Bold Vision

The title of this article is a slight adaptation of Richard Hartlage’s book, Bold Visions for the Garden. Richard Hartlage is a garden designer, writer, lecturer and photographer who was trained in ornamental horticulture at North Carolina State University. Mr. Hartlage has “15 years in public gardening as superintendent of horticulture for the Morris County Park Commission where he directed horticulture at both Willowwood and Frelinghuysen Arboretums.” Today, he is an associate principal at AHBL, Inc., a planning and engineering firm located in Tacoma, Washington, managing the landscape architect division and woks with private and public clients around the country. Having had the fore mentioned book for several years and sharing his love for plants and bold textures in the garden, I recently had a few opportunities to visit some of his work as well as hear him lecture.

Stephen Schuckman, owner of First Mountain Arboriculture LLC, Certified Tree Expert and Consulting Municipal Arborist, my former boss and longtime friend invited my family to a gardening extravaganza in Nutley, New Jersey, which Steve manages. Richard Hartlage has been involved with designing these gardens for almost two decades. Two distinctly different gardens, across the street from one another; embrace style, color, texture and scale so flawlessly that they left me speechless. Couple these principles with some large-scale planters, artwork and interesting sculptures and you can begin to feel a sort of “grand theatrical gesture” going on. On one side of the street a smaller garden feels very cozy with several defined outdoor spaces. Colorful, tropical, vibrant, energetic and exciting are all words to describe this outdoor phenomenon. Soothing blue walls define the perimeter landscape. A hidden hot tub underneath a wooden patio area is just one example of a concealed space that awaits you at every turn. Passiflora, Colocasia, Coleus and Caladiums are all used in mass plantings, many of which are used as foundation plantings and ground cover. Across the street is a classical stroll garden with exciting twists and turns all on 2.3 acres. Hidden garden rooms, a clumping grove of bamboo (Fargesia rufa), geometric Hornbeams cut into rectangular pillars, a huge sweep, some 10,000, of Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa), a huge hill of Liriope, named Mount Si, are just a few of the highlights awaiting the visitor. A feeling of privacy and ease immediately calms you as you leisurely walk this magnificent garden and stare at the nearly 180 outdoor art objects. Two highlights, for me, were the baboon garden and a mass planting of Rohdea japonica. A granite baboon sits peering through some tropical’s, at the foot of a bed, mass planted with dwarf Mondo Grass (Ophiopogon japonicus ‘Nanus’). Rohdea is a seldom seen, tough perennial with broad strap-like, evergreen leaves. Its appearance is exotic especially when the clumps of winter red berries appear. Hartlage was quick to point out, in his talk, that when designing, it’s not about what is rare, but rather what will work.

The following week I took my family on an outing to Willowwood Arboretum located in Chester Township. Anxious to see pages 30 and 31 of Hartlage’s book, Bold Visions for the Garden, it was, of course, better in person. An enormous meadow of little bluestem, a native grass to New Jersey, had a deliberate path carved through it. Another notable experience was an almost quadrant of these four trees: Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides), Persian Parrotia (Parrotia persica), Osakazuki Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum ‘Osakazuki’) and an enormous Chinese Quince (Pseudocydonia sinensis), complete with mottled, colorful combinations of exfoliating bark, reminiscent of Chinese Elm. These four trees alone, situated so closely to one another was a sensory overload for me. Watching our two-year-old daughter cross a mossed bridge, through a bamboo grove and into the forest, exploring on her first hiking trip, relived childhood experiences for her parents. Another outstanding outing where Hartlage left his mark, softening the edges of our daily grind.

Growing up in Kentucky, Richard Hartlage was quick to point out his love for seasonal change. More fond of the deciduous, hardwood trees changing into their fall colors than he is a fan of the evergreens, his landscapes seem to be driven by artistic movement, defined spaces and large sweeps of plant material. His lecture at the Arsenal in Central Park was worth braving the elements that evening. A raw October evening with sleeting rain didn’t seem to stop his fans. The Metro Hort Group provided the forum and Richard Hartlage did not disappoint. I found Mr. Hartlage to be affable, gracious, witty, comical and forthright. His visions are quantum and his implementations are timeless. Clearly one of today’s best designers, Richard Hartlage gives credit to those who have inspired him, Gertrude Jekll, Topher Delaney and Roberto Burle-Marx as well as the contractors who implement his ideas. His words, which he so graciously wrote in my copy of Bold Visions for the Garden, sum it all up… garden with clarity and vision!

Portable Gardens

Late August of this year I attended the IGC (the Independent Garden Center Show) in Chicago. Located on Navy Pier, this is truly becoming the quintessential trade show for the independent garden center. Touted as the world’s largest show of its kind, it offers educational seminars, network opportunities, and thousands of products from close to 900 vendor booths. The world class exhibit hall spans some 200,000 square feet (four football fields) and was jam packed with inspiration. Leading garden experts, brilliant business minds and savvy retailers were all there to do one thing, promote the independents!

As I walked down the nearly 30 aisles of product, what quickly came to mind was the abundance of pottery that was being represented. Sure there was Italian clay that almost any garden center has from 3” to 24”, but it was the enormity of unique pottery that inspired and reinforced a common theme in today’s gardening. There seems to be a good 10 year lag time between European garden center merchandising and that of what is being done here in the United States. Furthermore, what has been done well for the past 5 or 6 years in the Pacific Northwest has trickled across country and is finally introducing itself to the east coast. Container gardening is here to stay! I say again, container gardening is here to stay!

No longer are the days of orange, Italian clay with a Greek key scroll inscribed across the top your only option. Today there is frost resistant pottery that doesn’t have to be emptied in the winter, taken indoors or buried beneath our outdoor soils to insure its survivability. Planters today are lightweight, rustproof, fireproof, free of petro chemicals and environmentally friendly. There are those which will oxidize over time giving way to stunning patinas. Italian design with such simple, clean lines, even Giorgio Armani would be inspired to use some in his clothing advertisements or his own backyard. Authentic stone, metallic finishing, lightweight and durable fiberglass also throw their hands into the arena of what is now available. Germany’s romantic Rhine Valley is now turning out terracotta classic designs, glazed stoneware, fired in traditional kilns that have served civilizations in Asia and Europe. It doesn’t end there! Copper window boxes, stainless steel with rustic copper finishes and hammered brace elements. Even garden hose pots done so well that the fact that they mask an unsightly water snake is insignificant as to the overall beauty of these pieces of sculpture.

Not limited by material alone, color plays a huge part in our decision making process. Again, terracotta orange is being replaced by the cobalt blues, chili reds, honey and mints of the world. All of this contributing to an outdoor living space. Firepits, outdoor kitchens, stone patios, walkways and retaining walls which allow 10 to 20 guests to sit comfortably outside are all elements of modern design which can be enhanced with a dab of color.

The possibilities are endless as to what you can plant in all this pottery. Jock Demme, horticultural demigod and friend from Iseli Nursery says it best, “like it for as long as you can.” There are no rules to container gardening. It’s meant to be fun and exciting. We have become accustomed to planting annuals such as impatiens and begonias; we toss tender perennials like mums away and seldom go through the efforts of overwintering poinsettias. So why are we reluctant to explore and fund the guilty pleasures of Pennisetum ‘Burgundy Giant’ (Burgundy Giant Fountain Grass) for annual summer color or apprehensive to indulge ourselves with conifers or deciduous ornamentals as companions in our container gardens? Even if it’s only for a short while, it is after all, quality of life that we all should be searching for.

As you develop your next garden area, be mindful of the possibilities. Color, texture and size are key elements to build upon. Consider a burgundy pot dumped in among your dark green, Taxus baccata ‘Repandens’ (English Yews) dripping with Hakonechloa macra ‘Aureola’ (Golden Japanese Forest Grass). Our orange, Fox Red Curley Sedge Grass (Carex buchananii) looks stunning in our cobalt blue pot sitting behind our yellow, variegated Japanese sedge grasses (Carex morrowii ‘Aurea-variegata’) and in front of our large Acer griseum (Paperbark Maple). This incidentally turns red in the fall! Today’s pottery should be viewed more as a piece of sculpture rather than simply a receptacle to house a plant. Groupings of pottery can make a garden and the design can be pulled apart again and again to recreate a different theme. Your garden, after all, is your oyster!

Inspired by Chihuly

Tucked away in New York City’s Bronx borough lies an arcadia for plant lovers. The New York Botanical Garden is home to some of the worlds most prodigious horticultural delights. Founded in 1891 the gardens are a leading educational center, a National Historic Landmark and “a grand museum of plants.” The famed Enid A. Haupt Conservatory sits among the 250 acres and is one of the more recognizable pieces of architecture in New York. Specialty gardens are numerous satisfying herb, perennial and rose enthusiasts alike just to name a few. However, my favorite is the Benenson Ornamental Conifer Garden. As if all this isn’t enough, last October the gardens had even more to offer. Dale Chihuly, famed blown glass artist who has revolutionized the Studio Glass movement had an incredible body of work situated amongst the living. Chihuly’s vibrant colors and creative forms are often implemented by his teams of artisans who cultivate his visions, crafting some of the most complex sculptures imaginable. Part of the allurement of art is the interpretation that one can take away from the piece. One particular piece that Chihuly crafted was titled “Reeds.” And while these gorgeous, red reeds stood strong against the conservatory, towering at over ten feet, I could only think to myself that they also reminded me of Cornus alba (Tatarian or Red Twig Dogwood).

Introduced in the mid 1700’s and native to Siberia, Manchuria and northern Korea, Tatarian Dogwood is a plant useful in a number of applications. Benefiting from full sun to part shade the species performs exceedingly well in almost any soil type. Tolerant of some wet feet and clay soils, Tatarian types are at their best when planted in larger groupings. Remember Monosweeping! Planting a grove or border of this dogwood creates seasonal interest which can captivate ones attention at any time of year.

Without question this plants popularity is attributed to the intense red color markings of its bark throughout the winter. Blood red stems darken as the months get colder. One of the more stunning winter interest gardens you can see is the deep red stems shooting out of the ground surrounded by fresh, powdery snow. Going forward, spring’s warmer weather begins to soften the colorful red markings of the bark, gradually turning its stems from red to green. Rising temperatures also cause buds to swell unwrapping green (sometimes variegated) leaves which are egg-shaped in form. Late spring into early summer the yellowish-white flowers arrive and are almost two inches in diameter. These “flat-topped cymes” as Dirr describes, are more impressive than others may lead you to believe. The fruit (drupes) make their way in mid summer and are generally white with a touch of blue. Finally, to complete our circle, is the fall color which can often be an impressive reddish-purple.

Several interesting cultivars are readily available and noteworthy. Cornus a. ‘Elegantissima’ (Variegated Red-Twig Dogwood) has leaves which are more of a gray-green surrounded by an irregular creamy-white band on the outside edges. This cultivar finishes at about six to eight feet, a full two to four feet smaller than the species. Cornus a. ‘Gouchaulti’ (Mottled Dogwood) has a pink overtone to its mottled yellowish-white and green leaves and grows a bit wider, three to seven feet, as it matures. Finally, Cornus a. ‘Bailhalo’ (Ivory Halo Dogwood) has a sensational contrast of light green leaves with creamy white edges. More of a compact grower, this habitat plant will next spring adorn a grouping of Cedrus atlantica ‘Horstman’ at my home.

Chihuly’s upright “Reeds” undoubtedly reminded me of the erect, youthful stems of Tatarian Dogwood. His creative designs and remarkable colors have heightened my game and influenced me to work more colorful and playful architecture into my own landscape refraining from using some of the more pedestrian cement pottery and statuary you see far too often. One final thought: thinning out the oldest canes from year to year almost guarantees you the expected explosion of red color overcompensating for the doldrums of winter.

Bon Appetite--I Think Not!

What won’t the deer eat? This is a question that I’m asked over and over again. My answer is unwavering. The more educated you are about deer resistant plants, the less of a selection the deer have. Plant materials that have thorns, odor or stiff branching aren’t always a sure thing. But it helps! I often say that if you’re hungry and you don’t like tuna fish and there’s nothing else to eat, you’ll eat tuna fish. The same holds true for deer. If all you have planted is barberry, spruce and juniper, you can bet their decision is simple. Either they starve or they eat TUNA FISH. However, having said this, there still seems to be one staple plant that our four legged friends have left alone. BOXWOOD!! Boxwoods

contain a toxic alkaloid that makes them unpalatable. Let me try to dispel the myth that all boxwoods are just green meatballs. There are currently some 160 registered cultivars of boxwood. While all boxwood shares the same texture, there are color differences, size and shape variations that will tantalize even the biggest skeptics.

Buxus sempervirens (common boxwood), has long been a staple for many existing and new landscapes. A plant that will stay in bounds as a foundation planting or prove that over time can be quite a handsome specimen is still just green. But there’s more out there to tempt us. Graham Blandy and Fastigiata are two upright, tight, pillar cultivars that lend themselves well for container gardening or as vertical accents for either side of a front door. Dee Runk is another upright, conical grower with lateral branching at about 45 degrees. Morris Dwarf, Morris Midget, and Green Pillow are just what you’d expect. Diminutive forms that are suitable for container and trough gardening. Grace Hendrick Phillips, Vardar Valley and Insularis are all spreading forms that vary in color from lime- green to bluish casts. And let’s not forget the bicolor boxwoods. Argenteo-variegata, Aureo-variegata, and Elegantissima offer whites and yellows mixed with green. I’ve saved the best for last. Buxus sinica v. insularis ‘Justin Brouwers’ is the undisputed heavy weight. Having narrow, dark green foliage, this mounding cultivar found in Williamsburg, VA. in the 1950’s is fantastic for edging or to showcase as a specimen in a small garden. This one has shown great promise and is among the darkest green, cold hardy cultivars I have seen so far.

Gardening is an ever changing equation. I recently drew my own landscape plan for a house my wife and I are currently building. My favorite plant list consisted of over 250 different plant varieties. Will I redraw, rethink and retool the existing FINISHED landscape plan. Almost certainly! Not because we’re uncertain of our choices, but because we won’t allow the deer to dictate what we plant. It’s trial and error. That’s what makes it such a great game. Use deer repellants, netting, ingenuity, and makeshift ideas to keep deer at bay. Remember, there is never just one absolute plant for one situation. Personal taste, budget and landscape topography will dictate your decision making process. Boxwoods are highly adaptable to soil conditions, lighting exposures and landscape footprints. As a family they are used extensively throughout the country. Whether it’s for mass plantings, foundation plantings, container gardening, hedge rows or for topiary use, boxwoods are there. Easily transplanted, these garden wonders prefer limestone soils and a haircut in late winter. Try to protect from drying winds and consider spraying them with an anti-desiccant in late fall. When used effectively, this group can act as a skeletal backdrop or foreground accent, for other companion plants, adding even more color and texture. The possibilities of this family are limited only by your imagination. Hopefully the boxwoods in your garden will keep our antler friends at bay for years to come.