permaculture

  • Reimagining Curb Appeal Garden Tour
    Design

    Tour a Beautiful, Eco-Friendly Front-Yard Garden

    Lou and Dell Salza’s front yard in Shaker Heights, Ohio, is living proof that a garden can be both beautiful and ecologically functional. Making the most of a modestly sized…

  • Design

    Permaculture Garden in France

    Today’s photos are of Brigitte Michon's “Le Jardin du 7” in a village in Bourgogne, France. The garden is a permaculture jungle full of roses, hedges, ground covers, shrubs, trees,…

  • How-To

    How Sustainable Is Your Landscape?

    Smart gardeners everywhere are jumping on the sustainable bandwagon. And when you consider all the payoffs of a sustainable landscape, it’s not hard to understand why. It typically uses less…

  • Design

    How to Make a Small Garden Look Larger: Creating an Illusion of Space

    Land is somewhat hard to come by in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. When a real estate listing mentions “land,” it sometimes just means enough space to squeeze between yours and your…

  • illustration showing the food forest model in natural layers
    How-To

    Earth-Friendly Gardening

    The first time I visited an established permaculture homestead, I felt an immediate connection to the way of life embodied in that special place. This well-designed living environment was also…

  • VIew of the skyline, a raised bed and seating area from the garden
    Design

    Take the Vegetable Garden to New Heights

    The task was a bit overwhelming: Design and create an edible garden that was productive enough to supply produce for a restaurant, make sure it looked beautiful most of the…

  • Square foot gardening raised beds
    How-To

    Is Square Foot Gardening a Good System?

    I am not here to bash square foot gardening (SFG). Any system that has been encouraging people to grow their own food for the past 40 years should be applauded.…

  • Article

    Basics of Square Foot Gardening

    While in general, our experts do not recommend square foot gardening, there are some redeeming qualities to this method. Learn the basics of square foot gardening as well as some…

  • a mix of low-growing grasses and perennials with similar textures punctuated with plants with contrasting textures, colors and sizes creates a dynamic transition between the garden and the fields beyond
    Design

    Matrix Planting

    When designer Adam Woodruff was hired to create a landscape for a newly renovated home in Illinois, the existing site was mostly turf with a swimming pool surrounded by a…

  • Beautiful edibles intermingle with useful ornamentals and a yellow ladder trellis
    Design

    How to Spruce Up Your Veggie Garden

    Edible gardens are, too often, purely utilitarian spaces relegated to the outer reaches of an overall garden design. But they can be so much more with just a few design…