SHaque Designs

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SHaque Designs

SHaque Designs is a garden design company with a focus on eco-friendly and native design styles in the Greater Boston area.

06/02/2026

Design Tip: Choose a color you love and then pick plants with different shapes and shades to bring color and joy to your garden. This is my late May study in purple - bearded iris, camassias, creeping phlox, and allium - all singing their purple hearts out!

05/28/2026

Native Plant of the Week: Three-leaved stonecrop (Sedum ternatum) is an adorable little plant that has made itself at home in a part-shade part of my garden. It's sweet rounded leaves and star-shaped white flowers in spring are a welcome addition in this corner of the path, where it's set off by a stone, garden light, and Virginia creeper. It's a perfect groundcover that doesn't get enough love in my humble opinion.

05/26/2026

May's arrangement is an ecstatic profusion of flowers and foliage, reflecting what's happening in my garden right now. Branches and blooms of spirea, Canada anemone, lady's mantle, forsythia, and deutzia are all at the party to complement the showy bearded iris in the center. While it's a limited color palette of white, pale yellows, and greens, the fullness and variety of the plants keeps it from being one-note. When I went into the garden to cut the stems, I wasn't sure it would all come together, but now I love it.

05/21/2026

Design tip: Go see gardens that wow you. I was fortunate enough to see the Piet Oudolf-designed space at the Calder Gardens in Philadelphia. I was not disappointed. In fact, I was running around squealing. The block planting, designed in harmony with the museum's architecture, was bursting with early spring colors of bright yellows, dark and light purples, blues, and soft pinks. It was so inspiring to see the shadier areas planted in his signature style as well. I highly recommend seeing one of his gardens in person if you're looking for design inspiration, planting combinations, or just want to soak in the gorgeousness.

05/19/2026

Sparkling water drops on lady's mantle. Just a reminder to slow down during this busy season and notice these little moments of intense beauty.

05/14/2026

What's new in my garden this year? A huge copper planter filled with native plants. This copper bowl was sitting around for years (Covid purchase for wood-burning fires, which is apparently illegal where I live - oops). Anyway, I was pondering what to do with it, and finally decided to drill holes in the bottom and fill it with shade-loving plants so it can happily live underneath some tall, leafy trees. Wood poppy (Stylophorum diphyllum), woodland phlox (Phlox divaricata), fringed bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia), Heuchera villosa 'Bronze Wave', and Appalachian sedge (Carex appalachica) give it color, texture, and height for the whole season.

05/12/2026

Native Plant of the Week: Eastern red columbine (Aquilegia canadensis) is a gorgeous plant with both interesting foliage and the most unique flower shape. These woodland flowers thrive in shady areas with moist soils and good drainage. They are maintenance free and will self-seed if they're happy. Seeing these pops of bright color in the woodland this time of year is so gratifying!

05/07/2026

One month from today, on Sunday, June 7, the historic Loring Greenough House will be hosting the Jamaica Plain Garden Tour. My garden will be on the tour, and if you're local, I'd love to see you there! A ticket to all the gardens can be purchased on the Loring Greenough House website and proceeds go towards the upkeep of the LGH gardens, which are open to the public 365 days a year. Gardens are meant to be shared, so please stop by, meet other garden lovers, and see your neighbors!

05/05/2026

Native Plant of the Week: Ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris) are starting to unfurl their beautiful fronds right now. These ferns love shade and damp soil, and they'll spread through underground rhizomes if they're happy. This is a beautiful and statuesque fern that gets to be about 4-6 feet tall and 4 feet wide, which is perfect if you've got some ground to cover. And look at these gorgeous fiddle heads!

04/30/2026

Design tip: Make "curb appeal" work for you. Curb appeal makes it sound like the only people who could be enjoying the view of your front garden are passersby who see your house from the sidewalk. I'd argue the most important person is actually you. The person who walks up the path to the front or side door. Whatever your view to your garden is, it should make you love the short but beautiful trip from the sidewalk or driveway to your house. How do you amp up curb appeal? Add layers - ornamental flowering trees and shrubs, perennials that bloom successionally in each season, and foliage that grabs your attention. Don't settle for the sad shrubs you inherited from generations prior, who seemed to love their overgrown yews and rhododendrons. It's going to be a beautiful spring weekend - go plant something in the front that makes you happy!

Address

Boston, MA
02130

Website

http://www.shaquedesigns.com/

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