Florence Boogaerts’ talent as a landscape designer is nowhere more apparent than at her hillside home in Cos Cob. Her garden has drawn countless visitors on garden tours for many years. With help from her late husband, architect John Boogaerts, she built the bones of the garden from the plentiful supply of stones on the property. Florence Boogaerts then put her planting magic into play.
Boogaerts has visited the world’s gardens in Europe, Asia and beyond, and when she’s not incorporating what she has learned into her clients’ gardens, she’s teaching it in her classes at the New York Botanical Garden. To learn more about her work as a landscape designer, Greenwich Time asked her a few questions.
Q: What initially inspired you (and why) toward landscape design?
A: I grew up in New Orleans, where the heat, humidity and bugs did not inspire me to garden! It was not until I was living in Manhattan, of all places, that I became interested in gardening. Two events occurred. A friend and I took on a section of Central Park and raised money to replant it. It was an exciting experience to make something more attractive that would be appreciated by so many people. At the same time, I planted trees all along our block as a surprise for my husband for his birthday. The press coverage of `Mr. Boogaerts Birthday’ brought me my first job — planting trees for the Lauder Foundation on the Upper East Side.
Q: When did you become a landscape designer?
A: I started work as a landscape designer in 1988. I had studied architecture and art history at Tulane University. When my interest in garden design began, I took classes at the New York Botanical Garden and obtained a certificate in landscape design. In one of my classes on garden history, I realized that I would rather teach the class than take it. Now, I do teach design and history classes there.
Q: Where has most of your work taken you? What are you working on now?
A: I work on residential projects, large and small, in Westchester and Fairfield counties. There have been some that have taken me further afield. One was in St. Maarten, which was a lovely job necessitating a whole new plant palette.
Q: What is the creative process of a landscape designer?
A: The needs of the client come first. Sometimes, people cannot express what they want, therefore it is my job to help them. What do they really want the garden to look like? The site considerations such as shade created by trees, type of soil, terrain and rock outcrops all contribute to the design decisions. And yet each job is different. Is the garden going to look completely natural with native plants? Is it going to be a design statement and will it enhance the architecture?
One creates the structure of the garden first, and then the plants are selected. It is a complicated process as the growth habits of each plant has to be considered. Does it like dry soil or wet, sun or shade? How fast does it grow? What is its ultimate size? Will it live in our climate?
The creative process is a series of decisions with two goals. I want both client and plant to be happy.
Q: What other landscape designers have inspired your work?
A: A collaboration I have admired is that of the architect, Edwin Lutyens, with his strong sense of design and Gertrude Jekyll, a great plants woman and colorist. Their work together is a combination of the strength of carefully crafted stonework and terracing enhanced by the subtleness and joy of carefully chosen plants. Their work has the ease, strength and beauty also seen in a ballerina. The gardens of the Mughal Empire were filled with music, flickering candles, fragrance, food and dance. The designers may be unknown — but the pleasures of these gardens are an inspiration.
Q: If you had to choose three notable gardens or landscapes as your favorites, what would they be?
A: There is much it to admire within three great schools of garden design: the Italian Renaissance, and the Japanese and English gardens. Villa Lante in Bagnaia, Italy is one of my favorites. It must have been a splendid garden for a party. It is all about the symbolism, spaces and the proportions. Katsura in Kyoto, Japan is the most photogenic garden I have visited. It was designed so that every step you take your feet are in the right place and everywhere you look the view is perfected. Hestercombe in England by Luytens and Jekyll, with its splendid design, incorporates the vistas of the English countryside.
Q: What garden or landscape do you have on your horizon to visit?
A: I have returned to Japan four years in a row and plan to go again this fall. Both the stroll gardens and the dry landscapes have been a revelation to me. The refined design that is evident not only in the gardens but also in the presentation of food, in clothing and architecture is endlessly inspiring. Scotland is on my list for next summer and the gardens of Spain would be wonderful to see.
Traveling with gardening friends is one of my greatest pleasures.
On Sept. 15, Florence Boogaerts will lead a Horticultural tour of the late David Wierdsma’s French Farm at 516 Lake Ave. as part of the Greenwich Historical Society’s “Frolic at French Farm” event. For more information, visit www.greenwichhhistory.org or call 203-869-6899.
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