GARDEN ARCHITECTURE
Joan Katherine Shaw
Secluded Walk, DragonGoose Farm, North of the Main House
Sissinghurst Garden – a Most Perfect Garden
One of the most loved and most beautiful gardens in Britain is the Sissinghurst Garden in Kent, England, now owned and operated by the country's National Trust. The property dates back to the Middle Ages and its name, Sissinghurst, is Saxon, meaning "clearing in the woods." The garden – actually a series of gardens set off by walls and the ramains of a moat – was originally created by The Honorable Victoria Sackville-West and her husband, Sir Harold Nicholson. Although the estate was still in fairly good shape in the mid-1700s, by the time Sackville-West and her husband bought the it in 1930, the place was pretty much a ruin except for the twin towers. A wonderful site for exploring the gardens remotely can be found here.
The gardens of Sissinghurst have been an inspiration to gardeners everywhere which is a good thing, but we all can't have castle ruins and leftover moats around which to plant our gardens, not to mention the twenty or forty acres the gardens encompass. So what do we do?
It's possible to have a reasonable approximation of a serene and beautiful garden – indeed, a gem – in even very small city lots, given a careful placement of trees and other architectural enhancements. And this without completely bankrupting ourselves. Aside from trees, privacy walls of stone or wood, brick or stone walks, smallish statues, and hanging baskets of one kind or another can lend an enormous amount of beauty and coziness to an otherwise bare backyard.
Brick walks, for instance, are easy to lay, with instructions for doing so in every home improvement store, many local nurseries, and even in supermarket magazine racks. The photo at the head of this page shows a favorite of my former assistant, Shirlaine Zeyer. It's a rather secluded walk through a shady area featuring a river birch and a planting of the variegated form of Bishop's Weed (Aegopodium podagraria). (A determination of mine to tear out the invasive bishop's weed was vigorously vetoed by Shirlaine the moment I mentioned it.) Another use of bricks is shown at left, with Feverfew and nodding bellflowers (Campanula persicifolia) spilling over onto the bricks.
This walk extends all the way around the house, the bricks opening out to the west facing brick herb garden and, to the east, fanning out into a wide patio. We started this walk some twelve years ago, adding to it by fits and starts until its present size. It's not finished yet, though I don't participate in the building anymore, not having either the knees or the hands to handle the construction. But I love the look of brick and I'm looking forward to extending the walks in just about every direction on the place as long as I'm able to issue orders.
The Use of Trees
Ten years ago we started a small copse in the middle of a largish lawn north of the main house. The trees were tiny and some of the shrubs about as small as was possible to find in pots or bare root. The Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca 'Conica'), a dwarf evergreen that grows at the most to ten feet, were the smallest possible – in one gallon pots. It's possible, by means of comparing the dwarf Alberta Spruces pictured at the right with the bench situated in the middle of the line of trees, to see how much they have grown in ten years.
The bare, winter branches leaning out between the evergreens is a Manchurian Cherry bush, planted bareroot the same time as the trees. Also in the copse are more cherries and small trees – Sargeant Crabs, Chestnut Crabs, Chokecherry trees, and a Golden Chain tree – as well as some rose bushes of various types. We also planted at the time three doomed Arborvitae (Thuja), which our resident deer promptly ate down to the nubbins. We give thanks that the animals don't appear to like Alberta Spruce because, ignoring the problem of an electrified fence surrounding the three acre garden, they come up the driveway like four-legged golf carts. I fear an automatic gate is in our future which will surely inconvenience anyone who happens to come up the drive after dark.
The point in showing the growth of these small trees into something fairly impressive is that it's possible to start out with a bare lot and build up an archetecturally impressive space which is both a joy to experience and the backbone of a interesting and climatically diverse planting area. It just takes a little time and patience.
Big trees are also useful as an architectural enhancement, such as this Norway Spruce pictured at the left. This tree, now relatively towering to about the height of the roof of the main house (it's about forty feet north of the house) was also small when planted as a bare root seedling acquired with a group of trees we ordered for our windbreak. We went out in the same misty rain I spoke of above to take this photo and in a rainy, half-snow-covered January day, without the crisp contrast of white snow, the trees hardly look at their best. However, their size can't be faulted. Meanwhile, we're still hoping for a good snowfall. Perhaps the snow is waiting for May – I wouldn't be surprised with the kind of unusual weather we've been having.
Statuary ...
Aside from St. Elizabeth of the Roses (described in the previous essay), and a few small statues of a
nimals like geese, an otter, a duck, and a
rabbit – not too much considering the nearly three acres of garden we
have at DragonGoose Farm – we've recently acquired a Celtic
cross, pictured at right. This
cross was included in the Pyramid
Collection catalog, (available here). It was surprisingly
inexpensive at sixty dollars, and stands about three feet tall. It
makes a nice focal point and
I'm looking forward to finding a permanent home for it come the spring,
preferably against an evergreen for contrast.
... And Arbors
More later,
Photos -
Arbor photo by Larry Cannon
All others by Joan Katherine Shaw
One of the most loved and most beautiful gardens in Britain is the Sissinghurst Garden in Kent, England, now owned and operated by the country's National Trust. The property dates back to the Middle Ages and its name, Sissinghurst, is Saxon, meaning "clearing in the woods." The garden – actually a series of gardens set off by walls and the ramains of a moat – was originally created by The Honorable Victoria Sackville-West and her husband, Sir Harold Nicholson. Although the estate was still in fairly good shape in the mid-1700s, by the time Sackville-West and her husband bought the it in 1930, the place was pretty much a ruin except for the twin towers. A wonderful site for exploring the gardens remotely can be found here.
The gardens of Sissinghurst have been an inspiration to gardeners everywhere which is a good thing, but we all can't have castle ruins and leftover moats around which to plant our gardens, not to mention the twenty or forty acres the gardens encompass. So what do we do?
It's possible to have a reasonable approximation of a serene and beautiful garden – indeed, a gem – in even very small city lots, given a careful placement of trees and other architectural enhancements. And this without completely bankrupting ourselves. Aside from trees, privacy walls of stone or wood, brick or stone walks, smallish statues, and hanging baskets of one kind or another can lend an enormous amount of beauty and coziness to an otherwise bare backyard.
Brick walks, for instance, are easy to lay, with instructions for doing so in every home improvement store, many local nurseries, and even in supermarket magazine racks. The photo at the head of this page shows a favorite of my former assistant, Shirlaine Zeyer. It's a rather secluded walk through a shady area featuring a river birch and a planting of the variegated form of Bishop's Weed (Aegopodium podagraria). (A determination of mine to tear out the invasive bishop's weed was vigorously vetoed by Shirlaine the moment I mentioned it.) Another use of bricks is shown at left, with Feverfew and nodding bellflowers (Campanula persicifolia) spilling over onto the bricks.
This walk extends all the way around the house, the bricks opening out to the west facing brick herb garden and, to the east, fanning out into a wide patio. We started this walk some twelve years ago, adding to it by fits and starts until its present size. It's not finished yet, though I don't participate in the building anymore, not having either the knees or the hands to handle the construction. But I love the look of brick and I'm looking forward to extending the walks in just about every direction on the place as long as I'm able to issue orders.
The Use of Trees
Ten years ago we started a small copse in the middle of a largish lawn north of the main house. The trees were tiny and some of the shrubs about as small as was possible to find in pots or bare root. The Alberta Spruce (Picea glauca 'Conica'), a dwarf evergreen that grows at the most to ten feet, were the smallest possible – in one gallon pots. It's possible, by means of comparing the dwarf Alberta Spruces pictured at the right with the bench situated in the middle of the line of trees, to see how much they have grown in ten years.
The bare, winter branches leaning out between the evergreens is a Manchurian Cherry bush, planted bareroot the same time as the trees. Also in the copse are more cherries and small trees – Sargeant Crabs, Chestnut Crabs, Chokecherry trees, and a Golden Chain tree – as well as some rose bushes of various types. We also planted at the time three doomed Arborvitae (Thuja), which our resident deer promptly ate down to the nubbins. We give thanks that the animals don't appear to like Alberta Spruce because, ignoring the problem of an electrified fence surrounding the three acre garden, they come up the driveway like four-legged golf carts. I fear an automatic gate is in our future which will surely inconvenience anyone who happens to come up the drive after dark.
The point in showing the growth of these small trees into something fairly impressive is that it's possible to start out with a bare lot and build up an archetecturally impressive space which is both a joy to experience and the backbone of a interesting and climatically diverse planting area. It just takes a little time and patience.
Big trees are also useful as an architectural enhancement, such as this Norway Spruce pictured at the left. This tree, now relatively towering to about the height of the roof of the main house (it's about forty feet north of the house) was also small when planted as a bare root seedling acquired with a group of trees we ordered for our windbreak. We went out in the same misty rain I spoke of above to take this photo and in a rainy, half-snow-covered January day, without the crisp contrast of white snow, the trees hardly look at their best. However, their size can't be faulted. Meanwhile, we're still hoping for a good snowfall. Perhaps the snow is waiting for May – I wouldn't be surprised with the kind of unusual weather we've been having.
Statuary ...
Aside from St. Elizabeth of the Roses (described in the previous essay), and a few small statues of a
nimals like geese, an otter, a duck, and a
rabbit – not too much considering the nearly three acres of garden we
have at DragonGoose Farm – we've recently acquired a Celtic
cross, pictured at right. This
cross was included in the Pyramid
Collection catalog, (available here). It was surprisingly
inexpensive at sixty dollars, and stands about three feet tall. It
makes a nice focal point and
I'm looking forward to finding a permanent home for it come the spring,
preferably against an evergreen for contrast.... And Arbors
Arbors
also lend architectural interest, especially in defining different
"rooms" of a garden. In the photo at below right, my husband's then
department head's teen-aged daughter (seen through the frame of the
arbor) was playing ball with one of the younger children at an outdoor
celebration of my husband's birthday. The arbor has the added advantage
of being wide enough to allow not only my golf cart and rider mower
through, but our Dodge Ram 50 pickup, filled with branches and
other garden debris.
This photo was taken two years ago. On the arbor, the two roses, 'John Cabot' on the left and 'William Baffin' on the right, have by now tripled in size. These two roses are climbers bred for cold weather, part of Agriculture Canada's Explorer series.
The almost red 'John Cabot' with its loosely double blossoms and strong, thick canes, is one of the most hardy climbers in our garden. It has no die back to speak of (except for one year of drought when the sprinkler system was not yet put in – cold it can take, lack of water it can't take). 'William Baffin' is equally cold hardy with its light pink blossoms, also loosely double, and with equally strong thick canes. The sprinkler system, finished shortly after the birthday party, has made a world of difference in these two climbers. It's also made the iris in their walk go wild, but more about that later.
I should mention three other roses included in the Explorer Series: three excellent shrub roses, the deep pink 'Alexander McKenzie', the beautifuuly sprawling, blush pink rose, 'John Davis', and the butter yellow 'J. P. Connell', all now flourishing in other parts of the garden.
This photo was taken two years ago. On the arbor, the two roses, 'John Cabot' on the left and 'William Baffin' on the right, have by now tripled in size. These two roses are climbers bred for cold weather, part of Agriculture Canada's Explorer series.
The almost red 'John Cabot' with its loosely double blossoms and strong, thick canes, is one of the most hardy climbers in our garden. It has no die back to speak of (except for one year of drought when the sprinkler system was not yet put in – cold it can take, lack of water it can't take). 'William Baffin' is equally cold hardy with its light pink blossoms, also loosely double, and with equally strong thick canes. The sprinkler system, finished shortly after the birthday party, has made a world of difference in these two climbers. It's also made the iris in their walk go wild, but more about that later.
I should mention three other roses included in the Explorer Series: three excellent shrub roses, the deep pink 'Alexander McKenzie', the beautifuuly sprawling, blush pink rose, 'John Davis', and the butter yellow 'J. P. Connell', all now flourishing in other parts of the garden.
More later, Joan Katherine Shaw
February
2006
Photos -
Arbor photo by Larry Cannon
All others by Joan Katherine Shaw
Some
on-line sources for
roses:
Arena Rose Company
David Austin Roses Limited
High Country Roses
Jackson and Perkins
Roses of Yesterday and Today
Vintage Gardens (a source of more than 3,000 different varieties of roses)
Wayside Gardens, South Carolina
White Flower Farm
A few on-line sources for statuary and arbors:
Design Toscano
The Pryramid Collection
Frontgate
SmithandHawken
Tree Sources:
Forest Farms
One Green World
More on roses:
A Miniature Rose Garden in Utah
Cascading Roses
Old White Roses
Prolific Climbing Roses for the North
Roses of the Middle East
Some Tough but Elegant Roses
Three Favorite Roses
Dreaming of Roses
Cottage Gardens with Roses
The Charm of Single Roses
Roses After Christmas
Arena Rose Company
David Austin Roses Limited
High Country Roses
Jackson and Perkins
Roses of Yesterday and Today
Vintage Gardens (a source of more than 3,000 different varieties of roses)
Wayside Gardens, South Carolina
White Flower Farm
A few on-line sources for statuary and arbors:
Design Toscano
The Pryramid Collection
Frontgate
SmithandHawken
Tree Sources:
Forest Farms
One Green World
More on roses:
A Miniature Rose Garden in Utah
Cascading Roses
Old White Roses
Prolific Climbing Roses for the North
Roses of the Middle East
Some Tough but Elegant Roses
Three Favorite Roses
Dreaming of Roses
Cottage Gardens with Roses
The Charm of Single Roses
Roses After Christmas
Click for excerpt of Joan Shaw's The Uncle and
Other Stories Click to
enter American
Rose Society site
Designed and Produced by
jkshaw@bridgernet.com
Member:
American Rose Society
American Horticulture Society
National Wildlife Federation
National Arbor Day Society
The Nature Conservancy
Member:
American Rose Society
American Horticulture Society
National Wildlife Federation
National Arbor Day Society
The Nature Conservancy
All contents copyright (c) 2000-2006 by Joan K. Shaw.
All
rights reserved.