GardenDesignOnline

Green Alleys

Chicago has long been in the forefront of the green movement.  It has more green roofs (in square footage) than any other city in the country -- and according to an article in today's (Nov 26, 2007) New York Times, the city is now moving its campaign into the alleyways.

Chicago has almost 2000 miles of alleys, and it's re-paving them with permeable materials under its new Green Alley program.  The idea is that rainwater gets filtered through permeable concrete or asphalt, then ends up in the water table under ground.  Most rainwater in cities gets shunted off into storm sewers and pollutes nearby waterways.

According to the Times article, the new alley surfaces also keep the city cooler in summer and warmer in winter.  Sounds like a program that other cities around the country should definitely consider.  Unless you're in New York, that is, where there are no alleys.

Great Container Sale

Saturday Dec 1st - 10AM-3PM Somerset, NJ

Seibert-Rice Annual Container Sale

Seibert & Rice markets hand-made terracotta Italian containers, and they are frost-proof to minus 20 degrees.  These are some of the finest looking containers you'll ever encounter, and styles range from the very traditional to quite modern, like the cone vase shown here.

So if you're anywhere within driving range of Somerset, NJ, (near Edison, not far from the intersection of the NJ Tpke and 287) head on down to Atlock Farm, 545 Weston Canal Road, for the super sale of urns, containers of all sorts, stautuary and accessories.  For example, the cone vase shown here usually retails for $1300, but on Saturday it'll be $715, quite a discount.  Seibert-Rice will also be selling its striking topiaries, holiday orchids, and offering food and drink as well. For more information, check their website or call 973-467-8266.

Garden Gift Suggestions 07 (I)

I can't think of a better gift for a gardener or designer than a gift membership to one of your local gardens. I belong to gardens that aren't even in the area where I live, just in order to take advantage of the great info in their newsletters and/or publications, advance notice on upcoming events, plant sales, and other special offerings.  And public gardens need our support, too, so put those memberships way up on your Christmas lists.

And, speaking of public gardens, some of their gift shops offer pretty cool items for gardeners.
At the NY Botanical Garden's online shop, you can order a christmas tree ornament in the shape of the garden's conservatory (pictured here); beautiful notepads and note cards and lovely mugs with various botanical designs. They offer plants, as well.  I particularly liked the collection of four small ornamental grasses -- Carex 'Amazon Mist,' Festuca ovina 'Glauca,' Carex flagellifera 'Bronzita,' and Carex 'Red Rooster.'  Surely you could keep them going inside until early spring, when they could be planted out in the garden.  This online shop has a very wide selection of attractive items for sale -- including many for children -- so do check it out.

At the the Brooklyn Botanic Garden's online shop, there is also a wide array of items.  Tools for the gardener, items for the home, plus books, calendars, knockout gift cards and journals, tiles of various design (the dragonfly tile is shown here), jewelry, botanical prints to die for, and for children:  a grow-your-own carniverous plant set.

Finally, at the Winterthur shop, you can order a Chinese lantern and berry wreath, christmas cards, jewelry, wondrous miniatures for the dollhouse, beautiful garden ornaments and urns (lovebird cachepots shown here), and garden stakes reminiscent of what you might see in the Winterthur gardens.  And if you haven't been there, make sure you plan a future trip to Delaware.

(click on images -- from each garden shop -- for larger view).

Happenings Dec 2007

HOLIDAY GARDEN SHOWS:

Nov 8-Dec 31 Huntsville Botanical Garden, Huntsville, AL
"Galaxy of Lights," 256-830-4447
Nov 16-Dec 30 Callaway Gardens, Pine Mountain, GA
"Fantasy in Lights," 1-800-CALLAWAY
Nov 21-Jan 1 Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis, MO
"Gardenland Express: Wilderness Escape," 800-642-8842
Nov 22-Jan 6. US Botanic Garden, Washington DC
"A Midnight Clear," Trains, Photo Exhibits, Extended Hours (202) 225-8333
Nov 22-Jan 6, Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, PA
"A Winter Fantasy," Outdoor Lights, Christmas Conservatory Plantings, Skaters, Music, Live Holiday Broadcast Nov 23, 7-8PM (Philadelphia NBC affiliate Channel 10) (610) 388-1000
Nov 23-Dec 31, Cleveland Botanical Garden, Cleveland, OH
"Walking in a Winter Wonderland," Gingerbread House competition & more (216-721-1695
Nov 23-Jan 6, Chicago Botanic Garden, Glencoe, IL
"Wonderland Express," 847-835-5440
Nov 23-Dec 23 Desert Botanical Garden, Phoenix, AZ
30th Las Noches de las Luminarias 480-941-1225
Nov 23-Jan 6 Winterthur Museum & Gardens, Winterthur, DE
"Yuletide at Winter," (The splendor of childhood holidays). (800) 448-03883
Nov 23-Jan 7 Brookside Gardens, Wheaton, MD
"Garden of Lights" (illuminated) half-mile outdoor walk. (301) 962-1453
Nov 23-Jan 13 NY Botanical Garden, Bronx, NY
Holiday Train Show (718) 817-8777
Dec 7-30 Quail Botanical Gardens, Encinitas, CA
"Garden of Lights" (760) 436-3036
Dec 7-9 Tucson Botanical Gardens, Tucson, AZ
5:30-8PM Luminaria Nights 520-326-9686
Dec 1-Jan 20 Denver Botanic Gardens, Denver, CO
"Blossoms of Light," 720-865-3500

Dec 1 "Bio-Control in the Garden," Boston, MA
9AM-noon, Arnold Arboretum, Program on Controlling Invasive Plants 617-524-1718
Dec 11 "From Ordinary to Extraordinary," Lutherville, MD
7:30 PM Lecture, Landscape Architect Craig Bergmann. Sponsor: Horticultural Society of MD
Dec 15-16 Annual Russian Winter Festival, Washington DC
Hillwood Museum & Gardens Entertainment, Music, Art & More. (202) 686-5807
DECEMBER: Green Roof Workshops Various Locations, US & Canada
Sponsor: Green Roofs for Healthy Cities, 416-971-4494

LOOKAHEAD:

Jan 17-19 Tropical Plant Industry Exhibition , Fort Lauderdale, FL
Broward County Convention Center 800-375-3642
Jan 18-20   22nd Southern Gardening Symposium, Pine Mountain, GA
Callaway Gardens: Lectures, marketplace, workshops, books & more
Jan 23-27 19th World Orchid Conference, Miami, FL
Sheraton Miami Mart Hotel. Orchids, Lectures, Conservation, Exhibitions (786) 621-9962
Jan 26-Feb 2 "Down to Earth Gardening," Various Locations.
Horticulture Magazine Symposium with authors Debra Lee Baldwin, Helen Dillon, David Howard & others.
Feb 9-16 "Patterns in Gardening," Various Locations
Horticulture Magazine Symposium with Val Easton, Ray Evison, Gary Koller & others.
Feb 23 "The Well-Designed Mixed Garden," Lutherville, MD
8:30AM-4PM, Perennials Workshop with author Tracy Di-Sabato Aust. Sponsor: Horticultural Society of MD

Garden Titles (I) for Christmas

Top of the Christmas Book List

If there's a book for 21st century design, this is it.
Open your mind, expand your horizons, and explore the latest concepts in garden design and outdoor living.

Outdoors: The Garden Design Book for the Twenty-First Century, by Diarmuid Gavin & Terence Conran (The Monacelli Press, 2007) breaks the barriers in landscape design. It's a must-have reference work on modern gardens for landscape designers and architects, or for anyone interested in gardens and design.

The book is divided into chapters with grand themes-- Rural, Urban, Natural, Entertaining, and the like.  Each chapter then explores the details behind each theme.  For example, the Urban chapter contains sections on courtyard gardens, suburban gardens, roof gardens -- along with extremely creative new ideas for boundaries, water, lighting, furniture, flooring, hardscape and more. 

In addition, the book includes several case studies of 21st century gardens by top designers, all of which are illustrated by a plan view of the garden -- a very useful feature that is usually omitted in most books on landscape design.  By and large, the case studies are by British designers, but the book does feature a garden by California landscape architect Andrea Cochran.  There are scores of gorgeous photographs from projects by top designers around the world, including Americans Steve Martino, Raymond Jungles, Topher Delaney, James van Sweden, Richard Hartlage.

From a raised zig-zag path made from recycled wood to an ultra-sleek roof garden with raised platforms of white marble and in-ground firepits, the pages of this book contain one astonishing idea after another.  This is not a book about garden design history or just nicely-designed gardens.  It's a book about new directions in landscape architecture and garden design in the years and decades to come.

(click on image to purchase book)

Veg Garden with Pizazz

Tucked into a corner of this beautiful garden I toured last summer in Chatham, MA, is a vegetable garden surrounded by a fence.  It's more or less in your face, and it fits the usual pattern.  I must admit that when clients request an area for a vegetable garden, I usually cringe inside, particularly when there's not enough room to hide it with a hedge, a solid fence, or some other garden feature.

Now, there may be a new solution.  Teich Garden Systems LLC of South Salem, NY, is manufacturing pre-fab and custom enclosed garden systems, many of which are artfully disguised with arbors, fences and even pergolas that can make an unsightly area into an attractive garden feature.

Teich gardens have raised beds and fencing to keep out deer, rabbits, woodchucks and other creatures who can eat you out of house & home. They come with irrigation systems as well.  It seems that if you surround one of these systems with flowering shrubs, and/or train some attractive vines up the fencing, you'd hardly know there were vegetables growing there at all.  Instead of trying to do all of this yourself, having Teich do it for you might make a lot of sense.  The average cost for a 10 x 12 system is in the $4000 range.  Teich will arrange installation anywhere in the country, and will work with you to get the design you want.

The company also specializes in vegetable garden systems for schools -- and they carry a line of organic garden products, as well as potting benches, sheds, trellising, arbors, and more.

(click on images for larger view)
(bottom image: Teich Garden Systems)

Chemical-Free Roses

Going Green in Rose Care
One reason I've only grown a couple of kinds of roses over the years -- 'Carefree Wonder' and some in the 'Knockout' Series -- is that I never wanted to go the chemical route to control black spot and other ubiquitous diseases, which are particularly prevalent in the hot and humid summer climate of Washington DC.  My only other rose is the climbing 'Mme Alfred Carriere' and although it gets some black spot every year, it's tolerable.

Now, Paul Zimmerman, of Ashdown Roses in Campobello, SC, is about to introduce a new, totally organic rose treatment that he's successfully tested on over 400 rose varieties.  "If a rose can't survive without harsh chemicals," says Zimmerman, "it really shouldn't be on the market."  In association with Peter Beales Roses of Britain, Ashdown is introducing in January of 2008 Peter Beales Complete Natural Rose Care -- an annual program that includes chemical-free fertilizers that promote proper soil nutrients and an organic fungicide.   According to Zimmerman, the fungicide builds the rose's immune system and "makes it an inhospitable host" to black spot and other fungi. The fungicide is a spray that coats the leaf of the plant so that harmful spores "slide and fall off the leaves," he says.

Zimmerman designed and maintained rose gardens in the Los Angeles area for several years, has often participated as a judge in rose trials, and is the author of many articles on roses and rose care. He founded Ashdown Roses in 1999 with the objective of growing the best in antique, climbing and garden roses.

(image:'Festive Jewel'  Beales shrub rose courtesy Ashdown Roses)
 

Fire at Will

Remote Firepits

This has to be a teenager's dream.  Press the remote from across the pool or patio, and VOILA! instant fire.

There's no disputing that fire items of any kind -- firepits, firebowls, fireplaces, you name it, -- are the among the hottest items in landscape design. They were among the top items desired by homeowners, according to a survey released earlier this year by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA).

FirebyDesign, located in Las Vegas, Nevada, is manufacturing gas or propane fired modules that can be installed outdoors for an array of outdoor effects.  They look particularly spectacular when integrated into water features.  Ignition is by remote control, and the units are said to shut off automatically if high winds blow out the flame or if anyone should forget to turn off the fire features when they go inside.

Check out the videos on the FirebyDesign website.  These modules could fit in almost anywhere, and the effects are certainly unique.

(click on images -- all from FirebyDesign -- for larger view)

Holiday Plant Warning

Looks Great, But A Bad Idea

The New England Wildflower Society is asking the public to avoid the use of Oriental Bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), pictured here, and Multiflora Rose in holiday decorations this year.

True, they look great twined into wreaths, atop mantles, or in centerpieces for the table.  However, Tom Smarr, NEWFS Director of Horticulture, warns that "too often, birds carry the fruits right off wreaths and garlands, or the fruits end up in landfills where they resprout.  These plants create severe environmental damage in many parts of the country.  They invade open fields, forests, wetlands, meadows, and even your own backyard, aggressively killing off whatever plants are nearby."  And Smarr notes that bittersweet can even kill mature trees.

Both of these plants are so dangerous to the natural environment that it is now illegal to sell them in any form (plants or prunings) in the state of Massachusetts.

I've used bittersweet myself in holiday decorations (I have tons of it I've been struggling to eradicate in my MA backyard), but no more.  It never occurred to me in the past that the seeds might end up in a landfill and then resprout, take hold, and spread everywhere.

There are great substitutions:  the fruits of winterberry and holly, cranberries, dried ornamental grasses, pine cones, and the boughs of many evergreens.  In warmer zones, you can use clusters of nandina berries and the leaves of southern magnolia.  And don't forget that dried hydrangea flowers can be spray-painted -- try gold or silver, and place them against a green background.

And wherever you live, check the invasive plants list for your own region first before you merrily use berries and dried fruits and the like in holiday handiworks.

(image: New England Wildflower Society - John Lynch)