“Once a garden is established, much of good gardening is about removal rather than planting, honing what you have to produce a pleasing effect, sacrificing the particular for the good of the whole. Gardening is a creative past time, but the result is always a work in progress; unlike a painting or a piece of music, a garden is never fixed in time.” ~ Rosalie Parker (from “In the Garden”)
As you ready your home for winter, don’t forget to give your garden some TLC, too! At Hanselman Landscape, we specialize in natural garden designtailored for Pennsylvania homeowners, ensuring your garden thrives in harmony with its surroundings.
Your death, near now, is of an easy sort. So slow a fading out brings no real pain. Breath growing short Is just uncomfortable. You feel the drain Of energy, but thought and sight remain:
Enhanced, in fact. When did you ever see So much sweet beauty as when fine rain falls On that small tree And saturates your brick back garden walls, So many Amber Rooms and mirror halls?
Ever more lavish as the dusk descends This glistening illuminates the air. It never ends. Whenever the rain comes it will be there, Beyond my time, but now I take my share.
My daughter’s choice, the maple tree is new. Come autumn and its leaves will turn to flame. What I must do Is live to see that. That will end the game For me, though life continues all the same:
Filling the double doors to bathe my eyes, A final flood of colors will live on As my mind dies, Burned by my vision of a world that shone So brightly at the last, and then was gone.
~ Clive James (Australian essayist and journalist, written in 2016 during the final stages of his fight with terminal cancer)
Shared by Betty Hanselman Gardener’s wife (& mindful of the fleeting beauty of this life)
The idea of integrating a home with its surroundings is common in Japan. Exterior walls are often full-length windows or panels that fold or slide back to connect the inside of the home directly to the outside. Overhangs cover porches that end not in railings, but in a step down onto moss or rock paths that wander into the garden. Earth, rocks, trees, and shrubs are shaped and positioned to suggest that the structure is nestling into the landscape, rather than perched on top of it. This union between inside and outside is best represented in the sukiya style of architecture common throughout Japan. Sukiya-style homes incorporate the use of natural materials, the integration of interior and exterior spaces, a general sense of quiet elegance with rustic overtones, and a harmony with the human scale and human sense perception (see Sukiya Living Magazine for more information about this style of architecture and way of life).
Architect Frank Lloyd Wright employed some of the elements of Japan’s sukiya architecture in his “organic style”, a classification he coined for buildings that harmonize with the inhabitants and their environment.
In the Great Valley south of Pennsylvania’s Blue Mountain is such a house. Built in 1964 by a local musician-turned-engineer who was inspired by Wright while a student at MIT, the home utilizes Wright’s “organic” architectural trademarks–natural materials, open floor plan, and “window walls” that open to the outside. Like sukiya-style or Wright homes, the house originally nestled into the surrounding groves of Birch, Ash, and Pine. However, with the passage of time, few of these majestic trees remained; the house and its setting were no longer in concert. The current owners recognized the discord and contacted Hanselman Landscape.
They asked James to integrate the house with the landscape once again, increase privacy (exterior walls are virtually all glass!), provide sustainable, year-’round interest (plant for multi-seasonal color and birdlife), and invite interaction between home and garden (paths, patios, a fire pit, and raised vegetable beds). What a privilege it has been to partner with these insightful clients to restore harmony between this architectural treasure and its environment, and now to provide regular garden care!
Contributed by Betty Hanselman Gardener’s wife (and sukiya-living advocate)
Have you ever noticed that you’ve stopped noticing? It seems part of our humanity that the more familiar we are with something, the less conscious of it we become. For example, there’s a good chance your morning routine is so repetitive that you accomplish many of your morning tasks while completely focused on the agenda for the day ahead. This ability to sleep walk through huge portions of our lives often comes at a high price: our appreciation for routine experiences diminishes. We no longer savor the beauty, process, aromas, flavors of our moment-by-moment existence.
This auto-pilot mode is often reflected in our gardens as we begin to relate to them as backgrounds to be maintained rather than spaces for interaction and joy. This mental shift is unfortunate because, like any living thing, gardens require regular attention and care in order to thrive.
Inspiration is a key to achieving a greater experiential return on our garden investments. Our gardens should contain elements that work against the human tendency of over-familiarity and force us out of auto-pilot: a curved walkway that slows us down; a hidden alcove that captures our curiosity; a well-crafted stepping stone path that alters our stride; or an artistically-pruned, vibrantly-colored Japanese Maple that takes our breath away.
Inspiration should be a priority when considering a garden investment; ignoring this quality will result in a garden that quickly becomes familiar and humdrum. As you consider investing in your landscape, prioritize inspiration–so that each encounter with your garden adds discovery, joy, and interest to your life!
–Contributed by Peter Dymond HL Garden Care Foreman
“I loved autumn, the season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it.”
~ Lee Maynard (American novelist; 1936-2017)
This country garden basks in the beauty of autumn while also displaying loveliness in all the seasons of the year, through careful design, plant selection, and regular “creative care”. How may we bring all-season joy to your garden?
