The London College of Garden Design has forecast the top ten design trends that we’ll be seeing at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012. With input from some of the big design names here’s their top ten trends to look out for.

1. Technology hits Chelsea big time with QR codes that made a showing last year translated into giant planted walls and Ipad inspiration for rooftop living as shown in Pat Fox’s show garden.
2. British countryside planting evoking country lanes and grassy meadows – see The Caravan Club Garden by Jo Thompson.
3. Health and home is big with exhibitors showing how gardens add to our health such as the Herbert Smith Artisan Garden for Wateraid.
4. And home workspace gardening is back throughout the show – check out the Rooftop Workplace of Tomorrow
5. Edibles are still on the menu but this year it’s heirloom varieties that are big – see The Plankbridge Hutmakers Artisan Garden
6. Perspex is one of the ‘in’ materials and appears all over the show both in the new Fresh category with conceptual ideas as well as Artisan spaces.
7. We have water everywhere but this year there are lots of eco ideas for storing and recycling – great ideas for our drought laden gardens.
8. Classical topiary marries up with garden history but this year its Beech that will be the big draw on a number of show gardens.
9. Stone walls were big in 2011 and are once again with us in 2012, especially as low benches and space dividers.
10. Green oak is making a big comeback as designers reconnect with softer materials.

-ENDS-

About the London College of Garden Design
The London College of Garden Design aims to offer the best professional garden design courses available in the UK. Launched in 2008 by three of the UK’s leading garden professionals, the London College of Garden Design one-year Garden Design Diploma classes take place in the Orangery conference facilities at the world famous Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

More information about gardens and exhibits at RHS Chelsea Flower Show 2012 is available on the RHS Media Centre online.

Visit http://press.rhs.org.uk for further details.

Find out more about the LCGD at http://www.lcgd.org.uk/
Or contact us on Tel: +44 (0) 1483 762955
Or email us at andrewfishertomlin@lcgd.org.uk

This press release was distributed by SourceWire News Distribution on behalf of e-Zone UK. For more information visit http://www.dwpub.com/sourcewire

©GAP Photos

The key to garden lighting is to add drama without detracting from the romance of the night scene

In garden design terms lighting is the icing on the cake. It’s an exciting, highly creative medium that can turn the evening and night garden into a magical and romantic place often unrecognisable from its daytime identity. A flick of a switch, a push of a remote control button or now even a thumb swipe on your iPhone can give a garden a new dimension.

Development in outdoor lighting technology combined with the rapid expansion of the market means there is a now a huge range of versatile, reliable and elegant products for garden designers and homeowners. When it comes to permanently installed lighting the main choices are LED, metal halide and tungsten halogen, with each having their particular applications and strengths.

LED (light-emitting diode) fittings are available in a range of colours that can be set into decks, paving and steps or, low down in walls, can throw a narrow light vertically or horizontally on to a plant or surface. They’re also available moulded into flexible rope strips thin enough to lay between paving joints, under step risers and beneath built-in seats for a linear, modern look. LEDs don’t get hot so can be touched and walked on but they do have a relatively restricted beam angle.

Metal halide lights are powerful and emit a bright white light. Tungsten halogen is similar but works on a smaller scale, delivering a slightly warmer, so perhaps more comforting, light.

©Moonlight Design Ltd

Halogen and LED lights

Both have a wide choice of beam angle and wattage but get hot so do need to be situated out of reach. The fittings themselves can be bought in metal finishes such as copper and brushed or polished stainless steel, but can also be bespoke powder-coated in most colours to complement the other finishes in the garden.

Solar lighting technology has seen the most exciting development in recent years. As a result, the concept of harnessing the sun’s rays during the day to sustainably power lighting in the evening has become a reality. Long gone are the days when solar lights would fizzle out disappointingly minutes after dark – many will keep going until dawn, even in climates with lower sunlight levels.

Fixed or movable small solar panels work in conjunction with the latest breed of super-bright LED lights.

Another welcome development has seen established product designers turn their hand to signature outdoor lighting pieces using fluorescent lamps. Many of these not only light the garden but their sculptural forms also contribute to the overall design – and some double up as seating. Most of these can be either permanently wired in or can be moved around the garden and plugged into an outdoor socket. The garden becomes a versatile place with a relaxed setting one evening, party setting the next.

The key to choosing garden lighting is to highlight just enough of the hard and soft landscaping to add drama without detracting from the romance of the night scene. In other words it’s as important to light trees as paths.

Many high-end garden lighting designers now use 3D CAD (computer-aided design) to develop a scheme and to show clients precisely what they’re getting before a commission.

TV presenter Joe Swift has designed his first Chelsea Flower Show garden this year: the Homebase Teenage Cancer Trust Garden

www.homebase.co.uk

……………………………………………………………..

An illuminating guide to the latest technology

The choice of which lamp (or bulb) to use in a light fitting depends on how long the lamp lasts (its life), the glow that it produces (its colour) and whether it can be dimmed, writes Lemma Shehadi. The amount of light that a lamp produces (in lumens) for the electrical energy consumed (in watts) is given by its efficacy (lm/W). Incandescent lamps typically have an efficacy of 12 lm/W.

. . .

Tungsten halogen

A bright, warm lamp reminiscent of fire and daylight. Can be easily dimmed but uses high amounts of energy. Available as capsule, linear or reflector lamps.

Life: 1,500-5,000 hours

Colour: Warm white

Efficacy: 15-25 lm/W

Cost compared to incandescent: Saves up to 30 per cent in running costs

. . .

Compact fluorescent

Takes time to warm up but is an energy-efficient lamp. Can be dimmed to about 20 per cent of output.

Life: 5,000-15,000 hours

Colour: Warm white

Efficacy: 20-50 lm/W

Cost compared to incandescent: Saves between 60 and 80 per cent in running costs

. . .

Metal halide

Bright, intense light that takes a little time to warm up. Not so easy to dim. Available as spherical, capsule or linear lamps.

Life: 6,000-10,000 hours

Colour: Warm to intermediate white

Efficacy: 65-95 lm/W

Cost compared to incandescent: Saves up to 80 per cent in running costs

. . .

LEDs

Available in an increasing range of colours and fittings. Can be bought as individual capsule lamps, spherical lamps, or in tubes. Easy to dim.

Life: 15,000-60,000 hours

Colour: Warm, intermediate, cool-white and colours

Efficacy: 30-100 lm/W

Cost compared to incandescent: Saves more than 80 per cent in running costs

But when you look closely, the garden reveals some cunning details which make
it very much a Cleve West design. A pair of beautiful stone finials in the
form of shooting flames decorate his gateposts, like burning torches frozen
in stone. And the main focal point of the garden is a weathered stone well
head – but rather than setting it in the ground, as it would have been
originally, Cleve has placed it vertically, with the central hole (where the
well once was), facing the viewer.

CONCORD — Susan Morrison says that while her garden may be small, it’s filled with huge possibilities.

It’s a sanctuary and retreat at the end of a long workday for Morrison and her husband, or when she’s looking for inspiration during solo time. Surrounding her are a variety of flowers and plants, including “Betty Boop” roses, Rhododendrons, succulents and herbs. In the middle of the garden stands a metal sculpture by artist Chad Glashoff.

“That’s my peace lady,” said Morrison, a Concord resident. “I like to think she watches over my garden.”

As a landscape designer, Morrison has mastered the art of making use of small space to accommodate all sorts of plants using her simple design philosophy: creating unique and sustainable gardens that fit her clients’ lifestyles.

Now, she shares her vertical gardening designing tips with co-author and fellow garden designer Rebecca Sweet in “Garden Up! Smart Vertical Gardening for Small and Large Spaces,” an Amazon “Best Books of 2011” selection.

The book introduces the concept of vertical gardening as well as gives inspiration to those who want to give new life to their existing — small or large — gardens.

Morrison will talk about ways to take advantage of vertical spaces in an easy way using different types of plants and flowers at 6 p.m. May 22, during a presentation at the Gardens at Heather Farm. She will show photos from gardens she has designed and visited that serve as examples

of vertical gardening design such as how to turn a fence into a focal point, hiding garden eyesores and easy living wall options for home gardeners.

Visitors will also have the chance to visit the Ruth Bancroft Garden where they will create their own succulent bundles to extend their home garden vertically, she said.

In addition to being a landscape designer, Morrison is also a garden writer, Master Gardener and owner of Creative Exteriors Landscape Design in the East Bay of California.

Morrison decided that after years of working in marketing she wanted to immerse herself in a field that nurtured her mind as well as her spirit. So about 10 years ago, she left her marketing career to pursue garden design studies.

“I wanted to find a career that I wanted to still do at 75 and not worry about making the most money I can,” said Morrison. “I wanted to do something that was better aligned with my personal values.”

She first started to get serious about gardening after she got married and bought her first home.

“Our backyard was completely bare and we really didn’t know where to go for inspiration,” Morrison said. “One day we drove past this house that had all these beautiful trees in the backyard. My husband boosted me up so I could peek over the fence, and I fell in love with the lush, intimate garden that I saw.”

Morrison, who now chronicles her experiences through her Blue Planet Garden blog, spent the next 10 years experimenting with plants, sometimes successfully and sometimes not, she said.

“Despite the instant garden makeovers you see on television, gardening is a journey,” Morrison said. “Many of my clients start out with no interest in gardening, but once we begin planning their garden, they get bit by the bug and end up being a lot more involved in the process than they ever anticipated.”

Debra Smith said she’s impressed with Morrison’s vision after she designed Smith’s garden recently.

“Our front and backyard look so beautiful,” Smith said. “She added vertical touches that make a huge difference. She showed us how to place our arbor to its best advantage, as well as our existing containers into our new design. She also added containers onto our patio with plants and one large tree, that is amazing against the house.

“It is incredible that this is the same home and yard,” said Smith. “We had our first barbecue and were so happy and proud of our new garden. Susan is a fantastic designer and we feel like we’re on vacation at a resort when we’re in our yard.”

Lorraine Frey, a Master Gardener and garden designer said she was inspired when she heard Morrison speak at a Master Gardener meeting.

“I love the idea of sustainability and repurposing, and Susan gave my already fertile imagination a whole palette of new ideas,” Frey said.

When Morrison started blogging, writing and speaking about gardening and design four years ago, she said she was already part of a vibrant gardening community here in Contra Costa County, but sharing her knowledge and personal gardening stories online has led to friendships with gardeners, designers, horticulturists and writers from all over the country.

“These days my virtual gardening community is just as important to me as my local one,” Morrison said. “That’s the wonderful thing about gardening — it can be a solitude meditation one day and a social bond the next.”

Landscape designer Susan Morrison

WHAT: Garden Up! Vertical Gardening Techniques for Small and Large Spaces”
WHEN: 6-8 p.m. May 22
WHERE: The Gardens at Heather Farm, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek
COST: $30 admission
INFORMATION: Call Ruth Bancroft Garden office for tickets at 925-818-6370

<!–051612 news3Homer NewsHomer garden designer Brenda Adams has received the Perennial Plant Association’s highest award for garden design, The Honor Award, for her creation of the Serenity Garden at the entrance to the South Peninsula Hospital.–>Story last updated at 5:12 PM onTIME Wednesday, May 16, 2012 DATE

Homer garden designer wins top international award HEAD

SUBHEAD

Staff report BYLINE1
BYLINE2

 

Photo provided by South Peninsul

CREDIT

Brenda Adams (Gardens by Design) is the garden designer – she is not an auxiliary memberThe garden was coordinated and partially paid for by the Auxiliary, but a substantial portion of the funds came from the SPH Foundation (See the release for details on money or ask me)Barbara Kennedy was the coordinator on behalf of the AuxiliaryStanding left to right:Loretta Pyatt, Linda Partridge, Jan Goehringer, Carole Mann, Julie Barnes, Ann Patris, Jackie Dentz, Brenda Adams (garden designer), Ruby Nofziger, Cleo Webb, Barbara Kennedy (garden coordinator)Seated Left to rightJan Sparks, Doris Cabana, Tirza Parsons, Billie Swisher, Joan Evans

CAPTION

Homer garden designer Brenda Adams has received the Perennial Plant Association’s highest award for garden design, The Honor Award, for her creation of the Serenity Garden at the entrance to the South Peninsula Hospital.

“The award is the result of an international competition among top professional garden and landscape designers. Each year, a panel of experts in landscape design and horticulture make the award selections. They base their selection not only on artistic merit of the design but also on the creative horticultural use of perennial plants in implementing the design,” according to a press release.

Adams, owner of Gardens by Design, is the only Alaskan ever to have won the award.

The Serenity Garden project started in 2009 with the completion of a substantial addition to the hospital creating a new entrance area and new access to the emergency department. Members of the South Peninsula Hospital Auxiliary focused their attention on the power of gardens to bring solace and healing power to visitors and wished to create such an area for the new addition, according to the release. To make this happen, they brought Adams into the project.

The first challenge was the space for the garden.

All the space outside the hospital building is either concrete, parking area or an extremely steep hillside. The only unpaved area was a forty-by-forty foot flat area surrounded on three sides by modern grey concrete or metal walls and windows. The walls keep a large part of the area in shade except in the early morning and the open side of the space spills directly onto a parking lot.

“The available space was downright bleak yet the objective was to turn this unappealing location into a welcoming, soothing and secluded sanctuary for people in distress,” said Adams.

Developing private areas adjacent to a parking lot is difficult in Alaska because of the free-roaming moose. Fencing the area was not considered to be an option.

“To create an inexpensive privacy screen, I designed a highly mounded island garden planted with tall grasses and perennials. It shields the benches from approaching traffic and also gives someone sitting on a bench a delightful focal point for contemplation while leaving the distant view visible,” Adams said.

Among the perfect scores granted to the Serenity Garden by the judges were those for “Plant Selection” and “Bloom Succession.”

“Adams chose a subtle mix of perennials with rich textures and soothing colors. Blues, lavenders and burgundies combine with soft pinks, whites and greens to blend the garden with its surroundings and to invoke peaceful and calming feelings in the visitor,” according to the release.

Since Homer is dependably snow-free only five months of the year, Adams wanted to select plants that would bloom from the time the snow melts in May until it returns in October.

“From the time the bulbs first peek through the snow through the end of the growing season, the Serenity Garden always abounds with colorful blooming plants, each succeeding the others through the summer. Then the tall grasses stand erect throughout the winter adding their beauty and motion to the winter tableau,” according to the release.

The Serenity Garden has exceeded its goals.

Not only visitors, but also staff and patients spend time in the garden — rain or shine.

“It’s truly wonderful to see a patient in his hospital attire, tethered to his medication pole enjoying the summer sunshine on one of the benches. A few moments of peaceful contemplation or just a relaxing escape from the stress attendant to being in or around a hospital are the gifts the Serenity Garden continues to give to the community,” said Adams in the release

The Honor Award is the third and highest garden design award given by the Perennial Plant Association to Adams. The other two Merit awards were given in 2007 and 2009. Adams is a Master Gardener and was president of the 150-member strong Homer Garden Club for six years. She is a popular speaker at gardening conferences throughout Alaska and is just finishing a book on gardening in Alaska and the Far North.

The Perennial Plant Association was founded in 1984 and is headquartered in Hilliard, Ohio. It is a trade association of growers, retailers, landscape designers and contractors, educators and others that are professionally involved in the herbaceous perennial industry. The 2012 Honor Award will be presented during the Perennial Plant Symposium to be held in Boston July 4-10.

In addition to the Auxiliary and Gardens by Design, many other people and organizations gave time, money and effort to bring the Serenity Garden to fruition, said Adams. They include: the South Peninsula Hospital Foundation, Jay-Brant General Contractors; Mike O’Malley Construction and Concrete, Wolfe’s Lawns, Matt Vogle, Jack Cushing, Karl Brinkerhoof and Suzanne Alvarez.

More of Adams’ work and images of her other award-winning gardens can be seen at her web site, www.gardensbybrenda.com.

STORY

MOUNT LAUREL — Even in the quiet of winter, Janet Kostiuk is thinking about gardens.

“That’s when I do my research,’’ said the Moorestown woman, who is a landscape designer at Eric’s Nursery and Garden Center on Mount Laurel Road.

But once longer days and warming temperatures hint that spring is not far away, Kostiuk moves into the fast lane.

And there she remains until the pace slows slightly in midsummer before picking up again in the fall.

“It’s hard work,’’ she said, describing days that start at 7 a.m. and can stretch until 5 or 6 p.m. The hours are filled with phone calls, meetings and consultations with the center’s plant experts and other staff members.

During her 16 years with the company, Kostiuk has participated in both residential and commercial projects. Recently, the residential business has taken up most of her time.

A project often begins with a message from a homeowner looking for help. A vague request for ideas that will improve the appearance and usefulness of an outdoor space can end in many different ways.

Kostiuk’s first challenge is to help prospective clients transform their dream into a plan. She will be involved every step of the way, from the initial informal hand-drawn sketch of the area to the final installation.

Along the way, the designer studies the property, takes detailed measurements, gets to know the client, imagines the scene when it all comes together, and figures out how to get there.

Her notebook and tape measure are never far away.

Earlier in her career, Kostiuk was an industrial arts teacher at a middle school, and she remains an educator at heart.

“It’s an important part of what I do,’’ she said, noting that she leaves clients with written instructions about maintenance and counsels them about the value of drought-resistant plants.

During the planning stage, Kostiuk shares what she knows about ways to cut down on the necessity of frequent watering. Her solution: Use native plants that are at home in this area and require less care.

She also has been known to give pruning instructions to an inexperienced gardener and calmed the owner of a new, young tree, who is worried that it is not thriving.

As much as she adores flowers, they are usually the last phase of a project, the colorful finishing touch, Kostiuk said. Her first interest is in design, and most of her work involves the installation of patios, garden walls and massive boulders.

Some of the boulders are smooth, while others are rough and angular. But they all introduce contrast and dimension into the landscape. Many weigh as much as 600-700 pounds.

After a preliminary meeting with a client, Kostiuk returns to her office and begins to flesh out her ideas. Her hand-drawn sketch is tweaked and refined, and when she is satisfied, it is scanned into her computer.

Once the client gives the go-ahead, she begins to order materials and schedule the work. She will meet with the center’s plant expert, and together they will choose an appropriate mix of evergreens and deciduous plants and perennials.

The plants reserved for Kostiuk’s projects are marked with pink tape so they are not sold to someone else by mistake.

A recent job involved planning a large outdoor space in the backyard of a house where a family had lived for many years. Now, there were grandchildren visiting, making extra seating space a must.

The answer was a stone semicircular wall.

“These sitting walls are very popular,’’ Kostiuk said. “They don’t take up a lot of space, and you don’t have to buy more furniture.’’

The designer’s busy days leave little time to tend her own garden. Her husband, Paul Blaine, an assistant U.S. attorney, had an answer.

His Mother’s Day gift to her was to plant all the flower pots around their home.

You might think that because you live a hectic and busy lifestyle, there’s no time to have a stunning garden. However, this is far from the truth, and there are a number of ways that you can create an easy-to-care-for garden that looks great with only a small amount of effort. And, for those of you who want to spend your weekends enjoying your garden, rather than maintaining it, there are a few important points to consider.

 

Lawns

Lawns are a traditional garden feature and most gardens have a lawn of some description. However, whilst a beautifully mowed and lush green lawn looks wonderful, this garden feature needs a lot of maintenance, including constant mowing during the growing season. If you decide to decrease your lawn’s size or to do away with it altogether, you can save a lot of time.

 

Good garden design can easily create wonderful outside spaces that don’t have lawns and aren’t instead filled with a lot of hard landscaping (see above for a nicely done example). For small gardens, simply using cobbles or a large patio area can replace the total lawn area. Larger gardens can be split up into rooms, with paths of brick or other materials winding their way between larger beds and borders to take up the space where the lawn previously was.

 

Hardy Furniture

A garden isn’t quite the relaxing space that you want it to be unless you invest in some furniture. Whilst garden furniture is made to withstand the elements, some products are better than others at surviving Mother Nature’s forces without needing too much maintenance. Synthetic rattan furniture is specially designed to hold up, even in snow, rain, and extreme UV rays, and will mean that you won’t have to spend time repairing, storing, or shopping for new items because your old garden pieces have fallen apart.

 

Raised Borders

• 

Native grass lawn by the Garden Art Group

Both Bay Area garden design professionals and do-it-yourself weekend warriors should be knowledgeable about this area’s Mediterranean climate and the effect plants and water use have on our eco system

San Francisco, CA (PRWEB) May 16, 2012

According to the National Weather Service, California is on track for drought conditions to “persist and intensify” this summer. Keeping a Bay Area landscape architect on his staff, Chris Jacobson, one of the most creative horticulturists in the state and founder of GardenArt Group, says excessive water use during California’s dry summers puts a strain on the fragile environment. With the help of Jacobson’s ten useful techniques, gardeners can grow a drought resistant garden while conserving water.

“Both Bay Area garden design professionals and do-it-yourself weekend warriors should be knowledgeable about this area’s Mediterranean climate and the effect plants and water use have on our eco system,” said Chris Jacobson. “This information will keep gardens looking beautiful and sustainable while conserving water, perhaps our greatest natural resource.”

Jacobson’s blended passions of horticultural sensibility, environmentalism and art led to the creation of GardenArt Group, which has been the vanguard of water use creativity. For the past 25 years, the full service garden design and landscape architectural group has been devising models for new Bay Area landscaping plans and gardens that better fit the area’s climate and water supply limitations.

Jacobson offers the following ten water-saving recommendations for Bay Area gardens:

#1 Zone or Cluster Plants with Similar Water Requirements

By grouping plants with similar water needs, you not only can keep water to the minimum requirement, but you also don’t risk drowning plants that require only scant amounts of water.

#2 Reduce or Remove Lawns

Grass—typically the largest water bug in California yards—can be replaced with a meadow of drought-resistant grasses, bulbs and low perennials. When considering the continuation of a lawn, it often helps to ask yourself questions, like: Is that massive lawn used for anything? Do the kids play on it? Is it used frequently for picnics? If the answer is no, replacing the lawn with alternative grasses or plants that require less water is probably a good choice.

#3 Flush Out Drip Irrigation Systems Annually

Drip irrigation systems should be cleaned out once a year, and spring is the ideal time. Once installed, drip systems require little maintenance, but they must be flushed out regularly, getting rid of any dirt or other particles that get into the system and ensuring water flows smoothly and hits the target areas correctly.

#4 Incorporate Succulent and Rock Gardens into the Landscape

Replacing lawns or other thirsty plants with succulent and rock gardens in areas of your outdoor environment reduces water demand and maintenance. Such gardens also add a modern and stylish look to landscapes.

#5 Mulch

The use of organic or mineral mulch helps retain moisture and maintain even soil temperatures.

#6 Sweep Up, Don’t Hose Down

Use a broom instead of a hose to clean off sidewalks, driveways and other hardscapes.

#7 Plant Winter-Growth Gardens

Use plants that grow in the winter when there’s moisture, rather than summer growers that require lots of water. Most plants and bulbs that are native to Mediterranean climates including Western Australia, the western coast of Chile, the Cape area of South Africa, California and of course, the entire Mediterranean basin are good bets for water conserving gardens.

#8 Collect Runoff Water

Keep runoff water on the property with French drains, swales or sumps, which contain water in a designated area and help to better manage water use. These systems also help filter pollutants and increase rainwater soil infiltration.

#9 Stop Using So Much Fertilizer

By all means, limit the use of fertilizers, which are not good for the environment and may cause damage to plant life. Most Mediterranean plants reject fertilizers, so plant selection is critical.

#10 Misuse of Water and Fertilizers May Attract Pests

Fertilizers and overwatering can cause overly lush growth, which can attract pests and diseases.

This month, the Northern California chapter of the International Mediterranean Garden Society will showcase some of the Bay Area landscaping installation work of Chris Jacobson. The gardens on this tour feature stylish substitutes for the usual front lawn. Instead of mown grass, Jacobson uses the much more drought tolerant Mediterranean-climate ornamental grasses and carexes, along with drought tolerant shrubs and ground covers, often set in stone paving or gravel. Although the garden tour is restricted to members of the society, photographs of drought sensitive gardens can be viewed on Jacobson’s website http://www.gardenartgroup.com.

About Chris Jacobson and the GardenArt Group

Chris Jacobson began creating Bay Area landscape designs in the early 1970s while pursuing a career in the fine arts. He eventually fused the two pursuits into one concept, GardenArt. A fourth-generation California horticulturist, Chris has been one of the proponents of the New California Garden, an emerging movement that combines environmentalism, multi-culturalism and art.

Jacobson is a member of the Northern California chapter of the International Mediterranean Garden Society advisory board. The Society provides a means for gardeners of these unique climates to exchange information concerning their specific gardening needs, the most pressing being water conservation.

Jacobson’s work has been featured in Sunset, Country Homes and Gardens, Architectural Digest, Northern California Home and Garden and Peg Streep’s zen gardeners guidebook Spiritual Gardening. He has also penned his own horticulture care and design handbook, A Different Shade of Green: Manual for The New California Garden.

For more information about the GardenArt Group and Bay Area landscaping installation, call (415)-722-0615 or go to http://www.gardenartgroup.com.

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Applied Visual Anthropologist Gia M. Hamilton IS The Off The Grid Socialite

The Off the Grid Socialite, is a socially and ecologically conscious individual, she is a mother who cares about her children’s environment, health and wellbeing, she also enjoys intellectual sparring, arts and cultural events, a good medicinal cocktail while dressing up and taking advantage of all the city life as an urbanite has to offer. She loves to garden, sew, design, write, paint, ponder, create, study human nature and culture, do it yourself and believes that having an off the grid house in the middle of the city would be her safe haven.

It is not enough that I am bold enough to bring a child into this chaotic world, but three, well now that’s just downright obscene. I will add that more than eyebrows raise when I talk about possibly having more… “Children?” I am asked. My response is always the same, “Why yes, of course, I love being a parent… it’s the hardest most rewarding job I’ve ever had and I do it for free!”

So while my sarcasm annoys most, there are those few, and only a few who seem interested enough to engage in further conversation about this particular subject. I could go on for days about how we live in one of the most “child un-friendly” places in the world, or how single mothers are scrutinized and judged but I have lots of time to do that, especially if they keep publishing this blog.

In the United States more people are looking for alternative options and choices to creating family structures and lifestyles that fit their own needs. I own and run a business that is all about lifestyle design called Gris Gris Lab — ( pronounced gree gree). Gris Gris Lab is a Holistic Consulting Group Creativity Lab that develops lifestyle design services and products to support sustainable communities. We use a process called Social Magic that I developed over a ten year period to coach our clients into alignment, We consult, coach, curate and connect our clients we say …”New Orleans style”. We are based in the Big Easy, the city that care forgot, the city where your houses can be as colorful as your personality and nobody blinks, where originality is applauded and culture is honored. It is unlike any other American city. My work is focused in three areas food and wellness, education and arts and culture, our business model states that when these 3 areas are valued that we as a community have the opportunity to create a sustainable cities. There are children in those communities and that is where the informant becomes the subject, where my own life becomes an example to be analyzed, thought about, written about. I have a live work space, a shotgun double as they say in New Orleans, two houses side by side, conjoined in a way that allow a single shot from a shot gun to go into the front door and clear out of the back. I work and live in this space every day. My children are constantly exposed to my work and the work of everyone who enters the Creative Lab as we like to call it. It is a crazy, funny, wacky, insanely uncomfortable at times, pleasurable, aligned, out of sync, magical place that you will ever step foot in the city. On any given day I am preparing breakfast and lunch, gardening, making medicinal cocktails, giving a community talk or brainstorming and mind mapping with my team a solution to a challenge with our client work or even brewing up hard soda, beer. Still confused? I thought so… think of it as a new age applied metaphysical think tank of sorts, an inclusive place where work and life balance are expected in order to optimize our truest potential and yet… yet… I am still working with this belief that we are somehow a broken or fragmented family because there is no husband/father in the household. In an effort to document my truth — my life, I decide to use stream of consciousness, talking to my tape recorder where I share my inner most beliefs and processes for problem solving. I am actually attempting to create a lifestyle that honors my unique calling, allows freedom and space for innovation and travel, and provides a nurturing environment for three boys of color under 11 in a house that is aesthetically pleasing while I look out of sight. Let me tell you that my out of sight is looking effortlessly elegant and edgy at the same time, some days I accomplish this great feat and smile at my own success and other days it is a great failure that lulls me to sleep as I analyze the day and what went wrong.

So prior to becoming a parent, I had a great many ideas about what this would look like, I would embody the wisdom of the shaman, have the sharp wit of an urbanite, and the nurturing care of a mother lioness- strong and honest. I prepared myself mentally, emotionally and physically for a year to become a mother, albeit a young one, I was twenty two, married to an older man and ready to take on the responsibility of a lifetime, I might add that I was also wildly rebellious and certain that I had the key to unlock the universe at 22.

When Apsu was conceived, I knew. I was certain like I had never been before, it was like some new part of my body and psyche were connected and I was turning on an internal light for the first time. I had a paradigm shift. It was my first encounter with Social Magic. My first birth was a rites of passage into myself, I mean knowing myself more and in greater depth. I had joined the ranks of a billion year old tradition of parenting, attempting to bring a fragile life into the world without completely destroying it myself or letting anyone else destroy it.

I must say that unlike some group of alternative parents, I had no idea that I would be asked by the universe to raise this child alone, or at least without his father present. And years later, I found myself raising 3 boys and parenting while single. It was a choice, I could accept the limited scope that western American culture was attempting to force on me or I could rise to the occasion and engage in the ultimate; lifestyle design= Parenting While Single, and yes I still make it look and feel good! Stay tuned for more adventures of how we handle the most delicate to tumultuous situations together while co creating our dreams, solving our problems and modeling a process for a new generation of thought leaders and taste makers to emerge unscathed by outmoded and our dated family roles. Next Time: “The Power Rock Family- Super heroes in the Real World”

Gia M. Hamilton is an applied anthropologist and native of New Orleans, Louisiana. She is the founding director of Gris Gris Lab, Inc., a holistic consulting group and creativity lab that explores issues of community building and sustainability through art and culture, education, urban agriculture, urban planning and the intersection of these industries in areas across the United States. For the past thirteen years Hamilton has applied her training by re-organizing niche community groups using Social Magic, a process developed to assess, engage and facilitate change. “Social Magic, put simply is the ability of the community to effectively utilize and leverage the resources and assets already present.”

Hamilton’s most recent projects as the ethnographer and curator of The Black Boy Experiment include an in depth cross cultural and multidisciplinary study and visual analysis of the childhood differences of black male youth. Hamilton studied cultural anthropology at New York University and Applied Anthropology at CUNY Graduate Center. She and her Social Magicians can be reached by email at gia@grisgrislab.com or follow her on twitter @grisgrislab

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Stamford’s old Bartlett homestead presents Designer Showcase

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Stamford, CT – Victoria Vandamm, owner of the prominent interior design firm Vandamm Interiors, is proud to co-chair and participate in the Bartlett Arboretum’s “Garden Rooms by Design” designer showcase, June 8 through 15. The weeklong event features a top to bottom transformation of the Arboretum’s historical Bartlett homestead by a plethora of top local designers and artisans and kicks off with an evening gala reception and fundraiser on Thursday, June 7th, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m at the Bartlett Arboretum, 151 Brookdale Road, Stamford.

“It really is an honor for me to be a part of this event that is bringing a combination of wonderfully talented interior and exterior designers to the Bartlett Arboretum,” says Victoria who is co-chair along with Robert Knorr of Nordic Construction, Inc. and Helen White of Home Resource Guide.com. “The Bartlett is a very special place in our community – really a natural jewel that promotes environmental education and good stewardship for our planet, in a location that should become a “must visit” for more people in our area.”

Titled “Garden Rooms By Design – Bringing the Outdoors In,” the botanical theme of the Bartlett homestead makeover is to remind visitors of the Bartlett’s purpose: to show us how connected we are to nature. Its unique design challenge asked some of the area’s top interior and landscape designers, artists and artisans like Hoffman Landscapes, Inc., Mural Interiors Inc, Nordic Construction, Inc. and Vandamm Interiors to “think-out-of-the-box” and consider “green” elements in a “not-so-usual sense” in a re-do of the Bartlett homestead’s charming rooms, staircases, landings and gardens.

Vandamm, whose interior design work is featured all over the U.S. as well as in Europe, notes that: “It’s a different kind of designer showcase because it doesn’t feature the typical mansion or showroom. This is an older, real house circa 1900 that has been lived in and will continue to function as an administrative building, historical museum and visitors service center.” Vandamm Interiors is collaborating with Mural Interiors on the staircase, lower and upper landings and with Hoffman Landscapes on the old homestead library.
From live plants and floral paintings, to revitalized wrought-iron furniture and statuaries, visitors to the opening reception and showcase will find innovation and change in every part of the old homestead thanks to designers who were given the opportunity to freely showcase their design skills in a unique and creative approach.

“It’s just amazing how the entire community is supporting this showcase. The shops, the garden centers and so many other local area businesses are all reaching out to be a part of it to benefit the Bartlett.”

Both events coincide with the magnificent Spring Garden Tour, one of the Arboretum’s main fundraisers that occurs this year on Sunday, June 10th 12-4pm and Monday, June 11th 10-4pm.

Bartlett Arboretum Gardens is a unique natural treasure located in back country Stamford. Its 91 acres of woodlands, display gardens, notable tree collections and hiking trails are open to the public 365 days a year. The facility offers a number of programs and events annually such as the ‘Cocktails in the Gardens Series’ and ‘Summer Concert Series’ as well as onsite classes for yoga, meditation, photography, sketching and painting. Garden Educational seminars and a free Plant Clinic hosted by the UCONN Master Gardener Program focus on topics like sustainable gardening and preserving natural resources and habitats. A new 8500 square foot Silver Educational Center has made the Bartlett the centerpiece for environmental education in the greater Stamford community, with a concentration on nature-based programming and camp activities for children of all ages.

For more information visit www.stamfordshowhouse.com and www.bartlettarboretum.org or call (914) 934-1685.

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