Boundaries!

Once you see the boundaries of your environment, they are no longer the boundaries of your environment.

~ Marshall McLuhan

Today on the Roundtable we are discussing Boundaries and the garden. Boundaries are used to to define space, create intimacy, provide privacy, and to restrict. What will our designers have to say on this “limiting” subject?

Follow the links below to find out!

David Cristiani : It’s A Dry Heat : El Paso, TX

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

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Journey!

It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.

~ Ernest Hemmingway

A garden is a place of movement. Wind will sweep through ornamental grasses, pollinators will busy themselves among the blossoms, and visitors (both wanted and unwanted) will make their way through. There is also the illusion of movement, created with pattern and emphasis. As designers, our success in the garden is measured by the experience of the visitors; what they feel and what they take away from their visit, from their journey through our creations.

 

Join us today, as our designers take us on a “Journey”!

 

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

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

David Cristiani : It’s A Dry Heat : El Paso, TX

 

 

 
 

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Transitions!

Change, conversion, evolution, passage, progress, transformation, turning point. It’s the moving between two spaces, the passage of time, and a change of perception. It’s transition, and its everyday life, and it’s extraordinary. The garden designer deals with transition on many levels, and today on the Roundtable we’ll see how are designers view and handle “Transitions”.

Please join us by clicking on the links below!

Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

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

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM

Jenny Peterson : J Petersen Garden Design : Austin, TX

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Dangerous Gardens!

The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low, and achieving our mark.  –Michelangelo

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing. –Helen Keller

As Halloween draws near and front yards and porches fill up with grinning jack o’lanterns, ghouls, and oversized spiders, it seems an appropriate time to muse on Dangerous Gardens. What makes a garden dangerous, and is that a good quality or something to be avoided? As always, expect a fascinating range of interpretations, from the practical (garden safety tips) to the physical (spiny plants like cactus and agave) to the philosophical (be bold!).

Guest blogger Loree Bohl of the popular blog Danger Garden joins us this month. Loree gardens in Portland, Oregon, and she loves the thrill of danger. In fact, she sums up her entire gardening philosophy as a dance with danger:

Nice plants are boring – my love is for plants that can hurt you. Agave, yucca, anything with a spike or spur! Besides the danger the plants provide, gardening itself is just plain dangerous. The money! Who couldn’t drop a couple hundred in an afternoon at your favorite nursery or a plant sale? Dangerous! And then there is my tendency to garden with plants that are on the edge of what my climate will allow. Dangerous!

If you share a fascination with dangerous gardens too, then leave your life jacket on the boat and dive into the following posts.

Loree Bohl : Danger Garden : Portland, OR

Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX

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

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

Deborah Silver : Dirt Simple : Detroit, MI

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

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque, NM

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Garden Travel, Best Gardens!

Have you ever thumbed through a gardening magazine, and planned your travels aroundthe gardens you found within the pages? Ever Googled a favorite movie to find out where it was filmed, just so you could see the gardens in the film in person? Well, my friend, you have a problem… you’re a gardener! Don’t fret, we understand, and we’re here to help. This month on Garden Designers Roundtable, our designers are taking you on a trip to their favorite gardens.

Fern Richardson

We are very excited to have as a guest poster for this garden tour, Fern Richardsonfrom her excellent blog Life on the Balcony! Life on the Balcony is an award winning blog about container gardening tips and tricks, for growing plants on tiny balconies and patios and creating container gardens. You’ll also find great recipes, best enjoyed or made outdoors and other outdoor living ideas for balconies, patios and small decks.

Fern is also an author, with her first book Small Space Container Gardens, just released from Timber Press. You can find more info and join with her in discussing the book on her Facebook Page. 

Now let’s get to it, let’s explore the wonderful gardens through the eye of our guest Fern and our designers. Just click on the links below to start your tour!

Fern Richardson : Life on the Balcony : Orange County CA

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

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA

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

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

Genevieve Schmidt : North Coast Gardening : Arcata, CA

David Cristiani : The Desert Edge : Albuquerque NM

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A welcome to our newest members!

Garden Designers Roundtable is growing! We are happy to welcome four new members this month, but first we bid farewell to two of our longtime members. Laura Livengood Shaub of Interleafings, and Tara Dillard of Vanishing Threshold: Garden Life Home, have moved on to the next chapters of their professional lives. Best wishes to you Laura and Tara, we will miss your contributions!

We are proud to announce that the following four designers have joined us here on the Roundtable, and we are very excited about the new perspectives they bring to our group. Please join us in saying welcome to our newest members!

David Cristiani – David is founder and landscape architect at Quercus in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who blogs at The Desert Edge.

Deborah Silver – Deborah is principal of  Deborah Silver & Co., a firm offering landscape and garden design and installation, who blogs at Dirt Simple

Thomas Rainer – Thomas is a landscape architect from Washington, D.C., and blogger at Grounded Design.

Mary Gallagher Gray –  Mary is a garden designer and coach at Mary Gray, Garden Design and Problem Solving in the Washington, D.C. area who blogs at Black Walnut Dispatch.

You can read their full bios on our Bio page. We’re thrilled to have their regional perspectives, knowledge, and, yes, humor added to our group!

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Horticulture and Design Idols!

This month on the Roundtable, we would like to introduce you, our readers, to those individuals who have inspired us and shaped our visions. We are very happy to welcome Thomas Rainer as a guest this month. Thomas writes a very thought provoking blog called Grounded Design, and we know you’ll like what Thomas has to say.

Here is a little more about Thomas –

Thomas Rainer

Thomas Rainer is a landscape architect by profession and a gardener by obsession. Thomas has worked on projects such as the U.S. Capitol grounds, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, and The New York Botanical Garden, but is happiest puttering in his small garden in Washington, D.C. Thomas thinks you should use more natives, plant in humongous masses, and loosen up that landscape, for crying out loud.

And now without further ado, may we present, our Idols! Please follow the links below to each of the blogs, and Enjoy!

Thomas Rainer : Grounded Design : Arlington, Virginia

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA

Jenny Peterson : J Petersen Garden Design : Austin, TX

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA

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Water!

Water; water everywhere…or not enough at all!  Water is the lifeblood of every living thing, and yet it can be destructive in its extremes.  It’s a resource that is ephemeral and unpredictable – be it by natures’ vagaries or politicians’ whims.  The partnering of thoughtful water management with appropriate plant selection is crucial to any garden design. Today the Garden Designers Roundtable presents the topic of water.

We are delighted to introduce Debra Lee Baldwin as our guest blogger this month.  Award-winning garden photojournalist Debra Lee Baldwin lives in the drought-parched Southwest, near San Diego. “Water?” she asks. “Ha! I wish.” Debra authored the Timber Press bestsellers Designing with Succulents and Succulent Container Gardens.   As a renowned authority on these elegant, easy-care and waterwise plants, Debra shares her expertise in print and online, via radio and TV, and at horticultural venues nationwide. She is one of several acclaimed authors and photographers who share the blog www.gardeninggonewild.com. More info: www.debraleebaldwin.com.

Now, please follow the links below, joining our special guest and members of the Roundtable, as we write about water.

Debra Lee Baldwin : Gardening Gone Wild : Escondido, CA

Tara Dillard : Vanishing Threshold : Atlanta, GA

Rochelle Greayer : Studio G : Boston, MA

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

Jenny Peterson : J Peterson Garden Design : Austin TX

Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN

Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA

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Introducing… Guest Bloggers for 2011!

We’ve got big things in store for you here on Garden Designers Roundtable in 2011, and to help us us out we’ve invited a few guests.

 

Take a look! (Special thanks to Susan Morrison for creating this awesome video!)

 

 

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2011 Schedule

The complete 2011 schedule has been posted. Please visit the schedule page to see all the great topics we’ll be blogging on this year!

We look forward to hearing from you this year!

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