The picture above was taken in the early morning of Jan 3, 2021. I remember waking up well before dawn to a landscape whose every surface was transformed by mounds of snow. Giant snowflakes floated downward on the still air like feathers, and stuck to whatever surface they touched first. The quiet was disconcerting. My yard was truly a fairyland – the first time ever quite like this. Every shape in the landscape was faithfully described and added to by this extraordinary snow. Within minutes of opening my eyes, I was dressed, out the door, and marveling. I took photographs for several hours, and several hours after that the snow had completely melted and was gone. This was an incredible weather event of breathtakingly striking and shocking beauty, the likes of which I had never seen before.
That snow dispassionately described the landscape design. I was happy about what that revealed. A good landscape composition celebrates the depth of a space by beautifully revealing its background, mid ground and foreground. Of course a landscape is a sculpture – a three-dimensional object, if you will. Great landscape design explores that uniquely spatial quality created by land and sky-and edges. I can’t really explain what I mean by edges, except to say that everything and everyone has them. Expressing depth in a composition fuels the means by which a landscape space can be wrought and experienced. A design. Depth in a landscape composition creates mystery, and reveals surprising outcomes at unexpected or opportune moments. Some designers describe this as flow. Others describe this as rooms with transitions in between. The background space above is a thicket of tree branches indicating trees that are a ways away. The focal point of that background space is a a centrally located container with a cut evergreen tree inside. That planter box is in the front of the back – ha. The mid ground space is defined by the hedge of arborvitae that is open in the center to permit travel and views through. The gate marking that entrance and exit is overseen by a steel arbor wreathed in a pair of John Davis roses. That gate explains how the end of the mid ground space becomes the beginning of the foreground space. That arbor is centered in the transition between the front and the back. It also separates the public space from the private. The structure of those climbing roses in the snow is every bit as beautiful here as they are in bloom in June. I mean this. The foreground space features Limelight hydrangeas, faced down by hedges of clipped boxwood, and opens up to a widening path of snow covered grass. This composition features layer after layer of plants from front to back. What is it that makes the relationships established by this design so dramatic and clear? The weather.
The landscape here is very simple. Lots of boxwood clipped in various shapes, heights and volumes, and symmetrically placed containers framing the walk to the front door. The containers feature fan willow faced down by cut fir boughs. This view is unexpectedly dramatic, given this rare type of snow. The snow reviewed the design, as it reduced all of the major shapes to their simplest forms. What is usually experienced in varying and often romantically subtle shades of green is presented without ceremony in black and white. A significant snowfall can reveal the bones of the design. Are they good sturdy bones?
Our most recent snow was not nearly as spectacular as the 2021 storm, but it was good nonetheless. The skirt of this container is set with cut evergreen boughs that radiate out from the center. A second set of evergreen boughs are set on end against the centerpiece. Separating the vertical fir from the horizontal is a loosely defined ring of green and white pine cones in a nest of lights. A single evergreen material has special visual interest given its multi-dimensional placement. This simple arrangement with only a few elements is all the more striking given the landscape around it. The snow tells that story.
A different year in this location, the container sparkled with an abundance of lights. An unusually textural snow cover produced yet another visual version of this landscape. Over the course of a year or a gardening season, the weather should play a major role in the landscape design. I am an advocate of landscape design which takes a sweeping bow to that element we call nature.
Rob took this photograph of my driveway near the garage a few nights ago. I have not parked here for better than 15 years, so the landscape has grown in and over the edges of the space. I like that. I have a piazza now, rather than a driveway. There is no real need to shovel the space, as it is for viewing, and not foot or car traffic. It is amazing what an enormous difference it makes visually to make such a simple change in the treatment of a landscape space. The snow revealed this.
That same night, the snow illustrated the transition between the driveway and the fountain garden. The pots, arbor and fence occupy that mid ground. That middle ground space can be the most difficult to define and develop in a landscape. It sometimes involves putting an idea or an object or a plant out there in the middle and building from there. Starting a design at the front or the leading edge or the beginning is not necessarily the best or only way forward. A landscape will speak back, if you give it sufficient time. This mid ground space took many years to establish. There is no substitute for age on a landscape.
This is as close as I have been to that extraordinary snow in 2021. I am happy for it. Beautiful snow is a hallmark of our winter. Having a well designed landscape on which beautiful snow can act makes the winter season welcome, yes. The fence pictured above, punctuated by a gated arbor and flanking pots, is not that unusual a treatment of an outdoor space – but the considerable change of level does give pause. But the simple arrangement of bold and thoughtful forms emphasizes the main idea. The legibility of intent is key to good landscape design.
Most of my landscape is going on 28 years old. That age has enriched design decisions made decades ago. Sometimes it is good to stay the course, and see what grows.
Thank you for the inspiration.
Thank you for reading, Sandy. Best Deborah
Thank you Deborah for this valuable lesson in how all of us can use winter (the subtraction of leaves and the addition of snow) to really look-at and study our landscapes. Over the years these lessons have begun to sink-in and have helped to train my eyes. As a result my overall landscape is improving as I can now see it more clearly.
Dear Dan, it is a way of looking at landscape design in a productive way. A beautifully designed landscape is a joy day in and day out. thanks, Deborah
Beautiful!
Another inspiring post! Many thanks from a follower in Pennsylvania.
OVER THE TOP BEAUTIFUL.. i AM SO ,SO GLAD I FOUND YOUR SITE.
Beautiful landscape and well written article Deborah! You and your associates are wonderful!
Thank you Tom. my best, Deborah
❤️
I loved reading your landscape letters over the years and I’m so happy to read this one. Thanks for making a tough morning a little easier.
I always look forward to these newsletters. The writing is as beautiful as the landscape pictures. Thank you , Deborah, for sharing.
Your writing transports me back to my childhood when snow on our farmland stretched out in fields of diamonds and every bush and tree was a sculpture! Your landscaping is just gorgeous. Thank you for sharing so beautifully in pictures and in words. It was a mini-vacation to read your post this morning!
thank you!
Timeless Beauty!!
Thankyou Deborah for this beautiful commentary on your lovely landscaping enveloped in winter! A joy!
Growing up in the Midwest now in northern Fla. the snowy landscape is quite refreshingly beautiful! I do miss it.
Thank you for your stimulating text and photos and for highlighting the sensuality of the seasons!
I’m so happy I found your letters. “Sometimes it is good to stay the course, and see what grows”….. not just a lesson in landscaping. Thank you!
Dear Kristy, of course I am a fan of landscape design-it’s what I do. But I also think that you need to give a design a chance to be something. best, Deborah
What beauty you create. So enjoy seeing it. Thank you for sharing your immense talent.
Truly breathtaking! Oh how I wish I could transform my yard to even remotely capture this kind of beauty.
Beautiful landscape and photos, and very enlightening commentary on the emphasis and clarity provided by the snow cover. Thank you.
I appreciate you reading Melissa. best, Deborah
Beautiful as always! I enjoy reading your articles and the pictures are very inspiring! Can’t wait to move back to Michigan ( Leelanau)! Can’t wait to visit your shop again for wonderful inspiration, products and taking a mental dream vacation!
thank you, Jac’Lynn! We’ll be glad to have you back. my best, Deborah
Oddly, I find this beautiful insightful post relatable to constitutional health. Aging gracefully is a challenge but can be an uphill struggle if we have not put the time in to prepare for it. The body pays us back when we haven’t done the groundwork to sustain it over the long haul. Thank you for sharing these gorgeous snowy photos
Beautiful and inspirational. It’s so wonderful to see this post with photos during winter to give us hope and inspiration for the spring. A well-planned landscape and garden is truly beautiful and magical all year round!
So beautiful. Do you leave the lights in the branches all year?
Dear Sandra, I leave the lights in and on from mid December until March 1. best, Deborah
Sometimes I wish winter was over but then I see your photographs and it brings me back to such a reality of what beauty really is. It is so peaceful, sculptural and artistic. I can feel your excitement in every photo. Thank you for sharing!
I read with anticipation your love letters to landscapes and the joy they bring. Your use of language to describe landscape settings is so descriptive one can close their eyes – and see and feel the surroundings. Keep writing. It’s a gift.
Thank you for your letter, J. I truly appreciate it.
This is certainly the best way to appreciate Winter….the beauty of the snow on the landscape makes everything magical. I can almost hear the quietness of winter and the peace it brings.