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Can you dig it?  My daughter’s garden in the Chicago area is a marvel of color and texture. It appears that she has been influenced by some of my 25 years in the garden design and landscape contracting professions. Here are some recent photos.  She follows the ideas found in my book: ‘Garden and Landscape Design-a Quick Start Guide.’ It has several concepts that you can use to make your home’s gardens delightful. Some important ideas are seen here.  A key concept is to have as little lawn as you can tolerate. Cut the grass! Reduce the size of your lawn. Instead, create wide sweeping planted beds. Fill them with lots of “set and forget” varieties. Well known author and TV gardening expert, P. Allen Smith, calls these “workhorse plants.”  When you have less lawn you will have less maintenance. That is very important. Your lawn is by far the most maintenance intensive part of your yard. There is no debate. When you consider the time required to mow, the amount of water...
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CONTAINER GARDENING

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Container gardening yields wonderful results throughout the year. Here is what we planted recently in just a few minutes in Chula Vista, California.  This window box outside our dining room window was planted last May. It did not thrive. It looked nice at first. We had hummingbirds (see photo). But after the initial bloom, we had just few more flowers. The location does not receive enough sun, just a few hours mid-afternoon.  We removed the tired geraniums and replanted shade tolerant red New Guinea Impatiens. Here is the result from just six 4-inch plants. Each cost $5.00 for a total of $30.00 plus tax. Easy! Container gardening is done mostly standing up. You do not have to dig holes in hard native soil. The plants can be changed out as often you like to complement the seasons. If you live in an area with cold winters Impatiens are not appropriate now. Shop your local garden center. The will have hardy Chrysanthemums, ornamental kale, and others to keep your containers looki...
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