Hold Your Ground

2016-08-26T10:38:04-04:00

Wildflower

(The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

Filling every niche with a native plant to cover ground is an important part of sustainable landscaping. Problem spots and tricky niches can become low maintenance wildlife friendly places of beauty with the right plant in the right place.

Alien Invaders

2016-09-07T13:02:26-04:00

Wildflower

(The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

Invasive plants aren’t just garden thugs, they displace native plants and the wildlife that depends on them, change growing conditions and disrupt entire ecosystems. Here’s how to recognize and manage some bad actors.

Get A Move On

2016-09-07T13:03:11-04:00

Wildflower

(The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

Some plants just sit there and don’t do anything. Others move with the slightest breeze, or have such dynamic character that they look like they’re moving even when they’re not. Here are some of my favorite native plants that add pizzazz and a sense of movement to any garden.

For the Birds

2016-09-07T13:04:37-04:00

Wildflower

(The Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center)

How to sustain birds through the winter? With a little planning and lots of native plants, any yard can be a richly diverse bird habitat cleverly disguised as a pleasing home landscape, even during the coldest months.

Great Bulbs That Last

2016-09-07T13:03:56-04:00

The American Gardener

(The American Horticultural Society)

Ecological landscaping means conserving resources, including our own time. Fill every niche and plant a layered landscape so there’s no room for weeds, and you get to enjoy beauty in all seasons. Bulbs that get eaten or wimp out after a year or so aren’t my idea of low-maintenance energy efficient landscaping, so I’ve come to treasure bulbs that last, perennial bulbs that increase over time. Plant these survivors in the right place and enjoy spring flowering bulbs year after year.

 

Gardening by Subtraction With Self-Sowers

2016-09-07T13:06:05-04:00

The American Gardener

(The American Horticultural Society)

I increasingly value plants that self-sow to fill empty spaces in the garden. They make unexpected color combinations, provide seeds for wildlife and increase genetic diversity. My reliable favorites germinate year after year without becoming pests, and are easy to pull out where I don’t want them. Great gardeners and ecological landscapers share tips on good plants for naturalizing and tips for encouraging them to germinate.

 

Creating a Moving Experience

2016-09-07T13:06:54-04:00

The American Gardener

(The American Horticultural Society)

Some gardens have an almost magnetic pull. They invite you to enter, direct pace of passage, draw you through various spatial experiences and keep you wondering what’s around the next curve. The most exciting gardens combine plants that move or have dynamic gestures plus design elements that create a sense of flow.

 

Sound in the Garden

2016-09-07T13:09:11-04:00

The American Gardener

(The American Horticultural Society)

Gardens are an all-out sensory experience. Much attention is paid to cultivating the visual aspects and scent in the garden. But I’ve noticed that many of my garden travel memories are sound-memories. Paying attention to sound while visiting gardens across the country and talking with their creators (about sound versus noise, for instance) made me appreciate the soundscape at home and inspired me to create opportunities for experiencing sound through the seasons in my own garden.

 

Taking Cues From Nature

2016-09-07T13:09:52-04:00

The American Gardener

(The American Horticultural Society)

Ecological landscape designer Larry Weaner has one foot firmly planted in the world of horticulture and one in the science of ecology. He creates artful self-sustaining communities of native plants in partnership with nature and is changing the way we all think about gardens. Look for his new book, Garden Revolution, to which I’m proud to have contributed photographs.

 

Plants on the Rocks

2016-09-07T13:10:31-04:00

The American Gardener

(The American Horticultural Society)

Rocks, whether glacial boulders, bedrock outcrops or gravel, speak powerfully of place – especially when colonized by native plants adapted to rocky habitats. Inspired by plant communities in nature, I’ve dug into plants that survive in and soften stone in our built landscapes, and collected tips for planting in places too rocky to dig.