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I’ve been updating the Landscape Market with new products. Take a look at the new line of greenhouses and cold frames here. Free shipping on all items in this category!
And I’ve also added a new line of Grow Lights for greenhouse and indoor gardens.
This elevation was prepared to help the homeowner visualize what we have in mind for the landscape. This is merely a concept – just a first step in the design process. (Click for full size image)
What Is An Artist?
The music is both within and without
And my body searches for the muscles,
Timing and clarity to let it flow,
To come together in the present
Without my edit, without my comment.
The art exists unto itself. I am
Merely a vessel for its unfolding.
It is far older than we can imagine
And will persist long after
We are gone.
Call it the muse, infinite possibility,
Spirit, Soul or God. It sees
Beyond our vision, feels for all
Creation, knows all answers,
Cannot be known.
The beauty of design is both within
And without. My expression learns
To reveal what has always been,
Always will be
Without our footprint.
And I am no different
Than universal man.
The thing that cannot be known
Is the center of each universe.
We are all artists.
I am so proud of my web host, HostGator!
Aside from providing years of excellent service and support, they just purchased additional certified REC’s (renewable energy credits) for their nearly 9,000 servers.
What that means is they have offset the carbon impact of the electricity used in their business by contributing to alternative energy. They went one step better and purchased 130% of required credits – this purchase goes directly to the development of wind energy.
So now I have a ‘GREEN’ website and blog!
The previous blog post included a video of our waterfall completely frozen over. Recent warmer temperatures have thawed the falls and pond somewhat:
North Idaho is included in the region commonly defined as the Inland Northwest. Our weather cycles often alternate from relatively warm maritime, west-to-east airflow, to much colder and harsher Rocky Mountain patterns. Though this winter has been relatively mild (maritime influence or El Nino), the last two weeks of December ‘08 saw over sixty inches of snow! – our gardens are often buried for many months. The hardiness zone map of this region is a mass of swirling, non-contiguous color, roughly indicating boundaries of mountains, valleys, altitudes and latitudes. Microclimates are the norm and require the designer and gardener to adapt carefully to site-specific requirements.
The ‘genius loci’ – the distinctive atmosphere or pervading ’spirit’ of a local site – is defined not only by its fair weather characteristics but also by the realization that winter is often the longest season of the year. A specific design concern for all projects here is providing sufficient area to pile snow that is removed from drives and walks. Lawns (if absolutely necessary) and/or perennial/groundcover beds sited strategically can serve this purpose. A related design concern is drainage; in some instances the only solution is the creation of GIA (grassy infiltration areas), or swales, which I now specify with groundcover and shrubs that don’t mind wet feet (instead of wet, hard to mow turf).
Though I imagine that design clients are very similar throughout North America (i.e. they desire a pleasing landscape, seek knowledge-based solutions and have the resources to pay for these solutions), I’ll go out on a limb to characterize our local clients: many are retirees, but certainly not the type who escape to Florida at age 65.
In general, my client loves the outdoors, is perhaps a fisherman, hiker, skier or gardener, and loves to do as much of his or her own work as possible. The term “rugged individualism”, in its most positive context, comes to mind; though very self reliant, my client is wise enough to seek additional design and garden expertise.
So my design presentations include as much education as is needed (or as much as I can provide). Sometimes the enthusiastic client subsequently finds the workload of landscape installation far more than anticipated, even though I have provided a detailed workflow. But then the included education offers an outline for evaluating contractor bids and performance.
Since my clients do appreciate as much knowledge as I am able to provide, I recently started exporting my CAD drawings to PDF files, in which I can include live links from plants (symbols or listings) to online databases; the client can see photos, descriptions and care recommendations for proposed plants as she studies the planting plan. This interactivity seems to be well received.
A very serious design concern in our region is how the built landscape harmonizes with natural surroundings. Though in more densely populated areas we can “borrow” a distant view or focal point to include in the landscape, the generally larger, open properties here require that we consider the impact of our work on the surrounding beauty. Occasionally I travel to a stunningly beautiful, potential new design project and think: “Do we really want to change anything here at all?”
Though the client certainly feels that a built landscape will increase his or her enjoyment of the property, it is humbling to undertake the creation of a landscape that will at least not detract from the natural beauty.
Ideally the built will complement and enhance the natural, and toward this goal I follow these precepts:
(1). garden elements with the most intense need for care (water, pruning, etc) are installed closest to the home; (2) a middle area of lower need elements (patios, grasses, groundcovers) occupy a larger area further from the home; and (3) an outer area is designed, transitioning to the natural as seamlessly as possible, with native and adaptable plants. Here I use red-twig dogwood, tall oregon grape, ocean spray, other natives and perhaps viburnum. In respect to harmonizing the built with the natural, this transition area is extremely important.
As mentioned above, our winter is often the longest season of the year, so providing as much winter interest as possible is an important goal for every local design project. Many native plants, and others well adapted to our region, can provide excellent winter interest. The red-twig dogwood, ocean spray, oregon grape, native rose (hips), river birch, hollies, yellow-twig dogwood, viburnum (opulus and trilobum) and others are welcome in the stark winter landscape.
One of the very best landscape elements for winter interest is a flowing water feature. Properly sited, designed and installed, the winter water feature becomes an important source of visual beauty, pleasant sound and perhaps most important, a symbol of hope for the upcoming spring. A little advance planning and minor ongoing maintenance will ensure continuous flow even at temperatures below zero; the constantly changing ice sculptures are stunning! See the short video below.
I hope the above discussion has provided a glimpse of the landscape design process in our region. Evaluation of all site-specific variables is likely even more important here than in other, milder regions. Our climate, topography and client demographics result in a challenging environment for the garden designer and gardener. I wouldn’t have it any other way!
The following garden designers have also written about their regional experiences: visit their insights!
A special shout out to Scott Hokunson who invited the participants and coordinated this project.
Thank You, Scott!
Susan Cohan–Chatham, NJ– Miss Rumphius Rules
Rebecca Sweet–Palo Alto CA– Gossip in the Garden
Laura Schaub–San Jose CA– Interleafings
Pam Penick–Austin TX– Digging
Michelle Derviss– Novato CA– Garden Porn
Ivette Soler–Los Angeles CA–The Germinatrix
Susan Morrison–East Bay CA– Blue Planet Garden Blog
Susan Schlenger–Charlottesville VA-Landscape Design Viewpoint
Scott Hokunson–Gramby CT–Blue Heron Landscapes
Tara Dillard–Stone Mountain GA-Landscape Design Decorating Styling
Jocelyn Chilvers–Wheat Ridge CO- The Art Garden
Genevieve Schmidt–Arcata CA– North Coast Gardening
In an interesting little exercise circulating among my Twitter groups, I have been “tagged” by Laura Mathews (@punkrockgardens) for an Honest Scrap Award. I was so overwhelmed by pride at receiving this award that I neglected the piles of work on my table and celebrated with a whole bottle of our home brewed raspberry/ginger kombucha.
After recovering from the incredible ‘buch’ high, I tackled the first requirement of this award – list ten honest things about yourself. Being way on the introverted side, this has taken some serious soul searching as to how to express these points without making a complete ass of myself.
So, in no particular order, here are ten things that you may not know about me:
- I am passionate about gardens and about spreading gardening knowledge - I have believed for many years that this knowledge and these skills will grow in importance dramatically as our industrialized societies decay from excess, greed and dwindling resources.
- There is likely nothing more important than passing on these and other basic skills to younger generations. If we can grow our own food and beauty, build our own houses, and generally take care of most of our basic needs, we just may survive dramatic transformations in our culture.
- OK, off the bandwagon now – sorry – - despite being an introvert, I recently came out of my shell to perform some music publicly…even in an online video (many thanks to Shirley Bovshow, @EdenMaker for kicking me in the rear end to do this). Playing for friends and neighbors, and even at a community event, has been a revelation for both the musician and the audience…especially for the musician.
- I love to visualize, though I have no formal training in design. My landscape design sense came about after I had worked in the trade for years. I often saw the results of bad design and informally theorized solutions on site. I was directed to numerous sources for further study and have been most influenced by James van Sweden, Joe Eck and John Brookes.
- Though living much of my life here in N. Idaho, I’ve had the good fortune to landscape in many diverse situations and environments. In younger years I traveled throughout the west, installing large commercial landscapes for a general contractor…sometimes being away from home and family for weeks at a time. These projects were certainly not the pinnacle of aesthetics, but I did learn a thing or two about methods, efficiency, plants, and how to get along with a bunch of very rowdy landscapers. 
On one project, the principal architect asked me to design the landscape, and that was my first design commission.
- Is that ten things, yet? I am a terrible cook, though I do OK with oatmeal – oh, and I brew the kombucha. I could blame it on my upbringing (the old school…girls in the kitchen, boys watching football), but I know that’s a copout. If Cindy has her way, I will overcome my cooking phobia eventually and be a better housemate.
-Cindy is my wife, and we’ve been married for an awful long time…35 years+ I think. Can’t say it’s been without trial and tribulation, but it’s all been worth it. Without her love and left-brain common sense, I would be long gone lost in right-brain la-la land.
- We have four beautiful children - one daughter and three sons. All grew up on 12 acres of land that we “homesteaded” starting about 1979. We built the road, thinned the forest, built our home and developed the garden and orchard. The children were part of all the blood, sweat and tears – and joy – and now have a good understanding of the skills needed to survive. All are doing well as young adults, and are not afraid of dedication and hard work.
- Is that ten things yet? I am a very messy and disorganized office person. My desk and tables are usually piled with documents, drawings, CDs, tech gadgets, etc. I sometimes am late paying bills because they are lost under a pile of nonsense. My hammered dulcimer is also in my office, so long, exuberant musical expression is often the needed release for work frustrations. For about half the year, an even greater distraction is outdoors, in the gardens. I am really not a very good office worker.
- OK, finally number ten. I feel quite fortunate to have retained a somewhat open mind…while many of my associates have completely disregarded the advances in technology and more recently in social media, I am excited by all of it. My daughter recently told me that some of her friends are astounded that her Dad is on Twitter! I guess you’re as young as you feel.
So now that I’ve bared my soul and exposed all the dirty laundry, I get to tag seven more folks for the Honest Scrap Award:
The cold weather came on rapidly this December, with nighttime temps at zero and below. The pond has frozen over completely, with a small hole in the ice provided by a floating 100 watt pond heater. It’s sometimes a struggle to keep the pump and falls running through the bitter cold, but worth the effort – the ever-changing ice sculptures along the falls are beautiful!
Fortunately these doves are finding enough water:
I was recently (today!) honored to be included in Shirley Bovshow’s Garden World Report, a weekly streaming webcast that is full of excellent garden knowledge.
Despite my introverted nature and complete inability to perform in front of a camera, I agreed to Shirley’s request to appear on her show. I created a short music video which turned out fine, and hopefully my next appearance in front of a video camera will be a bit more fluent – if there is a next appearance.
I believe there is a harmonious relationship among all the arts, and music and landscape design share some basic artistic elements. For instance the transitions between the movements or phrases of a musical piece can be compared to the transitions between garden areas or “rooms”. We enjoy a definite but purposeful transition in music as well as in the garden.
Movement in the landscape, whether created by changes in form, size and texture, or by wind or water, are analogous to the movement through a musical phrase or entire piece. The flow must be pleasing.
For me, these arts (or disciplines, or crafts, or however you want to think of them) complement and provide inspiration for each other. It’s very likely that similar relationships exist among all the arts.
The Garden World Report is linked below; garden “heavyweights” Billy Goodnick, Paul Epsom, Mark Highland, Jenny Peterson and Shirley Bovshow all offer excellent garden advice. Again, what an honor to be included in the show!
