You can take the art teacher out of the classroom, but you can’t take the art teacher out of the garden. Just ask Karen Watson-Newlin. After teaching K–12 art for 34 years, she couldn’t help but apply the lessons she taught her students to the sprawling 1½-acre garden she started 16 years ago with her husband, Rob, in Wisconsin.
Karen says the principles of good design apply to the garden. After all, she’s also an artist whose acrylic paintings are often inspired by her garden. “Texture, color, form, contrast—they’re all necessary elements of good design. The eye searches for patterns. And
