Video: Triathlete Helps Us Plan Ahead with Fall Garden Design

Irwin Weiner ASID - I admit that I'm an interiors kind of guy, but I love a beautiful garden. It's more than curb appeal - those lush outdoor rooms add so much charm and extended living and entertaining space to a home. Now that autumn is officially here, it's time to start planning your fall garden design process, using these optimum weeks to plant new specimens, flesh out beds, and make those key transplants. My gardening goals are always to have a "swath" of color and texture and to try to have plants that add color and interest throughout the growing season - not just a burst of springtime hues and then washed-out greens throughout the rest of the summer and early fall. This video features an interview with Tracy DiSabato-Aust, triathlete/gardener and author of the book The Well-Designed Mixed Garden, and her tips for how to best plan your garden around this time of year.

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Gardening Video - Tips for Gardening in Small Spaces

Irwin Weiner ASID - We bought metal planters from Portugal at a Bucks County archetectural salvage store, filled them up with potting soil, and have been planting herbs and veggies on our patio for the past few years. Every so often we'll throw in handfuls of Dr. Earth organic fertilizer to keep nutrients chugging along in each planter (these closed eco systems need boosts on a regular basis). And the results have been rewarding. Last year we planted rainbow chard and purple basil along with other herbs - chives to Italian parsley.

This year we're planting green zebra and cherokee heirloom tomatoes, lemon thyme, nasturtium, rosemary, basil, parsley, and tarragon ... sticking to a great salad theme. Today's featured video will help bring out the gardener in you. Even if you don't have a large yard, e.g., you live in a small urban apartment, you can still garden in a small space and have a manageable time of it. We're all busy adults, so let's follow tips for making life and leisure time easier and more productive. Extra features: click on each of the two photos in this article to get some great container gardening tips and inspiration. 

Bonus

Click here to read our friend Linda Grasso's gardening quest - How Can I Find Perfect Heirloom Tomatoes? Find the best varieties for taste, growing ability, and yield!

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DIY Garden Tips: Raised Beds and Growing Potatoes and Tomatoes

Irwin Weiner ASID - Start your garden planning right now, at the start of spring! Okay, I'm no green thumb, but I have an amazing perennial garden surrounding my weekend home in Bucks County, PA. If I lived there during the week, we'd be all over raising vegetables, but since we're leaving things untended during the week, only the strong survive - and that's shrubs and non-edible plants and flowers. We've just got too many critters, but we like it that way. Our first featured video from Patti Moreno, the Garden Girl, shows you how to make your own raised beds, the secret of growing beautiful masses of cutting flowers and fantastic veggies. For more do-it-yourself help, check out the DIY Network's 19 Top Raised Beds Projects.

This next video shows you tips for growing potatoes and tomatoes - with the three ways to support the growth of your tomato plants. And click here for Design2Share's hunt for the Perfect Heirloom Tomato varieties! It's time to swing into garden action. Happy growing.

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Update on March 31, 2011 by Design2Share

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Featured Project: DIY Painted Headboard

Now is the perfect time to think about freshening up your interior space. With a splash of color here and a new piece of furniture there, it's easy to redecorate. Here's a quick, budget-conscious DIY design idea to help get you started.

Paint Your Own Headboard

Chances are if you if you purchased your bed frame as part of a bedroom set, the headboard is already included. If you don't want to put forth the extra cash, especially after paying for a pricey mattress, no problem! Painted headboards are a great way to add a pop of color to your bedroom.

Step 1: Measure the width of the head of your bed and mark it with blue painter's tape from floor to ceiling. Now, choose your color based on your desired color scheme. You obviously don't want it to be the same shade as your walls, but it should complement that color.

Step 2: Once you have your color, paint the wall, staying within the blue painters tape. Once the paint dries, if you choose to do so, you can detail with paint or with some removable wall decals from a company like Blik. For as little as $40, Blik makes easily removable wall decals in fun shapes like bookshelves, chandeliers, birds, etc. If this sounds like too much work, don't worry and leave your wall a solid color.

Step 3: Simply position your bed up against the painted wall, prop up some decorative Euro pillows in coordinating colors and patterns, and you have yourself a headboard. You might want to take this opportunity to invest in a new comforter or duvet in fun, light, spring colors. You'd be surprised at what a little bit of paint and some new bedding can do for your space!

Contemporary vanities and more at Decor Planet for your bathroom needs.

Spring Planning: Plant an English Cottage Garden

Terry Winters for Guardian News and Media Limited
Jay Johnson - While our Design2Share interior design expert Irwin Weiner is away in Venice with a client, I'm keeping our daily video features going. Our editors and I found a great intro video covering the basics of planning an English cottage garden - more rambling, casual, fragrant, and colorful than typical North American plots.

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