Madaline Sparks Madaline Sparks is a landscape and garden designer with over 20 years of experience. She is also a home and garden freelance writer who wrote for Real Simple starting in 2000. Madaline is the principal and owner of New York-based Madaline Sparks Garden Design. Highlights: * Over 20 years of experience in landscape and garden design * Owner and principal of Madaline Sparks Garden Design * Former contributing garden editor at Real Simple, for 14 years * Garden columnist at Rural Intelligence * Vice President, Board of Directors for Spencertown Academy Art Center About Real Simple Real Simple, a Dotdash Meredith Brand, is an award-winning, trusted online resource for smart, authentic solutions to simplify your life. We reach 11 million readers a month. Our content is written by experienced journalists and fact-checked for accuracy. Learn more about us and our editorial guidelines.