Skip to content

Top Navigation

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Food and Recipes
  • Culture and Lifestyle
  • Style
  • Holidays & Occasions
  • Home
  • Gardening Ideas
  • News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Subscribe
Pin FB

Explore Southern Living

Southern Living Southern Living
  • Explore

    Explore

    • The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      The Best New Haircuts to Try in 2022

      Here are the haircuts you'll be seeing everywhere this year. Read More
    • How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      How To Season A Cast-Iron Skillet

      Learn how to season this Southern kitchen staple in five easy steps. Read More
    • 50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      50 Thoughtful Messages for a Meaningful Thank You Note

      Not sure what to write in a thank you card? Here's how to show your gratitude with a handwritten note. Read More
  • Food and Recipes

    Food and Recipes

    See All Food and Recipes
    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    4 Easy Ways to Tell if an Egg Has Gone Bad

    It’s not all in the senses, but they sure can help.
    • Recipes
    • Quick and Easy Dinner
    • Kitchen Assistant
    • Casserole
    • Holiday and Occasion Food
    • Slow Cooker Recipes
    • Desserts
    • Healthy and Light
    • Side Dishes
    • Party Food and Drink
    • Appetizers
    • Meat
    • Breakfast
    • BBQ
    • Drinks
    • What's Cooking
  • Culture and Lifestyle

    Culture and Lifestyle

    See All Culture and Lifestyle
    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    70 Cute and Funny Nicknames For Your Best Friends

    Let your besties know how much they mean to you with these unique nicknames.
    • Quotes and Sayings
    • Biscuits and Jam Podcast
    • Travel
    • Pets
    • Healthy Living
    • Coastal Living
  • Style

    Style

    See All Style
    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The Coziest Winter Nail Colors for January 2022

    The beginning of a new year often has us all feeling like starting off fresh by taking on better habits, getting rid of old ones, and—most commonly—changing up our look. While others are hitting the squats and going into the salon for a pixie cut, why not start slow and steady with a cozy winter manicure in a color that feels new to you? It takes only a little courage to step outside your usual OPI Lincoln Park After Dark or Essie Bordeaux, which is all you need to kick 2022 off on a fanciful foot.  From new wintry takes on classic dark nail colors to unique pops of color that'll have you feeling the opposite of boring, these are the best nail colors to try this January and tick off all the way into spring. 
    • Beauty
    • Hair
    • Fashion
    • Short Hairstyles
    • Nails
    • Medium Hairstyles
    • Skincare
    • Long Hairstyles
  • Holidays & Occasions

    Holidays & Occasions

    See All Holidays & Occasions
    • Thanksgiving
    • Gifts
    • Christmas
    • Mother's Day
    • Hanukkah
    • New Year's
    • Easter
    • Mardi Gras
    • 4th of July
    • Weddings
  • Home

    Home

    See All Home
    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    16 Kitchen Design Trends Southern Designers Predict Will Be Everywhere in 2022

    There's no denying how the pandemic fundamentally changed the world—including how we live (and work) inside our homes. An overall trend toward celebrating the history and originality of our homes is displacing ultramodern aesthetics and sharp lines as we all look to create cozier, colorful, more personalized spaces that better suit our lifestyles. We're turning away from big-box stores and toward vintage items—first, out of necessity due to supply-chain issues, and now, for design reasons—to add charm and character to every room in the house, including the kitchen. Here, interior designers from around the South share their predictions for what's trending in kitchen design for 2022 and beyond.
    • Home Decor Ideas
    • Idea Houses
    • Kitchen Design
    • Before & After Photos
    • Bathroom Design
    • Curb Appeal
    • Bedroom Design
    • DIY Home Decor
    • Color Palettes & Paint
    • House Plans & Builders
    • Inspired Communities
  • Gardening Ideas

    Gardening Ideas

    See All Gardening Ideas
    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    If You Keep Finding Ladybugs in Your House, Here's What You Need to Know

    Plus a few strategies for keeping them out-of-doors
    • Container Gardening
    • Gardening Flowers
    • Fruit, Vegetable & Herb Gardens
    • Garden Pests
    • Plant Guides A-Z
    • Indoor Plants
    • Fall Plants
    • Landscaping Ideas
    • The Grumpy Gardener
  • News

    News

    See All News
    • Celebrities
    • Local News
  • Video

Profile Menu

Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
Your Account

Account

  • Join Now
  • Email Preferences
  • Newsletters
  • Manage Your Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Logout

More

  • Give a Gift Subscription this link opens in a new tab
  • Southern Living Books this link opens in a new tab
Login
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Southern Living
  2. Gardening Ideas
  3. Houston Bungalow Garden

Houston Bungalow Garden

Steve Bender, The Grumpy Gardener
By Steve Bender
Skip gallery slides
FB
How To Convert Your Lawn into a Garden
Credit: Alison Miksch
Garden designer David Morello went rogue and replaced his ho-hum lawn with a collage of flowers and shrubs
Start Slideshow

1 of 5

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

How To Convert Your Lawn Into a Garden

How To Convert Your Lawn into a Garden
Credit: Alison Miksch

David Morello hasn't been led away in cuffs by the neighborhood lawn police, but it’s only a matter of time. Flouting the holiest convention of accepted suburban landscape design, he ripped out the grass in front of his Houston bungalow and filled the 40- by 60-foot space with waves of flowers and shrubs. If you’ve ever thought about converting your front lawn into a garden but aren’t quite ready to go in whole hog, he offers these tips for moving ahead one step at a time.

Start with Structure
Lots of different flowers in a small area can look chaotic. Border them with evergreens and paths to define planting beds and keep things organized. Boxwoods, dwarf yaupons, and clipped ivy do the job here. “Evergreens make display beds that change from season to season more manageable,” he explains. “They also add another layer of interest. The nooks and crannies they create can be the best spaces in a garden.”

1 of 5

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 5

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Provide Different Vantage Points

Provide Different Vantage Points
Credit: Photo: Alison Miksch

This little garden has three. A circular landing in the front walk near the street provides a great overall view. (He covered the old concrete walk with stone.) Adirondack chairs on the west side enjoy the shade of a Southern magnolia. Opposite them on the east side rests a bench ideal for sitting and watching the sunset. The east-west orientation “stretches” the garden and makes it feel larger.

Morello covered the original concrete walkway with local stone.

2 of 5

3 of 5

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Replace Concrete with Gravel

Replace Concrete with Gravel
Credit: Photo: Alison Miksch

Morello used a dark gray, sharp-edged gravel for his driveway and garden paths. The gravel reduces glare, never commands attention, and allows rain to penetrate and water his plants. It also crunches underfoot, “so no one can sneak up on me,” he says. Many kinds of gravel are available, but don’t use rounded pea gravel. It won’t compact and will get kicked out all over the garden.

3 of 5

Advertisement

4 of 5

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Combine Colors Effectively

Combine Colors Effectively
Credit: Photo: Alison Miksch

Every change out of flowers brings a new color medley. The spring scheme shown here depends largely on four colors—yellow, white, silver, and blue. A good mix for three colors, says Morello, is magenta, lavender, and chartreuse. “An easy way to combine two colors is by using the color wheel,” he adds. (Google it.) “Just pick colors that are opposite each other on the wheel, like orange and blue.” Why? Opposite colors intensify each other. “My summer color scheme is usually the polar opposite of spring’s to keep things interesting,” says Morello.

Flowers include blue salvia, yellow bush daisy, bluebonnets, and white candytuft.

4 of 5

5 of 5

FB
Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print

Plan for Multiple Seasons of Color

Plan for Multiple Seasons of Color
Credit: Photo: Alison Miksch

To bridge gaps in color from perennials, Morello plants cool-weather flowers such as pansies, violas, and snapdragons in early fall. When they begin fading as the weather warms up in spring, he replaces them with heat-loving stalwarts such as zinnias, lantanas, and salvias for blooms all summer. Remember, it’s really important to get them well established before the weather turns hot.

Pink snapdragons and blue pansies make a great combination of colors and forms.

5 of 5

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Steve Bender

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Trending Videos
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 5 How To Convert Your Lawn Into a Garden
    2 of 5 Provide Different Vantage Points
    3 of 5 Replace Concrete with Gravel
    4 of 5 Combine Colors Effectively
    5 of 5 Plan for Multiple Seasons of Color

    Share & More

    Tweet Pinterest Email Send Text Message Print
    Southern Living

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • About Us
    • Subscribe this link opens in a new tab
    • Books from Southern Living
    • Contact Us
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing this link opens in a new tab
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    Follow Us
    Subscribe to Our Newsletter
    MeredithSouthern Living is part of the Meredith Home Group. © Copyright 2022 Meredith Corporation. Southern Living is a registered trademark of Meredith Corporationthis link opens in a new tab All Rights Reserved. Southern Living may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Southern Living. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.southernliving.com

    Sign in

    View image

    Houston Bungalow Garden
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.