22: Start with People: Designing Joyful Gardens with Lisa Nunamaker

Transforming an Asphalt Driveway into a Garden Courtyard (Live Garden Design Coaching), Part 1

Last summer, I sat down with Nicole, our marketing director and the producer of this podcast, to work through a front yard project that had been stalling for years. She had a vision. She had a graphic design degree and a huge artistic background. And she was completely stuck. Having an eye for design and knowing how to apply it in your own garden are two completely different things. Nicole knew what she wanted the space to feel like, but every time she started making decisions, she'd hit a logistical wall and shut the whole thing down. So we decided to record the whole process, start to finish. This is Part 1. In this episode, I cover: * Why garden projects stall before they start, and what the pattern of indecision is usually telling you * How to diagnose a flow problem in your outdoor space, because when the shortest paths are all in the wrong places, no amount of planting fixes it * The single decision that was blocking everything else in Nicole's courtyard, and why you can't move forward until that one thing is resolved * Why moving raised beds or existing garden elements can feel like a loss, even when you know the change is the right call * How to think about a courtyard space that needs to work for grilling, kids, dogs, and guests without turning into a renovation you never finish Connect With Us * Relish Gardens Website [https://relish-gardens.com] * Follow us on Instagram [https://instagram.com/relish.gardens] * Watch on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@relishgardens] If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with your gardening friends. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

25: Where to Start When Your Spring Garden Feels Overwhelming

One year ago this week, I sat down to record the first episode of this podcast. This episode has been sitting in the vault for exactly one year. It was the first one I ever recorded, back when we had a plan and an idea and genuinely no idea what we were getting ourselves into. We didn't even have a real mic yet. So here we are, one year later, right back in that same moment. And everything I said still holds. If you've ever walked outside in April and felt your stomach drop a little at everything staring back at you, this one's for you. Spring has a way of making us feel like we're already behind, like we woke up late and now we have to make up for it. But gardens don't actually work that way, and this episode is my case for slowing down, picking a corner, and letting the rest wait. In this episode, I cover: * Why spring overwhelm is so common, and why the "this is the year I transform everything" mindset sets you up for more stress than satisfaction * The case for working in sections, starting with your entry points and the spaces where you actually live, rather than trying to tackle it all at once * Why weeding a little every day is one of the highest-return things you can do this spring, and how it can actually feel good once you get out of your own head about it * Practical spring tasks to focus on now, including mulching areas you won't get to, lawn care in the Pacific Northwest, and soil pH basics for grass and moss * How designing over time leads to better choices, less rework, and a lot less overwhelm Resources If you need more help knowing where to start in your spring garden, download our free Spring Gardening Guide [https://relish-gardens.com/spring-gardening-guide/]. Connect with Us * Relish Gardens Website [http://www.relish-gardens.com] * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/relish.gardens] * Follow us on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@relishgardens] If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who'd love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

24: How Place and Landscape Shape the Gardens We Design with John Coghlan

After years of crossing paths at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show and never quite having enough time, we finally got to sit down for a real conversation with John (from Vashon), and I'm so glad we did. John Coghlan is a landscape designer and gardener based on Vashon Island, where he runs HomeGrown Organics, and this one is good. We get into his love of Vashon, what shaped his plant palette, and the winding road that led him to where he is today. In this episode, we discuss: * How the landscapes John has lived in, from the Pacific Northwest to Southern California to the highlands of Guatemala, show up directly in his plant palette, and why you can see that progression clearly when you look back at his show gardens over the years * How sedges caught John's attention early in his landscaping career through Seattle's RainWise program, digging out lawns and redirecting water back to where it wanted to be, and how that early love culminated in his 2026 Northwest Flower and Garden Show garden, uplifting sedges into something truly special * John's deep love of Vashon after moving there with his family 13 years ago, the island's incredible horticultural history and roots, from the Beall Greenhouses, once one of the most well-respected orchid growers in the world that sheltered Kew Gardens specimens during World War II, to Mukai Farm and Garden, to the magic of the Whispering Firs Bog, one of only three intact peat bogs left in the lower Puget Sound * The gift John hopes to give every client through their garden, getting them outside and actually in their space, wandering around with no agenda, noticing things, and knowing he's done his job when someone texts him a photo of the morning light hitting their plants from their coffee cup * How we tend to overlook the beauty right in our own backyard and find it instead in the places we travel, from Claire growing up annoyed by manzanita everywhere to people in Guatemala pulling orchids out of trees like weeds, to John coming home from an International Oaks Society trip with a whole new appreciation for the plants that are abundant in his own backyard Resources:  John Coghlan * HomeGrown Organics [https://hg-organics.com] * HomeGrown Organics on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/hg_organics/] * HomeGrown Organics on Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/HGOrganics/] Places mention: * Mukai Farm and Garden [https://mukaifarmandgarden.org] * Beall Greenhouses [https://www.historylink.org/File/2346] * Whispering Firs Bog [https://www.vashonlandtrust.org/whispering-firs-bog] * Maury Island Marine Park [https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/maury-island-marine-park] * North Creek Park Boardwalk [https://www.wta.org/go-hiking/hikes/north-creek-park-boardwalk#hike-full-description] Connect with Us * Relish Gardens Website [https://www.relish-gardens.com] * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/relish.gardens] * Follow us on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@relishgardens] If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We've got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who'd love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

23: Spring in the Garden: Tending, Observing, and Connecting with Community

Spring is here, and this year it arrived on its own timeline. After a winter that felt more like spring, winter finally arrived and brought snow before we officially said hello to the new season. We spent a lot of time waiting, watching, and letting the garden tell us what it needed before we jumped in. That kind of patience is its own form of care. In this episode, Stevie and I are talking about what it really means to tend a garden well, the work we are doing right now across our client properties, and why this season has a way of pulling the gardening community together in the best possible way. In this episode, I cover: * Why this spring has felt different, and how watching and waiting is sometimes the most important work you can do in the garden * Why maintenance sometimes gets a bad reputation, and how shifting the way you think about it, from ongoing chore to actively attending to your space, changes the way you show up for your garden and the work you do in it * The hands-on work of spring: what to observe on your walk-through, how to handle voracious spreaders, and how containers can act as your own personal nursery * What to do when spring feels overwhelming, or your garden is not where you want it to be. How to get out of your head, get something on paper, and find a way to participate in your space right now * Why spring is the season gardeners find each other, and how plant sales, garden tours, and even a bouquet on a neighbor's doorstep can turn a solitary act into something shared Resources: * Free Spring Gardening Guide [https://relish-gardens.com/spring-gardening-guide/] * Lake Washington Tech Plant Sale - April 24 - 25, 2026 [https://www.lwtech.edu/] * Episode 6: Plant Propagation and Divisions [https://relish-gardens.com/blog/fall-plant-propagation-dividing-perennials-to-expand-your-garden/] Connect with Us: * Relish Gardens Website [https://www.relish-gardens.com] * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/relish.gardens] * Follow us on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@relishgardens] If you loved this conversation, make sure to subscribe. We have got new episodes every week. And if you know a gardening friend who would love this, send it their way. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.

22: Start with People: Designing Joyful Gardens with Lisa Nunamaker

Lisa Nunamaker is a landscape architect, educator, and the founder of Paper Garden Workshop [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com], where she teaches garden design and landscape graphics to aspiring designers and curious homeowners alike. What I love about Lisa is that she doesn't just teach you what to do in your garden. She teaches you how to think about it. In this conversation, we get into the idea of designing for people first, how constraints actually unlock creativity, and a concept from a book that genuinely stopped me in my tracks: celebratory beacons. We also talk about drawing, digital tools, dogs, and why slowing down before you start is almost always the right move.   The Collective Bootcamp registration is now open and begins on March 23. Learn more and register here. [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/designbootcamp]   In this episode, we discuss: * How Lisa found her way into landscape architecture, and why the path was anything but direct * Why constraints make you more creative, and how taking two completely unrelated ideas and smashing them together can unlock a garden design you'd never find otherwise * Getting comfortable with drawing before going digital, the tools that make the transition easier, and low-tech ways to start planning your space with things you already have * Celebratory beacons, what they are, why every garden needs at least one, and the book that changed how Lisa thinks about designing spaces for people * Why spatial design comes before planting design, and what happens when you flip that order * How slowing down and observing how you actually use your space, dogs, traffic patterns, and all, leads to better decisions than jumping straight to a plan Resources and Links Lisa Nunamaker / Paper Garden Workshop * Paper Garden Workshop [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com] * The Pencil Case [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/pencil-case-opt-in] — Lisa's free newsletter on garden design and landscape graphics you can view all past newsletters here [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/the-pencil-case-vault]. * The Collective Bootcamp [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/designbootcamp] — begins March 23 * Garden Design Collective [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/gardendesigncollective] — monthly design membership, opens in late March * The Peanut Butter and Jelly Garden [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com] — free e-book * The Lunchbox Project [https://www.behance.net/gallery/345385/Lunch-Box-Project-orange] — A sample of drawings from Lisa's year-long daily drawing project. Books Mentioned * Joyful: The Surprising Power of Ordinary Things to Create Extraordinary Happiness [https://www.amazon.com/Joyful-Surprising-Ordinary-Extraordinary-Happiness/dp/0316399264] by Ingrid Fetell Lee * Conversation Gardens: Where Conversations Flow and Relationships Grow [https://www.conversationgardens.com] by Lynn Kuhn * Residential Landscape Architecture: Design Process for the Private Residence [https://www.amazon.com/Residential-Landscape-Architecture-Residence-Technology/dp/0134602803] by Norman K. Booth and James E. Hiss Educators Mentioned * Amy Fedele / Pretty Purple Door [https://www.prettypurpledoor.com] — Procreate for landscape designers * Henry Gao / Draw With Gao [https://www.henrygao.com] — Morpholio Trace for designers * Kelly D. Norris [https://www.kellydnorris.com] — ecological horticulture and the New Naturalism Academy Digital Drawing + Tools * Morpholio Trace [https://www.morpholioapps.com/trace] * Procreate [https://procreate.com] * Paperlike [https://paperlike.com] * Lines of Force [https://www.papergardenworkshop.com/e/BAh7BjoWZW1haWxfZGVsaXZlcnlfaWRsKwgWnH64AwA%3D--1ff188a70f281a4b8d02d70e3b0249147f768e6c?skip_click_tracking=true] Connect with Us * Relish Gardens Website [https://www.relish-gardens.com] * Follow us on Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/relish.gardens] * Follow us on YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@relishgardens] If you enjoyed this episode, subscribe and send it to a friend who loves thinking about their garden as much as you do. Sharing the show helps grow our little garden-loving community. Until next time, I hope you find something in your garden to truly relish.