Garden Designers Roundtable: Foliage
Say hi to the main display bed in my backyard, pictured in “Before.” Two old crabapples frame the “view,” backed by a suburban New England fence I hate but must live with. It’s supposed to be white, but the constant shower from the crabs ensures it will be forever dingy.
But no matter! Elegant decay is the name of the design game for this space. New terrace goes in this spring, so I’ve spent winter building my planting plan. Click to enlarge the photo “After (Proposed)” at left. (All photos clickable.)
What, you ask, is this concept, and what about foliage? Well, I’ll tell you, and you will think I’m cuckoo. Though New England is my home, a part of me pines for another New place, and that is New Orleans. I was born and raised just over that city’s horizon, and my earliest design sensibilities drew upon its architecture, its style, its plants. Thus, I’ve always wished for a New Orleans courtyard.
I set about figuring how to bring a little Big Easy to my backyard, in an untacky way with a dynamic group of plants, and address conditions and context –- the fence, some shade, damp and dry soils. This bed is one piece of the puzzle.
Foliage is factor numero uno when building an interesting plant group, and indeed, in the New Orleans courtyard, flowers play second fiddle to subtropical foliage.
Foliage, to me, is about the interplay first of shape, then stance, then sheen. Is a leaf is bold, medium, or fine? Then, a sub-question, is it architectural? Finally, is it shiny or soft? You know this, I’m sure.
Here, I plan to use bold, architectural plants to establish the aesthetic, supported by subtler, contrasting filler plants, not all of which you can see. I sketched my Photoshop plan in black and white, the better to truly observe, my dear.
I’m using foliage to spark visual conversation between the board-straight fence and flowy, organic… Well, everything else. The fence gave me fits the way it loomed all rectilinear; then I realized hey, I need plants that speak the fence’s language. I added architectural Yucca at the base of the group and, more importantly, a pedestal pot of Cordyline at a step-down height between the fence and ground.
I’m using foliage to create rhythm, repeating the same Yucca/Cordyline shape, as well as Tetrapanax and Sabal minor (entries on BOTH those plants coming soon). Fine foliage like Lespedeza and Acer japonicum supports the bold. Miscanthus foliage ensures movement. More difficult to see here is the table talk between glossy and matte, e.g. shiny Orixa and soft Tetrapanax. It’s a little shady in parts of this bed, so reflective foliage is key; softer foliage corresponds to the texture of the fence, the terrace, the trees’ trunks and leaves above. Altogether, the effect is prismatic.Last but certainly not least, foliage here conveys regionality. These plants’ shapes correspond directly to those I love from youth, a subtle shift from the strong New England regionality of the fence and bluestone terrace. Smell the gumbo? Sure, I could stick a “Who Dat” sign in my flowerbed, but we’d still be standing in New England. Did you feel at all… Transported? That, friends, is the goal.
As a designer, I’m “the plant guy,” so I traffic in plant lists. For your reference, here are some foliage lists for this bed, including some plants you can’t see. Take a look! Maybe you’ll see what I’m going to talk about for March’s GDRT topic, color.
Filigreed and free-spirited: these plants of mine are so FINE →
They are flora, hear them roar: my BOLD plants →
Not content to be bold: ARCHITECTURAL plants raise the roof →
Indispensable; stuck in the middle: my MEDIUM plants →
AND don’t forget to visit my fellow Roundtablers blogging this month!:
Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA »
Debbie Roberts : Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT »
Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA »
Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO
Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX »
Rebecca Sweet : Gossip in the Garden : Los Altos, CA »
Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA »
- Posted by AK on 2010 Feb 23 at 1300
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[...] Keys at Garden Smackdown: Boston, MA Christina Salwitz at Personal Garden Coach: Renton, WA Debbie Roberts at Garden of [...]
[...] Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA » Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA » Debbie Roberts : Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT » Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA » Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX » Rebecca Sweet : Gossip in the Garden : Los Altos, CA » Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA » Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Foliage Fantasia! [...]
[...] Keys - Garden Smackdown - Boston, [...]
The black-and-white trick is a good one for seeing how shapes work together without the distraction of color. The new garden plan looks great, and your nod to the Big Easy in a New England garden is creative. Have fun bringing it to reality!
[...] Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA » Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA » Debbie Roberts : Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT » Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA » Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX » Rebecca Sweet : Gossip in the Garden : Los Altos, CA » Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA » [...]
Love the black and white photos! Forget flowers, forget color - let’s talk about FORM! Brilliant, Andrew! And yes, I did feel transported just reading about your New Orleans vision…when I come to visit someday, I’ll hope to peruse your garden with some beignets in one hand and Cafe du Monde in the other….
Hey Andrew,
I look forward to seeing the transformation in your backyard! Your goal to “transport” yourself to New Orleans is what makes design so exciting. What program did you use for your design preview?
Shirley Bovshow
Garden World Report
Thanks so much, guys! I’ve done the black and white thing before, but this garden is so much more about foliage I’ve been amazed at how much it helped me to work through my ideas. @Shirley, used Photoshop for the preview. Was a graphic designer in a past life — it’s served me well!
I love the New Orleans courtyard plan! As you know, I’ve settled on that style for my own 150 sq. ft. 3rd-floor balcony! It will be interesting to see how you and I can pull this off in two very different spaces and in opposite ends of the country. I love your focus on the large architectural leaf shapes and agree with Pam-your pics in black and white really make the shapes pop. Will remember that-thanks!
WOA!
Love, love, LOVE the plants you are using! And the idea of a New Orleans style courtyard in Boston? You ZONE PUSHER!
this is going to be FANTASTIC! I especially love your emphasis on gloss; the prismatic effect of bold, shiny leaves. Lovely! Very inspirational - in small spaces the play of light is extra special, I find, and utilizing a leaf to capture that light and disperse it in flickers and shine is garden theory on a deep, subtle level. EXACTLy what the Roundtable should be!
And I ALMOST used black and white in my post, too! Love this whole Smackdown.
Hi Five to The Fraternity of Foliage!
I have to say, those crabapples MAKE that bed. Try to imagine that photo without them. They’re essential. They’re super! I love the black & white, too. It lets you focus on form, without getting distracted by flowers. Flowers will only enhance this blend. I can’t wait to see this in person when it happens!
Thanks so much, guys!
@Michelle: That’s an excellent point about the crabapples, and you made me realize something: it would be a lot harder to truly do Southern Gothic regionality without old, gnarly, twisty trees. I love that that even though I see them as New England symbols, I see them differently when they’re with these plants. This is why I love plants!
@Ivette: HIGH FIVE! Just call me zone pusher extraordinaire! ;-) I wish I could’ve talked more about light and sheen, but my font is pretty big and the post was already pretty long, so I decided to save that bit for another time. You’re right, though — I realized this past year that this space desperately needed some reflectivity. There are a lot of interesting light patterns in the dappled shade of those trees, but nothing to catch them. Foliage, ho!
@Jenny: Yes, I can’t wait to see how our respective projects happen! I’ve got other New Orleans tricks up my sleeve for the larger space, but that’s a post for another time. Let’s just say we want the funk, and we’re gonna bring it. I’ll leave the rest to your imagination for now.
You are one clever guy, Andrew! Thanks for taking us through your thought process: motivation meets situational realities meets the art of design. Bravo!
Thanks so much, Jocelyn, I really appreciate that! I’m making my way over to your blog very shortly…
[...] Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA » [...]
Your ‘after’ picture was very well done. I can’t wait to see how you pull it off - I love couryard gardens. The bigger the leaves and the bigger the plant - the better! I especially like the Tetrapanax papyrifer or rice paper plant.
Thanks, Angela! Have you grown Tetrapanax? It’s marginal for me, so I’m sure it’d be hardy for you. I got a bunch from my sister this fall and decided to plant one to see if it lives, and I’m overwintering the rest in forced dormancy in the attic. Fingers crossed! Expect a post on that one for sure.
[...] Andrew Keys : Garden Smackdown : Boston, MA » Christina Salwitz : Personal Garden Coach : Renton, WA » Ivette Soler : The Germinatrix : Los Angeles, CA » Jocelyn Chilvers : The Art Garden : Denver, CO Pam Penick : Digging : Austin, TX » Rebecca Sweet : Gossip in the Garden : Los Altos, CA » Shirley Bovshow : Eden Makers : Los Angeles, CA » [...]
Andrew,
I love the way your post touches on every aspect we need to consider when using foliage in a design and how critical it is to think about the story each different plant is telling. It’s inspiring to see how you embraced the initial negative feelings about the fence and instead used it as a foil to help tell the story of the foliage.
Thanks SO much, Debbie! You hit the nail on the head about the fence — in the beginning, I sort of tried to ignore it, and it was a lesson I’ll never forget when I forced myself to sit and think about how to make the fence fit in (first) and be something I liked (second). That Cordyline in the center was a revelation! Being a (sort of) white fence, it stands out more than other fences I’d dealt with too. That, however, is a story for the color post. :-)
As soon as I saw it, I thought of Nawlins. (We lived in Baton Rouge for four years.) So, score! You nailed it, Mr. Southern Transplant
Somewhere online I saw a Saints garden gnome….
@Pamela: LOL! I have a Saint FRANCIS statue… Does that count? I’m SO glad you concur on the Nolaness! I know you would know.
I do wonder where we might swipe, ahem, purchase a proper sugar kettle fountain for y’all, too. Hehehehe.
And then there’s those GIGANTIC metal hanging baskets filled with beaucoup de plants, but I’m not sure your Yankee trees are up to holding up that kind of weight. (And that’s a bit more suburban Nawlins anyway.)
Now you’re talking! A fountain is definitely going in there somewhere. The suburban hanging baskets I’m not so sure of — I’m planning to rig an irrigation system to water all the containers and the bananas from my rain barrels with a flip of a switch, and I’m not sure I’d have the pressure to go vertical!
The hanging baskets, unless they are HAY-UGE can veer toward the common, and we don’t want that. No, no, no.
Sugar kettle FTW!
Andrew, Loved the post. Not only did you let us in on your plans for the yard, you let us know a little more about you through your words and your ‘future’ garden. What better way to get to know someone, than from their garden. An ambitious project yes, but we’re more than up to the task of following your progress! ;-)
Aside: I have Carex muskingumensis ‘Oehme’ (Variegated Palm Sedge) here if you want it.
Scott, you have just unwittingly **made my day.** Thanks for your comment, I’ll be emailing you very shortly!
I agree that foliage is key to a garden’s structure and, I think, color as well. I view flowers as accessories. I think your plans are outstanding, and the courtyard will be a great place to relax and enjoy the garden. Thanks for stopping by my own blog. I will definitely visit yours again!
Andrew,
VERY creative post!! I have been counseling all of my clients to do all of their garden dreaming in black and white for years for all of the reasons you pointed out. I have them doodle on a picture printed on the regular printer so they can do it over and over with simple shapes and forms and not really worrying about a specific plant.
Lovin the New Orleans vibe- can’t wait to see how this all comes together. :-) The Crabs DO make the garden!!
@Christina: Thank you! The black and white method, for this garden, was truly eye-opening. I’m pushing myself to use it more now so I can look carefully at shapes, even in less foliar gardens.
@debsgarden: Thanks so much! I think maybe you left a comment here a while ago, when I first signed up for Blotanical, and I’ve been watching your blog since. Love the photos.
Very creative, indeed, Andrew. In art classes we weren’t allowed to use color until we mastered the black and white. It gives one a totally different perspective.
My good friend and neighbor is from New Orleans. I was captivated by the courtyard gardens there as well. Of course with such a climate you can grow just about anything, especially the tropicals which I love.
I look forward to seeing the realization of your Big Easy garden.
Thanks so much, Carolyn! They really can grow everything there, can’t they? I used to be able to plug all manner of things into the ground and leave them — not so in New England!
Wonderful way to approach this topic. There were some great posts on the benefits of photographing your garden in black and white as a way to evalute color tone. The posts are over a year old but worth a visit (at least for those who like to look at things with fresh eyes on occasion, which obviously describes you).
http://www.gardeninggonewild.com/?p=2788
Hey Susan: That’s terrific, thank you! I think I love anything Nan Ondra and Steve Silk write, so I’ll be excited to read these.
Opening your blog to a B+W page was a bit of a shock, but the concept behind it grew on me. As an art school homework assignment we had to convert an old master into black and white. No greys, no color, just form and negative spaces. The exercise was one I thoroughly loved. I enjoyed Steve Silk’s photos (in Susan’s link) contrasting two gardens. I was delighted to see how strong Sydney’s garden looked. (Her newest book is due out in April… btw)
Thanks, Kari! I know, I usually try to ramp up the color in the photos I post, so this was a departure. (The cotton pic too, I think cotton reads amazingly in black and white.)
Funny how Steve Silk came up here re: the black and white thing — I’m overwintering my rice paper plants (Tetrapanax papyrifer) that figure heavily in this plan based on an article he wrote for Fine Gardening a while ago.