I got a phone call the other day from a gentleman who wanted to sell me his Japanese maple. It was large and beautiful, he assured me, and “all [I] had to do was come get it from his yard.” He went on to tell me it was a great deal because he’s seen treesRead more

If you live in Virginia, Maryland, or DC and someone says “flagstone patio”, what comes to mind? Something that looks like this, maybe? I’d wager at least 90% of the flagstone patios installed in the DC metro area use this type of stone, generally referred to as Pennsylvania variegated flagstone. There are two reasons forRead more

If I had a penny for every client who included “I want a low/no maintenance design” as part of their wish list, well… 170 pennies are in a pound, so I’d have a stack that weighs more than my biggest cat. I get it. We’re all busy, whether it’s work or kids or church orRead more

Tumblr is a blogging platform that makes it super easy to find and share (reblog) images, video, basically anything else you find inspiring or fun. I now have a tumblr, RevolutionaryGardens.tumblr.com. Come check it out, and check back periodically! I have it set to queue four posts a day so there’s always something popping up.Read more

Way back in April of 2010 I bought a bag of Sun Chips in the compostable bag and buried it in bin #1. The packaging said 6-8 weeks in a good, hot municipal compost pile. Naturally I was curious to see how it did in a home compost pile. For the first year or soRead more

When I was in high school I had grilled pizza for the first time. I was spending the night at my friend Steve’s house and when he made us grilled pizzas, I thought he was some mystic shamanic grill whisperer. My family made homemade pizzas, of course, but ours were made in the oven, likeRead more

I have to lead with the best “catchup” joke ever to appear in a Tarantino film: Ok, now that that’s out of the way, here are some updates on my crazy busy season so far! First, since a commenter asked to be updated, here’s what my gutter lettuce looks like. So close to salad! I’veRead more

We’ve established how I feel about the lawn, and most folks I work with also want a nice patch o’ green for playing and showing off. I don’t do lawncare, and I’m not licensed to apply fertilizers or pesticides, but a question many clients ask at the initial consultation is “why does my lawn lookRead more

I get asked that question a lot, as you can imagine. After all, Virginians love their brick homes, so I design a lot of patios for brick homes. I always look at two things: color and size/style. Color Color is the easiest to deal with first. If you have a red brick home I willRead more

Landscape design is one of those career choices (like astronaut or writer or subway platform folk singer) that can be more difficult than the glamorized, idealized version people hold in their heads. I talk to a fair number of newbie designers and people interested in the career, so this post is an amalgamation of lotsRead more