Garden Designers Roundtable: Designing with Native Plants!

Ask a dozen homeowners, or 20 or even 50, if they would like a garden of native plants, and you get a vast array of answers; “Yes I love having pollinators visit!” “Oh, I don’t have the right setting for that…” “My neighbors would never approve.” “What do you mean, like weeds?” It seems that when talking native, plants are automatically relegated to certain predispositions, too bad, because there’s more to native plants than meets the stereotype!

Here to shatter the myth that native plants are just a bunch of weeds loved only by tree huggers and liberal fruitcakes, are some beautiful stars of the garden. Plants that work well in many settings, doing the double duty of feeding the native pollinators, and winning over even the primmest of taste buds.

You may recognize many of these, but did you know they are native plants?

Very few trees can rival the amazing bark of Heritage River Birch. Able to tolerate wet soils, but widely adaptable, this moderate tree will garner many stares when placed near a walk or patio. Fall brings a wonderful yellow glow to the foliage, and the winter silhouette it very striking.

Heritage River Birch (Betula nigra ‘Cully’)

Does anybody not like the cheery aura of Black-eyed Susan. One of the most recognizable flowers of late summer, this native works well in both formal and informal settings, and is a long bloomer!

Black-eyed Susan (Rubeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’)

Another very recognizable native, is White Flowering Dogwood. It’s clean white bracts will brighten up a shadowy woodland edge, or star in the frame created by window pane. Later in the season bright red berries appear, enticing robins to bring their rhythmic call to the garden.

White Flowering Dogwood (Cornus florida)

Can you imagine a lovelier face staring at you from the middle of the perennial border? Rose Mallow, standing near five feet tall, does just that. At five inches across, the blossoms are visible from great distances in the garden, and are often filled with pollinators.

Rose Mallow (Hibiscus moscheutos)

There isn’t much color in the garden as autumn turns to winter, unless of course you have a plant that berries like Winterberry Holly. As leaves fall from tree and shrub, it’s just beginning it colorful display. Prized by both birds and floral arrangers alike, Winterberry Holly will put a smile on your face, when the rest of the garden has turned brown.

Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata)

The next three photos, are from the parking lot of Cabella’s Outfitters in East Hartford, Connecticut. Outdoor stores, have long been the place to find native plants. Seems natural to use native plants to recreate the atmosphere their customers prize most, the wild back country.  I wonder how many explorers see the great beauty in these plants and include them in their gardens.

Little Bluestem is a grass found throughout the country. It’s upright habit and bluish-green blades add a wonderful architectural element to the garden. In fall the foliage turns red-orange, echoing the color high in the canopy.

Little Bluestem Grass (Schyizachyrium sscoparium cv.)

You might recognize Eastern Redcedar, from the highway median, or from a hike through a meadow transitioning to forest, but have you ever considered it as a specimen in the garden. These cultivars rival the most handsome specimens of Hinoki Cypress, but will tolerate a wider range of conditions. Not bad for a plant whose berries are used to make Gin!

Eastern Redcedar (Juniperus virginiana cv.)

Here you can see three of our plants in the same shot.

Little Bluestem Grass (foreground), Eastern Redcedar and Heritage River Birch (Betula nigra ‘Cully”), in the background.

The picture was taken at “The Holy Land”… Dunkin Doughnuts. Switch Grass is another species found throughout the U.S., and lately has been rising in popularity thanks to new cultivars that produce beautiful foliage. This specimen, which I think is ‘Ruby Ribbons’, is the reddest of the Panicums. It seems to pull the red right from the ordering kiosk, doesn’t it?

Red Switchgrass (Panicum virginianum cv.)

So, there you have it. Several examples of native plants, and not a weedy sot in the whole bunch. It’s time to consider native pants in your garden, yes for their value to pollinators, yes to preserve native species as global economies bring in more and more exotics, but perhaps more importantly, because they are beautiful!

What do you think, have I convinced you to try more native plants in your garden?

After leaving a comment to tell me your thoughts on native plants, please visit my fellow Roundtable members, to see what they think of “Designing with Native Plants”.

Thomas Rainer : Grounded Design : Washington, D.C.

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

A New Source for Inspiration – Leaf Magazine!

Debut Cover Autumn 2011!

Where does one go to find find inspiration for outdoor spaces? Between television, books and magazines, the choices are many. A new entrant into the mix though, is poised to take the our senses by storm. Landscape and garden designers Susan Cohan and Rochelle Greayer have joined forces to bring us Leaf Magazine, a new digital publication about Design Outside and Outdoor Style that will debut on Monday October 17, 2011. Susan and Rochelle are talented designers who have inspired readers through their blogs Miss Rumphius’ Rules and Studio G, for many years.

The ongoing discussion in modern horticulture has moved toward new plant introductions, sustainability, and the slow-food movement (all worthy topics), but also in this discussion, design at times has found itself to be an afterthought. It may crown a champion though, in Leaf magazine and the considerable talents and design sensibilities of Susan and Rochelle. The early story lines we have seen are topical and intriguing, and the photos amazing. If like me, you love that intersection of design, style, living and the garden, you won’t want to miss Leaf Magazine. 

Here are some important tidbits from the Leaf Magazine press release!

• Subscriptions are free and can be signed up for here.
• A launch party will be held on Twitter on Monday October 17th at 6:00 pm EST, and is open to all. Just search for the hashtag #leaflaunch

The magazine’s mission:

Leaf Magazine operates at the intersection of great design and the great outdoors. Leaf is the leading online publication in a magazine format that provides design enthusiasts and professionals with inspirational and actionable editorial. Leaf connects its readers to products and ideas within the outdoor design market.

At Leaf we believe in…

•  great design and living well outdoors 
• the cultivation of beauty in the garden and beyond 
• sharing ideas that can be interpreted by all who love design 
• the celebration of creativity, originality and balance tempered with a sense of humor 
• honoring the land we live on by elevating it through thoughtful design 
• creating and cultivating on-line communities 

Disclaimer: Susan and Rochelle are friends and co-contributors of Garden Designers Roundtable, and that HAS influenced this post. Through many discussions, shared garden visits, and by reading their blogs, I have come to greatly appreciate their knowledge and critique of design. 

Garden Designers Roundtable: Getting from Here to There!

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

                                             ~ Robert Frost

Our topic this month for Garden Designers Roundtable “Getting from here to there” can mean so many things, but movement is at the heart of each. The experience of a garden is movement through time, movement through space. A garden is ever revealing, changing perceptions, altering the senses, and for me, a metaphor for the journey taken and the experiences gained as each of us travels the path chosen.

When designing a garden, attention to movement is essential to offering the visitor an experience. Where the path does traverse is so very much more important than the final destination or the materials used. Consider then the following:

Is it warm?

Inviting?

Is it dramatic?

Slow to reveal?

Does it lead you on?

Change your course?

Remind you of the past?

Transforming?

Does it make you wonder?

For me the journey is one I travel everyday, and find inspiration in the simplest of vignettes. How about you? Do the images connect to something more than just a garden path or a set of stairs, or is a cigar, just a cigar? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Please visit by the rest of the Roundtable bloggers this month and see how they are “Getting from Here to There”.

Debra Prinzing & David Perry:  A Fresh Bouquet

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Jenny Peterson : J Peterson Garden Design : Austin TX

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, 

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

Wordless Wednesday 9.21.2011

Inspiration can be found anywhere!

Landscape Challenges – Letting go of a wet lawn!

The lower area of our yard borders a wetland, it has been a difficult space to work with. The previous owners established and maintained lawn there for years, although I’m not sure it was worth their effort. Americans are funny about our yards and the amount of mown lawn area we think we need, and this area is a prime example. For the first eight or ten years, we made a valiant attempt to keep this area looking “respectable”. But as my thought process changed about the suburban landscape, and the direction my landscape design company would take, I began to see other opportunities for spaces like our wet lawn. Five or six years ago, after so many years of not being able to mow until late June or July when the soil dried out, an idea surfaced; Wet Meadow!

Our Meadow!

This section of lawn receives a good amount of sunshine, and borders a wooded wetland area. We decided to let Mother Nature have her way, and with a limited budget to work with, we simply identified a line on the uphill side of the area that remained dry enough to maintain, and stopped mowing below it. The border line follows the contour of the land, and is defined as a long pleasing natural curve.

Pollinators love visiting the Goldenrod!

We have done little else in the subsequent years to maintain the area, except to mow it once a year in the fall when the soil is dry enough to allow, and I am happy to report that Mother nature did not disappoint us with her plant selection. Aside from the turf grasses that were seeded there (now measuring in feet rather than inches), a wonderful collection of native species is present, and come the end of each July, August and September the meadow is ablaze with Goldenrod (Solidago sp).

Paths mown through the meadow allow visitors a closer experience

New York Ironweed (Vernonia noveboracensis) is also present, as is Boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum). The last two years have seen the arrival of American Elder (Sambucus canadensis), and the stands of Winterberry Holly (Ilex verticillata) that once were cut back on the woodland edge are now thriving in greater masses that explode each fall with bright red berries.

Boneset

Soft Rush (Juncus effusus) is growing throughout and adds a wonderful texture to the grasses. Unfortunately, as with many natural areas these days, several invasives have made their way into our meadow. Each spring gloves are donned and stands of Multiflora Rose (Rosa multiflora) are pulled and disposed of, as is occasional appearances of Common Barberry (Berberis vulgaris) and Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus).

Boomer certainly enjoys romping through the meadow!

So far with regular yearly effort these invaders have been easy to keep up with, but constant yearly vigil will be held. Our meadow is quite vibrant in late summer and autumn, but it is little more than green during the early parts of the year. This is soon to change however, as we will be planting a host of wet meadow natives in the coming years to extend the beauty of this area, and draw in many more species of wildlife.

New York Ironweed

The wonder of our meadow I fear, is lost on our family, friends and neighbors, and yet anyone of them that dared venture within when the meadow is blooming, upon hearing the buzz of thousands of pollinators, and watching hundreds of dragonflies and the many bird species that frequent the area now, would surely be won over.

Bluebirds have made the meadow their home this year!

Our suburban mentality and lack of understanding of the natural areas that surround us prevent us from experiencing the simple natural joys in life. Activities that excited us as children are long forgotten as we go about our hectic lives, but every once in a while, nature presents an opportunity to create spaces that remind us of her infinite beauty, if only we would let go.

Well after the season has passed, there is beauty in the meadow!

Do you have a problem area in your yard? Have you come up with a creative solution to dealing with it? We would love to hear about it! Please leave a comment, or head over to the Blue Heron Facebook fan page and tell us about it.

May you find simply joy in your garden!

Scott

http://www.blueheronlandscapes.com

Wordless Wednesday, 7-7-10 – Stone!

Capitalize on any Size!: A guest post from Kathy Moran of CedarStore.com

I am very pleased to introduce you to Kathy Moran of Cedarstore.com. Kathy is the first guest blogger to appear here on Blue Heron Landscapes, and I hope you enjoy the wonderful ideas she bring to us today! You’ll find more information on cedarstore.com at the end of this post, please pay them a visit.

An elegant arbor provides a welcoming place to sit!

Just look through any magazine for outdoor design ideas, and you’re bound to notice the trend toward turning patios, yards, and porches, into outdoor living rooms.  Often furnished as luxuriously as indoor rooms, some are even equipped with stoves and refrigerators.

After seeing so many pictures of these gorgeous spaces, many people give wistful sighs when glancing at their own backyards and patios, feeling that they’re too small or drab to have any such potential.  However, they needn’t give up so quickly, because there are many ways to capitalize on spaces of any size.  In fact, even those who have small porches or patios, and limited acreage to work with, can create charming backyard havens and outdoor living rooms.

A custom pergola transforms this patio into an elegant outdoor room!

For example, trellises, arbors, and pergolas can be strategically placed to define a specific area, such as a cozy hideaway in a corner of the backyard, a delightful niche for entertaining, or a secluded alcove in a side yard.  These rooms will have colorful walls and ceilings that are alive with vibrant, climbing flowers and vines, as well as built-in shade and air-conditioning.  Another alternative is to use planter benches with latticed backs, which supply seating, flowers, and walls, all at once, without hindering air circulation.  Multi-paneled garden trellises and screens also offer beauty and privacy.

Polywood tables and chairs resist the weather!

It’s easy to decorate these spaces attractively, as today’s outdoor furniture is available in styles and colors that will complement any motif, from rustic, to refined, or classic, to contemporary.   Beside the traditional woods, modern choices include durable aluminum and polywood, along with synthetic wicker, a material that looks stunningly authentic, but is practically indestructible.

Carefully selected colors can establish a flow from the indoors to the outside, giving the illusion of a larger space.  For instance, if the room immediately off the patio has blue walls, patio furniture, outdoor throw pillows, or patio umbrellas with blue in them, will create a unified look.  Blue flowers, in a bed, and/or in some planters placed near the door, will enhance the effect; and a vase full of those flowers on an indoor dining table or accent table will tie things up perfectly.

Accoutrements make this dining area feel like an indoor room!

This principle applies not only to solid colors, but to patterns and materials, too.  Indoor paneled walls and wood furniture can easily be complemented by wood outdoor furniture.  Moreover, with the countless colors and patterns available for outdoor furniture cushions, it’s easy to find some that will correspond with indoor upholstery, carpeting, throw rugs, or tapestries.

There are also many lighting options for these spaces, which, in addition to candles, party lights, and torches, include exquisite outdoor table lanterns, pendant lights, and floor lamps.

So, the next time you’re browsing through a magazine, don’t be dismayed if you don’t have the same kind of sprawling backyard or spacious porch or patio that you see in the photographs.  No matter how large or small an area you have as a foundation, you can be sure that, with the proper planning, it can be transformed into a striking outdoor room that’s as functional, practical, and comfortable as any room in your home.

Yours Outdoors,

Kathy

About CedarStore.com:

CedarStore.com is a family of five websites specializing in outdoor furniture and garden structures.  Offering a wide variety of top quality and handcrafted patio furniture, CedarStore.com, GazeboCreations.com, AllPicnicTables.com, TeakDesigns.com and DesignerBridges.com can boast the absolute authority on both their products and their ideal uses.

As experts in the field, CedarStore.com writes a well-read blog, AllOutdoorPatioFurniture.com, to help outdoor enthusiasts, landscapers, and gardeners design their gardens, lawns, and patios to suit their needs.  Their biggest passion is always making sure everyone can get the most out of their outdoor living spaces as possible!

To learn more: visit CedarStore.com, AllOutdoorPatioFurniture.com, Follow them on twitter with @CedarStore, or, of course, simply call them up at 1.888.293.2339.

A Garden for all Seasons

February, the shortest month of the year, can seem an eternity for a gardener. Here in the northeast, we are still about a month away from beginning any serious gardening chores. The vast array of seed catalogues has arrived at our doors, and we have moved from excitedly flipping through each, noting trusted old varietals and new and promising crops to try this season, back to waiting. Relief will eventually come, first in the form of seed starting for those newly purchased vegetable and bedding crops, then will come late winter pruning of fruit bearing and ornamental plants, then finally, temperatures will warm enough to begin working the soil.

Winter can seem an unproductive time, but for the gardener who is paying attention, it can be a valuable time to assess a landscape. Comprised of many components, a garden is built upon and is defined by its structural elements. Referred to also as the bones of a garden, structure might be found in an outbuilding, in stonework, sculpture, walkways and patios. Even plants themselves, can create structural elements; Trees provide ceiling, hedges act as walls, and individual plants act as specimens displaying architectural shapes and interesting growth habits.

Much structural elements of a garden lay hidden beneath foliage during the growing season, but now during the colder months, a garden’s bones are revealed as if by x-ray, enabling one to detect its balance, mass, and symmetry. Problems to any one of these elements can be quickly diagnosed, enabling the gardener to plan for changes to correct them.  Walking the garden during the winter moths also gives a gardener an unobstructed view of the trunks and branches of deciduous plants, revealing damages or disease. There is much to find in the garden during the stark winter months.

There is also beauty. Experiencing a garden in winter can be a treat for the senses. The low arch of the sun casts long shadows that play with the bare branches against a snowy backdrop. Ice crystals form on every surface and backlit by the sun become like stars glistening in the sky. The frozen crunching of footsteps and the crackling of sap from nearby trees fill the air with song. If you have provided food and habitat for birds in your garden, then it will most likely be buzzing with activity, the brightly colored feathers acting as moving blossoms. Venture into the winter garden at night, especially on a full moon and it transforms into a surreal landscape. Never will you feel such a sensory connection to a place as a garden at night, be it winter or summer.

There is much to enjoy in a garden, and when planned for all seasons, the joy will last year round. Cast away your feelings of cabin fever, and shrub off the cold. Take stock in your outdoor surroundings, for at the very least, it will give you a new appreciation of your garden come spring!

Garden Designers Bloglink: Celebrating regional diversity in New England!

If you’ve ever walked through a landscape and not been able to tell what part of the country you were in, or have traveled somewhere only to find the same plants, paving materials, and stores as the mall back home, then you have experienced the homogenization of today’s society. Uniqueness is giving way to mass production in our world. If everywhere we go, looks the same as where we’ve been, is there really any reason to have gone there in the first place? This post, and the posts of 12 of my friends and fellow Landscape Designers today, is dedicated to celebrating regional diversity in the garden. Lauding the uniqueness of each corner of this small planet. Please take some time to visit the other participants blogs, and experience the visions of each of these talented designers, as they delve into regional diversity in Garden Design. You’ll find their names and links to their blogs at the end of this post.

A simple herringbone path, brings out the charm of this cottage.

I live and design landscapes in southern New England. New England is a wonderfully diverse region of the country. The Connecticut River Valley, rich and fertile, has been home to thriving agriculture for some 400 years. Dairy farms once dominated the rolling hills of Vermont. There are granite quarries in New Hampshire, brownstone quarries in Connecticut, rocky lobster beds in Maine, and the world’s premier oyster fisheries in Long Island Sound. Mill towns throughout the region stand as reminders of a strong manufacturing base, long since weakened by present day global economies. Ecosystems vary from huge sand dunes on Cape Cod, alpine meadows in New Hampshire, deep spruce forests in Maine, and over 6000 miles of rocky and sandy coastline. In a days drive, one can experience all that New England has to offer, passing through cattle pastures, tobacco fields, mountain passes, large cities and industrial hubs.

Instead of cut and fill, the terrain in this garden was celebrated with a stream and pond.

The architecture in New England is predominantly colonial in nature. It echoes the feel of northern Europe, for it is those Europeans that originally settled here. They brought with them their colonial style houses, cottage gardens, and an innate ability to construct miles and miles of field stone walls, perhaps the defining image of New England. Stone walls line both farmland and Main Street in most New England towns, and that same stone can be found in the construction of many of the older factories, churches and municipal buildings.

Sadly though, New England’s natural beauty is slowly disappearing, succumbing to strip malls and boring landscapes of mass produced plant cultivars. The brick paths, field stone walls and cottage gardens, that provided this region with its traditional character and charm, are also giving way to more modern concrete pavers, block walls and uninteresting plantings. To turn around this trend, one need only to look again to New England’s history and natural beauty when designing a garden. Its early European influences, natural geography and native ecosystems, still present today, can easily be drawn upon to marry each design to the regions character. And when that design is true to its surroundings, and successfully implemented, the effort put forth to enhance that natural beauty, disappears beneath a conjoined sense of place. To put it simply, a well designed landscape seems not to have been designed at all, yet gives the visitor a sense of location, and of the character within. Herein lays the value of celebrating a location’s natural diversity, and turning away from homogeneous design. By focusing on regionally specific plant groups, hardscape materials, and design concepts, we promote uniqueness rather than assimilation into the global fold.

Natural Cedar and Native Fieldstone conceal an ugly foundation wall.

Examples that might celebrate regional diversity could be as follows: A shade garden of locally native plants beneath a beautiful hardwood canopy, so common in New England, instead of cutting down as many trees as possible to grow a lawn. A meadow or rain garden in a low lying damp area, filtering toxins from runoff before it reenters the ecosystem. A habitat garden comprised of native plant species providing a place of food and sanctuary for the native fauna. Moving in closer to the house, examples might include; Native stone and brick to construct walkways and patios, calling back to the days when such materials were quarried in a nearby location. Regionally available wood species, felled and milled locally to build garden structures. And, when possible, situating the home itself so as to accentuate the property, shunning cut and fill grading practices and taking advantage of the land’s unique characteristics.

Boston City Hall Pavers, shown here before planting, complement the colonial architecture of the house.

Drawing upon the history, native plants and hardscape materials of a region when designing a project, provides the designer a culturally specific path to creating that garden.  A garden that celebrates its location and informs its visitors. As our world continues to shrink, it is imperative to preserve local character and regional identity. Doing so, will give your garden its unique sense of place.

I hope you find yourself a new sense of place in your own garden. And please, if you any thoughts on this topic? I’d love to hear them, leave a comment below!

Scott

I would invite you now to visit my friends and fellow Landscape designers as they blog from their unique and diverse regions, and who knows, maybe you’ll find an interesting place to visit the next time you venture across this wonderfully diverse country of ours. Click on each of the Designers names to visit their blogs. (And while your there, explore some of their older posts also. You’ll find a wealth of information!)

Jocelyn Chilvers (The Art Garden) – Wheat Ridge, CO

Susan Cohan (Miss Rumphius’ Rules) -  Chatham, NJ

Michelle Derviss (Garden Porn) – Novato, CA

Tara Dilliard (Landscape Design Decorating Styling) – Stone Mountain, GA

Dan Eskelson (Clearwater Landscapes Garden Journal) – Priest River, ID

Laura Livengood Schaub (Interleafings) – San Jose CA

Susan Morrison (Blue Planet Garden Blog) – East Bay, CA

Pam Penick (Digging) – Austin, TX

Susan Schlenger (Landscape Design Viewpoint)  – Charlottesville, VA

Genevieve Schmidt (North Coast Gardening) – Arcata, CA

Ivette Soler (The Germinatrix) – Los Angeles, CA

Rebecca Sweet (Gossip in the Garden) – Los Altos, CA

Become a Fan of Blue Heron Landscape Design on Face book – http://bit.ly/yq1XT

Follow me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/ScottHokunson

Connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/scotthokunson

www.blueheronlandscapes.com

Fall Images from a Cornfield

On a recent walk through a nearby cornfield, I came across these irrigation reels. I really love the size and scale of this setting. It had me thinking of all that had come to pass in that field over the course of the year, and that in a few short months, how different and hopeful this scene would become. No matter the size of the garden, there is always inspiration to be found. Enjoy!

Here’s hoping you get your garden tucked in before the freeze,

Scott

http://www.blueheronlandscapes.com