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Time MARGARET BROWER

Gardens are always a work in progress. listen, rest and rejuvenate, meditate or play. Because the very essence of the garden is life, There will be a special place to feel the there is no way to avoid the progression of warmth of the sun or the cool of the shade, time. A garden is alive, moving through the the perfect spot for a lunch or dinner party, years along with the lives we live. Therefore, the place to escape to with a good book or for the element of time is a very important a nap. We add more plants, replace others. consideration for every garden design. We consider new areas to fill and plan for I begin in the past. What, if anything, additions in the coming years. is already growing in this place that can be This leads us to think about the future. included in a new plan? What past memories of Which trees do we plant for our children or childhood gardens might inform an affinity for grandchildren? We may never see some grow certain plants? What dreams have been held for to maturity, but those following us will. How the garden’s elements, structures, or purposes? will a hedge look in three to five years? How Moving to the present, I make a quick will the shade, sun, and climate change in this assessment of the space. This is the time to ask space? As the garden marks time through the questions and make initial suggestions. Then seasons, plants thrive and die, outgrow spaces, I return to spend quiet, leisurely time to again bloom and go dormant, become more beautiful. observe and get a feel for the place. Some seem like friends as we grow accustomed The new garden must have an immediate to seeing them and watching them age. presence that excites the owner, but plants will As our garden settles into its environment, quickly outgrow their initial footprint, and space it becomes its own ecosystem. Birds, insects, for growth must be allotted. Plants need at least and critters nest and thrive. Now the garden three years to realize their full potential. Hedges is full of activity and sound. If we are lucky, a and trees often have a greater chance of success balance develops. But change will continue. when they are started small and allowed to Plants get crowded and shaded out. A tree ease into their full maturity. It takes patience. may age and fall, leaving a sunny spot that was My choices of plants are also informed by once a shade bed. PREVIOUS SPREAD: Nothing notes what I have learned from years of horticultural After the initial planting, I always wish the passing of a year like fall. experience: which plants thrive or become I could fast-forward several years to get a Here, with the morning fog invasive, which resist damage of predators, better glimpse of what time in this garden will clearing through a view to the which handle extremes of climate. And the reveal. I am able to visit many of my gardens mountains in the background, a border of hydrangeas and seasons of the year bring new growth, maturity, for maintenance work, but it sometimes takes Miscanthus grasses reaches and dormancy that are important considerations remembering the past to notice the changes. full maturity and bloom. when choosing plants. We want our gardens to If I pass a garden where I no longer work, I

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS have a beauty through all these stages, to have am curious to see how it has matured. If it has Not too many years ago, this buds, blooms, and berries that interest us in been neglected, I have to resist the pull to fix glorious garden was an unassuming alfalfa field. Now, each season. Even in winter, not only evergreen it. And every spring I am amazed once again with time and careful planning, leaves, but also bark and structure and spent that the shoots are emerging from the ground the pond surrounded by lush blooms should be interesting. and buds are swelling. It is a kind of magic as plantings is an ecosystem for fish, As we experience our gardens, we will we remember the past, delight in the present, frogs, birds, insects, and rabbits. find over time those places to observe and and imagine the future.

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Materials TOM PRITCHARD

Inspiration for a garden or landscape can come from many places: remembered vistas, garden books thumbed through and marked, travels taken. At our firm, the art of bringing a garden or landscape to fruition most often begins with an exhaustive search for the exceptional plants, rocks, and other elements that will breathe real life into our projects and actually influence our designs. We find that plans and drawings are useful in conveying intent but little else. Drawing a tree as a circle on a page is just that—a circle on a page, a placeholder. We spend much less time in the office drawing and much more scouring specialty nurseries, smaller family-run operations that grow quirky things, nurseries that rescue large plant material from the bulldozer’s blade, and even defunct nurseries where plants have languished and become even more wild and characterful—traits essential for us as we create native landscapes. The waterfall setting was Where to begin? Explore your own assembled from remarkable materials carefully selected landscape or find your inspiration nearby— to form a credible landscape you may discover that the key to your design element: lichen-covered sandstone is right in front of you. Then focus on one or ledge rocks; native aspen, two great elements around which your design spruce, willow, and wild currant; can grow and evolve. On a recent project in and mosses and woodland ground New York State, a saucer magnolia on the covers, all deftly woven into a grounds was so overtaken by vines and briars panoramic setting to be seen that it was all but invisible. Cleaned up and from the house. given a season of recovery, this tree became FOLLOWING SPREAD: The granite the star of the entire garden, with all other boulders seen here were decisions made to honor it. harvested intact and positioned in Search online, or learn to ask around. their new setting on a residential

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS Sometimes a local arborist or nurseryman site on the outskirts of Palm can be of help, as they often know of unusual Springs, California, where drought- locations where material might be found or resistant materials were used collected. And always be observant. A Colorado throughout. Jacaranda, mesquite, and olive trees, agaves, yuccas, landscape we created drew its inspiration a silvery-blue eucalyptus, and from the alpine forest of spruce and aspen artemisia were all carefully bordering the property. It was so beautiful arranged in a setting of sandy- and so appropriate that we vowed to re-create colored decomposed granite. that forest and bring it right up to the house.

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To achieve that, we carefully studied those woods, observing that trees have a great variety of branching depending on their proximity to other trees in the forest. Those in the middle are light-starved and sparse; those on the edges are one-sided. All had branch spacing much more open than cultivated trees, and most important, all retained their dead branches—absolutely essential to the look of a real forest. This quest presented a real challenge, but we eventually heard of a high mountain meadow being cleared for an elk habitat, and from there we were able to choose from a full range of native trees characterful enough to create a convincing forest. For a very modern desert house in California, we imagined groves of gnarly trees and spiky desert plants set amid boulders and silvery ground covers—not lawns and flower beds, but a dramatic natural landscape conceived in stark contrast to the sleek lines of the house. Mindful of the continual overconsumption of water throughout the valley, we limited ourselves to considering drought-tolerant plants and trees: vintage olives, thorny mesquite and acacia, Madagascar palms, and boulders, the most drought-tolerant of all. As it turns out, the boulders were the hardest to source. In our mind’s eye, we were remembering gracefully shaped and weathered boulders encountered on our travels in Japan, but locally available boulders were more debris than inspiration. The answer came on a trip over to the nearby mountains, where we noticed groups of weathered granite rocks in a field, looking for all the world as if Isamu Noguchi himself had arranged them. Through a little detective work and persistence, we located a farmer with similar fields who welcomed us to dig, thus providing us with a variety of already arranged perfect boulders. Once installed, they looked so credible that BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS the house appears to have been built around them, exactly what we were striving for. Never settle for inadequate materials. If what you are imagining can’t be found, then it’s time to reimagine. That said, we’ve also discovered that where there’s a will, there’s often a way—it always pays to be persistent!

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Place

LAUREN SPRINGER and SCOTT OGDEN

Gardens that reflect what grows on the lush planting and irrigation. Design built surrounding land—be it county, state, or around texture rather than floral abundance region—imbue a settled beauty and sense of and pervasive greens actually works better in place. Native flora is also vital for regional places where native landscapes take seasonal birds, insects, and other fauna. Plants from siestas. Such textural compositions give a memory blend with a garden maker’s vision, sense of place, are often more sustainable, and giving personal touches. Yet an understanding can be equally beautiful. of where a garden resides leads to the richest What does a garden where plants and potential. A region’s and site’s soil, lay of the place are deeply integrated look like? In a hilly land, climate, and seasonal rhythms have urban neighborhood in central Austin, Texas, evolved to support a palette of native plants, a classic, older Mediterranean-style home and those conditions also determine what is enveloped in the curvaceous embrace of other plants will thrive—typically those from mature native live oaks. A precipitous hill regions with many of the same seasonal falls off in back, shored up with rustically built rhythms, climate, and geology. local limestone walls and traversed by steps Wind-resistant finer textures and lower of the same pale native stone. The garden statures, along with sun-reflective sage green, keepers retreat to this sanctuary in the soft blue, or silver leaves predominate among shade of the oaks, hidden from view, with the plants growing in steppe, dry prairie, and sense of well-aging architecture and plants chaparral in oft-parched mineral soils. Lusher, growing in romantic, carefree abundance greener, larger-leaved, taller plants populate like those they grew up with along the Gulf prairie and woodland regions and their moist, Coast. Native Texas hill-country understory humus-rich soils. Long-lived succulents and plants mingle with Southern heirloom plants. fiber plants with bold water-storing forms Mexican agaves and succulents also relish protected by spines define hot, dry desert the respite from the hot Texas sun provided regions. We may grow some of each type of by the high oak canopy and the good drainage plant, but wisdom holds that environmentally of the walled hillside. The environment is attuned plant selection engenders sustainable similar to their native haunts in the underbrush stewardship—well-suited plants, whether native and on rocky cliffsides farther south. or from similar habitats, need little intervention, At the base of the eastern Rockies, an allowing for a healthier, lighter touch on the expansive meadow garden seamlessly planted land. Such a palette also gives a garden regional amid agricultural fields comes alive with resonance and resilience—plants look right shimmering backlit blossoms and grasses because they are thriving and they belong. bending to the ever-present wind. The garden

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS Plants respond to their native region’s keepers grew up on the vast flatness of South seasonal rhythms. Temperate climates promote Dakota and Kansas, and their meadow reflects four distinct seasons; the cadence is different that wide-open serenity of their childhoods on In this small Austin garden, in hot, dry, or cold regions, where many the shortgrass prairie along Colorado’s Front textures give year-round beauty. The semiarid subtropical climate species bloom in shorter, magnificently prolific Range. They—and the wildlife they cherish— allows palms and small trees to bursts. In parts of western North America, feel right at home. By concentrating many luxuriate under live oaks while exposed rock and soil and brown tones of dry species of showy prairie natives into a smaller cacti, agaves, aloes, and succulents or dormant vegetation are the norm. Often space than one would find them together enjoy a sunny dry berm. people treat these as deficiencies to fix with in the wild, and by adding a few adapted

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non-natives, the floral bounty and length of the bloom season are intensified to rival the visual effect of English borders the homeowners admired on their travels. Just as importantly, this intense and prolonged bloom provides the wild creatures they care about with a mecca of food, shelter, and places to rear their young. By choosing plants that are at home and thrive in the climate, soil, and seasonal rhythms, one honors the place where the garden resides. In return, the inclusion of some plants that connect with cherished memories, hopes, and dreams allows the garden to honor its keeper. Plants with a place in the heart and a place on the land hold the key to making sustainable gardens of pleasure and meaning.

FOLLOWING SPREAD: In central Texas, low-angled sunlight highlights the bold textures and spines of succulents through drought and dormancy. When rains do come, regionally native rain lilies (Zephyranthes cultivars and species) respond and come to life in a floral celebration.

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Relationships MIKE KAISER

When creating a garden, it is essential to decisions about how adjacent outdoor rooms consider the complex relationships between the relate to the home and its inhabitants. land, the home, and its inhabitants. My work as This exploration must be guided by a landscape architect grew out of my fascination several key design principles, including with the architecture of the home and my scale, enclosure, intimacy, privacy, and solar conception of the garden as a magical place orientation, as well as what I like to call where architecture and landscape become one. screening of the objectionable and framing of Designing a garden that is a seamless extension the favorable. We can draw from the language of the home requires a deep understanding of of the architecture in the creation of outdoor the house and how it reflects the personalities rooms by careful repetition of materials, forms, and desires of its owners. and patterns. Masonry walls, paved terraces, Ideally, home is a sanctuary. At its finest, level changes, landscape hedges, swaths of it encompasses comfort and beauty while lawn, and carefully positioned canopy trees capturing the unique characteristics of its are all devices designers can use to define inhabitants. The garden is the extension of outdoor spaces and reinforce the relationship that refuge into the outdoors, a place where of house to garden. we experience the transitory pleasures of The revitalization of a historic Tudor nature and light, the change of seasons, and the home in Holladay, Utah, provided the passage of time. Designed to complement each perfect setting for exploring these dynamic An ancient scrub oak that arches other, architecture and landscape can merge relationships. Invited by frequent collaborator over the fountain and rill, into a nurturing, harmonious whole. Greg Tankersley of McAlpine to extend his spilling into the pool, was carefully preserved to lend age to the Every family has its own idea of the perfect architectural vision into the landscape, my composition of this garden in home and garden. To make that vision a reality, firm and I sought to complement the interior the shadow of Mount Olympus I begin by getting to know my clients: how they spaces with a series of outdoor rooms in every in Greece. The greenhouse from live, entertain, relax, and play. I ask questions direction. The theme of each garden emerged which this view is seen serves ranging from the practical to the personal. from its visual and physical relationship to as a favorite location for dinner Will they harvest vegetables for cooking or cut adjacent interior spaces and reflected the parties, and in early evening flowers for decorating? In what rooms do they owners’ interests and lifestyle. the setting sun illuminates the spend the most time when they are indoors? On the south side of the house, house, garden, and mountain in What inspires them? I ask about the aesthetic the architect added a spectacular glass dazzling colors, all reflected and emotional qualities they are seeking from conservatory containing the home’s central in the cool, dark surface of the pool. their outdoor spaces, as well as the ways in gathering places and the family’s collection FOLLOWING SPREAD: The details which they want those spaces to connect with of treasured mementos from a lifetime of of the garden walls, gates, and the rooms inside. I want them to see their travel. Not wanting to compete with the buzz even the rustic rope-bound fence

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS gardens as places where special moments and and color within, we created a simple lawn were inspired by a recent visit to memories are made. outside the conservatory surrounded by a Lutyens’s Great Dixter in England Next, I study the house along with the semicircular hedge of pleached European and draw from the language of Tudor architecture. Plant selections surrounding landscape. I need to understand hornbeams to provide privacy and shade. To were guided by the overall color the scale and flow of interior spaces, the the east, the formal dining room and outdoor palette, consisting of blues and arrangement of furniture, and the way in which terrace overlook a restrained, meditative pastels, each intended to unite the home visually and functionally connects walled garden, where the gentle murmur of home and garden as one. to the outdoors in order to make thoughtful a bubbling grotto provides just enough sound

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BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS to accompany any gathering. By contrast, just described or planning a single, modest the western side of the house, where a new garden, considering these relationships swimming pool and poolhouse echo with between landscape, structures, and people is children’s laughter all summer long, was essential. For me, taking the time to explore the perfect site for an exuberant display of these unique personalities and characteristics perennial blossoms. is an exciting process, yielding unexpected Whether a designer is tasked with insights that leave a human imprint on the creating a series of outdoor rooms in the natural world and bring the outdoors into the English Tudor tradition like the ones I’ve most intimate spaces of the home.

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Layering LAURIE DURDEN

In the gardens I design, I strive to create a bones. This includes determining what kinds feeling of simplicity. I gravitate to gardens of enclosures and structures to use—from that are easy to look at, whose beauty reveals the ground plane and the walls (constructed itself spontaneously as the seasons progress. or planted) to the ceiling or tree canopy and The garden’s essential elements—structure, openings for views. circulation, views, textures, and colors— It’s also important to consider the various converge into a single composition where the spaces within your garden and how they relate more ephemeral moments can be revealed to one another. Whether you have space for and heighten the senses. formal garden rooms or simply want to create But this simplicity is deceptive. A garden a single, layered space, borders, thresholds, contains a myriad of layers, beginning with the or nonlinear pathways can offer a sense site and expanding to include the enclosures of discovery and delight. The surrounding that give the garden shape, and then the landscape also plays a key role. The garden plantings that bring it to life throughout the year. may draw inspiration from the landscape or As a designer, I am always thinking in layers, provide a striking contrast. regardless of the style or size of the garden. These spaces and structures furnish a set The ability to see individual pieces of the on which to layer the seasonal moments. The puzzle while keeping the larger picture in garden’s joy is contained in these moments: mind stems from my graduate school days, combinations of color, scent, light, and shade when I had the opportunity to spend the that shift with the passing of hours, days, and summer as a garden intern at Dumbarton Oaks seasons. Creating these moments involves in Washington, D.C. Created in the 1920s by sequencing—a strategy employed recently legendary landscape architect, Beatrix Farrand, during the refurbishment of the gardens at the the gardens at this historic estate are still Duke Mansion in Charlotte, North Carolina. maintained according to her specifications in Almost all the flowers are white to complement The Plant Book for Dumbarton Oaks. I was so the white house, and there are large masses fortunate to work with such talented gardeners, of white flowering shrubs that bloom from several of whom had been there long enough early spring until late summer. An ever- to recall working with Farrand. Each day, I changing scene creates many mini-seasons was immersed in pruning and training plants, within those months; as one plant’s bloom is general gardening techniques, and the history of waning, another comes along to steal the show. the garden. In the evenings, I poured over The Against a backdrop of hollies, boxwood, and Plant Book to understand Farrand’s intentions other evergreens, a parade of flowering plants with regard to scale, enclosure, transitions, focal and trees bloom one after another. A mix of hardscape materials,

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS points, plants, and maintenance. There are additional layers to keep including flagstone, pea stone, From this formative experience, I in mind, including form and texture (stiff brick and terra-cotta planters, developed my own point of view from which versus loose, fluffy versus weeping); variations are layered with the plant palette to employ layering in garden design, in terms in green (bright versus dark); fragrance in this Charlotte, North Carolina, garden. A white-painted iron of how I use the space and how the plantings (try jasmine, magnolias, gardenias, old roses, bench and planters at the back reveal their intrinsic beauty over time. Each or peonies); and plants to attract birds of the space echo the flowers project starts with learning as much as possible and bees. This will create a garden that offers within the parterres, adding yet about the site and the respective owner’s vision a rich and memorable garden experience another layer. for the property. I then establish the garden’s throughout the year.

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Editing NANCY GOODWIN

Gardens are living works of art filled with full sun. I left it for a year and was surprised at plants coming into or out of growth, bloom, how well many so-called shade plants grew or seed and resting in between. Most are with more sun. There were only two that I had compositions of plants chosen for many to move into shade—Pachysandra procumbens reasons—color, form, soil, location, climate, and Iris tectorum. exposure—and with luck, they grow as Gardeners age along with the garden expected. However, over time they may begin and may require different ways of gardening. to sulk or grow too aggressively. The color Our knees hurt, and our backs are stiff at the may not be what was expected, and vigorous end of the day. Suddenly raised beds seem seedlings may have smothered more delicate worth exploring. Simplicity in the garden plants. Like people, some plants don’t age well. takes on a new meaning. Climate change After a few years, incompatibility means some plants grow better while others among plants may become obvious and the suffer, so a new palette of plants must be original vision might be lost. Old plants create considered when old favorites no longer new problems, and new plants may enhance tolerate new temperature extremes and those difficulties. For example, cyclamen moisture conditions. and hellebores grow best in similar areas It is important to keep an open mind with neutral to alkaline well-drained soil and and a critical eye, so study the garden in all shade. But hellebore leaves grow so large, seasons—preferably with a good friend. they completely hide the cyclamen, which are A second pair of eyes may see what you miss in active growth throughout the winter. One when looking at individual plants for which solution is to cut the leaves off the hellebores, you have special memories or associations. but that can be an enormous task and will leave After ten years or so, the trees and shrubs their buds vulnerable to intense spells of below- may have outgrown their space. That cute normal temperatures if done too early in the little dwarf conifer may grow to twenty feet fall. The better solution is to grow the two or more and almost as wide. That doesn’t genera far enough away from each other that mean it has to be removed. Intelligent they can’t seed into each other’s territory and to pruning can let in light, reveal hidden remove small hellebore seedlings if they appear. vistas, and provide an opportunity to revise A tree in the garden impacts the adjacent plantings. Focusing on the small but environment as it grows: many surrounding sometimes rare plants while overlooking smaller trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants the larger ones leads to an overgrown garden may no longer receive enough sun. Other with many plants reaching for a place with plants, which like the new shade, often grow better light while the more aggressive ones

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS so vigorously that the tree, originally intended continue to expand. The simple solution for the winter beauty of its trunk, can no to unwanted change is to remove or prune When hellebore leaves have been longer be seen. the offending plants. The more complex, removed, their flowers—as well The death of a large tree alters the garden radical approach is to start all over. as those on neighboring plants such as crocuses and snowdrops— dramatically and may require redesigning an Creating a garden is more like creating complete the glory of the moment area that primarily has shade-loving plants. music than art. Recurring themes tie the and the viewer does not have to When my large, old white oak died, I found garden together through the seasons. Unlike peek under the leaves to see the myself suddenly faced with the problem of a a painting, the garden is never finished, never beauty of the composition. garden originally designed for shade now in the same twice. Themes, especially color

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schemes, may remain year after year and peak for erosion control and instead of steep slopes, in the proper season, but details change each our predecessors created terraces, with flat day and every year. Photographs taken in areas alternating with short, steep banks, different seasons of different years at different ditches, and gentle slopes. We cleared out the times of day will document these changes little weed trees, kept the mature ones, and more honestly than personal memory. planted the flat areas with snowdrops, which When editing, remember the importance preserve and feature one element of the of history. You can change the details of a past as well as the solution to a major problem. place without changing the shape of the land Every winter the snowdrops bring the past or destroying the evidence of its past. We into view and prominence. have a property with a house on the highest Gardening is one of the most elusive arts. point and a river flowing along one boundary. Keep the music with the art, and believe you During the 1930s the entire hill was altered will get it right next year.

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Maintenance LAURA WILLSON

In the horticultural world, maintenance is a colors, and various plant materials—is an effective dirty word. However, if gardeners make it a tool to reduce both weeds and the amount of priority during the design and implementation mulch used. A sustainable garden will also phase, the amount of maintenance a garden will require less watering, making it beneficial for the require can be greatly reduced. gardener and the environment. A well-managed garden is a thing of Recently, I have begun to focus on beauty, and maintenance is what separates a creating meadows. Ornamental grasses, ho-hum garden from a gorgeous one. While pollinator-friendly plants, and wildflowers help this stewardship may not be glamorous, it can create a more natural landscape that can be very satisfying. The hours spent weeding, require less maintenance than a traditional pruning, planting, staking, deadheading, lawn. Unlike turf grass, meadows are typically dividing, tying, feeding, editing, spraying, mowed only once or twice a year and usually watering, thinning, grading, mulching, have minimal water requirements. A drought- and composting help the gardener build a tolerant plant palette and the use of local relationship with the garden. The hard work and native plants can reduce the amount of enhances plant knowledge, increases intuition maintenance required as compared with exotic, about what works best in the garden, and finicky, and demanding plants. Again, sensitivity inspires new ideas. to the site and the environment from the Maintenance begins with horticultural design stage forward is key in creating and expertise, including field observations, maintaining a sustainable garden. appropriate plant selection, scale and size At a certain age, all gardens need a face- of plant material, proper soil preparation, lift. After caring for a garden for years, it can be integration of architectural aspects, and difficult to envision taking the steps necessary reasonable and realistic expectations. to keep the garden great. Change is hard but The most important element for low- often necessary. At these times, I advise bold, maintenance success is proper plant selection. assertive moves. Transplanting clusters of plants Plants thrive in the conditions that are to other parts of the yard creates space for new optimized for their growth. Stick with plants ideas and exciting palettes. It’s possible to blend that are suited to the garden’s soil composition, old and new and take the space in a different sunlight, water availability, and potential pests direction while honoring the garden’s roots. and save hours and dollars in maintenance! A garden is alive, which means it is Another benefit of reading the landscape constantly evolving. Garden management and interpreting the layout to suit the space is a is not a one-and-done project; rather, it’s a finite plant selection. Selecting a large quantity commitment that will span years. Wise planning of a few perennials such as sedums or asters may not take all of the work out of stewardship,

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS will create eye-pleasing swaths that won’t need but it will reduce the load significantly. While constant editing. Generally speaking, a well- maintenance is an ongoing endeavor, it ought designed garden requires less editing than one not to be thought of as a negative or a necessary Sustainable, plant-based garden design and maintenance that is haphazard. evil. With proper planning, insight, and realistic includes a spring-flowering Sustainable gardens that use native plants expectations, a low-maintenance garden display of alliums, which layered for color, texture, and seasonal interest can be achieved. By applying principles such complement the golden blooming are low-maintenance ecosystems that are as the right plant and the right place for the perennial Packera in this attractive and beneficial to wildlife. Layering— right person, one can successfully maintain a Newport, Rhode Island, garden. where you use graduating heights, coordinating sustainable, productive, and gorgeous garden.

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The Novice ANN BROOKE

This essay is about how to begin as a novice. These three lists will help you set your So what is a landscape, and how is it different priorities and budget. from a garden? Your next job is to collect a picture For simplicity’s sake we often use the gallery of things you love and can’t live without. terms interchangeably, though they do have Browse online. Look through books and different connotations. A garden is a planted magazines. Take photos of any landscaping area. A landscape is the environment in which you see that looks the way you imagine yours you live—your house and its surroundings. You will be when finished. Remember, imitation can have a landscape without plants, but you is the highest form of flattery, so don’t hesitate can’t have a landscape that is beautiful to look to steal ideas from other people. at and a pleasure to live in without design. At this point, no matter what your budget Start by thinking about your surroundings. or how much of the actual work you plan to Make a list of the things you would like to have do yourself, get some help. A good landscape and the things about your garden that drive you or garden designer can help you come up crazy. Whether you hope to do the actual work with a realistic plan and establish priorities, a yourself or plan to hire a contractor, following budget, and a practical schedule. this process of thinking about design is an If you can afford it, get a master plan; essential first step. If you do it yourself, it will if not, at least get two or three hours of provide you with a plan of action. If you hire a consultation and some sketches. If you don’t contractor, you will need to be very clear about think you have space or funds for everything what you want or you will end up instead with you want, the designer can offer alternatives. what the contractor wants. The sound of running water, for instance, All you need to get started thinking about can be as simple as a small wall-hung fountain. designing your own landscape is a pencil Salad greens and herbs can be grown in and paper or a note-taking app on your phone. pots rather than raised beds. If you don’t have You are going to make three short lists about enough shade, a pergola or shade sail will your property: provide instant protection from the sun. Lastly, to answer the comment I have had • What do you have that you like? Are there from everyone just starting on this adventure— large shade trees, a beautiful old stone wall, that they had no idea how much it would or climbing roses over the front door? cost—I’ll refer you to a wonderful little book • What drives you crazy? Is the first thing about Marian Coffin, a famous landscape you see when you drive in garbage cans? architect, called Money, Manure & Maintenance: Is the lawn a muddy, scraggly mess? Is Ingredients for Successful Gardens of Marian

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS there never enough seating when friends Cofn. The order in which author Nancy come to hang out? Fleming lists these ingredients gives you a clue to • What do you want to be able to do in your their importance. Don’t be discouraged, though: For a garden at the entry to a new space? Make a list of activities, such as landscaping is easily done in phases, and nobody home on New York’s Hudson River, a natural rock formation is sitting around a fire on cool evenings, being gets it right the first time. If you’ve ever moved complemented by plants that feel able to entertain ten (or twenty) people the furniture around in your house, you’ll know as if they’ve sprouted naturally, outdoors, lying in a hammock and reading, that change is the only constant and everything creating a loose arrangement of hearing the sound of running water, or is a process. Luckily, this particular process is color and texture. growing your own salad greens and herbs. one that is universally valued and enjoyed.

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Spring Bulbs JACQUELINE VAN DER KLOET

From the moment I started my study to become and Spanish bluebells. Moist areas with more a garden and landscape designer, I have been light are great for striped squills and Camassia. hooked on plants. I already had my own garden Good bulbs for warm, sunny, and and loved to experiment with combinations relatively dry areas are crocuses, grape of perennial plants and small ornamental hyacinths, hyacinths, various Fritillaria like shrubs. Nature has always been my biggest crown imperials, tulips, and ornamental source of inspiration, and therefore I created alliums. An extra note on tulips: they are natural combinations by repeating mixtures the absolute queens of the spring garden, the of plants that grow well according to the long-stemmed variety as well as the botanical local circumstances of light, shade, moisture, tulips, which are closest to the original tulip. or dryness. The result was airy, frivolous The original tulip comes from the rugged combinations, different from the conservative high plains in Central Asia, where summers ones which feature one plant species per group. are hot and dry and winters are quite cold. My own combinations are different That is why all tulips always need a warm and inspiring because of the sequence in and sunny spot that is well drained. flowering periods, the shape and color of the Before planting your bulbs, make sure flowers, the texture of the leaves, and the that there is good drainage: you don’t want changing silhouettes that follow the actual your bulbs to rot in wet soil. The planting flowering period. depth is normally three times the height At some point I discovered spring- of the bulb. Putting the bulbs in the soil with flowering bulbs and decided to treat them in the their noses upward will give them a good same way I treated the perennials and shrubs. start, but it’s not necessary—they always will So I started to make mixtures of bulbs that find the way to grow. flowered from early till late in the season, each Plant your bulbs in time, way ahead one suitable for the various areas in my garden, of the first frost, and water them just after which range from deep shade and moist to planting: they need to make roots before the sunny and dry. The results were overwhelming: frost arrives to be frost-resistant. And finally, a range of long-flowering spring bouquets as a the way you plant is how you achieve a starter, before the perennials and shrubs begin natural effect. Mix all the bulbs that you have to flower; they were an early and very cheerful chosen for a specific area in a wheelbarrow, announcement of a new garden season. then take a handful of this mixture, scatter it The key to success? A number of rules, between the perennials, and plant them which are quite simple. First, start with a where they fall. This means that some of them small area in your garden, to which you want will be planted in small clusters and others Cheerful, frivolous, and elegant:

BJR44-12-2019 GARDEN DESIGN MASTER CLASS to add a mixture of bulbs. If this goes well, will be singles, farther away from the clusters— those words come to mind when then proceed with other areas. Make sure you and that is the way it should be! looking at this combination of pink choose bulbs according to the circumstances To get down into the numbers, I use lily-flowered tulips ‘Jacqueline’ and ‘Mariette’, dancing in a mixture of light and moisture. Good bulbs for shaded, the following per ten-square-foot area: of white geraniums (Geranium moist areas are—from early to late in the eight to ten bulbs of long-stemmed tulips or sylvaticum ‘Album’ and Geranium year—snowdrops, white squills, blue squills, larger varieties of narcissi; fifteen bulbs of macrorrhizum ‘Spessart’) and blue glory-of-the-snows, windflowers, most varieties botanical tulips or small varieties of narcissi columbines (Aquilegia vulgaris). of daffodils, corydalises, trout lilies, snowflakes, or small ornamental onions; three bulbs

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