I am really not a fan of topiaries in the shape of hens, teddy bears and what not but these green full-size elephants are hard to resist. I would love to design a garden where this family could fit in. It may not fit in the textbooks of premium garden design but it would be fun and it certainly beats a flat, boring lawn. Imagine the effect in wintertime; giant green elephants walking in your snowy garden wouldn’t that make snowy, cold winters easier to live with.

Don’t let the absence of a garden or a balcony stop you from growing your own. Become a window gardener instead. Window farming started out in New York but is spreading quickly around the world. The reasons are many: protects you from nosy neighbors, you get a lush window, you spices for your meal close at hand, you can recycle and reduce waste etc. Visit www.windowfarming.org for more information.

This must be the ultimate combination of form and function; an outdoor Plexiglas table with chairs that can be used to dine at but also to grow your own herbs and bulbs in. It easily fits your balcony and tolerates to be left outside the year around (manufactured and tested in Iceland). A must have as soon as they start exporting it. www.furnibloom.com

Found this little gem from Innermost at Stockholm Furniture Fair. Makes you look forward to the outdoor season and hope for a new era beyond black lounge sets in black outdoor wicker.

I am designing an outdoor room for a client and I found this when I googled the net for inspiration. I think my own garden would benefit from a room like this. I least I would myself. Then I could sit inside and watch the snow melt outside.

I am not a big fan of artwork in private gardens (unless the gardens are very big that is) but I just found an exception that I think could contribute to a larger planting, during summer as well as winter. (www.www.ironvein.co.uk).

This time a year every garden designer with self-esteem is publishing beautiful, telling pictures of how tall grasses and evergreen bushes make a winter garden speak to you.  But this year I have no self-esteem.  I am just ashamed of myself. Before you read further a warning is in its place: This post contains some disturbing pictures.

I have cared well for my large ball shaped box but this year winter beat me at it. One night of heavy snowfall and then some serious minus degrees and the damage was done.  The whole family has tried hard to remove the snow but in vain. All I see when I walk up the entrance path is a very, very flat and damaged box.

And to make things worse, my rhododendrons have met the same tragic fate.

I keep telling myself that it isn’t my fault but still….the box and rhododendrons have worked hard in my garden whereas I obviously didn’t.

Every winter it is the same story. I promise myself that I will plan my own garden, concept plan, planting plan and the whole shebang.

It is crucial to plan ahead if you want to save time, money, your mental stability and end up with a beautiful, low maintenance garden. A concept plan will help you see the big picture, force you to make decisions and ..…

I know all that. I preach it every day to my customers. And still it doesn’t happen to me or my garden. I clean the office, I sort my paper stacks, I write blog posts and do tons of other absolutely necessary things.

And it is not even boring to plan your garden. Many of my clients admit that they actually had a good time when they were “forced” by me to go through magazines, books and travel brochures in the hunt for examples of what they would like their garden to look like.  And I love glossy magazines full of seducing pictures, yet I never reach the drawing board.

But maybe that is for the best, because then I can keep on dreaming of that fairytale pool.