Design Trends – MarvinGardensUSA

Create a Garden That Connects Your Interior Design to Your Yard

One thing that homeowners don’t always consider when it comes to their garden design is how it will connect with their interior design. The following are a few ways that you can help create a more balanced home design by visually connecting your garden and your interior design together:

Source: Marvin Gardens Facebook

Color – Make the colors of your garden design compliment those of your interior design. For example, if your interior color scheme is more on the neutral side of things, add soft yellow or purple flowers and plants to your landscape. If your home’s colors are bolder, then use bolder colored landscape elements.

Architectural features – Consider the best architectural feature of your home, then make it stand out. You can do this by clearing the space around it or by repeating its color or shape.

Style – Different architectural styles will work better with different landscape features. For example, a Victorian style home will look fantastic with boxwood hedges, while open lawn areas and picket fences tend to work better for traditional Colonial style homes.

Use these tips to connect your garden design to your interior. Be sure to contact us at Marvin Gardens for all of your garden needs.

Cracking Art Group REgeneration Project

Marvin Gardens USA is honored to be part of the international artistic collective Cracking Art Group and Italy’s renowned Galleria Ca’ d’Oro. The Red Snails are part of the global sensation known as the REgeneration Art Project, and is a public art series designed to intrigue the mind, to reconnect it with nature, and to prompt curiosity about the origination of the materials. All of the colorful animals are made from recycled materials and up-cycled into large, over-sized contemporary art. The vibrant colors and over-sized animals are whimsical and unexpected, drawing ones attention and inspiring conversation. The art installations are placed in high traffic urban areas, such as New York City, Miami, Paris, Rome, Prague, Venice, Sydney and many more amazing and unusual locations.

At Marvin Gardens USA, many of our home and garden elements are vintage or antique, with less emphasis on modern production goods. Our philosophy of re-purposing existing elements and recreating them into modern day trendy and stylish elements lends itself to the same philosophy of the Cracking Art Group, which focuses on – “…the importance of recycling and its environmental impact, while leaving a potent artistic trace in the communities we live in.”

Please join us at Marvin Gardens USA to touch, feel, photograph and ask questions about the REgeneration Art Project’s Red Snails. Share this post with friends and Like our Facebook page…spread the word about the REgeneration project. The Snails are disarmingly charming! Please inquire if you wish to purchase a snail.

Thank you, Gloria Porcella, Executive Producer and Artistic Curator of Galleria Ca’ d’Oro, for the wonderful and heartfelt opportunity you have provided Marvin Gardens USA. We are so pleased to be part of this international sensation.

Amabel Chan, Principal
Marvin Gardens USA

Design Tips to Create a Festive Holiday Container Garden

holiday planter decorating — Source: Marvin Gardens Facebook

Container gardens are a great way to add color to any space in your home but are especially useful in the winter months around the holidays. They can be kept growing through the most intemperate winter making them indispensable for people who love to have plants nearby all year-round.

Here are a few reasons you should use container plants at holiday time:

They’re Alive – It often seems that many decorators resort to twigs and dead branches to fill out their holiday décor. While that is a reasonable strategy, it does not bring the same vibrancy and aroma as live plants.
They Can Fill Window Boxes – Don’t plant them directly in the window box – just insert them in their containers and move them indoors when necessary.
They Move – These little biomes can be used over and over again. Place them inside in the dining room for your cocktail party one week and then move them outside for a night of entertainment under the stars.

For more information about these and other creative garden design ideas, please visit us at Marvin Gardens. You will find us online at MarvinGardensUSA.com or you can reach us directly at 203-544-2020.

What Not to Do in Your Garden

gardening tips — Source: Marvin Garden Facebook

Gardening is a great way to relax, and many people that try it find a lifelong hobby. However, when you’re new to gardening it’s easy to make simple mistakes that can harm your plants. Use this guide to avoid big mistakes that are commonly made by beginning gardeners.

Using the Same Soil

Using the same type of soil for everything in your garden area can seem simple, and after all, soil is just soil, right? The short answer is no! When buying soil, especially if you’re going to use it for indoor plants, make sure you ask a garden professional for the right kind.

Staking All Trees

When planting young trees in really windy areas, staking is a good idea to keep them from toppling to the ground. However, if you’re not in a windy area, allowing the trees to sway actually helps roots grow deeper, making a stronger tree.

Always Using Mulch Rings

Not all trees need mulch rings. In fact, all they do for many varieties of trees is extend the drip line, making them need more water.

Visit us at Marvin Gardens for beautiful garden accessories to make your healthy garden even more beautiful.

How to Care for Your Garden This October

garden design tips — Source: Marvin Gardens Facebook

The month of October will most likely be your last chance to get your garden ready for the perils of the coming winter. Here are a few garden tips to help you get it ready:

Harvest your “Crops” Now – Even a slight frost will turn the hardiest flowers an ugly black so harvest them and use in a centerpiece. The same goes for herbs. Use them or lose them – or get them inside for a few more weeks of use.
Plant Your Garlic Bulbs Now – If you love fresh garlic – and who doesn’t? – you’ll want to get it in the ground in October so that it can establish itself before winter. Then you will have a great summer yield to flavor all your favorite dishes.
Take Pictures of Your Successes – Why reinvent the wheel? Take a picture of your floral arrangements, whether they are in pots or freestanding, so that you will gain a head start on a great garden next Spring.

For more information about this and other fall garden care tips, please contact us Marvin Gardens. We can be found online at MarvinGardensUSA.com or reached directly at 203-544-2020.

Add Some Storybook Charm to Your Garden

unique garden accessories — Source: Marvin Gardens Facebook

A great garden can turn an average home into a spectacular one, and a well-appointed garden space is an ideal place to spend time alone or with friends and family. To really put your garden over the top, try adding some charming pieces that are right out of a storybook. You’ll never want to leave your garden to go inside!

Add Charming Seating

Many backyard gardens don’t have any seating at all, which prevents people from enjoying the garden up close. To make your garden more appealing, try adding some interesting or whimsical seating to your outdoor space. Wood benches are ideal for an outdoor garden space because they’ll blend seamlessly with the nature around them, but other materials like stone and concrete can work just as well.

Create Unique Pathways

A garden that isn’t broken up by pathways is hard to navigate and may look unorganized. To make pathways, you don’t need fancy pavers–you can make pathway dividers from a variety of materials, including these decorative fish from Marvin Gardens, which give the garden a whimsical, fun look.

Contact Marvin Gardens for more information and for all your garden design accessories.

Decorate to Entertain Outdoors

Entertaining outdoors is many people’s favorite pasttime. Whether you’re throwing a weekend get-together or an end-of-summer bash, follow these basic tips for decorating your outdoor entertaining space.

Don’t Be Afraid of Patterns

Mixing and matching patterns is scary, but it can help make your outdoor space lively and fun. When mixing and matching patterns try to make sure the patterns share at least one unifying color.

Use Mirrors

Outdoor mirrors aren’t common, and most people don’t think about putting a mirror outside. However, if you have a small outdoor space, they can really make it feel bigger. Using mirrors outside can also make your space feel more formal and elegant.

Sports Fans

If you regularly have backyard barbecues or just have casual get-togethers in your outdoor space, adding a television to your entertaining area makes sense. While you obviously can’t put a television in an area where it will be exposed to harsh weather, open air spaces that are fully covered are perfect spaces for a TV. Add heat lamps and you can use your space almost all year.

Visit Marvin Gardens for more information and to find garden design accessories perfect for your outdoor space.

Succulent Spotlight: Echeveria

If you’re looking for a new plant to spruce up your garden, then succulents are the way to go. Succulents will provide your garden with an incredibly unique look, and they are easy to care for as well. There are plenty of gorgeous succulents to choose from; personally, we recommend checking out the Echeveria succulent.

Echeveria succulents tend to thrive in milder climates and can be found in California as well as the American Southwest. They are one of the more popular succulents among homeowners due to the fact that they boast a colorful foliage throughout the year. While they are sensitive to cold, they make for a fantastic container plant, which means you can just take it inside during the winter months.

While they don’t need to be watered often to survive, Echeveria succulents do look their best with moderate watering. They also need full sun, but give them some shelter from especially harsh summer sunlight. Additionally, they are also tolerant to drought and resistant to deer, which means you don’t have to worry about your succulent becoming an afternoon snack!

For more advice on succulent arrangements, contact us at Marvin Gardens USA.

Garden Features to Fill Your Yard With Butterflies

garden design ideas — Source: Marvin Gardens Facebook

Many homeowners bend over backwards to attract birds to their yard. While we have no objections to our avian friends, we also like to see a wide variety of insect life, including the magnificent butterfly, in our yards.

Butterflies thrive in a variety of conditions, but here are three ways to ensure that you always have a large, varied population in your yard:

Choose the Right Plants – Butterflies are quite picky in their choice of flowers. For example, monarchs are particularly fond of Blazing Star while swallowtails love Queen Anne’s Lace. Check with your local arboretum or garden pro for advice.
Add a Splashing Water Feature – Naturally, butterflies need water but will only drink from small droplets or mud puddles so a good “butterfly” fountain will spray water all around the area.
Put Off that Winter Yard Cleaning – Most butterflies spend the winter in a cocoon nestled in the dead material in your garden. Cleaning it too soon just eliminates the next year’s butterflies.

For more ways to attract wildlife to your backyard or for other great garden design ideas, contact us at Marvin Gardens. Find us online at MarvinGardensUSA.com or call us directly at 203-544-2020.

Tips for Watering a Container Garden

container gardens — Source: Marvin Gardens Facebook

Keeping a beautiful container garden is an easy way to boost the curb appeal of your home, and it allows you to move your plants inside more easily during the cooler months. However, if you don’t water your garden correctly, your plants will not thrive. While some plants, such as succulent arrangements, don’t require much water, some need moist soil almost constantly. The following are a few tips to help you water your container garden:

How Often – Succulents generally don’t need much water. The soil should be completely dry between each watering. If you water your succulents too much, it can lead to them declining.

How Much – You’ll want to add water to your container plants until it begins running out of the drainage holes in the pot. This will help to ensure that the root mass is watered sufficiently. However, if the soil is completely dry, which with succulents will probably be the case, you’ll want to water a second time to make sure the soil becomes hydrated.

How to Water – Avoid getting the leaves of the plant wet. Instead, focus the watering on the soil.

For all your gardening needs, be sure to contact us at Marvin Gardens.