Trending Tuesday

We are only 7 days into this New Year so it’s always interesting to read what’s trending. Here’s one not to miss from The Guardian on food trends. It helps with getting our minds off this cold weather trending across the country but let’s get back to the article. Read all the way through this piece. Get to the end where there’s mention about edible wood, even edible soil.

So the question on this trending Tuesday - did you ever eat dirt as a kid? I don’t recall but that really dates some of us who may actually still play in the dirt. It seems that today’s infants are already born with an ‘I’ something or other in his or her crib.

Remember, trends are fun until what made it trend fades. So name your favorite on this list of what’s trending with food in 2014. Which ones do you think will stick?  My opinion, hands down, this edible soil thing can only be determined by the best dirt connoisseurs – garden lovers, of course.  

But let’s get serious and wrap up today’s post with the usual quote. It’s some insightful words from Alton Brown who knows a few things about food. His intuitiveness about a cheeseburger, well, soon to be replaced with edible or laser printed QR codes. “I'm an absolute connoisseur of cheeseburgers and like to think that I can detect even mere percentages of shift in fat content in ground meat in a burger and can actually name the temperature to which it was actually cooked to the degree if I'm, you know, really on my game.”  Think summer thoughts. Instead of ‘tomato talk’, we can be chatting about eating wood and dirt.

© Ornamental Kale peeking through the snow by Ann Bilowz 

If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. Don’t forget Google+ where you can find us under Ann Bilowz and Bilowz Associates Inc. 

Decide What Is Strong

Although a walk around your landscape may be a tad on the tricky and slippery side right now, it’s a good time to observe your trees and determine any necessary care in store. During the winter months, you get a clear, unobstructed view of a tree and its structure.

If the site conditions are favorable, (little to no snow and frozen ground) winter pruning can be done for safety and structure to address those problem trees in your yard. Don’t wait too long into the stretch of winter, i.e., for mud season to come around. Now is a perfect time to get your property in the books with a local arborist or tree removal firm.  A snip and clip of some low-hanging branches also keep your trees healthy and strong.

Trees are a long-term asset for your property. Knowing what can stay and what must go often requires an expert and unbiased eye. As Lorri Myers observes, “The decide word is so powerful. It's amazing what you can do once you decide to do it.” 

P.S. Here's a useful link for finding an arborist in your neck of the woods.

© Image and Design Bilowz Associates Inc.

If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. Don’t forget Google+ where you can find us under Ann Bilowz and Bilowz Associates Inc.

Where to Focus in 2014

There is plenty to focus on as we kick off a New Year. Speaking of focus, if you’re looking for a good read, check out Daniel Goleman’s latest release, ‘Focus The Hidden Driver of Excellence’. Not to jump gears but if a book can hold my attention in its opening pages, it’s worth the read to the end. 

But back to today's question - where will your focus be each day this year? With so much noise and clutter always vying for our attention, it’s amazing we can focus at all. Yet that is the true beauty of a New Year. We can start at day number 3 of 365 with plenty of room to spare.

It’s a plus to focus on design and architecture, the celebration of making your outdoors spaces come alive. And though we are literally at the beginning of what may seem a long, cold winter (minus signs in the weather forecast never bring immediate spring thoughts) there’s always much to plan and think about before the first crocus blossoms and the snow melts. 

Too often we let the beginning of a fresh start slip away too quickly. We forget to plan, we forget to focus. Before you know it, we’re at the middle point of the year. Summer is upon us and we haven't done a thing.

Here's an easy resolution. Before you rush off into your third day of 2014, look at today’s image. Pay attention to the word ‘FOCUS’ and Elbert Hubbard’s words reminding us, “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” Surround yourself with the world of landscape architecture, garden design – everything green and beautiful. Keep your focus here in 2014 and as always, share your comments, questions and thoughts. Happy New Year!

Image by Ann Bilowz ©

If you like this blog, hope you check in for your daily share's worth of inspiration, design, and garden tips; always original, not cookie cutter and copied. Just like our design work, we strive for unique! Like our Facebook follow on Twitter or subscribe to the blog to receive posts daily via email or a feed. Either way, we hope you follow the postings somewhere in cyberspace and share it with your gardening friends. Contact me direct at Annie You can follow with visuals on Pinterest and find us on LinkedIn and Houzz, too. Don’t forget Google+ where you can find us under Ann Bilowz and Bilowz Associates Inc.