Botanica Atlanta - Landscape Design, Construction & Maintenance

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

 Image: Andy Coan

Take a walk through the streets and gardens of Savannah, Beacon Hill, Georgetown, or New Orleans, and you cannot help but notice the subtle, structural beauty of ornamental iron. In historic fences, lampposts, balcony balustrades, and even boot-scrapers you will find this classic, dark material pounded and molded into various shapes and done so in a range of styles.

Both wrought and cast iron have great aesthetic value in the landscape, but the differences between these two materials should be properly recognized. Their titles are often used interchangeably, but in this week’s and next week’s posts I will try to clarify these two distinct materials, as well as highlight the unique strengths and limitations associated with each material.

Images: Tristan Savatier and A.B. Mann

Mankind began working with wrought iron thousands of years ago, and its importance should not be understated. Wrought iron gave the Roman’s spears, medieval knights’ swords, and revolutionary colonists’ rifles. The material also formed fasteners and fittings for the ships that allowed Europeans to explore and ultimately conquer the North American continent, and it produced the horseshoes and wagon axles that enabled American settlers to move west across the continent.

The iron alloy that was heated, hammered, and cooled to make up this wide variety of objects has a low carbon content and a high presence of slag. These fibrous slag inclusions not only give wrought iron a visible “grain,” similar to that of wood, but it also makes the material less prone to rusting than many other iron alloys. Perhaps the best demonstration of this quality can be seen in the Iron Ashoka Pillar in Delhi, India. The twenty-three foot tall, six-ton pillar is reportedly made of ninety-eight percent wrought iron, and archaeologists and metallurgists hypothesize that it is this chemical composition that has kept it intact even after 1,600 years of exposure to the elements.

Images: Ryan Gallagher

So how can you distinguish wrought iron from its sibling, cast iron? If you know what to look for it is actually quite easy. When you inspect a piece try to imagine if its form could be created by heating and then hammering, twisting, or otherwise warping an iron bar. On the other hand, anything that looks carved or molded, especially reliefs seen in floral-themed medallions or agricultural-inspired motifs, is probably cast iron.

Images: TheFadedPast, Bob Segal, and Sam Valentine

Wrought iron reached its heyday in the mid-nineteenth century, but after the 1860’s it began to fall in popularity as cast iron and steel became more easily attainable. The amount of objects that are made from wrought iron today is quite small, which is due to both a limited supply and the custom nature of installation. However, as a quick Google search will show, there are many off-the-shelf, mass-produced products that still falsely claim to be “wrought iron.”  

Other than historic cases, there has been very little wrought iron work done in the last fifty years. A notable exception to this rule is the work of metal sculptor Albert Paley. Though he has worked in many metal media – gold, bronze, Cor-ten steel, and stainless steel – it is his work in wrought iron that I find most captivating. Paley employs the same techniques that blacksmiths developed for millennia before him, but he gives it his own twist. As a result, his work is both unmistakably wrought but undeniably new.

Image: Joseph Watson (Sculpture by Albert Paley)

Next week, I will go into a similar amount of detail on cast iron. In the meantime, please tell me if there are any wrought iron structures that you especially admire. Also, if you have any questions about the distinction between the two materials, please ask in a comment below.

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Imagine your home without one of its rooms. Can you imagine cooking without a kitchen? Would you feel well-rested without a bedroom where you could properly sleep? Could you live without a living room?

Picturing your house without one of these important spaces probably conjures ridiculous images of sleeping on the couch and washing dishes in your bathtub. Every room in your house provides you and your family with a specific purpose: an area to relax, a place to bond with family and close friends, a destination where you can retreat from stress. And yet many homes lack one important type of space.

Image: Lachlan Hardy

Every garden is composed of one or more distinct, contained spaces. Landscape designers and garden aficionados alike often refer to these enclosures as “outdoor rooms,” and, if properly designed, one of these “rooms” could become the most valued space of your entire home.

In a typical day, a working adult spends very little of their time surrounded by nature. Between the indoor hours spent at the workplace, the monotonous minutes spent commuting, and the various household tasks that seem to fill those hours before bedtime, most people can only steal a few fleeting moments outside. These long hours under fluorescent artificial lights and behind car windshields can wear down the human body and mind. In the modern world, there is a disconnect between human life and the plant and animal kingdoms, and this is far from a natural condition. Our ancestors spent all of their waking hours in the outside world.

Images: Sam Valentine, Jo Naylor, and Tom Bream

It is no wonder that “recreational” activities – those defined as restoring, physically or mentally – almost always take place outdoors. Looking up at the blue sky, sensing a cool breeze, feeling light raindrops, or even being pelted by the occasional squirrel-flung acorn stirs a restorative feeling in the human soul.

Images: Sam Valentine, Marvin Gardens, and Drew Avery

“Outdoor room” is a flexible term, and a designer can detail your garden’s enclosing walls to meet your aesthetic preferences. Several climbing plants, such as the fine-textured creeping fig (Ficus pumila) or the ornate Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), can clothe the surface of a garden’s walls without causing permanent damage. Alternatively, massing several dark-foliaged evergreen shrubs such as the resilient Japanese privet (Ligustrum japonicus) or vibrantly blooming camellias (Camellia japonica) can imply the enclosure of a wall without the cost of a construction job.

If you find yourself yearning for fresher air and more sunlight in your daily life, consider building an outdoor room. Think of an activity that you enjoy doing most – arts, crafts, family meals, or even cooking – and there is a very good chance that a carefully designed outdoor space can readily accommodate that function.

Author: Sam Valentine, BLA, LEED AP

Walter Reeve makes a good point – gardeners have a special vocabulary not understood “on the street”, as it were.  His reference is to the old-time advice to “dress with dried blood to accelerate” the growth of a peony.  I’d add, we are then going to “stake” those peonies??

Deadhead is another phrase that either conjures images of Morticia Adams or Jerry Garcia, neither having anything to do with the gardening act nor representative of its outcome.  What about overwinter?  Isn’t that how North Dakotans and Minnesotans feel just about now? 

Photo credit: Cloud Q Conrad

It isn’t enough that gardeners have their own language.  What about the strange social customs gardeners observe?  A gardener will pull weeds at the front stoop while she waits for her gardener neighbor to answer the door.  She can’t do that for a non-gardening neighbor, who would see it as criticism, not an obsession to help. 

Gardeners can sniff each other out at the local garden center, too.  One time a fellow enthusiast strode up to me just beaming and thrust a 6” pot at me and simply said, “Pelargonium citrosum.  There are three left. Next to tomatoes.  You’ll want them.”  He wouldn’t have shoved these in any shopper’s face.  At a higher level, shoppers don’t generally “push” products with other shoppers. No one says, “You’ve simply got to get that red checked shower curtain!” to someone they don’t know.

Photo credit: Cloud Q. Conrad

There are also the rituals. Average mortals cast a wildflower mix over grass they have killed with some variety of toxin and enjoy what they sow as a kind of bonus, a Heads up in the 50/50 odds of life.  But gardeners not only dig, but double dig a new garden bed for cut flowers, vegetables, herbs and perennials.  Gardeners wouldn’t dream of starting off a new area without addressing the foundation first.  Not only that, they relish in the ritual of breaking, turning, cleaning, amending and replacing soil – and for its own sake.  The satisfaction of clearing roots, rocks, building debris and other unwelcome elements from the garden area is enough in itself. 

 Photo credit: Cloud Q. Conrad

Certainly there will be great satisfaction in the planting and nurturing of the new garden composition but every gardener – every true gardener – pauses, at least for a few seconds, to admire her “yummy” dirt likea cake just pulled from the oven, before slicing into it for planting.

Only gardeners understand the idiosyncrasies of what appears to be a distinct culture with its own language, customs and rituals.  For the rest of civilization clay-stained fingernails, calloused palms and a farmer’s tan says zealot or paid laborer.  For gardeners, these things are just part of life.

-author: Cloud Q Conrad

The vernal equinox will occur this Saturday at 1:32 pm EDT. This is the “precise” moment that the earth is closest to the sun in its spring orbital path, and also the exact point in the spring when day and night are of nearly equal lengths at all latitudes. (“Nearly” is in part due to the fact that a year is 365.25 days but we'll not digress.)  The dichotomy of this statement is in itself symbolic - there cannot be balance without distinct and opposed things, concepts or feelings.  In this case day and night. 

As it relates to the landscape, we have sun and shade, dry and moist, and deciduous and evergreen.  Mark Rothko's abstract paintings symbolize this notion of distinct and opposed elements and the minimalist style suggests horizons where earth meets sky....the most basic of dichotomies in the landscape.

“Equal”conjures up thoughts of balance, and this is a welcome idea. Balance is fleeting, of course, because we are crossing the point of equilibrium in a path towards the opposite extreme. Still, after this unseasonably cold winter there is more than momentary comfort in the prospect of the other side. The side that offers warmth and light. The side that offers abundance of bloom, fruit, vegetable and seed.

Today’s collage (all photos courtesy of ArtRepublic.com) is a colorful rendering of balance as an abstract concept, each painting selected to represent the nearly balanced – within itself and relative to the others...just how nature is, imperfectly balanced.

Maybe it’s just the time of year, but the collage began to suggest seed packets to me as I was writing this.  If you are the sort of gardener who collects seeds to perpetuate your garden or trade with friends, make unique, memorable seed packets by downloading this seed packet template and accessing images of art masterpieces on the internet.  With scissors, glue, a printer and your computer’s picture manager software (for image re-sizing and cropping), you can easily make your seed packets works of art.  Use the template as a stencil, by placing it under a piece of clear plastic cut from a gallon milk jug and tracing the seed packet outline onto the plastic with a permanent marker.  Carefully cut out the plastic seed packet stencil.  Then, use the stencil to trace the seed packet outline onto printouts of your images.  Cut out the seed packet, label and date them with the marker, and fold and glue three sides closed.  Allow to dry.  Fill, then fold and tape the top side shut.

- Author: Cloud Q. Conrad

If you are looking for inspiration to create a really unique outdoor holiday lighting display in your landscape this year, the 29th Sapporo White Illumination is currently on display in Sapporo, the capitol city of Japan’s Hokkaido Prefecture, located in the northernmost portion of the main island. This fantastically artful installation is on exhibit every November through mid-February in downtown Sapporo. While most of these examples are too grand a scale for the Atlanta landscape, the concepts can still be applied for an elegant and colorful holiday lighting display.

This effect is achieved by using different “gels” (tinted acetate layers) on flood lights. If you have deciduous ornamentals in key focal points at your home or business, consider adorning them with tinted light for the holidays.

Photo courtesy of Sapporo Tourist Association

You can find gels online by searching for “theatrical light supply”. This is a stunning way to feature your landscape in the holiday display, rather than just having trees and shrubs act as armatures for miniature lights. And with some seasonal adjustments to the colors, your flood light system can also be used to celebrate Halloween, Easter, July 4th or any event.

Photo courtesy of Sapporo Tourist Association

For the most powerful statement, spray paint the reflector portion of the flood bulbs with black heat resistant paint in order to eliminate any backlighting.

Photos courtesy of The Haunted Driveway

The above photos illustrate, from left to right: The bulb without the paint, the bulb with the paint, and which part of the bulb to paint.

Light Sculpture: Wrap individual light strands around 9’ bamboo stakes or, defoliate bamboo on the front of a stand that is visible from the street or a key window in your home. This concept will be most successful if wrapping five or more stakes. The greater the number of illuminated stakes, the more effective the statement will be.

Photo courtesy of Sapporo Tourist Association

I have also seen dead trees, and those whose removal due to disease or re-design is planned for the spring, painted and wrapped with miniature lights. If you paint a tree, be sure to spread an old tarp below beforehand. You may also selectively prune before painting to modify (clean up) the overall form. Do not paint a tree that you want to survive!

Does anyone have any unique holiday lighting ideas for the landscape to share?  Please share them here!

Great backyard landscape plans make the most of a home's deck - after all, this is a great place to enjoy the landscape and gardens through most of the year. Your landscape designer might suggest subtle or more extensive deck improvements that will enhance the aesthetics of your garden plan while complimenting the architectural style of your home. When the deck and other landscape elements like gazebos and potting sheds coordinate aesthetically with the home, the landscape can reach its maximum potential. Here are some ideas to personalize a standard builder's-issue deck and better link the deck, the landscape and the home, all without changing the deck footprint.

Change the deck balusters. Decorative steel, aluminum and wood balusters can have a huge impact on the personality of your deck and there are many styles to compliment virtually every architectural theme. It is remarkable how this single change can transform your deck into an outdoor room.

Change the deck post caps. Metal, wood and ceramic post caps and finials are available in an endless array of styles. Low voltage and solar lighted options are available for visual impact, mood setting and safety at night.

Change the deck rail posts. Post covers can be installed over 4x4 and 6x6 posts to give a whole new look to your deck. Ornamental wood and metal sleeve styles or brick and stone veneer systems, even high density expanded polyurethane sleeves for no maintenance applications, are available in a variety of patterns and colors. Upgrading your deck posts can change a ho-hum deck into a stylish outdoor living retreat and frame your professional landscape design in the most complimentary way.

As a routine maintenance task that will enhance your deck's appearance, fall is a great time to pressure wash, stain and seal your deck. Protecting the deck's wood from the elements is a practical way to extend the life of your deck maximize its value. Since stains and sealers are best applied below 80 degrees, fall applications help insure an even coating that doesn't show overlap. Combination stain and sealers are available in natural wood colors like cedar and walnut, and can be applied easily and at low cost. The visual impact is big however - your deck will appear years younger. Best of all, the fresh stains provide a great color contrast to the landscape plantings beyond your deck and help them pop forward visually.

You and your landscape designer can find myriad ideas on how to dress up your wooden deck by doing a photo search on decks.com.

Imagine that you are sitting by the pool and it is lunchtime. The grill is on the main level, outside the kitchen, the pool is on the lower level.  What you need is at least a second grill, or maybe even a full outdoor kitchen. 

Outdoor kitchens are the next level to a grill, and if you entertain during the summer then you need one too. 

To create an outdoor kitchen, you need three things: something to cook food on; something to keep food hot; and something to keep things cold. This can be as simple as a grill, with a cooler on the side, or as elaborate as a full kitchen in the garden. Most homes will have an outdoor kitchens falls somewhere between these two extremes.

Heat Source:  This is the main part of the kitchen, just as your stove and oven are critical to your indoor kitchen.  Cooking requires either direct heat such as over coals or propane vents, or indirect heat.  Being able to accommodate both these functions will allow maximum cooking opportunities. 

A direct gas line can be installed or you can use propane, or even coals, so consider how far you have to carry a full propane tank when you make this decision.

Cool Storage: At 75° raw meat, as well as egg based dressings, can be contaminated with bacteria if left out on the counter. It is important that these are kept cool until you plan to use them. A cooler or other container with ice will do a great job, but for added convenience run an electrical line to the area so that you can use a refrigerator.  Added cooling space will be needed for cold refreshments as well. If you plant to entertain extensively, you can even add an in-ground wine cellar close to the area.

Preparation Space: Every good cook needs somewhere to prepare the food and create tasty dishes.  How much space you need will depend on the chef in the family.  Minimal space is required for burgers and hot dogs. More extensive space will be needed to cook Steak Diane using diced mushrooms, shallots, fresh herbs and the juice of a lemon. The space should be washable, not only to avoid dust and leaves from the environment, but also to avoid contamination from meat products. Running water is also necessary so that you can wash your hands and the utensils.

Seating: If you have the basics of a kitchen organized, the rest can be added on to customize the area.  Outdoor cooking is a social event so some sort of seating for the guests is needed.  Some people want casual seating in the area, others prefer bar type seats. Some want sofas so that they can watch the game outdoors too. A large outdoor area can accommodate a mix of seating.

Lighting: If you plan on using the kitchen at night, or even dusk, then some form of additional light source will be needed.  Safely illuminate both the cooking area and the walkways particularly if you are near a pool.

Permits and other logistics: Putting a simple grill in the back yard will not invoke any wrath from neighbors but building a full outdoor cooking and dining area may.  Permanent fixtures that involve brick and mortar will need permits, and doubtless you will need permission from the subdivision authority too.  The fixture may look great from your side of the fence, but your neighbor may not be pleased if they have a brick wall constructed outside their picture window.

Grilling and other outdoor cooking keeps the heat out of the kitchen and tends to be more relaxed and social than formal indoor meals. Having a convenient place outdoors to entertain and cook will enhance the experience, and if done well will also add value to your home.

For suggestions for great meals to cook on the grill try: http://www.sizzleonthegrill.com/blog/

Summer is officially here and that means it is time to fire up the grill!

No one wants to cook inside when the temperatures are high and the pool is beckoning, so casual, simple cooking is the answer.  Using a few herbs to season those summer meals adds flavor and considerably less sodium than commercial rubs.

The Mediterranean herbs are well suited to using on the grill, and are easy to grow in the garden too.  Rosemary, thyme and chives all thrive in hot weather and they require very little water too.  Even better they do not need fertilizer.  In fact if you are over zealous with fertilizers the plants will grow tall and put out lots of leaves at the expense of flavor.

For using on the grill you want to put your patch of herbs nearby.  Either that or have a few of your favorite herbs in pots near to where you cook. Fresh picked herbs will be far superior to the supermarket choices that have traveled many miles and were picked a week or so ago.

For outdoor cooking, Rosemary is at the top of my list.  This versatile herb is evergreen and grows into a substantial bush over a few years.  New growth is added to the woody stems each year giving lots of material that holds up well over a direct flame.  The stiff stems have become popular as ready made skewers for kabobs, but the smaller leaves are also great for flavor.

To make a tasty kabob, take several long, woody stems, and strip the leaves from the lower part.  Sharpen the exposed end so that you can thread small tomatoes, onions and peppers on the stick.  Pick vegetables that will cook at the same rate, just as you would if you were using a metallic skewer.  Small cubes of meat can also be used, but pre-punch the hole in steaks or firm meats so that the rosemary stem can be passed through without breaking.

Lemon thyme is another great herb for using with grilled meats.  Pick a variety that is upright rather than sprawling so that the leaves don?t drag and root in the dirt. Thymes, like rosemary are semi woody herbs but the stems of thyme are not sufficiently strong to pierce vegetables.  The small stems though can be laid onto, or into meat selections. The lighter, savory flavor goes particularly well with chicken or fish.

Make a slit in a boneless piece of chicken and put lemon thyme stems inside.  As the meat cooks, the lemony thyme flavor will be imparted to the flesh.  Filling the cavity of fresh fish with a mixture of lemon thyme, regular thyme or a little mint will not overwhelm the delicate flavor of the dish.

Chives and cilantro can be kept handy too so that you can snip them into salads and baked potatoes.

So with just a few herbs, you can add taste and variety to your summer grilling experience.