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What I Was Thinking?

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Some years ago an auction of old garden ornament belonging to a well known Dutch antique dealer attracted my attention.  Rob happened to be in Europe, shopping for the store in England; it was no problem for him to fly over to Amsterdam and preview the pieces.  He fell for a giant 19th century French cast iron fountain and basin. The reserve price was steep, but the piece was compelling and gorgeous. As I could not afford much over the reserve price, I dared not hope. However, it took not three minutes for me to cast the successful bid by phone, and own it.  This part was fast and easy;  what proved to come was not.

dsc07709The biggest headache?  The basin was too large to sit flat on the floor of the container that would bring it to the US.  So, some 6 weeks and plenty of money later, cast iron crates had been welded up for the basin, and fountain.  The fountain centerpiece had rusted tight to the basin; it was after all, 130 years old.  The centerpiece was painstakingly removed with the help of an acetelyene torch, and then welded to its custom made steel crate. 

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Transport from Holland to Paris was finally arranged; this was not an easy thing to move.  Just insuring the move from Holland to France was a big deal.  The fountain sat in a warehouse another 4 weeks, awaiting transport to the US.  Only days before the arrival, I learned a boom crane would be necessary to get the fountain off the truck-we were dealing with many thousands of pounds of cast iron.  I was trying to stave off that “what was I thinking” feeling; it was all mine now, right?

dsc07737It was an operation the likes of which I have been involved in rarely; the entire day went to uncrating, and positioning that fountain.  The crane people were incredibly professional and focused.  At some point during the day I actually looked at what had been the center of so much commotion.  It is one the most beautiful large scale fountains I had ever seen.  The pattern of the cast iron leaves is as beautiful on the inside as they are on the outside-this a hallmark of very fine ironwork. 

dsc07748The torching and unbolted to free the pieces from their steel crates was slow and tedious.  

dsc07743What was I thinking, that I had to have this?  I had scared myself, no doubt. But today I would say once in a while something comes along that makes you feel like speaking up.    Who wants to spend time contemplating their lost opportunities? 

dsc07765Buck helped out getting the basin set perfectly level, as we knew there would be no moving it once it was placed-except to a new home.  The boom crane held the fountain piece aloft until both pieces were perfectly aligned.�
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A few days later, on a very foggy morning, it seemed to me that it had been well worth the time and trouble to acquire this fountain.   It makes a big statement, where it sits, and it will make even a bigger statement the day it is placed in a garden. 

aug-17-001In the meantime, it is my pleasure to look at it every day.  In spite of everything it took to get it to me, I know when the day comes, it will be very tough to give it up.  Funny,  that.

Posted on: August 20, 2009 9 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Ornament, The Natural World, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , ,

Time

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This Friday past I wrote some about a landscape renovation project I did in 2002. I planted a slew of carpinus fastigiata grown in 25 gallon pots for the bosquet pictured above.  The need for so many trees suggested trees of a reasonable price;  my clients understood that small trees would take hold fast and grow. No plant decision is ever easy; big trees that are transplanted at worst fail, and at best, take years to feel at home, root, and move in.  New landscapes are not hard to spot, even if large plant material is installed.  Most newly planted  plants have that distinctive look common to nursery grown plants.  Growers have different goals than gardeners.  But three years after the installation, these trees are starting to do what I knew they would, given time.

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Growers pay plenty in taxes for the land they own.  Their idea is to plant as many plants as they can,  per square foot.  A grower needs to plant closely, and harvest often.  So trees and shrubs are grown as closely together as good horticulture will allow.  These carpinus did have that skinny, grown in a row, look. Planting them too close together would have made for problems later, so there were some years my clients had to suffer the gaps in their screening.

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Perennials, including roses, are more quickly adaptable. A two gallon perennial is a big plant which will take hold in one season, given a serious gardener.  What you see here has everything to do with a gardener in charge. Though relatively easy to establish, perennials are plenty of work-deadheading, dividing and the like.  They also have a short lifespan, relative to trees and shrubs-unless we are talking peonies and asparagus.

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The small hornbeams took hold, rooted in,  and grew.  This photograph taken 5 years after the installation recorded a dramatic change; the view of the house next door is fading fast.  The bosquet is now a shady place to sit.

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What once was dirt-what once was a spare diagram for a space, is growing vigorously.  The day the installation was finished, these clients took ownership of the maintenance. It is a very good thing when a client picks up and carries on.   It did take some time to work out the irrigation issues, and there is a big pruning job to be done every spring.

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They have pruned the interior branches such that the trees provide a vaulted green ceiling.  A suite of iron furniture is complimented by a pair of antique English capitals.  The long view to a group of  agaves in stone pots, and a birdhouse, is a good one.  A garden needs time to establish a look like this.

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The landscape is beginning to look in proper proportion to the existing mature trees and yews on the property .  Proper scale and proportion is tough to plan for, as it has to be imagined.  With time, any mistakes is spacing or choice of plant material will become apparent.  I see landscapes only 5 years old that are overplanted, and consequently overgrown.   This landscape is just beginning to hit its stride.

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Even the topiary myrtles that go to the greenhouse for the winter have grown.  Their trunks have become substantial. Making something grow is no small accomplishment.  However, the patience to give a garden the time it needs is sometimes the best move you can make.

Posted on: August 17, 2009 2 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Ornament, Landscape Design Tagged With: , , ,

Saving the Stone

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Eight years ago a client came in with a plan to renovate the side lot adjoining his 1920’s vintage house.  This part of his landscape had been a series of free flowing beds of flowering shrubs and perennials, edged in a volcanic rock I call Castelia stone.  Named for the town in Ohio where it occurs naturally, I see this stone in fountains, etc, at homes of this period.

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The land dropped dramatically from the grade of the existing driveway.The plan called for hauling away all of the Castelia stone, and installing a terrace of concrete pavers.  Alarmed by this, he thought a second opinion might be in order.  The stone was no doubt spectacular, and there was a lot of it.
The  design issue of the day?  How could that stone be featured in a landscape that would be beautiful and appropriate to the house.? After hauling away ten yards of debris from overgrown shrubs and scrub trees, it became apparent that stone could be the key to solving the grade issues.dunlap00071
The land was a giant dish, bordered by my client’s drive, and his neighbors drive.  This stark view to the neighboring home was the dominant visual element.  I told my client I thought a formal sunken garden would be in order-an idea in which the existing stone would play a prominent role.  Sinking the garden down 20″ would also make the job of screening the neighboring house easier.

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An old flight of steps, now blocked by a yew of great age, had been the only access to this area of the garden.  The decision was made to orient the new sunken garden around a side terrace adjoining the house, and plans were made to allow for good access to the space.

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It is one thing to use materials that existed in an old landscape;  it is another thing to use it in such a way that it appears to have always been there.  The client was interested that the new landscape seem like it had been built on top of the old one.  We transplanted a row of old yews that had been a foundation planting across the front of the house to the lot line adjoining the neighboring house. We then sloped the soil down to a 20″ tall retaining wall of the old stone.

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Each stone was fitted into the wall by hand and by eye.  The use of any power tools to force a fit would have interfered with the illusion of age.  The evidence of modern tools would have immediately dated the wall as a contemporary construction.

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The ground was graded and regraded; soil was brought in to fill areas that were low; the ground plane was topdressed with topsoil in anticipation of the lawn.

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Densiformis yews were planted solidly on the slope down from the neighboring drive.  This gave the background landscape a bit of a contemporary feeling. The French word bosquet refers to a densely planted block of trees, which when grown in, provides an architectural element similar to a pergola.  These 25 gallon potted columnar carpinus planted as such would make an allee across the back of the garden, and would eventually screen the house next door.

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It was decided that a fountain, whose basin would be faced the in the same volcanic rock, would anchor the space.

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Edger strip was installed, and decomposed granite provided a hard surface under the bosquet.  This treatment also formalized the edges of the lawn panel to come, and celebrated the irregular surfaces of the stone.

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The radius of the fountain dictated the radius of the center of the bosquet. The center would have room for garden furniture.

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A contemporary European lead obelisk is a striking contrast to the stone.  A lawn panel is all that is missing now.

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The resulting landscape is a great place to view whatever the weather, and a great place to entertain.  Its composition makes much of the relationship of old materials, and my client’s more contemporary design sensibility.

Posted on: August 15, 2009 1 Comment
Filed Under: Garden Ornament, The Natural World, Landscape Design Tagged With: , , , , , ,

A Roof Over One’s Head

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Pergola, arbor, gazebo,pavilion, grotto, umbrella, gloriette-there are plenty of  words that allude to a roof over one’s head in the garden. This steel pergola, at 9′ by 24′, is large enough to comfortably host a dinner party, or provide a spot to sit and view the gardens yet to come.   This pergola also provides a structure on which to grow vining plants. In this case I plan for 3 species of clematis.  The vigorous growing sweet autumn clematis will provide a living roof; the species clematis vitacella violacea, and clematis Jackmani Superba will bloom profusely with small flowers, up over the roofline.
gloriette3This pavilion is very much about enclosure.  It would be fine with vines, and fine without.  The client who purchased this steel “building” had us construct cedar and steel benches for the sides; it became a place to meet in her garden.

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 An arbor celebrates the transition from one garden room to another.  An architect friend once explained to me that transition spaces in buildings are important.  Thery provide a space to exit, and a space to anticipate what is to come.  Wood arbors have a very attractive look, but there is maintenance involved.  If I plant a wood arbor, I try to plant something amenable to being cut back, or taken down, when repainting becomes necessary.  Some clients choose to let a paint finish wear; this can be a charming look.

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 This large and sturdy arbor is situated at the juncture of an L-shape in the landscape.  It provides a center of interest for two entirely different gardens.  The brick piers match the brick of the house.  As the client intended for the arbor to have wisteria, or grapes, we made it overly tall.  A planted roof  lowers the ceiling; plan to be able to walk through easily even after the roof vines grow in.

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 An arbor can also be a sculpture in its own right.  This faux bois arbor is concrete and mortar over steel, hand carved to look like birch.  Contructed in four pieces for ease of transport,  it bolted together with stainless steel bolts once it was delivered.  This arbor took  over three months of one person’s work time  to fabricate.  It is a spectacular structure.  I designed the structure specifically for  the center of an oval lawn fringed in a  planting of Himalayan white-barked birch and Sum and Substance hosta. 

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 This contemporary version of a French house had oak details that are repeated in this steel structure.  A berceau, or trellis- covered walkway, was a common feature in mid-eighteenth century French gardens. 

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 This garden shelter with integral bench I designed specifically to provide screening from a neighboring garage.  As the space was too narrow for plants, this arbor distracts the eye from a less than desirable view. 

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This classically inspired arbor and bench is home to several wisteria vines.  The vines are pruned regularly to keep them in bounds; all the growth is kept on the roof, providing a cool shady roof under which to sit between gardens.  A roof over one’s head in the garden can take many forms and be made of varying materials.  They can serve different purposes, in an ornamental way.

Posted on: August 12, 2009 2 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Ornament Tagged With: , , , ,