Home Improvement
05/21/25 | Liz and Ellie Local
This week is cold and clammy but Memorial Day weekend is right around the corner and Liz and Ellie are working on their gardens! Even if you live in the city and have limited space, there is always room for a stylish planter or two. A sunny balcony, a front stoop, or even a window box—a little green is all it takes.
Garden Design Trends We’re Loving in 2025
This year, it's all about bold colors and layered textures, even in tiny gardens. Think colorful foliage combinations, edible herbs combined with ornamentals, and vertical gardens that climb instead of sprawl. There's also a big push for native pollinator plants; you can identify the best options for your New England garden on the Mass Audubon site or through Grow Native Massachusetts.
Where We’re Shopping This Spring
When it comes to sourcing beautiful, healthy plants and unique containers, here are our top local spots:
Ricky’s Flower Market – Somerville
A neighborhood gem with a laid-back vibe and a surprisingly large selection of annuals, perennials, herbs, and succulents. Great prices and great people.
Pemberton Farms – Cambridge
A garden center/gourmet food store hybrid. Come for the plants, stay for the treats. Their hanging baskets and herbs are especially worth a trip.
Mahoney's Garden Center – Winchester & Brighton
A go-to for anything from containers to garden decor to expert advice. It’s not the least expensive option, but their selection is top notch and inspiring.
Plant Now, Enjoy All Summer
Whether you're a seasoned gardener or just dipping your toes in the water with your first basil plant, May is the perfect month to get planting. A few strategically placed stalks can turn your backyard—or even your fire escape—into a cozy little haven.
As housing affordability continues to challenge our local communities, we find it encouraging to see legislative steps that prioritize affordability, flexibility, and access, like Massachusetts’s Affordable Homes Act, signed into law last year by Governor Maura Healey. One of the changes we find most intriguing is the expanded ability to build Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs. These are small residential living spaces located on the same lot as another home, either within an existing primary residence, like converting a basement into an apartment, attached to a primary residence as a new construction addition, or completely detached, like a cottage or converted detached garage in a backyard.”
Here at Liz & Ellie Local, we are always looking for ways to make life a little greener. And if you’ve been in the Boston area for any length of time, you’ll know that there are areas where paving your yard was all the rage…and the remnants of that craze are still all over town. But things are changing. In Somerville, in particular, residents are tearing up their pavement in favor of something green.
We’re a few days from “official” summer, but there are already plenty of things happening outdoors in the Boston area. And while we love a good Red Sox game or concert at the Pavilion, there are tons of ways to take advantage of summer without spending a dime. From free music, to lectures, to movies and more, Boston has a plethora of free events worth checking out. As local residents of Cambridge and Somerville, who adore the communities we live and work in, we'd like to share a few of our favorite events.
With their complementary communication styles, responsiveness, competence, and ability to truly listen, Ellie and Liz enable their clients to feel at ease throughout any real estate transaction. They would welcome the opportunity to be your next real estate advisors.
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1100 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02138
