Michael and David’s Yard
As soon as I began consulting with David and Michael I knew I’d have some fun in their garden. These fellas live on Milwaukee Avenue, which is a historically renovated couple of blocks located in the Seward neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota. With all of the beautiful, well-gardened houses up and down the block from them I was excited to be invited to share my ideas for their landscape.
The first priority for Michael and David was the South side of their property. With a heavily trafficked public sidewalk along the South side these guys wanted to put their best foot forward and present a beautiful space for all to see. After a decade of gardening on their own at home David and Michael asked if I would come in and present some ideas for how to give the space more of a sense of flow.
We decided to go with a sculpted, yet funky feeling for their new garden. As you can see the garden had some very well grown in “architectural” elements such as the full size Korean Lilac, Purple Leaf Sand cherry, and upright Arborvitae. In order to bring these larger elements into context and make it so the eye didn’t have to follow a sharp drop off from these mature shrubs to the ground I suggested the use of some sizable planters placed in front of the existing shrubs. To me seeing these large planters filled with tropical plants creates a beautiful, cohesive, and funky place for the eye to be drawn into the garden. I chose the banana plant in the back planter to compliment both the size and color of the existing shrubs as the purple veins in the banana match perfectly with the leaves of the sand cherry. I particularly enjoy how the banana offers this complimentary color at the same time that it’s broad leaves offer contrast with the finer textured leaves of the existing shrubbery.
Once I’d brought the mature shrubs into context with the use of these large planters, I had only to choose the plants that I would use to create a garden melody throughout the space. In order to tie the space together I planted Japanese Forest Grass, Wild Ginger and Moneywort along side each other throughout the garden. I highlighted some areas with fun shade perennials such as filipendula and astilboides, in addition to using funky part shade loving shrubs like formanek spruce and contorted filbert. One additional melody-creating element added was a variety of annual sweet potato vine called Marguerite. I love to save a bit of space for annuals in my garden beds so that I can enjoy some seasonally or yearly changing spots in the garden.
Once all of the pieces were in place, the compliments started rolling in. Now as David and Michael sit on their front porch, folks walking by can’t help but stop to talk with them about the large tropical planters and the gardens around them. Michael told me the other day that the banana plant must be magical as everyone who passes by it suddenly seems to grow a smile on their face. Stand out pieces such as these bold tropical plants work to lure the passing neighbors eyes in so they may discover the more subtle pleasures that run throughout the garden bed. Helping folks discover the subtle beauty of the natural world is among the most important work that I feel I can be involved in and it’s been a honor to do this important work with such wonderful clients as Michael and David. Thanks Fellas!“A melody is not merely something you can hum”
“Friends do not live in harmony merely, as some say, but in melody”
“Melody is a form of remembrance. It must have a quality of inevitability in our ears.”
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The Seed Vol. 17 July. 20, 2008 A Giving Tree Gardens Newsletter
Photos by Russ Henry ©2008 ,Text by Russ Henry ©2008 by Giving Tree Gardens, all rights reserved.
“No vision and you perish; No Ideal, and you're lost; Your heart must ever cherish Some faith at any cost. Some hope, some dream to cling to, Some rainbow in the sky, Some melody to sing to, Some service that is high.”
Harriet Du Autermont
Plant Profile:
Ensete ventricosum 'Maurelii'
False Red Banana
Big, bold, and beautiful are three words commonly used by folks viewing this tropical beauty for the first time. Growing up to 15 feet tall in temperate climates and 30 feet tall in tropical climes this broad leafed, red veined plant is a striking addition to the Minnesota landscape. Enste is an Ethiopian native that can be grown as an ornamental annual here in our colder northern region. While this "banana" doesn't produce edible fruits, it is used in it's homeland as an important food crop where the locals harvest the stalks and roots of Ensete for use as a major source of starch. In the northland we're able to grow Ensete as annuals outside in the summer and then we can overwinter them indoors by cutting off all of their leaves, thus allowing them to grow new leaves that are adjusted to lower levels of indoor light. I like to use Ensete in large planters where I mix in other tropical annuals such as sweet potato vine to highlight this fast grower.
Giving Tree Gardens in the Co-op news!!!!!
Garden Melodies
What is it that makes some gardens so inviting while other gardens seem like the same old landscaping? Health is a very important factor in making a space seem beautiful, but even some healthy gardens don’t draw in or excite the eye. It is also important for a space to feel balanced. Some folks would understand balance to mean symmetry, but even symmetrically planted spaces can feel out of balance if the yard surrounding the garden isn’t taken into account. New and unusual plantings are yet another way to stimulate a gardener’s eye, but again without the proper context, health, or balance unusual plants may just look out of place. Once a gardener learns to compost, the health of their gardens can be almost assured. Finding balance in your landscape can be a bit more challenging until you learn to view your garden in three dimensions.
Balance is found by making your new plantings come into context with everything that shares the space of the new plantings. To find balance I always look to the tallest elements in a landscape first. The tallest elements are usually trees and / or buildings. A planting that is properly in balance will allow the eye to stair step down from the highest point in the landscape. Often times this will mean having large under story shrubs near trees or buildings, and then shorter shrubs or perennials surrounding the tall shrubs.
Part of what can be discovered in the process of balancing the taller and shorter elements in a garden is a sense of rhythm. This sense of rhythm will play out in terms of height as well as length. Think of your garden for a moment as though it were one of your favorite songs. In most of the songs we like there is a continuous flow of notes arranged into chords and these chords into melodies. If each plant is a note in a song, and each grouping of plants is a chord, then we can see how we can create different chords by grouping different plants. Once a few chord groupings of plants are made it is only a matter of arranging these groupings in a somewhat repetitious matter so as to create a melody.
Some of my favorite music has a sort of raw, un-produced sound. I liken this sound to a natural environment where there is repetition, but never exact repetition so the eye is always surprised in its journeys. Changing the plant groupings somewhat throughout your garden will probably only add to the natural, un-produced feel of your landscape. That visual connection with the natural world could be enough to turn your boring yard into a landscape sanctuary, where just like when we listen to a great song, we can set down our stress and be transported to a world that makes sense.
The formanek spruce above is one example of the type of fun shrubbery that we've used to catch the eye as it travels along the garden border.
These Japanese painted ferns are one of the plants used to add some unique texture and color to our flowing garden melody.
Above, this picture shows some of the full size shrubs, and how they were brought into context visually through the use of large planters. Below the garden before the Giving Tree face lift.
The magic banana! Michael and David recently suggested placing a hidden "banana cam" nearby to capture the changing expresions of all the delighted passers by.
