The Ugly Duckling – 1 Year Later

Do you remember just how bad it was? The 'warehouse with ample parking meets multiple personality disorder'  house we bought last August?? This blog post(opens in new tab) will refresh your memory, and while a year is a mere blink of an eye in garden terms, there has been significant progress in the front garden…

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Garden Chapters Unified

In this mini-design series of "telling your garden story" we've looked at the introduction (the entry sequence) and ideas for an overall theme. Today I want to explore ways to help you strengthen your narrative by unifying the individual garden chapters using repetition. There's a balance between allowing each distinct garden area have its own…

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Unexpected Inspiration from 7000 miles away

What  design ideas can I possibly glean for soggy Seattle from a garden in the driest and coldest part of New Zealand? It turns out, many. Not only that but my visit to Jo Wakelin's garden  at the foot of the Mt. Pisa range in Central Otago is one that has stayed with me, almost…

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Front Garden Assessment

As my regular readers will know, we have just left our 5-acre garden of 16 years and moved into what can best be described as "the ugliest house in Duvall". The garden isn't a whole lot better being a blend of dead grass, dead bamboo (mercifully container in a planter), every self-seeding annual you can…

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A New Season

Today was the day we signed on the dotted line and sold our garden to its next caretakers. (We agreed to sell our home and barn too). We made the decision a year ago, recognizing that as much as we loved it here, it was taking us longer to look after the 5 acre property…

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