Design Techniques from a Master
Breaking the rules sometimes frees the spirit and unleashes a kind of genius. Thomas D. Church (1902-1978) was one of the first 20th century landscape architects to break the rules of traditional design and lead the profession in a radical new direction. He abandoned strict formal geometry and introduced concepts like piano curves and zig-zags to make his gardens more livable. As Church himself put it, "A garden should have no beginning and no end, and should be pleasing when seen from any angle, not only from the house."
Church was based in California and designed thousands of residential gardens and also did the Master Plans for UC-Berkeley, UC-Santa Cruz and Harvey Mudd College in Claremont.
Now, there's a chance to see some of his surviving works in a 7-day tour in the San Francisco area, June 9-June 15. Led by landscape architect Richard McPherson, Jeff Sainsbury Tours Ltd is actually offering an entire course in Church's design philosophy. Each garden visit will include an analysis of the design, information hand-outs, and an examination of form, scale, plant material, and the "flow" between garden "rooms" in Church's gardens.
Included in the tour is the well-known Donnell Garden, also called El Novillero, plus many others featured in Church's classic book on modern California gardens, Gardens are for People.
To reserve a space on the tour, contact [email protected] or log on to the website, www.jeffsainsburytours.com.
If you can't manage the trip, you can still get a copy of Gardens Are For People, Third edition. It's one of the most useful books in my large collection, and I never tire of reading it again and again.
(photo: Richard McPherson courtesy Jeff Sainsbury Tours Ltd)
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