Naturalistic Gardening
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Design
Traditional vs. Stylized Meadow Gardens
Many positive things can be said for planting a meadow garden. These naturalistic designs tend to be a bit wilder thanks to the use of native wildflowers and ornamental grasses,…
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How-To
Tips for Evolving a Naturalized Garden Quickly
Adam Woodruff’s garden is undeniably beautiful, but it didn’t get that way by chance. What might take others decades to achieve, Adam accomplished in only a few years. A lot…
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Design
How to Design a Meadow Garden With Multiseason Interest
Naturalistic, meadow-styles are visually dynamic, always changing, and have long seasonality. They evoke the feeling of being in nature and spotlight natural cycles of growth to decay. Some public gardens…
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Design
A Native Meadow From Seed
Today’s photos are from James Dillon. I own a small landscaping/gardening company located near Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. We specialize in residential landscape design/installation and small-scale ecologically valuable plantings like…
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Design
A Naturalistic Garden Is Better for the Environment and Requires Less Work
Many gardens elicit a “Geez, how did they do this?” response. It is not because of massive hardscape or Versailles-level precision; rather, it is more of the sense that these…
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Design
Thomas Rainer and Piet Oudolf on Naturalistic Gardens
Once we understand some of the concepts of naturalistic design, questions of a more practical nature tend to pop up. We reached out to landscape architect Thomas Rainer and garden…
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Design
Plants for a Layered-Style Garden
As you design with a layered approach, it helps to have a sense of what your options are. Here are some examples of the types of plants that can create…
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Design
Plants for a Matrix-Style Garden
When you garden with a matrix-style design, different plants can play different roles in the landscape. Here are some ideas to get your designs going. Planting plan details Matrix…