About Us

Welcome to Garden Design for Living!

We are the resource for homeowners, landscapers and hobbyists who want to create great outdoor spaces.   We’ve taken the mystery out of garden and landscape design by providing easy to understand tutorials, tips and design tools.

Even if you’re starting from scratch, we’ll help you through the process step by step.  That includes designing and installing!

What we have to offer:

  • Tutorials on garden and landscape design.
  • Step by step guide to your own yard makeover.
  • Guides to designing landscape features like patios, outdoor dining areas and water features.
  • A blog on do-it-yourself landscape and garden design with up-to-date tips and tools.

Why did we create this site anyway? Aren’t there lots of other design sites out there?

Sure, there are dozens of design sites and blogs out there, but to us, they’re all missing something.  We’ve seen the art of good design hijacked by home builders and lawn care “landscapers” trying to make money in a (once) booming housing market.  The basic tenets of outdoor design are simple and easy to learn, but they’ve been lost to a culture focused on “resale value”.  That’s why we call our site “Garden Design for Living“.  We want to bring back the concept of designing spaces for living, not for resale!

These days, expensive, well educated designers are the  only ones left who still understand even the most basic design concepts.  Well, we’re here to change that!  We’re bringing garden design back to the homeowner!

You’ll find that you won’t need an expensive education or even fancy blueprints or design software to do amazing things.  Just walk your way through our  site and use our handy design tools along the way.    We’ll show you how.

So, where do we start?

Our site covers everything from the extreme basics (What is the difference between an annual and a perennial?) to more advanced topics like designing an outdoor dining area.

If you want to learn the garden and landscape design process, then check out the “Think Like a Garden Designer” menu first . If you’re a real beginner, then start at the top and work your way down.  If you have some experience, you can skip ahead to the topics that interest you.  Then you can move on to the “Step by Step” section to really start designing your yard.

Our regular posts will  get you the installation and other info you need to make it happen.  The “Landscape Elements” will help you design the specific features you’ll want in your yard.

You can get a better understanding of how to navigate our site in the “How to Use This Site” section.

So, enough with the introductions, go ahead and dig in!  Have fun and happy designing!