After I created the original “Plant”ation Shutter Planter I SWORE I would never undertake a project like that again (might have sworn WHILE undertaking it too)! Sewing custom pockets from felt, burlap, faux moss netting and weed barrier fabric was a nightmare! By the time I finished it, I REALLY wished I hadn’t donated it to the Conservation Garden Park Gala for the auction- after all that work, I wanted to keep it! However, I recently discovered an amazing product…
Whew! The last week was a whirlwind! I actually LOVE the Home & Garden Show. I’m an extrovert so talking to hundreds of people about plants etc. is a lot of fun for me! This is the first year in the last five that I am not designing privately and thus was not trolling for clients at the show- I just got to enjoy it with no stress attached! I found that there just was not enough time to be…
And this time I don’t mean me with Ahmed! The show was BACK this year with huge crowds and great ideas. One change was that there were more small landscapes by landscapers I haven’t seen at the show before. It was great to see how much interest they could pack into some pretty tight spaces! They set up the landscaper dream gardens a little differently this year and I liked the change. Instead of a hodge podge, they created an overall…
The 2012 Utah Nursery and Landscape Association Green Conference was held this past week and what a week it was! I’ll write more about the event and provide some great photos but, for today, I want to talk about the most significant moment for me at the conference- meeting landscape legend, Topher Delaney. Topher Delaney’s work is as unique as her name. She pulls off designs and installations that most of us would never even attempt to get away with!…
Having lived for a time in the Pacific Northwest, I got spoiled. There are so many lovely nurseries there and most of them sport display gardens. Heaven on earth! Sadly, most nurseries here in Utah aren’t set up the same way- but there are a few! One such nursery is Glover located in West Jordan. It’s one of my favorite nurseries for a number of reasons and I’ve spent a lot of money there over the years buying for clients…
I will just say right now that I hate the phrase ‘whimsy’ as, to me, it’s just a polite way of saying “tacky”. That’s probably because of all the design styles for gardens, a ‘whimsical’ style using re-purposed elements is the HARDEST to get right. It requires an amazing eye and a keen aesthetic that’s honestly hard to come by- even for those who excel at other design styles. However, every now and then you happen upon a garden…
If you’re anything like me, you’ve driven down I-15 through Kayesville you’ve probably seen the signs for the Utah Botanic Center. You’ve probably even thought about stopping by someday- and you’re probably on your way somewhere else and don’t have time to just drop in when you pass. I’m going to convince you with 7 pictures (and really that’s overkill- could do it in 3) why the garden merits a visit- even if you have to make special plans to…
I am very fortunate to work for an awesome garden where they let me explore all kinds of interesting planting ideas. We have our very first fundraising gala event coming up in a few weeks and I’ve been hard at work creating some cool garden art pieces for the auction (which I’ll share in a future post). I’ve been too busy DOING to be blogging but I hope there are still a few readers out there! The theme of our…
It’s true that you can have a wonderful, lawn-free landscape BUT it also requires careful design in order to ensure you don’t end up with a cluttered, hot mess! Why is designing a lawnless landscape so challenging? Well, to understand that we must first understand why lawns are so appealing in the first place- beyond the obvious recreational reasons. In the above space which I designed for a client a few years back, the dry river bed serves as the…
If you are looking to up your game in the garden, there are a number of free community classes being offered around the Wasatch Front as well as down South over the coming months. Here’s a look at the most recent offerings and I will SHAMELESSLY pimp out my own classes too! Conservation Garden Park (West Jordan) Classes: I will be teaching “Advanced Waterwise Landscape Design” on May 18th and “Creating a Waterwise Landscape on a Budget” class on May…
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