You are here: Home / Archives for Landscape Design

The Front Door

I never use my front door-unless I am outside after work, watering my pots. If I am out there watering, the chances are very good that I will exchange hellos with people walking the neighborhood.  When company comes, I am on the inside looking out.  Why I would care how the landscape at my front door looks-simple.  My friends are walking up that walk.  We have a visit or a dinner planned.  I have every interest in making that walk welcome them.  It takes a little time to get to my front door from the street; any visitor has time to see what I have going on.   The front door pictured above-my clients were interested in making a change. 

Making friends feel welcome is but one of the ways that my landscape gives me pleasure. My clients had the same idea.  They changed the door and sidelights for the first time in twenty-some years.  Their choice of a new door and sidelights-a beautiful update.  Part of that update was a new pair of containers for the front porch.  A porch generous enough in size to accomodate both pots and guests; I like the size of the porch.  These chocolate stained concrete vase shaped pots, much larger, and much more emphatic-they make a statement.  Purchased just in time for the winter season, we filled them with twigs, dyed eucalyptus, and a wide densely constructed nest of cut greens. The scale of the planters and plantings frames the front door in such a way to make the invitation read from the street.  This also makes friends knocking on the front door feel welcome. 

Just today, we planted these pots for spring.  The winter centerpieces we kept.  The height of the twigs, and the mass of the eucalyptus, are scaled properly with the size of the door, and the size of the porch.    Guests approaching have a sense of the landscape at eye level-this is a friendly gesture.  How I landscape places in my yard where friends come to visit-I like that landscape to put its arms around my friends, and say hello. 

Some city gardens are built on very small properties.  A conscious choice was made here-to block the view of the front door with a luxurious square of boxwood, dominated by an antique urn.  I planted that urn very tall. How that planting obscures the front door makes the walk to the door an adventure.  Front yard landscapes have much to do with the relationship between the public presentation from the street, and the welcome issued to family and friends. 

This front walkway behind that urn planted very tall is actually an extension of a drivecourt.  A shallow porch benefits greatly from its overscaled width.  I so like the decision to do four pots on a narrow porch.  Everything about the numbers of pots, the placement and the planting influences to what extent you say hello, and welcome.

Some front doors are not symmetrically placed.  A tall portion of wall existed to the right of this front door.  A tall pot, barely visible here, is home to a planting of zebra grass and variegated plectranthus.  The planting is at eye level from the street.  The landscape successfully frames the front door. 

This client loves the big statement that her limelight hydrangeas make-they are glorious.  The view from the street to the front door-a long view.  Her contemporary faux bois selettes from France-they still read from a long ways away.  Up close, a mass planting of white New Guinea impatiens is complimented by lime green creeping jenny-the creeping is almost  4 feet long, come mid July.  There is no walk from  here to there-but there is a view that engages the eye in a lively way.

Not all porches permit pots placed symmetrically.  One planter at the door can be every bit as strong as a pair.  In this case, one giant planter is balanced by a substantial planter box.  The landscape obscures the walk.  This makes for a public presentation of the landscape separate from the private experience.  I live in an urban neighborhood.  This means I have concern about what I want to contribute to the beauty of the neighborhood, and how I might want to more personally welcome my guests. 


The back door of my property sees lots of action.  I load and unload the dogs every day-I park just 15 feet from the back door.  We take the trash out.  We come and go, and park here-all the time.  Treasured friends come in the back door regularly.  But my front door-the landscape and the pots-I have a thing about this special place.  It is my obligation and pleasure to present as beautiful a presentation as I can.  To the neighbors walking by.  To casual visitors driving by.  To special guests.  On my mind is what people driving by, and guests coming up the walk-what do they see?  What have I been so well mannered to put at their eye level.

Good manners?  Any guest of mine, I do try to consider their experience first- before I consider my own. Beautiful pots, overflowing with plants, at the front door-this is no doubt a gesture of respect, and affection.

Posted on: May 3, 2011 5 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Design, Landscape Design Tagged With: , , , ,

Where Would You Like To Sit?

I took a picture of my tripod outside the shop today.  I shortened the telescoping legs as much as I could.  This height put my camera just 24 inches above grade.  What is my idea here?  The perspective from which you view a garden, or a landscape, much influences how it should be designed.  My driveway is set at the same grade as my basement.  This means that even though I have a 1 story ranch, I see my driveway from a deck which is one story above that basement.  I don’t really spend time in my drive.  I load the dogs, and drive to work.  I unload the dogs when I come home from work, and walk up the basement steps to get into the house.  But  Buck and I frequently sit on the part of the deck that overlooks the drive.  This means we are looking down on that landscape.  This garden is an overlook garden. 

My tripod set at 24 inches tall records a different view.  The view I see when I am seated in my garden.  This post is not only a discussion of those factors that influence landscape design; it is my prelude essay to talking about choosing and planting containers.  The questions I ask first up, whether it be a consult for a landscape, garden, or containers-how will you view it?  Will you be looking from a second story window?  Will you be sitting next to it on a lounge chair on the terrace?  Will you be looking as you drive or walk by?  Is this a space you view from a window, or a place where you sit and spend time?  

Small containers are perfect on an outdoor table.  When you are seated, the presentation of a container and a planting is close to eye level.  The view of an 8 inch diameter pot when I am standing-a bird’s eye view.  Small pots, containers and urns need to be elevated for good viewing-and placed where you are likely to sit. 

Seated on a bench, I have a great view of these handmade Italian Terra cotta pots from the side.  I also have a great view of a pair of machine made Italian terra cotta pots.  What do I make of this?  Those places where I sit in my garden, those containers need to be every bit as beautiful as what is planted in them-I have a view that asks for that.  I sit in my rose garden.  I have faced down my arborvitae with boxwood; I need a landscape element at eye level that is beautiful.  Arborvitae tend to get thin and straggly at the bottom.  Were I viewing the arborvitae from the second floor, I would be less concerned with their habit at ground level. What is all around me in that part of the landscape where I spend time needs to stand up to close observation.  Places where I am looking from afar, or looking down-I need serviceable containers that feature the plants.  Any fabulous pot or garden ornament needs to be places where it can be seen-regularly.

Though I might be seated in a garden, I would not want every element at the same level.  A change of level provides great interest.  This two-tiered planter welcomes other elements at its feet.  It also permits a view through to an element further away.  The Cotswold stone pedestal is a visual stopper; it is solid and weighty.  The mix of the delicate steel legs and solid stone,  the objects set at different levels is visually interesting.  Every element here is providing company to what I see when I am seated. 

When I stand in my garden, the sky, and the trees of my neighbors comprise a large part of my view.  When I am seated, the sky is eliminated from my view.  The view as pictured above represents a much more intimate garden experience.  Landscapes that involve mountains and sky make for a much different, less personal experience.  

I have been made much more aware of the importance of what goes on at eye level, thanks to my corgis.  Their legs are barely 8 inches long.  They experience the world at a level that I never do-unless I am lying down on the lawn in my yard.  The world is entirely  different from this perspective.   

I love how I am seeing every container in this picture from the side. Low to the ground makes for clear observation of the details.  In the landscape industry, some trees are designated “park grade”.  This means they will suffice visually at a great distance.  A poorly grown tree will not survive visual scrutiny up close.

Many changes of level are represented here.  Were I to photograph the same spot while I was standing, the changes of level would not read nearly so well.  The idea here?  Any place you view your landscape standing up should be tall and taller-and then very tall.  Create an interesting great view at eye level.  The pots you choose for your front porch need to read from the street, and read when friends come to call.  This means large pots, planted rather tall.     


All of the dogs are greatly entertained by each other, and by what goes on near the ground.  It is a landscape they recognize-a world friendly to them.  There is a lot going on here-at their eye level.    What goes on in your landscape needs to engage your eye-wherever that eye of yours might be.  Well done landscapes engage on many different levels.

Posted on: May 2, 2011 3 Comments
Filed Under: Garden Design, Landscape Design Tagged With: , ,

Bare Bones

 

This landscape under renovation is at an even more bare bones stage than it was when I posted about it early in the week.  Over the past few days, all of the boxwood surrounding the walk got transplanted to the east and west property lines.  All you see left are large and irregularly growing patches of sedum.  Sedum does a decent job as a groundcover in full sun, but a plant in this prominent a spot needs to be better than decent.  It needs to be stellar.  Few very short groundcovers for sun are better than lawn.  No living material better describes the sculpture that is a large piece of ground or land.  How little could I live with in a landscape?  Grass-whether it be mowed or left rough, and some trees.     

In addition, a very large bed to the east had been mounded quite high with soil.  A pink horsechestnut had been planted very high; the bed surrounding it had been built up to the grade established by the crown of the tree.  Most of the tree was dead-the living part derelict.  The grade would need to be lowered.  Cleaning out and regrading takes a lot of time and hard work, but it is the foundation upon which everything to come is built. The shape and grade of the beds and lawn play as important a part in the design process as the plant material.  


I posted this picture of the house from last October several days ago; there were 15 trees in the front yard.  9 Japanese maples, 1 amelanchier, 2 red horsechestnuts, 1 sugar maple, and 2 red maples.  Of the 15, 7 were in an advanced state of decline; I doubt they would have survived but another year or two.  Lots of landscape asks for lots of maintenance; the two go hand in hand.   

I took this picture yesterday; all of the boxwood has been moved to other spots in the yard.  12 that were heavily damaged by leaf miner and who knows what else were pitched.  The ground was regraded to match the grade of the sidewalk and the paver landing at the street. 

I do have a thing about how a driveway is landscaped.  Everyone drives up and down their drive every day. This arrangement is particularly jarring.  On the left, lawn, boxwood, a very handsome hemlock, and some hollies.  On the right side, a field of ornamental grass intersected with one lone serviceberry, and a blob of hydrangeas.   

kkTransplanting boxwood to line the drive reveals a particularly handsome and well kept yew hedge which happens to belong to the neighbor.  This arrangement which respects that hedge makes it seem as though the yews belong to this property.  Borrowing this view helps to visually set the drive within the landscape more gracefully. 

This picture says much about the relationship of the lawn to the landscape beds.  The small piece of lawn that runs from the sidewalk to the street is in stark contrast to the giant lawn bed on the far side.  Conversely, the landscape bed in the foreground dwarfs the bed on the other side of the walk.  This speaks to visual balance.  I like asymmetrical compositions, as long as they are balanced.  Sometimes it is a good idea not to press a hard boundary too hard. This little snippet of grass next to the curb is all but overpowered by all of the pavers. 

So here we are, on the verge of something new-always a daunting proposition.  A landscape renovation of this depth is also a luxury; my client decided to just about start from scratch.  Landscapes ordinarily need renovation.  Plants fail to thrive or die.  A storm can take a giant tree down.  A small area may need to be reworked.  But this is a large scale renovation.  The best of what it has going for it at this moment-a very beautiul house 


This is a very important and exciting moment-there is a spirited conversation going on.

Posted on: April 23, 2011 1 Comment
Filed Under: Landscape Design Tagged With: ,

Placing Trees

Some time ago I voiced the opinion that I was not a big fan of Japanese maples.  I heard back about that in spades. So yes, I will concede that they are beautiful trees with enchanting habit and great bark and leaf color.  But they can be very tough to place beautifully in a landscape.  The red leaved varieties are striking in appearance.  The flip side of striking?  Visually demanding.  A specimen tree is just this-a stand alone special element around which an entire space may be organized.   

A beautiful specimen tree asks for a placement that reinforces this idea.  If the idea is to feature a particular plant, other elements in the landscape need to take a supporting role.  Of course landscapes can be organized around a series of spaces or rooms, each with their own diva.  In my own landscape, my trees are either hedged, or planted in drifts, as the divas of my landscape are ornaments.  A fountain pool and groups of pots are focal points.  This is by no means the best way to design a landscape.  This is merely what I like.     

This front yard landscape was home to 9 Japanese maples, representing 5 different cultivars.  When I first saw it last October, some of the maples had black-red leaves.  Some had brown-red leaves.  Others were more clearly red.  In addition, there was a lovely sugar maple, showing yellow fall color in this picture, and 5 additional shade trees.  This made for 15 trees total in the front yard.  Some trees were in poor condition.     

Landscapes in urban neighborhoods are tough to design. They require a judicious hand, and a willingness to edit.  Every landscape gesture needs to be informed by that scarcity of space.  A landscape also needs to work in close concert with that dominant element-the home.  A landscape that respects the architecture will read coherently. There are many voices here struggling to be heard.

Of course it is easier to see years later how a placement of trees might be wanting.  Hindsight is 20-20.  Imagining the space a tree will occupy at maturity is an art; the best practioner I knew is this regard was Al Goldner.  He fearlessly placed trees in anticipation of what they might become 20 years later-even if the landscape looked too sparse and almost undone to begin with.     

Trees planted very close to the foundation of the house may be lovely the day they go in.  Years later, they can obstruct any view of the architecture they meant originally to celebrate.  It is equally as important to consider the views out from within as it is those views from the street.  Several rooms inside are dark, as the windows are covered by branches of the trees.  These branches are equally obstructing the views out into the landscape.  

Every landscape has a foreground, a mid ground, and a background space.  Those spaces need to work, no matter the angle of the view.  The Japanese maples might have presented a completely different appearance, had they been pruned differently.  Each had foliage to the ground.  They read visually as giant red shrubs, not small trees with interesting branching, and an airy appearance.  Maintenance is a very important part of a landscape.

Once the trees were gone, other elements emerged.  A pair of hollies on either side of the front door grew at different rates, and generally suffered from trees planted over them. The boxwood had declined as well.  They have damage from leaf miners; perhaps they were pruned too late in the fall.  There is some work ahead restoring them to good health.   


The beautiful sugar maple, and the hemlocks flanking each end of the house are appropriate and friendly to the architecture.  We moved a lot of plants yesterday.  Viburnums, azaleas, hollies, oak leaf hydrangeas, limelight hydrangeas, boxwood and fothergilla.  The renovation of this landscape is underway.

Posted on: April 20, 2011 14 Comments
Filed Under: Landscape Design, Woody Plants Tagged With: , ,