10 Things I Want in My Landscape

After 30 years of helping others design their landscapes, growing plants, and listening to customers’ problems and frustrations, I’ve got a pretty good idea of what makes a solid landscape. That said, landscaping is personal. It depends on how much effort you want to put in, how much money you want to spend, and which colors and plants you like. So if you asked me to look back and tell you what I want in a landscape based on all that experience, here’s what I’d say. These are my wants and needs.

Defined Edges
I’m not a linear person. I don’t like straight lines or uniform plantings. I think they’re boring and balanced—two things I’m not. But I do like a great edge. A spade-cut edge, a soldier course of brick, clean stone, or even a tight row of plants to form a border. Edges guide your eyes. They tell you where to walk and where to play. A good edge calls out to be filled in. Most importantly, it makes mowing easy. I realize many like a wilder, more natural look. But I comb my hair so I’ll manicure my garden a bit too.

A “Wow” Plant
Some call it a specimen, others a showpiece. It’s that plant or piece of art that turns heads—the pretty girl at the dance (can I still say that?). It’s so striking that people talking to you keep glancing over your shoulder to get another look. I tell my customers it’s the item you spend the most time and money on because it’s what you build a garden around. Not every bed needs one, but every home should have one. Mine is a small pond with water pouring from a sitting wall. Which brings me to my next must-have.

Water
Yes, water features are maintenance. But they’re worth it. The sound of the pond is the highlight of my day. I hear it from my bedroom window, from the kitchen, from the patio, and under the tree. It’s just the water and the birds. The animals love it. I’ve never looked out and not seen at least one bird bathing on the edge. At night, other animals stop by to drink. Bees pause during their pollen runs to sip from the water. It’s the lifeblood of the backyard and the sound the calming apps try to copy.
“But ponds and fountains are so much work.” Yes, they can be. They’re either costly upfront or require more effort. A good filter and skimmer box make cleaning easier. So does a quality pump. It’s not cheap or easy, but that’s usually the way it goes. The best things aren’t the easiest.

Shade
The old saying goes, “A society grows great when old men plant trees in whose shade they know they shall never sit.” We’ve modernized it now—women and young people can plant trees too. This past week reminded me there’s no greater gift on a sunny day than shade. A large tree is a treasure. It should be the first thing you plant.
I mentioned above that some items are worth extra money, and a large tree is one of them. “But a small tree will catch up eventually.” No, it won’t. Not if the larger tree has the right root ball and is well maintained. I’ve got the biggest tree in the neighborhood because I planted a big one from the start. It’s now the centerpiece of the backyard (don’t tell the pond I said that). I look at that tree every day and feel grateful. Whoever buys my house will probably say the tree helped seal the deal. And it’s already paid for itself in air conditioning savings over the last 15 years.

Winter Interest
You’ve heard me say this in many newsletters: winter is the longest season. Almost everywhere has a down season—snow, dormancy, or both. Many places have five months of it. That means you either accept the downtime or you plant for winter interest. Colorful branches, cool bark, textures that catch snow—there are ways to make even the dormant months worth looking at. When it's beautiful in the spring, try to think about your garden eight months later. What can you plant now that you'll enjoy year-round? Dwarf Red Twig and Yellow Twig dogwoods are always a good start.

Bulbs
Even California and Florida residents grow bulbs. Southern areas of those states don’t have the dormancy to grow daffodils and tulips, but they get cannas and amaryllis to kick off the season. The hard part for northern climates is remembering to plant them the fall before. Daffodils and hyacinths are the first signs of spring, and as soon as you see a yard full of flowers, you’ll wish you had planted more. So plant more. This is your early reminder to buy fall bulbs. I’ll be here in October to remind you again.

Peony
Speaking of reminders—did you know the best time to buy peonies is in August and September? That’s when they go dormant and are dug and divided, which means you can get peony tubers cheaper and more readily than any other time of year. It also gives them time to set roots. I wouldn’t have a yard without a peony. There’s no easier plant to grow. The flowers are large, the color range is wide, and the fragrance is incredible. If I could only grow one plant, this would be it.

A Few Large Pots

Large pots might be the most useful item in a garden. They add an instant splash of full-time color when filled with annuals or tropicals. Perennials and shrubs are great, and in-ground annuals are beautiful too, but it’s faster and easier to get a big, bold look in containers. The pots themselves add structure and color, and they can fill empty spaces while the rest of your landscape grows in. They draw the eye like a specimen plant and do a great job of distracting from the “in progress” areas.

“You” Space

The backyard is for grow. The front yard is for show.

The front is what people see. You can say you don’t care what the neighbors think, but the truth is, the outside of a house creates a feeling. Messy yard? People assume the inside is just as bad. Too perfect? They assume you have a cleaning crew or you're a little tightly wound. Not saying it’s right, just saying that’s how people think.

The backyard, though, is yours. That’s why I closed mine off with evergreens. I experiment. I relax. I grow vegetables. I make mistakes. The layout doesn’t have to make sense to anyone but me. I think every garden should have a “you space.” A corner, a bed, or a whole yard where you don’t care if the colors clash, if the weeds creep in, or if a plant flops. Maybe it’s spectacular, but only you and a few friends ever see it. Gardening is personal. If you want to show off, use the street side. But make sure there’s a place that’s just for you.

Weeds

If you don’t have weeds in the garden, I can’t trust you 😂

It’s part of gardening. If you're completely weed-free I feel like you have a service or I can't have you in my house because you're not going to like the dog hair

10 Plants I Absolutely Don't Want

These aren't the worst plants in the world, but you won’t find them in my garden.
I’ve grown all of them at some point, and for one reason or another, they’ve landed in my Nope category.

Oenothera 'Siskiyou Pink'
I love oenothera. The standard yellow is tough as nails and always bright and cheery. So I thought, why not have a pink version? I’ll tell you why. It seeds everywhere. It took me a decade to get rid of it, and even this year one popped up. Spreading is one thing, but a full-blown seed explosion all over the yard is another. When I see it in someone’s garden, I want to send them a “Sorry for Your Loss” card. They’re about to lose a lot of time.

Belamcanda
See above. Ask my wife about this one. I always cut the seed pods off because I love the foliage and flowers, but I knew the seeds germinated easily. We started traveling more, I missed a year, and this spring we had thousands of seedlings in the bed. She tried to dig them out, but they just kept coming. She started her own never again list after that.

Yucca
Speaking of my wife, this is her pick. I like our variegated yucca, but in her exact words: "That plant is good for 1970 or the desert, not anywhere else."

Autumn Blaze Maple
I know. I don’t like the best-selling tree in the nursery. Probably the one that paid for the house. But that’s part of the problem. It’s in every single yard across the country. I can’t be seen with ordinary in my landscape. It also has some issues with borers. It’s a great tree, no doubt. Fast shade, beautiful fall color. It’s just like an old clothes saying: I think it looks great on you, just not on me.

White Pine
Another plant I love. I have three in the backyard. But it’s just not made for basement clay. If you’ve got good soil, it’s perfect—full and beautiful. But if they dug your basement and tossed that soil on top, it’s going to struggle. It won’t die, just sit there slowly growing and staying thin. It’s not a never plant. It’s a know your soil plant.

Ajuga
I love ajuga. So many great colors. I even think it’s worth planting if you know. Know what? Know that it’s going to die out in spots. It’s never quite where you left it the year before. I’ve seen full, perfect patches and I envy them. But I’ve planted it 30 times and it never fills out for me. The best ajuga I’ve ever had was the stuff that crept into the grass and got mowed over. That patch never dies. I feel bad about this one. I want ajuga to work. I want that walkway full of it between the stones. But I’ve never made it happen, so I’m calling it. Me and ajuga are done.

Houttuynia cordata ‘Tricolor’ (Chameleon Plant) and Snow on the Mountain
Most people know these two. Beautiful foliage, especially the Chameleon plant. Great if you really need to fill space and have solid, thick borders that won't let them escape. If not, they’ll take over everything. They creep into every nook and cranny and are nearly impossible to remove because you have to dig out every bit of root. When I see Snow on the Mountain now, I assume one of two things—they don’t know any better, or their house is from the 70s and they just gave up.

Badly Spaced Evergreens
Almost every home has them. Even I’ve messed this up a few times. There are usually two problems. One, the homeowner thought they’d keep it trimmed and under control, but it got away from them. Two, they didn’t space the plants right from the start. When I sell evergreens, I always remind buyers that without regular trimming, these plants will outgrow the space. Almost every time I hear, “No, it’ll be fine,” and I know it won’t.

Spacing gives homeowners a chance. When it’s wrong, the plants melt into each other, grow lopsided, and turn into a tangled mess. It’s as ugly as it gets. Letting evergreens grow into a hedge is different—you don’t see individual plants anymore, just one clean line. But blending a barberry, a yew, and something else random? That’s an abomination.

Prairie Fire Crab
This crabapple was developed at the University of Illinois to be disease resistant and improve on the problems that plagued older crab trees. I’m not sure where they tested it, but it wasn’t here. Sure, there are some great specimens out there, but add heat and humidity and it drops its leaves faster than any crab I’ve grown. The deceiving part is they always bloom their hearts out like the picture below. But that’s peak.

Compare it to a newer variety like ‘Royal Raindrops’ and I think it’s junk. Yes, it’s just my opinion—but it’s the opinion of someone who’s grown ten crops over 30 years. I’m done with it. You won’t see one in any of my landscapes.

A Picture is Worth a Hundred Words

HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND. As always thank you for passing this newsletter on to your friends. We’ve added quite a few new readers and its all been word of mouth. Happy Gardening. Heading to Colorado this week to give you an alipine version of plants for the summer. Need to escape the summer heat.



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