Dispatches from a shepherd: Margot is following @herdyshephard1, the visual journal of a shepherd in England’s Lake District (and author of The Shepherd’s Life).
Fan is having a staycation weekend and headed to Greenwood Gardens in Millburn, New Jersey. (Around in August? Save the date for the twilight garden tour on August 7.)
Our judges have chosen the finalists, now you choose the winners. Vote for your favorite projects in our 2018 Considered Design Awards, once per day in each of the Gardenista and Remodelista categories. Voting closes at midnight on August 3, and winners will be announced on August 6.
Below, browse the finalists in the best Professional Landscape category and then head to our awards page to Vote.
N.B.: Curious to know who’s winning? We reveal the rankings when you vote in each category.
Above: Gardenista editor Michelle Slatalla admired the “bold color choices, turf-free front lawn, and unpruned silhouettes of shrubs” in Pine House Edible Gardens‘ Low-Water Modern Front Yard, saying that all the elements “make you forget this is a suburban street in Silicon Valley.”
Above: Another of Michelle’s picks was Liz Pulver Design‘s Room to Breathe in Brooklyn project. Says Michelle: “A roof garden and velvety green backyard create a remarkable respite from the noise and grit of New York City.” Photograph by Oresti Tsonopoulos.
Studio City Slowdive
Above: Brook selected Terremoto‘s Studio City Slowdive project, admiring its “simply stated moments that remind us landscapes are better canvases for art than design.” Photograph by David Godshall.
Have you chosen your favorite? Then head to the best Professional Landscape category page to vote.
Don’t forget to vote once per day in all contest categories on both Gardenista and Remodelista, now through August 3.
If you live in a climate warm enough to make an olive tree happy, consider your landscape dilemma solved. One olive tree, dramatically situated, is all it takes to inspire awe—and poetic allusions to ancient boughs that sheltered Socrates and his students.
Legend has it, in fact, that the actual olive tree that shaded the philosopher still stands in Athens, as gnarly and cankered as you would expect of an old man who has lived more than 2,500 years. The story may well be true, as olives are one of the longest-lived of all trees (keep this in mind when choosing where to plant one as the spot you pick will be its home for centuries).
Olea europaea (of which there are hundreds of varieties, each with its own distinctive fruit) hails from ancient Mesopotamia and Persia and is a ubiquitous feature of the landscape in warm regions surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. You can grow an olive tree of your own if your winters don’t get too cold—it will tolerate a freeze, but not temperatures that dip below 20 degrees Fahrenheit.
Not everyone likes to have olives raining down on the front walk; if that describes you, plant a nonfruiting variety. For the rest of us, Sarah has a recipe for DIY: Home-Cured Olives.
Here are 10 of our favorites way to use an olive tree in your garden.
Anchor a Courtyard
Above: Photograph by Matthew Williams for Gardenista.
A single olive tree in a Texas courtyard needs no further embellishment to carry the landscape (although the sound of burbling water from a small nearby fountain is always nice).
Cooking outdoors creates a conundrum: You don’t want the sun beating down on your head but a canopy or shade umbrella can trap smoke and make you feel as if you are the meat sizzling on the grill. A strategically situated olive tree creates shade and allows air to circulate.
If you want to create an outdoor room without having to build anything, pull some chairs outdoors to sit beneath the generous boughs of an olive tree. Suddenly you have a roof over your head (and can still see the stars).
Olive trees grow ver-r-r-y slowly, a fact that prompted Jean and Ken Linsteadt to buy a large specimen tree for their front yard in Mill Valley. If you want to screen the neighbors’ house, invest in a large tree. “We’re hidden from the street, and my husband sits in front and smokes a pipe a lot,” Jean says. “It’s amazing the conversations he’s overheard from people passing by.”
A row of small olive trees against a fence does the same job as a clump of shrubbery, adding a layer of texture and softness to the landscape. (An olive tree’s airy gray-green leaves look particularly good against a black backdrop.)
Add drama and formality to a path by planting identical rows of olive trees on either side.
Honor the Horizon
Above: In Bel Air, California, a mature olive tree with a history makes friends with a starkly modern facade, thanks to an introduction from the warm gray brick pavers on the driveway. See more of this project by Terremoto Landscape Architecture in our Considered Design Awards 2017. Photograph courtesy of Terremoto.
The twisted trunk and gnarled branches of an olive tree will, like a sculpture in the garden, focus attention both on itself and on a distant view.
The soft gray-green shades of an olive tree’s foliage look particularly good when set against both neutral colors (such as natural gravels) and deep, velvety greens (such as the waxy leaves of boxwood).
Miss Rumphius was the lupine lady, as you probably remember from the picture book by Barbara Cooney. She lived in Maine, in a little house by the sea, and scattered flower seeds to create a colorful carpet along the coast. I cannot say how many times I have read the story aloud, first to one daughter, then to a second, and finally to the baby. What did we all love so much about Miss Rumphius? Was it the image of a little old lady flying through town on a bike, her long cape unfurled behind her like a flag of freedom? Was it the pretty illustrations of spiky, colorful flowers in bloom? I like to think it was her motto: “You must do something to make the world more beautiful.”
Lupines (or lupins are they are known in Europe) certainly live up to the standards of Miss Rumphius. With generous, palmate leaves that spread wide to gently cup a raindrop, Lupinus would be an ornamental plant even without flowers. But when it is in bloom, in shades that range from a deep, deep purple all the way through the color rainbow, the pea-shaped flowers clustered together on tall, sturdy spikes are breathtaking.
Miss Rumphius was not the first to appreciate its merits; the English horticulturalist George Russell devoted decades to creating colorful hybrids. Garden designer Gertrude Jekyll planted lupines in her kitchen garden. My father introduced lupines every spring to his garden in the Chicago suburbs. Emphasis on every spring—lupines are finicky friends and even among the perennial species of the plant, you can’t count on them to come back. However, wild varieties such as the purple sundial lupine (L. perennis), which nourishes butterfly larvae are likely to reappear year after year; “wild” is a shorthand way of saying “found a spot that makes them happy.”
Photography by Britt Willoughby Dyer, except where noted.
Above: Deep purple flowers and sturdy spikes are a mark of Russell hybrids, the floriferous lupines that English horticulturalist Russell devoted a lifetime to creating.
Many of today’s vividly colored lupine varieties (pink, orange, yellow, deep purple, and bi-colored) are the result of the hybridization efforts of the 19th-century English horticulturalist George Russell.
Decades of breeding lupines produced densely flowered, stocky Russell hybrids (Lupinus X russellii hort), which won a gold medal from the Royal Horticultural Society in 1937—and promptly became a sensation on this side of the pond as well. “With the phenomenal interest created by the introduction of the new Russell lupines from England, this fine old garden flower has been catapulted into the limelight of the garden world,” wrote Edward F. Steffek in the New York Times in 1938.
Above: Each pea-shaped flower on the spike deserves attention.
Although it has a temperamental reputation in the garden (perennial lupines are short-lived and generally can’t be counted on to bloom for more than three seasons), wildflower lupines will run rampant in climates that make them happy. The Texas bluebonnet, for instance, is actually a lupine. Texas legislators formally christened it “bluebonnet” instead when the wild blue lupine was elevated to the status of state flower in 1901.
Garden design advice from John Steinbeck, courtesy of East of Eden: “Once a woman told me colored flowers would seem more bright if you added a few white flowers to give the colors definition. Every petal of blue lupin is edged with white, so that a field of lupins is more blue than you can imagine.”
Above: White makes the purple look purpler.
The sole food source for the larvae of the Karner Blue butterfly is wild lupine. “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 food source for the caterpillars of many endangered butterflies, including the Karner Blue,” writes Justine. Read more about efforts to propagate native species at Walk on the Wild Side: A New England Woodland Garden.
Above: For creamy white lupines, consider Noble Maiden Russell Lupines; a packet of seeds is $3.50 from Eden Brothers.
Above: Lupines are happy companions to alliums.
Above: Lipstick pink is a color that resulted from cross-breeding. Grow your own Lupine Polyphyllus ‘Gallery Pink’ (preorder now for 2019) for $11.95 apiece from Bluestone Perennials.
Cheat Sheet
Help save the endangered endangered Karner Blue butterfly by planting sundial lupine (Lupinus perennis) and preventing cross-breeding with Russell hybrids (which are inedible to the butterflies).
Sundial Lupines (perennial in USDA zones 3 to 10, depending on the variety) are available seasonally from Annie’s Annuals.
So many lupines, so little time. Yellow bush lupine (Lupinus arboreus) is a short-lived perennial shrub that will grow as high as seven feet in a sheltered spot.
Keep It Alive
Perennial lupines are hardy in USDA growing zones 3 to 10, depending on the variety.
For best results, plant lupines in full sun (although they can adapt to partial shade), in well-draining soil.
If you are growing Russell hybrids, know that they prefer cool temperatures and humid climates (in USDA zones 4 to 6, for instance).
If you buy seedlings, be careful not to damage the taproot when transplanting.
Above: One bouquet a day from a farm in Sweden by doll-maker Juliane Strittmatter, who picks flowers every day from May through October and posts them on Instagram: @onebouquetperday.
Heading out of town in Concord, Massachusetts, one passes The Old Manse, an imposing clapboard building which in the 18th century witnessed the start of the Revolutionary War at the battle of North Bridge (and decades years later became home to naturalists Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau). A little farther down the road is another sort of landscape: a thoroughly modern garden shaped by the historic character and progressive nature of this revolutionary town.
The new landscape designed by Richard Burck of Richard Burck Associates, Inc. and constructed by Robert Hanss of Robert Hanss Inc. looks as if it evolved slowly over the centuries. It harmoniously connects a newly built house to surrounding wetlands, meadows, and woodlands. Taking a cue from Concord’s rural surroundings, the contemporary garden honors Concord’s conservationist traditions.
Let’s take a walk around:
Photography by Justine Hand.
Above: Architect Leland Cott of Bruner/Cott & Associates, Inc. stayed true to the scale and spirit of the historic New England town by using materials such as shingles and stone. A Franklin tree (Franklinia alatamaha) and white-flowering dogwood (Cornus florida ‘Cherokee Princess’) are focal points at the home’s entry; other plantings include dwarf fothergilla (Fothergilla gardenii), oakleaf hydrangea (H. quercifolia ‘Alice’) and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia).
Creating the Concord landscape was a two-phase process. Phase one married the newly built residence with its natural surroundings. After the owners purchased an adjacent property, phase two integrated the new terrain into the landscape design and included an expansion of the gardens.
Above: The rot-resistant wood of 15 black locust trees harvested on site was milled locally to create the pergola which runs along the side of the house which faces a pond.
Throughout the property, traditional materials and motifs employed in modern ways create visual unity and to reinforce the sense of place. New fieldstone walls, stone steps, and walkways echo existing hardscaping to help define and connect the outdoor spaces. In constructing the walls, Robert Hanss opted for an internationally “loose” style of stacked stone to harmonize with Concord’s rural character. Where possible, the stone was found on site or sourced locally.
Above: Newly constructed stone walls, bluestone paths, and a long pergola edged by a cutting garden define the outdoor spaces closest to the house, creating a more formal setting for outdoor lounging and entertaining.
Above: The view from the house: sculpture and a rolling lawn.
The homeowners also got a pond and an old stone wall when they bought the neighboring property. Burck and Hanss opened up the space by removing invasive plants and selectively thinning and pruning overgrown vegetation. Next they added the lawn (irrigated by a well dug on site) which acts like a carpet to seamlessly connect the disparate features of the landscape. Wherever possible, existing native trees, shrubs, and other plants were transplanted within the site. In one case, a line of 15-to-20-foot evergreens were moved and re-grouped more naturalistically.
Above: Fieldstone walls, inset in the gentle slope, provide a visual transition to other parts of the landscape. In the background, beyond the wall, native plants such as ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris) dominate and provide a transition to the wooded area.
Above: Fragrant, native swamp azaleas (Rhododendron viscosum and the pink azalea R. periclymeniodes) throughout the property connect the landscaped areas with wilder meadows and woodlands.
Above: Bluestone pavers near the house are similar to those found throughout the historic parts of town.
Above: The only area of the garden with non-native plants, a densely planted cutting garden (with purple Allium ‘Globemaster’) provides color and seasonal interest in the areas closest to the house.
Above: From the kitchen windows and adjacent pergola, the view encompasses both the cutting garden—with allium, geranium, heuchera, oriental poppy, delphinium, iris, rose, peony, and foxglove—as well as the pond and old stone wall beyond.
Above: Around the pond, seen here through the cutting garden, tree branches were selectively pruned to showcase the underlying structure; invasive plants were removed and replaced by native perennials. Because of wetlands regulations, all plants and plantings in this area had to be approved by the local conservation commission. An aerator was added to the pond to enhance aquatic life.
Above: Lending historic character to the site, an old stone wall and stairs were repaired.
Above: Throughout the property tress were thinned to enhance the view. Here the old steps lead up to a bit of lawn dominated by a 100-year-old ash tree.
Above: In the meadow, a mown path provides a link and transition to the surrounding woodlands beyond.
Below the house and drive a small vale is home to a meadow previously choked by overgrown plantings. Here Hanss cleared the site of invasive species and planted a field of native grasses and wildflowers, which now hosts birds and pollinating insects.
Above: The sea of grass in the field is punctuated by sunny daisies.
Above: The field not only provides textural interest and movement to the landscape, it also is a haven for pollinators and birds.
Above: Granite, salvaged from the site, was repurposed to create a set of stairs leading from the back meadow up the the house and more landscaped areas. Plantings include mountain laurel (Kalmia), Christmas fern (Polystichum acrostichoides), bottlebrush buckeye (Aesculus parviflora), and geranium.
Above: Providing a bit of color, Aquilegia vulgaris ‘Black Barlow’ and mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia “Carousel” flank the granite steps.
Above: A simple shed, elevated by clapboards and wood-shingled roof, stores garden equipment.
A series of functional outbuildings also help enhance the historic character of the property, while still maintaining a clean, Shaker-like look. All feature traditional materials such as painted clapboards and wooden shingles.
Above: The driveway area is simply planted with birch, ferns, and native azeleas, including a white birch (Betula populifolia) and yellowwood tree (Cladrastis kentukea) that flank the shed. A neighboring horse farm provides a particularly treasured borrowed view.
Above: Hidden at the back of the garden shed, a nook for storing firewood sits opposite a bank of native ferns and azaleas.
Above: Using traditional materials and architectural details, the outbuildings on the property also reflect the historic character of the area.
Above: As seen from the lawn, the house, gardens, and outbuildings are seamlessly integrated into the landscape.
A summerhouse on a plot of land, to visit every weekend while wearing country garb—this is not the vision of New Yorkers escaping to Connecticut but of Russians, during the time of Tolstoy and Chekhov. The latter, one of the most enduring playwrights of all time, was also a family doctor, a dedicated humanitarian, and a gardener.
Dachas were typically filled with hardy Russian perennials and medicinal plants. The White Dacha, where Chekhov wrote The Seagull while gardening and treating patients, was recently saved and restored (with the help of the Anton Chekhov Foundation in the United Kingdom) and has been an inspiration for British gardeners Anna Benn and Hannah Gardner. They created a Chekhov-oriented garden at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show this month, and it is a digestible lesson in Russian gardening. Here are 10 ideas to steal from gardens in Russia.
Photography by Jim Powell for Gardenista.
Fretwork Railing
Above: A gaily painted fretwork fence, reminiscent of the wooden designs that decorate older dachas.
Wood, as well as the forest, is a part of the national identity and for a thousand years, almost everything in Russia was made of wood. Nails, on the other hand, were less easily obtained, leading to some inventive building work (including vibrantly painted onion domes). Decorative fretwork on roofs, windows, and doors also implies a celebration of the medium; wood for wood’s sake.
Handy Haystack
Above: A hayrick, or more properly a straw rick.
The hayrick should really be called a straw rick and if the designers were being literal, it would have remained outside the heart of the garden. This design is based on original photographs; straw was made and stored on Chekhov’s land for re-thatching village houses. A dacha owner was expected to look after the local community.
Samovar Seating
Above: A wooden table and seating are similar to furniture recorded in Chekhov’s own dacha, where he wrote, gardened, and saw patients in his capacity as a doctor.
The expression sidet u samovara, which translates to “sit by the samovar,” also can be described as chatting over tea or chainichat, and surely deserves wider use. Samovars, with their internal water-heating systems, are at the center not only of Russian culture but also that of its neighbors, Persia and China. It was from China that Russians (by which we mean a tiny minority of tastemakers) took up the habit of tea drinking. The samovar became synonymous with leisure and good conversation for the 19th-century’s cultural elite, Chekhov among them.
Willow Herb Tea
Above: Not a weed, Epilobium angustifolium ‘Album’ is a type of rosebay willow herb that is show-garden-worthy.
In reality, tea (let alone a samovar) was out of reach for most Russians. At the Chekhov garden at Hampton Court Flower Show, the flower that attracted the most comment from bona fide Russian visitors was the white willowherb, since its wild cousin—rosebay willowherb—is held in fond memory as a free alternative to tea from China or India. Its leaves are fermented to make Ivan chai.
Pickling Herbs
Above: Dill (Anethum graveolens) grows close to cucumbers crawling along the ground. Also pictured is white yarrow (Achilleum millefolium ‘Schneetaler’).
Growing dill in a Russian garden is a given. “Dill is Russia’s favorite herb,” says Anna Benn, who along with Hannah Gardner designed Anton Chekhov’s Garden. “There is a strong tradition of pickling just about everything.” This is coupled with fermentation, which was embraced in Russia before the practice traveled west in the form of gut-friendly kombucha and kefir.
Dacha Garden
Above: Rosemary, sage, woolly thyme, lentils, calendula, tomatoes, and Siberian ginseng, all muddling together.
The term dacha has changed in meaning over the centuries; crops produced on local dachas today are an important part of the food economy while once, dachas were intended strictly for leisure. Plots of land were given to faithful servants of the Tsarist system (dacha comes from the word “to give”) and the expectation was that a cottage would be built on this land. These buildings could be bought and sold, which is how Chekhov acquired one, after earning enough from his plays. Today a dachnik is synonymous with a gardener (sadovod) and the plots of land are smaller, yet highly productive.
Herbal Healing
Above: Healers, all. Rosa rugosa flanked by two-tone Phlox paniculata ‘Natasha’ to the left and more unusual Phlox ‘Butonnik’ to the right, along with tufts of mauve Betonica officinalis and Achillea millefolium ‘Schneetaler’.
Everything in this garden has healing properties. “The Russian tradition of herbalism, largely due to poverty, has always been very strong and still is,” says Anna. “You only have to go into a Russian chemist to see this.” Chekhov treated patients from his dacha south of Moscow, and when supplies ran out he naturally turned to herbal remedies.
Hips from Rosa rugosa are rich in vitamin C. Roots of phlox help to alleviate cold symptoms and stomach aches. The leaves and flowers of wood betony help circulation and nerves, and yarrow is a cure-all. The College of Medicine (and Integrated Health) in the UK looks at natural alternatives to pills and procedures.
Russian Sage
Above: Soothing marshmallow flanked by Russian sage, hollyhocks, drumstick alliums, and umbels of wild carrot.
You can’t have a Russian garden without Perovskia atriplicifolia, the Russian sage. It’s a useful all-arounder elsewhere too, its felty stems and small studs of flowers keeping their shape and color throughout summer and autumn. The last word in Russian purple is probably lilac (not in season for our purposes). It is the “most typical of Russian shrubs,” says Anna.
An Orchard (Not Necessarily Cherry)
Above: An apple tree grows amid yellow St. John’s wort and Sanguisorba.
The Russian word for “garden” and “orchard” is the same. What more does anybody need than a few small fruit-bearing trees? Apples are particularly pertinent here; they originate from nearby Kazakhstan, part of the Russian empire in Chekhov’s time. Apples require less maintenance than cherries, which need to be protected from birds for a reasonable crop. Also, Chekhov wrote The Seagull at the dacha that inspired this garden; The Cherry Orchard came later.
Birch Trees
Above: Silver birch against a perimeter of pines. The understory is made up of grasses, foxgloves, and rosebay willowherb in their smarter incarnations: Deschampsia caespitosa, Digitalis ferruginea, and Epilobium angustifolium ‘Album’.
European white birch is a nordic icon, pale trunks glowing in the low winter light, the backdrop to fairy tales involving wolves and bears. Alternatively, you can’t beat a group of Betula pendula in a town garden (in USDA zones 2 to 6) for dappled shade. The paths, typical of a birch forest floor, are a mix of sand and white aggregate.
Above: Pinus sylvestris to the left, Rosa rugosa ‘Roseraie de l’Hay’ to the right, with magenta Phlox paniculata ‘Drakon’.
Photographs of Anton Chekhov in his dacha show him taking it easy on rough-hewn benches like the one here, made of split oak. As permanent furniture, a three-sided bench around a square table (also documented in Chekhov’s garden) is a neat solution, especially when the flat planes are balanced on columnar tree trunks.
Our judges have chosen the finalists, now you choose the winners. Vote for your favorite projects in our 2018 Considered Design Awards, once per day in each of the Gardenista and Remodelista categories. Voting closes at midnight on August 3, and winners will be announced on August 6.
Below, browse the finalists in the best Amateur Garden category and then head to our awards page to Vote.
N.B.: Curious to know who’s winning? We reveal the rankings when you vote in each category.
An Oasis in the City
Above: Guest judge Erica Tanov admired the “highly textural and mysterious quality” of amateur gardener Anne’s Oasis in the City project. “I want to get lost in this garden,” she says.
Country Garden in the Berkshire Hills
Above: Erica chose amateur gardener Betsy’s Country Garden in the Berkshire Hills as well, noting how “the winding stone paths and the perfectly untamed flora create an intoxicating, magical atmosphere in this mature garden.”
Floral Serendipity in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana
Above: “I love the cacophony of color and interesting choice of flowers with varying height levels in this lush garden,” says Erica of amateur gardener Kielian’s Floral Serendipity in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana project.
Northern Family Garden
Above: Gardenista editor Michelle Slatalla picked amateur gardener Rebecca’s Northern Family Garden as a finalist. Says Michelle of the family-friendly garden: “A thoughtful design that welcomes children as well as adults into an edible garden creates space for a family to grow gracefully.”
Quintessential Connecticut Country Property
Above: Michelle also picked the Quintessential Connecticut Country Property, which its owners call Davis Farm. She especially admired the way the “restrained palette, relying on many textures of green, and the use of local materials to build low stone walls welcome a circa-1827 house to the 21st century.”
Have you chosen your favorite? Then head to the best Amateur Garden category page to vote.
Don’t forget to vote once per day in all contest categories on both Gardenista and Remodelista, now through August 3.
Never mind what you’ve heard; you don’t need to hill or hoe potatoes. With a potato growing kit—which consists mainly of a waterproof bag and potting soil—you can grow the underground root vegetable nearly anywhere. Prepare for the long winter ahead by planting a crop now (potatoes will mature in from 70 to 120 days).
What you’re looking for in a potato growing kit: proper aeration to encourage healthy roots, sufficient depth so you can plant potatoes four inches below the soil surface, and a sturdy bag to use over and over.
Here are 10 potato grow bags and planting kits to consider:
Above: A soft-sided nine-gallon Potato Planter Grow Bag from Bloem is available with a side flap to harvest potatoes is available in eight colors including Living Green as shown and Union Red (in the top photo of this post). It is $14.99 to $20.00 depending on color from Target.
Above: A square, 15-gallon Potato Bag With Handles by GeoPot has a side flap (secured by Velcro) for access to grown potatoes; $28.27 from Amazon.
Above: Also suitable for growing herbs and other edible plants, a nine-pocket Bacsquare 9 Kitchen Garden is a self-contained vegetable garden “perfect to plant on a terrace;” €177.80 from Bacsac.
Above: Approximately nine inches deep, a Reusable Growbag “made of heavy duty polypropylene will help produce bumper crops and can be used year after year,” notes retailer Harrod Horticultural. It is £8.95.
Above: Made from recycled material from PET containers, a Plant Container Made Of Recycling Fiber is available in three sizes (from 25 to 40 centimeters). Notes retailer Manufactum: “The plant containers are made for nurseries and commercial horticulture and are more functionally designed for optimal use and good cost benefit than for their appearance. The seams are not always perfect.” Prices range from €6.40 to €12.80 depending on size.
Above: A Jumbo Potato Grow Bag available in black or tan (as shown) has a capacity of 120 quarts of potting soil; $19.89 from Gardener’s Supply.
Back in the analog era, if you wanted to DIY a plan for a garden or landscape, you pulled out a pencil, a ruler, a plant book, that folder of inspirational magazine clippings of yards you love, a sheet of graph paper, and started sketching. You had to use your imagination to see what your plan would look like when those circles and squiggles became azaleas, flagstone patios, and crepe myrtles. It was enough to make you give up and call a landscaper or garden designer.
But in the digital era, a slew of landscape design software will help you design your landscape like a pro. Here are 10 of the best programs:
Landscaping design software can be tricky for an amateur to master, but Realtime Landscaping Plus is easy. Download it and go; it’s that intuitive. Upload a photo of your house, drag and drop images of plants, outdoor furniture or retaining walls, and get a 2D or 3D rendering of your design. There’s a tool to calculate what your project will cost as you add or remove elements, along with a library of more than 10,000 images of plants, patio furniture, and other outdoor elements. The images are high-quality, and there are tons of templates so you don’t have to start a design from scratch. Our favorite feature: You can take a virtual walk through a realistic 3D rendering of your future yard. It’s more like gaming than working.
Garden Puzzle
What It’s Good For: Planning a vegetable or flower garden.
Requirements: App for OSX/Windows or use online
Pro Tip: Get the add-on Vegetables Package (with 100 extra vegetables and herbs for $5) to make this your go-to edible garden planner.
Above: Garden Puzzle lets you click on a plant and add it to a landscape; $19 for a single user license comes with online access for six months.
This is the easiest design program to use, period, and the most affordable. You can lay out a landscape plan for your front yard in this one faster than you can read the tutorial on many of the others. There are no home design features, just garden and landscape design. The simplicity means Garden Puzzle has fewer flashy features, so you can’t account for slope in your yard, and the only view is 2D. There’s also a much smaller plant library, with 931 images. But it’s perfect if you just want to see how a bed of perennials will look along the backyard fence.
What It’s Good For: Anything from laying out a vegetable garden to a gazebo-equipped rose garden.
Requirements: Macintosh OS X 10.9.
Pro Tip: A 4,000-image plant library shows you what thrives, and where.
Above: Punch Landscape Design shows how a garden will look after plants become mature.
This one is uncomplicated by home design features. It’s all about landscaping: flower beds, pools, fences, and irrigation systems. You can get 2D and 3D views, view what your landscape will look like in the future, as plants grow, and use the cost estimator to see the price tag on your plan. . And get this: A global sun positioning feature lets you see what the light will be on a certain time and date. Imagine how much easier it would have been for the Anasazi to make their rock equinox tracker at Chaco Canyon if they’d had tools like this?
Virtual Architect Ultimate Home Design With Landscaping & Decks
Pro Tip: You can preview what your virtual yard will look like in all four seasons, and what it will look like up to 50 years in the future.
If you’re starting with a plot of land and want to design your dream home as well as your dream garden, go with this one. You can design a home in detail, right down to custom window frames, and cabinets for the kitchen. The landscape design function has a Deck Builder that lets you design decks and patios by picking your material and punching in the size you want. There’s a library of 7,500 plants, trees, and flowers you can sort by zone, and light, soil, and water needs so you can put the right plant in the right spot.
Requirements: PC (Windows 64-bit 10/8/7) or Mac (Sierra/High Sierra)
Pro Tip: It’s not easy to use, so download the free trial version so you can see if you have the skills and patience for this one
As the name says, it’s heavier on home design than landscaping. Its plant library has 3,600 images, about half that of other landscape software. But it has sophisticated features to create a detailed landscape plan that’s contractor-ready. You can pull in surveyor information and GPS coordinates so you can lay out a patio with satellite data perfection. The graphics are realistic, you can work in 3D, and you can see a landscape from different perspectives. It even has a “Sun Rotates With Camera” setting so you can see how your yard will look at different times during the day, so you’ll know exactly where to hang the hammock.
What It’s Good For: Seeing your design from a lot of angles
Requirements: Windows 7 or higher
Pro Tip: It’s heavy on home-design features, so you can plan electrical installation on your house after you finish designing that brick walk
You get 4,000 plants with this one, along with sample yard designs and templates for decks and patios. The previews are great: You can get 2D and 3D views of your creation, take a virtual walk through your plan, and you can get side-by-side, before-and-after views. And, geek alert: you can even get an aerial view of your design, so you have don’t put a GoPro on a drone to see what your garden will look like to birds.
What It’s Good For: Garden design, with a side of home design
Requirements: Windows 7 or higher
Pro Tip: A QuickStart feature allows you to upload your house’s dimensions and design around the home’s shape
This less expensive version of the Home & Landscape Design Premium has all the design tools you need to layout a basic landscape, but fewer tools for designing a house. It has the same 4000-plant library as the pricier version, but fewer non-plant images like fences and trellises. You can upload photos of your home and yard and place plants into it.
Pro Tip: A cost estimator helps you put a price tag on your dream project
This has all the usual features, including a plant and object library, 2D and 3D views, and templates for gardens, decks, and patios. But it also has a Pool Designer tool lets you place a pool in any shape and depth you like. You can plan a backyard dreamscape, choosing everything from the deck material to the palm trees you’ll put near that fabulous freeform pool.
Pro Tip: Use the free trial period to see if you like it
The IntelliDeck tool is the star of this show. While other software makes you manually fit a deck image to your house, IntelliDeck automatically follows the shape of your house, so the deck’s in front of doorways. You choose the material and dimensions, and the tool does the rest. Use the 3,800-image plant library to place flowers around it, the object library to place a dining set on it, and see a preview of your future outdoor space faster than you can say, “We’re eating dinner on the deck all summer long.”
What It’s Good For: Planning the simplest garden possible
Requirements: Download to Windows
Pro Tip: This one has a free trial, too. Give it a spin.
If you think sophisticated graphics, gigantic plant databases, and global sun positioning tools as distractions that keep you from mapping out your garden, this is the software for you. It’s barebones, giving you simple, 2D overhead views of your plan,. You can click, drag, and drop objects into it without busting brain cells poring through a manual. Instead of a library and plant finder of specific species, you get options including “dense shrub,” “simple shrub,” or “flowers.” The graphics are “cartoonish,” according to one reviewer, but we’re gardeners, not gamers, so that’s fine with us.
Get more help laying out and designing a garden with our Garden Design 101 guides. Read more:
Tomorrow is the last day to make your voice heard in our 2018 Gardenista Considered Design Awards. Vote now for your favorite finalists across six categories, and don’t forget to vote on Remodelista too.
When does voting close?
Voting closes at midnight Eastern time tomorrow night—Friday, August 3.
Which Gardenista categories are open for voting?
Cast your vote in each of the following six categories:
Think of it as Cousin Itt style for the garden. Low-growing clumps of Hakonechloa macra grass add floppy, shaggy style to a landscape.
Native to Japan’s Mount Hakone, hakone grass is happiest in rich, moist soil and part shade and is a good choice if you need a well-behaved ground cover, a low border, erosion control on a hillside, or a plant to spill over the side of a container.
Is hakone grass the right plant for your garden? Read on to find out.
‘Aureola’, with variegated foliage and slender, long leaves, reflects light and can brighten a dark spot or focus attention on a quiet corner of the garden.
Above: H. macra ‘Alboaurea’. Photograph by Cillas via Wikimedia.
Delicate leaves spill out of the center of a clump of hakone grass, which typically grows to heights of 16 to 26 inches.
Cheat Sheet
Not all hakone grass cultivars have chartreuse foliage: ‘Beni-Kaze’ (which means “red wind”) has green foliage that turns a purply red in autumn; ‘Nicolas’ has solid green leaves that turn to a fiery orange in fall, and ‘Albo-Striata’ is a variegated variety with white stripes.
With long, thin leaves that bring to mind the foliage of bamboo, hakone grass is a good choice for use in a Japanese-style garden.
Like most grasses, Hakonechloa ripples like waves in a breeze, adding motion and life to a garden.
Above: Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’. Photograph by Megan Hansen via Flickr.
Keep It Alive
Hakone grass thrives as a perennial in USDA growing zones 5 to 9.
Deer-resistant and low-maintenance, hakone grass will require little beyond an evenly moist environment and well-drained soil.
Divide and transplant clumps in spring.
Above: Clumps of Hakonechloa macra turn a tawny golden color that adds warmth in late December. Photograph by Clivid via Flickr.
The casual personality of honeysuckle flowers and vines is ideal for making bouquets at home. Unless you live at Buckingham Palace, flowers are an accessory, not an art piece. Stiff arrangements with each stem coerced into place are beautiful at an event, but at home flowers should appear a little less thought out. I love for my bouquets to appear as if they were simply plucked from the meadow behind my house (even if sometimes it takes much more thought and effort than that).
Read on to see how to bring honeysuckle (Lonicera) into the house:
Above: A fragrant meadow arrangement of honeysuckle, dried grasses, wild flowering oregano, and cow parsley adds a bit of green to a whitewashed room.
For this arrangement, I used a simple terracotta drinking container from Spain. You could also recycle one of those French yogurt containers, or any warm-toned ceramic will do. In addition to vines of Lonicera japonica (with a few stems of L. sempervirens thrown in for contrast), I paired the honeysuckle with flowering oregano, dried grasses, and a few stems of cow parsley to add texture to the fragrant, smooth-leafed vines.
Above: Honeysuckle adds warm tones and a subtle, not overpowering fragrance to a room.
My trick for adding structure and a modern composition with wildflowers is to group contrasting ingredients like the oregano. When I place it in the vase, I place it in groups of three stems in differing heights; it helps your eye to focus. I also make sure to add longer stems of honeysuckle vines to keep the arrangement from being too compact.
Above: Condition honeysuckle in a lot of water (particularly long vines) to make sure they are fully hydrated before you work with them.
Honeysuckle will last up to 10 days in the vase. Just make sure to let it sit in a big bucket of tall water for a few hours in a cool, dark place before working with the stems. It’s important for the long vines to be fully hydrated. Especially on hot summer days, as we work with cut stems of flowers, our body heat will cause the flowers to wilt, so be sure to get them a big drink for a few hours before you delve into arranging.
Above: Use different tall stems of dried grasses to bring lots of height and space to the arrangement, without bringing extra weight.
When you pick the vines, make sure to choose stems with buds, and with flowers that look freshly opened. If they have some wilting blossoms, simply remove them. As the arrangement ages, the flowers will either dry or slowly drop, increasing the beauty of the composition over time. Replenish the water every few days to keep it as fresh as possible. I’ve had honeysuckle arrangements in my home for up to two weeks.
Above: Honeysuckle makes long-lasting arrangements.
Embracing the heat, the Remodelista editors were inspired by retro-modern tropical design ideas this week. Here are five to steal.
Split-Bamboo Blinds
Above: A blind with the Chirag pattern. “Accurate measuring is essential,” the company advises. The blinds can be custom-made to fit within a window frame or over it.
Brazilian architect and designer Felipe Hess plays old against new in a 4,800-square-foot apartment for a young art collector. See more in this week’s Designer Visit post.
Recycled Plastic Pendants
Above: Spanish architect Catalán de Ocón makes these PET lamps from recycled soda bottles. The Eperara-Siapidara Set of Three Lamps is €760 at ACdO.
“North London isn’t the first place you’d expect to find a tropical-inflected kitchen, but rather than stand out in garish contrast to gloomy London, architects Simon Astridge went for a softer effect by blending inspirations from Mexican architecture to pastel Victorian brick,” writes Alexa. See more in this week’s Steal This Look post.
Wood Ceiling Fans
Above: The propeller-like Artemis Ceiling Fan comes in 10 finishes (maple is shown) and comes with a cap (shown) and dimmable halogen light; it starts at $549.95 from Lumens.
“There’s no hiding a ceiling fan that hangs smack in the middle of a room,” writes Alexa. “While we like the more industrial ones in metal, there’s something especially versatile about wood models that span styles from 19th-century colonial to midcentury California and tropical.” See more of her favorites in this week’s 10 Easy Pieces post.
Catch us next Sunday, August 12 in New York City, at Shoppe Object, a new, curated trade show by the founders of Aesthetic Movement and Capsule, where Julie and Margot will be on hand to sign all three of our books. See you there.
My first encounter with black raspberries—native to eastern North America—was at farmers’ market in Sante Fe one summer, years ago. I was stopped in my tracks by blue boxes filled with unfamiliar and dark powdery berries, like miniature red raspberries. I exclaimed brightly to the farmer who sat hunched and scowling behind his crop. Purple storm clouds and the smell of ozone pressed down on us. In answer to my peppered questions, he explained abruptly that a hail storm had wiped out his entire crop and these black raspberries were all he had been able to salvage from his fields before the storm hit. It had destroyed his main income of the year. So I bought more than I needed…or did I? The flavor of the berries was a revelation—dark, like black mulberries.
Photography by Marie Viljoen, except where noted.
Above: Ten years passed before I saw the plant for sale in Brooklyn at a nursery that has now been shuttered. It was late winter and Rubus occidentalis ‘Jewel’ sat in its plastic pot, looking scrawny and cold. I pounced and carried it home.
Above: Photograph by Vincent Mounier.
Above: I planted it in a 16-inch pot in full sun on my scrappy roof farm with a view of New York Harbor. Every evening we would join it for cocktails and watch the sun go down. That was in 2011. I have been growing black raspberries ever since, all offspring of this parent plant. This American fruit remains rare at market.
Above: To reduce the risk of infection, it is advisable not to accept plants from other gardeners. Buy certified, disease-free stock from a reputable nursery. Also, control aphid populations as these sap-sucking insects transmit a virus from plant to plant. In my no-spray garden the ladybugs and lacewings seem to be doing a very good job.
Black raspberries were first domesticated in the 1830s. Since about the 1920s, commercial production has slowly declined. “Berry growers in Oregon, for example just don’t find them that profitable, and there aren’t really any locally adapted varieties with good disease resistance and other traits for commercial productions,” writes Leon van Eck, a friend who is a molecular biologist in the department of plant pathology at the University of Minnesota. Leon studies the genomes of plants in the rose family (which includes apples, peaches, raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries) to identify the genes these plants have evolved to defend themselves against pests and diseases. This is especially relevant when discussing my favorite berry because black raspberries are susceptible to a host of viruses. I have been lucky, or perhaps ‘Jewel’ is as disease resistant as advertised.
Above: The good news about hard to find black raspberries is that their canes will take root where they touch ground. Once the new plant sends up its own leaves and small canes, you can sever it from the parent cane, dig up the new plant and relocate it. If you have many plants and a large growing area, this could lead to invasiveness. But with vigilance they are easy to manage. You just need to pay attention.
Above: Black raspberries are relatively tolerant of shade, making them a useful fruit for gardens or terraces with fluctuating sun. I have grown them in as little as four hours of direct sun at the height of summer (seen here on our Harlem terrace).
Above: Harvesting black raspberries is fun because they ripen over a period of days, giving you a nice handful every time. My two plants produced three pounds this summer.
Above: This year’s crop on June 16, pale and unripe.
Above: On June 17, lipstick red and looking promising.
Above: June 19, and we’re off!
Above: It is important to prune black raspberries. They bear fruit on second-year canes. After they have fruited in midsummer, those canes will turn a dark purple or black. Prune the old, dark canes down to the ground after you have harvested all their fruit.
Above: New, fast-growing green canes with a powdery coating will appear as fruit ripens. You can trim back these vigorous new green canes after they reach the height you desire. This encourages lateral growth, where fruit will set the following year. Prune a third time in very early spring to cut out any weak, spindly canes.
Raspberries prefer acidic soil (my in-ground pH is 5.4) and in a pot you can add fresh coffee grounds as well as fertilize with Espoma Holly-Tone ($15.87 for a 16-pound bag at Amazon), for acid-loving plants.
Above: Finally, how to eat? They are best right out of the bowl with a sprinkle of sugar and a slick of pouring cream. I also love to include them in berry jams.
Above: The dark, complex flavor of black raspberries is delicious with chocolate. I included them recently in a riff on a Black Forest cake, along with indigenous serviceberries (also known as saskatoon).
Food for thought from Leon the biologist: “So many black raspberry cultivars have been lost in the last century. If you see ‘New Logan’, ‘Plum Farmer’, or ‘Shuttleworth’ anywhere, you should definitely save some seed!”
So keep your eyes open. You could be part of the new wave of black raspberry growers.
For most of us, Provence is a dreamy holiday location. But for gardeners in any arid climate that mimics the dry earth and sun-baked summers of the South of France, the region’s landscapes are a rich source of design ideas.
For inspiration, we looked at some of the region’s best-loved gardens as well as the luxurious low-water landscapes of British garden designer James Basson of Scape Designs, who has been based in the South of France for nearly two decades. In many of the photos below, you can see how his garden designs showcase the climate’s best characteristics.
Here are 10 of our favorite ideas to steal from Provence.
Photography courtesy of Scape Designs, except where noted.
Gardens in the South of France need to cope with strong sun and a dry climate, and at La Louve, Nicole de Vesian’s supremely elegant garden in the Luberon hills, there is a master class in how to plant for it. With a tightly knit patchwork of lush greens and grays, the former Hermès designer combined drought-tolerant plants such as santolina with evergreens such as boxwood. All of which—along with topiarized trees—are tightly clipped into neat mounds that echo the curves of the surrounding hills.
Plant a Lavender Field in Miniature
Above: In a large garden near Grasse, Basson conserves water with a design that includes lavender in “large beds of mixed perennial dry planting.”
One of the most memorable areas of Nicole de Vesian’s garden is the meticulous grid of lavender plants laid out like a dramatic geometric print. It’s an idea that works on any scale so long as you can offer full sun and good drainage.
Build a Terrace
Above: After new construction in Chateauneuf left stone rubble in its wake, Basson used the old stone to make terraced walls and create beds for hardy perennials, such as Russian sage, capable of thriving in the dry, rocky conditions.
A Provencal house is unimaginable without an elegant terrace to enjoy long lazy lunches with friends. Add a large metal pergola—which are often fixed to the side of the area’s mellow stone houses—and then grow scented climbers such as wisteria and jasmine, which will quickly provide shade from the sun.
Add Gravel
Above: Photograph courtesy of A+B Kasha.
Whether it’s pea shingle or crushed limestone, an area covered with crunchy gravel adds an instant French feel. Use it to cover one distinct area, such as a terrace, or surround plants to make a gravel garden.
Source Stone Troughs or Fountains
Above: In Beaulieu-sur-Mer, Basson’s brief was to create a garden would look as if it had been there for centuries. Stone fountains carry water from the top of the garden to empty into the swimming pool.
Add cooling water features using reclaimed stone vessels, troughs or even fountains. Even the most understated pool of water can add a cooling element.
Gather Your Pots
Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.
Keep it simple with one-note pots and planters. At the incredibly chic Provencal home of designer Francois Catroux, a grand courtyard is filled with terracotta pots, all planted with boxwood domes in varying sizes. It’s the perfect understated but impactful planting against the cool stonework of the house.
Whether they are lining a long drive or standing as sentinels by a house, columnar cypress trees add a striking architectural element, and they are also a perfect foil to the soft gray of the other Provencal must-have, the olive tree.
Plant Sun Lovers
Above: Emphasizing “the architectural qualities” of phlomis and perennials grasses, Basson created a four-season landscape in Opio that offers interest even in winter months.
Provencal gardens may focus on evergreens and subdued palettes, but some plants are tailor-made for the free-draining soil and long hot summers. Collections of drought-tolerant grasses and tough perennials such as phlomis. Bearded iris will also thrive in these conditions—plant a succession of varieties for the longest flowering period.
Add Texture with Old Stone
Above: In the village of Saint-Victor-des-Oules, Basson created a modern landscape—including a swimming pool and a dry garden—while preserving “the authentic atmosphere.”
Many Provencal houses are already blessed with incredible texture from their old stone walls—echo the effect with informally laid stone paths or stone garden walls, which not only add warmth and atmosphere but also provide a beautiful backdrop to planting.
Use the Views
Above: Gardeners in the South of France are often blessed with panoramic views of the surrounding hills. At a project in Villefranche-sur-Mer, designer James Basson created a cool stone terrace where his clients could soak up the astounding views of the surrounding hills and the Cote D’Azur.
N.B.: For more of our favorite destinations in France, see:
A miniature vase can have maximum impact. Read on for New York City–based events designer David Stark’s eight top tips for creating tiny bouquets that make a big impression.
Above: Stark created a tiny arrangement of calathea, hosta, lady’s mantle, and grasses in a tiny vase. For a similar glass vase, see the Mini Cube Vase; $18.
“This trend is suitable for any budget,” says Stark. “I found tiny glass vases from ABC Carpet for six dollars each, but my hand-blown versions by Kiva Ford range upwards of one hundred twenty-five dollars apiece. You can definitely find options in between those extremes, of course.”
2. Use foraged finds.
Above: A tiny white stoneware vase displays a single stem of foraged grass. For a similar vase, see Baradax Ceramics on Etsy.
“Unlike typical, larger vases that require a full bunch or bundle of blooms to fill appropriately, tiny vases can help you save big on natural materials,” says Stark. Forage in the flower or vegetable garden, or use a single leaf cut from a garden center, a bloom from a wildflower field, a blade of ornamental grass, or a slight sprig fr0m a forest floor.
3. Buy a single specimen.
Above: Handblown miniature vases from Kiva Ford each hold a stem of Queen Anne’s lace. For similar vases, consider a Handblown Vase in Gray; $160 via Etsy.
“Of course, purchasing the right delicate blossom from the flower shop or greenmarket allows you to showcase specimens rather than bouquets, and that is both fun in its curation and easy on the wallet,” says Stark.
Group miniature vases, all made from the same material or in the same color range as vignettes to create surprising and impactful displays.
5. Showcase shapes.
Above: Miniature vases from Baradax Ceramics via Etsy are filled with diablo ninebark, oregano, and various grasses.
“When arranging vases together, don’t feel that you need to fill each vase,” says Stark. “It’s nice to enjoy some of them simply for their shape and scale variations rather than for what they showcase.”
6. Find your niche.
Above: A miniature vase with foraged leaves; vase by Baradax Ceramics.
A lone vase works equally well in the right setting, says Stark: “On a giant dining table, one mini vase will get overwhelmed and ultimately lost. In the right niche or on the right shelf, though, on the appropriate side or coffee table, in the right display with other objects, a single miniature vase, showcasing a perfect stem will finish a vignette like a cherry on a sundae.”
Above: Maidenhair fern fronds in tiny vases from Almeda Pottery.
Tip: Because these vessels are so, so small, remember to refill them with water often. A single stem might drink rather fast, so you may need to refill it in the morning and in the evening.
“When arranging florals in miniature vases, less is more—a wispy stalk of grass or a single flower on a delicate stem will not overwhelm the vase,” says Stark. “Rather, the opening in the vase will often dictate what works. Remember that the opening will be tiny, scaled proportionately to the overall size of the vase.”
Above: A tiny bowl from Almeda Pottery displays blueberries and mulberries.
Tip: It’s easy to drop a miniature vase in your pocket and take it with you when foraging or shopping for appropriate natural materials; that way you can double check that the stems you are eyeing are not too big.
8. Set a stage.
Above: A ruler puts things in perspective.
“Create a backdrop or set the stage—arrange mini vases on a chic tray, for instance—to draw more attention to them,” says Stark.
We’re thrilled with the results of our fifth Gardenista Considered Design Awards contest and want to extend a huge thanks to everyone who entered and voted. Stay tuned; over the coming weeks, we’ll profile each winning project on the site, and be sure to check out the Remodelista winners too.
Without further ado, congratulations to our winners!
If fairy gardens are magic—and make no mistake, they are—it is in large part because miniature worlds can be so easily chaperoned. A tiny universe can be controlled from above, with twig cottages laid out just where you want them, along with neat pebble paths and velvety moss roofs and friendly fairy occupants who all get along with their neighbors. Is this not a place any one of us would love to live?
You can see famous fairy gardens built by fellow travelers in places like Maine’s Monhegan Island or Tinker Nature Park in western New York, or you can make your own private paradise at the base of a backyard tree. When you come upon someone else’s fairy garden by accident, it is a delightful surprise (here I am thinking of a miniature living room, perched at eye level in a tree trunk, which my children used to pass on the walk home from school in our northern California town).
But not so fast. We live in contentious times, and not even fairy gardens are exempt from politics. “A growing number of … environmentally conscious locales are fighting the scourge of fairy gardens” built using plastic pieces, faux plants, or fairy figurines, The Wall Street Journalreported a few weeks ago. Beware of self-proclaimed “stompers” who will summarily smash any structures deemed to disturb the natural surroundings.
A general rule: Work with what the woods offer. If you stumble on a likely spot for a fairy garden, don’t sabotage anything that’s alive. To avoid harming flora or fauna with a fairy garden, use natural materials—and never disturb a living plant, even if it’s in the the perfect spot for Thumbelina to put her nutshell cradle.
Here are 12 of our favorite ideas for fairy gardens; please steal them to make your own.
Toadstool Umbrellas
Above: Clusters of bleeding fairy helmets (Mycena haematopus) like to grow in stumps and tree trunks. Photograph by Björn S via Flickr.
Just the spot to site a fairy garden: mushrooms, toadstools, and other fungi are just the right size and scale to shelter fairies. But do not disturb. Don’t pick them and for God’s sake don’t put them in your mouth because not everything that looks delicious is edible.
Decaying tree trunks and stumps can offer shelter to an extended family of fairies, including cousins.
Hollow Trees
Above: Hollow tree home, in Tinker Nature Park in Henrietta, New York. Photograph by Angie Armstrong via Flickr.
Remember, “Glitter is litter to the animals,” as the sign says at Tinker Nature Park. But there are no rules against affixing little bits of wood and bark to the wood and bark of an existing tree.
Above: Did fairies sprinkle crocus bulbs at the base of this tree? Photograph by Evan Karageorgos via Flickr.
Don’t pick flowers, don’t dig up flowers, don’t crush flowers under your boots. But if you see a tiny, charming flower in bloom, it is perfectly OK to put a little piece of bark next to it to make a magic carpet for a fairy to ride.
Twigs and Branches
Above: A fairy house (and swing set) at Tinker Nature Park in Henrietta, New York. Photograph by Angie Armstrong via Flickr.
You can fashion all sorts of furnishings from the flotsam and bits you can pick up beneath your feet: twig chairs, twig tables, twig roofs, twig swing sets, twig … well, you get the idea.
Acorn Caps
Above: “An acorn wearing a beret.” Photograph by きうこ via Flickr.
Flip over an acorn cap and you have an acorn cup. Or a fairy birdbath. Think outside the box here.
A fairy lean-to at Coastal Maine Botanical Gardens as shown above is built entirely of found bits of bark, twigs, pine cones, pine needs, and mossy rocks found nearby.
Seashells
Above: A mussel shell, or possibly Thumbelina’s next bed, washed ashore on the Isle of Harris. Photograph by Sonse via Flickr.
As a rule, it’s best not bring in anything in your pockets if you’re in a public woodland. But if you find yourself at the edge of the sea, by all means incorporate washed-ashore shells into your fairy garden design. Sea glass? Not sure if that’s allowed.
Fairy garden designs are limited only by imagination. To get you started, we’ve rounded up a few favorite furnishings and supplies made of natural materials.
Here’s hoping you’ll send us a photo of your (environmentally friendly) miniature garden soon.
Above: A miniature natural Wood Fence is about one inch tall and 39 inches long; $4.52 from Shop of Miracles Art via Etsy.
Above: An unfinished wood door for a Miniature Dollhouse Fairy Garden is 6.5 inches tall; $3.29 from Lemon Drop Miniatures via Etsy.
Above: Do some fairies think tidying up is a virtue? If so, a miniature wood-handled Cleaning Set Mop & Bucket is $4.52 from Shop of Miracles Art via Etsy.
Above: Made from yew, a miniature fairy garden Handmade Table & Chairs dinette set is $15 from Schoolhouse Woodcraft via Etsy.
Above: A set of 10 miniature Clay Mushrooms made of air-dried clay and wire stems is $7.50 from Squishnchips via Etsy.
Above: A four-inch-tall Wood Pine Cone Tree is $5.38 from Kings of the Forest via Etsy.
Above: A set of wooden Fairy Garden Accessories is $39.95 from Dimokl Wooden Toys via Etsy.
Above: Hayrides for fairies? Possibly we’re getting carried away. A 2.5-inch-tall Wood Wagon with Straw is $5.69 from Lemon Drop Miniatures via Etsy.
Above: A fairy-size set of 10 Brown Paper Dahlias with wire stems (each flower measuring five-eighths of an inch in diameter) is $2 from Squishnchips via Etsy; basket not included.
Above: Just one inch high and made of yew, a Wooden Fairy Bed is $9 from Schoolhouse Woodcraft via Etsy.
See more summer gardening ideas for kids (and the young at heart):
