GARDEN DESIGNERS ROUNDTABLE : SMALL SPACE GARDENING

 The blog post below is from my former blog Sweet Home and Garden Chicago.  I had a typical small city garden and specialized in designing them as well for other clients.  I was contacted recently by Joe Lampl of the PBS show Growing a Greener World to ask if he could use this article for a presentation he was giving in Canada.  Being the generous person I am of course I said yes :-)

I used to be a member of the Garden Designers Roundtable before moving to North Carolina. You can follow the many talented members and their great articles at http://www.GDRT.wordpress.com



                       

First word of advice :  If you have a small garden you need a small dog.  Just kidding. But do keep dogs out as they and gardens do not mix.  Unless its Jojo,  my mini-Schnauzer and garden companion.  I've taught her the difference between a flower and a weed and she is ever so mindful of them. Plus, she keeps the rabbits, possums and racoons away.  Well, most of the time.  She missed a bunny the other day that ate my asters down to the ground. 

For June's Rountable posting I am using my small city garden as an example to show the unity, creativity and texture I try to bring to each of  my designs. There are endless possibilities in designing a small space and while there are no set rules there are guidelines that will help you avoid the pitfalls along the way.  

It's a very short walk from the public sidewalk to my front porch so making the entrance to my century-old American Foursquare as inviting as possible was my first goal.   A container with seasonal color flanks the stairs and a  Japanese maple, ' Autumn Moon ', brightens the small corner planting bed on the right.  Every inch of space is packed with long-blooming perennials and annuals that provide color, texture and interesting foliage.  And BTW,  I've planted everything in my garden myself, including the trees, so it is truly my creation.

A path swings around to the back garden entrance and a  beautiful pink climbing rose graces the fence.  You can see how little space there is between houses.  My  neighbor's large bold-leafed Oakleaf hydrangea draped on the fence shares its  blossoms .

I had a client that planted thousands of dollars of annuals in her garden each year just for the wow factor.  It looked like Disney World !  I could fill my garden with mostly annuals for instant glamour but being an avid gardener I enjoy seeing perennials that I love come into bloom.   April and May is for tulips and daffodils, June is for roses and lilies, July for Phlox and Blackeyed Susans, August for Sedum and Asters, September for Mums, etc.  .  But how the garden looks when it's not in bloom is key to a good design and in a small space every plant must do its job.  Plants with interesting texture or form, colorful foliage that's effective even when not in bloom, evergreen shrubs that give year round interest, and colorful annuals will make your small space garden a delight.  Mine is so tightly packed with my favorites that a weed finds it difficult to enter and eliminates the need to mulch.

Below is the layout of my front garden made to go along with my last will and testament  which may give you an inkling of how I feel about  it.  And this is just the front.  My somewhat larger rear garden is my real paradise.

I encounter a lot of weekend warriors searching for ideas to use for their own small urban gardens and have enjoyed helping many of them at Gethsemane, Chicago's best garden center .  My advice to them is do your research before buying a single plant. Know how much sun/shade you have, your soil, the size of your plot, preferred style -formal or informal, plant likes or dislikes, etc. and how much maintenance you're willing to do.  Allocate a budget and try to stick to it.  Be prepared to put in a lot of sweat equity as well. 

In today's economy more  homeowners are doing their  landscapes themselves, whereas they would've hired a designer before the recession hit.  For these brave souls I say go for it but remember that a great garden starts with thoughtful planning.   Read gardening books and check out the many garden websites offering advice.  Take a stroll and seek out gardens that please you.

 Get in touch with the designer inside and turn that small space into your pride and joy.   The secret to a good garden is not how big or small it is but how you use it.

In his garden every man may be his own artist

without apology or explanation.

Each within his green enclosure is a creator

and no two shall reach the same conclusion ;

 nor shall we, any more than other creative workers

 be ever wholly satisfied with our accomplishment.

Ever a season ahead of us floats the vision

 of perfection and herein lies its perennial charm.

-Louise Bebe Wilder

For more on small space garden design visit these members of the Roundtable:

Jenny Peterson at http://www.jpetersongardendesign.com/
Laura Livengood Schaub at http://www.interleafings.blogspot.com/
Lesley/Robert at http://www.hegartywebberpartnership.wordpress.com/
Shirley Bovshow at http://www.shirleybovshow.com/
Susan Morrison at http://www.garden-chick.typepad.com/
Susan Schlenger athttp://blog.landscape-design-advice.com/
Tara Dillard at http://www.taradillard.blogspot.com/

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April Fools

Chicago and North Carolina are both capricious when it comes to weather.   This is my second April here and I'm discovering the ups and downs of the Middle South climate-changes from one extreme to the other and so sudden and frequent. April has fooled me this year with its cold and warm days.   And as I read ' Miz' Elizabeth's My Southern Garden I find her words to be so true :  " In the South the progress of the season does not follow the accepted pattern of spring, summer fall, and winter.  Spring, when spring should come, has already been with us at intervals throughout the winter.  Summer lasts into fall, and fall into winter.The garden year has no beginning and no end. "

Spring has indeed been with us this year throughout the winter, teasing us here and then with some nice warm sunny days .  I planted a winter veggie garden in my deck containers and they survived some very frosty mornings .  March was not as warm as the previous one but nevertheless it enticed me to wander out to the garden center in search of more plants.    I planted up my raised bed garden on the deck with pak choi, a chinese celery, leeks, green onions, mustard greens, savoy cabbages and chard and they are doing well.  Some chilly nights I have to wrap them in their blankets.

My first deck garden which I planted last season in early April .  I had an abundance of harvest from the container of herbs ( upper left ) all summer and the only vegetable I planted were two tomatoes that gave us an ample supply. 

 

As my four year old granddaughter Lea and I walk around and see the various blooming shrubs and trees  I point them out by name.   " Oh, look at the " forsinthia " bushes, Grandma, " she declares, " aren't they gorgeous ? "    She knows and loves the pear and cherry trees that are blooming all over Chapel Hill .  

On this what promises to be a bright, sunshiny day in April  with temperatures in the mid-60's I think I'll venture out once again to the garden center to see what will call my name.   Any day now it will be suddenly summer and I've got to be ready.  My little renter's garden in front is peaking out from its winter doldrums - the roses are looking good and I actually saw some growth on the Lantana .   I'm going to add some colorful annuals this Spring .  This may be the month or year I finally sell my Chicago home and move closer to getting one here.   It has been a real emotional roller coaster and lifestyle adjustment but I'm confident that once I get settled into my own home and plant my own garden I can thengrow along with it.

Transforming Space and Culture-Creating Inspiring Frontyards

Here is my article published in the March 2013 issue of Carolina Gardener.

Carolina Gardener Magazine March 2013

I'm tickled pink ( no pun intended ) to have my first article on garden design published here in North Carolina.  Isn't that a lovely cover with the gorgeous pink coneflowers ?  It's one of my favorite flowers  .

 Transforming Space and Culture -Creating Inspiring Front Yards is the title of my article and I will reprint it here when next month's issue comes out so that I won't be in conflict with the publisher. Of course if you live in North Carolina you can pick up a copy .

The March issue is outstanding and chock full of some great articles, including one by Nan K. Chase whose home and garden I visited during the Springfling in Asheville last May.

FEBRUARY IS A MONTH OF PROMISE AND DISAPPOINTMENT

As Elizabeth Lawrence so aptly states in MY SOUTHERN GARDEN,  "  The special charm of a Southern Spring is its earliness, it is as long drawn out as it is sweet. " In the midst of of January I was elated to have two days of Spring-like weather that compelled me to visit the Arboretum and Botanic garden where I saw numerous trees and shrubs in bloom and the foliage of daffodils and other bulbs peeping out of the ground.

This lovely Japanese camellia was in bloom at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh during my mid-January visit.

Although we had some extremely low temperatures in the teens that damaged tender plants in the garden , the last week of January had days so warm that strong winds and thunderstorms arrived early and caused damage to trees and power lines.

As the Carolina Spring comes in February and this is my second one here I am slowly adjusting to the transition from long Chicago winters in which I wasn't able to get outdoor until April or May.  Here I take each day as it comes -temperatures in the 50's and 60's are frequent and I eagerly throw on my jacket and go out to smell the fresh air and watch Spring unfurl in the cherry and apricot trees, the Forsythia, Quince and Hellebores.  

I am still amazed that I am able to tend my deck container garden in winter and have spent days watching my vegetables and herbs grow .  A few nights I had to move some of them to the garage and others were covered with blankets but they all survived.

It's great to clip mustard greens in the middle of winter. When I get my forever home I will definitely plant and tend a vegetable garden year round because I find it so rewarding.

As Spring comes in February in Carolina I welcome it with open arms on this first day as I wander out into the garden this morning to chase away the ever present creeping charlie that is the bain of my  existence.

Gardening in the New Year

It tickles me whe I recall shovelling  snow in my Chicago yard and hear my neighbor who's doing the same ask " Global warming - where is it  ? "   My first winter in North Carolina had me so spoiled -hardly a day below 50 .  I knew it was way above normal and was warned not to expect it this year but, excuse the pun, new ideas , like seeds, began to germinate in my head.  I would never dare to think them back in Chicago but with the number of freezing cold days here being very limited I could plant a winter herb and vegetable garden.  Of course I had to have a portable one and be ready with the row covers but that was well worth the risk.

So now I am pleased with my pots of savoy cabbages, kale, chard, garlic , bay tree, and herbs that line my back deck. To have something growing in the dead of winter brings great joy to this otherwise gray season.

Snow has not fallen this winter and we've been teased with a few mild days in the upper '50's.  Then came mid-January and the weekend was in the mid-70's for 2 whole days.  What bliss to feel the warm sun on my face and back.  I headed outside and discovered that Creeping Charlie had started to peep up above the layers of mulch in the front yard flower beds and I spent an hour digging it out.  

January also brings an amazing number of trees in bloom and with the mild Spring-like weather I headed out to see some of them at the Raulston Arboretum in Raleigh. 

 The Xeric garden with its tropical palms and succulents was amazing -just seeing its greeness delights .

 But the Japanese garden with its blooming cherries, apricots and camellias was the most delightful of all.  Even without a flower or tree in bloom it would've been just as enchanting with all the natural elements that make up its foundation.

The Spring-like weather is behind us now and the bleakness of winter returns with its gray days but there is joy in knowing that the real Spring is not far away.  Back in Chicago the arrival of a robin was a sign of Spring, but now when I see them it reminds me that they, like me, are home in the sunny South.

A Christmas Memory

My two sisters and I were finally old enough to go home to our Dad after 6 years in the nearby orphanage where we lived when our mother passed away.  My 18-year old brother Cecil was away, serving in the Korean war .


Far from the nearest town , our log cabin on a hill in rural Northern Alabama was nestled in a forest of evergreens -pine, cedar , holly and fir. It was home to many critters - wild turkey, guinea fowl, ducks, fox, squirrel, rabbits, possum, racoons, and songbirds .  In what little spare time we had it was our favorite place to explore and play.  

My sister Wilma was 14, I was 10 and Linda was 9 and we were expected to take on the chores . Life on the farm without a mother was hard and we didn't have any experience .  We learned to plant and harvest the vegetable garden . We canned green beans, tomatoes, okra, beets,peaches, applesauce, apple, grape and strawberry jelly and corn.  Sweet potatoes and Irish potatoes were stored in the shed for winter . We prepared crocks of sauerkraut to be eaten with bacon and ham.  We churned butter and made buttermilk.  We grew everything we ate except for the large sacks of cornmeal , flour, sugar and lard  that we bought on our monthly trip to the town grocer.

Chickens provided fresh eggs daily and fried chicken on Sundays, the cow's fresh milk and the pigs bacon, sausage and smoked ham. Fruit and nuts were used for making pies, jams and jellies. 

My  sisters and I went to church in town every Wednesday and Sunday. Younger sister Linda and I would say a special prayer every Christmas for the thing we wanted most : Snow. But our prayers went unanswered for many years and we were beginning to wonder if what they taught in church was true.  We also prayed that our brother Cecil would be safe and return to us.

 With no money to buy gifts we had to be very creative. I  sewed a sock doll for Linda , wove a bracelet for Wilma, and made handkerchiefs for Dad and we drew and colored our own Christmas cards.

Each day I would go into the woods to get pine and holly to decorate the house. I also gathered hickory nuts, pecans, chestnuts and walnuts. We had a huge fireplace that heated the house and a crackling fire where we'd gather and read Christmas stories and the bible.

The night before our first Christmas in our own home Linda and I once again prayed for snow. We jumped in bed knowing full well that such a miracle would never happen.

Christmas morning we awoke to the smell of Wilma cooking breakfast. Instead of the usual grits in the bowls on the table there was something very pure and white that looked a lot like ice cream. Linda and I both stammered in surprise : " Ice cream for Christmas ? " No, sillies, " Wilma replied, " Go look outside. "

We opened the door to a most wonderous sight. Every tree wore a sparkling dress of white . Snow ! I was beginning to think that it was something I'd only read about in books or seen in movies like White Christmas that my brother took me to see.  We put on our coats and went outside to experience the magical mysterious white flakes falling from the sky.  

The next day the snow was gone, but Linda and I agreed that our first white christmas was the best we'd ever had and we were finally convinced that there was a God .  The following Christmas our brother Cecil came home safely from Korea which further proved that prayers did work.

This childhood memory brings to mind the words of the country song " someone said that Wall Street fell but we were so poor we couldn't tell . "   We were blessed that we were able to make a living with the sweat of our brow on God's good earth.