Garden Design Mag is Back and Totally Different!

Once a fan of Garden Design Magazine, I came to dislike it enough to ask for my unused subscription money back after it changed its target audience to the rich and beautiful people of Southern California, with their $1,000 patio chairs and al fresco dinner parties. So I wasnt the least bit sad about the magazine coming to an end in the spring of this year.

But to my surprise and delight, its coming back and looks to be far better this time. Heres why Im so optimistic.

The new print edition of GD will have 132 heavy-stock pages and NO ADS! Yes, itll be entirely subscriber-supported, so it can give readers what they want, not what the advertisers want. The magazine has a new publisher, Jim Peterson, and hes making sure the content will be more accessible.

And music to my Eastern ears was hearing that GDs new focus is all of North America! Already Jim is lining up garden writers from all corners of the continent, and hes saving 5-10% of the space for gardens in other parts of the world. The gardens, like the patio chairs, will be more accessible and will have take-aways for readers to maybe even use in their own gardens, without having to hire high-end designers.

What GD Magazine is NOT going to include is also good news the how-to stuff thats covered by all the other magazines (Composting 101). Those topics are important but after reading them for 40 years, Ive lost interest.

Loving the Website

Print wont start until next summer but the website is already much, much better. What had previously been a placeholder with nothing much but how to subscribe, is now chockful of content, 90% of it brand new and updated several times a week with new material. Just like Garden Design on Facebook or subscribe to their e-news to find out whats new. The print version will not repeat whats on the web or vice versa; both will stand on their own.

One website feature I particularly love and hope to see beefed-up collects public gardens by city, for visitors. Maybe now more of DCs millions of visitors will find their way to our less well-known gems.

Who IS this publisher?

Thanks to a couple of fun phone calls with Jim Peterson, I have some back story to relate. Hes the guy who, when he found out Garden Design was shutting down, bought its 31-year-old trademark and website, proceeded to do a web overhaul and when he discovered that people missed the print version, decided to bring it back.

Jims career path toward garden-mag publishing is an interesting one. After earning a degree in communications and a brief stint in advertising, he turned to the concrete business, working for a contractor. Noticing a dearth of good information online about the increasingly sophisticated, even high-tech concrete projects now being done, he started Concrete Network in 99 with almost no start-up money. It educates consumers about a diversity of projects and compiles lists of concrete contractors across the U.S. The site had 14 million visitors in 2012.

My first reaction to all that was to wonder what concrete has to do with gardening, but Jim told me that 80% of his business was outdoor work, plus hes a gardener, so the next step was creating a similar site for landscape projects and contractors, and Landscaping Network launched in 2010. For that website he was hiring garden writers from across North America (including some names you may recognize, like Maureen Gilmer, Genevieve Schmidt, and Susan Cohan), so really, acquiring Garden Design is a natural next step.

So, Im excited! Composting 101 may leave me cold but Ill never tire of seeing beautiful gardens professionally photographed and profiled, even if once in a while the garden is in Southern California.

Via: Garden Design Mag is Back and Totally Different!

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More ways to avoid gardening in fall

Sit around and do nothing
This is actually my favorite strategy all year round. But its particularly rewarding in mid-October, when no pressing watering, deadheading, or staking issues are likely to present themselves. This is why my garden is set up more as a place to hang out than to work. (Note, for example, the lack of a potting bench or shed, while there are 8 chairs.)

Go Brown Booby watching
This tropical diving bird, whose habitat is normally thousand of miles south of here, has been spotted along the waterfront. (You may recognize it from the frequent mentions in the Patrick OBrian nautical series.) Fall and spring are good times for bird-watching of any kind here, with migrating species of all types passing through on their way to wherever.

Buy pots
All the ceramic is on sale now. Ill be using it for bulb-forcing and then annuals or herbs. Choosing it is part one of the project; part two is the laborious process of removing all three of the old-fashioned sticky tags and their remnants.

Buy more bulbs
You have to be well-practiced in the art of denying that someone will have to plant these, and I am.

Plan winter vacations
In a month or two, it will be impossible even to sit and do nothing in the gardentime for a break!

Via: More ways to avoid gardening in fall

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Rant on the Road: DC, Atlanta, Charlotte

Im in the DC area this week, then its off to Atlanta, Charlotte, and a bunch of other places you can find here. Lots of Drunken Botanist fun, many fine drinks to be served. Hope to see you.

October 16 2013 06:00 PM Cylburn Arboretum, Baltimore, MD
The Drunken Botanist talk and reception, with food and drink! Ticket purchase required.

October 17 2013 06:30 PM Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD
The Drunken Botanist.

October 20 2013 01:00 PM Green Spring Gardens, Alexandria, VA
The Drunken Botanist

October 21 2013 Georgia Center for the Book, Atlanta, GA
The Drunken Botanist

October 22 2013 12:00 AM Atlanta Botanical Garden, Atlanta, GA
The Drunken Botanist

October 23 2013 Wing Haven Gardens, Charlotte, NC
Cocktail-themed events Oct 23 & 24! The Drunken Botanist at the Wing Haven Symposium

Via: Rant on the Road: DC, Atlanta, Charlotte

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Look at My Big Rock

Big rock adding textural interest (and diverse lichens) to a xeriscaped parking strip.

Not the kind that goes on your finger. Were talking boulders here, folks. Specifically, one large boulder in the middle of a lawn. Whats up with that? What statement is it making?

Is it being displayed as a natural sculpture?

Is it being used to add a little textural contrast to the turf?

Is it a key element in an Asian-inspired front garden?

All too often, the statement it makes is more along the lines of We just didnt want to pay to have that boulder hauled off or Look at my big rock.

This boulder adds to the gardeners chores, but also contributes to the Asian-inspired design.

Im all for creating islands in the lawnits a great way to add diversity, privacy, habitat, and 4-season interest. You can add several islands and convert the lawn to a pleasing path through a living community. An island allows a gardener set up different watering schedules or systems in different zones of the yard. A large enough island can incorporate a pathmaybe even a sitting areaand become a new garden room. In a yard with trees, you might make islands around the trees and let fallen leaves accumulate in them for better tree health and less work. You can even strategically locate islands so its easy to rake fallen leaves into them from the surrounding lawn.

But a boulder in the middle of the grass? Doesnt add biodiversity. Too short to screen out an undesirable view. Too small to reduce sprinkler coverage or to be a feature on a scale with the house. And it actually adds work; youll need to weed whip around it regularly so people can see your big rock.

Some of the best lawn islands Ive seen are in West of the Lake Gardens in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

Not that I dont love rocks. Oh, I do! Big rocks, little ones, any size really. One of the best birthday gifts I ever received was a truckload of boulders.

If I were fortunate enough to have a big rock in my front yard, you bet I would keep it. I would feature it by making a rock garden, dry stream, lawn island, or other larger feature around it. I might use it as the focal point for a little herb garden or medicine wheel. If my big rock were flat and low, I might add a screen of taller grasses or shrubs and use it for sunbathing. If I had kids, the rock could be part of a naturalistic play area.

One thing I wouldnt do is leave it all alone in the middle of the front lawn, to create work without contributing to the design. Even to a rock lover like myself, that just doesnt add up.

So please holla, those of you with a big rock in your front lawn. What have you done with yours and how is it working out for you?

Sculptures make the big rocks less lonely in Frederick Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Via: Look at My Big Rock

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How to find sources you can trust on controversial topics like GMOs

Today the Washington Post introduces a new feature in its Food Section that will tackle controversial food-policy topics, like genetically modified foods. Its called Unearthed and in the inaugural column the writer proposes a test for finding information about GMOs that can be trusted. Thats a question I often ask when Im reading about gardening subjects that inspire opposing views, and not just plant origin (natives v. nonnatives), a topic that draws record numbers of comments, but also compost tea, sphagnum moss and, of course, Roundup.

I hope you read the whole article but briefly, the author asserts that if a source ONLY mentions the benefits of GMOs (in this example) or ONLY the risks, then dont trust that source. She names some sources that fail that test (the Union of concerned Scientists and the American Association for the Advancement of Science), but lots more that pass.

She also concludes that among nonbiased sources theres a consensus: that theres no evidence that GMOs are bad for us. Okay readers, your turn.

I have no strong feelings either way about GMOs because I dont know enough but I do worry that her standard for finding trusted sources could sometimes suffer from the problem of false equivalency that causes the news media to utterly fail to educate the public on so many controversial topics. Sometimes the facts are the facts the Earth really IS round so quoting both sides on the issue just distorts that reality.

Via: How to find sources you can trust on controversial topics like GMOs

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White House Kitchen Garden in Shutdown Mode

On the White House food policy blog Obama Foodorama, this post about the condition of the kitchen garden is making headlines. Seriously. Are people surprised that gardens need regular staff time or theyll go to weed? Maybe readers are glad to see that even this famous garden turns into a mess so quickly, because only watering was deemed essential during the Shutdown.

But is wrecked really the word for a garden that hasnt been weeded in two weeks?

Via: White House Kitchen Garden in Shutdown Mode

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The perils of giving and receiving garden criticism

Private garden open to gardenbloggers during the 2013 Fling.

I cant get this provocative post by Anne Wareham out of my mind. (Its on the U.K.s Think in Gardens highly recommended!) It seems that a well-known gardener was shocked to read criticism of her garden, which criticism was so well known that Anne was shocked that the gardener was shocked. Apparently if your garden is well known, reviews of them even negative reviews are just a Google search away.

Anne describes seeing gardens flattered in print, knowing full well that the writer really thought the garden was (quoting some recent criticism shed heard) dull, twee, full of stupid wiggly-wobbly lines, over decorated, and old-fashioned. Or, quite simply, crap. The Americans tend to be especially blunt.

Wow. So though Americans are rarely critical of gardens publicly even public gardens we rudely bash gardens we see abroad. To the gardeners face! Ive heard a few grumbles among garden visitors but nothing like what Annes hearing yikes.

But she goes on to make me look differently at criticism, at least of the famous gardens that people pay good money to see. Why not help potential visitors make good choices? And honest reviews help the gardener:

And I know thereby that no garden in this country has room for complacency many (maybe all?!) of the so-say great gardens attract a great deal of behind their backs criticism and really would benefit from discovering what people are actually thinking. Especially critical, of course, are knowledgeable gardeners but also visitors from abroad. The latter are often very forthcoming and very disappointed.

Dont they owe something to people who frequently travel considerable distances and pay substantial entrance charges?

So its a NOT like attacking the gardens open to us for free during our yearly Gardenblogger Flings or on a local tour. Its asking for payment that changes the dynamic.

For modest gardens like my own that visitors see for free, I hope for compliments and expect people to keep their criticisms to themselves. Yet, some of my gardens best features are the result of visitor suggestions, so how to get them without putting my ego on the line? I like Annes suggestion: You may also ask someone who tells you that they admire your garden what one thing they would do to improve it.

But please weigh in! When and how do you think gardens should be reviewed? And what about hearing criticism of your own garden?

Via: The perils of giving and receiving garden criticism

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