In small townhouse gardens like mine, I’ve found that fences not only make good neighbors – they help create “garden rooms,” the sense of enclosure that makes you want to spend time there and enjoy some privacy. Or at least the feeling of privacy. The role of fences came home to me recently when one … Read more
During the first years in my townhouse, this was the dull-dull backdrop of my front garden, with old grey siding, black shutters and metal chairs, and a forest green umbrella. You can’t see the pots here but believe me, they were all in similarly dull colors. I guess I wanted to fit in, and I … Read more
My Takoma Park, Md. home in 1985, the year I bought it. My recent post about the attractive fence my next-door neighbors installed included a gratuitous but ardent dig at chainlink, the type of fence they didn’t choose, thankfully. That reminded of the home I bought in 1985 that DID sport a chainlink around the … Read more
It’s a sombre time in the UK as most of you will be aware. Perhaps time for us gardeners to think about reflection in our gardens. Whatever various worthy people might like to tell us, gardeners know that a garden is not simply a place of restoration and healing joy. Gardens fill us full of … Read more
Google images for “Garden Ornaments” Does a well planted, well designed, garden need ornaments? You could say that gardens are pretty enough. In fact, we refer to aesthetically pleasing gardens as being “ornamental” in themselves. No artificial embellishment is required to fit the definition. So, why do we adorn our yards with artistic decorative features? … Read more
One of the ways (there were many) I was initially stumped when I started turning two fields into a garden was how to make paths in it. It wasn’t too problematic at first as I just mowed paths through the existing grassland, but as soon as the design grew more complex mowing didn’t work … Read more
I have been planted here in an old house on a standard city-sized lot that’s nearly on the shores of the Salish Sea for nearly ever. I wish I got out more. I’d love to explore grand, quirky, and historical landscapes, but travel funds always seem to get consumed by more practical matters. See: old … Read more
I haven’t mentioned it until now – because I wasn’t sure of success – but I can now confess that I nominated one of my adopted gardens for a county beautification award this past spring. You may recognize this garden at my co-op’s HQ, since I’ve blogged about it here and here. Five years after … Read more
Have you noticed that when visiting a garden or even wandering through your own, what jumps out at you are the flaws? Like the errant piece of trash or the one weed in an expanse of groundcover? I’d like to think that I notice them not because they’re flaws but because they’re different from the … Read more
Great Foliage in My Garden Fothergilla in my garden, late October. In July I showed off the 16 native plants that MAKE my garden, but excluded my Fothergilla from my recommended shrubs (just Ninebark and Oakleaf hydrangea), saying, “I have a Fothergilla in an out-of-sight spot but didn’t list it here because after it blooms … Read more