Hello Lisa. 

A couple of weeks ago I was in Columbus, Ohio, for the APLD conference…and I'm still thinking about the many amazing gardens.

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The moment I keep coming back to was a front entry. A set of steps led up to the door, with terracotta pots on both sides…not the usual orange, but a softer terracotta, almost white. Each pot held something different. But because every pot was that same soft color, the whole entry felt simple and calm. Lots of variety, held together by one simple choice. It was enchanting.

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That was the thread through so many of the gardens I saw…simplicity. Simple spaces. Simple plantings. Big masses of plants against a backdrop of hedges.

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The garden above right and below were designed by McCullough Landscape & Nursery in Columbus, Ohio. The photo of me taking photos is by MaryAnn. 🤣

Maybe you know this feeling.

You visit a beautiful garden and take photos of everything…the gate, the paving, that one plant combination you can't stop thinking about. You come home with 200 pictures on your phone. But when you sit down to design, it's hard to say what you actually learned.

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Looking at gardens is such a valuable thing you can do as a designer. It just helps to have a way of looking…so you come home with ideas, not just pictures. 

I come back to this simple practice again and again. It's four ways of looking, one at a time.

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The garden below is Jorgensen Farms in New Albany, Ohio. Designed by McCullough Landscape & Nursery.

See first, judge later. Before you decide whether you like it, just notice. Where does your eye land first? Where do the paths lead? Where does the garden open up, and where does it close in? Give yourself a few minutes of noticing without deciding anything yet.

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Step into the designer's shoes. Now ask why. Why is the path this wide? Why does that one plant repeat down the border? Why does the bench face this way and not the other? Someone made every one of these choices. Try to guess their reasons.

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Come back to your own eye. What are you drawn to? What makes you slow down. Then try to name it. Is it the texture? The sense of being tucked in? The way the light falls? Once you can name what you love, you can design with it.

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Take one thing home. Not the whole garden. Just one idea…how a garden room is defined, a color pairing, a way of framing a view. One idea you actually use will teach you more than 200 photos.

Mine from Columbus? Simplicity. Simple shapes for the garden spaces and larger drifts of plants…fewer lines that make a bigger impact.

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The garden below left is Franklin Park Conservatory in Columbus and the one bottom right is Jorgensen Farms in New Albany, Ohio.

You can try this at any garden you visit. A public garden, a neighbor's front yard, the park down the street. And over time, something changes. Every garden you visit starts teaching you something a little different...that you can tuck into your idea bucket for future designs.

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May you walk into your next garden with curiosity…and walk out with one good idea.

From the studio + garden,

Lisa

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

June 2027 | Des Moines, Iowa
If this way of looking at gardens speaks to you…I'd love to do it with you in person. Three days of walking through private gardens, meeting the designers and gardeners who made them, and slowly learning to trust your own eye again…with good company and good food along the way. I'll be sending more information to you early next week, until then...

>>Click here for dates, details, and pricing

Huge thanks to Mandy Orgler for bringing these graphics to life, issue after issue.