Garden Design

Many people think of soil as dead, decomposed organic matter and minerals. But it’s much more than that. Soil is full of life. Trillions of organisms live in soil, using and recycling the nutrients and chemicals found around them. More than that, these organisms have a symbiotic relationship with each other and with plants, which

Long appreciated for their airy blooms and charming, carefree nature, native heucheras (Heuchera spp. and cvs., Zones 4–9) were gleaned from their mountain and woodland habitats many years ago to prettily populate our shaded perennial borders. Plant breeders took note of heuchera’s hardiness, versatility and beauty. By combining the most attractive features of three native

This is your GPOD editor, Joseph, and a few days ago I drove up to Michigan to visit my friend Brigitta Stewart. She runs a small mail-order nursery called Arrowhead Alpines, and her personal garden is packed to the gills with fascinating and beautiful plants. Most of the plants were still dormant, but there were

Little kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To us, this is the most wonderful time of the year. And with the start of the season, comes those inevitable trips to the nursery. In an effort to not max out their credit cards, this spring Carol and Danielle are making shopping lists of plants that they

When designing a garden, I am often looking for plant material that tolerates both full-sun and shade conditions. Perhaps the garden bed includes a young tree that currently provides very little shade but over time will shade more and more of the garden. In this situation, I want a plant that can tolerate full sun

I have lived—and gardened—in three countries: England, Barbados, and the United States. In the United States, I found myself settled on the eastern tip of New York’s Long Island, a grower’s paradise in USDA Hardiness Zone 7. Access is important, even in a tight space. Paths of 2×10 lumber enable the author to harvest his

When I was a girl, my mom and I took weekly trips to the market for fruit and vegetables. Even then, I was fascinated by the different apples, lettuce, peppers, and tomatoes—although there was just one kind of paste tomato, and it was always called ‘Roma’. Gardening and canning have since become a minor obsession

Yes, we all want flowers whenever and wherever we can get them, but don’t forget that foliage plants are your stalwart garden workhorses. With this knockout heuchera, you get the best of both worlds. ‘Magma’ delivers with airy pink blossoms on 30-inch stems in early summer, but the real wow factor is its leaves. You

Often it’s easier to explain what a cottage garden isn’t than what it actually is. A cottage garden doesn’t have a plethora of straight lines, defined borders, or a bunch of tidy plants that stay in neat little balls year-round. On the contrary, a cottage garden is usually defined by its soft, curved lines and

Typical cottage gardens—the ones we see in English gardening books and magazines—are undeniably beautiful. But when gardeners in the States attempt to replicate their charming and iconic look, the result can often be unstructured and chaotic. David Kirchner and Scott Warner set out to create a garden in North Truro, Massachusetts, that was inspired by

Gardeners love the creatures that inhabit their backyard worlds almost as much as they love their plants. And with the issue of climate change and loss of natural habitat now right at our doorstep, it has never been a more critical time to do what we can to support birds and pollinators in our cultivated

Today we’ve got an unusual GPOD submission. Janelle Molony is sharing with us the story and some photos of her great-grandparents, Louis and Martha Nasch, from St. Paul, Minnesota. The German-American Nasch family in St. Paul, Minnesota, produced an abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables and vibrant blooming flowers in their post-WWI front yard “Victory

Gardeners know that the best way to ensure a good show in their beds is to get ahead of maintenance by starting early and doing tasks continuously. Chores like weeding or pruning can easily become monumental if put off for too long. While we may know this is sage advice, many of us are also

Today we’re celebrating spring with frequent GPOD contributor Carla Zambelli Mudry in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Spring is finally back, and every day brings new discoveries in the garden—heirloom daffodils opening all over, shrubs starting to pop with little bits of fuzzy green. Once again, the first tree to bloom will be a volunteer native redbud (Cercis

Today’s photos are from Laura. After a sudden drop in temperature, my suburban Philadelphia garden was transformed with a shimmering coating of ice. Without much forethought but with my cell phone in hand, I managed to capture the magic as mature shrubs and evergreens glistened with ice that melted away almost as quickly as it

Today we’re visiting with Alan Weisberg. I live in the foothills of Haycock Mountain in rural southeastern Pennsylvania, I’ve been gardening for 45 years on three acres of what was once a 100-acre farm with a fieldstone home and barn built in 1741. The restoration of the structures, landscaping, additions, and vegetable and flower gardens

If you’ve been gardening for more than a few seasons, you have surely heard the expression “Right plant, right place.” This garden shorthand sums up a useful and straightforward idea: If a plant is well-adapted to the soil, light, moisture, and climate conditions of its location, it will perform well without a lot of extra

Yes, that’s right: plants can solve problems. Maybe not problems like those noisy neighbors next door or your husband failing to replace the toilet paper roll, time and time again. But plants can solve problems like a barren patch of garden under a shallow-rooted tree, or a lack of pollinators in your yard. Today’s array

Today we’re in Old Chatham, New York, visiting with Shelley Haefner. I have been gardening for a little over 12 years now. At the beginning of my journey, I just purchased what I loved and planted it wherever I wanted to plant it without giving much thought to the shape of the garden, the soil,

If you still have space for more dazzling options, check out these bleeding heart cousins. They are not all readily available in nurseries or by mail order, but they are certainly worth the space in the garden if you come across them. Photo: doreenwynja.com 1. The climbing bleeding heart, of which ‘Athens Yellow’ (Dactylicapnos scandens