FUTURE GARDEN IDEAS
What ideas do you have for our yard? After you’ve shared your wish list and budget with the designer, and the designer has had a chance to view your property, ask what vision the designer has for your landscape. Designers have different mediums of presenting their ideas for your landscape, ranging from a collage-style mood board with inspiration images for plants and hardscape materials to a two-dimensional, to-scale drawing created with a CAD program or by hand. This is the time to speak up about what you like and dislike in the design or if you see anything that’s missing from your wish list — for example, more space for tool storage, room to grow vegetables or an area with shade. Following this meeting, a designer will draw up a revised design drawing based on your feedback.
Add a Wildflower Patch Wildflower meadows are simply beautiful and, regardless of the size of the area you have available, you can still sow seeds. Doing some research on what type of wildflowers will suit your soil will help you to work out which are most likely to thrive. A truly native wildflower meadow will do best in a sunny spot where grass grows thinly. Ideally, this would be where there’s impoverished turf, which means a lawn that’s been mown for years with the clippings removed and no fertilizer added. Just check that your lawn doesn’t contain ryegrass, which is not ideal because it’s very vigorous and will compete with wildflowers. If you want to go all out for flowers, a pictorial meadow does not contain grass seeds. This type of meadow comprises an annual mix, which must be sown on bare and well-prepared, weed-free soil in the spring. The fertile, rich soil will produce flowers that bloom from June to October. It will leave bare soil in winter, so you need to be prepared for this.
Restrict Your Palette A wildlife-friendly garden doesn’t have to mean a riot of color. If you prefer a limited palette, you can create a design that’s neat and stylish, yet still attracts insects and other visiting fauna. Try introducing plants that add structure but are also insect-friendly. Bees in particular are attracted to blue and violet colors, due to the fact that they see in ultraviolet, so it’s good to include purple flowers. Hedging is generally a better alternative for wildlife than solid fencing and, by using straight lines and dividing spaces, you can create a stylish, modern feel to a space. If you want to add a shed, consider including a living roof on top with sedums, or plant a trough and fill it with tough alpine perennials, creating a haven for insects.
Gorgeous natural garden in Cape Ann, MA Landscape designer.
Birdbaths Substantial birdbaths, such as those made of stone or concrete, can also help add visual weight to the garden, acting as focal points as well as friendly spots where birds can take a dip. In her own home garden in Cape Ann, Massachusetts, landscape designer Hilarie Holdsworth used a stone birdbath with a recirculating fountain to mark the center of a formal parterre. In spring, forget-me-nots fill in among the evergreen boxwoods and billow over stone bed edges, as shown here. In winter, the birdbath is emptied of water and the fountain disconnected, but the birdbath still stands as an attractive garden sculpture.
Metal Obelisks Long used by English gardeners to add structure to overflowing perennial borders and kitchen gardens, metal obelisks are just as useful for adding interest to garden beds off-season. Try placing a single obelisk in an empty garden bed or at the end of a garden walkway to act as a focal point.
Welcome Birds Connecting with the natural environment by inviting birds into your yard is another way to make a garden feel at once peaceful and more alive. Hang a feeder or choose a water feature with birds in mind — they often like shallow water and always like it to be clean — and wait for a few days for birds to “discover” your garden.
Choose a Soothing Color Palette Cool colors like blues, silvers and greens, as well as neutrals, can feel more serene in a landscape than hotter reds, yellows, pinks and oranges. That being said, the colors that make you feel calm and peaceful can be different from those of the next person. Select plants and hardscape materials in colors that you personally find calming, and arrange them together in large groupings. For example, a purple monochromatic planting of salvia and catmint give a relaxing feeling to this path in a Portland, Maine, landscape by Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design.
While native plants often offer the most benefits to the animals that have evolved alongside them, many ornamental plants and herbs can also help support local fauna. Garden Stories No garden is too small to support pollinators. “Planting an herb garden on a small terrace can be helpful for butterflies and beneficial insects,” Town says. “Parsley and dill both attract the black swallowtail caterpillar. Or try a pocket of native cardinal flower (Lobelia cardinalis) or a pocket of red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis).” In addition to adding wildlife-friendly plants, consider incorporating a water source into your garden, which will help support wildlife as well.
Locally Sourced Materials The plants, wood, stone, gravel, concrete and other garden materials that go into a landscape installation leave an ecological footprint in terms of how they were obtained and how far they had to be transported to reach your garden. Landscape designer Christine Krause encourages homeowners to ask about the origin and sustainability of materials. For this New England garden, Krause used locally sourced flagstone and reclaimed granite for a permeable patio.
PERENNIAL BORDER BEDS receive no supplemental irrigation, save for occasional hand watering. They require deadheading and occasional staking. The planting is only a year old, but Wheatley-Miller says some of the perennials will be due for dividing and replanting in three to five years. Although the perennial garden was only planted last fall, by midsummer the plants had fully taken off and filled the beds with color — a show designed to last until the end of autumn, with boxwoods and holly adding winter interest. “Plants now provide color, texture and scent from spring into late fall,” Wheatley-Miller says. She says her clients see lots of butterflies and enjoy the small happenings in the garden, from bulbs emerging in spring to perennial peonies bursting into bloom. With the entry plantings done, the team is turning to the next item on the phased-installation landscape list. “We’ll make improvements to the waterfront side next, adding a play area along the inlet waterway for the grandchildren, a woodland walk and a treehouse,” Wheatley-Miller says. It sounds like the fun is just beginning for the Cazenovia Lake house garden.
Everything centers around a gravel oval, an attractive, flexible space where the homeowner can entertain and relax. “When the oval is clear, it’s very cottage-like and park-like and very open. When [the homeowner] puts furniture on it, it becomes much more urban-feeling,” Freedman says. The gravel, selected for its look and cost, sits on top of a weed barrier and a compacted aggregate base. Interlocking paving stones surround the oval, held in place with mortar. The oval “makes the yard look bigger because it’s wide,” Freedman says. “It takes your eye off the rectangular space.” Four honeylocust trees (Gleditsia triacanthos) anchor the oval’s corners, adding shade and structure to the yard. “They’re about the most thin-leaved canopy tree you can get here to let light in and still get a canopy without shading the entire yard,” Freedman says. The arrangement of the trees also creates a feeling of enclosure and intimacy in the open yard.
Cloudlike Russian Sage Looking like a cross between lavender and Mexican bush sage, Russian sage combines fragrant grayish leaves with light purple flower spires. It has a long bloom season. While it will start blooming in spring and summer, keep cutting off the flowers and you’ll get blooms into fall. Once established, Russian sage grows easily, especially in areas with hot summers and little water. In the garden it can be treated as a showy single plant or massed together to create a soft cloud of color that seems to float over nearby smaller plantings.
Plants to attract hummingbirds. Color and shape play an important part in attracting hummingbirds. Tubular flowers are ideally suited for hummingbirds and their long beaks. Red is their favorite flower color, but they feed from flowers of all colors, from red-orange flowers to the yellow flowers. Farmhouse Landscape by Austin Ganim Landscape Design, LLC Austin Ganim Landscape Design, LLC Email Save Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, zones 3 to 9) and beebalm (Monarda spp.) are popular native flowers for attracting wildlife. Many flowering plants, including shrubs, perennials and annuals, attract hummingbirds. Here are a few favorites suitable for growing in containers: Aloe (Aloe spp.) Beebalm (Monarda spp.) Dianthus (Dianthus spp.) Daylily (Hemerocallis spp.) Foxglove (Digitalis spp.) Mexican honeysuckle (Justicia spicigera, zones 9 to 11) Lantana (Lantana spp.) Penstemon (Penstemon spp.) Petunia (Petunia spp.) Salvia (Salvia spp.) Phlox (Phlox spp.) Incorporating moss and lichen into your wildlife container is another way to attract hummingbirds; they use those materials to build their nests.
Harvest Rainwater Capturing rainwater can help save water on a small scale. A rain barrel connected to a home’s downspouts allows one to capture the runoff from the roof for use in drier months. In this garden in San Luis Obispo, California, designed by Gabriel Frank, an attractive terra-cotta-colored rain barrel with a handy hose attachment allows for easy water dispensing to use on garden beds in the dry season. Tip: Before you purchase or install a rain barrel, be sure to check local laws. Certain states have issued rainwater-harvesting restrictions.
Add Water Like all critters, butterflies need water. A small patch of wet ground is all that’s needed for a butterfly garden. There are a number of ways to get a wet patch. Put a shallow container or a garbage can lid in the ground and add water, and you have an instant butterfly puddle. To protect yourself from mosquitos, be sure to empty and refresh the water often. Another option is to install a water feature that gently splashes on the surrounding soil and rocks. Water and damp soil give butterflies the moisture and nutrients they need.
3 Tips for Creating a Natural-Style Beach Garden Grace shares her top ideas for creating your own natural-style beach garden. The first two tips can be used in any climate, with the third applying to gardeners in coastal regions. 1. Mimic nature. Instead of constructing traditional walls and fences, she likes to mimic nature with landforms like dunes or rock outcrops. In choosing materials, she recommends looking for ones that would be found on beaches, such as sand, driftwood, shells, sea glass, beach cobbles and pebbles and dune fencing. 2. Use a soothing color palette. “Strong colors draw the eye. The focus should be on the panoramic view,” Grace says. For beach gardens, she chooses soft gray-greens, blues and sandy tones that harmonize with the sea, beach and sky. 3. Choose tough, beach-friendly plants. Select plants native to your coastal region or ones that are well-adapted to salt spray and wind and do not run the risk of being invasive in native beach habitats. A few of the designer’s go-to plants for seaside conditions in Southern California include: ‘Canyon Prince’ giant wild rye (Leymus condensatus ‘Canyon Prince’, zones 8 to 10), peppermint geranium (Pelargonium...
Margie Grace - Grace Design Associates Email Save Echeveria and euphorbia grow in the larger concrete container; hens-and-chicks grow in the smaller container in front. Hidden drip lines snake up into each pot from below the deck.
Succulents potted in sandy-toned containers add interest to the deck and tie in with the larger landscape. The succulents that are growing in the containers include aeonium (Aeonium undulatum, Zone 9), echeveria, hens-and-chicks (Sempervivum sp., zones 4 to 9), blue chalk sticks (Senecio mandraliscae, zones 9 to 12) and vertical leaf senecio (Senecio crassissimus, zones 9 to 11).
Peonies
Yellow buttercups and blue-purple small camas (Camassia quamash), also called wild hyacinth, form a perfect pair in this maintained meadow in West Dean, England. Many species of buttercup are native to the meadows and wetlands of the U.K., while the camas is an introduced plant from North America.
COLORS FOR FUTURE GARDEN???
Miniature vignette. For a small-scale display — perfect for an elevated container where you can see the arrangement up close — plant tiny daffodils like 8-inch-tall ‘Hawera’ or ‘Baby Boomer’ in combination with pansies and hyacinths. If you’d like a bit more height, tuck in branches of pussy willow or budding forsythia. Water requirement: Moderate to high Light requirement: Full sun to partial shade
Cotswold gravel forms a compacted floor beneath the seating area and provides a warm tone that ties in with the surrounding grasses. The material selection and installation technique reduce the gravel’s movement. The Cotswold gravel used here is more angular than traditional pea shingle, making it better at locking in place. Fox’s team used a geotextile membrane beneath the gravel on the path and patio to help form a secure base and then tamped the gravel down to compact it.
Planting notes. Choose a spot in light or filtered shade with porous, well-draining soil that is well-amended with plenty of organic matter. Imperial and Persian fritillaries can also take full sun in cool-summer areas that are often overcast. Set the smaller bulbs 3 to 4 inches deep and 6 inches apart; the largest ones should be 4 to 5 inches deep and 8 to 12 inches apart. Take care when handling the bulbs; they can be damaged easily. They also can cause skin reactions, so use gloves. Water well after planting. Plant generously for a continuous display, and consider planting over several years; bulbs often take a year off to rest after planting or blooming.
How to use it. Plant taller species, such as imperial, among other bulbs or near the back of a garden bed for a striking accent display. The smaller fritillaries are good choices for rock gardens and naturalizing in grasslands, wildflower gardens and meadows, or at the edge of woodland plantings. The smaller fritillaries are also charming when added to cut-flower bouquets. Don’t cut the larger fritillaries, as it will compromise bloom production.
Perennial flowers and grasses. We’re talking herbaceous forbs, grasses and sedges — plants that die back to the ground in fall and emerge from the ground in spring. If fall rains are good and the weather isn’t abnormally hot or dry, you might not need to water more than once or twice. Watering depends highly on soil type, plant type, climate and weather — there are too many variables to accurately advise about watering here. As an example, here in the tallgrass ecoregion of eastern Nebraska, or USDA Zone 5, if I plant flowers and grasses on September 20, I will water right away at installation, then again within about four to seven days. I may water once more a week after that. Smaller potted plants and plugs may have to be watered a bit sooner than 1-gallon pots, as they dry out faster, but these smaller plants will also establish much faster. Spring watering won’t be necessary.
What are your patio dreams? Do you prefer it to be completely open or with some cover for shade? Do you like to sit around a fire pit in cushy upholstered furniture or on a rustic campfire log? What kind of plants do you like to place around the patio? Please share with us in the Comments.
Rain Garden On properties with water runoff problems, replacing turf with a rain garden is a viable option that benefits the environment by treating stormwater on-site and replenishing the water table. If you have well-draining soil, a rain garden is fairly simple to make. Depending on the number and types of plants you use, it can have a somewhat formal or naturalistic appearance. The primary requirement is that the plants must be able to tolerate wet soils for a period of time, with some dry periods in between.
Natural. House numbers set on a boulder, street-side wall or other garden feature, rather than on the side of the building, can make an interesting garden accent all on their own. The number for this Minneapolis home, for example, is set on a slab of rock to form a natural focal point at the top of a water feature. A spotlight illuminates the number at night, so it’s still easy to see in the landscape.
LOVE THIS CUTTING GARDEN
TRELLIS Add interest to outbuildings. Garden sheds and other outbuildings often lack architectural details like windows or trim. Trellises offer a way to add interest to an outbuilding’s exterior and tie it in with the surrounding garden. In this backyard in Princeton, New Jersey, a pair of curved, wall-mounted trellises with purple flowering clematis vine form an attractive accent for the pool house. Due to their graceful shape, the trellises add interest year-round, even when the clematis dies back in winter.
RIVER BED WITH ROCKS FOR DRY SEASON.....
Container among foliage. Work focal points into garden beds to provide a resting spot for one’s gaze amid drifts of plants. For example, an empty ceramic container nestled in the bed draws one’s focus and then encourages the eye to wander over the surrounding plants in a slower appreciation of the bed.
FIRE PIT Evening hangout. If the main patio off the house receives most of the day-to-day use — perhaps as an area for cooking and eating outside — create a satellite patio for after-dinner enjoyment. Place chairs around a flickering fire pit, or light lanterns to cast an inviting glow around an outdoor lounge.
PURPLE AND LIME GREEN ‘Lime Marmalade’ coral bells (Heuchera ‘Lime Marmalade’, zones 4 to 8).
Hanging Copper Planter $98
Low retaining wall with grass border
Purple Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) Native from Nebraska south to Texas and all parts east, from Vermont south to Florida, with its primary range being the Midwest and eastern Great Plains Sure, everybody plants purple coneflower, but there’s a reason. A lot of creatures visit it when it’s in bloom, from bees to beetles and wasps to butterflies. Here you can see a pipevine swallowtail enjoying itself. There are several other coneflower species to consider, from pale purple coneflower (E. pallida) to Tennessee purple coneflower (E. tennesseensis). Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (zones 3 to 9) Water requirement: Slightly dry to slightly moist soil Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun Mature size: 2 to 3 feet tall and 1 foot to 2 feet wide
Swamp Milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) Native in parts of all U.S. states except Washington, Oregon and California (West Coast gardeners can consider A. speciosa, among others) Contrary to its name, swamp milkweed enjoys more habitats than just swamps — even a partly sunny spot with medium to slightly dry soil will work. Milkweeds are hosts to the monarch butterfly and many other species, including tussock moths, milkweed beetles and milkweed bugs. Of the roughly 100 milkweed species in the U.S., most folks say they see the most monarch egg laying on swamp milkweeds. The blooms, which appear in the early-to-mid summer, emit a spicy vanilla scent and require a complex set of actions to be properly pollinated. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (zones 3 to 9) Water requirement: Moist to medium soil Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun Mature size: 2 to 4 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide
Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea) Native from eastern North Dakota south to eastern Texas and east to the Atlantic, from Maine to northern Florida Blooming in mid-to-late spring, golden Alexanders welcomes a cornucopia of early-season pollinators, mainly small native bees, seeking pollen. Golden Alexanders also serves as a year-round host plant for black swallowtails. Give it a little room to spread, as it does so by seed, and you’ll see an impressive drift of blooms that butterflies will notice from a distance. Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone) Water requirement: Slightly dry to slightly moist soil Light requirement: Full sun to partial sun Mature size: 2 to 3 feet tall and 2 feet wide
TRELLIS Trellises. The side of a house can be boring and lack architecture — we tend not to even put many windows on a wall that faces a fence or neighbor’s house. Trellises offer another way to stretch the garden upward and add architectural interest to the side of the house.
A checkerboard herb garden. This garden has a checkerboard base, with squares of pavers, gravel and planted herbs. You will need good sunlight to pull this off with most herbs
A shade garden. One challenge with side yards is that often they receive no direct sunlight. We have plenty of plant suggestions and shade garden ideas to get you started.
WALKWAYS Caucasian Stonecrop (Sedum spurium) Succulents aren’t just for warm climates. This creeping ground cover can grow in zones 3 to 8. The beauty of this species of stonecrop lies in its tightly whorled leaves, which are often tinged in red. In late spring and summer, star-shaped pink flowers blanket the leaves and attract butterflies. S. spurium ‘Red Carpet’ grows in the foreground of this photo, with blue-gray S. reflexum ‘Blue Spruce’ in the background. Origin: Caucasus region of Eastern Europe Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (zones 3 to 8) Water requirement: Low Light requirement: Full sun Mature size: 3 to 6 inches tall and 1 foot to 2 feet wide
WILD CANADIAN GINGER Botanical name: Asarum canadense Common names: Canadian wild ginger, wild ginger, Canadian snakeroot Origin: Native to eastern North America, from the eastern Dakotas eastward to Maine in the north, and Oklahoma eastward to Georgia in the south Where it will grow: Hardy to minus 40 degrees Fahrenheit, or minus 40 degrees Celsius (USDA zones 3a to 8a; find your zone) Typical plant communities: Medium to moist deciduous woodlands Soil requirement: Medium to moist sandy-loam to clay-loam Light requirement: Partial shade to shade Mature size: 3 to 6 inches tall and 6 inches wide Benefits and tolerances: It tolerates partial shade to full shade; deer tend to avoid it. Seasonal interest: Bright green, heart-shaped basal leaves emerge in April, and three-parted red flowers open shortly afterward. When to plant: Spring or fall; potted plants are available from most native plant nurseries in areas where it occurs. Shown: Canadian wild ginger sports red flowers.
CANADIAN WILD GINGER How to use it. Canadian wild ginger can be used in any shaded site in formal and informal plantings. It’s best near planting borders or pathway edges where it won’t get overpowered by tall plants. It can also be used in moist, shaded locations under trees. Combine Canadian wild ginger with other shade-tolerant, spring-flowering native perennials, including early meadow-rue (Thalictrum dioicum), Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium reptans), largeflower bellwort (Uvularia grandiflora), longstyle sweetroot (Osmorhiza longistylis), twoleaf mitrewort (Mitella diphylla), Virginia waterleaf (Hydrophyllum virginianum), white trillium (Trillium grandiflorum) and wild geranium (Geranium maculatum).
LAYERING With all the ingredients in place, you’ll have created a garden that, in many ways, mimics how nature layers itself. The ground cover shades the soil, conserving soil moisture and competing well against weeds. The ornamental layer lifts blooms up to the sun and pollinators while creating a middle level of architectural and season interest. The taller, thicker specimens, which might include shrubs or trees, provide yet another layer of wildlife habitat while adding visual interest and weight. The world beyond our homes has much to teach us about how nature works and what wildlife needs to thrive. If we can begin to emulate the complexity of nature, and allow a bit more wildness in our landscapes, we’ll find both wildlife and ourselves happier and healthier.
A note on competition. Some plants — such as swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata) and little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium) — are slow movers or just prefer to remain in clumps. Others — like bee balm (Monarda spp.) and upright prairie coneflower (Ratibida columnifera) — like to move, either by root runners or self-sowing. It’s important to plant like next to like in order to have a garden bed that doesn’t go crazy on you. Plant aggressive plants with aggressive plants; let them duke it out and keep each other in check. Let clumping plants and native bunch grasses cozy up to one another and enjoy their mutual separation. This will help the intended design stay intact longer while easing your maintenance load.
Before reaching out to a professional, write a wish list for your garden remodel, establish your priorities and budget, and decide which parts of the process you’d like to hire a pro for help. With this on paper, you’ll have a clear sense of what you’re looking for in a designer before you begin to contact professionals.
Q