Garden Design and Installation

Providing Water for Wildlife: How Not to Screw It up

May 21, 2013 2 comments
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There’s little that irritates me more than going to the garden center and seeing an array of gorgeous, well-made bird baths that are all completely and utterly useless. It seems that the manufacturers of such things have never really researched or even given the most cursory amount of thought to what qualities a bird might [...]

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Grassy Favorites, New and Old

April 3, 2013 24 comments
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While I won’t go so far as to recommend you take gardening advice from your cat, ornamental grasses comprise such a broadly useful array of plants for the landscape that it’s almost impossible to avoid falling in love with at least a few of them. Some are wispy and rustle in the wind, some are [...]

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A Public Service Announcement From Your Cats

March 25, 2013 3 comments

Please plant more grasses. They are excellent to gnaw on:  

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Humboldt’s Gothic Princess: Giant Purple Wakerobin

March 18, 2013 7 comments
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Who says native plants aren’t lovely? Giant purple wakerobin, or Trillium kurabayashii, is just one of the uncommon beauties found in our local forests. I love the mottled leaves, which rival those of Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ for interest in the shade garden, but the blackish-burgundy blooms seal the deal for me and make this a [...]

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Why Grow That When You Can Grow This? Alternatives to Overused Plants

November 26, 2012 15 comments
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One of the neatest things about being a plant geek is that it’s possible to find inspiration anywhere you go. In theory, at least. In reality, there’s a short list of plants in each region that are used over and over again until they become boring and dull, and these plants populate our landscapes in [...]

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Wildlife Garden Design Tip: Use Less Lawn!

September 7, 2012 12 comments
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When talking with another designer recently, she said something that stuck in my head: “Lawn? We call that “green concrete”. Sure, sometimes you need a bit of it here or there, but it brings so little to the table that we try to avoid it!” And it’s true! I love sunning myself and playing with [...]

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Wildlife Garden Design Tip: Using Native Plants Effectively

August 27, 2012 24 comments
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For most of us, our first thought when designing a landscape is how to make an aesthetic difference. As landscape designers, we want to inspire people and give everyone who spends time in our landscape an opportunity to reflect, feel uplifted, and just enjoy the sheer beauty of the plants that share our world. This [...]

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Blueberries: Which Ones Taste Best?

August 22, 2012 5 comments
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We’re big fans of blueberries here on the North Coast of California, as our damp Pacific Northwest climate and acidic soil make it the perfect setting to grow blueberry bushes. Because blueberries are beautiful plants almost year-round, they’re great for incorporating into landscapes, even low-maintenance or commercial/ business landscapes. And if you forget to eat [...]

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Wildlife Garden Design Tip: Focus on Shape

August 5, 2012 10 comments
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Think native plants and wildlife-attracting gardens look messy? It doesn’t have to be that way. In this series, we’ll talk about the techniques involved in designing a beautiful wildlife garden. At left, landscape design by: Shades of Green Landscape Architecture, Sausalito, CA. Recently, Rachel Matthews wrote a guest post here about what she sees as [...]

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Wildlife Garden Design Tip: Choose a Simple Color Palette

July 18, 2012 11 comments
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Think native plants and wildlife-attracting gardens look messy? It doesn’t have to be that way. In this series, we’ll talk about the techniques involved in designing a beautiful wildlife garden. Today’s tip goes well with my last piece of advice, which was to plant native and wildlife-attracting plants in masses: The tip? Choose a simple [...]

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