25 Nov Golden Chain Trees
Because you can never have too many trees, I bought two Golden Chains at Merrifield today. Seriously, could this tree be any cooler? Northern Virginians, this is a tree for your zone. ...
25 Nov Pretty Stone Steps
Queenie is a southern charmer. Her house is beautiful, and it sits on a lovely, yet sloped, piece of property. Queenie deserved some level space. Queenie needed stone. Lots and lots of stone. In order to create level space, we built a 45′ dry stack retaining wall, which sits on...
01 Nov Winter Garden
Sometimes I think it would be best if designers planned gardens in the winter – as opposed to spring. If it looks amazing in January, imagine what it will look like in May. My own garden is colorful and full of texture. Berries, variegated leaves, peeling...
01 Nov Not All Sod
Not all sod is created the same. It is that time of year where I am asked to estimate sod quite frequently. I honestly feel like I should apologize every time I attach one of these documents to an e-mail. The cost is painful. Here...
01 Nov Friends Don’t Let Friends Plant Bamboo
People sue the Fast Food Industry for making us fat. Why hasn’t someone sued the Bamboo Industry for making us poor at the hand of removal. Seriously folks, do not plant this unless you install a 3-4′ barrier. There are better alternatives. For example, the...
01 Nov The Tree Spade
I don’t plant small trees, but this one was big even for me. This tree was located at an office building that was being demolished. It found a new home on Taylor Avenue in Alexandria. This is a Red October Glory Maple. Amazing color.Note: Because...
01 Nov Winter Patio Project
The coolest thing about this project was installing stone quarried 30 minutes away. Carderock is beautiful. ...
01 Nov Tall (and Skinny) Tree Order
Tomorrow is the first day of a five month sprint. I am excited. Tomorrow is José’s first official day with BrightShade, and he cannot sleep. He called to tell me. We spent a very rainy morning standing in the middle of a yard watching water run...