Staircase with iron railing

Stair struck

If you need to install a staircase in your garden you probably have a really good reason for doing so. People don’t usually throw a staircase into their hardscaping plans just because they love to climb steps. There’s a good reason for them and there’s no getting around the fact that they’ll have to be…

Entrance to garden and path

Small town, big garden ideas

In what I hope becomes a long-lived annual tradition, I visited friends for a few days this month in Gananoque, a small, utterly gorgeous town on the north shore of the St. Lawrence River in Ontario. The timing is not inconsequential. Not only is “the Gan” practically vibrating in July with good times–outdoor concerts, boat…

Lines of desire

I love the garden design term “desire line“. Used in urban design as well, it refers to a path we take, whether it’s official (as in meant-to-be-part-of-the-overall-design) or renegade (more on that later). It’s usually the quickest route from A to B. You see them a lot in public green spaces–a dirt path carved into…