With spring under way, we’re excited to announce that our family of Garden Design 101 guides is expanding this week—with our new Herbs 101 guide.
Whether you’re designing a new herb garden, choosing seedlings for a kitchen container garden, or trying to decide which variety of basil or thyme to tuck into a corner of a window box, start with Herbs 101.
One-stop research: Our field guide to Herbs 101 pulls together all our field guides on culinary, medicinal, and aromatic plants. You’ll also find our most popular posts about herbs, including Calendula, Chamomile, Dill, Basil, and of course our old friend Parsley.
Whatever style herb garden you’d like to have—from a medieval knot garden to a raised-bed kitchen garden to a colonial-grid layout—we’ve got you covered. See more in Everything You Need to Know About Herb Gardens.
With nearly 40 species in the lavender family, the hardest part may be choosing which to grow. Beware: Not all varieties of this Mediterranean perennial flowering herb are equally hardy (lavenders prefer warm, dry climates). Keep in mind that English lavender (L. angustifolia) hates humidity; Lavandin (L. x intermedia ‘Grosso’) is highly fragrant; and bunny-eared Spanish lavender (L. stoechas) blooms in spring. See more in Lavenders: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.
Thyme
Above: Photograph by Jim Powell for Gardenista.
Know your thymes: Not all varieties belong in the kitchen. (Some are best underfoot, grown as ground covers.) Thymus vulgaris—French or common thyme—is the most popular culinary cultivar. See more in Thyme: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.
Above: Rosemary topiaries. Photograph by Jocie Sinauer.
Aromatic? Check. Edible? Check? Attractive hedging plant? Check. What more could you want from a perennial herb? If you live in a warm climate, rosemary does it all. See more in Rosemary: A Field Guide to Planting, Care & Design.
Our curated Herbs 101 guide also covers Borage, Mint, Sage, and more. We’ll be adding new herbs every week. If there’s an herb you’d particularly like us to add to our guides, please let us know in the comments section.
You know those little plastic ID tags that come tucked into the pots or flats of plants you buy at a shop or nursery? The tags you usually toss as soon as you get home? Join the club: few gardeners pay those tags any mind; they already know there’s not much information to be gleaned from them.
To figure out just what those tags are good for, we talked with Susanne Kongoy, owner of GRDN, a plant and garden supplies store in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill neighborhood. “Most people don’t really read the tags,” says Kongoy. “They just ask questions. And whatever’s recommended on a tag, in real life your care will be constantly changing. If it’s an indoor plant and you have the heat blasting all winter, your plant will dry out fast, so you’re going to have to water it more, or maybe mist it to make it happy.”
But the tags must serve some purpose? Well, it depends. Not all tags are created equal. Some tags use symbols instead of words, like a picture of a full sun or a sun with half its face blacked out. A tag might state if a plant is annual or perennial, how tall it gets, how wide it spreads, and maybe even the blooming period. Some companies, such as Glover Perennials, offer fuller information than others. “Glover sticks detailed labels on the pots that are amazing,” says Susanne. “Sometimes they even list which plants make good companions.”
But in other instances, “the most useful information on the tag is probably the plant’s Latin name,” says Kongoy. “That makes it easy to find the plant online, where you can really learn the basics.”
But meanwhile, let’s look at some common plant tag terms like “light,” “water,” and “USDA Zones,” and consider what they really mean.
When a plant tag specifies a light requirement that ranges from “full sun” to “medium light” to “light to moderate shade,” what is the tag trying to tell you?
When a plant tag says…
Full sun: This means a plant needs from four to six hours of really good light every day (but “not ‘bright sun all day’,” says Susanne). A “full-sun” plant will thrive on a south-facing windowsill. Lavender, rosemary, and other Mediterranean plants will only do well in full sun.
Medium light: This is a plant that wants a lot of light, but not direct southern sun. Morning or late afternoon sun is fine, but don’t let it get burned by direct rays. This plant will do fine in a western-facing window.
Full to part sun: That means: Direct southern sun is OK, but the plant will also do well in medium light. The bottom line: Luckily for us, some plants are flexible.
Part sun: Kongoy suggests that four hours of sun a day would be fine—but it’s important to know how much light your home actually gets. “People always overestimate it,” she says. “If you’re really only getting morning light, we consider that low light for a plant.” Keep an eye on the plant to make sure it’s getting enough light—and perhaps relocate it to a sunnier spot if it’s not thriving.
Part shade: This means that “part sun” is also OK, as long as it’s not direct sun. This plant will tolerate shade, and morning or evening sun is acceptable.
Full sun to part shade: Another easygoing plant!
Light to moderate shade: Some sunlight is OK, but not direct sun. (Need to bring some life to a darkish room? This plant could be the answer.)
Moderately moist soil, not wet: “People don’t understand that plants can have too much water,” says Kongoy. “After you water, let it go till it’s almost dry before watering again.” Check the top inch of soil in the pot to see if it’s moist. If it is, wait a few days, then water really well.
Keep moist: Water it well, and never let it get really dry. (If your garden is on a roof and/or in a hot climate, you’ll need to irrigate carefully to keep the soil from drying out.)
Prefers well-drained soil or requires excellent drainage: This is a drought-tolerant plant that prefers to be on the dryer side. “If there isn’t good drainage, the roots will stay wet and the plant will be unhappy,” says Kongoy.
The bottom line: Use a good potting mix in containers, never topsoil. Only use pots with drainage holes. If you’re planting outside, don’t put it in a clay soil that never drains.
Avg. mod. home temp, 55–70°F.: The translation is that many houseplants are native to tropical zones like Florida, where they don’t have to contend with harsh winters. This temperature range is recommended for optimum growing conditions; not required. (If the mercury soars to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, there’s no need to run an air conditioner for your plants.)
Hardiness: Zone 8: This is a reference to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Plant Hardiness Zone Map. When you know which zone you live in, you’ll know which plants can survive the winter outdoors in your area. Find out your zone and remember it. A plant labeled Zone 8, for example, won’t winter over if you live anywhere north of North Carolina. (This isn’t relevant to houseplants, of course.)
Above: A minimalist’s approach to plant shop tags. Photograph by Michelle Slatalla
Before investing in any new plant, make sure the conditions in your garden (or on your windowsill) will meet its requirements. Kongoy recommends asking the salesperson for care tips—and also looking up the plant online when you get it home to gather more details.
“You need to really get to know your plant and watch how it’s doing,” Kongoy says. “Check on it every three to four days. If it needs water, then water it; if it doesn’t, wait a couple of days and check again. The beauty of having a plant in your space is that it’s something to take care of. You can watch it grow, and take joy in that.”
Can you name one potted plant that wouldn’t look great peeking over the edge of a galvanized metal trough? Me either.
And let us not forget this is the sort of planter that improves with age. Sturdy, rust-resistant, and long-suffering, a galvanized planter develops a soft gray patina–the perfect foil for all shades of green leaves. We’ve rounded up 10 of our favorite galvanized metal trough planters:
Above: A 30-inch-long Galvanized Metal Planter Box is 9 inches high. Made of iron, it’s rust resistant; $48 from Pottery Barn. Above: Made of 24-gauge steel, a 48-inch-long Galvanized Trough Planter has a slim profile at only 5 inches wide and 4 inches deep. Suitable for indoor or outdoor use, it’s $128 from Terrain. Above: A two-pack of 34.65-inch-long gray Galvanized Iron Planters is $62.99 from Target. Above: Embossed with a filigree pattern, a Galvanized Window Trough will be available in late spring for £26.99 from Crocus. Above: A set of three Galvanized Metal Trough Planters with handles is $189.99 from Hayneedle.
Above: A Galvanized Steel Balcony Box has two drainage holes and vertical grooves for added stability against wind. Available in two lengths, 69.5 and 89.5 centimeters, prices range from €23.50 to €31 from Manufactum.
Italian Arum is companionable and well-behaved in a tapestry of ground covers—at least in Europe. In areas that are shady and a little damp, the marbled spearheads of Arum italicum can be invaluable in winter and spring.
The variety shown here, Arum italicum ‘Marmoratum’, holds an Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. Its spotted, less textured cousin Arum maculatum is considered feral and is mainly avoided. This can be confusing; They share the nickname “Lords and Ladies” and are both toxic. Additionally, in parts of the United States they are both invasive. Let’s focus, then, on Italian arum in its happy place: a pampered woodland garden in Essex, England.
Above: Arum italicum ‘Marmoratum’, a reliable ground cover in Beth Chatto’s garden in Essex.
Along a path into the woodland of Beth Chatto’s gardens in Essex, shiny leaves of Arum italicum combine with the gloss of burgundy Bergenia, They provide a distraction from spent snowdrops while contrasting with emerging brunnera in the foreground.
Above: Think of Arum italicum as companion planting to dead leaves, particularly oak.
Leaf litter is good for the garden; it harbors invertebrates and breaks down into a nutritious humus that keeps soil moist. If you think of decaying leaves as a positive feature of the garden in winter and spring, then it follows that you will want something with vitality as a complement: A. italicum.
Above: Clear blue Pulmonaria emerges from a bed of Arum italicum in spring.
Variegated leaves are nothing to be worried about in the sure hands of Beth Chatto. Here, strong marbling of Italian arum mingles with gently spotted lungwort. The shot of blue flowers makes this combination sing.
Above: A shiny carpet of color and leaf shape, Italian arum with Bergenia, held in by grass.
Cheat Sheet
Think of Arum italicum as an alternative to Vinca minor, providing a handsome variegated foil to other foliage and spring flowers.
Plant it where you have evergreen or deciduous shrubs so that it weaves around them, before disappearing in summer.
In autumn, cylinders of bright red berry clusters emerge on leafless stalks.
Above: Arum italicum is a theme, or leitmotif, around the shady areas of Beth Chatto’s garden.
Keep It Alive
Shade and moisture are essential, with some sunshine.
A north-facing garden that is not in deep shade, or areas under the lighter canopy of trees is ideal.
In Europe, natural checks and balances keep it under control. In, say, Oregon, this non-native is a bit too comfortable.
Above: Arum italicum provides competition for spreading oxalis (wood sorrel).
Are you brave enough for the above combination? Wood sorrel and even mint can be useful as ground cover if planted with caution (mint needs to be contained). In a north-facing situation, Arum italicum combined with either of them will look purposeful and confident, although they will need some confident handling.
See more of our favorite perennial ground covers in our curated Ground Covers 101 guide, with growing tips and design ideas for Ivy, Thyme, Bacopa, Lungwort, and more. (We’re adding new ground covers and Perennials 101 every week to our Garden Design 101 guides. If there’s a plant you’d particularly like us to add to our guides, please let us know in the comments section.)
It all started off so well. My delta maidenhair fern was my pride and joy, its delicately drooping fronds hanging over my bathroom sink. Then winter came, the radiator switched on, and my fern’s leaves turned from papery to crispy. Before long, it was resigned to the compost heap….
What now?
Photography by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.
Exhibit A: Maidenhair Fern
Above: If you dare grow a maidenhair fern (Adiantum raddianum), a humid bathroom makes a nice home. In theory.
…A couple more maidenhairs and a Boston fern went the same sad way as my first fern, despite manic misting sessions and experiments with watering more or less.
Exhibit B: Boston Fern
Above: Is there something familiar about this scene? What could possibly go wrong for this Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata bostoniensis)?
…Then came an ill-advised experiment: putting my ferns outside in summer (it turned out my “shady corner” was a lot less shady than I thought).
Indoor Plants, Outdoors
Above: Beware, even a covered porch may have spots that get an hour or more of direct sunlight every day.
Having had my fingers (or rather my fronds) burned too many times, I decided I just wasn’t a “fern person,” and threw my energies into raising other houseplants.
Then, as often happens, a trip to the supermarket turned into a plant buying mission. Before I could stop myself, there was a fern i my shopping basket. The plant in question was Didymochlaena truncatula, the mahogany (or tree) maidenhair fern. It’s a little less refined than the delta maidenhair, but it has a reddish tinge to the foliage as it emerges that’s most attractive.
Can I keep my new fern (or any fern, for that matter) alive? I sought advice from two UK fern experts: Angela Tandy, director at fern specialists Fibrex Nurseries near Stratford-upon-Avon, and Dick Hayward, fern specialist and grower for Bowden Nurseries in Okehampton, Devon and have so far managed to avoid another murder. Added bonus: the experts helped me compile a list of six easy-to-grow ferns that even a beginner can keep alive as houseplants.
Lemon Button Fern: The lemon button fern (aka the erect sword fern), is one of the most forgiving of the fern clan, and although Nephrolepsis cordifolia is a relative of the Boston fern, it’s much more compact, reaching 12 inches tall, and somewhat easier to grow. No, you can’t stick it beside a heating vent and cross your fingers, but provided you keep it moderately moist, it won’t keel over at the first moment the humidity drops below 75 percent, and is ideal for really dark spots in your home that other ferns may find too gloomy. The lemon bit of the common name comes from the faint lemony scent of the foliage, which is a plus. As it’s smaller than many of the popular indoor ferns, it’s also a better candidate for a terrarium than some of the bigger types, if you really have a problem with dry air in your home. You’ll usually find this plant in the form of its variety ‘Duffii’.
Golden Polypody:Phlebodium aureum seems to be ubiquitous now, with the variety ‘Blue Star’ often showing up on supermarket houseplant racks here in the UK, but it’s often sold with very poor labeling, to the extent that many people don’t even realize they have bought a fern (‘Blue Star’s gray-blue foliage is unusual in the fern world). This fern is epiphytic in the wild, where it grows in tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas, which means it grows not on the ground but anchored in trees. It likes to be moist but well-drained, and is used to occasional dry spells, so never leave water hanging around in the bottom of the pot. When repotting, add some fine grade orchid bark to the compost.
Above: Asplenium bulbiferum (at Left) is commonly known as mother spleenwort fern and also is a good choice for a shade garden.
Mother Spleenwort: This fern is also known as hen and chickens for its curious habit of growing baby plants along its fronds. The foliage of Asplenium bulbiferum looks a bit like carrot tops, so it’s not the most refined of the ferns; it’s a curious plant that’s fun and will survive short periods of drier soil, particularly in winter when it prefers to be just kept a couple of notches away from dry. (Fascinating fact: the young growth tips are a traditional food of the Maoris in New Zealand, where it’s a native.) Look out for the glossy-leaved hybrid ‘Maori Princess’, a cross between A. oblongifolium and A. bulbiferum that grows slowly: Dick Hayward recommends ‘Austral Gem’ aka ‘Parvati’, a cross between A. dimorphum and A. difforme that is sterile so you don’t have baby plants self-seeding into neighboring pots. Angela Tandy says A. daucifolium, the Mauritius spleenwort, is also worth looking out for
Japanese Holly Fern: Also known as fishtail fern, Cyrtomium falcatum is widely grown as an outdoor plant, but it does perfectly well indoors, and its glossy, leathery leaves can cope with the average levels of humidity found in most homes. This really is the fern to go for if you struggle with humidity and don’t want to risk losing your plant to crispiness within weeks. Tandy says this plant seeds everywhere in the glasshouses at her nursery, Fibrex, but this shouldn’t be a problem when it’s contained in a pot. This plant’s other huge bonus over many other ferns is it doesn’t shed leaves readily, so you won’t need to keep your Dustbuster on constant standby.
Above: The great pretender. Asparagus ferns such as Asparagus densiflorus ‘Sprengeri’ aren’t true ferns.
Asparagus Ferns: If you’re a stickler for plant taxonomy, it’s important to say straightaway that this isn’t a bona fide fern. The so-called asparagus ferns are in fact all relatives of the asparagus in the vegetable patch (but don’t try eating them), although they do possess the feathery foliage that makes us associate them with the true ferns.
Above: Asparagus ferns’ roots emerge from a clump of bulbs.
There are four widely available types: Asparagus setaceus, the common asparagus fern, the Asparagus densiflorus Sprengeri group or emerald feather, A. falcatus the sickle thor, and Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myersii’, the plume asparagus or foxtail fern. These all make great houseplants, easy to grow for anyone who wants lacy foliage without the extra stress of constant misting.
They will cope with the average humidity of most homes, and the odd lapse in the watering regime. But do watch out when handling asparagus ferns as they often have tiny spines along the stem which are very painful if pricked. Like ferns, they dislike direct sunlight, so keep them away from south-facing windowsills, and in winter they will only need occasional watering.
Lacy Tree Fern: If you want something really big to make a statement, the lacy tree fern (Cyathea cooperi) is the one for you, Tandy says. Tree ferns can go outdoors in the summer but need to be in frost-free conditions at a minimum over the winter. They require plenty of bright light, but avoid direct sunlight; keep them moist but don’t water directly onto the crown as this can result in rot setting in. Check out Pistils Nursery’s guide to growing tree ferns indoors for more.
Above: Fern family, dappled sunlight, all is well.
As for my mahogany maidenhair fern? So far, my Didymochlaena truncatula is hardier and happier than my late, lamented delta maidenhair fern. With misting, dappled light, and a few humid days spent outdoors, I have high hopes—for the next few months, at least.
Chefs’ kitchens are designed for efficiency and utility. Where better to find inspiration for your own kitchen remodel? The Remodelista editors spent the week sleuthing out the best design ideas from commercial kitchens. Here are five to steal:
Agonizing over backsplash choices? Read our primer on “the seven different types of tile commonly available, from cement to porcelain to glass, plus what to use where, what you can expect to spend, and more” in this week’s Remodeling 101 post, A Guide to the Only 7 Types of Tile You Need to Know.
Italian Professional Ranges
Above: The Superiore Deco Series 36-Inch Range starts at $6,560 and is available in black, brown, cream, and red with a choice of accents (bronze, chrome, or gold) from AJ Madison. Are Superiore ranges from Italy the Ferrari of the kitchen? Julie has the answer in this week’s Appliances post.
Antibacterial Dish Cloths
Above: Photograph courtesy of Nawrap.
Writes Meredith: “Spotted recently: kitchen and bath towels from Japan featuring the antibacterial properties of binchotan charcoal.” See more in this week’s Object of Desire post.
Above: A antique stoneware sink and reclaimed taps in the basement of London-based antiques dealer Christopher Howe’s showroom. (The thin black spout came from a school science lab and supplies distilled drinking water.) Photograph courtesy of Howe London.
Early spring is the season of hope: for the most beautiful garden ever. And you can have that. You also can lay the most charming front path in the history of hardscaping projects. And create the most welcoming outdoor living space that mankind has known. All you have to do is avoid 11 common landscape design mistakes. Here’s how:
Pots, Not Pandemonium
Above: Potted plants on my front porch don’t distract from the view. See the rest of my garden in our Gardenista Book. Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Potted plants are accessories and, as with jewelry, less can be more. You wouldn’t wear diamond earrings, a turquoise necklace, an emerald flower brooch, and a jangling charm bracelet together. Nor should you group together mismatched pots of different styles and random sizes.
Create a group of two or three pots of similar colors, materials, and size for harmony. When choosing container plants, redundancy is good. If you repeat a particular plant in each pot, you will create a visual refrain to make containers look purposeful. When in doubt, plant an evergreen shrub such as boxwood to give containers a strong silhouette.
It’s tempting to buy the biggest plants available to make a garden look more mature, especially if you are getting a tree or plants for a privacy hedge. But the price of impatience is high. A plant in a 1-gallon pot costs approximately $5, whereas a 5-gallon pot may be $20. After two or three years, you won’t see a difference.
Frame a View
Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
Don’t pass up the opportunity to design a garden to be enjoyed from indoors.
What’s the view through your window? It should frame the garden. Place focal points in strategic spots and create garden vignettes for each window.
Plants grow. Repeat that until you believe it. We all want to ignore spacing recommendations to avoid bare spots when planting a garden. But if you do, your garden beds will soon be too crowded, forcing you to pull out plants you paid for not so long ago. It’s OK to see bare spots, especially in early spring.
Every garden looks beautiful the last week in May and the first week in June. But you also must look at yours the other 50 weeks of the year. Don’t make the mistake of limiting your plant choices to spring and early summer bloomers. Roses, irises, and peonies are wonderful garden companions, but you can’t rely solely on them. Consider plants that look good year-round such as evergreen shrubs and trees with interesting bark and perennial grasses, which can turn into lovely straw-colored feathers in winter.
Above: While it’s nice to blur indoor and outdoor boundaries to increase your usable space, don’t try to turn your garden into just another living room. Remember you came outdoors because you want to experience nature.
Do you really need indoor furnishings such as rugs and reading lamps in an outdoor space? Mossy brick underfoot (as shown) makes a lovelier carpet than any woven material.
The opposite of curb appeal is a house with a cracked concrete path, peeling paint, and a dented mailbox. Go stand in the street, face your house, and look at it with a critical eye. Do you need new house numbers? A glossy coat of paint on the front door? A new gate latch? Those are easy fixes that will make a big impact.
Just because outdoor furniture needs to be durable doesn’t mean it should be uncomfortable. Weather resistant doesn’t have to be hard, scratchy, splintery, or cold. Choose chairs with wide seats and sofas deep enough to sink into with a good book. Be generous when it comes to padding: cushions and pillows add comfort.
Arrange an outdoor seating area as if it were a living room. Make sure there are tables on which to set glasses and armrests on chairs.
Plant a Serene Palette
Above: When you’re designing a planting scheme, pick a limited palette and stick to it. Silver, blue, and purple plants (shown) harmonize beautifully, for instance. While rainbow colors in full bloom look utterly tempting at the nursery, they can be as jarring as a slash of too-red lipstick after you get them home.
Above: SF-based landscape architect Scott Lewis created a spacious feeling in a small city backyard through the judicious use of hardscape materials. For more of this garden, see Scott Lewis Turns a Small SF Backyard into an Urban Oasis.
Don’t make the mistake of installing hardscape materials that clash. The color of your deck and front path should complement the color of your roof and your front door. Limit the number of materials you use and when laying brick or stone in a pattern, remember that quieter is almost always better. For example, bluestone pavers laid in a simple running bond pattern (shown) create a soothing backdrop to allow plants to steal the show.
Don’t buy plants for their flowers. Buy plants for their leaves–texture, shape, color–because their leaves are what you are going to see most of the year.
For more landscape tips and garden design trends, see:
Among the things we’ve bookmarked on the eve of Earth Day: a weekly flower pop-up in Dobbs Ferry, a native plants sale, and the season’s most anticipated (and morbid) bloom. Take a look.
Above: Alexa is noting a new line of chairs by fashion house Marni, designed as part of Salone del Mobile in collaboration with a community of women in Villanueva, Colombia. The chairs, along with the rest of the collection, are available only in Milan at Viale Umbria 42 through Sunday (April 22)—and we think they’d look just as cheerful outdoors as in.
Above: And, Margot let us know about At Land, a new shop (and coffee and tea bar) on Main Street in Dobbs Ferry, New York. Of note: the shop’s Flower Fridays, with bouquets on offer from local florists and flower arranging workshops. Shown here: last week’s pop-up by @thefloralsociety.
Perfecting the art of container gardening is no mean feat but Sarah Raven, the Sussex-based author, grower, cook, and lifestyle guru, has built a business on her skill in combining plants. She also has an idiosyncratic brilliance for color, as recently illustrated by her Color Cutting Garden at last year’s Chelsea Flower Show. At her idyllic home she somehow manages to fit in a busy schedule of study days—and they are packed with fantastically useful (and totally attainable) ideas. We recently joined her for a day all about pots and containers.
Here are Sarah Raven’s top seven tips to create container gardens (and to purchase any of the plant combinations, visit Sarah Raven):
Above: Euphorbia and spring bulbs in bloom in the Oast garden at Perch Hill, Sarah Raven’s home.
There is no point going to the nursery or garden center to select a random rainbow of plants (unless you have a great knack for making haphazard choices come together). The first lesson in creating stunning pot displays, says Sarah, is to restrict your palette. She identifies key palettes: cool pastels (white, pale blues, soft pinks), deep jewel colors (magenta, tangerine, and dazzling lime) and warm shades (apricot, bronze, and deep plum).
Above: An ice-blue palette is heightened by the cool gray backdrop of a galvanized pot.
Tip: Rather than being the great unifier, white can be a dangerous color to combine; with its starkness, white can kill some combinations dead. But white can work well with cool pastels, soft blues, and silver.
2. Cram Them In
Above: A galvanized metal window box with Erigeron karvinskianus (Mexican daisy) and Dianthus barbatus ‘Green Trick’.
Creating an abundant pot packed with flowers depends not only on the choice of plants, but also on density. Sarah suggests that in pots, you should halve the spacings that would normally apply in a border. This will give an abundance of plants and a spectacular display, but it also means that you need to maintain them well. Add a slow release feed to the pot and treat with a foliar feed such as liquid seaweed every couple of weeks. And, of course, in warm weather these pots will need to be watered every day, in the morning or early evening.
3. Focus on Form
Above: A tall terra cotta pot with Buddleja ‘Dreaming Lavender’, Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’, and Heliotropium arborescens ‘Midnight Sky’.
The shape of plants is as important as their colors. Some of the most stunning pots owe much of their impact to their contrasting and complementary forms. Sarah defines this with a mantra: Thrillers, Spillers, and Fillers. If you are planning a pot recipe, then think about plants that can fulfill each of these three roles.
The thriller is often something vertical and dramatic. A spiller, as the name suggests, is a plant that will fall over the edges of your pot and trail around it, and the filler is the binding plant that pulls everything together. A perfect illustration of this is a pot with a ‘thriller’ Pelargonium ‘Attar of Roses’ with its heavenly heady scent and pretty pale pink flowers; the trailing ‘spiller’ Buddleia Dreaming Purple, and Heliotrope Midnight Sky (another incredible rich scent) as the deep violet filler.
4. The Perennial Pot
Above: Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’ with Salvia ‘Amistad’ and Panicum elegans ‘Frosted Explosion’ (Switch grass) in a metal container. Erigeron karvinskianus (at R) is in the pot.
One of the biggest issues with heavy pots is the endless emptying and refilling of compost and replacing plants. So the perennial pot is a great idea if you have large containers that you want to keep in situ.
But preparation is even more crucial with containers that you won’t replant for several years; make sure there is adequate drainage and use a good loam based compost to give your plants the best start. At Perch Hill one of the most dazzling combinations uses Panicum elegans ‘Frosted Explosion’, Dahlia ‘Totally Tangerine’, and Salvia ‘Amistad’ (as show). Mulch well and keep in a protected spot and they should survive mild winters. For Sarah, dahlias are great pot plants:they are low maintenance, floriferous, and therefore very cost-effective.
5. Extend the Season
Above: Tulips in large containers at Perch Hill are Tulipa ‘Havran’, ‘Prinses Irene’, and ‘Coleur Cardinal’.
If you think carefully about what you put into each pot, you can enjoy many months of color. For spring at Perch Hill they use a layer of Iris reticulata ‘George’ as the top layer of bulbs in each pot—this gorgeous, glamorous violet purple dwarf iris will flower in early spring, giving color when there is very little else in flower. Underneath there are then two separate layers of tulips that will emerge successionally to guarantee continuous flowering. To make this work, ensure good drainage with crocks in the bottom of your pot and plenty of sand or grit mixed into the compost. Then layer tulips with the latest flowering bulbs in the bottom layer, spaced 1 ½ inches apart, and allow a good few inches of compost before laying out the next layer. (Venetian tulips, pictured, are available from September and should be planted around November.)
6. Create Color Zones
Above: Consider the backdrop—the exterior of home also plays into the color combinations in your pots.
Just as you should plan which colors you are going to combine in a pot, you should also think about which pots can sit happily together. If you have very different color themes in pots, then keep them in different zones. A garish yellow flower will not look great against a red brick wall, for example. Contrasting blue tones on the other hand can look stunning. If in doubt, hold up flowers against the wall to see what works.
7. Lessen the Workload
Above: All plant collections can be purchased from Sarah Raven.
If you have lots of pots in the garden then the endless shuffling, emptying, and restocking can get tedious—not to mention back-breaking. At Perch Hill they often use pot liners, black plastic pots that sit neatly inside larger pots. After your spring displays are over, you can then just lift out this upper pot without having to move the base pot. Fill the bottom of the main pot with sand if you are in a windy situation or with polystyrene. Using some perennial pots will also lessen the workload; in spring just scrape off as much compost from the top and refresh with a new layer and some slow release fertilizer.
N.B.: See more ideas for designing perfect container plantings with our design guides to Perennials 101 and Bulbs & Tubers 101. See some of our favorite combinations:
Does the thought of a trip to the flower market make your palms sweat? Maybe I’m projecting, but I think big city flower markets can be unnerving for most people: The crowds. The hustle. The options.
The first few times I went to the New York City Flower Market on 28th Street, I left feeling as though I’d been through the wringer. I also felt like I had more flowers than I knew what to do with and less money remaining in my wallet than was healthy. But these days, I feel like I have a sufficient number of visits under my belt to offer a tip or two.
Welcome to Throwback Sundays: Readers’ Favorite Posts from the Past
Consider this the amateur’s guide to navigating New York’s flower market, and use it as excuse to make a trip (or two) to the market for yourself.
Above: I give this tip cautiously: too much planning and you’ll find yourself devastated because no one had precisely the shade of coral ranunculus you were after; too little planning and you’ll go in asking for holly berries in the middle of June and leave with ten tons of flowers you didn’t intend to purchase.
Keep in mind the budget you’re working with and your color palette, and then let the flowers that are available be your guide.
2. Arrive Early
Above: The market opens at 5:30 am and individual shops begin to close up around 10:30 am.
If you’re not a professional florist, you can likely enjoy your breakfast after the sun has risen and get there closer to 8 am and still find a healthy selection.
3. Browse First, Buy Later
Above: Don’t hesitate to browse from shop to shop until you find what you’re looking for.
I see something that I like and I want to snatch it up. This isn’t entirely wrongheaded–there are only so many dainty bundles of tallow berries to be had–but it might also mean you don’t walk away with the best deal.
4. Buy in Bulk
Above: Flowers at the market come in bundles. If you want just a stem of something, head to your local florist instead.
6. Use the Shelves
Above: Most shops in the market have metal shelves where shoppers can stash the flowers they’d like to purchase. Don’t hesitate to put up your unwieldy bundles while you shop. Your fellow shoppers will thank you.
7. Ask Questions
Above: The first few times I went to the market, I was too shy. Don’t hesitate to ask a sales associate questions about bloom time, price, and inventory.
8. Check for Freshness
Above: Touch and smell the merchandise to make sure it’s fresh.
9. Bring Cash
Above: Not all shops accept credit cards, so make it easy on yourself and bring plenty of cash to make your purchases.
10. Make Friends with Cats
Above: Just another well-fed NYC feline.
11. Wear Comfortable Clothes
Above: Carry a practical bag: you’ll want to have your hands free for toting home parcels.
12. Care for Flowers
Above: What to do after you’re home? So glad you asked. Flowers at the market come unprocessed, so you’ll have to remove excess leaves and thorns and give a fresh cut to the stems.
13. Shop Seasonal
Above: In winter, you’ll find privet berries, tallow berries, and seeded eucalyptus. In spring, expect see tulips and flowering branches.
Know your flowers. Do some homework before you head to the shops: see our curated guides to our favorite flowers at Perennials 101 and Annuals 101, and keep an eye out for these florists’ market favorites:
Desert landscapes look like the backdrops in old cartoons, endless loops showing a lone cactus silhouetted against the sky while Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote tussle in the dusty foreground.
The starkness also can be romantic, a reminder of the endless western horizon. But if you live in the desert, how do you design a garden that feels welcoming instead of prickly and dry?
For advice, we turned to Phoenix-based landscape architect Steve Martino, who grew up in arid, rocky terrain. As a teenage horse wrangler, he developed an affinity for desert landscapes and native plants that has informed his work for four decades.
“One day I found all these old issues of Arizona Highways from the ’40s, featuring these guest dude ranches, desert resorts,” he says. The pictures were crazy, with plants that were just so dramatic, natives transplanted from the desert. They didn’t have all the stuff you get these days from nurseries from somewhere else. It was like a stage setting. That’s the feeling I try to create.”
Martino has collected 21 of his favorite landscape projects in a new book called Desert Gardens of Steve Martino (The Monacelli Press: 2018). Here are 10 garden design tips for how to embrace the natural theatricality of the desert, illustrated with photos from the book:
Above: In Paradise Valley, Arizona a shallow entry garden (which leads to a courtyard) is planted with Dasylirion, Ocotillo (Fouquiria splendens), and common prickly pear (Opuntia ficus-indica). Martino planted the Opuntia ‘Santa Rita’ (at Left) “when it was just one or two little pads.”
Entry walls or a front garden fence are a natural backdrop for specimen plants, says Martino. To create curb appeal with cactus, plant Choyas. There are 1,200 plants in the family, and you can go for ones that are trees, ground covers, shrubs,” says Martino. “Use them to create shadows. In the photo you can see how these guys create their own depth and darkness even in the harsh sun.”
Sculptural Rocks
Above: Non-native plants; not Martino’s favorites. But in a Scottsdale garden on a steep hillside, the transplants are happy planted among “the ten million rocks we found on the site, including hundreds of house-sized boulders,” he says.
In the Scottsdale garden, Martino simplified hardscape elements including a terrace and swimming pool (“removing distracting elements such as the boulder-lined“lagoon-style” pool and and its heavy wrought-iron railings”).
During the process, Martino removed an “exotic cactus” entryway garden that felt out of place, “and moved the exotic cactus around the corner in between some rocks to make a little home for them.” The result is an unmistakably charming vignette beneath a mesquite tree (“The tree is a native, so it’s OK,” says Martino).
Filtered Light
Above: A privacy wall invites soft, filtered sunlight into a courtyard garden. The clients “used to have pool twice as big but no privacy and never went out in the garden. Now when they go out, they see this backdrop instead of the neighbors’ house over the alley—so they live in the garden,” says Martino.
To create the translucent wall, rolls of polycarbonate XXXX were stretched across a trellis framework. The wall is softened by the silhouette of a grape vine that grows on top.
“You can use trees and shadows, and filtered light to make a garden feel comfortable and cool,” says Martino.
Before you build a privacy wall in a small garden, know your local zoning rules, Martino advises. “Say you’re only allowed to build a six-foot-high privacy wall. But if you build an accessory building—like a shed that’s under 200 square feet—you don’t have to have a building permit. And without a permit there’s no schedule to finish the shed. Suddenly what you’ve built its the first wall of a shed in progress instead of an illegally high privacy fence.”
Ribbon Driveways
Above: A ribbon driveway of pavers set in dirt is designed to “disrupt the land as little as possible,” says Martino.
In a desert climate where rain is scarce and rainwater tends to run off the hard, rocky surface of the earth, a permeable surface is a friendlier alternative to pavement.
Whitewashed Walls
Above: Salvaged native Mexican Fence Post cactus (Pachycereus marginatus) grow against the serene backdrop of whitewashed walls of a 90-year-old adobe house in Paradise Valley. Native desert plants “mediate” between the historic building and a modern lap pool.
To complement the architecture of the adobe house, Martino designed an “old-fashioned” pool, a shoebox with straight sides and square corners. “We usually do darker swimming pools, which act ore like a mirror of the sky, but in this one the tile is white and the color of the water is the reflection of the sky and daylight,” says Martino.
Layered Plantings
Above: “Crushed stone ground cover allows the service driveway to flow into garden paths.” A sleeping porch and tower are original to the design of a 90-year-old adobe house.
“Here we tried to use native, southwestern plants that would have been available 100 years ago to make the garden look authentic to the era when the house was built,” says Martino. “The cactus on right hand side of the photo was two feet high when we planted it.”
Martino frequently creates a layered look with succulents and cacti rather than trees because “sometimes trees get taller than you want,” he says. “Sometimes you only want a plant to grow up to 15 feet and then stop because there are mountains above in the distance above that height.”
Ocotillo Rib Fencing
Above: Fence posts made of ocotillo ribs woven on a loom in four-foot sections by Native Americans in southern Arizona create an enclosure to separate a kitchen patio.
“Ocotillo is a really historic material; ranchers and settlers made fences out of it a hundred and fifty years ago,” says Martino. “The old saying was that you could throw one of these out on the road for a few months and then pick it up and plant it and it still would be able to grow. Which is not true. But you can see in this photo that some of the ocotillo plants have leaves on them. They’ve re-sprouted.”
Tropical Colors
Above: In Paradise Valley, clients who were avid gardeners asked Martino to design places and paths as settings where they could pause and rest in the garden. A pair of Adirondack chairs constructed of recycled plastic add a tropical jolt of color to make the spot feel more like jungle than desert.
Adding to the tropical feeling are “leafy plants, lots of them,” says Martino. “You don’t see through this garden. There are succulents, and cactus, as well, and chairs under trees. It doesn’t look arid like the desert; it looks like an oasis.”
Water Fountains
Above: In a Paradise Valley subdivision, a lot previously used as an illegal dump site for construction debris was the last to sell. For its owners, Martino designed connected walled courtyard gardens with native plants and water troughs to create a habitat garden for wildlife.
The fountain set in a waterfall-blue wall, is visible from the clients’ living room, offering cooling views of running water on even the hottest day.
Striking Specimens
Above: Variegated Agave (Opuntia engelmannii) were first spotted growing elsewhere on the property, where they’d grown from little pups. “We loved them around to frame the blue wall fountain,” says Martino.
A diverse plant family, Agaves have striking sculptural silhouettes. Look for cultivars with striking foliage, Martino recommends. Variegated leaves can be “yellow with green on the edges, green with white edges, or like these with green with yellow edges,” says Martino. “They are quite an interesting family.”
Above: Published this month, a hardcover copy of Desert Gardens of Steve Martino with text by by Caryn Yglesias is $34.61 from Amazon. If you’re designing a garden, see our curated guides to Hardscape 101 projects including Fences & Gates, Decks & Patios, Swimming Pools, and Outdoor Showers. For more ideas about how to create layered plantings in a desert gardens, see Succulents & Cacti 101 and more of our favorite desert garden projects:
New from industrial designer Brice Ceccaldi: simple, appealing cotton canvas tents that provide protection from sun, wind, and rain during summertime idylls.
Ceccaldi has spent every recent summer on Les Îles du Ponant—an Atlantic island chain off the Northwest coast of France—with his four children, exploring the islands and going for impromptu walks, bike rides, and boat trips. The family found themselves wanting to pause at the beautiful locales they found, to play, read, nap, or have a picnic, but were often unable to find any shade. Voilà—La Tente Islaise, 0r “island tent,” Ceccaldi’s solution: a portable tent of wood and cotton canvas that it light enough to tote around while seeking out adventures, and simple enough to assemble and break down on a whim. “It is for my four children that I designed this tent,” said Ceccaldi, “but for an island it had to be named.”
Above: There are four styles of tents available, each named for a French island. Here, the Belle-Île, which is available in three sizes up to the medium size shown here; €359. The tents are made by hand in France of pine and beech wood frames and dyed cotton canvas attached with clips. They’re held together by brass fasteners and nylon rope.
Above: Belle-Île is the best design for maximum protection from the wind and sun, notes the company. It weighs about 7 kg (15 pounds), and it can be assembled in about four minutes. It’s €279 for the small size shown here. The canvas covers are 100 percent cotton, treated to be resistant to both water and UV rays.
Above: The Île d’Yeu is the best all purpose tent, says the company. It’s available in three sizes, including the medium shown here, which weighs 6 kg (13 pounds) and can be assembled in four minutes; €359. The tents are backed by a lifetime guarantee. Each individual component is numbered and can be mailed back to the company for a replacement, if needed.
Above: Île de Ré is has a traditional tent shape and is the fastest style to assemble, in less than one minute. It’s the only model that is closed on one end, so it’s ideal for napping and reading when privacy is desired. Available in one size, it’s €279. The tents “are also perfect to mark your territory on crowded beaches,” notes Ceccaldi.
Above: Île d’Oleron, available in three sizes and shown here in small, has a hexagon shape. It can be assembled in five minutes and weighs 6 kg (13 pounds); €279. Above: The tents are simple to put together, and can be assembled in one to five minutes. Above: On average, the tents weigh about 6 kilograms (13 pounds) each—light enough to tote around while seeking adventures.
Sometimes, even in a very small garden, you need something dramatic, a focal point that catches the eye. You might consider installing an ornament—an urn or a fountain or statue—but it would be simpler and a lot less expensive to use a plant instead. That’s where the Agave family comes in. It’s a genus of stunners: perennial succulents (sometimes quite large) with long shapely leaves that grow in rosettes. With approximately 200 species, the Agave’s color palette ranges from dusty gray, to kelly green, to bright yellow with green stripes, and even to blue.
Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista. Landscape architect Christine Ten Eyck uses dramatic succulents to draw the eye in her Austin, Texas garden. For more, see our new book, Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces.
Agaves are related to yuccas, dracaenas, ponytail palms, and Joshua trees but not, as many people assume, to cacti. Their elegant symmetrical shapes, their easy—almost effortless—maintenance, and their ability to thrive on very little water makes them prime candidates for the modern gardener interested in drought-tolerant beauty without back-breaking labor.
Agaves are native to Mexico, the Caribbean, northern South America, Central America, and the southwest United States. One of the U.S. natives that is commonly grown is Agave americana. It is also called “American aloe” (although it’s not an Aloe) and “Century plant,” which refers to its tendency to be slow to bloom. “Century” is an exaggeration. Agave americana usually blooms in 10 to 25 years. Its yellow flowers are carried high above the plant on a giant asparagus-like stalk that can grow more than 15 feet high. It’s a dramatic but bittersweet display because the plant, like many in its genus, is monocarpic: it dies after blooming.
Plant your Agave away from high traffic areas such as walkways. The edges and pointed tips of Agave leaves are very sharp and can cause injuries which are slow to heal because the leaves contain an anti-coagulant.
Agaves can grow as large as 20 feet in diameter, making them good background plants as well as appropriate companions for low-growing succulents such as sedums.
Agaves can be grown in pots and are great on patios, although you will have to bring them indoors in winter unless you live in a climate with very moderate weather.
Agaves grown outside require dry desert climates with winter temperatures above 25 degrees Fahrenheit. Most varieties do best in growing zones 8 to 10.
Good drainage is key to a healthy Agave. If your soil is clay based add some sand or grit to make sure your plant does not have to sit in a swamp.
Agaves need a lot of sunlight but avoid planting them where they will have to endure blistering desert sun. A bit of shade in the hottest part of the day is well tolerated by these plants.
Gardeners who live in areas at risk from wildfires would do well to use Agave and other succulents in their gardens. These plants store water in their leaves and stems, which actually makes them fire retardant. Not only will they most probably not go up in flames themselves, but they can also protect the buildings they surround.
Agave has a long history of providing benefits to humans. When the Spanish conquistadores arrived in Mexico, the indigenous people were already consuming a fermented Agave beverage called pulque. Today Agaves are grown for agave syrup (touted as healthy sweetener) and fiber to make twine, clothes ,and rugs. However, the Agave’s most celebrated product is definitely the liquor used to make a very popular cocktail. The next time you order a margarita you just might want to toast the beautiful blue Agave tequiliana, from which all tequila is made, and the Mexican farmers who cultivate it in the state of Jalisco.
Interested in other succulents or cacti? Get more ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for various succulents and cacti with our Succulents & Cacti: A Field Guide.
It’s important to make an entrance at a party or in garden. For a party, you need charisma and of course the right shoes. For a garden, all you need is an arbor, preferably covered in glorious climbing roses.
An arbor is a piece of hardscape that takes a garden from meh to magnificent, framing a gate or path in a doorway of flowers and leaves. An easy way to add drama to a landscape design, arbors have been around for a millennia, gracing gardens in ancient Greece, China, France, Portugal, Italy, India, Japan and medieval England.
Arbors offer a partial view into the garden beyond, giving visitors an enticing glimpse of the private space they’re about to walk into. (A peek is more tantalizing than a full view, because it invites you to imagine what’s behind the vines.)
Which arbor is right for your garden? It depends on the purpose you have in mind: Arbors can be paired with a gate or stand alone as a doorless portal. Read on for everything you need to know to choose the best arbor:
What’s the difference between an arbor and a pergola?
Arbors often get confused with pergolas and trellises. What’s the difference? They’re all a type of hardscape that props up plants, right? Yes, but each plays a different role in a landscape.
A pergola supports a rooftop grid where vines can be trained to provide a natural source of shade. It’s generally the size of a room, can be free-standing or attached to a house to shelter a patio. A trellis is a flat grid propped against a wall or fence to support trailing plants. An arbor is a freestanding structure that creates an entrance to a garden by creating a portal of living plants for you to pass through.
Look at this way. If your garden were a room, the pergola would be the ceiling. The trellis would be the wall. The arbor would be a doorway. Read on for tips on picking an arbor that fits your garden.
Should I pick an arbor that’s pretty or one that works hard?
Above: A rusted metal arbor covered with vines invites visitors to follow a path in London-based architect Ben Pentreath’s Dorset garden. For more of this garden, see our book, Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces. Photograph by Matthew Williams.
You want both. As any student of design can tell you, form should follow function. An arbor is beautiful because it gives climbing, rambling, and twining flowers, fruits, and vegetables a spine to grow on. Arbors aren’t just a place to keep wisteria and climbing roses off the ground. They bring vertical zing to the horizontal ho-hum of a yard or garden. That mix of shapes is a design principal called contrast, and it keeps your garden from being predictable. They also draw the eye upward, making the garden around it feel larger and grander.
How do I choose an arbor that’ the right size, scale, and style?
Above: A 92-inch-high Fretwork Wrought Iron Arbor is 41 inches wide and comes with display feet (in case you want to move it from one spot to another); $259 from Monticello Shop. See more at 10 Easy Pieces: Arched Arbors. Pick an arbor that goes with the architectural style of your house. An ornate, cottage-style arbor will look as out of place next to a mid-century mod house as boho fringe on a Burberry coat. Make sure your arbor is tall and wide enough for you to walk through it: at least six feet high and three feet wide. The arbor also needs to be in scale with its surroundings. Arbors range in size from three feet wide to 10 feet wide. You’ll need a big garden to accommodate an arbor that’s the length of a smart car, but a three-foot-wide arbor is ideal for a most home gardens. Be sure you get one sturdy enough to support the weight of climbing plants, and made of weatherproof materials that can stand up to the elements. An arbor that falls apart in two seasons or collapses beneath the weight of a wisteria is a garden fail.
Yes, if you’re handy with tools, you can build an arbor custom to your space. If you’re more binge watcher of HGTV than weekend woodworker, you can buy kits that can be assembled with nothing more than patience and a screwdriver. And of course, you can buy ready-to-go arbors that require neither artisan skills nor tools.
What are the best materials for arbors?
Above: Beans grow seasonally on an iron backyard garden in Mill Valley, California. In winter, the bare metal arch adds architectural interest to the landscape. For more of this garden, see our book, Gardenista: The Definitive Guide to Stylish Outdoor Spaces. Photograph by Matthew Williams
You can find arbors made of iron, steel, wood, and wood polymer composite materials that can stand up to the wear and tear of the outdoors. Wood and metal arbors have the most classic looks. For a long-lived arbor, choose a weather resistant wood such as cedar that’s resistant to rot and insects, or powdered coated metal that can withstand rust.
What are the most common styles of arbors?
Read on to find out about arched, moon gate, gabled and bench-equipped arbors so you can decide which one belongs in you garden.
Arched Arbors
Above: An arched Rose Bow Arbor made of steel is 7.7 feet tall and is €298 from Manufactum.Arched Arbor: This is a classic shape, the one you’ll most often see. It’s generally made of wood or metal. It has two flat sides that meet overhead in a graceful arch. An arched arbor usually has grid or ladder-rung-style supports that plants can hold onto as they climb upward. If the arbor is ornate and you want it to show, plant sparsely so its curlicues and trim can be glimpsed through the green. If you want the plants to be the star, let them take over and cover the arbor in a sheet of green.
Best plants for an arched arbor: Twining plants like Passionflower, clematis and jasmines. Climbing nasturtium or Coral honeysuckle will race up an arbor and give you a flowery gateway. Train a climbing rose to climb up the arbor so you walk through a portal of fragrant roses when you walk into your garden.
Moon Gate Arbors
Above: A 7-foot-tall steel Moon Gate Arch Arbor is $375 from Hayneedle.Moon Gate Arbor: Moon gate arbors are semi-circles that look like, you guessed it, a three-quarter moon. They’re wider than other types of arbors, ranging from 6 to 8 feet across, so they’re good for large spaces. They’re usually made of metal and have ladder-like slats for twining vines to hang onto. Left bare, their stark minimalism would look right at home in a contemporary or Asian-style garden, playing the starring role of sculpture instead of the supporting role as plant support. Moon gate arbors are based on moon gates, which originated in ancient China where they were placed in garden walls and intended to resemble a moon rising from the landscape. The Chinese believed moon gates to be symbols of birth and renewal and a representation of the endless cycle of life. As a design element, moon gate arbors make a gorgeous portal between the outside world and the inside of your garden, bringing Zen cool to your space
Best plants for a moon gate arbor: Flowering vines that aren’t woody, like clematis and sweet pea, will race up the moon gate. Choose an annual vine and the moon gate arbor becomes a modernist sculpture in the winter.
Design Tip: Place several moon gate arbors three to five feet apart and train plants to climb up each one and fill the gap between them, creating a hallway of plants at the entry to your garden. Train an evergreen rambling plant on them and you’ll have a tunnel of green year round.
Grape Arbor: Grape arbors have a flat top originally intended to make them better able to support the fruit and woody vines of grapes. They’re useful even if you don’t want a backyard vineyard, because they can stand up to many varieties of plants that have hefty vines and vigorous growth. Grape arbors are usually made of wood, with beams across the top that resemble top of a pergola.
Best plants for a grape arbor: Grapes, of course. Wisteria, which grows into a whopper of a plant, trumpet vine.
Gabled Arbors
Above: A 7.4-foot-high Natural Cedar Garden Arbor is $159 from Lowe’s.Gabled Arbor: Gabled arbors have steep, pitched tops that resemble the triangular house roofs that kids draw. They’re usually made of wood and are a fixture in English gardens: crisp, angled and proper. Generally you want to let the pointed roofs show through the plants, giving this garden fixture an architectural quality. They’re almost always made of wood.
Best plants for a gabled arbor: Climbing English roses, because you they’re slow-growing enough for you to keep them from covering up the arbor’s roofline. Clematis, hummingbird vine and black-eyed Susan vine will climb skyward.
Design tip: Trim vines so they cover the roof without obscuring its angles.
Arbors with a Bench
Above: A rounded 8.5-foot-tall Garden Arbor Bench constructed of western red cedar has stainless steel hardware and ships fully assembled inside a crate; $5,199 from BrattleWorks.Bench Arbor: Not all arbors work as a doorway. Some include a built-in bench so you can place the arbor out in the garden and create a shady nook where you can sit and look at your plants. It’s like a tiny pergola. Bench arbors usually have three sides of grid for plant support, two on the side and one behind the bench, so you get the effect of sitting in a semi-private niche of greenery.
Best plants for a bench arbor: Pick climbers that will make a thick wall of green to screen out the garden beyond. Wisteria and grapes are good choices. English Ivy will wrap your arbor in green quickly. Scented climbers like jasmine, honeysuckle or roses make your bench arbor a sweet-smelling bower.
Design Tip: Place a bench arbor in a corner of your garden with a path winding out to it so that it’s a destination.
With stone deck tiles, installing a floor outdoors can be as easy as snapping together Lego pieces. Many natural stone tiles are mounted on plastic interlocking bases and can be laid without glue or grout on a surface that’s flat and clean.
Suitable for use on a patio or deck—or in a courtyard, mudroom, shed, or gazebo—stone deck tiles are often an inexpensive alternative to stone pavers (and DIYers can save the cost of installation, as well).
We’ve rounded up 10 favorite stone deck tiles in materials that include marble, slate, and sandstone at price points from high to low (from architects’ favorites for high-traffic areas to easy-to-install beginners’ choices):
Above: An architects’ favorite, Mosa’s double-sided stone Floor Tiles for outdoor use can bear heavy loads and are “scratch, stain, and wear-resistant.” They can be glued down, used with a raised floor system, or set on a stabilized sand bed. For more information and prices, see Mosa. Above: Made of natural slate bonded to an interlocking plastic base, a box of six EzyTile Slate Tiles measuring 11.25 inches by 11.25 inches each is from $53.73 to $59.70 depending on size of order at Architrex. Above: A box of 10 11.8-by-11.8-inch Travertine Stone Deck Tiles with a matte finish have interlocking bases that snap together. “Machine cut and hand polished stone pieces are carefully and firmly bonded to a commercial grade fiber mesh base,” notes the manufacturer; a box is $99.99 from Garden Winds.
Above: A 48-square-foot pallet of Variegated Basketweave York Stone Pavers (available in two sizes including 24 by 24 inches as shown) is $311 from Home Depot. Above: A box of 10 11.8-by-11.8-inch gray Stone Deck Tiles with interlocking fiber mesh bases is $99.99 from Garden Winds. Above: Natural stone Kontiki Interlocking Deck Tiles are gray and measure 1 by 1 foot. Prices range from $6.09 to $6.29 per square foot depending on quantity at Build Direct. Above: A 12-inch-square slate Kontiki Interlocking Deck Tile is from $5.79 to 6.49 per tile depending on quantity (with a minimum required order of 72) from Build Direct. Above: A box of five snap-together Stone Patio Tiles is available in two colors (natural, as shown, and black slate). Each tile measures 12 inches square and is set on a base made of recycled plastic, sawdust, and organic fibers; $59.97 from Windowbox. Above: Made of natural stone, a box of 10 11.8-by-11.8-inch Venetian Stone Deck Tiles is $99.99 from Garden Winds. Above: Made of Italian marble by Arezia, a box of five sheets of pre-assembled mosaic Module Opus Romano Quarzite tiles (each measuring 40 by 40 centimeters) is €77.29 from Chebagno.
Are you sprucing up an outdoor space in anticipation of summer? See our curated Hardscape 101 design guides to Decks and Patios, Pavers, and Gravel. And for more materials, see more recently updated 10 Easy Pieces posts:
Lobelia is a go-to flower to add showy, delicate blooms to your borders, window boxes, or hanging baskets. This non-stop annual flower has fine foliage and produces a profusion of dainty blue, pink, white, violet, or bi-colored flowers from spring till fall. If you are not familiar with this plant, you really must be. And your containers, especially, will thank you.
Please keep reading to learn about this delightful annual.
Above: Saturated spring colors, courtesy of lobelia. Photograph by Ernest McCray Jr. via Flickr.
Annual lobelias are a hardworking warm-season plant, and there are two different types to serve your design needs. Upright and compact varieties will grow as tall as 4 to 6 inches and work well as edgers or as filling in flower beds. Trailing varieties have a spreading habit (and will grow as wide as 15 inches) and are useful in containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets—or cascading over walls.
Also as with most annuals, lobelias require a little extra care to keep them flowering through the summer. While this may sound fussy, most annuals benefit from extra attention and you will be rewarded with more blooms. In early spring, pinch back six inches long newly emerging stems to encourage a more compact plant. You also can give the plant a light trim any time of year if the flowering wanes to promote more blooms. If the plants stop blooming, do a major pruning to revive them.
Some common varieties include: Lobelia erinus ‘Crystal Palace’–the most seen in nurseries with deep indigo blue flowers and bronze foliage. Lobelia erinus ‘Fountain Series’–a cascading form and available in a wide range of colors and bicolors.
Note: Not all lobelias are annuals. A perennial species, L. cardinalis syn. Lobelia fulgens has red flower spikes that earned its nickname: cardinal flower. L. siphilitica, also known as blue cardinal flower, is a perennial that grows in moist soil in woodlands. And L. inflata is a medicinal herb used in homeopathic treatments.
Above: Lobelia ‘Fountain Blue’. Photograph by Mike Sutton via Flickr.
Cheat Sheet
Lobelia’s bright flowers, ranging in colors from white to shades of pink, blue and purple, are a hot spot for butterflies and are luckily avoided by rabbits and the occasional deer due to their toxic properties.
Lobelia pairs with other summer bloomers such as pansies, geraniums, or daisies.
Depending on the variety, lobelia can be tucked into perennial beds as edgers and fillers, or into containers or hanging baskets as spillers.
Above: Lobelia erinus. Photograph by Tatters via Flickr.
Keep It Alive
Lobelias like full sun in mild summer areas; plant in a partly sunny spot in hot climates because they are not fond of beating sun.
Avoid dry soil; water enough to keep the area slightly moist.
Add a slow-release fertilize at planting time and use a high-quality potting soil or planting mix.
Purchase seedlings in a six-pack or in 4-inch pots and transplant directly.
Skymeadow by Charlie Hart is part autobiography, part garden how-to, and part self-help book for anyone suffering from a bereavement or anxiety. And I loved it.
A couple of years ago, I met Charlie Hart at a cafe in Kings Cross, London to talk about garden writing. This wasn’t an unusual occurrence—I was gardening editor of The Guardian at the time, and Charlie, a garden writer and gardener from Essex, had been writing pieces for me.
I’d first come across Charlie a few months earlier, at the Chelsea Flower Show in 2016 when he was campaign director for a pioneering show garden which highlighted the evils of modern slavery. He wanted to get into garden writing, so I agreed to have him send me a few sample pieces, with that oft-experienced editor’s combination of hope that I’d found a great new contributor, tempered by fear that he couldn’t string a sentence together. I googled him in the hope of further intelligence and discovered his father was a flamboyant property developer and a political fixer for Conservative prime minister Margaret Thatcher during the 1980s. In that annoying way journalists have of reducing everything to a snappy headline, I’d already pegged Charlie as a posh boy—a horticultural Hugh Grant, if you will: after all, he had a cut glass English accent, floppy hair, a wife called Sybilla, and a brother called Bimbo (yes really).
Above: Sweet peas border a gravel walkway in Charlie Hart’s garden.
By the time we met in that London cafe, I’d warmed to Charlie over our email conversations over ideas for articles and discussions about the exploits of our respective dogs and children. I also knew from his published work that he had the knack of conveying the very visual art of gardening into words. Over coffee he told me with barely suppressed glee about the process of transforming several acres of meadowland at his home in Essex into an ambitious garden, but also explained the rather more difficult backdrop to that narrative. While working on the garden at Peverels, he was facing up to and subsequently grieving for the deaths of his parents, weathering the storm that is being a parent to four young children, and continuing a lifelong battle against anxiety. He was negotiating a far more complex emotional and practical landscape than my initial pigeonholing exercise had suggested.
Above: Mown grass, the main path in Charlie Hart’s garden, is bordered by split rail fence and wildflowers.
He hesitatingly floated the idea of writing a book about his experiences. I egged him on: at the time, I was full of optimism about gardening books, as my own book proposal had just received an enthusiastic reception from a potential publisher. And anyway, I had an inkling that Charlie’s storytelling would create something rather special. In the period between that meeting and the publication of Charlie’s book, my own book idea got canned, so it was with a tinge of envy and regret for the demise of my own project that I began reading an advance copy of Skymeadow sent by the publisher. This was soon forgotten, though, as I became swallowed up in the tale, carried along by Charlie’s combination of nervous energy and poetic depiction of the English landscape.
Above:
The reader learns about Charlie’s early life, first as an “outwardly defiant and inwardly nervous” schoolboy, and then a booze and narcotics-spiked stretch at Cambridge University, through his current existence to a married man with four children who’s panicking that the elderly central heating boiler is about to heave its last while wondering whether his wife (who suffers from dyspraxia) will ever pass her driving test.
These more personal passages are interspersed by dollops of easily-digestible horticultural know-how, from the difference between an annual, a perennial and a biennial, to the right time to prune a rose: in fact a rose garden, that quintessentially English feature of horticulture, was the place the author literally dug his way out of grief and found new meaning to his life. Of course no good rose garden is a monoculture: it is a carefully timed concoction of plants that act as a foil for the main business of scented summer blossom. So Hart weaves exotic foliage of cannas and a red banana among his roses, and wreaths them with cottage garden classics such as poppies, nasturtiums, cornflowers and love-in-a-mist. His description of “richly colored tulips dancing away above clouds of violet forget-me-nots interspersed with roses holding in their healthy foliage all the promise of summer to come” made me want to dash into my garden and grab a bouquet of spring flowers.
Above: Tropical plants mingle with the dahlias in Charlie Hart’s English garden.
I tore through this book in three sittings, but it did give me the same emotions as watching Monty Don working away at Berryfields, his huge Herefordshire plot on British gardening TV show Gardener’s World: a potent mix of admiration, envy, and intoxication at the glory of beautiful garden. It’s worth noting—particularly for non-UK readers—that not all English gardeners are blessed with the twin luxuries of being able to buy a five-acre slice of the countryside, as well as the luxury of spending days, weeks and months at a time working on it. In a small crowded country, most gardeners, if we’re lucky, have a pocket handkerchief of land to tend rather than a patchwork quilt of meadowland best measured in acres. (Of course, it was ever thus: the vast majority of famous English gardens were built by the rich and the privileged.)
The thing that stops Charlie’s privilege driving an emotional wedge between author and reader is his searing honesty. Anyone who has suffered from anxiety will recognize the vivid description of “the chemical and biological consequence of trying to live a normal life when your biochemistry is behaving as if you are in the throes of mortal combat with a lion.” After all, bereavement and acute anxiety are no respecters of wealth.
Although not everyone has the luxury of space in which to garden away the pain of loss and surrender to the vastness of creation, Charlie’s message remains valid whether you own a single houseplant or a five-acre plot: taking care of plants is good for us, mind and body.
There’s something refreshing about outdoor dining chairs in color. Mix different shapes and shades to seat your guests for the season’s first foray into outdoor dining. Here’s a roundup of our favorite outdoor dining chairs in a bouquet of spring pastels.
Above: A collapsible Painted Metal Bistro Chair available in six colors including a spring-y mint is $78 from Terrain. Designed by Wieke Somers for Tectona, the Grasshopper Chair is made of powder-coated aluminum in grasshopper green; £270 through Tectona. Above: Made of iron, a Lucinda Stacking Chair in dusty pink is $69.95 from CB2. Above: The bistro chair never goes out of style, and the Fermob Bistro Metal Chair is the classic. Shown in a garden-friendly willow green color, it is available for $220 for a pair at Lumens. Above: A galvanized powder coated steel Hay Palissade Chair in an anthracite color is £189 from Utility Design.
Above: A Marais AC Chais, “the big brother to the Marais A,” is available in 12 colors including Lemon as shown; $155 at Industry West. Above: A Stackable Hee Dining Chair available in seven colors including a soft “fall green” as shown is $265 from A + R. Above: A set of two blue Bistro Chairs also is available in green, charcoal, or steel colors and is £50 from Garden Trading. Above: Made of hot-dip galvanized iron, a Betty Stacking chair in peachy pink is rust resistant; $450 from LA-based Bend Goods. Above: A Remodelista favorite, the Fermob Luxembourg Side Chair shown in soft lagoon blue; $1,477 for a set of four at Y Living.
If you’re furnishing an outdoor dining or lounging space, start with our curated design guide, Decks & Patios 101 (and if you’re building a new space from scratch, see our guides to Pavers 101 and Gravel Courtyards 101). For more essential furnishings, see our updated 10 Easy Pieces posts:
In early spring the distinctive and profuse flowers of eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis), a small tree native to eastern and central North America, defy color-description. Are they pink? Rose? Purple? Lilac? We need a new redbud word. Clustered against the gray bark of their leafless branches, the darker buds (magenta?) open to a thick and pale pink pelt, giving the tree a psychedelic and slightly prehistoric appearance.
Read on to learn how to cultivate this native tree, and why.
Photography by Marie Viljoen unless otherwise noted.
Above: Redbud is listed by the USDA as endangered in New Jersey and of “special concern” in Connecticut. This means that the tree is disappearing from what is left of its native habitat, as development eats away at natural areas. The good news is that planting native species such as redbud in our gardens has a buffering effect against this loss and also gives us the real pleasure that this striking spring performer unleashes in early spring. Above: The unique flowering habit of redbud makes it an effective showstopper, whether planted where it will contrast unapologetically with swaths of daffodils, or in a more restrained and indigenous garden. Above: Redbud is a modest-sized tree, making it a good choice for small and urban gardens where space is at a premium.
Equally happy in sun or semi-shade, redbud is a natural understory tree which also adapts well to the high shade created by clusters of city buildings. Cold hardy redbud will grow in USDA zones 4 to 9. Its one steady requirement is ample moisture; this is not a tree for dry areas.
The famous pea-like flowers are not only pretty but edible. Add a handful to a salad or to summer rolls for a burst of crisp sweetness.
Above: One cultivar offers eye-poppingly neon pink blossoms: ‘Appalachian Red’ is not exactly red. Above: And if redbud pink is not your thing, choose cultivars such as ‘Royal White’, ‘Texas White’, and ‘Alba’ for their cool and calm white blooms.
If you would like an alternative to green leaves, ‘Forest Pansy ‘ has deeply purple foliage.
Above: In late spring the trees leaf out and flowers are transformed into seedpods resembling snap peas.
The appealingly heart-shaped foliage rounds out the slender trees and creates deep shade beneath the branches. In fall the leaves turn a bright yellow.
Cheat Sheet
Some subspecies of Cercis canadensis will tolerate drier conditions: ask for C. canadensis var. mexicana and C. canadensis var. texensis at native-plant nurseries.
Redbud is the state tree of Oklahoma.
Native Americans enjoyed the flowers as food.
George Washington and Thomas Jefferson grew the tree in their gardens at Mt. Vernon and Monticello.
What happens when a Japanese-style garden meets the southern California desert? For the very Zen results, let’s visit a serene gravel courtyard that landscape architecture firm Terremoto designed for Mohawk General Store in Santa Monica:
Above: Passion flower vines soften the redbrick facade of Mohawk General Store. “The vines were existing when we started the project and we decided to keep them because they were happy there,” said landscape architect David Godshall.
“This was an attempt to create a garden that was both Japanese and desert simultaneously,” landscape architect David Godshall said, adding that client Kevin Carney wanted a space to have movie screenings and create a backdrop for fashion shoots.
The garden, formerly occupied by gardening shop Potted, had existing hardscape (some concrete slabs) and a few specimen plants—including two large palms—that the team salvaged from the previous design. “For the rest of it, we started from scratch.”
Above: During the remodel, Terremoto removed “chunky, two-inch gravel and a fair amount of existing concrete” and replaced the surface with decomposed concrete with “a heavy dusting” of gravel on top to stabilize the DG, Godshall said: “With this approach you lose the negative aspects of getting DG on the bottom of your shoes and also the feeling that gravel is a trudge to walk through.”
“We made the design process conversational,” Godshall said. “We went cactus shopping with the clients. Then we went boulder shopping. After we got all the elements on site, an incredibly hardworking crew shadow boxed them into place. Then there was a lot of looking at how things looked, walking around, and shifting it around.”
Above: Terremoto installed a vertical shiplap fence.
The custom benches are made of cedar planks on with concrete bases. “We came up with the design after looking at a lot of benches,” Godshall said. “I went to the hardware store and saw little concrete piers that cost seven dollars each. I realized they are beautiful objects, so we got them and then bought a nice piece of cedar for each bench.”
Above: An aloe tree plays the part of sculpture, complemented by a backdrop of passion flower vines. Above: “This is an abstract clothing rack; it’s perfect as sculpture to put in the garden and when the shop hangs clothes on it, it looks very beautiful,” Godshall said. Above: An existing palm tree adds height to the serene composition.
“We built a beautiful space that allows flexibility, for events, and which also is a sculptural space that needs no further justification, where people can take a phone call or do what they please,” said Godshall.
Above: A pair of yuccas are intentionally crooked. “They’re amazing when they have lighting at night, very psychedelic,” said Godshall. Above: Specimen plants have uplights trained on them to create visual impact at night. (See more ideas at Hardscaping 101: Landscape Uplighting.)
“Basically all of the landscape lighting is uplighting because the garden is not trafficked a lot at night and we didn’t need to have path lighting,” said Godshall. “We like the look of dark landscapes so we lit up just the major plants.”
