Posts

A Lush and Full Outdoor Living Room with Continuous Bloom

By Mike Smull / April 4, 2012 /

  This ordinary back yard was on a bank so it was not very usable.  We cut the soil 4′ from the foundation of the house to give a sitting wall and a planter.  This gave us more level space to create the patio.  A landing was created with stairs to get to the concrete…

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Texture and Shape as Design Elements in the Landscape

By Mike Smull / March 30, 2012 /

There are so many subtle elements that make a landscape beautiful.  Two of the ones that I pay particular attention to is texture and shape.  What do I mean by that?  Some leaves are fuzzy, some are shiny, some are dull, some are delicate looking, some are evergreen and very thick and look like they could…

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Mulching 101

By Mike Smull / March 20, 2012 /

What kind of mulch should I use?  Facts about dyed mulch.

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Snowdrops Planted in Mass for Early Spring Impact

By Mike Smull / March 9, 2012 /
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What Should I Do to Prune My Shrub Roses?

By Mike Smull / February 29, 2012 /

Many people think that you have to treat shrub roses like you would hybrid tea roses by mulching their crown for winter and pruning them at a certain place. Not so with shrub roses. They are very low maintenance plants. Don’t be afraid to cut them back considerably in the spring so that they are…

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What do I do for Spring Cleanup?

By Mike Smull / February 28, 2012 /

It’s always nijce to get outside on a lovely spring day. First thing to do is to cut back all the perennials and ornamental grass that needs to be cut so everything is neat and tidy. Of course the dead leaves need to be picked up unless you are in the middle of the woods.…

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Outdoor Entry Foyer with Seating

By Mike Smull / December 9, 2011 /

When I met with this client, they had a lovely property in the front of their house that was not being utilized.  The back of their house was very sunny so they wanted to have a retreat from that environment and enjoy more of the land that they pay taxes to have.                                                                                                                                                                                                  We created a path to…

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A Woodland Retreat

By Mike Smull / December 7, 2011 /

This outdoor room was created as the second project that this client had done with Garden Design. They told me that they would like to have an outdoor room that felt like it was a part of their woods but still have some sun for light. Their very talented son built the lovely table that…

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Farmhouse Makeover

By Mike Smull / December 7, 2011 /

Do you have a neglected area with some shrubs that were too big for the location so you started to shear them into balls to keep them down?  Have you sort of lost interest in taking care of your property because you are so busy?  These homeowners decided it was time to redo.  This was…

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A Contemplative Japanese Garden

By Mike Smull / December 7, 2011 /

A beautiful copper bell was the inspiration for this Japanese Garden.  It was a special piece that belonged to the client and it needed to have a prominant place in the newly designed landscape. The property was already fenced in for privacy and security because of an existing pool, but the back yard was never developed. …

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