Add a Touch of Sparkle With Recycled Glass in the Garden

Flowers and foliage provide us with so many ways to add color and brightness to the garden, but what about when the seasons change and the hibiscus has dropped its last cherry-red bloom or the flush of fall colo

Perspective Tricks to Make Your Garden Appear Larger

Renaissance painters used color, line and scale to create a linear perspective in their artwork, giving their paintings realistic depth. These techniques can be used in garden design to trick the eye into believ

How to Choose a Fence That Feels Right and Works Hard

When I was growing up, rusty chain link or split rail lined with galvanized wire ruled the neighborhood, and choosing a fence was all about keeping the dog in or keeping other dogs out. The big house on the hill

How to Shape a Rain Garden and Create the Right Soil for It

A rain garden is a beautiful addition to the home landscape and is a sustainable way to return rainwater from your roof, or other impervious surfaces, back to the aquifer. Instead of sending water downstream thr

5 Steps to Selecting the Right Plants for a Rain Garden

Plant selection for rain gardens is a real treat, because a rain garden gives you the opportunity to use resilient native plants that you might not otherwise have in your landscape. These plants are uniquely ada

How to Design a Rain Garden That Loves Stormy Weather

Rain gardens allow stormwater runoff to infiltrate the soil and return water to the aquifer. They also offer a great new garden bed for the home landscape. This article, the fourth in a series about rain gardens

How to Design Garden Paths That Bring a Landscape to Life

Paths, whether stretching from street to door or winding through gardens, have always intrigued me. Perhaps it’s because their lines lead the eye and there are so many great design and material options for them,

17 Wandering Paths That Take Joy in the Journey

The best aspects of life are sometimes off the beaten path, and the same could be said about your garden. While brick paths and concrete driveways are certainly functional, necessary and expected, don’t overlook

7 Questions to Ask Before Laying Stepping Stones

Stepping stones beckon you on a journey. They can lead you up to your front door or link your house to a secluded spot in the garden. Whatever their purpose, it pays to get them right. Ask yourself these questio

11 Trees for Brilliant Fall Color

One of autumns joys is watching the leaves on the trees change color; look at the enduring popularity of day trips (or even longer excursions) just to enjoy this phenomenon. If youre lucky, you can enjoy the sh

7 Ways to Create Quiet in Urban Gardens

Your garden should be your own private place for solitude. Noise contributes to how peaceful a garden feels, and unwelcome noise from highway traffic, busy streets or mechanical systems can put a damper on your

What Sculpture Brings to the Garden

Every garden needs and deserves at least one piece of sculpture. Sculpture, especially when it’s large, reinforces a sense of place, forges a relationship between garden and architecture and reinforces a garden’

An Artist’s Garden Delights With Beauty and Whimsy

Some gardens intrigue us with their beauty and individuality. This artist’s garden in Phoenix is one of those. The private garden surrounds old adobe structures in a historic district and belongs to Suzanne Bra

Secondary Sculptures Bring Style and Surprise to the Garden

It is often said that the devil is in the details, meaning that the smaller, seemingly insignificant parts of something can make or break it. In the garden, secondary art, big or small, can provide subtle nuance

How to Choose and Site Garden Art

The garden, just like life, is all about balance. When is there just enough going on, or too much or not enough? When it comes to choosing and siting art in the garden, balance becomes even more important. The k

Consider a Plant as Living Sculpture

From a design standpoint, every garden needs two things: structure and a focal point. Without these, a space lacks coherence and interest, losing the opportunity for personality and becoming just a collection o

How to Design a Family-Friendly Yard for People of All Ages

Your yard, like your home, should be an enjoyable asset for the whole family, with spaces for kids to play, adults to hang out and older people or anyone with limited mobility to access. Landscape design for all

6 Reasons Why You Should Save Your Rainwater Now

Rainwater capture and storage during the rainy season is a smart, forward-thinking way to deal with drier times. It’s easy and affordable to install a rain barrel and will make your plants and soil happy. Read o

How to Move Water Through Your Landscape

Drainage problems and issues with moving water are common challenges for homeowners. They can originate from the way the site was developed when the home was constructed and may become worse over time, depending

The Garden That Orchids Built

In the orchid world, few nurseries have a reputation and history as rich as that of R.F. Orchids. Located in Homestead, Florida, about an hour south of Miami, the nursery sits on land that has been in owner Robe