Today I met with a new client to document the area in which I would be helping them – replacing their existing deck and the garden in the immediate vicinity. I followed the owner around on the deck as we noted what bad shape it is in. Then I found out just how bad the [...]
Vanessa's garden design musings
Category Archives: Uncategorized
I can hear the robins out there…
Snowdrops and Cyclamen are heralding spring in the midst of winter. Today is the opening day of the NW Flower Show in Seattle. For me and my good friend, Bonnie, it means an annual pilgrimage to the show beginning early tomorrow morning. This is the shot across the bow of winter and our first fix [...]
What a month!
December 2009 was quite a month. Besides the usual holiday hustle, we had a week’s worth of freezing weather and then a couple of days of snow. Icy days I was prepared for. I covered things that needed covering out in the garden, except for the 8 foot tall Eucalyptus that died back to the [...]
Staying ahead of Mother Nature
The front walk focal point project is at a standstill for a bit while I finish putting plants in the ground to stay ahead of Mother Nature. We are expecting our first hard freeze this coming weekend. So my attention has turned to assuring that plants that could be borderline hardy have their roots in [...]
Ruthless Garden Editing
It’s hard to believe that today begins the month of November, but it’s undeniably here. In my own garden I am busily moving plants around that either did not perform well in their current sites or would look better somewhere else. This fall I am doing what I wanted to do last fall and spring, [...]
Batten Down the Hatches!
Today is a Pacific NW stormy kind of day. Lots of wind and rain! When it’s pouring outside, it is an excellent time to see where the water is going (or staying) and plan how to change it, should you need to. Since developers put in new houses on the property behind us, we have [...]
There’s a chill in the air…
Any gardener knows that when crisp autumn air arrives, it’s time to move plants. And I’m no different. This morning I transplanted 2 large Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’ to the edge of the Ravine View garden. I have planted others over the past couple of years to define the edge of that garden – one side wild [...]
It’s fall – time for garden changes
Starting over with the lawn…
Banana trees don’t read books
Banana pups start life with no added water and little sun.
Back to the future…
Greetings readers! I have a new blog format and I’m in a learning curve. Yikes! I have had a bit on my plate the past 2 months. I finished the draft of my book and turned it into Timber Press. I finished the planning of the APLD International Conference with our APLD committee. Now I [...]