DesignMyGarden.ca

Design My Garden recently visited New York’s famously inventive High Line, a public park that has been made over from a defunct, elevated railway line. The High Line was a freight rail line called the West Side Line, originally owned by the New York Central Railroad and eventually taken over by CSX Corporation after decades of mergers in railroads. The West Side Line was operational 1934 to 1980. The last train on the line was in 1980 and carried three railcars of frozen turk

A small tree is a great addition to even a small garden because it draws the eye upward, giving the illusion of space. Here are 8 trees to t

There are four essential elements (rocks, water, plants, and ornament) and five garden design principles (asymmetry, enclosure, borrowed scenery, balance, and symbolism) in a Japanese garden. Here’s how these elements and garden design principles work together. Asymmetry – All Japanese gardens have asymmetrical garden design. Why? Because there are no straight lines or geometric shapes in natural landscapes, only curves. Balance - These principles will work together to create

‘Old Masters’ were landscape painters in the period 1600 to 1800. Painting landscapes was a pan-European art movement, in part motivated by the longing for idyllic, pastoral landscapes of ancient Athens and ancient Rome (which were pure fantasy landscapes and bore no resemblance to reality), and in other part motivated by the longing of wealthy landowners to capture their land holdings in oil paint in a canvas that could be hung prominently in a public part of their house, li

If you’d like to learn more about garden design, here are our “Top 10” picks for design books. Many are not new, but thanks to the miracle of Amazon and eBay, there are still lots of second-hand copies around. Garden design years to learn and the more you do, the better you become. Inspiration from leading garden designers from around the world can be yours with these great books. 1. John Brookes Garden Design, Dorling Kindersley, © 2001. John Brookes is the grand patriarch o

Plant in near-ground, mid-ground, and back ground to make a garden more interesting. Add upright shrubs to break a horizontal feeling. Add c

Recently, we were called by a client in Oakville with zero gardening experience. She and her family had moved to Oakville and bought a single detached home in the Glen Abbey neighbourhood. Previously, they owned a condo in downtown Toronto. They were excited about better schools for their children as well as more living space, both inside and outside their home. The previous home owners had been not only avid gardeners, but had also spent considerable money on professional la

Let’s face it: most gardeners are starved for spring flowers, many of which are bulbs. Spring flowers give way to summer-flowering perennials and colourful annuals. But by the time September rolls around, the garden is looking sparse and tired, especially after the hot and dry summer we had in southwest Ontario. Yet there are several perennials that are fall-flowering. And, good garden designers incorporate at least a few of them into each design, so the homeowner will have

Flowers are great and many gardeners live for flowers. We love flowers, too, and we suggest that if you have a very small garden or want a garden with minimum maintenance, a garden design using just colour foliage is a better way to go. Here are some trees, shrubs and perennials and annuals for full sun, or part sun, in different colour palettes to think about. Bronze Coleus – Try ‘Copper Glow’ or ‘Rustic Orange’ Although they are an annual, coleus is worth checking out beca

It's hard to say who was more excited at seeing the garden we designed in Summer 2015 installed and ready for enjoyment in May 2016. The stone the client choose complements the style and construction material of the house. The client now has three separate sitting areas, to enjoy the garden from different angles. The Japanese-inspired garden design worked well in this space, giving the garden a peaceful, shady and tidy ambiance. Read the full Shade Garden in Toronto's Les