A Park with Great Ideas for Home Gardens

Most designers, art lovers and recent visitors to Chicago will be familiar with Millennium Park.

A special project of former mayor Richard M. Daley, Millennium Park converted a vast lakefront railyard into a spectacular public parkland. Leading architects, artists and landscape architects including Frank Gehry, Anish Kapoor and Kathryn Gustafson were amongst those involved in bringing Daley’s Millennium Park vision to reality.

Less well known today is Garfield Park. Located in Chicago’s west side, it was opened in 1874, one of three great western parks and pleasure grounds built for this part of the city.

Jens Jensen, acknowledged as the pioneer of prairie-style landscape architecture, (yep, landscape's Frank Lloyd Wright) was superintendent of the western parks system, implementing many significant architectural and landscape projects at Garfield Park.

The focal point of the park is the Conservatory, particularly the ornate and popular Palm Room. One of the largest in the United States, the conservatory encloses over 18,200m2. It's a lovely place to take a turn around, and I can imagine it being quite the destination in its day.

Sadly, a 2011 hailstorm damaged large sections of glass in the display and production greenhouses, and repairs to some parts of the buildings are still underway. 

Behind the conservatory lies a new park.

The City Garden aims to provide additional parkland and green linkages in this park of the city.

The central organizing element is a large lawn. Its elliptical shape is a tip of the hat to a shape that Jens Jensen once used to define spaces within Garfield Park.

Beginning the journey around the great lawn.

A large landform wraps around one edge of the lawn. From its summit, the dramatic Chicago skyline is visible in the distance.

The lawn tilts up into an encircling landform.

The lawn tilts up into an encircling landform.

The 442 metre, 108 storey Willis Tower, (the artist formerly known as the Sears Tower) can be seen above the Palm House.

The 442 metre, 108 storey Willis Tower, (the artist formerly known as the Sears Tower) can be seen above the Palm House.

Different plant communities thrive in the varying conditions – shady and protected, sunny and exposed, flat or sloping. They enclose the lawn, frame the Palm House and shield the working conservatories. 

Small paths weave their way through the planting, like streams braiding their way to the lake.

A gravel garden allows you to steps off the paths altogether. Here, the entire ground surface is gravel, interspersed with flecks of blue glass. Plants that tolerate hot, dry environments take centre stage. Oh my hat, don't they look spectacular in the summer sun.

A lily pond, empty for cleaning and maintenance when I visited, is off to the side, and traversed by a bridge.

The bridge continues the curve of the great lawn.

The bridge continues the curve of the great lawn.

Details on the bridge are repeated elsewhere, particularly those using reinforcing steel as columns to support plants and climbers. I love the way the endcaps on the reo towers almost seem to reference details from Frank Lloyd Wright Midway Gardens, another great Chicago landscape, now sadly lost.

Heading back to the great glass conservatory you pass by a childrens’ garden, rows of tiny plastic shovels at the ready. 

Finally, there is a great bluestone terrace, looking out over the entire landscape.

The big Chicago sky sits above the big green lawn. Yet strolling the City Garden allows the beauty of every individual plant to be experienced up close.

What do you think?

What aspects of the City Garden would you consider using in other parks and gardens? Could the gravel garden be created using crushed recycled concrete instead? Would you consider using the reinforcing cages as sculptural plant supports? And what about the idea of using different types of pathways to encourage different ways of moving through the garden?

I’d love you to leave a comment below letting me know.

If you know someone who’d enjoy reading this article be sure to share it, and check back soon to visit another Great Park.

 

Garfield Park Conservatory and City Garden is located at 300 North Central Park Avenue,
Chicago. Read more about the park’s history, activities, events, how to get there, and ways to be involved in the conservancy at the Garfield Park Conservatory website.

The City Garden was designed by Hoerr Schaudt.

 

 

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Design Class: 5 more site conditions to look for before designing

In our last Design Class we introduced  5 things to be on the lookout for in your garden or landscape: Orientation, Noise, Privacy, Drainage, and Access and Movement.  Observing how these things work gives a solid foundation to begin design work. This week we're going to add 5 additional things that are helpful to understand.

6.  Gradients and slopes

You’ll know if your block or your garden is sloping.  It’s also useful to know which direction it slopes, where the high points are, and if the slope is even or varied.  

7.  Existing vegetation

What is already there, where is it, and what condition is it in?  You can do this exercise for all vegetation, including trees, shrubs, groundcovers and climbers. Are there plants that change with the seasons, or have distinctive form, foliage, colour, scent, texture or flowers? 

8. Soil conditions

Even without carrying out a pH test you’ll have some idea about the condition of your site soil based on what’s growing successfully in your garden and nearby.  Similarly, looking at building sites or excavations in the area, and chatting to neighbours, is a good way of understanding the basic local geology before your engineer orders a geotechnical investigation. 

9. Services and utilities

Apart from overhead power lines, you mightn’t know exactly where service lines occur, but there are often tell-tale clues to their existence.  Manhole covers in the street or footpath outside your property are a clue to the presence of underground services.  Drains and pits often signify underground stormwater or sewer services.

10.  Special highlights

Are there any treasured parts of the garden that either work really well now, or have great personal value, such as a plant grown from one in your mother’s garden, a beautiful architectural element, or a favourite piece of sculpture?  

In future posts we will start looking at different ways you could respond to the findings of your site analysis. This is where it gets interesting, as two people might agree that a site has the same characteristics, but feel that different responses are required. That's where design comes in!

Now it’s over to you.

Has this exercise encouraged you to look at familiar scenes in a new way? It's only natural that if you find delight in chasing sunny spots in your garden, you may not have even noticed that some of the access points are a bit awkward, or that some garden areas don't drain very well.

Let me know in the comments section.

Of course, if you found this interesting and useful, why not double the fun and share it with a friend. 

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Design Class: make analysis your friend

Have you ever had a designer ask if you’ve done any analysis?

Has it given you pause for concern, wondering if the headscarf and Jackie O sunnies you’ve been wearing to your therapy appointments are not proving such a great disguise after all? 

Fear not.

The type of analysis we’re talking about will leave your darkest thoughts blissfully unprodded, whilst helping you clearly and methodically understand what’s going on in your own back yard.

Site Analysis

A site analysis is best undertaken before starting any design work. Your designer should carry out her own analysis, based on research and observations on site.

You’re carrying out your own site analysis when you notice things that occur at different parts of the garden, at different times of day or year.  All of these observations can be compiled onto one or more site analysis diagrams.  We'll start with a simple plan that shows the location of your house on its site: 

Here are 5 things to consider when analysing your site: 

1.  Orientation

We’ve discussed Orientation in an earlier Design 101 post, so check in here to learn why it’s important to know where the sun rises and sets in relation to your place. 

2.  Noise

Whether it’s the teenage drum champion next door or the birdsong from the trees up the road, it’s useful to understand the source of both welcome and unwelcome sounds. 

3.  Views and Privacy

Who can see you, and who can you see from different parts of your property?  Where are there great views? 

4.  Drainage

What happened in the last big downpour? Where did the water go? Did it flow freely and soak away quickly, or did it pond in one place for ages? 

Landscapology_Analysis7.jpg

5.  Access and movement

Are there some parts of your garden you never use (or maintain) because it’s just too hard to get there? What about the connections between important destinations, like the house or street?  Where do different types of movement intersect: vehicles, pedestrians, bicycles? How about fencing: are there fences and gates, and who or what are they protecting - kids in? cars out? pets in?

In our next Design 101 we will complete our Top 10 things to analyse on your site before starting design. We will spend more time in future posts looking at different ways you could respond to your findings. Everyone’s response will be different, but the important thing is to start with a clear understanding of what physical conditions you have to work with on your particular site.

Now it’s over to you.

Look at your garden (or house, or room, or park) again with fresh eyes, and quickly run through these first 5 points of analysis.  How many of these items are things you’ve always been aware of, without describing what you were doing as a site analysis?  How many other things have you just noticed, even though they were there all along.

Let me know in the comments section.

Of course, if you found this interesting and useful, why not double the fun and share it with a friend. 

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Design Class: learning to love the scale

Have you ever had a designer ask what you think of the scale? Has it given you pause for concern, filling your mind with dread at the thought that last night’s seven course degustation with matching wine flight is already showing round your middle?

Fear not.

The type of scale we’re talking about here is nowhere near as scary as the ‘number-climbing-higher’ machines that we keep hidden in the bathroom so they don’t steal our will to live.

This type of scale should be treated with respect though, as it also has the ability to make you feel either very comfortable or very uncomfortable in a space.

Scale describes how something – a building, chair, tree, sculpture - sits in relation to its context. Something is called ‘out of scale’ when it’s perceived to be either too big or too small for its location, causing the overall effect to appear out of balance.

Let’s say you were considering adding a fountain of some sort to your courtyard garden, fed from recycled water you’d collected. Here’s your garden now…

...and here are two options for your fountain.

Option 1: 

...and Option 2:

Landscapology_Scale3.jpg

What do you think?

You might feel that the first fountain is ‘out of scale’ because it is too small, and barely draws attention to itself.

You might also feel that the second fountain is also ‘out of scale’, this time for being too big, overwhelming the space and threatening to drench you whenever you walk past.

The right scale fountain for your garden is probably somewhere in between the two.

What happens though, if you quite like the dramatic effect of that great big fountain?

Is it OK to play around with scale?

Sure, if that helps you create the effect you’re after.

Say you spend a lot of time reading in the garden and drinking cups of tea – it’s what you do to relax.

You might deliberately choose to have an over-size (‘out of scale’) garden chair to celebrate your favourite thing.

Scale is one of the many Spatial Qualities you have available to create the house, garden, park or city you love.

Once you start noticing the scale of different elements and spaces, you’ll feel clearer about what you consider to be 'in' or 'out' of scale, and can more confidently engage in the design process for your project.

Now it’s over to you.

Have you ever visited a place (maybe a garden or a park) and noticed that one or more elements was out of scale? How did this affect your experience and what do you think would have improved it?

Let me know in the comments section.

Of course, if you found this interesting and useful don’t forget to share with a friend, and I’ll see you soon for more Design 101.

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Design Class: but how does it make you feel?

Have you ever heard designers speak about the way something feels?

Has it given you pause for concern, worried that any moment now someone's going to grab your hands, look deep into your eyes and ask you to share your feelings? 

Fear not.

What we're talking about here are the qualities that affect how you feel when you’re in a particular room, garden, house, building, park, or city - any place really. 

How does this place make you feel?

A bit freaked out, maybe? Is it overwhelming?  The edges are a long way away if you're standing there in the middle. There’s nowhere to find shelter or privacy.  Everything you did would be on full display.  Unless you're a despotic dictator with need to frequently remind your peoples of your terrific might and power, you'd be unlikely to feel especially relaxed in such a place.

How about this place?

It’s different, isn’t it? It’s a lot more enclosing and protective for one.  Perhaps you find it more welcoming.

This one?

Some people might find this place private, secure and serene. Others might find it a bit isolating.

Why is this important?

If you start to notice and understand how different places make you feel, it’s much easier to describe how you want places in your home or garden to feel. And once you know, it’s much, much easier to work towards achieving that feeling, or quality.

There’s lots of ways to achieve the quality you’re after, and we’ll talk about some of them in future Design 101 topics.

Now it’s over to you.

Think about your favourite place, either at home or somewhere you’ve visited.  Now tell me what qualities it has – how does it make you feel when you’re there?

Let me know in the comments section.

If you found this useful and interesting, consider sharing it with a friend, and I’ll see you soon for more Design 101.

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Elvis Costello’s Landscape Lessons: 10 ideas from installation gardens

What exactly was Elvis Costello on about when he crooned "I don't want to go to Chelsea"?

I like to imagine an unfortunate childhood incident involving too much sunshine and an overdose of roses and sugary drinks courtesy of Great Aunt Fanny dragging the innocent lad around that fine bastion of Englishness, the Chelsea Flower Show.

I'm sure someone will set me straight.

Elvis notwithstanding, as the world’s gardening eyes turn this week to the opening of the 2013 Chelsea Flower Show, it seems a good time to chat about festival gardens. Can these temporary installation gardens provide clues to benefit our home landscapes, or are they a just a bit of a novelty, and waste of precious resources?

The worst garden festivals are truly throw-away. They last barely a few days, and a huge amount of time and effort is invested in making instant gardens that end up in landfill. The best garden festivals do things differently, often using materials and plants that can be recycled or reused, mulched or donated.  Most importantly, they invite us to think about our gardens and landscapes in different ways.

Here are 10 Ideas from Installation Gardens that can be used to help shape your own landscape. 

These images are all from the International Garden Festival, held every year in Chaumont-sur-Loire. Although the festival theme changes yearly, the over-arching aim of the festival is to inspire people to think differently about what a garden is, and can be. Garden festivals are but one of a range of temporary or installation parks that challenge us to re-think our landscapes. I find them so intriguing that I’ve devoted a whole chapter of my forthcoming book to discussing the world of Installation Parks.  But that's a whole other Elvis Costello song.

Now I want to hear from you.

Which of the 10 Ideas most appealed to you and why? Which can you see working in your garden landscape? Leave a comment below and let me know.

Know someone who might enjoy this article? Be sure to share it with your friends. See you soon for more landscape inspiration.