Posts Tagged ‘shrubs’
Deer-Resistant Bloomin' Easy Favorites
It's always exciting to visit nurseries where great plants are grown so it was a special treat to be invited to the 50th Celebration of Van Belle Nursery, the home of Bloomin' Easy plants in Abbotsford, British Columbia recently. I first visited as a consultant in 2014 when I taught a container design workshop to…
Read MoreUnexpected Color Echoes
Repetition of color in a garden is an easy way to bring a sense of cohesion to a design and is often called a 'color echo'. When designing 'foliage first' this color echo may be between a leaf and a flower or even between two or more different leaves, yet there are many more adventurous…
Read MoreBefore & After: front garden makeover
There comes a point when you just need to start again – and that was essentially the verdict after visiting this Seattle garden. A combination of overgrown shrubs, inadequate pathways, and piecemeal 'fixes' just weren't cutting it anymore. The homeowner loves the outdoors and wanted the garden to be naturalistic in design, featuring layers of…
Read MoreHow to prune repeat blooming hydrangea
I have received a lot of questions this month about how and when to prune bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla), especially the newer 'repeat blooming' varieties. What are repeat blooming hydrangea? These are the varieties which bloom both on the growth they put on last year (called old wood) as well as the growth that occurs…
Read MoreThe Layered Garden: Lessons from England
English gardens are known for their unapologetic "abundant" look, where flowers, vegetables and/or shrubs mingle easily like the very best of friends. This is achieved by "layering" a range of plants with different heights together and is a technique that can be applied from the tiniest garden to the largest estate regardless of aesthetic or…
Read More