In the UK, where there is a voracious appetite for great gardening books, Lessons from the Great Gardeners by Matthew Biggs was hugely popular when it was
While we’ve paid plenty of attention to in our backyard’s design, with new plantings and furnishings, we’ve done very little with our front yard. It’s in need of a makeover, and we’ve decided that this is the year we will tackle it. Our home is a 1964-Streng, a mid-century modern home that resembles the Eichlers […]
Whether you fancy turning your backyard into a desert-chic oasis, or you're just looking for desert landscaping options. Here are 13 plants to meet your needs.
Buckle up: environmentally-friendly gardening and sustainability are here to stay, as seen in these top trends in the gardening world for the new year.
"Orchids seem to drive people crazy," the author Susan Orlean wrote in The Orchid Thief. "Those who love them love them madly." This has been true for cent
A garden renovation recalls the romantic beauty and rich history of a Valley landmark.
Xeriscaping – landscape (an area) in a style which requires little or no irrigation. Xeriscaping is a water conservation concept that originated in Colorado and […]
South Africans love the outdoors and are as at home out as they they are in. Inspired by gardens from the suburbs and farmlands around Cape Town, we've rou
Do you garden in a dry area? I love this teaching approach by Olivier Filippi. 1: Salvia chamaedryoid...
Kalanchoe luciae (Paddle Plant) is an eye-catching succulent that forms rosettes of fleshy, grey-green to yellowish-green leaves with red ...
To start off, let's give you an idea about what "xeriscaping" means. "Xeros" is a Greek word that means "dry." Xeriscape landscapes require less irrigation than traditional landscapes and therefore conserve water (and your money!).
Source: Etsy
Regenerative gardening makes your outdoor space more eco-friendly, self-reliant, and harmonious. Get started with these practices!
What drives us to create gardens?
Find creative solutions for landscaping sloped areas of your yard. Get ideas for the best plants and hardscape elements to enhance a slope.
To bring some magic into your garden, try one of these succulent garden ideas. Succulents are beautiful for displays and require little attention.
"Orchids seem to drive people crazy," the author Susan Orlean wrote in The Orchid Thief. "Those who love them love them madly." This has been true for cent
The first rays of morning light sidelighting these perfect pink foxgloves. Found on the Mesa, Arizona, LDS Temple grounds. Explore, Highest position: 294 on Monday, July 7, 2008 To see more work, visit Altus Photo Design.
The UK’s latest country house hotel, Heckfield Place in Hampshire, welcomes guests this September, a full six years behind its scheduled launch date (see o
Garden designer Davis Dalbok and an East Coast transplant respect a classic Joseph Eichler bungalow and complete the vision of "living in the garden." Now that's worth celebrating
These water-wise plants grow effortlessly in droughty conditions and bloom in an array of colors—and best yet, they aren't all succulents.
Explore ktvamp's 2850 photos on Flickr!
Add enticing aromas to your yard with these fragrant annuals. Between the pretty colors and beautiful scents, you may not want to leave your garden.
Libby Russell has spent 15 years developing her own Somerset garden, unifying two distinct halves within a valley, filling it with year-round colour and cultivating a sense of comfort and joy.
Explore SuzieQ26uk's 7358 photos on Flickr!
Here are 37 small garden ideas to redesign your outdoor space:
Whether you live in a dry climate or just want drought-tolerant plants you won't have to water too often, these low-water plants will save money and the planet. Even better: they'll pump up your home's curb appeal, too.
The Three Sisters is an ancient companion planting method that originated with Native American tribes, who planted corn, beans, and squash together for mutual benefit. This method is still as relevant today as it was in the past, and my guide will show you how to plant a Three Sisters garden (with s
Q. You helped me out a couple of years ago when I had questions about growing tree roses. Now I would like your opinion on some tree varieties. This fall I would like to replace a couple of sumacs in my back yard. I really like three trees: olive, chaste and crape myrtle but I can't find anything online that compares these three trees. Do you have a favorite? Can you give me some pro's and con's compared to each other? A. These three trees are dramatically different from one another in many ways, are used for different purposes in the landscape and have different watering requirements. All three will work here, Crape Myrtle being more difficult to manage than Olive or Vitex. Crape myrtle growing in desert soil Comparing all three trees, crape Myrtle provides the most year around beauty in the landscape. All of them are relatively slow in getting some size so you might shop for some larger trees if you want some instant impact after their planting. Olive is the only evergreen tree in the group. I would classify European olive as primarily a 25 to 35 ft. shade tree that can take tremendous abuse. This tree will rebound if pruned badly so it is a relatively safe tree to have if you contract blow and go landscapers to do your property. The other two trees will not rebound like an olive if they are pruned badly. In my opinion, Crape Myrtle might be ruined. If you need something that creates shade, screens, or privacy all year round and is easy on water use, then you might consider olive. As you know we can only plant so-called fruitless olive in Clark County, Nevada. So you will be restricted to either Swan Hill or Wilsonii. However, you can add Monrovia nursery’s Majestic Beauty (Monher variety) to the fruitless list as well. I have had numerous complaints about fruitless varieties producing fruit as they get older. It is believed this happens because these are grafted varieties and the top is lost at the bud union. The rootstock continues growing which is a fruitful olive and the tree becomes an olive tree that produces fruit with a fruitless tag. Others believe tags are mixed up in the nursery. Crape myrtle trunk, young tree In any case, don't expect your fruitless olive to be totally fruitless. If you need this tree to be totally fruitless, pick something else. Olive is relatively pest free. It requires minimal maintenance. Both olive and Crape Myrtle get to be similar in mature size, around 25 to 40 feet. It will do well in a lawn or a rock mulch desert landscape. You would use this tree if you want a rock solid landscape tree that can handle a lot of abuse. Crape Myrtle can also be spelled Crêpe Myrtle. In other parts of the country they come in a wide range of mature sizes ranging from 3 feet tall to 25 feet tall. Their flower color ranges from white to pink's, to reds, two lavenders. Selection in Las Vegas will be much more limited but shop around. I have been surprised seeing selections in Lowe's and Home Depot. It is flat-out gorgeous tree if cared for properly. That is the key. European olive It is what we call a specimen tree, a showstopper when in bloom and even in the winter when it is leafless. It is meant to be a focal point for landscape. A larger tree will provide shade as it gets older but it is really meant to stimulate conversations and to draw your eye because it says, “Look at me!” when it is blooming. Olive flowers Crape Myrtle is a beautiful tree when it is blooming but I would argue that the texture of its trunk and its silhouette in winter rivals its flowers. The exfoliating character of the trunk is gorgeous up close. If pruned properly its winter silhouette without leaves can be beautiful as well. The combination of flowers and uniqueness of its trunk and winter silhouette provides year around beauty. This tree needs to be pruned professionally by certified arborists or by a knowledgeable homeowner. You do not want blow and go landscapers to touch this tree! It will require special fertilizer applications including iron. It will do best with wood surface mulches but it can grow in desert landscapes as well. In desert/rock landscapes crape Myrtle will require more care to keep it looking good over the years. There are dwarf varieties 3 to 6 feet tall, semi-dwarf varieties 7 or 8 feet tall, all the way up to full size which is about 25 feet in height. Most sold here are full-sized but shop around and you may get lucky finding other types. Locally I have had complaints that trees were mislabeled and customers received a different flower color from what they expected. The other complaint was how they were planted. Be very careful of companies that advertise free planting. This tree needs to have plenty of soil amendment go into the planting hole at the time of planting. When planting is free, the holes are dug way too small, very little soil amendment is used and the type of soil amendment used his lousy. If I were buying a boxed, specimen Crape Myrtle I would want to see that the flower color matched the nursery tag and I would have the hole dug to my specifications by an outside party and buy my soil amendment separately from the plant purchase. I would be placing this near a patio, a sitting area outside the master bedroom, near a place for people congregate in the backyard, or where you want people to look in the front yard. It has few pest problems. Vitex or Chaste tree is a smaller tree than the other two. None of the three trees are trees that originate from deserts. However, all three will perform in a desert landscape reasonably well. Vitex in bloom On the positive side of Vitex is its flowers. It is sometimes called the Lilac chaste tree because it's floral display does resemble lilac and it is a good alternative to lilac in hot deserts. Vitex is considered to be either a large shrub or small flowering tree. It can be grown either way. When in bloom it does attract butterflies with flowers ranging in color from lavender to mauve to off white or light pink. Vitex in winter form However there are some newer varieties with the improved floral color and with very long flower spikes up to 12 inches in length. You will have to look around for these superior varieties. There are just too many to list but a partial list can be found at http://www.plantintroductions.com/vitexanewbeginning.html The leaves and seeds are aromatic. It must be pruned carefully when young to give it good form or its winter look may not be the best. It can look kind of ratty in the winter if not pruned well. It is good in a dry landscape, a show stopper from May to about September. Use as summer focal point. Few pest problems but could be damaged by blow and go landscapers if allowed to prune it.
In the decades since modernist architect Richard Neutra designed a 6,900-square-foot house in Beverly Hills for developer Herbert Kronish and his second wi
At the Sherman Library and Gardens. I believe it is in Newport Beach.
Mexican feather grass looks like a hazy smudge of golden color in the distance, and who wouldn't want that as a backdrop in the garden? Like other grasses
The first thing that strikes me on entering garden designer Beth Chatto's gravel garden in Essex early in the morning is the scent of herbs. Thyme? Marjora
