You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'landscape design' category.
It doesn’t get any more awesome than this . . . .
Russ you are now gone . . . a place to remember . . . but you will not be forgotten.
Your entire family are in our prayers and thoughts for the tough times ahead for them, and for one son who will grow up without a father, and for a father who must now bury his son.
Davis family I am with you in thought, always.
Pearl Fryar
After all the commotion Pearl received on the documentary shown on HGTV and the traffic this blog received when I promoted the documentary, some more news and a request came about.
Friends of Mr. Fryar wanted all of you to be aware of this website and the big news:
The Pearl Fryar Topiary Garden has been designated a Preservation Project of the Garden Conservancy.
The Garden Conservancy is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1989 to preserve exceptional gardens for public enjoyment and education. By facilitating access to diverse examples of our cultural heritage, the Conservancy encourages greater appreciation and stewardship of these fragile resources. Working in partnership with individual garden owners and public and private organizations, the Conservancy uses its legal, horticultural and financial resources to develop innovative methods of securing a garden’s future.
View the latest newsletter from the Garden Conservancy
To learn more about the Garden Conservancy and their preservation projects, visit www.gardenconservancy.org.
This is a big deal and major kudos to The group for getting Pearl this type of recognition and the forward thinking in saving a great garden.
More information can be found here about the gardens, the Conversancy, the DVD, and information about the plants in the garden. Good reading.
Ellen Louise Payson
I had read quite a bit about Gertrude Jekyll, and the American designer Beatrix Jones Farrand, but very little about Ms. Payson.
Like Farrand, Louise Payson was known for her complex and detailed use of plant materials and for her hardscapes of walls and terraces. And while male landscape designers often distinguished themselves more on the drawing board than in the garden, Payson, like many in the sorority of designers who flourished during the so-called golden age of female landscape architecture between 1890 and 1940, was also a gardener who enjoyed getting her hands dirty. Being a Maine woman with roots in a state beloved by well-heeled rusticators may have given her the earthiness that defined her reputation.
Read the full story about her career and her life. A very accomplished woman and designer in a tough time to be successful in any endeavor.
Composition and Harmony 101
Another of those design principles that seems easy enough to explain but always turns into a very drawn out, complicated, mis-understood series of principles. I know harmony, you know harmony when you see it, you know when something isn’t harmonious; but dang’it try and explain why that is.
Same thing for composition, how things are put together and the perfect lay out for the designed space:
Composition is basically the arrangement of shapes, colors and elements in order to guide the reader’s eye making him understand and remember it, also looking pleasant. As we always say, there are no real rules for design, but there are principles that fits for most works. Don’t be completely restricted to what we say here, but know how to use it in your projects.
A good definition for line:
This element is important to indicate movement and make the layout flow. Being straight, curved, horizontal, vertical or diagonal can mean different things. The important thing is know how to use it, being explicit or not. Take a look at the images and see how the lines create a nice flow in different designs.
Texture explained in a few sentences:
The texture refers to the feeling you have about a surface, like rough, smooth, etc. It’s also related to repeated pattern on a surface. Using a nice texture can make your work much more rich and interesting. The images show texture as a surface and as the whole image.
Also good definitions on Balance, Positive/negative, the Golden Ratio,Rule of Thirds, and a few more. The accompanying pictures help reinforce those definitions. The article is directed to graphic design but good design principle is good design principle.
Growing a garden in Washington D.C.
Reading Adrian Higgins letter to the 1st Lady Michelle Obama almost had me in tears . . . from laughing. Gardening in D.C. is no picnic, no picnic at all. Lots of hard work, and some good luck, with a huge dash of timing thrown in.
A well written piece and to top it off some good advice for those who think vegetable gardening is about a plot of land and throwing some seeds on the ground.
I sure hope the Secret Service doesn’t pull weeds.
I got 1st dibs!!!
Check it out and prepare to spend some time in exploration. The site is 1st Dibs and the intent is shopping, lots of shopping and exploring.
Flora’s blog
This was the 1st image I saw when I opened the blog, and it’s a good one.
Wow, a real work of living art. Clicking on the image will take you to Kevin Smiths blog and some more fascinating and creative work. Really great stuff.
Before you go scroll down through the work on Flora’s blog, more solid work, inspirational, and creative. Nicely done blog.
Final Thought(s)
My take on links is that a blogger should only link to thing/thoughts/ideas/works that appeal to the writer. Is a given that I must be writing something that appeals to you my readers; or heck .. . . . . you wouldn’t be here.
I like to add my take on the sites because I feel it’s a real honest way of linking to other sites. My who, what, where, and why, or how.
Bloggers who just throw up a laundry list of links with no thoughts/comments doesn’t appeal to me and I do not expect it to appeal to you.
I’m sure most of you are like me and are extremely busy right now. Blogging and the landscape business in seasonal climates just do no match, so little time and so many demands.
Plus I have got to get my garden in!
Very interesting set of images in a Picasa Web Album, super stuff
Picasa Web Albums – Gardensia – GardensiaProducts
Powered by ScribeFire.
It’s a Oldie!
Early plaza layout renderings
About the second after I finished this page of sketches I received a phone call telling me the project went kaput. So that was that.
I think I was on to something here, but, alas . . . . .
Another rendering from this went nowhere.
Below is a rendering for a rather largestream and a series of waterfalls. The contractor I was doing this for had a track record of dragging his feet on starting projects on time.
In this case he didn’t even get these drawings and his proposal to the client before the homeowner accepted another for about half the price.
The finished project, I snuck in the backyard . . . was downright awful, I mean really bad. So bad, I almost drove home to get the camera, and sneak back in. wow it was bad . . . stream looked like a county drainage ditch full of rip-rap bad!
I think this is around 2002.
In DP(08) I thought I was finished talking about color, or I thought I was finished sending you to sites that discuss all the great things concerning color.
Well; as usual, I was wrong.
Not that any of you are surprised that I was wrong. Heck you guys probably always think I am wrong about something. 
More Sites
By accident I have found a few other places I’d like to send you to when it gets to color.
The 1st is a Hewlett-Packard site called the On-line Color Thesaurus where you enter a color and the thesaurus gives you other options that work with the entered color . . . it’s kinda fun. One of those great tools to use if there is a color you’re wishing to use but somehow it’s not quite the one. Boom here comes some other options that will achieve your solution-hopefully.
Shockingly enough . . . Wikipedia! has a page on Crayola colors(133) and another list on the Crayola colors in historical context, if you’re a fan of Crayola this is a good link to keep.
120 Crayon Names + Color Codes
Another great page from the COLOURlovers site about Crayola and a lot of fun facts, images, inspiration, pallets, etc.
This is a awesome chart, and really well done, take a look at Aaron’s site for a lot of solid information and work, examples, and a discussion board. Below chart is from the COLOURlovers site:
In several previous post I went through the very elemental beginnings of my take on Landscape Design Principles. The last was how I looked at design when considering motion, and the two parts of motion; static and dynamic.
Now let me turn my attention to the most discussed of all landscape design principles . . . color. More has been written about color than I could ever hope to even read, heck if I started reading now . . . I’d still be reading after I was dead.
A reminder of my chart on these 10 building blocks.
The list:
Ten Building Blocks to Design-Design at it’s Most Primitive
7 physical and 3 Sensory Elements=The 10 Basics of Design
Physical Elements:
-
Point: where everything starts.
-
Line: the connection of two points.
-
Plane: connection of several lines—2 dimensional.
-
Form: connection of several planes—3 dimensional.
-
Motion: movement/experience, planes/form.
-
Color: an added bonus to 3 dimensional space—courtesy of light.
-
Texture: as in manipulation of plane, form, and color.
Sensory:
-
Sound: Most powerful, out of sight, or irregular rhythm.
-
Touch/Tactile: human nature, drawn to . . .
-
Smell: kicks in memory, most powerful.
Color
So how does a guy like me write about(blog about) color? What do I have to offer that hasn’t been written before? Well, probably nothing, that’s what. Not a damn thing.
I do have something to say anyway . . . shocker. here we go with my 1st biggie
Color is overrated, that’s right . . . I said it, er, wrote it.
Color, especially when discussing flower color is overrated.
These flower colors last from a day to several months with most color range(s) in the 2-3 week range. With a time frame like that it would seem that the overall form, shape, texture, and foliage-especially foliage color is much more important in terms of landscape design.
Heck, I’ll take it even further living here in zone 5/6 . . . it’s the winter landscape that needs more attention, a lot more attention.
There are a lot of designers who would vehemently disagree with me, well fire away. Both barrels . . . I can take it.
I will not back down that the overall effect of the designed space is more critical to the success of the landscape than any color scheme involved in that very space. So, do I ignore color completely? Heck no.
Color Philosophy:
- I am always going to ask clients what color they do not like as opposed to color(s) they do like. Most often this is orange.
- I do pay attention to color palette in regards to planting backdrop. No sense having red flowers in front of a red brick house.
- I do like to stay with pastels together, and not have that mix with one or more hot colors.
- If a client wants it hot, stay hot. No need to drift off into something cool, or some of those nice pastels.
- Green is a color, a great color. You can get really creative with shades of green and create a awesome foliage planting, with year round interest.
- Some plants flower color looks great for two weeks, and like crap for the other 50(most Azaleas, Quince, Mock Orange, older Lilacs, etc . . . oops Forsythia!) plan for that. Plats that flower for two weeks are support plants . . . not focal plants!
- Thinking
- Still thinkin’ . . . more will come. I just know it. You all know how this works, as soon as I click off of this . . . boom! Another example of me and color.
Color lowdown
Here are several links to some real discussion/images/charts on everything you would ever want to know about all there is to know about color.
This list has it all. It’s in pictures so you have to be feeling a bit adventurous and take a chance when you click a pic!
Here are a couple more:
Even more
Still more, told you there were lots of possibilities to go look at:
The last two image both originate from a site called Colorlouvers. A very nice website where you can learn a lot about palettes and creating palettes. If you draw, paint, use color in any way(interior work?), anything.
You could spend a lot of time here, a lot.
Color, that’s it. That’s all I got.
Texture . . . you’re on deck!
May 8th and 9th Dumbarton Oaks in Washington, DC is hosting their Spring symposium entitled:
The Interlacing of Words and Things in Gardens and Landscapes: Beyond Nature and Culture
There is a lot of talk in the opening description about how this idea of nature an culture have been discussed by a lot of different folks in their own context, but never together in the discussion of designed spaces.
. . . . by proposing new modes for the description and understanding of gardens, whether in the context of history or in the present – as they have been, or are, experienced by those who make and use them across many different areas of the world.
Yesterday I wrote about a comment thread at the 100K Leed house.
Interesting commentary thread over at this website about building a $100,000 house, following LEED requirements, and the landscaping, or lack of landscaping.
So a couple of folks have dropped over and added their opinion, and the debate goes on.
Builders—-I’m speaking in generalities here, just don’t seem to get it. Work with us landscape people, let us be part of the team, and not some last minute afterthought on some half-ass ridiculous budget.
Where we get my favorite:
Twelve shrubs, two trees, mulch and enough sod to cover the front yard.
This was the builders special of about 95% of all home builders in South Carolina in the late 80’s throught the early 00’s(oughts). If it’s changed down there; please someone, let me know.
Now I don’t know about budget on the 100K LEED house, it shouldn’t be that high, or if there is one(hope it’s not $500). But it all started when I commented quite a while back about the landscaping being added on at the end of the project.
Why not move into a nice new LEED house with a recycled paver/brick/sandstone front walk. A compostie deck in the back?
Tree properly placed for shade in the summer and sunlight in the winter. Trees and shrubs to improve habitat for our animal friends, plants the are friendly to their environment, not needing pruned with gas shears, or crazy amounts of fertilizer.
Adding great soil at the beginning and not having to tear apart badly prepared beds later on, costing time and MONEY . . . nah, why do all that.
To hell with it just put in the twelve, 2, mulch, sod and sell the damn thing.
Yes, I am getting madder as I type.
Oh, and the AIG thing . . . I’d rather not get started.
Interesting commentary thread over at this website about building a $100,000 house, following LEED requirements, and the landscaping, or lack of landscaping.
In my previous post I spent some time talking about berms and such, plus some other fun nonsense. Fun nonsense? . . . and I must say some very practical nonsense on designing berms.
Mounds???
Berms and boulders as part of the Landscape
Notice I do not call these mounds. Why? Well they’re not. They are not mounds . . . as in Indian Burial Mounds.
We are also not at war here in America, specifically the Civil War or as my Southern friends and in-laws say . . .
The War of Northern Aggression
Which means we are also not designing Civil War Breastworks to place cannon behind and create good firing angles, no my friends we are creating landscaped berms.
Mice, where do mice come in?
Leave it to one of the usual suspects(e-mailers) going by his pen name of bushpeddler. Bushpeddler? . . . how’s that for an internet handle for a landscape designer? Actually(and I hate to give credit to him) it’s pretty damn good 
Where was I? Oh yeah mice. So bushpeddler writes to me
Yeah, you’re right, but I tell clients those awful little mounds look like mice under the carpet.
Mice under the carpet, mice under the carpet I am thinking and visualizing to myself and I’ll be damned if that’s not the truth. When you look at some of the awful mound work going on out there it really does look like mice under the carpet . . . just visualize it for yourself next time you are out on a job site you are going to fix.
Mice Under the Carpet
Those do look like something under the carpet.
How does this Happen?
Simple. So simple in fact that it’s what drives me crazy insane. It’s like this. The lawn area is always flat or following along perfectly with the terrain . . . then P O W !!! blammo-mounding. Lawn, lawn, lawn . . . mound, breastwork, mice. Just like that.
With absolutely no connection to the surroundings. No wonder some people call them islands. Sometimes it seems the mound goes straight up defying all laws of gravity.
Then you got:
- Perfect round humps.
- 45 degree sides with a perfect flat top.
- Big slopes with some badly place stones(lots of these).
- Then; of course, we have the dreaded mulch mound. Year after year piling the mulch higher and deeper around the base of shrubs and trees-in an attempt to kill whatever is being buried.
- And all other types of offensive mounds, hills, islands breastworks, and mice.
On the other hand
How about a better way to berm? Something more pleasing to the eye, more fluid, more integration between lawn and berm. A connection that allows for great space(s).
A more Pleasing Roll in the Landscape
It isn’t that Hard.
Why not roll the lawn or whatever the ground plane is, up into the progression of the berm topography? Creating a better connection; or melding, where the lawn and planting area doesn’t have to come across as so harsh and rigid divide.
It’s been said that the lawn is the foreground to the scene, and then the scene appears beyond that foreground. We have no need as Designers to so sharply separate one from the other.
So let the lawn roll up into the berm, or in some instances have the planting area develop down onto the flat topography that would have been all lawn. Create the flow.
The berming can become part of the landscape rather than be something in the landscape.
A quick landscape study for a client.
This is part of a much larger conceptual idea I have for frontage in front of 3 office buildings.
These 3 buildings and 2 others form a “campus like setting” that is divided by one public two lane road. 1 building on one side of the street and the others across the way.
Identifier
My idea is to create some consistent “landscape frontage” to tie all the buildings together. Bringing cohesiveness to the site and the campus.
Where you would see this particular type and style of planting you would recognize those buildings as part of X corporation.
Tree ares along with a berm planting
The drawing represents some loosely determined tree plantings with irregular size and shaped berms in between-topography dependent. The berms would only have two types of plantings; a low spreading groundcover and a rambling plant with multi-season interest(we are considering a Sumac sp.).
This rendering shows the concept, I have kind of squeezed things together here-let’s call that artistic license. I also did not get into rendering a berm with a lot of rolling topo. This drawing along with several others is a set of initial drawings to see what kind of interest we capture with the client.
Alternating Rhythm
A note about design principle(s). Showing large groups of deciduous trees, then a bed area with berming, back to another group of trees is definitely a rhythm pattern, some would call it alternating rhythm.
A pattern often used poorly. How so?
Think your local Wal-Mart or cheesy strip mall. What do ya got? Let’s see . . . 1 tree(Bradford Pear?!?) go 30ft . . . 1 burning bush?!? go 30ft . . . 1 tree and so on, and so on . . .you’ve seen the drill.
My hope here is to convey the concept of a collection of irregularly placed trees, with these rolling berm area’s in-between.
Berms not Breastworks
A note on these rolling berms . . . I do not, I repeat . . . I do not-start the rolling berm inside the bed and leave the grass/lawn area flat around said berm . . . I hate that, I repeat . . . I hate that!
The terrain starts rolling in the lawn space and just continues up into the bad areas. These are not Indian Burial Mounds nor are the Civil War Breastworks . . . everyone clear on that? Good.
Whew, I feel better now.
My hope is to use this site to spread some info about the art and practice of Landscape Design. It is a very misunderstood profession; I do not cut grass like the next door neighbor's cousin who carries 3 mowers and a blower in the back of his truck.
I will also pass along comments on industry happenings, events, etc., and any maybe a few other adventures going on in my world-after all this is "my" blog. Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. Questions? Drop me an e-mail.
rick (at) whisperingcraneinstitute (dot) com
SocialVibe