In the introduction to her epic new book, Visionary; Gardens and Landscapes for our Future, photographer Clare Takacs admits that in 2021 she set out to shoot only 30 to 40 gardens across the Mediterranean for the book. Instead the project, co-created with landscape architect Giacomo Guzzon, turned into an odyssey of sorts, with almost ..read more

This is part of a series with Perfect Earth Project, a nonprofit dedicated to toxic-free, nature-based gardening, on how you can be more sustainable in your landscapes at home.  “A garden needs a heartbeat,” says Leslie Needham, founder of her eponymous design firm in Bedford, NY. And Needham will be the first to admit that ..read more

In San Francisco’s often foggy, dune-filled Outer Sunset neighborhood, landscape design firm Talc Studio transformed a small “sand pit” into a lush and characterful garden. While the garden is equal parts custom and artful, there are a number of design details and useful sources to glean. Here we detail our favorite components. Materials Furniture & ..read more

Virginia bluebells (Mertensia virginica) are a North American wildflower whose ephemeral blue beauty lights up forest floors in mid-spring. These bluebells are not the bell-adorned spires of English idylls. This is an important distinction for two reasons: Virginia bluebells are edible, whereas English (and Spanish) bluebells—species of Hyacinthoides—are toxic; and then there is simply their ..read more

Terremoto is a 26-person landscape architecture studio with offices in northern and southern California, and today, we’re fortunate to have three of them respond to our Quick Takes questionnaire: co-founder David Godshall and landscape architects Diego Lopez and Dawn Wang. “Our work is an intentionally eclectic mix of residential, cultural, and oddball institutional work, and ..read more

We spotted some small design moments over on Remodelista this week that set our hearts aflutter. Here are three. 1. The pop of blue. 2. The line of tiles. 3. The drape of cords. Plus: Life, Rearranged: Changing the Layout of This Victorian Changed Everything Oya Abeó: Nigerian-Made Textiles for the Table A Scottish Fisherman’s ..read more

There’s a certain romanticism to guerrilla gardening. Who wouldn’t be moved by the idea of clandestine gardeners planting on derelict land without permission for the sake of communal beauty? However, I suspect most of us are probably not quite bold enough to undertake the level of covert cultivation that would be deemed “guerrilla gardening.” But ..read more

Recently, one of my clients asked if I would add some blue flowers to her garden. Her young daughter had learned that dogs are color-blind and can see only blues and yellows, and now she wanted to make sure their garden had blue flowers in it so that their dog would be able to enjoy ..read more

If there ever was a time to learn how to identify elm trees easily, it is in their brief, green samara season. Samara are winged seeds, and the wafer-like seed cases of elm trees are distinctive, as well as tenderly edible. They appear in mid-spring, with each seed wrapped neatly in a soft chartreuse package ..read more

There are maybe a handful of living landscape designers whose names non-gardening types may recognize. Dan Pearson is one of them. Known for his beautiful, bordering-on-wild gardens and commitment to fostering biodiversity, the British designer, horticulturist, and writer (his quarterly online magazine, Dig Delve, is a must-read) started gardening at 6, opened his practice in ..read more