You’ve heard it time and time again: mass your plantings. “Plant in groups of three, five, seven, or more,” the advice goes. And: “a garden full of one of this and one of that looks junky.” But come on, isn’t a picture worth a thousand words? I had to stop and take a photo of […]
Garden Design
Yay, me!
Yay, me! Well, I did it. I completed the UBC Garden Design program. Actually, the final course finished a week before the wedding, but the graduation ceremony and Open House were held just this weekend. Regardless, I’m done, and I’m glad I did it. When I started the program, I wasn’t sure what the end […]
Take your vitamins
Check out the wonderfully bizarre Vitamin Living, a London-based design studio that makes “extra-ordinary products that make their owners’ lives a little less ordinary.” Like these bone china gnomes with their bold graphics; “the “must-have” gnome for the modern consumer.” ! Or how about the IV Plant Pot, a self-watering container with a medical drip […]
An Arthur Erickson-designed garden
Last week I had the privilege of touring a private home and garden designed by celebrated architect Arthur Erickson. One of the Vancouver-based architect’s earliest residential works, the minimalist wooden structure seamlessly integrates with the landscape. From outside the property, dense plantings hint at something special beyond the simple fence. Entering from the side lane, […]
Name that plant
I’m in the middle of a weeklong intensive course called “Conceptual Garden Design” as part of my program. Yesterday was spent touring multi-million dollar properties designed by some of Vancouver’s highest-profile landscape architects (yes, I’ll be posting photos. Soon). But there’s something nice about seeing all these acres of live-in gardener-maintained perennial beds and manicured […]
Garden aesthetics
So I bought this raised bed kit from Lee Valley Tools for my roof-top veggie garden. I was hoping that it would look as passable as it does in the above photos, but, when I got it home and assembled it, it looked like I had nicked a curbside recycling bin. In short: it’s ugly. […]
Modern garden accessories
Chiasso carries a number of items that will interest gardeners with a modern minimalist aesthetic. These botanic vase bookends merge my top two passions: gardening and books, while these aluminum planters would solve my container crisis. And just check out birdie in his swanky pad! Love it.
For want of a pot
Spring has definitely sprung here in Vancouver. It was a glorious, sunny weekend, and I finally got started on my garden plans. The first order of business, I decided, was to buy some new containers for the soon-to-be kitchen garden right outside, well, the kitchen. Since this is a highly-visible location (on our front patio) […]