Susan Morrison's Blog, page 6
November 2, 2011
October 13, 2011
Book Review: Tomorrow's Garden
If you're an active participant in the world of landscape design or gardening, you no doubt include the word sustainability somewhere on your business card, blog or website. The lectures I attend (and give) as well as many of the books and articles I read do a wonderful job of explaining the havoc careless gardeners can wreck on the environment, when water is treated like an infinite commodity and chemicals are casually applied.
Of course, like most people, I don't like to be lectured at.
October 4, 2011
On the Set with Growing a Greener World Television
If you're not watching Growing a Greener World on PBS, then you're missing out. Not only is it a terrific show that goes beyond "before and after" makeover theatrics to tell stories about real gardeners from all over the country, but this weekend marked my debut as a guest! Co-author Rebecca Sweet (whose beautiful garden served as our backdrop) and I were part of the most recent episode Small Space Gardening, which is nowavailable for viewing right here.
This was only my second time to be ...
September 26, 2011
Garden Designers Roundtable: Designing an Outdoor Staircase
When designers discuss movement in the garden, we often focus on abstract interpretations of the word.
Ornamental grasses sway in the slightest breeze and add movement to the garden.
A well-placed focal point moves your eyes through the space.
I say these kinds of things to clients all the time, but for this month's Garden Designers Roundtable, the topic is Getting From Here to There, and I'm going to share a bit of Design 101 by focusing on an important and often misunderstood...
September 21, 2011
Wordless Wednesday: My garden, courtesy of Pixlr-o-matic
iPhone users have instagram but the rest of us who want to trick our photos out a bit (or even those of us who like to add effects after the fact) have had nothing similar. That's why as s a Droid user, I was thrilled to discover Pixlr-o-matic recently, a new (free!) program available online as well for Android and iOS devices. I've only had time to play around a little and stuck with the simplest effects, but here are some experiemental shots from my garden.
Anyone else care to...
September 8, 2011
Plants for Small Gardens: Abelia Kaleidoscope
courtesy of Monrovia
While many of us delight in the cheery bursts of seasonal color perennials and annuals add to a planting bed, we also know that a well-designed garden relies on evergreen shrubs to define its "bones." For small space gardeners, it can be challenging to find shrubs that grow less than 4' tall without the need for ruthless pruning. Enter Abelia 'Kaleidoscope', one of my go-to plants when designing for smaller gardens.
courtesy of Wallygrom
Hardy in USDA Zones 6-9, ...
August 22, 2011
Garden Designers Roundtable: The History of the American Lawn
Turf is the largest irrigated "crop" grown in the United States. There are approximately 30 million acres of lawn in the U.S. – roughly the size of the state of South Carolina. Annually, all those lawns use 80 million pounds of pesticides and 100 tons of fertilizer.
So how exactly did we get here?
A nation of copycats
To begin with, the history of lawns in America really starts in England. Unlike the warm summers we enjoy here, the cloudy, temperate English climate is ideal for turf. Even so, ...
August 16, 2011
Vertical Gardening Round Up
Have you noticed that immediately after you purchase a new car, you find yourself spotting the new make and model everywhere? For my fashionista friends, the same effect occurs with designer shoes or handbags, but for me, the catalyst was writing a book on vertical gardening. Is it my imagination or are vertical innovations popping up all over? Here's what I've noticed lately:
My design-school chum Baylor of Lila B. Design has come up with an ingenious way to keep the succulent wall art...
August 9, 2011
Wildflowers of Crater Lake
In the days of ancient photography - as in, before we all relied on our digital cameras to paper over our amateur mistakes - rumour has it that Kodak used to include a note of apology to customers who sent in photos from their Crater Lake vacations to be developed. It seems they did not believe a lake could be so blue, and assumed there was a problem with their color processing.
Its extreme depth of 1943 feet accounts for its richly satured color, but on a recent visit to this majestic...
July 28, 2011
Plants for Small Gardens: Betty Boop Rose
If you're looking for an easy-care, long blooming, small garden standout, allow me to introduce you to my friend Betty Boop.
Long the darlings of dedicated gardeners with acres of space and a willingness to cater to their demands, roses have been largely ignored by many small space gardeners. But don't overlook this classic, hardworking shrub. In a small garden where every plant needs to carry its own weight, roses can be an excellent option - just make sure you choose carefully. For a rose ...
