How Do You Classify A Garden?

Gardening in this new millennium, has become a very different creature to what it once was. In some ways this is an oddity - gardening as a craft being at its core, so basic and archaic, is so intrinsically separate from technology.

But technology has had its effect though - through the development and use of new materials and technologies but also through the spread of ideas via the internet and media.

A Plant Dominant Indigenous Garden

There is more discussion taking place today about gardening and about what defines a garden than has ever taken place before. This conversation is occurring between professionals and hobbyists, intellectuals and labourers.

Out of this conversation, a question I've been asking myself lately is -

'How do you classify a garden?'

Even as I write that, I can hear some people saying, "Why would you even want to classify a garden? A garden is something to be appreciated and felt, and admired."
That is all true, but I see so many types of gardens, from all over the world that it is becoming harder to fit them into the traditional definitions that I'm used to, and as a result, harder to understand.

I believe that people take comfort in our ability to divide and classify the world and put it into nice neat little boxes. In some ways it even makes us human - this ability to define something.

Gardening as an art-form, has not been spared this need to separate and define. Formal, Contemporary, English Country, Eastern, Natural, Wild, Indigenous, Zen...the list goes on and on.

A Structure Dominant Wild Garden

With this classification of gardens into types, and because of the continual segmentation, and the blurring of lines, I believe there exists a need to define gardens in more general terms.

To explain, I'll use an example that we as gardeners are familiar with - just as a particular plant has a Genus, and is then divided into its species, the Species of gardens (i.e. Tropical, Minimalist, Formal) need to be grouped together into Genera.

This is necessary, not for the sake of classifying for classifying's sake.
But rather as:

• a way to clear up miscommunication between client and designer.
• a tool for teaching and passing on knowledge in clear terms.
• a spur to push designers and gardeners to try something different, and venture into new territory.

The most obvious way of defining, would be to look for the defining dominance in the design of the garden.

• Plant dominant - Where the garden's essence is about the plants themselves (Tropical, Indigenous/native, English Country, Natural, Collector)
• Concept dominant - These gardens revolve around an idea or concept(Zen, Feng Shui, Modern)
• Structure dominant - These gardens have strong shape and/or geometry (Formal, Contemporary, Minimalist)
• Function dominant - Where the function of the garden takes precedence (Lawn for playing, Parking Area, Patio)

This defining dominance would be primarily visual - it would be the character of the garden that unifies it or makes it stand out. It could also be intellectual - a garden built around an idea or concept that may or may not be immediately obvious, but that was the guiding principle behind its design. (e.g. Jenck's - Garden of Cosmic Speculation)

A Structure Dominant Formal Garden

But gardens are not always so easily put into their respective boxes, and here is where the Linnaeus analogy becomes inadequate. The gardens themselves may fall into more than one of the above groups. For example, a typical tropical garden at its essence is built around particular types of plants (Plant Dominant), but if the structure of the garden dominates, it could also be Structure Dominant. As to which is truly dominant would become a more subjective matter.

To use a more specific example - many of Gertrude Jekyll's garden's would have been strongly Plant dominant, but with Sir Edwin Lutyens' architectural input, they also had a very strong Structure dominance.

I see the practicalities of this idea being in creating a concept that makes communication clearer and simpler between client and designer, student and teacher, and between various professions relating to the gardening industry.

Gardening has been an art that has been nurtured by the hands of amateurs through the ages, and has at times, and in various cultures been analysed by the mind as well as the heart, but as the world gets internet-smaller, and communication happens across the globe, the thought processes behind garden design will and should become more apparent and utilised by the lay-person and professional alike.
For this reason, I believe that it would help if we spoke in similar terms.

Planning Your Garden 3 - Factors Affecting Style

One of the first things, that I do when I am called in to landscape a garden, is to ask my client what their preferences are when it comes to styles for their garden. Most people haven't given it much thought before I ask the question.

There are several factors which influence the style, even before our preferences enter the picture:

The architecture probably has the biggest effect on how your garden should look. A cottage garden might not be ideal surroundings for a modern or contemporary building, however a minimalist feel might be far more harmonious with that type of structure.

The second biggest influence would most likely be the climate of the area. While not impossible, a tropical fern garden in the desert would require a lot of work to keep it looking good.

Another big factor would be the conditions on site. Is the area small or large; is it steep or level; is the soil predominantly clay or just plain sand? What does the surrounding vegetation or neighbouring properties look like. All these are questions that need to be answered before our particular tastes are addressed.

With the above influences in mind, the next step is to consider the individual tastes that make us who we are. Here are just a few things to think about:

• Are you happier in a neat and ordered space, or do you prefer a little bit of wildness around you?
• Do you want to relax, or play in the space?
• Who will use the garden mainly?
• Have you got time to work in your garden or do you just want to admire it without the physical work involved?
• Are you wanting to attract wildlife into your garden or is that not even a consideration?
• Do you want to grow food, or are flowers essential?

If I were to ask all these questions when I first meet a client, the meeting would feel more like an interrogation. So I will often look at the interior of the house or building, the predominant colours and interior styles in order to get an idea of their tastes. Besides, a garden should be a reflection to an extent of the people who use the space, so most times, an informal discussion gives me more of a clue as to the personality of a person, and by extension, the type of garden that they would like.

Green With Envy Garden Show Pics

I've really enjoyed doing this show - the challenges are what appeals to me most. Trying to make a garden in a too small space, having 3 mainly rainy days to create something that looks like its been there for a while, and of course - a very tight budget.















This show has also confirmed some of my landscape leanings. I've realised that I love contrast. If I was to get philosophical I'd say it's because I live in an amazing country with such stark contrasts, and obvious beauty. But its really that I think the beauty of one plant/ texture/ colour/ material is hardly appreciated without something to contrast it with.





The theme was "The French Courtyard" which I've assumed was a very loose one. But I decided to take some of the aspects that are typical French garden (statuary, clipped hedges and Lavender), and plant wild-looking indigenous Euphorbias and Aloes alongside. In the process, I think, the individual qualities of the plants are enhanced.








The design was based around three inter-linking circles, with different materials, textures, styles, and plants in each. Even with my use of hard materials - I've used rough natural stone and smooth Tuscany cobblestones.

I've always had a tendency towards a more contemporary style of garden, but when designing for others, and specific sites, I'm wary of over-riding other peoples tastes with my own.

Behind The Scenes - Courtyard Garden

Don't be fooled, a small garden can be just as much work as a big garden. There have been several reasons, but this project has taken nearly 6 months to complete. Thats a long time for a space that is only 3m x 3m!

This was part 3 of a bigger garden project that we had completed about a year ago. My clients had a small courtyard built onto their bedroom, to give them their own private garden. The brief was quite straightforward:

1. A place to sit with a small table and chairs
2. A waterfeature - along the lines of a letterbox type water feature

We discussed a few options, looked at several books and magazines, and finally settled on a basic style. It would be quite a contemporary formal garden, with a touch of an oriental feel. We would lay a white concrete floor, with white pebbles around the border.
The budget was quite tight for what was needed, but provided everything went according to plan it would be fine.

This was the blank slate:

The work progressed in stages:
1. Subsurface preparation
We laid irrigation pipes and electrical conduit. The irrigation for the entire garden would be run from the unit on the wall in the left-hand corner.
The irrigation, lights and pumps would all need electricity. This created quite a few boxes in the corner that would need to be screened, but still with easy access to plugs and controls.

2. Adjusting of walls and steps
The existing step was too high, and was subsequently chipped away and re-built. Also, the pillar in the center of the facing wall would need to be removed for the water feature that would be installed in the center.

3. Laying the concrete base
Once the builders had finished in this area, we positioned boards around the edges of the soon-to-be concrete slab, and began pouring our concrete. This was then roughly levelled, and left for a few days to harden, before the boards were removed.

4. Building the water feature
The water feature wall was built from brick. The stainless steel chute which would form the sheet of water, had been made up a week before. This had to be installed perfectly level. Even if it is slightly out, the sheet of water coming out would very obviously be skew. The pipes were all joined up, and then connected to the reservoir below.
The test run with a hose pipe connected into the system is always an anxious moment, but the water feature worked according to plan. The top of the wall was then closed up, and plastered.

5. Screeding the surface
We used a combination of white cement and very light sand, so that the concrete screed would be as close to white as possible. Because of the amount of time needed to dry, and the fact that this was our rainy season, we had to wait until the weather man was predicting a dry couple of days. The first chance we got, we carefully screeded the whole surface, and left it over the weekend to dry.
Unfortunately, the final result was a little cloudy, and not entirely white. It did look quite a nice natural sandstone colour, but wouldn't give the necessary final white look that we were looking for.
We chipped it all up, and re-laid the screed. This time fortunately, the colour was a lot more even, so we let it harden for about 10 days before anyone was allowed to walk on it - not that the dogs agreed to that though!

6. Planting
Getting the planting right would be most important, in that I wanted to soften all the walls without closing down the space. I installed trellises on the sides to blur the boundaries of the courtyard a little, and in so doing, make it seem slightly bigger than it is.
I had 3 plants in mind from the start - Bamboo, Arum and Maple. These plants all suited the contemporary, slightly oriental feel, that I wanted to create. Alongside these, I planted Bergenia, Imperata Cylindrica (Red Baron Grass), Tulbaghia and Gardenia. I also planted Jasmine (Trachelospermum) to climb the trellis. Both the Gardenia and Jasmine have beautiful scents.
I planted the Maple in 2 pots on either side of the step - this would also help screen the electricity and irrigation boxes in the corner.

I wanted to add some statues into the courtyard, that wouldn't be too overpowering, and would suit the overall feel. I had seen these dog statues, right in the beginning of the project, which I thought would be perfect, showed a photo to my client, and she agreed. We placed these on pedestals on either side looking into the center of the garden.

After a few weeks, my client called to say that she was a bit disappointed that the concrete would go so dark when it was wet (which was most of the time due to the regular rain that we were having). After a bit of investigation, I discovered a sealer that could be applied to the concrete which would prevent this from happening. I was given the go ahead, and we rolled it onto the surface. It did lose some of the brightness, but at least the colour would remain constant regardless of whether the concrete was wet or dry.
A few days later, white patches began forming on the surface after any rain - the company which supplied the sealer were at a loss as to why this would happen, and suggested that I try waterproofing the surface with an epoxy. We took their advice only to find that it still appeared under the surface. It has improved slightly after a few weeks, but is still there.

Apart from one or two hiccups, the finished garden has turned out exactly how I had planned - the water feature wall was painted a burnt red to tie in with the bedrooms colours. This made all the difference in finishing off the garden.

Behind The Scenes - Art Deco

It doesn't happen often, but every now and then, I visit a garden and have a design in mind for it from the moment I see it. This was one of those times.
I had been asked years ago by the previous owners, to give a quote to clean up this garden that surrounded a beautiful art deco home. They never took my radical advice on cleaning up the overgrown nightmare that had become their garden.

Then a couple I had done some landscaping for at their previous home, bought the place and called me in for some advice. They had already made the bold decision of removing most of the plants in the garden, and as a result, had been on the receiving end of a few disapproving looks from their neighbours.

We spoke about their needs from the garden. Privacy and security were big issues, as the house was surrounded by the road on all sides except one. They also wanted a relatively low maintenance garden that would also be a fun place for their 2 children to play and grow up in.

The biggest influence on the design was the strong art deco building, which sat strongly in the middle of the plot. The garden was also roughly split into 3 levels with a pool on the bottom level. The garden felt quite physically disconnected from the house - there was no easy flow from the house into the garden, but was still well connected visually. The terrace and windows all looked down onto the garden from above.

The garden definitely suited a Burle Marx approach to the design - with very strong curves, bold colour combinations and textures that would be appreciated even more when looked down at from above. My clients were fortunately quite trusting, and were happy with the initial sketches.

The budget for the garden was quite limited, with the restoration of the house taking obvious priority. We dug trenches and installed irrigation to lower the long term water costs and maintenance requirements. We had to drop the levels above the pool, and used the soil to raise and level the area around the pool.

I drew lines on the ground to mark out the grass and planting patterns, and then laid the grass. We kept the existing Cycads and Cycas as feature plants, and used quite tropical style plants. They were planted in groups that contrasted with each other in order to emphasize their outstanding qualities. Some of the bright, bold plants that were used - Bromeliad, Heliconia, Alocasia and Sanseviera. We planted about 8 palms around the building to bring down the scale of the building, which would also not hide the uniqueness of the house.

These pictures were taken 6 months later:

Update: I have revisited this garden in a more recent post.

A picture speaks a 1000 words

I thought the best way to start off the blog would be to use some pictures. I obviously have my own preferences when it comes to style, but I always try to plan a design around 3 factors:

1. The specific site, architecture and surrounds
2. The clients needs and wants
3. Something new or interesting to add some originality

All too often, I see garden designers working to a formulaic style, with the same plants, used in the same way every time. To a certain extent this is affected by the client, who's reference point is generally the gardens seen around their neighbourhood. However, it is the responsibility of the landscaper to educate, and sometimes stretch the client, by introducing new ideas, concepts, plants and materials.

South African garden design is definitely in need of some stretching - there are some great international designers that we can learn from. From the sometimes outlandish Diarmuid Gavin, to flowing tropical Burle Marx, and water-coloured Gertrude Jekyll.

If there is a South African style garden, it would be the use of indigenous plants in a fairly natural way. But even this can be developed further.

The following are pictures of some of the gardens that I have designed. Each of them were as different as the clients that I designed them for.