Design

2012 Garden Trends: What the Cool Kids are Planting This Year

January 16, 2012 26 comments
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I have a weakness for all the trend reports that come out at the start of each new year. While I have my own ideas about what’s going to be hot, I love to pore over these reports and alternately nod my head or think (hope!) the writer is crazy. Trend reports are a fun [...]

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Drumroll Please: 2011′s Garden Trend Award Goes To. . .

January 9, 2012 8 comments
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Succulents! Forget the “Year of the Protestor“, 2011 was the Year of the Succulent. From green roofs to succulent spheres, these low-maintenance, year-round plants have been everywhere. With Debra Lee Baldwin’s classy instruction in her books, we’ve been using succulents in rose gardens, container plantings, and some creative people have even used them as Christmas [...]

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Mediterranean Garden Design: How to Create a Tuscan Garden

September 4, 2011 10 comments
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Recently, I was lucky enough to visit the Mediterranean garden of Lynda and Jack Pozel in Eureka, CA. Lynda’s a writer and artist, and until five years ago, owned a gorgeous cottage-style garden that was on our local garden tour multiple times. So when they moved and Lynda had a whole new garden to create, [...]

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Garden Designers Roundtable: Top Landscape Plants (Excerpts from Experts)

April 26, 2011 30 comments
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When the Garden Designers Roundtable chose Top Landscape Plants as this month’s topic, I thought to myself, “Hey, no problem, I can write that in my sleep.” I mean, enthusing about plants is kind of my thing, you know? But given that this is book excerpt week here at North Coast Gardening, I thought it’d [...]

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Book Review: Understanding Garden Design

April 7, 2011 2 comments
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Understanding Garden Design by Vanessa Gardner Nagel is billed as the “complete handbook for aspiring designers”, and that’s pretty accurate. Whether you’re a homeowner with a passion for gardening, or an aspiring pro, this book clarifies a number of professional tricks that Nagel uses to great success in her own landscape design business. So many professionals [...]

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Edible Landscaping Ideas at the SF Garden Show

March 30, 2011 9 comments
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I was inspired by the copious use of edibles at the San Francisco Garden Show this year. In true garden show style, displays ranged from practical to completely outlandish. The highlights for me were Johanna Silver’s gorgeous alternatives to raised beds in the Star Apple Edible Garden, and the combining of vertical gardening ideas with [...]

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Rockin’ It: Odd and Innovative Use of Stone at the SF Garden Show

March 29, 2011 6 comments
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Running through the back of my mind when I visit a garden show is the knowledge that most of what I see isn’t really workable at home. The displays are pure fantasy – a chance for designers to show off what they could do if practical matters like watering and maintenance weren’t an issue. I’m [...]

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The SF Garden Show, Contained: Planter Ideas for Balcony Gardens

March 28, 2011 16 comments
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The San Francisco Garden Show had a ton of container plantings accenting the display landscapes, and standing on their own. The nice thing about displays of containers is that you can generally recreate them at home with little fuss. Here are some of the highlights from the show:

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Highlights and Lowlights from the San Francisco Garden Show

March 26, 2011 23 comments
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Just got back from the San Francisco Garden Show, and man has it ever expanded since the last time I went (in the old Fort Mason days). I scored some cool swag, met so many amazing movers and shakers in the garden world (and everyone was so SWEET!), and got to make both horrified and [...]

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Celebrating Vertical Gardening with Garden Up!

March 14, 2011 6 comments
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Two of my favorite bloggers, Rebecca Sweet and Susan Morrison, have just released a book on vertical gardening called Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces. When I heard they were writing it I was so excited, because gaining height without adding width is a design challenge that is present in so [...]

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