Garden Planning

  • adaptable plants
    Design

    6 Knitter Plants That Can Tie a Garden Together

    Among the diverse combinations, several adaptable players help to knit the different parts of the garden together, thriving in a variety of microclimates and design aesthetics. See how Dan Johnson…

  • another view of stepping stone path and surrounding plants
    Design

    Building a Garden With Bas

    Today we’re off to Canada to visit with Bas Suharto. I built this garden for Ms. Jeanette in Orleans, Ontario. It started July 5, 2023, from a simple sketch. I…

  • close up of pink allium and coneflowers
    Design

    Rachel’s Illinois Garden

    Today we’re visiting with Rachel, a gardener and artist living in Elgin, Illinois (Zone 5b). She moved in 2022 to 1.5 acres and is in the process of designing and…

  • plants to buy in spring
    Collection

    Shopping-List Plants for Your Region

    Little kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To anyone who loves plants, this is the most wonderful time of the year. As warmer weather approaches, gardeners across the country eagerly anticipate…

  • plants to buy midwest
    Design

    Shopping-List Plants for the Midwest

    Little kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To anyone who loves plants, this is the most wonderful time of the year. As warmer weather approaches, gardeners across the country eagerly anticipate…

  • plants to buy northeast
    Design

    Shopping-List Plants for the Northeast

    Little kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To anyone who loves plants, this is the most wonderful time of the year. As warmer weather approaches, gardeners across the country eagerly anticipate…

  • plants to buy mid-atlantic
    Design

    Shopping-List Plants for the Mid-Atlantic

    Little kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To anyone who loves plants, this is the most wonderful time of the year. As warmer weather approaches, gardeners across the country eagerly anticipate…

  • plants to buy southeast
    Design

    Shopping-List Plants for the Southeast

    Little kids have Christmas. Gardeners have spring. To anyone who loves plants, this is the most wonderful time of the year. As warmer weather approaches, gardeners across the country eagerly anticipate…

  • finished garden viewed from a second floor window
    Design

    Sallie’s Pandemic Garden Project

    Sallie Boge is sharing her garden with us today. We garden in Riverside, a nearby suburb of Chicago (Zone 5a–6b). In April 2020 we constructed two new 11x16 garden beds…

  • garden geometry
    Design

    Use Geometry to Create a Beautiful Garden Plan

    I first met Shirley Williams in 1994 while attending a landscape-design charette. These classes were conducted at several of the participants’ home gardens, including at Brigham Hill Farm, where Shirley…