Serenity in the Garden

ZOOM TALK - June 9 at 6 pm EST  Sponsored by the Los Angeles Association of Professional Landscape Designers - Go here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/gardentopia-with-jan-johnsen-tickets-106030600380 Join award-winning landscape designer and garden writer Jan Johnsen to discuss the concepts in her latest book, Gardentopia. About this Event “Gardentopia is that rare marriage of the art of landscaping and the technical knowledge of how to compose a landscape―boiled down to readily understood and easily executed actions. This book puts you in the driver’s seat and shows you how to chart the course to your own personal garden utopia.” - Margie Grace, Grace Design Associates Any backyard has the potential to refresh and inspire if you know what to do. Jan Johnsen’s new book,  Gardentopia: Design Basics for Creating Beautiful Outdoor Spaces , will delight all garden lovers with over 130 lushly illustrated landscape design and planting suggestions. Ms. Johns...

Lamb's Ear  One of my assignments to my graduate students in the landscape design program at Columbia University was to take a  paragraph  from the book, ' The Hidden Dimension' by Edward T. Hall and share a personal experience related to the topic of the selected excerpt. 'The Hidden Dimension' is a time honored classic on the role of spatial understanding in  culture . The following is an essay that the talented designer,  Yuliya Bellinger, wrote. I think it is so lovely and wanted to share it with you. Simple is beautiful.   TEXTURE in the Garden By Yuliya Bellinger “Texture, about which I have said very little, is appraised and appreciated almost entirely by touch, even when it is visually presented. With few exceptions …it is the memory of tactile experiences that enable us to appreciate texture. So far, only a few designers have paid much attention to the importance of texture and its use in architecture is largely haphazar...

I must admit I first discovered  Drumstick Allium  when I could not find any other allium bulb to buy... It was late fall and I had waited too long to buy the popular Globemaster Alliums... What to DO? I bought the Drumstick bulbs and was thrilled at the result. These purplish - red blooms are small - 1" -and oval shaped.  They bloom in my part of the world in June- July  atop wiry 24" - 30" tall stems and wave in the breeze... They make a superb cut flower (which you can dry to be an 'everlasting').   THEY ARE DEER RESISTANT.   Drumstick Allium bouquet - Martha Stewart Photo Drumstick Alliums look fantastic tucked in the early summer flower border...You can add these small bulbs easily in the fall around clumps of established perennials such as Globe Thistle ( a great combo) Artemesia, Yarrow, Nepeta and Agastache.  They peek out around these plants and are a delightful a...

Sometimes I find something that makes me so happy - I just read this post which was written several years ago by Kurt Fromherz in his Natureworks blog -  https://naturework.com/jan-johnsen-of-serenity-in-the-garden/ I never know how or if what I write reaches people..and now I know...Thank you so much Kurt Fromherz. Here is what he shared - I am so honored: This winter I made the trek up to snowbound Boston to see a woman speak that I have been following for many years. Jan Johnsen is a garden designer and writer. Her Serenity in the Garden blog caught my eye a long time ago and I fell in love with her posts. When I heard that she had published a new book, Heaven is a Garden, and would be speaking at New England Grows trade show the first week of February, I signed up. She was AMAZING! Her book is all about designing serene outdoor spaces for inspiration and reflection. I read it cover to cover the minute I returned home. I have to admit at times I was moved to tears...

The following is an excerpt from a post on the blog, Creative Countryside . The post is   Solitude, Spontaneity and Sanity   written by Sarah Hardman. "Give yourself a bit of breathing space , time to reset.  By wandering up that footpath – even if you’ll be turning back around again after ten minutes – you’re doing something very important.  You’re switching off.  From the requests of others, from conversation. Instead you’re tuning in to the seasons and the details around you: nature. The sound of birds and buzzing insects and the wind in the trees.  The smell of the earth and sun-warmed grass, the feel of leaves as you brush past.  Indulge your curiosity. Reset. The obligations and their accompanying emotions: stress, resentfulness, mild anxiety: they can be let go for a little while as you take some time for yourself and savor your surroundings."

Ivory Silk Tree Lilac in landscape - Johnsen Landscapes & Pools photo- Jan Johnsen Years ago I moved to Northern Vermont  (Montpelier) and worked as a landscape designer for a design / build firm there.   I had to learn about cold hardy plants - and fast. One of my favorite cold hardy discoveries that has remained a favorite of mine is the ornamental tree,    'Ivory Silk' Tree Lilac  ( Syringa reticulata "Ivory Silk"  ).   This small flowering tree, which grows no taller than 25 feet, was selected by Sheridan Nursery of Ontario, Canada in 1975 as a compact cultivar of Japanese Tree Lilac. It needs full sun and is hardy to USDA Zone 3. I love 'Ivory Silk' because it flowers later than other flowering trees and has spectacular  creamy white, fragrant flowers borne in abundance in 6" - 12" long clusters .  In my part of the world it blooms from June to July.  The fragrance is...

"The world is moving into a phase when landscape design may well be recognized as the most comprehensive of the arts."    Geoffrey Jellicoe ,  'The Landscape of Man: Shaping the Environment from Prehistory to the Present Day'  Creative ideas don't just come out of thin air - they are a blend of what we have learned and used in the past.  A garden maker should look to landscape designers of the past and present and learn their design philosophies. Never stop learning. by Bill Bensley, Thailand By looking at other cultures' approach to the natural world you can enhance your garden immeasurably.  The English garden designers such as Russell Page, Arabella Lennox Boyd, and Gertrude Jekyll stand side by side with their counterparts in the United States, Canada,  Japan, South America, Thailand, Indonesia, Hawaii, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, Italy,  Holland, Germany,  France and India in my world. blu...

never use hot wood ash....  Now that winter is coming to a close you can utilize a valuable soil amendment from your fireplace: Wood ashes. They are rich in Potash which “sweetens” the soil by r aising the pH (more alkaline). Sweet soil is the balm of lilacs and other flowering  shrubs .  If your lilacs produce too few flowers, Potash can help.  Composting ashes is an ideal way to put them to use in the garden. Decomposing materials in the compost pile can become acidic and wood ash is more alkaline and helps offset this. Apply r egular wood-ash applications on soil beneath your shrubs in fall, winter and early spring.  You cannot apply too much; rain and snow dilute the concentration of Potash considerably. Empty  t horoughly cooled   fireplace ashes into a large container and then pour a large amount in a wide circle beneath the drip line of  mature lilac shrubs. For small ornamental, herb and vegetable plants,  pour about...

'Lemon Daddy' Hydrangea lights up a soggy scene in one of my gardens.  The theme is rounded forms. The colors are green, yellow and beige. The mood is slightly damp. The lighting is muted, as are the sounds. It is a precious moment and Lemon Daddy adds a simple sizzle. garden and photo - Jan Johnsen, bench - Campania

the Horticultural Alliance of the Hamptons Tomorrow, Sunday Dec 10 at 2 pm I will be speaking about Serenity by Design to the avid gardeners  in the Hamptons on Long Island, NY. I am excited to speak to this wonderful group at their annual holiday gathering.  Please join us! It will be at the Bridgehampton Community House,    2368 Montauk Hwy, Bridgehampton, NY 11932 Serenity by Design - goes  with my book, Heaven is a Garden

C.L.Fornari photo of flower ice cubes in a serene garden in Cape Cod C.L. Fornari, aka The Garden Lady, has a wonderful garden radio show that  airs every Saturday on the Cape Cod station WRKO from 12-2 p.m. You can hear it as a podcast online. Her show covers many gardening and landscaping topics and she discusses her favorite plants and answers listeners' gardening questions.  C.L. is also the author of the inspiring book,  The Cocktail Hour Garden: Creating Evening Landscapes for Relaxation and Entertaining The Cocktail Hour Garden shows how to enjoy that special evening hour in the garden I was especially thrilled a week ago to be interviewed by C.L. about my book, Heaven is a Garden.   She asked some great questions about what is music for the eye in a garden and how to make your garden in tune with the four directions. C.L. is an insightful interviewer and I wanted to  share our short and fun chat with you! Click  below to hear ...