You are here: Home / Archives for Lighting

A Lighted Winter Arrangement

A request to turn a limestone fountain into a container for the winter is not the usual thing, but why not?  The dimensions were not overwhelmingly large. Nonetheless, 45″ by 45″ is a lot of territory to cover. The real test would be producing an arrangement of sufficient size to be properly proportional to the container. A fountain, that is. The client was also interested in a substantial lighting plan that would have height, width, and a good deal of intensity. We went for broke with four 140 light count light bursts. The light you see in the above picture would be magnified 20 fold in the dark. Incredible to believe that a lighting device drawing so little power could deliver so much light. And light 3 feet off the surface. Later we added 9 mini light bursts to the mix. Read on for details. The form is 8″ thick-enough to fill the entire watery area of the fountain.  And substantial enough to hold a five foot diameter light ring, and hundreds of cut red twig branches, picks, and greens. The hole in the center of the form? This gives the fountain jet a place to be, undisturbed.

A decision was made about what portion of the form would be twig covered. I do that based on my experience as a landscape designer. Designing landscapes means dealing with space, in all three dimensions. A tape measure and an instinct for proportion is the best I have to offer.

The red twig dogwood stems at the center would dictate the dimensions of all of the other elements. The light burst would be buried in this forest of twigs. The day time appearance of the arrangement is just as important as what happens after dark. David is particularly skilled at setting cut branches in such a way that the overall shape is natural and graceful. Perfectly shrubby. Perfectly ethereal. Love his work. By this time, the stems of the light bursts are beginning to disappear. He works with the lights on. Doesn’t that make sense?

A channel has to be created for the prongs and base of the light ring. Some stems are removed, only to be put back in once the ring is in the proper spot. This ring is 5 feet in diameter, and difficult to handle. We like to install it when the arrangement is partially done. We had a branch road map, if you will. It might seem intuitive to install the ring first, and work around it. But that ring is rigidly geometric – not the look we were after for the branches. We make the forest first, and fit that geometric light element into it. Forest first. Always. We could have used a second foam layer for the ring, but I am glad we did not. The ring is at the right height for all of the other elements, sitting in the main form. A second layer of shorter alder branches faced down the red twig. My client and I agreed that the picks she had chosen for the arrangement should be backed up by the more subtly colored alder. A triple layer thicket of alder created a place for the picks to be.

The stems of the faux picks disappear one by one into the alder. The color relationship between the red twig and the picks is made more subtle, given the transition provided by the alder.  Fresh cut alder branches are beautiful. The brown bark is punctuated by the green and red tips and buds. The branchy structure of these stems contrast with the mostly vertical red twig stems. The relationship in color, texture and mass between these two twiggy materials is a good one. Any natural twiggy material helps to integrate faux materials into the mix. Sometimes the best element to introduce into a winter arrangement is a little congestion. Some integration. Integrating materials in a winter container requires great skill. A patch of this and a patch of that, all over, can be very hard on the eye.

David came in early late this past week to assess how our lighting scheme looked. Four light bursts, and four sets of three mini bursts on the perimeter of the red twig seemed to be creating the light my client was after. The light ring reads strongly.

Once I saw this, I knew David had successfully combined a powerfully wide and tall lighting scheme into an integrated arrangement of both fresh cut and faux materials. I doubt I will ever forget this project. Or this picture. The integration of every highly structured element into a gracefully whole expression is a skill that evolves, one project at a time.

Karen is sticking the last of the greens here.

in the studio

loading the winter arrangement

Of course I was not happy that this arrangement did not fit into our box truck. Some landscape person of note one said, “No matter what truck you choose to buy, it will not be big enough”. The box truck did not have a big enough box.

We did eventually load the arrangement into Dan’s pick up truck. I think he was nervous about transporting this arrangement, but he never said so. It was a work day, as usual. Fortunately we did not have far to go.

the final touches by Karen

hooking up the lighting

The good and happy end of a project, no matter how small or big, is cause for celebration. Am I celebrating?  Yes.

Posted on: December 9, 2019 31 Comments
Filed Under: Deborah Silver and Co Inc, garden sculpture, Winter, Lighting, Holiday

A Tree Of A Different Sort

Not every holiday tree necessarily needs to sport needles, and have a cone like shape, does it?  We did have a request from a client for an alternative and more sculptural version of the traditional lighted tree. I was happy to oblige, given that senior Branch Studio fabricators Sal and James indicated they were willing to give me a hand. The three of us were able to find a pair of young and one sided Bradford pear branches that fit the bill. Once they were zip tied together, I was sure they would provide a holiday twig tree of distinction. What is James doing here? He is holding the tree assembly, waiting for Sal to get our client’s container ready to hold that tree. I call this holding the flashlight. When two or more people join forces to get a project underway, some hands are active, and some hands are on standby, waiting to participate in the next step.  A project like this takes more than one pair of hands.

Our client’s cast iron container on legs was astonishing beautiful. But the open steel ribs needed a liner. Of a mossy type. We do stock moss mat that is perfect for lining pots. But this pot, as heavy and sturdy as it is, was not road ready for a moss liner, much less a fresh cut tree. Sal and I talked over a plan to get the moss mat to sit tight against the pot at great length. In the end, I left it up to him, as well I should.

That liner needed to fit smooth and tight, without any wrinkles. Often what looks effortless and natural takes lots of time and effort to achieve. Sal and James cut the moss mat, and draped it in as best they could –  to follow the contour of the container. They went on to add a layer to the sides and bottom an interior liner of coir mat that we buy on large rolls. The coir is fairly rigid and thick. It would provide some stiffening to the moss mat that would be visible on the outside. The green landscape tape on the outside? Written on it is the clients name. We have a busy studio this time of year. A mix up would not do. We have the notes from the client’s visit to Detroit Garden Works. David visited her residence, and took pictures of the location for this tree. Those pictures were always in view during the fabrication. Making sculpture in the studio for a specific space has inherent problems. Every maker has to keep the installation site in mind. We tag, flag, and review the pictures many times over the course of the making.

The only requirement is a well lighted space, lots of materials and tools, and some time. The form that would hold the tree would have to be built from the bottom up.

The moss mat exterior fabric lined with an inner layer of coir was not going to stand up on its own. Sal cut disks of foam slightly smaller than the interior diameter of the pot. He cut every disk in half, and hollowed out a spot for the tree trunks. Once the moss mat and coir was in place, he drove long wedges of foam into the space between the half discs. This pushed the outside circular edge of his disks tight against the walls of the container. Genius, this. He and James built an interior foam framework that would hold that tree, two inches up at a time, from the bottom to the top.

James injected the hot melt glue that would secure the tree in the foam form inside the pot.

Joe and David and I stepped back, and advised about the tree stems being perfectly vertical. We only had one opportunity to get this tree standing up straight, as once the glue cooled, there would be no moving it.

Once the tree was secured in the pot, Sal and James wound the branches round with lights. Of course a holiday tree needs lights. These cherry lights sport globes of a decent size, but the light is soft.

Near the end of the lighting part of this project, I can clearly see that Sal and James have been spot on with the execution of this project. The size and scale of the tree was good, and the pot looked great lined with moss.

The two of them attached 38 overscaled glass drops to the branches of this tree. That would be the only ornament on this holiday tree. At the end of the day, this twig tree was ready to load up and deliver.

David provided the final touch – a top dressing of short magnolia branches to cover the foam form. His take on how to place and style the magnolia was appropriate to the container. And to its eventual home. Just enough of the trunks of the branches were still visible, giving the impression of that tree form.I will confess I came in very early in the morning, just so I could see how this twig tree would look in its lighted state. In my opinion, the fabrication was perfection in every regard. A natural tree that would dry, and keep as long as the client wished to keep it. The light would be soft and glowing, perfect for an interior placement.

Sal and James made this, and they made it well. The ride in the box truck, tipped over onto a stack of bags of soil, and the ride up a freight elevator was uneventful. Best of all, the client is very pleased.

 

 

Posted on: December 6, 2019 17 Comments
Filed Under: Deborah Silver and Co Inc, Winter, Lighting, Holiday Tagged With: , ,

Flip The Switch

Our winter/holiday installations take place during the day. During regular business hours. But we do endow most every project with some night light. As much as we dare provide for. We guess as best we can about the placement and intensity of light in the winter containers. They provide both container and landscape lighting. Our zone has as much darkness as light over the course of the winter. This means the night view is equally as important as the day view.

The Lumineo LED string lights are an innovation that has made for just about worry free temporary lighting outdoors. They draw about 1/10th of  the electricity needed by incandescent light strings, But even though you can walk on the bulbs without breaking them, they do need careful handling. Each strand has a function box. Push the button, and a pattern of flashing or blinking lights can be all yours. Ha! Each strand also has a transformer, that dials down the voltage at the outlet. The wire going in and out of the function box, and the wire going in to the transformer can come loose, if it is stretched too far. We usually reinforce that connection with electrical tape. Early winter rain is the bane of winter lighting, as water and electricity do not mix.  Water that seeps into a function box and corrodes the wire inside can cause flickering, or an irreparable short.

Our electrician advised that we leave all plugs and connected open to the air, as encapsulating them in a zip lock bag means that any water that gets inside is trapped, and will not evaporate. Water gaining access to the connection between a plug and extension cord bodes ill. The fit of one to the other is not always a tight fit.  We generously wrap those connections with electrical tape. The best quality and stickiest tape we can find. We also prop up the connections so nothing rests on wet soil. We leave the tags on the lights.  They list how many lights are in a given strand, in case we do need to make a replacement.

A careful job handling the wiring means you can enjoy those lights all season long. We do run the lights around the clock. Timers can produce a surge of power when the lights go back on that can damage the string. The manufacturer recommends that given how inexpensive they are to run, dispense with a timer.

At 4pm, we have dusk, and by 6pm it is dark. As in black dark. Winter lighting can punctuate, highlight, and mitigate that dark.

the view from inside out

The view from the street is warm and inviting.

A pair of French pots dressed for winter

night light

The cooler toned lights in the greens, and the warmer white lights in the pussy willow and pine cone picks is especially effective at dusk.

This centerpiece has a 36″ tall light burst inside, which helps to illuminate the branches from within. If you have ever attempted to gracefully run string lights upwards inside a twig bunch, you will appreciate this innovation.So cozy, this.

lighted pot at the end of the driveway, 2018

My winter pots are last in line, as they should be. It doesn’t worry me much, as I know I will be driving up to something like what I had in 2018 all winter long.

lighted winter container

Detroit Garden Works lighted window boxes 2018

It’s the season for a lighted and lively recollection of the garden.

 

Posted on: December 3, 2019 8 Comments
Filed Under: Weather, Deborah Silver and Co Inc, Winter, Lighting, Holiday Tagged With: , , ,

Day And Night

My post from November 11 concerning the construction of centerpieces for winter pots included this picture of Sal finishing the job of strapping very tall red twig dogwood branches and red berry picks to a tomato cage. It was obvious that a centerpiece of this size was destined for a very large pot. The substantial centerpieces would set the tone, size and proportion for all else that was to come. But what is to follow next is not so much about the mass and proportion required by large pots, but instead a discussion of that most ephemeral of all landscape design elements-light.

Gardeners are very aware that every plant has specific requirements for light to thrive. A fern will not prosper in full sun any more than a succulent will prosper in deep shade. The quality of light in a specific spot in a garden can vary significantly over the course of the day. I will plant hellebores in sunny locations if I can provide them extra water. Some sun loving plants are still willing to perform in part sun. There is that dance, matching a plant to the existing light conditions. I have been guilty of pushing that envelope too far. I may want a plant in a certain location, but time will tell whether the risk I took is a reasonable risk. Too far over the light line, and I have a failing plant on my hands. Every living thing needs light, to one indeterminate degree or another. But placing the plants in proper light spots in the garden issue aside, everyone benefits from an extra dose of light over the course of the winter.

The winter containers are vastly easier to manage than a garden. The evergreen branches are cut. They will stay green the entire season, until warmer spring weather turns them brown. The cut dogwood branches will keep their color the entire winter, regardless of the light. Those branches may be inclined to push forth roots in the spring-astonishing, this. And the faux berry picks-they are faux. So the quality of light has no bearing on their performance. In sun or shade, they will provide visual service for years. The winter materials are not especially light sensitive. But we are! Winter container arrangements can provide any gardener with a spirit lift. I recommend them. An empty container over the course of the winter bothers me. I have no interest in being crushed by the winter season. I would rather find a way to celebrate it.

The quality of the winter light does affect people. Our winters are long, and feature snow, ice and wind.  But most significantly, they are gray. Even a sunny winter day is over by the late afternoon. For the entire winter season, we have equal parts of light and dark. Or equally parts of gray and dark. That lack of light is demoralizing, and can make even the most good natured person cranky. This is why we feel lighting the winter pots is an essential part of their making. They need to be beautiful day and night.

During the day, the color, texture and mass of a winter container provides visual respite from the landscape gone dormant. They push back against a garden that has gone quiet and frozen. It is not possible to recreate the spring summer and fall, but it is certainly possible to express remembrance. Every beautiful winter container makes me remember the beauty of the nature in full swing. The red twigs and berries are a welcome pop of color.

Dusk comes around 4pm every day in my zone. This is 5 more hours of dark than I have at the height of summer. Lighting in winter pots provide visual warmth, when there is little. They banish that relentless dark. They light the way to the door in a personal way. They can be an effective alternative form of landscape lighting. Night light is both cheery and dramatic. The invention of LED string and specialty lighting has revolutionized how we light pots. They require so little power that they are amazingly economical to run.

These pots at night are transformed by LED compact string lights. 1500 lights all on one strand that is 111.5 feet long. In the center is a Light Burst-a 3′ tall twig like contraption with moveable arms featuring an anchor at the bottom, and 240 brightly shining lights at the tips. Winter pots that are beautiful during the day need a mechanism for transforming them into their evening wear. This has never been easier to achieve.

Cozy as a campfire, these winter pots at night are every bit as striking as their daytime appearance. The pots do a great job of illuminating the driveway drop off.

electrifying, this.

Posted on: November 19, 2019 21 Comments
Filed Under: Detroit Garden Works, Weather, Deborah Silver and Co Inc, Lighting, Holiday Tagged With: , , ,