Outdoor shutters that actually work (as opposed to the faux variety) score high in both form and function. Traditionally used to insulate and ventilate a house, shutters also are useful when designing a sustainable building. And they look great. No wonder exterior wooden shutters are making a comeback: 

Above: A rustic wooden shutter on a cottage in France. Photograph via Ikea Family Live.

What is the history of exterior shutters?

It's said that shutters date to ancient Greece, when marble was the material of choice. Over centuries, wood shutters became the preferred window covering to repel animals, insects, noise, light, and weather. After glass was developed, shutters continued to be used to protect the expensive glass and provide privacy. Early shutters were typically flat panels or connected boards (board and batten). Louvered shutters, which provide both ventilation and privacy, arrived in the mid-1700s, and adjustable louvers were developed in the mid-1800s.

Shutters, common on houses from the outset of American history, lost favor in the late 1800s during Victorian times, when heavy interior drapes became de rigueur. Shutters made a comeback with the revival of classical architecture, but the development of new building technologies (storm windows, screens, and HVAC systems) and the popularity of post-war building materials (aluminum and plastics) relegated them to a mostly decorative role in the 20th century. But as green-building efforts gain momentum, these old-style architectural features are getting more attention.

Above: An old country house in France. "Most homes would have solid panel shutters on the first floor for privacy and security," says The Old House Guy, "and louvered shutters on the second floor to allow the breeze to enter during the warm months." Photograph by Leslie Thomson via Flickr. 

How can exterior shutters help my house?

Shutters add an architectural design element and also perform several useful functions: 

• Offer ventilation in warm months, allowing breezes in while providing privacy
• Provide insulation in cold months
• Act as a sunshade, keeping interior cool
• Provide privacy
• Protect windows from storm damage
• Prolong life of windows by protecting wood frames
• Protect interior furnishings and floors from sun damage

Above: Photograph via Vixen Hill Cedar Products.

What are the different styles of shutters?

Above: Images via Architectural Depot.

Shutters traditionally fall into four styles:

• Panel: Traditional panel shutters offer the most privacy, protection, and insulation. A basic frame around a wood panel, they can be flat, recessed, raised, or other variations.
• Louvered: Designed to allow for ventilation and variability in privacy and light. These are a good choice for warm climates, as they allow ventilation even when closed to provide shade. Louvers can be either fixed or movable.
• Board and Batten: Vertical boards are joined by horizontal boards called battens (usually two; sometimes with a third diagonal board). Traditionally used on barns, the design works with many architectural styles. 
• Bermuda. A single shutter covers the entire window, mounted at the top on hinges and with telescoping push rods at the bottom for opening. These can act as sun shades (an alternative to awnings) and as sturdy window protectors during storms.

Variations on these include arched tops (to match arched windows), cutouts in panel or board-and-batten shutters, and louvered and paneled styles combined in one. 

Above: Double board-and-batten shutters on a house in New Orleans provide light through the top while still offering privacy on the bottom. Photograph via Nest Egg.

Above: Bermuda shutters are a good solution if you lack the space beside your windows to hang traditional shutters. Photograph via Gulf Coast Shutter. 

How do you mount exterior shutters?

First, make sure you have the correct size for your windows. Shutters fit inside the window opening, and each shutter's width is half the width of the opening. Paint or stain them before hanging. Then attach them to the window trim, or casing, with hinges so they pivot into the window opening and rest flush with the casing when closed. To hold the shutters in place when open, attach a piece of hardware—with the unusual names of "shutter dog" or "rat tail"—to the house. You'll also need a latch to hold them closed. See How to Hang Exterior Shutters at This Old House.

Above: A collection of Traditional Exterior Shutter Hardware, clockwise from top right: two pintels, strap hinge, slide bolt, rat tail, shutter dog (S-shape), and slide bolt, available at Hooks and Lattice.

What is the difference between plastic and wood shutters?

Shutters come in a range of materials, including wood, composite wood, PVC, and aluminum. Vinyl is only appropriate for decorative faux shutters. Wood is the best choice if you want shutters that are functional, architecturally accurate, and aesthetically pleasing. We recommend a quality wood like cedar, which is naturally rot- and insect-resistant. Yes, composite or aluminum may last forever, but with care (that is, periodic refinishing) wood shutters can last just as long (and look a thousand times better). Even unfinished cedar is relatively maintenance-free, turning a nice silver over time.

Above: Simple board-and-batten shutters create a clean look for windows at the Les Bois Flottois Hotel, on France's Ile de Re. Louvered blinds have been installed inside the room.

Can shutters work with modern home design?

Shutters are often associated with federal, Georgian, colonial, and cottage-style homes, but they're suitable for many architectural styles. Unadorned flat-panel or board-and-batten shutters can be paired with windows of modern houses. Custom-built shutters are another option.

Above: Simple wood shutters (shown open at night) are used at the H Arquitectes House 205 in Vacarisses, Spain, winner of the Spanish Architecture Council's award for sustainable design.

Above: On a hot day, the shutters at the H Arquitectes House 205 are closed to keep the interior cool. 

Above: Hinged and slatted shutters were designed to filter light on a project in Germany by Becker Architekten. Photograph via Arch Daily.

Can I use shutters to screen a porch?

Absolutely. Hang shutters around a porch or a deck to provide more shade and privacy than screening, while still encouraging a breeze. And, unlike screens, you can open them when you want to take in the full surroundings. They're less effective at keeping out insects, of course, so don't go this route if you need mosquito protection. 

Above: Shutters surround a deck, offering unlimited views when open and privacy with a breeze when closed. Photograph via 30A.

Any tips for using shutters for decorative purposes only?

Architects may balk at this, but non-functional shutters can be an effective exterior detail if they're used wisely. How do you ensure decorative shutters are architecturally correct? Simply put, they should look as if they could do their job.

• Decorative shutters should be able to cover a window opening completely if they were closed. Avoid decorative shutters that are too small for the windows they flank.
• Use real, operable shutter hardware. This will ensure proper placement—often, decorative shutters are mounted too far from the window casing. You can even find faux tilt-rods for louvered shutters. 
• Never mount decorative shutters flat against a house. First, this makes it obvious they're not functional. Second, it looks bad. Third, it can damage siding, as water and debris will collect between the shutter and the house. Authentic shutters are mounted to the window casing, with ample space between the shutter and siding.
• If using louvered decorative shutters, mount them with the louvers slanted downwards, to deflect rain and provide shade when the louvers are closed.  

Above: Shutters correctly mounted to the window casing provide natural air flow between the shutter and the wall (not to mention visual dimension). Photograph via Vixen Hill Cedar Products.

How much do shutters cost?

Shutter prices vary substantially depending on size, style, and finish. Fixed-louver shutters are the most affordable, as low as $140 per pair for quality unfinished wood. But don't forget to factor in the finishing, hardware, and installation. Properly finished and installed, high-quality shutters will last for many years. 

Exterior Wood Shutters Recap

Pros:

• Sustainable way to insulate your house in hot and cool times of the year
• Protect windows from storms
• Add architectural depth to house exterior
• Provide privacy while offering ventilation

Cons:

• Depending on how many you need, shutters can be an expensive addition
• Might not match the aesthetics of your house
• Non-functional shutters can detract from the appearance of a house and damage siding

Searching for shutter finishes? Look no further than Meredith's 10 Paint Picks for the Perfect Green Shutters. And, at Remodelista, visit A Louvered Beach House on the Arabian Sea, where shutters reign. 

If you're working on your house exterior, see all of our Hardscaping 101 features.  

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During a recent shopping foray in Europe, the good people at Best Made, the purveyor of quality tools, stumbled on a cache of vintage canvas buckets. Commissioned in the 1950s by the French Army and acquired by a dealer in rare military artifacts, the vintage buckets are the perfect size to tote garden tools:

Above: The French Army Collapsing Linen Bucket is classic in design and perfectly executed in a heavy linen woven tightly enough to hold water. It's $37.40 from Best Made. 

Above: Also perfect for camping, the 11-inch-high bucket collapses into a flat pancake. It holds 1.8 gallons, plenty of water to douse a campfire.

Above: The bucket is reinforced with twine on the bottom, to hold extra weight.  

Note that since these pieces are vintage, they may show signs of age. 

See more French buckets at 5 Favorites: French Flower Buckets. For more great canvas items, go to 10 Easy Pieces: Etsy's Best Canvas Carry-Alls. 

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Are you the kind of person who defines summer by the feel of sand between your toes? In Portugal, an hour south of Lisbon on the Sado River estuary, there's an unusual inn where you can put your feet in the sand whether you're on the beach or in the living room. 

Casas Na Areia is a compound of four cottages. They were originally intended as a weekend getaway for owners Joao and Andreia Rodrigues, but they evolved into a small hotel. The designer, Lisbon architect Manuel Aires Mateus, was strongly influenced by the simple lines of the area's traditional buildings. He chose his construction materials accordingly—until it came to the interior of one cottage, where he did something surprising and unconventional. He made the floor out of sand. 

Photographs by Nelson Garrido.

Above: The main cottage holds the inn's common space, with a living room and dining area. The signature sand floor is soft on the feet and can even be heated in cool weather; it reinforces this place's strong connection with nature.

Above: The cottages seem to float on the sand. Two of the four are made of wood and reeds, the other two of white concrete.

Above: Guests can ride horses on the beach and enjoy some of the best bird-watching in Portugal; storks and flamingos are frequently sighted. Close by, the Sado River estuary is home to a colony of dolphins. There are also Roman ruins to visit.

Above: The swimming pool, flanked by a deck. Instead of formal gardens, wildflowers and grasses sprawl naturally over the dunes. The place seems timeless.

Above: The simple, stylish furnishings are in keeping with the minimalist architecture. The "Bigfoot" table, from e15, comfortably accommodates eight sandy-footed people.

Above: The exterior of the wood-and-reed cottage that holds the inn's living room, dining room, and kitchen.

Above: The inn sleeps eight in four double bedrooms, each with its own private bath. No worries about tracking sand into bed: The floors in the bedroom cottages are made of concrete. 

 Above: All four cottages have roofs thatched with grasses harvested from the banks of the Sado River. 

Above: Antonio Pinela, a local craftsman, built the cottages in 2010. Every six years the thatched roofs will have to be renewed.

Above: Casas Na Areia is the perfect vacation compound for a family or group of friends. There's plenty of privacy, but everyone can be close to each other and to the outdoors.

Above: If you go, tell your traveling companions they can leave their slippers at home. They'll want to be barefoot to enjoy the sensuous feeling of walking in sand indoors.

Read about a more conventional beach hotel in Remodelista's Just Open: A Hidden Beach Hotel in Oaxaca and see another take on a tiny beach cabin in Gardenista's Rustic Living on the Beach in Uruguay.

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It was on a Kenyan safari that the owners of Cresto Ranch in Cresto, a tiny town in southwestern Colorado, figured out a new use for their historic property: they'd pitch African-style canvas tents in an alpine clearing and introduce full-frills resort camping to the Rockies.

A year later, the original 19th-century log farmhouse had been turned into a base lodge and dining room. And eight canvas tents were fitted with cast-iron gas stoves, writing desks, teak lounge chairs, en-suite bathrooms, and, most notably, king-size beds made up with glam-rustic linens (all thanks to designer Christina Rossi).

Days at the newly renamed Dunton River Camp are spent horseback riding, fly fishing, hiking, mountain biking, doing yoga and Pilates—and recovering in the spa tent. As Vogue put it, "The only survival skill one needs is the ability to book a massage."

Above: Each tent has a view of either 14,000-foot Wilson Peak or the rushing Dolores River. The tents rest on 16-by-40-foot wooden platforms and consist of a steel framework hung with heavy cotton duck that's water-repellent and mildew-resistant. Inspired by four-star African safari accommodations, they were custom-designed by Reliable Tent & Tipi of Billings, Montana. The resort is open in the summer only; at the end of the season, the canvas is removed from the frames and stored in the tents' weatherproof bathrooms. 

Above: Each tent sleeps two, in a king-size bed or two twins. Laura Aviva of L'Aviva Home masterminded the linens: She cloaked the beds in white cotton duck that echoes the tent fabric and fits crisply over the sheets and blankets. The slipcovers work well in the rugged setting and provide a clean backdrop for L'Aviva Home's frazadas, vibrant traditional blankets handwoven in Bolivia. Frazadas were also repurposed as pillows backed with Belgian linen. And yes, the tents have electricity and running water—hot and cold.

 Above: The frazada throws, reimagined versions of age-old Andean designs, are made of alpaca, a miracle fiber that's hypoallergenic and as soft and luxurious as the best cashmere.

Above: The platforms extend 10 feet beyond the tent to form a deck. The teak steamer chairs were sourced from Golden Teak.

Above: The bathrooms are shed-like structures within each tent. They're built from Zipsystem's weatherproof roofing and wall sheathing and are clad in corrugated tin, with beadboard ceilings and slate floors. Each has twin vanities (with towel warmers) and a 6-foot-long, extra-deep tub that doubles as a shower.

Above: Dunton River Camp's owners, businessman Christoph Henkel of Canyon Equity and old master art dealer Katrin Bellinger, are German and love biergarten-style outdoor dining. The pine-and-steel biergarten tables and benches on the lodge's deck are made by Roost and available from Scarlett Alley.

Above: The dining tables are surrounded by foldable canvas-and-wood safari chairs imported from Kenya. The tin ceiling panels were purchased from an antiques dealer in Pennsylvania for $5 a sheet—a bargain until it was discovered that they came with lead paint and had to be stripped and repainted.

Above: Dunton River Camp's sister resort, the equally luxe Dunton Hot Springs, is just four miles downriver. Set in a restored 1885 mining town in a spectacular mountain valley, it's open year-round. Elevation: just under 9,000 feet. 

Above: Dunton Hot Springs resort consists of 12 handhewn log cabins, no two alike. 

Above: The cabin named "Forge" has Mexican antiques and a low, arched doorway that leads to an expansive bathroom.

Above: Dunton was built around hot springs and still has its original bathhouse, now fully restored and offering indoor and outdoor soaks. The resort is so picturesque that Ralph Lauren and the Sundance Catalog recently staged holiday shoots on the premises. And the food and wine (from Dunton's own vineyard down valley) are first-rate, too: Bon Appetit magazine ranks it the country's No. 4 getaway for food lovers. All of this, of course, comes at a cost: The rates at these all-inclusive properties are comparable to those at a luxury hotel. For full details on both, see Dunton Hot Springs.

For more on tenting made easy, read about a pop-up luxury camping service at Glamorous: Shelter Co. in California, on Remodelista. And for more lodging off the beaten path, this time in Oregon, see Earn Your Wilderness Stripes at the Minam River Lodge. 

This is an update of a Remodelista post originally published July 11, 2013.

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What's your vacation fantasy: ocean breeze or mountain air? Cottage or compound? Historic or modern? This week, the Remodelista editors visited some of the best summer rentals we've ever seen. (Want to go in on a share in a Berlin houseboat with us?)

Above: This will be the most useful post you'll read all summer: Editors' Picks: 15 Favorite Vacation Rental Resources. Shown here is the Selsey Beach House in West Sussex, England (Julie's an admirer). 

Above: Here's "our" Modern Houseboat in Berlin. Is that Izabella floating in an inner tube in the distance?

Above: Too cheap to rent? You're in houseguest territory. You'll need clever Summer Hostess Gifts, and yes, you're looking at an elegant, walnut-clad countertop compost bin.

Above: After the houseboat, let's head to A Floating Farmhouse in Upstate New York. It sits at the edge of a waterfall in the Catskills...

Above: Back to the hostess gift suggestions: a Magic Fly Repeller. Fill with water and suspend near food. Then watch the magic. 

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• Table of Contents: Block Party

In a few weeks, half the Gardenista team will be on vacation overseas. And the other half? We're traveling vicariously. Take a look at the destinations on our radar: 

Above:

• In Berlin? Think microgreens and vertical farming. Photograph by Philipp Langenheim via Freunde von Freunden.
• These Brazilian gardens put us in the mood for soccer (or football, if you're anywhere but the U.S.). 
• The best garden-centric Facebook page besides Gardenista's? Garden designer Carolyn Mullet gives us international garden inspiration every day. 

• Above: Next stop? Marrakesh's most beautiful gardens. Photograph by Alessio Mei. 

• Above: If you're  stopping over in New Zealand, the Wellington Botanic Garden has something for you. Photograph courtesy of Trip Advisor. 
• St. Petersburg's Summer Garden is a paragon among classical gardens, marble sculptures and fountains included.  

• Above: A stand of bamboo, spotted in a blog we recently discovered: From the Garden of Zen, a photographic journal of Japan's tranquil landscapes.
• Give it a try: Egyptian papyrus thrives in Northern California. 
• Portland, Oregon, is home to a traditional Chinese garden. 

• Above: A country garden gallery lures us down the path. Photograph courtesy of Lonny. 
• Most people go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, for the white sand beaches; we go for the botanical gardens. 
• Why aren't we busily writing posts for our upcoming Bastille Day issue? Because we're hypnotized by these 72 stately French homes and gardens. 

For more from this week on Gardenista, check out our Summer Bunkhouse issue. And don't miss Remodelista's week of Summer Rentals. 

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A few years ago, a county parks department in Washington state sponsored a contest that sounded like something Amy Poehler would dream up on Parks and Rec: Transform a surplus cargo container into a permanent campground cabin. And make it cozy.

The winner, Seattle's HyBrid Architecture, already had a Cargotecture line of repurposed shipping containers—one of them had been installed on the Sunset Magazine campus in Northern California as the 2011 Sunset Idea House. HyBrid's award-winning cabin for Kings County's Toit-MacDonald Park campground was designed to sleep four and has a kitchenette. And it's portable, so it can be moved to different locations in the county's 26,000 acres of parkland.

Above: This Cargotecture cabin is used as a guesthouse on a rural property near Seattle. Says HyBrid's principal and co-founder Joel Egan, "These containers are fun, emotional, curious, and durable." Image via HyBrid Architecture. 

Above: A former cargo container on its way to becoming a cabin: The windows have been cut, the door installed, and the exterior cleaned. Next the interior will be framed and windows installed. Image by Kings County Parks, via Flickr.

Above: HyBrid Architecture collaborated with Sunset Magazine to install the Nomade C192—a 192-square-foot container home. Image via Sunset.

Above: The doors on the Sunset Idea House open onto a deck, and let air and light flow through. Image via Sunset.

Above: The C192 has a small kitchen, a living space, and built-in beds. Joel Egan describes it as "a rough shell on the outside, comfortable space on the inside." Photograph via Sunset.

Read about how they're repurposing shipping containers in New Zealand in Outbuilding of the Week: A Shipping Container Transformed Into the Ultimate Holiday House. There's even a Shipping Container Greenhouse. And 10 more examples are in 10 Houses Made from Shipping Containers.

Updated from a post originally published August 3, 2012.

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You're probably thinking What's Bastille Day mean to me? Think of it as France's July 4th: It's the French national holiday, and it takes place on July 14th. But enough history—we're just using it as a reason to celebrate all things French this week. Here's a taste of what we have in store: 

Monday

Above: In this week's Designer Visit, we stop by the East Coast weekend home of Deborah Nevins, known for her celebrity clientele. Clearly, Nevins favors hedges in her work. "Flowers are never the starting point,” she says. Photograph by Deborah Nevins.

Tuesday

Above: In Shopper's Diary, we sample the wares of Jean-Paul Cohen, who makes goat cheese on his farm in France's Charente-Maritime region. (We even get to meet the goats. And their babies.) Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.  

Wednesday 

Above: We still have food on our minds (how French is that?). This week's DIY shows How to Make a Bouquet Garni, which Erin likens to "a savory tea bag" full of herbs. Photograph by Erin Boyle.

Thursday

Above: In Hardscaping 101, Janet unearths everything we need to know about Gabion Walls. Though the name might be unfamiliar, you've surely seen these structures: wire mesh cages filled with rocks (or other materials) to form a fence or retaining wall. They were used on the Nile some 7,000 years ago (back then, the frame was wicker), but isn't there something fresh and new about them today?

Friday

This week's Outbuilding of the Week is a striking wood pavilion with a viewing platform over the Skien River, about two hours southwest of Oslo, Norway. The building's name, Gjennomsikten, means "see-through" because of its transparent appearance. Photograph by Feileacán McCormick.

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Every gardener has a signature, and Deborah Nevins's is the monumental hedge. Her NYC-based landscape design firm Deborah Nevins & Associates deploys walls of uniform greenery to organize and define space in projects as diverse as a Hudson Valley estate surrounding a Neoclassical mansion; a 40-acre park for a Renzo Piano-designed cultural foundation in Athens, Greece; the courtyard of a new Tribeca loft building; and her own East Coast weekend house near the water. 

At home, Nevins has hedges within hedges: layers of towering hornbeam, privet and yew, punctuated throughout with five types of rounded boxwood. She invited us to visit the other day:

Photography by Deborah Nevins except where noted.

 Above: Behind the house, a bluestone walkway passes under an allée of sycamores. 

Nevins, a member of the Remodelista + Gardenista Architect/Designer Directory, grew up in New York City and New Haven. One of her earliest memories is collecting wildflowers with her mother in a New England field. Her career in landscape design began when she was studying architectural history at Columbia University in the 1980s (“They didn’t think landscape history was academically serious enough”). Someone asked her to help with a garden in Connecticut—and it happened to have been laid out by landscape-design luminary Russell Page.

Above: Nevins's two-acre property was neglected and overgrown when she bought it in 1998; she built the cedar-shingled, Shaker-plain house two years later. “There are some beautiful trees on the property," she says, "but I didn’t discover them until I started clearing the land.” Photograph by Cara Greenberg.

Above: A grand old white oak dominates the front yard. 

Around the perimeter of the property, she left in place tall cedars, junipers, American beech, and red and white oaks. Within this ring of native woodland are three well-defined, hedge-rimmed garden rooms: one in front of the house, centered on a majestic white oak, and two in back. “I knew the spaces from the very start,” Nevins says.

Above: Nevins calls this space behind the house her “hornbeam room.” It has little in it but lawn, a Luytens bench, and two cherished Meyer lemon trees in pots.

Above: Beyond the hedges, a peek into the perennial flower garden. 

The impressive wedge-shaped hornbeams were planted at 4 feet and grew to twice that height in just a few years. Nevins clips them heavily in February or March and again, lightly, in June.

Above: The perennial flower garden spills over in summer with such cottage-garden stalwarts as tall orange Turks cap lilies and white hollyhocks. But flowers are not the main attraction. “They’re never the starting point,” Nevins says. “You start by thinking about space and vistas and how a property should be organized. Flowers can come later.” Photograph by Danny Nevins.

Above: The manicured hedges make for a tidy and soothing environment, imparting a sense that all is under control—within the deer fence, that is. About 20 percent of Nevins’s property is protected against marauding deer.

Above: Beyond the fence, a mown path leads through native trees, tall grasses, and clumps of fragrant bayberry. The contrast with the rough native planting reminds you how close you are to the beach. “That’s what I tried to do,” Nevins says. “Use the formal to contrast with the natural, which is all around me and which I didn’t touch.” 

See more of Nevins's work in our Architect/Design Directory on Remodelista. And if you're lusting for a hornbeam hedge (who wouldn't be at this point?), see Hornbeam: A Hedge for All Seasons.

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Above: After her visit to the shop, Mimi told us, "You really feel that Tom is a poet. He expresses himself through plants and flowers, and also by creating a beautiful space for people to share."

View Larger Map

Above: Bleuet Coquelicot is at 10 Rue de la Grange aux Belles, 75010 Paris.

Visiting Paris? For another of our favorite florists, see Odorantes, a Parisian Florist Where Flowers are Arranged by Scent. And see our Paris Destination Guide for more suggestions.

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Lavender; Lavandula: "The Practical Feminist"

Alice Walker once wrote that “womanist is to feminist as lavender is to purple.” As the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of The Color Purple, Walker can be considered an expert on both. Actually, lavender has long enjoyed a connection to even radical feminism. In 1969, Betty Friedan originated the phrase “the lavender menace” to refer to the militant, “man-hating” contingent that she feared would cause the women’s movement to be taken less seriously.

So how do we reconcile lavender’s radical stance with the fact that she loves taking part in household tasks? Ever since the Middle Ages, lavender has been a key ingredient in home medical remedies, fragrant nosegays to counter the odors of the street, perfumes and toilet waters, and countless cleaning products.

Above: For more images of Lavender in the Garden, see our Gardenista Gallery of photos. Photograph by Michael A. Muller for Gardenista.

To be sure, lavender is spicy and full of character. But she is also superbly helpful around the house and garden, taking pride in the spaces she calls her own. Lavender needs a room of her own. In either fall or spring, settle her into an outdoor spot that is two to three square feet. Water diligently at first, and soon enough she’ll be independent enough to impress even Friedan and Walker.

Above: One of our favorite summer recipes: DIY Lavender Soda. Photograph by Marla Aufmuth for Gardenista.

Cheat Sheet

• A drought-resistant and evergreen herb, lavender provides year-round interest in the garden
• Attracts bees and butterflies while warding off deer, which hate its scent
• Shades of violet, blue, purple, and gray blend pleasingly with other colors in the garden

Keep It Alive

• Lavender grows naturally in the sandy, rocky soil of the Mediterranean; bits of gravel and brick will remind it of home.
• Perennial in US growing zones 5-9
• Give it full sun and from 2 to 3 square feet of space to spread

Above: Photograph via Blomsterskuret.

A well-established lavender plant needs almost no attention, and performs double and triple duty. Known to help ward off incursions by deer, she is a good neighbor, happy to lend a hand to protect tender rosebuds and other pest-magnets. When summer arrives, lavender plants are festooned with bluish purple flowers that fill the garden with their sharp yet clean fragrance.

Above: Drifts of lavender and grasses form low hedges at the edge of a lawn in Brittany, designed by Cao-Perrot Studio.

Lavender makes a great neighbor for other drought-resisting plants like yarrow, hens and chicks, and echinacea. Give them their own section of the garden and it will be easy to avoid overwatering them.

Read More:

Above: Read more about our favorite Drought-Tolerant Plants in our archives. For more about lavender, see Required Reading: The Lavender Lover's Handbook. 

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When Marni Leis moved to Northern California 30 years ago, she experienced culture shock, at least when it came to the local architecture. Mill Valley, where she settled, was known for being "that hippie town." It was the former home of such artists as Jerry Garcia, Janis Joplin, and Jack Kerouac (who once lived in a hillside shack). At first glance, it had what someone from another coast might describe as a rundown look.

Avoiding the cottages with peeling paint, the front-yard Buddha statues, and the rusted Volkswagen buses on cinderblocks, Marni moved into the biggest, most solid-looking brick house in town, which happened to be the former public library. And then a funny thing happened. "Four or five years later, I finally started to understand Mill Valley," she said. "And so I bought a different house."

The old wood-sided cottage that Marni moved to next—and where she still lives—is tucked away on a winding, narrow street (it's technically two lanes, but I drive a Mini and I still wouldn't try to pass someone coming the other way). She painted the house dark green to match the leaves on the trees and set to work creating the sort of garden where shade reigns, texture and form take the place of color, and the war against the neighborhood deer has been cheerfully lost.

And at night? Year-round, strings of tiny, starry lights outline the massive live oaks. A five-armed chandelier hangs from a branch and, glowing like the moon (if the moon dripped crystals), makes the garden feel like a party. The other night we decided to drop by:

Photography by Tom Kubik for Gardenista.

Above: Marni's front walk is lit by strings of lights draped casually in the trees. The light-colored gravel paths and stairs are a recent addition. "I'm rediscovering the front yard because the light gravel lifts the dark space visually," says Marni, an interior designer.

Before the gravel, the paths were stone. "We reused the stones to border the beds and make low retaining walls," says Marni.

Above: The view through a cottage window: Tasmanian tree ferns line the walkways and edge the beds. Marni found the vintage window at a salvage yard in the city and painted it the same green as the house, the garage, and the fence. ("It was a Benjamin Moore color that they discontinued, a green that had a lot of blue in it," she says.) The color creates a uniform backdrop for the garden.

Above: A pair of Adirondack chairs sit beneath the chandelier in the front yard.

Above: Marni and her stepson are co-owners of Joe's Taco Lounge, a Mill Valley institution she decorated years ago in a riotous style best described as Day-of-the-Dead-Meets-Thrift-Shop. On the restaurant's tables are retro fruit-pattern oilcloths. On the walls are religious statues, framed pictures, old signs, strings of colored lights, and shelves of more bottles of hot sauce than can possibly exist. And yes, there's a chandelier. "It's been like that since 1987, or maybe 1989, and we can't change a thing," she says. Regulars complain if so much as a bottle of hot sauce goes missing.

Above: A shady corner next to the front walkway is a good vantage from which to contemplate the rest of Marni's garden.

Above: In the backyard, more strings of light create a bonfire effect. "Party lights are more effective than garden lights, which always break down," says Marni. How many strings does she recommend for an average-size garden? "As many as possible."

Above: Marni's tips for a successful garden: Keep your plant variety down ("Two types of ferns next to each other looks messy; one type looks intentional," she says), and plant in drifts rather than clumps.

Above: A dining area in the backyard. "We have microclimates in Mill Valley, and the backyard is much warmer than the front," says Marni. "So this is where we eat outdoors at night."

Above: Marni collects vintage garden furniture; she found this chair at a local flea market.

Above: Fuchsia pops like firecrackers at dusk.

Above: In the background, a half-fence made of wooden slats separates the front yard from the street. Marni isn't a fan of high stockade fences. "I don't want to live like that," she says. "I've planted so many things the deer have eaten. Anything that survives? I buy more of it."

Above: Deep purple hydrangeas in the backyard.

Above: Wisteria guards the side door on the garage.

Above: Inside the garage is the workshop of Marcy's husband, John Black.

Above: The ground-floor guest entrance leads to quiet quarters.

For more Mill Valley gardens, see Garden Visit: The Hobbit Land Next Door and A Garden with No Obstacles in Mill Valley.

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Spotted in Antwerp: a charming townhouse garden by Archi-verde, designed for a couple of self-avowed Francophiles. After trips to Provence, the clients dreamed of lavender, grapevines, and a Mediterranean climate. But when they asked architect Koen Aerts to design a similar garden, he refused on the grounds that "conditions are totally different here. A garden in the Provence style would be a disappointment."

Instead, Aerts re-interpreted the ideas behind a Mediterranean garden for the local climate, keeping in mind his clients' dream of "a sunny atmosphere." Oh, and they also got their grapevines.

Here's how to recreate the look:

Above: A pergola made of grapevines, plus folding café chairs in sturdy teak (to withstand the Belgian climate), would be at home in the French countryside. A soothing dusk-gray facade and dark green trim evoke thunderstorm skies and the rolling terrain of Provence. Photograph via Archi-Verde. 

Above: To come up with our list of 10 Best Shades of Gray, we polled architects to reveal their favorite shade of exterior gray paint. A close match for the paint used on the facade in Antwerp is Farrow & Ball's Down Pipe (bottom row, second from right). It's a complex mix with hints of blue-green. Photograph by Katie Newburn for Gardenista.

Above: For the trim? We recommend Farrow & Ball's Black Blue exterior paint in an eggshell finish; $110 a gallon. Photograph (R) via My Friends House.

Above: A Preserved Teak Folding Chair is $148, and a Preserved Teak Dining Table measuring a generous 94.5 inches long by 47.5 inches wide is $2,998; both are available from Terrain.

Above: Steel cables strung above and across the terrace create a pergola on which grapevines grow. All you need to make a similar pergola are a few inexpensive components from the hardware store, including 3.75-inch-long stainless steel Hardware Eye Bolts (Top) to attach the cable to a vertical wall ($.96 apiece at Lowe's); Steel Cable ($59.05 for a 100-foot roll at Grainger), and Stainless Steel Turnbuckles to adjust the tension ($28.99 for a packet of 10 from Sears). Photograph by Michelle Slatalla.

Above: A seedless white table grape, Lakemont is disease-resistant and grows best on a south-facing wall; £25.99 for a plant in a 3-liter pot from Tree 2 My Door. For US gardeners, Lakemont is available for $8.25 per vine from Double A Vineyards. 

Above: Entwined among the grapevines are two LED pendant lights on cords. For a similar look, an Electrical Wire Frame Black Fabric Cord pendant is 15€ from Abat-Jour-Deco. For US customers, a 15-foot, 5-inch Hemma Cord Set is $5 from Ikea; add a small white shade. 

Above: In the backyard, concrete fences are painted a light, sunshine yellow to complement the gravel underfoot. Photograph via Archi-Verde. 

Above: For a yellow fence, we recommend Behr's Colonial Yellow semi-transparent waterproofing stain. It's one of our 8 Favorite Colorful Exterior Stains (we used two coats on the dip stick). Photograph by Meredith Swinehart.

Above: The architect arranged trimmed boxwood shrubs to look like "vast green rocks, with curves that exude softness." An economical variety of boxwood is the common Buxus 'Green Velvet' (available at your local nursery, or for $12.95 from Wayside Gardens). Photograph via Ikea.

Would you like to recreate Provence in your backyard, too? See A Secret Garden: Beauty in the Berkshires for more ideas. And for the garden that started it all, see A Magical Garden Where Clouds Grow on a Hillside in Provence.

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Fields of wheat and sunflowers line the road to Jean-Paul Cohen’s goat cheese farm, Pas de Blénac, in the Charente-Maritime region of France. The crumbling stone walls, sagging clay rooftops, and clinging ivy remind me of my childhood summers in the French countryside. Was it the pull of memory that prompted me to visit the other day? Or was it the amazing cheese?

Photography by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.

Above: My mother is American, which may explain why I get a thrill from string cheese, and why I festoon a cheese plate with fruit, nuts, jams, honey, and edible flowers. The French will have none of that. I know this because I am half French, from a father born in Cognac. My family is steeped in cheese culture—even as a child I knew how to use a cheese knife, what to eat with cheese (le pain!), and when to eat it (after the three courses of lunch and dinner).

 Above: Cheesemaker John-Paul Cohen displays a proper (unadorned) French cheese platter: In this case, several varieties of goat cheese, stiff or soft, creamy or crumbling; flavored with sun-dried tomatoes and basil, paprika and ginger, lavender and herbes de Provence, cilantro and lime, or curry, mint, and pepper.

Above: As soon as I arrived, Monsieur Cohen whisked me to the barnyard, where mother goats and dozens of kids were roaming around.

Above: The kids are curious little creatures. They ran and jumped to get a look at me, sometimes taking a lick or a nibble.

Above: Feeding time is a serious affair, as 15 goats line up to be simultaneously fed and milked.

Above: I was surprised to see the milking machines, but Monsieur Cohen told me that these days you would only roll up your sleeves and milk a goat by hand if you had a tiny farm.

Above: Monsieur Cohen feeds his goats fermented grass, and the taste of the cheese varies by season and by the type of grass.

Above: The milk is piped into a small adjacent room to be stored in a giant plastic bin. It sits for a few hours while the curds separate from the whey (the watery part of the milk). The curds are then transferred into cheesecloth sacks.

Above: The cheesecloth bags are hung to dry for several hours. Finally, the cheese is rolled into balls, flattened into disks, and placed on racks to set.

Above: A young cheese with no spices that has aged a few days. Some of the aging cheeses are covered in herbs and other gorgeous adornments. There's nothing modern or automated in the storeroom. 

Above: This Cognac-flavored cheese has aged for about a year. A cheese can go to market in a single day or a year, depending on the aging time Monsieur Cohen decides on.

           
Above: Wooden trays ready for the Pas de Blénac stand at the town market, holding a range of cheeses from young to aged. The farm's three-person staff produces an impressive 80,000 rondelettes a year.

Above: The aged Cognac is my favorite. The color is an earthy, antique brown, and it crumbles delicately even under the sharpest (non-traditional) cheese knife.

Above: Alas, you cannot buy Monsieur Cohen's cheeses in the United States. But you can make your own Pas de Blénac-inspired creations by drizzling store-bought chevre with olive oil, then pressing herbes de Provence or other flavors onto the surface. And, in honor of the French, eat more cheese. 

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Above: Pas de Blénac is in Sainte-Gemme, Charente-Maritime, France.

Ready to make your own goat cheese? Here's A Kit to Turn Your Kitchen Into a Goat Cheese Creamery. And if you happen to be in France, have dinner at The World's Most Beautiful Goat Farm.

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A bouquet garni is simply a small "bouquet" of fresh herbs that you pop into a broth, soup, or stew for seasoning as it cooks. A staple in French dishes from boeuf bourguignon to bouillabaisse, the bouquet garni adds rich flavoring without leaving wilted herbs behind. Think of it as a savory tea bag. Here are two ways to make your own:

Photography by Erin Boyle.

Above: Traditionally a bouquet garni is made with Mediterranean staples like bay leaf, thyme, sage, rosemary, and parsley. But it can include whatever herbs your recipe calls for.

Above: The first technique involves tying the herbs in a bundle. I began by making a pile with a few stems of each fresh herb I wanted to use. 

Above: Next, I tied up the stems with kitchen string. If you're concerned about leaves coming loose, wrap your bouquet in several spots. A ball of cotton Household and Charcuterie Twine is $1.95 from Kaufmann Mercantile.

Above: The second approach, which uses cheesecloth, is best if you're including small spices, like peppercorns or dried hot peppers. You can get 2 square yards of Unbleached Cheesecloth for $5.33 from Casa.

Above: I cut off a small square of cheesecloth and placed my herbs in the center of it.

Above: Then I tied together the corners of the cheesecloth and wrapped the ends with string so the bag would stay secure when plunked into the boiling liquid. 

Above: Et voilà! After the dish has finished cooking, lift the bouquet out of the pot and squeeze it to release any extra flavor. If you need a beautiful Linen Dish Towel to dry your hands, find more like this one at Small Batch Productions on Etsy for $22.

For advice on storing fresh herbs, see 5 Beautiful Ways to Make Fresh Herbs Last Longer. And for another way to use bundled herbs, see Modern Pot Pourri: How to Dry Your Own Scented Herbs.

This is updated from a post originally published June 5, 2013.

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When you hear the word boxwood, do you think Versailles? In that French feat of landscaping splendor, boxwood is clipped and pruned and trained into submission, as hedges and edging and even tapestries. But this shrub known for its obedient nature and pleasantly pungent scent can easily make itself at home in all sorts of gardens. Here's a sampling:

Above: Let's get this out of the way: the classic French chateau, the neatly clipped boxwood hedges. Chateau d'O in Normandy dates back to 1484, but its gardens were reimagined by the French landscape designer Louis Benech (read more about him in Louis Benech: Twelve French Gardens). Photograph by Eric Sander.

What's not to like? It's beautiful in its formal way, of course. But boxwood can do so much more.

Above: Now for something completely different. In another French garden, this time in Provence, former Hermès designer Nicole de Vésian pushed boxwood to the forefront rather than relegating it to a supporting role. And she did it by pruning her boxwood shrubs into pillowy, languorous clouds. Read more in A Magical Garden Where Clouds Grow on a Hillside in Provence. Photograph via La Dolce Vita California. 

Above: When two art collectors bought a 17th-century castle in the Netherlands—with a moat, no less—they found they loved the garden most of all. Here, fancifully clipped boxwood and the moat beyond. Read about Hedge House, the modern gallery they built, in All-in-One Henhouse, Toolshed, and Art Gallery. Photograph courtesy of Wiel Arets Architects.

Above: Who needs flowers when you have 50 shades of green? The late British interior designer David Hicks planted his romantic garden at The Grove, in Oxfordshire. Here, topiarized boxwood grows in bottomless containers that reduce the need to water. "The inspiration was mainly labor-saving," says Hicks's son, designer Ashley Hicks, "but also to give a look of orange trees at Versailles, albeit on a slightly smaller scale." Read more in Brit Style: The Garden With (Almost) No Flowers. Photograph by Kendra Wilson.

Above: A looser topiarized look can also work, as shown by the slightly shaggy boxwood hedges at Dan Pearson's Old Rectory, in the heart of a Cotswolds village. Elsewhere on the property, blowsy wildflower meadows attest to what the designer calls his "relaxed and naturalistic" approach.

Above: Gardenista editors were green with envy over this garden in Greenwich, CT. Landscape designer Madison Cox conceived the rounded hedges that give it a fairytale look. Photograph via Architectural Digest.

Above: At his garden in Garrison, NY, interior designer Juan Montoya capitalized on boxwood's sculptural quality and deep green hue. Boxwood could be considered too formal for this type of landscape, but Mntoya dotted large areas in a seemingly random pattern that adds visual interest. Read more in Garden Visit: La Formentera in Garrison, NY. Photograph by Eric Piasecki.

Above: We love this well-proportioned townhouse garden in Brooklyn, where Susan Welti of Foras Studio clipped boxwood into balls and a cube. She added other plants that can withstand city heat: Solomon's seal, Russian sage, Mexican feather grass, and hydrangeas. For more of this garden, see Modern Brooklyn Backyard on a Budget.

Above: Waves of boxwood break over a garden in Atherton, CA, designed by Andrea Cochran Landscape Architecture, a member of the Gardenista and Remodelista Architect/Designer Directory. 

In recent years, this beloved garden standby has become susceptible to a fungal disease called box blight, especially in England. Many gardeners are giving up and replacing their box with something hardier. Though it may seem like admitting defeat, we offer this advice in How to Eliminate Boxwood Blight: Plant a Different Shrub. But many boxwood lovers remain steadfast in their support, armed with chemical fungicide—and hope.

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Like baseball caps for houses, window awnings block the sun's harsh rays for infinitely more pleasant summer days. They're generally made of fabric stretched on a frame, and come in a vast range of styles: stationary or retractable, dome-shaped or rectangular, open or enclosed with sides, off-the-shelf or custom-made. And then there are the valence styles: wavy, arched, serpentine, Greek key, and straight edge are a few choices.

So how do you choose? The awnings we like best are jaunty and hopeful—they speak to us of cool breezes and lazy seaside afternoons. We've rounded up 10 of our favorite styles, in both striped and solid fabrics: 

Spear Awnings

Above: Cedar Baldridge, owner and principal at Baldridge Landscape, chose Spear Awnings (named for their spear-like supports) with classic peaked valences in Dickson Gray fabric for a Houston-area house. About $1,200 to $1,600 each, from Baldridge Landscape.

Above: For a more tailored look, choose a solid fabric with a straight valence. Shown here, David John and Krista Schrock of DISC Interiors designed a custom purple spear awning made of Sunbrella fabric to shade a garage-turned-garden-room in West Los Angeles. For information and prices, see Van Nuys Awning.  

Above: A 25-inch-deep Coolaroo Designer Awning has powder-coated aluminum side bars and comes in three widths. From Wayfair, starting at $148. Photograph by Eric Roth.

Above: A black Spear Awning with an exaggerated Greek key valence was installed above the doors of Houston designer Mary Jane Gallagher’s guest house, at a cost of about $2,200. For more information, see W.K. Hill Awnings. Photograph by Kim Etheridge.

Slant Awnings

Above: Open-End Awnings give a facade a breezy, modern look. For this house in Bel Air, CA, A. Hoegee & Sons fabricated custom awnings at a cost of about $600 per window. For more information, see A. Hoegee & Sons.

Above: The Awntech Dallas Retro Window/Entry Awning has a classic valence and can be ordered in more than two dozen striped and solid fabrics, in widths from 3 feet to 50 feet. Shown in gray fabric on an aluminum frame; from $170 to $3,360 from Home Depot.

Above: At the Hotel Saint Cecilia in Austin, Texas, an open-end striped awning with a shallow wave valence shades a courtyard. For more information, see Landscape Architect Visit: The Hotel Saint Cecilia.

Above: A retractable open-end slant awning can be mounted inside or outside a window frame. These SunGuard Topaz Awnings from KE Durasol Awnings Inc. are available for windows up to 16 feet wide. For more information and prices, see Durasol.

Above: Enclosed awnings block more sun and glare than open-end awnings. Hustead’s Canvas Creations used natural-colored Sunbrella fabric on Pull-Down Frame Awnings for this beach house in Norfolk, Virginia.

Above: A scalloped wave valence with white piping detail edges the enclosed Coolaroo Traditional Awning, available in four colors, including ebony. They're available from Wayfair for $165 to $238, depending on width.

Quarter-Barrel Awnings

Above: If you prefer a rounded silhouette to a straight slant awning, a Dutch Canopy has a segmented frame that folds up when it's not needed. This one was installed on a house in Bosham, West Sussex, UK. For more information, see Richards Blinds.

Above: Convex in shape, Awntech's Savannah Window/Entry Awning quarter-barrel awning is stretched across an aluminum frame. An 8-foot-wide version is $633 from Home Depot. 

Looking to provide shade (or privacy) from the inside? Read Michelle's groundbreaking Domestic Dispatches: 5 Ways to Cover 50 Windows on a Budget. Find more exterior shade solutions over on Remodelista, with Julie's Design Sleuth: Shade Sails.

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Time to weigh your choices.

Let the voting begin: For our second annual Remodelista + Gardenista Considered Design Awards, more than 1,000 of you entered projects (twice as many as last year), ranging from characterful Brooklyn backyards to Venice Beach bungalows to London balconies. Alongside our panel of Guest Judges, our editors have reviewed more than 5,000 photos and narrowed the entries in each category to five finalists (no mean feat, considering the quality of this year's projects).

Now it's up to you, our discerning and opinionated readers, to choose the winners. You can vote once per day in each of the categories, now through August 8. (Winners will be announced August 9.) Bookmark the following pages as the voting hub for each site: 

Vote in the Gardenista Awards

Vote in the Remodelista Awards

Winners will be chosen by public vote, so please spread the word by sharing images on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest, using the social media icons below each image.

Congratulations to our finalists, and happy voting!

Above: Start voting now—and vote daily until August 8. Winners will be announced on August 9. For more details, go to our FAQ and Official Rules page. Photograph by Nicole Franzen for Gardenista.

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Ah, le jardin à la française. No need to add the word formal to that phrase, because when it comes to French gardens, formal is a given. We've all seen Versailles (in photos, if not in person), and we know that its grand sense of ceremony—all those espaliered fruit trees, symmetrical flower beds, and razor-edged paths radiating outward from fountains—reflects 17th-century taste. A king's taste, that is. Whatever Louis XIV liked in a garden, landscape architect André Le Nôtre made sure he got.

And 400 years later? We like knot gardens, tortured topiary, and obsessively pruned boxwood as much as anybody. But when it comes to France, what interests us is its modern gardens. How do you translate such old-fashioned ideas as parterres, marble fountains, and fussily trimmed hedges into something you can live with in the 21st century?

For the answer, we visited some of our favorite contemporary French gardens—and discovered 10 essential tips for adding a certain je ne sais quoi to your outdoor living space:

Above: Ceramicist Cécile Daladier's garden in Paris has zinc window boxes and mirrors against the wall to reflect the garden and enlarge the space visually. Photograph by Natalie Weiss for Gardenista.

1. Make outdoor features visible from indoors. If you have a chateau or two, by all means lay out formal beds best viewed from the sweeping vantage of your oversized arched windows. As for the rest of us? If you live in an apartment, install a window box at eye level to accomplish a similar goal. If you have a yard, plant a flowering tree in a spot where you'll see it every day from your favorite room.

2. Orient your garden around architecture instead of landscape. Your house is the heart of your garden. Grow vines and climbers on trellises against a wall. Or plant a low hedge against the facade to anchor the house in the garden. But don't let shrubs grow up over the windows: You're the boss, not the bushes.

 Above: Strict rows of lime trees still line the Jardin du Palais Royal in Paris. Photograph by Alexa Hotz.

3. Embrace symmetry. Balance is soothing. This is why an allée of lime trees lining a path at the Jardin du Palais Royal is visually pleasing rather than intimidating. In your garden, repeat shrubs and planting schemes on opposite sides to make an outdoor space feel deliberate and restful.

Above: French garden designer Louis Benech created a symmetrical backdrop with stripes and bookended doors. Then he softened it with naturalistic planting—irises, climbing roses, lady's mantle—to achieve a romantic look for a garden in Normandy. For more, see A Garden at the Edge of the Sea.

4. Use geometric patterns to define spaces. The gardens at Versailles were laid out in a series of geometric shapes: squares, polygons, and circles. If you don't have 2,000 acres of your own to divide with such strict precision, you can add grids, trellises, and arbors to create structure.

Above: Another view of the Jardin du Palais Royal in Paris. Photograph by Alexa Hotz.

5. Impose control over nature. Add a tailored element to an otherwise messy outdoor space. A tightly clipped ball of boxwood, say, or a path that turns at a right angle will convey the deliberateness of your intentions even if you let a few plants go shaggy.

Above: In Lorraine, another design by Benech: A line of Japanese cherry trees at Chateau de Pange reminds us that the wildflowers aren't out of control, after all. Photograph by Eric Sander.

Above: Roses allowed to riot at the flower market in Paris. Photograph by Alexa Hotz.

6. Undercut the fussiness. The difference between 21st-century French gardens and Versailles? Modern gardeners have the confidence to relax. So let your squash plants run wild across the lawn; they'll look like necklaces against velvet.

Above: Photograph via Detroit Garden Works.

7. Add metal elements as a foil. The cold, unyielding discipline of an iron bench or pergola will make the surrounding greenery feel all the more lush. Zinc tabletops, corrugated planters, or a rusty watering can draws attention to the texture and softness of leaves and flowers.

Above: Photograph by Anna Williams.

8. Grow topiaries. It's easy to make the lollipop look feel modern with juxtaposition: Plant your fussy little rosemary tree in a mossy old pot. Then plant more at the base and let it spill over, breaching the rim of the pot.

Above: A row of espaliered fruit trees grows against a brick fence in an Antwerp garden. For more, see Steal This Look: A Walled Garden That Invokes the Spirit of Provence. Photograph via Archi-Verde. 

9. Espalier a fruit tree. Or three. Treat fruit trees as if they were vines and train them to cover an ugly fence. They'll take up barely any space and drop far less fruit to rot on the driveway. 

Above: A bowl of water in ceramicist Cécile Deladier's Paris garden. "It's magic," says Cécile: "You don't need mirrored glass; it's too strong. The light is the only mirror you need." Photograph by Natalie Weiss for Gardenista.

10. Reflect the sky. Versailles has its Hall of Mirrors, 240 feet long and 34 feet high. In your garden, you can create a similar effect with a fountain, pool, or bowl of water. In the right light, the surface of the water will connect the sky to the landscape and create a sense of limitless space.

For more Paris gardens, see The Tuileries at Sunset, With Alice Gao. And read about the day that Alexa spent Getting Lost in the Jardin du Palais Royal in Paris.

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From the banks of the Nile to your backyard, gabion walls are a boon to the landscape. Used for thousands of years by military and structural engineers, gabions provide an attractive, effective, and inexpensive retaining-wall system. Read on to find out how to use this ancient technology in your garden:

Above: Landscape architects Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp, based in Evanston, Illinois, topped gabion walls with poured-concrete slabs at a family retreat on Lake Michigan.

What are gabions?

Derived from an old Italian word, gabbione, meaning "big cage," gabions are enclosures that can be filled with any sort of inorganic material: rock, brick, or concrete debris. The cages were originally wicker, but now are usually a welded mesh made of sturdy galvanized, coated, or stainless steel wire that won't bend when filled with rocks. In landscaping, gabion walls can support an earth wall, stabilize the soil, prevent erosion, and more. 

Above: In a Bedfordshire, UK, project, London architecture firm Platform 5 used gabion walls to create a transition between domestic and agricultural environments. For more, see A Smart Modern House, Meadow View Included on Remodelista.

Above: Outside a house in Winthrop, Washington, by David Coleman Architecture, gabion acts as a retaining wall, a privacy screen, and a contextual link between building and landscape. Construction waste was dramatically reduced by using excavated material as filler. Photograph by Lara Swimmer, courtesy of David Coleman Architecture.

What is the history of gabion walls?

About 7,000 years ago, early gabion-type structures protected the banks of the Nile. In the medieval era, gabions were employed as military fortifications. Later they were used for structural purposes in architecture. Evidently, Leonardo da Vinci used gabion for the foundations of the San Marco Castle in Milan. In recent history, civil engineers have used gabions extensively to stabilize shorelines, riverbanks, highways, and slopes against erosion. 

Above: "Using regional materials ties a new space into the culture of a place," says landscape architect Christine Ten Eyck. She and her company transformed an abandoned parking lot into the Capri Lounge, a community gathering space at the Thunderbird Hotel in Marfa, Texas. Photograph by David Lake.

What are the benefits of gabion walls? 

History has shown that gabions are a lasting solution to soil erosion. Other reasons to use them:

• Aesthetics: Gabions look natural and can tie a house to the landscape by using filler materials excavated from the site or the local terrain.
• Environmental friendliness: When onsite material is used as filler, transportation costs and associated fuel consumption are eliminated.
• Sustainability: Used as shade screens in hot climates, gabion walls provide passive cooling; they allow air to move through, providing ventilation.
• Permeability: Gabions are permeable and free-draining; they can't be washed away by moving water.
• Easy installation and built-in strength: The stone fill settles to the contours of the ground beneath it and has such frictional strength that no foundation is required. In fact, the wall's strength and effectiveness may increase with time, as silt and vegetation fill the voids and reinforce the structure. Another advantage over more rigid structures: Gabions can conform to ground movement.
• Long-lasting.

Above: In this residential project, "Gabions provided the opportunity to use an organic material (stone) that is contextual to the site’s geological history," says Jonathan Blaseg, of Minneapolis landscape architects Coen & Partners. "The cage relates more directly to architecture and the acknowledgment of structure." Photograph via Coen & Partners, a member of the Remodelista Architect and Design Directory.

Above: Gabions define an entertaining space and provide seating. Photograph via Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp.

What material can you use to fill a gabion wall?

Rock is the most typical filler for its durability, longevity, and stability. Often the filler is chosen for its aesthetic attributes, or by what can be recycled from a site. Some considerations depend on a wall's purpose. For a retaining wall, the rock must be dense enough to support the load. A hard rock such as basalt is typical.

N.B.: If you're building a retaining wall, get a landscape architect or engineer to determine loads and stresses and other factors. 

Above:  Lighter, less dense rock can be used in a low decorative wall; shells, glass, brick, river rocks, or even broken ceramics are possible materials. Photograph via Studio G Blog.

Above: A gabion wall is part of the sustainable landscape created by Shades of Green Landscape Architecture at a house in Tiburon, California. The wall was filled with crushed concrete recycled from a building site, but decorative rocks were used in the visible areas at the front and top. Photograph by Matthew Millman.

Any reason not to use gabion walls?

Gabion walls may come with one warning label: possible animal habitat. "Gabions can be nice hiding places for small critters," says Ive Haugeland, principal at Shades of Green Landscape Architecture. "They're good for wildlife habitat, but that needs to be OK with the people living there, too." 

Above: Landscaped courtyards screened by gabion walls provide private outdoor space in a four-home Seattle compound designed by Rhodes Architecture + Light. Photographs by Fred Housel via Rhodes Architecture + Light.

Can I use gabions for more than just retaining walls?

Absolutely. Gabions can be reinvented for many garden uses: benches, outdoor fire surrounds, fence foundations, pond surrounds, planters, even pillars for water taps.  

Above: Top a low gabion wall with wood or concrete, and voilà: instant seating. Photograph via Pinterest, Lyndal Pile. 

Above: Architect David Coleman's Hill House uses gabion as a stair rail and visual divider between the entry stairs and the deck. Photograph by Lara Swimmer courtesy of David Coleman Architecture.

Above: Gabion wall dividers in the garden of lighting designer Greg Yale's Southampton house. Photograph via Cottages & Gardens.

Note: Whenever gabion construction is used for fencing or screening, it needs the rigidity of a surrounding frame. 

How much do gabions cost?

The price can vary widely, depending on:

Gabions: The cages are typically made of 3-inch mesh, which is sold in a range of sizes. According to Gabion Baskets, the industry standard is 3-foot increments. To estimate cost, figure on $35 per cubic yard (a 3-foot-square cage) for standard-gauge galvanized mesh. Gabion walls can be made in virtually any size (within structural limitations) for site-specific needs. 

Filler: Here's where you can exercise control over the price. Your filler could be expensive slate or free recycled concrete. For a large project, you often can find filler onsite.

Installation: Gabions are extremely affordable for a retaining wall or stone fencing, since little excavation or land preparation is needed. "It looks like the clients dropped hundreds and thousands of dollars," says Kettelkamp, "but because they don't require a foundation, it’s a very economical way to build a garden wall. The cost of labor is minimal compared to a traditional New England fieldstone wall."

Above: In Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp's Lake Michigan project, the gabion basket walls were built using standard stock panels of wire from Nashville Wire Products. "They sell big panels of wire and you wire them together to make baskets," says Kettelkamp. "A compacted one-foot-thick layer of gravel is spread beneath the wire frames. Then you fill the baskets with whatever you want. We knew some concrete roads were being ripped up nearby, so we recycled the crushed concrete to fill the baskets." To see more of this project, go to A Classic Lake Michigan Summer House by Kettelkamp & Kettelkamp.

Above: A gabion wall borders a pool house in New Zealand. Photograph via Herbst Architects.

Gabion Wall Recap

Pros:

• A structurally sound way to prevent soil erosion and build a retaining wall
• Easy to install—no excavation or foundation required
• Affordable
• Attractive
• Environmentally friendly
• Long-lasting

Cons:

• Can provide a home for unwanted wildlife
• May be too bulky for small spaces

Love the look but don't need a wall? See Rebecca Cole's Gabion Furniture for a simple way to use it in your outdoor space.

Attracted to wire mesh? Consider Hog Wire Fencing. For more ideas, see all of our Hardscaping 101 Features.

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