Monthly Archives: November 2011

Christmas Decorating Count Down

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Holiday
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I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I spent the entire day with my family eating too much, watching football teams I don’t really care about and catching up on Pinterest. Friday and Saturday were spent scouring for vintage finds and shopping down High Street.

My relaxing weekend however was quickly over since today starts the rush for Holiday decorating. With the majority of clients wishing to have everything up the week after Thanksgiving, our week will be busy with wreaths, garland and lights. A part of our decorating tools is a large binder of inspirational holiday images we have collected over the years. Here is a few to get you inspired:

A client’s house from last year. 
I like the use of a non-traditional color and hanging the greens vertically compared to swagging.
Image for Canada House & Home.

Don’t forget to decorating your containers for the holidays. Keeping the soil from your fall plantings allows you to add  cut greens and ornamental twigs, while your topiary forms add height.
Image from Canada House & Home.
Wreaths can also be used inside, but will not live as long.
Image from Canada House & Home.

You can also add greens to your boxwood containers (however can be done better than the image above).
I like how the garland is hung around the whole entrance, not just the door to give maximum impact.
Image from Veranda.

Example of simple garland and ribbon down stairs. Sometimes simple is nice and simple.
Image from Country Living.

Small Business Saturday – Nov 26, Columbus Ohio

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Central Ohio
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This Saturday (November 26) is the second annual Small Business Saturday. The movement was created to remind people to shop and support local businesses during the busiest shopping weekend of the year. As a small business owner I appreciate the effort to support local entrepreneurs. To find small businesses in  your area, check out the Small Business Saturday Facebook page and read more here.

If you live in Central Ohio, I have pulled together my preferred Small Business Saturday Shopping list. These are shops  and eats I often visit on my Saturdays. I hope you eat some yummy food and find some great holiday gifts for others (or yourself).

North Market: Taste of Belgium, Omega Bakery, Clever Crow Pizza and Jeni’s 
Start your morning with amazing local food vendors, and my personal favorite Taste of Belgium. Yummy warm, crunchy Belgium waffles that do not require a knife and fork. You can add delicious toppings, but I personally prefer it plain. While at the North Market visit the other amazing vendors like Omega Bakery and Clever Crow Pizza to name a few. There are quite a few Jeni’s Ice Cream locations in Columbus, but no matter what a stop for locally made ice cream is a must. My current favorite is the Black and Tan Sunday.

Taste of Belgium
Clever Crow Pizza

Short North: Rose Bredl, Milk Bar, Tigertree, and The Mercantile
After you are full with pastries and coffee, move up to the Short North for some of the best shopping in Columbus. Visit by friend Mary at Rose Bredl for the best selection beautiful florals, Khall home fragrances and Camp de flori. Further up the street is Milk Bar and Tigertree. Milk Bar has great clothing for guys that you will find nowhere else in Central Ohio. Tigertree has moved into a large location and has great housewares, clothing and vintage finds. It is the best stop if you are looking for a gift because there is something for everyone. And for your final stop, The Grandview Mercantile and Revue Resale. They know James by name there we have visited so often. The a lot of the unique items in our home have come from here and I just picked up two vintage chrome chemistry stools for our work office.

Rose Bredl
Tiger Tree

North High Street/Clintonville: Ray Ray’s, tatohead and Mix Home.
Ok by now you should be hungry and I recommend two stops; Ray Ray’s for the best Brisket EVER! and a new find Tatoheads. I really have no idea what the covered fries where that we at this past Saturday, but I am stalking the truck to have it again. For a little shopping visit Mix Home which is new to the Clintonville area. I recently picked up a Bold and Noble print for our bathroom and am eyeing a leather chesterfield chair.

Mix:Home, Image from here.

Ok, that is the list and should be easy to do within one Saturday morning or afternoon.
Happy shopping and thanks for supporting local Ohio!

Chateau de Wideville – Gardens

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Uncategorized
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There are few places in the world that have meticulously maintained hand racked stone walkways, clipped hedges and maincured lawns as Chateau de Wideville, the French estate of fashion designer Valentino. The Chateau is located 30 minutes outside Pairs on 120 acres, filled with allees, old and new rose gardens, veggie garden and a field of lavender. The house was built circa 1600 and was the home of Claude de Bullion during the reign of Louis XIII and the gardens match the opulence of the era.

Here is a mixed perennial boarder which includes Roses, Lady’s Mantle, Sweet Pea and Salvia. 
Image by Robert Fairer.
The Front lawn of the home. Notice the striping in the turf. That is precision. On the terrace you can see topiary standards in Versailles planters. 
Image from here 
Here is a photo of the rose and veggie gardens. In the bottom you can see lavender used as a hedge. Also along the top are pear and quince arbors.
Image from Vogue. Photographed by Robert Fairer.
Here you can see the lawn that leads up to the front of the house. Again the perfect striping in the turf . I do love a nicely clipped lawn
Image from Vanity Fair.

Inspiration found via Anston Paving Stones

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Boxwood of the week
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I like to look at all different type of magazines for inspiration, I cannot count how many different magazines we receive at the house each month from garden design, lifestyle to interior design. During the winter months I like to get magazines from Australia since they are in the mist of their summer months and feature some amazing gardens. In one magazine I came across an ad for Anston Paving Stones (see my last  Boxwood of the week post).

I am skipping a boxwood of the week so you can enjoy the following images of designers using Anston Paving Stones in their designs. Have a great weekend!

Design by Robert Boden
Design by Virginia Kennett
Design by Virginia Kennett
Design by Virginia Kennett
Design by Scott Brown

Korean Velvet Grass

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Ground Cover
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I came across this image of Korean Velvet Grass (Zoysia tenuifolia) blanketing a front yard. The plant was mentioned for its turf like appearance, drought tolerance and beauty when left un-mowed. Hardy in zones 9-11, this plant would not thrive in Central Ohio but would be great used in the South and South West.

The grass will grow right up to tree roots, even in shady spots. Below the mounds are smaller than the picture above, I assume the more mature the grass gets the larger the mounds become.

Below is a detail of Korean Velvet Grass from a supplier out of Australia,  you can see the detail of the amazing rolling mounds and even how it is growing up the rocks in the background.

Images (1) Organic Gardening vol 58:3 and full article online here. (2) florzNursery (3) Tranquil Heavens

McCullough’s Holiday Idea Book

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Holiday
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Last week our clients received our first Holiday Idea Book in the mail. Since we no longer have the retail space we missed the opportunity to share our creative ideas for holiday with our clients and thought the Idea book could help. Even though we could only share a selection of ideas, we really hope that this gets everyone excited about decorating with fresh greens. I hope to share some of the work later this season here on the blog and thinking of Holiday 2012.

Click on the images below to see larger images or if you would like a copy mailed to you please let me know!

Advice – Call before you dig

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Advice
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My next door neighbor works for our cable company installing and repairing fiber optic lines. The other night after work he was telling me about having to repair a very expensive line not once, but twice because a tree company was attempting to plant some trees and never called to confirm line location.

At work we make a call to 811, Call Before You Dig (CBYD) at almost once a day for client properties and I have called at my own house for more than one landscape project. The service is free and with a little planning early in your week, they will mark your yard in time for your weekend project. This simple step will save you personal harm and inconvenience.

Even if you are not doing the work yourself, make sure the company you have hired has your yard marked before digging. It will save you the trouble of getting important lines fixed.