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...

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 ...

October Skies Aster- Jan Johnsen   In my part of the world - New York State - October is when Mother Nature shines.  The days are shorter, the sun is low in the sky, but the weather stays warm enough for the flowering plants to hang on.  I design and install gardens with October in mind because it is now when people have time to appreciate their grounds - it is too cold for the beach and graduations and summer parties are a memory.  This is when people can stop and savor a garden.   The design of Fall gardens is something I urge my students to master because these gardens prolong our enjoyment of Nature's gracious gifts.   And, more importantly, they quietly trumpet the siren call of the garden muse who is about to take her leave...but not just yet..... she sticks around to give it one last show .... So in that vein, I am describing a little of what goes into making a autumn flower b...

I have a great Powerpoint talk about Designing with Fragrance in the Garden... if anyone is interested in having me present this talk at a symposium, conference or to a group please contact me. jan@johnsenlandscapes.com

This week I was thrilled to be interviewed by the one and only Ken Druse...author of 19 books (with another one out soon!)   Ken's website is  Real Dirt . His last, beautiful book was done in association with my friend, Ellen Hoverkamp. It is called 'Natural Companions'  The interview is on a podcast and you can listen to it anytime. It is based on my book, Heaven is a Garden , and Ken, of course, is an excellent interviewer and the questions were wonderful.  I am honored that he asked me for an interview. Click here to go to REAL DIRT website and the podcast.

I have ways been fascinated by the relationship between outdoor space and its effect upon our peace of mind.  This was the impetus for my book,  ‘ Heaven is a Garden   -  Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection ’ (2014, St. Lynn’s Press). I will be presenting a great PowerPoint based on the book, tomorrow -  Feb. 13, 2015 You can register for the webinar by going here  (click on the word 'here'). The good thing is you don't have to be at your computer for this -  if you cannot attend the live event they will send you a link and then you can download it and watch it anytime you want! FREE. If you want to see their line up go here: http://www.hortmag.com/smart-gardening-workshops Heaven is a Garden -  Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection   taps ancient traditions and modern ideas to show you a new way to  create a  place of peace and contentment outdoors...

 a great internet radio show! I just had the nicest interview on an internet radio show with Christine Agro on Nature Speaks. We spoke about color and its effect on us and how to use it in a garden... It is a lot of fun! If you would like to hear us talk about color please click here:  Nature Inspired: Color in Nature, Color in the Garden We  talk about yellow, green and white and of course, blue .... also about Lakshmi gardens, the idea of a Venus garden...and the sparkle of a white garden.  Then Christine mentioned the most intensely colored fruit in Nature is Pollia condensata.  I did not know about it and so I looked it up... The berry is an intense blue and cannot be eaten by birds. It is shiny and keeps its color for a hundred years! The Pollia does not contain colored cells; instead, its cells are coiled in a twist and form sheets. When sunlight filters down through these layers of cellulose, the vast majority of the cells refl...

This past week I was interviewed by Christine Agro about the ideas in my book, 'Heaven is a Garden - Designing Serene Outdoor Spaces for Inspiration and Reflection'. Christine is very insightful ... she searches for the answers to why things happen, how they connect and what we can do to assist all of this.  She says that Nature is not a backdrop for humanity to live against; it is a wise and powerful guide that we can all learn from. Her website says, 'She seeks to find a simpler, more gentler way to live our lives and when she does, she passes this information on  to you!' That is why Christine Agro contacted me. Her internet radio show 'Nature Speaks' talks of how we are a part of nature and how we can get in touch with this understanding.  She says that all the support and guidance you need is literally right outside your door.   Her guests are fascinating people and her questions open up a whole new world that listeners enjoy. ...

A wonderful class at NYBG - Jan Johnsen       I am off to give a class on the 'Secrets of Creating Serene Outdoor Spaces' at the NY Botanical Garden this morning.  I love this class because it allows me to really go into depth on many little known aspects of garden design. The NYBG venue is also so inspiring and I hope to take some photos of their magnificent daffodil walk...so many types of daffodils! And if I am lucky, after class, I  can walk on some hidden paths and enjoy NYBG at its most sublime. NYBG path What a treasure that place is...go explore - and take a class - whenever you have a chance!

I am teaching a one day class on Wednesday April 16 at the NY Botanical Garden  It is a fun, eye opening and fun class!            (class size is limited.) I  share my insights into landscape design and how to use various cultural and ancient traditions in a garden. I discuss how to use the compelling duality of Yin and Yang in a setting, explain how each of the four cardinal directions (north, south, east, west) affects us differently, which proportions create a more harmonious setting.  I also show how to place rocks in the landscape according to the Japanese understanding. Everyone loves this. and of course, I discuss Color and its effects on our wellbeing... I show 2 beautiful powerpoint to illustrate my talk..  Handouts reinforce the information I provide. Here is what students have written: No wonder you were instructor of the year! Your talk was delightful, Jan. You gave us all a t...