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Archive for the ‘Design process’ Category

Mistakes, everyone makes them. From the brightest of minds to the most average of Joes, there is no escaping the fact that in the course of everyday life, or the pursuit of greatness, they will happen.

Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.
― Albert Einstein

Bloopers, blunders, flubs, gaffes, missteps, omissions, snafus, or even teaching lessons, they’re called by many names. Never take for granted however, the opportunity to err and learn, and pity those who do not enjoy the privilege.

Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
― Mahatma Gandhi

And in those moments when all seems hopeless, and frustration and embarrassment abound, remember that:

As long as the world is turning and spinning, we’re gonna be dizzy and we’re gonna make mistakes.
― Mel Brooks

Our designers make mistakes too, and today pull back the veil and reveal their lessons learned. Please join us as we discuss “mistakes”, garden style!

Follow the links below and when you’re done reading, stop by our Facebook Page and tell us about your favorite learning experiences.

Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

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‘Plants and Memory’? What kind of topic is that, I hear you wondering? Ah, but it’s a good one—just you wait.

Plants and Memory

At some point in the GDRT, you’ve probably heard us discuss the concept of terroir, which Wikipedia defines as “the special characteristics that the geography, geology and climate of a certain place, interacting with the plant’s genetics, expressed in agricultural products such as wine, coffee, chocolate, tomatoes, heritage wheat and tea.”

I’ve always thought terroir extends to places themselves, and people. All the tiny details that make up a place—many imperceptible, many taken for granted—those details are what make a place what it is, and through the meaningful places in our lives, they’re part of what make us who we are.

Plants, for a lot of people, get lost in those details. Maybe that’s why you find yourself so sentimental over those lilacs and peonies that grew where you grew up, even though you hadn’t really thought about it for years and now you live in Florida. Personally, I find people’s sentimental connection to plants so fascinating, I went so far as to write a book about that connection, and how to choose plants that scratch that same sentimental itch that work where you live. It’s called Why Grow That When You Can Grow This?: 255 Extraordinary Alternatives to Everyday Problem Plants. See what else I and my comrades have to say about “Plants and Memory” today’s Garden Designers Roundtable:

Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Mary Gallagher Gray : Black Walnut Dispatch : Washington, D.C.

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Thomas Rainer : Grounded Design : Washington, D.C.

Rochelle Greayer : Studio ‘g’ : Boston, MA

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"Scott Hokunson" "Garden Designers Roundtable"

A simple detail, an object left in a doorway, creates this garden vignette!

It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

… John Wooden

 

God is in the details.

… Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

 

Details create the big picture.
… Sanford I. Weill

 

Success is the sum of details.

… Harvey S. Firestone

 

Details matter, it’s worth waiting to get it right.

                … Steve Jobs

 

There’s no escaping the notion that, to get something right you have to pay attention to the simplest of details. As witnessed above, by some very successful people, the worth of the final product rests in the effort to successfully master each part of the whole, to focus on the details.

What does this mean for the garden design process, or a new landscape? A focus on the details in the design process might show in many forms; as a unified color scheme, or the perfect accoutrements in an outdoor dining area, as an abstract piece of art that anchors the design, or in the perfect groundcover choice to complement stones in a garden pathway. A focus on the details might also show in how a designer has thoughtfully tended to each of her clients needs, or how a designer has addressed every one of his client’s concerns. Orchestrating the symphony of contractors needed to complete a project on time and under budget, are details that should always capture the designers focus, thereby leaving the client simply to enjoy the newly created space.

When you pause to enjoy a beautiful garden and find yourself lost within its balance and complexity, and you feel, without at first knowing why, that everything just seems to work, look a little closer.  You’ll find that someone brought all the elements of the garden together, by focusing on the details.

Our designers are focusing on the details this month; follow the links below to see how!

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

 

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This month, the lords and ladies of the Roundtable, along with our esteemed guests, Debra Prinzing and David Perry of A Fresh Bouquet, explore the topic Getting From Here to There. In the language of garden design, those 5 little words hold a multitude of possibilities. Before we delve into the topic of Getting From Here to There, let’s get to know our renowned companions for this month’s journey, Debra and David.

Head shot of Debra PrinzingDebra Prinzing is a Seattle- and Los Angeles-based outdoor living expert who writes and lectures on gardens and home design. She has a background in textiles, journalism, landscape design and horticulture. A frequent speaker for botanical garden, horticultural society and flower show audiences, Debra is also a regular radio and television guest. Her five books include Garden Writers Association Gold Award-winning Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways (Clarkson-Potter/Random House, 2008) and The Abundant Garden (2005).  She is now at work on her new book about seasonal, local and sustainably-grown cut flowers with photographer David Perry. Read more about it at www.afreshbouquet.com.

Debra is the new contributing garden editor for Better Homes & Gardens and her feature stories on architecture and design appear regularly in the Los Angeles Times’ Home section. She is also a contributing editor to Garden Design magazine and writes for top shelter and consumer publications, including Organic Gardening, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Cottages & Bungalows, Metropolitan Home, Landscape Architecture, Sunset, Alaska Airlines Magazine, Old House Interiors, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles and Romantic Homes, among others. Her website and blog: www.debraprinzing.com.

Seattle-based photographer, David Perry.David Perry has earned his living as a commercial photographer for more than thirty years and in that time has been invited back to work, again and again, for some of the most demanding clients, magazines, ad agencies and design firms in the world.  He has successfully completed assignments in each of the fifty states of the U.S. and in dozens of countries in every corner of the world.  Based in Seattle, he fills out those essential non-career corners of his life as a cook, a fly fisherman and an avid gardener.

His thoughtfully chronicled online journal, “A Photographer’s Garden Blog,” melds his two interests – photography and gardening. David’s clients have included AT&T, Amazon, Bantam and Ballentine Books, Boeing, Costco, Farm Credit, Harvard Business School, Microsoft, PACCAR, Weyerhaeuser and many others.  Over the past few years his work has been featured inLandscape Architecture Magazine (including two cover features) and Sunset. David is a regular contributor to Range magazine and has collaborated with Debra Prinzing on a garden feature for Seattle Homes & Lifestyles.

Join us on our adventure, as we explore Getting From Here to There. Simply click on the links below and enjoy the journey.

Debra Prinzing & David Perry:  A Fresh Bouquet

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In The Garden : Los Altos, CA

Jenny Peterson : J Peterson Garden Design : Austin TX

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, 

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

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This month on Garden Designers Roundtable we explore the topic of Getting From Here to There.  As is true with many GDRT topics, this one is open to a multitude of different interpretations. In a very straightforward sense, Getting From Here to There can refer to the actual physical movement from one place in the garden to another.

Getting From Here to There can refer to the process of designing a garden – getting from ‘before’ to ‘after’, and everything in between. Or, in a more nuanced interpretation, it might refer to the never-ending pursuit of an ideal garden, one that is truly never finished.

Getting From Here to There...the possibilities are endless. And isn’t that what the Garden Designers Roundtable is all about?

Our Special Guests

Joining the Garden Designers Roundtable this month to give their interpretation of the topic are design writer, Debra Prinzing and photographer, David Perry, collaborators on the soon-to-be-published book, A Fresh Bouquet.

Head shot of Debra PrinzingDebra Prinzing is a Seattle- and Los Angeles-based outdoor living expert who writes and lectures on gardens and home design. She has a background in textiles, journalism, landscape design and horticulture. A frequent speaker for botanical garden, horticultural society and flower show audiences, Debra is also a regular radio and television guest. Her five books include Garden Writers Association Gold Award-winning Stylish Sheds and Elegant Hideaways (Clarkson-Potter/Random House, 2008) and The Abundant Garden (2005).

Debra is the new contributing garden editor for Better Homes & Gardens and her feature stories on architecture and design appear regularly in the Los Angeles Times’ Home section. She is also a contributing editor to Garden Design magazine and writes for top shelter and consumer publications, including Organic Gardening, Horticulture, Fine Gardening, Cottages & Bungalows, Metropolitan Home, Landscape Architecture, Sunset, Alaska Airlines Magazine, Old House Interiors, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles and Romantic Homes, among others. Find out more about Debra on her website and blog.

Seattle-based photographer, David Perry.David Perry is an inspirational photographer, a willing teacher and a captivating storyteller who brings the unique insights and skills garnered in his thirty plus years of worldwide, on-location photo assignments for major corporations, ad agencies, magazines and book publishers to each new project he encounters.

The inquisitive son of a zoologist, David grew up in the field with his dad, trapping and preserving specimens for museums, exploring caves and studying the complex interplay between life forms and their ecologies from the southern reaches of Mexico to northern Canada. He began documenting his impressions of the living world around him with cameras at a very early age.

His very popular, A Photographer’s Garden Blog, which he started publishing in January, 2007 brings thousands of readers together each week through garden tours, thoughtful essays, seasonal imagery and playful photographic assignments and contests that readers actively participate in.

Onstage he is a spirited, dynamic and slightly irreverent speaker who makes his presentation topics memorable and relevant to audiences through the ample use of clever graphics, breathtaking imagery, playful humor, and by never, ever talking down to them.

You can find out more about Debra and David’s new book about seasonal, local and sustainably-grown cut flowers by visiting their website A Fresh Bouquet.

Don’t forget to stop back again next week, on September 27th for links to Getting From Here to There. In the meantime, visit us on our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter

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Garden Up!When you hear the phrase “vertical gardening,” what comes to mind? You might think about roses scrambling up a trellis, or an overhead arbor dripping with wisteria. Those  with a contemporary aesthetic may envision a mosaic of succulents hung on an outdoor wall, while edible gardeners see a riotous mix of creative containers, with tomatoes and peas reaching for the sun.

Vertical gardening is all those things and more.  To celebrate the publication of Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces by roundtable members Susan Morrison and Rebecca Sweet, this month our  designers share their own unique perspectives on this exciting garden trend.

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX »
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip In the Garden : Los Altos, CA »
Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT »
Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA »
Susan Morrison : Blue Planet Garden Blog : East Bay, CA »
Tara Dillard : Vanishing Threshold : Atlanta, GA »

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The posts this month on the Roundtable are an examination of potential. Our designers set their sights on one property and address the goals of the owner and the characteristics of the site. So join us now as we assess the garden, and consider the design possibilities.

Our “Client” is, Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo. Amy is an artist, designer and stylist who recently arrived in the rolling hills of

New England after living in New York City for most of her adult life. Amy writes a wonderfully creative and visually stunning digital sketch book on her website ABCDdesign.com. Here you’ll find

Our "Client" Amy Beth Cupp Dragoo

inspiration for celebrating a life well-lived. She shares recipes, interior design ideas and provides ideas for making your house a home. Amy has graciously offered her new home as subject for our design challenge. A few of us visited with Amy last fall, measured her property, took a few photos and talked with her about her goals for the property. This month’s posts discuss the possibilities, and consider solutions towards those goals.

Amy, who’s very cool initials are ABCD, and her husband, affectionately known as “The Mr.”, purchased their home away from the city last year, and are presently completing renovations. The home sits on a gravel road and is set among rolling hills and hardwood forests. Outcroppings of native stone decorate the property and provide an ancient sense of place. The home is relatively new, built only 6 years ago, and is modeled on the Laundry House in the Hancock Shaker village in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. There are four out buildings on the property enclosed by a split rail fence on three sides and a picket fence along the front, left natural to weather with the seasons. The buildings’ construction and placement belie their young age, and appear to have occupied this location since early in the last century. The backyard has a wonderful arrangement of a pergola and raised planting beds, an old chicken coop, and a rustic stone wall that runs the along the rear of the fenced area. Working farms and orchards nearby complete the beautiful and private feel of this classic New England homestead.

Please enjoy the following pictures of our subject house then join Amy and The Mr. as they venture out to see what our designers have in mind for their site.  You’ll find the links to their posts just below the slideshow.

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Carolyn Gail Choi : Sweet Home and Garden Chicago : Chicago, IL

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN

Ivette Soler, Los Angeles, CA

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Lesley Hegarty & Robert Webber : Hegarty Webber Partnership : Bristol, UK

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

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A well-designed garden draws from its surroundings and invites the visitor to experience its sense of place. This month, as we explore the topic “Regional Diversity in Design,” you are invited to join us and see how a sense of place is expressed in gardens and garden design across the U.S.

Jocelyn Chilvers (The Art Garden) – Wheat Ridge, CO

Susan Cohan (Miss Rumphius’ Rules) –  Chatham, NJ

Michelle Derviss (Garden Porn) – Novato, CA

Tara Dilliard (Landscape Design Decorating Styling) – Stone Mountain, GA

Dan Eskelson (Clearwater Landscapes Garden Journal) – Priest River, ID

Scott Hokunson (Blue Heron Landscapes) – Granby, CT

Laura Livengood Schaub (Interleafings) – San Jose CA

Susan Morrison (Blue Planet Garden Blog) – East Bay, CA

Pam Penick (Digging) – Austin, TX

Susan Schlenger (Landscape Design Viewpoint)  – Charlottesville, VA

Genevieve Schmidt (North Coast Gardening) – Arcata, CA

Ivette Soler (The Germinatrix) – Los Angeles, CA

Rebecca Sweet (Gossip in the Garden) – Los Altos, CA

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Does your Garden Designer practice what he/she preaches? Find out what these Garden Designers had to say when baring their souls.

You can read each of their responses here:

Susan L. Morrison    Blue Planet Garden Blog

Susan Cohan     Miss Rumphius’ Rules

Rebecca Sweet     Gossip in the Garden

Scott Hokunson     Blue Heron Landscapes

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