Gardening with Yellow: Brighten Your Landscape Without Overpowering It

Yellow brings warmth and energy to gardens, but used unwisely it can dominate. The key? Thoughtful placement, massing, and complementary pairings. From feature walls to goldenrod drifts, here’s how to make yellow sing.

Hillside Garden Transformation: From Play Area to Multi-Level Entertaining Retreat

A Studio City, California, family turned a 1,000-square-foot former bike-riding zone into a sophisticated, multi-level outdoor living space. Architect Jeffrey Tohl designed a sequence of distinct areas connected by stair

Backyard Entertaining Trends: What Homeowners Want Most, According to Houzz Survey

If your backyard party involves sitting on rocks, squinting in glare, and fleeing at dusk, you’re not alone. A Houzz survey of 4,500 homeowners reveals 56% plan landscape updates specifically for better entertaining. Her

8 Compelling Reasons to Plant a Tree This Season

Trees are the hardest-working plants in any landscape. They cool neighborhoods, shelter wildlife, cut energy bills, and boost property value—all while marking seasons with beauty. Whether you have room for a towering oak

Key Takeaways from ‘Landscaping Ideas That Work’ by Julie Moir Messervy

Good landscape design doesn’t require complexity. In her book Landscaping Ideas That Work, designer Julie Moir Messervy distills the elements that make outdoor spaces functional, beautiful, and livable. Here are the core

Formal Garden Ideas: Hedges, Topiary & Structured Green Spaces

Beyond lawns and foundation plantings lies a world of structured elegance: allées, parterres, knot gardens, and whimsical topiary. These classic elements bring order, enclosure, and year-round architecture to any yard. H

Designing Garden Movement: Wind, Water, Wildlife & Perceived Motion

Great gardens engage all senses. While color, texture, and form get attention, movement—the dance of grasses in a breeze, the ripple of water, the flutter of wings—adds a living, magical dimension. Here’s how to choreogr

Natural Swimming Pools: Chemical-Free, Eco-Friendly Backyard Oases

Imagine swimming in crystal-clear water that feels like a mountain lake—no chlorine, no red eyes, just pure refreshment. Natural swimming pools (NSPs) make this possible. Developed in Europe in the 1980s, they use plants

Meadow Lawns: The Low-Maintenance Middle Ground Between Turf and Wildflowers

The classic British lawn—emerald, striped, and mown weekly—is a cultural icon. But as leisure time shrinks and ecological awareness grows, many gardeners seek a middle path: a meadow lawn. This approach keeps the usabili

Water-Wise Garden Fountains: Enjoy Tranquility Without Waste

Water features bring a sense of cool serenity to any garden, their gentle splashes and reflective surfaces creating instant focal points. Yet in warm climates, evaporation can turn a beautiful fountain into a water-waste

Designing a Realistic Dry Creek Bed for Beauty and Function

Countless drainage ditches masquerade as dry creek beds but lack the artistic realism to reach their full potential in form and function. They move water away from structures, yet miss that touch of authenticity. Perhaps

Spring Walk Through Piet Oudolf's Redesigned Seasonal Walk at NYBG

With cherries and crabapples blooming, spring is in full swing at The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. A season highlight is the newest garden: a long herbaceous border called the Seasonal Walk, recently redesigne

Modern Alpine Landscape Design in Slovenia's Kranjska Gora

The town of Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, sits near the Austrian and Italian borders. Traditional wood and stone houses and barns with window grilles, pitched roofs, and wood log joints dot the landscape. Alpine peaks, plumme

From Concrete 'Jail Yard' to Lush Brooklyn Garden Sanctuary

The homeowners of a two-story apartment in Brooklyns Prospect Heights neighborhood wanted a calm, inviting backyard retreat. That was a tall order considering the concrete jungle behind the newly constructed dwelling. T

A Melbourne Backyard Designed for Family, Music, and Outdoor Living

Andre and Emma Roberts have been in their band, Blue Vinyl Lounge, for 15 years (she sings, he plays bass). Their fun acid-jazz-funk sound pulls from indie pop, blues, jazz, and classical. When they renovated their Melbo

Erosion Control Strategies for Seaside Gardens

Living on the beach is fantastic, but it comes with a landscaping challenge: erosion can occur rapidly in a beach environment. Several best practices help maintain your shoreline and coastal garden. The ecosystem dynamic

A Modern Houston Backyard That Beats the Heat

What a bungalow lacks in square footage, it makes up for in efficiency, functionality, and simplicity. For the backyard renovation of a 1927 Houston bungalow, designer Brett Zamore channeled these traits, incorporating t

Kid-Friendly Garden Design: 9 Ways to Make Your Yard a Play Paradise

Play is childhoods heart. An inspiring outdoor play area gives hours of joy — but what if your garden is compact? You avoid a space-hogging playset, or dont want toys visible from indoors year-round. Simple strategies in

When Less Is More: The Soul-Feeding Power of Garden Simplicity

Australian architect Glenn Murcutt: I see simplicity not so much as a disregard for complexity, but as a clarification of the significant. In our era of endless meetings, constant upgrades, overbooked lives — simplicity

12 Creative Garden Walls and Fences That Break the Mold

Wood, brick, vinyl, chain link — you know the usual suspects. Now meet their personality-packed cousins: 12 fences and walls that are equal parts creative and functional. 1. Sculptural Fence 300 Cor-Ten steel blades,