Garden Design, Garden Makeover, Garden Coach
I used to think the concept of having a dry river bed in your yard was stupid, artificial, a waste of good planting space, pretentious, and lot of other adjectives I don't have to mention. But having had my vision expanded and exposed to lots more interesting features recently, I'm increasingly a fan. Of well... Continue Reading →
As promised, here's another instalment of 5 Great Containers, this time a variant on the formula--"One Tree, One small Evergreen, One tall Perennial, One fluffy Perennial, One Grass". I saw this amazing grafted Cotoneaster (some feel this is an artificial-looking device, but what is art but an artificial device?), and had to buy it. My original... Continue Reading →
It could be a Juliet balcony, an urban front yard, the narrow space between houses, a boulevard you'd like to take under your wing, or any other tiny spot. You want it to be beautiful and functional. You already know how to make a nice container, but you also know there's lots more you could do if... Continue Reading →
So you've got this space, and you'd love to turn it into a sanctuary far from the madding crowd. A few keys to keep in mind when planning or renovating your garden are rest and roam: allow the eye to rest (i.e., not TOO busy, or pauses in the chaos), and provide a route for... Continue Reading →
I've been driving through Richmond BC lately and have been struck by how many disastrously pruned trees there are. Most of them are pruned the way they are because they are interfering with utility lines/poles in some way. So this post is a primer on how NOT to design with trees. My Neighbourhood This is... Continue Reading →
There are some annuals in my garden that I just want more of, or I want to be able to give away to friends, so I make a point of collecting seeds as often as I can. But in many cases here in balmy Metro Vancouver, I don't have to do the work, the plants... Continue Reading →
It occurs to me that people may be a little unclear about what to do with that cute little plant you just bought/received/acquired. I mean, how hard can it be? 1. Buy. 2. Take out of pot. 3. Put in the ground. 4. Watch it grow. Well, the answer is, pretty much not hard at... Continue Reading →
Any first blooms of the season are exciting, And somehow, roses are up there with the best of them. I have quite a few roses, some I love more than others, but Julia Child, now entering only its 4th year in my garden, is the best of the best. Her growth habit is restrained and... Continue Reading →
Five days and untold number of labour-hours later, the mountain of mulch is gone, and a new one has appeared. Most of the mountain has been translocated to a spot behind the carport. Here's what it looked like 5 days ago And from the other side, just to get a better perception of how much... Continue Reading →
Bark vs arborist's wood chips: Again, I defer to Linda Chalker-Scott: The Myth of Pretty Mulch pretty much 😉 says it all. Using bark mulch has too many disadvantages, whereas wood chips have few. So this: ...is now this: As I've said in previous posts, my garden is my research field. So I'm going to try... Continue Reading →
Real Life Garden Solutions 