2013 – Page 3 – thewelldressedgarden.com

HISTORIC GARDEN WEEK: THE ROBERTSON GARDEN

April 22, 2013/3 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Plants & Horticulture /by mturner

In celebration of the Garden Club of Virginia’s 80th Historic Garden Week, I’m giving a sneak peak of three very special gardens on the Richmond tour by three talented women. Susan Robertson, Laura Valentine and Moonie Etherington have created gardens that reflect their passions and personalities. This first blog post focuses on the the Robertsons’ garden. Tomorrow I will post a blog on the Valentines’ garden and Wednesday I will document the Etheringtons’ garden. The Robertson and Valentine gardens are on the Tuesday tour and the Etherington garden is on the Thursday tour.

THE ROBERTSON GARDEN

Susan and Walter Robertson’s beautiful spot of earth is nestled in the woodland that sits just above the historic Kanawha Canal. Susan loves nothing more than digging in her garden — weeding, planting, pruning — it really doesn’t matter, as long as she is surrounded by the plants she has nurtured and nourished over the years. Her yard is her laboratory, whether experimenting with different plant combinations or trying new pruning techniques. She’s generous with sharing her vast knowledge and the bounty of her garden. Susan’s mom, Page Fitchett, instilled in Susan and her sister Mary a love of gardening. Mary and Page will be in town to help arrange flowers in Susan’s house this week.

Akebia (Akebia quinata), a native vine, scampers up the front porch posts. A Passion Flower vine is growing in the urn.

A Robin takes a bath in the shade garden.

The pool used to be separated from the house by a fence. Susan and Walter reconfigured the space, moving the fence to the perimeter and adding broad steps leading directly to the pool.

The pool house has been a relaxing refuge for many friends and family (to my knowledge, George Washington did not sleep here).

The back porch of the pool house overlooks the backyard sloping toward the canal.

Stormwater drains from the terrace through the weep holes in the wall, then filters through the river rock and is absorbed by the water-loving hydrangeas. Capturing the storm water in the garden has the double benefit of channeling it toward plants who need it and preventing it from entering the river through drains.

Perennials and hydrangea will be blooming in the next few weeks in the pool garden.

It is so hard to find this classic pale lavender shade of Bearded Iris (Iris germanica) in the nurseries. I can’t promise I won’t come dig this up someday when nobody’s around.

Susan planted an herb garden just outside her kitchen. She uses crushed stone as a mulch to help keep the weeds at bay (the stones also make it easier to remove the weeds).

Coral Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) twines around the tuteur.

Nuff said.

No, this isn’t the 14th hole at Augusta — but hey, wouldn’t that be an entertaining challenge!

Lady Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae) floats above the Eastern Bluestar (Amsonia tabernaemontana, better known simply as Amsonia).

This is where Walter goes to be alone with his thoughts after the Nationals spank the Braves.

The sun casts long shadows across the sloping lawn.

The deer love the Robertsons’ yard. Most of the plants in their garden are deer resistant, but Susan can’t help planting a few beloved plants that are tasty to the deer. She is my go-to girl on the latest deer deterrents. She’s tried them all.

No crape murder in this yard.

The white Azaleas and the Doublefile Viburnum (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum) are both at their peak right now.

THE GARDENS OF DUMBARTON OAKS

February 22, 2013/0 Comments/in Featured Gardens, Landscape Design, Public Spaces /by mturner

Tucked away in a quiet part of Georgetown is Dumbarton Oaks, one of the finest American gardens still in existence. Inspired by her travels in Italy with her aunt Edith Wharton (author of Italian Villas and their Gardens), landscape gardener Beatrix Farrand created an American interpretation of the classical Mediterranean gardens she had studied, by carving out a series of garden rooms from the hilly terrain near Rock Creek for Mildred and Robert Woods Bliss, beginning in 1921.

Farrand designed a series of stone and brick walls, paths and steps, as well as arbors, trellises, pools and fountains. Although the layout was guided by Italian principles, she was influenced in her planting design by the English garden style, and Gertrude Jekyll, specifically.

Eleanor McPeck wrote in Beatrix Farrand’s American Landscapes, that Farrand’s trademarks were “clarity of outline, a strong sense of enclosure, the simple plan enriched by architectural detail and softened by perennial beds and trees.” The gardens of Dumbarton Oaks illustrate these principles beautifully.

My friend, Carolyn, standing in front of the north facade, below the French steps, on a cold day in February.

In 1941, after the estate was given to Harvard University, director John Thacher asked Farrand to write a guide for the garden’s care. Diane Kostial McGuire, in a foreward to Farrand’s Plant Book for Dumbarton Oaks, wrote that the book “resulted in this unique document that describes measures to be taken when plants need replacement, the various levels of maintenance required, the design concept of each part of the gardens, why particular choices were made, and why certain ideas were rejected.”

Below, a look at the gardens, as described by Beatrix Farrand in her Plant Book:

The Box Terrace (a revision by Ruth Havey eliminated the beautiful simplicity of the garden as envisioned by Farrand).

“The Box Terrace is intended to be an introductino to the Rose Garden, rather than a garden of importance on its own account. . . If the Box is allowed to grow too large it engulfs the scale of the terrace, which then tends to look more like a shelf than an overture to the Rose Garden.”

Lovers’ Lane pool and amphitheater. The seats were adapted from the “open-air theatre on the slopes of the Janiculum Hill at the Accademia degli Arcadi Bosco Parrasio. The shape of the theatre was copied from the one in Rome, but the slopes surrounding the Dumbarton theatre are far steeper than those on the Italian hillsides.”

“The whole arrangement surrounding the Lovers’ Lane pool is entirely controlled by the natural slopes of the ground and the deire to keep as many of the native trees as possible unhurt and undisturbed.”

“In order to give seclusion to this little theatre, it has been surrounded by cast-stone columns, baroque in design. . . The columns are connected with a split natural-wood lattice in long horizontal rectangles.”

The Herbaceous Borders, with the toolshed in the background

“The composition of the planting of the Herbaceous Border should be rather carefully chosen from material which is somewhat unusual in its character and harmonious in its color tones.”

The Rose Garden

“The high wall, on the west side with its latticed-brick balustrade, shows the difference in the material thought appropriate to use on account of the added distance from the house and its more formal lines . . . This high wall is an admirable place on which to grow certain climbing Roses, perhaps a Magnolia grandiflora, Clematis paniculata, and a wispy veil of Forsythia suspensa narrowing the steps leading from the Box to the Rose Garden Terrace.”

The Fountain Terrace contains two identical pools set in the lawn and enclosed by stone walls.

Beatrix would not be happy to find her fountains so spotless and pristine. She wrote, “two fountains are kept filled and playing during the summer season, and it is important that their curbs be allowed to become as mossy as possible, as, scrubbed and cleaned well, the curbs would look new and fresh and garish, whereas the fountains should appear to have been ‘found’ there and to be a part of the old plan.”

The Pebble Garden

The Beech Terrace.

“. . . the structure of the tree (Fagus grandifolia) in winter is almost as beautiful as its summer color. It was clear that in any poistion so dominated by one magnificent tree, all the other planting must be secondary and as inconspicuous as possible.”

Wisteria (if only I’d visited a couple of weeks before!) grows up a low wall and along a chain.

Steps from the Fountain Garden to the Rose Garden

“The steps have been broken into three different flights in order to make the climbing not too laborious a process. Two-thirds of the way down the steps, a seat, under a lead canopy, is placed on the landing, and, when possible, is surrounded by pot [no, I don’t think she means THAT pot] plants which harmonize in color with those used in the garden.”

The irregular stones used in these beautiful steps signal that you are descending toward the “naturalistic” woodland and dell.

The sun shines through the Wisteria vines.

The Wisteria Arbor “was modified from a design of Du Cerceau (from his drawing of the garden of the Chateau Montargis). It is planted almost entirely with Wistaria, mainly of the lavender variety but with some few plants of white. The Wistaria Arbor is designed so as to be seen from below, so that the hanging clutches of the flowers will make a fragrant and lovely roof to the arbor.”

A closer look at the stunning woodwork of the Wisteria Arbor.

The orangery was built around 1810. Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila) climbs the walls and ceilings, and is pruned to form a pendant in front of each window.

Owner Mildred Bliss wrote, upon Beatrix Farrand’s death, “never did Beatrix Farrand impose on the land an arbitrary concept. She ‘listened’ to the light and wind and grade of each area under study. The gardens grew naturally from one another until now, in their luxuriant spring growth, as in the winter when leafless branches show each degree of distance and the naked masonry, there is a special quality of charming restfulness.”

NEW YORK GARDEN DESIGNER LYNDEN MILLER CHALLENGES RICHMOND

January 26, 2013/0 Comments/in Landscape Design, Plants & Horticulture, Public Spaces /by mturner

Cooling off on the rocks at Belle Isle

Richmond’s location at the fall line of the James River has put it on the map as a destination for those seeking the raw natural beauty of the river’s banks, rapids and trails. Retiring James River Park director Ralph White devoted his career to restoring the James and the parkland bordering it.

Anne Rusbuldt chilling on the James

Nathan Burrell, head of Richmond’s extensive trail system, has built on that success, spending years working with colleagues and volunteers to carve out miles and miles of trails on both banks of the river. Currently, he is spearheading a trail-building project on Chapel Island.

Anne Wallace Tazewell, Will Tazewell, Ford Turner and Amanda Johnson hiking the Buttermilk Trail

Richmond is also home to some grand and historic parks, including Byrd, Bryan and Monroe, and many smaller pocket parks and green spaces. Some public spaces, due to lack of funds, receive only the most basic maintenance. These spaces sit waiting to be restored to their former glory.

Kids enjoying a day at beautiful Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, a wonderful source for those wanting to learn about plants.

Capital Trees (a joint project of the Boxwood, James River, Three Chopt and Tuckahoe Garden Clubs) is partnering with the city to restore beautiful green spaces and increase a healthy tree canopy throughout Richmond.

Capital Trees’ first challenge was to turn a busy, concrete-choked block downtown into a lush green avenue that also collects and filters storm-water runoff.

Ginkgos, Grasses and Irises grow in bio-retention wells on the east side of 14th Street

Designed by Capital Trees’ partners 3north (led by Jay Hugo) and Water Street Studio (led by Keith Whipple), the block of 14th Street between Bank and Main is planted with a triple allee of Ginkgos and Swamp White Oaks. On the east side of the street the trees, along with grasses and irises, are planted in engineered bio-filtration wells that capture and filter polluted storm-water.

Ginkgos and Liriope grow on the west side of 14th Street

The 14th Street project was so successful, Capital Trees and the city have since partnered on several more projects. 3north is Capital Trees’ design partner, and Water Street Studio provides design and engineering assistance. These projects include:

Renovation of the RMA Plaza

Capital Trees, in partnership with the City and 3north, is renovating this dilapidated park (across from The James Center on Byrd Street), adding trees, rain gardens, seating and public gathering spaces.

Lynden Miller encourages us to incorporate lush planting beds when building the new park at the RMA Plaza. Susan Robertson, Scott Ukrop, Melinda Hardy and Jill Nolt listen to Lynden’s suggestions.

The Jefferson Greenway

The proposed Greenway, following 10th Street south from the Capitol to the canal, is inspired by Jefferson’s original vision of a hilltop capitol, broadly facing the fall line of the James. The Greenway will provide a strong natural thread that will visually, symbolically, and physically reconnect Richmond’s Capitol Square with the James. The plan will include green spaces, trees and storm-water remediation. The Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay and Capital Trees are partnering to make the Greenway vision a reality.

Jill Nolt and Scott Ukrop give Lynden a tour of Great Shiplock Park.

Great Shiplock Park

Great Shiplock Park is home to locks, dating to the 1850s, that carried ships into the canal at the east end of the falls of the James. The sleepy park is about to get a major facelift as the future site of the Virginia Capital Trail’s Eastern Trailhead. Beth Weisbrod, Executive Director of the Virginia Capital Trail Foundation, has brought together her foundation, the City, Capital Trees and other constituencies to go beyond the mandate of building a trailhead. Plans are in place to make the park into yet another beautiful public garden space where cyclists, hikers, kayakers, birdwatchers, runners and picnickers will come to soak in the park’s history and natural beauty. Landscape architect Jill Nolt (3north) has designed the space to be beautiful and functional, with shaded lawns and lush rain gardens to trap and filter storm-water.

Riding the Virginia Capital Trail with friends

Seizing this momentum, Capital Trees (led by Jeanette McKittrick) and Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden (led by Frank Robinson) decided it was the perfect time to bring back the garden designer and advocate who inspired many in the community during a visit in 2008.

Lynden Miller, the woman who transformed Central Park’s Conservatory Garden and Bryant Park, among many other public spaces in New York and beyond, swept into Richmond last week and succeeded in bringing together our city, corporate, foundation, civic, horticultural and design leaders — people who care about the quality of life in Richmond. She called on us to “create and support well-planted parks and gardens as essential urban oases that reduce crime and have positive effects on the economic welfare of Richmonders.” She spent a cold rainy day touring the Capital Trees projects (see pictures above), gave an inspiring talk to the Richmond garden clubs and another rousing presentation to a group at the botanical garden, advised Bon Secours on healing gardens and conducted a workshop for community leaders.

Scott Ukrop and Jill Nolt from 3north, in conjunction with Randee Humphrey from Lewis Ginter and Jeanette McKittrick from Capital Trees, organized the workshop, and it looks to be a pivotal moment in Richmond’s movement toward reclaiming its public spaces. They brought together a group of creative thought and design leaders to discuss opportunities and challenges we face in transforming our city. Using two of the Capital Trees projects and Monroe Park as case studies, folks bounced ideas off each other, received invaluable advice from Lynden (see some of her design principles below), and left the meeting with a sense that this city’s businesses, residents and municipal leaders are ready to shake up the status quo and nurture the budding green renaissance.

Lynden says, “make it gorgeous and they will come. Keep it that way and they will help.”

Lynden challenged us to harness the meeting’s energy and continue to collaborate to reach our potential. She “demonstrated the power of plants to soften and civilize public life, and showed how beautiful public spaces, planted and maintained to high standards, have the power to transform the way people behave and feel about their cities.” Parks, Plants, and People, by Lynden B. Miller. I think we’re up to the challenge.

A FEW FUNDAMENTAL GARDEN PRINCIPLES

Here are some of Lynden’s principles of garden design that can be applied to public gardens as well as your own private patch of earth. I’ve thrown in a few of my own guiding principles as well:

PLANT TREES TO CREATE A CANOPY, SHADOW AND SHADE