GardenDesignOnline

A "Green" Garden in Queens

The new visitors' center at the Queens Botanical Garden is about to receive a platinum LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating, according to Metropolis Magazine.

The building has a 3000-square foot green roof, shown here, and storm water is filtered through a pond before it is dispersed throughout the site.  The roof is planted with mostly native plants, which require little water to survive.

Read the entire article in Metropolis by clicking here.

(image: Nicole De Feo)

Tropicals: On the Way Out?

The big news out of this year's Philadelphia Flower Show is that next year's theme just might put an end to the Age of Tropicals.  Italian gardens take center stage at the 2009 Flower Show, with exhibits to remind us of landscapes in Rome, Venice, Florence, and Tuscany, just to mention a few.

That theme should bring in a lot of Mediterranean plants, which might be a welcome change after all the tropicals of the past several years.  Philadelphia always broadcasts what's new and trendy, and it's definitely time for a change.

This year's New Orleans Jazz theme inspired, of course, a lot of musical notes in the garden, even fountains constructed of saxophones and other classic jazz band instruments.  Ginger-ale colored coral bells (Heuchera spp) were everywhere, and although they may be popular because they're still rather new on the scene, the more I see them, the more I don't like them, especially when they're planted in close proximity to golden creeping jenny.

The creativity of so many garden clubs was again on display, and this year, when the Garden Writers' Association showed up early, before opening hours, the ladies were still hard at work putting final touches on the displays for this particular day.
One thing that's always nice about Philadelphia is that there are new winners each and every day, so you're always seeing something fresh -- and innovative, to boot.

Doris Duke Display Gardens to Close Indefinitely

The indoor display gardens that late heiress and philanthropist Doris Duke created at her family estate, Duke Farms, in Hillsborough, New Jersey, are to close indefinitely after May 25th.  Through that date, the display gardens, which are housed in the estate's turn-of-the-century glass greenhouses, will be open to the public free of charge.  Reservations are required for the free one-hour self-guided tours that take visitors through gardens that emulate many different styles:  French, English, Colonial, Indo-Persian, Italian, Edwardian, Japanese, Desert, Tropical, and Semi-Tropical.

Duke Farms executive director Timothy Taylor announced that the large estate will become an environmental showcase and learning center.  "This is a bittersweet milestone for us," he said. "On one hand, this is the first step in increasing the public's access to the 2740 acres that make up this unique property.  On the other, it's the final months of the gardens being on display in the greenhouses that have enchanted visitors since 1964."

In the future, visitors to Duke Farms will arrive at a "green" orientation center, and will then be able to take numerous paths around the estate or take a tram to explore the property's diverse habitats and landscapes.  Taylor said the new plan will open up "hundreds of acres of trails" for walking, biking, and hiking.  Doris Duke's display gardens, which first opened to the public in 1964, will be re-configured and moved to a different greenhouse conservatory, and the gardens will be expanded to include outdoor gardens.

The new environmental center and the re-constructed display gardens are expected to be open to the public some time in 2010.

Reservations to see the display gardens before they close may be made online at the Duke Farms website, or by calling 908-722-3700.

Hardscape Horrors

When you click on this photo to enlarge it, you have to wonder who these guys were who installed this front entry.  First, notice the sloppy mix of materials.  And second, the shoddy workmanship between the walls and the steps.  I also believe the two-inch coping at the top of the piers would have looked much better left alone without those globes on top, which look like they might topple off at any moment.

But there is more: the image to the right illustrates the need to consider scale first and foremost when you are designing anything.  Notice the narrow coping on top of those rather monumental piers. A thicker coping is what's required for a pier that tall.  Also, ask yourself why the coping throughout the project is of two different thicknesses?  If you're going to bother with any of this, at least make the coping consistent throughout the project --  it will help tie the design together.

And then there is the coping itself.  Who on earth would mortar broken pieces of flagstone on top of a brick pier?  To my mind, you're just asking for water to seep down into that mortar one day, causing the entire top to crumble away.  If you insist on narrow coping, even if it is not in scale, why not a solid piece of flagstone?

And finally, although there is an uninterrupted wall around most of this property, you'll note that the wall suddenly stops -- and then starts again along one entire side.  Mulch from the slope is already spilling down on to the sidewalk, and it's anyone's guess why this wall wasn't carried through to the pier with globe atop it in the distance.

All I can say is:  when you're spending this kind of money to put up a brick wall and piers, at least consult a designer before you get started.  (And readers:  in the beginning, the piers had a height about six inches above the top of the brick wall.  The coping was then knocked off, the piers were raised, and the coping was re-constructed).

This is a lesson in what not to do ... but photos of projects like these are a good way to teach students (and clients, sometimes)  to think through a project before they begin.