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Photographing The Garden

A camera is one tool a gardener should not be without.  You will not remember what your garden looked like on June 2, when it is the following March and you are trying to put a plan together for the new season.  No matter how simple the device, a camera provides a valuable record of that which is by definition ephemeral.  No landscape has a pause button.  It is always changing. Some things I do differently every year. I want to remember what was. I am not a photographer; I take snapshots of projects under construction.  I try to photograph all the annual plantings-although this year I am way behind getting that done.    

I do believe that gardens are never wonderful every day, day after day, but they do have their moments.  Ursula Buchan’s book “The English Garden” is chock full of the most amazing photographs of gardens at their perfect moment.  I don’t always know when one might present itself, so I drag my camera everywhere.  The camera is a monocular machine, and records nothing of my emotional investment in my garden.  There are times when it can see better than I. It helps me to see what I may be missing, or figure out what I do or so not like.  If you are like me, it takes a while to sort out what you would want to do again, and what you might not want to repeat.      

These two irisine topiaries are very different shades of green.  One gets a little more sun than the other.  How plants grow is very much dependent on their siting.  Growing perfectly matched pairs of plants even under conditions you would think were identical is difficult. If you go back to my previous picture, you will see what I mean.  Uniformity of growth is an important issue to hybridizers for exactly this reason. These are the kinds of things that occur to me when I look at my pictures.  

Color in a garden is delightful.  Light colors read well and stand out against the dark greens that dominate the landscape.  Pale yellow, lavender and white is a subtly elegant combination, and is repeated in these containers in different ways.  It is hard to do any photographing on a sunny day.  If you are an accomplished photographer, you will know what to do to get your camera lens to squint-this is a skill I do not have  An overcast day will permit pictures in which the color is saturated, as the light is even all over.   

Window boxes that are up high benefit from a simple planting, as you see a mass from a distance, not individual plants.  Vinca maculatum makes a great trailer.  They grow very long; their chartreuse variegated leaves are large and interesting. When I look through the lens of my camera, I see things in a different way.  As a picture has four edges, it can help force me to compose.  There is something interesting going on at every level on or against this very tall wall. I have a picture of that. 

This wirework urn was planted with a single 10 inch basket of mini-petunias.  The plant is obviously happy with this location, and the amount of water is it getting.  I am also certain they are getting a regular feeding.  The vinca will reach the ground in another few weeks. I would plant petunias here again.

This iron cistern placed in a corner reds on its own, as it is isolated from the main terrace.  I have planted darker versions of the yellow and lavender.  On a whim, I added some orange bullseye geraniums.  Not everything needs to match.  The dark foliaged cannas look great with the stone and the trim on the house-this was not at all in my mind when I planted.  I have my camera to thank for bringing this to my attention. 

The planting in this Italian olive jar is pleasing in its overall shape, and growing robustly.  Set in a very shady pot, who knew the moss growing on the side of the pot would play such a big roll in the planting.   

Dahlias have dramatic flowers, but they come with with a lot of green leaves.  This picture suggests to me that maybe dahlias are better planted low, where the tops of the plants are the main view.  Or perhaps they need a plant will grow up in front of all that green without jeapordizing the health of the dahlia.  The flowers look like they are floating.  I have time before next season to figure out what would work better.  All of my snapshots will be a big help.

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010 Posted in Annual Flower Design, Garden Design, Tools, container gardens | 4 Comments »

Sunday Opinion: Two Hands

Two hands come standard issue. Lucky for all of us gardeners, but this familiarity makes it is easy to take them for granted.  My two hands are small, but they  have sixty years worth of use behind them.  They are a gnarly as any tree root, but what they are still capable of still astounds me.  They type the sentences for my almost daily posts.  I pet the corgis down with them every day, several times a day.  They hold a toothbrush, a paintbrush, or a watercolor brush effortlessly.  I put my clothes on, I tie my shoes, I put the key in the lock when I leave home-three fingers of one hand handles the steering wheel of my bus-the Suburban.  They unlock the door at work, punch in the code that turns off the alarm, fire up the coffee pot, feed the corgis, open the doors, shade my eyes from the low early morning sun. 

They are equally adept at working a zipper and taping trace paper over a mortgage survey. They can unscrew the top off the milk in the morning, and the sauvignon blanc much later on. With my two hands, I set the table for dinner, arrange flowers in a vase, carry the plates outside.  One hand holds the match that lights the dinner candles. That one hand goes on to hold my fork,  wave off an early mosquito, make my ear of corn available, put my napkin to my face.  The two of them tell the story of the day; Buck says I am always waving my hands. They scratch where I itch, they rub my eyes when I am frustrated or tired. 

They are the most amazing tool I have ever had at my disposal.  They grip my trowel at the proper angle.  They dig on their own, when the idea of locating and using a trowel leaves me cold.  I feel with my hands where a topiary plant needs a stake and a tie-no need to see.  Feeling what a plant needs gives you a leg up; I cannot explain what I mean by this.  I assess the texture and viability of soil, once it is in my hands.  I push the smallest of seeds into the soil with a finger.  I transplant with all ten fingers attending the occasion.  I prune, snip, deadhead, stake, divide, plant, water, feed, harvest, store, fast freeze.  My hands power my spade, my fork, my pruning shears, my hoe.  My garden tools imply, and require my hands. 

I can hold many precious things in the palm of my hand.  A seed. An earthworm.  The palm of a hand outstretched-a gesture of friendship.  The palms of two hands up-hello.  In some cases, they say “I give”.  Mostly they say welcome-and very glad to meet you.  Holding hands-a fresh and friendly gesture that dates back centuries.  What two hands are able to accomplish is formidable. The two hands of one person in concert with the 100 hands of fifty other people-a movement.

 Your garden’s biggest ally-your hands.  I do lots of work for clients that is much about ideas, and drawings.  It is of such serious importance to communicate ideas with a client.  My hands do their part; they draw.  They point out, they trace the edges of a composition, they explain. But real gardening gets done all over this planet, in individual gardens, given one person with willing hands. Hands dig, divide, replant, move-willing hands make the most beautiful gardens.

Take some time to think about how your hands endow your garden.  Look at those hands differently.  Those hands of yours that dig, waver, plant, maintain, entertain-those hands of yours that make for a life; I will repeat.  Those hands of yours are a treasure. 

I value what comes to mind.  I so value that I can think, assess, backtrack, move over, rethink, reassess.  But my most favorite and trusted tool-my hands.  I trust what I can get my hands around, what I can feel, what I can make work out, what I can shape-given my two hands.   

Successful design relationships are all about a group of hands that connect.  If a designer whom you are considering does not encourage you to shake hands-back off.  There is someone else out there that you would be happy to hold hands with.  Should you have a mind to design for yourself-pay attention to what those two hands of yours favor.  Should you be uncertain as to which oath to take, favor what your hands find true.  I am very sure every gardener planet wide puts two hands to their garden. My two hands-how lucky I am to have them.

Monday, August 2nd, 2010 Posted in Strictly Opinion, Tools | 3 Comments »

The Garden Hose

My most intimate conversations with my garden take place over the watering. Proper watering takes patience, and even more time. Time to really see what is going on. Time to shed the babble of the day, and concentrate on what is in front of my face. What I see while I am watering, and make note to attend to-makes my garden better. I resent being tied down to one spot and one task-but once I get over that resentment, I relax and tune in. I have an irrigation system, but it does not handle every watering issue I have. Were I able to design an irrigation system that could sense on its own when each individual plant needed water, deliver that water, and regroup for tomorrow or next month-I would be able to retire, afford houses with gardens all over southeastern Michigan and have a life casually looking after all of them in turn. Should I ever devise a method by which to intelligently install and maintain such a superior watering system, I would be able buy every photograph that Lynn Geesaman ever took of a landscape or garden. Since the chances of either of these scenarios coming to fruition are poor to none-I am left holding the hose. The garden hose. Since hand watering is a job, a good tool helps.

Michigan is surrounded by the Great Lakes-Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron are the biggest. Michigan is furthermore laced with inland lakes. We have an embarassment of treasure in water. I have been watering a bed of newly transplanted ferns by hand with the hose every other day this week-watching those drops drip off the fern fronds and into the soil says everything about the life that clean water affords all living things. Keeping all that water clean, a matter of pride and concern to everyone. The challenge lies in the delivery of that water. New cities, new neighborhoods, expanding populations-this is as much about the delivery of water as anything. It would be interesting to see a map showing where my water comes from, and how it is delivered and ready for me to use. Once in in the garden, my delivery system is the hose.

Does it not seem that given the long history of gardening, and the necessity of easily transporting water from a source to a plant, that a perfectly designed and executed hose would be available to me? My shop, and my home have no end of spigots, to which are attached 75 foot hoses. I hate each and every one of them. These heavy duty commercial grade rubber hoses weigh a ton-before they are full of water. They need to be long to reach the outlying districts needing water; dragging them, rolling them back up, and storing them is a colossal pain. They do not coil up easily; Buck says new hoses are directional hoses- meaning they roll up one way, and one way only. You must twist as you roll. The lightweight hoses (my preference) twist, kink, tangle and are otherwise unsatisfactory. They fail in the blink of an eye; the material splits if you look at it too long. A truck tire will crush the fittings. Dropping the hose on the pavement will put a fitting out of round just enough to leak all over you. New hoses-who chose that nuclear green for a hose color? All I want is a hose in an unobtrusive color that winds up effortlessly in the twinkle of an eye, that weighs next to nothing, dwith strong well made fittings that do not leak-am I asking too much?

I am not particularly adept given a discussion of mechanics. Clients who cannot sleep at night unless they have a licensed landscape architect on their project-I try to explain that engineering is vastly different than design. The design and manufacture of durable and serviceable hose fittings-who does this? Like a hairdresser needing the perfect scissors, the chef that needs a perfect knife-I need good hose fittings. Most I have tried leak instantly, or within a week or month. The hose stop valves are the devil to turn on and off. Even if I were to forgo any fitting with a plastic part, the metal ones perform poorly too. I despise having water leak all over me when I am trying to get water to a plant. A great hose-I have been after this Grail my entire gardening life.

Plants need water; no gardener disputes this. When the shop is busy, and I have a little less than an acre to water, the design of the hoses matter to me, and more so to Rob. The watering cannot be left to an amateur-there is too much at stake. A little less than an acre to keep watered is a big job; knowing when and how to water is a skill, and an art. Rob doesn’t mind the fire hoses, as they deliver lots of water in a short time. He is able to drag them, and he knows at what pressure to deliver the drink. Clients ask me-why do your gardens look so good? Rob waters. Would that we could find a better hose, with excellent fittings-and a proper wand.

Every season I try the new watering wands. In my dreams, I would want a wand that delivers an enormous amount of water, gently. Watering wands-I fall prey to all of them. This one has so many plastic parts, I am sure something will go wrong soon. For the moment, I like being able to turn the pressure up and down with my thumb-as I am watering. I am able to turn the water off with this feature-no need for a leaking stop valve. I’ll give it a try. Buck lectures me regularly about proper fittings. Fittings-who knew that a serious discussion of landscape work would involve little parts.

A hose reel is a big part. This one-our second, as the first version came apart and fell of the wall, holds 150 feet of hose. I have no need of such an apparatus at home, but at work, it is a necessity. Rolling up the hose is a workout, as the mechanism is not particularly smooth or well balanced.

My 2010 attempt to find a hose and wand suitable for my home garden is pictured above. I can hold all 75 feet of it with 2 fingers-this I like. The narrow diameter means it takes more time to water thoroughly; I am happy to put up with that, given that I don’t perspire heavily getting it from one place to another. It seems like the wand will be good-the metal fittings are substantial. This hose must have a giant metal spring inside-it has a life of its own. I am twisting as I roll it up. We’ll see if I fall for it-our hot and dry season is just about here.

Monday, July 5th, 2010 Tags: , ,
Posted in Tools | 2 Comments »

The Big Picture

I have been consulting with a client who has an existing landscape.  They know it is unfinished, and unresolved.  They gave me their drawing in tandem with a request.  We cannot really explain what is not working here, but can you help us get a little room for something colorful and lively?  I plan to help them.  So what do I not like about this drawing?  The drawing is not color coded. I can read lines, but I do this for a living.  A group of lines-not friendly to a client.  Would it not be good to differentiate the like trees from the grass from the like and the different shrubs?  A landscape drawing may make me think about the artful signature that is a line-but a landscape schematic needs to explain clearly its idea to its intended.  Where is the house?  What part is the driveway, and what part is the living landscape? Where will the tulips go?  Four rectangles at an angle strongly suggest the parking scheme-at least to me.  But where is the living and breathing part?  Where in this drawing is what will make architecture and nature intersect, beautifully?  Everyone wants to come home, and be glad for where they live-a good landscape plan fosters this.  A clearly drawn plan will show if this is working, or not.      

My client has no end of boxwood-strikingly well grown, and maintained.  Miles and miles of it.  Well grown plants do not necessarily make a coherent and beautiful landscape-I tell them.  I have plenty of personal experience.  My perfectly grown clematis, the hybrid known as  Sho-Un, was planted in a spot the most rank amateur gardener would avoid-what was my problem? Five years later, I had to move it-and in moving it, I killed it.  I understood my clients concern about changing up many miles of beautifully grown plants., but in this case, I think it is worth the trouble.    

The dominant feature of this entry landscape drawing is a drivecourt of monumental proportions.  I could stage a rock concert here, or a reception for four hundred people, and have room to spare.  As much as I admire its bold scale, it seems natural to key the landscape elements in recognition and reinforcement of the shape it describes. There will be no ignoring it.  It is large enough that a landscape feature could exist in that oval of paving stone, and not obstruct traffic in the least.

This photograph may give you a better idea of the drivecourt square footage in question. The center oval detailed in a different material from the rest of the asphalt drive was a good move. Nonetheless, we are looking at a giant space here.  A sweeping move of this scale needs friendly and solid company.  The existing landscape pays no mind, does not follow up a gesture of this scale.  The drivecourt as it stands-lonely.  The boxwood look very small, and not as visually important as they should.  Some larger growing plant element backing up that boxwood will add weight and visual heft. 

The walk to the front door needs to set a mood.  Hello, and welcome to my home-this idea does fine, for starters.  Beyond the welcome, that walk should represent a distinctive and strong hello.  A house is a very large object; the landscape should help sit that structure down onto the land.      

These gorgeously grown diamonds of boxwood are just that-gorgeously grown diamonds.   This shape and configuration is outside the language established by the architecture of the house,  and its attendant drivecourt. The drivecourt, in my mind, is all about beautiful curves, and not much about diamonds. What will I do with these boxwood diamonds?   

The original drawing is focused on the drivecourt, with no indication of how that landscape would sit on the property as a whole.  My perspective?   Every landscape composition needs to be detailed with all the edges in evidence.  The foreground space implies a midground space-and a far view.  I orient my drawings to the primary view-from the front door out. I redrew their landcape plan in an effort to make the house, drivecourt and landscape more harmonic, and less fussy.  What would you want to see every day? My idea-emphasize what is already there in such a way that the big picture is clearly stated. 

This drivecourt-of massive proportion and clear design-I have a mind to go along amicably, and reinforce its big statement.  The big statement in any landscape-I would advise you to figure out what that statement is, and go for broke-in support.  I come in contact with plenty of statements not of my choosing or design-this does not bother me in the least.  Any existing big statement implies consent.  I have no need to go back to the beginning.  I like to put my weight to any idea a client felt comfortable consenting to. If you have inherited a landscape, what are the strong elements well worth keeping? 

The both of them understood the difference between beautifully grown plants, and a beautiful landscape.  We spent the better part of two hours going over their issues.  Hopefully moving some plants, and adding a little of this and that will better serve them-and showcase all those beautiful plants.     


What they see, near and far,  should provide visual exploration of the big picture.

Monday, March 29th, 2010 Tags: , ,
Posted in Garden Design, Landscape Design, Tools | Leave Comments »

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