Top Mail-Order Sources for Fruit & Nut Trees

With the retirement of Bill Ford (Johnson Nursery, Ellijay), here are trusted mail-order sources for quality fruit and nut trees: Adams County Nursery Schlabachs Nursery Van Well Nursery Bottoms Nursery Bob Wells Nurser

Crapemyrtle Pruning: Stop the "Murder," Start the Method

Crapemyrtles dont need pruning to bloom—but they tolerate almost any approach. Severe crape murder (topping) creates weak, disease-prone growth. Instead, prune with purpose based on your plants form. Tree-Form Crapemyrtl

Spiny Sowthistle: Easy to Spot, Easy to Control

Spiny sowthistle (Sonchus asper) announces itself with prickly, clasping leaves and a tall, hollow stem. Like wild lettuce, it has a taproot and is easily dug with a dandelion fork or water weeder. Seedlings succumb quic

Wild Lettuce (Prickly Lettuce): Edible Weed with a Taproot

Wild lettuce (Lactuca serriola) starts as a dandelion-like rosette but bolts into a tall, spiny stem. Good news: its edible (young leaves in salads), and it has a long taproot thats manageable with a dandelion fork or wa

Indian Mock Strawberry: Weedy Lookalike You Shouldn't Eat

Indian mock strawberry (Potentilla indica) mimics true strawberry but gives itself away with yellow flowers (edible strawberries have white or pink) and bland, dry red fruit. Its a non-native weed that spreads by runners

Carolina Jessamine: The Yellow Vine That's Not a Jasmine

First, the spelling: its jessamine, not jasmine. This vigorous, spring-flowering vine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is a Southern classic, draping arbors and fences with fragrant yellow trumpets. Along highways, its dense gro

Designing a Rain Garden: Turn Wet Spots into Beautiful Features

Stop fighting a soggy low spot—embrace it with a rain garden. These shallow, planted depressions capture runoff and filter it naturally using moisture-loving plants. Start by selecting species suited to damp soil, then c

Controlling Common Purslane: The Prolific Summer Weed

Common purslane (Portulaca oleracea) is a succulent summer annual that forms dense mats in gardens, lawns, and bare soil. Its reddish stems radiate from a central taproot like wheel spokes, and tiny yellow flowers open o

Fragrant Crapemyrtle Exists: Meet Lagerstroemia fauriei

Most crapemyrtles arent fragrant—but one species breaks the rule. Lagerstroemia fauriei, a non-hybridized type, carries a distinct lemony perfume. Its also more cold-tolerant and disease-resistant than common hybrids, wh

Hydrangea Summer Pruning: A Step-by-Step Photo Guide

After summer rains hydrate your hydrangeas and blooms fade in late June, its the perfect window to shape them for next years show. The key: cut just above a pair of buds or opposite leaves. Leave shorter stems untouched—

Leyland Cypress Lifespan: Why Proper Planting & Watering Are Critical

Leyland cypress is a Southern landscape favorite, planted by the millions for fast privacy screens. But these trees arent built for prolonged heat and drought—stress that invites disease and shortens their lives. Observa

Patio of the Week: Fire, Water & Light Transform a Canadian Front Yard

Would you believe my husband started as a plumber? asks Terri Laan of Oakville, Ontario. Christopher Farner, her husband, gave their front patio a modern makeover that blends fire, water, and dazzling LED lighting into a

10 Creative Fence Designs That Transform Boundaries into Features

Chalkboard walls, bubbled acrylic, perforated copper — these arent typical fencing materials, but they turn a utilitarian necessity into a design statement. If a fence update is on your list, consider these 10 unexpected

Design Icon: Lawrence Halprin — Choreographing Landscapes for People

Lawrence Halprin (1916–2009) was a visionary who brought modern design to the land, revitalized neglected urban areas, and pioneered ecological conservation decades ahead of his time. Born in Brooklyn, he spent three for

8 Design Ideas from the Chelsea Flower Show's Top Garden Designers

The Chelsea Flower Show — five intense days in the grounds of Londons Chelsea Royal Hospital — showcases the worlds most sophisticated garden design. Beyond new plants and products, the show gardens overflow with adaptab

20 Ways to Capture the Cottage Garden Look

I still mourn the loss of Cottage Living magazine — its pages overflowed with dreamy, wall-to-wall flower gardens. While nothing quite fills that void, Houzz offers a wealth of cottage garden inspiration. The beauty of t

Year-Round Garden Color: Paint, Accessories & Bold Accents (No Flowers Required)

Every gardener loves colorful flowers — but blooms are seasonal and fleeting. For reliable, year-round color without the maintenance, look beyond plants. Paint, furniture, pottery, and accessories can deliver vibrant imp

Landscape Design: Framing Views with 'Windows to the World'

Early in my garden-writing career, a mentor — a young landscape architect in Tucson — taught me a concept that has shaped decades of design thinking: the window to the world. Similar to a Japanese moon window, these open

Garden Tour: An Enchanting Greek Landscape Shaped by Sea and Wind

Some gardens feel less designed than discovered — as if theyve always existed, emerging organically from the land itself. The Garden on Paros, designed by Carolyn Chadwick, possesses this rare, magnetic quality. Featured

5-Day Outdoor Makeover: Transforming a Hollywood Hills Cottage for Houseguests

When design blogger Coco of COCOCOZY learned a dear friend was flying from a Garden District mansion in New Orleans to stay at her modest Hollywood Hills cottage, she sprang into action. Her 1940s home — which she affect