This week is all about small shifts that change how your garden feels. We’re dialing back outdoor lighting for a softer, dark-sky-friendly glow, finding the beauty in winter structure and berries, and looking at easy ways to make your front yard work harder for you and for native plants. Plus, David Culp is back for our first webinar of 2026!
Do your outdoor lights really need to be that bright? Light that spills upward can disrupt nocturnal wildlife, migrating birds, and even plant cycles. Steal a few simple dark sky lighting fixes.
Pictured: A single strand of string lights provides enough ambiance without excess brightness. Hanging lights against a wall helps contain the glow and reduce light spill. Photo by Ami Dushkowich.
Webinar Corner
Enhancing Your Enjoyment of Spring with David Culp
Thursday, March 5th, 2026 at 6 PM EST
Ready to see spring with new eyes? David Culp is back with a rich, visual look at spring from the earliest blooms into May, plus fresh ideas for stretching the season beyond the usual favorites. Join David, Jim Peterson, Rebecca Sweet, and Denise Kelly for a lively conversation designed to spark inspiration for the coming garden season.
David Culp has thrilled Garden Design audiences since 2020, and this webinar is going to be a treat. Don't miss it!
$20 USD
*Can't join us at that time? All registrants will receive the recording following the webinar.
"Everything that slows us down and forces patience, everything that sets us back into the slow circles of nature, is a help. Gardening is an instrument of grace." —May Sarton, writer
Winter Gardens CAN Be Interesting
Bundle up and let's take a walk through your winter garden! Late winter is the “X-ray” season, and this guide shows simple ways to turn a bare, beige landscape into a seasonal visual feast with structure and form, colorful stems, textural bark, winter berries, late-winter scent, and more.
Garden for Wildlife® to Make an Impact
Want your garden to be officially recognized as wildlife-friendly? The National Wildlife Federation’s Certified Wildlife Habitat® program shows you simple steps to provide habitat essentials and plant native, so you can support wildlife where you live, work, learn, or gather.
Your front yard is the first thing neighbors and visitors see, so why not make it do double duty? This guide is packed with front-yard ideas, from a wildflower meadow with plants selected to support beneficial insects and other wildlife to raised beds that grow vegetables you can share with neighbors.
When Ideas Incubate
A walk through the Cedros Design District in Solana Beach, CA always sparks ideas. I never know what I’ll stumble upon—an attractive storefront, a sign, a cluster of plants…little moments that inspire something new.
Some of these impressions eventually turn into real ideas, others fade away, but they all go into my collective creative bank. That’s what I love about wandering: everything has the potential to shape something later.
Here's to wandering,
Jim Peterson
Did you enjoy this newsletter? Forward it to a friend
Not currently receiving this weekly newsletter? Subscribe here!
No images? Click here for a web version of this email.
