You are here: Home / Archives for Garden Ornament

New Dirt

It is a much easier job to keep Milo clean than the shop.  Once he dries, the dirt falls off.  Once a month, he gets the works from Lexi from the Aussie Pet Mobile.   The shop, however, is 10,000 square feet that is likely to get very dirty-daunting, this.  My work life grew out of a love for dirt. The soil that comprises the earth beneath my feet-life giving.  The dirt that goes into any container sustains all manner of visual dialogue.  Who was it that said dirt is soil in the wrong place?  Though we spend lots of time sweeping, vacuuming and dusting, the end of a season means some part of a season’s worth of dirt has accumulated. 

We close (but are open every day by chance or appointment) from January 15 until March 1st.  We move every object we own out of the way, in order to thoroughly clean the shop.  Once we have vacuumed and dusted and wiped every surface clean, we repaint.  Though we are about to enter our 16th year in business, there is nothing about Detroit Garden Works 2012 season opening that will prove dusty or thoughtless.  Just like every other new season, we will be ready and fresh.  My shop spring cleaning takes from mid-January until mid-February. In the same spirit as we imagine, acquire and assemble a new collection, we sweep out all of the dirt.  The fresh paint is a given.  How we choose to redecorate the six rooms of display space has everything to do with the spring collection on the way.  

That chocolate color that reminds me of the darkest and richest compost-it was on my mind.  These bracket fungus engage my interest in beautifully natural textures, and my enchantment with that color I call dirt. That dark dirt color seems just right.    

I will admit I own a fleet of ladders.  They enable me to clean and redo, to look at what I have done before from a different perspective.  I have been up and down the ladders for a week now.  I will admit committing to the intensity and saturation of this deep chocolate worried me some. But I am more than pleased with how it is shaping up.   

We have no end of antiques and great vintage ornament.  Great contemporary ornament.  We manufacture our own garden ornament, and represent many other fine makers.  I so enjoy this yearly ritual by which we integrate our existing garden ornament with all that comes new.  Each season has its own distinctive flavor and emphasis.   

I do have pictures of most everything on the way, whether it is coming from France, Belgium or Biloxi.  But photographs are a representation, not the real thing.  Everything that Rob has ordered will need an introduction to the shop.  Taking the time to completely redo every space is a considerable and satisfying undertaking.  Rob has spent over 2 of the past 16 years travelling and buying objects for gardens.  The presentation of that work of his takes time.  

We have a pair of containers from France due in a few days.  How long they will take to clear customs is anyone’s guess.  But that process will buy us a little more time to get ready.   

I should have named him Hoover, considering all the dirt he manages to pick up.  Hopefully we’ll make quick work of the shop dirt, and move on to making the shop an experience we’ve not yet had.      


The shop front spring will not look like it did here in 2010. Something new and fresh will be coming from that dirt.

 

 

Posted on: January 24, 2012 6 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Ornament, Detroit Garden Works, Good Design, Garden Design, The Natural World Tagged With:

Buck At Work

Buck has been plenty busy at Branch.  What exactly are you looking at here?  This is a fountain urn commissioned by a client in California for a project in Texas.  This fountain has a bowl assembly and a base, designed and specified by the landscape architect on the project.  Buck stacked the two pieces upside down, to check the level.  A level vessel is imperative with a fountain.  Water needs to fall over every edge equally.  Should your fountain bowl be out of level, the water falling unevenly will broadcast that your ornament is askew.  It pains me to see any garden ornament-whether it be a bench, an urn on a pedestal, sculpture, obelisk, pot centerpiece or terrace, out of level.     

Newly back in town, I wanted to see the fountain assembly right side up-Buck was glad to oblige.  The fountain bowl is 5 feet in diameter-largish.  He welded loops inside the bowl so he could pick it up with his bridge crane.  The base is all of a piece.  The bowl will need a rim welded to it.  At this moment, the fountain urn is in three pieces. 

The center of the hemispherical steel bowl is marked in white paint on the underside.  This helps to  rough center the bowl on the base.  This will be plenty good enough to look at.  When the time comes to weld the bowl to the base, many more specific measurements will be taken.   

Once the bowl was set on the base, we were ready for the fountain bowl rim. The rim is comprised of two rings of 1 inch thick steel, welded together.  This ring is much heavier than it looks.  The rim contains water in four symmetrical spots.  The corresponding four rim spots are scuppers that facilitate falling water. 

This picture of the rim detail tells the story better than words do. 

This large urn will take its place in the center of a much larger fountain pool. 

The fountain is not the only special order project under construction.  This pair of gates are part of an iron fence for a local client.  Informing the design-a discussion about coyotes, and how to keep them out of a dog run. 

The fence panels are composed of a series of four foot tall vertical iron members that will be hidden by a yew hedge on both sides of the fence.  The top 24 inches of fence is constructed of steel vineyard bar in the horizontal dimension.  Why steel bar that looks like tree bark?  The perimeter fencing is our Belgian branch fencing.  This visible top two feet of dog run fence will repeat that horizontal branch motif.

My favorite part of this fence? A 16 inch wide steel shelf welded to the top of the fence.  I can see pots placed on that shelf 6 feet off of the ground, planted with trailing plants.  I can see all manner of tall garden findings and short bits having a home on this shelf.  No coyote will like the idea of scaling this.  A dog run that reads visually as a prison does not interest me.  A coyote proof fence with visual possibilities is much more to my liking.  


The Branch Studio is a big place. Just a shade over 13,000 square feet.  Buck occupies, fabricates, and directs in every square foot with what I would call thoughtful.  Amazingly precise.  Beautifully finished.  Though I was just away the better part of a week, Buck at work really describes a certain kind of kind of energy, motion and energy  that I truly admire.  Buck makes it easy to come home.

Posted on: January 18, 2012 Leave a Comment
Filed Under: The Branch Studio, Garden Ornament Tagged With: , ,

The Garden Obelisk

 A classic obelisk, as exemplified by the ancient Egyptians, is a narrow tapering four sided affair whose top is pyramidal.  Ancient obelisks were usually carved all of a piece.  The obelisk known as the Place de la Concorde was one of a pair given as a gift from Egypt to France the the late 1820’s.  This single piece of red granite some 75 feet tall, and weighing 280 tons, was erected in Paris in 1833.  Its mate is still in front of the ruins of the temple at Luxor.  Too heavy to move, the French government formally returned it to Egypt in 1990.  This single obelisk is true to the narrow definition of such a structure; it is a landmark and monument that organizes a vast space awash in French history, and is visible from all Paris.  The base of the obelisk is inscribed with information about the mechanics of moving this sculpture from Luxor to Paris-an incredible feat, given the rudimentary technology of the time.  It is indeed an appropriately grand and monumental sculpture.  In the distance of this photograph taken by CB Margineaux, the Eiffel Tower. 

This iconic structure is one of the wonders of the modern world.  It is instantly recognizable.  Much has been written about its sculptor, the engineer Gustave Eiffel.  To my mind, it is the most extraordinarily inventive,  strikingly beautiful, and imposing garden obelisk ever created.  The phrase “tour de force” comes to mind.  It was the tallest monument in the world when it was built. The epic story of its design, engineering, and creation is the subject of an epic book “Gustave Eiffel: De Tour Le 300 Metres”, written by Bertrand Lemoine, and published by Taschen. Who would have a such a book, including reproductions of the original construction drawings?  Buck, of course.        

 Why this rudimentary discussion of the the much documented and much admired monuments that dominate the landscape of Paris? I have a great passion for landscape ornament.  I buy and sell-new, vintage, and antique ornament.  I have studied their history, and familiarized myself with their classic forms, though I welcome any new take or invention.  I design landscapes with places for garden ornament.  I design and manufacture garden ornament.  This is the long way of saying that ornament for the garden has held my critical interest for a very long time.  This pair of iron obelisks and bases was offered for sale at www.outsidedown.1stdibs.com   Though they have a much smaller scale than the obelisks in Paris, they are still very serious and dignified.  The ball feet that separate the obelisk from the base is a very graceful gesture, in contrast to their classical stature.  They have a texturally dense and important surface.  They ask for a large space, and a very formal garden.         

  

This pair of obelisks from the same site are pared down version of the previous set.  They have weight via the thickness of the metal, but are much less demanding visually.  They have a more modern look, and appeal.   Try as I may, I cannot find exactly where I saw these-perhaps from http://garycsharpe.blogspot.com/ (which is an excellent blog, if you have an interest in antiques and their provenance).  

 

 

This steel wire obelisk is slight – airy.  Its formal shape would work well in my city garden, without overpowering the space.  The vertical members that terminate in small spheres stop short of creating too much steely congestion at the top.  Tom Chambers, the person who designed this obelisk and many others-I admire his work.  He understands  much about the power of a very simple gesture.  I could readily place this obelisk in a garden.  Its size, proportion, and aspect is both modest and distinctive.     

 

An obelisk made of wood is markedly different from those grand monuments made from stone or steel.  This design, and the sizes of the individual wood members interpret the garden obelisk on a personal and clearly human scale.  From the Egyptian obelisk at the Place de la Concorde to this obelisk in a meadow garden-a change of venue. This garden asks for an obelisk such as this.  Great design is so much about proper scale and proportion.  I like the looks of this.  It is up to the gardener to choose ornament that reflects an authenticity of place. This obelisk is made by and available from www.stuartgarden.com.   

This pared down 2″ by 2″ cedar stick obelisk is beginning to strongly suggest the vegetable garden. Directions for building wood garden obelisks can be readily found on line.  I would not place this obelisk in a classic French potager-but my exposure to such a place is not all that frequent.  I have plenty of clients who have become quite interested and committed to growing food at home.  This obelisk begins to address their utilitarian issues. My point here?  A classically proportioned and very tall stone obelisk in my city garden, or my client’s vegetable gardens, would only be a monument to my lack of critical thinking.  I need to scale, proportion or choose an obelisk that feels right for the garden.  It is a good thing that there are many from which to choose.   

These issues drive my design work.  I can be grand.  I can secure and plant a collection of peonies that describes a century of hybridizing.  I can amass and grow on a collection of hellebores, or magnolias.  I can plant a pinetum, with all of the attending documentation.  Or I can scale back, and be driven by the dirt.  This trio of obelisks look great, and provide triple the support to a grove of tomatoes.   http://chiotsrun.com/2011/03/09/structural-elements-arbors-and-trellises/

 These bamboo obelisks with their grapevine ball topknots make reference to a grand tradition-just a reference.  Interpreting history and  tradition in an appropriate way is part of my job.  These bamboo obelisks are simple, but they work.  This garden has lots to look at; the pots and obelisks are just part of a bigger scheme.  

 These steel obelisks made at the Branch studio are a result of my knowledge of the proportions and history of obelisks, and my relationship with a treasured client.  Do these obelisks challenge the Place De La Concorde?  Of course not!  Garden challenges are almost always personal.  Great gardens are about a person with a well developed point of view, and a passion for gardens.  A  thoughtful designer might add a little something to that mix.  I made sure the obelisk was tall enough for a vigorously growing heirloom tomato.  There are very long steel prongs which go into the soil, and help keep the structure vertical.   The diamond lattice is large enough to permit the hands that pick the fruit.  I am intrigued by the history and diverse expressions of this form.  Perhaps I will try designing another.

Posted on: January 9, 2012 3 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Ornament Tagged With: , , ,

Topiary Forms In Winter

Yesterday’s dawn was wet and foggy.  Beautiful weather like this is rare here in late December.  That fog was making the visual most of Rob’s light rings.  Formally drawn and constructed geometric shapes are so compelling in the landscape.  A circle has no beginning or end; it is complete.  It is a very stable shape; it completely encloses a space, or a view.  A working circle is a wheel, whose invention revolutionized how people live.  This lighted circle is working in a different way.    

It illuminates a space, and frames a view.  It is a topiary form of light.  The light is focused-a far cry from the diffuse light that comes from the sky.  We see very little in the way of sunlight this time of year.  A lighted garden is never so welcome as it is in the winter.  Expressions of topiary in the landscape has a long history.  Fruit trees trained into a two-dimensional shape are called espaliers, after the French monk who invented this method of pruning. The Chicago Botanic Garden has an extensive display of espaliered trees, and landscape sculpture created from living plant material.  Any plant grown and trained into a shape is a topiary.  This would include bonsai, the boxwood at Dunbarton Oaks pruned into continuous cloud shapes, the topiary guard house at Fluery-en-Biere, the topiary pyramids at Mormaire, the spectacular thuja pergola at Chateau de Hautefort.  A good part of their majesty is their age, and the faithful care they demand and recieve. 

A rigid topiary form is useful for training plants into a geometric shape.  Arborvitae planted in proximity to an iron arbor can be pruned into that arbor shape, given enough time.  Young fruit trees trained over an iron arbor will eventually mature into that tunnel shape, and no longer require support.  A row of trees pruned into triple cordons will eventually make a living fence that is free standing.  Vines can be trained onto a topiary form as well; we have had beautiful triple ball ivy topiary sculptures on occasion.  The rigid form is a guide that insures that the shape is pleasingly and regularly geometric.

Vines permitted to scramble over a topiary form is a different, but just as pleasing look.  Old trees can provide a very sculptural support for an old Baltic ivy vine, or a climbing hydrangea. A rock pile, or a gate post can give form and support to a clematis.  Willow or bamboo tripods are good for growing beans, tomatoes, or morning glories.  Topiary forms whose primary job is to provide support for a lax growing plant are called plant climbers, or tuteurs.  

For a number of years Monrovia sold juniper ring topiaries. They were surprisingly attractive, easy to keep trimmed, and they were amenable to being grown year round in pots.  Should you have to have a juniper, this is a pretty way to own one.  I have seen angel vine, myrtle, miniature ivy varieties, boxwood and pyracantha trained on a topiary ring.  Once that ring form is rotated in space, you have a spherical form.  The same aforementioned plants can be just as easily trained on these forms.  Vining plants can be wound on the ribs of the sphere, or allowed to scramble over and cover the form.    

A topiary form is the fastest way to grow a topiary. A 6′ diameter boxwood sphere takes a long time to grow into its finished shape.  The boxwood spheres at the corners of the boxwood rectangle in front of the shop are 13 years old; they came to me 30″ by 30″.  As they have no rigid form inside, they have to be hand pruned by eye into a sphere.  I leave this job to Mindy; my handpruned spheres invariably have flat spots.

A topiary form may also be the fastest and most striking way to create a light sculpture.  The only requirement-a sturdy form, and holiday light strings with brown cords. The light they cast this foggy morning convinced me a topiary form can mean as much to a winter landscape as it does to a summer one.  The pot on your front porch with a topiary form that provided a home to a mandevillea over the summer can light the winter landscape all winter long.  

Other people have had the same idea about Rob’s light rings.  He tells me this morning we have sold 58 of them this season.  They are so beautiful hanging from our trees on the driveway.


They do an incredible job of softly illuminating a wide area, and vividly illuminating an intimate place.  I am just now thinking we need some in the front windows of the shop.  I may be late getting to this idea, but the winter will be long. 

If your topiary forms that spend the winter in the shed, you might want to rethink that.  They could bring some light and warmth to your winter landscape. 

On this the darkest day of our year, what would I do without this light?

 

Posted on: December 22, 2011 4 Comments
Filed Under: Landscape Design, Holiday, Garden Ornament Tagged With: , , , , ,