Karen E Laine's Best Tip For Simple But Effective Garden Design - Exclusive

Designing your home is a great creative outlet for many, but for others it's an overwhelming, complicated process with nearly endless options. Especially with backyards and gardens, it can be difficult to manage the constantly fluctuating environment in a way that is both functional and decorative. As a result, it's not uncommon for people to let their yards become overgrown and out of control.

This is precisely what Karen E. Laine, the co-host of HGTV's beloved series "Good Bones," aims to help course correct in the show's latest special "Good Bones: Better Yard." The special shows a solo Karen as she works to help a family restore their yard that's been taken over by nature, helping them blend their lifestyle and design goals in a way that's both practical and gorgeous, fit perfectly to their tastes and needs. In an exclusive interview with House Digest, Karen gave some expert advice on how to simply but effectively beautify your own yard with one small addition.

When asked what advice she had for sprucing up your home exteriors, Karen E. Laine said her biggest design recommendation was flower pots. "Oh my gosh, you can make such an impact with flower pots," Karen stated. "There are lots of places where you can get big pots, and you can paint them any color you want."

More than that, she recommends strategically arranging the flowers you choose to plant inside. "There's a rule — and I forget what the mnemonic is — but when you're planting a flower pot, it's nice to have something that drips over the edge, something that's bushy, and something that gives you some height," Karen advises. "That gives you lots of dimension in your flower pot." And as for what flowers to choose in the first place, Karen emphatically recommends perennials. "I have perennials that should freeze and die over the winter in Indiana in flower pots. They don't — they come back every year."

Finally, if you're struggling to find perennial flowers fit for your climate, Karen's advice is to take time to read their tags at the garden center. "Read the tags," she enthuses. "They're going to tell you how much sun it wants, how much water it wants, how long it's going to live, how tall it's going to get, all those things. Read your tags; you'll learn a lot."

"Good Bones: Better Yard" is available to stream on discovery+.