Over the Fourth holiday we are traveling to Niagara Falls and Toronto with some friends. Even though I have lived with in 6 hours driving from the falls the majority of my life, I have never been. Of course we plan ride Maid of the Mist and enjoy all the standard tourist attractions, but we also plan a visit to the Niagara Falls Botanical Gardens. I have  feeling there will too much for us to do on our short trip, we will need to plan another visit. I will share my photos after the trip but here are some I found while planning the trip. Also if you have any recommendations for activities etc, please let me know!

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here.

Image from here .

Summer is the time for outdoor dinning. We eat most of our meals outside during the summer, except on the hottest days. There are a few standards for making sure you are ready for ourdoor dining (table and chairs), but endless options for the materials and layout.

Using tall hedges surrounding the dining area allows you to feel like separate room and shields you from neighbors. The rough stone floor with wide joints can be tricky wobbly surfaces for chairs, but beautiful none the less. Something more like a rustic bench could be easier for this surface. Image from Martha Stewart Living – March 2007



Brick paving is coming for our area of Ohio, and makes for a even surface for dining table and chairs. Also placing your patio under a large tree provides shade and a place to hang lights or lanterns when it gets darker. Image from Veranda Magazine – September 2009 Designer Kathy Ireland

Even if you live in the city, you can still add greenery and walls to your patio create a room. Also using herbs in pots are a great on a table for using in cooking and for adding additional fragrance during your meal.. Image from Veranda Magazine September 2009

Adding an arbor also helps to provide shade and allows you to define the dining space. Adding climbing plants (like Wisteria and  Hydrangea) will provide color and additional shade. Also fireplaces are wonderful addition for chilly nights and making desert. reference of image unknown.

Another example of a table under an arbor. The spacing of the slats alters the amount of shade, and the use of white columns makes it look more traditional. Also blue stone paving is a nice smooth surface for setting heavy teak dining chairs. Image from House and Garden Magazine – Year  unknown

Another example of using trees (this case olive trees) to define the boundaries of the dining area. This space uses crushed granite for the surface and can be a cheaper option to natural stone paving. Image from Elle Decor July/August 2008



using an awning for shade is another alternative to arbors for shade and allow you to add some additional color to the patio space. This patio shows the flow for keeping the dining area close to a lounge for easy transition for after dinner converstation . Image from Martha Stewart Living – Year unknown



Porches are excellent places for outdoor dining. The rustic benches would be perfect on the rough natural stone pavers in the first image as well as seen hear. Image from Elle Decor June 2009

Happy first day of summer! It is a very humid and hot summer day in Central Ohio, so I am dreaming of cooling off in a pool. Here are some inspirational pools to daydream about as you crank up the AC and celebrate Summer!

The rose bushes in terracotta containers help to define the pool area and the large weeping trees beyond provide much needed shade. Image from Elle Decor June 2005

The crisp white Hydrangea’s in matching white containers are a beautiful repetition around this Hampton pool. Elle Decor June 2006

Pool of Laura Fisher. staircase down to pool of granite and bluestone. I love when a pool is lined with stone and then turf. It seems less formal and the blue of the water and green grass is always cooling to view Image from House & Garden – year ?

Again with the natural stone and turf pool surround. This pool also includes iron day beds instead of the standard lounge chairs. Not really my taste. Image Elle Decor June 2009



This pools is as simple as they come, with stone coping and grass and fields beyond. I think this came from house beautiful – year?



This pool was designed by Scott Johnson. The pool house is sided in Nevada quartzite, the pools coping is flagstone, Japanese garden stones at the entry and granite boulders around the edge. The bottom of the pool is a pale taupe to make the water appear as crystal blue as possible. Image from Garden Design – year ?

 

This is 1/2 of my favorite pool image. This pool also features a rustic white barn on the pool terrace. This pool also surrounded by turf with natural stone pavers. I also love the containers located within the turf area and the grade change for the pool area. Image from Elle Decor July/August 2008



You might see the pattern for the types of pools I like. I love the boxwoods flanking this pool and the view beyond. Image from here

Another favorite is this one, I love the levels, the surrounding landscape and is a natural pond filtration. Image from here.

Finally on Saturday before heading down to Toledo, Ohio we stopped in Gross Point. I have heard about the beautiful homes in Gross Pointe for years, and the quick trip did not disappoint. The home were amazing, but the landscapes could use some improvement. I need to go back when I have more than an hour to spend walking around.

Yellow Door, with blue and white containers.

Privet hedge along a drive that borders the sidewalk.

An amazing house,  Love the black and white and the scale was crazy.

Back view of the same house.

Guest house to the same house. Love how the plantings frame the entrance.

While in Michigan we stayed outside Troy, MI and driving to our hotel we passed this amazing farm house and modern building with native plants surrounded by large office buildings on a four lane plus road. With the large trailer behind the truck we u-turned and stopped to look around. The building is home to the Kresge Foundation, founded in 1924 to support nonprofit organizations.

In 2004 the foundation demolished the previous building and took the steps to rebuild using sustainable methods. The building was completed in 2006 and was granted Platinum-level LEED rating in 2008 and numerous other awards. There is a lot of information on the project on their website and even a case study document with tons of information.

Architect – Valerio Dewalt Train Associates
Landscape Architects – Conservation Design Forum

Example of the historic buildings on the property.

Showcase of the new building mixed with the historic red barns. The cages filled with stone act as retaining walls. These are often used on shore lines to stop eroding.

This is the main walkway into the offices. The stonewall is retaining the foundation to the barn. The walkway is a permeable paver that allows rain to drain properly.

The stone wall continues around the barn. The parking space signs read Hybrid car parking and carpool parking only.

Surrounding the conference room is this pond from watershed in the area. Again natural plantings surround the water.

A lower outdoor lounge area. This is the view from a stone walkway above.

James enjoying the walkways around the office. You can see in the background the other building surrounding the complex.

A great fence on the property.

On Friday I traveled up to Detroit with the family to pick up some containers at Detroit Garden Works for a client. Since we needed to be in Toledo, Ohio the next day we made it a mini-holiday. We did not do any planning, but asked if there were any nice neighborhoods near Detroit Garden Works to walk and shop and they pointed us to Birmingham, MI.

We spent the afternoon walking , stopping at garage sales and visiting shops. We brought James along for the trip and he had a wonderful time at the play ground. We loved the homes and gardens in Birmingham. It was an older town, where people have maintained the beautiful older homes, and in a few cases demolished to build some good and some not so good looking homes. Over all it was very inspiring walk, only noticed the lack in color in the landscapes over all. Below here are some of the homes I liked.

This house was a renovation, but was sided in French Limestone. The landscape to the curb was beautiful and made the  house look larger.

Classic wraparound porch with an equally classic landscape of boxwood and pear trees.

This front yard was surrounded by large trees, making it a perfect shade garden. There was no turf in the entire front yard.

An example of a tear down to build an ugly house. Also an example of good intentions with the landscape, but not executed well.

I am obsessed with this house. The entire house was painted black – siding, gutters, casings, shutters and doors. EVERYTHING. There were a few select hits of gold on the lighting and house numbers. The landscape was equally risky, again with no turf just plants. Notice on the fence in the first photo the Black Ravens? They were placed on all four corners of the fence.

This house was another fun landscape with some great garden art.

My favorite house of the whole trip was this Japaneses garden.  The winding stone driveway with placed larger stones.  The house was equally amazing with the shutters on the balcony on sliders.

This was a matching pair of two modern homes. This is a photo of the garage with the home behind with a court yard entrance.

This is another example of a house with the landscaping to the sidewalk. The tall evergreens allowed for a very private front yard, and made a huge statement when approaching the home from the street.

The scale of this house was 2x times that of the others in the area. I loved the bunting from Memorial day on the porches and the boxwood standards in the zinc containers. This house had a huge side yard behind a tall privet hedge that I would have liked to see.