Garden Design Lessons from Nature, In a Concrete Box

reckon designing garden that occur to life almost overnight , then just as chop-chop evaporate . Months of planning , locating beautiful plants and tons of dirt and careen , followed by a mad dah to bring your visual sensation to fruition .

Along with lots of other landscapers , that ’s what Seattle - establish landscape designers John L. Shepodd ( JonLShepoddlandscape.com ) and Phil Wood ( philwoodgardens.com ) and team did at theNorthwest Flower and Garden Showa few months ago . I ’m singling them out not just for the feat they accomplish , but for their power to create an amazingly realistic slices of nature in a cavernous concrete vestibule .

There are lessons in these photograph I ’d wish to incorporate into my own work . I go for you ’ll obtain them useful in your garden .

A Walk on the Wild Side

A garden titledBirdsongwas created by Phil Wood , Bob Lilly , and Roger Williams for theWashington Park Arboretumand Seattle Audubon Society . This celebration of the wildlife and sound of the Washington Park Arboretum walk away with three major awards : a gold medal from the show jurist , the American Horticultural Society Environmental Award , and the Pacific Horticultural Society Award . Complete with a Great Blue Heron replica and bird songs immortalise at the Arboretum , it transported me from the hubbub of the show to a stead of internal pacification .

deterrent example 1 – Invite nature into the garden : quote from the show description : “ Bird gardens rear the human intent , not just by their visual mantrap alone : Fostering doll life bring both dame song and natural balance to the world outside our doors . ”

Lesson 2 – snappishness multifariousness with centripetal mannequin and texture : Although there are fit of strong chicken and violent , all the plants have powerful upright manikin . On the ground plane , delicate ferns and grasses divvy up the same density and build . These repeating elements amalgamate the garden .

Lesson 3 – employ tripping colors as emphasis : Contrasting brilliant bark and xanthous bloom against a dark green background serve as a public eye on the pencil lead histrion .

Lesson 4 – employ local plant to pull in wildlife : Oregon grape ( Mahonia aquifolium ) attracts bees when it flower ( thankfully , none were lease loose in the exhibit hall ) , and the grape - same purple fruits are treats for birds who serve keep insect universe in balance .

A Porch With A View

The 2012 Northwest Flower and Garden Show ’s base was “ A Floral Symphony ” so Jon L. Shepodd Landscaping andEnvironmental Constructionnamed their gardenRock & Roll Meets Heavy Metal – The Convergence Zone . Indeed , there were beautifully arrange rocks , a tapestry of grasses and perennials that gently rolled to a rain garden , and a mesmerizing metallic element sculpture I could have watched for hours . But the design take - aways for me reside in how they regulate their space , exquisitely meld plant life , and the forged an user interface between the instinctive humanity and human habitat .

Lesson 5 – Nature and contemporary art can coexist : I ’m not in general a whirly - gig kinda guy rope , and you ca n’t see the vortex - like move of the wind vane , but I would have devote anything to be seat on that porch on a breezy wintertime solar day and wait for the maples , dogwood and birches to riff out . Maybe not in the forest , but close to the family , notion is welcome .

deterrent example 6 – Make a statement : Just like Birdsong , you ca n’t go wrong by spice up a composition with daring dashes of warm coloration . Yellow - bladed gratifying flag ( Acoris gramineus ‘ Ogon ’ ) is in incisive contrast with the fence greens and sensuous stems of redtwig cornel ( Cornus sericia ) .

Lesson 7 – Polygamy pays : No , not that ! I ’m talk about multiple marriages of the foliation kind . poster how rather than repeating one red-faced - hued plant to play off the greens , the designers found dissimilar ways to throw in direct contrast , using celestial bamboo ( lower left ) , Nipponese maple , and redtwig dogwood tree as variations on a idea .

Lesson 8 – raft and outer space define a garden ’s chassis : I was so impressed with the way the garden detergent builder play with topography , make a entirely credible , mildly swan side flowing to the “ house ” . From the porch , the eye ride across the subject control panel of grasses , incandescent lamp , perennial and rocks , framed and steered by a layered bound of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs .

o.k. Gardening recommend product

Pruning simplify : A Step - by - dance step Guide to 50 Popular Trees and shrub

Fine horticulture receives a mission for items purchased through links on this site , include Amazon Associates and other affiliate advert programs .

ARS telescope Long Reach Pruner

DeWalt Variable - Speed Cordless Reciprocating Saw

Get our latest tips , how - to article , and instructional videos sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

A Garden in the Concrete Jungle, Part 2

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

Gardens Go Hollywood at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show

Garden Design Lessons from Japan

Join Fine Gardening for a costless affiance live webinar featuring Dr. Janna Beckerman , a famed industrial plant pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamental technical manager …

When I spot a special guts dollar cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few months ago , I make out I was in trouble . With a delicious colour approach pattern …

When we only prioritize works we desire over flora our landscape indigence , each season is make full with a never - ending list of chores : pruning , pinching , watering , treating , amend , and fertilizing , with …

Photo/Illustration: Billy Goodnick

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you enter the backyard of garden designer Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trip on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a pair …