Luxury Rockridge Casita in Sunny Garden / Melissa Habegger Photo
21.07.2023 - 22:20 / awaytogarden.com
THE GARDEN MIGHT be mostly sleeping where I live, but it’s not out of mind by any means. I keep going back to a couple of conversations that I had on my public-radio program and podcast with guests this last year, discussions aimed at helping all of us who garden to think about tying things together better visually—about making more successful design decisions.I think that’s one big area that stymies a lot of gardeners, myself included, and I looked back on highlights of what I learned from interviews on the show in 2018. Where to put what–a bed, a border, a patio, or even several different plants in relationship to one another—can be elusive, to say the least.
I rounded up some favorite advice into the latest radio segment (and if you missed the full conversations with the designers quoted here, the links to those are at the bottom of the page and offer loads more design advice).
Read along as you listen to the Dec. 24, 2018 edition of my public-radio show and podcast using the player below. You can subscribe to all future editions on iTunes or Stitcher (and browse my archive of podcasts here).
best of 2018 design ideasONE CONVERSATION that really stayed with me, and also one of the most popular interviews of 2018 with listeners, was my chat with Susan Morrison, a California-based garden designer and author of “The Less Is More Garden,” a book that really helps us try to identify what our signature style is.
In an anecdote in the book’s introduction, Susan talks about visiting two women’s gardens near each other on the same day, each with its very own distinctive style despite the fact that each garden was relatively small–and again, practically neighbors. They could not have been more different–one was all about color, the
Luxury Rockridge Casita in Sunny Garden / Melissa Habegger Photo
There’s nothing like a tall,green hedge to create a little real estate intrigue, and the best neighborhoods in Santa Barbara are lined with them. The coastal California community is known as one of the country’s favorite beachside retreats, and for its many homes that look as though they were plucked straight from a storybook—if you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse through thick green foliage.
Every kitchen needs good storage, but not every kitchen has good storage. Some are small and need a lot of hacks to find a spot for everything. Some can be the right size but with not enough cabinet or drawer space. And others are just not using their storage potential fully, like this kitchen in San Rafael, California.
After 20 years of having a lawn that took, I wanted a yard that contributed: to the planet, to local animals, to biodiversity, to my neighbors, to my mental health. With the sage (native plant pun intended) design work, counsel, and collaboration of David Godshall of Terremoto and David Newsom of Wild Yards Project—and a plant-friendly paint palette from color consultant Teresa Grow—another little garden that gives was born.
Ah, garden dreams. We all have them. You drive by someone’s front yard and gasp at how original, yet welcoming it is. Or you go to a friend’s garden party and get positively green with envy over their, well, greenery and the overall flow of the space. To achieve such greatness, you decide you need to hire a landscape designer. And then you realize you have no idea what to do next.
The growing season might be in full swing, but there are still ways to upgrade your garden game. From keeping out unwanted pests (or pets) to building your own customized trellising and irrigation—it’s time to make your beds work smarter, not harder. We’ve got five ways to customize your planters this summer that will not only make things look fantastic, but will take your growing capabilities to the next level. Whether you choose to tackle them all or just add one to your list of weekend to-dos, I promise it will be a noticeable refresh with rewarding results.
It’s well known that the housing market is so competitive right now, but prospective home buyers aren’t the only ones hurting—renters are, too. According to personal finance website WalletHub, inflation has impacted rental prices, and 2022 saw the second-highest price growth in decades with a 6.2% year-over-year increase.
Credits Avocadoes Camknows CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 “avocadoes by Elsa4Sound CC BY-NC 2.0
A stroll through a boutique garden store might lead you to believe that filling a garden with happy, healthy plants is only for the well-heeled. But those very plants that have soaring price tags in the store might be yours for free if you are willing to be a little creative. If you are wondering how to get free plants, you’ve come to the right place. Read on for five tried-and-true paths that lead you to free garden plants.
Have a look at the Best Blue Fruits that you can grow along with different plants and flowers in your garden for a touch of royal tint!
Requiring less watering and weeding than any other type of garden, a gravel garden is ideal for anyone with a busy lifestyle. Comprising freely draining soil covered in gravel, through which suitable plants grow, the only effort required is in its creation; after that, this contemporary form of garden largely looks after itself.
“Last year [2012] at the overwintering sites, the area occupied was at only 60 percent of its previous low,” she says. “It had been declining, but that was astonishingly low.”The migration-monitoring program Journey North also reported lower stats in 2013’s cold spring. And though the numbers were only preliminary when we spoke that fall, University of Minnesota’s Monarch Larva Monitoring Program seems to indicate that “we’re at about 20 to 30 percent of our average,” Oberhauser says, acknowledging that these drastically lower numbers might be a “new normal.” But she’s not sounding defeated, by any means.A big positive: A lot of people are interested in monarchs. “Though it will be difficult to make up for all the habitat we’ve lost, we can make that ‘new normal’ as good as we can.” (Ways to help are father down this page.)what going wrong for monarchs?MONARCH