Botanica Atlanta - Landscape Design, Construction & Maintenance

It could have been the leaf duty that I was roped into while visiting my parents in Athens this weekend, or perhaps it is the tangible change in the air that indicates fall is coming. Either way, I figure that it does not hurt to get a head start on thinking about all of the leaves that deciduous trees will be dropping for the next few months and the options that a person has for dealing with them.

I spent some time studying other gardeners’ opinions and searching for creative solutions for managing the litter that oaks, maples, hickories, and other hardwoods drop on yards this time of year. Unfortunately, my search did not turn up any way to prevent the leaves from falling, but the good news is that there are a variety of strategies (and philosophies) that one can take when it comes to fallen leaves.

The first advice that I came across was in the form of a column written by Liza Field, a gardener who quite enthusiastically defends her decision to allow leaves to loiter permanently in her yard. You may think that she goes a bit far when she describes collecting leaves from other yards along her street, but her basic reasoning is actually quite sound. After centuries of agriculture and development, most of the South’s soils have long ago been stripped of their natural, fertile topsoil, and smothering your landscape with leaves is a way of fast-forwarding topsoil regeneration. Any future perennials, shrubs, or trees that you might plant in your landscape will likely show their appreciation for your forward-thinking generosity.

However, if you are not the type to shove bags of your neighbors’ leaves into a compact car, you still have two excellent options that will allow you to take advantage of the nutrients and organic matter contained by the leaves on your property.

If your leaves have fallen onto a lawn area, you can simply roll over them with a mulching mower. The notion of allowing mulched leaves to sit on top of your dormant grass from fall until spring might seem counter-intuitive, especially since mulch is most often used to cover and block plant growth. Recent research, however, has shown that this practice is not only an easier solution than raking and hauling, but mulching might actually suppress weed populations while enriching your lawn with natural fertilizing nutrients.

On-site composting is a different option that will allow you to reap the benefits of leaf matter, even if you do want to maintain a cleared lawn. Depending on your interest in composting, there are a range of options. To get the most out of your leaves, as well as other plant waste and even food scraps from your kitchen, you can follow instructions to build a proper composting system. If this seems daunting, you can also informally compost by simply raking up your leaves and dumping them into designated “wild” areas on your property.

Though it is certainly the least creative strategy, perhaps the most traditional way of dealing with the annual problem of fallen leaves is by raking and piling them at the curb. Most municipalities offer leaf collection on scheduled dates, and many of these local governments also grind the collected leaves into useful mulch. There is certainly nothing wrong with this strategy, but just remember that, as you see the truck take away your leaves, they are also hauling off the mulching, weed-suppressing, and lawn-fertilizing properties that this resource naturally offers you. When spring rolls around, you probably will end up spending time and money acquiring artificial products that provide the same qualities that you just gave away.

Images and text by Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Image: Andrew&Suzanne

From the time of the Roman Empire, to the villa gardens of the Italian Renaissance, and throughout the history of Japanese gardens, the human race has brought fish species into many of its gardens. The garden fish, perhaps epitomized by the showy koi, is cherished as a bearer of color, movement, and life in a designed landscape.

Although an ichthyologist would certainly tell you that a fish is an animal, in the contained landscape of a garden a fish has many of the qualities of a plant. Unlike other animals that you might find in a garden, including birds, chipmunks, and even frogs, a fish is the one animal that is incapable of leaving its habitat. Garden fish are fixed – or perhaps “planted” – by the gardener.

Just like plant selection, when deciding what fish might best complement your garden, there are many carefully bred species and varieties to pick from. Each of the many options has distinct appearances, qualities, and needs.

The Comet Goldfish

Images: Sheffield Tiger, Lina Smith, and Julie Goldy

One of the most popular garden fish, the Comet is an active, long-bodied goldfish that is well-suited for outdoor living. This variant of goldfish typically has the orange flame coloration, though Comets can sometimes be found with white or even red and white scales. The silhouette of this fish is defined by its single and deeply forked tail fin that resembles the streaming tail that trails a comet as it moves through space.

The Fantail Goldfish

Images: M. H. Stephens, Steven Maw, and Annie Roi

This goldfish variant has a shorter and plumper body that is almost egg shaped. Its coloration is similar to the Comet, but its form is defined by its showy, split tail fin.

The Oranda Goldfish

Images: Haree Eyes, Bill Frazzetto, and Fuzzy Thompson

The Oranda can have a wide range of scale colors, and this fish is available in orange, red, black-and-white, red-black-and-white, and even blue. A mature Oranda is immediately recognizable by the intensely colored, bumpy growth on its head. This feature, called a “wen,” often makes the Orandas look as if they are wearing a bright red cap on their heads.

The Black Moor Goldfish

Images: Norman Baboo, M. H. Stephens, and Benson Kua

Black Moors can be recognized immediately by their bulging, “telescopic” eyes and black coloration. Their scales range from velvety black to black with a bronzy sheen.

The Koi

Images: Minarae, Mar-Law, and James Laing

The koi, though often mistaken to be a large breed of goldfish, is actually a species of ornamental carp. Beginning in 1820’s Japan, koi have been carefully bred for almost two-hundred years, and as a result they are incredibly showy fish. They can be found in almost every color, including orange, yellow, white, blood red, cream and blue, and many fish have hybridized combinations of those colors.

Koi are often more aggressive than goldfish varieties, and they also have a longer lifespan, regularly living two or three decades. The longest living specimen is said to have lived 226 years, though I would guess that you should not count on your garden fish to survive quite that long.

There are many important considerations that you must consider when selecting fish or fishes for your garden. Before acquiring any fish, I would recommend consulting with books or specialists to see what fish are “hardy” in your climate, or else you may have to collect and over-winter the creatures inside your home.

Additionally, it is of great importance that the new habitat, whether a pond, lake, fountain, or outdoor aquarium, is properly designed to meet the specific needs of the fish you might select. The recommended volume, depth, and aquatic plantings will vary with each type of fish. Consider incorporating a small waterfall or fountain into your fish’s new home, as these features oxygenate the water and make for a healthier habitat.

In my experience, the inclusion of fish is one of the most overlooked means of improving a residential landscape, as the presence of fish can be a unique, valuable asset to any garden. As with plant selection, careful consideration of your options and their impacts is a better strategy than diving right in.

Image: Linux Librarian

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

This month’s Garden Design published an article that covers a one-of-a-kind art experience that is put on annually in London, England. One of the city’s prominent art museums, the Serpentine Gallery, sets up a temporary pavilion on its lawn every year. The pavilion lawn is adjacent to Kensington Gardens, which was once a private, palatial garden and is now one of the largest public green spaces in central London. The magazine article, appropriately titled “Summer Temp,” highlights Peter Zumthor, the internationally renowned Swiss architect who was selected to design this year’s pavilion, and the article gives a description of the structure that he created.

Images: Garden Design

In his own words, Zumthor articulates the inspiration for his pavilion in the following sentences:

“A garden is the most intimate landscape ensemble I know of. It is close to us. There we cultivate the plants we need. A garden requires care and protection. And so we encircle it, we defend it and fend for it. We give it shelter. The garden turns into a place.

Enclosed gardens fascinate me. A forerunner of this fascination is my love of the fenced vegetable gardens on farms in the Alps, where farmers’ wives often planted flowers as well. I love the image of these small rectangles cut out of vast alpine meadows, the fence keeping the animals out. There is something else that strikes me in this image of a garden fenced off within the larger landscape around it: something small has found sanctuary within something big.

The hortus conclusus that I dream of is enclosed all around and open to the sky. Every time I imagine a garden in an architectural setting, it turns into a magical place. I think of gardens that I have seen, that I believe I have seen, that I long to see, surrounded by simple walls, columns, arcades or the façades of buildings – sheltered places of great intimacy where I want to stay for a long time.”

Images: John Offenbach

I find Zumthor’s pavilion design intriguing, and I find the emphasis that this architect has placed on the garden to be novel. From my interpretation of his writing, the garden stands at the center of his concept, and his entire pavilion symbolically protects this green heart. His writing and the pictures of his pavilion are quite remarkable, and I can only imagine what it might be like to explore it and appreciate it in person.

After reading this article, I started thumbing through images of pavilions from previous years. There were two observations about the Serpentine Gallery’s Pavilion project that I found especially noteworthy. The first is that, despite the fact that these structures only stand on the museum lawn for a few months, their character is quite permanent. Built of such durable materials as steel, concrete, glass, and wood, the construction and subsequent dismantlement seems quite demanding. This hard work, though, is not done in vain, as the yearly visitation can be as high a 250,000 visitors in just one summer season.

The second and most remarkable characteristic of these pavilions is that each architect who was selected has come up with an unprecedented, truly creative work. Looking at the eleven pavilions that have been built since the Gallery’s tradition began in 2000, it is hard to draw any comparisons among them. Not one has resembled a pavilion that came before it.

Images: World Architecture News, Philippe Ruault, Hélène Binet, and Love Architecture

The pavilion architects are unhindered by most of the basic programming demands that typically thwart the full realization of a designer’s vision. Such concerns as bathrooms, fire escapes, HVAC systems, and broom closets, which are requirements of habitable structures, are not required in these pavilions, and the result is a fluid, pure expression of an architectural concept. The finished product is bold and beautiful, albeit fleeting. But I believe that, though the walls come crashing down after a period of weeks, the architectural experience of each pavilion lives on in the sensual memory of each visitor for years to come.

Images: Iqbal Aalam, Love Architecture, and Iwan Baan

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

The human eye delivers an inestimable and invaluable wealth of information to the brain at every given moment. As urban planner Gordon Cullen describes it in his book The Concise Townscape, “We turn to the faculty of sight, for it is almost entirely through vision that the environment is apprehended.” The eye passes this critical visual information an inch or so back to the brain, and this biological phenomenon allows us to perceive almost everything about our surroundings, including distance, texture, and color.

Image: B. Bubble

To the inhabitants of a landscape every object has a color, and to all of these perceivers each color carries unique social and cultural connotations. When surrounded by the color blue, for example, many of us think cooling thoughts of water. Perhaps the color green calls to your mind calming, refreshing thoughts of spring. Pastel blues often symbolize baby boys and pastel pinks represent baby girls. The color red can be associated with a wide range of meanings, from love and affection to anger and even blood.

Images: Joey Lim, Fabrice Rose, and Jeremy Brooks

Beneath this range of cultural color associations that we all carry with us, studies in color psychology have shown that humans connect with different colors on an even deeper, more subliminal level. Exposure to color can alter our moods, intensify emotions, and even strengthen or weaken our spirits. For example, various studies have shown that red, the same color that we may culturally associate with love or anger, can increase feelings of desire, aggression, and appetite. Studies have shown that blue, the natural color of very few foods, can reduce feelings of hunger. Greens have been found to cause feelings of comfort, calm, and rejuvenation, which is perhaps how the historic color for a theater’s backstage “green room” was selected.

Perhaps the clearest demonstration of the impact that an environment’s color can have on the human spirit involves the color pink. Some evidence has indicated that the color pink calms the muscles, relaxes the mood, and even reduces aggression. Decades ago, a clever football coach at the University of Iowa read about these theories and ordered the visiting team’s locker rooms to be painted pink. The only evidence that his strategy worked, that he was able to weaken the opposing players before the game even started, is anecdotal, but the practice has since caused much controversy. Interestingly enough, some prison wardens have since adopted this technique to successfully pacify especially violent inmates.

If seeing is so important, then the designers of landscapes must be vigilant in their selection of plants, materials, and exterior finishes. We must take into account the cultural, psychological, and even physiological implications that colors carry with them. What impact will color have in your garden and in the mind of your visitors? With a little research and careful consideration, it is much more likely to be positive and long lasting.

Images: Sam Valentine

By Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

My goal in last week’s post was to give the reader a clear understanding of wrought iron: its history, composition, and unique aesthetic value. This week I will shine the same spotlight on another type of iron that is often mistakenly described “wrought.” The focus of this article is cast iron.

Images: Stephani Bachman and Cattoo

I admit that it is somewhat strange to think about cast iron as a “new” technology, especially as its first appearance for structural purposes roughly coincided with the birth of our nation. In the scheme of things, however, iron has been with us for several thousand years, and we have only known how to efficiently cast it for a few centuries.

The development of the cast iron process was a huge leap in technology. Whereas every single component of a wrought iron structure had to be heated until red hot and then laboriously hammered, twisted, or bent into a desired form, the technique of casting iron is comparatively simple. Only one original object – a fence post, a manhole cover, or a frying pan – needs to be created. From an original, heat-resistant molds are then made, and finally, molten iron is repeatedly poured into these molds and allowed to cool, thus replicating the original form over and over again. For this reason, the casting of iron was as much of a breakthrough to metalwork as the development of the printing press was to the written word.

The trick, the only thing that had hindered this process from coming around sooner, was the availability of lots of coal and the design of a furnace that could get hot enough to liquefy iron.

It was in the late 1770’s that perhaps the first large-scale iron structure was built near a town fittingly named "Coalbrookdale." This structure, known officially as “The Iron Bridge,” was constructed by several trailblazers in furnace technology. The bridge was built to span a 200-foot gorge, and though it was completed in 1779, it still stands today.

Image: Phil Parsons

Cast iron structures are modular; they could be put together from a repeating combination of prefabricated components. At that time, bolts were not common place, so the cast iron was fit together much like wood joinery, which was the only structural precedent the builders had to look to at the time.

Images: R. P. Marks and Pete Reed

Like wrought iron, the aesthetic and stylistic properties of cast iron have been influenced, if not defined, by the process that makes them. The repeating cloned process is capable of capturing intricate details and complex patterns that a blacksmith would dread hammering, and it almost always does so without monotony, as I have never seen a cast iron fence that I found monotonous or boring. It is in this detailing that a piece’s quality becomes apparent. When compared to modern, off-the-shelf cast iron patterns (which, these days, are actually more often hollowed steel or even aluminum) there is a major gap in richness. When comparing fences, they seldom have the sturdy, hefty posts and detailed bevels, motifs, and forms that were incorporated in cast iron fences up until the middle of the twentieth century.

 Images: UGArdener and Torrey Wiley

Whether cast or wrought, ironwork has a considerable impact in the landscape. In both residential and urban settings, this material, and the many shapes it can take, states with pride that it is of an earlier time. Sometimes it is stated in the sense of style or craftsmanship, detailing done in a level of quality and skill that has been all but lost. Other times the age of the piece can be biologically determined, by looking at a century-old tree trunk that has fused itself into the rails and pickets of a fence.

The tree, of course, yielded to the metal frame of the fence because it is a growing organic organism, but I feel that this phenomenon serves as a symbol in the landscape. Just as this grotesque growth proves that the fence predates the centenarian tree, it will likely outlive those people that have enjoyed its beauty. Ironwork lends character to a landscape by speaking to a visitor in a language that is rare, but understood by all. In the landscape ironwork speaks of an earlier time.

Image: Peter Hawman

By Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

“Huzzah! Her sides are made of iron!” a sailor reportedly exclaimed.

Image: Anton Otto Fischer

It was August 19, 1812 and the British HMS Guerriere was trading gunshots and cannon blasts with the USS Constitution. America’s USS Constitution, which would – from the moment of that exclamation forward – be nicknamed “Old Ironsides,” was a warship named by George Washington and put together with copper fittings that were forged by Paul Revere. Much to the concern of the HMS Guerriere at the time, she was also manned by a crew of more than 400, armed with around fifty cannon, and shielded with a twenty-one-inch thick hull that was in fact wood, not iron. This tough hull was constructed with materials from  several different tree species, but perhaps most significant were the shallow-arced and unprecedentedly tough members cut and milled from southern live oak trees in St. Simons, Georgia.

Back on dry land, in the coastal regions of the Southeast, to be specific, southern live oak (Quercus virginiana) is one of the most distinct plant species in the landscape.

Image: Al Benas

The low-sprawling, convoluted, and gnarled branches of the southern live oak give the species an easily identifiable and visually powerful “architecture”. The tree’s form is able to dominate landscapes in a way that few other species can.

A large part of the visual character of live oaks has little to do with the trees themselves. The humid, warm areas of the continent where southern live oaks take on their best form also happens to be a perfect growing climate for Tillandsia usneoides, the organism that we refer to as Spanish Moss. A botanist or ecologist would inform you that Spanish moss is actually not a moss at all but instead a type of suspended plant called an epiphyte that absorbs its nutrients from rain, dust, and air. They also might tell you that the relationship that this draping, ghostly gray-green plant has with the southern live oak is defined as commensalism. This means that the Tillandsia benefits from its relationship with the tree, while the Quercus is neither harmed nor benefited. Judging by the strong association that we humans hold between the two plants, and the way that the dramatic, billowing stems can play tricks on our eyes at twilight, I would certainly say the tree benefits as well, even if only in the eye of the beholder.

Images: Kelly Johnson and Gail Des Jardin

As with most trees of any lasting value, southern live oaks are not fast growers. In fact, many of the specimens that we admire for their ancient character are nearly a century old, if not older. But these are trees that we must plant for our children and grandchildren, not only for ourselves.

It is not easy for me to think of a tree species that has more of a visual weight and aesthetic dominance in a landscape than Quercus virginiana. When I picture the southeastern coast, it is the baroque beauty of southern live oaks that comes to the foreground of my mind. These trees dominate any landscape in which they grow, just as they dominate my picture of the entire region, and surely there is a good reason for that.

Image: Gloria Manna

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Image: James Morley

Trees. Shrubs. Perennials. Annuals. Can you spot the garden plant missing from this list? It is often easy to leave vines off of your planting list, but these sprawling, climbing organisms are one of the most flexible, fast-growing, and potentially beautiful plants that can take root in your garden. The varying species of vines, ranging from roses to cucumbers, have much to offer a landscape, and they are able to bear fruit, blossom in vibrant colors, create shade cover, and provide visual interest.

Now that you are excitedly pondering what vine species you will plant to add life to your garden, there are a few important concepts that I would recommend you consider first:

First off, if you want to ensure the success of your new plants, you should make sure that the vine you select is known to flourish in your specific plant hardiness zone.  [To determine your garden’s plant hardiness zone check out the interactive map at PlantMaps.com.]  Depending on what region of the country – or perhaps what part of the world – your plant is native to, its success in northern Georgia, largely described as “Zone 7b”, may vary. If you are planning to train your climber on a trellis or wall, it may remain evergreen through most winters, it may die to the ground in cold months, or it might not survive at all, and the plant’s success can pretty accurately be determined by comparing its native zone to your own.

Image: Graham Keen

Next, I would consider the growth rate of the vine in relation to your intended use. Semi-transparent wall covering? Quick, dense coverage of a trellis or pergola? One great strength that is unique to vines is that, when given a structure, they will generally grow to match that form. Trained onto the right structure, a climber can provide a large amount of visual beauty and shade, even growing to cover and cool a wall from a modest container planting on a hard patio.

Finally, I would recommend that you assess the vine species’ method of climbing. Different vines have different specialized parts which they use to climb up vertical faces and gain sun exposure, some even using thorns as grappling hooks. Others twist around, adhere to, or spiral up anything they can grasp, and a rare few species even stick invasive feelers under the bark of a tree and covertly climb under the skin. Each of these various climbing mechanisms will have different implications for fences, walls, trellises, and trees that the vines might be scaling.  

 Image: Kai Yan

As some vines grow, they twine their stems around a support. This group of vines, which includes Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) cannot climb smooth vertical faces such as board fences or brick walls without the assistance of a trellis.

Image: Matthew High

Other vines, including Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans), put out winding petioles or tendrils to aid in their race to the top. Similar to twining vines, these vines require the help of a ladder to climb smooth surfaces, but they have no trouble covering picket fences or shrubs.

Images: Mark Kent and Donna Runner

Perhaps the most recognizable biological mechanism that vines use to scale walls are clinging roots. Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea petiolaris) and Creeping Fig (Ficus pumila) are some of the most beautiful examples of these aerial-rooted vines, but the invasive English Ivy (Hedera helix) is probably the most widespread and memorable.

Any gardener who has spent time pulling the woody, non-native English Ivy off of their fences, down from their trees, or even out of their garden beds has learned the lesson of planting too aggressive of a vine. In my opinion, the easiest way to avoid experiences like this is to give preference to native plants which are less likely to get out of control.

Vines are versatile, forgiving, and beneficial plants. If given sunlight, water, and some occasional pruning, they can provide you with flowers, fruit, and shade. When trellised over a patio, a deciduous vine will block the hot summer sun’s rays, but the same vine can also allow warming light to penetrate during winter. Allowing vines to trail over a pathway arbor can imitate the canopy of a tree-lined walk. Vines truly are shape-shifting plants that possess great landscape value.

Image: Brett Woodvine

 Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Even a speck of common sense tells us that the shortest way to get from one point to another always takes the path of a straight line. Following a meandering road that zigs left and zags right is surely less efficient than taking a direct route. We hold these truths to be self-evident.

Images: Goat Mountain and S. Cholewiak

When you encounter a serpentine brick garden wall – also called a “crinkle-crankle” or “ribbon” wall – it is natural to extend this same logic and deduce that the winding curves are as equally inefficient as a meandering path. You may also observe that, despite this apparent structural inefficiency, a curving wall has several aesthetic advantages to a straight brick wall. The wave-like form provides visual interest, lends a soft edge to an outdoor room, and creates a rhythm of pockets that can be used for ornamental planting and sculpture.

However, when you carefully study them, you might realize that these walls are deceptive structures. Contrary to its inefficient appearance, a serpentine wall actually requires fewer bricks than a typical garden wall to withstand toppling. Due to the indirect footprint they follow, serpentine walls are in fact longer, but because they can be built to a thickness of only a single brick they are ultimately more economical. The looping, playful footprint actually serves to reinforce the structure and keep it from tipping.

Engraving by Peter Maverick (1825) from Thomas Jefferson’s plan

Years after he authored the Declaration of Independence, and served as our country’s first Secretary of State, second Vice-President, and third President, Thomas Jefferson incorporated serpentine walls as a dominant feature of his design for the University of Virginia. His historic nineteenth-century plan for the campus indicates rows of buildings fronting onto a rectangular quad, and each of the building’s rear yards is enclosed with garden walls. If you look closely at the plan you can discern the squiggling lines that represent these serpentine walls.

Images: S. Cholewiak and UGArdener

Though the aesthetic of this type of wall is not appropriate in all landscapes, I find that the undulating edge condition created by a serpentine wall can complement some garden spaces much more nicely than the straight lines of a typical wall. A few states south of Jefferson’s garden walls, a beautiful example of serpentine walls can be seen at the University of Georgia’s Founders Garden, which is named for the twelve founders of the Ladies’ Garden Club of Athens, the first garden club in the United States. Only a few steps from the classrooms and studios of the country’s largest landscape architecture program, two vine-covered garden walls snake their way through lush planting beds and lend soft edges to the formal lawn space.

Meandering roads are never the shortest, but they often provide a more pleasant, scenic experience. In the case of the serpentine wall, gardeners can discover a tool that is historic, economical, and offers great aesthetic potential.

Image: Goat Mountain

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Rain falls from the sky and onto landscapes of the Southeast on more than one-hundred days each year. That averages out to almost one out of every three days that your garden receives precipitation, and I find that most landscapes fail to reach their grand potential on these days. Rainfall is something ephemeral, natural, and beautiful. More importantly, rain is something that is absolutely critical to your garden’s soil health and your plants’ survival.

In the civilized world of man – where cold is blocked by synthetic-lined jackets, heat is doused by air conditioning systems, and the sun’s rays are blocked by rooftops and polarized glass – we tend to associate the occurrence of rain with feelings of discomfort and inconvenience.

Image: Bruno Hautzenberger

To plants, however, rainfall is quite the opposite. When the first plump, wet drop of a coming storm falls onto a plant’s leaf, it is a moment to celebrate. As the raindrop’s mile-long freefall ends abruptly by crashing into a leaf, the shaking of that leaf might as well be a ringing dinner bell. Precipitation provides a plant with sustenance, and an ample rainstorm ensures a plant’s survival for days, if not weeks.

So how can you properly honor a rain event in your garden? Unfortunately, the typical solution that is employed on most properties involves collecting the stormwater into drains and quickly channeling this fluid into underground pipes that spit it directly into the local storm sewer. Though this default strategy does accomplish one necessary task – the protection of your house from flooding – the solution lacks creativity and it certainly far from natural. Failing to wisely control and harness the sometimes violent accumulation and movement of rainwater can lead to the erosion of your garden’s soil and can have a larger scale detrimental impact on the ecological health of your local streams and rivers.

Images: Sam Valentine, Jeff Curtis, Avis Adams, and Thiago Souto

Artistic downspouts and rain-chains are excellent ways to delineate the path of water as it flows from your roof to your landscape.

Collecting this water for use, also known as “rainwater harvesting,” is one excellent strategy for conscientiously dealing with precipitation on your property, but harvesting your fallen rain is more than just a courtesy to your local environment. These rain catchment systems – which can range from a simple rain barrel connected to one of your existing downspouts to complex underground cisterns and irrigation systems – can help your garden survive through periods of drought and even government-enforced watering bans. (For more detailed information on rain water harvesting, study up on earlier Botanica Atlanta posts categorized under Water Management, including “Planning for a Dry Summer” and “Harvesting Rain Water”.)

Images: Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center and Local Ecology

I advise a combined strategy of exhibiting rainwater and harvesting it in your garden, as exemplified by the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center. A research unit of the University of Texas at Austin, the Center is a pioneering agency in a region where rainfall is only a fraction of that in the Southeast. The Wildflower Center surely practices what they preach, and their facilities include a water harvesting system that collects 10,200 gallons of useful water for each inch of rainfall. Furthermore, one of the architectural centerpieces of their garden is an aqueduct that is cleverly designed to double as a vine-covered arbor. An example such as this one, along with historic design precedents like Spanish runnel irrigation, offers plenty of design inspiration for collecting rainwater and delivering it to needy plants, while at the same time visually demarcating the journey that this precious liquid takes through your landscape.

If you have a 2,000 square-foot single story home in northern Georgia, your rooftop will intercept more than 62,000 gallons of water in an average year. What do you plan to do with yours? With so many options available, I advise that you not just let it go down the drain.

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Image: Steve Johnson

Earlier this week I was flipping through a landscape history book and I was reminded of an eighteenth-century English garden that still has much to offer to today’s gardeners. Elizabeth Barlow Rogers’ book, Landscape Design, was once my college textbook, but it now serves me as an excellent resource for both historic perspective and design inspiration. The garden, or – as such outdoor spaces were called at the time – the “landscape park,” was being successively designed, constructed, and redesigned by England’s most influential landscape designers more than half a century before a certain colony declared its independence from England.

The succession of famed designers included Charles Bridgeman, John Vanbrugh, William Kent, and even Capability Brown. What these celebrated designers collectively achieved was a landscape that was not only beautiful and lushly planted, but also a creative work that told stories, conveyed meanings, and even inspired emotion. The entire property is a network of paths, plantings, open spaces, water features, and – perhaps most notably – architectural follies that come together to employ what Rogers calls a “metaphorical program.”

Images: Nigel Green and Nigel Coomber

If you have heard the term “architectural folly” used before you may know that it is a loose term used to describe any structure that is built primarily for the purpose of decoration. In other words, a folly is a large-scale conversation piece. At Stowe, the landscape included more than a dozen of these structures, including a pantheon of celebrated politicians, Roman and Greek temples, and sham ruins of a Gothic cathedral. Each of these structures served to enrich a view, spark curiosity, and, as is the case with many of them, celebrate a British cultural theme.

Now, you may or may not have a few hundred acres and a royal budget to create your own personal landscape park, but you certainly have a story that you wish to tell. Think of your life, your personality, and your family, and ask yourself what symbols you might incorporate into your garden to represent themes that define your life. Many contemporary gardens are adorned with classic sculpture, found objects, or beautiful artwork.

Images: Sam Valentine, Jim Watkins, Marcos Filesi, and Mike Mariano.

Garden objects are essentially nothing less than smaller architectural follies. Consider the infinite range of options that are available to you, including items already in your possession, off-the-shelf retail products, and specially commissioned artwork. Incorporating these items into your garden will not only increase the aesthetic beauty of your landscape, but they will also help you to create a richer, more meaningful outdoor realm.

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP