Open for tours through Feb. 23, the American Red Cross Designers’ Show House presented landscape designers with several interesting and challenging outdoor spaces. I think they all handled the fundraising project’s “tropical island living” theme consistently in the outdoor areas at the house, one lot west of South Flagler Drive on Santa Lucia Drive.

First, the square lot is divided in two — east to west — by the wide three-story Key West-style home, leaving a long, rather shallow front yard. Keith Williams of Nievera Williams Design eschewed a traditional lawn in favor of pebble-covered beds that were planned to be low-maintenance and drought-tolerant.

Out back, Daryl McCann of Gregory Lombardi Design installed a “living wall” to hide unsightly fencing and provide privacy to the pool area. Because the backyard has almost no space for planters, the living wall brings in a lot of color by displaying plants vertically.

“Because there was such limited space for a terrace, we created a circle on the eastern end for relaxing,” McCann says. “We backed that by a curvilinear wall, so we had continuity throughout.”

On the tall walls, he placed swaths of salt- and wind-tolerant plants, such as agave, bromeliads, beach sunflower, dune sunflower, euphorbia and lantana in mosaic patterns.

Because the house is situated such a short distance from the Lake Worth Lagoon, Andres Paradelo of CV Design also chose salt- and wind-tolerant plants for the third-floor deck and the fourth-floor crow’s nest, accessed by an outdoor spiral staircase. I particularly loved the glazed ceramic planters hung along the railing.

“We used a lot of succulents, which also cuts down the watering,” Paradelo says.

According to CV Design owner Craig Garcia, his design team used black pebbles as a border material to show off the flooring materials — cast coral stone, real coquina and travertine marble — as well as the fire pit.

Karen Kirk of Island Living Patio tackled the west deck on the third floor. Her 25-year stint as an interior decorator paid off in this inviting nook.

“I take my design approach to outdoor living,” she says.

The pocket deck has two areas – one for seating and one for lounging around a fire pit. Aqua and fuchsia colors are complemented by the brilliant bougainvillea throughout.

*

IF YOU GO

What: American Red Cross Designers’ Show House, benefiting the charity’s Greater Palm Beach Area chapter. Offers self-guided tours of rooms and outdoor areas decorated by multiple design firms, plus a boutique.

Where: 123 Santa Lucia Ave., West Palm Beach

When: Through Feb. 23. Hours: 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday to Saturday; noon-4 p.m. Sunday; tickets are $30. Saturday lecture series, 11 a.m. Feb. 16; $60.

For more information: Call 650-9131 or visit RedCrossShowHouse.com

Bargain advice

Nan Sterman and her APLD colleagues are offering 30-minute garden design consultations for $30 at the Spring Home Garden Show, March 1-3, at the San Diego County Fairgrounds.

Consultations are a first-come, first-serve basis. Bring photos, garden plans, and whatever else you have to help with the discussion. Sign up for a time slot at
www.brownpapertickets.com/event/329181.

Which of these sound familiar?

• Your garden is looking a bit shabby, but redoing it yourself is overwhelming.

• You’ve moved into a new home whose landscape is tired and worn out, or just plain old and ugly.

• You’ve brought home plant after plant from the nursery, but, somehow, your garden just doesn’t look the way you envision it.

• Your water bill is skyrocketing and you keep looking at the sprinklers watering the lawn, thinking, “Do I really need that?”

• Your children have grown and you need help creating a “grown-up” garden.

If any of these applies to you, it’s time to call a landscape designer. Professional landscape designers are the wizards of garden design. They transform tired out, obliterated or greedy gardens into spaces that give you joy.

Working with a landscape designer is like working with any design professional. The more you understand what they do and how to work with them, the more successful your project will be.

According to Pamela Berstler, president of California chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, “landscape designers are the people who work with homeowners to design their landscapes. Landscape design involves client consultation, research, planning, analysis and design with an emphasis on water conservation and pollution prevention. We create design drawings, do cost estimates, and offer our clients coaching and support.”

Before you hire a landscape designer, do your homework.

Notice gardens and plants you like, and even those you don’t like. Since design is visual, collect photos, take snapshots and browse the Internet as well.

Keep in mind that your garden should complement your home’s architecture, and work in your location. A Japanese garden, for example, fits a Craftsman style home beautifully, but looks out of place with a Mediterranean home. Similarly, thirsty plants don’t mix well with drought-tolerant ones; shade-loving plants fry in a full-sun garden, while full-sun plants fade away in the shade. Creating well-matched combinations is one reason your garden designer might steer you away from some favorite plants and toward new ones.

If your household has multiple decision makers, know each other’s dreams, hopes, and desires for the new landscape, not that you all have to agree. Your designer might find an elegant way of fulfilling what seem to be conflicting desires.

Develop a realistic target budget. Like remodeling, much more goes into landscape than you might expect. In addition to design costs, there are installation costs such as labor, demolition, hardscape, plants, soil, mulch, lighting, irrigation, and sometimes permits. Share your project budget with the designer so he or she can adjust the scale of the project; your contractor will develop detailed installation costs.

Click photo to enlarge

INTERIOR DESIGNER Hilary Sessions says she is honored to have learned that she won a “2013 Best of Houzz” award last month, and she’s already reaping its rewards with more calls from potential clients.

Sessions isn’t even sure why she was chosen by the online platform for residential remodeling and design.

“I think it’s determined from the number of five stars I got from my clients who reviewed my work for them on Houzz,” she says.

She’s right. According to Liza Hausman, vice president of community for Houzz.com, the awards are based on a survey of its 11 million monthly users either for great customer service or for great design. Sessions was recognized for her “exceptional customer service as judged by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts who are actively remodeling and decorating their homes,” Hausman says.

Houzz claims to feature the world’s largest residential design database that includes information on more than 1.5 million design professionals worldwide, design articles and product recommendations.

Houzz helps homeowners identify not only the top-rated professionals, such as Sessions, but also contact professionals directly through Houzz and read their responses to other users, Hausman says.

Sessions asks new clients to visit Houzz to get inspiration for their projects. She also directs them to her online portfolio there and later asks

them to review her completed project.

The Mill Valley resident and principal of Quarry Hill Design: Home Styling and Eco-Design started out staging homes a decade ago, but three years ago branched off into primarily residential design.

“Because of my staging background, I specialize in working with people’s existing furnishings and reworking their spaces,” she says. “I also do a lot of work with families; I have children and get a lot of referrals from other parents. And, I help people who have smaller budgets.”

Sessions also has launched Quarry Hill Pillows, her own line of handmade throw pillows using select fabrics from fine fabric houses, and sells them online at Etsy. The pillows are made in the United States, hand-finished with custom welting and hidden zipper closures, removable covers for easy dry-cleaning and come in a variety of sizes. Prices start at $95 without a down pillow insert and $125 including the insert. Custom orders are welcome using the customer’s own fabric or fabric sourced by Sessions.

For more information, call Quarry Hill Design at 385-7855 or go to quarryhilldesign.wordpress.com.

About dogwoods

Wildwood Farm in Sonoma County is offering “Introduction to Gardening with Dogwoods” with a choice of dates — March 9 or 23 — to help gardeners choose the best varieties for their garden.

Elegant dogwood trees have much to offer in the landscape, says Sara Monte, a former San Rafael resident.

“You can plant a dogwood in your garden that will bloom once in the spring and a second time in the fall,” she says.

The class, which starts at 1 p.m., is free and includes a tour of Wildwood’s nursery and gardens, which grows more than 30 dogwood varieties native to the East or West Coasts of America, China or Korea.

“We’ll discuss the broad characteristics and differences among these groups and the basic requirements for growing these spectacular trees,” she says.

Wildwood Farm also is offering its sixth annual “The Art of Tree-shaping” class at 1 p.m. March 3, 10 or 17 for $25, taught by experts Joseph and Ricardo Monte. It includes a Japanese maple tree that participants shape and then take home. Class size is limited to 10; reservations and your own clippers are required.

Wildwood Farm is at 10300 Sonoma Highway in Kenwood. Rain cancels classes. For more information, call 707-833-1161 or go to www.wildwoodmaples.com.

PJ Bremier

writes on home, garden, design and entertaining topics every Saturday and also on her blog at DesignSwirl.net. She may be contacted at P.O. Box 412, Kentfield, CA 94914, or at pj@pjbremier.com.

IF YOU GO

What: “Introduction to Gardening with Dogwoods”
When: 1 p.m. March 9 or 23
Admission: Free
What: “The Art of Tree-shaping” with Joseph and Ricardo Monte
When: 1 p.m. March 3, 10 or 17
Admission: $25; reservations required
Where: Wildwood Farm, 10300 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood
Information: 707-833-1161; www.wildwoodmaples.com

Which of these sound familiar?

• Your garden is looking a bit shabby, but redoing it yourself is overwhelming.

• You’ve moved into a new home whose landscape is tired and worn out, or just plain old and ugly.

• You’ve brought home plant after plant from the nursery, but, somehow, your garden just doesn’t look the way you envision it.

• Your water bill is skyrocketing and you keep looking at the sprinklers watering the lawn, thinking, “Do I really need that?”

• Your children have grown and you need help creating a “grown-up” garden.

If any of these applies to you, it’s time to call a landscape designer. Professional landscape designers are the wizards of garden design. They transform tired out, obliterated or greedy gardens into spaces that give you joy.

Working with a landscape designer is like working with any design professional. The more you understand what they do and how to work with them, the more successful your project will be.

According to Pamela Berstler, president of California chapter of the Association of Professional Landscape Designers, “landscape designers are the people who work with homeowners to design their landscapes. Landscape design involves client consultation, research, planning, analysis and design with an emphasis on water conservation and pollution prevention. We create design drawings, do cost estimates, and offer our clients coaching and support.”

Before you hire a landscape designer, do your homework.

Notice gardens and plants you like, and even those you don’t like. Since design is visual, collect photos, take snapshots and browse the Internet as well.

Keep in mind that your garden should complement your home’s architecture, and work in your location. A Japanese garden, for example, fits a Craftsman style home beautifully, but looks out of place with a Mediterranean home. Similarly, thirsty plants don’t mix well with drought-tolerant ones; shade-loving plants fry in a full-sun garden, while full-sun plants fade away in the shade. Creating well-matched combinations is one reason your garden designer might steer you away from some favorite plants and toward new ones.

If your household has multiple decision makers, know each other’s dreams, hopes, and desires for the new landscape, not that you all have to agree. Your designer might find an elegant way of fulfilling what seem to be conflicting desires.

Develop a realistic target budget. Like remodeling, much more goes into landscape than you might expect. In addition to design costs, there are installation costs such as labor, demolition, hardscape, plants, soil, mulch, lighting, irrigation, and sometimes permits. Share your project budget with the designer so he or she can adjust the scale of the project; your contractor will develop detailed installation costs.

If you live in an HOA, ask it about design review, what kind of documentation to submit, whom to submit to, when to submit it, and how long reviews take.

Tell your designer about any unusual property setbacks, height requirements, issues with neighbors and so on.

If the landscape is part of a larger remodel, involve the landscape designer during the architectural design. Collaboration between architect and landscape designer helps ensure that outdoors integrates with the indoors.

Dave Freygang hasn’t wasted time in taking a hard look at Bonnier Corp.’s financials since becoming its new CEO last month.

On Thursday, one of his first appointees, David Ritchie, notified the staff of Garden Design that the magazine would be folded after the April issue. The announcement was made by Ritchie, the newly appointed chief content officer at the company.

Garden Design, along with Saveur, was one of two high-end magazines that World Publications, Bonnier’s predecessor company, bought from Meigher Communications in 2000, giving the then-niche publisher credibility on a bigger stage. Garden Design remained small, even by Bonnier’s standards, publishing seven times a year with a total print circulation of 185,741 and just 189 ad pages in all of 2012, per Publishers Information Bureau. Five staffers were affected.

“The economic climate, compounded by the significant industry transition to digital, have limited the growth in advertising needed to make this brand viable for our future,” the company said, in a statement.

Earlier this year, Bonnier closed Snow, another small title. With Bonnier’s new CEO expected to give close scrutiny to underperforming titles, it’s expected that Garden Design won’t be the last to go. Garden Design subscribers will be offered another magazine to fulfill their orders.

 

 

 

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Valentine’s Day may be the biggest event in the late winter calendar, but what really gets the gardener’s heart going is the chance to be somewhere warm, humid and green. Unless you work in a greenhouse, or you are flying to a tropical destination, there are only two ways to do this: Go to the Buffalo Erie County Botanical Gardens any time of year (the “Night Lights” show is especially exciting this month) or book your dates for a flower show.

You don’t have to be a gardener to go to a flower show. In fact, sometimes the people who aren’t gardeners have the most fun. That’s because they aren’t compulsive about taking notes, scrambling to catch every speaker and determined to memorize every plant name.

Those non-gardeners or light-hearted gardeners just breeze along, snapping pictures or smelling the roses (and hyacinths and narcissus), feeling good in the springlike atmosphere.

Or, like my husband at the Philadelphia Flower Show – produced for 100 years by the wealthy and long-established Pennsylvania Horticultural Society – they walk the show for the overall beauty, a little shopping and then – faster than some of us – enjoy a beer and oysters or knockwurst (or a zillion international delights) at the train station across the street. (Every show has somewhere nearby for sitting and sipping and studying the program. Watching the gardeners with their armloads of treasures is equally diverting.

Seriously, though, if you are a gardener and have never been to a flower show, you are missing social, shopping and educational delights. Our own Plantasia, produced by the Western New York Nursery Landscape Association, may not be the Philadelphia show in size, scope and displays, but it offers a solid lineup of speakers and demonstrations and there is a lot to learn, free with admission.

Nearly all flower shows have classes, and sometimes nationally prominent speakers and recently published authors.

For the first-timer: Find the speaking schedule online or get one as soon as you arrive, and build your day(s) around the must-see programs. (Unlike other lecture situations, speakers in these shows are mostly not insulted – I can speak for myself among them – if you choose not to stay for the whole talk. We know you have shopping to do, and not every topic is for everybody.)

Second tip: Walk around the whole show once, fast, to decide where to allocate your time. Don’t get bogged down in miniature terrariums when your passion is new annuals or garden design.

The shopping is a pleasure in every garden show. In Plantasia, local garden centers and independent vendors pack the prettiest examples of their product lines and plants into 10-foot spaces, in the hopes you’ll buy now and come to their shops during the season.

In the Toronto, Philadelphia and Southern or West Coast shows, you’ll see national and international products represented – items you might not see at home. Our garden centers send staff to these shows to scout for products they should be carrying; tell your garden center folks what you loved. It’s a lot easier to judge a tool or statue with your own eyes than through a catalog, and to try on flower-decorated Wellies or garden hats in person.

What will you shop for? Beyond garden tools and props, you’ll see hardscape or landscaping products (from pavers to pergolas), some outdoor furniture, gardeners’ clothing, usually books, and always jewelry (because, after all, the majority of garden show visitors are women.)

The plants are the best part of it for some of us, as you can see and take home potted herbs, tropicals, forced bulbs, spring-planted bulbs, and some forced perennials for planting when the weather warms. (You can bare-root some plants from Canada, but in most cases you’d be better off just bringing home ideas.)

So go to the show, to feel spring in the air, or for serious learning and shopping.

11:57 a.m., Feb. 7, 2013–Colston Burrell spent 11 years in Minnesota, none too happy with the winter weather. A noted garden designer, Burrell tried to make the best of his “six months of winter confinement.” He liked the view of deep snow outside his windows and the patterns that frost made on Joe Pye weed and other stalks in his prairie garden. Still, winter was something to be endured.

But a funny thing happened when this Richmond, Va., native returned to the Mid-Atlantic. That first autumn in his new home, near Charlottesville, he watched the leaves fall and felt a sense of dread. But once the cold weather arrived, he realized he had come to appreciate the subtleties of the winter landscape.

Campus Stories

“Here in the Piedmont region of Virginia, winter means fields of broomsedge that look golden in the late afternoon sun, contrasted by the greens of juniper and other coniferous trees,” said Burrell. “It’s berries on shrubs like viburnums and hollies, texture from interesting barks, and catkins on native hazels and alders.”

And in Virginia, and often here in Delaware, too, it can mean days when temperatures rise into the 40s and 50s and Burrell can linger in the garden to enjoy the fragrance of daphne and the flowers of the precocious hellebores that he so loves. (He wrote a book about hellebores, which bloom as early as mid-January in Delaware.)

“Today, I won’t be lingering in the garden,” declared Burrell on a late January morning when the temperature was just 11 degrees. But, from the window of his home office, he could still view the fruits of winterberry hollies and the shimmering plumes of silver plume grass. That was no accident. When Burrell designed his home landscape he put some plants with winter interest where they could be seen and enjoyed from inside the house.

Burrell will speak about “Design Ideas and Plant Combinations for Winter Gardens” on Tuesday, Feb. 26, in Newark. His talk is sponsored by the University of Delaware Botanic Gardens. An active lecturer, Burrell has spoken at Winterthur Museum and Longwood Gardens but “hasn’t been to Delaware in quite a while,” he said.

If you go, expect plenty of audience interaction. “I don’t want to suggest a particular plant and then disappoint people when they discover it doesn’t grow well in their region,” said Burrell. “But if someone from the audience can say, ‘Yes, I’ve grown that here for 50 years and never had a problem,’ then we know my recommendation is appropriate.”

Burrell plants mostly natives on his 10-acre property but he does make an exception for “precocious bloomers.” He craves flowers and fragrance in the dead of winter and uses non-native hellebores, crocus, snowdrops, winter aconite and glory-of-the-snow for an early taste of spring.

But natives offer winter interest, too. Early in the season, Burrell enjoys beautyberry’s purple or lilac berries, which brown after a hard frost. Winterberry starts displaying its vivid red berries in late autumn and they hang on through the winter. (The berries are bitter, so overwintering birds avoid them until other food sources are gone.) 

American holly, with its bright red berries, is another good choice for jazzing up the winter landscape. Just don’t plant any of these shrubs in a long, monotonous row, said Burrell. Instead, consider grouping American hollies in clusters. Beautyberry is striking enough to work well alone, as a specimen planting.

Many gardeners use evergreen trees to offset winter’s monochromatic palette. But fewer gardeners turn to evergreen groundcovers for a pop of color. Burrell likes the texture and form of many evergreen groundcovers, including Pachysandra procumbens “Allegheny Spurge.” 

This easy-to-grow native has medium- to dark-green leaves during the growing season that become dappled or bronzed in winter. And when the cold weather is just a memory, tiny, pinkish white flowers appear on Allegheny Spurge.

Other evergreen groundcovers well suited to Delaware include Christmas fern (good for areas of light to deep shade), barren strawberry (which looks better than the name implies), and partridgeberry, a slow-grower which never exceeds 3 inches in height.

UDBG talk

At the Feb. 26 talk, Burrell will speak about “Design Ideas and Plant Combinations for Winter Gardens” at 7 p.m. in Townsend Hall at the University of Delaware. Cost is $15 for members of UD Botanic Gardens Friends; $20 for the public. To register, call 831-2531 or email botanicgardens@udel.edu.

Article by Margo McDonough

Photo courtesy of C. Colston Burrell

It’s cold out there. In much of the country, now’s the time when home serves as a cozy refuge from the ice and snow. We light our fireplaces and wish for springtime.

But what if we took the opposite approach, using the inspiration of frosty winter colors and shimmering, icy textures to create rooms that look gorgeous year-round? A winter-inspired room can celebrate the beauty of this season, and also provide a cooling refuge perfect for the spring and summer ahead.

“My clients usually think I’ve lost my mind when I suggest using winter as a source of inspiration for a cozy bedroom,” says designer Brian Patrick Flynn, founder of decordemon.com. But, he says, “when done right, a combination of layered whites, blue-grays and touches of metallic can add a wintry look that’s chic, inviting, surprisingly warm and totally timeless.”

Here, Flynn and two other interior designers — Betsy Burnham of Los Angeles’ Burnham Design and Kyle Schuneman of Live Well Designs — offer advice on using winter as a decorating inspiration.

GET REFLECTIVE

Start with the reflective sheen of ice as your main inspiration, says Flynn. “Use a plethora of reflective surfaces and metallic touches,” he says, including mirrored accent tables and nightstands, as well as mirrored lamps.

Flynn and Schuneman both recommend metallic wallpaper. “One bedroom I designed in California was completely inspired by Candice Olsen’s birch bark wallpaper from York Wallcovering,” Flynn says.

“The paper is made from white-toned birch bark, and has a metallic backing which just screams ‘winter chic.'”

If you’d prefer painted walls, Schuneman suggests choosing a shade of pale gray or icy blue and buying it in two different finishes — one with a high sheen that almost looks metallic and the other matte. Paint the walls with alternating stripes of each finish.

This use of just a few metallic or mirrored items is a great way to bring in some icy glamour, Schuneman says, “without it becoming the ice princess’ dungeon.”

Mirrored and metallic items also maximize light, warming a room even in winter.

“Since trees lose their leaves in the winter, the amount of light that streams in through the window can be double the amount in the spring or summer,” Flynn says. “By the time that gorgeous light hits the reflective surfaces and metallics, the room instantly warms up.”

Burnham also likes mirrored items. A mirrored table “adds a dimension to a room that wood just doesn’t,” she says. But she cautions against taking the look too far. If you’re buying mirrored end tables, she says, put a ceramic lamp on top rather than a mirrored or glass lamp. Or mix mirrors and chrome with warm shades of ivory, rather than stark whites.

USE A RANGE OF COLORS

“The biggest trick to doing a wintry palette right is to layer, layer, layer,” Flynn says. “I like to stick with an overall white palette, but bring in ultra-white, off-white, cream, blue-white and then add touches of blue-gray. This makes a space soothing and sophisticated, while adding depth.”

Burnham’s favorite wintry wall color right now is a shade called “Silver Spoon” by Dunn-Edwards. “It’s a really, really pale gray-blue, and I cannot tell you how many rooms I’ve used it in,” she says. It contrasts well with white for a modern look or with warm shades of brown for a more “organic and earthy” feel.

Schuneman loves mixing wintry whites, silvers and grays accented with shades of purple. Or he sometimes pairs “a gray that has blue as its base, and a blue that has gray in its base” and brings in “hard edges, like crystal lamps” for a chic, “wintry feeling.”

WORK IT ANYWHERE

Winter-inspired design can work in any climate, from a Vermont ski house to a California beach condo.

“I did a bedroom in the Hollywood Hills with icy blue walls, and the headboard wall was all metal ceiling tiles,” Schuneman says. For the bedside tables, he chose pale blue glass lamps that resemble melting chunks of ice.

“You can really go for it” and do a full-on winter-inspired style, Schuneman says, or use just touches of it as “the thing that gives a room an edge.”

In southern California or other warm locations, Burnham says, it may work best to mix winter-inspired items with something more reminiscent of the local weather.

“Think of a beautiful driftwood table with something sparkly on it. That brings it back to the sand and the beach, and keeps it relatable” to your warm-weather location, but also includes a bit of icy beauty, she says.

BALANCE ICY WITH COZY

Along with shimmery, mirrored surfaces, be sure to include soft, cozy ones: Look for “beautiful cable-knit cashmere throws,” Burnham says, or “a big faux-fur coyote blanket on a bed. It’s wintry, but it’s also so luxe, so high-end hunting lodge, and that works at the beach, too.”

Layers of soft fabric on furniture and floors bring a welcome feeling of warmth. If you choose a “fluffy, white flokati rug for the floor, you’re still having a kind of wintry moment,” Schuneman says, “but it’s just not hard-edged.”

WHAT NOT TO DO

Just don’t get silly, Flynn says. “First and foremost, I let my client know that just because we’re going wintry, it doesn’t mean we’re going to pop out igloos, snowflakes and polar bears. In other words, we completely avoid themes and cliches altogether.”

Instead, he says, “we just think of different ways to use whites, grays, metallics and textures in a manner which fits their personal style and makes a room feel airy and open. That’s usually my trick to getting winter-inspired design right.”

Project Ripple, Ms. Kim’s garden at Jackson South Community Hospital in Miami, opened in August. “When we look for a place to call home and we nurture a garden we call our own, we are looking for a place that’s restorative, that’s regenerative and that has a kind of humanity,” she told a reporter last week on the phone from her office in Boston.

Q. How do you define a healing garden?

A. It allows for us to reboot. I think that a lot of our public environments don’t really offer us that.

Q. Certainly not in hospitals.

A. Overall, a kind of stress management happens. It’s something we all know intuitively. We go to a place that’s quiet and inviting, and we can just feel our body relaxing. I think at the highest level, hospital administrators are really beginning to believe that design matters and they’re infusing a kind of humanity into these clinical environments.

Q. So “clinical” is something to be avoided.

A. It’s an interesting word. We want our health-care professionals to be objective and not emotional in assessing our state of being. But at the same time there’s a growing awareness that clinical environments work against the good work that doctors do — that they may actually increase stress levels, not only in patients but in their families.

Q. Hospitals pose severe constraints to designers. What did you have to think about with a hospital garden?

A. There’s such a range of people who come to any hospital: there are people who are just there to get a vaccination and then there are kids who’ve had four transplants. We had to create a safe environment for kids with severe immune deficiencies.

The other aspect was daily engagement: the rituals of the patients. There’s a kind of layering of activity that took months to figure out how to do, such as allowing for patients who are learning to get back on their feet to do physical therapy using the garden. In the Miami garden, there’s a slight incline that allows people to have a little bit of a challenge as they do circuits and at the same time allows patients in wheelchairs to enjoy the same setting.

I remember one parent in Chicago said to me, “I have a young son, and my daughter is in the hospital. I just want to be able to sit in the garden on a bench and look up at the sky at night and breast-feed my child.”

Q. Can you say more about the designs?

A. Within each of the gardens there are contemplative rooms created through plant material that screens the space and water that screens sound. In Miami, we actually used mist to create a cooling element that is a microclimate in the center and also creates a private zone.

In Chicago, we have a series of sculptural play elements; some of them are benches. They were salvaged pieces of wood from around Chicago. These logs had all this rot in them. We wondered, Should we repair this, should we make it look new? I said no. The whole idea of healing is there’s often a scar that’s left behind. It’s almost the beauty of healing. It’s not pretending that something is perfect. All of the aging was captured with resin and then we punched holes in the wood and embedded speakers. Different water sounds come out of the logs.

Q. Your own career was derailed by a physical disability: You were heading toward a career as a concert pianist in your early 20s when you developed tendinitis. Do you naturally think of creativity as something connected to the body?

A. I think that the idea of vulnerability is something you constantly bump up against as you grow older, but when you’re younger it’s quite traumatic. You don’t have the tools to address it. I had to find another form of expression, which was public and performative, used the body and had a kind of creativity to it. 

A focal point is an important part of any garden room. Photos by Doug Oster

I spent four days in Florida with my family for a little break from the weather and I wish I was still there.

There was a long meandering trail along a lake near our hotel. A Great Blue Heron fished in the shallows along with other birds.

At the end of the walkway was a gazebo with a beautiful planter in the center.

It’s a great example of a garden focal point. It’s something that catches the eye and calls you to the space. Along the way, there’s always lots to see, but the focal point keeps calling.

It doesn’t have to be a gazebo or a planter, it might be a statue, tall plant or just about anything else.

Sometimes gardens can be created like rooms, at least that’s how I often look at them.

I like to put a focal point in each room. In one it’s a birdbath, another a tall pedestal with planter and another is a big statue.

This is a great time to look at those garden rooms when they are naked. Where’s the focal point in your gardens?

Have fun, look at gardens online and see how you can plan for the upcoming season.

Here’s one more picture from Florida, that balloon is quite a statement, quite a focal point.