ReportWire

Tag: Low-Impact Garden

  • Resolutions Roundup: Garden Pros Share the 10 Ways They’re Changing Their Landscapes in 2026 – Gardenista

    [ad_1]

    With the start of the new year, our minds are a-swirl with ideas for what we’ll do in our gardens come spring. For inspiration, we asked garden and landscape professionals to tell us the changes they’re planning for their own gardens this year. Their answers run the gamut from ecological resolutions to fixes for eye sores, but one common thread runs through them: landscapes are always changing—and these garden pros aren’t bothered by that. They simply have to keep up and change alongside them.

    Rethinking lawn removal.

    Above: One of Evans’ students, Rosa, hosted a spring planting party; she and her friends planted plugs directly into her lawn. By the following summer, native wildflowers had filled in the entire area (seen from the opposite side, right). Photograph by Heather Evans.

    Heather Evans, co-founder of Design Your Wild, a newsletter and online community, says she’s not removing gras—even though she’ll be decreasing the amount of lawn in her new yard by more than 50 percent. “Instead, I’ll be planting hundreds of native trees, shrubs, and perennials into the existing lawn. The turf will act like mulch while the natives grow in and will eventually be crowded out by them. After trying every method of killing lawn before planting, I realize it’s often not necessary and even harmful, inviting invasives, disturbing the soil microbiome, and causing compaction.”

    Trying a new palette.

    Above: These native flowers are all on Evans’s moodboard for her new garden. Clockwise from top left: Malvaviscus arboreus var. drummondii (photograph via Texas Master Gardeners); Oenothera speciosa (photograph via Wildseed Farms); Lonicera sempervirens (photograph via Native Plant Trust); Salvia coccinea ‘Coral Nymph’ (photograph via Gardenia.net).

    Evans is also making an aesthetic change in her new Florida garden: She’s thinking in pink. “I’ll be planting species—and even cultivars!—from beyond my native range to execute my white-pink-coral floral palette,” says Evans. “I’m loving Texas natives like showy primrose, Drummond’s phlox, and pink Turk’s cap, in addition to Florida native trumpet honeysuckle, pink scarlet sage, and Pinxter azalea.” While maintaining her palette, Evans is planning to plant “two thirds for the birds” (at least 70 percent locally native species to support birds and butterflies). “I’m relying heavily on locally native shrubs and trees. I’m especially excited about white-flowering fringe tree, flatwoods plum, and Walter’s viburnum.”

    Dealing with an eyesore.

    Above: This photo shows the section of garden before Norris installed the heat pump. He says, “This project feels manageable, if not also challenging. How will we disguise this equipment without drawing more attention to it in the first place?” He plans to relocate some Joe Pye weed deeper into the border for a starter.

    The biggest change author, horticulturist, and garden designer Kelly Norris will embrace in 2026 is disguising an ugly addition to his yard: A newly-installed heat pump and exhaust vents. “It’s a reminder that home improvements, however necessary, can significantly change the experience of a home garden,” says Norris. “After lots of hand-wringing and probably much eye-rolling from our plumbers, we located it in a spot we deemed least visually consequential. It’s still a bit of an eyesore that will require reworking our prairie border, but the upside is that the old A/C condenser unit is no longer in our outdoor entertaining area.”

    Learning a new skill.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • How to Deer-proof Your Garden: Tips to Deter Deter from Eating Your Plants

    [ad_1]

    This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, ecological gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.   

    For more than two decades, Nancy Lawson has been living in harmony with deer. Sure, they’re in her Maryland yard every single day. Yes, they come to eat, rest, and, occasionally, rut. But, no, they don’t destroy her garden. In fact, it’s thriving. “We made a commitment to creating habitat for all animals,” says the nature writer, naturalist, and founder of Humane Gardener. “We manage for resilience.” Her garden is thriving. 

    White-tailed deer populations have soared in this century. Since we wiped out nearly all their predators (grey wolves and mountain lions) and have taken over their natural habitat (developing 95 percent of the land in the US), they look for food and shelter anywhere they can find it, and that’s often in our gardens. As a result, their public image has gone from beloved Bambi to super villain—through no fault of their own.  

    But it doesn’t have to be that way. Lawson shares with us how we can all happily coexist with deer.  

    Photography by Nancy Lawson, unless otherwise noted. (Featured photograph above by @anoldent via Flickr.)

    Plant densely and employ “protector plants.”

    Lawson has combined tasty and less tasty plants along a pathway that deer traverse, including common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), and American burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius).
    Above: Lawson has combined tasty and less tasty plants along a pathway that deer traverse, including common sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale), blue mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum), late boneset (Eupatorium serotinum), and American burnweed (Erechtites hieraciifolius).

    Walk through a nature preserve or forest and you won’t find plants spread out like polkadots poking out of a sea of mulch. “We never put a plant out in the open by itself,” says Lawson. “It’s not how it grows in nature.” In the wild, plants grow in communities. They mingle. They intertwine. Having an array of varieties growing densely prevents any one plant from being decimated. “If there’s a big mixture that includes some less palatable plants, deer are much less likely to devour a given area,” says Lawson. “But if I have all the same species lined up for 10 feet, and it’s tasty, then that’s really easy for them to eat it all.” Think about planting as you would companion-planting in a vegetable garden, says Lawson, and mix it up. 

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • How to Lower Your Footprint When Designing an Outdoor Space

    [ad_1]

    As more garden and landscape designers aspire to create sustainable gardens, there’s one significant but often ignored aspect of sustainability they should pay attention to: hardscape materials. For most landscapes, the materials for the decks, patios, paths, and stairs will make up the vast majority of the project’s carbon footprint. 

    When people think of carbon footprint they often think of actions like driving a combustion engine car and flying on airplanes, but materials also possess an embodied (or upfront) carbon footprint. The “embodied” carbon is not, in fact, embodied in the material. Rather, it is an estimate of the emissions that come from making the material and shipping it. Unfortunately, some of the landscape industry’s favorite materials, including concrete and tropical hardwoods like ipe, have a high embodied carbon. (Taking in all stages of production, concrete is estimated to be responsible for 4 to 8 percent of the world’s CO2.)

    “I don’t think clients are aware of the carbon footprint that concrete has,” says Sara Brunelle, co-founder of the landscape design firm Lu — La Studio, based in Cambridge, MA. “People are interested in pollinators and ecological properties, but they’re not really thinking about the material implications of their project.” However, homeowners and designers alike should consider the climate impacts of the materials they choose for their gardens.

    We spoke to experts who are designing with low-carbon hardscape materials to ask them for their best advice when it comes to low-carbon hardscapes. Here’s what they said.

    Less is more.

    More plants, less hardscaping in this backyard designed by Terremoto. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson, from The Future of Gardening: A Plan From Terremoto.
    Above: More plants, less hardscaping in this backyard designed by Terremoto. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson, from The Future of Gardening: A Plan From Terremoto.

    Want to lower the carbon footprint of your landscape? Use less hardscape material. It’ll also be better for the environment overall. “Hardscape mostly prevents water from returning to the earth—and water returning to the earth is the first thing that has to happen in order to support or create life,” says David Godshall, co-founder of Terremotto, a landscape architecture studio with offices in northern and southern California. “So, the more hardscape a garden has, the more lifeless it is.” Of course, gardens need paths, patios and the like, but Godshall encourages garden designers to ask themselves what is the minimum amount of hardscape needed to make a space useful and enjoyable to everyone, including people who are differently abled.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • It’s Here! ‘Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden’ Hits Bookshelves Today – Gardenista

    [ad_1]

    Happy pub day! Today, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden finally hits bookstores. We can’t wait for you to crack it open and enjoy the contents.

    A companion volume to Remodelista: The Low-Impact Home, it’s the result of longtime Gardenista writer Kendra Wilson and acclaimed photographer Caitlin Atkinson’s travels around three continents to find—and photograph—the best in gorgeous eco-minded landscapes. As a guide for future gardening, it is a show-and-tell of sustainable design and innovative ideas, articulated by the most original thinkers in the garden world today. Whether you’re a new homeowner looking for landscape guidance or a seasoned gardener in search of fresh ideas, you’ll find a wealth of inspiration inside.

     Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden.
    Above: Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden.

    Here’s just a glimpse of what you can find in its pages:

    • Visits to 12 exquisite gardens, both urban and rural, and details on what goes into making a brilliant front yard, summer cottage garden, stylish indoor-outdoor space, eco-conscious pool, lush green roof, and more
    • Fundamentals, demystified: deep dives on native plants, trees, shrubs, soil, and more
    • Expert tips and ideas
    • The Gardenista 50, a compilation of our favorite attractive, made-to-last garden tools.

    P.S.: To celebrate the release, Kendra offers a sneak peek at all the cool lawn-free front yard ideas she encountered while working on the book; read the full thing over on Gardenista.

    To order your copy, browse one of the retailers below.

    From the book: a garden visit with our friends at Mjölk in Ontario, Canada. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson.
    Above: From the book: a garden visit with our friends at Mjölk in Ontario, Canada. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson.

    United States

    Order via Hachette, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-Million, and Bookshop.

    Canada

    Order via Amazon Canada.

    United Kingdom

    Order via Blackwells, Waterstones, Amazon UK, and Foyles.

    Australia

    Order via Hachette.

    New Zealand

    Order via Mighty Ape­­.

    Other Territories

    Elsewhere? Check with your closest local bookstore…

    (Visited 271 times, 271 visits today)

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Lawn-Free Front Yard Ideas: 10 Tips from ‘Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden’

    [ad_1]

    Happy pub day to us! Today, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden finally hits bookstores! We can’t wait for you to crack it open and enjoy the contents. Whether you’re a new homeowner looking for landscape guidance or a seasoned gardener in search of fresh ideas, you’ll find a wealth of inspiration inside.

    To celebrate the release, the book’s indefatigable author, Kendra Wilson, offers another sneak peek, this time sharing all the cool lawn-free front yard ideas she encountered while working on the book. 

    Front gardens, stoops, driveways, and parking courts have the potential to spread cheer, absorb storm water, and harbor insects and birds. When there’s a clear design rationale at work, other people on the street will want to get on board. Here are some of our favorite ways to have a front garden that is more than “low-maintenance” (though it can be that, too). All the ideas are from our new book, out today.

    Photography by Caitlin Atkinson.

    Grow a sponge garden.

    Above: The Philadelphia front garden of Kayla Fell and Jeff Lorenz, of design and maintenance practice, Refugia.

    Jeff and Kayla removed their front lawn during their first year living in their house in Pennsylvania. Stormwater that used to flow over their compacted grass into the basement is now soaked up by closely planted perennials with mixed root profiles, and an absorbent swamp cypress.

    Balance sharpness with softness.

    Above: A mid-century house in Pasadena, which saw a light landscape renovation in the hands of Samuel Webb and Kara Holekamp of design group Terremoto.

    The sharp lines of this classic house are made even clearer, not from subtracting but by adding lively planting around the edges. This, in turn, is in dialogue with towering trees that seem to be held back by the immaculate walls. Loose symmetry on either side of the doorway adds more contrast, with a pair of Arbutus that refuse to be identical.

    Above: The preexisting parking grid lets its hair down around the edges, with a generous perimeter of permeable gravel and plants with varied root systems that soak up rain.

    Re-wild the stoop.

    Above: A front stoop in Brooklyn, the former home of horticulturalist Rebecca McMackin and her arborist husband Chris Roddick.

    In pots on Rebecca’s stoop, long-lasting foliage of easygoing, northeastern perennials (Heuchera ‘Marmalade’ and Aquilegia canadensis) offers rest stops and shelter for small creatures. “Even in this tiny spot, it’s not hard to attract wildlife,” she says. And why let a tree pit go to waste? This one is fenced off with ad hoc railings and planted with tough natives that tolerate neglect as well as dogs. A sign directs dog owners’ attention to a couple of large rocks on the side, with the request, “Pee on me, not the tree.”

    Say good-bye to mulch.

    Above: With so much texture, green is never dull. Supported by trilllium, columbine, aster and ferns, the glaucous star is Fothergilla x intermedia ‘Blue Shadow’).

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • The Low-Impact Garden: Fiona Brockhoff’s Nature-Based Garden on the Mornington Peninsula

    [ad_1]

    In just two weeks, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden lands in bookstores! We are so appreciative of all the interest the book has already generated. As a thank-you, our publisher is offering a 20-percent discount when you pre-order our book from their site (use code: GARDENISTA20) before October 14. 

    And if you need further enticement, here’s another sneak peek from the book: a tour of an inspired residential garden in Australia that takes its cues from the coastal national park right next door.

    Fiona Brockhoff grew to love the Mornington Peninsula’s wild ocean landscape as a child on vacation. When the renowned landscape designer built her family home here, the style was a nod to 1950s beach shacks—powered by solar panels and rainwater. Her garden is rooted in ecological resilience.

    Fiona’s love of native plants stems from long acquaintance, aided by her love of bush walking (or hiking) and camping. The house, named Karkalla after an indigenous coastal plant, and which she shares with her partner and extended family, sits on a strip of land that has the ocean on one side and Port Phillip Bay on the other. “It’s quite a harsh environment—it’s very windy and the soil is sandy,” explains Fiona. “The decisions we made were not just about the layout of the garden and the hard landscape elements. A lot of the plants that I chose were those I’d seen when I’d been walking in the Mornington Peninsula National Park, adjacent to our property.”

    The provenance of materials is as local as the plants: “The gravel comes from a nearby quarry, and a lot of the timbers are from a jetty that was renovated when we were building the garden.” Walls of regional limestone anchor the house and garden and are the continuing work of stonemason David Swann, Fiona’s partner, whom she met on the build.

    Fiona focuses on “appropriate planting” rather than lecturing people on the rights and wrongs of natives versus non-natives. When a client asks for bamboo and miniature maples to go in a Japanese-style garden, she asks them to go back a step and think about what it is about a Japanese garden that attracts them. Is it the simplicity and the restricted number of plants and elements in that kind of garden? If so, she suggests creating that feeling using local, indigenous plants.

    City people on the Mornington Peninsula can bring with them a Melbourne mentality, thinking that constant vigilance is required in watering and general fussing over plants. Fiona tells clients that unless they are growing vegetables, this is not necessary. “It’s more about allowing those plants to be themselves. They don’t require a lot of maintenance because they’re mainly indigenous, or they’re a good ecological fit. Yes, there’s some pruning, and the gravel needs a bit of raking, but on the whole, it’s about working with nature.”

    Photography by Caitlin Atkinson.

    Above: Sea box (Alyxia buxifolia, foreground) is found in native coastal scrub, but Fiona shapes it like ordinary boxwood. Behind the table is a clipped Melaleuca lanceolata, which in the wild would grow into a large tree. Says Fiona: “We’ve pruned boxwood, roses, and lavender. Why weren’t we pruning Australian plants?” The main barrier is perception, she suggests. “People say to me, ‘Is that really a native garden? But—it’s so beautiful.’”

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • ‘The Low-Impact Garden’ Sneak Peek: Jack Pizzo’s Prairie Garden in Illinois

    [ad_1]

    For years I have wondered why Europeans find American prairie planting so aspirational, while Americans will go to great lengths to create a semblance of Northern European gardening (often referred to as English) in the US. Can it be as simple as “the grass is always greener”? On researching locations for Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden, I had a call with plantsman Jack Pizzo, who lives on 40 acres of restored wetland prairie, an hour west of Chicago’s O’Hare Airport. During that conversation he said that with all the choices we have, human landscaping is chaotic. Restoring an ecosystem, on the other hand, involves following what the natural landscape is telling you. Fewer choices, less need to control, less chaos: I had found the key to the book. My actual visit to Jack’s prairie garden, with the photographer Caitlin Atkinson, was quite a trip.

    Photography by Caitlin Atkinson for Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden.

    Above: Jack Pizzo’s house and textured garden in Illinois, surrounded by the straight lines of neighboring farms.

    Having been briefed to travel all over the States—south, west, and points in between—I found myself thinking about the Alfred Hitchcock film North by Northwest while driving down a long, straight highway, between long, straight lines of beans and corn. A crop duster plane flew toward us as we ducked off into a curved driveway through prairie grassland. Spraying on the neighboring farms takes place on still days, when chemicals will not drift over the boundary and be wasted.

    Above: The curved driveway through a prairie garden surrounded by 38,000 acres of industrial farming.

    A bona fide American prairie, at last. Jack’s academic background is in ecology, and he is actively passionate about planting for birds. He’ll plant an American hazelnut with the hope of attracting the brown thrasher (successful); he creates open spaces and puddles to attract the golden plover. A farm puddle is a “fuddle,” and traditional (pre-industrial) farms would have incorporated more of these relaxed spaces. Jack is re-forging relationships between animals and people, since any prairie, meadow or grassland, is made and maintained by people.

    Above: Jack Pizzo and Jack Pizzo Jr. guiding us through the garden.

    The day of our visit was very hot and humid and I was given some Wellington boots to swoosh through the grassland that surrounds Jack’s house. “You can wander anywhere, there are no paths,” he told us. The plants bounce right back after trampling: “Be like bison; walk side by side.” The ground is damp since this is restored wetland, which was never particularly suitable for straight farming.

    Above: “If you have the plants, you have the bugs; if you have the bugs, you have the birds.”

    Jack’s prairie is simultaneously a garden and a farm. He is a farmer amid other farmers because he grows native plants and distributes their seeds through his land restoration business. He rails at being called a landscaper for the reasons mentioned above: in restoring the land, a natural pattern and logic has been able to emerge, and it’s about habitat. To this end, he has seen 170 bird species in the garden and nine species of amphibians and reptiles. In amongst the 250 native plant species, there are at least five different roses: Carolina, Illinois, swamp, tall pasture, and Arkansas rose. Seven types of milkweed (whirl, common, swamp, butterfly, mountain, green, and green-horned) attract monarch butterflies that rest here in their hordes, en route from Mexico.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Kendra Wilson: An Interview with the Author of Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden

    [ad_1]

    Today, we’re thrilled to open up this column to all R/G readers, not just subscribers, to share the Quick Takes answers from our very own Kendra Wilson.

    Kendra is among the OG Gardenista crew—she’s been a contributor to the site since its launch in 2012. She’s also worked for British Vogue (“my first writing job”), contributed to The Guardian‘s gardening blog, created her own “secret blog” about estate gardening in Northamptonshire, England (it was the era of blogs), and written ten (!) books—the latest being Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden. In bookstores October 14 and available for pre-order now, it’s the newest addition to the R/G collection.

    We couldn’t have dreamed up a better author and collaborator for the book. Kendra, who was born in Fairfield, CT, but moved to the U.K. as a child (“I’m essentially American, despite the English accent”), is passionate about gardens and the people who bring them to life and is opinionated in the best possible way. Read on to learn what strikes her fancy (including new-to-us, and now must-have, gardening gloves), who gets her goat, and why “gardening for nature is not a trend.”

    Photography courtesy of Kendra Wilson.

    A spread from The Low-Impact Garden.
    Above: A spread from The Low-Impact Garden.

    Your first garden memory:

    Petunias. Exploring the woods and meadows around our house in Weston, Connecticut, always barefoot. The sounds: cicadas, frogs, blue jays.

    Garden-related book you return to time and again:

    I return to these singular voices: Russell Page (The Education of a Gardener), Christopher Lloyd (The Well-Tempered Garden and many more), Vita Sackville-West’s columns for the Observer newspaper (“In Your Garden”). And less imperious: Marjorie Fish (We Made a Garden), Eleanor Peréni (Green Thoughts), and Derek Jarman (Derek Jarman’s Garden). His description of the photographer Howard Sooley is one for the ages.

    Instagram account that inspires you:

    @marcfinds, @idleriver, and @arthurparkinson when he’s annoyed about something. [Find Arthur’s own Quick Takes here.]

    Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

    Abundant, indulgent, buzzing.

    Plant that makes you swoon:

    Crab apple blossom, lily regale, old-fashioned roses, oriental poppies, very full and highly scented lilacs.

    Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

    Hyacinths—there is no reason to plant them in the garden after they have finished flowering indoors.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Hurray! ‘Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden’ Is Now Available for Pre-Order – Gardenista

    [ad_1]

    Hurray! ‘Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden’ Is Now Available for Pre-Order

    [ad_2]

    Source link