Garden Design | Deborah Silver & Co.

One Man’s Garden

We had dinner over the weekend a the home of a good friend. Barry Harrison is a design principal with Art-Harrison, a interior design studio well known in my area. In addition to their interior design practice, they manufacture a line of fine furniture. Each piece is meticulously hand crafted and carved from fine hardwoods. Interested to read more? www.artharrison.net. Barry is a highly skilled designer, cabinetmaker and wood carver, as evidenced in his own garden. Years ago Barry spent some time at Ford Motor Company-he could draw an entire headlight assembly for a owner’s manual-free hand. Think this part through-a freehand drawing of a headlight assembly? His talents are extraordinary. As much a designer as he is an artist, one part of Barry’s garden began with this simple part-a galvanized steel hook that would hold clay pots.

Barry lives in an urban neighborhood on a very small piece of property. Every gesture he makes has to work-there is no room really for unresolved design. This corner of his driveway is just a few feet from the garage doors, meaning he visits this spot every day, both going and coming. The distance from the edge of his drive to the lot line at this back corner is 12 inches at best. There was no option for screening plants in such a small space, but there was an option for a screen.

This ingenious green screen began with four cedar posts, the tops of which he carved into a pair of guinea hens, and a pair of ravens. There was enough space to sink the posts deep into the ground. He engineered a series of galvanized metal plates and rods, which would hold the galvanized hooks shown the the previous picture.

The terra cotta pots were planted with succulents, and hung on the galvanized steel rods. The watering takes some time and attention, but the plants seem to be doing just fine. He’ll store the pots in his garage, or bury them in leaves for the winter. I admire this inventive and low tech screening that is also so great looking. The plants seem to be perfectly happy-spilling out of the downside of each pot.

His succulent wall is beautifully engineered-and beautiful to look at. Once he waters the top row, the drain water serves to water the row below, and perhaps the row below that. Given that the screen is only 6 feet tall, it can easily be handwatered. The succulents are not asking for much.

The rear yard is dominated by a gravel terrace, completely surrounded by water. Though the width of the water is slight, the pool is 24 inches deep on 3 sides, and 36 inches deep at the far end. This water depth, and the ability to swim in long runs, around and around, keep his koi happy. Youy would never know that a city park was just the other side of the bamboo screening. The structure at the far end of the pool serves a dual purpose. From this side, the wood and copper fountain with copper jets does a great job of aerating the water for the fish. This large, architecturally striking feature organizes every other element of the landscape.

A single stone sculpture on the gravel terrace keeps a small space from looking cluttered. Easy maintenance perennials such as baltic ivy, petasites, angelina, creeping jenny and ferns makes the garden easy to look after. The koi? Barry has a 220 acre farm in Kentucky-the koi he raises there are cared for by his parents, and shipped to dealers and koi afficianados all over the country.

The fountain recirculates the water in the pool. The placement of this feature on an angle to the corner of the property creates a small niche garden which features a series of pots, and some of Barry’s geode collection. But the star of the show, at the end of a stone path-a cast iron cow.

Even the smallest space in a garden can make a big impact. An inveterate collector of vintage and antique objects, I am sure he spoke for this sculpture without hesitation. This vignette is almost all of the way to another space-the garden shed.

Barry’s fountain doubles as a garden shed, which holds most of his tools, pots and soil, in addition to the filtration system and fountain assembly. This very utilitarian space is completely hidden from every vantage point in the rear yard landscape.

At the opposite end of the garden-the air conditioner. The air conditioner is under this painted wood obelisk, yes. One panel is hinged, and folds down, making service a snap. In the top of the obelisk-long handled gardening tools.

The view out of the back yard-another view of that succulent wall.

The house and garage meet at an angle in the back, near a pair of doors. A giant painted oak box with a steel tuteur is the only nod to the garden in a fairly large paved space. Only Barry would think to faux shrink wrap an arborvitae in plastic, and place the steel tower over it. Not one branch got broken when the pot was planted. At some point, the plant will grow through the steel, and be trimmed flat. Clearly he is fond of making a few big gestures on his small property, rather than lots of little ones.

There are as many great ideas for a beautiful garden here as I have seen on on properties many times this size. Unlike a property which is defined by its boundaries, it’s hard to tell where unlimited creativity and imagination of this caliber might decide to go next.

Posted on: August 20, 2012 7 Comments

Breaking Some Eggs

An old client with a new house-it happens on occasion. As I have lived in the same house for going on 18 years, I did not envy them this change. The old house and the new house are quite similar in size-not so the property. They exchanged a very large, expansive, and private property for a city sized lot. The back yard was very small; most of the space was taken up by a lap pool. I knew we would have to break a few eggs before this landscape would pass muster.

A really beautiful and old multitrunked magnolia was moved to the front yard. We ditched a number of spireas, and a group of old and diseased evergreens. The iron fence between the drive and the yard was removed, and stored. At this point, the proximity of their house to others in the neighborhood became painfully obvious. How could we arrange some privacy? Privacy in an urban neighborhood is a relative thing. Buck and I were privy to the music played graduation party given by our neighbors for their daughter. We enjoyed that, but we also treasure our visual privacy.

The lap pool was dug out; the hole was back filled. We planted spruce along the back lot line, as we were able to secure trees with considerable height. Given that there was no room to maneuver a full sized tree spade, each tree was dug with a spade, balled and burlapped, then driven in and planted with the help of an excavator.

Those trees did a lot to screen the neighboring houses from view. There was precious little space left over with which to design, but the walkway from the detached garage to the house would be a well used thoroughfare. The walkway to the far library porch-equally important.

The stonework took a lot of time. The walkway to the sunken library terrace bumped out midway across the rear of the house. This radiused terrace would provide a stopping point should there be a party or event. No matter how small a yard, good and graceful circulation is important.

It seemed just about forever that this project was on hold, awaiting the completion of the stonework.

Once the stonework was complete, we created a landscape bed in exactly the same radius as the leading edge of the terrace. We planted a hedge of limelight hydrangeas-a favorite of this client. A housewarming gift of 500 white tulips got planted in a space which would eventually be a collection of white flowering perennials.

Great care was taken by the architect on this project to design a pergola which would connect the garage with the main house. The main function of that pergola-to provide cover in that walk from the garage to the house in inclement weather. My input-a clear polycarbonate roof. No need for them to feel they were walking through a tunnel. The pergola design got worked out. DeGroot Spire arborvitae were planted as a green wall between the driveway, and the back yard. They will tolerate the small space given to them, and will eventually be able to be pruned formally across the top.

The original iron fence and gates have been reinstalled. Today, there is no hint of what it took to transform this space.

Small spaces are very hard to design, as every square foot counts. There is no room for an unresolved issue or tentative solution. Every element has to work, with every other element. What you see here is the result of a client, an architect, the excavator who removed the pool, a stone mason, an electrician, a pergola construction company, the large tree moving and planting company, the air conditioning and generator people, the painters, and our landscape company-working together to produce a credible landscape project.

There is no hint now of any broken eggs. All of the discussions, revisions, and re-revisions are in the past.

Of course there will be ongoing issues. But there will also be ongoing pleasures.

This brick wall to the west-my client had no love for the look of it. She likes green. Happily we were able to plant ivy grown on galvanized steel screens. They are taking hold, and will cover this brick wall in no time.

I am very pleased that this landscape renovation, which started late in 2010, is finally finished. Big changes in a landscape take lots of time. Change lives on a diet of time and more time. I try to remember this.

Posted on: August 10, 2012 11 Comments

Filed Under: Landscape Design Tagged With: Garden Design, white gardens, Landscape Design

Sunday Opinion: Effort

I have been on the business end of a hose recently for what seems like a lifetime. A lifetime? Not really. The extremely hot weather Mother Nature has thrown my way simply means I have had to make an effort. Certainly an extra effort. Anyone who gardens knows that preparing soil for new roses requires great effort. Cooking compost requires great effort. Planting a hedge of yews, or a rose garden, takes effort. Any garden, on the best day of its year, that looks effortless, but is anything but. Making the effort is what makes a charming garden stellar. A thoughtful landscape remarkable. A simple gesture, fueled with great effort, can be extraordinary.

Anyone who gardens knows that the work of a garden is never done. That work can consume every ounce of effort you have available, and then some. Once you catch your breath, some other surely labor intensive project beckons. All that is required is your committment. Committment is a fancy word for effort-I will translate. Significant effort is what makes for a great garden. The best effort? The best garden. Effort that makes your hands and back hurt-I am sure you are familiar with it. Anyone driven to plant a perennial border of note, or a landscape that enchants, has already come to terms with, and signed up for, considerable effort. That activity driven by effort makes you sweat all over.

I would call landscape and garden design the anticipation of a great effort.

The impulse to devote great effort implies, and results in the the laying out of the beds, the edging, the planting of the beds, the watering, the maintenance. For established gardens in my zone, effort this minute is all about supplying adequate water. Every week, every day, there is something in my garden that asks for my effort.

Effort fuels the impulse to move things around. The energy to make changes. Once I commit my effort, I sort out and think through all of the options. No idea can stand on the strength of a thought. A great idea is no idea, unless there is a mechanism for expression.

All of my efforts, given this extraordinary heat, are directed towards keeping everything alive. I am watering the roses, the trees, the containers-suffice it to say that I am watering. On any given day, the best of my efforts may be directed in response to a specific challenge. On other and more quiet days, my effort might make for a design that might mean something.

My advice? Make the effort. You will be amazed, at the end of a gardening day, how good that effort feels.

Posted on: July 1, 2012 5 Comments

Filed Under: Strictly Opinion Tagged With: Garden Design, Landscape Design

Monday Opinion: Depth

From Roy H Williams: “According to String Theory, what appears to be empty space is actually a tumultuous ocean of strings vibrating at the precise frequencies that creates the four dimensions you and I call height, width, depth, and time.” I know, it takes time for a sentence like this to sink in. Should you truly be interested in string theory, I can say that Steven Hawkings has more than a passing interest in it-check it out on Wikipedia, and read on. I have a much less scientific interest in this theory. I have more of an interest in depth as a key element of good design.

Landscape design is much about numbers and measurements. The height of a pergola and the width of a sidewalk, the turning radiuses of UPS trucks, the angle of the sun in the fall, grades, fall, drainage schemes, the angle of repose, ppms of fertilizer, the plants needed per square foot, the face feet of stone required, the longevity of certain species of trees, the composition of soil, proper planting practices, and scale drawings-the accumulation of knowledge of these things begins to make for a design judgment with depth. The more “strings” I can become familiar with means I am one step closer to a “tumultuous ocean of strings”. I am thousands of strings short of a Kathryn Gustafson or a Beatrix Farrand, but I have accumulated a few strings along the way. I doubt I will ever understand the scientific meaning of strings, but I can understand how many different threads woven together can create something new altogether. Given a little poetic license, imagine how a great landscape that is a tumultuous ocean of strings might go on to makes an utterly memorable and emotionally charged four dimensional sculpture. Sensational-yes.

The depth of the ocean is not really so much different an idea than the depth of a person’s knowledge. Though it is so easy to look up the cultural requirements of hellebores, possessing depth on the subject means growing them, over and over again, in lots of different environments. Should you wish to grow gorgeous hellebores, put your hands in the dirt. Or find someone whose hands will gather that knowledge for you. Given this, my most trusted source on the subject of choosing perennials for a particular place is a grower who has grown many hundreds of thousands of plants in his career-both at work, and at home. His depth is vastly greater than mine. Once I have heard his string, I may accept it, or move on.

There are those times when making a right choice about which plants to use is not the best choice. Some out of the ordinary plantings are worth taking a chance on. This means that the string which is about the scientific choice is reverberating with a string of another sort. It might be a visual string, or a string about memory, or a string about geometric relationships. This may sound like loads of gobbledegook, but the chance that it may resonate is just as great. The depth of any gardener’s life, knowledge as aspiration, makes for quite a stew. The same is true for garden designers. If you are a gardener looking for a designer, see how many strings they have to put to your project. See if your strings will harmonize with theirs.

I have posted, and have more posts to come, involving schematic plans. I rather dislike landscape plans with too much detail in the beginning. It is a rare project that takes me more than 8 hours to conceptualize. How so? Clients have every right to expect that I have depth in design and horticulture. That I am educated, and keep up with what is new. The depth of my understanding of their needs and requirements for the landscape-they need to assess that on their own. But they can expect that I have experience. That I will know what visual and horticultural relationships work. And all of those numbers-I know them. I provide an overall idea in a conceptual plan, given how I hear all the strings resonating in concert. A client, should I manage to interest them, responds by stringing up an instrument all of their own. All of the details come from their strings. They need a kitchen garden here, and not there. They like this stone-not that. A place to plant with their kids-where will that be? A place to entertain family. A memory of a certain tree, or a certain garden. An idea of what beautiful looks like. It is the relationship forged over these details that makes for that tumultuous ocean of strings. Not everyone knows how to create or facilitate that, but everyone knows what it sounds like.

Listen to see if that idea for your garden rings true. Is there a depth of strings reverberating? Any move in a landscape or garden that is more about a look than a life that has depth will sound like a spoon hitting a tin can. You’ll know when you need to invite a few more strings to the concert.

Posted on: April 30, 2012 5 Comments

Filed Under: Landscape Design, Strictly Opinion Tagged With: Garden Design, Landscape Design

One Man’s Garden

Breaking Some Eggs

Sunday Opinion: Effort

Monday Opinion: Depth

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