Planting up your garden is a big project, depending of course on how big your garden is, and how complex you want it to be. Along with choosing sizes, shapes, evergreen or deciduous, and what will grow where, there are many possibilities to consider with color, from both foliage and flowers. When we go out to a garden center there is a tendency to be…

The days are beginning to lengthen, and although we are still in the grip of winter in most areas, spring cannot be far away. Within a few weeks it will be time to hit the beach, and if you are fortunate enough to live on the coast, or have a beach cottage, then it is also time to do something about the surroundings – without…

Over the last few years there has been an enormous growth in interest in preserving our natural environments. They are under threat from multiple directions, with everything from climate change and logging to too many visitors threatening the great natural areas of this country. In some areas there has been an additional threat – garden plants that are not native to America have escaped into…

So many plants – so little room! The challenges in small gardens are considerable, but they all have to do with space, such as how to choose plants that won’t grow too large, and how to have continuous color and effect from a limited number of plants. There is one simple way to expand the range of plants being grown and add a whole extra…

Shade is the gardener’s perpetual problem – just what can I grow in those inevitable shady spots that are found in every garden. Beneath trees or in the shade of buildings, it is almost impossible to have a garden without shade – either from the beginning, or gradually developing as your trees and taller shrubs grow and mature. Gardener’s can be stubborn, and all too…

Winter is the time when evergreen trees are most noticeable in our gardens, and few stand out more than holly does. These handsome trees and bushes, with their rich-green leathery leaves, bring structure and form to the garden, and their rounded or pyramidal shapes are perfect additions to any garden. The classic ‘greeting-card’ holly, with its spiny leaves and red berries is an essential ingredient…