gentle gardener: green

DIRECTIONS FOR USE: Apply Brains First, Fertilizer only as needed.

Our green design team is acquiring acronym alphabet credentials behind our names at a clip.  Gentle Gardener Green Design team collectively now comprises 4 Virginia Certified Horticulturalists (VCH), 2 Virginia Society of Landscape Designers certified designers (VSLD) 1 LEED* Green Associate, an MBA, a certified permaculture designer, the firm is licensed in Virginia as a Nursery Stock Dealer.

The latest credential is in:  I am now certified by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation as a Nutrient Management Planner for Turf and Landscape, No. 714.  We planners appear to have no clever acronym, but given how challenging the exam was and the prep class, I will probably answer to"Certifiable NutMan". 

Taking our lead from agriculture, where conservation and Nutrient Management Plans have been in use for a good 20-30 years by farmers who are stewards of their land (and also poor
, unwilling to spend a penny more for fertilizer than they have to) , those of us certified by the Commonwealth to write plans for urban (that is, non-ag) turf and landscapes, have a tall order ahead of us.  With sub/urban sales of fertilizer at some eight times the rate per acre of ag N and P and increasing right through the recession at about 6-8% per year, plus  conversion of ag land to developed,  it's no Miracle that our water quality problems Grow and GroW.

Virginia recently submitted its second draft Watershed Implementation Plan to reflect the myriad bottom up, stream by stream, watershed by watershed, plans by localities to clean up the entire #Chesapeake Bay drainage (VA is not alone; water 6 states and the District of Columbia drain to the Bay).

The Commonwealth of Virginia has just committed to managing over a half million acres of private and public sub/urban (that is, non-ag) lands via Nutrient Management Plans written by certified Nutrient Management Planners for Turf and Landscape.  Right now, only about 15,000 acres of such lands have written three-year plans.  In five years, by 2017, VA intends to have over 350,000 acres of private and public  non-ag, sub/urban turf and landscape responsibly stewarded by three-year Nutrient Management Plans........twenty times the acreage we have now.

In January a small publication named The  Wall Street Journal published the findings of the study indicating that the cleanup of the #Chesapeake Bay is, in fact, a jobs creator.  We certainly intend for it to be so; we would like our clients and others to spend more on Gentle Gardener  brainpower to write nutrient management plans for them based on sound science, and less money on over-fertilizing with nitrogen and phosphorus without a plan. 

For a Nutrient Management Plan and sustainable site maintenance plan custom written for your landscape, please call 540 832 7031 or book at www.gentlegardener.com

 

Here's a copy of our media release for Historic Garden Week - let's make an historic leap forward in protecting soils and water in Virginia!

SUSTAINABILITY NEWS APRIL 2012 - for immediate release

via www.gentlegardener.com

April 17, 2012

 

BARBOURSVILLE, VA - Rockwell attains certification credential for stream-friendly landscape planning

Virginia R. Rockwell, owner and principal designer of Gentle Gardener Green Design, has been designated a certified Nutrient Management Planner for turf and landscape by The Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Division of Stormwater Management. The certification demonstrates a planner’s expertise to competently compose and execute nutrient plans in line with the Commonwealth’s efforts to reduce fertilizer runoff from residential gardens, lawns, athletic fields, golf courses, commercial landscapes and university, town, city, federal and Commonwealth-owned lands.

A written plan for maintaining turf and landscape sustainably over three years is a new service now available to clients of the established Barboursville firm’s certified landscape designers and horticulturists. Gentle Gardener has long advocated responsible land stewardship practices including the use of proper and organic amendments, accurate rate calculations and precise application timing.

“The idea is to apply brains first, then apply fertilizer as needed. These practices improve effects on waterways, soil, plants, animals and people,” said Rockwell. She explains that runoff nitrogen and phosphorous in streams can be curtailed; Virginians can spend less by applying only what is truly needed, and improve the health of ecosystems and economies downstream.  “Nutrient management planning makes good economic sense. We all depend on clean water for life and livelihoods,” she adds.

The goal for Virginia counties and cities whose streams drain into the Chesapeake Bay, as described March 30, 2012 in the latest Chesapeake Bay Watershed Implementation Plan, is to rapidly increase the acreage of turf and landscape managed with Nutrient Management Plans written by Rockwell and her fellow certified nutrient management planners to more than a half million acres.

 

To learn more, please visit www.gentlegardener.com and www.dcr.virginia.gov/vabaytmdl/documents/baytmdlp2wip.pdf.

 

Media inquiries can be directed to Ann P. Reid at (804) 501-9888 or via e-mail at [email protected].

This is Only a (soil) Test ... | Plant More Plants

This is Only a Test ... | Plant More Plants.

Soil testing is key to a successful, healthy garden and plant life!

Soil testing tells you about nutrient and organic matter content, and what the soil can provide in terms of nutrients prior to fertilization. You want to feed the soil, not the plant. It's important to get that 5 percent organic matter into your soil where roots are beginning to establish, and keep providing the living organisms with more organic matter so they can break it down for plants in a helpful way.

Soil tests are conducted by public and private laboratories. The Virginia Cooperative Extension lab at Virginia Tech is a public lab available for those of us living in Virginia.

To collect your own soil sample, first obtain a Soil Sample Information Sheet and Soil Sample Box from your area VCE office. You must indicate which plants or crops you plan to grow and immediately mail to the VCE lab at Virginia Tech via Priority Mail with the U.S. Postal Service. Click here for detailed instructions.

A soil analysis costs about $15 per sample, plus postage. Test results take about a week. VCE will mail a copy of the report to you, your designer, horticulturist or landscaper and county extension agent. A flat rate box is now just over $5 and holds up to four samples.

The lab will:

• conduct a routine analysis of the major and minor nutrients
• measure percentage of organic matter
• analyze pH (whether it's acidic or alkaline or neutral/in between) 

There are also reputable private laboratories available through certified nutrient management planners. The clients of private labs are primarily farmers who have long been required by their conservation plans to do nutrient planning to keep streams healthy. Planners take samples, send to the lab, analyze results for what you intend to grow, map the tested fields using Geographic Information Systems, compare with the U.S. Department of Agriculture Soil Survey. They can tell you exactly what to do and use, how much, and when, precisely by field, area or crop to be grown. Golf courses in Virginia and public lands are now required to adhere to nutrient plans. 

http://www.plantmoreplants.com/blog/images/b5.jpg

countdown to spring: personal garden coach

Gentle Gardener - Garden coach | sustainable landscape design | VA.

Gentle Gardener @ Stonefire Station: Orange Wedding Tour 2011

Despite the rain, sun and wind, peonies reign.  At home here in Barboursville, our farm-based design studio collaborates with hosts Carl and Tori Tremaglio of Stonefire Station to create an afternoon rich in the sweet sights and tastes
of the best the Piedmont of Virginia has to offer. 

via web.me.com

green design at home here in Barboursville with locally grown peonies and other flowers, composed for Stonefire Station penultimate dessert toward the conclusion of the #OrangeWeddingTour 2011. Thanks to Meghan McSweeney Photography, Ann Reid, and Stonefire Station & Kitchen. Enjoy!

Buy Local Virginia

via www.buylocalvirginia.org

we are proud to be part of the 'Buy Fresh, Buy Local' movement. It's been a part of our philosophy since day one......for a Garden as Pleasing to Nature as to the Eye..........
for Weddings and Events as Pleasing to Nature as to the Eye.

Media Release:Gentle Gardener to launch campaign-Is Grass always the 'Greenest' Choice?

Virginia R. Rockwell of Gentle Gardener Green Design, will launch an educational campaign entitled 'Is Grass always the “Greenest” Choice? Sustainable Alternatives to Turf Grass for Healthy Gardens, Waterways, Rivers and Bay' via a lecture on Wednesday, March 16 at 7 p.m. at the Central Regional Rappahannock Library, 1201 Caroline Street, Fredericksburg, VA. The free event is hosted by the Master Gardener Association of Central Rappahannock Area and open to the public.

Rockwell will discuss beautiful, sustainable options for turf grass, design elements and new legislation concerning phosphorous levels in commercial fertilizers. Good gardening choices and practices have a positive impact upon waterways. Rockwell will show attendees how to achieve a garden as pleasing to nature as the eye.

Virginia R. Rockwell is a certified landscape designer, horticulturalist, Association of Professional Landscape Designers member, Virginia Society of Landscape Designers member and LEED* Green Associate. For more information about Rockwell and Gentle Gardener Green Design, please visit http://www.gentlegardener.com/green. To learn more about MGACRA, please visit http://www.mgacra.com. Media inquiries can be directed to Ann P. Reid via e-mail at [email protected].

*Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design

 

PRUNING WORKSHOP on the grounds of historic Tudor Place Saturday, March 26th, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

PRUNING WORKSHOP
Tudor Place, Georgetown, D.C.
Saturday, March 26th, from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.


Join members of the APLD DC-MD-VA Chapter, for a hands on pruning workshop with Peter Deahl co-founder of The Pruning School.

Can this plant be saved? How many times as a designer are you asked by a homeowner whether a particular plant can be drastically reduced in size without killing it? Or, can this green blob be transformed into something more interesting? And of course, can the 'growing out' period be minimized as much as possible so they don't have to look at a disfigured plant? Here's your chance to learn the answers to these questions and improve your pruning skills.


Back by popular demand, we are once again offering a hands-on pruning workshop with Peter Deahl. Peter, an Interpretive Naturalist and ISA Certified Arborist, has spent over twenty years practicing his craft and sharing his knowledge and experience with garden clubs, schools, municipalities, Master Gardeners and Tree Steward groups. He is co-founder of The Pruning School, located in Sterling, Virginia (http://www.thepruningschool.com/main.htm).


For this workshop, we will gather at historic Tudor Place in Georgetown where Peter will start us off with a brief introduction to pruning biology before taking us outside to spend the remainder of the time getting hands-on pruning instruction. Tudor Place, a 5 1/2 acre late 19th century garden in the heart of Georgetown (www.tudorplace.org/about.html), has a large variety of mature evergreen and deciduous shrubs and small trees. Peter will instruct us in how to prune ornamentals in a biologically correct and aesthetically pleasing manner. There will be plenty of time for you to practice exactly where to make the cut and to ask all your pruning questions.



Bring your sharpened hand pruners, pruning saws and gloves. Wear your work clothes and dress for the weather. APLD will provide mid-morning refreshments, but please eat breakfast before you arrive. NOTE: It is not possible to prune in the rain. If weather forces us to reschedule, the rain date will be April 9th, 2011 and if needed the reschedule will be posted on the APLD DC.MD.VA Chapter website (dcmdva-apld.org/events.php) by 9:00 pm the night before. So if you have any doubts, check the website on Friday night March 25th.



The cost for this workshop is $55 for APLD DC.MD-VA Chapter members and $65 for non-APLD members. This is a hands-on workshop so space is limited.

If you're interested in joining us please fill out the registration form and return it with your check made out to APLD DC.MD.VA Chapter as soon as possible. If you have any questions please email Derek Thomas at [email protected].



For this and many other educational and networking opportunities check out the chapter website Events page at dcmdva-apld.org/events.php


Pruning Workshop with Peter Deahl
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Registration Form
Sponsored by the APLD DC-MD-VA Chapter

Please enroll me in the March 26th Pruning Workshop:

Contact Information

Name: __________________________________________________________

Company: __________________________________________________________

Address: __________________________________________________________

__________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip: __________________________________________________________

Phone: __________________________________________________________

E-Mail: __________________________________________________________


The above information will be used only if we need to contact you with regards to this event, and will not be given to any other organizations or used for any other purposes.

Payment

Please check the appropriate category below:

___ APLD DC.MD.VA Chapter members - discount rate $55.00
___ APLD members $60.00
___ Non-APLD Members $65.00

No refunds will be given after March 14, 2011

Please make your check payable to APLD DC-MD-VA Chapter and mail it to:

Marty Hays
APLD DC-MD-VA Chapter
8817 Burbank Road
Annandale, Virginia 22003

 

'YOU SAY YOU WANT A REVOLUTION...." ASLA residential landscape design survey: What y'all say you want now - 2011

LAND Article.

Residential Design Survey Respondents Look Ahead

Despite a down economy, landscape architects anticipate strong interest in outdoor living and designed residential landscapes, according to ASLA’s 2011 Residential Trends Survey. The survey asked 245 residential landscape architecture professionals questions on the relative popularity of a variety of design features and elements for the year.  The most popular outdoor living features this year include lighting, with 96.2 percent indicating the feature as somewhat or very popular for 2011. Rounding out the top five are fire pits (94.2 percent), seating/dining areas (94.1 percent), grills (93.8 percent) and installed seating (89.5 percent). At the other end, only one in ten (10.4 percent) rated outdoor bedrooms and sleeping areas as a popular amenity for 2011. Among landscape and garden elements, interest continues to focus on low maintenance landscapes (94.2 percent), native plants (87.2 percent) water features (81.0 percent), and food/vegetable gardens (80.3 percent). Respondents also indicated wide interest in several sustainable design features, such as water-efficient irrigation (83.1 percent) permeable paving (77.0 percent) and reduced lawn (72.6 percent). Outdoor Living Features (Percent rating somewhat or very popular for 2011) Lighting – 96.2% Fire pits/fireplace – 94.2% Seating/dining areas – 94.1% Grills – 93.8% Installed seating (benches, seat walls, ledges, steps, boulders) – 89.5% Weatherized outdoor furniture – 83.6% Counter space – 74.2% Utility storage – 61.3% Stereo systems – 58.3% Sinks – 54.7% Refrigerators – 50.2% Wireless/Internet connectivity – 46.3% Televisions/projection screens – 45.4% Outdoor heaters – 44.4% Showers/bathing – 42.1% Outdoor cooling systems (including fans) – 36.7% Bedrooms/sleeping spaces – 10.4% Outdoor Recreation Amenities Decorative water elements such as ornamental pools, splash pools, waterfalls, grottos, water runnels or bubblers – 84.7% Spa (hot tub, Jacuzzi, whirlpool, indoor/outdoor sauna) – 75.9% Swimming Pools – 69.4% Sports/recreational spaces (tennis courts, bocce ball, etc.) – 47.7% Landscape/Garden Elements Low maintenance landscapes – 94.2% Native plants – 87.2% Fountains/ornamental water features – 81.0% Food/Vegetable gardens (including orchards/vineyards etc.) – 80.3% Organic gardens – 65.5% Ponds/streams – 62.5% Rain gardens – 56.6% Xeriscaping or dry gardens – 56.3% Sustainable Design Elements Native/adapted drought-tolerant plants – 88.8% Drip/water-efficient irrigation – 83.1% Permeable paving – 77.0% Reduced lawn – 72.6% Recycled materials – 64.5% Rainwater/graywater harvesting – 63.6% Compost bins – 49.4% Solar-powered lights – 48.8% Geothermal-heated pools – 23.2% Structures Fencing (includes gates) – 85.1% Arbors – 83.8% Pergolas – 82.6% Steps – 79.3% Ornamental water features such as fountains or splash pools – 77.5% Decks – 74.4% Porches – 72.3% Art (sculpture etc.) – 60.7% Utility shed (tool shed, garden shed etc.) – 59.3% Play structures (tree house, swing set, etc.) – 58.9% Pavilions – 52.9% Awnings, including retractable – 49.6% Gazebos – 49.6% Columns – 40.9% ADA-accessible structures (ramps, bars, accessible shelving etc.) – 23.5% Here are the results in graph form:

Local VA watersheds TotalMaxDailyLoad(TMDL) 'diet' planning continues despite challenges

 

via cvilletomorrow.typepad.com

Leslie Middleton, the executive director of the Rivanna River Basin Commission, said individuals can play a role by voluntarily making choices to have a smaller footprint.

“Our choice of fertilizers, our choice of how much lawn to have, our choice of how to build our driveways, all of those kinds of things are very important,” Middleton said.

Parrish said efforts to reduce pollution have been working. In 1985, 102 million pounds of nitrogen made its way into the bay. By 2008, that number had fallen to 72.8 million pounds.

“The bad news is that we have to make almost that much of a reduction again to get to where we need to be for the bay to be restored...”

New #turfgrass Fertilizer Law Will?may? Cut Bay Pollution, Save Money

Good news from the oldest continuous lawmaking body in the New World, the Virginia General Assembly:  Legislation that bars the Virginia sale of fertilizer containing phosphorus for use on established lawns has passed both the House of Delegates and state Senate and is on its way to the governor’s desk to be signed into law.

via cbf.typepad.com

OR...WILL IT?

wel, it's l not the bill virginia green industry proposed going in, but in the process, we got something. biggest problem is this bill has 'holes' you could drive a truckload of phosphorus thru if you are an average reader of N-P-K on fertilizer bags.

Not only did the General Assembly miss the opportunity to push everyone to #soil test before applying anything anywhere, they missed the opportunity to make some money for the Nutrient Management Education Fund (we proposed) by levying fees/fines on anyone applying P to maintain lawns without proof in form of a soil test within 3 years demonstrating that it is NEEDED!

Stay Tuned!

for my 16 March talk in the #Rappahannock River watershed:

"Is Grass Always the 'Green'-est Choice?

Beautiful, Sustainable Alternatives to Turfgrass for Healthy Gardens, Soils, Streams and Bay."

Finding the Money in Water: The Smart Landscaping Boom | Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit

By David Jay

via www.triplepundit.com

As usual, California is at the forefront of this #water-saving landscape design trend. Here in the midAtlantic, a second reason to use less water in landscapes: all that water carries runoff of excess nitrogen, phosphorus and sediment into our streams and eventually Chesapeake Bay.

Landscape auditors? Creating those jobs won't satisfy the 'landscape free or die' crowd, but it's a thought. Landscape coaches, educators, first....then, the auditors, maybe.

Regardless, landscapes typically use an awful lot of water on landscapes, and the embedded energy that goes with it. We CAN do better...by catching and using the rain off the roof, by infiltrating SLOWLY into our own land the rain we get, and by planting and fertilizing more sensibly and sustainably.

Landscape for Life -- Based on the principles of the Sustainable Sites Initiative

via www.landscapeforlife.org

Woohoo! a translation of the Sustainable Sites Initiative,  from landscape architectureSpeak to down-to-Earth gardener talk ....I am a fan!

Landscape design came a little late to the LEED party...After all, if you could build a 'green' building, but trash the site while doing it, what was so green about that?

But after a long subterranean growth period, green shoots are appearing!  The ASLA, US Botanic Garden and Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center have worked together on this for YEARS...and while 99% of the pilot projects for the Sustainable Sites Initiative aka SITES(TM)are public, so that people can experience these demonstration projects, it's great to see a quick translation.

In the Chesapeake Bay watershed, this is the RxH20 for our soils getting healthy, our waters getting cleaner, and our people being more conscious and healthy.

Congratulations to the writers/translators at Blue Crocus Consulting for doing the necessary work of bringing this good work down to Earth.

Gentle Gardener Green Design creates gardens and landscapes in accordance with the Sustainable Sites Initiative. Virginia is now a LEED Green Associate (one of only 92 LEED credentialed landscape architecture/design people in Virginia), credentialed by the U.S. Green Building Council as a person schooled in sustainability.

Allee at Rothesay: Gillette Garden Goes Green

Sustainable garden revamp of this 75 year old Charles Gillette design showcases green practices:  sustainable container gardens featuring native and drought-tolerant plants, bench fragment re-upholstered with LiveRoof panels, living wall demonstration panels on locally made wrought iron arch, careful organic care to revive boxwoods and crape myrtles.  Garden and house open through 11 October 2010 to benefit Richmond Symphony Orchestra League.  All container gardens and garden ornament for sale through Boutique on site.

via web.me.com

enjoy pictures before, after, during revamp of 75 year old Gillette garden!

Green Matters @ Charlottesville Community Design Center Tuesday 12 October

SUSTAINABILITY NEWS


GREEN MATTERS: PANEL DISCUSSION IN CHARLOTTESVILLE ON
SUSTAINABLE LIVING OUTDOORS
AT CHARLOTTESVILLE COMMUNITY DESIGN CENTER
Tuesday 12 October 5-7PM

Want to know why green matters? Join us October 12th for "Sustainable Living Outdoors" at the CCDC, from 5pm - 7pm for the return of the Green Matters lecture series. A special thanks to our sponsors: Blue Ridge Home Builders Association, Airflow Systems, Inc. Dominion Power, and Latitude 38. Sustainable Living Outdoors Expand your living space into the outdoors, create healthy habitats for butterflies and birds, grow your own food, and protect the environment. Join us for a discussion of how to design your yard and landscaping to require less water, lawn maintenance, while incorporating edible landscaping and native plantings.

Moderator: Charles Hendricks, AIA, CSI, CDT, LEED AP The Gaines Group, Architecture and Design Experts: Karl Shank, The Natural Garden Virginia Rockwell, VSLD, VCH, LEED Green Associate, Gentle Gardener This event is free and open to the public. For more information: www.greenmatters.info facebook link to more information

via www.gentlegardener.com

join us to talk about establishing sustainable gardens/landscapes this autumn, the BEST time of the year to plan and establish your garden.

Rothesay on the James, 2010 Richmond Symphony Orchestra League Designer House

Rothesay, as the 10,000-square-foot house is called, is this year's Richmond Symphony Orchestra League Designer House. The property has been redecorated by 46 designers and artisans including Washington's Mary Douglas Drysdale, who did the living room.

via www.washingtonpost.com

Even more impressive are the over 7 acres of gardens surrounding Rothesay, including several rooms designed by Charles Gillette and renovated by landscape designers certified by the #VSLD, the Virginia Society of Landscape Designers, the oldest professional landscape design certifying body in the Commonwealth. Check out the Allee renovated using sustainable garden methods by #Gentle Gardener Green Design.

Allee: 75-Year-Old Gillette Design Goes ‘Green’ : now open through 11 October 2010

Richmond Symphony Designer House & Garden Tour

Design:  Virginia R. Rockwell, VSLD, VCH, LEED Green Associate

Green Projects Management:  Scotty Guinn Dilworth

 

The Allee is:

    A Charles Gillette-designed garden, serene yet playful, with a bit of mystery, and a surprise:  You may just learn something new…just as the children of The Secret Garden (1911) did! 

The Allee showcases sustainability with aesthetics in keeping with the character of the home.  As specialists in sustainable landscapes, container gardens, and event/floral design, we showcase the best of 'green' methods in one outdoor 'room’. 

We discovered this ‘Secret Garden’ under layers of deciduous leaves and vines covering Gillette’s 1930’s design for herringbone brick walk, steps and walls, the leaves slowly composting beneath the boxwoods and thus feeding them.

Your journey ends with a private view of the James framed by Magnolia grandiflora ‘Kay Parris’ and a wrought iron Arch featuring living wall panels and one of Rothesay's own bench fragments 'reupholstered' with living roof panels of drought-tolerant and heat-reducing plants.  The existing buxus sempervirens (American Boxwood) in the Allee we believe were used as ‘nursery’ stock to keep the boxwood plantings around the grounds at Rothesay supplied sustainably.  The existing lagerstroemia indica  (crape myrtles) lift and direct the eye to the views.

Q:  What Makes this garden ‘green’?

A:  Existing, Native, Repurposed, Local, Reusable, Organic,

Drought-tolerant, Heat-reducing 

• Locally made wrought iron arch by blacksmith Paul McGill, McGill Metalsmithing, Keswick, VA

• Re-purposed fisheye mirror suspended in peak of Arch

• Living wall panels and LiveRoof 'upholstery' on bench fragments by SGDesigns, Richmond, VA

• Pairs of brick red pots atop the wall plinths demonstrate 'sustainable container gardens' :  how to use native and drought-tolerant shrubs, perennials, grasses in containers for a period, then transplant out into the garden, accented by only small numbers of drought-tolerant annuals. 

• Existing charming Rothesay tennis footwear signs  as garden ornament (found under a bench).

•Existing Rothesay benches and wrought iron chairs, sycamore limbs as pedestals

• Only ONE brick had to be replaced at the top step after 75 years!

• Existing crape myrtles were fed and watered and pruned of dead wood and vines, NOT TOPPED

• Existing American boxwood were cared for organically this year:  fed with slow release organics and calcitic lime per soil test, watered, and sprayed with horticultural oil spray and insecticidal soap.  Dead, diseased and stems with leafminer were removed.  Spring pruning took no more than 1/3 of the foliage, opening up light and air circulation.

•NO IRRIGATION was installed.

For More Information, Contact:

Virginia R. Rockwell, VSLD, VCH, LEED GREEN ASSOCIATE

[email protected]

For Tickets, go to www.rsol.org

75 year old Gillette garden goes 'green': update by Gentle Gardener Green Design

Rothesay..., the 2010 Richmond Symphony Orchestra League Designer House, is situated on a spectacular site overlooking the James River. This year, for the first time, the Designer House will not only feature the work of interior designers but also the work of 10 landscape designers, a few of whom are featured in the videos below.

via www.richmondmagazine.com

check out the video of Scotty Guinn Dilworth, Project Manager for Gentle Gardener Green Design, at http://vimeo.com/12752764...on our green approach to this Charles Gillette garden design..and visit the house and garden, open NOW through midOctober.  tickets at www.rsol.org 

RichmondGRID.com: A Green House on Grove

via www.richmondgrid.com

By our Sustainable Projects Manager, Scotty Guinn Dilworth of SGDesigns.

Scotty Designs Green ...roofs, living walls, living fences, rain gardens, and more, in association with Gentle Gardener Green Design and independently from her base in Richmond, Virginia.

moon gardens and white gardens

moon gardens:   to be experienced in evenings from the sanctuary of a master suite balcony.....white gardens to relieve the eye of the busy-ness of colour.....two gardens in central Virginia, Zones 6B and 7A. portfolio update at  http://web.me.com/gentlegardener
.   for more information, please contact [email protected].

via web.me.com

green. and pink. and white and chartreuse and blue and purple and and and SPRING!

So much biomass, so little time.  So much more colour, in so little time.  To paraphrase my teacher, David Orr, "If it's not beautiful, it's not sustainable."  The human impulse to shape nature into what we consider to be beautiful is fundamental and innate; we garden for sustenance and our prosaic needs, but the process sometimes shows us the way to poetry. 

This year:  the early bloomers were late and the late ones early:  the result of 4 months of snow on the ground, with #Mount Chipotle in the Barracks Rd Shopping Centre in Cville melting April 27 or so after accumulating since December 19 (roll your eyes if you must, Buffalo and Boston, but this is Virginia!).
Spring in central Virginia, in the Piedmont, yields so much so quickly, with temperatures seesawing between 26F yesterday morning, and 89F predicted tomorrow.  

Plants! Scarlet quince blooming in shade, intermittently, still! along with dogwood, aesculus x carnea 'Ft. McNair' pink horsechestnut, and now native fringe tree, chionanthus Virginicus, a bit early (fringe tree is usually a Mother's Day bloomer).

Native woodland phlox divaricata, mertensia virginica (VA Bluebells), and English and Spanish bluebells mingle companionably with helleborus foetidus, orientalis, and variegated false Solomon's seal (polygonatum falcatum variegatum). 
And the drama of native Quamash:  camassia, punctuating the garden. 

And yes, even the azalea:  on the north side of the farm office & studio, with hakenochloa 'All Gold', heuchera 'Amethyst Mist' and 'Citronelle', and tiarella, heucherella, variegated Solomon's seal, plus gold creeping jenny duking it out with the weeds.  Magnolia 'Kay Parris' did well in snow, 'Little Gem' not so well.  Osmanthus 'Goshiki', Cotinus 'Golden Spirit', and Pieris J. 'Valley Valentine' , plus my first ever camellia japonica left over from a garden show display last year, all appeared to LOVE being buried in a snow bank.
  Did I dig them out or fret or kvetch?  No.  I left the snow drifts to support the branches when the snow load off the roof let go in big heavy icy sheets.  Damage:  Minimal.

And is a designer's garden perfection?  Ha!  No, my garden has not been weeded.  We pruned the trees and shrubs of damage, my able farmer husband used the grapple rake on the tractor to claw it up into a burn pile, and on a cool March Sunday evening, we burned it.  That, and some rock phosphate on everything, was it.  Clients' gardens demanded my attention, and the 'shoemaker's children have...well, actually, lovely, careless, glorious shoes.......including ladyslippers along the wooded driveway.  We creep in the truck and count, a game each April since our daughter was two.  This year, we counted over 40 ladyslippers.  We are blessed with such mysterious riches.

Enough words.  Pictures are better.  Later, I'll post more to web.me.com/gentlegardener. 
when I have time, but meanwhile, here are a few shot with my iPhone: