I start each spring watching and anticipating each new bloom, watching the succession of daffodils and hellebore blooming to the burst of the foliage on trees. Now that I am surrounded by blooms and fresh greens, taking the time to walk the gardens each week and cutting blooms allows me to pause and appreciate the ever evolving selection. Right … READ MORE
Tag Archives: central ohio
How to Train an Espalier
Over the pas few years, we have planted our share of espaliers trees. For our projects, I prefer to use established trees, with about 18-24 inch root balls. This gives us a tree that is already established in its form, still allows us to plant close to a wall and provides the client with instant gratification of an established tree at a good value. … READ MORE
Designer’s Block- Ground Plain Inspiration
This is the time of the year when I need to be on my game, the most creative, innovative….. However this the point in the year when I feel most removed and beaten down by the winter. To combat this “Designer’s Block” I peruse through images…. Pinterest, Instagram, and pictures from my travels. Garden visiting is so vital to my … READ MORE
Looking back: Container Designs 2015
Finally, we have snow and below freezing temperatures. This mild winter has allowed the team to continue with projects up until Christmas, and now finally we have a chance to breath. 2015 was a busy year, and unfortunately I did not always remember to bring my camera to the job site. And as I look back at blog post, I did not share much … READ MORE
Using Barn Foundation Stone in the Landscape
Earlier in July, we visited Malabar Farms in Lucas, Ohio. The farm’s claim to fame is the home of Louis Bromfield, Pulitzer Prize winner author and the location of Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall’s wedding. Besides these notable characteristics, Bromfield and Malabar are notable for pioneering sustainable agriculture practices. The farm is now a State Park, with miles of trails, … READ MORE
What’s in Bloom This Week
We have had a wet spring and summer to say the least. Besides making our working schedule crazy (and muddy) it has created for a plethora of blooms in the garden. Today before the storm, I walked through the garden with my wife and my Felcos and trimmed a few blooms into an arrangement. There is no science to the collection other … READ MORE
Selecting Containers: Size and Scale
Here is my third installment on container gardens with selecting a container based on size and scale. This post has taken me over a week to write as I found explaining scale outside a specific environment tricky. You see images of amazing containers, but its difficult to judge the exact size of a container based on the size of plants alone. … READ MORE
Embracing Container Gardens – Part One
The next series of posts on Thinking Outside the Boxwood are going to be more of rant than normal as I attempt to solidify the impact container gardens have in residential gardens. By no means are container gardens a ground breaking concept, there are hundreds of books from edible containers, instant containers and succulent containers to name just a few. But the more I travel … READ MORE
Containers – Look for Something Different
I admit I was a bit jealous over the weekend watching everyone’s Instagram posts from Trade Secrets and even worst, the mad rush of finishing RHS Chelsea Flower Show gardens (have you seen photos of Dan Pearson’s garden yet?) I was able to console myself with a trip to Dawes Arboretum and Springfield Antique show with the family. At Dawes, I found a … READ MORE