Garden Design

Today we’re in Evanston, Illinois (just outside Chicago), visiting with Zita Swindells. A few years back I sent in pictures of my postconstruction garden (Surviving Construction in the Garden)—nice bones, but a bit bare. Since then I have retired, spent quite a lot of time in pandemic lockdown, and turned to the garden as sanctuary.

Long-time Garden Photo of the Day contributor Cherry Ong may be the poster gardener for the spirit of the season. It has become a tradition for Cherry to make DIY Christmas wreaths and swags for friends and family out of materials she gathers from the surrounding landscape. She then travels around handing them out like

Today we’re visiting Joanne Eddy’s garden. Our property is just outside Halifax, Nova Scotia, and when we bought the house, it was basically a big blank slate. A few trees were on the property itself, but they were surrounded by woods on the edges to give great privacy. I started all the gardens from scratch,

When summer is in full swing, most gardens are full of color and lush foliage. As the warm days continue, however, some plants start to flag and get tired looking—but not dahlias (Dahlia spp. and cvs., Zones 8–11). Late summer is the time of year when these bounteous bloomers really start to get their groove

Friend of the GPOD Cherry Ong is taking us along for another visit to the Horticulture Centre of the Pacific (HCP) in Victoria, British Columbia. This time we’re taking a look at the gardens around the HCP Library. Cherry visited in the spring, as the gardens were just waking up and coming into growth. This

Today we are visiting Nancy Martin’s garden. I will be 72 years old in September. I live in Apollo Beach, Florida. However, I am a native of Virginia and lived there most of my life. In the summer of 2016 we moved into our current home. This house was a new build on a small

Indiana Dunes National Park in northeastern Indiana is full of unique ecosystems created by the tall sand dunes along the shore of Lake Michigan. Lots of people visit this park for the beautiful sandy beaches, but hikes through the surrounding landscape are a must for any plant lover. South of the dunes are wetlands and

We’re visiting with Linda Grey-Martin today. Hello from Calgary, Alberta. Our climate is officially Zone 4a, although many Zone 5 plants survive in my garden. Calgary is close to the mountains, and we encounter quickly changing temperatures and weather patterns in all seasons, a challenge for gardeners. That being said, there are a lot of

It’s Joseph, your GPOD editor, here. In my northern Indiana garden the dahlias are in peak bloom, and there is a little chill in the air in the mornings. So I thought today I’d share some of my favorite plants for this time of the year. Gotta start out with Salvia azurea (Zones 4–9). This

Warm-season perennial ornamental grasses are well suited for the garden spotlight, with their subtle leaf hues, exuberant textures, and interesting habits. They put out substantial early foliage that adds textural interest to beds and borders from late spring through early summer, and their flowers and seed heads keep the display going well into fall and

Amy Birdsong is taking us along to this beautiful garden today. My husband and I moved our youngest back to college in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, this weekend and stayed overnight so we could visit Reynolda Gardens. This space was designed and built in the early 1900s by the Reynolds family, and much of the layout

What gardener doesn’t like something a bit out-of-the ordinary, right? Especially when it’s a plant that puts on a serious show as the final curtain call is happening. Today we highlight some of our favorite unusual fall perennials, options that are interesting cultivars of a genus you may know, and weird oddballs you’ve likely never

Buying bulbs was one of those autumn rituals that I looked forward to. It was something to do just as the cooler, crisp days arrived in mid-September or October. It was a ritualistic, nostalgic annual event that went hand-in-hand with apple picking and pumpkin carving. But then my mailbox started getting stuffed with spring bulb

You may have heard of a technique in gardening called “sheet mulching” or “lasagna gardening.” This technique has been touted as a great way to wipe out weeds and build rich, organic soil. There are a few methods you can use when sheet mulching, depending mostly on whether you want to do shallow sheet mulching

Lynda Truelove is sharing her new garden with us today. I am an avid gardener, and we moved to our new home on a 7000-sq.-ft. unlandscaped lot a little over a year ago. I have enjoyed Fine Gardening magazine and certainly get lots of enjoyment and ideas from the lovely photos. I thought I could

Jolene Wireback sent in today’s photos, which are of her mother’s beautiful garden in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. My beautiful mother has done it again and has created the most whimsical retreat in her backyard. Her name is Nunzia Tina, and she is a true artist with her potted plants and topiary design. Her space is whimsical

Evergreen plants contribute life, texture, and color to the landscape all year long. But these plants are particularly valuable during the winter months when deciduous branches are bare, most of the blooming annuals are spent, and herbaceous grasses and perennials have either entirely disappeared for the season or whose crispy, dead foliage is desperately in

As summer draws to a close, it is easy to fall into a passive and lethargic state. As we approach this somewhat idle period in the gardening calendar, we must not forget what’s around the corner: the sneaky and unceasing offensive weeds in late summer and early fall. There are numerous tools and methods you

Cherry Ong is taking us to visit Abkhazi Garden in Victoria, British Columbia. These photos are from a trip she took there this spring. Japanese maples (Acer palmatum, Zones 5–9) are always beautiful, but look at the incredible trunk on this old cutleaf variety. It is an incredible piece of living sculpture. Looking across the

Today’s photos are from Tom. Hello from Zone 6 near Buffalo, New York! I’ve been growing with my garden for more than two decades, and my garden has been a playground, a canvas, and a classroom. I’ve learned my ABCs in the garden: Appreciate the amazing. Be in the beauty of the moment. Connect with