Face landscape

There are many ways to use natural stone in the landscape, below is a photo of how not to use natural stone...


Now I can appreciate the type of homeowner that will attempt to do their own landscape work and if they have a creative eye, they can achieve a well balanced look to the front yard landscape. But when I look at this front yard garden, it displays a valid point I try to make with many clients... make sure your contractor is not trying to sell landscape materials you dont need!!!

I know this home was landscaped by a landscape contractor and he is probably someone that knows his construction practice very well... but I give a failing grade for material choice and presentation. Wrong look and wrong use of material here. The stones are way too big and awkward to use in this application.


The attempt of using shims with smaller stones to level the larger ones just makes the wall feature look like junk. Over time, frost will start moving those stones and eventually soil will leak out through the large holes which will invite weeds to migrate into the gaps. In the first photo at the top of this article, on the far left, you will see another common mistake... use of a completely different type of stone (orange/pink coloured granite field stone) in a small garden area like this.

Rockery used in a landscape presentation should always be the same material! Otherwise it looks like a mish-mash of objects without flow.

When you use rustic looking stone like weathered limestone rock, it is best used in a natural looking fashion. Stand back and ask how Nature would do it?

Subtle hints of this type of rockery slightly buried into the earth and inter-mixed with planting would have enhanced the look of the front of this house. The idea is to achieve a look that compliments the front door in a well balanced manner that builds up your view towards the door to say; "This is where you enter!"

Instead, what you notice when you see this house is a pile of rocks on the front lawn...

Want to know how to sock it to the agricultural conglomerates? Or how to save seeds from the fate of biotech companies and patent lawyers? Here’s a quick guide that explains what you should look for when buying seeds.

1. Support Small, Established Family-Owned Seed Distributors
Last year rumors spread across the internet that mega-seed company Burpee was bought by Monsanto, a massive agricultural conglomerate know for their genetically modified seeds. This rumor was not exactly true, as Monsanto actually acquired Seminis, a company that sells seeds to Burpee. Seminis sells not only to Burpee, but also to other large seed companies like Jung Seed, Johnny’s Selected Seeds, and Park seed. The big boys are indeed getting bigger.

While the ownership hierarchy and propagation ethics of large seed companies are murky, there are plenty of small, family-owned seed companies that offer a diverse selection. Select companies such as family-owned Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds. This husband and wife team are taking on corporate agriculture with their grassroots “Pure Food” movement. Their charming populism is even more seductive when combined with pictures of their adorable daughter holding baskets of heirloom fruit. Just try and resist their free catalogue—it’s pure garden porn. In addition to Baker Creek, I’ve listed a few other notable seed companies at the bottom of this blog that are worth looking into.

2. Buy Open-Pollinated Seeds
Open pollination is the oldest method of developing seeds, predating agriculture itself. Open pollination means seeds either pollinate themselves (self-pollinating) or are pollinated by insects or bees. Why does this matter? Open pollinated seeds are dynamic, that is they change and adapt to local sites. The plant’s genetic material is often crossed with the genetic material of another plant of the same species, resulting in hardier strains adapted to the local microclimate. The great diversity of heirloom apples that once populated colonial America was a result of new strains of apples that were open pollinated. Supporting open pollination means you are creating more genetic diversity in our food and plant supply.

Most seeds on the market are hybrid seeds. These are the offspring of two distant and distinct parental lines. ‘Better Boy’ and ‘Early Girl’ tomatoes, for example, are hybrids of a couple different lines of the same species. The problem with hybrids is that breeders limit the genetic diversity to guarantee a certain trait—say size or a color. Even more insidious than hybrids are GMOs or genetically modified organisms. Much of mass food production—like the Idaho potato—are now propagated with GMO. This means a plant of one species has its genetic material spliced with plants of another species. These are crosses that would have never happened in nature. Eighty percent of all corn, ninety percent of all soybean, and almost ninety percent of all cotton comes from genetically modified plants. While the jury is out on whether GMO are actually harmful to us or the environment, one thing is for sure: the world food supply is genetically narrower than at any point in history. Using open pollinated seeds preserves genetic diversity.

3. Collect Your Own Seed; Trade with Others