RENEGADE GARDENER™

Don’t divide and conquer.

Too often we start out developing our home’s landscape by thinking too small. We cut a little circle in the front yard and put stuff in it. We take a little patch in the back and plant flowers, or vegetables. We buy a tree in the fall because it was on sale, and plunk it in a sunny spot, with no thought of the tree as a design element.

This “divide and conquer” approach always leads to a disastrous landscape, nothing more than a disjointed production of little pockets of garden here, little pockets over there. At no time does the landscape unify as an attractive whole.

You must always begin landscaping your yard – even if all you are after is a perennial bed – by doing a whole yard plan. I’ve written about this process in numerous articles on this site (Mistakes to Learn By is a good one).

Don Engebretson
The Renegade Gardener