The Best Winter Garden Project? Plan for Next Year

The gardening season may be coming to a close for much of the country, but late fall is the perfect time to plan next year’s garden. You can still see the remains of plants kissed by frost, yet the fallen leaves

The Art of the Espalier

With garden spaces becoming smaller around our urban and suburban homes, the espalier is enjoying a revival. To espalier is to train trees, shrubs and vines on a frame (also called an espalier) so they grow into

Great Design Plant: Evergreen Candytuft for Glossy Winter Foliage

Hues of brown and gray predominate in the winter garden, so a peek of green now and then is most welcome. Evergreen candytuft is a perennial — technically a woody subshrub — that maintains its neat, low mound of

Great Design Plant: Coral Bark Japanese Maple, a Winter Standout

Sometimes we want a little drama in the garden — something unusual, a plant with the power to stand on its own. Few four-season plants can compare with coral bark Japanese maple. With fiery red stems that stand

Evocative Plants to Awaken All the Senses

Some of the most magical moments in my life are when I enter a new garden I’ve never seen before. And if it’s behind a hidden corner or gate, when the view opens I’m overwhelmed in a good way. My Spidey senses t

Great Design Plant: Brittlebush Brightens Rocky, Dry Spots

Desert hillsides are dotted in a carpet of yellow in winter and spring as brittlebush comes into bloom. This Southwestern native may be beautiful, but it is also one very tough shrub. Brittlebush handles areas

Feed the Birds: 6 Plants for Abundant Winter Berries

By the time winter officially arrives, the insects, seeds and other foods that birds have been dining on have become scarce. Many of us pick up the slack by feeding the birds, and they depend on our supplemental

Alpine Plants: High Performers at Low Altitudes Too

There is something quite amazing about a miniature landscape of alpine plants. Not only is it a unique visual feature, but it also can be an effective way to deal with difficult areas of your site. As the name s

9 Ideas for Thoughtful Gardening in 2014

This year on Houzz I’ve seen how thoughtful gardens and good ideas transcend aesthetics and style. In the projects we’ve profiled and the articles we’ve written, several core values continue to surface. And thou

9 Plants That Channel Pantone’s Color of 2014

If you’re on top of the latest trends in fashion and design, then you likely know that Radiant Orchid is Pantone’s 2014 Color of the Year. Gardeners pull inspiration from a number of sources, so why not use the

13 Risks to Take for True Garden Rewards

When I go to a client’s house and we’re talking about new beds, borders and planting schemes, we invariably get to the conversation of wanting a more natural or organic look that ties in to the nearby environmen

5 Easy Ways to Break Free of a Gardening Rut

The spring gardening catalogs have been arriving since Thanksgiving. So what if the holiday decorations haven’t been boxed away, the wind chill makes it feel like -2 degrees Fahrenheit, and you’re still nursing

Great Design Plant: Kumquats for a Juiced-Up Winter

The distinct, tart and tangy flavor of the kumquat, a close relative of citrus, is distinctive enough to make you form your own opinion the minute you bite into the edible sweet rind for the very first time and

Expert Pruning Secrets for Exquisite Roses

After the threat of frost has passed, hit the garden armed in your toughest clothes and sharpened pruners for the annual task of cutting back the roses. While gardeners may share different insights on the art of

Great Design Plant: Santa Rita Prickly Pear for Purple Appeal

No matter the season, Santa Rita prickly pear adds a variety of colors to the desert garden, along with great texture, thanks to its paddle-shaped pads. As winter approaches, a truly wondrous transformation tak

Great Design Plant: Curl-Leaf Mountain Mahogany, an Easy Evergreen

This native of the U.S. West has a strong presence in the landscape. Evergreen foliage cloaks a large, upright to loosely rounded form that’s perfect as a winter accent, screen or hedge in dry, cold climates.

7 Native Wildflowers to Make You an Awesome Butterfly Host

When we look at plant catalogs and nursery tags, I bet one of the first things we get excited about is finding the little butterfly symbol showing that the plant brings in, well, butterflies. Of course, more oft

Gardening for Happy Kids

I grew up in two places: Oklahoma and Minnesota. In Oklahoma we lived on a short hill above a creek, and I’d often seek out that creek to play in. It provided wonder and an opportunity to be imaginative that my

6 Flowers for Gorgeous Winter Garden Color

Is your garden a floral wonderland in summer but devoid of flowers in winter? There is a period of time between the last leaf fall of autumn and the first crocus opening in early spring when we crave not only co

Don’t Let These Excuses Keep You From Gardening

So you’re not a gardener. It might be because you tried to grow tomatoes with disastrous results, or maybe just because you don’t think you have the room or free time to make a garden happen. Whatever your reaso