Garden Design

Landscape Design: Adapting the Best from What You See Around Town

The best garden ideas come from your neighbors. Anything growing in their garden is suited to our ecosystem. DNR Butterfly Garden DesignWe all see hundreds of landscapes, in all seasons while we’re walking, biking or driving around town. Every one of them - no matter how like or unlike our own yard - has something to teach us about style, placement of basic elements, balance of seasonal interest, planting techniques and even about maintenance.

All that’s required is a process for analyzing what you see. We love the Department of Natural resources garden design website as a starting point - go native!

Garden Color: Tried and True from Start to Finish

Here’s help for Midwestern gardeners who want color every day, all season. It’s for those who find they say too often, “I wish you had seen the garden last week.” All gardens have ups and downs. Sometimes we expand a garden so fast we can’t keep up with the care, yet every garden can give pleasure all year. Learning about peak bloom periods can make this happen for you. This is a non-trivial endevour - there is A LOT to learn, the U is a good place to start.

The Dark And Light Side Of Foliage

Colorful foliage has become very popular in the garden for its ability to provide instant color. Variegated leaves can become an eye catching focal point. But is it colorful chaos? Or colorful coordination? There are many shades of green.

Plants That Love To Live

While ecological science is becoming more and more important in choosing plants for landscapes, aesthetics and maintenance remain a huge part of design reality. A weed is a plant that's not where you want it to be. Native and non-native selections can work together, providing diverse, compatible and pleasing gardens that you will enjoy for years to come.