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A Garden Room

It has been four years anyway since I made my first visit to this property-and I know I did in the past discuss some of the landscape issues involved that prompted my client to call.  She is a busy executive with little time to fuss when she gets home, but she loves everything about relaxing outdoors after a long day.  The terrace was small, and the landscape not so satisfying. The landscape company which keeps up with her commercial properties came in on occasion to spruce things up.  The biggest eyesore was a gravel and rock area that made a big visual discussion of a drainage area. 


We greatly enlarged the terrace, curving the front edge out into the yard. After the installation of the terrace, we regraded the ground around it in a graceful way. The poor drainage we dealt with-underground.  We got rid of the rock edging, and painted the garden furniture a dark bittersweet chocolate color.  She bought some containers for her terrace.  These are just a few sentences that describe a big chunk of work.

We added a fountain, and perennial gardens off the terrace-views to something from inside and out.  But one problem yet remained.  The terrace is in full sun all day long.  This sun is not so condusive to relaxing, reading, or entertaining.  We began to talk about a pergola.  A pergola not only encloses a space, and provides structure, it can provide some welcome shade. A pergola can transform an outdoor space into a garden room.  They can provide a framework upon which to grow plants.  Big vines, such as wisteria or grapes need very sturdy structures.  Friendly vines such as clematis, Dutchman’s Pipe, honeysuckle and the like are just greatful for the support.  Tall lax growing plants such as climbing roses are lazy and sprawling-a pergola can introduce some order.  But my client was interested in shelter-some shade for the space that would make it more comfortable.  

I designed a very large pergola, some 15 feet deep, and 20 feet long.  It covered the better part of the terrace.  The design is simple; the detail repeats the X detail of her upstairs balcony terrace. It took Buck quite some time to design how to build it such that it would be perfectly rigid and sturdy. It took even longer to build; the main 20 foot long truss was built as a single piece, for strength.  This volume of steel is incredibly heavy; he has a bridge crane that will lift 5 tons.  He straps the steel pieces to a giant hook; the crane moves the pieces into position so he is able to weld.     

Outside of the main truss, the rest of the pergola was built in sections, so it could be transported relatively easily, and assembled on site. GP Enterprises, with the help of a miniature loader, enabled the assembly to be done safely.  One machine to lift pieces aloft-lots of people to guide, steady and bolt.  I so regret not being there to watch the assembly-I am sure it was quite an operation. The entire installation took 5 hours start to finish. 

Her spring pots still look great, but I am sure we will plant them differently now that she has a garden room.  This pot could easily be a home for a morning glory, or hyacinth bean vine.  Malabar spinach would run wild over this roof.

We plan to plant perennial vines, but that will take some time.  I made the suggestion that a fabric roof panel might provide some instant shade while the planted roof is growing in. 


It will take some time for this very big object to be assimilated into the space.  Every gardener knows a garden is a work in progress, and that spaces evolve.  When I first met her, I do not believe she spent much time outdoors.  Some years later, I think she is very excited by the prospect of outdoor living.  From the first picture to the last-there have been a lot of changes made here-all of them for the better, I think.

Posted on: May 28, 2010 Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Landscape Design Tagged With: , ,

Michelle Masters

I am not really sure how I ended up at Michelle Master’s website, but I am sure it had something to do with the fact that I love landscapes, gardens-and all of God’s creatures. That is, except for slugs, snails, Japanese beetles and woodchucks.  Michelle is a very talented watercolorist, who has put her talents to use designing notecards, linens and fabulous etceras featuring her art work. We plan to carry all of her work-as soon as this current project is in production. After many emails back and forth-I sent her photographs of my corgis.  What came after that-check it out.  Milo is thinking he needs an agent, and Howard is embarrassed by the whole affair.  This post-a welcome relief from all the heat.      www.michellemasters.com/blog

Posted on: May 28, 2010 2 Comments
Filed Under: Good Design Tagged With: ,

Pots And Boxes

Pots and boxes-this client has plenty.  Sixteen window boxes on three sides, of the house, and close to thirty pots. It is the better part of the day start to finish to get then dressed for the summer.  The shopping and transport is time that doesn’t show here.  This plant comes from that place, and that plant from somewhere else miles from stop number one.  There is the loading, the driving and the unloading.  But the big story of this entire week’s planting-the heat.  I call 90 degrees since May 21st extremely unseasonably hot weather. Making sure the plants survive in spite of their very small rootballs, a time consuming challenge.    

This gorgeous pair of Mital terra cotta pots handmade in Impruneta Italy on attending plinths are giant sized.  Placed outside a small side terrace, they add a lot of punch to a large drivecourt near the rear of the house.  The banana in the center will grow to a substantial size.  Fisdh and bananas have this in common-they will grow according to the size of their environment-whether that be water, or soil.  If the heat we are having persists, this pot will grow fast.

The side terrace is home to a collection of glazed French terra cotta pots.  Sonic New Guinea impatiens will thrive in this spot; the light is strong for 6 hours a day.  Flanking the couch, a pair of lime irisine grown in tree form.  Sporting green and lime leaves atop red voilet stems, they have a distinctly tropical feeling.  They will have to be pruned regularly, as they grow like weeds. 

This is one of the most beautiful pools I have ever seen; the pergolas are stunning as well.  None of this was designed by me-I just plant the pots.  My client was the force behind the Italian pots-he likes them.  The DeGroot spire arborvitae spend the summer in the pots, and the winters in ground.  They are a reasonable approximation in shape to Italian cypress. If I could petition nature to let just one plant run around the hardiness zone rule, it would be the cypress.  As sculptural as they are stately, they bring Italy, and Italian gardens to mind. 

The color scheme this year-yellow, lavender, purple, white-and cool green.  The pots have lots of variegated licorice.  This green of course is a nod to the starring figures-those 6 Degroot Spires.  Most of the color is not so evident yet-the plants have a lot of growing to do.  Yellow and Vanilla Butterflies argyranthemum are lively, mixed. Popping up between them, yellow and white dahlias gallerys series dahlias. 

Pool decks tend to be very hot places; white in the composition keeps everything looking cool and fresh.  The trailing verbenas have shed their penchant for mildew; the Lanai series is particularly healthy growing.  If they are kept deadheaded, they bloom nonstop long into the fall.  This very dark purple reads well in the company of white petunias. 

This picture in no way reveals that it was cooking hot on that terrace-you will have to take my word for it. The window boxes were especially challenging in that heat. All of the plant material had to be hauled up our extention ladder. This kind of planting is not for the faint of heart.  

It is finally warm enough to bring the heliotrope out of the greenhouse.  This new lavender variety is especially attractive. I am sure you can tell that I like it-I used lots. 

An old iron trough is planted with black leaved orange cannas, and black leaved Fascination dahlias. Wild Lime coleus, Tricolor and Caliente orange geraniums add an unexpected dose of hot color. These big individual cabanas could use it.  

There is much that is yet to come for this terrace.  I can see the pots grown in, and people in the space.  Lovely.

Posted on: May 27, 2010 6 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Design, Garden Ornament Tagged With:

A Lawn Panel

Would that the only thing on my mind were the flowers-so fabulous.  OK, I take that back.  I love nothing better than a landscape that has been designed and agreed upon, under construction. Last July I finished the design for a client who purchased an adjacent property, and required a landscape design that would take their property and and a planned addition on an adjacent property, which would meld them together gracefully.  My plan called for a lawn plane over 120 feet wide, spanning both properties, that would erase any visual reference to previous boundaries, and make whole, what was once separate.   

The rear yard on the river was a study in irregular terrain.  It would be off limits to me, given my new knee.  People friendly spaces require level ground-do not forget this.  Should you want to make your guests and your family to feel comfortable-give them level ground.  Though it is the toughest job on the planet to convince a client that the grade of the land might be the most important landscape gesture they might make, my clients had not one problem grasping the concept.  The drawing I submitted to them was simple; the work that would be necessary to get there-complicated, long,  and exasperatingly involved.

Every square foot of existing grass was scraped up, and hauled away for compost.  Not pictured here, the bulldozers, and dump trucks hauling and delivering soil. The rough bulldozer gestures.   The hand raking.  The checking of the grades.  We restructured the entire rear yard ground plane.

Every square foot of ground from the emerging addition to the water was revisited, regraded, and in the end-hand graded with giant levelling rakes empowered by the hands of my superintendent, Steve Bernard, and his crew. I had not one worry in the world.  I could drop him at a project and visit 6 months later-everything would be thoughtful, well executed-flawless. 

This past November, we sodded the grass plane.  The story of the construction delays-suffice it to say that we had plenty.  We closed down the landscape season on this project one very cold and stormy day.

Spring came-every last piece of sod survived Steve’s careful installation.  The grass plane was level, and intact.  Not so clear in this picture-the entire rear river side of the house and new addition had a sculpted piece of ground on which to sit.  In my mind, this was a considerable contribution to the unification effort, and a giant step towards a beautiful landscape. 

Per the drawing in the first photograph, this grass plane was bisected with gravel X’s.  These gravel lines are 12 inches wide, and precisely contained by aluminum edger strip. My client’s personal space-on the second floor.  This space not only will accomodate large parties and family gatherings on a level plane, they look beautiful from that second story balcony. 

Many months have been involved in transforming a construction site into a functional and beautiful landscape. A gravel walk traversing the entire walkway sits next to the lawn plane.  My client thinks it might suffice as a mini bocce lane-what fun.   


Progress-we have that.   See for yourself.  The final finish-we are closing in. This area will have grass tomorrow. The vegetable garden boxes are done and ready to plant.   Patience I have-should it involve a landscape or a garden.  I have three landscape projects out there now, under construction.  More to follow. This project-a dream come true.  Most projects involving lots of land and plants are slow to finish-as well they should be.  How slow they are to finish, given the change of the seasons, gives me the chance to look over, and edit  an idea. The natural turn of events-comforting.

Posted on: May 25, 2010 1 Comment
Filed Under: Uncategorized