Posts | Deborah Silver & Co.

The Garnkirk Fireclay Company

It has been three years since I have shopped for garden ornament in England. This past October, Rob travelled to England and shopped furiously over the course of 2 weeks; just 2 days ago, our first container was finally delivered. The shipping has always been an arduous experience, but this shipment was a lesson in the new world order. No dirt, unknown organisms or moss could be imported. My customs broker requested a crew to come to their warehouse-to dry brush any and all soil and moss from our antique and vintage garden items. I was reluctant to remove all of the beautiful evidence of age, but I complied. The rare Scottish Garnkirk fireclay urn circa 1860-1870 pictured above-I just wanted to have it in my possession, along with all of the other things aboard our container.

Antique garden ornaments have that history that guarantees a story. What are those stories? The Garnkirk company was founded opened for business in 1832, by Mark Sprot. He had purchased Garnkirk House in 1811; the Garnkirk Colliery and Brickfield was created nearby. The name was later changed to the Garnkirk Fireclay Company. Their fireclay, used to manufacture firebricks and firebrick products, quickly gained a reputation for very high quality and an exceptional light color. A business in brick, glazed water pipes and other architectural items expanded into beautiful objects for the garden. By 1833, it became apparent that the ornamental products they made for gardens were a growing and important part of the company. Garnkirk garden ornament was said to “exhibit pleasing forms and a soft mellow shade of color, harmonizing admirably the hue of foliage and turf”. This reference comes from the Horticulturist, in an article published in July of 1848. My source for this? A Sotheby’s auction catalogue from 1999.

The Garnkirk Fireclay Company was the largest of its kind in Britain. The seam bed of fireclay varied in thickness from four to nineteen feet, located some 150 feet below the surface. The clay was of a composition such that objects made from it had great strength and beauty. The same could be said for the clay found in Impruneta, Italy; entire local industries developed from the availability of beautiful and strong clay. Garnkirk products were shipped all over the world, including the US.

In 1869, their employees numbered close to three hundred. Some 200 tons of clay were used daily. By 1895, the fireclay pits were exhausted. The company continued production until 1901, when it closed. It is easy to see why this particular clay was so prized. It has a dense and smooth surface which reflects light beautifully. I am sure that density has much to do with the fact that these urns have relatively little damage, considering that they are 151 years old.

The urns have been colonized by moss, and have patches of black typical on garden ornament from this period. The engine powering the industrial revolution in the British Isles was coal. I have seen limestone pieces completely blackened from coal smog.

None of the research I have done on these urns has revealed who designed them. The petalled rim is quite beautiful and sculptural, and clearly derived from natural forms. The incised detail is crisp and dramatic. The proportions are handsome. Some very talented person designed these-would that I could know something about them.

I only know where these urns were for the past year; this leaves 150 years unaccounted for. I do so wish that story could be told; I am sure it would be a tale worth listening to.

Posted on: February 26, 2011 17 Comments

The Sylvan Lake Effect

Rob called me at home early this morning with a weather alert. A spectacular hoarfrost had built up at his house overnight; in minutes I was on my way. As a result, I have a much better understanding of why people so prize lake living. I have had lots of clients with lake properties. They are an amazingly homogeneous group. Nothing in the landscape must obstruct even a fraction of the view. Every element in the landscape must be subordinate to, and in celebration of that view. Some lake communities have specific ordinances that restrict any obstruction of the view. Rob has no lake front, but he does have a beautiful lake view. Lake properties are highly prized and expensive. Today reminds me why that is. This morning, the fog hovering over the water and the frost on the lake front trees-spectacular. I am also seeing why a lake environment demands a very specialized design discussion.

The temperature at 7 am-1 degree. The pin oak in his front yard was clothed in spicules of ice. I know this sounds creepy, but it was incredibly beautiful. The bark of the tree was even colder than the air, as it was loosing heat like crazy. The warmer wet air around those branches condensed on every surface. A large and lacy coating of ice was a first time in person hoarfrost weather event for me.

Even the chain link fence was coated in frost. Chain link fence ordinarily reads dark in a landscape, much like a window screen. Even though most screens are bright galvanized metal, they appear dark, and permit a view through. The pattern of this fence is graphically rendered in white-visually graphic, and new. How rare to see the dark and delicate branches of trees thickly rendered in white.

The lake effect-I have a picture. This hedge of carpinus tells the story. Those trees open to the lake are covered with frost. Those trees sheltered by the house have none. Anyone who designs formally in long runs has lots of issues to consider. Do the soil, light, or exposure conditions exist equally start to finish? Maybe not. The patience to grow hedges level with the horizon, the skill to cultivate them for a uniform effect-a job for a committed gardener. The variation I see here-I have seen it in countless other forms. This hedge-challenged by nature. I would expect to see a different pattern of growth based on the level of exposure to the lake.

These lilacs in Rob’s yard screen him from his lake front neighbor. I would be hard pressed to decide if these lilacs in bloom are better looking than this winter rendition. As much as I dislike the winter, these branches coated with frost were incredibly beautiful. Beyond the beauty, the wind and weather that comes off a lake can be very tough on plants.

This horizontal and wild thatch of stems on an ornamental tree-enchanting. Identifying the tree would add nothing to the discussion. What would add? In my zone 4-5, the winter appearance of the landscape is equally as important as the summer. Bare branches and ice have their day-as they did today. If this tree belonged to me, on this day, I would be delighted.

The old willows on Sylvan Lake were much more astonishing than this photograph suggests. I am sure the stub ends of these giant branches were created in a strong storm. The thin branches were so coated in frost, they just about described the meaning of vertical. The larger Sylvan Lake view this morning-I understand what it means to have a long and wide view of a natural phenomenon. The lake effect-substantial. From my kitchen window, I have an excellent winter urban view of M-59. I have a pair of dogwoods planted just outside these windows for good reason.

Everywhere and anywhere the sun struck the willows, the frost melted. These upper branches are yellow, and yellowing up more and more as spring approaches. The lower branches, frost laden. As much weather as I have been exposed to, a view like this was a first.

Almost every day of all of the years that I have been a gardener, and a landscape designer, I see something new. I regularly experience something I neither planned for or anticipated. How great is this?

Posted on: February 23, 2011 2 Comments

Filed Under: Holiday, Landscape Design Tagged With: frost, Sylvan lake, lake landscapes, lake effect weather, hoarfrost, winter landscapes.

Something In The Air

Given our warm weather last week, I foolishly expected to sense some sign of spring in the air. This foolishness on my part will happen at least 6 more times before nature finally decides to change the channel. The weather report duly noted that we had already had our average quota of snow for a winter-I was feeling home free.

What began as a few big flakes escalated into a driving rain of flakes in a matter of minutes. I am looking out the window of my office this past Sunday afternoon-incredulous would accurately describe my reaction. Who told me this was on the way? I moved on to avoiding paying any mind to what was in the air-I had a bigger mission. My beloved camera had disappeared. How so? Every winter, I close the shop except by chance or appointment, between January 15 and March 1. How else could I clean, repaint, rework, and refresh? That camera-no doubt I had laid it down somewhere in all the confusion-but where, exactly?

On my fifth tour of the building, I find my camera. I rush outside; it is snowing heavily, crazily-fast and furious. I take lots pictures. I have friends and colleagues who are professional photographers. They would not dream of taking their camera out in the rain, or the snow. I have a different take. My camera is a tool whose images help me see, design, record. More importantly, I am not a skier, bobsledder or figure skater. Taking these pictures-winter recreation. So far, so good.

Strong winds blew over the outermost concrete pots in front of the shop-this is a first. These pots weigh 600 pounds when they are filled with dirt. Not long after that gust, heavy snow began to bury them. No matter how patiently and efficiently I design, nature holds and is not shy about playing her trump cards. Any exposure to nature-a sobering experience. Anything that blowqs over in a storm stays put, until the wind moves on to some other city.

Frozen water in the air-a natural experience should you garden in the snow belt. Any landscape needs to have room for that big natural gesture that defines their zone. Gardeners in northern climates know what I mean. Early freezing. January thaws. Chilly Mays-snow flurries early in June. Unexpected winds. You gardeners in Oregon, California and Georgia-you have your issues-different than mine.

The entire landscape at the shop has gone to white, taupe, and black. The red glass holiday balls are way past that holiday season, but they comfort me in February. That color is a relief. It was also interesting to find out that ornament meant for a tree indoors is perfectly happy outdoors in extremely cold and wintry weather. Not that I needed to see any more snow, but heavy snow in the air is not only beautiful, it is entertaining.

Red tulips dominate my spring neighborhood landscapes. I am not there yet-spring is a long ways off. But this dash of red keeps a certain fire burning. I was relieved that above freezing temperatures had removed the snow load from the boxwood. Just in time for more snow.

That relief was short lived. After close to an hour outside, I realized I had locked myself out of the shop. I walked many blocks to a friend with a phone; Buck picked me up, and took me back to the shop. The corgis were glad to be rescued-but not nearly as glad as I. Sorry to say-my winter persists.