By Stephanie Holland

Enjoy these reflections on the Kiawah Garden Tour.

Walk with me. Enter into one of those beautiful, crisp days, where all of creation is alive with sparkle and sunshine; the cool air is a welcome harbinger of the burgeoning fall. It was on such a day, a few weeks back, that I had the opportunity to meander the residences displayed on the Kiawah Garden Tour. As a landscape designer who works on the state’s coastal islands, you can imagine my child-like excitement as I dragged my loving (but disgruntled) husband on our grand adventure. Below is an abridged peek into the well-run production, which was staffed with friendly and knowledgeable volunteers, and featured fabulous gardens full of inspiring designs and details. Studying the gardens we toured, I noticed many trends, two of which are detailed here: a focus on threshold and the battle between “his” and “hers.”

Amidst all the gardens’ varied plants, colors, textures, and styles, there emerged a consistent theme of the importance of the threshold. As to be expected, many focused on the main entries into the building, such as the fantastic walled garden with the antique Parisian gate; or the Sanctuary garden which featured such a colorful selection of warm-hued annuals and perennials that even my husband was impressed. But for a few, it was the entrance into the garden itself that was the highlight. Take, for example, the geometric design of stepping-stones flanked by mondo grass, which perfectly offset the ajuga, ferns, and planter on the journey to the garden. The threshold acted as a transition point, a foyer to the main room beyond. The common denominators of such a space included the use of evergreen plants as the bones of design, the employment of formal shapes, groupings of even numbers, and reliance on shades of green. Combined, these elements gave an inclination that this was important space, but, perhaps what lay beyond was more exciting. The garden designers had expertly employed varied textures and shades of green to highlight the formality of space and to lead the eye through the transition into the next zone, be it foyer or landscape.

Now, I am sure you are all curious: just who is “he,” who is “she,” and why are they engaging in battle? Let me approach it this way. They are age-old enemies who constantly war and bicker over landscape versus landscaping. She, of course, is Mother Nature: that wonderful and terrible matriarch who governs the daily rituals of our yards. He is (and forgive my generalization, dear lady designers) the architect, the designer, the human mastermind. These two opposing forces – man and nature – vie for control. Man arms himself with weed whips, edgers, and design theory while Mother Nature composes her army of “volunteer” plants (better known as weeds), insects, disease, and the idea of succession plants. As with properties all across the globe, the gardens on Kiawah showed marked lines of distinction between natural areas and manicured ones. Designers etched these lines with brick and stone, edging and sod, pinestraw and mulch. A perfect example was the narrow strip of sod that was edged in brick, with breeze grass on one side (manicured), and saw palmettos on the opposite (natural). Those items inside the brick zone were maintained and manicured; those outside, transitioned from landscaping into merely landscape. In an adventitious island ecosystem such as this, it is vital to claim only what is deemed necessary by the homeowner, and bastion it whatever may come. Edge your turf, prune your shrubs, and the devil take whatever is outside of your irrigation zone.

Although at present, I do not have a garden to claim and fortify, my husband did admit how much he enjoyed the tour and the gardens within. Typical man, his favorite space was the Sanctuary lawn overlooking the ocean, while mine is still yet-to-be-determined; however, we did agree that the gardens were an excellent display of ideas and talent, and the tour was a wonderful way to spend a lovely afternoon. 

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Tags: 

gardening,

lifestyle

When we’d finished being gobsmacked by the impressive landscaping and gardening efforts among the 80 gardens in the Bay of Plenty’s Garden and Artfest, The Landscaper and I took time out to attend the birthday party of my niece’s 1-year-old daughter.

In their backyard, notable for its almost complete lack of garden, I found something that sent me scurrying inside for scissors and a plastic bag.

It’s probably well documented that I’ve never been a fan of manuka, but this one was something else.

“What’s that called?” I demanded of my niece, who is unlikely even to be able to recognise a daisy.

“Don’t know,” she said cheerily, “but the tag’s probably still on it.”

The Landscaper found the tag, which identified the glorious mauve manuka as Leptospermum phoenix – my new best friend. Its big, dense, mauve flowers arrive in mid-spring and are said to last for ages. The plant grows to about 1.5m, can be kept bushy with regular haircuts, and is hardy in dry and cold conditions.

In the unlikely event that you find the same manuka, or some other colour that knocks your socks off, you can grow them from cuttings.

Choose new growth from the tip of the branch.

Look for twigs with soft reddish bark and multiple leaf terminals.

Cut them at a 45-degree angle about 10cm from the tip, and then slice a 5ml portion of bark from the end of the cutting to expose the vascular cambium. Keep the cuttings damp until you’re ready to pot them.

Then dip them in rooting compound and plant them to about half their length in a sandy mix that has been pre-watered and drained for about half an hour.

Put them in your propagating box if you have one, or in a plastic bag to hold moisture and heat. Keep them moist but not wet, and warm but out of direct sunlight.

Should all 20 of our mauve manuka survive the propagation process and grow into real trees, I’ll be looking for something useful to do with them. Fortunately, it seems they have many properties other than pleasing me and the bees with its extraordinary flowers.

The leaves can be combined with other plants – such as coprosma, kawkawa, hebe and ngaio – to use in vapour baths as a treatment for rheumatism.

Infusions of the bark have also been used to ease aches and pains – perfect for The Landscaper – and can have a sedative effect (perhaps not so perfect). And though I wouldn’t recommend trying the following at home, it is documented that infusions are also useful for the treatment of dandruff and skin infections, while a poultice of pounded fruit can be used to treat flesh wounds, apparently drying them up and hastening healing.

A decoction of leaves taken internally is said to help urinary complaints and treat fever, while a decoction of bark may relieve constipation and diarrhoea (presumably not both at once), treat mouth, throat and eye infections, colic, inflamed breasts, scalds and burns.

Leptostopermum scoparium contains leptospermone, which is effective for treating parasitic worms, and is also an insesecticide. And then there’s the honey, which contains high levels of the antibacterial compound methylglyoxal. Oils extracted from manuka leaves in some areas also have antibacterial and fungicidal properties. Quite the all-rounder, then.

If you’re a little shamefaced that you’ve been using your manuka only for firewood, don’t be. It burns beautifully, and makes a great barbecue.

Tricks from Tauranga

Not surprisingly, we didn’t make it around all 88 of the gardens in the Bay of Plenty New Zealand Garden and Artfest. We didn’t see the work of all 57 of the artists, either, but what we did see was enough to send us scurrying home with many new ideas.

1. We really liked this display of ceramic bathers. At first we thought it was a wall hanging, but the gardener has neatly clipped back the ivy to reveal a timber paling fence beneath, and used the foliage as a frame. Nifty.

2. Then we found the clever vege boxes – smart and good looking, and probably quite easy to achieve. Find a large, stainless steel bench – the sort of thing you occasionally see at a junk yard.

A butcher’s bench would be ideal, but even a sink bench could be used. Construct simple, wooden boxes of uniform size, fill with soil and compost, and plant with veges. They look stylish and are easy to weed because they’re at hand height. I see no reason why this could not be achieved by Saturday lunchtime.
 

Tags: 

gardening,

lifestyle

When we’d finished being gobsmacked by the impressive landscaping and gardening efforts among the 80 gardens in the Bay of Plenty’s Garden and Artfest, The Landscaper and I took time out to attend the birthday party of my niece’s 1-year-old daughter.

In their backyard, notable for its almost complete lack of garden, I found something that sent me scurrying inside for scissors and a plastic bag.

It’s probably well documented that I’ve never been a fan of manuka, but this one was something else.

“What’s that called?” I demanded of my niece, who is unlikely even to be able to recognise a daisy.

“Don’t know,” she said cheerily, “but the tag’s probably still on it.”

The Landscaper found the tag, which identified the glorious mauve manuka as Leptospermum phoenix – my new best friend. Its big, dense, mauve flowers arrive in mid-spring and are said to last for ages. The plant grows to about 1.5m, can be kept bushy with regular haircuts, and is hardy in dry and cold conditions.

In the unlikely event that you find the same manuka, or some other colour that knocks your socks off, you can grow them from cuttings.

Choose new growth from the tip of the branch.

Look for twigs with soft reddish bark and multiple leaf terminals.

Cut them at a 45-degree angle about 10cm from the tip, and then slice a 5ml portion of bark from the end of the cutting to expose the vascular cambium. Keep the cuttings damp until you’re ready to pot them.

Then dip them in rooting compound and plant them to about half their length in a sandy mix that has been pre-watered and drained for about half an hour.

Put them in your propagating box if you have one, or in a plastic bag to hold moisture and heat. Keep them moist but not wet, and warm but out of direct sunlight.

Should all 20 of our mauve manuka survive the propagation process and grow into real trees, I’ll be looking for something useful to do with them. Fortunately, it seems they have many properties other than pleasing me and the bees with its extraordinary flowers.

The leaves can be combined with other plants – such as coprosma, kawkawa, hebe and ngaio – to use in vapour baths as a treatment for rheumatism.

Infusions of the bark have also been used to ease aches and pains – perfect for The Landscaper – and can have a sedative effect (perhaps not so perfect). And though I wouldn’t recommend trying the following at home, it is documented that infusions are also useful for the treatment of dandruff and skin infections, while a poultice of pounded fruit can be used to treat flesh wounds, apparently drying them up and hastening healing.

A decoction of leaves taken internally is said to help urinary complaints and treat fever, while a decoction of bark may relieve constipation and diarrhoea (presumably not both at once), treat mouth, throat and eye infections, colic, inflamed breasts, scalds and burns.

Leptostopermum scoparium contains leptospermone, which is effective for treating parasitic worms, and is also an insesecticide. And then there’s the honey, which contains high levels of the antibacterial compound methylglyoxal. Oils extracted from manuka leaves in some areas also have antibacterial and fungicidal properties. Quite the all-rounder, then.

If you’re a little shamefaced that you’ve been using your manuka only for firewood, don’t be. It burns beautifully, and makes a great barbecue.

Tricks from Tauranga

Not surprisingly, we didn’t make it around all 88 of the gardens in the Bay of Plenty New Zealand Garden and Artfest. We didn’t see the work of all 57 of the artists, either, but what we did see was enough to send us scurrying home with many new ideas.

1. We really liked this display of ceramic bathers. At first we thought it was a wall hanging, but the gardener has neatly clipped back the ivy to reveal a timber paling fence beneath, and used the foliage as a frame. Nifty.

2. Then we found the clever vege boxes – smart and good looking, and probably quite easy to achieve. Find a large, stainless steel bench – the sort of thing you occasionally see at a junk yard.

A butcher’s bench would be ideal, but even a sink bench could be used. Construct simple, wooden boxes of uniform size, fill with soil and compost, and plant with veges. They look stylish and are easy to weed because they’re at hand height. I see no reason why this could not be achieved by Saturday lunchtime.
 

THE incinerator construction site next to Weston Mill Creek seems intent on returning to its watery origins.

A week of torrential rain and the boots of about 100 construction workers have created foot-sucking ponds of mud.

1. ​

   ABOVE: Ruth Crawford, a nearby resident, overlooking the site. BELOW: Pile-drilling at Weston Mill

Work is well under way to build the Plymouth energy from waste plant on what used to be Weston Mill Lake, and the once-derelict site is a hive of activity.

The Ministry of Defence filled in the lake in the 1980s when it built new dry docks. That presents problems for main contractors Kier, who must drill some 600 holes up to 30 metres into the bedrock and fill them with steel-and-concrete piles.

In phase two concrete caps will link the piles to form a solid base connected to the bedrock. In effect, the incinerator will perch on 600 sturdy stilts.

I am on a tour of the site, and walking through the mud with Paul Carey, managing director of MVV Environment Devonport Ltd, the incinerator operator, and local resident Ruth Crawford.

Ruth, who lives in Talbot Gardens, is one of the incinerator’s nearest neighbours. She was taken to Germany by ITV and she visited an incinerator in the midst of housing in Frankfurt to find out how much of an anti-social neighbour it is.

“I was worried before, and the trip has set my mind at ease considerably,” she says.

“The Frankfurt incinerator was close to homes, just like here.”

Ruth says residents there did not seem bothered by it – though she does not speak German.

“I realise waste has to be got rid of somewhere, and nobody wants it in their back yard,” she explains.

“But I am definitely happier than I was this time last week. I feel so much relief.”

As we walk across the site, dwarfed by cranes, drilling rigs and mountainous earth-moving equipment, Ruth tells me that from her flat the construction work is “quite noisy, but you get used to it”.

“One of my neighbours says he feels vibrations, but I don’t.”

The sound of clanking and grinding, men wielding lump hammers against obstinate steel, the beeping of reversing juggernauts is what you would expect of a construction site.

The noise must be disturbing for near neighbours, though it is not so loud that we have to shout to be heard.

The contractors have moveable panels which are used to screen the noisiest pieces of equipment. MVV has also installed specialised noise monitoring equipment in Talbot Gardens and Savage Road as part of a requirement by Plymouth City Council.

They must stick to an average of 66 decibels over any two-hour period, Mr Carey says.

To put that in perspective, a 2004 study by the University of Edinburgh found that the average sound level for nightclubs in the UK was 96db, with some even reaching 108db.

Long before the energy from waste plant starts operating at the end of 2014, local people will have access to a tarted-up Blackies Wood, which forms a buffer between the plant and residents who will overlook it.

“The idea is to do landscaping this winter and by next summer it should be accessible,” says Mr Carey.

Earlier this year ecologists moved in and captured reptiles – mostly lizards and slow worms – from the site. They have been moved to a safe part of the woods and a “reptile basking area” has been created.

Barne Brake, which borders the site to the east, and runs into Weston Mill Creek in the south, is home to kingfishers.

We stand in one muddy patch of earth all but indistinguishable from any other and Mr Carey points out where rubbish trucks from Plymouth, Torbay and South Devon will dump their loads into a deep pit.

This will all happen indoors, out of sight and – local people must pray – out of mind.

Mr Carey insists that any odour from the rubbish will be contained, by negative pressure created by the incinerator furnace and a separate fan when the incinerator is shut down.

This will happen for up to three weeks at a time for maintenance, and when it is the incoming rubbish will be shrink-wrapped and stored until it can be burnt.

On the other side of the site another smaller patch of mud marks the foundation spot of the 95-metre chimney that will be visible from miles around.

In Frankfurt, local schoolchildren created a dragon design that was painted on to their incinerator chimney, symbolising the tame dragon inside.

It is anyone’s guess how long it will take before Plymouth’s incinerator is viewed with such affection.

Hoboken Gardens is a family-owned and operated florist and garden center located in the coastal town of Rockport, Maine. Dave and Carole Farley began Hoboken Gardens in 1988 to extend a year-round enterprise to their original business, Farley Son Landscaping. They have been serving the mid-coast area year round with quality floral and garden center services for over 23 years.

Situated in the charm and quaintness of an old, large, wooden schoolhouse, our full service florist and gift shop offers creative and artistic floral designs and delightful gifts . Flowers can be sent worldwide with the services of FTD. Outside, our nursery offers a large and diverse selection of evergreen and deciduous shrubs and trees. Our variety and unique selection of perennials is one of the best. We have 17,000 square feet of greenhouse growing space filled with foliage plants, annuals, holiday plants, topiaries, herbs, and orchids. Our greenhouse staff is knowledgeable, polite, and helpful.

We also offer interiorscaping and plant rental services. And with our acclaimed parent company, Farley Son Landscaping, we can arrange for planting and maintenance of your purchases.

Click photo to enlarge

Marin

• West Marin Commons offers a weekly harvest exchange at 1:30 p.m. Saturdays at the Livery Stable gardens on the commons in Point Reyes Station. Go to www.west marincommons.org.

• Volunteers are sought to help in Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy nurseries from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays at Tennessee Valley, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays at Muir Woods or 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays or 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays in the Marin Headlands. Call 561-3077 or go to www.parksconservancy.org/volunteer. $5. Call 457-6045.

• Volunteer hours are 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Wednesdays and from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Fridays at the Indian Valley Organic Farm at 1800 Ignacio Blvd. in Novato. Call 454-4554 or go to www. conservationcorpsnorthbay.org.

• Growing Excellence in Marin (GEM), a program providing horticultural vocational training for Marin residents with disabilities, has a weekly plant sale from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays at 2500 Fifth Ave. in San Rafael. Items offered include garden plants, potted plants, cut flowers and microgreens. Call 226-8693 or email michael@connectics.org.

• The SPAWN (Salmon Protection and Watershed Network) native plant nursery days are from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Fridays and weekends. Call 663-8590, ext. 114, or email jonathan@tirn.net to register and for directions.

• A “Holiday Wreath Making” workshop is from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Dec. 1 in Room 114 of Building 16 in the Miwok Cluster at the College of Marin Indian Valley campus at 1800 Ignacio Blvd. in Novato. $50. Call 473-4024 or go to ucanr.edu/ivofg_120112 by Nov. 29 to register.

• A free Marin Bee Company workshop, “The Basics of Beekeeping,” is at 11 a.m. Dec. 1 at Whole Foods Market at 790 De Long Ave. in Novato. Call 878-0455 or go to www.marinbeecompany.com/ workshops.html.

• Marin Open Garden Project (MOGP) volunteers are available to help Marin residents glean excess fruit from their trees for donations to local organizations serving people in need and to build raised beds to start vegetable gardens through the MicroGardens program. MGOP also offers a garden tool lending library. Go to www.opengarden project.org or email contact@opengardenproject.org.

• Marin Master Gardeners and the Marin Municipal Water District offer free residential Bay Friendly Garden Walks and health consultations to help homeowners identify water-saving opportunities and soil conservation techniques for their landscaping. Call 473-4204 to request a visit to your property.

San Francisco

• The Conservatory of Flowers, at 100 John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park, displays permanent galleries of tropical plant species as well as changing special exhibits from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. $2 to $7. Call 831-2090 or go to www.conservatoryofflowers.org.

• The San Francisco Botanical Garden Society, at Ninth Avenue and Lincoln Way in Golden Gate Park, offers several ongoing events. $7; free to San Francisco residents, members and school groups. Call 661-1316 or go to www.sfbotanicalgarden.org. Free docent tours leave from the Strybing Bookstore near the main gate at 1:30 p.m. weekdays, 10:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. weekends; and from the north entrance at 2 p.m. Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Groups of 10 or more can call ahead for special-focus tours.

Around the Bay

• Cornerstone Gardens is a permanent, gallery-style garden featuring walk-through installations by international landscape designers on nine acres at 23570 Highway 121 in Sonoma. Free. Call 707-933-3010 or go to www.corner stonegardens.com.

• Garden Valley Ranch rose garden is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays at 498 Pepper Road in Petaluma. Self-guided and group tours are available. $2 to $10. Call 707-795-0919 or go to www.gardenvalley.com.

• The Luther Burbank Home at Santa Rosa and Sonoma avenues in Santa Rosa has docent-led tours of the greenhouse and a portion of the gardens every half hour from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays. $7. Dec. 1 and 2: Holiday open house. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. $2. Call 707-524-5445.

• McEvoy Ranch at 5935 Red Hill Road in Petaluma offers tips on planting olive trees and has olive trees for sale by appointment. Call 707-769-4123 or go to www.mcevoyranch.com.

• Wednesdays are volunteer days from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Occidental Arts and Ecology Center at 15290 Coleman Valley Road in Occidental. Call 707-874-1557, ext. 201, or go to www.oaec.org.

• Quarryhill Botanical Garden at 12841 Sonoma Highway in Glen Ellen covers 61 acres and showcases a large selection of scientifically documented wild source temperate Asian plants. The garden is open for self-guided tours from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily. $5 to $10. Call 707-996-3166 or go to www.quarryhillbg.org.

The Trowel Glove Calendar appears Saturdays. Send high-resolution jpg photo attachments and details about your event to calendar@marinij.com or mail to Home and Garden Calendar/Lifestyles, Marin Independent Journal, 4000 Civic Center Drive, Suite 301, San Rafael, CA 94903. Items should be sent two weeks in advance. Photos should be a minimum of 1 megabyte and include caption information. Include a daytime phone number on your release.

MERRILLVILLE | The town’s Environmental Resource Committee serves multiple roles to ensure proper vegetation is being used at developments and town-owned property.

The panel reviews landscaping plans for new developments and redeveloped properties to confirm they comply with town standards, said Matt Lake, the technical adviser for the committee.

The panel of five volunteer members has a checklist that developments must follow before building permits are issued. The committee reviews plant species and the location of vegetation, Lake said.

The panel checks the location of underground and hanging utilities to ensure they won’t be affected by vegetation planted at sites.

Because of the committee, some developers have started approaching the town earlier about landscaping plans, Lake said.

There have been multiple occasions in which there have been preliminary meetings to discuss landscaping ideas before final plans are submitted to the Environmental Resource Committee, he said.

Engineers typically have handled landscaping plans for developments, Lake said. If the engineers aren’t plant experts, the committee has guided them through the process of selecting which vegetation would be suitable for  developments.

The committee also has sought features, such as rain gardens, for developments. If done properly, a rain garden can provide several benefits, including serving as an aesthetic feature, Lake said.

Lake said rain gardens can be used as a “mini detention area” because they can serve as storage areas for stormwater. They also can help remove pollutants from water, he said.

The Environmental Resource Committee also assists Merrillville with selecting, installing and maintaining trees and shrubs on town-owned property, according to a town ordinance.

Providing that assistance has helped Merrillville obtain the designation as a Tree City USA community, Lake said.

Gallery: The most mistletoe-able men in 2012

From athletes to musicians with a few actors in-between, here are twenty men we would gladly meet beneath…

• more »

IF YOU GO on this year’s Magnolia Holiday Tour of Homes, when you get to Jennifer and Elroy Carlson’s house, you’re going to do more than traipse through a charming little house with the perfect urban garden out back. Ring-necked doves cooing in their aviary, puffy Buff Orpingtons scratching at the earth inside the chicken coop.

You’re going to learn a thing or two.

“Aviaries need to be horizontal,” Jennifer instructs. “Birds do not fly vertically. They fly horizontally.” Like that.

There certainly is no moss growing under Jennifer Carlson. Oh, sure, it’s out there between the permeable pavers, but it wouldn’t have a shot beneath Carlson. She designs landscapes; tends bees; teaches garden-to-table cooking classes; illustrates; quilts; makes her own holiday ornaments and teaches others to do the same; sells eggs, lavender products and cut flowers; leads garden tours; spins her Angora rabbit’s fur into fiber; and, in her spare time, is writing a book about sustainable-and-modest living.

I’m sure there’s more, but this will do for our purposes.

“I’ve been thinking,” Carlson says from the dining table of her urban farmstead, surrounded by walls a golden glow. She chuckles. “Whenever I say this my husband knows he just has to sit and listen.”

The Carlsons have lived in their newly remade 1,860-square-foot “contemporary cottage” for a year now. Jennifer, bursting with curiosity and energy no canned drink can provide, spent the nine months of their remodel working on the details with contractor Bob Cole of Bob Cole Construction.

“I grew up with Dutch doors, so we have them everywhere,” she says.

Towel racks are downed Magnolia Boulevard madrona branches. She designed the flower brackets for the stair railings, crafted by Iron Design Center.

In the master bedroom (the headboard is the old fireplace mantel), a white panel is affixed to the ceiling. Carlson hits the thermostat. Heat descends “and it feels like the sun hitting your head and shoulders. Each room has its own thermostat. It was developed by the founder of Skagit Gardens for even greenhouse heat.”

What the Carlsons liked about this house was not the house at all. It was the lot, an actual stone’s throw from town. “I grew up not far from here in Magnolia. And we have always lived near shops and schools and libraries,” says Carlson, a veteran of two previous remodels, mother of two kids, grown.

“The house was very sad. A lot of people had lived here for a very short time, until they could buy their view property. It wasn’t a home. It was a holding center.”

The interior spaces were re-imagined by interior designer Paula Devon Raso. Carlson credits her with the open horseshoe staircase, the fun-to-be-in kitchen and opportunities for light everywhere.

By the way, Jennifer and Elroy met over housework years ago. As neighbors in Ballard. He was fixing the place next door. “I thought, ‘Hey, a cute Swede!’ I gave him some beets. He asked me if I’d like to have some borscht. I said, ‘Sure.’ I didn’t even know what borscht was.

“Our goal here is to say that it’s not the size, it’s the detail,” Carlson says. “We want to be true to ourselves.”

Rebecca Teagarden writes about design and architecture for Pacific NW magazine. Benjamin Benschneider is a magazine staff photographer.

Broad and flat landscapes give an expansive feel and can be experienced in a single glance from any spot. A garden must be visualised not as a two dimensional picture, but as a sculpture – a sculpture in three dimensions. In contrary, to create mystery in the landscape, a typical architectural frame is required.

A strong use of architecture can greatly add mystery to a lush, sensual look of the garden. Architectural elements such as hedges, fences and walls may be used in combination with paths to shape the experience of a vista with a focal point in a negative or positive space to instil drama into the landscape to energise it and bring it to life. An element of curiosity can be introduced for a visitor as he moves through the place. Design aspects can be such that they make him wonder as to what is in store ahead while negotiating the curves and paths of a garden. A well conceived frame work in landscape gives the place its signature and a feeling of seclusion and mystery.

In recent times to incorporate that element of mystery in landscape, the form of labyrinth is adopted by the landscape architects. The notable labyrinth form of landscape is located in the central garden of Getty Center at Los Angeles. The 1,34,000-square-foot Central Garden is the work of artist Robert Irwin.

Planning for the garden began in 1992, construction started in 1996, and the garden was completed in the year 1997. Irwin was quoted as saying that the Central Garden ‘is a sculpture in the form of a garden, which aims to be art’. A maze of azaleas floats in the pool, around which is a series of speciality gardens. More than 500 varieties of plant material are used for the Central Garden, but the selection is ‘always changing, never twice the same’. Labyrinth is a symbol known to exist for at least for 4,000 years. Thought to enhance right brain activity, different cultures and religions have used it as a representation for the journey of life. A hiatus for quite a long period later, the concept of labyrinth is back as a favourite these days and most of the contemporary labyrinths could be found set up in outdoor environment.

In Mahabharata, the labyrinth form called ‘Padmavyuha’ or ‘Chakravyuha’ was used to arrange the soldiers to trap the enemy in warfare. Abhimanyu, son of Arjuna who knew how to penetrate into such an arrangement was killed as he was unaware of the exit route. It has become a popular design element in landscaping throughout the world.

(The authors are architects and can be contacted at ‘archineers212@yahoo.com’)