“for behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone. The flowers appear on the earth, the time of singing has come, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in our land.” Song of Solomon…
Julia Engel of Gal Meets Glam takes you on her week-long trip to Nantucket. Follow Julia’s lead on where to shop, eat, and explore on Nantucket.
Today, I am going to show you two properties where each of the designers had the challenge of creating a beautiful garden on two steeply sloping ravines. In the first garden, the ravine literally cuts the property in two on the diagonal. As you can see from this first image, the property falls off dramatically just off the back deck. The task was then to link the back garden with the other side of the ravine. This is a very quick, not-to-scale plan of the garden just to give you a clearer idea of the problem the designer faced. A pathway leads you to the edge of the ravine. From this angle, the native Ostrich ferns in the middle foreground somewhat conceal the significant slope of the land. In the far distance, you can see the other half of the property. The plantings here include a Japanese Maple, euonymus, heuchera, Siberian iris, and rhododendrons. As we round the corner, a bridge presents itself. Looking back the way we came. This view best shows the bridge crossing the ravine. A set of curved steps leads you up to level ground again and over to an inground pool. Garden #2 In this second property, I will show you both the front and back garden, which again was designed around a steeply sloping ravine. Neil Turnbull did the design work for this lovely garden. The artful front garden is sunken and almost invisible from the street. A set of steps lead you past a water feature and down into a beautiful courtyard garden. Vines including hydrangea and kiwi envelope the walls of this sunken garden. The sound of water nicely masks any street noise. On the right is one of the three still pools. The front garden is lush and yet restrained. How do you imagine the back garden must look? For me, it was a wonderful surprise. I am showing you this shot, not because it is a great picture, but because it best illustrates the dramatic slope of the back garden. The set of stone steps leads you down the steepest part of the ravine. From there, a series of paths wind the rest of the way down the slope. Red pine needles add a note of colour to the plantings which include native trees and plants, ferns, azaleas, rhododendrons, hosta and hellebore. At the bottom of the garden, there is a seating area and two ponds connected by a stream. Unlike the front garden, this area feels wild and unrestrained, but make no mistake, it is thoughtfully considered and executed. A hosta with blue-grey leaves breaks up all the green. The white flower in the left image is Goat's Beard, Aruncus dioicus. There were also a number of lovely Japanese ferns (right). The little stone bridge crosses the stream connecting the two ponds. Adding color were these big, purple alliums. What do I suggest you take away from these two gardens? If your property presents unique challenges, don't fight them, embrace them. A problem feature is just an opportunity to get creative.
Whether your design style is bold and fun or calm and neutral, summer flowers like Gerber daisies and hydrangeas are elegant inspiration.
Going back to Mallorca for the second half of our babymoon today! (Head on over here for the first half…
Petworth is known for its Capability Brown parkland, open to the public, but in the private gardens, Caroline Egremont has created an exquisite and intimate sanctuary within a series of garden rooms.
% Border Gardening: How to plant a herbaceous perennial border %
Feast your eyes on the English countryside, gorgeous gardens, and beautiful blooms.
the dried seedheads are beautiful.
So, very late to the Chelsea blogging party, and, whilst I very nearly didn’t post at all, I was spurred on by the number of times I’ve referenced last year’s two posts (here and …
There comes a point in everyone's life when you are so completely ready to get away from it all. You start daydreaming about secluded cottages during
Photo manipulation wouldn't exist without the stock images that we use to create them in Photoshop. So no wonder that the free stock images websites are really popular among us. I am using images from deviantart for most of my photo manipulations so I spend a lot of time searching for the best photos. In this collection I have gathered for you beautiful fantasy backgrounds that you can use in Photoshop. These premade backgrounds are in fact Photoshop art works that you can use as scene setup for your photo manipulations.
A blog about the iris world for all iris lovers.
Guarda le foto del giardino inglese della Batcombe House di Libby Russel, diviso in due parti: una dedicata agli alberi da frutto l’altro dedicato a un paesaggio bucolico che riecheggia quello circostante
The British landscape designer cultivates gardens that look like they’ve always been there
Recently when I judged The 68th Chronicle Garden Competition, preceding Toowoomba’s Carnival of Flowers, I chose ‘Terrara’, a garden growing mainly Australian native plants as Gra…
Japanese Anemone, A. hupehensis: "Daughter of the Wind" There's a nondescript, partially shaded corner of my garden which is frankly rather dull until fina
Panting roses in a mixed border is one of the easiest ways of enjoying roses in your garden. Combine shrub roses, other shrubs, perennials and annuals to create a tapestry of different colours and textures - find inspiration in our image gallery and tips and tricks for planning a rose border.
To visit Sissinghurst Castle's without the crowds, stay overnight in the Priest's House in the white garden and wander the gardens freely at dawn and dusk.
I have to admit, I’m a little bit giddy about our garden this year. You see, this is the romantic English garden I dreamed of three years ago, when we moved into this house. And trust me when I tell you, it seemed like a BIG dream considering where we started. It’s actually not...
A new book celebrates women in landscape design
We polled our go-to garden experts for their hardy and inexpensive favorites.
The International Garden Photographer of the Year is one of the world’s premier competitions
Want a lush garden? Join the club, who doesn't! You can have a lush feel to your garden space if you follow a few guidelines, show a little bit of patience, and take care of your plants needs the right way. Here's how to make a lush secret garden that is all yours!
We will pick up our tour of Liz Maliki's wonderful garden on the curving path leading into the back garden. The plantings along the pathway include (starting along the top row on the left) a spirea, a Pieris Japonica, and a Japanese Maple. In the lower row there is also a hosta with spear-shaped foliage and two white Foam Flowers, Tiarella cordifolia. Foam Flower, Tiarella cordifolia Along the length of the back fence are a series of hanging baskets filled with colorful annuals. Looking back down the pathway. A closeup of the Golden Japanese Forest Grass, Hakonechloa macra and Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium caeruleum which you can see in the lower left corner of the last shot. Another close-up of Jacob's Ladder, Polemonium caeruleum The flowerbeds continue on from the back of the garden shed and run the length of the property. I want to pause in our tour to show you something which I think was an act of brilliance on Liz's part. I wish I had thought of this for my own garden! Running wide flowerbeds parallel to the backyard fence is a very typical thing for many homeowners to do. The problem with this kind of layout is that weeding beds which are several feet deep can be tricky once the garden fills in by mid-summer. The plants block easy access from the front and the fence blocks access from the back. What Liz did was to run a walkway behind the flowerbeds, right next to the fence using some recycled concrete pavers. When the garden leafs out, you barely see the hidden walkway and yet it gives her an easy way to weed the back of the garden. When we spoke on the phone, Liz also pointed out that this design trick also improves air circulation and helps with problems like powdery mildew. One of the many things that impressed me about Liz's garden was her talent for growing rhododendrons; a shrub I have had little success with. I have always thought of rhododendrons as fussy shrubs that did not like the dry summers and the harsh Ontario winters. When we chatted, Liz advised me that understanding the root systems would make me more successful with growing rhododendrons. These shrubs are surface feeders and they can be damaged by planting them to deeply. Plant the top of the root ball at the surface of the soil and then mulch. Rhododendrons like light, sandy acidic soils which is high in organic matter. We will end our tour in this pretty little corner of the garden. As I wrote in my last post, Liz Maliki's garden was one of the terrific stops featured on last year's Annual Canadian Cancer Society's Garden Tour in Mississauaga, Ontario. This year's tour will again offer a unique opportunity to visit gardens in the Lorne Park neighbourhood of Mississauga and enjoy live instrumental music in select locations. Featured guest, Paul Zammit, director of horticulture at the Toronto Botanical Garden, will offer tips and garden advice. For tour details and ticket information:
Christopher Bradley-Hole made a stir a few years ago with his Chelsea Flower Show garden, mainly consisting of different heights of boxwoods. Was it cold,
We’re celebrating the most special wedding on the blog today. Join us for the marriage of Zita’s son and Laura’s brother Alvaro, to his beloved Lisanne. Enjoy our first instalment and detailing of the ceremony.
The site: A medieval nobleman's summer retreat, a palace in ruins, in the Piedmontese hills of northern Italy. The challenge: Create a modern garden to com
Nine Favorite Things: From From Pinterest inspirations, to most popular recipes in April, to Mother's Day gifts, to Q & A's, to newest videos, to currently obsessed with, to links she is loving, to May style favorites, to this week's dinners...Tieghan's got you covered!
Sofiero i vårskrud är helt fantastiskt. Maken, jag och flickorna var där förra fredagen och njöt av prakten. Sofiero är en mångsidig park. Här finns storslagen natur, romantiska parterrer, en nyare modern del och en stor köksträdgård. Sara Bratt, som står bakom blomsterkompositionerna på Sofiero,
2019 is the Year of the Snapdragon. See varieties of snapdragons and download images.
So here are the essentials guidelines for creating your own cottage garden, and of course, what are guidelines without inspiration?
Native grasses, towering gum trees and panoramic views help draw the award-winning Elemental House into its natural surrounds.
My visit to the garden & house where Claude Monet and his family lived in Giverny, France! It's a great Paris side trip for garden & art lovers!
Check out the 2018 International Garden Photographer of the Year winners, from backyards to an urban oasis.
