plantings Archives - Linda Nelson

NEIGHBORLY PLANTINGS AND A PEAK INTO MY LIVING ROOM

October 6, 2016

I was delighted when my neighbors asked me to revamp their front foundation shrub border last month. They purchased this house several years ago, inheriting the contractor-esque plantings installed when it was built.

Here’s what the front border looked like for quite a few years.

©Linda Nelson 2016

This is what it looks like now! It’s an easy care planting that will produce splashes of flowering color, perfect for these occupants’ getaway retreat from NYC’s hustle and bustle.

©Linda Nelson 2016

Yes, it looks a bit “fresh cut out of the barber shop”, but the newly planted material will relax, fill out and naturalize within a season or so.

Isn’t this Carex ‘everillo’ absolutely gorgeous? It’s electric!

©Linda Nelson 2016

Okay, now let’s walk back over to my yard.

I snapped this photo of the walkway to my back yard last week. I think that despite it being early autumn, things here still look fresh and tidy.

©Linda Nelson 2016

My home’s front entry doesn’t lend itself to creating that wow factor. It can easily looked cluttered and out of balance if I’m not careful and selective; however, I do what I can to make it inviting. I like to keep select summer annuals for as long as possible, as many reawaken and brilliantly bloom when the chilly evenings roll in. I don’t exactly decorate for Halloween. Instead, I slowly phase out the summery things and phase in a look that will carry me through late fall.

©Linda Nelson 2016

Okay, let’s take a quick peak inside. I placed some “suggestive autumn-esque” things about. Again, not Halloween, but subtle, yet playful seasonal accents. I must apologize in advance with regard to the color quality and such. The interior of my home is very difficult to photograph; it’s either too dark in the morning or too washed out from the sunlight in the afternoon.

This is my front door tussie-mussie.

©Linda Nelson 2016

Here’s my rope wreath…. chillin’ with St. Joseph.

©Linda Nelson 2016

See…. the look is warm, friendly and transitional. And a little kitschy 🙂

©Linda Nelson 2016

Don’t mind the withering floral bouquet.

©Linda Nelson 2016

Okay, so maybe this hand evokes a bit of Halloween creepiness. Long ago I dated a gentleman that made creepy fired clay creations. This is what’s left of him.

©Linda Nelson 2016

Here’s one of my old windows that I repurposed.

©Linda Nelson 2016

And here’s my cat, who will turn sixteen years old one month from now. Isn’t he handsome? I think so.

©Linda Nelson 2016

I hope you enjoyed hanging out in my neighbor’s front yard, in my living room……. and think my cat is handsome!

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DOG DAYS OF SUMMER

August 16, 2016

I sure hope the dog days of summer has either reached its tail end, or its last leg. I’m so over this hot, sticky, weather. Matter of fact, I was over it when it all started. How about you?

Some unexpected events disrupted my blog posting flow this summer, and I just wasn’t driven enough to not let them get in my way. Perhaps with having signed on to participate in a local craft fair this coming October, I’ll have some creative content to share with you in the near future. I also skimped on photographing the many container plantings I did for my clients, except for a few –

©Linda Nelson 2016

This little shed garden redo was a fun project. I snuck in some cucumber seeds under the trellis, which took off very nicely, and which I thought, added to the overall humble charm.

©Linda Nelson 2016

Look what I spotted growing in my yard! I don’t know what species of mushroom they are, but aren’t they fabulous? Nature’s way of decorating…… I love it!

©Linda Nelson 2016

I printed out a draft image on plain paper, then doodled over it. It will get stashed in my box of patterns and templates for later use.

©Linda Nelson 2016

I thought the lichen growing on the bark of this pine tree was rather interesting. With the image rotated a quarter turn, it resembles a mountainside, does it not?

©Linda Nelson 2016

Well, that’s all for now. I long for those cool, crisp perfect sleeping weather evenings. Don’t you?

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MEET SOME OF MY CLIENTS!

August 14, 2015

Just kidding. But, you’re welcome to meet some of the blooming handiwork I created for them.

I usually make it a point to photograph most of my seasonal work, though some years, such as this one, I struggle to set aside the time. I did, however, manage to capture some images.

I love working with colossal-sized containers, such as this golden glazed urn. An advantage to large containers is that the soil temperature and moisture level is maintained for a longer period of time, thus preventing wet/dry extremes.

©Linda Nelson 2015

The ocean is just a stone’s throw from this home. Very few annuals are tucked into (purple scaevola in the foreground)this colorful perennial seascape I designed for my client.

©Linda Nelson 2015

Here again, big urns are just so easy to work with.

©Linda Nelson 2015

This dark red Rudbeckia has been blooming non-stop throughout the summer. It’s the first year I am using it, and will do so in the future. It’s a keeper.

©Linda Nelson 2015

This poolside vegetable garden is providing my client with sweet-like-sugar cherry tomatoes, perfect slicing cucumbers, bountiful bush beans and a nice selection of culinary herbs.

©Linda Nelson 2015

A cheery, playful home requires cheery, playful plantings.

Everyone who enters this home is greeted with a cool, colorful and crisp welcome, which is ideal for tempering the sweltering summer heat….. even if just visually.

That’s all for now, folks.

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GARDEN TRICKS MAKE FOR VISUAL TREATS

October 22, 2014

Requests from my clients for Halloween decor are infrequent, as many of their homes are not exactly situated in trick-or-treating neighborhoods. Pictured are a few entrances I designed, the focus being pretty rather than scary.

Our mid-atlantic zone 7 region is ideal for incorporating a few summer season plants into the autumn mix. And, while trusty mums and cabbages are readily available, fresh cut evergreens are great contenders, too. I think incorporating them bridges the autumn and winter look together, allowing the display to read as “current” for a longer period of time. Evergreen branches can fill pockets in your container plantings where summer annuals have succumb to frost.

With regard to what’s growing in the ground, perennials such as sedge grasses, sedum, dusty miller, yucca and euphorbia visually carry a garden further into the season. Often sold in one gallon size pots, they are ideal for nestling into container planting arrangements, too.

I hope this post has delivered a little insight on how to enjoy your potted plantings a bit longer.

There you have it.

Now, start planting.

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