Garden Design

Naturalistic, meadow-styles are visually dynamic, always changing, and have long seasonality. They evoke the feeling of being in nature and spotlight natural cycles of growth to decay. Some public gardens of this style include the Lurie Garden in Chicago, the Meadow Gardens at Delaware Botanic Gardens, and the Oudolf Garden on Detroit’s Belle Isle. Plants

We’ve been to Sutton, Massachusetts, to visit Dale Coulter’s stunning garden before (Dale’s Greenhouse and Garden), and it is always a pleasure to visit it again! This marvelous greenhouse, made primarily from reclaimed materials, is a highlight of the garden. It is both a functional and a beautiful piece of architectural art in the garden.

We are looking at Peter Duffek’s garden today. My Zone 5B garden is on a ¾-acre lot outside the city of Waukesha in southeastern Wisconsin. When my family moved here six years ago, the yard was lacking anything that resembled a garden. Only grass and some trees were present on the site. Over the past

Many gardeners who have tried to use a strawberry jar for patio plantings have been frustrated by the challenge of keeping it evenly moist. Most jars are made of clay, which tends to dry out easily, and they are usually filled with sun-loving plants and positioned in the sunniest (and, therefore, fastest-drying) spot in the

Cherry Ong has taken us to visit the beautiful grounds at Hatley Castle before, during the summer (GPOD on the Road: Hatley Castle). Luckily for us, she went back this spring to see it in its early-season glory. So while it may be summer at the moment, this GPOD post takes us back in time

Nearly everyone can grow tropical plants outdoors during the summer months, but when the first frosts are forecasted gardeners in colder climates know there will be some tough decisions ahead. Which plants will be moved to those coveted spots by a south-facing window for winter? Is it worth the trouble to dig dahlia tubers and

Today we are seeing photos of Ray Jones’s garden. My garden is on new construction. This was a pasture a few years ago and is in Palo, Iowa, Zone 4b/5a. I grow a mix of perennials, tropicals, and annuals. Much of the yard is still in process. My favorites this year were the petunias ‘Vista

This is Joseph, your GPOD editor, welcoming you to my new garden in South Bend, Indiana. I moved here almost exactly a year ago. When I moved in, the garden had been abandoned for two years and had turned into a mass of invasive weeds. This area along the back fence was lined with invasive

Shelley Haefner is sharing a beautiful garden with us today. One of the best ways to know if you’re planting for pollinators is if you see a continual increase in the varieties that visit. My gardens are organically grown in Old Chatham New York, Zone 5b, where we have a pretty short growing season. Over

When sitting outside in summer, I often appreciate the grasses planted in my garden. I fell in love with grasses several years ago and enjoy adding them to perennial and shrub beds, shade gardens, and even lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus, Zones 8–11) in vegetable gardens every chance I get. We’ve had some of the hottest

Dividing perennials is one of the easiest and cheapest ways to get more plants. Many perennials can be divided, but how and when should you do it? Here are three of the main questions people ask when exploring how to divide perennials. Three Questions About Dividing Perennials What does it mean to divide perennials? Dividing

Vegetative propagation, or taking cuttings, is often the best and only viable propagation method that home gardeners can use to make more of their favorite indoor plants. This method is also necessary when you want exact copies of the plant you already have, especially if that plant happens to be a hybrid. Here are five

We’re in the North York neighborhood of Toronto this morning, where Cherry Ong is sharing photos of the Entry Garden Walk at the Toronto Botanical Garden. The Entry Garden Walk was designed by Piet Oudolf. This was his first Canadian project and was inspired by his New Wave Planting style using bold drifts of perennials

Today’s photos are from Priti Pant, who is sharing some beautiful images from her Michigan garden. This beautiful pink peony (Paeonia hybrid, Zones 3–8) is of a type called “anemone form.” These peonies have a ring of large petals with a cluster of smaller petals (petaloids) in the center. This single peony with just a

By the time August rolls around, I’m looking for something new in the garden to pique my interest. I’m not quite ready for fall plants to take their turn, so I appreciate that shrubby bush clovers (Lespedeza spp. and cvs., Zones 4–8) bridge the seasons, providing me with the jolt I need. My first real

Two tools in one make this a versatile weed weapon A tool that I’m constantly turning to is my Barnel 15-inch combination cultivator/hoe. On one side of the forged head is a straight-edge hoe, and on the other side is a cultivator with four tines. This tool is the first thing I reach for when

As a newcomer to our property, I spend untold hours gazing at our land; nearly all that I see are trees. Yes, there’s a field leading down to a swimming pond, with a beaver pond beyond. But the old pastureland left behind by the rugged souls who eventually traveled west in search of richer soils

While this elephant’s ear is by no means new, when you see it you can’t help but want to shout its praises from the rooftops. At least that’s how we felt when we encountered ‘Mojito’ during a visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden. The massive leaves (up to 2 feet long and 1 foot wide)

They’re tough, they’re hardy, they thrive in almost any location. So why don’t we love them? Give this episode a listen to hear about why—despite the many good attributes of these plants—we just can’t bring ourselves to draw a heart around them. It’s easy to ask gardeners what plants they hate—we all have long lists

Fall is a wonderful time in the garden. The cool, crisp air encourages plants toward dormancy; perennial foliage starts to yellow and wither as deciduous trees paint the landscape with a kalei­doscope of colors. As we reluctantly accept the inevitable and begin preparing our gardens for winter, we can ease the transition by planting selections