Maintenance and Property Repair of your Home

Which stain for acoustic wood paneling on wall

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 02:47:33 +0000

I plan on installing these wood panels to an accent wall in my office. I like the white oak look but want it slightly darker - think 1/2 shade darker. I think applying a transparent stain might do the trick.

The panels are made of mdf and backed with a thick felt panel for noise dampening. The outside is a wood veneer so I’m not applying the stain to preserve the wood or anything. This is mostly aesthetic.

Is there an indoor stain you all recommend? Oil or water based? I definitely don’t want a shiny finish, maybe slightly glossy or even matte is preferred.

I want the application to be easy (no priming or sanding) and one application is ideal. Any suggestions?

submitted by /u/noodlesoup12135
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Lightening the color of a shirt

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 02:10:34 +0000

Hello, recently I bought a polo from Amazon that was too yellow. I am curious about dyeing or bleaching the shirt to lighten the color to a pastel yellow. The shirt is 100% cotton. I am, worried if I bleach the shirt it might destroy the fibers or dye unevenly. The shirt is for halloween so I likely would only wear it 3-4 times, but I want to avoid ruining the shirt if possible. I have a halloween event next weekend so I am looking for a relatively quick method.

Google suggested a color remover like Rit Color Remover, but I was unsure if that would strip all the color off the shirt or would work for just lightening the shirt. This does seem like my best option, but I was curious if anyone else had experiences with this.

submitted by /u/Lonely-Habit-1877
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Costume help

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 01:02:32 +0000

I have a prom dress and I want to either be a stabbed girl or all bloody from stabbing someone else. I need help with the bloody costume.

submitted by /u/WinterLiner0124
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Speed square + shovel sharpening

Sat, 18 Oct 2025 01:00:41 +0000

Can someone explain how to sharpen a shovel blade for a beginner? I have a speed square and a "Spear Head Spade" shovel. Looking for some simple steps or preferably a video to help me get a 30-degree angle for digging a 2x3x1 section of wet dirt. Any tips are appreciated.

submitted by /u/Savings-Concentrate1
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Tote Lid Replacement

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 22:24:31 +0000

Have a bunch of plastic totes (blue planet) with broken (completely unsalvageable) lids. Any ideas for a solution for a new lid? I cant find replacement lids for sale.

submitted by /u/Shot-Hat1436
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Damaged Drywall After Wallpaper Removal in Old House—How to Fix Tears and Prep Ceiling for Plaster? (Denmark)

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:59:42 +0000

Hi everyone,

I'm renovating an older house (built around the 90s) in Denmark, starting with the living room. I removed some stubborn wallpaper (seems like vinyl or fiberglass) from the gypsum drywall walls, but in the process, I tore up a lot of the top paper layer in spots. There are these weird squiggly patterns where the paper came off unevenly, even exposing the gypsum core. I've got some dots of wallpaper residue left too, but the main issue is the damaged paper.

On the ceiling, there was some kind of gypsum element that I also removed, and now there are pieces of drywall paper or glue stuck to it in strips and patches. The ceiling is also gypsum. Do I also need to remove every single small piece of loose paper from the ceiling for my mud to stick?

I'm planning to apply Detale CPH KC14 plaster (a colored, trowel-on finish) over everything for a smooth, matte look. But I want to make sure the prep is done right to avoid bubbling, cracking, or uneven absorption later. To prep it i plan to 2x Roll-on Mud.

Pics attached

Image 1: Overhead view of the ceiling with the stuck paper pieces and residue.
Image 2: Close-up of the wall damage showing the torn paper patterns.

Questions:

What's the best way to repair the torn drywall paper on the walls? Should I seal it with something like Gardz or a local equivalent (e.g., Alfix Gipsprimer), before mud?
For the ceiling, how do I best remove those stuck paper pieces and to what degree is necessary? I have a sander, so i can easy trim the loose edges, but removing every bit i tricky.
General suggestions: Step-by-step prep process for both walls and ceiling before applying KC14? Recommended tools/materials available in Denmark (e.g., from Jem & Fix or Silvan)? Any pitfalls with older houses like mine? Budget-friendly options preferred!

Thanks in advance for any advice—I'm a DIY newbie and don't want to mess this up!

Picture of the ceiling after removing the gipsum-pieces. Some paper from the removed piece seems to remain.

The drywall after removing the wallpaper. Alot of wallpater dots still remain and a lot of damaged paper.

submitted by /u/feldthus
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Boxes of hinges

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:57:14 +0000

What should I do with boxes of high quality door hinges?

submitted by /u/DeanMolisher
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Ikea Pax Closet Cabinets

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:43:01 +0000

We're thinking about adding a closet organizer to our walk-in closet, but they’re pricey! I'm planning to install it ourselves to save some money (we’re pretty handy).

I’m leaning toward the IKEA Pax system, but I’m not a fan of how the drawers are open around the edges.

For anyone who has Pax —

How’s the durability?
Does that seam down the back wall bug you?
Are the drawers solid or flimsy?

Would love your honest opinions before we commit!

submitted by /u/simple-times221
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tried a diy project and it kinda worked... kinda

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:21:25 +0000

so i saw this diy shelf on tiktok and was like “yeah i can do that”
went to the store, bought wood, nails, glue... felt like a pro

cut the wood (kinda crooked lol), used way too much glue, and hammered my finger once
but in the end... the shelf is standing!! it’s a little slanted but it’s functional

not gonna lie, i’m proud of it even if it looks like it’s held together by hope

submitted by /u/MetalPsycho
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Shower shelves

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:14:58 +0000

Can anyone tell me what material this is and if we can knock out the shelves? We're wanting to see what we can do to make the bathroom look better but I can't tell what this is. It's pretty hard. https://imgur.com/a/pBCZbr9

submitted by /u/lostincbus
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Help needed with mist coat

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 21:06:37 +0000

Hi everyone, we've recently moved into a new house and needed to remove a fireplace to make it safe for the kiddies. It's s been removed and plastered but the mist coat isn't taking on a small patch of the new plaster. The paint used was Wickes New Plaster Paint and we watered it down to 40% water. Its had 3 coats and we've sanded the patch before the 2nd and 3rd applications to help it adhere but still looks like we've barely painted it. Does anyone have any advice on what to do next? Should we apply the undercoat regardless or do we need to get the mist coat to take? Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

https://preview.redd.it/nwumz6hgkqvf1.jpg?width=787&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=92c4f517ac8058b1f9fc171ad2c37d843f0d2145

submitted by /u/Weak_Tie6977
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Hanging a TV on the wall

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 20:39:38 +0000

My studs are not resulting in a nice centering of the television. Does this sound robust?

3/4" ply screwed into 3 studs (16 on center). 24" of plywood tall, 4 2" #8 screws into each stud to hold the plywood.

Then use 1 1/2" lag bolts to attach TV wall mount to the plywood.

I think the sketchy part is replacing the 3 1/2" stud thickness and longer lag bolts with 3/4" ply and shorter lag bolts.

I'll be hanging a roughly 50 lb TV, I suspect it would hold just fine. Of course, I'd hate to be wrong.

submitted by /u/ClockStrange7426
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Shaving off a few millimetres off of a plexiglas panel

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 20:14:49 +0000

Hello everyone,

I have ordered a plexiglass panel which I intend to put in my window frame (when the window is open) in order to vent some things outside while not letting too much air come back in ; I have a 3d printer and I want to vent the "fumes" from inside the 3d printer outside, while not letting air from outside come back in.

So I have this plexiglas panel with a circle hole in its middle ; I intend to open my casement window and put this panel in the frame. The panel fits perfectly in the window frame except for the fact that I did not account for some metal inserts in the frame that the window uses which take up a bit of space and I really have to force the plexiglass to squeeze by them.

For an easier time putting in and taking out the plexiglass panel, I would need to shave off a few millimeters (3 to 5 mm I think) on a side for a length of about 5 centimeters.

The manufacturer of the panel confirmed that I can use a jigsaw on the panel and it "should be ok". But I think the piece I want to cut is too small for a jigsaw. Does anyone have any other suggestions? What else works on plexiglass?
Can I sand a few milimeters away? can I use a file?

I am afraid I will use the wrong thing, crack or otherwise permanently damage the panel and then I will have to buy another one, which will work, but is expensive.

The thickness of my panel is 4mm.

Thank you very much for reading this

submitted by /u/the_return_of_cupu
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Popped Screws

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 19:18:38 +0000

I was mounting TV stand on my apartment (which is not my first time doing so) and was screwing into the studs I noticed that 2 screws popped vertically (vertically apart around 1 Ft) within the same stud? The other stud with screws are fine. What does this mean?

submitted by /u/juans9399
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Marker stains

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:10:08 +0000

So basically as a starting architect I have to draw really a lot. usually i place my paper on this big wooden board that I either post up and draw on i standingly or rest it on my lap whilst supporting the other end by a tripod thingy (I really don't know the english names for this kind of specialized equipment).

Nevertheless, the board is bland and it infuriates me, so I decided to draw something on it. I was going to use markers but I'm afraid that even after drying it will stain my paper which would be really bad. Can i use markers safely or should I switch for another option, if so - what in perticular?

submitted by /u/IamCafeM
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Swingset refinish

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 18:03:43 +0000

We just got a second hand Playstar swingset that I'm going to repair hopefully. This thing is huge and awesome. I just started sanding off the old paint... bought a belt sander and some 40 grit paper. Seems to work well but its labor intensive. I'd like to repaint and build out new features like a playhouse under the tower, etc...

What should I be considering? What is the best paint/ stain to use? Is there a good way to get a splinter free finish? Do the towers just rest in the grass or should I put something under them?

submitted by /u/TwoZigZags45
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Restoring items after housefire, need suggestions for what to do.

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:43:13 +0000

Our house burnt to the ground a while ago. We managed to salvage some things with sentimental value, mostly things out of ceramic, like coffee cups and such, and things made of metal, but obviously they're charred, rusted and full of soot.

Firstly, regarding the metal items, they're meant to be used for cooking and serving food... any tips on how to get them nice and shiny again? I've heard putting them in a vinegar acid bath is good, but what do I do after?

And for figures, cups etc out of ceramics, what's the best way to clean them up? Also heard vinegar acid there, but a bit unsure.

Lastly, we had a metal bowl and tray, coated in this ceramic glass enamel, vintage stuff. I assume this is the most difficult one, since they have to be re-enameled. Is that something that can be done at home?

Innlegget venter på godkjenning fra moderator.

https://preview.redd.it/bfwwul9flpvf1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a4cc5844c926c207205e6ab32cd7d191364c0c0f

https://preview.redd.it/q40rol9flpvf1.jpg?width=496&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9b04cb508a41eee4e708adda5c38aaef91eee080

https://preview.redd.it/ezl0go9flpvf1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=31dd65514de4d0117750c41209a7671ae9219911

https://preview.redd.it/8bo70m9flpvf1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a867a0a887c2ededd5f61d052a36733ca39f1ecd

submitted by /u/armzngunz
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Gas furnace not heating even with everything seeming normal

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:28:47 +0000

So it’s that time of year again and went to turn on the heat for the first time in 6 months and it’s only blowing very slightly warmer than ambient temperature air. Went to check the furnace and everything seems to be working like normal, both fans running, flames are lit inside and all that but just almost no heat coming out, even the flame area on the furnace where it has a hot warning is barely warm. Anyone have any ideas? It’s a Coleman furnace from 1982. Usually it works very well even on -30F days so this is weird.

submitted by /u/BTDMKZ
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Kilz primer - which one is right for my project

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:19:51 +0000

I have gotten so many mixed opinions from friends and family on what kilz primer to use.

I will be cleaning all walls with TSP
next doing kilz primer
then water based sherwin williams quality paint ***covering up mild smoke smell with mild staining - I have a bad sense of smell but it’s not as terrible as some of the horror stories I’ve read.

My big question is which kilz to use? I don’t want to do all this and not cover the smell. I’ve been told the oil based is best but then I can’t use water based paint on top of it.

It seems like water based is the easier product to use, but like I said, I want it don’t right.

submitted by /u/Whatupbraaa
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Installing Dryer Vent - Sanity Check

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 17:05:23 +0000

Recently bought an old house and the dryer is in the basement without a vent. It's right under an old window that I can board up and run a new duct. I can't seem to find the right solution for the ducting.

Flex hose is apparently not code anymore and will burn the house down (according to posts I see on here). I can't find 28 gauge duct in 4in anywhere. Is there really no "appropriate" all-in-one kit anywhere?

submitted by /u/never2earlyforchoco
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Advice on how to make a wall to ceiling room divider

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 14:55:17 +0000

Hi everyone, I need help figuring out how to make a room divider that covers the area from ceiling to wall. I’m living with my parents as I’m going back to college and can’t afford to rent right now until I save up more money. So I need to create my own room and would like some privacy. The opening is about 109 inch wide and 84 inches tall. I thought about buying IKEA wardrobes to cover the area but that’s turning out to be a bit too expensive.

Now I’m thinking of buying foam board and gluing them together and then taping/gluing them to the wall. Heads up - I got this idea from ChatGPT and I don’t have that many tools to use for like cutting wood etc. I’d like something that’ll be easy to remove too since it’s a rental.

Please any advice or help would be really appreciated!

submitted by /u/Ok_Discipline8492
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Looking to build winter shelter for 2 cats.

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 13:19:38 +0000

My neighbor takes very poor care of her 2 cats. They live outside all the time, and they are infested with fleas and probably worms. But they are very good, friendly cats. We are in California so it's not super cold, around 40F right now but in Winter it will be near or slightly below freezing. I am not trying to spend a lot of money on this project, seeing as they are not my pets. Just get them out of the cold. I was thinking one of those plastic storage bins kind of like this (Greenmade 27 gal Black/Yellow Snap Lock Storage Box 14.7 in. H X 20.4 in. W X 30.4 in. D Stackable Mfr# 691286 - Ace Hardware) I could cut a hole in the front so they could come in and out. Pick up some insulation panels boards and cut them to fit the top, bottom and sides of the container. But where I am unsure is how to attach them to the sides/top. I could put some thin plywood over the panels, so they don't scratch into them or otherwise destroy them. But I am unsure how I would attach all this stuff, so it stays together, maybe glue? Then put some straw on the bottom and maybe a towel or something over the straw or just straw I don't know.

If anyone has any advice or just a better plan I would appreciate it. Just trying to get this done before it gets really cold.

submitted by /u/Status-Ad-83
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Can I stain a small deck in mid 59 degree weather?

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 10:54:14 +0000

I want to stain my deck before the winter, and the temps seem to be 55-58 ish during the day and at night go to about 40-45.

Can I stain my deck one afternoon and it be safe ?

submitted by /u/Efficient_Medicine57
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10 Easy Pieces: Low-Maintenance Indoor/Outdoor Rugs

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 08:00:01 +0000

When the line is blurred between indoor and outdoor living spaces, a versatile rug is essential. Here is our edit of outdoor rugs that are just as suitable for indoor or liminal spaces, all in neutral palettes and designs to complement a variety of settings.

Above: The Nordic Knots Acre 01 Rug (also shown in the featured image above) is handwoven in small batches from abaca; from $1,295. Above: The Design Within Reach Indra Indoor/Outdoor Rug, shown in Tide, is $995 for the 5-by-9 size. It’s also available in grey fog. Above: The Sloan Indoor/Outdoor Rug is available in six colorways; $259.90 for the 5-by-8 size from Quince. Above: The Danish AYTM Redono Rug in taupe is $587 at Nordic Nest. Above: The Annie Selke Samson Handwoven Indoor/Outdoor Rug is $498 for the 5-by-8 size.

Above: The Ferm Living Hem Rug is made from repurposed PET yarn; starting at $145.

Above: The Nanimarquina Tres Outdoor Rug, shown in black, is made of recycled PET to adapt to environmental conditions; starting at $2,036 at TRNK. Above: The affordable Ikea Virklund Flatwoven Rug in beige and dark gray is $69.99. Above: From Swedish brand Pappelina, the Mono Rug, shown in Granit, starts at $331 at Finnish Design Shop.

For more rugs, see our picks:

N.B.: This post was originally published on April 10, 2013. We have updated it with new products as well as current pricing.

How would I encase pressed flowers on wood?

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 03:52:30 +0000

I am trying to make a dog ramp for my friend for Christmas. Her dog is 12 years old, and he's starting to need a little help getting on the couch or the bed. I made a rough design, but I want to add pressed flowers on the sides of it since she loves flowers and drying them out. I'm wondering what the best way to do this is. I thought about encasing them in resin over the wood, but I feel like that might get a little tricky. Are there any easier ways to do this? Here's a picture of the rough sketch.

https://preview.redd.it/2wgobzlzglvf1.jpg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6fe3fa62d4ea377cf9e6056ee767ed0170010ff4

submitted by /u/CardiologistTiny115
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Airless Directable Coolant Sprayer? For CNC but not really...

Fri, 17 Oct 2025 01:44:49 +0000

I often have to fabricate quartz countertops and don't have the space to store the kind of compressors you normally need. So I use a grinder with something like this attached:

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07KPFKQZD

Problem is the compressor I have still can't keep up with this, causing me to stop and wait for it to refill frequently.

So what I'm looking for is if anyone knows of a system that's similar to this, but doesn't use air, that I could push water through a sprayer (ideally an atomizer) nozzle, and still have it be something I can put into various shapes. Everything I can find either sprays a stream of liquid at relatively slow speed, which uses loads of water and doesn't atomize it (very useful for cooling tools), or uses air for venturi effect, drawing the water out with the air, not pushing the water out.

TIA

submitted by /u/iamthemoose
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Garden Visit: From ‘Just Dirt’ to Lush and Diverse in North Haven, NY

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 08:00:28 +0000

Strike one: a house in need of a major renovation. Strike two: a garden in need of love. Strike three: a remodel that left the surrounding landscape decimated. Such were the conditions that Emilia and Anna DeMauro, the sisters behind DeMauro + DeMauro Landscape Design & Gardens, encoutered when they first met with their client in North Haven, a hamlet north of Sag Harbor, New York. “When we came on the property, it was essentially a construction site,” remembers Emilia. “It really was just exposed earth—just dirt. And further back it was so overgrown in some areas it was difficult to even walk.”

With a main house, a barn, a pool and a pool house, the two-acre property was not quite a blank canvas. There were also mature oaks dotted across the property, which abuts both woodland and wetland. In addition to repopulating the landscape with native plants, the client, an avid cook and gardener, hoped to add vegetable and cut flower beds (she also wanted to keep the peach trees planted by the previous owner). Last, the client wanted to highlight several sculptures by her late husband.

To tackle the large project, the DeMauro sisters created distinct gardens within the property, including two pollinator gravel gardens close to the house, a wildflower meadow near the wetland, grassy meadows on either side of the driveway, three cut flower beds, and fourteen vegetable beds—plus, on-site composting and even a chicken run.

Take a tour of the revived and diverse bayside landscape:

Photography by Doug Young, courtesy of DeMauro + DeMauro.

Before

Above: Before the landscape redesign, the land surrounding the house was nothing but compacted, post-construction dirt. Anna saw the sunny spots between the two house wings as the perfect opportunity to create a dry gravel garden inspired by Beth Chatto’s celebrated garden in Essex.

After

Above: Two years after DeMauro + DeMauro’s installation, the pollinator gravel gardens are coming into their own. Above: “I knew this was a location where a dry garden would flourish and thrive,” says Anna. “There’s really great air circulation and it’s hot with bright light reflected from the glass near the water. Then you add the gravel, and heat-loving plants just love it.” Above: The gravel garden is planted with bayberry, Magnolia virginiana, native grasses (Molina ‘Strahlenquelle’, Briza media, and Sporobolus heterolepsis), lavender ‘Phenomenal’, monarda, eupatorium, pycnanthemum, agastache, all of which support pollinators. DeMauro + DeMauro aligned the gravel path and the mowed path just beyond to draw the eye through the meadow to the pond in the distance. Above: A wide ribbon of turf grass, where kids can play, separates the back gravel garden from the wildflower meadow beyond, clearly separating the two. Above: DeMauro + DeMauro created several meadows on the property using a mix of seeds and landscape plugs. This meadow, which sits between the house and the pond is a focal point with many flowering species including yarrow, milkweed, blue vervain, and Joe pye weed, mixed in amongst native grasses including little blue stem and panicum. “It’s very wild and eye-catching,” says Anna, who notes the other meadows are more green. Above: Inspired by the work of Italian landscape designer Luciano Giubbilei, Anna conceived of a strategically mown design around some of the mature trees. DeMauro + DeMauro instructed their maintenance teams to leave circles of tall, unmown grass around each tree, which creates softer landings and protects the trees roots. Above: The designers used a similar strategy to incorporate the client’s sculptures into the garden, creating a circle of grasses and shrubs as a “shadow” around each sculpture. Above: DeMauro + DeMauro placed the food production on the backside of the property, behind the existing barn. A more freeform bed between the vegetable beds and cut flower beds is planted with raspberries and rhubarb. Above: The vegetable beds have Corten steel edging, which allowed DeMauro + DeMauro to bring in high-quality soil for the food growing operation. Ten rectangular beds are laid out along an axis line that meets a quadrant of four larger square beds that are home to more unruly crops like squash and tomatoes. Above: The ample cut flower beds are set directly into the ground in an area that was formerly turf grass. DeMauro + DeMauro collaborate with their client each year to decide which flowers to grow.

Old House Gardens in Michigan. He grows and sells hundreds of hardy and rare, vintage varieties of tulips, daffodils, crocuses, hyacinths, bluebells, and other bulbs.

“Start small,” he suggested.

Here are Scott Kunst’s 10 ideas for planning a spring bulb garden:

Photography by Michelle Slatalla except where noted.

Know your microclimate.

Above: Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista.

Go outdoors and take stock of your garden’s microclimate: where are the sunny spots and well-drained soil? That’s where most bulbs grow best. Draw a garden plan to remind yourself.

Buy 5, 7, 9, or 11.

Above: At Rodsmarton Manor. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer, for Gardenista.

While you’re looking at your garden, imagine clumps of bulbs, planted in clusters of five or more of a single variety; that’s how they look best.

Know your hardiness zone.

The US Department of Agriculture has developed a map of hardiness zones to help you choose plants that will survive in the climate of your geographic area. Check your USDA hardiness zone by entering your zip code at USDA Plant Hardiness Map; purchase bulbs that are rated for your zone. You can search for bulbs for your zone with the Heirloom Bulb Finder at Old House Gardens.

Start small.

Above: Here are some Foolproof Spring Bulbs for a Beginner. Photograph by Meredith Swinehart.

The first year you plant bulbs, fill a few holes in the garden rather than trying to make the whole garden look like a field in Holland.

Use a fence as backdrop.

Above: Photograph by Scott Patrick Myers.

Plant bulbs in narrow, curving clusters that run parallel to the fence. “This is a trick I learned from Gertrude Jekyll,” says Kunst. “Rather than planting a big, round circle that’s three feet wide, make a gentle curve that’s about 18 inches wide. The bulbs will be in your line of vision when they bloom, and after they go over, other plants behind and in front will hide the yellow foliage.”

Heights may vary.

Above: Narcissi pictured here in floral designer Milli Proust’s windowsill. Photograph courtesy of Milli Proust, from Cult Narcissi: Rethinking the Uncool Daffodil.

When deciding where to place bulbs, take size guidelines with a grain of salt. Heights of the same variety of bulb can vary from one year to the next, and in different growing zones. “It’s OK to mix up heights,” says Kunst. “It looks less garden-y than if you try to put all the tall ones in the back and all the short ones in the front.”

Don’t let them touch.

Above: Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista. For more, see Gardening 101: How to Plant a Spring Bulb.

You can plant bulbs close together in one big hole, but don’t let them touch. “They look more naturalistic if you plant them close together,” says Kunst.

Buy older varieties of tulips.

Above: Historic tulips also tend to be more perennial than many of the annual flowering tulips. ‘Malaika’ is a stunning historic tulip that is, unfortunately, almost impossible to find for sale. Photograph by Clare Coulson, from Gardener’s Dilemma: To Tulip or Not to Tulip.

In most parts of the US, tulips will not reappear as reliably as other bulbs year after year; older varieties of tulips will return more reliably than new ones. “Tulips like super sandy soil and summers that are quite dry,” says Kunst. “If you plant them in a spot that’s going to be watered regularly over the summer, dig them up and store them until fall.”

Add companion plants.

Above: Jewel toned tulips—including ‘Bleu Amiable’ and the two-toned ‘Slawa’—are dotted throughout the herbaceous borders here. As the foliage of other plants rises up, they provide a lush green backdrop before finally enveloping the tulips as they fade. Photograph by Clare Coulson, from Garden Visit: 9 Ideas to Steal from the Bravura Planting at Gravetye Manor in Sussex.

Good companion plants to take center stage as bulbs finish blooming: day lilies and peonies and self-sowing annuals such as larkspur. (“It has nice ferny leaves to distract the eyes from bulbs’ dying foliage,” says Kunst.)

Make room.

Above: Photograph by John Merkl for Gardenista.

To make room to plant bulbs, pull out or trim back existing plantings. “The best gardeners have a ruthless streak,” says Kunst. “If you’re not willing to throw things away–or give them away–then you eventually are going to be overwhelmed by all that stuff that keeps burgeoning in the garden.”

Draw a plan…or not.

Above: Photograph by Michelle Slatalla.

“Do I need to draw a garden plan for the path?” I asked Kunst.

“Most gardeners don’t—we fly by the seat of the pants,” says Kunst. “And it works out fine.”

See also:

N.B.: This post was originally published on September 2013; it has been updated with new photos and links.

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

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 15:14:30 +0000

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.

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.

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…

Curb Appeal: 10 Ideas for a Lawn-Free, Low-Impact Front Yard

Tue, 14 Oct 2025 08:00:26 +0000

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’).

Rather than a desolate scene of straggly shrubs in bare earth, this basement view is of a mini Brooklyn forest. Layers of ground-covering plants, middle-story shrubs, and an airy magnolia make for an ecosystem that is self-cooling and sustaining. There is no need for mulch, dyed or otherwise, since the ground is protected from sun, and spent leaves feed the soil.

Bring in an eyecatcher.

Above: This is not a tree stump. When local sculptor Colm McCool found the original piece of red oak in his firewood delivery, he decided to set it aside and carve into a piece of art that exaggerates its natural characteristics.

In Sarah Crawford’s farmhouse garden, well-chosen artifacts made from local materials are focal points in the greenery. The area in front of the house is looked after, with the help of plantsman and designer Ben O’Brien, as a woodland edge garden. Sarah likes art that is drawn from nature but is equally enthusiastic about the artistry of a stone wall, and commissioned a loosely circular one to outline this part of the garden. It’s a way of elevating the relaxed planting under tall maples, and distracting from the busy farmyard beyond.

Screen the car.

Above: A lakeside garden designed and maintained by Ben O’Brien of Ontario-based Wild by Design.

To reverse the distressing trend toward eliminating planting in favor of turning circles, consider how much space a car really needs. O’Brien worked out parking dimensions in this front garden by maneuvering his clients’ car and planting up the plentiful leftover space. A prime consideration is to steer attention away from the stationary vehicle; easily done with a raised bed showcasing resilient yet airy plants, such as Verbena bonariensis and prairie dropseed—shown here with a middle story of calamint, smooth aster and Allium ‘Millennium’. Edges are also addressed, with grasses (Sesleria autumnalis, Carex plantaginea), more calamint, goat’s beard, spiderwort, and hardy geranium in a meadow atmosphere. The silver birch was left in place, with a protective raised bed built around it, and is joined by serviceberry trees along the side. Birds are enticed into the driveway-garden, further enhancing the view from the porch.

Design considered storage.

Above: The driveway of Kayla and Jeff from Refugia, as it merges into a path leading to the garden.

Storage can be lovely when it’s kept in proportion to the space. Here, it sits parallel to the parked car, which can come and go, without disturbing the no-mow, native red fescue, mixed with sedge, underneath. This is a highly functional outdoor space; the grass strip runs the length of the driveway, directing parking, while also attracting insects and providing habitat.

Repeat local stereotypes…

Above: The blue spruces and crab apples in garden designer and plantswoman Lauren Springer’s parking area are a common sight in traditional Colorado gardens.

You don’t have to throw out the rule book; what works, works. “This is old-school Colorado,” says Lauren, “traditional, stalwart survivor plants cherished by the pioneers, and by me.”

…And local wildflowers.

Above: The front yard of John Hart Asher’s family house in Austin, Texas, is filled with winecups, pink evening primrose, and coneflowers that naturally thrive in this region.

The wildflowers that mingle by the mailbox of this home in central Austin, where historical Blackland Prairie meets Hill Country, give a clue to what is going on behind the house. Both gardens, made by John Hart Asher of Blackland Collaborative, contain only plants that are native to this particular area. Choosing a diversity of plants is a way of bringing in more insect diversity above ground and microbe diversity below.

Keep half the lawn.

Above: A formal, yet wild front garden in Austin, Texas.

It’s perfectly possible for a front garden to offer a traditional welcome without banishing nature. In an Austin neighborhood, John Hart Asher persuaded his clients that as well as a neat lawn, they needed some wilderness—both within feet of one another. Alongside conventional turf, he installed a pocket prairie of native plants that wrap around the side of the house and are right at home among the Texas live oaks in the woods by the house.

For all of our coverage on our new book, head here.

General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A [Weekly Thread]

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 16:01:16 +0000

General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A Thread

This thread is for questions that are typically not permitted elsewhere on /r/DIY. Topics can include where you can purchase a product, what a product is called, how to get started on a project, a project recommendation, questions about the design or aesthetics of your project or miscellaneous questions in between.

This is a judgement-free zone. We all had to start somewhere. Be civil.

A new thread gets created every week.

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Gardening 101: Blue Cardinal Flower, A Statuesque Native Perennial for Late Summer

Mon, 13 Oct 2025 08:00:41 +0000

Lobelia siphilitica, Blue Cardinal Flower

Blue cardinal flower, also known as great blue lobelia, is a tall native perennial that blooms for long weeks at the end of summer. Like its striking cousin, the red cardinal flower, this lobelia relishes plenty of water and is happy growing in full-sun rain gardens, bogs, and damp meadows. But it will also grow successfully without supplemental water in semi-shaded flower borders if its roots remain cool and mulched. Blue cardinal flower brings vertical interest to the garden and is a vividly blue counterpoint to the colors of late summer and early autumn.

Above: The spires of blue cardinal flower can grow up to four feet tall. Above: An illustration of blue cardinal flower from William Barton’s Vegetable Materia Medica of the United States (circa 1825).

Lobelia siphilitica’s species name is derived from one of its many Native American uses as a treatment for syphilis (in conjunction with other toxic-slash-medicinal ingredients like cherry bark and May apple root—do not try this at home).

Above: Blue cardinal flower with a late summer tangle of obedient plant, ageratum, and rudbeckia. Above: In the middle of a border, the tall spikes of blue cardinal flower hold their own with grasses and asters. Above: Blue cardinal flowers support a wide range of native bees and butterflies.

Cheat Sheet

Blue cardinal flower is native to eastern North America.
It is a member of the bell flower (Campanulaceae) family.
The species name of siphilitica is derived from an historical use of the plant in the treatment of venereal diseases.
Bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds feed on the flowers’ nectar.
Lobelias produce a toxic compound called lobeline, which makes them less palatable to deer.

Above: Blue cardinal flower appreciates afternoon shade where summers are hot.

Keep It Alive

Blue cardinal flower is hardy from USDA growing zones 4 to 9.
Plant its seeds or seedlings in rich soil with plenty of organic matter.
It thrives in damp soil and wet edges of ponds, rain gardens, or streams.
Plant in full sun only in cooler climates.
Where summers are hotter, plant blue cardinal flowers where it will grow in afternoon shade.

See also:

Quick Takes With: Michael P. Gibson

Sun, 12 Oct 2025 08:00:44 +0000

Recently, we published a story on the trend toward more naturalistic-looking shrubs in garden design, but Michael P. Gibson’s Seussian topiary art may singlehandedly stem that tide. Michael is a renowned topiarist based in Columbia, SC, who has an undeniable way with shrubs, mostly evergreens, which he shears and prunes into delightfully otherworldly forms. The son of a hairstylist (his mom) and an artist (his dad), he seems to have inherited their talents, alchemizing them into a skillset that’s entirely his own.

Michael and his work, particularly his role in restoring Pearl Fryar’s Topiary Garden, have been featured in the New York Times, Garden and Gun, Magnolia and Moonshine, as well as podcasts. He was even a contestant on HGTV’s topiary competition reality show Clipped, with Martha Stewart as a host. “I have many projects coming up, but one I’m really excited about is next spring with The Rose Kennedy Greenway in Boston, MA, creating topiary sculptures from existing mature boxwoods,” he tells us. “I’m also in the process of working on my first book.”

While you wait for that book to be released, here’s a peek into his topiary-obsessed brain.

Photography courtesy of Michael P. Gibson.

Your first garden memory:

My first garden memory is, when I was around five, being fascinated watching my dad meticulously trim the shrubs around the yard into perfect geometric shapes. I was determined to learn and started clipping by age seven.

Garden-related book you return to time and again:

The Art Of Creative Pruning by Jake Hobson is a game-changer, highlighting pruning styles from around the world. The Night Gardener by Devin and Terry Fan (my kids love this children’s book). Topiary by Twigs Way.

Instagram account that inspires you:

Anyone posting about topiary! @topiarycatblack always has creative ideas. @amir_topiary_vrn is doing amazing work. And @hedgelover_ does a great job at showcasing topiary inspiration from around the world.

Describe in three words your garden aesthetic.

Refined. Imaginative. Peaceful.

Plant that makes you swoon:

Ilex aquifolium ‘Argentea Marginata is a gorgeous, variegated holly with creamy yellowish green leaves. The new growth emerges with pinkish margins. A beauty in any landscape.

Plant that makes you want to run the other way:

That’s easy: Berberis thunbergii. Not a fan of the thorns. Although I’ve created some interesting shapes, I would not recommend for topiary. This was actually the very first shrub I clipped.

Favorite go-to plant:

Evergreens make the best topiary, so I tend to stick to Ilex varieties, with Ilex vomitoria being one of my favorites. Grows nice and dense and can be sculpted like stone.

Hardest gardening lesson you’ve learned:

Always follow the vein of the branch when doing inner pruning to make sure you make the right cut and not pruning away a large amount of foliage. Also, avoid pruning in the rain or even after heavy rain, branches will be weighed down and will spring up when dry, potentially messing up your design.

Unpopular gardening opinion:

You can get a smoother, more refined look to hedges by avoiding swaying the hedge trimmer back and forth and just brush in one direction. Just like brushing hair. Changing directions in the right areas will make it look like shadows or shading.

Gardening or design trend that needs to go:

Planting the wrong shrub or tree too close to a building structure. Do research on the plant before planting to understand growth habits.

Old wives’ tale gardening trick that actually works:

Pinching buds will actually help encourage the side shoots to grow, allowing a denser plant.

Favorite gardening hack:

Pruning up a tree can add not only more space, but also prevent anyone from hiding behind it. That’s called the 3-6 rule. Keep smaller shrubs below three feet, and limb up branches to at least six feet on taller trees.

Favorite way to bring the outdoors in.

During the holidays, I find rosemary, lavender, or lemon Cypress shrubs from a local nursery that are around a foot in height and clip them into small table-top topiaries like spirals to have around the house.

Every garden needs a…

Focal point to draw visitors in. Consider topiary, a living sculpture that will enhance any space and continue to impress as it matures. Every garden should have at least one topiary.

Tool you can’t live without:

Tobisho Topiary Clippers allow me to use hand shears like a pencil. Feels like Edward Scissorhands, or a barber adding the final details.

Go-to gardening outfit:

Moisture wicking pants and long sleeve shirt, a safari hat, Gamecock neck gaiter, nitrile gloves, and Sketcher boots.

Favorite nursery, plant shop, or seed company:

Reese’s Plants in Columbia, SC, is my go-to nursery. A unique plant shop I recently visited was Elizabeth Stuart in Charleston, SC, which has a little bit of everything in their showroom and nursery.

On your wishlist:

Tobisho Shears from Niwaki.

Not-to-be-missed public garden/park/botanical garden:

Fellows Riverside Garden in Youngstown, OH; Earlewood Park in Columbia, SC; Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, MI; and Wave Hill Public Garden & Cultural Center in Bronx, NY.

The REAL reason you garden:

Incredibly therapeutic to work in nature daily, especially for someone that grew up with ADHD. I have a true passion for beautifying public spaces with topiary and creating peaceful more loving spaces for all.

Thanks so much, Michael! (You can follow him on Instagram @gibby_siz.)

For our full archive of Quick Takes, head here.

Current Obsessions: Out and About

Sat, 11 Oct 2025 08:00:45 +0000

Happy long weekend, dear readers! We’re gearing up for a big week ahead for Remodelista and Gardenista. From October 14-18, we’ll be kicking off the NYC edition of the Architecture & Design Film Festival, for which we’re the official media sponsor. Stop by if you’re in town!

And! Our latest book, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden, comes out on Tuesday. There are just a few more days to take advantage of the pre-order discount when you order via our publisher’s site: Use code GARDENISTA20 at checkout; valid through October 13.

Til then, here are 15 more things on our radar:

Above: Weekend plans. Photograph courtesy of Silke Bonde from Shared Space: Silke Bonde Atelier & Établi in Frederiksberg, Copenhagen.

Field + Supply is this weekend in Kingston, NY. Are you going? Let us know your favorite finds.
A rare event: Everything is 15 percent off at Niwaki (and free shipping for $100+ purchase), including its limited edition Japanese workwear in “bleu de travail.”
The Quiet Botanist, has just introduced two new bar soaps for fall: Honey Bee and Lavender Fields. (Hat tip: Laura.)
Garden wunderkind Arthur Parkinson’s new book, Hen Party: A Celebration of Fancy Fowl, just landed in bookstores. “I love his drawings—and he has gathered together 50 of his favourite breeds of chickens. Really lovely gift book for chicken enthusiasts!” writes Clare.
Floral designer Milli Proust has an enviable cut flower garden in rural England—and now she’s a world record holder, too!
Margot, our resident botanical artist, is admiring these groovy new rugs featuring “traditional floral patterns as seen through the lens of California counterculture” starring poppies, weeds, and mushrooms. (She particularly likes the weeds.)
Also from Margot: “an intriguing Japanese store” devoted to flower preservation.
On Fan’s wish list (and maybe weekend DIY list): the Wave Hill chair.
A sad closing: Sanso in L.A. is shuttering: “The unknowing and uncertainty is truly exciting. We are meant to explore and share. Attempting to have all the right next steps figured out before moving forward delays our real progress. The only thing left to do is to pay attention, be present, and be completely open.” Stop by their last popup shop today, from 12 to 4 pm.
Tip of the hat to John Derian, who this month celebrates three decades since he opened his first NYC shop. (Psst: Tune into Quick Takes on Remodelista tomorrow for more with John.)
Londoners: Stop by Matilda Goad’s newly opened MG+CO. outpost for the best-looking hardware around.
What do we have in common with wunderkind chef Flynn McGarry? This coffeemaker (which also recently made our top 10 list).
Ooh, would love to go to this exhibit in Wisconsin, featuring Frank Lloyd Wright’s chair designs.
The case of the missing slipper, solved.
Kudos to basketmaker Jeremy Frey, who was named a MacArthur Fellow this week; see his work here.
“Arthur Miller’s hand-built writing studio in Roxbury, CT, where he wrote The Crucible and The Misfits, is being carefully restored and relocated beside the Minor Memorial Library.” (Hat tip: Julie.)

Galerie Green: An NYC Landscape Firm’s New Emporium of Antique Accents for the Garden

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 08:00:46 +0000

New York landscape firm Harrison Green is the name behind some of the city’s most interesting public and private gardens—on rooftops and terraces, and in tiny, hidden backyards. Longstanding members of the Gardenista Architect/Designer Directory, the team, run by husband-and-wife duo Damien and Jacqueline Harrison, is full service: they specialize in not only designing, but planting and maintaining their work year-round (The Row and Marc Jacobs are clients).

The Harrisons now stand ready to furnish and accessorize outdoor spaces: Galerie Green, their new online-only emporium, presents hard-to-find antique and vintage garden elements, from 1920s carved wooden mushrooms to carefully refinished French sunburst chairs. Their offerings, they say, are about “craftsmanship, proportion, and patina” and the case for “longevity and authenticity over the new and disposable.” Caveat: this is a weighty collection in every sense of the word and prices are steep. Join us for a look at the initial offerings presented in Harrison Green’s own Brooklyn studio garden.

Photography by Billal Taright, styling by Colin King, courtesy of Galerie Green (@galeriegreennyc).

Above: A pair of French Cast Stone Cornucopia Finials from the 1950s “equally suited to flank an entryway, anchor a garden path, or bring architectural presence to a serene, verdant space,” write the Harrisons. The 19th-century Cast Stone Heart-Leg Bench has hearts inlaid in its base. Above: A set of four 1950s Sculptural Wrought Iron Armchairs of refinished metal with new outdoor-safe seat cushions. The circular French Modernist Cast Stone Table dates from the 1960s. The round planters on plinths are midcentury French Cast Stone Garden Urns. Above: A pair of Royère-Style Perforated Iron Armchairs, circa 1990. See above for info on the planters. Above: A 1950s Brown Jordan Walter Lamb Bronze Patio Set: the four chairs have been restrung and the café table is newly topped with a weathered travertine slab. The goddess relief in the background is a Concrete Depiction of Gradiva Plaque. Above: One of a pair of Terracotta Classical Lidded Urns in “excellent vintage condition.” Above: A Pair of 1930s François Carré Sunburst Armchairs—this familiar style, the Harrisons explain, was “initially designed in the late 19th century for use in Parisian public spaces like parks and boulevards” and was “considered revolutionary for its time, becoming highly sought after for grand estates and villas.” Galerie Green’s restored chairs have a new powder-coated white finished. Above: A cast-iron Curly Fanback Café Table and Four Chairs. The set has been finished with a new powder coating and the seats are upholstered in a Zak & Fox outdoor-safe fabric. Above: The Harrisons note that their offerings work well indoors as well as out. Shown here, a large Pair of Cast Stone Figural Garden Urns on wreath-decorated bases and a circa 1950 Classical Cast Stone Garden Urn<

The Wave Hill Chair: Minimalist, Timeless—and You Can Make It Yourself!

Fri, 10 Oct 2025 08:00:45 +0000

When Remodelista founder Julie Carlson attended a benefit dinner at Wave Hill, a public garden and under-the-radar treasure in the Bronx, she enjoyed the beautiful plantings and the breathtaking views of the Hudson River, but it was the garden chairs she saw on the property that bowled her over. (She is a design geek, after all.)

Turns out, the Wave Hill chairs have been bewitching visitors for decades. They were designed in the 1960s by landscape designer Lester Collins, who based the chair on a 1918 design by architect Gerrit Rietveld; Collins later allowed Wave Hill to make his version of the chair for use in their public garden.

Good news for Julie and others who can’t stop thinking about them: Wave Hill sells DIY plans for the chair.

Above: The beauty of these chairs is that you can use cheap store-bought planks to build them and paint them in the color of your choosing. To purchase the plans, contact The Shop at Wave Hill at 718.549.3200 x249, or email chairinquiry@wavehill.org. Above: Horticulturalist Dan Benarcik designed his own version after becoming obsessed with the chairs at Wave Hill. On his site, he sells the plans for his chair for $35; a DIY kit with all the materials you need for $325; a workshop to make a chair for $350; and a fully assembled chair, in western red cedar, for $425. Find details here. Above: You can also purchase pre-made Wave Hill chairs in your choice of wood—white ash, white oak, walnut, cherry, red oak, reclaimed oak, reclaimed pine, maple, or cedar (pictured) from Hugo and Hoby. Above: While we like the look of the untreated wood chairs that age with time, we also quite enjoy them painted or stained (Margaret Roach writes about her painted versions here). Photograph via Dan Benarcik. Above: A pair of weathered untreated chairs in horticulturalist and garden designer Rebecca McMackin’s Brooklyn backyard. Photograph by Caitlin Atkinson for Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden.

For more on garden chairs, see:

N.B.: This post was first published July 2019; it has been updated with new links and photos.

Fall Gardening Tip: Plant a Bare-Root Fruit Tree. Here’s How

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 08:00:48 +0000

We’ve entered the season when our gardens are starting to gradually slow down in preparation for a restful winter. We gardeners, however, can’t help but keep on pruning, planting, and planning. One project to add to your list of late-fall chores to do in the garden: plant a fruit tree.

And if you do, consider going with a dormant bare-root fruit tree. Planting bare-root trees saves not only money (it’s always cheaper to buy bare-root over container-grown), but also your back from having to lug around heavy nursery pots.

Here are my tips for planting bare-root fruit trees:

1. Take stock of the stock.

Above: Photograph via Hopes Grove Nurseries.

When choosing which bare-root fruit tree to buy, look for ones that are shorter and with thicker trunks. Taller trees with thinner trunks might not be as hardy and stable in the ground. After planting, your tree’s canopy should be pruned anyway to even out the weight so that your tree’s top (canopy) is in proportion to its smaller bottom (roots).

2. Don’t procrastinate about planting.

Bare-root fruit trees are—surprise, surprise—bare, so that means no soil protects the delicate roots. What this also means is that the exposed roots can dry out quickly. The solution? Plant your tree as soon as you get it home. The other option is to “heel it in” which means that you bury the roots in some sort of moist material for a short time until you can plant it. Some bare-root plants come in plastic packaging with moist sawdust already around the roots, which can help protect the roots and give you a little more time before planting.

3. Soak and soak some more.

Above: Fuyu persimmons are the best-selling fruit tree at Dave Wilson Nursery, which sells it in bare-root form.

Before planting your bare-root tree, carefully untangle any roots and soak in water for at least two hours to rehydrate it. Once that is complete, mix organic compost into to your native soil for in-ground planting. No fertilizer is needed upon planting. For containers, look for organic potting soil without fertilizers because harsh chemicals could harm young trees.

4. Measure the roots.

Many gardeners wonder how to plant a tree that has only dangly roots and no defined root ball. Well, start by digging a hole two to three times as wide as the roots and only as deep as the longest root. Too deep of a hole and the soil and tree will settle too much. Mound up a bit of soil in the hole and spread out the roots then back fill and gently press down the soil to remove any air pockets. Pro tip: Make sure the graft union (if present) stays above the final soil level.

5. Mulch generously.

After planting and watering deeply, apply a thick layer of mulch around your tree. Mulch will help maintain even moisture and help prevent weeds. But don’t crowd the trunk with mulch (mulch volcanos lead to excess moisture on the bark, which can lead to rot).

6. Practice patience.

Above: Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer, from Gardening 101: Pear Trees.

It’s normal to want to immediately reap the fruits of your labor, but recognize that bare-root fruit trees can be slower to produce at first as the roots get established. Be patient and you will be rewarded: some even say bare-root trees end up growing larger than their container counterparts. Expect at least a year or two before getting a harvest. Then enjoy!

See also:

Color Story: 15 Favorite White-on-White Gardens

Wed, 08 Oct 2025 08:00:25 +0000

Nature abhors a monoculture, but not necessarily a monochrome culture. Against a leafy green backdrop, a single color stands out dramatically—particularly when that hue is white. Here are 15 of our favorite white-on-white plant palettes for a garden bed:

Above: “We always loved the idea of the moonlight garden, so this has been our place to try out a wilder, wily version of one,” says Alan Calpe of the home he shares with Christopher Crawford. Photograph courtesy of Gardenheir, from Lessons Learned: The Founders of Gardenheir Share the Highs and Lows of Designing Their First Garden. Above: White snowballs of Allium ‘Mount Everest” pop against the black shou sugi ban-clad home. Photograph by Rosangela Photography, courtesy of Stefano Marinaz Landscape Architecture, from Gatehouse Garden: A Dramatic Black Backdrop for a White Wildflower Meadow. Above: The white garden at Aatt Sissinghurst Castle, where Vita Sackville-West created her breathtaking gardens in Kent, England. Photograph by Clare Coulson for Gardenista, from Sleeping at Sissinghurst: An Overnight Stay at England’s Most Famous Garden. Above: At the 2023 RHS Tatton Park Flower Show in Cheshire, England, designer Sharon Hockenhull created the Nocturnal Pollinator Experience, highlighting key plants and simple ideas to support these crucial insects. In one planting zone, white perennials and grasses are punctuated with columns of star jasmine. Photograph courtesy of the Royal Horticultural Society, from In the Night Garden: How to Help the Moth, a Vital and Underrated Pollinator. Above: Garden designer Sheila Jack’s own garden in London features a white and green palette. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Gardenista, from Designer Visit: Sheila Jack’s White Garden in West London. Above: See Sheila’s front garden with ‘Iceberg’ roses and a variegated holly. Photograph by Britt Willoughby Dyer for Gardenista, from Landscaping: 9 Ideas for Curb Appeal in a City Garden. Above: This white and green garden by Sawyer | Berson includes hostas with variegated leaves, clipped boxwood shrubs, ivies, ferns, clematis vines, and annuals to add seasonal color. Photograph courtesy of Sawyer | Berson, from Landscape Architect Visit: “Sex and the City” Meets Edith Wharton in Manhattan. Above: A white garden, with perennial beds of lilies, catmint, irises, and phlox. Photography courtesy of Quincy Hammond Landscape Architect, from Grandeur in the Hamptons: A Sprawling Estate, Sunken Rose Garden Included. Above: Our own Michelle Slatalla transformed her garden on a tiny budget thanks to white roses. Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista, from Landscape on a Budget: The $250 Instant Rose Garden. Above: Nicotiana and echinacea mix well in a border at White Flower Farm. Photograph by Sara Barrett for Gardenista, from Spring Ahead: 10 Tips to Get Your Garden Ready. Above: Around the perimeter of a San Francisco artist’s studio, landscape architect Scott Lewis covered a metal trellis with English ivy and planted white dwarf deutzia (Deutzia gracilus ‘Nikko’) at the base. “It’s typically an old-fashioned plant, a deciduous shrub that blooms in late spring and early summer,” says Lewis. Photograph courtesy of Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture, from Landscape Architect Visit: A Green and White Oasis in San Francisco. Above: Irises and foxgloves are planted against a velvety green backdrop of boxwood topiaries at the Chelsea Flower Show. To get a similar look, “try also foxtail lily (eremurus), white hollyhock, Nicotiana sylvestris, and Madonna lily (the latter two for scent),” writes Kendra. Photograph by Kendra Wilson. Above: Kendra visits Lady Cholmeley’s modern white garden and discovers a maze: “Cerastium tomentosum (‘Snow-in-summer’) makes a swirl with dwarf box.” Photograph by Jim Powell, from Garden Visit: Lady Cholmeley’s Modern White Landscape in Lincolnshire.

O’Sullivan Skoufoglou Architects have reimagined the house as a sequence of framed views of the garden—an architecture of light and green. The new lower level pivots around a clerestory lantern and an interior courtyard, spaces that pull daylight deep into the plan and dissolve the boundary between indoors and out.

The garden, meanwhile, by designers Ann Ison and Colin Clark, is organized into three areas: a sunlit entrance of wild planting and shrubs, a central paved courtyard, and a shaded rear with mature trees beneath the Victorian arches.

Designed for a creative young family, the 680-square-foot garden is shaped around their brief: a refuge close to nature with interest across all seasons. Last summer, the family harvested vine tomatoes and herbs; over time, fruit trees and additional edible plantings will extend the garden’s role as both retreat and resource.

Join us for a tour, and be sure to scroll to the end for a comprehensive plant list.

Photography courtesy of O’Sullivan Skoufoglou.

Above: The view from the kitchen out onto the garden. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen. Above: “The planting was chosen to form an ensemble that offers both harmony and drama of contrast,” says architect Amalia Skoufoglou. Above: The garden looking back into the lower floor. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen. Above: The stone path is green granite from Marshalls Natural Stone, chosen for its durability, texture, and color. Photograph by Ståle Eriksen. Above: Rudbeckia hirta (yellow coneflower) in a sea of green planting. Above: A gravel path, made up of 20mm Trent gravel, leads to the back shaded part of the garden. Above: A custom garden shed sits at the rear of the Victorian plot.

The northwest facing garden is planted with:

Pittosporum golf ball
Pittosporum tobira nanum
Sarococca confusa
Astrantia major rub
Brunera macrophylla
Epimedium perraichicum frohnleiten
Geranium phaeum
Alchemilla mollis
Tellma grandiflora
Polygonatum hybrida
Actaea ramosa pink spike
Anemone hybrida honorine
Tiarella spring symphony
Liriope mascara big blue
Holboellia
Akebia quint
Clematis corrhosa
Sollya heterophylla

For more London gardens, see our posts:

General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A [Weekly Thread]

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 16:01:21 +0000

General Feedback/Getting Started Q&A Thread

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Sumac Essence: The Ingredient You Didn’t Know Your Pantry Was Missing

Mon, 06 Oct 2025 08:00:23 +0000

If you like tart flavors, then sumac essence might be the ingredient you didn’t know your kitchen was missing. Sumac essence is one of my pantry’s most prized seasonal ingredients, to be eked out or traded when times are tough. It is a surprisingly nuanced condiment that I developed from sumac-ade (or sumac water)—a traditional Native American beverage made by soaking the fruit in water. Reducing that tart infusion results in an intense, pomegranate molasses-adjacent condiment whose flavor and versatility will blow your culinary socks off. Sumac has a long fruiting season, and any edible sumac can be used to make sumac essence. But in early fall, the last of the native American species to ripen beckons: winged sumac might be my favorite of these native sour flavors.

Here’s how to make sumac water, sumac essence, and a quick recipe that highlights how to deploy this bright, liquid gold.

Above: Sumac water (in the red bottles) is made by covering ripe sumac in water, then straining. Above: Ripe fruit heads of winged sumac.

Late summer and fall-ripening Rhus copallinum, known as winged or shining sumac, has compound leaves whose midribs are flanked by distinctive and narrow winged adornments. Its clusters of fruit (a collection of tightly packed drupes) are browner than the torch-oranges and reds of staghorn and smooth sumacs (which ripen earlier in summer).

When sumac looks frosted you know it’s as good as it gets.

Above: You know it will be sour if sumac is frosted with crystalline acids. Above: Winged sumac, ready to be soaked. Above: Even dry, early-winter sumac can used for sumac essence, but taste before collecting, since rain and snow may have washed the sourness away. Above: Making sumac water or sumac-ade with smooth sumac.

Sumac Water (or Sumac–Ade)

Makes 5 cups

This is the first step in making Sumac Essence. While I give quantities below, sumac water is really just a method: Sweeten it, or not, as you like. Quantities and concentrations will vary according to what you have gathered. The ratio below yields a very sour drink and is the perfect starting-point for the essence. You must taste your sumac before collecting, since the tartness washes off after rain (it builds up again).

12 ounces ripe sumac, broken from the main green stalk
5 cups water

Combine the fruit and water in a large clean jug, bowl, or jar. Leave at room temperature for 24 hours if you mean to drink it right away. Leave for 48 hours if you are going on to make Sumac Essence.

Strain the liquid through a fine-mesh sieve and then again through a double layer of cheesecloth.

Sweeten to taste if you like, and drink, straight or diluted with water, after chilling. It keeps for a couple of weeks in the fridge.

Above: Sumac essence cut with chilled water is a wildly refreshing drink.

Sumac Essence

Makes 1½ cups

This wildly tart reduction is just shy of being a syrup, and is a building block in my kitchen. Think of it as a native tamarind, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, or special vinegar. Its flavor is unique.

4½ – 5 cups Sumac Water
3 Tablespoons sugar

Bring the Sumac Water with the sugar to a boil over high heat. Boil until the liquid has reduced to 1½ cups (375 ml). Transfer to a sterilized jar or bottle and keep in the fridge for up to 3 months, or freeze in cubes.

Above: A chopped red pepper salad, spiked with Sumac Essence.

Sumac Red Pepper Salad

Serves 4–6

Served as a meal or a starter with toasted tortillas or flatbreads, this vivid salad vibrates with sumac and heat. The key to its texture is the very fine chopping of the pepper and onion. Make your own ground sumac, or use store-bought.

4 large sweet red peppers
1 small red onion, very finely chopped
1 Tablespoon Sumac Essence
2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons ground sumac
½ teaspoon salt

Preheat the broiler. Cut two of the red peppers in half, remove their seeds, and lay them on a baking sheet. Broil until their skins are black. Peel the peppers and chop them exceptionally finely.

Seed and chop the two remaining raw peppers very finely.

Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix very well.

It is ready.

See also:

Psst: What We Loved in September

Sun, 05 Oct 2025 08:00:51 +0000

Welcome to our new series, where each month the Remodelista and Gardenista editors share an inside look at what we’ve been reading, watching, coveting, pinning, visiting, and otherwise loving lately. Ahead, what we’ve been up to in September:

Above: “A few weeks ago, I visited the second ever Collectible design fair in New York City. Highlights included Of The Cloth’s lighting collaboration with Kawabi (shown) and Studio Solenne’s rug collaboration with NuStory.” – Morgan Above: “I was fortunate to catch the Ruth Asawa retrospective at SFMOMA in its final days this September, and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since. Until this show, I knew little of Asawa’s personal life—she had six children—nor the depth of her dedication to art while balancing family. In the 1980s, for example, she molded beads from discarded clay used in mask-making. Then her son Paul would then pit-fire the beads at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach, after which she strung them into necklaces. Not only did I admire the necklaces themselves, but also the way they embodied her seamless integration of art and life.” – Alexa Above: “It rained our entire first day in Rockport, Maine. My sister, brother, and I were on our annual September retreat to midcoast Maine. We sat around our rental house’s glass-topped dining table doing our own things: reading, painting, chatting, staring at the harbor right out the window. It looked like a scene from Robert McCluskey’s One Morning in Maine. I make daily collages from leaves gathered wherever I am, usually on dog walks (I call what I do Dog Walk Diary). So this was assembled from my finds on a foray in the drizzle. Making it atop glass added dimension and fittingly captured those perfect hours.” – Margot

Above: “New little things!” – our resident ceramicist and social media editor Darcy Groves

Above: “Recently, I got to co-curate an exhibit of well-made wooden objects of use, and this month, went to the opening. There were finds flown in from 10 countries (one particularly great drying rack is still stuck in Customs) by more than 24 makers, a mix of antiques (like a Wharton Esherick lamp and original Shaker sconce), icons (an Alvar Aalto tea trolley), and new (like the work of Brian Persico, Charles Thompson, and Natalie Shook). I spent much of the evening admiring this Hans Agne Jakobsson pine table lamp. If only I could have one on my bedside table.” – Annie Above: “I went to the Cloisters last weekend for the first time in years. The garden did not disappoint: They’d created a display ID-ing the flowers in bloom—much appreciated. Also the first time I’d ever seen goldenrod in a container (looked like it could have used a Chelsea chop!). I won’t let so much time pass before my next trip—and next time I’m making a point to be there for the official garden tour.” – Laura Above: “It’s apple-picking time in the Northeast, and I couldn’t be happier! We harvested our first ‘real’ crop of Ashmead’s Kernel apples after planting the tree five or so years ago in our community orchard. This heirloom variety is one of my favorites—crisp, tangy, sweet, with hints of pear. Our apples were small and there weren’t a ton of them but they were so, so good. – Melissa Above: “Rental accommodation is never ‘home’ until there are fresh flowers and fruit (I hid the resident artificial flowers in a closet). In this case, sweetpeas from @jafthasflowerfarm (where ranunculus are in full bloom, too) plus guavas. My mom would have loved the sweetpeas.” – Marie, in Cape Town, South Africa Above: “Hauser & Wirth’s garden on the Balearic island of Menorca is a large part of its offering. Designed by Piet Oudolf, it is supported by a fun boat ride, an excellent restaurant—and, finally, the beautiful gallery.” – Kendra

Current Obsessions: Sweater Weather

Sat, 04 Oct 2025 08:00:21 +0000

Suddenly it’s October, and where (most of) our editors live, we’re getting out the layers—in our closets and around the house, too. Read on for fall events, the bedding we’re spotting everywhere, and more—plus a discount on our new (sixth!) book. Have a restful weekend, and read on:

Above: An autumnal vignette from Kitchen of the Week: Red, Pink, and Lace in a Former Victorian Lacemaker’s Grange. Photograph courtesy of deVOL.

The countdown is on! Our new book, Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden, comes out on October 14. To celebrate, our publisher is offering a 20 percent discount when you order via their site, now through October 13. Use code GARDENISTA20 at checkout.
Upstaters, heads-up: Our friends at Hort & Pott are opening up their fleeting annual seasonal shop this weekend and next. “This is an open invitation for visitors to step inside, fall in love with handcrafted ceramic vessels, vintage charms, lanterns and torches aglow, botanicals, cast stone creatures, and storied artwork.” Find details here.
Rory McEwen: Nature’s Song opens at the Garden Museum October 8 and will be up through January 25. The botanical artist is an “exquisite colorist” whose “tulips spin through space,” says Kendra.
Proof that you can plant in the fall!
On Kier’s weekend to-do list? This easy and amazing faux-flowers crafting project that had us completely fooled.
Bookmark this achingly beautiful setting for your next dinner party.
Swoon!
Ooh, love this sink-side drying rack (hat tip: Fan).
Attention, attention: Somerset House is hosting a three-day sale in their current showroom this weekend, October 3–5, ft. one-of-a-kind finds and never-before-seen pieces. Stop by: 10-25 48th Ave, Long Island City, NY.
“Include only what’s needed, nothing more”: Julie’s eyeing John Pawson’s furniture collection for Herman Miller.
Has the butter trend gone…too far?
Spotted!
You’re invited to a housewarming (read: Ikea pop-up) in NYC.
And deVol comes to LA.
On our reading list: Ruth Asawa and the Artist-Mother at Midcentury.
Admiring new-to-us brand Anthologist by a Greek-American maker, including these hand-woven textiles.
No hospital corners needed. (Which are you coveting?)

Color Theory: 10 Perfect Plant Combinations for Autumn

Fri, 03 Oct 2025 08:00:00 +0000

“I don’t do frilly,” say Diane Schaub, director of gardens at Central Park Conservancy. We are standing under the shade of an old magnolia in the English garden, one of three smaller gardens within Central Park’s six-acre Conservatory Garden near the northeast corner of the park. Schaub, who earned a diploma from the New York Botanical Garden’s School of Professional Horticulture, has been curating the Conservatory Garden for more than 30 years. And while she does not do frilly, she does do color and texture, breathtakingly well. She has a painter’s eye for composition and an architect’s instinct for structural detail.

Below, we share her best color combinations for fall garden beds:

Photography by Marie Viljoen for Gardenista.

Burgundy + Green

Above: “This is as frilly as I go,” she clarifies, indicating a velvet-leafed plant with burgundy leaves, beside the bluestone path. The plant in question is a Solenostemon (formerly classified as Coleus) and the cultivar is ‘Lancelot.’ Above: Solenostemon ‘Lancelot’ (paired with Salvia ‘Paul’) belongs to a crew of leafy annuals whose impact is felt dramatically in this garden, where the seasonal spectacle owes a great deal to plants whose interest lies in their foliage.

Purple + Yellow + Blue

Above: If you thought leaves were boring, think again. Solenostemon ‘Purple Prince’, black-leafed Dahlia ‘Mystic Illusion’, and Salvia farinacea ‘Victoria Blue.’

Purple + Red

Above: Elephant-eared Colocasia esculenta ‘Black Magic’, Solenostemon ‘Redhead’, and Agastache cana ‘Heather Queen.’

Purple + Lilac

Above: A bed of Pennisetum setaceum ‘Rubrum’, Salvia x ‘Indigo Spires’, the leafy and lilac-striped Strobilanthes dyeranus, and elephant-eared Colocasia esculenta ‘Blue Hawaii’. The latter “makes the whole composition work,” says Schaub. Dark purple Pennisetum ‘Vertigo’ is in the background. Above: The English Garden is arranged in beds radiating from a central pond overhung by the largest crabapple tree in Central Park, leaves now turning yellow. Designed by Betty Sprout and opened in 1937, this part of the park was by the 1970s considered one of the most dangerous places in New York City. In 1980, the Central Park Conservancy was formed in response to the neglect the park had suffered in the previous two decades. Its founding director, Elizabeth Rogers, earmarked the Conservatory Gardens for renovation. Above: Lynden Miller, now a legendary public garden designer, but then a painter and home gardener, was asked by Rogers to revisit the original plans. She redesigned the perennial beds. Miller was also vehement in her advocacy for a maintenance budget, something many public plantings sorely and visibly lack. Gardens are work, and this seasonal showcase is not low-maintenance. The Conservatory Garden’s staff, with the help of regular volunteers, is kept busy. Above: Within the backbone of green hedging, shrubs, and perennials, the beds are punctuated occasionally by Miller’s trademark: Berberis thunbergii balls. The manicured shape helps prevent the invasive shrub from spreading, by preventing fruit-set. The low evergreen hedges (Ilex crenata, Euonymous ‘Manhattan’ and Berberis julianae) allow intimate niches within beds, so that “you arrive in a different and lovely place” every few paces, explains Schaub. Above: Annuals dominate the interior beds, while the outer arcs are filled with perennials and shrubs. Every winter Schaub (also a fine art major at City College of New York) sketches by hand her new plans for spring and summer schemes. Orders for thousands of summer annuals and perennials must be placed by October of the previous year for May planting, so growers on Long Island have time to propagate enough stock. On planting day, volunteers line up early to carry flats of plants to their assigned positions. Each bed has its own map.

Red + Yellow + Silver

cAbove: The red Zinnia ‘Benary’s Giant Deep Red’ pops out in a border with feathery gray Centaurea gymnocarpa, lime green Zinnia elegans ‘Envy’, and the chocolate-y backdrop of Pennisetum ‘Vertigo’. In the background, yellow Rudbeckia laciniata and the silver-leafed sunflowers, Helianthus argophyllus, draw the visitor farther in.

Orange + Yellow + Lime

Above: A lesson in warmth. From front to back: a yellow variegated Lantana, Arctotis x ‘Flame’, Agastache mexicana ‘Acapulco Orange’, with tall Asclepias curassavica ‘Silky Gold’ behind it, a sprawling sweet potato—Ipomea batata ‘Sweet Caroline Bronze’, and a mass of lime green Solenostemon ‘Dappled Apple’ in the background.

Pink + Fuchsia + Lime

Above: “Pinks are hard,” says Schaub, discussing color pairing: “Some are bluish; some are orange. You can really err.” Here, the blue pinks are played off against two stalwarts that are used often in these beds: glaucus Melianthus major, in the foreground, and fuchsia-striped Perilla ‘Magilla’. Tall pink Cleome ‘Clio’ brushes against Salvia ‘Waverly’ with silvery cardoon (Cynara cardunculus), hot pink Gomphrena ‘Fireworks’, and lime Ipomoea batata ‘Dwarf Marguerite’, which keeps the composition fresh.

Pale Pink + Sky Blue

Above: Pale pink Verbena ‘Lavender Cascade’ does just that over the flagstones, under the tresses of sea oats (Chasmanthium latifolium) and the sky blue confetti of Browallia americana.

Yellow + Blue

Above: The small yellow flowers of Melampodium ‘Son of Garth’ cluster around the intense blue of Salvia x ‘Indigo Spires’. Solenostemon ˜Lancelot’ and sweet potato (Ipomoea batata ‘Dwarf Marguerite’, again) create volume.

Yellow + Lime + Purple

Above: Below a hedge of clipped Ilex crenata Halloween-ready Dahlia ‘Mystic Illusion’ anchors a corner where purple Alternanthera dentata ‘Rubiginosa’ sprawls between supporting mounds of lime Solenostemon ‘Dappled Apple’ and a variegated and stiff-leafed Plectranthus forsteri ‘Green on Green’. The spires of Salvia guaranitica ‘Royal Purple’ loosen the composition in the background. Above: Ruby-throated hummingbirds visit the nectaries of Cuphea platycentra ‘David Verity’ as well as a collection of sweetly tubular Salvias, Agastaches, and Leonotis, which must put the English Garden firmly on the hummingbirds’ migratory map.

Designing the Lush Dry Garden: Create a Climate-Resilient, Low-Water Paradise reveals much of what you need to know about what’s between the covers, but hearing the story behind it will tell you a lot more.

Like every public garden, the legendary Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA, closed when the pandemic struck. Wanting to connect with gardeners during that time, the garden began offering online classes. “After a year we had a pretty good idea of what people were interested in as well as what they needed to know—but maybe didn’t know that they needed to know,” explain Cricket Riley and Alice Kitajima, two of the book’s coauthors. In March 2021, Riley and Kitajima helped the Ruth Bancroft Garden launch their Dry Garden Design Certificate Program, which hundreds of gardeners have since completed. Now, Designing the Lush Dry Garden is meant to bring the ideas taught in this course and the deep institutional knowledge of the Ruth Bancroft Garden to an even wider audience.

Photography by Caitlin Atkinson for Designing the Lush Dry Garden.

Above: The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek, CA. This is what the authors mean by a “lush dry garden.”

So who is this book for? Fellow Gardenista contributor Kier Homes, the third coauthor of the book, tells me, “It’s for gardeners curious about switching or tweaking the way they currently garden to an approach that is more water-conscious, sustainable, resilient, and in-sync with their climate.” Riley adds the book was written with both the novice and experienced gardener in mind. The lessons in the first part of the book lay out the basic steps to design a low-water garden, but “we also provide extensive lists of dependable, low-water plants that many people experienced in the field might not know about,” she notes. (The favorite plant lists alone might be worth the cover price.)

Above: Aloe ‘Creamsicle’ in full bloom under a mature Aloe ‘Hercules’ in the Ruth Bancroft Garden.

Designing the Lush Dry Garden is more than an instruction manual, though: It is a font of visual inspiration as well. In the second half of the book, the authors and photographer Caitlin Atkinson (who also shot all the images for the upcoming Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden) take readers on tours of 17 inspiring home gardens. The photographs are stunning and the generous number of gardens is satisfying. “One of the beautiful things about the book is that it takes Ruth’s vision and shows readers many different ways it can be expressed,” says Riley. “All the gardens featured in the book were inspired by the Ruth Bancroft Garden, but they are all very different from Ruth’s garden—and each other.”

Above: A meandering path through cacti and agaves was Ruth’s original entrance into the dry garden.

Fans of the Ruth Bancroft Garden may be wondering how this new book differs from The Bold Dry Garden, published 2021. The earlier book told the story of Ruth and her garden; Designing the Lush Dry Garden translates all of Bancroft and the garden staff’s horticultural knowledge and design lessons into actionable advice for the home gardener.

Above: In the garden of designer Walker Young (who was once a volunteer at the Ruth Bancroft Garden), a shaggy Aloe thraskii accompanies Encephalartos lehmannii ‘Kirkwood’ and wispy Xanthorrhoea preissii.

“Visitors to the Ruth Bancroft Garden always want to know how to create a climate-appropriate garden themselves. We wrote Designing the Lush Dry Garden to give them the information and inspiration they needed to take Ruth’s vision out into their hands and out into the world,” says Riley. “We hope people take this book and use it to create more sustainable gardens. Just like Ruth did,” adds Homes.

Above: The coauthors.

The Low-Impact Garden: In Coastal Australia, a Gravel Garden Inspired by the Wild

Wed, 01 Oct 2025 08:00:20 +0000

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.'” Above: Having spent many years looking at wild plants on the Mornington Peninsula, Fiona wondered how they would respond to being treated like ornamentals. “I’ve got a reputation for torturing plants,” she says. The slightly Japanese aesthetic is aided by local gravel that is fine enough to rake. “You can walk on it with bare feet.” Above: Fiona uses the lower-lying areas of the property for a vegetable and herb garden as well as an orchard. The soil is slightly better here, and chickens contribute nitrogen-rich manure. The corrugated henhouse is beautified with hollyhocks, grown from the seeds of a neighbor in Melbourne. Above: A long table is slotted into the unfolding landscape, the ground laid here with compacted granite rubble. Its permeable surface invites some self-seeding. “That’s a really big wild rocket, which I leave during winter because bees love flowering brassicas. We keep bees, so I’m always thinking about what they might like to eat.” Above: Like a 1950s beach house from the misty past, but surrounded with more interesting planting, the building is a backdrop for yucca by the windows, with red-coned Banksia praemorsa. Coast tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum), with rough bark, is joined by rounded seaberry saltbush (Rhagodia candolleana). Above: You can never have too many bowls of water, although strictly speaking, this is Fiona’s “aging center” for the bird baths that she designs, which are manufactured by a local metal spinner. They are set out in the sea air to transition from bright copper to verdigris before being sold or given away as gifts. They are also featured in our “Gardenista 50,” 34 pages of covetable garden objects in The Low-Impact Garden. Above: David’s most recent limestone wall separates the ocean side of the garden from a utility area that captures the sun and is designated for herbs and laundry. In permaculture terms, Fiona explains, this would be considered “zone one,” being used frequently. The gap leads to an exposed part of the garden where local indigenous plants are left “to make their own pictures.” Above: A “cubby house” for Fiona’s great-nieces, built by willow artist Gay Chatfield. It could just as easily be a “meditation hub,” or any number of things. “Gay makes enclosures for animals to sleep in at the zoo. She’s done all these beautiful homes for the lemurs,” says Fiona. (For more on willow structures, see 5 Favorites: Storybook Twig Playhouses for Indoors and Out.) Above: Looking toward Port Philip Bay, rounded small-leaved plants are balanced by mounds of succulents, including several forms of Aeonium arboreum ‘Atropurpureum’ and silvery Cotelydon orbiculata ‘Silver Wave’. New Zealand natives Phormium tenax cultivars and Cordyline australis contrast with their sword-like leaves. Fiona learned about gravel gardening as a student with British modern design guru John Brookes. Above: The land around Karkalla is naturally undulating, but this long driveway had been flattened for expedience. “People used to fly up the driveway and arrive in a cloud of dust,” recalls Fiona. David restored the track, in a tunnel of local indigenous Allocasuarina verticillata, into a series of rises and dips that slow vehicles down. Instead of putting your foot on the gas, “the experience of moving over the land is a way of respecting the land.” Above: The garden’s boundary is invisible when native trees and shrubs are used. With small leaves to minimize evaporation, silvery Olearia axillaris, coast beard heath (Leucopogon parviflorus), and trees such as black paper bark (Melaleuca lanceolata) and coast tea tree (Leptospermum laevigatum) direct the eye toward the oceat at Bass Strait, just beyond the Mornington Peninsula National Park.

Lessons Learned: See Plants in a Different Way

Fiona’s planting choices were almost entirely influenced by the landscape around her, in the national park near her house. Here are three ideas for landing on the right plant palette.

• Notice how plants paint a picture. “It’s really important to use your eyes when you observe nature, but also when you see other people’s gardens,” says Fiona. “To try to look at that garden analytically, and work out why it is that you’re drawn to it.”

• Be open-minded. Step away from set ideas and look a bit deeper. Says Fiona: “A lot of my consideration when it comes to planting is about foliage color and shape—and also plant habit, rather than, Has it got purple-blue flowers?.”

• Go for full immersion. Hiking is good and camping is even better for learning about plants. When she was thirteen, Fiona spent a whole year living out in nature with her classmates. “I started looking at the bush [trees, brush, and scrub] with completely different eyes.” Fiona is now permanently drawn to spending time in coastal and alpine environments (and not always in Australia), noting the adaptations of plants in surviving harsh conditions, and seeing how they might work in her own garden.

For more on our new book, see:

Meanwhile, on Remodelista: Outside-In Design

Tue, 30 Sep 2025 08:00:12 +0000

As fall settles in and the air turns brisk and cool, we bid a slow, reluctant farewell to the garden (at least until spring). For those who live in homes designed to foster a better connection between nature and humans, though, the turning of the season may feel markedly less distressing. Below, three recent examples, spotted over on our sibling site Remodelista, of biophilic homes.

Above: Architect Takashi Yanai’s Los Angeles midccentury bungalow felt much more spacious after he opened up the back wall to the yard. Read all about his kitchen here, and see his entire home here. Photographs by Ye Rin Mok, from Creative Spaces.

Above: Floor-to-ceiling pivot doors help blur the line between outdoors and indoors in this new build by Lovell Burton. Photograph by Rory Gardiner, courtesy of Lovell Burton, from An Architect Couple’s New Extension Welcomes All.

Above: Easy access to the garden from this eat-in kitchen by Architecture for London. Photographs by Lorenzo Zandri, from The Low Energy House: 10 Ideas to Steal from an Eco-Conscious Retrofit of a 1907 Townhouse.

See also:

13 Pretty Plants You May Not Know Are Invasive

Mon, 29 Sep 2025 08:00:23 +0000

We’ve all done it: planted something we love only to learn, sometimes years later, that it is invasive where we live. In many cases, we can be forgiven. If a nursery is selling it, the message conveyed is that all is well. There are fewer excuses now, when home research has never been easier and when awareness of invasive species has never been higher. Despite that, invasive plants are still being sold by many growers, and the desire for some of them sometimes overrides our internal ethicist. This list of 13 invasive plants includes some well known and understandably appealing garden ornamentals. Do not plant them, and do remove them if you are currently harboring plants whose spread alters and harms local ecosystems. An invasive plant does not stay home—it travels: by roots, runner, fruit, and seed.

But what about…?

Above: Japanese knotweed in bloom.

First, a disclaimer: this list of invasive plants is by no means complete and does not include plants like mugwort, Japanese knotweed, and garlic mustard, since we’re assuming (fingers crossed) that their notoriety precedes them and that they are probably not ornamentally tempting. But, by all means, add plants you feel should be addressed, in the comments.

Butterfly Bush

Above: Butterfly bush attracts butterflies but outcompetes native plants that feed their larvae.

One of the most tempting invasive plants is butterfly bush. It smells delicious, is pretty, blooms repeatedly, and is irresistible to butterflies. What’s not to love? Consider, then, that invasive Buddleja davidii excels at producing tens of thousands of lightweight, easily dispersed seeds per flowerhead, outcompeting native flowering shrubs whose leaves are essential food for butterfly larvae. While the nectar of butterfly bush attracts adult butterflies, this shrub is not a host plant for their caterpillars, which cannot feed on its foliage. Bear it mind that while newer, so-called less-fertile butterfly bush cultivars exist, they still produce seed, just less of it. Avoid.

Plant native flowering shrubs, instead. Sweet pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia) is a good alternative to butterfly bush, with flowers, scent, and a lot of butterfly action in late summer.

Japanese Honeysuckle

Above: Japanese honeysuckle smells wonderful but smothers shrubs and trees.

As appealing as its perfumed flowers may be, Lonicera japonica is now a serious botanical thug in wild places where it is not native. The scrambling vine uses shrubs and trees for support, creating dense, shaded thickets that alter the local ecosystem by smothering native seedlings. It is spread via its fruit, vexingly ripe during fall migration. Birds disperse the seed as they move south. Japanese honeysuckle also reproduces vegetatively, via above-ground runners and below-ground rhizomes.

An alternative to Japanese honeysuckle is of course a native honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens (but no scent, sorry). It is very attractive to hummingbirds. For a scented alternative, try star jasmine, (Trachelospermum jasminoides) or bee-friendly yellow jessamine (Carolina jasmine—Gelsemiun sempervirens).

Chinese and Japanese Wisteria

Above: Chinese wisteria at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

I admire the long panicles of Wisteria sinensis and W. floribunda dripping from pergolas in botanical gardens. And then I drive up the Palisades Parkway in New York and New Jersey and see the same vines cascading from the bent branches of oak, maple, and sycamore. It’s beautiful, but it’s deadly: the strong vines of this wisteria cut through bark and cause gradual death, by girdling. Their smothering habit also alters native forest ecologies. Wisteria spreads vegetatively, growing easily from cuttings and new shoots, and by seeds, which explode from their pods when ripe. Seeds also travel along waterways, to germinate downstream.

The substitute for introduced wisteria is an easy one. Grow the North American species, Wisteria frutescens. Its flowers appear after leaves have formed, and its amethyst panicles are fat and compact with blooms.

Lily of the Valley

Above: Lily of the valley can create dense carpets on woodland floors, displacing native wildflowers.

Invasive plants can be diminutive: Still on the subject of scent, alluring lily of the valley has wandered into forests beyond its garden confines. Convallaria majalis is native to Europe but relishes the high shade of arboreal North America, where it is an aggressive spreader.

Native alternatives to lily of the valley include Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense), other species of Maianthemum, like false Solomon’s seal, as well as native Solomon’s seal (Polygonatum biflorum).

Rosa Multiflora

Above: Rosa multiflora produces thousands of flowers followed by thousands of rosehips. Above: The tiny but myriad rosehips of Rosa multiflora are relished by birds.

Pretty and floriferous Rosa multiflora is now a fixture of many Northeastern hedgerows, and woodland edges. This rambling, sharp-spined shrub roots where its canes touch the ground, and is also spread by rosehip-eating birds. Like Japanese honeysuckle and privet, the fruit is ripe during fall migration. And off it goes.

Substitute once-blooming multiflora rose with native rose species.

Beach Rose

Above: Beach rose is native to East Asia.

Invasive plants can persuade us that they belong: such is the case with attractive, large-hipped beach rose, Rosa rugosa, which is often assumed to be a shoreline native. It is not. It has simply taken hold, impervious to salt spray and wind. Its plump hips are stuffed with seeds, and these are spread by animals and birds. (They’re good for humans to eat and you may collect as many as you like. Try our fermented rose hip syrup recipe.)

Instead of beach rose, plant native Rosa virginiana.

Privet

Above: Privet’s ripe drupes are eaten by birds; but that is how the invasive shrub spreads.

Often used in hedging, species of Ligustrum are spread further afield, every year, by birds and other animals that eat their fall-ripe drupes. Shearing the shrubs flowering after bloom can help prevent fruit-set.

Alternatives to privet include native flowering shrubs that respond well to shearing, like ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius) and arrowwood viburnum, (Viburnum dentatum).

Burning Bush

Above: Winged euonymus is also known as burning bush.

Saturated with scarlet in autumn, winged euonymus (Euonymus alatus), or burning bush, is striking. But is has also infested forests, tolerating full shade and outcompeted only by barberry. This is a plant to dig out at once. Its prodigious fruit are its main form of dispersal but it also reproduces via suckers.

For blazing fall color, substitute native blueberry or chokeberry (Aronia species), both beneficial to humans and wildlife.

Autumn Olive, Oleaster, Japanese Silverberry

Above: The ripe, edible fruit of autumn olives.

Seriously invasive autumn olive is Elaeagnus umbellata, whose heavily fragrant spring flowers are often called oleaster (even though that plant is invasive E. angustifolia, or Russian olive, whose fruits are oblong and green rather than juicily red). Either way, these attractive silver-leafed small trees are responsible for diminished biodiversity where they flourish.

As an alternative to autumn olive try Amelanchier species (for spring flowers and summer fruit) or pussy willow (Salix discolor) for willowy leaves and bonus spring catkins.

Barberry

Barberry was—and still is—used frequently in professional landscape design. Its spring flowers, tightly clipped form in formal settings, and fall berries made it appealing. But the thorny story of invasive Japanese and common barberry keeps developing. Aside from cluttering forest floors with their densely-branched thickets—in so doing altering the growing conditions for native plants and the insect, bird and animal life that has evolved with them—it

Extra, Extra: Two Exclusive Discounts at Shops We Love, September Edition

Sun, 28 Sep 2025 08:00:20 +0000

Ahead, exclusive, just-for-R/G-subscribers coupon codes: Find earthy ceramics, woven baskets, crisp textiles, and other autumnal necessities for the house and garden from two of our all-time faves.

Above: The Baba Tree Tall Storage Basket, exclusive to Goodee.

Over at Goodee, R/G subscribers can take 15 percent off sitewide (excluding ecoBirdy, PET Lamp, and Sale) from September 28 through October 5. Use code RemodelistaGoodee15; limit one use per customer.
And at The Post Supply, take 20 percent off now through November 1; use code REMODELISTAxTPS at checkout.

Current Obsessions: Layered and Lived-In

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 08:00:21 +0000

Ahead this weekend: A lovingly lived-in house in Finland, checkered blankets, a newly opened garden in Philly, and some fungi Halloween inspiration for good measure.

And if you’re considering pre-ordering our new book Gardenista: The Low-Impact Garden: From Oct. 1 through Oct. 13, our publisher is offering a 20 percent discount when you order via their site. Use code: GARDENISTA20 at checkout.

Take care, and read on:

Above: A breakfast corner from Kitchen of the Week: A 1960s Los Angeles Ranch Home Gets a Modern, Earthy Glow-up, featuring autumnal ceramics and a clutch of dark flowers. Photograph by Shade Degges, styled by Lisa Rowe, courtesy of Patrick Bernatz.

The reviews are in for the newly opened Calder Gardens in Philadelphia: Alexander Calder x Piet Oudolf = brilliant.
This photo of a backpack-wearing dog scattering seeds will make your day. (Hat tip: Kier.)
A plea from Maya Lin and Perfect Earth Project. (To learn more about eco lawncare, read this.)
Here are pics of people dressed up as mushrooms for the Telluride Mushroom Festival. You’re welcome.
What sound says autumn to you? Is it this? (Hat tip: Annie.)
Hahahaha.
We love everything about this house in Finland that’s “lived in, and lived in well.”
Breaking news: Nordic Knots just released a bedding collection. “So much of the bedding market seems to be full of unmade beds, croissants, rumpled linens,” CEO and cofounder Fabian Berglund told T mag in this week’s T List. “We iron our sheets. We want our bed to be perfectly made. Like a great outfit, put together with intention.” We’ve always been team unfussy bedding—but for a cozy blanket like this, consider us curious.
Ooo, admiring this limited-edition collab from Tulip, the ingenious light cover-up co.
A dozen designers on the rise, from the London Design Festival.
“I like these rustic lights,” reports Margot. “They remind me of children’s book illustrations.”
On butter molds, courtesy of our friend Ajiri Aki.
Love this signature (sorry) curtain.
And Pottery Barn goes across the pond.
Remember Fan’s story about sunken baths? She just came across more inspired examples.
Last, find Alexa’s helpful roundup of BPA-free coffee makers here.