A White and Green Garden That Flows

Philadelphus Minnesota Snowflake, http://www.fknursery.com/index.cfm/fuseaction/plants.plantDetail/plant_ID/2196/index.htmMy appreciation for gardens planted in a white and green color scheme did not come easily. It has been a learning process that required several years of research and personal education. The photo essays of the iconic White Gardens at Sissinghurst in the UK were merely that, photo essays; they did not inspire me. Instead, I was actually puzzled by the owner’s intentions.

However, I was set straight by reading about the goals of contemporary designers, who can and do successfully execute white and green garden themes. Much of that came from studying the opinions and  images from garden blogging colleagues around the world, over a period of four years.

This season, therefore, when a new client, asked for a garden makeover and insisted that green and white be the only two colors I could use, I was prepared and empowered.

Phlox paniculata David, http://www.jeffers.nl/makpeony/?8,cora-louiseI was commissioned to plant a garden of my own design with the understanding that, in the even that it did not please the client, I would redo it. The homeowner and I were on a journey to discover a garden that she could feel but could not articulate or sketch. In order to avoid any frustration and disappointment on my part, later on, I psyched myself up for the very strong possibility that a great number of plants would be rejected after planting and replaced. They were.

The client, a successful businessperson in her own right, is hands-on and in control of most projects that she undertakes. However, she knew nothing about gardening. All she had was a personal vision, without the technical vocabulary to describe it. My mission, therefore, was to help her find a way to establish creative ownership of her garden.

I began by working with a selection of plants far greater than that which her flowerbeds could hold. Then my staff and I planted, rearranged, discarded, and replaced where necessary.

By giving the client more choices than she needed, with enough plants to either welcome or banish, I was able to engage her imagination and intentionally provoke her to critique our work, all the while encouraging her to develop a personal vocabulary to express her garden needs. With time, this ritual would empower her to oversee the garden’s design and in the end she discovered her garden voice.

Sprawling Rosa Alba meidiland, http://www.regannursery.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=plants.plantDetail&plant_ID=387&typeID=26What surprised me was the realization that the homeowner, without any formal education in the elements of design, let alone gardening, understood the importance of movement. She wanted her garden to flow. In one instance, the most beautiful, most expensive plants were rejected because they impeded this movement.

Flow meant that the eye was to move through the garden, seamlessly, and that there would be no symmetry in the flowerbeds to create a static, visual experience. If the scanning eye stopped abruptly, the plant or plants that it fixed upon were either moved or removed.

My intention had been not only to -  literally -  give my client the flowerbeds of her dreams, but also to stimulate her creative potential, as it relates to gardening. I learned about this process when I first read Fran Sorin's book, Digging Deep. The idea that every person has a creative side to their personality, no matter how hard they protest to the contrary, seemed revolutionary at the time that I read Fran’s words. Now, after coaxing creativity out of countless clients, I appreciate even more her powerful insight into human nature.

Rhododendron Catawabiense album, http://www.paghat.com/catawbaalbum.htmlThe white and green garden I agreed to deliver could not be a cookie cutter or formula project. There was no preconceived plan in my repertoire to depend on. Nor was there a good old reliable template to whip out and recycle. I had to start from square one.

I began with a few background shrubs to give the white flowers a rich green environment in which to glow. My only restriction here was to avoid evergreen conifers. However, broad-leaved evergreens, such as Buxus, Ilex, and white-blooming Rhododendron were permitted. I also included a Philadelphus Minnesota Snowflake as an eventual anchor plant, when it grows to maturity, because its white flowers are delightful both to admire and to inhale. And the contrast of the white petals on the dark green foliage is enchanting. Then we added a layer of dwarf, deciduous, white blooming shrubs.

White Itoh peony Cora Louise, http://www.jeffers.nl/makpeony/?8,cora-louiseIncluded in this assortment are Weigela White Knight, Itea Little Henry, and white Potentilla. In between and in front of them, we planted white shrub roses, one growing vertical and one horizontal, white Itoh peonies, an hydrangea, pale cream hemerocallis, white astillbe, and white phlox paniculata in both short and tall varieties.

In order to allow all plants to grow exponentially, some empty negative spaces remained. Into them, we inserted a combination of the annual flower white Cleome and perennials white Persicaria Polymorpha and pink Eupatorium atropurpurea. The client agreed to Eupatorium for the first season even though it flowers in light pink only because I needed a temporary stopgap. 

I expect that in the end, the Persicaria will have to go because its eventual verticality will impede flow. However, if the client appreciates the soft pastel shade of Eupatorium, that plant might remain because it’ produces rounded, frothy flower heads that echo the shapes of the nearby Buxus.Together the fluffiness and repetition combine to enhance the sense of flow.

As I write this report, the garden has already been tweaked several times; I removed some plants because they did not seem appropriate, and the client pointed out others that did not work for her. Now, as we wait for the blooming of one of the two white roses that still hasn’t bloomed this season, the client has already indicated that she is pleased with the overall appearance of the garden. Flow has been achieved.  

The Artist as Landscape Designer and Vice Versa; a book review for bookpleasures.com

From Art to Landscape, Unleashing Creativity in Garden Design, W. Gary Smith, Timber Press

Examine the front cover of this book. Notice how it is divided into 5 distinct color bands, each one deliberately positioned to play against the band adjacent. Notice too, how beautiful is the pastel sketch of a forest in band three and how it relates to and echoes the photograph in band four. This cover illustration, a work of art in its own right, heralds the beautiful visual experiences the reader will find inside this publication. Day after day, I would find myself returning to it, simply to enjoy the pictures. Often, I would forget that I was supposed to purposefully read it in order to write a review.

Mr. Smith is an award winning landscape designer specializing in botanical gardens. He is also a talented artist. His book takes the topic of garden design to a new level by raising the bar on the discussion about the role of art in landscaping. His work is neither a manual, nor a guide, nor a text book. It is an ode to the beauty and creativity we insert into nature when planning great estate gardens. Readers should not dismiss this book if the phrase great estate gardens does not apply to them. These settings illustrate universal elements of creativity in landscaping. Lessons learned here, and there are many, can be applied to gardens of any size..

The book is divided into two sections. In the first, the author introduces himself with a sensitive autobiography that narrates his development as an artist. Then he proceeds to build our visual vocabulary with elements of design that empower a garden designer. This section, pivotal to the overarching theme of the book, includes concepts such as shapes, forms, and patterns. These are categorized into scattered, mosaic, naturalistic drifts, serpentine, spiral, circles, dendric, and fractured. For each, there is a brilliant visual demonstration how such a concept impacts design.

According to the author, the next step is to encourage landscape designers to get in touch with their own creativity, and to sensitize their eyes to beauty. In that respect, the following chapter is a natural extension of a theme developed by Fran Sorin, in her publication, Digging Deep.  Mr. Smith’ recommends that we develop an aptitude for sketching, painting and drawing. These skills, he believes, liberate us from constraint and encourage creativity.

Furthermore, the author suggests, garden designers may be inspired by artists from other disciplines such as painters, sculptors, photographers and the performing arts, as all have a role to play in artistic nurturing. For example, in an examination of the Cascade Gardens at Longwood, the author demonstrates how cubism and abstract expressionism influenced the overall design of that garden and, in the next chapter, discusses how the Garden at Winterthur is, in its totality, an expression of fine art.

Part two of Mr. Smith’s book is a journey through the author’s professional accomplishments, with an emphasis on the artistic elements that shaped each of his works. These include The Pierce’s Woods at Longwood Gardens, The Tropical Mosaic Garden at the Naples Botanical Gardens in Naples, Florida, The New England Wild Flower Society’s Garden in the Woods at Framingham, Massachusetts and The Enchanted Woods at Winterthur. The final chapter discusses the essential role that garden designers can play in the conservation and establishment of ecosystems and the philosophical relationship between art and gardening.

Prepare to be overwhelmed by the stunning images that the author has complied for our education. Some readers may find it necessary to put down the book after each chapter, to savor the moment. But don’t read it for that alone. Read it also to appreciate the author’s richly colored images of proposed and executed garden designs. I would welcome the opportunity to hang all of Mr. Smith’s artwork on my walls; He is that good.

Tying UpTwo Loose Ends About Earth Day

Spring came early to Montreal this season and that gave my garden design business a jump-start. However, it put a wrinkle in other plans; for example, the posting of some book reviews are backing up. That is disappointing; especially for one new book that deserves special mention at this time. With Earth Day to be celebrated next week, it would have been timely to post a review of Sue Reed’s new book Energy-Wise Landscape Design. That subject is most appropriate for Earth Day and for all year round, as well. I am so intrigued by the meandering path on the cover of her book, that I can hardly wait to read it. A review will be posted here in the near future.

This image first appeared on the website Gardening Gone WildFor over forty years, the media has consistently reported that  the members of the rock band The Rolling Stones are very intelligent, well-educated people. Therefore, it came as no surprise when accomplishments of its brilliant keyboard player, Chuck Leavell, were reported in Fran Sorin’s newest posting at Gardening Gone Wild. It is titled "Down to Earth With a Rolling Stone", and well worth reading.  Why would a renowned garden writer like Fran write an in-depth article about a rock star? The answer is that Chuck is very active with conservation and environmental issues. This is the second time in two weeks that Fran has written a fascinating character study that deals with the human side of horticulture and gardening. This unabashed fan of Fran Sorin is most appreciative.

Other Garden Bloggers' Posts.

The talent that most garden bloggers bring to the Web with their cameras,  keyboards, and their souls consistently blows me away. By sheer coincidence, this week, no less than three fellow on-line garden bloggers posted articles that are worthy of special attention and your link-click.

On April 9, 2010, Eileen at Gatsby’s Garden wrote “May I Borrow That View Please”, a short jewel of journalism about the garden next door. Her post gives new appreciation for other people’s plants that grow within view of our own garden. How ingenious of Eileen to discover a specific component of garden designing that is, literally, always before our eyes.

Fran Sorin at Gardening Gone Wild wrote a moving article titled “The Soul of a Garden” on April 10, 2010. In this posting, she reports on a jaw-dropping steep garden made of rock and built by hand, by a garden designer with a haunting past. The awesome rock creation is breathtaking and disturbing, just like it's creator's biography.

At Steve Snedeker’s Landscaping and Gardening Blog, Steve created a great piece of photojournalism on April 8, 2010. Titled “Bernheim Forest - a “Holy Cow” of Springtime Delights”, it is full with ethereal images and beautifully written commentaries on a forest that holds great personal meaning for the author. It is rare to describe a posted garden blog as touching.

Web photos That I Like

An island flower bed composed of textures and colors. Click on the image to see more at Fran Sorin's website. 

There is a theme running through my gardening blogs. It's all about perennial gardens and the beauty and pleasure they offer. Frequently, I find myself quoting from other professional gardeners and their websites. It’s not because I’ve run out of something to say. Nor do I use other bloggers images because I can’t find better ones to share with you. I refer to other professionals because they make an important contribution to the world of gardening. I use their material when it echoes my own philosophy or when I learn something new that is worth sharing.

A series of photographs of a beautiful garden in the Philadelphia area were posted to Fran Sorin’s website. I’m glad to have seen them because this garden is in danger of disappearing. The heirs to the estate of Doe Run Gardens have put this property up for sale. No one can predict its future. One might suppose that in better times, there would have been a campaign to purchase this property for the people of Pennsylvania. Under current economic conditions that can’t be a realistic expectation.

Please take the time to appreciate a world class garden right here in North America by clicking on the image above. If you fall in love with the garden, you can read the real estate listing for the property by clicking here.