Looking ahead to 2009 and wondering what my family can do to give back to the ' grid '. First thing that comes to mind is a rain barrel. Very clever old fashioned way of recycling water for the garden. I found this image and illustration (by Alex Robbins) in Dwell mag. 11/07. It's taken me a while to make this a priority, but it's never too late to implement a good idea. This holiday season I've been making lavender pillows for gifts and am still amazed at the benefits of it's "calming effect" . This image from California Home Design & mention by Lydia Lee, is of the 4,500 shrubs planted by landscape designer Gary Ratway on five terraces for the winery matanzascreek.com. Lavandula intermedia 'grosso' for it's scent & lavandula intermedia 'provence' for a tea also made at the winery. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday, thanks for reading gardenrooms. tree image macy's ad 4/08.



