Serenity in the Garden

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...

Its 92 degrees outside. Sweltering. The air hangs like heavy drapes upon the landscape. There is no breeze. The garden quietly endures. So what can you do to lighten the oppressive atmosphere? ADD A BUBBLING URN -  a  recirculating water feature Japanese style bubbling urn by Jan Johnsen Why do this? Because the sound of water and its dynamic presence ( ask the great Dr. Emoto) add life and energy to a stultifying summer garden...  Bubbling urns and fountains bring sparkle to your garden. You can build a recirculating water fountain cheaply by buying parts in a hardware store or more expensively by going to a pond supplies vendor....I am not good at hardware so I buy kits. aquascape Bubbling Urns are set atop an underground reservoir that keeps re-circulating the water. Once the urn fills with water, the water spills over into the underground basin, which pumps the water back up through the urn. aquascape flavio website...

stone bench by Johnsen Landscapes & Pools  In the summer, gardens in my part of the world, are a tangle of foliage, flowers and dense tree canopies. We know we should start cutting back, limbing up or clearing out the overgrowth but what we really want to do is sit in the cool shade and drink a glass of iced tea. Stone Bench by  Johnsen Landscapes & Pools What better contrast to the green lushness that surrounds you than a stone seat or bench, grounded and cool to the touch! Stone seats in the garden have a storied history. The Druids of Northern Europe fashioned stone chairs out of boulders. It is thought that they were used for rituals and perhaps coronations of a sort. Today, in the British Isles and in France, you can find ancient stone seats in fields, woods and near sacred springs. See some great stone benches at the  Stonepost  website Sunny Wieler, an Irish stonemason / artist, follows in his ancestors' tradition a...

photo courtesy of  Purdue Plant & Pest Diagnostic Lab The Smoke Bush rules in June and July!  I planted a red-purple leaved variety of Smoke Bush ( Cotinus coggygria ) in my small front yard years ago and it has been a constant eye catcher from the beginning.  It makes the front of my house extra-ordinary in early summer. 'Royal Purple' Cotinus As a result, I use the oval purple foliage of Cotinus in many of my landscapes - it makes a great backdrop and is also a sturdy specimen shrub...and it is DEER RESISTANT. The Cotinus species is a rounded, bushy shrub that is happy and hardy wherever you plant it.  Known as Smoke Bush due to the 'smoke-like' appearance of its delicate flower clusters in summer,  it can even be used in a planter.    Both the varieties of smoke bush - green with flowers and the red leaved variety  - are in this planter The burgundy leaves of the 'Royal Purple' S...

I am teaching a landscape design class today at the New York Botanical Garden.  It is called Learning from Before & After  I share photos and use them to teach landscape Design Principles - it is a great visual way to learn. I give out handouts and even have a quiz.... Come join us! starts at 10 am. Here is one example that I use -  Modifying a Deck - How to make an outdoor space a little more Serene  When this family asked me to make their backyard more serene and usable they never imagined I would tell them to alter their architect-designed deck! But when I arrived and saw their property I quickly realized that the 'grand staircase' that led from their deck was more 'show' than anything else. It was perfect as a 'Gone with the Wind' stairway, allowing Vivien Leigh to descend in her long hoop skirt, but it did not fit a modern 21st century family.  My suggestion? Remove the staircase entirely and build one on the side of the ...

It’s a sunny spring morning, the air is crisp and the sky is blue. I am   reveling in the lovely green setting of my backyard garden and am entranced by the water drops glistening atop the blades of grass. The season of dew watching is upon us! Dew appears when the days are warm, nights are cool and the air is moist. The earth cools overnight, chilling the air and then - like magic - drops of water appear out of nowhere and settle on whatever is near the ground. These drops of 'dew' do not last long. By late morning the dew evaporates and our momentary watery celebration of spring is over. John Milton, the English Renaissance poet, shared the delight of a dewy spring morning in these verses: “Sweet is the breath of morn, her rising sweet, With charm of earliest birds; pleasant the sun, When first on this delightful land he spreads His orient beams, on herb, tree, fruit and flower, Glistening with dew..." Spring flowers are lovely when '...

This is tip #134 from my brand new book, Gardentopia - so happy to share with you. 134. “MELLOW YELLOW” SPIREA Spirea is considered a common shrub, but ‘Mellow Yellow’ spirea (Spiraea  thunbergii ‘Ogon’) challenges that assumption. It is an early blooming,  deciduous shrub that grows 3 to 5 feet tall and wide.  Small, white  blossoms appear in profusion in March through April before the leaves  emerge, but it is the willowy, twiggy branches and leaves that make it  notable. The wispy, fine- textured foliage starts out yellow, softens  to a yellow- green in summer, and turns a lovely combination of reds,  oranges, and yellows in the fall, making it a late- season star as well. Gardentopia - Design Basics for Creating beautiful Outdoor Spaces Hardy to −30° F, it is easily pruned after flowering in spring. ‘Mellow Yellow’ spirea is a versatile, low-maintenance shrub that brightens up any plant bed. It likes sun, a...

The infographic below illustrates some current garden design ideas. It helps to have some visual inspiration. You can spruce up with lights or add an   Indian fire pit  .  This is a fun way to think of something more for your garden:

Hakonechloa, catmint, perennial salvia The design of the landscape is all encompassing.  It includes urban spaces, civic squares, meeting areas, parks, gardens, linear nature corridors, waterfronts and more.  Phipps Sustainable Landscape in Pittsburgh Landscape design can be defined as an outdoor area that is molded and manipulated for an intended outcome. It can be stark, sleek and bold. It can be quaint, cozy and comforting. The common denominator is the modification of outdoor space. Dallas Arboretum - Rocks in landscape What? No plants? Well, landscape architecture should include plants in my opinion.   But the definition doesn't necessarily include them. Drumstick Allium - wonderful With that said, you can follow your own star as it relates to landscaping.  Concrete plazas are your thing? Then so be it. Co-creating with Nature is my mantra. Recirculating cascade - Johnsen Landscapes I prefer natural elements. Rocks. Tre...

Red Obelisk European Beech Red Obelisk European Beech  is a 2015 Cary Award winner and for good reason: it is a narrow, columnar tree with wavy, lustrous, burgundy-black foliage all spring and summer.  And it is a great deep red exclamation point for your garden. !   !   !   !    Ideal for tight planting areas, it can grow 40 ft. high and no more than 10 ft. wide after several decades.  Tolerant of urban pollution so it is good for city landscapes.  Red Obelisk European Beech Tree It is a pest-free cultivar, shows good tolerance to road salt, compacted soils and a little light shade (which reduces the intensity of foliage color). In fall its foliage turns coppery-bronze, holding for weeks, eventually dropping to display a distinct winter-branching outline against the sky. Plant it  for a strong vertical accent.  Or use several trees to form a hedge. Young Red Obelisk trees Red Obelis...

    From the garden book, Heaven is a Garden We all love to sit in a protected corner looking out to a view. This is why people seek out the proverbial “table in the corner” in a restaurant. It provides the sanctuary that I call, “the lure of a sheltered corner.” Plan for a sheltered patio corner This is also true outdoors, in your garden. I write about this in my garden design book, 'Heaven is a Garden'. If you create a rectangular patio and provide an outdoor seating area in a corner backed by bushes, a wall or a slope everyone will want to sit in this cozy spot! And if you provide a view of some sort then it will be even more appealing.  Gloster Furniture in the garden You can create a protected corner next to your house by using the rear wall as one side of the corner and a low hedge as the other side. This combination makes a wonderful niche for a small table and chairs. A sheltered corner is so inviting - by Johnsen Landscapes & P...

"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...