Planting Gardens with Year-Round Interest

Gardens should not stand still. 

They move, they grow, and they need help to reach their full potential. As designers, we hope to capture as many beautiful facets as possible through the selection and placement of our plant choices, but how do we do that? 

One great place to start is by planting with all four seasons in mind, what we call a garden with structure. This means that even when spring flowers have faded, interest remains, and we plan for that interest to continue. This takes practice and good knowledge of local, viable plant material, of course, but starting with the structure first will ensure the garden serves visitors year-round. Here are some things to practice:  

Understanding what blooms when: early spring and late spring can be quite different; late summer and early fall the same. Noticing that certain plants (depending on their origin) show off at different times for different reasons creates opportunities when selecting plant varieties for the final design. A good example is Lagerstroemia indica, also known as crepe myrtle; this mid- to late-summer-blooming tree can have a spectacular show of flowers when most other spring flowers have already left the garden. Take time to notice when you see something you like in bloom, and note what part of the year it is in.

Plant for texture first, flowers second: I like to think of texture in the garden and visual noise. But we typically spend more time with a plant's foliage than its flowers. So when selecting a hedge or series of small shrubs, ask yourself: do I like this when it is not in bloom, and can I contrast it with other foliage/textures to provide visual strength and variety?  Once you start seeing plants as foliage first, the flowers become a character in the story, not the main character. One plant genus grown almost exclusively for its foliage and texture is Acacia. From cool geometric blues to sharp, fine greens, this genus includes several medium- to large shrubs that can really add diversity to a garden's overall texture and character. 

Plant with change in mind: a garden planned only to look good during peak seasons misses opportunities during dormancy or transition. When a deciduous tree begins shedding its leaves, the color and seed pods can be an amazing show. When a sage is done blooming, the dry stalks provide many moments for birds to feast as the sun begins to lower in the sky. Fall and winter in a garden can be a time for reflection as we wait for the promise of spring. The leaves, seeds, and change are all part of nature's beauty. A good example is Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), commonly called Xmas berry because of the bright fruit it produces in December. Another plant that shows off during the winter is Sangu Kaku Japanese Maple, also known as coral bark. Its warm yellow and orange branches hold the eye long after it sheds all its leaves. You can design these attributes the same way you would a large amount of lavender in spring, using them as rows or backdrops in a larger setting during the slower months.

Play with contrast and repetition: Contrast in the garden can come from color, texture, or both, and it adds visual interest. Repetition, on the other hand, keeps the garden from feeling like a tangent without its own identity. A few plants that give the eye pause and create contrast are like using the horse in chess; while it may feel weird at first, it can do what no other piece can and therefore serves a specific purpose in shaping the visual landscape in a good way. Repetition, on the other hand, soothes; it plays on our desire for uniformity and order, and it can also be achieved through color and texture, even if the plant species are different. For example, using a fine chartreuse grass in one part of the design might transition to a fine-leaved chartreuse shrub later in the design. The conscious mind might not even notice, and that's okay because it's not meant to be loud, but rather a subtle play of senses that the landscape we are in is reiterating itself. On the flip side, a plant like Euphorbia wulfenii can make our eyes pause and soak in the large, conical green flower heads that appear, or its rosette and spiraling blue/green foliage, bold and unlike its surroundings.  

A garden is many things, but it should not be boring; we design gardens to connect people with the natural world, but a realistic garden laughs at itself, knowing it is neither entirely natural nor artificial. It is a human-made space where we live our lives and reflect on what nature is and how we are part of it. To shape and change things is natural to us as humans, so the goal is to create a garden that defies not death, but indifference. Beautiful things that inspire us and keep rekindling our deeper, best selves.

Creating a Sense of Privacy

After almost two decades of helping people with their personal homes and outdoor spaces, one thing has come up time and time again…Privacy.
Unless you live in a very rural area, chances are you have neighbors who live close by (sometimes too close for comfort) and share a side of your property line.

Time and time again, I will come out for an initial assessment and find that one of the top clients’ needs is privacy, usually addressed with a fence or vegetation. They will express the need to feel a separation of space, whether visually, physically, or both. That need is totally understandable; no one wants to live in a fishbowl or feel like anyone could walk right in at any time.

The challenge is this: whatever we box out, we box in, meaning that if we build a wall, fence, or grow a dense hedge around the entire property, we might create more problems than we solve in the long run. While there are situations where a complete, opaque boundary around a site is necessary (for example, with dogs and toddlers), we have found that most people don’t want to be completely cut off from what is happening outside their home. That connection to the larger view, the community neighborhood, or even the street, can be a meaningful part of why they choose to live there in the first place.

Most of the time, what people need is a SENSE of privacy, meaning the ability to have meaningful borders and clear separation of space, both physically and visually, so that we can relax and go about our business. Unless we are celebrities trying to avoid the paparazzi, most of us don’t need a Hollywood hedge.

So how do we solve this dilemma? What are ways to create privacy without imprisoning us in our own landscape?

Here are at least 3 ways to begin solving this design issue.

1) Height: Most of the time, when we need a boundary, it can be 36”-48”; this is the sweet spot. It can be a fence, a wall, or even a hedge, but visually, 3-4’ gives us a sense of separation without a complete visual block. It's enough to block the view of the road from the front door, but still enough to see who just pulled in. It's tall enough to feel secure but not so large as to feel like a security measure.

2) Transparency: Most fences are built with the pickets pushed right up next to each other to create a 100% visual block, but what happens if we introduce a 2-3” gap? Whether horizontal or vertical, this allows light and color to pass through in ways they couldn’t before. Same with planting: do we need a solid hedge, or can this be more of a mix of shrubs and tall grasses to play with and break up what would otherwise be a rigid edge? Adding some transparency loosens a border without compromising its integrity and function.

3) Layering: Too often, we think I need a fence or some planting, but not both. But when we combine these two, we get great results. For example, maybe there is a need for a gate. The gate looks a little odd, so some fencing is added to anchor it in the space, but after running the fence the entire length of the border, the cost is starting to eat into the budget for other things. Instead, a good solution would be to have the gate and perhaps a few sections of fencing on either side, but begin to lay in front of and/or behind some planting. Once the fence ends, the planting can continue the work of separation at a fraction of the cost while still feeling visually appealing.

While each site and client is unique, these are some great ways to begin defining an outdoor space without disconnecting ourselves from the landscape beyond.

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Process - Act One: Beginning

What is Design? What makes a good designer? What are the things that he/she does that differentiates them from the rest? These are questions I have asked myself many times. While I don’t claim to have complete and definite answers, the one word that comes up, again and again, is process. Being a creative person is great, I can still remember being very young sitting down, taking a box of crayons and drawing for the first time. The only limitations were the materials themselves. My mind was untethered to any thoughts of outcome, comparison or even procedure, it was free and spontaneous. What does a child care about those things anyhow? The beginner's mind was wide open to any and all possibilities. 

Fast forward to adult life, I am a licensed Landscape Architect. My creativity and ingenuity are a large part of my livelihood. Time is of the essence and so is the budget. It is not enough for me to just draw or is it? When I first began the practice of learning to design I was amazed at how freely my teachers, employers, and mentors would draw. The so-called napkin sketch, quick, rough and even ugly was where it would begin. Downloaded in real-time right before my eyes an idea, a detail, a thought. What seemed like a random act was actually rehearsed and well-practiced, this was the beginning of their process.

If showing up is half the battle then this was it. I had been given the key that unlocked the door and inside was a cornucopia of ever-changing furniture. From CAD to 3d modeling software to Photoshop there is an endless array of tools at my disposal. Ultimately though it is that first idea and gesture that begins it all. In the words of one of my beloved teachers- “no software will ever teach you how to think”.  

Designers think with their hands. No idea is so great that it can’t at least begin on a piece of trace paper. The true value of that thought will be weighed in time through a myriad of checks and balances (more on that later) but for now, no one can read my mind. The beginning is all that is required. A few small scribbles on a page like a kid with a box of crayons.