Garden Design

Today we are visiting Margot Navarre’s garden in Bellevue, Washington. I adore my winter and spring gardens but am getting into the summer spirit of gardening. Lysimachia (Lysimachia punctata, Zones 4–8), Alchemilla mollis (Zones 3–8), lavenders (Lavandula species, Zones 5–9) and Nepeta (Zones 3–8) all perform without a lot of water, as well as no
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We all know and love parsley, sage rosemary, and thyme. And then there’s sweet basil which is perhaps the queen of all the herbs. But what about those herbs that are just as tasty—or attractive—but don’t get the same accolades? For those unsung heroes of the herb garden, we put together this episode. You’ll hear
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My name is Carolyn McKibbin, and I started this garden on my 2/3-acre suburban property in Summit, New Jersey, seven years ago. Named Colt Corner gardens, it is situated in Zone 6b among a thriving population of deer, rabbits, and chipmunks. I grew up in Sacramento in a family of talented gardeners, and later in
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Kat Kinch sent in today’s photos of a garden transformation. My mom, Pat, a retired teacher, was increasingly concerned that a huge, old red maple in close proximity to her house would one day end up in her bedroom in a summer storm. With no small amount of regret, she decided to have it taken
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Today’s photos are from Cherry Ong in Richmond, British Columbia. I wanted to share with you some amazing container garden designs by Hunter Norminton. I volunteer for a local nursery. Hunter joined the nursery part-time last year (he’s a student and has no formal horticultural training but was highly influenced by his mom), and he
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Today we’re visiting the garden of Carol Ann Bell in Greenville, South Carolina, with photos sent in by her friend Ellen Kirby: My garden has been a respite during the 30  years we have lived here in Greenville, South Carolina.  As my three children grew up,  I had more time for gardening, although I have worked hard to
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If you haven’t noticed, there are suddenly more hydrangeas (Hydrangea spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9) for northern gardeners than ever before. If you’ve become frustrated with getting a hydrangea to bloom in the Northeast, you have the wrong species. It’s easy to become confused with hydrangeas, as most are sold under their variety names. Also,
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I’m always happy when garden designer Jay Sifford sends in photos. We’ve visited his beautiful garden in Charlotte, North Carolina, a few times (Jay’s Garden in North Carolina, Revisited), and today we’re checking in on his second garden up in the mountains of western North Carolina. This is year 3 of my Zone 6 North
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Today we’re seeing photos of Marina’s beautiful garden in Beeton, Ontario, which is thriving despite a challenging start. I just wanted to share a few pictures of my garden. I started it in 2018 after we moved to a newly constructed house and waited for a couple of years for our yard to be graded
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According to NASA Earth Observatory, one-third of the United States experienced some level of drought in 2020 and 2021 was much the same. This pattern of extended dry weather is sadly becoming more and more of the norm. We recently did a feature in Fine Gardening magazine highlighting a series of drought tolerant woody plants
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Yes, I realize that 2021 was the hottest on record with temperatures reaching 108°F, and we can expect the weather to continue to change radically. However, along with drought-tolerant plant choices we should also consider water-loving perennial plants. As wet as the climate can be in the Pacific Northwest, we should all be embracing plants
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Gardeners across the world love the North American–native black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia hirta, Zones 3–8), also called gloriosa daisy. This straight species is particularly useful in cottage gardens, meadow landscapes, or pollinator gardens. Its native distribution is vast, stretching from North Florida into Canada. It’s often found in open landscapes with full sun. A high-summer bloomer
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Jane is sharing her northern Illinois garden with us today. This year the weather has been favorable for my plants to flourish, with periodic rain and warmth despite the windy conditions in northern Illinois. The show started with lots of bulbs as the garden woke up. You can see the weigela (Weigela florida, Zones 5–9)
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Today we’re headed to Florida to visit Linda Robert’s subtropical garden. My mom and I started working on what we call “the jungle garden” 17 years ago. It was just mud and pine trees when we started. She lived in the casita (guest house) to our “hacienda.” And in that time it has been knocked
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Today Sallie Boge is sharing a unique garden space: The St. Mary Church Garden Ministry in Riverside, Illinois, grows a vegetable/herb/fruit garden for charity food pantries. Our garden is consistently the number-one seasonlong producer for Share the Harvest, which organizes home gardeners to supply fresh, homegrown food to food pantries in the Chicago area. To
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I’m Lizzi, and I live in Walla Walla, Washington. We moved here 2½ years ago from Portland, Oregon, where I had been gardening for 20 years. While my planting zone didn’t change too much, from 8b to 7a, it’s enough colder and drier here that many of my favorites wouldn’t make it. I made lots
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Today Cherry Ong is taking us along to a garden she visited this spring. I had a serendipitous discovery when we visited Boundary Bay in Tsawassen, British Columbia, in a district called Southlands Tsawassen. There is a vibrant community garden there called Earthwise Gardens by Earthwise Society. Here’s more info on the farm and garden:
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Today we’re visiting with Nicki Snoblin in Lake Bluff, Illinois. Greetings! Back in April you published an entry titled “Bob’s Japanese-Style Garden,” and I immediately thought of an area in my yard where I could use a similar approach. We had a wedge-shaped bed containing a large horse chestnut tree, bordered by a sidewalk and
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Wayne Decker is inviting us into his railroad garden in Chubbuck, Idaho. We’ve visited before (Wayne’s Garden Railroad), and now he’e sharing how thing are looking as spring turns into summer. Here are my latest pictures for this year on my garden railroad. Things are starting to come back strong. My Irish moss lines the
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Today we’re visiting John and Joanne’s garden in Abbotsford, British Columbia. In the 28 years we have owned our house we have chosen not to fence the back. It makes the yard look bigger and offers regular opportunities to chat with passersby on Stoney Creek Trail. The downside is that dogs that are supposed to
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Today we’re in Maryland, visiting Mary Spencer’s garden. May is my favorite month of the year and is when my shade garden comes to life. I have lived here for 23 years and have taken out just a single rhododendron and added hundreds of plants. My love of hostas shows no evidence of waning. I
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As we kiss spring goodbye and welcome in the new summer season, we want to take a moment to reflect on what has happened recently—and what is in the works—for Fine Gardening. While you might think now is the time when we kick back and enjoy a refreshing cocktail in our own gardens, you’d be
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