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The Impatient Gardener blog was started in 2009 and its library of posts includes practical how-tos, plant guides, favorite garden gear, successes and failures and much more. If you’re looking for something specific, the search function at the top of the page can help.

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GardenGarden design

Even more garden styles

Last week we looked at three kinds of gardens: modern, formal and cottage. Of course there are many other kinds, but I’m going to try to cover them in one fell swoop, rather than individually. N A T I V E   G A R D E N S   Contemporary Landscape by San Leandro Landscape Architects & Designers Urban Botanics Simply put, native gardens strive ...

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GardenGarden design

Discovering garden styles part 3: Cottage gardens

OK, we’re back with another look at a garden style, and I suspect this one is a bit more relatable to most people: the good ol’ cottage garden. We’ve already looked at modern gardens and formal gardens, but now it’s time to loosen things up a little. C O T T A G E   G A R D E N S The free-flowing nature of ...

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GardenGarden design

Discovering garden styles part 2: Formal gardens

Yesterday in a little break-from-winter look at garden styles we took a look at modern gardens. Now we’re going in what you would think is the opposite direction, to formal gardens, but really these two styles share more in common than you might think. F O R M A L   G A R D E N S Even if you’re not a fan of ultra ...

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Garden

Discovering garden styles: Modern gardens

Damn this weather. Let’s talk gardening, shall we? I love studying garden design (that is, if you count looking at countless photos of gardens to be studying). I think it would be great to have a garden in every style if such a thing was possible to pull off (I think would require multiple properties or one really, really big ...

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CottageDIY

Questions I’d like to ask the previous owners of my house

I wanted to lay around and do pretty much nothing this weekend. The gravitational pull of the couch was particularly strong, so it’s a good thing I published that to-do list last week. There’s nothing like having to have something to write about on a blog to keep you honest. Maybe I’m a glutton for punishment, but I tackled the ...

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CottageDIY

A DIY magnetic chalkboard: Now you see it, now you don’t

I have to apologize, you guys. My disorganized method of managing photos has struck again. I kick myself for this. I work with professional photographers at work every day and I know that they all have a method for cataloging every photo they download, so why I never started doing the same thing is a bit of a mystery. I’ve ...

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Other

Taking stock: What’s on the agenda

Ahhhh. I’m back and so refreshed. Call it a massive rapid influx of Vitamin D, but sailing the Exuma islands of the Bahamas was certainly just what the doctor ordered. I feel refreshed and ready to jump into some great winter projects. Now that the holidays are over (and I am SO thankful that I put everything away before we ...

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Other

Flown the coop

It’s the same every year. The Christmas decorations come down and almost instantly my thoughts turn to the garden. This is problematic because the earliest I can start working in the garden is early April, and that’s if all the stars align and we have an actual spring (something  that is almost unheard of in this part of the country). ...

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