Your duty, as a summer guest, is to admire your hosts' overflowing herb garden without betraying envy. Instead ask sweetly if they would like to share. Upon returning to the city, you can transplant those outdoor herbs to a happy home on your windowsill. Here's how:
Photography by John Merkl for Gardenista except where noted.
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Above: Outdoor herbs that came in (from L to R): thyme, mint, and oregano.
Step 1: Choose perennial herbs because they will last longest in pots. Water them well in the garden before gently digging up. Use a spoon or a small trowel to tease out the roots so they don't break off. It will be easier to keep the roots intact if you dig up a small plant instead of a big one.
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Step 2: If you are not going to re-pot the herbs immediately, wrap the roots in a layer of moist paper towels or newspaper and a layer of waterproof plastic to keep them hydrated during transport.
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Above: White clay pots and saucers are available in a variety of sizes and styles from Ben Wolff Pottery. We bought a set of three 4-inch One-of-a-Kind Specials for $48.
Step 3: Choose a pot with a drainage hole; porous clay pots allow water to evaporate faster and will prevent over watering.
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Step 4: Fill the bottom one-third of the pot with potting soil and then place herb gently in the pot, making sure not to break off roots. Add spoonfuls of potting soil to cover the roots and tamp down with your fingertips.
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Step 5: Water the potted herb thoroughly (stop when the saucer fills with water).
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Step 6: Brush off excess dirt from the pot and place the potted herb in a shady spot for a week or so to allow the roots to adapt to their new home. Then transfer to a sunny windowsill (a southern exposure is best).
A triplex apartment sits atop a '60s office block in the Belgian city of Antwerp. The landscapers' brief: to create a garden on each floor, blending with the style of the building, which is mainly concrete. Step forward the delightful Bart & Pieter, who like a challenge:
Above: The top floor. The client here is an architect at the renowned B Architects in Antwerp. It was a fruitful collaboration, partly because the architect-client "has a knowledge and feeling for plants," says Pieter Croes of Bart and Pieter, also known as Haverkamp and Croes.
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Above: The roof garden has "rather wild growing shrubs," says Pieter, "and a 'lawn.'" It's unexpected, this lumpiness next to the clean lines of steel and glass.
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Above: As we travel down to the next level the planting is more ordered.
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Above: The desert plant Agave overlooks the stairwell. The architect-client is Brazilian and divides his time between the southern hemisphere and northern Europe. "There is certainly a Brazilian inspiration," says Pieter.
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Above: A balcony above, the kitchen below and everywhere, greenery next to concrete.
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Above: A Rhus typhina dominates the patio outside the kitchen, accompanied by ferns and grasses.
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Above: Enormous windows on every floor help to keep these living quarters light where possible. On the lowest level the bedroom, bathroom, and living room are situated. Within an internal space the jungly Monstera climbs up toward the next floor.
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Above: The bonsai-style growth of this Rhus works brilliantly against its very stark surroundings.
We like power drills as much as anybody, so long as they're whirring away in someone else's hand. And we'll definitely put up with the attendant screw holes, saw dust, and noise pollution if mounting a window box against a wall is our only option. But let's say you have a balcony and can hang brackets for a window box over the railing. Such a civilized alternative. Here are our favorite hanging window boxes with brackets:
Above: The finish on a Zinc Oval Planter will weather naturally over time. It is 25 inches long and is $29.95; a matching Zinc Rail Hook is $19.95. Both are available from Crate and Barrel.
Above: A small-space solution at 10 inches in length and designed to hang on Ikea's matching Grundtal Rail (from $6.99 to $9.99 depending on length), a plastic and stainless steel Grundtal Container ($15.99) will fit over any rail with a dimension of up to 15 millimeters (approximately 1/2 inch).
Above: A three-pack of adjustable metal Deck Railing Brackets designed to fit over wooden railings is $39.99 from Exterior Beauty. The brackets are compatible with several styles of window boxes sold separately; for more information and prices, see Exterior Beauty.
I used to live in a basement flat near London's King's Cross, with a little courtyard. It was full of pots and was lovely really, except for two things. It was overlooked by hundreds of people (there was a hotel next door), and there was no soil.
I could have done something about the latter problem if I'd come across Alex Mitchell, author of The Edible Balcony. Instead, I carried countless bags of compost down into the flat, due to an unfounded fear of using anything that was "tired," and got rid of said compost in the park across the street when no one was looking.
Above: Herbs are easy, and don't mind the harsh conditions of a small pot. The thyme here is in easy reach of a comfortable window seat, perfect for crushing the leaves to release scent while reading.
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Above: One of the questions I would have asked Mitchell would have been: Don't I need to replace my soil constantly? "Luckily, no," she says. "Otherwise you would have a backbreaking time ahead of you... It would not be a very sustainable way of gardening and it would be pretty expensive."
If your balcony is shady, grow woodland plants such as raspberries. "If you grow hungry crops in fresh compost you can then reuse it for less hungry crops," says Mitchell. "To reuse compost, sift it through your fingers, removing as many roots as you can since these can stop water draining through and make it difficult for new roots to spread out."
Above: A rooftop in London's Bermondsey, near the River Thames. Wind is cunningly kept back with box balls at head height. Mitchell says: "Hungry crops, such as tomatoes, (growing here in rows), potatoes, sweet peppers, aubergines, zucchini, and squashes, do need fresh, fertile compost to grow really well, but others, such as carrots, peas, beans, salad and herbs, don’t require so many nutrients."
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Above: Turn a problem into an advantage. Unfriendly railings are ideal for climbing crops. Mitchell: "You can add the old roots in your used soil to your wormery or compost bin. Top this old compost with a third fresh multi-purpose compost and, if you have a wormery, a few scoops of fresh worm compost. A handful of slow-release plant food will re-vitalize old compost too."
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Above: Beans are one of those crops that just keep giving, though they do require feeding. "Most crop plants need feeding," says Mitchell. "A good all-rounder is organic, sustainably sourced liquid seaweed feed; tomato feed can be used in the same way. A bottle should be enough to see you through the whole growing season and will ensure your plants get all the nutrients they need."
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Above: The Barbican is a concrete landmark in the middle of town: once reviled but now loved. The living spaces are well-designed with generous balconies. This one is cheered immeasurably with sunflowers, tomatoes, cosmos, and an olive tree, all ideal for a sunny spot.
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Above: A fig also has a faraway scent and is a reminder of warmer places. Because its roots like to be constricted, it is ideal for a tight space and its branches can be spread out against a south- or west-facing wall which will warm it up for more productivity.
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Above: A wormery is a fantastic solution for people with hard surfaces. Instead of requiring worms and other invertebrates to emerge from the ground to aid the breaking-down process, these worms are self-contained and only require feeding from your kitchen and the small amount of garden waste of a balcony or courtyard. They provide invaluable worm 'wee' to be diluted and used as plant food: it drips into a watering can under the tap which is left open. The compost produced by wormery worms is amazingly rich. Can o' Worms available from Wiggly Wigglers, from £32. Photograph by Kendra Wilson.
For nine years I gardened on a sliver of terrace at the top of a townhouse in the leafy Cobble Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn. That sunny space was small, and I needed so much: flowers, herbs, fruit, a charcoal grill; my requirements for sanity. You could not move on it without bumping into something, but I was happy.
Then our landlord sent our Brooklyn rent into the stratosphere. We had to move. My husband and I searched for two months for the right kind of outdoor space—rare and expensive in this city. One day my husband, Vincent, spotted an ad I had overlooked on a weekly email we received from the Listings Project, a humane list of rentals, predominantly for artists who need studio space, but with some apartments thrown in. The minute I saw the picture of the deck, taken from above, I was hooked.
Above: Marie Viljoen's deck garden in Harlem (as it looks this week).
We arrived early for the showing, with a check in hand for three months' rent. We had a spoken code—what we would say to each other if we liked it enough to produce the check. What we would say if we didn’t. One look at the sunny bedroom and its cathedral ceilings, with the deck a step up from it, and my husband uttered the code: “I really, really like it.” After some weeks of formalities and anxiety, the place was ours.
In early fall, at the end of the growing season, our black cat, Vince, and I piled into a sewing machine-sized Zipcar and followed the moving van that contained our belongings and all my terrace plants across the Brooklyn Bridge and north, into Manhattan.
Goodbye, Brooklyn, hello, Harlem.
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Above: Record snowfalls covered the Harlem terrace in winter.
You think I'd have been wildly happy to move to a terrace four times the size of the old space, and into an apartment where we could fit that old apartment three times. But the transition was bumpy. Winter was long and very dark. The apartment was a lot noisier than we had expected. And New York was buried in record snow. I didn’t see the terrace for months.
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Above: Waiting for spring in Harlem.
What we gained in cathedral ceilings on our parlor-level apartment, we lost in light. We went from being top floor sunny skylight people to bat cavers. The Harlem townhouse is squeezed by taller buildings to the east and west, and in the south another building—a homeless shelter, as it turned out—cut off the low winter sun.
And wow, it was cold. The heating bills from the newly installed electric heat gave us palpitations. And somehow, we skipped April.
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Above: Winter daydreaming: seeds for spring.
I shivered. I nearly lost my mind. Mentally, I bonded with suicidal Norwegians. To stay sane, I shopped for seeds online, and plotted what lily bulbs to plant where. I wondered how much summer sun the terrace would receive.
After the snow receded, it was clear that the climbing Iceberg rose, two shrub roses, the fig that had overwintered outdoors for years, and my trusty green boxwoods had given up the ghost. I had to start over, without spending too much money (those heating bills…).
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Above: The fava beans are thriving in May.
At night while my husband slept, I ordered fragrant and statuesque flowering tobacco plant seeds—they would give me cheap height and impact. Nasturtiums: uncomplicated flowers and excellent and healthy salad greens. Fava beans, whose tender leaves I find so rewarding every spring and fall, and they can take some shade. I ordered climbers—purple runner beans, scarlet runner beans, lablab beans, Gloriosa lilies, anything that could climb up a makeshift screen to give us the sense of privacy we had lost. I ordered cat grass for the cat.
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Above: Pansies and chives in May.
I nicknamed our new terrace The Goldfish Bowl: we went from total, top floor privacy to lights, camera, action. We are surrounded by windows. You can have no secrets. The first time I lit the charcoal fire for a barbecue, it brought people to every one of those windows, ready to dial 911 as the flames leaped. I poked the fire nonchalantly and pretended not to notice. The homeless men's shelter just south of the terrace made me deeply self-conscious. The juxtaposition of the haves and the have nots felt excrutiating. Me sipping my evening cocktail, deadheading the pansies.
As soon as the soil in the built-in planters that form the sides of terrace had thawed, I ordered birch poles online to construct a screen in name only. I didn’t want a stockade, but I did want a suggestion of separation. I sank the 6-foot uprights into the planters and tied on cross pieces with strong twine. The beans and the Gloriosa lilies are planted at each post’s base, and are already reaching upwards. The white birch looks good against the faded planks of the terrace and planters.
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Above: A survivor: the blueberry bush.
And among the dead there were survivors. The blueberry bush was visited by local bumblebees, and is loaded with more berries than ever before. Either it likes the hard pruning I gave it after fruiting, or the fresh coffee grounds I use as a mulch. Or perhaps Harlem bees are better. The black raspberry has lots of green fruit. The two surviving roses are fat with buds. The narrow built-in planters are stuffed with my former terrace herbs, tough customers: chives, thyme, sage, oregano. The strawberries made it, too.
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Above: A black raspberry bush sets fruit.
I was the recipient of gifts. Michael Marriot, the rosarian at David Austin roses, sent me five roses, recommended for the new light conditions (I’ve gone from full sun to four hours and a bit, in the middle of the day): Abraham Darby, my longtime favorite, pink and gorgeous-flowered; Munstead Wood, a spicy red; Darcy Bussell; Boscobel, and Teasing Georgia, all new to me. They arrived bare root and stricken, but have produced healthy shoots and tiny buds, sometimes plagued by aphids, which I squash.
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Above: A blueberry bush flowers.
My friend Paul Westervelt, the nursery manager for Saunders Brothers Wholesale Nursery in Virginia, overnighted me three Clematis ‘Roguchi,’ to plant under the birch pole screen. They have blue nodding flowers like bells.
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Above: Parsley, a tough customer.
Trips to farmers' markets have yielded new edibles like New Zealand spinach and Talinum, a pretty weed I grew up with, but whose leaves are a good cooked vegetable. I have added fennel for height and parsley, basil, mint, and marjoram for the cooking to come.
I love the birds that visit the small garden—juncos came in the snowy days and left birdprints on the icy crust. I bought a feeder for them which now attracts a crowd of pretty red house finches who sing like canaries. There are mourning doves and robins, and at 3 am there is a demented mockingbird that wakes up 127th Street.
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Above: Dinner on the terrace.
I have learned about the light. The sun arrives at noon and leaves at four. No one panics anymore when I light fires. My plants are growing (May helps). There are flowers and meals to come. And I have enough mint for a million mojitos.
It happens. Your long favored or ignored tree has to be removed. Disease, blocked views, size hazard, root damage, or just old age. The question arises: what to do about the stump? It comes down to three choices: use it, lose it, or camouflage it. Here's what you need to know about the basics on the best way to handle that stump.
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Above: A freshly cut eucalyptus stump shows the tree's inner personality. Image by Janet Hall.
Why remove a tree stump?
The first decision is whether to let the stump stand. Considerations include:
Aesthetics. Some find stumps unsightly, while others find them a visual feature. It depends on how well the stump blends into the landscape. Todd Lansing of San Francisco-based Creo Landscape Architecture and Design takes several items into account to make the decision: the location of the stump and whether it can be integrated into the design; the height of the stump (if it is too low, it is not useful and more of a hazard), and the type of tree and appearance as some tree stumps are better looking than others.
Physical Hazard. Depending on the location of the stump, it can be a tripping hazard or get in the way of lawn mowers.
Suckering. Stumps can generate new growth sprouts.
Pests. A decaying stump can attract wood-boring insects that you don't want near your house.
Disease. Stumps, especially those of trees removed because of disease, can harbor fungal disease and the like that may harm neighboring trees or plants.
Cost. Does the price of removing or grinding the stump fit your budget?
What are the best methods for tree stump removal?
Stump removal may seem straight forward, but it is not an easy task. The base and roots that have been keeping a large tree steady are not something that pop right out of the ground. There are four primary ways to remove a tree stump: mechanical, manual (digging), chemical, and natural decomposition.
Mechanical Removal. Gone are the days of trying to pull the stump out of the ground with a truck and a chain. And, unless your stump is less than 4 inches in diameter, cutting it out of the ground is a very difficult task. Fast and effective, stump grinding is the method of choice. A stump grinder is a machine that uses a wide blade outfitted with teeth to grind the stump well below ground level. It creates wood chips or grindings that can be removed from the site or turned into the ground as mulch, though the volume of chips may to too much for the ground to handle.
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Above: A stump grinder chews into a stump, reducing it to shavings. Image via Tom Kent Stump Removal.
Manual Removal. When does good old-fashioned digging work? If the stump is less than 4 inches in diameter or if you are dealing with a shrub stump, digging may work. Begin by digging a perimeter trench around the stump. The key is to have the right tools and to start farther out from the stump than you might expect. Use an axe, sharp spade, or even loppers to cut through the roots, working your way around the stump. Then loosen the soil and pry under the stump to try to get it out. Remember that even if you are successful, the stump may be very heavy and cumbersome to move.
Chemical Removal. There are several chemicals available designed to speed up the rotting of a stump. Typically, holes are drilled into the stump and the chemicals are poured into the holes. After weeks or months, the stump will be soft and can be broken apart and removed. While faster than natural decomposition, this is still a very slow process. And then there is the toxic nature of the chemicals. Since they act both as a herbicide, which is poisonous, and to break down the wood fibers, it is safe to assume the products are not good for anything living. It is advised not to use this method when pets and children are present.
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Above: A naturally decaying tree stump with ivy. Image by Janet Hall.
Natural Decay. Not worried about a stump hanging around for awhile? Attracted to the natural wooded-look of a slowly decaying stump? Then ignoring it is a tried and true method. It will take years. The average stump takes from three to seven years to decompose. Hardwoods, like oak, take longer to decompose than other varieties. You can speed up the process by drilling holes into the stump, covering it with soil and watering it.
Burning? Unless you live in a very remote location, this outdated method is not recommended due to air quality control issues and fire hazard. In fact, it is not allowed in most urban and many suburban locations.
Are some tree stumps harder to remove than others?
The variety of tree matters. "Some woods are fibrous. Pines and date palms fall into this category. While most people think their softness would make it easier to grind out, the opposite is true. The fibrous nature of the wood makes it more time consuming to remove. The density of hard woods actually can make it easier to grind," explains Matthew Morgenstern, owner of East and West Bay Stump Removal. "Root systems also vary. Some are more surface-oriented, while others tend to go deeper. The varieties with extensive surface roots include Monterey pines, Liquidambars, maples, and poplars. These tend to require more extensive grinding." Knowing the tree variety is also important in deciding whether to leave or remove the stump, as some varieties are more prone to producing suckers.
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Above: Spreading roots of a Western juniper. Image via SBCA Tree.
Can I remove a tree stump myself or should I hire a professional?
Complexity of stump removal depends on the size and variety of the tree, as well as challenges posed by its location. As mentioned above, DIY sump removal may be possible with small stumps and shrubs. When the stump is bigger enough to require mechanical removal, we advise seeking the help of a trained professional.
It's not at all unusual for stumps to be located over gas lines or other utilities. These situations are best handled by an experienced equipment operator. "Renting equipment and doing it yourself is an option," says tree stump removal professional Matthew Morgenstern. "Typical rental units are rather easy to tip over if you don't know what to expect. Unexperienced operators should avoid uneven terrain at least until they have gained some confidence in how the machine responds. Lastly, stump removal equipment involves flying debris. Windows, cars, and onlookers are at risk without proper precautions." Note that urban or small space situations may require special equipment as large machines can't be used. Local professionals are likely to have the necessary expertise and equipment to handle different situations.
How much does tree stump removal cost?
The factors affecting cost are the size of the stump and the accessibility. For machine grinding, many stump removal professionals charge by inch of the stump diameter. Expect a general price range around $3 per inch, with an understanding that there are many variables affecting each job. One such variable is accessibility for bringing in equipment. Removing a stump in my urban yard in San Francisco would be an expensive exercise (one estimate was $500) just to get the equipment into the back yard.
What are the alternatives to tree stump removal?
Scott Wheeler of San Francisco's Urban Arborist recommends thinking twice before removing a stump unless you are trying to plant something in the same spot or if it is part of a bigger landscape re-design project. "Let it stand if possible," he says. "It is expensive and intrusive to remove a stump. Think about alternative uses, like cutting the tree off at table height and using it as a table base, or carving the stump into a totem pole for your kids."
Repurposing Tree Stumps
As a Planter. Tree stumps can be effective planters for perennials, succulents, and woodland plants. Use its natural nooks and crannies or create hollows in the stump with a pickaxe or other tool to fill with dirt.
Above: Tree stumps were favored in Victorian times for showing off exotic woodland plants like ferns and orchids. They called such stump-based gardens a "stumpery." Image via Outline Productions.
Other Inventive Uses. Stumps can be repurposed into table bases, stepping stools, seating, or even tree house foundations.
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Above: A sturdy maple tree stump serves as a foundation for a modern tree house. Image by Howard Pruden.
Camouflaging Tree Stumps
In many locations, tree stumps can be cut close to the ground and hidden within the landscape.
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Above: Clever camouflage of a large tree stump within a field of lavender. Last year my neighbor had to remove a large Monterey pine from the corner of her property. In consultation with the arborist, she choose to leave the stump as it is not close to her house and the disruption to her landscape of full stump and root removal would have been severe. They cut the stump as low to the ground as possible; the lavender plants have fully camouflaged the 3-foot-wide stump. Image by Janet Hall.
What to do with the scraps from your tree stump removal? They can be cut and used as stepping stones, small table tops, or as shown on Remodelista, an easy DIY Log Side Table.
Fully one third of the world's food supply depends on pollinators, especially bees. Yet, according to a recent Yale study the global bee population has been declining at an alarming rate: from 30-50 percent each year for the last decade. In response to this critical problem, student Bettina Madita Böhm designed what has to be the hippest hive ever.
Bettina's Apiarium (discovered via Dezeen) was designed, while she was still an undergraduate at the Free University of Bolzano in Italy, as part of an initiative in Berlin to install beehives or apiaries in public spaces and to encourage urbanites to get into the beekeeping game. The hive, which is made of light concrete, creates an optimal environment for bees, yet is compact enough for most urban balconies, rooftops, and small gardens.
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Above: The decline in bee population is often linked to pesticides commonly used by farmers in the countryside, so urban environments are often more suited to bees.
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Above: Cast in light concrete, the base of the hive was inspired by a tree trunk, one of the bees' preferred lodgings in the wild. Interior air canals insulate bees from extreme weather.
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Above: As the hive grows a honeycomb chamber is placed on top of the base, or nest. The wooden slates can be lifted easily to access the honey.
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Above: Resembling many midcentury design icons, the outside of the honey chamber also pays homage to the bee's honeycomb pattern.
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Above: A flower plant placed at the top not only attracts the bees, it also provides further insulation.
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Above: Bettina's Apiarium prototype completely assembled. Bettina, now in graduate school, has not yet found a manufacturer for her Apiarium, but she has promised to keep us posted.
Here's a modern edible garden that reminds us of playing with Lego bricks: take one old shipping container, snap on a vaulted greenhouse roof, and ... grow food. Has recycled architecture ever been so delicious?
Designer Damien Chivialle, who created the concept of these 20-foot-long Urban Farm Units, envisions the next step too: snap a bunch of shipping container greenhouses together to create a working farm in the middle of a city. Inside each greenhouse is a hydroponic watering system and a metal staircase to the upper level. On the lower level, a fish pond and cleaning tank make it possible to fertilize and recycle water. Upstairs, vegetables and herbs flourish in full sun, protected by the greenhouse roof from the effects of urban air pollution. For more information about the shipping container greenhouses, see 20 Foot Urban Farm.
We spotted the Urban Farm Units via Design Boom and decided to go along for a tour of a shipping container greenhouse in Berlin (other Urban Farm Units have been installed in Brussels and Zurich).
Above: A standard size shipping container houses the Urban Farm Unit's recirculating watering system. Water flows down from the plants above into a fish tank; the fish excrement decomposes in a sewage tank, the mineral-rich water then returns to the plants to be filtered through their soil and roots before returning to the fish tank.
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Above: The greenhouse level, accessible by a metal staircase, is supported by scaffolding.
Spotted making itself at home at New York's recent International Contemporary Furniture Fair: preserved, unnaturally bright reindeer moss from Finland, ready to colonize coffee tables, hang from ceilings, and climb walls as maintenance-free indoor gardens. The plant's purveyor, Polarmoss, is based on the Finnish island of Hailuuto and has been gathering moss—and selling it—for decades (the owner is a self-described "third generation entrepreneur in the moss sector.") At ICFF, the company was debuting its latest product: dried and dyed reindeer moss presented as indoor decor in the form of moss-covered rock-like "islands," hanging orbs, and wall installations in red, yellow, and green.
A salesperson told us that Polarmoss is the world's easiest houseplant: it looks good for years without water, especially perks up when the humidity rises (40 percent humidity is its ideal), and is a natural sound absorber. It's also fire resistant (thanks to a treatment process) and, they assured, is responsibly harvested "in boreal and arctic regions around the circumpolar north."
Above: Islands of Polarmoss. The moss is hand picked, dried, and then colored in a solution of water, pigments, and salt (the salt is evidently what makes the otherwise very flammable moss fire retardant). Though no longer alive, it remains responsive to moisture and quickly goes from brittle to spongy after a spritz of water. The moss can dry out and soften several times without harm (but it shouldn't be sprayed too often or touched when it's brittle).
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Above: The islands are sold in three sizes (and have mounting hooks, so they can move from table to wall). Suggested prices for islands range from $220 to $355 each. Polarmoss will soon be selling its designs through US retailers; for buying information, contact the company's US rep Elit Inc.
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Above: Polarmoss spheres; prices start at $134 for the smallest.
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Above: Flex Elements, a series of felt-based shapes sold by Polarmoss, enable the moss to be hung on walls. These can be made to order in a range of sizes, colors, and patterns.
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Above: Polarmoss panels are natural sound absorbers. They can be cleaned (carefully) using a vacuum cleaner with a dust brush attachment.
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Above: Reindeer moss is a form of lichen that grows in the wild near the Arctic Circle. Polarmoss harvests its moss in Finland and Russia and writes in its catalog: "We at Polarmoss care for the environment we operate in. Reindeer moss is only hand picked; we always leave the forest cared for. We make sure the moss has enough time to rest and grow between picking periods." For more information, go to Polarmoss.
A few days ago, I visited a garden in the Noe Valley neighborhood of San Francisco, a city where the average lot is 25 feet wide by 100 feet deep. On a piece of property that size, it's inevitable: the house is going to gobble up most of the space. Yet the Lilliputian backyard behind this particular house felt enormous. The secret?
Designer Alma Hecht subdivided the area into several distinct "rooms" of roughly equal size but of different shapes to maximize usable space. The technique, which she calls "gardening by the square inch," is also a clever way to avoid making the space feel like a claustrophobic box:
Photography by Marla Aufmuth for Gardenista.
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Above: The suggestion of a wall creates a living room in the back corner of the garden. The freestanding fountain is tall enough to interrupt the sight line; the seating area is not visible from the house.
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Above: The view from the house. The outdoor living room is tucked behind the fountain (R). A path runs past all four "rooms." In front of the fountain is the vegetable and herb garden.
Last week members of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers were in town to tour this and other gardens in the Bay area. In coming days, we'll be featuring more of these gardens not usually seen by the public.
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Above: In the outdoor dining room, hand cast concrete pavers of varied sizes are set in gravel to create a loose naturalistic look; it feels more expansive than a tightly woven grid of pavers.
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Above: Hardenbergia violacea 'Happy Wanderer' (Purple Vine Lilac) is an exuberant, bushy perennial in this climate. I actually pulled the shrub out of the garden at my house a few years back after it threatened to eat the front porch. Here, though, it was charming, carefully thinned and espaliered against a wall. (N.B.: For a tamer option, see "Indoor Vines as House Plants.")
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Above: A Meyer lemon tree that Ms. Hecht installed in the garden to replace an apple tree that was lost because of an irrigation break. "In a garden, you are going to lose things," she says. (N.B.: To learn how to grow your own indoor lemon tree, see "DIY: Potted Indoor Citrus Trees.")
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: Ms. Hecht's client cooks frequently and entertains guests in the garden; a half wall of empty wine bottles helps delineate the dining room area of the garden. The bottles light up like jewels in sunlight.
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Above: Beyond the dining room area, a cutting garden is in the other back corner of the yard. This was possibly the most fragrant rose I ever smelled and I am hoping Ms. Hecht will discover its name in her records.
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Above: An evergreen clematis grows up the wall and ...
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...creates a bower for visitors who walk down the driveway. The clematis continues on its way, creating a shaded roof above the first-floor terrace on the back of the house.
It sounds redundant to say "midcentury modern." True classic design that hails from the middle decades of the 20th century deserves a simpler label: modern. This week our intrepid Remodelista editors reminded us of several examples—from butterfly chairs to beach houses—that illustrate that point beautifully.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: On a grassy knoll overlooking the sea, Julie visits A Simple Modern House in Uruguay where architects Martin Gomez Arquitectos designed sliding glass doors that blur the distinction between indoor and outdoor spaces.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: Julie finds a stairway to heaven—ten, actually—with simple, space-saving solutions ways to add warmth to white stairwells. See her pickes in 10 Favorites Warm Wooden Stairs.
Above: In California's wine country, landscape designer Thomas Woltz turned a 1920's gas station into a tasting room and garden. Photograph by Marion Brenner.
Above: Learn floral arranging from the UK's Shane Connolly, the appointed floral designer to the Prince of Wales and the florist behind Prince William and Kate Middleton's nuptials. For £45 you can attend the June 12 workshop from 12:30 pm to 2:30 pm at the Idler Academy in London. Image via Si & Jen, Flickr.
We love Kaufman Mercantile's curated collection of Father's Day gifts, including a wood and leather camp stool.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: Succulent shaped candles for burning through the summer nights. Photograph courtesy of Terrain.
Recipes for iced drinks to go with the warmer months ahead.
When the same image appears in our Pinterest feed multiple times in one day, our curiosity is piqued and we need to know the story behind it. This irresistible rooftop garden kept popping up, so I dug around the Internet to find the source.
Sleuthing, step 1. A reverse image search led back to a number websites in Greece, the first clue. I learned the rooftop is in Patras, Greece on the corner of Filopoimenos and Riga Ferraiou streets, to be exact.
Almost every website that posted the photo linked back to Spitoskylo, a popular Greek website for design and home decor. And Spitoskylo turned out to be the original Internet source for the photo.
With a little Google translating, I learned that the structure in the photo is located on a street of abandoned buildings. I also discovered that a reader sent this photo to Spitoskylo in April of 2012 and two years later, the image remains a Pinterest regular.
Above: What we like about this setting is how polarizing it is. How can there be such a lush garden atop a forgotten building? And who has the dedication to tend to all this greenery?
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Above: The graffiti on the walls gives good insight into what the rest of the urban environment must look like.
Is there an image that keeps finding its way into your Pinterest feed? Curious about the origin? Let us know in the comments section below and it might make it in our next installment of You Pin It, We ID It.
Winning projects will be covered with full posts on Remodelista or Gardenista, and winning entrants will receive a Jielde SI333 Signal Desk Lamp in bronze, designed exclusively for Remodelista and Gardenista.
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: The Jielde SI333 Signal Desk Lamp in bronze, at the home of Remodelista editor-in-chief Julie Carlson.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is eligible to enter the contest?
Individuals located in the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom are welcome to enter. We regret that we cannot open the contest to projects from all countries at this time. Designers and owners/tenants are invited to submit their spaces. Entrants need not be design professionals; gardeners, homeowners, architects, DIYers, interior designers, and landscape architects are all invited to submit. See our Official Rules for exceptions.
What are the 10 Remodelista contest categories?
Best Kitchen Space — Designed by Professionals
Best Living/Dining Space — Designed by Professionals
Best Bedroom Space — Designed by Professionals
Best Office Space — Designed by Professionals
Best Bath Space — Designed by Professionals
Best Kitchen Space — Designed by Amateurs
Best Living/Dining Space — Designed by Amateurs
Best Bedroom Space — Designed by Amateurs
Best Office Space — Designed by Amateurs
Best Bath Space — Designed by Amateurs
What are the seven Gardenista contest categories?
Best Garden — Designed by Amateurs
Best Small Garden — Designed by Amateurs
Best Outdoor Living Space — Open to Everyone
Best Edible Garden — Open to Everyone
Best Hardscape Project — Open to Everyone
Best Professional Landscape — Designed by Professionals
Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding — Designed by Professionals
Will you explain the Gardenista categories in greater detail?
Best Garden: Best overall outdoor garden designed by an amateur.
Best Small Garden: Houseplants, indoor gardens, window boxes, fire escape gardens, container gardens, vertical gardens, etc. designed by an amateur.
Best Outdoor Living Space: Outdoor sitting rooms and lounge spaces, outdoor kitchens, outdoor dining rooms, outdoor showers and baths, etc. open to both professionals and amateurs.
Best Edible Garden: Kitchen gardens, vegetable patches, raised beds, outdoor herb gardens, etc. open to both professionals and amateurs.
Best Hardscape Project: Stairways, decks and patios, driveways, pathways, fences, swimming pools, garden gates, trellises, etc. open to both professionals and amateurs.
Best Professional Landscape: Best overall outdoor garden or landscape designed by a professional.
Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding: Garden sheds, storage sheds, barns, garages, carports, greenhouses, pool houses, backyard studios, outhouses, guest houses, etc. designed by a professional. Though an outbuilding is typically detached from a main house, it's not required here.
What if my project has been covered on Remodelista or Gardenista before? What if I am a member of your Architect/Designer Directory?
If we have featured your project on our site(s) before, please do not submit that project for consideration. All are welcome to submit new projects, including members of our Architect/Designer Directory.
Can I submit more than one entry?
Yes, you may submit one entry into each category for which you qualify. You must complete an entry form for each submission. Please use the same email address for all of your submissions, as well as the same public-facing name.
Can I submit a project for more than one category?
One project may be submitted for more than one category, but a single photo may not be submitted twice. For example, if you would like to submit two spaces from a single project—say a kitchen and a bedroom in the same home—choose up to six photos of the kitchen and submit them as a single entry. Choose up to six different photos of the bedroom and submit them as a single entry. Entries will be excluded if the same photo is submitted for more than one category.
When are entries due?
Monday, June 30 by midnight PDT.
What kinds of photos are you looking for?
Please upload a maximum of six photos per entry. Look through our sites to get a sense for the kinds of photos we like. Consider the way we cover any single room or space, and follow suit if you can. We need to be able to see the space you want us to consider, but we also enjoy detail shots.
Photos must be a minimum of 700 pixels wide (whether the photo is displayed horizontally or vertically does not matter). Photos can be in JPG or PNG format and may have a maximum file size of 5 MB each. Photos cannot feature any identifiable person. Please note that we cannot provide individual help with photography or image sizing.
Do I need to have professional photos taken of my space?
No. We use both professional and amateur photography on our sites, and we will evaluate contest images in the same way we review images for our sites.
What is the Design Statement?
Please prepare a brief statement describing your project and what you were aiming to achieve. The form will accept a maximum of 250 words. Your project will not be judged on your design statement but it can help us understand your project. If you are a contest finalist, your project will be judged by reader vote. Your design statement can help readers understand and vote for your project.
How will you choose the winners?
A guest judge has been assigned to each category, and the guest judge will review projects alongside Remodelista and Gardenista judges to choose up to five finalists in each category. Remodelista and Gardenista judges will review every contest submission. We will announce the finalists on our sites and the eventual winners will be chosen by public voting. There will be 17 winners total: one winner for each of the 10 Remodelista and seven Gardenista categories.
Who are the judges?
The competition will be judged by a panel of Remodelista and Gardenista editors, plus one guest judge in each category.
When will finalists be announced, and when is the public voting period?
Finalists will be announced on Wednesday, July 9 and public voting will begin. Voting ends on Thursday, July 31 at midnight PDT.
If I am a finalist, can I publicize my project and ask people to vote for me?
Yes! We will share some tips with all finalists about publicizing your project to maximize your votes. We will share a contest logo with you to post on your blog, Facebook page, etc.
When will winners be announced?
Winners will be announced on Friday, August 1.
Even if I don’t win, is there a chance you will publish my project on Remodelista or Gardenista?
Yes. By sending your photos and project details to us, you give us permission to use them. We may publish some images to publicize the competition, and we may publish your images on our site at a future date, always with proper credit.
If my entry wins, who will be credited for the design?
On the entry form, you will be asked to list the contributors to the project. Listed contributors will be named if your project wins. By submitting a project, we assume that you are entitled to do so. See our Official Rules for details.
How do I enter?
Enter online here.
What if my question isn’t answered here?
If not answered in our Official Rules, please email feedback<at>remodelista.com with "Design Awards" in the subject line. We cannot guarantee a response, especially if you are requesting individual assistance with your submission.
Official Rules of the Remodelista/Gardenista 2014 Considered Design Awards
NO PURCHASE IS NECESSARY TO ENTER OR WIN. VOID IN QUEBEC AND WHERE PROHIBITED.
The Remodelista.com/Gardenista.com Considered Design Awards (“Contest”) starts on Monday, June 9, 2014 at 12:01 am Eastern Time (“ET”) and ends at 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, July 31, 2014 (“Contest Period”).
All Contest entry submissions should be received between Monday, June 9, 2014 at 12:01 am ET and at 11:59 pm ET on Monday, June 30, 2014 (“Submission Period”)
Public voting will take place between 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday, July 9, 2014 and 11:59 pm ET on Thursday, July 31, 2014 (“Voting Period”).
ELIGIBILITY: Contest is open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and District of Columbia, Canada (excluding Quebec), and the United Kingdom who are 21 years of age or older at time of entry. Employees, officers, directors, agents and representatives of SAY Media, Inc. (“Sponsor”), its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates and advertising and promotion agencies, and members of their immediate family (spouse and parent, children and siblings and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and persons living in the same household, whether or not related, of such employees, officers, directors, agents and representatives, are not eligible to enter or win. Void in Quebec and where prohibited by law. Contest is subject to all applicable federal, state provincial and local laws. By participating, each entrant agrees to abide by these Official Rules and decisions of Sponsor and judges, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Contest.
HOW TO ENTER: During the Submission Period, you may enter in one or more of the following categories (each, a “Category”):
For Remodelista.com (each as a Professional and Amateur Sub-Category):
(1) Best Kitchen Space
(2) Best Living / Dining Space
(3) Best Bedroom Space
(4) Best Office Space
(5) Best Bath Space
For Gardenista.com (some Categories are open to all, some to Amateurs only, and some to Professionals only):
(1) Best Garden (Best overall outdoor garden designed by an Amatuer)
(2) Best Small Garden (Houseplants, indoor gardens, window boxes, fire escape gardens, container gardens, vertical gardens, etc. from an Amatuer).
(3) Best Hardscape Project (Stairways, decks and patios, driveways, pathways, fences, swimming pools, garden gates, trellises, etc. Open to everyone)
(4) Best Edible Garden (Kitchen gardens, vegetable patches, raised beds, outdoor herb gardens, etc. Open to everyone)
(5) Best Outdoor Living Space (Outdoor sitting rooms and lounge spaces, outdoor kitchens, outdoor dining rooms, outdoor showers and baths, etc. Open to everyone)
(6) Best Professional Landscape (Best overall outdoor garden or landscape designed by a Professional)
(7) Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding by a Professional (Garden sheds, storage sheds, barns, garages, carports, greenhouses, pool houses, backyard studios, outhouses, guest houses, etc. Though an outbuilding is typically detached from a main house, it's not required to be detached for this Category.)
Each Remodelista.com Category will have a Professional and Amateur Sub-Category (each, a “Sub-Category”). Gardenista.com has two categories open only to Amateurs (Best Garden and Best Small Garden), two Categories open only to Professionals (Best Professional Landscape and Best Garden Shed or Outbuilding), and three Categories that are open to all types of entrants (Best Outdoor Living Space, Best Edible Garden, and Best Hardscape Project). Enter your project into the Professional Sub-Category if: (a) you are currently employed as a home or garden design professional, or (b) if you received payment for the project you are submitting. All other projects should be entered into the Amateur Sub-Category.
To enter a particular category, visit (as applicable) either Remodelista.com or Gardenista.com (each a “Website” and collectively, the “Websites”) and (1) follow the directions to upload up to six (6) photos (each a “Photo” and collectively, the “Photos”) of an indoor and/or outdoor space (as applicable) that you designed and/or you own or rent and that reflects the selected Category, and (2) provide all requested information (including your first and last name, country/state/province/territory of residence, email address, and description of the project). You will also be required to confirm that you have read, understood and agree to abide by these Official Rules and are older than 21 years old. For the purposes of this Contest and these Official Rules an “Entry” shall include the “Photo”.
Limit one (1) Entry per person/email address for each Category for which you qualify. Each Entry must feature a different indoor and/or outdoor space (as applicable) in Sponsor’s sole discretion.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:
Any Photo must be submitted in one of the following formats: JPG or PNG, and cannot exceed 5 MB.
The Photo Entries should only show the space and must not contain any reference to, or the image or likeness of, any identifiable person.
Entries generated by script, macro or other automated means or by any means which subvert the entry process are void. Entrant may only use one (1) email account in connection with this Contest. Entries received from any person or email address in excess of this limitation will be void. Entries will not be returned.
PROHIBITED CONTENT: Each Entry may not contain, as determined by the Sponsor, in its sole discretion, any content that:
is derogatory of any ethnic, racial, gender, sexual orientation, religious, professional or age or other protected group or individual(s);
is profane or pornographic;
contains nudity;
is obscene or offensive; endorses any form of hate or hate group;
appears to duplicate any other submitted Entries;
defames, misrepresents or contains disparaging remarks about Sponsor, its products or services, any person or any other entity;
contains trademarks, logos, or trade dress owned by others, without permission, to the extent permission is necessary;
contains copyrighted materials owned by others (such as music, photographs, footage, sculptures, paintings, texts and other works of art or images), without permission, to the extent permission is necessary;
contains materials embodying the names, likenesses, voices, or other indicia identifying any person (living or dead), such as license plate numbers, personal names, e-mail addresses or street addresses, including, without limitation, celebrities and/or other public or private figures, living or dead, without permission, to the extent permission is necessary;
communicates messages or images inconsistent with Sponsor and/or its reputation; and/or
violates any law.
Entrant represents and warrants that he/she has all necessary rights, title and interest, including copyright, in each Entry, and that each Entry does not infringe upon the copyrights, trademarks, rights of privacy, publicity or other intellectual property or other rights of any person, living or deceased, or entity. If an Entry contains any material or elements that are not owned by the entrant, and/or which are subject to the rights of third parties, the entrant is responsible for obtaining, prior to submission of the Entry, any and all releases, permissions and consents necessary to permit the use and exhibition of the Entry by Sponsor in the manner set forth in these Official Rules, including, without limitation, permissions from any person who took the Photo(s) submitted as an Entry. Sponsor reserves the right to request proof of these permissions in a form acceptable to Sponsor from any entrant at any time. Failure to provide such proof may, if requested, render Entry null and void. By submitting an Entry, entrant warrants and represents that (a) he/she has the right to submit the Photo, (b) he/she consents to the submission and use of the Photo in the Contest and to its use as otherwise set forth herein, and (c) the use of the Photo by Sponsor as contemplated herein will not violate or infringe upon the rights of any third party.
By submitting an Entry, entrant represents and warrants that the Entry conforms to these Official Rules and understands that Sponsor, in its sole discretion, may disqualify the Entry for any reason, including if it determines, in its sole discretion, that the Entry fails to conform to these Official Rules in any way or otherwise contains unacceptable content as determined by Sponsor, in its sole discretion.
USE OF PHOTOS:By submitting a Photo, entrant hereby grants to Sponsor, its licensees, successors and assigns a non-exclusive license to use, adapt, edit, modify, reproduce, distribute, display, perform, create derivative works based upon, or otherwise exploit the Photo in any manner or media now known or hereafter devised throughout the world in perpetuity for advertising, promotional and other purposes (including, without limitation, displaying the Photo on the Websites and/or Sponsor’s websites and social media sites as part of a library of Entries) and waives all his/her rights, including moral rights, in and to the Photo, without further compensation, notification or permission. Entrant agrees that Released Parties (as defined below) are not responsible for any unauthorized use of Photos by third parties. Sponsor has no obligation to make use of the rights granted herein and may take down any Photo at any time and for any reason, in its sole discretion.
JUDGING: All eligible Entries received by Sponsor will be judged by a panel of qualified judges based on the following criteria, with each criterion being weighted equally: (a) simplicity of the design, and (b) compatibility with the overall theme and aesthetic of the Remodelista.com or Gardenista.com website for the applicable Category (“Judging Criteria”), to determine up to five (5) potential finalists in each Category or Sub-Category on each Website, for a total of up to eighty-five (85) potential finalists (up to fifty (50) per Remodelista.com and up to thirty-five (35) per Gardenista.com) (each, a “Finalist”). The same individual can be selected as a Finalist in more than one Category. In the event of a tie, an additional, “tie-breaking” judge will determine the Finalist(s) based on the Judging Criteria. Sponsor will not reveal the judging scores for any Entry.
PUBLIC VOTING: Each Finalist Photo will be featured on each Website during the Voting Period. Visitors to the Websites can select their favorite design. Limit one (1) vote per person per IP address and per Category per day during the Voting Period. For the Categories with Sub-Categories, a person can submit one (1) vote each day in each Sub-Category. The Finalist receiving the highest number of valid votes in a Category (or Sub-Category, as applicable) at the end of the Voting Period, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, will be deemed a potential winner. One (1) potential winner per Category (or Sub-Category) will be determined by public voting, for a total of up to seventeen (17) potential winners. The same individual may be selected as a potential winner for multiple Categories (or Sub-Categories). Votes received from any person/email address in excess of the stated limitation will be void. Votes obtained or suspected to be obtained by any fraudulent or inappropriate means, including, without limitation, trading votes or offering prizes or other inducements to members of the public, as determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion, will be disqualified and all associated entrants will be void. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, if the Sponsor has grounds to suspect any entrant or third party of cheating, deception or fraudulent or unsportsman-like conduct of any kind (including, without limitation, manipulating the Contest, choice of prize winner(s) or any Entry) the Sponsor reserves the right (in its sole discretion) to disqualify any entrant, vote or person it reasonably believes to be responsible for, or associated with, such activity. In the event of a tie, a “tie-breaking” judge will determine the winner based on the judging criteria set forth above. Use of script, macro or any automated system to vote or with the intent to impair the integrity of the voting process is prohibited and all such votes will be void. Sponsor reserves the right to not award any or all prizes (except where prohibited) if, in its sole discretion, it does not receive a sufficient number of eligible and qualified Entries.
The odds of being selected as eligible to win will depend on a combination of: (i) the total number of eligible Entries received in each Category (or Sub-Category, as applicable) during the Contest Period and (ii) the total number of eligible “votes” the entrant’s Photo receives from the Voting Period and (iii) the score the Photo receives by the judges in accordance with the Judging Criteria outlined above.
For the purposes of submitting a vote in this Contest in accordance with these Official Rules, a “day” shall mean twenty-four (24) hours from the time a participant submits a vote during the Voting Period.
WINNER NOTIFICATION: Potential winners will be notified by email within three (3) days of selection at the email address provided at time of entry and may be required to execute an Affidavit of Eligibility and a Liability and Publicity Release or for residents of Canada, a Declaration and Release (collectively, the “Release”) (unless prohibited by law), which must be returned within five (5) days of the date appearing on prize notification. Return of prize or prize notification as undeliverable, failure to sign and return requested documentation within the specified time period, the inability of Sponsor to contact a potential winner within a reasonable time period or noncompliance with these Official Rules by any potential winner will result in disqualification and, at Sponsor’s sole discretion, the prize may be awarded to a runner-up (who received the next highest number of valid votes in the same Category during the Voting Period), who will be subject to disqualification in the same manner.
Prizes: There are a total of seventeen (17) prizes available to be won (one (1) per Category or Sub-Category). Each winner will receive one (1) Jielde Signal Lamp in a color to be determined by Sponsor in its sole discretion. Approximate Retail Value (“ARV”): $500 U.S. Dollars (“USD”) each. Total ARV of all prizes: $8500 USD. All applicable federal, state, provincial and local taxes are the sole responsibility of the winners. Winner may not substitute, assign or transfer prize, but Sponsor reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to substitute prize with one of comparable or greater monetary value. All prize details are at Sponsor’s sole discretion.
RELEASE OF LIABILITY: By participating, each entrant agrees to release, indemnify, discharge and hold harmless Sponsor and its parents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or any Contest-related activity, the use of entrant’s Entry, the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any prize and/or Sponsor’s use of the rights granted herein.
PUBLICITY GRANT: By participating, each entrant agrees to the use by Sponsor and its designees, of his/her name, voice, performance, biographical information, image and/or likeness for advertising, publicity, promotional and other purposes, in any and all media now or hereafter known, worldwide in perpetuity, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use if asked to do so.
PERSONAL INFORMATION: Sponsor and its authorized agents will collect, use, and disclose the personal information you provide when you enter the Contest for the purposes of administering the Contest and prize fulfillment. By entering this Contest, you consent to such collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information. Residents of Canada: The Websites may be hosted on servers in the United States, and the personal information you provide may therefore also be subject to the laws of the United States.For further information about Sponsor's privacy practices, please see Sponsor's Privacy Policy at: http://www.remodelista.com/privacy-policy.
GENERAL CONDITIONS Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, or garbled Entries, email or mail; or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), website, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Contest, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Contest, the processing or judging of Entries, the announcement of the prize or in any Contest-related materials. Proof of Entry submission does not constitute proof of receipt. Sponsor reserves the right to correct any typographical, printing, computer programming or operator errors. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Contest or downloading materials from or use of the Websites. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Contest or Websites, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Official Rules, as solely determined by Sponsor, will be disqualified and all associated Entries will be void. Should any portion of the Contest be, in Sponsor’s sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Sponsor, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of Entries, Sponsor reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Contest or these Official Rules, in whole or in part, at any time and without notice or obligation and, if terminated, at its discretion, select the potential winner from all eligible, non-suspect Entries received prior to action taken who will be subject to disqualification in the same manner using the judging procedure outlined above or as otherwise deemed fair and appropriate by Sponsor. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE THE WEBSITES OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE CONTEST MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, SPONSOR RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION. If and to the extent English law applies to these Official Rules or any claim relating to it, nothing in these Official Rules will in any way limit or exclude any party’s liability for death or personal injury caused by its negligence, or for fraud. Sponsor's failure to enforce any term of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision of these Official Rules shall not affect the validity or enforceability of any other provision. If any provision of the Official Rules is determined to be invalid or otherwise unenforceable, then the Official Rules shall be construed in accordance with their terms as if the invalid or unenforceable provision was not contained therein. In the event of a dispute as to the identity of the person who submitted any Entry, the authorized account holder of the e-mail address submitted at entry will be deemed to be the entrant and he/she must comply with these Official Rules. The "authorized account holder" is the natural person assigned an e-mail address by an access provider, service provider, or other person or organization responsible for assigning e-mail addresses for the account associated with the submitted address. The potential winner may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder.
Request for Winners LIST: For the winners list (available after Friday, August 1, 2014), visit remodelista.com or gardenista.com.
Sponsor: SAY Media, Inc., 180 Townsend Street, San Francisco, CA 94107
Dinner on the deck, check. Hammocks ready for duty, check. Herbs in the window box, check. We'll be spending the week living outdoors (is there any other place to be in June)?
Above: Foxglove in the garden: Amanda explains why it's essential (and how to grow it) in this week's Field Guide.
Tuesday
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: The typical New York City backyard is 36 feet wide and 200 feet deep. That turns out to be plenty of room for a family to live in all summer; we explore Robin Key Landscape Architecture's clever design in downtown Manhattan in this week's Landscape Architect Visit.
One of Michelle's jobs as a child was to follow her mother through the backyard, slowly unfurling garlands of glowing bulbs for her to wrap around the trunk of the crabapple tree and to drape across the yews. Sounds pretty, doesn't it? We'll reveal our favorite sources for strings of café-style outdoor lights in this week's 10 Easy Pieces.
Fire escapes are romantic places. What's the easiest way to turn one into a romantic container garden? Erin explores the options in this week's DIY Project.
Friday
Image may be NSFW. Clik here to view.
Above: Photograph via Atelierworkshop.
Our Outbuilding of the Week is a shipping container turned summer guest quarters: the ultimate holiday house.
And don't forget to check out Remodelista's Indoor/Outdoor posts, too, this week.
"We had this idea of making a green cube in the back of the garden," says San Francisco-based landscape architect Scott Lewis. And as you can see, it was an excellent idea.
In a small city backyard, Lewis of Scott Lewis Landscape Architecture created a spacious feeling in a space that's barely 25 feet wide by 40 feet long. The garden, with both shady and sunny micro-climates, is lush and green; perimeter beds grow around the edges of a wedge-shaped bluestone patio. The clients, a family with young children, originally wanted a lawn. But with San Francisco's foggy, cool weather, "a lawn often doesn't work," says Lewis. "The paving accomplished the same goal."
In a back corner of the property was a shed that had been converted to an artist's studio. To turn it into a green jewel box, Lewis covered it with ivy.
The project won an American Society of Landscape Architects national Honor Award in 2010.
Above: English ivy is invasive and will destroy wood structures as well as masonry. To keep Hedera helix 'Hahn's Self Branching' in check, Lewis designed a wire frame to hold the ivy about 3 inches away from the face of the building. The frame is made of quarter-inch-thick wire welded wire bars.
"It's basically a rigid framework, and you can get behind it to trim off any tendrils that escape," says Lewis. "It's in some respects an easier and much less maintenance-intensive solution than a green wall, because you just have to trim the ivy a couple of times a year."
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Above: Seen from above, the artist's studio is in a back corner of the property. The bluestone pavers were laid in a running bond pattern and dry set to create a permeable surface.
The red planter, a concrete pot by artist Mary Collins, holds a lemon tree.
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Above: The recently renovated house has new steel sash windows and doors that go up to the ceiling. "We wanted a garden form that would be harmonious with the contemporary style of the windows," says Lewis.
When you step out onto the wood deck, you enter the garden beneath a canopy of Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) trees.
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Above: From the dining room, the clients look out onto a woodland. A giant chain fern (Woodwardia fimbriata) was placed close to the window to emphasize the feeling of being enveloped by shady woods.
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Above: On the opposite side of the dining room window (and not visible from indoors) are stairs to the basement. Concrete planters house a collection of shade plants.
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Above: Shade plants include hellebores (Helleborus niger); violets (Viola odorata 'White Czar'); sweet woodruff (Galium odoratum), and white bleeding heart (Dicentra formosa 'Alba').
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Above: The Edwardian style shingle house had been recently renovated to give it a more contemporary profile.
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Above: This "before" shot shows the heavier wood detailing; the deck is the same one that exists now.
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Above: The bluestone patio's wedge shape, which is obvious on the site plan, is something you're not really aware of in real life when you are standing in the backyard. The wedge shape makes the space feel wider and naturally extends the indoor living area into the garden.
The left side has much more shade than the right side, and the patio creates a natural demarcation between the two distinct climates. "We wanted the plantings to be compatible throughout the garden, and the paving pulls it together," says Lewis.
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Above: The clients requested a palette of serene green and white. "This turned out to be a texture garden," says Lewis.
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Above: Surrounding the artist's studio, Lewis planted white dwarf deutzia (Deutzia gracilus 'Nikko'). "It's typically an old-fashioned plant, a deciduous shrub that blooms in late spring and early summer," says Lewis.
Love your outdoor space? Every day, we show you the gardens we love; now it's your turn to share.
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Above: Photograph by Liesa Johannssen for Gardenista.
We're thrilled to announce that the second annual Gardenista Considered Design Awards is at hand, set to honor the residential gardens and design acumen of our readers—design professionals and novices alike.
On Monday, June 9, we will announce the contest categories, prizes, and rules, along with a new feature we're thrilled about: a panel of outstanding guest judges, all experts in their garden design-related fields.
Our awards program is open to all readers—whether you're an apartment dweller with a small fire escape garden, or a homeowner who's just installed a new tree-lined driveway—and we have separate categories for the work of professional landscape architects and designers. And for those of you who prefer to design indoors, we're launching Remodelista's awards program the same day.
So dust off your cameras and stay tuned for details coming on Monday, June 9.
Where would a cottage garden be without foxglove? Or the Tuileries, for that matter? And did we mention that foxglove also will spread like a wildflower? Wild foxglove can be found in the shadier parts of fields in all the colors of silk and satin gowns. Varieties of foxglove are in cream, apricot, mauve, beige, sky blue, and just about any color you can imagine.
They are at once incredibly showy and laid-back, rustic charmers. Or for a more unusual look, Camelot Cream foxglove boasts milky flowers with exotically speckled, violet throats. You have to see it to believe it.
Depending on the species of foxglove, it can be a perennial or a biennial and re-seeds itself freely and easily in the garden. Extracts from the common species, Digitalis purpurea, have been used for medicinal purposes—to treat cardiac patients—since the 18th century. An overdose is toxic and so is the entire plant: don't eat foxglove flowers, stems, or roots.
The typical townhouse backyard in New York City is a rectangle 20 feet wide by 36 feet deep. So, how do you turn a measly box like that into a garden that feels private, lush, and irresistibly usable?
The goal for a young family in downtown Manhattan was to create a modern outdoor room that works well both as a play space for kids and a party space for adults. The solution, a design by New York-based Robin Key Landscape Architecture, was to use a unified color palette and plants that would provide year-round interest:
Above: A peaceful color palette included bluestone pavers, zinc on the retaining walls, and a bleached cedar fence.
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Above: Espaliered shrubs turn the fence into a focal point.
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Above: In the back of the lot, where the trees and neighboring buildings bathe the area in shade, the sorts of plants that thrive include Solomon's seal (L), Japanese painted ferns, and a white-blooming ground cover (R).
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Above: The view from the house, which is located in Manhattan's West Village.
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Above: The steps down from the main garden to a lower level create a sense of more space.
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Above: Three floors above is a rooftop terrace where crape myrtle trees in containers are planted with perennial grasses.
We've been admiring actress Jennifer Carpenter's Laurel Canyon patio for a while now, from the strand lighting casually laced through the overhanging trees to the eclectic mix of classic outdoor furnishings.
Carpenter collaborated with Ashe + Leandro to transform a 1930s LA hunting lodge into a color-splashed bohemian abode. The garden patio features bright citrus colors, a vintage glider, and shade-loving house plants; a winning combination. Recreate the SoCal vibe with the following elements:
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Above: In LA, you have the advantage of abundant foliage, which creates an automatic screen. Throw mod furniture and bright accents into the mix and you're done.
Above: Designed by Denmark-based company Hay, the Hee Lounge Chair is available in six different colors, including yellow (shown here) for $660 from A + R Store.
Above: Crate & Barrel's Sunbrella Outdoor Pillow has an acrylic cover that's designed to resist mold, mildew, and fading. Available in paprika (shown) and five other colors; $39.95 for the 20-inch pillow.
Above: The basic white Applaro Bench is 46 inches long, with a curved back for comfort. It's made of solid eucalyptus wood with an acrylic finish; $90 from Ikea.
Above: Potted pathos and mother-in-law tongue plants live in a bright green Bullet Planter. Made from compressed, molded fiberglass atop powder-coated steel, the medium size is $165 from Design Within Reach.
