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Healthy Skepticism for a Healthy Garden - Win A Free Copy of The Informed Gardener!
70 commentsLinda Chalker-Scott, didn't set out to be a matador, hell-bent on goring gardening's sacred cows. But somebody needed to bust the myths we carry into our gardens.
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Time Machine Found in Old Box: Connecting the Dots
3 commentsLast week I was rummaging through an old box and found a time machine. It looked like an old, primitively drawn landscape plan. But for me, it was like taking Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine to 1975, when my love affair with gardens began.
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Protect Your Pets from Poisonous Plants: Biff's Ordeal
3 commentsWe love our pets, but are we aware of all the common foods, products, and plants that put them in harm's way? I learned the hard way.
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Cornerstone Sonoma: Where Art, Imagination, and Plants Come to Play
1 commentI had heard so many wondrous things about Cornerstone: Festival of Gardens. It was one of those breathlessly spoken, Oh, you have to go there, places my designer friends insisted I visit.
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Airplanes In The Garden -- Kids, Butterflies, and Summer Fun
2 commentsSummer's almost here, so what better way to get kids outside than growing your own butterfly garden? Joan Calder's book will entertain kids and guarantees some good, clean, dirty fun.
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Another Definition of Vertical Gardening - Marcia Donahue
7 commentsThere's vertical and there's vertical. Artist Marcia Donahue's Berkeley, California, garden is a botanical and imaginative wonderland filled with humor, whimsy, and sensitivity to nature.
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I'm Beating Up On Lawns, Again
10 commentsIt started when I read Susan Harris' rippingly reasoned blog post at Garden Rant. Dandelion was the key word. Next thing I know, here I am blowing off steam about my pet peeve -- useless lawns.
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Before You Dig, Get "Fit To Garden"
2 commentsStacy Walters' website is filled with everything you need to garden strong, garden smart, and garden safely. There's no reason to stall the start of spring with a case of sore muscles.
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Lessons From Legendary Flora Grubb Gardens
On my 2010 trip, a Bay Area friend and I hooked up at Flora's. The place just knocked me out. It's about time I paid homage to The Divine Ms. Grubb and her matchless approach to horticulture, gardens, and the educational value of inspiring displays.
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I'm Branching Out Into Archaeology: Blame the Wisteria
8 commentsI’ve yet to see a documentary on the ancient migratory trail of the Wisterians, who evidently passed through Santa Barbara, leaving barely a trace. Without a reliable body of research I can only conjecture that they appeared about 14,000 years ago.
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Hot Tubbing with Jeffrey Gordon Smith?
3 commentsJeffrey Gordon Smith’s designs are not about what he calls “the flavor of the month,” like “Muscany” (Morocco meets Tuscany). “I don’t think garden designers should be pushing the past on gardens,” referring to the typical cookie-cutter gimmicks some designers reach for.
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Foliage Foundations and Gnasty Gnomes (the Gs are silent)
5 commentsWhat if the gnomes in your garden were practical jokers? You can outsmart them by planting a garden where form and foliage reign.
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About this column
Enter the world of sustainable gardening with Billy Goodnick's "Cool Green Gardens" blog. Billy lives in Santa Barbara, CA, and delivers a West Coast perspective on landscape design that will translate into your own backyard. Check out CGG for great ideas on reducing your impact on the environment and creating a landscape that is an extension of your home.Billy Goodnick, a landscape architect, educator and writer, shares the wisdom he has gathered from thirty-five years of retail nursery sales, landscaping, designing and teaching. He'll challenge your assumptions while putting a smile on your face with his off-the-wall humor.
Whether you're seeking to fine-tune your existing garden or are starting with a clean slate, Cool Green Gardens is your go-to resource for sustainable ideas, innovation and inspiration.
