Inspiration Gardens

Inspiration Gardens at the Nursery

We encourage visitors to wander the landscapes and enjoy the plants, natural stone, and water that enhance this oasis in the high desert.

We're happy to answer any questions, swap ideas or even look at photos of your own landscape challenge. Armed with the right knowledge and a little encouragement, you'd be amazed at what you can accomplish in a single weekend.

Here, you can discover how fast a particular plant grows, how tall and wide it will be at maturity, and how it will look when it's grouped with other species.

We like to mix species for an interesting display of size, color, texture. This keep the eye moving through the scene. We'll add a surprise here and there by tucking an antique, a garden decoration or bench into secluded little nook.

The entire landscape cannot be viewed from a single location. We add curves in a path and then hide what's around the curve with a shrub or a tree. This sparks the spirit of exploration.

The arches invite and the gently curved path creates a slight sense of mystery. One is tempted to head toward a quiet little seating area, and enjoy whatever is around the corner.

Landscaping should be functional as well as beautiful. We use landscaping to define spaces. We control vehicle traffic with strategically located beds. We use paths to guide people to this or that place.

We grow and sell trees and perennial plants but, like most gardeners, we can't resist cheerful annual flowers. Containers of annual flowers make it easy to quickly enhance a specific area with a splash of color.

Don't forget to plan for a view all around a central bed. This is the other side of the bed above. The antiques are a pleasant surprise when one walks around the display.

We like to wander around, linger here to enjoy a view, or loiter there to watch a bird or animal. Throughout the landscape are places to sit and relax. A bench, a couple of chairs, a table, a swing - all enhance the pleasure of the surroundings and invite one to slow down, soak up the views, listen to the birds.... ahhh, it's so peaceful. Everywhere you look, there's something interesting to see.

A place to sit doesn't necessarily involve a chair. Sometimes a convenient boulder offers the perfect place to contemplate nature.

Does it seem overwhelming?

We didn't do all this landscaping at once. The site evolved as our needs changed. Inspired by one completed area, we'd move to the next idea. But, even this didn't happen until we'd put some thought and study into the next step. Sometimes, it was simply a matter of deciding we liked a certain view and wanted a place to sit and enjoy that view. Then, while sitting, we might decide it would be nice to add a fragrant plant nearby, add a spot of color over here, fill an empty space over there, or plant something tall to hide some unattractive thing that intruded on our view. In our case, satisfaction leads to inspiration which prompts the next project.

A Few Quick Tips

Landscaping adds value to your property. It adds beauty and enhances livability for people and wildlife. Gardening is good exercise. A completed project offers a wonderful sense of accomplishment. There are many other reasons to improve your landscape. We think the best reason is to increase your personal enjoyment of your entire property by creating outdoor living areas.

Think of your yard as a series of outdoor rooms.

Decide what you want each room to do for you, or just pick an area that you'd use differently if only something could be changed. For example, perhaps you don't use a side yard because there is no privacy from a neighbor. Plant a screen. Now that your room is private, decorate the space so you can enjoy it.

The best thing about landscaping is that you can change it whenever you like. If you plant a shrub in the shade but it prefers the sun... dig it up and plant it somewhere else. If you are tired of raking leaves from a tree that blocks a great view, cut the thing down and plant a new tree in a better location. If your back yard is too hot, plant some trees for afternoon shade. Add a picnic table. Place a few pots of flowers for color and scent. Before you know it, you've created an outdoor room that the whole family can finally use.

Our stuff is tuff ...