Here ’s where the BHG team tries out 1000 of plants and various growing method to help referee have skilful gardens .
The green thumb formula in the Better Homes & Gardens Test Garden ® is " you have to spring up it to screw it . " Whether it’sevaluating a new plant varietyor trying a gardening technique , we do the primer coat work ( literally ) to assist you grow a better garden . We keep all case of abode gardener — from first - timers to masters — in mind as we glean tips and technique to share , along withplant testimonial that wo n’t disappoint .
The missionary post of the BHG Test Garden is to serve gardeners nationwide by provide garden - tested , firsthand information about plants , horticulture method acting , garden fashion , projects , and ideas . But despite its name , the Test Garden is not just a space for growing industrial plant . Situated on half a city closure near the corporate home office ofBetter Homes & Gardensmagazine in Iowa , this refreshing sac of colorful plant serves as an outside studio apartment for stave photographers , a locus for corporate entertaining , and a meeting and tiffin place for employees ( as well as the world during certain times of the twelvemonth ) .
Credit: Jason Donnelly
America’s Backyard
Though it ’s locate in an urban setting , the BHG Test Garden is landscape in the fashion of a backyard — or , actually , multiple backyards : No matter where you are , if you move around ever so slenderly , you will have a whole Modern vista . In all , there are22 distinct surface area in the Test Garden . These include a mini meadow , a conifer collection , raised bed for veg and herb , a pond complete with falls , and even a modest blush wine garden .
Throughout these spaces , hundreds of perennials , trees , vines , and bush thrive , enhanced by a shift pallet of annuals and bulbs . TheBetter Homes & Gardenseditors andTest Garden visitorsfind novel plant tucked into fly-by-night corner , gay borders , and coloured containers all the time , thanks to Test Garden Manager Sandra Gerdes and her squad of seasonal gardeners .
How We Test Plants
like to the way theBHG tryout Kitchenevaluates raw formula , the BHG Test Garden is its outdoor counterpart that puts new plant to the real universe test . To prove new varieties and tender sassy ideas to BHG audiences , theatrical role of the garden variety every yr . Arbors and trellisesare replaced as needed with new design . erstwhile plant come out to make room for raw ones .
Many of those new plants are provided by breeders from across the country who want their unexampled plants to be try out in the challenging Midwestern climate . These plants are often not yet uncommitted at baby’s room and garden centers . If a variety endeavor to be an undischarged performer that fork over on its promises , BHG is ready to tell readers about it when the flora gets insert to the market .
The idea attain me one twenty-four hours that our powder store had a food department and a Test Kitchen where formula were developed and test for our lector . I proposed the melodic theme of creating an on - land site test garden that could also serve as a photograph studio .
Credit: Carson Downing
Better Homes & Gardens
BHG Test Garden Timeline
1996 : Mark Kane , the BHG garden editor in chief at the time , came up with the idea for a dedicated quad adjacent to the magazine ’s office for testing plants and gardening techniques . ( Before that , plants were screen at garden editor ' habitation . ) He sketched out the original concepts for his vision .
1997 : blueprint and flora lists were force up by Perennial Gardens , a local landscape design firm , found on Kane ’s initial musical theme . groundbreaking ceremony lead off with demolishing existing buildings on the property .
1998 : Hardscape installation began in spring , which included laying out a permanent main nerve pathway and cardinal court , all over with a glass tiered fountain . Sandra Gerdes was hired as garden manager in June , and planting began . The Test Garden was officially launch in October with an undetermined business firm and commitment for Meredith employees .
Credit:Better Homes & Gardens
1999 : The Test Garden logo produce by Mark Kane appear inBetter Homes & Gardensmagazine for the first time in the March issue . Dahlquist Clay Works ( a local company no longer in business ) also created two peculiar tiles with the logo imprinted on them that still grace the garden today .
2000 : The Test Garden opened to the populace as a elbow room to partake in the green space with the local community . As a working garden and outdoor photo studio apartment , open hour are limited to Fridays from noon until 2 post-mortem examination , May through September .
2009 : A newpergola with lattice panels , plan and built byWOOD magazinepartners , supervene upon the original garden room structure .
2015 : WOODmagazine collaborators construct a custom bower to supplant the original sit area near the water garden .
2017 : A impost foliage - shape deck was created as a unequaled photo and picture set in the Test Garden . make board of wood curve enough for the design proved an interesting challenge !
2018 : The Test Garden observe its twentieth anniversary with a feature fib inBetter Homes & Gardens , detailing its many contributions to the magazine ’s gardening advice over the year .
2022 : Better Homes & Gardensmagazinecelebrates its 100th anniversarywith a segment on the CBS Sunday Morning show , which spotlight the Test Garden .
Meet the BHG Test Garden Staff
Sandra Gerdes
The ultimate boss is Mother Nature . In a garden , no two workweek are the same . You have to learn to conform , just like a hardy perennial .
