Detroit Garden Works | Deborah Silver & Co.

A Miserable Affair

The boxwood hedge in front of Detroit Garden Works has been there 17 years. This collection of buxus microphylla koreana were Canadian grown. They had grown to a fairly uniform 3′ tall, and are every bit of four feet wide. Though their winter color was decidedly orange, they were hardy as could be. Just what I would want, given a southern exposure. Until now, that is. Though I was prepared to wait as long as it would take to determine the extent of the damage, dead boxwood is dead boxwood.

We have had an ongoing problem with the section for the past few years. A fungal infection of unknown name that was stubbornly resisting treatment. This past winter weather was the last straw. There was only one decision to be made. How long did I want to look at dead boxwood?

It was entirely fitting that the day we started digging out those old plants was cold wet and miserable. What made the situation even worse were those plants that were half dead. Take them or leave them?

There were 2 plants that were fine. Those we saved. It’s not clear yet, but we may have more dead plants.

Gardening is not for the faint of heart. There isn’t any way to run way from this level of trouble. The loss of any major feature in a landscape is tough to take on a lot of levels. A big tree that dies or is blown may leave an established shade garden without any protection from the sun. The loss of a focal point can leave a landscape with an aura of pointlessness. Hardy boxwood the size of this hedge is just about impossible to find. Or if it could be found, it would be astronomically expensive to replace.

Replacement may not be the best design decision. I prefer to look at this situation as a call for a new design. What will that be? I am not in a hurry to decide, as I feel the decision is an important one. The space will have something to say for itself, if I give that process enough time.

Today was only about removing dead plants. Looking at dead plants is worse than looking at the void they leave behind.

A new design will have to consider the entire space, as this hedge was just about the sum total of landscape. There may be more losses to come, as the days get warmer.

A pair of Buck’s boxes from Branch were put in place, to cover the raw twiggy end of the last boxwood left in the row.

I will be able to see the tulips blooming from the driveway for the first time. Being able to step back from them is a good thing. Shortly there will be a good reason to sit on that bench. There are lots of gardeners in my area facing the same thing. Every one of them will handle it in their own way. This day’s work was not my idea of getting out and working in the garden in spring. But it is the hand I have been dealt. Redesigning and replanting this space will be my pleasure.

Posted on: May 1, 2014 50 Comments

Filed Under: Detroit Garden Works, Landscape Design, Spring Tagged With: winter kill on boxwood

At A Glance: The Branch Fountain

To each and every one of you who left a comment about this new fountain from Branch, my sincere thanks. It was a sculpture that was months in the making. So much conversation. So much thought. So many members of the Branch group stepping up. All of us fell for this fountain. We are pleased that you like it too. This morning my colleague, friend, and director of landscape services for English Gardens, John Collins, brought an operator in on a Saturday, who drove his Volvo 6000 pound capacity front end loader several miles down Orchard Lake Road to Detroit Garden Works. Our front end loader could not unload and place this fountain. We needed help, and our good friends at English Gardens responded.

Branch spends some of the winter building containers, pergolas and fountains outside of our usual product line. The best part of a fierce winter at Branch is the opportunity to go beyond what we have already done. Imagination is like an ocean, water charged with energy washing up on the shores of what has been before. Branch manufactures a stock group of garden boxes, fountains and pergolas. But in the winter, we go off course, we dream, and we make what we have never made before. This winter work gets all of our blood moving, in spite of the cold. But my lame attempt at a poetic description of the creation of this fountain lags far behind the story and reality of moving an object that weighs close to 2 tons. John, and his Volvo, handled it with ease. I truly value the relationships I have with other companies in my field. English Gardens has many garden centers in our area. They speak to a broad spectrum of clients via their retail locations. They also offer and deliver thoughtful landscape design and installation. They are friends and treasured colleagues. I so appreciate that they would lend me a hand. On a Saturday, of course. All of us are busy working during the week this time of year. And especially busy, given how shy spring has been to make an appearance.

Once the fountain was in the general vicinity of its home, we set it down with the loader forks. We picked it up again with straps slung over the forks, to place it true and square to the wall.

Once in place, Buck and Sal saw to attaching the jet. The jet pipe was threaded by hand, and screws into the base plate welded to the fountain floor. The jet needed a secure installation, as it weighs close to fifty pounds.

Any fountain demands a perfectly level placement. Water levels itself with the horizon. A fountain out of level -not good. The water will talk about any mistake. We spent a good bit of time with a pallet jack and a level. Any fountain asks for as close to a perfectly level placement as possible. Leveling is the most time consuming part of a permanent installation. When filled over the top, the water should flow over every inch of the rim equally, and at the same time.

The Branch fountain has a rectangular housing for the pump. It has a jet in the same style, shape, and proportion as the fountain itself.

The rectangular pump cover encloses all of the workings of the pump. No one needs to see this. The fountain could be hard wired with a remote location for the pump, if an installation warranted that. But for now, it can be fired up by plugging it in.

This steel nest jet breaks the water falling from a very powerful pump. The music that a fountain produces is important. I could not be more pleased with the sound. It is musical, not at all metallic.

The fountain filling and the pump running – a moment I will not soon forget. There is such pleasure in bringing the construction to a close, and attending opening day. We have 3 other fountains just about finished at Branch. More on that when they are actually here and running. Buck says we will have them within two weeks. It has only been within the last 10 years that I have seriously considered water as a feature in the landscape. Now I would not want to do without it. No matter the size or scale, water in the garden is a pleasure. Bring on the ponds, birdbaths and fountains.

The Branch fountain is now on display at Detroit Garden Works. Thanks again for all the comments and calls-we all appreciate every one of them. Should you live nearby, we invite you to stop in and see for yourself.

Posted on: April 19, 2014 20 Comments

Filed Under: Garden Ornament, The Branch Studio, Detroit Garden Works Tagged With: the Branch fountain, Branch, Branch Studio, steel garden ornament, the Branch studio, steel fountains

The Spring Fair

Detroit Garden Works hosted the first day of its annual spring garden fair yesterday. In 2010, we decided to sponsor a spring fair for a a few good reasons. Rob has shopped overseas for Detroit Garden Works for 18 years. In fact, we just had a container from Belgium arrive a few days ago. In his travels, he has had occasion to attend garden fairs in a number of different countries, in spring summer and fall. The European fairs feature growers of plants, vegetables and fruits. Some fairs have chickens for sale, or mushrooms in season. People of a gardening persuasion have a chance to gather over a coffee and a little something to eat.

We are firmly behind celebrating the spring season. Michigan winters are long and hard. This past winter was a record breaking heartbreak. Once nature suggests that the winter is about to be over, we like to celebrate. Last year’s fair proceeded as scheduled despite very cold temperatures, and snow flurries. 11 vendors representing topiary plants, spring flowering shrubs and tree peonies, cut flowers, spring container plants, herbs, wildflowers, spring flowering perennials including an extensive collection of hellebore cultivars, tools, succulents, spring wreaths, dry and preserved materials-I believe I even saw a strelitizia in bloom.

Spring was in the air. Yesterday was the best weather we have had in 6 months. The day was marked by lots of sunshine, warm temperatures, and lots of smiles. Even though we provide valet parking as so many people attend this event, lots of people parked blocks away and walked. The day was that nice. If you plan to come to the fair today, and park your own car, be advised that no cars can be parked blocking the bike path that is a bridge over Telegraph. When in doubt, let the valet people park your car.

Of course there was plenty of talk about the ruins of our winter, but there is nothing like an incredibly bad winter to make the experience of the first spring day so welcome. Liberating. We had as many people outdoors walking the shop grounds as indoors. We’ll be open today from 14 to 4. If you have a mind to, come to the fair.

parrot tulips

pots of grape hyacinths

bunches of sweet peas

spring fair

daffodils and hyacinths

Juliet roses

potted pansies and violas

spring container planting with dianthus and violas

Come to the fair!

box of daffodils

cut pale pink parrot tulips with variegated leaves

the Weed Lady booth

cineraria and moss phlox from Bogie Lake greenhouse

pots of miniature daffodils

Spring it on.

Posted on: April 13, 2014 26 Comments

Filed Under: container planting, Detroit Garden Works, Spring Tagged With: spring flowering plants, spring fair, Detroit Garden Works

Moss It

The signs of spring in my area are still few and far between. I do have a few crocus just coming into bloom now – in April, for pete’s sake. My garden cannot be cleaned up yet, as a layer of ice still covers most of it. I have winter pots still so frozen in place I cannot take them apart. But I have other options for spring. As in planting pots for spring. We are in the process of planting lots of them for the shop. Shortly we will be planting spring pots for clients. I do have a love for mossed containers. Nature represented in both the top and the bottom is a very good look. Lining moss baskets has always been about the art of patching. Florist’s moss comes packed in cases of pieces. Some moss pieces are big and thick. Rob calls these moss hides. Some pieces are thin and small. A wirework basket may need a number of pieces of moss, stitched together via a puzzle of overlapping pieces. Any natural material comes in all manner of natural shapes, sizes and thicknesses.

One of our suppliers had the brilliant idea of attaching moss to a biodegradable backing. Don’t ask me how they do this-I have no clue. But I do know that mossing a wire basket just got a whole lot easier. For a round wirework container, Rob rolls the container in a natural arc across the moss mat. He marks that radius with a nursery marking pen. The marks describing the top of the container, and the bottom. That pair of lines create an arc. He cuts that arc big and wide- oversized.

That arc derived from the top and bottom of the container means that the moss mat fits smoothly inside the basket. Of course there is a lot of fussing. Anything in the garden that means much to a gardener requires the work of a pair of hands. A pair of hands on a shovel, or a hose, or a rake. As for my gardening efforts today, I am putting my hands to planting containers for spring.

Not that I do as good a job as Rob does. He has infinite patience. He eases the moss mat into place.

The bottom of this wirework container is filled with drainage material. By a third. Container plantings require more drainage material than soil. Waterlogged plants never prosper, unless you plan to pot up bog plants. A seasonal pot planting does well with bark as drainage material. Making sure that water can drain from a container is essential.

After the bark, the container is filled with soil. We use a soil mix that is custom blended for us. Lots of compost. A big dash of sand. And soil. We do not use peat based growers mix in our pots. Soilless mixes are perfect for professional growers who can manage the fertility levels and water to a tee. For gardeners, we recommend a soil based mix. We like dirt.

The upper side of the moss mat gets folded over. A rolled moss edge looks generously finished. That thickness contrasts beautifully with the thin wire that describes the shape of the container. That roll also helps to keep the soil right where it belongs-inside.

Once the wirework container is moss lined, it is time to plant the plants. For this pot, white tulips, white English daisies, and white variegated ivy.

Planting a pot no doubt involves design. Color, texture, mass-and a vision about the mature shape of the planting. But planting a pot is also about that magical moment. An idea. The plants. The dirt. The act of planting.

This mossed wirework basket-an expression of spring. An expression of spring? I expect both nature and every gardener to be making news, soon.

Posted on: April 7, 2014 15 Comments

Filed Under: Spring, container planting, Detroit Garden Works Tagged With: spring container plantings, spring pots

A Miserable Affair

At A Glance: The Branch Fountain

The Spring Fair

Moss It

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