In the summer of 2006, I took a trip to Washington DC and was roaming around all manner of museums, galleries and bookstores when I found this book: This book beautifully covers the legacy of Brazilian artist/naturalist/landscape architect Roberto Burle Marx (1909-1994)–I won’t go over his life and achievements here, but he introduced modernist landscape design [...]
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Just in time for Halloween, the Roundtable is offering up insights on “Darkness” in the garden! Creepy darkness, sinister darkness? No! Shady areas in the garden! Dark gardens can be brooding, gothic, cool or soothing. They can also be dank, inhospitable growing areas for many plants. Get some insight on your shady garden by reading [...]
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This month’s edition of The Garden Designers Roundtable is focusing on “getting from here to there”– or, for me, that means pathways and walkways! Unless you have a tiny garden, it’s really important to spend some time thinking about how you will get from one part of your garden to another. If you simply omit [...]
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Good Tuesday morning to you! This month’s Roundtable offering involves a hot topic in the gardening world: alternatives to the water-hogging, chemical-guzzling, high maintenance expanse of grass! In my area of the country (Texas), 90% of our state is experiencing devastating drought and extreme heat (105+ temps daily). Many people have simply let their lawns [...]
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“Water is the soul of the earth.” W.H. Auden I don’t plan a water feature for every garden I design, although I’d like to. They’re cooling on a hot summer day, and just the sound of water in the garden is relaxing and refreshing. But sometimes clients are afraid of the maintenance or the cost [...]
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Got shade? A lot of gardeners do! It might be making you crazy–maybe you yearn for roses, vegetables and lots of grass–but guess what? If you’ve got shade, you’ll have to reconsider your garden wants. Instead of thinking “sunny” and “bright,” think “lush” and “cool.” And I’ll do one better for you–this month, the Garden [...]
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It’s hard to overstate my love of rocks. I love their texture and chunkiness, I love the visual weight they add to any landscape, and I love how you can incorporate them into a garden to address grade changes, create positive drainage, pathways and places to sit and play on. Stones are simultaneously functional and [...]
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Gardeners have always grown their own food, but it seems that in the last couple of years, it’s really become a huge gardening trend. And actually, I’ll go as far as to say “cultural shift” instead of “trend”–trends tend to come and go, depending upon what’s in vogue at the moment, while a more cultural [...]
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I wish it had worked into my schedule to be a part of the GDR this month–I love being tuned into things around me that inspire design and plant choices. I’ve been inspired by public spaces like botanic gardens and restaurants, private gardens, magazine articles and books, and obscure things like a plate or a [...]
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We love our gardens! We play in them, we work in them, we putter and wander in them. But when was the last time you dined in yours? I garden on a 3rd floor balcony, and I designed it around eating and drinking (those of you who know me won’t be surprised): I planned my [...]
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