Northern Michigan Garden Maintenance, Renovation & Design
6829 Herkner Road Traverse City, MI 49685
13 Mar 2015

Top 10 Planting Design Tips

1. Try massing plants rather than having one of everything.repeat

2. Plant in odd numbers, though once you reach ten plants, you can ignore this rule.

3. Make a nice composition of plant forms. Add a little variety by mixing different forms, yet make sure you still have repetition.composition

4. Mix plant textures. Combine plants with large leaves and plants with small leaves to make your garden pop.

texture

5.  When choosing colors limit your choice by picking a theme (IE: monochromatic colors, complimentary colors, etc)

color

6. Consider all plant heights… especially those itsy bitsy plants (12″ or less) for the front row.  This make a great border.

border2

7. Consider winter interest too.  (Twigs, berries, bark and flowing grass)

winter

8.  Fill your beds with plants! This not only keeps down weeds, but makes your garden lush. Do you really want to look at empty planting beds.

fill

9. Layer your plants.  Why not even have two, three, or even five rows.

10. If you have a long border to fill, create a pattern with your plants.

Most importantly experiment and have fun.  If something doesn’t work out, try a new combination… until you fall in love with it.

 

20 Jan 2015

Pink Pancakes, Beet the Winter Blues

Pink Pancakespink

1 15 oz tub cottage cheese (or ricotta)

4-5 beets, boiled

1 apple, grated

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon vanilla

Pancake Mix (2-3 cups, depends on consistency)

Wash & trim stems off beets.  Put in pan to boil, add water to cover 3/4, cover with a lid and boil until tender.  Let liquid & beets cool.

pink2While waiting for beets to cool, grate 1 apple. Add apple and cottage cheese to blender, add beets and beet juice.  Blend until a smooth pink puree.

Mix dry ingredients, pancake mix & cinnamon.  (If pancake mix calls for eggs, add eggs at this point).  Stir in pink puree and vanilla until well blended.  Add water, or pancake mix to adjust consistency.

Cook on griddle at 300* to 350*, adjusting accordingly.pink4

Serve with coconut oil, powdered sugar, yogurt, fruit, etc

Let us know your favorite toppings and enjoy!pinkpancakes