Episode 150: Design Rules of Thumb with Stacie Crooks

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Stacie Crooks is a Seattle-based backyard designer who has created stunning, ecologically pleasant, low-maintenance gardens all through the Pacific Northwest. She can also be a contributing editor for Tremendous Gardening journal and has shared her insights with our readers by means of 10 function articles and a number of other departments over the previous 17 years. On this episode, Carol interviews Stacie concerning the classes that she has gained from her years of backyard design expertise.

Stacie Crooks’s Backyard Design Guidelines of Thumb

1. Determine your mission.

Ask your self “What do I wish to obtain?” and “Why do I wish to do that?” Having a transparent objective in mind- be it decrease upkeep, higher curb enchantment, or extra wildlife within the garden- will assist you make the best design, type, and plant selections.

2. Know your website.

Earlier than you may make any modifications, you have to know your limitations. Decide the backyard’s gentle publicity and angles, soil sorts, drainage, topography, and measurement. Take into account irrigation (should you want water, the place will it come from?) and entry (how will you get into the backyard and transfer by means of it?) Bearing all this in thoughts, set a price range.

3. Get impressed.

Together with your targets and pointers clear, It’s time for a stable plan. Folks all the time ask, “The place do I begin?” Have interaction in actions that foster studying and friendships. Learn books and magazines and go to lectures. Be part of a backyard membership. Volunteer at a public backyard. Look within the newspapers and on the web for alternatives. Take notes, make lists and make sketches. Take pictures of gardens you go to and duplicate them.

4. No zone denial.

If you go to purchase your vegetation at your native nursery, learn the tags rigorously. Select solely that which is suited in your website and to your life-style. If it isn’t clear, ask a nursery individual. Make certain that the quantity of care that plant wants match the time and power you’ll be able to afford.

5. End one backyard earlier than you begin one other.

Resist shopping for vegetation that aren’t in your present project- they’ll simply die ready so that you can plant them. Stick with the record.

6. Be accountable environmentally.

At all times intention to make use of much less water, much less fertilizer, and no chemical compounds. The higher you understand your website, the better it’s to attain success naturally. There’s an significance to NOT gardening, utilizing fewer sources and fewer labor and simply having fun with your area extra.