Posted Friday, April 26, 2013-11:59 am

By Laura Coleman

For San Gabriel Valley residents looking for a leisurely way to spend an afternoon, the Pasadena Showcase House for the Arts, which opened last Sunday, offers a particularly inspirational journey for design afficionados. This year’s Showcase House – a repeat from 2000 when it had a white plaster facade – runs until May 19 and takes place in an architecturally ambiguous two-story brick Monterey Colonial in Arcadia that was built in 1941 for the Barker Brothers Furniture family.

Nearly 30,000 design, architecture and garden aficionados are expected at the Showcase House over the next month, which raises money to fund music programs. In preparation for the public unveiling, The Courier toured this quintessential California-style residence which showcases the skill of local designers and landscapers who were tasked with transforming the house and grounds at their expenses.

FAMILY TIME —Thoughtful details abound throughout the home, such as this custom-made table in the Family Room that can be made taller.

The Enchanted Entry: Created by landscape design firm Pacific Outdoor Living to evoke grandeur and tranquility, the entry garden uses the existing sycamore and oak trees to frame the space, adding paving stones, a babbling brook and plantings that include lavender, iceberg roses, sculpted dwarf bushes, ferns and succulents. A meandering stream heralds the peaceful retreat inside.

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Local gardening ninjas will be sharing their skills on sustainable gardening Saturday.

At an LA County Arboretum class titled, “Create a Sustainable Oasis” designers Leigh Adams and John Lyons of Altadena will “describe the development of a thriving organic garden blending fruit trees, native plants and storm water, a garden rich in pollinators, delicious fruit and vegetables and lush flowering mounds,” the Arboretum shared.

Among their creative endeavors, Adams and Lyons collaborated on a water harvesting garden design in the hills of Altadena.

Lyons is one of the Arboretums’ most popular speakers and Adams created a 960 foot “DreamSnake” in the Australian section of the Arboretum using glazed tiles in mosaic patterns, the Arboretum noted.

Here’s full event information:

Create a Sustainable Oasis

Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden

301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia 

Saturday, April 27 

9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 

Palm Room and the Permaculture Garden 

$25 Arboretum member  

$30 non-member (includes Arboretum admission)

Pre-registration is preferred.  Call the Class Registration Line at 626.821.4623 or you can pay at the door.

Find out more about Lyons at his website here: www.thewovengarden.com  

Find out more about Adams at her website here: www.laglassart.com

Are you interested in this event or in sustainable gardening? Share your thoughts below.

This Saturday, April 27, at 11:00 a.m., the Community Garden class series continues with an Introduction to Permaculture Design.

Many feel overwhelmed with seemingly self-destructive trends in human culture, including natural resource depletion, climate change, and economic instability.

Could a combination of ethics and ecology offer a creative solution?  According to Bill Mollison, “without permanent agriculture (permaculture) there is no possibility of a stable social order.”

Permaculture design aims to create an efficient, low-maintenance, productive integration of plants, structures, and people to achieve on-site stability and food self-reliance, in the smallest practical area.  The public is invited to join the Brownwood Community Garden for a lively discussion about the future!

The class will be led by Daniel Graham.  A fee of $10 will be charged to attend the class.

The public is invited to visit the community garden or to volunteer.  For garden tours, or volunteer assignments, please arrive before 11:00 a.m. or after 12 noon, as garden coordinator Daniel Graham will be leading the Permaculture from 11:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

For more information, please call 641-9029.

Most home-owners want a beautifully landscaped garden but have no idea how much it will cost. GS gardens announce new fixed price design packages to provide more accurate costing and improved site efficiency.

[Press Release Distribution]

Most homeowners want a beautifully landscaped garden. A place to relax and entertain but many are surprised at the cost of landscaping their garden, often because they fail to understand what is really involved.

Landscaping is divided into two categories hard scaping and soft scaping. Hard landscaping is used to describe the construction materials such as stone, brick, metal or timber etc. Soft landscaping refers to grasses, plants, trees, shrubs and herbs used to compliment the hardscape elements of the design.

For the majority of projects there is a combination of both. It can be difficult to say what the average cost of a project is as there are so many variables. But with some common sense and thought budgets can be worked out.

The average landscaper is paid between £15 – £25 per hour and landscaping costs are between £40 – £100 m2. Most projects take a few weeks to complete, this is dependent on the level of works involved, large projects can last months. Serious construction works such as ponds and retaining walls will increase cost and project length.

The starting point for any new project is to find a landscaping contractor who can produce a design and a set of working drawings. To be able to price a project accurately any contractor has to know what to include in their quote. A good survey and design enables one’s chosen contractor to work out all the materials required and the labour time involved to produce an accurate quotation.

A great design gives the opportunity to reflect and decide whether any changes need to be made prior to the works starting. Remember changes cost money, and any variation from the original quote will be chargeable so ensure amendments are made on paper and not when work has started.

GS Gardens a UK Cheltenham Landscaping contractor understand the importance planning and have taken a fresh approach to garden design. Kirsty, owner of GS Gardens talks about how their Cheltenham garden design packages have made a real impact on their efficiency and client satisfaction.

“Without design it is difficult know what clients want and it makes it incredibly hard to price for projects. A team on site with no drawings lack direction and efficient working becomes challenging.

To ensure projects run smoothly and clients receive accurate quotes a fixed price garden design service was the obvious solution. By offering an initial free consultation and structured packages with a number of variables all clients can benefit from well thought out design at a comfortable price point.”

It’s important to ensure a designer makes the most of the available space whilst satisfying practical and budgetary requirements. Experienced landscaping contractors will have a project manager to ensure efficient construction and site management co-ordinating material delivery, specialist trades and the landscaping team.

For more information about us, please visit http://www.gsgardens.co.uk/

Contact Info:
Name: Kirsty McGeorge
Email: enquiries@gsgardens.co.uk
Address: 31 Cambray Place, Cheltenham, GL50 1JP
Phone: 01242 234929
Organization: GS Gardens

Source: http://marketersmedia.com/gs-gardens-announce-fresh-approach-to-garden-design/10615

Via: MarketersMedia PR Distribution

RAGDALE SELECTS WINNER FOR OUTDOOR ‘RING’ INSTALLATION
Artist Residency Program Brings Back Historic Performance Space with Design Competition

LAKE FOREST, IL –April 25, 2013 – Ragdale, one of the country’s largest, nonprofit,artist residency programs, has selected a proposal by Stephen Dietrich Lee of New York and his associates as the winning design for its outdoor installation and performance space.

In January 2013, Ragdale launched its first-ever international, design competition to invite architects and designers to submit full-scale projects and installations to explore contemporary interpretations of the original Ragdale Ring, an outdoor performance space designed by architect Howard Van Doren Shaw
in 1912.

“A hundred years later, we want to highlight contemporary leaders in architecture and design by giving them a distinctive platform to showcase their work—a historic artists’ community on 50 acres of native prairie,” said Jeffrey Meeuwsen, Executive Director of Ragdale. “At Ragdale, we encourage and support artists as they take creative leaps. This competition is a natural extension of our mission. It also establishes a unique venue in which hundreds of artists and audience members can engage all summer long.”

The Winning Design
A jury of architects and artists evaluated the submissions from around the country and selected Lee’s proposal for its visionary and functional design. The structure is based on a repetitive pattern of wooden elements that creates a dynamic, sculptural, lacework installation to define an outdoor performance area behind the historic Ragdale House.

“Stephen Lee’s winning design blurs the distinction between art and architecture, creating a dialogue between the two disciplines,” says Zurich Esposito, executive vice president of the Chicago chapter of the American Institute of Architects (AIA), juror, and a member of Ragdale’s board of directors. “The structure will serve as a gathering place, reinvigorating the historic campus of Ragdale as a place of dynamic artistic and architectural experimentation.”

The design team was awarded a $10,000 production grant to fund the project and a design/build residency of up to six weeks. Construction on the temporary structure will begin in May, with the public unveiling scheduled for a June 15 benefit at Ragdale. The unveiling will include open-air performances by nationally recognized musicians, dancers, actors, and poets.

The Design Team
Lead designer Stephen Dietrich Lee is currently project manager at Sweeney Conroy, Inc. in New York City. His design credits include private residences, educational buildings at Columbia University, and museums such as the Automobile Museum in Saratoga Springs, NY, and the Alice T. Miner Museum in Chazy, NY. He received his master’s degree in architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design in 2005.

“I was intrigued by the simplicity of manipulating a single, repetitive module to create a temporary Ragdale Ring that is both dramatic and functional,” said Lee. “The organic, geometric structure is composed of stitched wood pallets of the same shape, height, and weight that are then daisy-chained to one another, creating a zigzag pattern. Developing a repeatable pallet was economical and provided valuable volume with very little material. The pallet jointing permits a great deal of flexibility, creating a curved, porous structure that marks the performance space.”

Other members of the design team include:
Ciro Cuono of Cuono Engineering PLLC, Port Chester, NY, an engineer who brings more than 13 years of experience in structural design. He has designed with reinforced concrete, steel, wood, masonry, and aluminum for residential and commercial buildings.
Michael Douglas McAtee is a licensed architect with a diverse range of project experience ranging from campus master planning to site furniture design, who has several previous successful collaborations with Mr. Lee. He is currently a project manager with Mode Architects in Chicago.
Nat Oppenheimer, PE, LEED AP, executive vice president at Robert Silman Associates in New York. He has extensive experience in areas of new construction, renovation, sustainable engineering, and historic preservation. He serves as principal-in-charge of much of the firm’s institutional work.
Russell Davies, PE, who is assisting in the structural analysis.

A Legacy Dating Back a Century
The competition marks the 101st anniversary of the first Ragdale Ring designed by Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw in 1912. The Shaw family used the space as an outdoor garden theatre to stage plays written by Howard’s wife, Frances Shaw.

“The Ragdale Ring Project is such an exciting initiative because it both re-affirms our mission to support innovative work from contemporary artists and designers, and re-envisions the Shaw family’s persistent commitment to creativity,” says Ann Merritt, a member of Ragdale’s board of directors and a juror for the competition. “We hope this nod to Ragdale’s past will be an opportunity to support innovative new work that will, in turn, transform our landscape, and continue the Shaw family tradition of providing both a vibrant and nurturing atmosphere for artistic inspiration.”

The Ragdale Foundation
The Ragdale Foundation is an internationally recognized, nonprofit, artist residency program that provides time and space for creativity to more than 150 artists, writers, and composers each year. Built in 1897, Ragdale is located on the grounds of Arts and Crafts architect Howard Van Doren Shaw’s summer home in Lake Forest, IL, 30 miles north of Chicago. For more information about Ragdale, please contact (847) 234-1063. Or visit www.ragdale.org. Ragdale is located at 1230 N. Green Bay Road, Lake Forest, Illinois 60045.

I recently moved to a home with acreage, but quickly realized that even large lots have small or quirky outdoor spaces that must be designed carefully and thoughtfully.

Fortunately, with attention to appropriate plant and variety choices, just about anything that can be done to dress up a larger space can be done on a smaller scale with equal success.

Even the smallest spaces can be made to appear larger with a few design tricks that fool the eye into thinking the space is bigger than it actually is.

Some ideas:

– Garden in layers. Layers give the illusion of more space than you really have. “Garden Up,” a book by California landscape designers Rebecca Sweet and Susan Morrison, recommends that we think in terms of three layers: top, middle and bottom. For the tallest layer, choose vines that naturally grow flat against a wall, vase-shaped plants or trees you can train or shape to allow plenty of room for planting beneath them.

In the middle layer, select plants that are 3-4 feet tall, with a vertical, light, open habit, such as perennials with tall flower stalks or finely textured ornamental grasses. The reason is how our eyes perceive depth. If we can see several things at once where we might otherwise only see one, it tricks the eye into thinking the space is bigger than it is, and gives the area a more overall lush feel.

The bottom layer should fill in the gaps and can offer multiseason interest. Select small-scale grasses, ground-hugging shrubs and compact perennials to visually anchor the bottom.

– Introduce color with non-plant selections. Depending on flower color to provide accent and impact in your design can be risky in a small space. Since every inch must count, a potentially underperforming flower display can diminish the impact, and even the most accomplished plant experts struggle here. Instead, bring in color through other objects, such as brightly painted furniture, accessories, wall objects or garden art.

– Ditch the dirt. With limited overall space, yielding some of that to a patch of dirt for planting may seem impractical, and it often is. Instead, consider making a limited outdoor space feel like a continuation of the indoors. That may include replacing dirt for brick pavers, tile or concrete. Then add an all-weather area rug to give the feel of another room. Add attractive planting containers of different shapes and sizes and fill them with a variety of plants and trees. You’ll have an instant garden, and another room to extend the living space.

– Maximize usable space. The recurring theme by all designers when it comes to making a small area look its best is to take advantage of every inch of space, especially vertical opportunities.

In just a glance, visitors may get the sense that they’ve seen all there is to see in a small garden. That can be disappointing. So keep it interesting and mysterious. Add other objects like a small water feature, or even a mirror to give the illusion the space continues. Tuck in a few surprises that require a more lingering stroll through the garden. Containers work very well, either as a focal point or when tucked discreetly in the back of a bed where they aren’t immediately on display. Other tricks include a garden path that leads beyond the field of view, even if it stops just around the corner. The eye is again tricked to thinking there is more than there actually is.

(Joe Lamp’l, host and executive producer of “Growing a Greener World” on PBS, is an author and a paid spokesman for the Mulch and Soil Council. Contact him at email@joegardener.com. For more information, visit www.joegardener.com. For more stories, visit shns.com.)

If you admire beautifully designed gardens but don’t have the budget to hire an expert, there are plenty of ways to get a professional-looking garden on your own. Just follow these simple gardening tips.

“The key to a beautiful garden is to choose two or three [easy-to-care-for] plants like ferns or grasses and repeat them throughout your garden,” says Vickie Cardaro, principal of Buttercup Design Group, a landscape design firm that creates gardens on the east end of New York’s Long Island, New York City and Connecticut. “Create drifts of three or four plants, each of the same kind, anchored by a shrub such as boxwood.”

Aesthetics aside, how can you get the designer look for less? Consider these easy garden décor and maintenance tips for creating an outdoor space that will be the envy of the neighborhood — without emptying your wallet.

Start Plants From Seed
Packets of seed from your local garden store cost just a few dollars. Choose easy-to-grow annuals such as zinnias, cosmos, marigolds, morning glories, nasturtiums and sunflowers. Opt for these tried-and-true annuals first, especially if you are a newbie gardener. On the back of the seed packets, you’ll find easy-to-follow directions for how to plant and care for your new seeds.

Exchange Garden Plants
Join a garden club, volunteer at a local community garden, or ask your neighbors and friends to share any extra plants they may have. Perennials — such as daylilies, black-eyed Susans, coneflowers, phlox and hostas — grow better and produce more blooms if they are divided every three or so years. Dividing is a simple process: Just dig up the plant, exposing the root, and gently pull apart individual plants with your hands, keeping their attached roots in place.

Water Your Plants on the Cheap
To create a beautiful garden, you’ll need lots of water. But instead of running your hose and raising your water bill, consider installing a rain barrel at the end of your gutters. Kits from Fiskars, for example, allow you to easily erect a barrel that will collect rainwater that would normally run off and be wasted. A spout on the bottom of the barrel hooks up to your garden hose, and gravity helps the water flow out and water your plants, courtesy of Mother Nature.

Remember: Compost is King
The best way to feed your plants is to pamper them with rich compost you make yourself. Simply select a spot in your yard (preferably a sunny corner, but a shady spot works as well), pile up your garden and compostable kitchen refuse, and let nature take its course.

To keep things tidy, contain your compost in a circle of wire fencing, a box made of cinder blocks, or a plastic compost bin with a cover. Fill it with grass clippings, fallen leaves and organic kitchen scraps such as peelings, coffee grounds and eggshells. Do not put meat products or bones in your compost, as these might attract animals looking for a meal.

Keep adding to your pile, hose it down when it’s dry and turn it over with a shovel or pitchfork from time to time to help speed up the decaying process. In as little as three months, you’ll be able to dig underneath the compost pile and extract nutrient-rich “black gold” (as gardeners like to call it). This is perfect to till into the soil around your plants. You’ll know it’s ready when it resembles dark chocolate cake. This soil not only feeds your plants, but also keep weeds at bay and helps the soil retain moisture so you don’t have to water your garden as often.

Harvest Seeds
In the fall, when your annuals and perennials turn brown for the winter, collect the seeds from spent flower heads. Put the seeds in envelopes that are clearly marked with the plant name, then store the envelopes in a cool, dry place.

The following year — about six weeks before your last estimated frost date — plant the seeds in soil blocks you buy from a garden center (or make DIY blocks from cleaned-out yogurt containers). Water them lightly but keep the soil moist, not wet. Cover them with a plastic bag to create a greenhouse effect, still letting air in through the sides. Lastly, give them plenty of light — at least 14 hours a day. When your plants get a second set of leaves or are about two inches in height, plant them in your garden when all danger of frost is past.

Pay Attention to the Edging and Paths
Good garden design is defined not only by trees, shrubs and flowers but also by the “bones” of the garden — such as edging and pathways. Harvest fieldstone from your yard for edging, or contact a tree trimming company and ask them for birch, cedar or oak logs with the bark still intact to use for a natural edging, Cardaro suggests. To fill in pathways on the cheap, ask the tree trimmer for some chipped mulch and lay that in the path, or buy inexpensive bagged pine nuggets.

“Put down layers of newspapers [in the path] first and lay the mulch on top of that,” Cardaro says. The newspaper will decay over time but it will help stop weeds from popping up in your pathways.

Shop Wisely
End-of-summer clearance sales are a great place to find discounted trees, shrubs and perennials for your designer-inspired garden décor. Most nurseries and garden centers slash prices on plants and garden accessories, such as containers and statuary. And fall is the perfect time to plant: The soil is still warm while the air is cooling down, which plants love. Just select healthy plants, get them in the ground quickly and water well through the fall to help promote root growth before winter sets in.

Altadena is a haven for gardening ninjas and two of them will be sharing their skills on sustainable gardening Saturday.

At an LA County Arboretum class titled, “Create a Sustainable Oasis” designers Leigh Adams and John Lyons will “describe the development of a thriving organic garden blending fruit trees, native plants and storm water, a garden rich in pollinators, delicious fruit and vegetables and lush flowering mounds,” the Arboretum shared.

Among their creative endeavors, Adams and Lyons collaborated on a water harvesting garden design in the hills of Altadena.

Lyons is one of the Arboretums’ most popular speakers and Adams created a 960 foot “DreamSnake” in the Australian section of the Arboretum using glazed tiles in mosaic patterns, the Arboretum noted.

Here’s full event information:

Create a Sustainable Oasis

Los Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden

301 North Baldwin Avenue, Arcadia 

Saturday, April 27 

9:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. 

Palm Room and the Permaculture Garden 

$25 Arboretum member  

$30 non-member (includes Arboretum admission)

Pre-registration is preferred.  Call the Class Registration Line at 626.821.4623 or you can pay at the door.

Find out more about Lyons at his website here: www.thewovengarden.com  

Find out more about Adams at her website here: www.laglassart.com

Are you interested in this event or in sustainable gardening? Share your thoughts below.

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