Greening Ideas, Tips & Guides

Dated cabinets, dingy backsplashes, and forgettable generic light fixtures, oh my—designing any room on a budget is a challenge, but that’s especially the case with a kitchen. Every element in a kitchen, from appliances to tiles to cabinets, can becostly to replace. Still, there are easy and wallet-friendly ways to create a classic kitchen that looks expensive—without maxing out your credit card.  For insiders’ knowledge, we asked interior designers how to make a kitchen look expensive, even if it’s not. Your secret’s safe with us—no one has to know.

Cherry wood-stained cabinetry was once a popular home feature in the 1990s. But after years of use, these cabinets started to feel outdated in some homes, especially in the wake of light wood cabinets and all-white kitchen trends.

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to get outside and get my hands into the warm dirt. Gardening season can’t come soon enough this year. In the meantime, I will have to scratch that itch in other ways (starting seeds) and, of course, dream about what I am going to do to improve my garden this year. The list below features products and plants that would be wonderful additions to any garden. Find inspiration and items that will take your garden to the next level, make your work easier, and add the color or interest you want.

This is another variety, italica, of Brassica oleracea. Both purple and white sprouting produce a profusion of young shoots invaluable for prolonging the supplies of winter greens. Purple sprouting is the most hardy and will safely overwinter in most open situations.

The plants offered to gardeners or non-gardeners at nurseries, garden centers and the corner store vary immensely.  They may be culinary herbs suitable for all sorts of savory dishes, or valued for their blooms or can be used medicinally.

23 of the Best Plants for Your Home Office

Climbing leaf-losing shrubby plants, from Brazil, which belong to the family Nyctaginaceae. They are cultivated outdoors in the far South and in colder climates in greenhouses. The slender woody stems are furnished with small, ovate to elliptic-lanceolate, green leaves and sharp thorns.

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41 Exceptional Philodendron Varieties

Jason Donnelly

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Do you know about a miracle agent that works better than most of the fertilizers in the market and is also quite cheap? Well, that’s Epsom Salt, and it can significantly improve your houseplant’s health!

Ivy on the front of James Mackie's cottage

Without doubt the biggest change to gardening over the past decade or so has been the rise in interest and love for plants that can be grown and nurtured indoors.

White pomegranates as not actually “white” – they have a muted red or orange hue, which makes them appear paler in comparison.

Just a very quick IAVOM post from me today, a teeny Bretby Pottery salesman’s sample jug, with a posy of common double snowdrops, Galanthus ‘Flore Pleno’. They may be ‘common’, but that doesn’t stop them being exceedingly pretty, with their frilly white tutus and generous green markings. And if we are going to use a double domino as a prop, let’s have a double six!

To grow big Calathea Orbifolia plants, start with a piece from a big plant. Keep them in a humid place and give them bright, indirect sunlight. You can also try using small amounts of plant growth products like Miracle-Gro.

We have the best variegated impatiens plants. Our list includes Spreading Impatiens, Congo Cockatoo, and Center Stage, all with colorful flowers and leaves. Variegated Double Impatiens, Fusion Peach Frost, and Variegated Impatiens have unique leaf patterns. Fiesta Ole Peppermint is great for pots with its big flowers and edged leaves.

We all have ‘difficult garden areas‘ or spaces we want to revamp without re-designing the whole garden.

Placing trees of these colors needs great care, but their colors mingled with the multitude of others in autumn are effective and of great beauty; they do not blend well with the normal greens, particularly if used in quantity. They should, therefore, be used sparingly in isolation at points where they will inevitably catch the eye.

No water garden is complete without a bog garden as some of the most beautiful and interesting plants thrive in such situations. Many ponds and lakes have a natural perennially damp surround which requires no more attention before introducing plants than to remove unwanted weeds.

Iris can be seen growing in early spring and throughout the summer months. Its appearance can be very different from one another with various heights, characteristics, and blossom/leaf color.

In 2024, design is taking a turn away from pastels and towards the boldness of jewel tones.

If you’re as keen on growing tomatoes as I am you’ll be getting read to sow now. I sow them as early as February to grow inside and late March for plants to go out in the veg patch. Don’t panic if you’re late sowing, they do catch up, you’ll just be picking a little later.

You can grow many types of Alocasias in water. It's easy and you don't need soil. Just change the water every week or so. There are many to choose from. Some have big leaves, some have leaves that look like a stingray, and others have different colors and patterns. Read about them below.

Discover the world of rare snake plants, a unique addition to any home garden. From the strikingly patterned 'Sansevieria Masoniana' to the compact and charming 'Sansevieria Trifasciata Hahnii', these varieties are not just visually stunning but also remarkably resilient and low-maintenance.

Poinsettias are ubiquitous holiday plants. I always feel like I need at least one to complete my Christmas decorating. Some years I go for the traditional red hue, others I opt for something more unique, like variegated leaves or bright pink bracts. Poinsettias are native to Mexico and Central America, so these tropical plants often don’t last in a home beyond the holidays. However, if they survived, it is possible to keep them for the following year and, after a period of darkness, get them to rebloom for you. So, if you’re wondering, when should I put my poinsettia in the dark, I will explain how to care for your plant throughout the year, until it’s time to display it once again for the holidays.

When it comes to sculptural form in the garden, it’s hard to compete with a well-grown agave (Agave spp. and cvs., Zones 7b–11). With sizes ranging from 6-inch rosettes to hulking 12-foot giants, there really is a perfect plant for every garden or container. Most are striking enough in their natural tones of green to blue, but some have raised the bar a bit higher, adding highlights of white and gold to the palette.

Raspberries are easy and cheap to grow, providing you with sweet and delicious fruit that tastes so much better when picked fresh on a warm summer’s day. Raspberries are categorised into ‘summer-fruiting’ and ‘autumn-fruiting’ types. Summer-fruiting raspberries fruit on the previous year’s growth and are typically tall plants that require staking. Autumn-fruiting raspberries are shorter and usually less vigorous, and fruit on the current season’s growth. Growing a variety of the two types means you could be successionally harvesting your own delicious raspberries from late June through to October.

It is important to differentiate between pepper plants and their look like weeds to keep your garden clutter free and safe.

These root vegetables begin their journey as as tiny seeds and transform into crunchy, nutritious delights! Let’s understand carrot growth stages in detail.

Growing a garden that a florist would be envious of is always the goal when designing a cut-flower display. Zantedeschia (also known as Calla Lilies) should be top of your summer list for this exact reason! These beloved bouquet blooms are a must for any seasonal display, regardless of how new or seasoned you are to gardening. 

We plant trees for their beauty of leaf, whether green in Summer or red in the Autumn; for their bark which becomes particularly fascinating. We plant trees because we love them. Some trees linger in our memories as old friends, from whose branches we have swung and “skinned-the-cat”; under whose cool shade we have rested from play or work. Some trees seem to have moods, changing from day to day, season to season, and from youth to old age.

Vinca minor is, as my father used to say, neat but not gaudy. Sometimes known as periwinkle or myrtle, this creeping perennial appears everywhere. Like a good soldier, vinca hits the ground running, and does its task efficiently, even under adverse conditions. Parts of the suburbs are virtually upholstered with it, but you can even find this undemanding evergreen stalwart keeping vigil among neglected monuments in long-abandoned cemeteries.

Soil tests done in a lab are one way to check the health of your soil. However, the ultimate test is how well your plants are doing. By carefully observing your plants, you can tell which nutrient your plants are lacking. With this information, you can choose which amendments should be added to the soil to maximize the soil health.

I think that one of the best things about gardening is that when I am weeding or planting or pruning, I worry a great deal less about losing my mind.  The seeds of insanity, or at least confusion seem to lurk indoors-—in the stuffed-full file drawers, the paper-strewn desk, and the Everest-like laundry pile.  If I do not get out into the garden for at least a few minutes every day, those seeds tend to take root and the green shoots of chaos quickly establish themselves in my mind.