Description of a drought-tolerant garden near Seattle by Valerie Easton in the Seattle Times.
Keyword: Garden design
Garden Tip #73
Most gardeners, at one time or another, attempt to get a garden design down on paper. Those of us lacking drawing skills often find the exercise yields disappointing results. We may be tempted to buy design software, but the good programs cost hundreds of dollars and have a high learning curve. Before investing in an expensive program try a simplistic, but free version from the King County Native Plant Guide. Whether you are a seasoned gardener wanting to go native or just getting started you can use these landscaping plans to get ideas or for a complete yard makeover. The sample plans will not work for every yard and situation but you can use them to help you get started. The main benefit from this program is having a chance to try out different designs without spending a dime. Remember, you get what you pay for!
Garden Tip #195
It’s easy to plant a garden that is colorful and interesting in June, more difficult is designing a garden that shines in October. Read Autumn Gardens by Ethne Clark (Soma, 1999) to learn both design principles and the best trees, shrubs, perennials, bulbs and grasses to plant in fall. Oakleaf hydrangea, Canadian serviceberry, species roses, and sedums are just a few of the plants featured that will extend the garden interest beyond Labor Day.
Garden Tip #177
Wondering what plants will thrive in your challenging garden situation? What Plant Where by Roy Lancaster (New York: DK publishing. 1997) will help by showing you color photos and descriptions of plants organized by chapters on soil and light needs; by design features like winter interest and the color of the leaves; and by special features like fragrance and bird attracting.
Garden Tip #153
Do you want that “mature garden” look, but don’t want to wait a decade to achieve it? Check out Fast Plants by Sue Fisher (Fireside, $16.00) to learn about trees, shrubs, vines and perennials that will grow up in a hurry. A few suggested plants for a near instant effect include:
- California Lilac (Ceanothus)
- Cape Fuchsia (Phygelius)
- Bluecrown Passionflower vine (Passiflora)
- Willow (Salix).
The author insightfully includes information on controlling growth because there is a fine line between fast and overly vigorous!
The Intimate Garden
Consider “The Intimate Garden” for very detailed examples of highly individualized garden spaces, with an emphasis on hardscape and ornaments. While both author Brian Coleman and photographer William Wright are from Seattle and the gardens are mostly on the west coast, examples from the east coast and even England are included, making this a very diverse selection of design styles and plant material.
Excerpted from the Fall 2012 Arboretum Bulletin.
Landscaping for Privacy
“Landscaping for Privacy” by Marty Wingate is very practical and addresses annoying issues like siting the recycle bins, and how to embrace wildlife or pets without letting them run amok, while empowering you to create a space that is very distinctly your own. Relatively few gardening books address fences and hedges in any depth, but for Wingate “screening hedges become more than shrubs planted in a line; they create a green, living wall, incorporating the design elements of sequence and repetition to pull together the landscape.”
Excerpted from the Fall 2012 Arboretum Bulletin.
So You Want to Be a Garden Designer
Love Albrecht Howard’s first book fills a gap in our collection. To my knowledge, it is the only recent book on running a garden design business that is written for plant lovers who may not have formal horticultural or business training, but who do have a fair amount of common sense and are willing to get their hands (and feet!) dirty learning. The author certainly approves of formal education, recommending that prospective designers take courses, but she knows firsthand that hands-on experience gained through internships, volunteer work, and garden shows, as well as time spent with gardening books and magazines can be even more valuable than coursework. Indeed, fifteen out of twenty chapters focus on day-to-day operations, including best gardening practices, rather than on estimating costs, hiring staff, and other money-related aspects of the business.
To its credit, this book has a comprehensive index, with topics ranging from accent plants to Rocky Mountain spotted fever to zone creep. Albrecht Howard offers a wealth of knowledge gained from real-world experience, along with basic guidelines to help ensure the fledgling business does well financially. The underlying message is one most readers will want to hear: if a new designer can perfect skills in garden design, plant care, and customer relations, the money is secondary, and it will come.
A Pattern Garden
Val Easton’s warm and clear writing style is very familiar, but her subject matter in this book breaks new ground as she applies the architectural concepts of patterns, or putting “human instincts into words,” to garden setting. Throughout she “helps us to understand why we feel comfortable in a space” and why, in other places, we don’t. The patterns are not unfamiliar: Scale, Garden Rooms, Ornamentation, Containers, etc., but some associations may be new, such as grouping Patios, Sheds and Focal Points under destinations. This makes it important to read the book as a whole, even though you’ll return to favorite sections again and again for specifics. A short review of favorite plants concludes the book, but these are just one more pattern in the larger design.
Excerpted from the Fall 2007 Arboretum Bulletin.
Garden Design Illustrated
John A. and Carol L. Grant’s “Garden Design Illustrated” is a historical gem. This husband and wife team is better known for “Trees and Shrubs for Pacific Northwest Gardens”, first published in 1948 with help from the Arboretum Foundation. But their 1954 design book is perhaps more relevant today, teaching time-honored basics that haven’t become outdated.
Excerpted from the Spring 2007 Arboretum Bulletin.