THE ZEN GARDEN…A STRESS RELIEVING GARDENING STYLE

Tranquil. Peaceful. Calming. Elegant. The term the Japanese use for a Zen garden is “karensansui” and it means dry landscape. To achieve this look, a merging of gravel, rocks and boulders are used to create a vision that represents islands and mountains surrounded by an imagery of flowing water.  A Zen Garden is not a Japanese Garden. There are differences in the two. A Zen Garden will not include a pond, but a Japanese Garden typically will.

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FOR THOSE WHO HATE TO WATER THEIR LANDSCAPING

Summers in the southeast and mid-Atlantic states can often be very hot and very dry. Very dry. And when it feels like 100 degrees outside, the sun is beating on you and you look outside at all your beautiful flowers struggling outside, knowing you have to water them AGAIN, it can sometimes be a struggle. A real struggle. But you can make things easier on yourself by planting drought tolerant perennials to brighten your outdoors. There are plenty of varieties available. The color, size and texture variations are many and finding the right plants for your yard will be a fun adventure.

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PLANT OF THE WEEK – CANDY APPLE HYDRANGEA

Everyone loves a pretty hydrangea bush. Right? We certainly do, and nothing excites us as much as a new variety.  Candy Apple is just that plant. If you’re familiar with Limelight, then you’ll love Candy Apple. It has the same stunning lime green clusters that you see on Limelight, but with a much more compact form.

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COLOR TO MAKE YOUR SUMMER SCREAM… THE BRIGHTEST FLOWERS FOR YOUR SUMMER LANDSCAPE

Everyone loves the color that summer flowers bring to their yard. Whether you plant in the ground, in containers, or in hanging baskets, it’s the color of flowers that brings the excitement. Who doesn’t love a day spent at the nursery discovering new plants or remembering old favorites? We spent the past couple of weekends visiting a few of our favorite nurseries and these are the plants that caught our eye.

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SPRING IS ALMOST HERE…FLOWERS TO PLANT THIS SPRING

And with it, come lots of new plant varieties to excite you about the upcoming planting season. Since the start of the year, we’ve been looking to all of our favorite growers and have found more than a few that we’ve quickly fallen in love with. Since pictures are worth a thousand words and pictures of flowers are worth a million words, we’ve decided to share photos of those that captured our hearts.

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LOW MAINTENANCE LANDSCAPING – PLANTS TO MAKE LIFE EASIER

No one can deny that having a yard that looks admirable, enviable or approachable requires some level of maintenance. Often way more maintenance than you may be interested in investing. One way to cut back on the amount of time you need to spend on your landscape each week is to choose low maintenance plants for your landscaping. A favorite for both color and smell is lavender. It’s silvery leaves and purple blooms make it a lovely addition for any style garden, but it’s also extremely hardy and requires minimal attendance during the growing season. There are several varieties to choose from, some more compact than others.  Munstead is a compact shrub with mounding silver foliage and an abundance of blooms that create a border that’s a blanket of purple. Hidcote is another attractive variety.

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MUM IS THE WORD WHEN IT COMES TO BRIGHT, BEAUTIFUL FALL COLOR FOR YOUR YARD

When September arrives, we start to usher in Mum Season. Who doesn’t love the color and attention that mums bring to your yard? How you display them can really add an impact to your home’s appearance. Here are a few of our favorite displays we’ve found on the internet. Nothing is more welcoming than an abundance of color on your steps, and this set of steps really steps up its game. Large pots of mums, and lots of color. When mums are displayed with a group of pumpkins, you let everyone know fall is here.  

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