News
News
Here are some articles we have been featured in.
Our projects have been featured in the media locally, regionally, nationally and even internationally. Here are a few of our favorites. More local articles are towards the top, international articles in Russian, Swedish, French and German are towards the bottom of the page

Remodel Small
Fine Homebuilding
By distilling its design, a small home—and the lifestyle it reinforces— gives you the room for experiences that are more spiritual in nature than they are tangible, and that ultimately tends to feel more fulfulling.

7 Common Landscaping Fails
Spring can be harsh—the lawn isn’t green enough, the flowerbeds are not pretty enough and the foliage not abundant enough to mask mistakes we’ve made over the years. What’s the No. 1 landscaping blunder homeowners make? “Choosing the wrong plants for sun, shade, or soil conditions,” says Linda Tasko, landscape architect at The Garden Barn in Vernon,. Being shortsighted is a close second. Many of our miscues simply come from not understanding the basic rules of landscape design (balance, proportion and scale, among them). Sometimes it’s the hardscape that cries out for a do-over. While we know there’s no substitute for consulting a pro with a good eye and a deep knowledge for horticulture, we asked experts around the state to identify some of the most common landscaping slipups they see—and the best ways to remedy them.

Connecticut Warmth
East Coast Home + Design
It’s quiet up here in the northwest corner of Connecticut. Rolling hills and verdant pastures mark the countryside while meandering rivers spill into crystal lakes providing habitat for fish and native foul. A quaint little hamlet, Kent, Connecticut, has become a destination town of sorts, with visitors flocking to take advantage of its natural beauty as well as its wealth of arts and antique shops, fine restaurants, beautiful homes, and historic wonders. It’s outside this sleepy town that we find this welcoming home

Best in Class: Magical Gardens
Irish Times
Our wildflower meadow was featured in the Irish Times.

Schipul's Paradise Found
Litchfield County Times
Richard Schipul’s job, one might say, is to bestow upon his clients the gift of beauty. “I think what I do is giving more pride in home ownership to my customers.” the 47-year-old New Milford resident and owner of Designing Eden said recently as he sat in his home on a 10-acre farm in the rural Merryall section of town. “I want them to enjoy their homes, and I believe they can that more by having beautiful gardens and landscaping. I know they feel this way after our work is done because I hear from them and we exchange Christmas cards with many of our clients.”

12 Gardens That Are Pure Visual Delights
Lovely to look at, delightful to behold, these gardens are designed with the sole purpose of being a treat for the eyes.
Today we are encouraged to make the most of our gardens and outside spaces no matter how small they are. They need to serve a purpose and become an extension of our living space. The uses of this space can be endless — dining, relaxing, playing, growing food and even working — but it hasn’t always been so.

10 Deer Resistant Native Flowers to Plant This Fall
Houzz
There are native lupines to be found in every corner of the country, most of which bear long stalks of blue or purple flowers. They come in a wide variety of other colors, but be aware that many of the lupines in nurseries are non-native hybrids. The true native lupines vary considerably in size, from 6-inch annuals to 4-foot shrubs.
In the East, try wild lupine (L. perennis, zones 2 to 10), a 2-foot-tall perennial. In the West, try yellow bush lupine (L. arboreus, zones 7 to 10), a 4-foot shrub-type lupine with yellow flowers. The California Invasive Plant Council (Cal-IPC) warns against planting L. arboreus outside its native range, which is Sonoma County south, as it can become invasive in coastal dunes of Northern California.

An 1850's Barn Lifted, Given A New Role
Someone told Richard Schipul that the 900-square-foot barn on his property along West Meetinghouse Road had once been used for tobacco. How a few cattle and horse stalls figured in, he wasn’t sure, but one certainty threatened whatever history was waiting to be uncovered: The stone foundation was caving in.

Garden Color: How To Landscape With Purple
Abloom with just violets and plums or with energetic contrasting accents, a garden swathed in purple is a sight to behold.
Purple can be used to help create a desirable mood in the garden — from peaceful to romantic to inspiring. In color theory purple traditionally indicates knowledge, self-respect, spirituality, dignity and wealth. In the landscape it promotes feelings of inner calm and self-worth, providing a sense of refuge. It also is considered useful for creative inspiration and insight. If you feel drawn to violet, lavender, plums and deep purples, here are five tips for adding this hue to your yard.

Garden Color: How To Landscape With Purple
Abloom with just violets and plums or with energetic contrasting accents, a garden swathed in purple is a sight to behold.
Purple can be used to help create a desirable mood in the garden — from peaceful to romantic to inspiring. In color theory purple traditionally indicates knowledge, self-respect, spirituality, dignity and wealth. In the landscape it promotes feelings of inner calm and self-worth, providing a sense of refuge. It also is considered useful for creative inspiration and insight. If you feel drawn to violet, lavender, plums and deep purples, here are five tips for adding this hue to your yard.

Blending Nature with Residential Living
Living in New England, we are a lucky bunch. No, not because of the rapid and drastic changes in temperatures that drive people who work outdoors crazy. Every fall New England takes center stage as one of the best places, if not the best place, to witness fall foliage worldwide. The reason for that is we happen to live in a climate, with the proper tree species needed, to experience an amazing transformation from green to magnificent shades of yellow, orange, red and purple. Did you ever wonder why trees change colors in the fall?

'It's amazing' to witness fall foliage in this area
New Milford Spectrum
Living in New England, we are a lucky bunch.
No, not because of the rapid and drastic changes in temperatures that drive people who work outdoors crazy.
Every fall New England takes center stage as one of the best places, if not the best place, to witness fall foliage worldwide.
The reason for that is we happen to live in a climate, with the proper tree species needed, to experience an amazing transformation from green to magnificent shades of yellow, orange, red and purple.
Did you ever wonder why trees change colors in the fall?

How to Create Your Own Wildflower Meadow
American Meadows
One of the best things about wildflowers is how easy they are to grow! We’ve outlined our easy planting steps for you and if you’re looking for more in-depth instructions on soil preparation, when to plant and more, please read our article below. You can also chat about wildflowers with the Seed Man at any time by going to our Wildflower Pages!

Offers thanks for help with Rotary park
New Milford Spectrum
To the Editor:
The Rotary Club of New Milford has planted the Rotary wheel sign, the symbol of Rotary International, as the centerpiece of its new Rotary Park at the intersection of Bridge Street and routes 67 and 202.
The park symbolizes the club’s commitment to the community of New Milford.
The idea for the park originated with Frank Wargo, who saw this land as a “gateway to New Milford,” which could be a beautification project for the club.
We wish to acknowledge the many people who helped make this project possible.
The Rotary sign was donated by Frank Wargo.
Richard Schipul of Designing Eden has generously donated his services to design a plan for the placement of the sign and the design for landscaped beds for the park.

Improper staking will weaken the tree
New Milford Spectrum
Staking newly installed trees is a fairly common practice.
Most landscapers have a special note or diagram showing a detail of a planted tree.
Those details, without fail, always show the tree with two or three guy-wires around the stem.
Those wires are supported to the ground by wood stakes.
I’m guessing every designer has cut and pasted that detail from a previous employer until it has infiltrated every design studio from here to Bangladesh.
When I was studying landscape architecture, a professor came around my second year and gave everyone a copy of that same detail, which for years we used and used and used again on every design project.
The question is why?

How To Grow A Modern Pollinator Garden
Plant for year-round food for bees and year-round beauty for your home. Bee gardens should provide food all year, not just at the height of spring and summer. Although honeybees can store large amounts of honey and pollen as food to sustain them through the winter, other bees and pollinators, like ladybugs and butterflies, can’t.
Notice the simple palette of flowers in this meadow, which gives the garden a cohesive, clean design. These giant drifts of flowers with clear swaths are a beautiful backdrop to the clean lines of the contemporary home in the background. Early in the year, these lupines and daisies are a rich food source for pollinators and beneficial bugs.

Earthworms 'provide a better environment' for lawns
New Milford Spectrum
What would you say to free garden help?
Someone who is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week to help aerate, fertilize, rototill and do other necessary work?
How would you feel if I told you that you might already have that helper?
Earthworms have the potential to do more to maintain a beautiful property than you could ever image.
Studies have shown soil is the most important ingredient to a garden’s success. Why?
Ninety percent of a plant’s problem occur below ground. Without good soil, you won’t have a garden for long.
With healthy soil, a plant will be able to better resist insects and diseases, will be less dependent on fertilizer and look better in the long run.
Let’s look at these below-ground creatures to understand what they are doing to provide a better environment for our plants and lawns.

Earthworms 'provide a better environment' for lawns
New Milford Spectrum
Due to the unusually warm winter, many clients and friends have asked what effects this past winter will have on plants and gardens.
Here is my prediction for the upcoming gardening season.
You would think a warm winter would be good for plants? Just as extremely cold weather can wreak havoc on plants, so can an abnormally warm winter, especially during a winter with little precipitation.
Plants of all types were thoroughly confused this winter, from the cherry tree I saw blossoming in February to the daffodils flowering at a time when they are usually in their mid-winter slumber.
The good news is nothing serious should have occurred to affect the long-term health of your plants.
The bad news is spring flower displays shouldn’t be as showy as they typically are.
Some plants are well ahead of schedule while other are still running on their normal schedule despite the weather.
It’s hard to imagine, but some studies on plants have shown some species have their own internal calendars.

A Pleasing Entry
Total Landscape Care
This home was built on old pasture land and the owners asked Designing Eden llc to create an aesthetically pleasing entry to the front door, that would soften the architecture with multi seasonal interest while incorporating natural boulders.

New Home Receives Polished Look
Total Landscape Care
Landscaping objectives for this new home included saving an existing oak tree, relocating the driveway and providing as much open lawn area as possible for the children to play. A 6-foot-wide bluestone walkway with a native fieldstone seating wall frames the entrance to the garden. Foundation plantings are simple yet elegant – consisting of mostly American Boxwood and Vinca. A Fothergilla gardenli was incorporated as a focal point at the garden’s entrance, and Yoshino cherries line the road adding colorful accents in the spring and fall. Sod and an irrigation system completed the project.

Designing Eden LLC Named To Top Houzz Pages For Landscape Design Inspiration
Top Houzz Pages for Landscape Design Inspiration
Designing Eden LLC is pleased to announce that it has been named as one of the top HOUZZ pages for landscape design inspiration!
HOUZZ is a leading website for home landscape design and remodeling inspiration. Hundreds of thousands of contractors, architects, interior designers, and exterior remodelers have created profiles on the website. These talented artisans showcase their best work on their Houzz progile and the results are truly jaw-dropping.
Winning pages were judged on innovation, past projects, originality, high-res photos, reviews, and more.Landscaping objectives for this new home included saving an existing oak tree, relocating the driveway and providing as much open lawn area as possible for the children to play. A 6-foot-wide bluestone walkway with a native fieldstone seating wall frames the entrance to the garden. Foundation plantings are simple yet elegant – consisting of mostly American Boxwood and Vinca. A Fothergilla gardenli was incorporated as a focal point at the garden’s entrance, and Yoshino cherries line the road adding colorful accents in the spring and fall. Sod and an irrigation system completed the project.

June - What you can do in the garden this month. (in Swedish)
Houzz
June is the highlight of the year for many in Sweden. It is a hive of activity; even the month begins with with leafy carts, and it continues right to the end with dancing around the maypole at midsummer. Hope you have time in the garden between the festivities!

Create and plant a stone garden. (in German)
Houzz
How expensive is the care of a stone?
Anyone who is interested in the art of stone today, often promises a clean surface. But as many as he can imagine, a steely is not. At the natural site, the special conditions ensure that only certain plants settle – and not so-called weeds. A fleece in the ground can also prevent the rootworm spreading or seeds of unwanted plants present in the soil. Tree seedlings or the surrounding weeds can nevertheless provide powerful anger and high maintenance, as the plant species are hardly able to compete with each other. In addition, the low specialty trees often require that one is well-versed in order to distinguish the wanted ones from the unwanted plants.

Should you plant perennials or annuals. (in Russian)
Houzz
Did you know that the center of the flower bed is best planted with the same type of plants, and the edge and borders are different? What to prefer – annual or perennial flowers? We explain the principles of using perennials and annuals in the garden, assess their pros and cons, and also understand what will have to be accepted when selecting plants of a certain type.

Primroses point their petals in winter. (in French)
Houzz
Did you know that the center of the flower bed is best planted with the same type of plants, and the edge and borders are different? What to prefer – annual or perennial flowers? We explain the principles of using perennials and annuals in the garden, assess their pros and cons, and also understand what will have to be accepted when selecting plants of a certain type.