Land Speak

At a client's holiday party at their farm, I met one of their neighbors. She asked me how I knew the host and hostess. When I told her that I was their landscape designer, she complemented me by saying how much she liked what I had done and asked if I would come and look at her place. This type of thing happens at a parties.

In further conversation, the subject came up about where I lived and worked. When I told her, she looked surprised and asked, "That's so suburban, how did you know what to do with this property?" My answer was, "I love the land. I listen to what my clients say, but I also listen to the land, it has stories to tell." She smiled and said, "I do too, I love my land. When I lived in the town next to yours for 20 years or so, I hated it, I couldn't see the sky." We made a date to meet in February.

Here are some photos of the ongoing project from the story above.

Some Days You Just Need to Bloom

It's January, I'm getting tired of the cold, the grey, and the dark. I was having a rotten day when I stopped a client's garden last summer. This combination of clematis and roses we had planted the summer before made my day better then, and its picture makes my day better now. Enjoy.

Showhouse Season V, Issue 2. The Design Process

All of the landscape design invitees for the 2009 showhouse were provided with a master plan which illustrated the homeowner's and the consulting landscape architect's very formal vision for the property.

There would be an addition to the east side of house to update the antiquated kitchen, create additional living space and add a garage. A new pool and pool house would also be added as well as a sheep barn, greenhouse and an apiary at the southwest corner. We were allowed to re-define the spaces if we chose for future approval. Below is my annotated copy of a later version of part of the master plan.


Some of the project constraints other than the two usual suspects--time and money--were and still are: the rampant deer who eat their way through the unfenced property and that some of the original garden features were to remain or be restored. I added to those caveats my own personal desire to source as much as possible from local nurseries and resources and to limit the amount of work that had to be done by machine for both logistical and sustainable reasons. Once those benchmarks were established, I decided to pursue several ideas within final conceptual design that was submitted to and ultimately accepted by the selection committee. Those ideas, as well as the conceptual plan are below.

Design Idea #1--Go with the Flow. I had the advantage of having done a previous project originally as a showhouse garden for the same owner which was kept as permanently. I knew she loved formality and the master plan clearly showed her input. If there were already 2 votes cast in the formal direction--why rock the boat, formal it would be.

Design Idea #2--Define the space the way I wanted it, excluding some of the peripheral areas. This would tighten up my ability to maximize views out of the house and would enable me to use strong axial relationships and bold geometric forms.

Design Idea #3--Design a space that would draw people into it and cause them to linger as well as creating elegant transitions to and from the adjacent spaces. One of my underlying garden philosophies has always been to make outdoor spaces for living as opposed to being just for viewing.

Design Idea #4--Limit the materials and utilize a very narrow deer resistant plant palette to simplify further. With simplicity the overarching traditional formality will look clean and modern rather than traditional and overworked.

Design Idea #5--Think about adding a water feature. People love water, the homeowner loves water, water makes people linger supporting Design Idea #3.

Design Idea #6--Try to use appropriate native plants without being a slave to that concept. Turf would be allowed since it is a large part of the master plan anyway. Offset the use of turf through of locally sourced pea gravel paths equaling (or close) the same square footage. That boat again.

Design Idea #7--Make the plan as easy as possible to implement since the participating contractors would be partially donating their time. April, the installation month, is the 2nd busiest month of the year.

Although it's a bit difficult to see. Here's the conceptual plan. The koi pond that is noted is a element from the master plan that is to be restored and not part of my garden space. Enlarge it to see the notes.

Showhouse Season V

This is the start of my 5th designer showhouse season. I am drawn to the charitable nature of these month long benefits, which often raise several million dollars for their charities. This one, Stately Homes by the Sea, benefits the VNA of Central NJ.

For me, participation has not been an annual occurrence, although I have done a showhouse garden each year for the last three years. I accept all invitations to view the property, but unless there's a space that immediately inspires me in some way, I don't accept. These gardens are an opportunity for me to experiment creatively without the constraints of a typical design brief. They are also an excellent opportunity for me to showcase ideas for potential clients in a realistic setting.

Last summer I was invited to preview the house and property that would be transformed by the following May. Typically these properties are vacant and in need of a face lift. As seen in the video below--one of several posted on YouTube, this particular property, 'Sheep's Run' in Rumson, NJ was in the throws of a complete overhaul.



Each designer was invited to compete for up to two spaces by submitting a a conceptual design and written proposal for each. I only wanted one--it's at the very start of the video with white pick-up truck parked in it. It's adjacent to a sun porch, a library and a very large terrace. It had beautiful views out from the house as well as being a somewhat independent space from the rest of the very formal master plan. I was awarded the space I wanted.

Here's some shots of the space as it was last September as well as a beautiful detail of one of the window grills. Since this will be an ongoing serial--this is also the end of the first installment. How's that for a cliffhanger?

Above: A view through the space to the gutted sun porch

Above: A view through the space from the sun porch showing the library windows

Above: A view through the space showing the oak that's on it's central axis in the distance
Below: One of the many bird themed details found throughout the property both inside & out

Inspiration and Experience

When I first started writing this blog, I was determined for it to be about three things: art, design and living a creative life. It's that last item that ties the first two together and has given me the freedom to explore all sorts of topics.

Often people ask me where I get my ideas from--what inspires my work. I believe that my inspiration comes from the sum of all of my individual experiences filtered through an instant. In other words, I am a funnel. The input area of my life is huge and the output is squeezed through the narrow viewpoint of any given moment. I reference and draw from hundreds of thousands of influences based on what I need to solve a specific design problem.

Because my aesthetic is based on the sum of my individual experiences it is unique to me. My perspective filters those that are shared and makes them exclusive. The solitary colors the mutual.

I hope that make sense. It does to me.