Garden Design

Privacy is a goal many gardeners have in mind when landscaping their backyard. But many people limit themselves to planting boxing hedges or a row of monotonous trees. When landscape designer Austin Eischeid came across this property in Carroll, Iowa, he was tasked with creating a backyard garden from scratch while shielding the property from

Days are getting shorter, and there is a soft glow to the sunlight. That can only mean one thing: Fall is upon us. With this season comes a sense of urgency on the part of plants to throw seeds, thereby assuring their continuation next year. I will admit that I haven’t been a seed saver

Today, as part of our occasional series visiting great public gardens, Kevin Kelly is taking us to Wayne, Pennsylvania, just northwest of Philadelphia, to visit a truly spectacular garden. I recently made a trip to visit Chanticleer in Wayne, Pennsylvania. The Chanticleer estate was the country retreat of Adolph and Christine Rosengarten and was built

I’ve always thought about redoing the lyrics of “Santa Baby” by Eartha Kitt to make it more gardener-friendly. Not that there’s anything wrong with wanting a ’54 convertible in light blue, but I’d rather have an Ariens mechanical edger in bright orange. And I have no use for a ring under the tree. I’ve already

Everyone likes an upgrade. Whether it’s a faster car or a more efficient cell phone, it’s hard to turn down a better version of something you already like. Plants are much the same. If you already love that gorgeous catmint that flowers all season long, what not try one that not only has all the

Spring-blooming roses put on a spectacular show early in the season, expending the same amount of energy in their single bloom period that other roses put into theirs over the span of a year. Of course, that means they are just green during the summer, but that is part of why they are so great.

Today Bas Suharto is sharing a beautiful front garden with us. I live in Ottawa, Ontario (Zone 5b), and today I’m sharing pictures of my front garden. It is a parterre garden, 25 feet by 18 feet, facing southwest. The boxwood plants are the extra-hardy variety Buxus ‘Mont Bruno’ (Zones 4–9) from Quebec. The hedge

Johanna here from Aiken, South Carolina. (See a previous visit to her garden here.) Fall is my favorite season, and I especially love how my garden looks at this time of the year. It appears more alive than ever. My shrubs, grasses, ornamental trees, hollies, and mums seem to explode with shape, texture, and color.

We officially made it to November. The air is cooler, our windows are open, and what leaves we do have are falling. The javelinas and other wildlife in your area may have eaten what gourds and pumpkins you left out for Halloween decor. This is absolutely some of our favorite weather in Tucson. We can

Public gardens are some of the best places to see high-impact, high-quality horticulture. Regional tradition, enthusiasm, and great gardening come together across every corner of North America in these wonderful gardens. Visiting public gardens in your own region is without a doubt one of the best ways to make your own home garden better. Most

The real superpower of compost is that it gives life to soil. Compost is made from material that is digested by organisms and microbes that occur naturally in native soil. Worms, beetles, nematodes, and bacteria all play a role in creating compost. You can make compost using a simple recipe. Get to know the compost

The past few Fridays we’ve been tagging along as Cherry Ong takes us to visit some wonderful public gardens, but today she’s welcoming us into her home garden—specifically, the narrow, side garden she calls the Fern Fairway. It is a difficult space that she has transformed into a beautiful feature in her garden, and today

My name Krishna Cappa, and I live in Syracuse, New York. I put a small 125-gallon pond in this year. I then put three comet goldfish in the pond and many aquatic plants. Pickerel (Pontederia cordata, Zones 3–10) has showy spikes of purple flowers and is native to wetlands over much of eastern North America.

Elle Ronis in Stamford, Connecticut, has a stunning garden that we’re always excited to see. If you’ve missed previous visits to this garden, start here! Today’s photos look back at some highlights from the past gardening season. In the spring, a saxifrage (Saxifraga hybrid, Zones 4–8) puts out clouds of bloom. Saxifrages are classic inhabitants

Today we’re in the Ozarks, visiting with Susan Esche. A dear cousin was having difficulty finding a wedding venue for early October this year. We have a beautiful pavilion suitable for hosting a crowd, but early October is not usually the best time of year for my garden. It is a little early for the

Today we’re in southern Massachusetts at Dandelion House Gardens, home of Debbie Bosworth. I’ve been gardening for 30 years, and my gardens in this home are about 10 years old, with some annual tweaks here and there. I have herbaceous beds and about 800 square feet of raised beds for cut flowers. I’m a gardener-florist

We’re back with what is going to be a semi-regular feature of taking the GPOD on the road to visit great public garden spaces. Today friend-of-the-GPOD Cherry Ong is taking us to visit the incredible Butchart Gardens in British Columbia. Specifically, she’s taking us to see the Rose Garden, the Perennial Borders, and Enchanting Arches

Here at Let’s Argue About Plants we’re big fans of native plants. Our gardens are filled with them and for good reason: native plants are essential to the preservation and health of the local ecology. Aside from their benefits to the environment, many native plants are built to thrive in the conditions where you live,

Annual and tropical plants can add extraordinary colors and textures to any garden, especially from late summer through early autumn, when many perennials fizzle out. In Fine Gardening Issue #177, garden designer Laura Trowbridge wrote a feature article about the process of creating the long, deep, mixed border that wraps around the western side of

Today we’re visiting with Chuck Flower. I wanted to share pictures of my gardens, which I refer to as Highland Manor. I live on 3/4 of an acre just outside of Coatesville, Pennsylvania, and have been gardening here for over 11 years. I have a total of 10 water features, a garden room, and a