tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post4241345432867807645..comments2024-03-19T03:50:11.608-04:00Comments on grounded design by Thomas Rainer: Why the Perennial Border MattersAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13805682623764800983noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-2437818651066921522015-01-30T05:09:46.789-05:002015-01-30T05:09:46.789-05:00Yes after looking after a huge border (300' ti...Yes after looking after a huge border (300' times 15' on both sides' ) it did make me a better gardener for sure especially after year 8 I really developed my techniques to "lengthen the time" of the border...but may I also remind many readers that the maintenance bills were "up there" to say the least… I feel Oudolf has liberated the border and simplified it to a point where its has become a crossover between plants man ship and art…which I love…geoff picklesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-7517415333054928382012-07-12T22:03:27.899-04:002012-07-12T22:03:27.899-04:00I am pleased to hear from another American who has...I am pleased to hear from another American who has discovered the joy in the pursuit of excellent succession planting. <br /><br />The the progression of gardens and plants through the season is the missing element in most gardening literature! I find it more challenging to focus on a small area and do it well, all season. <br />-Julie in PAWife, Mother, Gardenerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10601987822088200476noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-85270923056007294672012-06-26T15:48:37.405-04:002012-06-26T15:48:37.405-04:00Fantastic blog! and beautiful photo's. We mov...Fantastic blog! and beautiful photo's. We moved onto a very bald property 24 years ago and my husband who is a Certified Arborist with his own tree care business proceeded to plant 130 different trees. We now have very beautiful shade trees and a nice cool house in the summer. However, as you can imagine, we have little space for perennials that require sun. Any information on a shady English perennial border would be wonderful!! Thank you for this sweet blog!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-53541004044753246782012-06-06T05:01:31.872-04:002012-06-06T05:01:31.872-04:00This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-90810263687155188562012-05-24T05:04:26.859-04:002012-05-24T05:04:26.859-04:00This comment has been removed by the author.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-54530520930894651802012-05-24T02:30:02.299-04:002012-05-24T02:30:02.299-04:00I am sure you have a great fan following out there...I am sure you have a great fan following out there.<br /><a href="www.kailystreeservice.com/" rel="nofollow">Tree Doctor</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-56732714574118468302012-05-10T10:58:09.667-04:002012-05-10T10:58:09.667-04:00I think "high maintenance" is in the eye...I think "high maintenance" is in the eye of the beholder. If you love gardening and have a purpose to what you're doing (I like the idea that your garden is a big experiment in progress) then it's not burdensome. I like going outside and deadheading, for example. :)Pathttp://www.edible-landscape-design.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-16553406334729301452012-05-08T08:26:09.421-04:002012-05-08T08:26:09.421-04:00Kristin,
Thanks for the comment--I very much enjo...Kristin,<br /><br />Thanks for the comment--I very much enjoyed it. In fact, I think you said it better than I did. I've had more experience doing landscape designs with native plantings than border plantings, but the process is eeirly similar. Both are absolutely contrived, but both take an intimate awareness of how a plant reacts in time within a community of other plants. For me, studying the border was a way to give more discipline and rigor to my more 'landscape' scale work--something I probably needed anyways. <br /><br />I checked out your blog after reading your comment and it is lovely. I am now a fan and subscriber! I grew up in Birmingham, Alabama so I am familiar with how difficult it is to garden--particularly with perennials--in the humidity of the Deep South. Not impossible, of course, but definitely more challenging than say Maine or some other more fortuitious gardening climate. I look forward to following you more.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13805682623764800983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-73948351898249354772012-05-08T01:09:36.578-04:002012-05-08T01:09:36.578-04:00Kaveh-
When I've been working in CA, I think (...Kaveh-<br />When I've been working in CA, I think (especially in certain microclimates)--now this is the spot for a romantic border--everything just blooms and blooms. I think the borders at Digging Dog Nursery in Albion, CA are good--they have beech hedges, among other lovely things. The Mendocino Botanical Gardens also has some stellar moments. See my posts if you're interested: http://landfieldgardendesign.blogspot.com/2011/09/digging-dog-nursery.htmlKristin (GardenLust)http://landfieldgardendesign.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-56564655862213430892012-05-08T00:59:02.302-04:002012-05-08T00:59:02.302-04:00Thomas-
Thank you for this thoughtful take on the ...Thomas-<br />Thank you for this thoughtful take on the traditional perennial border. It doesn't matter how much my design aesthetic evolves and I become more inclined to retrained mass planting--I am a sucker for a brilliant perennial border (part of it is my obsessive plant collecting!). They engage my first love of gardens--they spill with verve and hope and surprise. Done well they are indeed the acme of planting design--done poorly, they reinforce the "hot mess" perception of gardeners' gardens by our neighbors. In Atlanta, we have a protracted season of heat and humidity that requires some clever tricks to succeed with a border. <br /><br />I so appreciate the connections you've made in this piece; specifically, you make the link between this contrived creative expression and its dependence upon intimate knowledge of plants throughout their life-cycle: under competition, given their reproductive idiosyncrasies, and in the given border site.. It's my sense that garden design should interpret the natural world--that a garden is the interesection between contrivance and nature. A lively perennial border--very heavy on the contrivance--requires a strong dose of natural empathy. I had the pleasure of hearing Fergus Garrett illuminate some of their succession planting method. His gracious way of describing their process (re)sanctioned the border for me as a designer. I felt some permission to admit my love of the border without being total design anathema. Practical for everyone? Certainly not...En vogue at the publishing house? Not so much...A sumptuous pleasure for the devotee of plants and of design? Most definitely. <br /><br />Thank you again--and for your reference to native schemes in this context!Kristin (Garden Lust)http://landfieldgardendesign.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-29180354933133654202012-05-03T06:32:53.659-04:002012-05-03T06:32:53.659-04:00Mike,
I certainly did not mean to imply that more...Mike,<br /><br />I certainly did not mean to imply that more Anericans need perennial borders. I am more than aware of their faults: high maintenance and not terribly sustainable. However, I do think Americans obsession with "low maintenance" has produced a country of banal landscapes and lifeless yards. My goal is not to sell the border, but to sell richer horticultural thinking, deeper investment into our garden spaces. Your point about soil is very good. It is the first step in that deeper investment.Thomashttp://www.groundeddesign.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-874968941968320112012-05-03T06:24:58.417-04:002012-05-03T06:24:58.417-04:00I very much agree with your thoughtful analysis. ...I very much agree with your thoughtful analysis. I hope this blog is aimed at that sliver you describe: the hybrid designer-gardener who wants more than the typical American designed landscape. We may not always be successful, but at least we try.Thomashttp://www.groundeddesign.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-24845967880313379472012-05-02T23:59:21.905-04:002012-05-02T23:59:21.905-04:00While this style of design does have it's meri...While this style of design does have it's merits in certain settings it is likely too much for most gardeners. There is a way to blend this style with the more American 'organized' design concepts that will not only create a perennial border that is stunning but, one that will likely be more managable as far as maintenance goes. It will also create a more calming and peaceful environment.<br /><br />Regardless of the style, successful gardening always begins with the soil. Create a good soil environment and the garden will thrive. Work the soil from the get-go and the 'work' becomes <br />'enjoyment and relaxation' and definately less stressful.Mike@HortConceptsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-65675783160559126842012-05-02T23:22:49.158-04:002012-05-02T23:22:49.158-04:008:42am
I love this post, not only because it is i...8:42am<br /><br />I love this post, not only because it is interesting and insightful, and the comments are equally enlightening, but also because it highlights a dichotomy in residential landscapes I have found difficult to reconcile. I feel as though there are three general ways residential landscapes get organized in America, at least where I live -- by default, by design, and by gardeners. I am ignoring the default category since it's hard to say much about something no one really thought about. I see the second and third categories as two spheres in a venn diagram with only a sliver of overlap. Landscapes designed by designers are not usually designed for gardeners so they must then, by necessity, be easy to maintain. That eliminates the possiblity of a mixed perennial border because that cannot be maintained by an affordable lawn care crew, it must be maintained by someone with quite a bit of skill and who is invested in the land enough to treat it like a member of a family (figuring out proper nutrition, maintaining space, taming aggressive playmates, finding new homes for offspring, administering medicine, ha! I could go on and on with this metaphor) This sort of pushes design in the direction of clean lines, large massings, trees and tidy shrubs. I think this also appeals to the American aesthetic of viewing the landscape from the street, at a distance, not from the stoop. Generally speaking, we want to show the world that we are in control, our lawns are tidy and weedfree. A few clean lines are pretty enough. In the other sphere we have residential spaces organized by gardeners, who are driven by a love of nature and plants, rather than a larger aesthetic. I think a lot of gardeners have a bug's eye view of beauty - up close, who cares if a particular plant clashes with another? It's all in that one plant, or bloom, and its ability to thrive. I think a lot of designers occupy that sliver of overlap although the designers I know almost always make excuses about their own yards to other designers (opting to prioritize their love of plants over a higher aesthetic when organizing their own space). To make a mixed border a new American aesthetic, don't we have to make the overlap of these spheres bigger first? But what true and gifted gardener do you know who would abdicate the organization of their space to a designer? And how can you ignite the passion necessary to maintain a mixed border in a nongardener? I feel as though that sliver of overlap in America will always be just a sliver - reserved for highly disciplined designer/gardeners (your readers?) or for magnificent spaces like the gardens mentioned in the blog and comments (which all appear to have been designed by designers but then maintained by true gardeners).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-71614928086100145032012-05-02T22:36:51.886-04:002012-05-02T22:36:51.886-04:00Sarah,
I so enjoyed hearing about your process. ...Sarah,<br /><br />I so enjoyed hearing about your process. It reminded me that the best gardens are made by gardeners not designers. It takes that long term relationship with a piece of property to know it and constantly tweak it. Tim Richardson wrote a great article on the fact that gardeners, not designers, are responsible for most of the great gardens in the world, validating your point. If you're interested, there's a link on the website thinking gardens. Thanks for the comment! Maybe we could meet up sometime.Thomashttp://www.groundeddesign.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-87737348000185984522012-05-02T22:28:42.523-04:002012-05-02T22:28:42.523-04:00At least you already understand color. That's...At least you already understand color. That's a big part of my learning curve.Thomashttp://www.groundeddesign.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-79018805771478678702012-05-02T22:23:06.571-04:002012-05-02T22:23:06.571-04:00It IS the holy Grail. If you get close, you will b...It IS the holy Grail. If you get close, you will be able to do almost anything with plants.Thomashttp://www.groundeddesign.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-25477253008465181542012-05-02T19:21:31.272-04:002012-05-02T19:21:31.272-04:00Thomas,
You have a phenomenal blog.
I take car...Thomas, <br /> You have a phenomenal blog. <br /><br />I take care of a few gardens in the DC area, one I've been working in for (I can't believe) almost 9 years, once a week. The client gives me a lot of latitude to change, replant, etc, and I'm much more comfortable "designing" when I've worked in a garden and have come to know the conditions -- moisture levels, light, soil, etc. There is an area in this garden that I think of as a “mixed border” and I always thought of C Lloyd's long border as that -- i.e., it's got shrubs and even a small tree or two (doesn't it?) which carry it through in quieter times with structure, and, of course, the bulbs and annuals. So it doesn't rely exclusively on perennials, which seems key to providing interest for a long period of time. Maybe I'm pointing out the obvious, but to me the success of the Great Dixter -- or any border -- (I've never seen GD in the flesh, but read some of CL's books and I own the Succession bk) -- is the mix of different types of plants. Expanding my repertoire of bulbs was a good lesson in how to keep the sparkle going at different times of year, including tropicals, finding "ground cover" perennials, and pruning perennials (e.g., cutting back asters until July 4th so they won't flop, for instance) and simply learning the cultural requirements of plants can sometimes mean less work and a garden that looks better longer. Having seen some grasses standing tall in dry CO, I realized they look much better with less water, and many bulbs are much happier with little or no summer irrigation because the come from areas with dry summers. (No, I’m not a fan of irrigation systems, though one of the gardens I care for has one.) I've certainly killed my share of plants, or done some stupid combinations, but as the regular care taker, I've also come to know things about my clients' gardens I could never know otherwise. So sometimes there’s no substitute for actual gardening. We don’t have the same tradition of intensive gardening, I don’t think, that the British do……(not to say there aren’t some fabulous gardens and gardeners here.) I know my clients’ generally appreciate what I do, but at the same time, I have those moments when I think “they haven’t got a clue what I do” and I fantasize about how lost they’d be if I quit or just disappeared. But that’s another story….. Anyhow, your blog is one of the best I’ve come across (I discovered it via Chris Upton’s blog, which keeps me abreast of what goes on at the USNA, where I used to be a part-time gardener.) cheers, sarahAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-52554700579951690602012-05-02T12:06:52.657-04:002012-05-02T12:06:52.657-04:00Well stated and true Thomas! I have been researchi...Well stated and true Thomas! I have been researching the EDIBLE FOREST concept which of course uses similar principals but hadn't gotten to the place where I saw the perennial border in a similar light. <br />Your statement "liken to training for a triathelon" is the feelign I've gotten when I attempt to wrap my head around succession planting...ouch! My brain! <br />Thanks again for another great article, NancyArtZenFlowers Color and Designhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08334171389389257463noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-34294517964329052762012-05-02T08:09:55.486-04:002012-05-02T08:09:55.486-04:00Thomas, it could well be your different perspectiv...Thomas, it could well be your different perspective. These plantings look overfussy and tiring to the eye for me (though having started years ago I have some things very similar I'm rather sorry to say.It's not how I plant now) <br /><br />And they seem curiously old fashioned and nostalgic - which might also be significant: Michael King has made an interesting response to your comment on thinkingardens about that:<br />http://thinkingardens.co.uk/articles/naturalistic-planting-is-anything-but-by-michael-king/<br /><br />Hope you respond to that!! And is there a thinkingardens piece in the contrast between the US view and the UK I wonder?Anne Warehamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13102518926229038553noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-55449444252662469662012-05-01T23:32:43.008-04:002012-05-01T23:32:43.008-04:00All of his books are filled with gems. He was a r...All of his books are filled with gems. He was a real innovator.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13805682623764800983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-16139325800322860622012-05-01T23:30:17.464-04:002012-05-01T23:30:17.464-04:00Bark and berries could be great in the border. An...Bark and berries could be great in the border. And dried grasses and seedheads look great in the rain.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13805682623764800983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-51236780339021534382012-05-01T14:06:49.099-04:002012-05-01T14:06:49.099-04:00This is what I am trying to do with a lot of trial...This is what I am trying to do with a lot of trial and error. Yearlong bloom (or at least interest)--that's the holy grail, no? <br />I'd love to see the photos documenting your progress!ValHallahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16843439954015747722noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-78661895188600292162012-05-01T13:35:29.549-04:002012-05-01T13:35:29.549-04:00Thanks for this post. I started Succession Plantin...Thanks for this post. I started Succession Planting as a library copy but had to return it and then moved. It was a wonderful book and I'm glad to be reminded to go get a copy and finish it.Lizhttp://gardenwithliz.com/blognoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8850578816787718159.post-3422922280340626662012-05-01T13:30:42.305-04:002012-05-01T13:30:42.305-04:00David,
As always, your point of view is much appr...David,<br /><br />As always, your point of view is much appreciated. I read your most recent post after writing this one, and I had much the same reaction after reading James Golden's latest post. Perhaps any endorsement of the British border for American gardeners is silly at best and irresponsible at worst. Of course, a perennial border would be entirely inappropriate in much of the desert southwest. But here on the east coast, it's less of a jarring contrast. <br /><br />Perhaps I am lusting for a piece of British exoticism that has no place in the American landscape. Americans have imported all kinds of European garden ideas (the lawn) over the centuries and replicated them on ridiculously small scales. It is indeed silly.<br /><br />However, I will stick by my assertion that the exercise of creating a border--which is essentialy mastering succession planting--is one of the most valuable horticultural skills possible. Particularly for designers committed to using a native palette. No matter what region of the country you are in, successful native plantings require more attention to how the plant's reproductive strategies works within its community. And that is the heart of succession planting. So even a tired and exotic garden form like the British perennial border could have applications in the driest deserts. <br /><br />Always love your comments and blog. It STRETCHES me.Thomashttp://www.groundeddesign.comnoreply@blogger.com