The gardens immediately surrounding a house should be considered as important as any other room within the home. These outdoor rooms should be consistent with the architecture in both period and feel, ultimately coordinating with the key interior details, such as wallpaper and paint colorways.

If planned correctly, the structure of the garden should be no less recognizable in January than it is in June. A well-designed and properly installed garden enhances both the value of the house and its home owners’ contact with nature permanently and during all seasons.

Karen Atkins, the official proprietor of Proper Gardens, is an exclusive garden designer in the Pittsburgh area.

She is better described as an exterior decorator than a landscaper. A Proper Garden harmonizes with the period and style of the home for which it is designed. It reflects the owner's tastes and preferences for color. The gardens are structure-heavy so that they feel like outdoor rooms, even with snow on them, after the deciduous plants have all but disappeared. Proper Gardens are always planted for a well coordinated succession of bloom; something new is always coming up as another is fading.

1. Master Gardener
2. Bachelor’s Business Degree from Westminster College
3. Three gardens recognized by the Western Pennsylvania Horticultural Society in 2006
4. Garden on display at a museum on the National Register of Historic Places
5. Featured in an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
6. Member of the Historic Gardens Foundation - London, England