Top Plants To Consider In Your Landscape Design

Since spring is just about here, things are starting to get busy with clients. However, I have also been thinking about my own garden and what I want to add to it this year. My garden is a work in progress. Here are some great plants that I have used for clients and that I want to add to my own garden. I highly recommend them.  

Hydrangea 

 Last year I planted Forever and Ever Hydrangea 'Blue Heaven".

This plant gave me so much enjoyment as I watched it bloom almost the entire season with striking blue flowers.

I will be adding some more to balance two areas of my back yard. I actually wanted to buy them last year, but by the time I got my act together, it was too late. This year I will be an early bird!  



 Roses

I love shrub roses which are very hardy, disease resistant and bloom on and off all summer. I'd like to add some of the following varieties. All of them are very shrub-like in form and have lovely flowers. The Fairy Rose flowers are the smallest.

• Carefree Delight 
• Carefree Wonder
• Bonica 
• Fairy Rose 

 Lilacs

I need something tall near my patio but do not want anything to large for various reasons. I think a Lilac would be perfect.

• If I can find 'Charles Joly' I think that would be my choice. It gets to be about 8 - 10' tall and 6 ' wide, which will be a perfect size. It has deep wine colored flowers which are very fragrant. 
•  
• However, I would also consider one of the larger Butterfly Bushes. I already have 'Pink Delight' so would choose a different cultivar. 

 Perennials

I have an area that is mostly sunny...so I am in luck! Some perennials I am considering are:  

Salvia 'May Knight' - I already have this and the flower color is amazing...a purple-blue. This perennial blooms for a long period of time, which I love.  

Day Lily - I don't have any of these yet so for a summer show I'll be adding some. I am not sure which variety.  

Lavender 'Hidcote' - This looks great near roses...it reminds me of France. The flowers are fragrant of course with the scent of Lavender and great for sachets.  

Coneflower - Although I love pink, purple and blue flowers, I had a white Coneflower when I lived in Virginia which put on such a show! It was 'White Swan' and I would definitely choose this a great garden addition.

Delphinium - I know these can be temperamental. The tall ones need to be staked and they often don't return the next year. However, I am going to consider a shorter variety and just treat them as annuals. They are so lovely.


Trees
I am not ready for any more trees just now. I have a River Birch which I love. Down the road I might consider:

Pink Flowering Dogwood Tree

 

• Flowering Dogwood - I'll try one of the Dr. Orton hybrids which are resistant to anthracnose, a fungus that can appear on native Flowering Dogwoods. 
•  Magnolia Jane - A small Magnolia with gorgeous pink flowers. 
•  Japanese Maple 'Bloodgood' - I need this tree! The red foliage is there spring, summer and fall...particularly striking in the fall. 
•  Lacebark Elm - I'd love to have an Elm tree, but one of the disease resistant cultivars. This is one of the most elegant shade trees reminiscent of those seen on estates years ago. 

 So this is my wish list for my landscape! Do you have your favorites?

Seven Great Patio Design Ideas

I am very excited about this new video of mine. It was created by Truscribe. It's my voice, script and ideas (with some of their helpful direction),  but the very  talented Eric at Truscribe did the charming fun filled sketches and put it all together to create this amazing, simple video!

Be sure to watch until the end as all the ideas come together!

September 11, 2011 - 10 Years

Luck was on our side. Why? Why us, and not others? My heart goes out to all the those that had loved ones and friends who did not survive.

My younger son was in the second tower to get hit. He was there for a Morgan Stanley training session for a few days. That day, of all days. While he was in turmoil, I was watching the replay of the towers being hit.

But he got out. Down, down, down 65 flights of stairs in a mass of running people. Are there words to say how thankful my family and I are for being one of the lucky ones? No, not at all...no words can convey it.

We went out to dinner last  night, spur of the moment, my son, daughter-in-law and I. I looked at his face on the eve of September 11 after 10 years. My joy was only overshadowed by the grief of other families and what our country went through.

I am watching the memorials today and listening to all the support that has been given. I am thinking that it is almost impossible to fathom the dichotomy of good and evil.

Peace to everyone touched by September 11, 2001.

AutoCad Layout Tabs

If  you use AutoCAD and are comfortable with Layout Tabs, that's great. Maybe someday I will be in your shoes. However for those that are having a hard time with them, I came across a great tutorial which is here:
AutoCAD Layout Tabs

But even better, after you read through it (just so that you have a bit more information and knowledge) here is my "Cheat Sheet".
 Just follow the steps and you will have your layout tab set up and scaled correctly. The only thing I do is measure my drawing in Model Space to see how large I want the page to be prior to creating the Layout. this is so I know what size to make the paper (see below). There might be easier ways, but I finally found this method that works for me!

1. Click on Layout Tab at the bottom of the AutoCAD screen.
2. Once there, right click.
3. Select Page Setup Manager
4. Choose your settings...printer, paper size, etc. Make sure the scale is 1:1 (not your drawing scale size).
5. Type MV
6. Pick two points and draw a rectangle to encompass the entire sheet.
7. Type MS
8. Set the scale. Go to top toolbar. Select View - Zoom - Scale
9. If your scale is, for example 1"=10', type on the Command line   1/10XP
10. Type PS
11. Click the border so it becomes bold and right click.
12. Choose Display. Make sure that you set it to "locked". This allows you to scroll in your drawing without messing up the scale.

That's it! I hope this was helpful.

Landscape Design Software

After about 8 years, I decided that I was not happy with the landscape program I was using, which was Eagle Point's LandCadd. So I went on a mission to find some of the best landscape design software. Initially, I was looking for something that would also work well with Google Sketchup.

Many of these are for professionals but some, such as Google Sketchup, are for homeonwers also. Actually, homeowners can use some of the others also, but there is a cost factor. Sketchup has a free version.

After a couple of months of trying out different programs, I decided to write a review on the ones that I have tried. Here is a list of the various programs that I consider to be the best landscape design software (not in any particular order).

AutoCad
Bricscad
Land FX - the winner!
Visionscape
Vizterra
Google Sketchup
Vectorworks
Dynascape

To read about the reviews, please visit Best Landscape Design Software