Garden Color: Lighten and Brighten With Yellow

During the flower-power days of the 1960s, Donovan sang about “being mad about saffron” in his hit song Mellow Yellow. Are we still mad about yellow in our gardens, and can it be mellow? Nature commonly uses yel

This Hillside Garden Succeeds on Multiple Levels

The Architecture Studio,inc The Architecture Studio,inc The family that lives in this Studi

There’s a Party in the Backyard, Says a Houzz Landscaping Survey

Hey, did you see the weather report for this weekend? We should totally have a party in my backyard. Invite everyone you know! Bring comfortable shoes, though, because I don’t have chairs, and sitting on the roc

8 Reasons to Plant a Great Tree

What better way to celebrate Arbor Day than by planting a tree in your garden or on a neighborhood street? Trees help mitigate heat-island effects by providing shade for streets and parking areas, add to the val

Good Read: ‘Landscaping Ideas That Work’

Good landscape design doesn’t have to be complicated. Simple moves, like adding a sandbox that invites kids to explore outside, creating an alluring outdoor room with foliage or turning an eyesore of a driveway

Touches of Grandness for the Garden

There’s more to landscaping than lawns and foundation plantings. Get inspired by formal garden traditions and incorporate a neatly trimmed hedge, striking symmetrical garden or whimsical topiary into your yard d

Get Your Garden Moving for a Magical Mood

A truly spectacular and deeply satisfying garden, no matter how simple it appears to be, is designed with multiple layers of interest. In fact, the appearance of simplicity may be deceiving. The Saturday-morning

Natural Swimming Pools: More Beauty, No Chemicals

Summer’s heat is not far behind the bursting of spring blooms and windy rains. This summer imagine yourself cooling off by floating in a backyard pool that feels immersed in nature. Natural swimming pools use pl

Give Your Lawn a Taste of the Wild

I’m an Englishman, so a perfectly manicured lawn is set deep within my gardening genes. Rainfall levels and temperate summers of the British Isles allow the grass to mature to a perfect green verdure, making it

Have Your Garden Fountain and Be Water Wise Too

With their delicate movement and melodious splash, water features often become the focal point of a garden. And nothing brings a feeling of coolness and tranquility quite like a pond or fountain. But what about

Ditch the Ordinary Ditch: Create a Realistic Dry Creek Bed

There are untold numbers of drainage ditches among us that are having identity crises. They have been designed and built as dry creek beds, but they don’t quite measure up. True, they perform the duties of dry c

A Spring Walk Through Piet Oudolf’s New Garden in the Bronx

With the blooming of the cherries and crabapple trees, spring is in full spring at The New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx. One of the great excitements of the season is the newest garden, a long herbaceous b

Style and Nature Come Together in a Slovenian Landscape Design

The town of Kranjska Gora, in 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 pe

From Concrete ‘Jail Yard’ to Lush Escape in Brooklyn

The homeowners of a two-story apartment in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights neighborhood wanted a backyard retreat that was calm and inviting. But that was a tall order, considering the concrete jungle that existed b

A Melbourne Backyard Entices Everyone Outside

Andre and Emma Roberts have been in their band, Blue Vinyl Lounge, for 15 years (she sings, and he plays bass). Their fun acid-jazz-funk sound pulls from a medley of musical styles — indie pop, blues, jazz and c

Erosion Control for Your Seaside Garden

Living on the beach is fantastic, but it comes with a landscaping challenge: Erosion can occur rapidly in a beach environment. There are several best practices for maintaining your shoreline and coastal garden,

A Modern Backyard Trumps the Texas Heat

What a bungalow may lack 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, inco

9 Ways to Make Your Yard More Fun for Kids

Play is at the heart of childhood, and an inspiring outdoor play area can give children many hours of enjoyment. But what if your garden is compact? Maybe you would like to avoid having a playset that takes up p

When Less Is Really More in Your Garden

I experienced one of those profound aha moments when I came across this quote by Australian architect Glenn Murcutt: “I see simplicity not so much as a disregard for complexity, but as a clarification of the si

12 Delightfully Different Garden Walls and Fences

You know the usual barriers well — the ones made of wood, brick, vinyl and chain link — but now it’s time to meet their more alternative friends. Here are 12 fences and walls that are creative and functional; th