The Backyards Edit
Let a midcentury house set the garden’s proportions
Borrow the relationships of the architecture rather than a collection of period props.
Gardens & living
Good ideas take root.
Gardens through the seasons, places to gather, and practical ideas for making yourself at home outside.
The Garden Notebook
Give a cottage garden a clear framework
Loose planting can feel intentional when paths, edges, and focal points stay legible.
The Backyards Edit
A desert-inspired palette begins with restraint
Explore warm surfaces and strong forms without copying plants that do not suit your site.
The Garden Notebook
Make a woodland edge feel like part of the garden
Create a deliberate transition between a sitting place and a more natural backdrop.
The Backyards Edit
Formal lines, loose planting
A useful middle ground between a rigid plan and an entirely informal garden.
The Considered Detail
Make the garden gate a proper threshold
The entrance can announce a change of pace with one well-resolved detail.
The Backyards Edit
How to give a large yard a human scale
Create a sequence of useful places instead of enlarging every feature.
The Planning Notebook
Use the off-season to make better backyard decisions
Turn a quieter period into a useful design notebook.
The Garden Notebook
Leave a garden handoff that someone can actually use
A short, specific note is better than a general request to look after everything.
The Garden Notebook
The first year is part of the garden design
Give a new planting an establishment plan and room to develop.
The Garden Notebook
An annual edit for the garden you already love
Make a few useful changes without treating every season as a redesign.
The Planning Notebook
Photograph the garden as a design tool
A consistent record reveals relationships that memory tends to smooth over.