tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post2868209898852093435..comments2024-03-24T12:55:07.300-04:00Comments on grounded design by Thomas Rainer: Darrel Morrison's Addition to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's Native Flora Garden Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13805682623764800983noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-33603601730428116992015-02-20T07:29:24.828-05:002015-02-20T07:29:24.828-05:00This is great data a truly decent blog. keep it up...This is great data a truly decent blog. keep it up!!!<br /><br /><a href="http://www.commonvis.com/homes-worked-on" rel="nofollow">Home Remodeling Orange</a> & <a href="http://www.commonvis.com" rel="nofollow">Home Remodeling Guilford</a><br />Thomashillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00632478726968333661noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-33489424934295503392015-01-30T07:20:01.602-05:002015-01-30T07:20:01.602-05:00I was in search of the information that can win my...I was in search of the information that can win my heart and then I found your blog and got everything from here. Thanks<br /><a href="http://www.orlandogreener.com/" rel="nofollow">Greener Industries Landscape Design Services</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-34429768614121951262015-01-13T00:31:02.061-05:002015-01-13T00:31:02.061-05:00They will Appears fabulous. Beautiful words and ph...They will Appears fabulous. Beautiful words and phrases ough have got sheared in your post.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.therealgarden.co.uk/garden-designer-norwich.php" rel="nofollow">Garden design in Norwich</a> & <a href="http://www.therealgarden.co.uk/garden-designer-norfolk.php" rel="nofollow">Garden design in Norfolk</a><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11857374570979734441noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-4458366846789175682014-12-04T22:41:11.742-05:002014-12-04T22:41:11.742-05:00Those gardens look so good! I recently moved onto...Those gardens look so good! I recently moved onto a two acre lot and am wanting to do some extensive landscaping. Your blog has been very inspiring! I just need to find my self an earthmover so I can begin excavation. I'm super excited! <a href="http://www.maudsleyexcavations.com.au/about-us" rel="nofollow"> http://www.maudsleyexcavations.com.au/about-us</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05513449614341198423noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-67792916054302844522014-09-30T14:44:36.851-04:002014-09-30T14:44:36.851-04:00Great blog, and the gardens look amazing!
Vastu Sh...Great blog, and the gardens look amazing!<br /><a href="http://designsquarearchitects.in/vastu.html" rel="nofollow">Vastu Shastra Designers & Consultancy in Lucknow</a>Ashutosh Kumarhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09543175724204521939noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-74809628377465546122014-05-15T22:49:09.707-04:002014-05-15T22:49:09.707-04:00Yes, that's the one! Thank you!Yes, that's the one! Thank you!Esthernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-19638234627221603612014-05-14T23:59:28.631-04:002014-05-14T23:59:28.631-04:00Hi Claudia. You're right! Darryl's additi...Hi Claudia. You're right! Darryl's addition, and the rest of the BBG, is exactly a retreat in the middle of a city, but it also keeps that city's spirit within even its quietest corners. You hear the street traffic from the wilds of the Native Flora Garden and it makes perfect sense. It is a retreat that doesn't retreat. Visit and see what I mean.<br /><br />Thanks so much for reading! HarryHarry Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12546459531785281482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-3452239100407688542014-05-14T23:53:22.119-04:002014-05-14T23:53:22.119-04:00Hi Esther. Thank you for your keen plant eye. If...Hi Esther. Thank you for your keen plant eye. If I am right about the photo you mean, it is Comptonia peregrina, or Sweetfern. The late winter photo is very sculptural, but at its peak, Comptonia is a deep yellow-green 2'-3' high deciduous shrub that lives up to its common name, looking very much like a fern but more adaptable to dry and thin soil in full sun. In the summer, it has a haylike fragrance and it is also extremely hardy (zone 2-6!), native throughout the eastern US. <br /><br />Darrel uses Sweetfern in lose drifts among Opuntia compressa (Prickly Pear) and other dry jewels in the Pine Barren section of the BBG. I remember that he also used it liberally in his Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, which has a nice listing on Comptonia in its extensive online catalog, here: http://www.wildflower.org/plants/result.php?id_plant=COPE80<br /><br />I first met Comptonia in Acadia National Park in Maine, where it thrives in full sun to dappled shade. I love its durable, solid, but also delicate foliage and use it in drifts with Liatris aspera, and a little more functionally at the feet of Clematis virginiana along a sunny arbor. I hope you find a place for this terrific plant in your garden world too. <br /><br />Enjoy the spring, HarryHarry Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12546459531785281482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-36075525235892473572014-05-13T14:18:53.237-04:002014-05-13T14:18:53.237-04:00Mr. Wade, could you share the name of the plant th...Mr. Wade, could you share the name of the plant that's in the top right corner of the picture quad captioned, "The addition to the BBG Native Flora Garden addition, January, 2014. Source: H. Wade"? I love the texture and how it curls against itself.<br /><br />Many thanks,<br /><br />Esther<br /><br />Esthernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-64923965633177577962014-05-12T16:56:37.525-04:002014-05-12T16:56:37.525-04:00The pictures of the addition look absolutely breat...The pictures of the addition look absolutely breathtaking. It looks like a nature retreat right in the middle of the city. I would go on walks there every day. <br />Claudia Rosenburg | <a href="http://www.victorslandscaping.com" rel="nofollow"> http://www.victorslandscaping.com</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08528618579653814208noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-85761498868463682502014-05-09T11:37:27.231-04:002014-05-09T11:37:27.231-04:00As a landscape enthusiast I am always searching fo...As a landscape enthusiast I am always searching for unusual European garden ornaments. One of my trips led me to the country side of Italy where I fell in love with the natural feel of its gardens. I came back to the US and was trying to find a company which would offer me the same sensation as I had experienced Tuscany. A friend told me about Authentic Provence, the moment I stepped into their showroom I was taken aback in awe. Their exquisite collection of French and Italian antiques were exactly what I was looking for to complement my garden. Now my garden is the show piece, through Authentic Provence's unique garden ornaments. I am now encompassed by the true Tuscan lifestyle. Visit them at www.authenticprovence.com and you will find what you are seekingAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17785981111178918174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-2994367542730037652014-05-06T09:42:22.226-04:002014-05-06T09:42:22.226-04:00Nicely, you will find your blog.your articles are ...Nicely, you will find your blog.your articles are very interesting.Thanks for sharing such an informative article. <br />Blumenzwiebelnhttp://www.superblumenzwiebeln.denoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-89982200859072192612014-04-25T16:17:39.566-04:002014-04-25T16:17:39.566-04:00I have lived in my house for over 5 years now. I h...I have lived in my house for over 5 years now. I haven't done much with the landscaping. It would be really nice to finally have my yard looking good this summer. <a href="http://www.greeneffex.com/commercial.php" rel="nofollow">http://www.greeneffex.com/commercial.php</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18270072520167144920noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-60883523437492105222014-04-18T11:08:37.558-04:002014-04-18T11:08:37.558-04:00Harry,
It's wonderful to find people like you...Harry, <br />It's wonderful to find people like you and Thomas who believe gardens and landscape are appropriate subjects for intellectual and aesthetic discourse. I wish we had many more thoughtful people writing like this about gardens. James Goldenhttp://www.federaltwist.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-39659239590698878422014-04-17T14:10:07.342-04:002014-04-17T14:10:07.342-04:00Thank you for your kind words, James. I envy you ...Thank you for your kind words, James. I envy you your Morrison classroom time.<br /><br />The habitat vs. aesthetic object polarity you mention may have always been one of those cases where seemingly opposite states really form a continuum, with gradations and variations all along the spectrum from one pole to the next, and with very few pure examples to be found. The theoretical question I am asking myself now (yes, another theoretical question) is, why is this such a slippery question? <br /><br />Is it because landscape and garden design, by virtue of their methods and media, have no choice but to always BOTH follow nature and to aestheticize it? Or is the matter getting more complicated because the rise of ecological considerations has turned habitat preservation into a headliner theme that no thoughtful design can escape and no self-aware visitor can get out of their head? Is it the underlying metaphysics of gardening or the trend-like power of a school of thought that defines our particular moment in history?<br /><br />Not sure. But I am increasingly sure that the habitat vs. aesthetic object dynamic is a fault line running under the most creative design solutions today, helping to create their energy and relevance. Darrel Morrison may have always known it’s a two-for-the-price-of-one deal and the BBG addition may merely be his most articulated expression, to date. <br /><br />And not to put you on the spot, James, your personal garden, Federal Twist, appears to be an elegantly aware and provoking example of this dynamic as well. Readers can make a virtual visit to your exciting garden and also get a glimpse into your own inspirations here: http://federaltwist.com/<br /><br />--HarryHarry Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12546459531785281482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-82097108085122609502014-04-17T00:33:30.763-04:002014-04-17T00:33:30.763-04:00Having never seen this garden, and only glimpsed t...Having never seen this garden, and only glimpsed the NYBG garden last month, I can't even comment on the BBG garden. I can only thank you for this fascinating essay and "tool kit of response options," which I'll take with me when I finally see the garden. I'm not joking; I think your wide-ranging analysis--from Wittgenstein, to Cornell, to the Kaplans, et al.--is thought-provoking and a worthy companion for further study of gardens in general. I have been fortunate enough to hear Darrel Morrison speak twice in the last two years. I well remember scribbling the Kaplan's mystery, complexity, cohesiveness, legibility mantra in the margins of my program during his presentation at one event (feeling as if I'd experienced an epiphany), and at another I watched as Darrel took off his shoes and "danced" to Smetana's Ma Vlast as he drew colored swirls for a landscape design for part of the campus at Temple University in Ambler. An unusual design approach, but a rather thrilling and enjoyable one to watch. The year before, at Plant-o-Rama at BBG, he participated in a panel discussion of the then-under-construction native plant gardens at both BBG and NYBG. The only recollection I carried away from that discussion was the impression that the BBG garden would be strictly a habitat garden (with teaching primary and aesthetics a secondary concern) and that the NYBG garden would be less constrained to specific ecologies, and less overtly pedagogical, and probably would designed with more concern for aesthetics (for looking good). I now can't wait to visit both (in full growth, I hope), and the deep reading in this post makes me look forward to that with great anticipation.James Goldenhttp://www.federaltwist.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-47433634923071159842014-04-16T08:32:15.160-04:002014-04-16T08:32:15.160-04:00You know, the post on the APLD Ohio Chapter websit...You know, the post on the APLD Ohio Chapter website about this workshop really captures the depth and kindness of Darrel's teaching style. His combination of clear-thinking site analysis and a decidedly non-rational approach to creative idea development is key to Darrel's style as a designer, and just as importantly I think, as a teacher. <br /><br />I have not had the opportunity to hear many of Darrel's lectures, but I did discuss the process with him while researching his BBG addition. To oversimplify how I understand that approach: immersion in the inspiration habitat + analysis of its elements + emotionally driven creative response to the habitat + re-immersion at the construction site to discover opportunities there = a pretty solid approach to design and garden making.<br /><br />The great, though unattributed post from the APLOH can be read here:<br />http://apldoh.org/2014/02/25/apldoh-features-darrel-morrison/<br /><br />-HarryHarry Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12546459531785281482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-81788771514386410142014-04-15T20:36:12.891-04:002014-04-15T20:36:12.891-04:00In January, I had the privilege of attending an AP...In January, I had the privilege of attending an APLD Ohio design workshop with Darrel Morrison. Darrel is great teacher and humble advocate for native plants. His design approach, refined over a decades long career, was inspiring and has fundamentally changed the way I look at my own work. <br /><br />Great article, thank you for sharing it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-50275874975780055982014-04-15T20:33:32.415-04:002014-04-15T20:33:32.415-04:00Thanks Sarah and Anonymous for taking the new nati...Thanks Sarah and Anonymous for taking the new native gardens at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden and New York Botanical Garden so seriously, as they both certainly deserve. They are both very young and still need time to grow to their prime, but they are already such strong statements and two very different projects.<br /> <br />That is why I hesitate to compare the two, per se. One seeks to bring native habitat-inspired design to a point of near romantic sweep on the one hand. The other one brings our thinking and experience of natives and plant communities to a new level of self-awareness. One engages the imagination and perhaps encourages us to lose ourselves; the other reminds us that gardens are also places to think and incorporates our conscious decisions into the design experience. Aren’t both of these approaches true to the way we engage nature and respond to design?<br /><br />Of course everyone has a right to prefer one of these projects over the other, and to spend more time with one of the gardens. But whichever side we fall upon, I think Sarah is absolutely right in hoping to return to both for a while. <br /><br />I will admit that one of the prejudices behind this series of articles is my belief that New York City is a diverse enough place, with enough divergent creative and interpretive approaches floating around in it that we just have to spend more careful time with thoughtful design, of many different kinds.<br /><br />Another prejudice of mine is that progressive naturalistic design is the most intellectually and emotionally engaging area of landscape design today, so it is necessary to think it all through in the way that Thomas supports in Grounded Design. How, for instance, do we need to change the standard meaning of “habitat” at this point in the movement, or what does sustainability do to our expectations of maintenance, or what is our responsibility as a garden visitor in such an informed era?<br /><br />The last installment in this series will focus on the NYBG Native Flower Garden in spring, and I look forward to continuing this informed and passionate dialog with you.<br /><br />HarryHarry Wadehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12546459531785281482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-24689192898973240872014-04-15T16:14:30.437-04:002014-04-15T16:14:30.437-04:00Sarah raises a lot of good points, particularly th...Sarah raises a lot of good points, particularly the comparison to NYBG. A great review within a review. I live in Brooklyn and have visited the garden 3 times over the last season, which to be fair is hard to judge a garden so young, but . . . .<br /><br />For me, the planting at the BBG Native Flora Garden is a mess. Both a conceptual mess and a literal mess. It lacks legibility. There are so many plants crammed in there that it loses connection with the simple native plant communities it is meant to evoke. It is what happens when one is so in love with the plants that one loses the design. <br /><br />I like your philosophical analogies, but I think you heap too much meaning on this garden: "cognitive meltdown" = design mess.<br /><br />I hope the garden will continue to be edited and refined over the next few years. It needs it. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-64397362177011167062014-04-15T15:17:38.196-04:002014-04-15T15:17:38.196-04:00BBG is a contrast to the new native garden at NYBG...<br />BBG is a contrast to the new native garden at NYBG designed by Oehme van Sweden. I've seen both gardens, but when I visited BBG last fall I didn't realize it was "new." It has a wilder feel and felt like it had been there for a while, a compliment in a way since most gardens take a few years to look fully formed. I felt immersed in the plants -- lots of tall things still up and leaning this way and that and, yes, you do brush up against them. But, dare I say, it also felt a bit unkempt. The scale, of course, is smaller – 1 acre versus 3.5 at NYBG. (Why is BBG native garden entirely enclosed ? I got locked in and had to climb over the fence! This garden within the garden closes an hour earlier than the rest of BBG for some reason.) <br /><br />NYBG apparently moved away from a "habitat" garden (I heard Sheila Brady talk about it recently here in D.C) to a more "gardeny garden" (my term). But it seems to me that aside from the giant rectilinear water feature, NYBG is still in many ways a habitat garden, too, and maybe a better one than it was previously because it's concerned with planting according to the conditions of the existing site (the upper rocky ledge, the open meadow etc.,) as opposed to trying to represent (or impose ) ones from other regions. (The previous garden had a "pine barrens section", for instance, but I've never seen the earlier incarnation). <br /><br />I didn't have a lot of time to spend at BBG’s native garden so I'm not entirely sure what I think. I certainly like aspects. But, I wonder how the gardeners feel about these gardens. (I work as a professional gardener.) What is it like from a maintenance point of view?? Do they think they are successful? How much involvement did they have in the development of garden? <br /><br />And, is NYBG really less of a habitat garden? (Is it that big imposing water feature that sends into another realm?) <br /><br />It is interesting to learn what experience Morrison hopes for at BBG. Maybe some of the complexity was lost on me. And I appreciate that the habitats represented at BBG are basically of that place. I hope to return to both soon to see them in another season, and after the gardeners have had more time with them. One visit isn’t enough to form an opinion. <br />sarahhttp://ofleafandlimb.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com