Many people close to me know my love for gardening and most likely many others do not know that I spend my weekends on the cape working in my garden and on the common gardens around my home. I am fortunate in that my neighbors also share my love for gardening.
To me it is about the design, the science/soil composition and most importantly a time to recharge from the workweek. My work on the cape garden started by creating usable out door space then working to create a naturalistic environment more in line with the cape style architecture and pocket gardens.
Early on in my journey in gardening I studied the work of English architect and landscape architect William Kent. He is know as the originator of a natural style of gardens now know as the “English Landscape Garden” but oddly enough did not have a great knowledge of horticulture. In this regard we are similar, as my horticultural knowledge is more of a trial and error style, which involves learning each year, what will survive and what will not. Through my research of garden styles I was drawn to more of the English Cottage Style of gardening as The English Landscape Garden is often more formal in nature and requires many acres of land to achieve, this is not what I have to work with in Provincetown.
Cottage style gardens are smaller in nature and require the creative use of confined spaces. To me, more of a challenge in the design process. It offers more opportunities to consider the right flowering plant, right container, leaf structure and color. In any garden, like in any design projects the details matter, color, form and organization are key. One must consider the timing of the plants chosen, their blooming cycle and their size when they are at their full seasonal growth point. Additionally it is also very important to consider what the garden will look like after the blooms are gone as a green garden can be just as beautiful and intriguing.
One of my favorite flowering plants are daylilies. They come in a variety of sizes, heights colors (I’m partial to reds, not a surprise) and blooming times. I also incorporate irises, Asiatic lilies, hydrangeas and beach roses (rosa rugosa) which grows prolifically on the cape but is really native to native to eastern Asia, in northeastern China, Japan, Korea and southeastern Siberia. Like all designs the garden is progressive and ever changing due to outside influences and the environment. This make is especially rewarding and exciting..
My garden is my haven, working to create something, interesting, beautiful and serene is my goal. Like in architecture and interior design, the work is sometimes hard, but very rewarding in the end.
