Garden Design | Deborah Silver & Co.

An Extraordinary Garden

I do think I wrote this winter about some of the books I was reading-winter means gardening from afar in my zone. Given the snow-I read. Courtesy of and on the recommendation of Rochelle Greayer at Studio G, I I bought a book. “Close: Landscape Design and Land Art In Scotland”. The well written essays in the book were written by Tim Richardson. The stunningly beauty photography-by Allan Pollok-Morris.

I have had really good reason to be reading this book. Spring got arrested some weeks ago, and has yet to make her bail. The past few weeks, 4 days of seven have been called on account of rain. Can you hear me sighing? Moving on beyond a missing a good many days of spring season-I am reading. Some books take my mind off the winter that seems to be lingering. This particular book deserves a place in your library, should you have the space. One garden in particular has captured my imagination. Dunbeath Castle, Caithness, Scotland, is extraordinary in every regard. Dating from the 17th century, perched on a cliff overlooking the sea-heartstopping.

The gravel drive to the house is lined with ancient and windswept London Planes. How the drive is sunk into a valley between a pair of grassed knolls-stunning. The welcoming light at the house, all the more intense given the probable length of the exposure of this photograph-so beautiful. The sea visible beyond the house- this is a long view with no end. This may be the most enchanting landscape I have ever seen. Maybe more extraordinary than the landscape-this photograph. My copy is poor, but you get the idea. Allan Pollok-Morris created a work of great beauty. If there ever was a perfect moment in a landscape-this has to be it.

I was astonshed to read that this cliff in Scotland regularly endures 100 mile an hour winds. I see no evidence of that here; the perennial garden is walled. These perennial borders are breathtaking. The book tells me that the landscape designer of record currently is Xa Tollemache. What she has accomplished here, in concert with her client, is extraordinary. The stands of heliotrope blue campanula- breathtaking.

The tall walls protect the perennial gardens here from high winds. Every spring at the shop, we have broken pots, topiaries snapped off -utter distruction from wind. This photograph makes me understand that a truly beautiful garden depends on a committment to protect.

This walled garden is a considerable distance from the castle perched on a cliff overlooking the sea. The work that is involved to foster and permit this garden to thrive is staggering-this is obvious. My garden is by no means a fairy tale-but I do work at it. My garden, and the gardens I design, ask for a gardener in charge who happily takes responsibility. I know lots of gardeners like this. Fairy tale gardens-I depend on these to encourage me to do better.

At the center of this rose garden-an ornament whose provenance is unbeknownst to me. No matter. The very tall and beautifully blooming tritoma would be lost without that central ornament of unknown orgin. The rose garden laid out in concentric circles-lovely.

The cairn pictured above-do not ask me its material, or inventor. The plant material clothing this steep slope dropping to the sea-I cannot provide any information. The red steel reindeer a third of the way down the precipitous slope-I have nothing to add to this photograph. Make all of what you see in this photograph what you will. All of the delight of it is the visual experience.

I love the congestion suggested by Mr. Pollok-Morris’s photograph. Lots and lots of plants. A relationship he suggests between a castle, and a distant gazebo overgrown with plants. The sea in the background-anything but cultivated and tended.

This meadow at Dunbeath Castle-I cannot take my eyes off this photograph. It is as beautiful as any perennial border I have ever seen. Amazon has this book available-I highly recommend it. Beyond this, I can only say that landscapes and gardens of this caliber are rare; the chance to see it in any form is a great pleasure. The essays of Tim Richardson, and the photographs of Allan Pollok-Morris, in regards to extraordinary landscapes in Scotland-they shine.

Posted on: April 25, 2011 1 Comment

Filed Under: Garden Ornament, Garden Design, Landscape Design Tagged With: Tim Richardson, great garden books, extraordinary landscapes, beautiful gardens, Allan Pollok-Morris

The English Horse Troughs

In my possession at this moment, a pair of English cast iron horse troughs dating back to the late 19th century in England. When Rob sent me this picture-I fell head over heels-instantly. They are beautiful objects in their own right. Even more important, they have presence. A big and considerable presence. Rob’s photograph of the morning sun shining obliquely on a freshly plowed English field, and this 12 foot long trough set in rough grass makes one thing clear. Some objects come with an aura that just won’t quit. This picture with no horse trough-adrift.
See what I mean? Could you not have everything that this place, and these troughs imply? You may also be wondering about how Rob came to shop next to a field. This particular person buys and sells garden ornament as a side line to his primary business; he is a farmer by trade. The objects he he has available are not so many, but always of a certain caliber. Located close to the Cotswolds, I would guess these troughs were locally made. They were built with a specific function in mind-making fresh water available to horses. I would further guess draft horses. Horses who did the heavy lifting, the big work, on farms pre the industrial revolution. The cast iron is very thick and substantial, as are the legs. There is an inlet for water, and an outlet. The feet have holes which would have permitted bolting the troughs to a hard surface. A draft horse is a very heavy and powerful creature; no doubt they could upend these troughs, should they have a mind to. Our farmer/antiques dealer thought circa 1880-1890. I have no idea how much they weigh, but we were only able to move them with a loader. I can still smell the farm on them.

They are massive, simple, and handsome. I can easily imagine a lineup of draft horses getting a drink. The cast iron is of very fine workmanship; lichens and mosses have colonized the rusted steel on the outside. At the water line and below on the inside-lime deposits from the water. Should you not have a crew of draft horses, I could see an entire collection of meadowlike flowers growing in them, as in dwarf cleome, hyssop, angelonia, verbena bonariensis and annual queen anne’s lace. Oh yes, this list could be expanded; the troughs are big. What about nasturtiums, sweet william, basil, juncus-and what else? I could as easily see a giant rosemary hedge underplanted with curly liriope. Heartstopping. I could see it stuffed with lavender, or Tuscan kale. I could see something different planted in them every year, for years and years to come. I could see schemes for more years than I have left. This, I like.

It would be a fairly simple matter to outfit them with 3 or four fountain jets that would recirculate water. They would be great set on gravel, or in a garden bed. Do not be afraid of ornament of great scale, age, and presence. This kind of beautiful is a good think for a garden-it gets the old blood moving.

Would one not look great in a formal vegetable garden with raised planter boxes-planted with herbs? I think I could draw a scheme a number of different ways. The trough perpendicular to an arrangement of four boxes. Four parallel boxes, interrupted by a trough. These troughs are tall and solid enough to provide a wall, broad enough to house an entire community, beautiful enough to enchant. Can you tell they are my most favorite thing to come off this last container?

Each trough has a small section at the end-called a baffle. The hose in the early days, and the pump for the water much later was housed here. The baffle slowed the flow of water to the trough-so not one drop would be wasted from splashing. A means to slow the flow. I see a lot here. History, utility, agriculture, gardening, landscape-everything that means something to me. My advice? There are those things you can manage without. There are those things you cannot live without. Shop for your garden accordingly.

Posted on: April 21, 2011 6 Comments

Filed Under: Garden Ornament, Garden Design Tagged With: cisterns, troughs, English troughs, English horse toughs, antique garden ornament

Speechless

Sunday we had high winds-giant concrete pots planted for spring out front got blown over and dashed to the ground. We had four inches of snow today. I would be lying if I said I took this in stride-I did not. I was speechless. The latest great snowfall recorded in my gardening journal was April 16, 1982. 6 inches. April 18th this year-four inches of snow.

This April 18th, the tulip leaves, which have been so slow to break ground, were buried in snow. Discouraging to me-no kidding. Every day I hope for a clear sign that nature has put the winter behind her. A clear sign-not yet. At this time last year, we were basking in our best spring ever. This looks much more like the longest winter ever.

As much as I plan for spring, the arrival of spring is not really my call. I have a great love for nature, and all things natural, but the weather today is exasperating. I would have wanted spring to appear a month ago. The greenhouse space in the shop is loaded with plants that cannot go outdoors yet.

I do not need to worry much. A late spring snowfall harms nothing already acclimatized and used to cold weather. The spring flowering bulbs have been underground and cold for months. They handle this late snow with aplomb. Snow this late bothers my heart, not my tulips. The crocus this year-not much to see there. The cold temperatures and winds took the flowers out within a matter of a few days.

These pansies with their frosting of snow will suffer no real damage. They will pop back quickly from the insult. My hellebores are steadily making progress towards bloom week, and my European ginger is making an appearance. This is all the news from my home garden.

This Italian planter-the planting looks forlorn. The temperatures were just below freezing; today’s snow will not stay on the ground for long. I am still wearing my winter jacket and boots.

All of the pots I planted with spring bulbs were buried in snow today. They will be fine-they will bloom soon, as scheduled. A spring snow-do not worry about it. Night temperatures below 25 degrees-worry. We have on occasion had no spring. Winter can stay forever, until one day there temps go to 80, and stay there. I am hoping for a more gentle scenario