Click for plan and plant list.

warm sunshine

One of the great things about container gardening is that you can create a planting almost any time of year. In fall, for example, many garden centers get in lots of fresh plants that look fantastic in cooler weather.

This container planting uses traditional fall colors of orange and gold, but, except for the kale, pretty unconventional fall plants. These gorgeous yellow and orange ‘Julie’ begonias echo the color of this big terra-cotta bowl, while adding a fresh bright look. In the background, large ornamental kales provide a more traditional touch of fall, along with interesting color and texture contrasts.

And who says you can’t use indoor plants in fall containers? Croton and begonias are typically considered house plants, but here they bring autumnal shades and fascinating textures. Keep them in their individual pots when you place them in the larger container. Then you can just pop them back out and take them indoors before frost hits.

For a big pot like this, try mounding the soil in the center before planting to give the middle plants a bit more height. And a few unobtrusive green bamboo stakes will keep the begonias standing nice and straight. The combination will look good for just a few weeks, so give the plants even moisture but don’t bother to feed them.

Get your hands on even more beautiful fall container ideas with Autumn GardenScapes, at right!

midsummer coverup

Many perennials bloom in early or midsummer. If you’re lucky, the foliage that’s left after they finish blooming is attractive. But sadly, sometimes it just doesn’t look all that great.

Let’s consider trumpet lilies (Lilium hybrids). Their big, bright flowers are gorgeous. But when they’re done blooming and you’ve deadheaded them, those stumpy stalks look terrible, and you can’t cut them back because the plants need the leaves to manufacture food for the rest of the season. So plant something in front of them. But choose carefully: The key to a successful pairing is to choose a coverup plant to go in front that has a similar habit and foliage to the spent plant.

Mexican bush sage (Salvia leucantha), with upright stalks and slender leaves, would never be mistaken for a lily, but, as you see at right, the leaf shape and texture are similar enough that the lilies seem to disappear behind it. In this case, because Mexican bush sage is a fast-growing annual, I like to tip it a little bit away from the lilies to give them some breathing room. But if you’re pairing two perennials, watch the spacing. You want them to be close enough for the coverup to work, so it’s OK if they billow into each other. But you don’t want one crowding the other out of the garden!

Click to see a larger illustration.

how to create
a base map

On any journey, the first step is often the hardest. Designing your own landscape can be an overwhelming proposition. But it doesn’t have to be. A good place to start is to make a base map. A base map is like a blueprint for your property.

MAKE A SKETCH — To create one, sketch out the shape of your property and include all the elements, such as the house, garage, driveway and deck or patio. Then measure everything and add the dimensions to your sketch.

ASSESS WHAT YOU HAVE — Next, look at what you have and decide what things you like, and what you’d like to change. Here are some things you’ll want to consider:

• Location and sizes of sidewalks, paths, driveway — any permanent features you plan to keep
• Overhead and underground utility lines; in the United States contact One Call at 811 to mark your property
• Location and general sizes of doors, windows, meters, dryer vents and AC units
• Trees and shrubs you intend to keep
• North, so you know sun and shade patterns
• Desirable, as well as objectionable, views
• Drainage issues that will influence your design
• Service areas for compost, trash and recycling

DRAW A BASE MAP — Once you’ve assessed the site, it’s time to refine that information into a base map. This map needs to be in scale, so work with graph paper and a ruler. A good scale to work with is one-quarter inch equals 5 ft. You’re going to draw and write your ideas on the base map. Since it’s something you’ll want to save for future reference, make several photocopies and keep the original clean.

Make a list of things you’d like to have in your yard, such as a vegetable garden, perennial border, a garden shed or play structures. Place the elements from your list on the drawing where they might work best. You don’t need defined shapes and sizes, just circle the location. Then take your base map and walk around the garden, envisioning where the elements you want will be located. Erase and redraw the elements in different locations if you need to until you have a good map of where everything should go. You’ll use this map as a guide as you create the areas in your yard. If this seems like a lot of work, remember that arranging your landscape on paper is much easier and cheaper than having to adjust it once you start installation!

Want more ideas on designing and growing a gorgeous garden? Check out The Year in Gardening, Volumes 13-15 from Garden Gate magazine at right!

great ways to use vines in containers

Give a gardener a vine, and odds are he or she will plant it next to a trellis or an arbor. But do vines really have to be grown only on a structure? No! 

One creative way to use vines is to grow them in a container as a single specimen or as part of a colorful combo. Click here for a list of vines that make good container choices. Just keep the pot size in balance with the size of the vine so your container’s not falling over all the time. If in doubt, go with a larger pot — a bigger mass of roots will reward you with a healthier, and more stable, plant.

Provide a frame for the vine to climb, such as an obelisk, like the one for the yellow mandevilla in the illustration. Train the plant to the support and keep it tidy by clipping. But don’t overlook vines as the “spiller” at the edge of the pot. They’re perfect in containers set up high on a wall, such as the bougainvillea in the illustration.

To keep your potted vine growing happily, every year remove several inches of potting soil, down to where you find roots. Refill the container with fresh potting mix that has a handful of bone meal or slow-release fertilizer mixed into it. And after a vine has been in the same pot for four or five years, remove it, wash off all the soil and trim the roots so they’re not spiraling in the container. Then use fresh potting mix to replant your vine into the same pot.

Want more great ideas for growing in containers? Check out Succulent Container Gardens at right!

Click to see a larger image.

berm basics

Building a berm is a big project. Consider these basics while you’re planning, and you’re on your way to a stunning garden.

SIZE — As with any other large landscape element, make sure your berm is the right size for your needs. A small berm by the front door can add just as much “Wow!” as a bigger one by the street.

GRADE — Asymmetrical is the way to go. Natural-looking berms have the highest point closer to one side. The illustration above shows how gradually one side rises out of the ground, while the other side rounds off quickly. And change the height along the berm, especially if it’s a long one. It’ll be more interesting and more natural this way.

SLOPE — Don’t make it too steep! The 10-ft.-wide berm in the illustration is only 2 ft. tall at its highest point. This shallow slope allows you to mow the berm safely if you decide to grow grass. Plus, it won’t have erosion problems and you’ll find it more comfortable to work on.

SUBSTANCE — It would be expensive to buy enough topsoil to build an entire berm, and you don’t really need to anyway. Instead, use poor-quality soil or sod flipped upside down to build up the shape. Then top it off with a foot or more of good topsoil. Build the berm a little taller than you want the final height, as it will settle a bit. If you compact the sod or poor-quality soil, you’ll cut down on the amount of settling.

Whether you’re designing a perennial border or just placing a few containers on your deck, color is important. Here are some tips to help you use color with confidence! And if you see a combo you like, we’ll provide the plant names below.

PLANT COMBINATIONS:
1. Look my way   2. Spotlight on yellow   3. Keep it small
4. The big chill  5. Pretty in pink

Learn more about using color to create a fantastic garden in Great Gardens Made Easy, Volume 2 at right!

Whether you’re an old hand at gardening or are just dipping your toe in for the first time, try planting a small bed. For just a little time and effort, you’ll get a large helping of enjoyment! In addition to being easy to create and take care of, small beds have several advantages.

If you’re new to gardening, you can create a small bed without getting in over your head. Once they’re established, perennials need very little work to keep them looking nice. And if you feel like you want a bigger bed, you can always expand it later on.
Here are some easy tips to help you make a great-looking small bed.

DO repeat splashes of color throughout the bed to help keep your eye moving.

DON’T ring the island with the same plant or color — your eye goes to the edge and stays there.

In a small bed, plant and leaf texture are also very important. Pay attention to the mix of plants you choose, especially if you’re designing island beds like these, that are to be viewed from all sides.

DO include fine-leafed plants along with bold foliage for accents. Smaller leaves help the bed appear bigger.

DON’T use lots of plants with bold foliage. It makes the bed look smaller.

For more design tips for small-space gardens, check out Garden Gate’s Great Gardens: Solutions for Small Spaces at right!

Click for a planting plan and plant list.

kitchen basket

Florists, supermarket floral departments and even home improvement stores stock live plants year-round these days. But their color really packs a punch when the view outdoors is dreary. In addition to house plants, in late winter you’ll see pre-chilled spring bulbs, such as hyacinths, daffodils and tulips, ready to bloom. Blooming gift plants, like cyclamen and primrose, are also easy to find now. You can buy them already combined in pretty containers, but it’s more fun to buy individual ones and put together different combinations. It’s easy — create your own!

First, look around your house for a fun, unique container. You can use almost anything that’ll hold plants, as long as it has drainage. Here, a wire basket lined with pre-soaked and wrung-out sheet moss, holds a plastic bag (with a couple of drainage holes poked in the bottom) and some potting mix. Pop the plants out of their plastic pots and tuck them into the mix. Or, if you prefer, just set them, pots and all, into your container and top with more moss to hide the pot edges. (Either way works fine, since this isn’t a very long-term arrangement. (Check out the plan here.)

A few cut stems of pussy willow add flair to the combination. Use a saucer — either in the bottom of the basket or underneath — to keep any water droplets from damaging the table. In a cool room, expect your combination to last several weeks.

Dreaming of summer? Well, bigleaf hydrangeas are a versatile group of flowering shrubs that can be used in lots of ways in the garden. Here are just a few favorites.

THE MAIN ACT — A single hydrangea, covered in big, voluptuous flowers, creates a stunning focal point in any garden. Your eye is drawn to the plant, even in late summer, when the flowers turn an interesting papery brown.

MIX IT UP — All but the tallest cultivars are a good fit for mixed borders. Unlike the blooms of many shrubs that are long gone by summer, midsummer hydrangea flowers combine well with those of surrounding perennials and annuals. And hydrangeas’ tidy habit won’t overwhelm their shorter neighbors. Use shade-tolerant cultivars, like ‘Blue Billow’ or the ‘Mariesii’ in the top photo, to bring color to part-shade beds.

HEDGE YOUR BEST — Used as hedges, hydrangeas make a high-impact, low-maintenance way to line a path or fence. Mophead and lacecap blooms fit perfectly into informal settings and a mix of cultivars guarantees bountiful blooms for much of the summer. Or for a more traditional or formal-looking hedge, plant a line of a single cultivar.

PERFECT IN POTS — Many new, more compact cultivars, like the Cityline series or Endless Summer in the lower photo, are perfect for containers on the deck or patio. Placing them in pots makes it easy to bring them right up close, where you can enjoy the luscious blooms all summer.

dress up black
nursery pots

Do you have a stack of plastic nursery pots in your garage? Well, start now and by next spring you can make them into a stack of attractive pots. Here’s an idea for making them look good enough for the garden without spending a lot of time or a small fortune. You’ll make rolled-edge, stone-look containers from nursery pots that have been dressed up, for about $10 each in materials and a trip to the hardware store.

STEP ONE — This technique works best on sturdy pots with rims. First wash the pot well and dry it completely so the paint will stick to the plastic. Also, sand the pot lightly with fine sandpaper to scuff up the surface. The pipe insulation comes with a lengthwise slit in it. Pull the insulation apart along this slit and slide it onto the rim of the pot to see how long a piece you need to fit around the top edge. With scissors, cut the insulation to the right length, then remove it.

STEP TWO — Apply a bead of construction adhesive, such as Liquid Nails^®, to the top edge of the lip of the pot. Replace the insulation on the lip and place a piece of duct tape over the insulation where the two ends meet. The tape will hold it onto the pot and hide the gap, as well. You’ll be painting over the tape, so smooth it down to make it blend into the rim.

STEP THREE — Place the pot on a couple bricks or a piece of scrap wood outdoors so you can paint all the way to the bottom edge. Spray the outside of the pot and the insulation with paint, as well as the top 2 in. of the inside. The number of coats you’ll need depends on the color of your plastic pot. I liked the look of the black plastic showing through the paint, so I used a single coat. If you want to completely hide the underlying color, wait the time recommended on the can and apply a second coat.

After the paint is dry, spray or brush on a clear coat of sealer to protect the finish and give the pot a nice glazed look. A water-based urethane, like Varathane^® Outdoor Spar Urethane, is good to use because it won’t yellow when exposed to sunlight.

That’s all there is to creating a pot like this. Check out our Web extra for more tips and creative effects you can get with paint — the possibilities are almost endless!

Click to see a larger image.

create ivy swags

English ivy (Hedera helix) is a fast-growing evergreen vine, hardy in USDA zones 5 to 10. The gardener that grew the vines in this photo planted two plants in front of each of the fence posts more than 10 years ago. The swags were well formed after just two or three years.

Start by stapling a long section of vine up onto the fence with fencing staples to form the post. Train side shoots for the swags the same way. As the vines grow, wind the new growth back into the old. Trim errant stems with scissors to thicken and shape the growth.

good fences make good gardens

Fences work hard, keeping pets and kids in the yard or out of the street and letting visitors know where to go and not to go. But even though fences are a useful part of the landscape, you want them to look good. If your fence complements the look of the garden, your whole yard will be a traffic stopper.

For casual gardens, a wooden picket fence is perfect. Wood has an inviting, friendly look to it that, with proper care, ages gracefully. You can get ready-made panels from your local home improvement center in a variety of styles. Or for a truly original fence, make your own pickets.

KEEP IT LOOKING GOOD —?You’ll need to apply a coat of paint or water sealant every few years. To keep rust stains from marring the appearance and joints from weakening, spend the extra money on specially treated wood screws for outdoor use.

SAME LOOK, DIFFERENT STUFF — Composite wood is made from a blend of recycled plastic and sawdust. It’s more expensive but usually needs less maintenance. You’ll still need to use pressure-treated wood for posts and crosspieces. And buy composite deck screws. Regular screws scar the composite’s surface.

No space is too small for a garden, even if it’s just a small grouping of containers on your deck. Check out our tips for turning little spots into beautiful gardens.

For even more help creating your own sumptuous small garden, see Great Gardens: Solutions for Small Spaces, Vol. 2 at right!

Photo courtesy of Don Bolak
Click on the photo to see a larger image.

designing fall gardens

Fall can be an incredible time in a garden. Here are some techniques for creating stunning fall displays.

PLANT DRAMATIC CONTRASTS — Do you have lots of trees with yellow fall foliage in your neighborhood? For contrast, put plants in your garden that have red, orange and purple fall color, like the Virginia sweetspire to the far right in the photo. Want a dramatic texture contrast? Pair a bold-foliage plant, such as the bergenia in the foreground of the photo, with a plant with finer foliage, like the sweetspire.

When you step into a garden, color is often the first thing you notice. Texture contrast is usually second. But to keep your garden interesting all of the time, you also need to include a variety of contrasting plant shapes and sizes.

LAYER BEDS AND BORDERS — Many late-season plants aren’t at their best in spring. So layer the plants. In other words, plant early bloomers, such as Shasta daisies and delphiniums, behind medium-height perennials, like tall sedums, which bloom much later in the season. And let fall asters or tall phlox billow over the vacant spot left when you cut off the spent stems of spring-flowering perennials.

Layering plants is easy in an island bed or wide border. In a 3-ft.-wide bed, it’s difficult, but doable. Rather than having a lot of different plants, select three to five autumn plants of different textures and heights that you like.

PLAN FOR MULTI-SEASON APPEAL — Choose plants, such as the bergenia, that have a strong presence all year. It sends up clusters of pink or white flowers in spring, followed by bold, glossy foliage that turns red in fall and remains through the winter. Rely on plants like this, which have interesting foliage as well as flowers, as long-term visual anchors. You’ll find even simple things, like the bright-green foliage of artemisia, looks terrific when almost everything else is brown.

For more great ideas for designing fall gardens, check out Autumn GardenScapes, Volume 2 at right!

Click on the photo to see a larger image.

light up your garden

Remember how you hated to go when your mom called you inside as it got dark? With landscape lighting, you can stay outside and “play” in your garden a lot longer!

Garden lighting can illuminate a patio for entertaining, showcase a dramatic plant or highlight a path for safe walking. With lights, you get a completely different look in your garden after dark — and they make your home safer, too.

But before you go out and plop a bunch of lights into your flower beds, take time to decide what you need. Too many lights, or the wrong kind, might make your garden look like a carnival instead of a peaceful retreat. And poorly placed ones can annoy the neighbors or keep you awake at night. So let’s walk through your garden and figure out a lighting plan like the pros do.

DESIGN FIRST, INSTALL SECOND — Start by sketching out your yard on graph paper. This will make it easier to see where you need lights, without being distracted by whatever’s blooming at the time. When your sketch is done, here are three important things to consider as you decide where lights should go:

   Think about how you use your yard. Do you entertain outside? Do you sit on your deck in the evening? Are you worried about safety? On your sketch, mark where you like to sit, or dark areas that could use illumination.

   Pick one to three focal points to highlight. Too many focal points will be distracting. You might choose a specimen tree, an arbor or a special statue or sculpture.

   Figure out where you walk. What are your most traveled paths through the garden? Make sure those areas will be well-lighted.

Once you’ve marked all these points on your sketch, try out different looks in the garden with a flashlight. Get someone to hold the light while you see how it looks from different angles. Keep in mind you usually want to see the effect of the light, not the fixture or the light source itself.

Looking for attractive garden lighting? Check out the new Soji Modern Solar Lanterns at right!

metal ornaments in the garden

If you like the look of rusted metal ornaments in your garden, you’re in luck. Left unprotected, anything made of iron or steel will rust naturally when exposed to air and water. Copper, zinc and aluminum will corrode when exposed to the elements but things made from galvanized metal or stainless steel won’t rust at all.

Want to speed the process? Carefully spray a mixture of 1 cup each of vinegar and hydrogen peroxide, plus a teaspoon of salt, onto a steel or iron surface. Hose it off after an hour or so. You can also create a faux-rust on any paintable surface. Craft stores have a number of paints and solutions that’ll give your garden ornaments a rusty look.

Sometimes rust forms where you’d rather not have it, such as on chairs or handrails. In that case, remove it and apply a good protective paint, like Rust-Oleum^®, to keep the surface clean. Light rust can be removed by applying a runny paste of lemon juice and table salt and letting it set for five to 10 minutes. Scrub with sandpaper to remove.

And although rust in the soil won’t hurt your plants, some of the chemicals mentioned here may. So protect your plants and yourself when you use them.

What makes the perfect autumn garden? Well, color and lots of it, be it flowers, foliage, seeds or berries. Check out our tour of gardens that focus on the beauty of fall!

Check out even more fabulous fall ideas in Autumn GardenScapes, Vol. 2 at right!

Click on the photo for a larger image

easy access

Whether your garden is large or small, you need to be able to get into it without crushing plants, compacting soil and stepping on dormant bulbs or new transplants. Here are some ideas for working an access path into your garden design.

BIG AND BEAUTIFUL — Large gardens, like the one you see here, give you more options. One option is to make an access path through the garden. But if you have the room, why not place it in back? That way, you’re not walking on the soil in the growing area as much. And a path hidden by plants doesn’t have to look as good as the garden around it. Cover the soil with pea gravel, bark mulch, a few concrete steppers or even a board — whatever keeps your feet dry and doesn’t cost a lot.

SMALL STEPS — In a small cutting garden a few strategically placed steppers do the trick. Because they’re visible, choose something colorful or with a pattern that complements your garden style. Then they’ll not only be practical, they’ll be pretty, too.

Placing the entrance to the side makes it less conspicuous. A width of 2 to 3 ft. should provide enough room to work. After all, you might want to bring a load of compost in or haul a bunch of clippings out so you want your wheelbarrow to fit easily down the path, too.

Click on the photo for a larger image

small space…big splash

You don’t necessarily need a big space to make a big impact. But you can make your garden look larger without buying more land or moving to a larger property. Try these tips:

At first glance, the clematis-draped window in the photo appears to open into another room of the garden. But click on the photo and take a closer look — it’s a mirror! A well-placed (and clean) mirror is one way to create the illusion of space. (Birds are a lot less likely to fly into a small mirror or one that’s divided and not just one large expanse of glass.)

You can also try building a path that narrows as it moves away from your house. Or use progressively smaller plants toward the far edges of your garden. And in a narrow bed, plant fine-textured plants in front of those with coarser plants, making the bed seem deeper than it actually is. By forcing the perspective like this, you can “grow” your garden and create the illusion that it extends beyond its physical boundaries.

Click on illustration for plant list.

coral bells = good companions

Coral bells are versatile plants: They thrive in shade gardens and sunny spots alike. Although they’re not usually large plants, their color and texture give them real presence. With good-looking foliage that doesn’t go down with the flowers, coral bells just may be perfect companion plants. Here are a couple of ways to use these great perennials in your garden:

FLOWER POWER — Featuring two long bloomers:?Coral bells and spiderwort, this planting takes part sun. The ground cover veronica blooms in spring before the other two get going but has nice-looking foliage all summer.

Click on illustration for plant list.

FUN WITH FOLIAGE — This coral bells combination features plants that will even take full shade. You may not get many blooms from your coral bells there, but its burgundy foliage echoes the burgundy veining in the Japanese painted fern. And the texture contrasts make for a beautiful partnership.