Garden Planning
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Design
Best of the GPOD: Before and After
We love a good before-and-after on the GPOD. Getting to see what a gardener started with really shows the work, talent, and time that goes into creating every garden we…
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Design
Things to Think About When Planning or Renovating a Garden
I have always thought that the best gardens are those that make people happy and comfortable. Sure, great gardens look good, but they have to feel good too. The gardens…
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Design
3 Strategies for Designing a Garden That Will Make an Impact for Years
Years ago I remember telling a landscape architect friend that I wanted to put together a talk about everything I’ve done wrong (in gardening rather than my personal life—that saga…
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How-To
Water-Saving Tips for Southwestern Gardens
For most of the Southwest, “dry” is a normal state of affairs. We live in a complex mosaic of arid, semi-arid, and seasonally arid zones that make most generalizations impossible.…
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How-To
How to Pick the Best Mulch for Your Mountain West Garden Beds
Since entering horticulture professionally over a decade ago, I’ve noticed a correlation on the Colorado Front Range between wood mulch (also called arborist chips) and water-wise gardens. A beautifully designed…
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Design
An All-Year Plan for Fragrance in Southwestern Gardens
I grew up in the north, where my mother’s garden teemed with the intoxicating aromas of lilacs, sweet peas, and lily of the valley. When I moved to Oklahoma, I…
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Design
Tips for Installing and Caring for a Pollinator Garden
Choosing a palette of plants that will sustain pollinators throughout the growing season is a great start. However, the way you plant and care for your selections can provide additional…
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Design
Create a Botanical Tapestry by Knitting Vignettes Together in Your Garden
What happens when an avowed plant collector puts down roots on a blank garden slate? When I purchased my property, the small lot in a Zone 5b/6a Denver suburb had…
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Article
Learn to Build Better Soil
A backyard is no place for a farm. My earliest vegetable gardens were small-scale imitations of large-scale farms. I rototilled the soil, spread bagged chemical fertilizer all around and built…
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Design
Episode 150: Design Rules of Thumb with Stacie Crooks
Stacie Crooks is a Seattle-based garden designer who has created beautiful, ecologically friendly, low-maintenance gardens throughout the Pacific Northwest. She is also a contributing editor for Fine Gardening magazine and…