Danny, the newest member of our staff, wanted a no-maintenance container garden to fill an empty corner of his San Francisco deck. On a Memorial Day that was happily rainy (California is in a severe drought), Danny composed his low-water, long-blooming arrangement with a few affordable ingredients from The Home Depot: 

Above: The newly lush corner of Danny's deck. 

Above: To help his plants thrive from the get-go, Danny used Miracle Gro Garden Soil for Flowers and Vegetables—$2.50 for 1 cubic foot—supplemented with Organic & Natural Potting Mix from Vigoro Organics, which feeds plants for up to three months; $8.88 for a 32-quart bag at The Home Depot. 

Above: Danny chose drought-tolerant salvia for its fragrant foliage. A Proven Selections Blue Frost Salvia from Proven Winners is $5.99 at The Home Depot.

Above: Supertunia Petunias will bloom all summer long and don't require deadheading. Danny chose three shades of white and pink from Proven Winners; $5.99 each at The Home Depot. 

Above: Danny chose a hardy periwinkle myrtle to fill out his arrangement. 

Above: A Western Red Cedar Barrel Planter, 15 inches in diameter and made in the US of sustainably harvested cedar, will resist rot and last from season to season; $26.98. The solo myrtle is in a 10-inch Terra Cotta Pot from Norcal Pottery; $5.77 at The Home Depot. 

Above: Danny's mix of salvia, petunia, and myrtle is ideal for summer in a temperate climate, and should be in bloom all summer long.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Landscaping 101: How to Deadhead Flowers
• Landscaping 101: How to Kill Poison Ivy
• Gardening 101: How to Use Eggshells in the Garden

Spend a night on a houseboat and you'll learn all kinds of lessons about compact, stylish design. Julie and the Remodelista team were on the waterfront all week, taking notes.

Above: Christine spends the night in A Boathouse With Royal Connections.

Above: Margot boards a stylish houseboat in Rockaway Beach, NY to Steal This Look: An Affordable Summer Clubhouse.

Above: A water rill runs through it. On a coconut plantation outside of Mumbai, India innovative architecture creates A Louvered Beach House on the Arabian Sea.

Above: Christine explores the elements of the Ultimate Galley Kitchen.

Above: Butterfly chair with a view: Margot boards a Luxurious Scandi-Style Houseboat, in Australia.

The Remodelista editors spent the week exploring waterfront. Catch up here.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Table of Contents: Summer Preview
• Current Obsessions: La Dolce Vita
• Trending on Remodelista: Tiny Summer Cottages to Covet

Read on to find out what caught our attention this week.  

• Above: A Brooklyn backyard has no life before it's transformed by its new owners. 
• How to grow dahlias. 

• Above: Sip on summer. Photograph by Kim Lightboy. 
• The art of the food and flower garden. 

• Above: DIY camouflage for an unsightly garbage bin. Photograph by Dana Miller. 
• Soap for gardening hands. 

• Above: Discarded marble reborn as elegant vases. 
• Mark your calendars: The 2015 Gardenista Considered Design Awards kicks off on Monday. See last year's winners here. 

Instagram and Pinterest Pick of the Week

Above: Succulent heaven at General Store (@generalstore).

Above: Outdoor inspiration overflows in textile designer Martha McQuade's Modern Landscapes board. 

Read Gardenista's most recent posts in our Summer Preview issue and head to Remodelista to see their week of being On the Waterfront. 

More Stories from Gardenista

• Trending on Remodelista: Small Space Lessons from Houseboats
• Table of Contents: Summer Preview
• Current Obsessions: La Dolce Vita

Own it. It's your outdoor space and you can do whatever you want with it—all summer long. This week, we'll share a few of our favorite DIY landscaping hacks, including ideas to steal from New York City gardens, design tricks for raised beds, and 10 stylish ways to fix up a backyard on a budget. Join us:

Above: Michelle's next-door neighbor built plant shelves for her tiny terrace using cinder blocks and planks from the hardware store. See more of her garden in Garden Visit: The Hobbit Land Next Door.

Gardenista Considered Design Awards 2015

Above: We're thrilled to announce our annual Gardenista Considered Design Awards is underway. The competition is open to all readers—professionals and amateur gardeners alike—so submit your garden or outdoor space today (details here).

Get inspired by last year's winners (including Maggie Anthony's Garden Shed shown above) at 2014 Gardenista Considered Design Awards Winners.

Monday

Above: Would you like a little help designing this summer's kitchen garden? We find inspiration in Dan and Dana Brewster's edible garden in Little Compton, Rhode Island in this week's Garden Visit.

Tuesday

Above: Alexa embarks on Landscaping On A Budget and discovers 10 stylish ways to fix up a garden fast in this week's Roundup post.

Above: DIY vertical garden: Meredith discovers simple brass planters that look good on any wall in this week's Shopper's Diary.

Wednesday

Above: Photograph by Marie Viljoen for Gardenista.

"Cities need plants, and just because would-be gardeners live stacked on top of each other in the city of 8.3 million does not mean that they have given up on green," says Marie. She has 11 Garden Ideas to Steal from city gardens, guaranteed to bring botanical beauty to even "a challengingly small outdoor space."

Thursday

Above: In this week's Garden Tech post, Dalilah reviews a new garden design app that allows you to design an outdoor space by yourself—or upload photos of your garden to purchase a personalized landscape design from a top designer (at a significant discount). 

Meanwhile, you can ID plants and leaves with our Garden Tech Apps (and help Gardenista readers ID their plants in the comments section of our recent post).

Friday

Above: Michelle is seriously considering moving to a tiny portable house (or at least spending the summer there) in this week's Outbuilding of the Week post.

Over at Remodelista, Julie and the editors are spending the week freshening up summer vacation homes. See their best ideas here.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Current Obsessions: Modern Landscapes
• Trending on Remodelista: Small Space Lessons from Houseboats
• Table of Contents: Summer Preview

Built in 1930, a shingled seaside cottage and its sprawling gardens in Little Compton, Rhode Island had seen better days by the time Dara and Dan Brewster bought the property in 2000. But then, isn't every garden an ever-evolving rehab project?

Of course, not every summer cottage has wisteria growing through the roof.

The Brewsters (owners of online shop Dara Artisans) have—with the help of friends and family—tamed the wisteria, trained roses to grow over the front door, created a kitchen garden, and built terraces and retaining walls with local stone on the property's six acres. For a tour of the interiors of the Brewsters' house, see The Brewsters At Home In Little Compton, RI on Remodelista.

Photography by Nathan Fried Lipski of Nate Photography.

Above: The Brewsters live on Sakonnet Point, with views of the sea and Newport, Rhode Island.

Above:

Above: Roses grow over the front entryway.

Above: The major challenge in creating the seaside garden was to choose plants that would prove impervious to salt, sea spray, and wind. Hedges of pink rosa rugosa, salt tolerant and extremely happy if planted in New England, will thrive on beaches, dunes, roadsides, in vacant lots—or as a foundation planting as shown at the Brewsters'. For more, see 10 Easy Pieces: Perennials for the Seaside Garden.

Above: Dan Brewster and his son, Graham, 26, built the dry-stone retaining walls.

Above: An exuberant morning glory vine climbs a lamppost.

Above: Hydrangeas stand guard over the sunflowers. 

Above: The Brewsters have two perennial gardens, a kitchen garden (with four raised beds), and a naturalized garden along the perimeter of the property.

Above: Purple and white phlox in full summer bloom.

Above: Dahlias in the sun.

Above: A butterfly magnet, spiky white liatris will reach heights of up to 4 feet in the summer garden.

Above: Tools of the trade.

Above: Raspberries begin to ripen.

Above: Dara Brewster (L) and potted container plants.

Above: An outdoor room for gatherings and dinners is sheltered from the sea.

Above: The outdoor dining room is original to the property.

Above: Shutters get replaced every five to seven years after the wood succumbs to the effects of the harsh salt air.

Above: The garage.

Above: A late-afternoon view of the gardens and the sea.

For more of our favorite New England gardens, see:

• Landscape Architect Visit: A Historic Farm, Ocean Views Included.
• Garden Visit: At Home with a New England Artist.
• Boston's Best-Kept Secret: Eva's Organic Garden.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Landscape on a Budget: 10 Quick Fixes to Add Personality to the Average Garden
• Announcing the 2015 Gardenista Considered Design Awards
• Landscape on a Budget: 11 Ideas for a Summer Grass Path

Today we're thrilled to launch the third annual Gardenista Considered Design Awards, in which we honor our readers' design skills and admire their home gardens and outdoor spaces. Read on to learn more about the contest, how to enter, and what each winner stands to win.

You finally finished your outdoor kitchen. Your herb garden is in its prime. Your indoor succulents are thriving just so, and now is the time to flaunt it. Everyday, we show you the gardens and outdoor spaces we love; now it's your turn to share. 

Our awards program is open to all readers—professional designers, home gardeners, and newbies alike—and we're hoping to see tight-space window boxes, dramatic sprawling landscapes, and everything in between. Remodels, rentals, and new projects are all welcome. 

Above: Every winning project will be profiled with a full post on Gardenista, and this year's prize is a $200 gift card from prize sponsor Terrain. Winners will be announced on August 8.

Contest Categories:

Best Overall Garden (Amateur): The best overall outdoor garden designed by a non-professional.

Best Small Garden (Amateur): Indoor gardens, houseplants, window boxes, fire-escape gardens, container gardens, vertical gardens, and more.

Best Outdoor Living Space (Everyone): Outdoor sitting rooms and lounge spaces, outdoor kitchens, outdoor dining rooms, outdoor showers and baths, and more.

Best Edible Garden (Everyone): Kitchen gardens, vegetable patches, raised beds, outdoor herb gardens, etc.

Best Hardscape Project (Everyone): Stairways, decks and patios, driveways, paths, fences, swimming pools, garden gates, trellises, and more.

Best Professional Landscape (Professional): The best overall outdoor garden or landscape designed by a professional.

Interiors enthusiasts, there's a competition for you, too: The Remodelista Considered Design Awards has six categories this year, with separate contests for amateur designers and professional work. Head to Remodelista for details. 

Important 2015 Dates:

Submission Deadline: Monday, June 22 by Midnight PT

Finalists Announced and Reader Voting Begins: Wednesday, July 8

Reader Voting Ends: Friday, August 7

Winners Announced: Saturday, August 8

How to Enter:

Our Entry Form is simpler than ever. Submit up to six photos of your space along with a descriptive caption for each photo and a design statement explaining your overall project. You can submit one project in each category for which you qualify. All projects will be published live on our Awards Hub Page within minutes of submitting.

Remodelista editors will review all entries, and our judges will choose up to five finalists in each category. When we announce our finalists on July 8, Gardenista readers will be invited to vote.  

See our Official Rules and FAQ for more information, and Enter the Contest here. 

Readers, don't forget to come back and weigh in during the voting period.  

Good luck!

More Stories from Gardenista

• Landscape on a Budget: 10 Quick Fixes to Add Personality to the Average Garden
• Rhode Island Roses: A Seaside Summer Garden in New England
• Landscape on a Budget: 11 Ideas for a Summer Grass Path

Giving the average backyard the full treatment is a serious commitment, requiring time, adrenal stress, and a sturdy dip into the finances. Instead, here's a blueprint for taking it on yourself, one small project at a time, while making it easy on a budget (because, after all, the best gardens don't require a fortune).

The best are the ad hoc gardens, designed for and by the gardener and enjoyed in good company. Shift your garden's focus in a new direction with our top 10 quick fixes. You can tackle them creatively and at your own pace, with the intent of a modern and more personalized backyard landscape:

1. Repair, Don't Replace

Above: Furniture designer Jonathan West's garden in Sydney, Australia, photographed by Daniel Shipp for The Design Files.

Rather than dismantling a decent hardscape, work with what you have, repairing individual stones, creating a patchwork of outdoor flooring, or integrating stones into lawns or plant beds to establish a new pathway. For more suggestions, see Hardscaping 101: Design Guide to Paths and Pavers.

2. Banish Dry Patches

Above: A large patch of nothing got turned into a cutting garden at Worlds End from Green (Not Gray) Gardens: Flower Farming with Sarah Ryhanen.

Remove patches of lawn that no longer work, are dried out, or are simply undesirable and replace them with an integrated ground-level or raised garden bed. For more ideas, see Hardscaping 101: Raised Garden Beds.

3. Consider a Gravel Garden

Above: Architecture firm Lens°Ass collaborated with gallerist Veerle Wenes in designing a gravel courtyard attached to her home and gallery space, Valerie Traan, in Antwerp, Belgium. For more, see Living with Art: Gallerist Veerle Wenes at Home in Antwerp.

For unfinished backyard areas, consider a gravel garden for its modern appeal and low-mantainance quality. Raking the area during times of seasonal change could prove meditational, a happy accident of the gravel garden.

See more of our favorite gravel gardens in Low-Cost Luxe: 9 Pea Gravel Patio Ideas to Steal.

4. Style with Container Plants

Above: Photograph by Siobhan Frost of Slanted Mansion.

For the nascent gardener, working in a single container is a safe start, and for the seasoned landscaper, adding potted plants can add dimension to an otherwise flat space. Containers keep the wilder set (think fresh mint) contained in one spot, and potted plants are easy to move to find the best temperature and lighting conditions.

Try our DIY: Elegant Black Stained Window Boxes.

5. Add Atmosphere with String Lights

Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.

Cafe-style string lighting is one of the quickest ways to create soothing ambient light outdoors—and has the power to define the parameters of a space, bringing life to small quarters and structure to spawning acreage. Shop our favorites in 10 Easy Pieces: Cafe-Style Outdoor String Lights.

6. Call in the Cinderblocks

Above: Portland, Oregon-based couple John and Jen Vitale fashioned a potting shelf from stacked cinderblocks and plywood. Photograph by Carissa and Andrew Gallo for Freunde von Freunden. Read an interview with the two in A Stylist and a Skateboarder Open an Online Shop.

Heavy lifting pays off when inexpensive cinderblocks, sourced from old construction sites (with permission) or your local hardware store, are fashioned into functional backyard solutions. View our favorite solutions in 10 Genius Garden Hacks with Concrete Blocks.

7. Create an Outdoor Room

Above: Interior designer Sophie Buhai fashioned a long Donald Judd-inspired dining table and benches with backs for her Silver Lake, Los Angeles, backyard. See more of her garden in At Home with LA's Ahead-of-the-Curve Jewelry Designer.

In gardens lacking protective overhead structures (a tree, an awning, or a porch roof, say), it's a constant chore to maintain expensive outdoor furniture. To avoid the fuss, source thrift furniture finds or build custom pieces from scrap wood, to create an outdoor room for entertaining.

8. Finesse a Fence

Above: A fence of horizontal slats by architect Ken Linsteadt in Mill Valley, California. See more in Fence Fashion: 11 Ways to Add Curb Appeal with Horizontal Stripes.

A coat of paint or stain, or sanding the wood can render a tired fence new again. See our favorite black fences, picket fences, and horizontal slats to inspire a weekend DIY renovation.

9. Accent with Color

Above: One of our favorite styles of colorful outdoor furniture comes from none other than Marni fashion designer Consuelo Castiglioni, the queen of successful color blocking. Read more in Fashionable Chairs for a Cause From Marni.

Adding a single accent color, or a full palette, is a nice way to reinforce a certain visual composition across the garden, connecting plant life to hardscaping and furniture. Consider using a favorite photograph as palette inspiration to apply to the backyard (and keep it in your pocket while shopping).

10. Convert a Shed

Above: A converted firewood storage shed in an Italian village from Outbuilding of the Week: A Woodshed Transformed, by StudioErrante in Italy.

Springing for a professional when it comes to converting an outbuilding—a shed, a garage, or a small conservatory—is a wise use of budget, but the rehab project also can also be tackled on your own over time, or together with willing friends. See a host of inspirational studio sheds, converted garages, organized storage buildings, and potting sheds from our Outbuilding of the Week column.

For more tips see our posts:

• 11 Best Backyard Landscaping Ideas of 2015.
• 7 New Ideas for Front Yard Landscaping.
• 9 Ways to Create Curb Appeal with Perennial Grasses.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Announcing the 2015 Gardenista Considered Design Awards
• Rhode Island Roses: A Seaside Summer Garden in New England
• Landscape on a Budget: 11 Ideas for a Summer Grass Path

The problem with many landscape design apps is they really are not interested in your garden. Instead, they expect outdoor spaces to conform to their idea of what a garden should be: a perfect, empty rectangle of land with no prior commitments.

But real-life gardens have as many personalities as the people who own them. They're awkward shapes, have micro-climates of sun and shade, and play host to an underground web of roots from the next-door neighbor's trees. What real-life gardens need is a design app—or app designer—who can take all those variables into consideration and come up with a personalized plan useful for only one gardener's plot. Yours.

Home Outside Palette, created by Vermont-based garden designer Julie Moir Messervy, may be the answer. The app gives you drag and drop tools to create a garden design idiosyncratic to your garden. Compatible with an iPhone, iPad, or Android device, the basic, free version of the app allows you to choose hardscape materials, design paths and patios, and arrange furniture in your outdoor space. With add-ons, available as bundled packages for prices ranging up to $14.99, you can sketch free-hand shapes, tag and annotate design elements, and choose from four plants palettes.

Ms. Moir Messervy, the author of eight books on the subject of landscape design, is no stranger to the design challenges of any particular garden. Through her company, Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio, she also is offering her services to app users who live in the US. Using the app, you can upload details about your property along with a wish list and, in return, receive a personalized landscape design for a discounted price.

The app is so much fun to play with that even someone like me who lives on the second floor of a San Francisco apartment building can enjoy creating a garden design. I'm plotting my future backyard:

Above: The end result. A drought tolerant garden designed using the app—and the landscape service provided by Julie Moir Mosservy Design Studio. I spy agave and magenta bougainvillea. 

Above: Using the app is as simple as drag and drop. You can add paths, pick hardscaping materials, and arrange patio furniture. 

Above: With in-app purchases, you can choose from four garden palettes: perennials, shrubs, grasses, and container plants (or you can free-hand sketch anything you want). 

Above: Among the features included in the latest version of the app is the power to lock layers to make it easier to select and move elements. To make the process even simpler, the Home Outside Palette app allows users to import an aerial view of their property through Google Maps. 

Above: Julie Moir Messervy has more than 30 years experience as a landscape designer. During the last decade, she's written several books including Landscape Ideas That Work. Here, a garden in Vermont designed by the studio before the release of the Home Outside Palette app. See Julie's personal garden here. Photograph by Bill Summner. 

For more of our favorite gardening apps, see: 

• Trend Alert: 10 Essential Gardening Apps to Download Now.
• Identify Leaves and Flowers (There's an App for That).
• Garden Tech: Botany and Plant ID Apps for Citizen Scientists.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Alexa's Library: 9 Favorite Classic Garden Books
• Dirty Secrets: 10 Ways to Improve Garden Soil
• 10 Easy Pieces: Retractable Garden Hoses

These brass wall planters from UK retailer Rowen & Wren remind us of giant brass bin pulls—in a good way.

For more about the shop, see Refined Rural: Housewares from Rowen & Wren, and shop Gardenista's Picks from the retailer.

Above: Sola Brass Wall Planters have flat backs to hang against a wall, shed, or fence. They don't have drainage holes, so they're suitable for hanging indoors, as well. (For planting, be sure to add drainage layer of rocks beneath soil.) 

Above: Like all brass objects, the Sola planters will acquire a patina over time. 

Above: A Sola Brass Wall Planter is £42 (about $65) for small and £62 (about $95) for large. Rowen & Wren ships internationally for a flat fee. 

For more in brass, see:

• Polished Brass: Outdoor Hardware and Fittings from Replicata.
• Brass Outdoor Weather Station.
• Brass Ikebana Vases from Bavaria.
• 10 Easy Pieces: Bin Pulls in Brass.

More Stories from Gardenista

• An Ikea Kitchen in a Greenhouse, Paris Edition
• Planting Patina: English Garden Antiques from Agapanthus
• Stylish Planters from Copenhagen, by Way of Tuscany

Gardeners in New York City are a little different. They have to be. There are not many apple trees in the Big Apple, and the "concrete jungle" is pure heat-radiating irony. Cities need plants, and just because would-be gardeners live stacked on top of each other in the city of 8.3 million does not mean that they have given up on green. Here are 11 ideas that anyone living with a challengingly small outdoor space can adopt to bring botanical beauty into their lives.

Photography by Marie Viljoen.

See the Magic

Above: Sometimes a garden is not what you see, but how you see. In this uncompromising Brooklyn Heights courtyard the sun barely shines—eastern light in the morning, and western light in the late afternoon. But it is enough for an apricot tree to lean gracefully over the concrete. Add Adirondack chairs and a table? There is your garden. Possibility is yours to command.

Wear Rose-Colored Glasses

Above: Vivid color breathes life into tight quarters in Cobble Hill (in this writer’s first, 66 Square Feet garden). And it makes every moment Instagrammable. The paint is Benjamin Moore’s Roseate, a perfect foil for every green. Also consider shades of shocking turquoise, midnight blue, and orange. And dress your dinner table with pretty crockery, fresh-cut flowers, and candlelight. Beauty is at your fingertips. Exercise them.

Green Is A Color

Above: Celebrate chlorophyll. Green is an underrated color in cityscapes, but is the most restful and calming. This low-floor, north-facing Soho terrace sends climbing hydrangeas and Virginia creeper up the walls and along the rails, and uses dogwoods— understory trees at home on forest edges— to create a sense of scale in a space far beyond the reach of direct sunlight. Instant oasis.

Skyscrapers

Above: Go tall when you have small. Use height to create vertical drama in a confined space. Annual climbers such as Malabar spinach (or pole beans) perform double duty as architectural interest and dinner ingredient in Harlem. Use economical bamboo teepees to support their twining height.

Summer Fireworks

Above: No budget? No problem. Buy seed, plant, water, and wait. Nicotiana sylvestris (a packet of seeds is $1.99 from Botanical Interests) reaches 5 feet and more by mid-summer and is topped with tubes of perfumed white, heavily scented at night. Try Nicotiana mutabilis ($5.95 per plant from Annie’s Annuals) for varied pinks and Nicotiana langsdorfii ($1.89 for a packet of seeds from Botanical Interests) for lime delight.

Graffiti Gardens

Above: On a South Slope street, urban decay becomes botanical performance art. Bounce yellow sunflowers off a tagged wall and suddenly you have a Thing that stops passersby in their tracks. Boring wall? Arm yourself with a can of spray paint and a packet of seeds and become a garden guerilla. Hate the paint? Tame it with flowers. 

Grow Your Own

Above: These are real tomatoes, worth a party. It has been said, many times: But when you grow your own you really get it. The big picture. Just do it. If they can do it here, you can do it. Anywhere. 

Vines And Climbers

Above: If you can’t go sideways, you can go up. If you are lucky enough to have real soil, in terra firma, plant a vigorous vine like this East Village wisteria (choose Wisteria frutescens: it is native to North America, unlike the invasive Wisteria sinensis) and watch it go. Bonus—you can eat the flowers (but don’t nibble the poisonous pods). If you have containers, try subtropical annuals like cardinal vine, Thunbergia, and pole beans. 

City Sidewalks

Above: A cottage garden blossoms on an industrial strip in Gowanus. Larkspurs and Gaillardia clash and resonate against the cracked concrete. The curb is the new frontier in gardening. Take to it, with no preconceptions.

Perennial Potency

Above: Lysimachia, Stachys, and Coreopsis share a summer sidewalk bed. The wonderful thing about perennials is that, after an initial investment of patience on your part, they come back, year after year. Planted from seed they will bloom in their second year, for a window of between one and three weeks (and sometimes longer), depending on species. Choose them for staggered seasons of bloom so that there is always something floral going on.

Take The Long View

Above: So maybe you have a view. Make the most of it by obstructing and teasing it, just a little.  Here Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’ rockets up a Flatiron penthouse wall, giving the heart a flutter as the eye is drawn from its up-close amethyst petals to the unmistakable landmark planted uptown.

For more New York City gardens (and a tour of Marie's city garden, see:

• Garden Visit: 66 Square Feet (Plus) on a Harlem Terrace.
• Before & After: A Brooklyn Townhouse with a Double-Wide Garden.
• Roof Garden: At Home with Vanity Fair Editor Julie Weiss in Manhattan.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Landscape on a Budget: 10 Quick Fixes to Add Personality to the Average Garden
• Announcing the 2015 Gardenista Considered Design Awards
• Rhode Island Roses: A Seaside Summer Garden in New England

It's June so of course you want to be outdoors: It's a chemical thing. Resistance is futile. Get out there and dig, or plant some flowers, or putter around labeling the basil.

And take one of these 20 best summer garden accessories and tools with you—they've all earned the Gardenista seal of approval for being useful, and affordable:

Above: A forked tip turns this digging tool into a ruthlessly efficient weeder as well. The Japanese Steel Fork-Tip Trowel has a carbon steel blade and wooden handle and is $18 from Terrain. 

Above: Made from New York State slate, a set of four Garden Markers comes with a white chinagraph pencil (soap and water will remove the names of last season's plants); $18.95 from Kaufmann Mercantile. For more of our favorites, see 10 Easy Pieces: Herb Markers.

Above: A pair of steel Wee Snips garden scissors from Nutscene are 4 inches long, with a small blade to cut delicate stems and vines; $12 from Ancient Industries. 

Above: Photograph via This is Paper.

As seedlings grow, Peat Pallets will expand to accommodate their roots. Later, plant and pallet can be planted directly into a pot; 20 cents apiece from Novosel.

Above: From Joseph Bentley, a three-prong Cultivator does double duty as a fork and a rake. Next to a trowel, a cultivator is the most useful tool in the bag, and this one has polished stainless steel prongs and an oak handle; $12.30 from Amazon. For European readers, Joseph Bentley's Handkultivator is 199 KR from Artilleriet.

Above: Photograph via Father Rabbit.

"This is the Platonic ideal of buckets," says British interior designer Ben Pentreath, who also happens to be an accomplished gardener. From the domestic science impresarios at Redecker (perhaps you already own one or more of the company's specialty brushes), a galvanized pail with a wooden handle and a ribbed belt comes in two sizes; a Large Bucket is £12.50 (about $19) from Pentreath & Hall.

Both Redecker Buckets also are available for from $35.50 NZ to $50 NZ, depending on size, from Father Rabbit.

Above: I don't think of it as "having a twine problem." I just happen to like garden twine. A lot. I use it to stake plants, tie trellises, bundle bouquets, and train peas. Among other things. So yes, I have been lusting for a set of eight Nutscene Jute Twines (rainbow colors!); $14.95 from Williams-Sonoma.

Above: A pair of Goatskin Leather Performance Gloves made of polyester and Spandex have leather palms and finger pads to protect gardeners against thorns and other garden hazards. Available in sizes to fit men (hello: Father's Day?), a pair is $12.99 from Target.

Above: Gardenias are notoriously finicky, but the heavenly scent of their flowers is unrivaled. Can you keep one alive? At $11.99 per Gardenia Jasminoides from Ikea, you can afford to experiment in a protected spot in your garden (or keep it in a pot on a patio).

Above: Brew a cup of fertilizer tea for your plants. Available in three different formulations (alfalfa tea, cow manure tea, and horse manure tea), Authentic Haven's Natural Soil Fertilizer Concentrate comes pre-measured in a tea bag. "Brew" it in a watering can to feed roses, houseplants, and patio flowers; $13 for an assorted three-pack from Food 52.

Above: From Elho, a lightweight Urban Loft Balcony Planter has a built-in water tank to keep plants irrigated and comes with hooks to make it easy to hang over a rail; 14.95€ from Vtwonen.

Above: A set of three metal Herb Pots come with a drainage tray and are available in four colors, including gray (shown), raspberry, duck egg blue, and galvanized. A set is £12.95 from Sophie Conran.

Above: For a small garden, an expanding 25-foot, expand-and-shrink X-Hose is $19.95 (longer lengths also are available). For more options, see 10 Easy Pieces: Retractable Garden Hoses.

Above: Antwerp-based design company Xala's plastic watering cans come in three sizes; a round Bowli Watering Can holds 2.5 liters of water and is $20 from Neo-Utility. For more about the line, made of non-toxic HDPE, high-density polyethylene plastic, see Belgian Basics With a Fairytale Twist.

Above: A set of eight Seed Saving Envelopes has pre-printed spaces for record keeping so you can label contents as organic, heirloom, hybrid, open-pollinated, hand-pollinated, and/or perennial; $4.95 from Seattle Seed Company. For more seed-saving supplies, see 10 Easy Pieces: Seed Envelopes.

Above: Made in Spain, a leakproof rubber Garden Trug has a 10.5-gallon capacity and is impervious to punishment. Bring on the sharp branches, thorny stems, and wet leaves. It is $16.99 from Grdn.

Above: Chalkboard plant pots made of terra cotta with a matte black finish come in three sizes—in diameters of 4, 6, and 8 inches—and all are under $20. Chalkboard Planters are $8, $12, and $18 from West Elm, depending on size.

Above: Keep a sharp edge on digging knives, spades, loppers, and other garden tools; a Hard Arkansas Pocket Stone (available in two sizes) deserves a spot in a tool bag. Prices range from $6.99 to $9.99 depending on size at Sharpening Supplies.

Above: I use these 4.5-inch mini shears to cut herbs to cook dinner and to deadhead the first brown flowers on the clusters that cover the rose bushes. A pair of Mini Herb Snips is $4.95 from Gardeners.

Above: Done for the day? Scrub off the garden's dirt and calluses with a pumice-infused bar of Worker's Soap; made in the Adirondacks, it has a strong scent of tobacco, cedar, and patchouli that makes you feel like you really accomplished something today. A 4-ounce bar is $16 from Loyal Supply Co.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Mobile Me: A Landscape Design App That Gets Personal
• Alexa's Library: 9 Favorite Classic Garden Books
• Dirty Secrets: 10 Ways to Improve Garden Soil

In the heart of Middle England is Stamford, an outrageously pretty town. Miss Pickering's flower business is just off the High Street, in a low-ceilinged shop, serviced by a single window. It is heavenly without being twee and the business is far from provincial.

Photography by Miss Pickering except where noted.

Above: Miss Pickering, a name not to be quibbled with, was at school in Stamford. She saw the world via London, Italy, France, and Spain before deciding to move back here. In London's Notting Hill, she got a job with legendary florist Nikki Tibbles of Wild at Heart, taking phone orders. Miss P. left seven years ago, the same week as Vic Brotherson of Scarlet and Violet, another Wild at Heart alumna (see Shopper's Diary: Scarlet & Violet).

Above: With a concrete floor and low light, Miss Pickering's shop is a perfect stopping-off point in the journey of a cut flower. Fortunately the low-level lighting is flattering as well as practical. The shop building itself was built in 1463.

Above: Miss Pickering began to write a blog when she moved to Stamford from London, partly for the sake of her sanity. It was quickly picked up and is a wonderful read, not only for the afianced.

Above: Having sent an experimental bouquet to the editor of Country Living when her shop opened, Miss P. has been in demand ever since.

Above: Miss P.'s wedding flower business thrives on personal recommendations. Her brides have a good idea of Miss Pickering's style through the blog and through her posts on Instagram. They put their trust in her and may be persuaded to be more adventurous than they realized they could be, hitherto: "We're here to make something for someone else's day."

Above: The only permanent member of staff is the Hound. Miss Pickering likes to do everything herself, which is difficult to conceptualize: her weddings are not small and they are all over the country, though often in London or for London-based people. The Hound has his own blog.

Above: A wedding takes about a week to prep, from conditioning the flowers to figuring out the mechanics of building a floral arch for the church. Miss P. studied biophysics at university. She approaches each wedding with a healthy mix of emotions: "I'm excited and terrified in equal proportion." 

Above: Being located in the middle of the country has its advantages for getting to bigger projects; the shop in Stamford is also open from Tuesday to Saturday for bunches of flowers. Photograph by Kendra Wilson.

Above: Miss Pickering flowers is at 7 St. Paul's Street, Stamford PE9 2BE.

For more cut flowers that have a distinctly English style, see Wildflowers Delivered to Your Door. Getting married? See DIY: Secrets of Growing Your Own Wedding Flowers. How to keep your cut flowers from drooping? See DIY: How to Make a Vase of Flowers Last a Week.

More Stories from Gardenista

• DIY: How to Make a Vase of Cut Flowers Last a Week
• 15 Favorites: How to Forage for Wedding Flowers
• 10 Easy Pieces: Wedding Planning Apps

Spotted on the blog Anything Pretty: A genius idea for adding a bit of shade to a simple wood pergola. All that's required: A couple of painter's drop cloths and a batch of grommets.

Above: Photo via Anything Pretty.

Jenny's deck had a pergola above it, but the wooden structure did not provide shade. It "was hot and sunny...a combination that did not bode well for spending time out there."

Above: Jenny bought two 4-by-15-foot Canvas Drop Cloths ($19.98 each) at Home Depot. "I cut each cloth along the fold into two pieces and did a quick seam in heavy duty thread (I'm not fast on the sewing machine but this only took 35 minutes)."

Above L: Jenny's husband installed screws in the top of the slats so the grommeted strips could be easily attached. Above R: Jenny added two grommets on each end of the drop cloth strips. Lowe's has a good tutorial, How to Install Grommets, and sells the Bostich 15-Pack Metal Grommet Kit for $6.28.

Above: A couple of strands of Stargazer Globe Lights ($34 each from Terrain), threaded through the slats, adds a festive note.

For more ideas for drop cloth decor, see:

• 7 Easy Summer DIY Projects with Painter's Drop Cloths on Remodelista.
• DIY: Drop Cloth Hammock.
• Our New Obsession: The Black Drop Cloth on Remodelista.

More Stories from Gardenista

• A Low-Maintenance Container for Summer
• Landscaping 101: How to Deadhead Flowers
• Landscaping 101: How to Kill Poison Ivy

Call it the weekend renter's edible garden. The clever design of a wooden Veg-Wedge raised bed allows you to grow herbs and cherry tomatoes at your summer share (put it in a sunny spot on the deck if you don't have a yard).

Above: Thanks to the planter's V-shape, soil depth varies. Plant shallow-rooted herbs along the edges; cherry tomatoes get dibs on the deeper depth in the center. A Veg-Wedge edible garden is available in two lengths—40 and 72 inches—and is from $199.95 to $279.95, depending on size, from Williams-Sonoma.

Looking for an instant raised bed garden? See our favorites:

• 10 Easy Pieces: Elevated Wooden Planters.
• The Gardenista 100: Best Elevated Planter Boxes.
• Design Sleuth: Stacked Raised Beds for the Garden.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Walk on the Wild Side: A New England Woodland Garden
• Apartment Therapy: 11 Garden Ideas to Steal from New York City
• Landscape on a Budget: 10 Quick Fixes to Add Personality to the Average Garden

Founded in 1900, the New England Wild Flower Society is the nation’s oldest organization dedicated to the conservation of native plants. Today the society manages eight sanctuaries in four New England states, including its headquarters at Garden in the Woods near Boston. Set among 45 acres of woodland, wetland, and field, the wild garden offers a rare opportunity to view a vast array of native New England plants in their natural habitat.

Last week I took the Mass Pike out to Framingham to see what the garden had in bloom.

Photography by Justine Hand for Gardenista.

Above: Just 20 miles from Boston, Garden in the Woods is on the former property of noted botanist and collector William Curtis, who gave his property, along with his collection of nearly 2,000 native plant species, to The New England Wild Flower Society in 1965.

Above: Happily for me, my visit coincided with the height of trillium season, one of my favorite shade-loving woodland plants. Garden in the Woods' trillium collection includes 20 of the 35 Eastern North American species, including this white wake-robin (Trillium grandiflorum).

Above: Unlike hybrid plants that are bred for the bloom alone, native species feature more texture and variety in their leaves, as seen in this mixture of hairy Solomon's seal (Polygonatum pubescent), foamflower (Tiarella), and wild blue phlox (Phlox divericata) at the edge of the stone steps leading into the Curtis Woodland Garden.

Above: At Garden in the Woods 25 staff members are assisted by more than 700 volunteers, one of whom directed me to a demure pink Lady’s Slipper (Cypripedium acaule) hidden beneath an oak. As noted on the Society's website, the garden's small army of native plant champions "monitor and protect rare and endangered plants, collect and preserve seeds to ensure biological diversity, detect and control invasive species, conduct research, and conduct a range of educational programs." Volunteers also update the large board at the garden's entrance with pictures of what's currently in bloom.

Above: Though not as dramatic as some of the garden's other specimens, Canada beadruby (Maianthemum canadense) in bloom makes a striking carpet along this wooded path.

Above: The collection at Garden in the Woods is proof that going native need not be boring. Here vibrant color and rare form abound, with the red bells of the wild columbine (Aquilegia canadensis).

Above: Much more lithe than its pungent cousin, wild hyacinth (Camassia quamash) has long stems and striking purple blooms which sway among the grasses.

Above: Made of fallen logs and twigs, W. Gary Smth's "Hidden Valley" sculpture winds through a grove of beech trees.

Above: In the wetlands area, a snowy spray of Bishop's Cap (Mitella diphylla) stands tall among the ferns and skunk cabbages.

Above: You may not expect to find lupine among the rare plants in a New England garden, but the ubiquitous purple flowers that dot the highways of Maine are of the non-native variety (Lupinus polyphyllus).

Native wild lupine (Lupinus perennis) is in decline in New England (and no longer exists at all in Maine), which is particularly concerning because it is the primary or only source of many endangered butterflies, including the Karner Blue. You can learn more about the New England Wild Flower Society's conservation efforts here.

Above: Viburnum prunifolium, smooth blackhaw, in the Rare Plant Garden.

Above: With their textured foliage and demure blooms, many smaller natives, such as this spotted pink cranesbill (Geranium maculatum), make excellent border plants.

Above: There are three recognized varieties of yellow Lady's Slipper (Cypripedium parviflorum) in New England. If you are lucky to run across this rare native orchid in the wild, don't pick it. It's illegal.

Above: The bright blue blossoms and variegated leaves of spreading Jacob's ladder (Polemonium reptans) add texture and color to the undergrowth.

Above: This time of year, visitors to Garden in the Woods are greeted by a soft mix of running foamflower (Tiarella cordifolia), ferns, and creeping phlox (Phlox stolonifera).

Above: The easy hike through the New England Wild Flower Society's Garden headquarters is inspiring for any gardener. Fortunately many of the plants on display at the living museum are also available for purchase at Garden in the Woods. As part of its conservation mission, the New England Wild Flower Society also operates Nasami Farm Nursery in Western, MA, which propigates native New England species for the retail trade.

Above: Unlike its shy Trillium cernuum cousins, which hide under their leaves, Barksdale's trillium (Trillium sulcatum) stands tall.

Above: Wild bleeding hearts (Dicentra eximia) and eastern bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana) line a dappled path.

Above: Wild calla (Calla palustris) spread along the boggy ground of the wetlands area.

Above: A lone beauty: a double white wake-robin (Trillium grandiflorum multiplex) takes shelter under a Celandine poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum).

For more of our favorite New England gardens, see:

• A Secret Sanctuary, 30 Miles South of Boston.
• Boston's Best-Kept Secret: Eva's Organic Garden
• Living History: One of America's Oldest Greenhouses
• A Secret Garden: Spring Comes to Connecticut

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• Edible Garden: A Veg-Wedge on Legs
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• Landscape on a Budget: 10 Quick Fixes to Add Personality to the Average Garden

How simply do you want to live? The question prompted South Africa-based architect Clara da Cruz Almeida to design a 183-square-foot prefab house—for two people to share. "You can learn to live without excess things," she says.

Her Life Pod, manufactured in Johannesburg, arrives on site in a flatpack, ready to be assembled. Designers Dokter and Misses created clever interior spaces—with a micro-kitchen, folding furniture, and an enviable amount of storage—to make the tiny house feel like a serene sanctuary for two. Here's how:

Photography via Pod-Idladla.

Above: Folding concertina doors allow indoor and outdoor spaces to merge. On the deck are hand-felted wool Boulder Cushions from Ronel Jordann.

"With a tiny house you need to get out, to live in society—go to the theater, go to the movies, interact with other people," says the architect. "It's about making life simpler."

Above: Of the interior space, Katy Taplin of Dokter and Misses says: "It needed to be very calm. We chose to keep the interior predominantly white with accents of mint green and gray."

The little house has a micro-kitchen (which feels spacious because it's under a pitched roof) where the predominant materials are plywood, powder-coated steel, and stainless steel counters. 

Above:"The idea is for the owner to display their items on the wall-mounted storage. It was also important to include as much enclosed storage as possible, to avoid clutter," says Taplin.

Above: A ladder leads to a sleeping loft. Clever design details including a folding sofa and folding table give the space flexibility to function in different ways. 

"The reason the roof is pitched is to maximize solar potential—more space is created to attach solar panels," says Adriaan Hugo of Dokter and Misses.

Above: Light switches and outlets are from US-based Legrand.

Above: Exterior metal cladding was supplied by Pretoria-based Cupric Tectonics.

For more of our favorite tiny living quarters, see:

• Outbuilding of the Week: A 290-Square-Foot House Built for Two.
• A 150-Square-Foot Finnish Cabin.
• Garden Visit: 66 Square Feet (Plus) on a Harlem Terrace.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Brass Wall Planters from Rowen & Wren in the UK
• An Ikea Kitchen in a Greenhouse, Paris Edition
• Planting Patina: English Garden Antiques from Agapanthus

Mrs. Hart was my next-door neighbor on Long Island. She was what we called "an original owner," having moved into her brand-new house in a brand-new subdivision in the post-war exuberance of the 1940s. In the ensuing decades, she'd raised a son, outlived a husband, and cultivated magnificent rose bushes. Big, round powder puffs of flowers dotted her front yard in June. She spent most of her time pruning roses, wearing a housedress and a floppy hat to prevent sunstroke.

One time I asked how she kept her roses from going leggy and wild. Mrs. Hart looked up, stopped clipping briefly, and said, "It's easier to show you than to tell you."

Photography by John Merkl for Gardenista.

Need To Know

Above: A rose bush—as opposed to a climbing rose, or a tea rose—is a floribunda. A floribunda, which can be trained as a hedge as well as a bush, is a cross between a hybrid tea and the smaller, more compact polyantha roses often referred to as landscape roses.

A key distinguishing feature: a floribunda's flowers grow in clusters rather than as single blossoms at the end of a long stem.

Supplies

Step 1: Gather your supplies:

• Pruners
• Gloves
• Alcohol
• Cotton swabs

Step 2: Clean the blade of your pruners with alcohol on a swab to disinfect them and prevent the spread of disease from one plant to another (roses are especially prone to black spot).

Deadheading

Step 3: Deadheading. As flowers fade, remove them from the bush to encourage new blooms. Grasp the spent flower's individual stem and clip it at its base, separating it from the plant.

Shaping

Step 4: Shaping the bush. Remove deadwood or errant or leggy stems to encourage new, fuller growth. When removing a stem, always make the cut at a juncture where the stem meets a grouping of five leaves.

Technique

The Basics: Make a clean cut at a 45-degree angle; this will enable rain water to run off rather than collecting in the open wound.

Wondering which roses will thrive in your climate? See our regional rose guides at A Rose for All Regions: Northeast US Edition, A Rose for All Regions: Texas Edition, and A Rose for All Regions: Northern California Edition.

New to gardening? See our Gardening 101 archives, with tips on such basics as forcing bulbs, sprouting seeds, and drawing a garden plan.

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• 20 Under $20: Best Summer Garden Tools and Accessories
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• Alexa's Library: 9 Favorite Classic Garden Books

This week the Remodelista editors issued a summer manifesto: "Time to throw open the windows, air out the house, put away the winter woolens." Here are their budget-friendly secrets for how to fix up a weekend house, fast:

Above: The perfect summer house kitchen has a collection of jadeite bowls and sunshine streaming through the windows. See how to Steal This Look: East Hampton Kitchen.

Above: Julie's summer house on Cape Cod is getting an art installation—of shellacked horseshoe crabs. She's been admiring 12 Summery Spaces, Horseshoe Crab Decor Included.

Above: Airy attic, check. Ceiling fan, check. Benjamin Moore's Linen White paint on the walls, check. Tour a family's well-loved summer house in The Brewsters At Home In Little Compton, RI. (And if you missed the garden tour earlier this week, see Rhode Island Roses: A Seaside Summer Garden in New England.)

Above: All year long, we show you the spaces we love. Now it's your turn to share. The Remodelista and Gardenista Considered Design Awards 2015 are underway. Our awards are open to all readers—professionals and novices alike—so Enter: Remodelista Awards with your kitchen, living, dining, or bath space.  Enter: Gardenista Awards with your garden, outdoor living space, hardscape project, or professional landscape project. 

Above: Ikea debuts a new line of furniture with built-in wireless chargers for iPhones and mobile devices: Ikea's Built-in Charger Furniture.

Above: Back to the future. The kitchen of a the week is Rehab Story: A '70s Kitchen Transformed.

Catch up on everything you've missed on Remodelista—Summer Refresh, On the Waterfront, and Spring Awakenings.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Table of Contents: DIY Landscaping
• Current Obsessions: Modern Landscapes
• Trending on Remodelista: Small Space Lessons from Houseboats

Here's a look at what we loved this week: 

• Above: Garden designer Umberto Pasti shares advice for cultivating your own piece of earth (plus, a tour of his own garden in Tangier). Photograph by Ngoc Mihn No.
• Summer wreath, peonies included.

• Above: A simple DIY to keep you busy this weekend. Photograph by Georgina Reed. 
• Sunday brunch: Fennel polenta.

• Above: On our wish list: Wire-backed outdoor chairs made by Danish designer Studio WM. 
• Proceed with caution when adding these 10 plants to your garden.  

Instagram and Pinterest Picks of the Week

Above: Our latest Instagram obsession is South Korea-based florist This is From the Ground (@thisisfromtheground).

Above: For summer entertaining inspiration, we're following Sunday Supper's Drinks board. 

For more Gardenista, read this week's DIY Landscaping issue. And head over to Remodelista to peek at a week of Summer Refresh.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Trending on Remodelista: Summer Refresh
• Table of Contents: DIY Landscaping
• Current Obsessions: Modern Landscapes

What makes a landscape design feel modern? This week we look for answers: in gardens devoted exclusively to native plants, in a solar-paneled pool house on the eastern tip of Long Island, and at home with painter (and avid gardener) Frida Kahlo in Mexico City. Join us.

Above: For more of this garden, see Vineyard Haven: A Napa Valley Landscape That Belongs to the Land.

Monday

Above: A 20-acre landscape planted exclusively with native plants (indigenous within a 100-mile radius) creates a romantic, painterly backdrop in Northern California in this week's Landscape Architect Visit.

Tuesday

Above: Add modernist gardener to artist Frida Kahlo's long list of accomplishments. As a new exhibit in New York City explores the relationship between her garden and her paintings, Jeanne reveals the best Garden Ideas to Steal from Frida Kahlo.

Above: The Acapulco chair is having a moment. Michelle learns the history of this iconic design and picks her ten favorites in this week's 10 Easy Pieces.

Wednesday

Above: Influenced by the serenity of Japanese gardens, a San Francisco-based landscape architect creates an outdoor living space more dependent on hardscape than plants to create its calm mood. We tour in a Landscape Architect Visit.

Thursday

Above: Justine, in her ongoing battle against weeds, tests weeding tools in this week's DIY post. And if you missed her last installment—in which she brewed various weed-killing concoctions— catch up at Landscaping 101: Pros and Cons of Homemade Weed Killers.

Friday

Above: An environmentally conscious pool house on the eastern end of Long Island seems to float above the landscape (can you spot the solar panels)? See more details and learn about its water-saving garden in this week's Outbuilding of the Week post.

Meanwhile, Julie and the Remodelista crew are playing the Scandinavian Blues all week. Catch up with their coverage here.

More Stories from Gardenista

• Current Obsessions: Summer Disposition
• Trending on Remodelista: Summer Refresh
• Table of Contents: DIY Landscaping