Category Archives: garden design

color in the garden, garden design, Poland

Backroads of Poland – part I

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In Poland you greet someone by saying oziendobry which means hello or good day. You hear it at every restaurant and market and even high on a mountain trail. I had a hard time trying to pronounce their Slavic words with so many consonants but used this word daily. So began my adventures to visit the gardens and natural landscapes in Poland earlier this month.

The first thing you notice in Poland are the flowers. Although winters are harsh in this country spring starts suddenly in April after the snow melts. The climate in eastern Poland where I visited is influenced by the interior of the continent towards Russia and so receives summer rain. The wildflowers, vegetable gardens, perennial and annual flowers love the moisture and were in full bloom.

This part of Poland is protected from any industry and a primeval forest and several national parks are here. Agriculture makes up 50% of land use in this country. Even during the Communist control, a farmer was allowed to keep 3 hectares of land for himself. Land ownership provided some freedom and even to this day little land comes up for sale.

Driving north from Warsaw I saw miles of round hay bales in harvested fields of grain. Lots of farmers were out working their land, some on tractors, some raking the hay into rows by hand. A farmer behind a horse drawn plow worked one field along with his wife. Wheat, rye, barley, potatoes and sugar beets are grown as well as corn for winter silage for cows. Did you know that Belarus red cattle can graze in fields with low nutrient sedges as found in marshes but Dutch black and white ones won't survive on this type of diet?

I couldn't help but fall in love with the neat farm houses made of brick, local multi-colored granite, wood or brightly painted stucco most with a red roof and surrounded by a flower garden, a vegetable garden and always a fence. I've never seem so many kinds of fencing- ornamental iron, willow branches woven together, fancy picket fences or concrete cast to look like wooden bed posts.

The sandy soil here was deposited by glaciers, the last one only 10,000 years ago and is rich with sediment and nutrients. Sunflowers grow tall between fields. Rudbeckia or Black-eyed Susan grow wild covering the hillsides with gold and every garden had hydrangea, petunia, geranium, yellow mullein, scabiosa, canna lily, dahlia, chicory, apple and plum trees, grapes,hollyhock, marigold and sweet peas. I was amazed at the number of annuals that were grown. Marigolds and petunias of all colors and styles are very popular and probably started from seed as I never saw a nursery of any type even in the outdoor markets. Tender perennials are overwintered inside or cuttings taken in the fall.

A typical vegetable garden had rows of cabbage, of course, as well as red beets, several types of potatoes, lettuce, carrots, onion, cauliflower, cucumbers and leeks. Tomatoes are very popular but grown in greenhouses. Even short season, cold tolerant tomato like Early Girl or Stupice are grown inside.

The main difference from our gardens are the White storks that nest on roof tops and electrical poles. The power company has started to build platforms on top of the poles for the storks to build their nests. Prior to this, stork nests would short out the lines as they added to their heavy nest each year. Poland is home to 25% of the world's storks. These large birds winter in Africa and will leave at the end of August but for now I saw many hundred of the 40.000 pair that nest in Poland.

Next week I'll tell you about the gardens in southeastern Poland, what to grow around a castle and how to protect your vegetables from wild boar.

birds, butterfly plants, color in the garden, container gardening, decks and patios, flowering shrubs, flowers, fragrant plants, garden design, hummingbird plants, landscape design, perennials, shade plants

A Garden Reflects it’s Designer

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To quote Luther Burbank, "Flowers always make people better, happier and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul".  After visiting the garden of Bev Kaplan in Boulder Creek I couldn't agree more.

I never tire of being invited to spend time with a fellow gardening enthusiast. Everyone creates a unique garden which reflects their individuality and personality. To share a garden is a personal experience. To tell the story of each part and how it came to life is a special honor bestowed on those we care about. Here is the story of Bev's garden.

Bev and her husband, Jeff, bought the property in 1992. Then it was covered with poison oak and Scotch broom but they saw potential and got started on the dramatic transformation. A huge culvert that runs under the driveway used to be lined with old Texaco 50 gallon drums. Now redone with stone,  it blooms with agapanthus that were being given away by a friend. Groundcovers blanket the slopes now but in the winter the culvert carries a lot of water.

Bordering the driveway are planters built with concrete from the old pool. Her "designer" bearded iris have finished blooming but Bev bragged about the huge 6" flowers that they bear each spring. Deer can reach this part of the property so iris and grasses survive well here.

A steep slope along another side of the driveway is home to her resident deer. She pointed to the wisteria vines growing over the trees. When in bloom they cover the slope with purple blooms and a wonderful fragrance. She started the wisteria 14 years ago from one seed collected from the hamburger joint at the southern edge of Boulder Creek. It took 7 years for it to bloom but now when the seed pods burst they hit the kitchen window a hundred feet away.

Strolling under the Southern magnolia tree with those huge, white flowers that smell like oranges, we passed the "Bottle Garden". Bev explained she just gave up trying to grow anything in this shady area so made bouquets of colored bottles placed upside down in pots. It's charming, whimsical and the ultimate in recycling.

"Maple Lane" was our next destination. Her large Japanese maple collection grows happily alongside abutilon, which are also called Flowering maples.  Hummingbirds enjoy all of the flowers equally be they colored red, orange or yellow. Sweet violets and astilbe find homes here, too.

A welcoming flagstone patio under the shade of massive redwoods held a large firepit and lots of chairs. Calling her home, "Bev's Bread and Breakfast", she explained that many relatives come from out of town to stay and the warmth of the fire ring is welcomed by those who are used to warmer nights. Camellias and rhododendrons enclose this beautiful patio with a view of the San Lorenzo Valley.

Everywhere I looked in this garden, glass beads were sprinkled between stepping stones. Like jewels, I was told these "Pixie Fairy Gems" keep the weeds down and invite the fairies – clear ones brightened up the shade, blue ones nestled between the brick-red stepping stones in the hospital area.

Opposite the hospital area, which didn't house any current patients I noticed, a several bowling balls sat atop a patch of Mexican pebbles. These belonged to her husband's late parents and she wanted to remember them by creating this unusual garden.

Finally arriving at the pool garden I was speechless. This labor of love is a riot of color attracting dragonflies, hummingbirds and songbirds and butterflies by the score. I asked how she takes care of all of it. Bev smiled and pulled out a large serving spoon and a pair of kitchen shears. "With these", she said.

During a delicious lunch of spinach souffle and fresh lemonade with mint, I was surrounded by the fragrance of honeysuckle, star jasmine, scented geraniums, buddleja, nemesia, purple petunia and dianthus. Many varieties of salvia, calibrachoa, scaevola, dahlia and gladiola filled the many pots and hanging baskets around the pool.

Bev takes care of the entire garden with just a little help. She doesn't spray with anything, even organics, preferring to keep bugs at bay by washing the deck with simple green, hand picking and spritzing with the hose.

It was a day I'll always remember. This garden is a personal labor of love and I hope to be invited back to see the hawk babies when they fledge.
 

color in the garden, Garden art, garden design, landscape design

Garden Design Tips

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A garden has many purposes. It's a place to grow delicious tomatoes and mouth watering fruit picked ripe off the tree. It's a place to read your favorite book on a comfy chair in the shade. It's a place to watch birds and butterflies when they visit the flowers you've planted just for them. It's a place that you go when you need to get away from all the hustle and bustle of daily life. And it's a place of healing.

This week I lost my little cat, Jasmine.  I forgive her for the occasional bird she caught. She really wasn't a hunter. Mostly she liked to just lay around in the shade. There is so much life in a garden. For now, mine will be a healing garden.

Gardens serve many functions. With our lovely summer weather they are truly another room – an outdoor room. We all recognize a well designed garden when we see it. All the garden's individual parts make sense together. They feel right. That's why some gardens not only look better, but feel better than others, too.

There are several design principles that you should use to get your garden to look its best. Once you have them down, a garden practically designs itself.  

First of all you want to create unity within your garden. Plants and other hardscape elements in a garden, like decks, paths or even rocks, have visual weight  that needs to be balanced so everything appears in proportion. A tall tree and low mounded shrubs growing opposite a group of airy perennials around a fountain looks natural and random but balanced. Think of a mimosa tree underplanted with Gulf Stream nandina opposite a group of monkey flower.

Your garden should include a variety of textures, seasonal interest and color to hold your attention and create excitement. Things should stand out from each other. Choose one or two contrasting elements, like the small green leaves of loropetalum against  broad, variegated hostas, or a tall, vertical thuja Emerald Green against low, mounding abelia Kaleidescope so your garden doesn't turn into a jumble.

A garden needs at least one object or area that is noticed first and most often. Your focal point can be a red Japanese maple rising above a low, wild ginger groundcover or a water fountain that instantly gets your attention. The sound of water is soothing and it's fun to see all the birds and butterflies that come to visit.

Because our area is nested among the trees or other wild areas I think an informal, naturalistic garden looks more like it belongs here. Curved paths and planting beds move the eye more slowly through the landscape and invite you to come and explore every corner and curve. Stillness and reflection result  when gentle rhythmic, repeating groups of plants curve toward a tall garden arbor, for instance. Create smooth transitions from one area of the landscape to another.

Repeating forms, textures, colors and sizes makes a garden easier to look at. Repetition sets the rhythm for the eye to move around the garden. Evenly space plants produces a predictable, well-controlled, peaceful feeling. A staggered, uneven repetition will have a bouncy, energetic effect.