Landscaping Your Outdoor World
Poolscaping: What to Consider When Landscaping Near Your Swimming Pool
The owner of a new inground swimming pool being built in his backyard has a challenge: what to plant in the new built-in planter sandwiched between the pool and a fence. There are many considerations: style, plant hardiness, microclimates, chemicals in pool water, etc.
Poolside Plants That Look Like Paradise and Withstand the Elements
The plants you choose to surround your pool should be carefully considered before any buying or digging takes place. Once your pool is in place, you may find that it creates a sort of microclimate. A heated pool can raise humidity levels, and intense sunlight can fry nearby landscaping. Plants can get splashed with chlorine and other pool and...
What is a Succulent?
Cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. And succulents do not belong to one plant family. Instead, they are represented in more than 30 different plant species. Succulents can be found in different plant families, including lily, amaryllis, crassula, daisy, milkweed and even geraniums.
Succulent Landscape Design Ideas
Ready to see succulents like never before? If you live in an arid climate, chances are good that you can use your swimming pool, spa, patio or deck nearly year 'round. Along with the advantages of enjoying your outdoor space all year comes the challenge of selecting the right plants. Succulents have gained in popularity over the past decade -...
Euphorbia Types
Because euphoriba plants are easy to grow, they are popular choices for poolside landscaping and container gardens on and around patios, decks and balconies. Let's take a look at some of the most popular euphorbia plants that you might want to include in your landscape.
Planters and Pots for a Patio Garden
A plethora of pots are vying for a position on your deck or patio. Tall ones, stout ones, sleek ones and cheap ones. In a choice of materials, styles, textures and colors. When choosing a pot, you might wish you'd just gone with your instinct and grabbed the first few that caught your eye. Don't worry -- we've done the thinking and research for you, so next time you walk into the pottery section or look online, you'll know what you're doing.
What is Drought Tolerant?
What does drought tolerant mean in relation to landscaping and the environment? Let's break it down. The word drought means: "a period of dryness especially when prolonged; specifically: one that causes extensive damage to crops or prevents their successful growth." The word tolerant means, in the broader sense: "capacity to endure pain or...
Cactus Patio and Poolside Gardens
You may think you know what a cactus is, but how does it relate to your backyard environment? And can you landscape near a pool or on a patio with cacti? Find out.
Types of Cactus
Not all cactus look alike. Learn about several of the main varieties of cacti and decide whether they will be suitable for your landscaping project.
Ice Plant Types
In landscaping, ice plant is a commonly used ground cover. Years ago, it crawled its way on to the carefully planned hills and landscapes near freeways and highways, and it became as common and dreaded as ivy. Ice plant is a succulent, however, and succulents are increasing in popularity for their good looks, form and water-wise attributes....
Landscaping With Ornamental Grasses: A Picture Gallery
For nearly nonstop performance, strength and visual impact, few plants compare to ornamental grasses. Don't confuse ornamental grasses with the types of grass used for lawns, though. Ornamental grasses are meant to grow - not be cut or mown - and most aren't used as a groundcover. Once you start landscaping with ornamental grasses you'll be...
Pruning Ornamental Grasses: How to Groom Your Grasses
Ornamental grasses are fairly new on the landscape scene. But there's not really a standard way to prune or groom them. And not every landscaper knows how to take care of everything in the garden, including these grasses that can grow quite big. Follow these steps to groom your grasses and get them in shape. In some regions, that means your...
What Are Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers?
When designing a patio or outdoor room, you need to carefully choose plants for what will often be a small space. The popular concept of thrillers, fillers and spillers makes designing for containers easier. Find out why.
Vertical Gardens: Plants for Walls
Walls add permanence and establish boundaries within a yard Plants that adapt best to walls are those that are climbers or that spill or trail over the walls. Other types of wall gardens are living walls in which plants are fitted in crevices or planted in containers that allow them to grow vertically and cover all or part of the wall.
Home and Garden Shows 2013
Homebound residents who are tired of the cold temperatures are ready for any sign of spring, even if it's a plant growing under artificial conditions in a municipal auditorium in the dead of winter. Consult this list of garden shows for one year you.
Water Conservation Landscape Design: Garden Art
Water-smart landscaping can be attractive with well-chosen plants mixed with hardscaping, garden structures and garden art. And like the conservation-minded gardens that focus on using less water, natural fertilizers or organic pest control, some of the best garden art comes from ordinary objects that have been recycled, reused, or repurposed....
50 Ways to Save Water Outside Your House
Water conservation, water-saving, xeriscape, water-wise, drought-tolerant, drought-resistant, native landscaping. Call it what you like, it still has the same goal: to use less water, save and conserve one of the earth's most vital resources. From California to Georgia and Australia to South Africa, regions throughout the world are affected by...
What is a Green Screen?
The term green screen evokes images of special effects for films. But what do they have to do with privacy and outdoor living spaces?
Path Materials in Water Conservation Landscape Design
Pathways in a water-wise garden use traditional hardscape materials - like pavers, concrete, bricks, pebbles and pea gravel. How they differ from non-water-wise landscape design lies with what's growing - or not growing - between and surrounding the pathway materials.
The Best-Smelling Plants for Your Landscape
Those hubs of activity in your outdoor living areas -- like swimming pools, spas, patios, decks, porches, and outdoor dining areas -- are ideal places to add some scents to your garden. Forget the candles and citronella, we're talking about fragrant plants that remind you and your guests why it's so enjoyable to be outdoors instead of indoors.
Is it Possible to Grow Crops in a Box?
What's with those grow boxes, like the Earthbox and the Garden Patch? You've seen them in ads or at the store, but you may be a bit wary of their crop-growing claims and their prices, which are usually higher than a standard plastic window box. Follow along as we reveal what's inside these grow boxes and the steps involved in assembling and...
The Top 10 Climbing Roses
Privacy at home means more to us than ever before. In trying times, home is a refuge, and privacy provides a chance to relax. Seclusion via a privacy fence or screen gives us a safe retreat from the world outside our boundaries. But those privacy screens -- in the form of wooden fences, concrete-block walls and wire fences -- are often not the...
What is a Patio Tree?
A patio tree is a tree that resides on a patio. But what characteristics qualify a tree to "patio tree" status?
Find Your USDA Zone -- State Maps of USDA Zones
One of the most important steps in choosing plants is making sure it's suited to your climate. Vanessa Richens, About.com's Guide to Trees and Shrubs, helps you find your USDA zone using a map for each state. You can then choose plants that are suggested for that USDA zone.
All About Decorating Outdoors With Poinsettias
You can't do better than a healthy poinsettia plant to add visual appeal to your porch or entryway during the holidays. We've visited the world's leading poinsettia ranch, explored design ideas and researched facts, myths and legends to bring you all you need to know about poinsettias for the holidays.
Charlie Sheen Buys Beverly Hills House During Most Infamous Week
Somehow amid all of Charlie Sheen's interviews, ramblings, rants, firings and profound catch phrases, the celebrity managed to buy a house. A big, Beverly Hills mansion with 7 bedrooms and 8.5 baths -- should he decide to ever take one -- all for $7.5 million. The Mulholland Estates home is just doors away from Sheen's own house -- dubbed Sober...
Quick and Easy Poinsettia Designs
Poinsettias in containers add instant color and festivity to a porch or entryway. They're quick, easy, and low maintenance if cared for properly and placed in the right temperature and environment. Here's how to make poinsettias work with your outdoor decorating style.
The Poinsettia: Fun Facts, Tips and Myths
Polls show that poinsettias are still the Christmas season's favorite plant. Maybe it's the different colors in which it comes, its rich history and tradition or the mystery that surrounds the Mexican native. Let's find out more about this exotic beauty.
Decorating with Poinsettias
Looking at the various colors and shapes, it’s quite clear these aren’t your grandmother’s drug-store poinsettias. Shake up her world a bit with a 'Peppermint Twist' thrown into the mix, along with her favorite red and some assorted evergreens. While you’re at it, shake up the world just outside your door. Like on your porch, in a...
Inside the Paul Ecke Poinsettia Ranch
Encinitas, CA, is where many of the world's top flower growers produce the most breathtaking blooms. Among them: Tamaya’s Orchids, The Flower Fields, and the Paul Ecke Ranch.
From 1929-1966, the Ecke Ranch produced poinsettia mother plants. For over 40 years, the 25-acre ranch's key focus has been growing poinsettia cultivars and shipping them...