Hardscaping Projects - Fine Gardening

  • garden patio with gravel and flagstone
    Design

    Getting Creative with Patio Materials

    When it comes to landscape design, patios are the most requested hardscape element from my clients, and for good reason—they serve as a central hub of activity and a visual…

  • formal garden courtyard with fountain and small seating area
    Design

    Terri’s New Garden Project

    Today’s photos are from Terri Bennink. We were not able to really work on the front and side yard, as there was a giant sweetgum tree (Liquidambar styraciflua, Zones 5–9)…

  • making garden pathways
    Collection

    Making Your Garden Beautiful and Functional With Pathways

    No matter the size, style, or location of your cultivated patch of paradise, at the heart of every great garden is at least one pathway. These essential areas are an…

  • balance hardscape and plants
    Design

    Tour a Garden That Perfectly Balances Hardscape and Plants

    Margherita Fabrizio and her husband, Andy Jordan, live in a beautiful historic 1918 home in the heart of downtown Ithaca, New York. When they purchased their property in 2009, they…

  • whimsical elf house built on a tree stump with blue door and trim
    Design

    Creative Recycling in a Woodland Garden

    My name is Paul Brothe, and I live and garden in Newburgh, New York. (See a previous visit to this garden.) In 2020, I cleared an overgrown part of my…

  • An outdoor seating area
    Design

    Lockdown Garden Makeover

    Today we’re seeing the garden makeover Lynne did during the COVID lockdown. Up until this last year the most gardening I had ever done was mowing the grass and pulling…

  • expert garden design tips
    Collection

    10 Expert Tips for Designing Your Garden

    In an ideal world, everyone would be able to hire a designer to help with big garden decisions. But in reality, most of us end up doing our own design…

  • senses in garden design
    Design

    Expert Design Advice: Let Your Senses Guide Your Garden’s Design

    When you first start to think about changing part of your landscape, slow down, look, and listen. Pay attention to how the existing conditions make you feel. Is the space…

  • danielle sherry
    Design

    We All Make Design Mistakes | Letter from the Editor

    The worst birthday present I ever got was several tons of gravel dumped into my garden. It was from an accidental landslide caused by a design mistake—and it was entirely…

  • creating a gravel patio
    Design

    Hardscaping Projects in Early Spring

    I am always confused when a gardener says, “There’s nothing to do,” during late winter or early spring in the garden. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we get the chance…