Greg Butler is a designer, educator, and one very entertaining gardener
NOT EVERY DREAM HOME comes with a dream garden. Many of the gardens I visit have inherited overgrown landscapes; yards with poor soil; or, worst of all, no sunlight. Of course, any yard can be rehabilitated, given time and an often-hefty budget, but why bother going big when you can get just as much reward by keeping things small? THE BACKSTORY Looking for a little garden inspiration? Good ideas come in small spaces. For every well-designed and professionally installed landscape we have featured in this magazine, there are even more local homeowners who have hand-built their landscapes through hard work, ingenuity and experimentation. And other gardeners have cultivated mobile gardens on balconies, patios and rented spaces, ready to pick up and move when the lease is up. These resourceful gardeners have created small gardens with big impact. RELATED OUTDOOR LIVING There’s no Flower & Garden Festival, but Ciscoe Morris and your other favorite plantspeople still have all the an