Friday, July 03, 2009

Looking for some free garden design and landscaping ideas? A husband and wife team of landscape professionals could have what you need.

Cheryl and Steve Jones have created a slide show with dozens of color photos of different garden projects. But unlike other online photo collections, their slide show is more than just pretty pictures.

"Pictures are nice," acknowledges Cheryl Jones. "But we wanted visitors to understand how each particular project might or might not work in their particular environment."

The slide show can be found at their non-profit Web site www.landsteward.org

To help viewers understand what they are seeing, Cheryl and Steve added a full description to accompany each color photograph in the slide show.

For example, one slide features a Blue Colorado Spruce landscape. The accompanying text points out how low-growing ornamental grasses have been planted in front with golden cypresses and junipers behind them, leading the eye through complementary colors and textures to the taller hemlock and blue spruce at the rear of the bed. This has created a natural privacy block without the need for a wall or fence.

"Many of the photos are taken in our own private gardens and others are of landscaping we've seen on our travels," says Steve. "Although we are professionals, we are always looking for inspiration and we felt this slide show was a good way to share some of that inspiration with people looking for garden project ideas."

Steve Jones is the author of The Plant Man, a weekly column appearing in 85 newspapers across America. An archive of Steve's column can also be found at the Web site.

"Getting started is often the hardest part of any garden project, trying to guess if a particular layout would work for you," adds Cheryl. "Our slide show could help get your creative juices flowing."

To get started, go to www.landsteward.org and click on the Ideas Slide Show link.

Newspaper editors interested in publishing the weekly Plant Man column free of charge can contact Steve at steve@landsteward.org

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Steve and Cheryl Jones

Gardening and Landscaping Experts

Greenwood

McMinnville, TN

800-426-0958