Garden Design Essentials: Proportion and Scale

Proportion and scale seem to be the most challenging concepts to pull off correctly in the landscape. Ive seen so many spindly arbors and trellises that look fragile and temporary. And Ive noticed how sad and lo

Layer on the Textures for a Lush Garden Look

Like pairing typefaces, layering clothing or accessorizing a room, the trick to a successful garden design is layering textures. Once you have mastered the art of caring for plants, you can work toward a cohesiv

All-White Gardens Light Up the Night

Have you ever wandered through a garden at night? While the sounds and scents seem to intensify, its usually hard to enjoy any of the sights without a flashlight. A white garden is a different story: Youll want

Lessons from Monets Garden

The impressionist painters of the late 19th century changed the way we looked at the world, and in the case of Monet changed the way we looked at our gardens.In 1883, Monet and his family moved to the village of

Lay of the Landscape: Coastal Garden Style

Gardening by the sea is not for sissies. Even the best day at the seaside will bring noticeable breezes and salt spray. When the weather is stormy, there’s the added dimension of strong winds, even stronger salt

Lay of the Landscape: Tropical Garden Style

Think tropical and your mind probably goes to a spot filled with sun, sand, warm water, soft breezes, lush greens and exotic flowers. Its an immediate vacation. If you live in a tropical or subtropical climate,

Luxuriate in the Calm of a Minimalist Garden

Minimalist design has moved beyond interior design into the garden. In recent years, glossy lifestyle magazines have featured pristine interiors composed of carefully chosen decoration, blank walls, functional f

6 Steps to Get a Garden Off to a Glowing Start

Gardening is not for the faint of heart. Beyond the physical labor and hours of attention a mature garden takes, there are so many decisions that need to be made. Bring home 10 new plants from the nursery and yo

Relish the Romance of a Slovenian Garden

When you discover a place that you love, you always wonder: Do I tell everyone about it because its a great place, or do I keep it a secret so it doesnt become overcrowded? Thats how I feel about Slovenia — a co

Homes Score Above Par With Golf Features

As I type this, the final round of the 112th U.S. Open is under way at the Olympic Club in San Francisco*. The lakeside golf course at Olympic, on which the pros play, dates back in its current form to the mid-1

Bathe Your Garden in a River of Color

Youve heard of planting things en masse, but does that mean you pick out five petunias instead of one or two? Try 50 or even 550 petunias — often thats whats needed for a good mass planting to make a river. Of c

8 Splendid Side Yard Designs

Welcome to the unsung hero of the domestic landscape: the side yard. Some of us close our eyes while rushing through that narrow space, merely to get from point A (the front yard) to point B (the backyard). Its

Sift Through 8 Stylish Sandboxes

When it comes to backyard playtime, kids dont need a lot of bells and whistles. Take sandboxes, for example — tots are perfectly happy with a few basic boards nailed into a square and filled with the powdery stu

Hardscaping Shows Its Soft Side

Fantasizing about your dream garden but constrained by a budget? Concerned about the environmental impact of your magnum opus? Planning to do the work yourself but lack the skills of a master builder? Fear not

3 Overlooked Spaces With Great Garden Potential

It is all very well for those of us with neat, light airy spaces where we can create our ideal outdoor garden, but what about others who have only a drafty side access or a utilitarian stairway — how do you crea

Lush Garden in the Las Vegas Desert

The desert landscape of Las Vegas is tough: Water is at a premium, and the soil is poor. Luckily for this couple, their property abuts conservation land that provides a canopy of shade over their backyard, and t

Guest Picks: Contemporary Garden Ideas

Hooray! Summer has finally arrived! Now its time to get outside and enjoy your garden. If youre keen to incorporate contemporary styling and design into your garden, however small or large it is, there are plent

Lay of the Landscape: English-Style Gardens

An English landscape is characterized by sweeping vistas across rolling lawns, distant groves of trees, natural ponds and lakes, discreetly placed Greek and Roman ruins, and a sense of pastoral peacefulness. Its

Shape and Pattern Set Gardens Tone

Shape and pattern are simple words, but how do they relate to the way we design our gardens and the style we create for ourselves?Understanding the ways shapes relate to each other is at the very center of garde

8 Unthirsty Plants Help You Save Water in Style

Water is one of our most precious resources, yet each year many households use more water outdoors than for all other purposes. Of this, the majority is used for landscaping. Its estimated that the average subur