil and hot sun.
Use pastels. Soft pastel colors are just the thing to round out the planting scheme in this type of garden. They become subtle supporting actors in the overall theme of the garden in a way that bold reds and oranges could never do. Accenting them with some pops of chartreuse injects just the right amount of understated drama.
The romantic. The romantic gardener embraces sentimentality, enjoys thoughtful surprises, and knows that simple fragrances and sounds conjure sensual memories from the past. He or she will have a private garden, most likely with serpentine pathways partially obscuring small seating areas with room for two. White flowers, fragrant roses and candles are likely to be found here. This gardener sees the world through rose-colored glasses and enjoys the view.
You can start by eschewing the standard straight edges or planting in evenly spaced rows. If you have five little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) grasses, for example, plant two close together and the other three in a clump a few feet away, making sure they’re staggered. Repeat these clumps of the same plant in your garden so there’s an interrupted drift that echoes itself over and over, creating calm and reassurance while reflecting the wilder nature beyond the fence we find so enticing.
Think about a color scheme. A flower bed filled with every color of the rainbow and then some will look messy unless you have an exceptionally good eye for color. So before you buy plants and seeds, decide on a color scheme. A good rule of thumb is to stick to no more than three main colors and add variety by varying the shades within each color. Not only will your flower bed look more cohesive, but you’ll also be able to narrow down good choices at the garden center that much more quickly.
Keep in mind how the bed fits in with your garden and helps highlight the architectural features of your house. Experiment with different shapes using a length of hose or rope until you find what you want. Whatever shape you choose, go as large as is practical. A small garden bed can feel fussy; with space to expand, the flowers can make more of an impact.
If your preferred look is more casual or cottage-inspired, go for gentle or sweeping curves.
. Extra-large house numbers. Numbers that are 6 inches high or higher make a big statement, and they work especially well on facades with little other ornamentation. If the numbers are placed away from the main lighting, consider installing a downlight over them.
The Benefits of a Healing Garden Healing gardens have a special place in garden design. When you are creating a garden from a healing perspective, it is important to make sure all the senses — sight, smell, taste, touch and hearing — are engaged. This allows visitors to form an emotional connection with the space, which can lift their spirits and speed up the healing process. You’ll also want to make sure the space is comfortable and easy to navigate, so it can be used safely by those who are recuperating or otherwise physically limited.
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