Happy Monday GPODers—hope you all had a fabulous weekend and, for those of us facing heat waves, are staying cool!!
When starting a restoration, renovation, or upgrade project it can be difficult to remember to take “before” photos, for me at least. I get too excited to get started that I jump right into things with no thought to slow down and document the process. When the project is all done, I always regret it.
Nothing tells a garden’s story quite like before and after photos. Seeing the journey of blank backyard to gorgeous garden full of plants and carefully planned hardscaping adds an extra level of appreciation and understanding of how a space was crafted. It can also be a living document of where you were, how far you’ve come, and the possibilities for the future.
Today’s submission from Claire Haskell is a perfect example of this. She shared the transformation of her Minneapolis garden from barren slope to lush oasis with perfectly placed paths and beds that allow for great growing and easy meandering through the different areas. Just seeing the “after” photos of this garden would have been a treat, but getting a glimpse of what existed “before” is that much more impressive and inspiring! But I’ll stop rambling and let Claire take it away:
When my husband and I moved into our house in Minneapolis, MN almost 10 years ago, the outside space was boring and unwelcoming.
Before: The yard at the front entrance was steeply sloped and had drainage issues that turned it into a big mud pit when it rained, leading us to nickname it “The Pit of Despair”.
Christopher (an engineer) was able to design and build a series of corten steel retaining walls to make the space useable.
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If a cup of coffee (or several!) are part of your morning or afternoon routine, it's likely that you've tossed a lot of grounds. Coffee grounds are actually full of organic matter and are wonderful to add to the compost pile to create a nutrient-rich amendment. There have been some misconceptions about used coffee grounds and whether it's a good idea to add them directly to your soil, and your houseplants.
Hi GPODers! Imagine never having to pack up and leave the lake house after summer vacation is over. Today we’re in the garden of Peter and Geri Riendeau, who made that dream a reality. However, after finally settling into their retirement dream home they built on a beautiful lake in southern Maine, they were still hard at work. They spent nearly a decade creating the dream garden to match this slice of paradise.
Hi GPODers! While most gardens could certainly be described as “special” this space gives that adjective even more meaning. Today we’re looking at the memorial garden that John Svinos created for his late father in New Jersey:
Gardening is not just a hobby, it is a way of life that allows us to get closer to nature. In our country, only 50 no deposit free spins in casinos can compete in terms of popularity with gardening, which has a special place in the hearts of millions of people. The history of British gardening goes back centuries, and this activity continues to attract more and more enthusiasts. In this article, we take a look at the best garden centres in the UK that offer a wide range of plants and gardening products, high quality service and many additional services. Whatever your preferences and level of expertise, you are sure to find something useful and interesting for you.
Hey GPODers! If you’re savvy on social media and your IG feed is full of gardens that make you say, “How do they possibly do it??” You might recognize today’s submitter, Valerie or @cottageandblossom. Today we’re looking at her enviable greenhouse and gorgeous cutting garden:
Hi GPODers! Today we’ve got an incredible garden story from a frequent GPOD contributor that is a demonstration of how magically small our big world can be. Bas Suharto has previously shown off gardens he has designed and built (check out some of those submissions: Building a Garden With Bas and Building a Japanese-Inspired Garden) as well as his own incredible home gardens (Parterre Garden in Ottawa and A Japanese-Style Garden in Ottawa). But the garden in this most recent submission caught Bas’ eye long before he was asked to lend a helping hand the space.
With garden openings over for 2024, my ramblings around the garden involve a combination of “this is gorgeous!”, “aren’t we fortunate?”, “thank goodness that’s over” and “how can I improve this?”. Already thoughts have turned to potential ‘tweaks’, nothing major, and ways to improve things I don’t feel have really worked – perhaps I will write a post on them in due course…
In January I visited the world’s largest horticultural show in Essen, Germany, and came away with some great take-aways, but I was especially impressed with the significant trend of pruning, training and grafting certain plants into new and unusual forms.