how to start a successful herb garden and grow all of your favorite flavors

Gardening

How to Start a Successful Herb Garden and Grow All of Your Favorite Flavors

Drescription

Pick a space for your herb garden that can provide the proper light, soil nutrients, and humidity your herbs need.

Pick and place herbs according to their needs—some plants need less water than others.

After harvesting herbs they can either be frozen or dried in order to keep them viable for longer.

Herb gardens are the perfect introduction to gardening and supply your senses and pantry with fresh flavors and scents. Whether you plan to grow herbs in containers or a small plot, here are the things you need to know to start a successful herb garden.

Pick a Space for Your Herb Garden

Herb gardens are so popular because they are easy to start and maintain; they grow quickly and you can begin harvesting within a few weeks. The size of your herb garden is up to you and depends on the quantity and variety of herbs you want to grow.

Light

Almost all herbs require at least 6 hours of full sun daily. A few such as chervil, mint, chives, and cilantro can be grown in an area with light shade.

Soil

Herbs need well-draining soil. They will no thrive in heavy, wet soil. Adding compost to clay soil will help improve the structure and drainage. The soil does not have to be highly fertile; too many nutrients tends to produce excessive amounts of poorly-flavored foliage.

Temperature and Humidity

Mediterranean herbs like basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, and lavender like warm, sunny, dry conditions. Most perennial and biennial herbs can overwinter if they are protected with layers of mulch.

Established herbs can tolerate dry conditions but supplemental water is recommended during periods of drought. Use mulch to conserve soil moisture, but keep it away from the base of the plants to prevent stem rot.

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Pick Which Herbs You Want to Grow

Most people plant the herbs they enjoy using for cooking, making teas, or drying for potpourri. Some make selections based on fragrance or bloom color. The beauty of an herb garden is that it is personal to your preferences. It is a good idea to group your chosen herbs by their watering needs to prevent over-watering those that prefer drier conditions.

Drought-Tolerant Herbs

Borage: Once established, allow the soil to dry out between waterings.

Fennel: Drought-tolerant once established; allow the soil to dry between waterings.

Lavender: Lavender will not survive wet roots and heavy soil.

Marjoram: Drought-tolerant and prefers dry soil with occasional watering.

Oregano: Thrives in dry and warm climates with low rainfall levels.

Sage: A drought-tolerant plant that prefers soil to dry out between waterings.

Rosemary: Prefers slightly drier conditions and minimal watering.

Thyme: Water only when the soil is completely dry.

Winter savory: Once established, prefers dry soil.

Herbs with Moderate Watering Needs

Basil: A broadleaf herb, it requires more water than herbs like thyme, rosemary, and sage.

Bay laurel: For healthy leaves, keep the soil evenly moist.

Catnip: A member of the mint family, catnip requires consistent moisture to flourish.

Chervil: Prefers evenly moist soil with good drainage.

Chives: Although drought-tolerant, chives must be watered evenly throughout the growing season for high yields.

Cilantro: The soil should be kept evenly moist for tender leaves.

Dill: Requires consistent moisture levels to flower and produce seeds.

Lemon balm: Prefers soil that is moist but never wet.

Lemon verbena: Requires regular watering.

Mint: Thrives around water and can tolerate wet roots.

Parsley: Evenly moist soil produces the most tender leaves of flat or curly parsley.

Tarragon: Young plants need regular watering to become established.

Propagating Herbs

There are many ways to propagate herbs, and doing so can keep your herb garden fresh and perpetually growing for years.

By Seed

Nearly all herbs grow well from seed that you've saved or purchased.

Fine herbs like anise, cilantro, dill, and fennel should be directly sown into the garden once the danger of frost has passed because they do not transplant well. Basil, parsley, sage, and thyme can be started indoors and transplanted into the garden when temperatures warm.

After planting seeds in well-tilled soil with good drainage, water lightly until they germinate.

From Cuttings

To quickly establish new plants, herbs can be propagated from cuttings.

Take cuttings in spring or early summer when the plant is actively growing; select a 3 to 4-inch stem that is healthy and tender.

Strip the leaves off the bottom two inches and dip the cut end in rooting hormone.

Place the stem in a small pot of moistened potting soil.

Cover the pot with a plastic bag and place it in an area with bright, indirect light.

Keep the soil moist and remove the plastic bag when new leaves begin to grow.

Transplant the cutting into the garden once the plant has at least 3 or 4 sets of new leaves.

By Division

Herbs that have a clumping habit like tarragon, chives, and mint can be divided to create new plants. Use a garden trowel to gently dig up the clump of herbs. Use a clean, sterile knife to separate individual plants and replant or share them with others.

Harvesting Herbs

Once an herb plant has enough foliage to maintain growth, fresh leaves can be harvested. It's best to harvest herbs before they flower or go to seed because leaf production declines. Snip stems at a leaf node with sharp, sterile clippers.

For the best flavor, pick leaves or seeds after the morning dew has evaporated but before temperatures are high. Before using, discard any bruised or soiled leaves and inspect the herbs for insects or foreign matter. Rinse the herbs under running water and shake gently to remove excess moisture.

How to Preserve Herbs

The two best methods for preserving herbs are freezing and drying. Depending on the herbs you're drying, one method might suit your needs better than the other.

By Freezing

Tender herbs like basil, chives, cilantro, dill, lemon balm, mint, parsley, and tarragon freeze well in small batches.

After harvesting and rinsing the herbs, pat the herbs dry.

Place the herbs in a freezer bag, seal the bag, and place it in the freezer.

To freeze in pre-measured portions, chop the herbs finely and place them in an ice cube tray. Add a small amount of water and allow the tray to freeze. When solid, pop out the cubes and store them in plastic bags.

By Drying

Rosemary, sage, thyme, and winter savory are the easiest herbs to dry and will retain the most flavor and color.

After harvesting and rinsing the herbs, pat them dry with a paper towel.

Form small bunches and tie them with cotton string.

Hang the bunches upside down in a warm, well-ventilated place until the moisture evaporates. Avoid hang in direct sunlight that can strip flavor and color.

The herbs are dry when the leaves crumble and the stems break when bent.

Store dried herbs whole, crumbled, or ground in a cool, dark spot in a labeled airtight container for up to six months for the best flavor.

Is Your Strawberry Plant Wilting? 5 Causes and How to Save It Fast

Strawberries are easy to grow and nothing tastes better than a warm, ripe strawberry picked fresh from the plant. Perfect for garden beds, vertical containers, and hanging baskets, strawberry plants require nutrient-rich soil, full sun, and the right amount of water. Unfortunately, there are a few things that can be devastating to your plants and cause wilting and possibly death. Learn five reasons why your strawberry plants are wilting and what you need to do to fix the problem. Overwatering It is easy to get overzealous and provide too much water to strawberry plants, especially those grown in containers or compacted garden soil. Overwatering is evident if there are brown circles on the leaves, droopy or wilted leaves, smelly roots, or moldy fruit. Check if the issue is overwatering by sticking your finger into the soil at least 2 inches deep. If the soil is soggy, you're watering too much. Solution: Stop watering for several days. Consider repotting container-grown plants with better-draining soil with more sand or vermiculite. In the garden, add compost or sand to improve drainage. Want more gardening tips? Sign up for our free gardening newsletter for our best growing tips, troubleshooting hacks, and more! Underwatering Strawberry plants need the equivalent of one inch of rainwater per week to produce fruit. If the rains don't come, the first sign of underwatering is crispy, brown leaves and withered stems. Solution: The best way to monitor springtime rains is with a rain gauge. If the rains don't come, a soaker hose or drip system in the garden is ideal to keep the leaves and fruit dry while providing moisture to the roots. Check container-grown strawberries daily to be sure the soil is kept consistently moist but not soggy. Leaf Spot Fungus Phomopsis leaf spot usually develops in the fall or spring shortly after planting. It spreads rapidly and remains active as long as there is green foliage on the plants. If plants become dormant in winter, the disease will start again in the spring. Early signs are one to six circular, red to purple spots on leaflets. The spots enlarge, develop gray centers, and cause the leaves to wilt and die. Solution: Apply a fungicide when the fungus appears. For strawberry beds that have had previous problems, apply the fungicide before symptoms appear as new growth begins and continue applications throughout the spring following the product label directions. Fusarium Wilt Fusarium wilt caused by a soil fungus affects strawberry plants and causes wilting, stunted growth, and drying and death of older leaves. Plants bearing heavy fruit loads or subjected to stress often show the most severe symptoms. Solution: Select strawberry varieties that are resistant to Fusarium wilt. Practice good plant management including watering the plants appropriately to reduce stress and ensure proper development. Control spider mites that cause excessive stress to plants. Rotate planting site at least every four years. Powdery Mildew You can quickly identify powdery mildew on strawberry plants by the fluffy, white patches on stems and leaves. If left uncontrolled, the edges of the leaves will begin to curl up and wilt. Solution: A fungicide should be applied preventively if you had problems last year or at the first sign of disease to control powdery mildew. This is especially important when using a protectant fungicide, such as elemental sulfur. How to Prevent Strawberry Wilting Since strawberries are one of the first fruits to appear in the spring, take advantage of those first days in the garden and monitor your strawberry patch. Attention and quick corrective action will help keep plants healthy. Water correctly. Provide an appropriate amount of irrigation to keep the soil evenly moist but not soggy. Inspect plants for pests. Spider mites love strawberries and can stress plants. Check the plants regularly and control the pests. Treat strawberry diseases as soon as they appear. Rotate planting areas. This is true especially if strawberries are grown near brassicas (broccoli or cabbage). Clean garden tools and gloves. This prevents the spread of diseases.

Another Design Box Checked – The Kids’ Bath Wallpaper Reveal!

Well, well, well. A year and a half after the “reveal”, I finally did the update that this bathroom always wanted – wallpaper, and it looks so good that even my kids noticed and went out of their way to tell me! There is nothing sweeter than your 11-year-old son saying “Mama, I love the wallpaper” before you even have time to point it out. I always knew that this bathroom wanted wallpaper above the tile and trim, but I needed to shoot it and I hadn’t found the right paper. It was still pretty beforehand, but now it’s just so much better. Before Wallpaper Here’s how we shot it in August of 2023, it really remained the same for the most part. The art fell down off the tile (dumb Command strips) but otherwise, it was sweet and worked. So I kept my eye out for the perfect pattern and colorway… Choosing The Right Paper I fell in love with a few of these from Graham & Brown, ordered some samples, and was delighted that there were many that I loved. While the middle blue one looks so powerful on camera (and I think maybe one on stories?), I went with the green colorway on the right that has hits of blue in it just so it felt a little more timeless and less saturated I guess? I think the intense color on top with the green tile might have been too much, whereas the green obviously spoke to the floor, more in harmony. The Reveal I LOVE IT. The “wood” of the branches speaks to the warmer tones in the room (like the vanity and the gold fixtures) and the green and blue work so well with the green tile and blue accents (like the curtains and the vintage dog painting). I love that the green vintage light fixture still pops off it nicely without getting too lost. And while I was open to changing out the curtains (I mean, it was just yardage that I iron hemmed and hung up) I think this looks so fun and cute. The colors are great together and the scale of the large gingham is offset so nicely with the organic movement of the wallpaper pattern. The bathroom just feels so much more finished, like it was always meant to be this way. The only thing/s that I’m still debating are: Do I add crown molding? My typical answer would be yes, but outside the tub niche, it would end up being just a little sliver. But you could skip the molding on that front part (maybe, unsure about that) and just do the perimeter of the room… I also might add cafe curtains IF I find the right pattern, but I’m not terribly motivated to persist on that one. Like sure, it could look cute but there is a lot happening already – we may have hit our whimsy quota. It’s another box checked and only 3 years after we moved in which I don’t think is THAT bad. I actually am loving adding these layers in a slower (and less stressful way). It’s just so happy and feels appropriate to the house (Scandinavian farmhouse vibes FTW). The organic nature of it contrasts well with the tile, too. With the green floor/wall tile border looking like grass and the wallpaper clearly being a forest, we have a fully executed theme in here :) What do you think??

How to Clean Your Carry-On Luggage, According to Experts

It’s virtually impossible to enjoy a long vacation without stuffing your carry-on luggage with a week’s worth of clothes, accessories, and toiletries. Overtime, however, you’ll notice that the same suitcase is riddled with scuff marks and grime after facing months (or even years) of airport security and overhead compartments. Knowing exactly how to clean your carry-on luggage can save you hundreds of dollars on repairs and replacements, and we’ve got all the information you need to get started. Besides surface-level damage, we’re also faced with another harrowing truth: Airports are riddled with bacteria that linger on surfaces and spread through skin-to-skin contact, often without us even knowing. By effectively cleaning your carry-on luggage, you’re also preserving your physical health, and that starts with taking care of your personal possessions. How Often to Clean Carry-On Luggage It’s best to clean your carry-on luggage between trips, according to microbiologist Shaun Veran, COO of OURA. In addition, “It’s also a good idea to give your carry-on a quick wipe-down during your travels,” he says. “A once-over with a sanitizing wipe, focusing on the handles, can help to reduce your risk of infection and a ruined trip.” Time plays an essential role in knowing when to clean your luggage, and it’s best to conquer the task soon after a trip rather than later. Leaving your carry-on luggage contaminated for an extended period of time can increase bacterial growth and the potential for strong, smelly, and lasting odors. Considerations Before You Get Started Consider the Fabric Carry-on luggage is typically divided into two categories: Soft-sided and hard-sided suitcases. Soft-sided suitcases are made from resistant materials like nylon and polyester (which is great for durability, but not so great for the planet). Alternatively, hard-sided luggage is made from lightweight materials like polycarbonate and aluminum (thus, they’re a bit more expensive). Spot Test Depending on the material your carry-on luggage is made from, you’ll want to spot test with each cleaning ingredient to ensure you’re not causing further damage to your travel luggage. What You Need: Microfiber cloth Antimicrobial wipe Sanitizing spray Baking powder Vacuum Dish soap How to Clean Your Carry-On Luggage Step 1: Start With the Exterior Surface First thing’s first: Cleaning the exterior of your suitcase. Using a damp microfiber cloth, wipe away at any surface-level stains before going in with an antimicrobial wipe—Wet Ones, Lysol, or just about any antibacterial wipe will do the trick. For soft-sided luggage, use a sanitizing spray and your microfiber cloth rather than an antibacterial wipe. Don’t forget to go over the handles! Step 2: Wipe Down the Wheels Use the same microfiber cloth and sanitizing spray to tackle the bottom of your luggage. Rub through the treads and crevices to thoroughly remove any bacteria. Step 3: Wash Your Hands Once you’ve finished cleaning the outside of your suitcase, be sure to wash your hands before moving to the next step. As Veran emphasizes, it’s important to avoid cross-contamination as much as possible. Step 4: Sprinkle Baking Powder in the Interior While the interior of your suitcase doesn’t harbor nearly as much debris as the exterior, it’s still important to clean the enclosed case. After you’ve finished unpacking, lay the suitcase horizontally and sprinkle baking soda across the interior to absorb overnight. Step 5: Vacuum Thoroughly In the morning, use your vacuum nozzle to thoroughly clean up the baking soda. You’ll want to spend some time on this—although extremely effective, powdered substances have a tendency to hide in plain sight. Step 6: Use Wet Cloth and Dish Soap For Lingering Stains As a final step in your bacteria-free travel routine, add some dish soap to a damp cloth and blot it across the surface area to remove lingering baking soda or any additional stains. Leave it to air dry for a few hours. How To Maintain a Bacteria-Free Travel Routine Moving forward, you may benefit from maintaining a travel cleaning routine so that your carry-on luggage remains bacteria-free. For example, traveling with sanitizing wipes can provide an on-the-go solution for bacteria as you travel to different locations. In addition, washing your hands frequently, not touching your face, and wearing a mask while flying can help prevent cross-contamination. Frequent travelers may also benefit from using a clear luggage cover to protect their carry-on while moving through airports, hotels, and rideshare services. Safe travels!

Our 2025 Summer Landscaping Reveal (With Full Process)

I’m currently caught in the “why would anyone live anywhere else” fever dream that is “Oregon in The Summer”, and while I intellectually know there is no perfect place to live, right now, up here, it’s magical (and has been since March – 2025 was a real pretty one). This backyard is certainly serving up some particularly beautiful vibes, and we are in full hosting season. Today I wanted to do a full documentation of the backyard landscaping process, and get into the details for all of us landscape design nerds. Like most things in design – it looks a lot easier than it is, and the more expertise and experience involved, the better product you get. As you know, for this project we hired Dennis’ 7 Dees, a local (and booming) family landscaping company that now manages all our landscaping maintenance as well (besides Charlie mowing the lawn…when we are in town). They designed, planned, executed, and now care for our yard with total seamlessness – not once did I feel like I didn’t know what was happening, when, or that they were too busy with other jobs to take care of us. (Read til the end for some hot tips on working with design professionals.) January – OOF IT WAS SAD Of course, there are more “before befores” from 2019 (when we bought the property) and 2021 (aka the year of the mud before phase 1 began). But this was in January 2025, which is always a sad time of year (and before we had proper maintenance because we thought we could handle it, so the leaves were clearly a problem). As you know, the sports court was way too big – I even mentioned this in the reveal 2 summers ago. And then the area underneath the cherry trees was fine in the summer, but just not working as well as we wanted (that’s the area between the flagstone path and the sports court). So this was the main area we were working to make better, along with the outdoor grill area (which was done by my brother’s company). The Overall Landscaping Plan We worked with Eric Hagberg from Dennis’ 7 Dees, whom we loved – he had so much experience, expertise, and was so flexible – listening to us, and editing as things came up. He came up with the first plan and accompanied budget, and presented it to us (I believe this was in November). Landscaping Plan Number #1 We really loved it, but needed to scale it back for budget purposes. So we reduced the amount of trees, plants, stonework, and lighting (all the pink), and totally nixed the back area near the paddock, seeding for clover instead. One thing we were more sensitive to this time around was planting enough evergreen plants, not just perennials. I love echinacea and all these gorgeous wildflowers, but winter can be really sad here (sadder than my former California lady brain knew), so this time we asked for 70% evergreen plants, 30% perennials. Plan #2 – Reduced Plants, Lighting And Square Footage He sent through the edited plan, which reduced the scope by almost in 1/2. Sure, we still had demo, prep soil, irrigate, run lighting lines, but the scope of planting, stonework, irrigation, and lighting helped reduce the cost substantially. I mean, it’s obvious, but the less you do, the less it costs. The Plant Palette Here was the palette they had planned, which I was in love with and all came from their garden centers (which have an incredibly robust selection). While in the past I have been picky with plants, needing to love each one and feel like stylistically it was “me,” this time around I shifted my mentality. My goal was to have a cohesive color palette, sure, (no random pops that didn’t make sense), but otherwise all I wanted was for the experts to choose things that really thrived easily here, in Oregon, under our conditions. I didn’t want to make suggestions that would override the expertise. For instance, I never thought that I, Emily Henderson, would choose hydrangeas (I had wrong judgements about them, ok?), but as you can see below – they are all over our yard and so beautiful. I am a full hydrangea girly now!! I really, really trusted Eric that they would plant plants that loved living in Oregon and would be easy to manage/tend to and beautiful year-round. They understood that we like a less manicured look, less structure, lots of levels and layers (I said no to orange, sorry, and nothing oddly tropical or like red roses). I really let them do their job because everything they showed me was so aligned with what we wanted. We were speaking the same language, which is really what you want from any designer. The Schedule From Eric: “Originally, we were thinking this would be a 4-week project. But because we’ve doubled the crew size to 6 guys, it’s likely to only take about 2 weeks”. OK!!!! Let go! Concrete Demo: Feb 17-20 Green Demo: Feb 21 Stone Patios/Paths: Feb 24-25 Soil/Grading: Feb 26 Irrigation: Feb 27 Plants: Feb 28 Irrigation: March 3 Lighting: March 3 Bark/Clover Lawn Seed: March 4 (we’ll come back in April, after freezing to apply the seed) They ended up extending it a bit, which worked better for us so that we could be around to capture more of the content. But we were seriously thrilled with the speed and manpower that went into it. Again, this whole “booking in fall and starting in winter” strategy strangely sped things up because it’s the slowest time of year, and a company of 7 Dees’ size has multiple crews they employ – more manpower and time to spend on us! The Prep Work This clearly wasn’t a DIY situation, at least not for us. They moved fast, and that chunk of the sports court was gone in a matter of days. The Hardscape – Flagstone Next came the laying of the paths and landing pads (which they drew out with water-soluble spray paint). If you think it’s just putting down stones (like we did), it’s clearly not. So much prep work underneath the stones as well as leveling and grading. But still, they were so fast. The dirt/puddle areas are where the plants would go. Then, we had the landing pads and the stepping stone paths to the sports court. Now, if you haven’t done flagstone before, know that this is a massive investment (ours cost over $20k). We could have used pea gravel, but it’s a lot messier and we wanted it to be cohesive with the rest of the walkway around the house. In Oregon, due to the rain, you really want solid hardscape to walk – you can’t use DG like you can in CA. So this was a massive investment and something we knew we needed the experts to execute. The Planting Phase Eric, our designer, created the plant selection that we tweaked together. Again, it’s a combination of perennials and evergreen plants and in all the tones that I love. One of the perks with working with them is that since they also have three garden centers in Portland (well, one in Vancouver), they call pull from them as well as place the bigger orders. They are also great resources as a home gardener without a designer – their inventory and selection is huge and so well cared for. The plants went in so fast, I couldn’t believe it. Brian and I were watching from inside like it was a movie – every day there was so much progress. So many people working so hard to make our yard beautiful. We felt so grateful. After planting, they added irrigation and the lighting, as well as a French drain with river rocks along the sports court because it was flooding a lot (remember that disturbed soil doesn’t drain as much as established soil – a fun fact I’m learning over and over). The June Reveal – 2 Months Ago We shot the first round of reveals in June because, well, it was done and looked so beautiful. Check out this post to see that full reveal. We needed to shoot the outdoor kitchen, so we did a tour of the landscaping as well. But little did we know that over the next six weeks things would pop and grow in the most beautiful way. It’s honestly so stunning, I can’t even tell you. Magical, enchanted, already so grown-in (thanks to the Monrovia plants that are so healthy and thrive so well). We have been hosting like crazy back here. We had another big 75-person multi-family school fundraiser here last Saturday – I love sharing it (read: showing it off :) so much). P.S. The theme was the pig’s birthday party, i.e., the “Wine and Swine,” which I need to show you photos from – Barb and Alicia were the belles of the ball in party hats!!! The Newest Update! Mid-July 2025 summer landscaping It’s incredibly beautiful. The panicle hydrangeas are incredible – all from their garden centers (Monrovia has very healthy, high-quality plants that are locally grown, which helps), and the layering, textures, and colors feel so natural but not messy. Here you can see how the whole yard works – the stone pathways with the picnic tables surrounded by all the greenery (designed to be full but not grow too high) and with the trees that will eventually create shade for the seating areas. We are hoping that greenery will eventually take over the grout lines in the stone (left just as soil, unplanted for budget reasons). We love how organic it feels and know that once it’s fully grown it we think it will look like it was always here. They did a great job specifying plants that would be ball barriers from the sport court but not too fragile or thorny. Here you can see the river rock that covers the French drain to keep water from flooding the plants or the new pickleball court. It’s just incredibly beautiful. Over the weekend, we put umbrellas over the picnic tables to create shade, which was wonderful (and made me secretly want big comfy upholstered chairs or a sofa + 2 chairs for the middle one to be more comfortable). The entire yard gets used when 80 people come over, and it’s incredibly delightful. Dennis’ 7 Dees did such a great job of making it look like a park-like area, casual but still elevated and appropriate to the farm vibe. Jess asked where the umbrellas went, but we just couldn’t get them all straight for the photos and videos at the same time – there is SUCH a hole in the market for long-lasting umbrella stands that actually keep umbrellas perfectly vertical. But I love that you can see the full garden without them. These hydrangeas keep changing color – first bright white, then blush, and now these sweet pastel pink. I’m here for all of the shades and love seeing the yard change. The pops of these hotter pinks from the agastache surprised me a bit, and while I love them, I want to add a few more to make the other areas more balanced. All of the echinaceas (perhaps my favorite flowers) are that bright pink, so holistically the yard works together really well. The lighting is perfect. It’s mostly path lighting for nighttime without it being lit up super bright. I know that most people like more/brighter landscape lighting, but we love the string lights on the fenceline and roofline and don’t mind that the garden area is more subtle. We had some uplights in LA and didn’t really love the vibe and prefer less (as of now). I love this view – seeing the sunroom through the trees and flowers is just so pretty. I really want to add wisteria to the back porch, to grow up those posts, so stay tuned on that (although I’m not ready for a phase 3 yet, folks). A huge thanks to Eric for the design and his wonderful crew at Dennis’ 7 Dees for executing it so professionally. This project was so seamless, and caused us zero unnecessary stress, which is saying A LOT. We got all the plants from the 7Dees garden centers (one in Lake Oswego, Vancouver and Cedar Hills/Beaverton). They source a lot from Monrovia for their garden centers, who grow such healthy plants (thank you). And always Kaitlin for all the beautiful photography. The rundown pickleball wall is getting replaced today, so we are about to do a full backyard tour with the kids in a couple of weeks. I can’t wait to show you how it all flows together. A Special Reader/ Follower Offers From Dennis’ 7 Dees For all of you in Portland, they are extending some pretty sweet deals. Check these out: Offer #1: Free Landscape Design with Installation, like ours below If you mention my name, “Emily Henderson” when requesting a residential landscape consultation, you’ll get a free AutoCAD landscape design (a $2,500 value) when you move forward with an installation contract of $15,000 or more. Essentially, you’ll pay the design fee upfront, but it’s fully credited back on the final invoice if you move forward with the full design (saving $2500). This offer would be good for contracted projects through August 31, 2025 (so act now!). Additionally, they wanted me to mention that right now they have fast install timelines available, which will change as fall approaches. They also offer flexible financing options to fit your budget *Reminder to use the landing page link we sent you guys for any website links. 🙂 Offer #2: 20% Off at Our Garden Centers For any Portland followers that are more into plants + DIY, Dennis’ 7 Dees Garden Centers are such a gem if you’re looking for gorgeous, high-quality plants and fun DIY inspiration. They even have the cutest indoor plant shops—like their Bridgeport Village location that’s all about houseplants. You can get 20% off any in-store purchase with the code EMHENDERSON through August 31st (in-store only at any of their 5 locations). I love the Lake Oswego store (it’s such a lovely shopping experience), but I usually pop into Cedar Hills because it’s closer—plus, their Vancouver location is supposed to be huge and beautiful too! Thank you, Dennis’ 7 Dees, for your landscape magic. I’m just so grateful and proud to call this ours. Here Are My Tips For Landscaping: Be realistic about your budget up front. I still fall into this dumb mental trap – not wanting to say what I can spend for fear that I’ve just played my card and lose leverage. But consistently, it has wasted people’s time. Our first quote for the first design came in so high because they didn’t know what our parameters were, so once we cut it by 1/2 or two-thirds (which was realistic for our budget), they had to edit and essentially redesign it. I should have said at the beginning what we really couldn’t go over on the project as a whole from the beginning. When it comes to landscaping, while you want your artistic vision to be executed (farm! natural! wildflowers!), what you really want is for an expert in your region to choose plants that they know will thrive in your yard, based on your conditions, sun location, etc. Like I said below, I weighed in on the color palette but wanted them to use their expertise to choose the right plants that would help the yard look pretty year round (crucial, as we use it and stare it at allllllll year long). Plan early for spring/summer usage. Most landscapers are slow from October/November – February, and then they get SLAMMED. The second that we start fantasizing about using our yard (February/March), they get inundated with new work, so do what we did – reach out in late fall, and then you could be ready by spring!