Gaining Ground Garden Design – Tough Plants for tough places Helpful Hints Add ground cover shrubs such as Dwarf Mountain Pine and Juniper or upright evergreens to provide winter interest Plant Sedum, Thymus and Delosperma on rock ledges or above retaining walls to crate a cascading effect. Create a winding path of Creeping Thyme through your ground cover garden to […]

Garden for Children The perfect garden design Helpful Hints Plant this garden surrounding your children’s play area or sand box. Play word games with your children to help them indentify and remember each plant in the children’s garden. Aruncus is commonly named Goat’s Beard and Stachys is called Lamb’s ear Ask your children where they would most like to see […]

If there is a damp spot in your yard that you have always thought was a problem, don’t give up. Whether it’s an area that doesn’t drain well, floods periodically, or borders a pond or stream, let that unique situation become an intriguing, one-of-a-kind garden spot (as well as a beautiful habitat for wildlife) by selecting plants that thrive in […]

The Arctic-style winters of the northern United States (Hardiness Zones 3-5) need not be a reason to deny yourself a beautiful garden. Many favorites perennials have the wonderful ability to hunker down and hibernate during a long, sub-zero winter, then awake for an intense season of growth and bloom. In fact, many plants actually require this cold dormancy as part […]

Driveway or Sidewalk Garden Designs Planting perennials along often-used walks or driveways is one of the best ways to view your garden daily. This strip of garden can be extended or short‑ ened as needed. Because this planting may be used along a driveway, the selected plants are primarily two feet or less in height, so they will not obstruct […]

Have you grown weary of the all-too-common Juniper-and-Yew combination that flanks your front door? Wouldn’t it be nice to create a setting that says “Welcome” in a charming, personal way? That task is challenging if you have a front yard that gets only a few hours of sun during the day. Inspired by the natural beauty of a woodland garden, […]

Flowering fiesta Bright Color Helpful Hints Subsitute Penstemon ‘Scarlet Queen’ for Physostegia ‘Vivid’ and this could be a Zone 4 collection. Plant this garden in the sunniest location of your yard for best performance. Add in crimson, fall-color shrubs like Burning Bush or spring blooming border Fosythia to add to the excitement. Planting with posthole digger make it a quick […]

Against a backdrop of gently swaying tall Grasses, this garden recreates the look of a prairie wildflower meadow. Make sure you have enough room for the Saccharum Grass-it gets huge! If space is limited, you may want to use Calamagrostis `Karl Foerster’ in its place. Give this garden a full day’s sun and average soil. Before planting, clear the area […]

Transforming your barren, coastal home landscape into a seaside oasis can be an impossible task to imagine undertaking. The constant challenges of poor, sandy soil, shifting dunes, glaring sun, strong winds, and salt spray could be enough for many to throw in the trowel. Paying attention to the microdimates around your coastal nook can help you to create the perfect […]