Gardening 101: Everything You Need to Know About Growing Plants in Raised Beds
Don’t let bad soil stop you from planting an edible garden. The solution? Raised garden beds. An effective and easy solution for less-than-ideal soil conditions, raised beds increase yield and reduce...
View ArticleThe Dirty Dozen: 12 Invasive Plants to Avoid (and What to Grow Instead)
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home. Last month we talked with Evelyn...
View ArticleNew & Noteworthy: Muuto Has a New Outdoor Lounge Furniture Collection
It’s that time of year, when furniture companies roll out their newest spring and summer outdoor pieces. One collection in particular has us thinking of upgrading our own patio lounge furniture: the...
View ArticleCurrent Obsessions: Printemps
Happy weekend, dear reader. Ahead these first days of spring: a ceramics sale, a garden that embraces wear, a Paris opening, and more. Read on: Cate Blanchett, we 100 percent agree. Planning your...
View ArticleQuick Takes With: Martha Stewart
If this introduction really necessary? If you’ve ever read any of her magazines, or watched her television shows, or viewed the much-discussed Netflix documentary about her life, or follow her on...
View ArticleBeet Hummus with Tulips: A Petal Party Platter for Spring
Spring calls for vibrant food and parties (even for one) that celebrate the return of buds and petals and the leafing-out of trees. Enter vividly celebratory beet hummus, on a petal platter reeling...
View ArticleGrow a Community: 10 Ways to Create Connections Through Gardening
Every gardener knows that spending time tending a garden can be a balm for turbulent times. Putting your hands in the earth and watching life unfurl is therapeutic. But gardening can be more than a...
View ArticleSpring Gardening: 5 Common Shrubs to Prune Right Now (and 5 Not to Prune)
As the weather warms and gardeners look forward to getting their hands dirty, now’s a good time to review what can and should be done in the garden in spring. Nature has its own schedule and sometimes...
View ArticleRethinking Mugwort: There Is a Lot to Love About This Demonized Herb
The name “mugwort” in the US is a signifier for “invasive,” but when grown purposefully, the aromatic section of the Artemisia genus has much to recommend it. Some species are native in regions of the...
View ArticleMaintenance 101: How to Care for Wood Outdoor Furniture
Soon it will be time to drag the outdoor furniture from hibernation or, if you live in sunnier climes, add it to your spring cleaning list to get ready for dining al fresco. Don’t know where to start?...
View ArticleCurrent Obsessions: Design Cleanse
With the weekend upon us and April within our grasp, we’re turning our attention towards these great springy goings-on: New Yorkers, don’t miss Tulip Day this Sunday, March 30, at Union Square. Show up...
View ArticleQuick Takes With: Benjamin Vogt
There’s good reason that the Prairie Up newsletter landed on our list of favorite garden newsletters. Not only is its creator, Benjamin Vogt, a passionate advocate for ecology-based gardening...
View ArticleDurian Ice Cream: A Tropical Treat Starring the Famously Divisive Fruit
Have you ever eaten a durian? If you have, or if you have met one and hurried on by, you might be conjuring up the huge, spiky fruit’s famous smell—or perfume—right now. I can only say, hand on heart,...
View ArticleNew & Noteworthy: Little Greene’s Exterior Paints
If painting the exterior of your home is on your spring or summer to-do list, we have some exciting news for you: British paint company, Little Greene (which has a dedicated U.S. website as well as a...
View Article10 Easy Pieces: Cold Plunge Tubs
The purported benefits of cold water immersion therapy are many and include improved immune function, sleep, circulation, metabolism, recovery, inflammation, and mental health. Which explains why more...
View ArticleRequired Reading: ‘Emily Thompson Flowers’ Captures the Florist’s Wild Artistry
Emily Thompson Flowers, the debut book from the New York-based florist, was never going to be like any other flower book, because Thompson is quite unlike any other florist. As Shane Connolly points...
View ArticleThe Editors’ Cut: 11 Finds for the Romantic Cottage Garden
Welcome to The Editors’ Cut, our monthly newsletter dedicated to all things beautiful and useful for the garden, patio, porch, and terrace. Currently, we’re smitten with the dreamy, lush landscapes in...
View ArticleCurrent Obsessions: Signs of Spring
In need of a pick-me-up? We’ve been counting hopeful harbingers this week, among them: exuberant flower arrangements. Eleven ways to create a romantic outdoor space. A potager-to-table restaurant in...
View ArticleQuick Takes With: Jo Thompson
British garden designer Jo Thompson swears that this year will be her last RHS Chelsea Flower Show. “I keep saying this to everybody–absolutely, this is the last one,” she laughs. With nine main avenue...
View ArticleTrees With White Flowers: 14 Favorites for Cold Climates
Trees with white flowers have a way of lifting and lightening a garden’s mood—as well as soothing the mood of the gardener. In the evenings, their glimmering nocturnal presence is a comfort, and by day...
View ArticleHere’s How You Can Help Save Nature With Your Yard
For more than 15 years, entomologist and professor Douglas Tallamy has been telling gardeners how they can sustain wildlife in their own backyards through his books, public speaking, and the non-profit...
View ArticleGardening 101: Australian Astroturf
Australian Astroturf, Scleranthus biflorus Some hear the word “astroturf,” and they recoil and roll their eyes. But rest assured, this is not what you think it is. Australian astroturf is a real,...
View ArticleLessons Learned From ‘Wonderlands: British Garden Designers at Home’
What garden designers put in their own gardens is perhaps more revealing than what they create for their clients, who generally have extensive land, and expansive budgets. In their own homes, garden...
View ArticleHow to Choose Outdoor Furniture: 5 Mistakes to Avoid
Buying your first outdoor furniture is almost as exciting as buying your first house. Before you rush out to shop, take the time to figure out the best all-weather pieces for your patio, deck, or...
View ArticleCurrent Obsessions: Pep Talk
It’s April, and everywhere we look there’s a fresh dose of design energy. For color encouragement, Ikea’s latest Scandi-cool releases, a glorious new garden book, and one thing we’re eyeing at Salone...
View ArticleQuick Takes With: Doug Tallamy
Douglas W. Tallamy probably needs no introduction: The entomologist and University of Delaware professor has been one of the loudest (and most effective) voices sounding the alarm about the...
View ArticleStylish Solutions for the Relaxed Gardener: Planters and Furniture from...
Generally, we believe that simple is best, when it comes to the home and otherwise. Even better? When a simple object is studied, improved, and built with care, making something basic the best it can...
View ArticleMarch Showers Bring April Flowers: Otherworldly Brunsvigia Lilies
If it begins to rain in the Hantam in March, and if the rain measures more than 10mm, you can almost set your timer: After a long, dry, and very hot summer, the Brunsvigias will bloom, three weeks...
View ArticleSteal This Look: A Chic and Minimalist European Courtyard
This is a tale of two facades. From the street, this residence in Lisbon, Portugal, blends in with its neighbors, modest, unadorned old townhouses painted in soft shades. From the back courtyard,...
View Article‘French at Heart’: American Expats Grow Their Dreams in a Small Hamlet in...
Heads up, Hollywood: We’d love to see this story turned into a movie. The main characters: Marjorie Taylor, a pastry chef and cook from Arizona who doesn’t take no for an answer, and her Francophile...
View ArticleA New Invasive Species? Here’s What You Need to Know About Jumping Worms
If you’ve ever seen adult jumping worms, there’s no mistaking them. Found near the surface of soil and larger than your average worm, jumping worms don’t actually jump, but they thrash and wriggle...
View ArticleGardening 101: Gardenia
Gardenia, Gardenia jasminoides: “Heaven Scent” You know how certain smells can take you back to a specific (and I hope good) time and place? Gardenias do that for me. My grandma lived in Pasadena,...
View ArticleCurrent Obsessions: Pattern Play
Happy weekend—and a happy holiday to all those celebrating. Fresh on our minds this week? Dressing the bed, actually easy-to-follow gardening tips, and reports from a French garden. Read on… If you...
View ArticleQuick Takes With: Alex Crowder
The go-to florist for some of the chicest design shops around (e.g, Roman and Williams, Shop Quarters, Somerset House), Alex Crowder is known for crafting arrangements that feel more poetic than pretty...
View ArticleOstrich Ferns: Here’s How to Grow Your Own Fiddleheads
For the shade gardener who wants to grow edible plants, this shadowy designation of how much—or how little—direct sunlight a space receives is often perceived as second best. “I have a garden, but…it’s...
View ArticleWant to Help Support Butterflies? Plant Caterpillar Food
A recent study of declining butterfly populations published in the journal Science made headlines across the country when it came out in March. The New York Times even launched an interactive tool so...
View ArticleArts & Crafts Style (But With a Bit of Attitude): Ellen Merchant’s Sprightly...
William Morris’s Morris & Co. wallpaper has had incredible staying power. And now, for those ready for a fresh take on the Arts and Crafts genre, there’s Ellen Merchant’s growing line of...
View Article10 Things Your Landscape Architect Wishes You Knew (But Is Too Polite to Tell...
By all accounts, landscape architects Gretchen Whittier and Kate Stickley are courteous people. They must be: after all, along with partner Vera Gates they have created hundreds of happy clients since...
View Article‘Rejoice When You Spot Nibbled Leaves’: A Gardener (and Writer) on Eschewing...
This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home. For more than 20 years I’ve been lucky...
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