Serenity in the Garden

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...

alliums in the garden - Jan Johnsen   The idea that we are living within a world swirling with unseen energies is not new.  The Chinese idea of Tao comes closest to what mystics, tribal peoples and modern day physicists explain as the basis of all life.   The Tao, as Alan Watts writes, is not God “in the sense of ruler, monarch, commander, architect and maker of the universe,” but an “intelligent rhythm” (Watts, “Tao: the Watercourse Way” P 40): “The great Tao flows [also “floats” and “drifts”] everywhere To the left and to the right, All things depend upon it to exist, And it does not abandon them. To its accomplishments it lays no claim. It loves and nourishes all things, but does not lord it over them.             A flourishing garden spotlights this intelligent rhythm and is our everyday “repository of life …….with no claim to its accomplishments”.  Alan Watts uses a watercourse ...

Bubbling Urns - A Summertime Joy a fun water feature ! Its 92 degrees outside right now. 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 pump...

Circles and reflections in the Fall - a very mellow scene

glass wind chimes close up     Sound is an overlooked element in  landscape design .  When we think of sound in a garden we think of birds singing, leaves rustling or bees buzzing. Or we may think of wind chimes... Tim Cline Wind Chimes For some ideas we can look to ancient Japanese gardens where sound was a key consideration in the overall plan. Stone Path - Japanese Garden at Kykuit This is described beautifully in a text on the Japanese Garden at  Rockefeller's Kykuit  garden in Pocantico, NY written by Cynthia Bronson Altman: "... The hollow tones of the shishi-odoshi (lit. 'deer-scare') – a rhythmic knock of bamboo on rock – the splash of the waterfall into a deep pool, the rustle of breezes through the bamboo, mute the rush of the world today,  creating a space for contemplation and meditation, for a mindful walk...,  transporting one to another world, another reality." 'deer scare' - shishi od...

Margie Grace and Associates, Santa Barbara, CA Water features elevate a garden.. the sound and presence of clean water enhances the atmosphere. Try a recirculating fountain like this.

Vanessa Rosse Magnificent bamboo art installation in France. Click here for more: 

“If there is magic on this planet, it is contained in water.” -  Loren Eiseley I am teaching a one day class on Water in the Garden on April 17, 2015 - I have developed it to inspire, provoke and stimulate you to think about including some water - in one of its many forms - in a garden. It is at the NY Botanical Garden in the Bronx, NY. I offered it last year and the response was so positive that they want me to offer it again.  Hope you can come! GO HERE to register. CEUs provided.

Michael Krondl - waterworks in Katonah, NY One day in 2007 I was driving along a road in my area when I saw a long wall of falling water that wasn't there before. The water was gushing over the wall but I saw no evidence of any water beyond that . Hmmm..... Photo by Jan Johnsen I had to stop the car and take a picture. Then I had to walk up there and see what was going on.... It was an art installation using photo-derived imagery of a waterfall.  A digital print on vinyl  - trompe l’oeil for the 21st century!   The artist is the talented and inventive  Michael Krondl . The 200-foot long waterfall called 'Rising Water/Falling Water' was in front of the Katonah Museum of Art. I was struck by this vinyl wall of water..I had to see how he attached it to the existing wall...ah yes, grommets! photo by Jan Johnsen The possibilities of this trompe l’oeil in a landscape or public setting are vast- Walls of water on subway p...

The Grotto at Powerscourt Estate, Ireland  Powerscourt Estate in Ireland. 20 minutes from Dublin,  has been named the #3 Garden in the World by National Geographic. http://powerscourt.com/plan-your-visit

Japanese Bridge  No words...

In ancient times people collected dew water from lamb fleece. Over night the dew would collect on the fleece and this would be wringed into a container. Lanolin, a waxy ester, came out of the fleece and mixed with the dew water. It protects skin with a thin coating so when people washed their face with that dew water they had what people called "a dewy complexion". Tal Ya Water Collectors The same idea can be used for plants...Collect dew water over night and give it to plants. Lets do this in California where they need water badly for the crops that feed the US. The Tal Ya tray is an aluminum composite  tray that responds to shifts in temperature between night and day. When a change of 12 degrees C  (21 degrees F)  occurs, dew forms on the tray surfaces and this condensation is funneled straight to the plant and its roots.  tal ya dew collector and tree  Since water from dew is 'distilled' water this alleviates the problem of salini...

by Gustafson - Porter, photo by Peter Guenzel     Gustafson-Porter designed the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in the UK.  The design firm describes the water effects as such:  "Dividing at the top, detailed grooves and channels combine with air jets to animate the water.  Sparkling, energetic effects include,  ‘ Swoosh ’, ‘ Steps ’  and ‘Rock and Roll’ .  At the base, the two streams of water merge to form a still, reflective basin ." I love that - swoosh and rock and roll effects in a fountain. Gustafson Porter fountain by Helene Binet This memorial is located in Hyde Park and is designed to be " a peaceful, sculptural landscape form, evoking qualities much loved in Diana. The fountain is designed to radiate energy as well as to draw people inwards." The evocative power of a defined, curvilinear shape in the landscape is exemplified here.  Gustafson - Porter photo by Helene Binet The 545 p...