Tag: Custom Design
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Farm House Meadow & Borders
Year two: The pollinator wildflower meadow is taking off while the house gardens fill in.The two gardens share some of the same plants so they connect visually and create a sense of abundance.These are happy gardens. The meadow is wilder and seemly more randomly planted.…
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Decluttering Your Garden
Marie Kondo’s method for decluttering your house works for your garden too. While Reading her book The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up I realized I’ve been using my own version for decades for designing landscapes, coaching gardeners, and teaching classes. Turns out that the word “clutter” easily replaces the word “chaos” . Chaos created from…
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Modern Farmhouse Gardens
The style, Modern Farmhouse, could be described as a mix of old and new. Textures, comfort, natural materials from antique to industrial, yet spare on accessories describes both the interior design and landscape design style. Wooden arbors, regional stone used for fieldstone steps and walls, and contemporary planters create the elements. Plant color palette honed…
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Learn Planting Design in my January Class
Make winter fun! Join me in my January class and learn planting design. Register at www.MassHort.org Designing the Winter Landscape When: Wednesday January 17 & 24, 2018 from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM Where: The Gardens at Elm Bank – Cheney Room Maria von Brincken will help you design an outdoor space that uses texture, color,…
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Make a ‘Paperwhite’ Narcissus Flowering Winter Centerpiece
Ah, Saturday morning. It’s a frosty start in mid-November and a perfect time to plant ‘Paperwhite’ bulbs for indoor flowering. And, make a fall and later flowering winter centerpiece. Planted now, they’ll bloom in late December and perfume your house, too. Last week I popped into my local garden center and bought ten Narcissus ‘Ziva’…
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How to Arrange Summer Annuals in Containers
Colorful containers play a starring role in my garden, but especially this summer with New England’s prolonged drought. It was time for an “end-of-summer refresh” for two key containers. Surprisingly the drought this summer hasn’t affected my garden’s seeming lushness. Right plant in the right place is key here and good soil. However, one effect…
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Front Foundation Planting Gets A Facelift
Sometimes plantings get overgrown, tired, or the current design doesn’t work. They need a face-lift, or a re-design. The front foundation plantings, in this case, were not only overgrown, but they hid a beautiful real stone facade at the front door. The composition of this left side foundation planting didn’t really work with the…
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Containers Ideas found on a Mini Vacation
Sitting in Boston Public Garden I’m enjoying a special early-morning moment on a lovely summer like day. On shady bench in front of an active fountain, I’m relishing it’s gentle sound except when the tourist with the creaky wheeled cart goes by. I’ve rediscovered that when you have a house guest from out of town, you become a…
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Gardening at Dawn on a Summer-Like Day
I love gardening at dawn on a summer morning. Cool enough to pull weeds, prune branches, deadhead, plant, lay mulch as I did this last weekend-of-May Sunday. Yet it’s warm enough for shorts and a tshirt. It’s a time of birdsong and quiet in the neighborhood. No noisy lawn mowers, leaf blowers, or power songs.…
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Tools of Enchantment
I’m happy to post a link to my feature article in WaterShapes Magazine. Enjoy! http://watershapes.com/landscape/plants/hardscape/decks/tools-of-enchantment.html?utm_source=WaterShapes+20+January+2016&utm_campaign=1-20+newsletter&utm_medium=email