Serenity in the Garden

  Lost  by David Wagoner photo by Jan Johnsen (NYBG - pinus bungeana) Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known.   photo by Jan Johnsen (one of my gardens) The forest breathes. Listen. It answers, I have made this place around you. If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here. No two trees are the same to Raven. No two branches are the same to Wren. photo by Blondieb If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you, You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows Where you are. You must let it find you. from Collected Poems 1956-1976 © Indiana University Press

       Holy Mother Earth,  the trees and all nature, are witnesses of your thoughts and deeds. ~   Winnebago saying A garden is nature, bounded  -  protected and shaped by h uman hands.   It can be a simple balcony filled with planters, a sweeping vista dotted with trees or a small courtyard bordered by plant beds.   Our urge to co-create with Mother Nature has been with us since time immemorial.   This impulse lies in the need to be connected to something greater than ourselves.   Gardening enhances a heightened sense of empathy and expands our awareness of non-human life.   When we garden, we see how the lowly earthworm is as important as the forest.  This, in turn, leads to an oceanic feeling that we are one with Nature.  Arne Naess, the Norwegian philosopher, called  this expanded sense of self,   ‘ the ecological self’: " We are not outside the rest of natu...

'Painter's Palette' Persicaria photo from Moose Crossing Garden Center For the last 4 years, I have been creating an enchanting woodland garden for a favorite client. It is a shady site that is very wet.  A challenge indeed. In the course of planting up this garden I recently discovered:   Persicaria virginiana varigata (or Tovara) from Forest Farm Nursery Tovara virginiana , is an easy to grow perennial plant (hardy from zones 4 to  8) that thrives in shade and offers eye catching foliage color. It grows to 28  inches tall and spreads by means of underground stems. Each leaf has a different variegation pattern of green and white. The cultivar 'Painters Palette' has maroon markings as well.    Tovara has good drought tolerance and is ideal for mass plantings where its showy color and bold leaf size make a punchy display in shady recesses. It is clump-forming but can spread rapidly.  It...

Why do certain tree species evoke the same response from all people?  The Oak, for example, was considered  by the Celtic Druids to be the 'King of the Greenwood' . To them, oaks represented mighty and enduring power.   The ancient Greeks also revered oaks - groves of them were deemed sacred territory.   And Native Americans viewed the oak tree as a symbol of strength with supernatural powers. In fact, the tradition of “knocking on wood” is said to be of Native American origin  - they would knock on an oak tree in order to avert the failing of a hopeful prediction. This similarity is true for many other trees from Ash trees to apple trees to maples.... So why do disparate cultures see tree 'personas' similarly?   I think Albert Einstein figured it out.   In  1905, Einstein, a young patent inspector in Switzerland,  came up with a simple equation that challenged th...

Show'r from Atelier Tradewinds I guess I must really want an outdoor shower because I cannot stop looking at pics of them on the internet....and it doesn't hurt that right now the temperatures in my area are over 90 F everyday. So here are a few more ideas for outdoor showers. Show'r from Atelier Treadewinds is a mobile outdoor shower made out of galvanized and powder-coated iron tubes and a black locust wood base. (Cold water only)  Wheels are placed at the back to allow the shower to be moved easily. Just click your garden hose to the standard quick connector at the base and your garden shower is ready.  Show'r is also easily dismountable. As I say, it is the setting that makes an outdoor shower outstanding.  Add color, texture, plants or all of the above !  Examples of showers and their enclosures below: Guardian Paint a poured concrete and concrete block wall blue and it makes for a private 'Blue Lagoon.' . Sunset Magazine Take some w...

The Bridge by Douches de jardins The outdoor shower is a summer dream for many of us. Imagine waking up and going outside (in seclusion and privacy) and taking a shower 'pleine air'... The image conjures up morning, brightness, serenity and refreshment...ahhhh.... You don't need much room but you will need some privacy fencing or dense plant screening. Why not take the plunge?  I am trying to figure out where to put one in my little yard.  Here are a few ideas for you: THE BRIDGE From Douches de jardins This shower envelops the body in a gush of water.. The water tap is located at the shower’s rear base and connects directly to a garden hose or to a fixed installation.   A hot water regulator allows mixing hot and cold water at the desired temperature.   Looks like a lot of fun. UNDER THE TREE Under the Tree by Conmoto An arching spray of water from a tree-like source.  The tree's other branches are ideal for hanging towels and clo...

In my graduate Landscape Design Studio at Columbia University, I ask students to select an excerpt from the assigned book, 'The Hidden Dimension' and correlate a personal experience to describe it. Yuji Yamazaki wrote this very enlightening piece...I had to share. (He said it was ok.) “We learn from the study of culture that the patterning of perceptual world is a function not only of culture but of relationship, activity, and emotion.  Therefore, people from different cultures, when interpreting each other’s behavior, often misinterpret the relationship, the activity, or the emotion.  This leads to alienation in encounters or distorted communications.” ~ Edward T. Hall, Hidden Dimension I have been living with my girlfriend for over 5 years now. My girlfriend, born and raised in the Long Island, NY,  sees certain things in a way that I don’t quite understand, especially things that relate to space and privacy. Edward Hall mentions that there is no...