Garden Ornament | Deborah Silver & Co.

The Garden Designer’s Roundtable: Sculpture In The Landscape

This month’s topic engaging the Garden Designers Roundtable-sculpture in the landscape. Like any form of art, what constitutes sculpture is in the eye of the beholder. An ancient tree, or a specimen espalier can be a sculpture. An uprooted tree stump, a geode, sculpted soil seeded with grass-I am very democratic when it comes to what constitutes sculpture. I truly believe that whatever a passionate gardener chooses to designate as garden sculpture is in fact garden sculpture. The home any gardener makes for a sculpture speaks much to what that sculpture means to them. This particularly imposing bronze sculpture of a bear perched on a beaver’s nest was purchased by a client who loved and appreciated it. The sculpture asked for a landscape to go with. Garden sculpture can be placed wherever, but it needs a home. In this case, a waterfall and pond. A waterfall backdrop comprised of tons of rock. Lots of dwarf evergreens. A raft of old and large tree stumps. A stumpery was a perfect place, a home, for this this sculpture. Sculpture in the landscape needs a carefully and generously designed place to be.

A landscape is a living sculpture. A constantly changing, and evolving sculpture. This sculpture was carved by a person from a natural material-stone. This hand carved stone bust spent a good deal of the past umpteen years underground. The process of bringing it back into the light? A simple placement on a steel pedestal. In a garden. Into an orderly and linear landscape. This astonishing stone sculpture is all the better, presented with the butterburrs, and the boxwood. The landscape company makes for a living experience. Material. Sculptor. garden. experience. A good and on going experience.

This contemporary sculpture involved regrading and grassing a steep slope. At that steepest moment, we amassed a flock of rocks that held the slope. The relationship of the concrete legs, the steel, and that congestion of rocks-engaging. Interesting.

This classical sculpture is set back in a field of groundcover. Garden sculpture can set the mood in a garden. A garden with atmosphere is a lovely garden indeed. A simple space provides breathing room. The figure is integrated into the shade garden under the canopy of an old beech.

There is no need for a garden sculpture to be big, expensive, or otherwise imposing. The only requirement? Great sculpture invites interaction. Reaction. engagement. This very small lead frog organizes a surrounding garden of considerable size. All the color notwithstanding, this diminuitive sculpture organizes one’s experience of this garden. A rich experience-memorable.

There are those containers that I would describe as sculptural. A one of a kind expression. Containers call for a planting that respects that. The containers you choose for your garden-sculptures, each and every one of them. This particular glazed terra cotta container-strikingly textural and of a beautiful color. The blue succulents are similarly textured, but quite contrasting in color. Eaxch element is visually stronger, given the other.

This cast iron dog, one of a pair of bloodhounds forged by Alfred Jacquemart in France in the 19th century, they guard my home. They sit on simple concrete plinths. Kept company by some old picea mucrunulatum, hellebores, hostas, and sweet woodriff, they are firmly planted in my landscape. They have a home that seems natural and fitting to me. No matter the weather or the season, they successfully engage me day after day. How so? They belong here.

Contemporary sculpture asks for lots of space. Contemporary sculpture to my eye is much about striking graphics. Unusual forms. A serious dialogue. Astonishing materials. Room to view, lots of room to appreciate-they ask for this. The placement of this sculpture in the lawn permits physical as well as visual interaction.

These hand made concrete pots with snake detail are very sculptural. The planting? Simple. Contrasting in texture. The care any gardener takes in the presentation and planting of a pot makes a statement about sculpture. The care you take placing and siting a sculpture says much about what that sculpture means to you. Anything in the garden that means much-fuss.

This hand carved limestone gothic portrait, once a part of a wall, is unrelated in period and origin to the old half round plinth. I placed one on top of the other. My client split them up, via a mirrored wall. Her instinct was to separate them, over the existing landscape. Her placement took the appreciation of that sculpture to a level that was unexpected, and exciting.

This sculpture involving urethane spheres studded with plastic grass is placed in an elaborately constructed 19th century French urn. That placement- delightfully unexpected. The attending modern containers with sculpturally styled plantings provide a lot of company to that nervy plastic expression. I can imagine a lot of lively conversation over that sculpture.

Placing sculpture in the landscape is all about providing a really good home. A believable home. A provocative home. A caring home. An unexpected home. A visually challenging home. No gardener places a sculpture in a landscape that does not mean much to them. Should you be a gardener with a sculpture you wish to place in your landscape, be clear about what that sculpture means to you. Make a meaningful and thoughtful place for it, in your landscape. A clear and deliberate placement makes a strong statement.

I invite you to read how other members of the Garden Designers Roundtable approach art and sculpture in the landscape. They are a lively and articulate group of landscape designers.

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

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

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

Jenny Peterson : J Petersen Garden Design : Austin, TX

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

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

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Posted on: July 23, 2012 15 Comments

Filed Under: Garden Ornament Tagged With: the Garden Designers Roundtable, siting garden sculpture, sculpture in the garden, placing garden sculpture, sculpture in the landscape, Garden Sculpture

Delivering The Fountain

A client who had looked a long time for a fountain fell hard for Buck’s contemporary steel creation. I ws more than a little surprised, considering her more traditional taste in garden ornament. But she was certain that this fountain was the perfect choice for her garden. The job of transporting and setting it in place fell to Steve. As you can see, he was planning the move.

Once he drained the fountain, he wrapped the fountain stem with heavy woven landscape straps. As the fountain weighed in at about 400 pounds, and the site was not particularly friendly to the use of a front end loader, we would have to move the piece by hand. 12 hands, to be exact. Each of three straps had a person at each end. The straps would be a lot simpler to grasp that the smooth side of the bowl. My crew can lift a lot, provided they are able to get a good grasp.

We excavates the soil from the spot where the fountain was to be placed, and filled it with coarse gravel. A square concrete tile was placed over top. This made it much easier to check to be sure the spot was level. It is also much easier to adjust this tile to get it level, as opposed to the fountain. It seemed like the fountain would be a good fit in this circle of boxwood-but we wouldn’t know for sure until we got it there.

The fountains we have manufactured at Branch of late come race ready. The jet inside this fountain is attached to a steel plate, and comes with a valve that regulates the height of the jet. Having a special event? Open up the valve. A tee fitting off the jet pipe is attached to the pump. The cord for the pump comes through a hole in the base of the fountain. The jet and pump assembly sits in the bottom of the fountain, making it easy to level the jet. All the customer needs to supply is a source of electricity.

Getting the fountain through the gate was a challenge. Luckily the gate itself was easy to lift off its hinges. Once the fountain base was resting on the second step up, the fountain would be flipped over on its side. The fountain has 4 eye hooks inside should the fountain ever have to be lifted. It proved handy for tying the jet in place for the move.

There were but a few inches of room to spare, but that proved to be enough. Luckily, any circular or hemispherical shape is not only very stable, but it is very strong. This steel is relatively thin, considering how large an object it is, but there was no worry that the edge would be damaged. At this point, we were rolling the fountain on its edge, rather than carrying it. I roll pots around the shop that I could never lift off the ground.

The last stage of the journey did involve lifting the fountain over a boxwood hedge. My crew made it look like no big deal.

They left me to fill the fountain-my pleasure, and my worry. If the level were the least bit off, the water would tell that tale. Water is always level-it’s people that get things crooked. As I cannot abide a statue or pot that isn’t sitting level, I was willing to wait.

I needn’t have worried. It read perfectly level to my eye. The wide rim of the fountain finishes the shape in a beautiful way, but it also masks any little bit it might be out of level. The fountain was filled with water to just under that rim. My client did very well with this-the fountain looks remarkably good in her garden. She had had an electrical box installed a long time ago, so an hour after our arrival, the fountain was running.

The entire garden made more visual sense given a centerpiece. The peach trees have a much more opulent and exotic look. I am standing on her porch, looking out. The water seems to be at just the right height. After trying the jet at a number of levels, she decided on this. Just enough height to make for a great sound.

My client thinks it looks like I designed this fountain especially for her garden. Since I would have never considered it for her, I realize that giving clients the chance to look without prejudice can result in an interesting outcome.

Posted on: July 6, 2012 5 Comments

Filed Under: The Branch Studio, Garden Ornament Tagged With: placing a fountain, garden fountains, steel fountains, fountains

More From Buck, At Branch

tall lattice boxes

tall lattice box

oil derrick topiary towers

oil derrick topiary towers, finished

steel planter boxes

steel planter box, planted

planted steel planter box

steel pergola and planted tall Jackie box

steel fountain cistern. The steel grid positioned near the top of the water level is a safeguard- given very small, and very curious children.

Steel planter boxes

rectangular steel Hudson box, and associated steel Hudson planters

planted steel Hudson boxes

steel tomato cages in the form of classical obelisks

steel herb table, after the classic English auricula theatre. Buck has been very busy, churning out one fabulous garden ornament after another. This plant table is proportioned exactly according to the golden mean. No wonder it looks so solid, so satisfying, and so good.

Posted on: June 29, 2012 10 Comments

Filed Under: container planting, The Branch Studio, Garden Ornament Tagged With: steel planter boxes, tomato cages, plant tuteurs, steel garden ornament, the Branch studio, orangery boxes

The Photographs

You may have noticed that this website has a new format. Indeed it does. My big interest in updating the blog was that the photographs would be bigger-better. Clearer. I am no different than most; say what you will, but show me a picture. A photograph communicates in a graceful yet direct way. The picture of this French pot does a vastly better job of explaining the look than a collection of words.

A photograph does not require good grammar, or proper punctuation. A good photograph of a garden can capture the light, the weather-the moment. The written word-a labor of love which invariably looks like labor. My pictures-sometimes they capture in one fell swoop what would take me 800 words to describe.

I have days when I am not interested in reading the words. I only have eyes for a visual moment. It took me a few days to learn how to use this new format. The lag time made me furious! What garden writer wants to be out of touch the latter half of May? But I am pleased with the results.

I like the bigger pictures. And that you can see them even bigger yet, if you click on them. As for my post yesterday about the process of choosing great pots, here is an addendum. A visual addendum.

The gardener who would fall for this contemporary Belgian glazed pot is entirely different from the gardener who would choose wirework plant stands. The gardener who would mix them in a grouping of pots-another sort. But enough of the talk-enjoy the pictures.