There are front yard berm designs you finish and forget, and there are ones that stay with you. This one is the second kind. Not because it was complicated. Because the bones were so good, and the solution was so clear, and it never got planted. That is its own kind of grief in gardening. […]
The Berm That Got Away Read More »
This was part of a larger project, a neighbor who had posted in a local mom’s group hoping to surprise her parents with a refreshed front yard. Four beds, a full plan, the whole thing designed as a gift. If you want to read how it started, that story begins with the hostas in Two
A Blank Slate and a Plant Addiction Read More »
It started with a post in a local mom’s group. A neighbor was hoping to surprise her parents while they were away on an extended trip, a refreshed front yard ready to come home to. She was willing to do the planting herself. She just needed someone to tell her what to plant, how many,
Two Roses and a Thorny Decision Read More »
A neighbor posted in a local mom’s group asking for help with landscape planning. She was hoping to surprise her parents with a refreshed front yard while they were away. She would do the planting herself, she just needed someone to tell her what to plant, how to lay it out, and how to make
Bedside Manners: A Shade Garden Design with Surprise and Purpose Read More »
By January, the garden looks like a pause: bare stems, frozen soil, and the one patch of green that refuses to quit. That is where the work really shows. The evergreens keep their shape, softening corners and holding the structure together until the growing starts again. These plants are the quiet scaffolding of the garden,
Evergreens That Work for You Read More »
inkberry holly Common Name: Inkberry Holly (Shamrock) Botanical Name: Ilex glabra ‘Shamrock’ Hardiness Zones: 4-9 Height: 3-4 feet Spread: 3-4 feet Foliage: Dense, glossy, small smooth-edged leaves; stays green year-round Bloom: Tiny white flowers spring; black berries persist into winter Growth Rate: Slow to moderate Light: Part shade preferred; tolerates morning sun Soil: Acidic, evenly
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Somewhere along the way, “evergreen” became shorthand for “pine tree.” Maybe a fir if you are feeling fancy. The word itself has become seasonal, tied to winter rituals and the impulse to bring something living indoors while the rest of the world goes still. Yet in the garden, the meaning of evergreen is something else
What We Mean When We Say Evergreen Read More »
What Sparked My Curiosity I found myself standing in the garden in late November with a bag of decade-old seeds, wondering how anything ever managed to grow before humans got involved. If seeds require this much planning and precision — cold stratification, careful spacing, labeled rows — how did entire ecosystems survive without us? The
Toss First, Ask Later — The Experiment Read More »
heuchera Common Name: Heuchera (Coral Bells) Botanical Name: Heuchera spp. Hardiness Zones: 4-9 Height: 8-18 inches Spread: 8-18 inches Foliage: Mounding; copper, caramel, plum, silver, chartreuse depending on variety Bloom: Tiny bell-shaped flowers on slender stems, late spring to early summer Growth Rate: Moderate Light: Partial shade; morning sun preferred Soil: Well-drained, organic, slightly acidic
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Jump to the Tools Mentioned The Small Things That Keep the Garden Running Gardens may be shaped by the big decisions, but the daily work depends on the small, ordinary tools that rarely get credit for how much they actually do. They are the things I reach for without thinking, the ones that end up
Essential Garden Tools: The Small Things That Keep My Garden Running Read More »
— type: html-vault-note post: What the Seed Knows created: 2026-04-21 — # html — What the Seed Knows “`html A Bag of Seeds and a Memory I was out in the garden in late fall, holding a handful of poppy seeds from my mother-in-law, Linda. Not a seed packet, but a Ziploc bag full of
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What Sparked My Curiosity The idea began, as most of the good ones do, with a simple conversation. My sister was visiting a tulip farm when the woman there mentioned that she plants her bulbs inside mesh onion bags to keep the squirrels out. It made perfect sense to me. The mesh is strong enough
Mesh Onion Bags: One Small, Clever Structure Read More »