my focus

like most people, i have my tastes when it comes to plants and gardens. for starters, i love tropicals. just about anything with big leaves and strange flowers. my gardens overflow with elephant ears and tree ferns, acanthus, agapanthus, and callas. bamboo. split leaf philodendrons. palms. you get the picture.

but this is not my primary driver when it comes to garden design. that would be usefulness. it's easy to pick a pretty plant with a pretty flower. i want more. in my small urban garden every plant has to earn its place. the black bamboo looks lovely but it also provides privacy, a wonderful rustling sound in the breeze, strong, useable canes for building, and even edible young shoots. the loquat isn't just a striking tropical sillouete, it gives shade, is highly tolerant of salty coastal air, and produces sweet fruit. creeping wintergreen keeps down weeds, prevents soil erosion and the leaves can be used to make tea. the honeysuckle hides eyesores, smells amazing, and helps draw birds and bees that help polinate the fruit trees. the passion vine does the same, but adds fruit as well.

sure i still have a few plants that i keep purely for their beauty, but on the whole, i look for more than just a pretty face.

questions

the perfect garden is as individual as the person who dreams of it. each of us has our own style, our own tastes, our own desires. the perfect garden cannot come from a template. it has to be created individually each time like a work of art. and like a work of art, before you sit down to create -- whether you are creating the art for yourself or someone else -- you have to make a few decisions: what medium will you use? what colors? how big will it be? what will be its purpose? the same is true for a garden. some of the questions will be about the garden itself, while others delve into the person who will be using the garden, to help make sure it fits their personality, style, tastes, and needs.

• what do you love about the yard you have?
• what do you dislike about it?
• what plants do you love?
• what plants do you dislike?
• what would you like to do in your yard?
• do you have any special requirements/considerations (access, kids, pets, privacy, noise)?
• what styles appeal to you (garden, architecture, interior design, clothes, cars...)?
• do you consider your tastes formal, casual, ecclectic, exotic, minimalist, or other (specify)?
• how much time/energy do you have to devote to gardening?
• what are your hobbies?
• who are your favorite artists?
• what is your favorite type of cuisine?
• what is your favorite vacation location? why?

it also helps to create an inspiration file. photos of parks or neighboring gardens, postcards, pictures from books or magazines, wallpaper samples, you name it. anything that captures the look or feel of what you're hoping to create.

once you've pulled these pieces together (along with a gridded map of the existing yard and structures), you're ready to start designing. and that's where the fun begins.

right plant, right place

ever since i was a little girl, my space has been filled with green... spider plants and wandering jewels dripping from shelves. sansevieria sending sharp daggers toward ceilings. grape ivys, philodendrons, and pothos draping from strategically placed hooks.

back then they all had names. the big spider plant was charlotte, the sansevieria, irving (after another sansevieria in a gardening book i'd read). the neanthe bella palm was nathan. today's plants also have names, but they are latin and much harder to pronounce. (except for the sansevieria who is still called irving.)

since those early days, i have had gardens wherever i've gone. sometimes in tiny pots on narrow windowsills. sometimes, when i've been very lucky, actually in the ground. but until recently, i kept most of my plants portable, because, until recently, i never had a piece of dirt to call my own. i was only borrowing. but not anymore.

now i have a house. and that house has a yard. a yard filled with possibilities (and weeds). and i work in that yard every chance i get -- pulling weeds, planting bushes, trimming trees, building trellises. and i've realized that i no longer want this gardening thing to be something i do only on weekends or when i can fit it in. i want it to be my life. because right now, i am like the wrong plant in the wrong place, spending my days commuting to a cubicle to create vapor. i need to do something real. to put my hands into the earth and help bring forth life. to undo some of the ecological damage my very existence has inflicted on our planet. but mostly to ground myself. to sink my roots. and hopefully to help others sink theirs.