DIY Network

The Gliebes: Their Plan, Costs and Products From "Garden Sense" episode DGAR-203

Meet Melissa and Chris Gliebe, a pair of graphic designers. They love their first home. It is a cute Tudor-style that looks like it should be on a miniature English estate but their back yard is a mess.

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The garden is bare with the exception of two huge, messy pine trees and too much ivy. There are no plants that come up in the spring. In the summer, the black-eyed susans appear but bloom only for a short time. The couple envisions an English-style cottage garden that would match their house style. Shortly after they moved, Melissa started sketching garden plans on paper. She researched all sorts of shrubs and perennials trying to figure out what would bloom when. She wants plants with lots of color. She wants a real garden with a real plan.

Gardening Challenge

Before

After

Required Project Time
The Gliebes English Garden project took Walter and the family nine hours to complete.

Project Details

• Walter and his team created an English-type cottage garden to match the Tudor-style the couple shares. A natural-looking mix of this and that defines an English-type garden; and freeform spontaneity brought together by color.
  
• The garden was designed with soft curves. There are no straight lines in English gardens. Designing curved garden beds create movement.
  
• We chose plants that offered continuous color and bloom at different times.
  
• We installed trellises and explained how to train roses horizontally.
  
• We cut back some of the invasive ivy that's climbing up the fence, garage and large trees.

Gardening by Zip Code If you're looking to start a gardening projectbut don't know your gardening zone—visit the National Gardening Associations's USDA Hardiness Zone Finder. Enter your Zip Code to identify the proper zone.

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