I spent the day of the Greening garden tour at home, talking to people about my landscape, but I also fielded a lot of questions about Rob’s. From “which garden is Rob’s?” , to “what was his idea here?”-and so on. Apparently the store was so busy he was unable to get to his own garden, and talk about it with people. What a shame. As he is such an integral part of Detroit Garden Works as manager, buyer, and dreamer, people are naturally curious about what his personal landscape is all about. I’ll try to tell the story as best I can, as I think it warrants telling.
He is a formidably talented designer. More and more he consults with clients about the placement of ornament, pots and the like. He has a gift-you just need to ask him to put that to your project. Until you lay eyes on what he has done with this very small piece of property, you don’t really understand the extent of that talent. I have over the years installed this terrace when he would be in Europe, or snapped up that collection of nyssa sylvatica (his favorite tree) when I ran across it. He spent no small amount of time designing this landscape for himself, consulting with me, and reinventing the design; he finally, reluctantly, signed off. I knew I had to wait until he was out of town; one fall while he was shopping in Europe, my crew installed it.
It’s important for clients to see a designer put themselves in the same boat a designer might ask a client to row. Making things grow, and pulling a landscape together, can be much like rowing upstream. If you are to entrust your garden and your money to a designer, you want to feel confident they know what they are doing, and that they have been in a boat much like yours. This spring, the bones of his place looked great. Simple strong gestures from a sure hand. No matter how he fretted, the result was confident. If it appears a design is in place on this the bleakest day of the spring, they you can be assured it will only look better as the season goes on.
It’s a very tough thing to go home and garden, when you eat, breathe and sleep it for other people, most days of the week. He told me two things were paramount. He wanted to make much of his view of the lake, and he wanted something along the lines of cohesive lake cottage style. This may sound vague, but he had no problem putting it together. And he wanted it manageable; its pure torture to have something in a garden that needs attention, when you have no energy to answer. He likes having no back yard.
This very old French faux bois tree trunk planter is home to a thriving colony of laurentia; that pale heliotrope blue is a rare color in an annual. So light, so delicate-everything that the planter is not. The side terrace garden is a mirror image of the shape of the driveway. The terrace itself is screened from the road just enough, by a wing wall, backed up by giant boxwood in a stocky Belgian wood planter.
Two chairs in the front yard are front and center to the lake view. A quietly beautiful vintage American birdbath from Ohio is kept company in the sunken oval of grass by a gracefully swooping pin oak. This tree, his specific choice. The simple Italian pots stuffed with ferns, heucheras, selaginella and the like have that strong woodland mossy feel.
The wing walls are a distinctive feature of the architecture of the house; the placement of these two pots make note of that. The placement of the collection of pots direct the eye around the entire space, and suggest what is yet to come.
I discovered while installing this landscape that the exterior walls has been buried in soil berms. The house is actually quite tall coming out of the ground. The collection of pots counterbalances the height of the steps, and sets them down visually. The architecture of the house and steps can be seen all the way to the ground. This gives the landscape a European flavor. Years of travelling Europe to buy for the store has much influenced him.
Rob knows how to place an object in a garden such that it will give you pause-quietly. Thus this planter, half on the gravel path, half off. Though the volume is turned down to a murmur, this landscape has a very distinctive voice.
The story of these steps says everything about the fire he has burning. These giant bolted panels of railroad ties have been lying in the abandoned railway two track next door for the past 14 years. He finally wheeled a ball cart, rated to carry 1800 pounds, over there, loaded these 8 foot wide fragments onto the cart-horizontally- and ran them up hill all the way to the store-in the incoming traffic lane, no less. He told me he had no plan for what he would do, had a car appeared. He tells me he had to lie down for 15 minutes once he got them here; he was rode hard and put away wet, getting the steps of his dreams home. What kind of heart for gardening do you have to have to do this? A very big one.
Its my idea to eat outdoors for 120 days of the year at the very least. I like summer food- grilled burgers, fresh corn and tomatoes, big salads with chicken. I am at my most vulnerable for good potato chips, and ice cream, as well. I am impatient for this first day of the outdoor dining season, and so sorry to see it end. In Michigan we have a lengthy dose of “lets go inside” weather. For this reason I will still be having dinner outdoors in October, with my blanket around me. Just get me outside, under any and every circumstance. Dinner in the garden is my idea of fine entertainment. This 22 foot long pine and steel table can handle lots of dinner guests with ease. Pine is a very traditional material for American garden furniture; it just requires upkeep. Its traditional material aside, it has a decidedly sleek and modern silhouette. It interests me how overscaled furniture has such strong visual interest. This long table suggests a lot of people, close together, having fun. 
If you are a like me, you do not sit much in your garden. I can always find a weed to pull or something to stake, trim, or otherwise fuss with. But as I subscribe to the notion that a landscape is a place to be, a place to sit seems like a very good idea. A place to take a break, to contemplate your future, to watch the birds, to have a glass of tea-excellent.
We make this scrolled steel furniture, galvanize it, and acid wash it. It has the look of lead, that blue grey with a white bloom. This furniture is amazingly comfortable for being made of steel. I think it is very good looking and appropriate in either a traditional or contemporary setting. But most of all I like that it looks like garden furniture-and not the furniture I have in my living room. 
In the past few years I have seen plenty of garden furniture, made from weatherproof materials, that looks like indoor furniture; this does not appeal to me. I like everything in the garden, to look like it belongs there. Thus I prefer my sofa in my living room, and not on my terrace. I very much like these 18th century Coalbrookdale chairs, in the nasturtium pattern. They look like they were made for a garden.
This is an early 20th century French faux bois bench. Literally translated, faux bois means false wood. The bench is concrete over a steel armature, that was carved to look like wood. I doubt it is a place you would want to sit for long, but it most definitely is a lovely place to sit and enjoy a garden moment. It is just as lovely as a garden ornament. 
Pool furniture almosts asks for cushions. Hot steel and bare legs is not such a good combination. Be sure if you buy of have cushions made for your garden furniture, that they are constructed using exterior foam, which drains quickly and dries out. Hauling cushions inside when there is a threat of rain is a nuisance. The technology of new fabrics rated for exterior use is considerable. These fabrics are sunfast, and mildew resistant. This suite of furniture looks like a cool spot to sit on a hot day.
Not so fancy, but plenty charming are vintage American garden chairs. I like everything about them-the shapes, the old paint, and the rust and how they rock. They are easy to find a spot for, and they are easy to move to another spot, should you have a mind to.
This very fine iron furniture comes from a small company in England. The black and white checked fabric on the cushions is very smart looking, and elegant.
This very old English wood bench has great style; the spindle back and the curved arms are very handsome. The yews and pots do a great job of highlighting its form. It is a friendly size .
The chaise lounge is a bed for the garden. Its scale and size makes it stand out in the landscape; the grouping suggests the company of friends and family. White fabric in the garden looks as fresh and crisp as white flowers. I cannot imagine using a chaise, but I like looking at them.
Stripes seem especially appropriate for a garden too. Reminiscent of vintage awnings, they are inviting and pleasing to the eye. These chairs are great for an extended visit in a garden.
A place to sit in a garden is an essential element of landscape design. Plan where you will sit in your landscape with as much care as you plan what you will see when you sit there.
