Blue Planet Garden Blog

Garden Feng Shui for Dummies

Let me begin by saying that the title of this post is not meant to insult the razor sharp intelligence of the average Blue Planet Blog visitor – because, dear reader, you are far from average – but rather is a nod to my own amateur status in the art of feng shui.

My first encounters with garden feng shui happened when potential clients scheduled consultations with me after first meeting with a feng shui practitioner.  Inevitably, they had been given suggestions about what to include in the garden and where things should be placed with little thought given to views, neighbors, circulation, scale, etc.  Suffice to say, this did not make me a feng shui fan, but it did convince me I needed to understand it well enough to work with clients who are.

After much research, I discovered a plant-centric approach to feng shui that I continue to incorporate into my designs. My guiding principle is simple – rely on plants and other traditional garden features like terra cotta and wood to ensure all five elements of  feng shui exist within the garden.  My aha moment came from reading the books of Gill Hale (many of which are sadly out of print), which showed me that each element can be represented literally or symbolically via a plant’s shape or color. This chart demonstrates the Creative Cycle, which occurs when all five elements are both present and balanced by supporting elements (those on either side of it on the Creative Cycle).

 

Not surprisingly, the Destructive Cycle occurs when an element is threatened by its opposing element on the wheel, i.e. fire is threatened by water which quenches it, but fed by wood and earth which nurture it.

Here’s a rundown on each element:

Wood symbolizes growth and expansion and is represented by a columnar shape and the color green.  Clearly, it’s not too challenging to ensure this element is represented in the garden, but keep in mind that the Creative Cycle is engaged when each element is not only represented, but also interacts with its supportive elements. This explains one of the reasons I loath Italian Cypress as a privacy screen as it generally sticks out of the landscape like a sore thumb with no fire or water elements to balance it.

Conversely, this classic topiary is supported by the cheerful red door and its wavy, watery shape.

 

Fire is represented by the color red (what else?) and jagged, triangular shapes.  Fire is both energizing and agitating and is one of the most challenging colors in the garden to work with – in fact, I’ve noticed some designers avoid it almost entirely.  

These next three photos are all of the same garden.  In this picture, the rich red roses are balanced by the square planter (earth) that contains them and the green plants (wood) nearby.

Here the spiky red Kangaroo Paw and Phormium Guardsman are balanced by the wood planter and green plants, the yellow Gaillardia, terracotta pot and the earth-toned DG pathway.

 

This photo shows a less effective use of the fire element.  Although the square shape of the planter is a good match for the red Phormium, the underplanting of blue fescue isn’t particularly supportive.  A mix of green and bronze foliage plants would probably have worked better.

Earth is represented by arbors, fences and solid rectangular shapes as well as the colors yellow, orange and brown.  Traditional garden elements like wooden sheds and planters are an easy way to incorporate wood, as are rectangular garden beds.  Plants with bronze or gold foliage such as this bronze Carex are a wonderful way to bring this element into the garden.  

Adding a touch of fire can enliven an earth dominated area of the garden.  In this photo, the red cosmos add a harmonious energy to the earth colored Mexican Feather Grass. 

Metal represents a gathering energy and is symbolized by domed shapes and the colors white and silver.  Western garden design teaches that white is the color that most draws the eye in the garden – another way of describing a gathering energy at work.  Because of this, I find that a little goes a long way.  A domed arbor is a nice way to introduce a metal element into the garden, particularly one grounded by a rectangular earth element such as a bench.

Water is a meandering element that is easily added via a traditional water feature or by introducing the colors blue and black into the garden.  But water can also be incorporated via wavy shapes like meandering paths:

 

Or a wave of grass-like plants, like this photo or Silver Dragon Liriope my friend and fellow designer Rebecca Sweet took of my backyard yesterday:

 
 

Even when added in a straight forward way, water still craves balance.  Basalt columns (wood shape) add balance to this water feature.

 

Photo by Tai Williams

I'll end with a DISCLAIMER: The Creative Cycle represents only one small part of fung shei, but it’s the aspect that appeals the most to my designer sensibilities. More importantly, it’s wonderfully compatible with Western garden design principles, which essentially use a different vocabulary to reach the same harmonious result.

No matter what you use for a guidepost, in the end it’s all about good design.

If it walks like a weed and it talks like a weed

It's still not necessarily a weed.

Been doing a lot of planting the past month as my garden renovation winds down.  And even though this:

will ultimately look like this:

Today it looks remarkably like this:

What makes me think it's easily confused with a weed?  Because I pulled it up once already by mistake, and so has my contractor.  All we need is Nick to take a whack at it, and it'll be a perfect hat trick. 

Next week, before and after photos of my garden transformation.  And yes, I used plenty of purple paint, as promised (or threatened, depending on your point of view) in this post.

Campanula 'Canterbury Bells' photo courtesy of Annie's Annuals

If the 50 Foot Woman had a Garden...

It might look something like this:

I visited my friend Maureen over the weekend and took this photo of volunteer sunflowers next to her patio - with thanks to her husband Jean Michel for stepping in to provide some scale. 

Maureen believes a recent rash of disappearing plants is due to gophers.

Me? I think these 15' sunflowers are fueling their mutant growth by eating the rest of the garden.

Is Love Better the Second Time Around?

I’ve been making more of an effort lately to visit past gardens I’ve designed.    There’s a risk to this, as there is always the possibility that things haven’t gone well in the months or years since the install.  Disaster can strike in many forms – gophers, deer, overzealous gardeners, faulty irrigation or even (gasp!) a bad plant choice on my part.

Recently the Germinatrix and Interleafer had a Twitter exchange on how much fun it is to develop a crush on a new plant.  Of course it’s easy to fall for the latest flashy Monrovia intro, or swoon over a seed catalogue photo, or admire the lush blooms of a new Jackson Perkins rose.  But in visiting past gardens, I've had the delightful experience of rediscovering plants that for one reason or another, I’d forgotten about.  Here are some of my new (old) favorites:

 

Chondropetalum tectorum

 

Chondropetalum with penstemmon and achillea

This amazing restio is evergreen, can handle full sun and does well in bog conditions as well as low water gardens.  This particular speciment is three years old and probably won’t get much bigger as this is a moderate water garden.  With regular water, it can get 8’ around.  I love the rich green and dark russet blooms and think it would combine beautifully with a burgundy Phormium like Monrovia Red or Dark Delight.

 

Mexican Feather Grass and Chocolate Cosmos

I chose to mass Mexican Feather Frass in this planter, and on a whim suggested the client interplant Chocolate Cosmos to create the idea of something peaking through the straw colored foliage.  I love this!  And of course it will be much more dramatic later in the summer when the cosmos really take off.  This plant was so hard to get five years ago that I forgot all about it.  I’ll be using it regularly from now on.

 Salvia chamaedryoides - Mexican Blue Sage

Salvia chamaedryoides (almost done blooming) with Santolina and Salvia clevelandii

This last bit’s embarrassing.  I actually had to ask the client what several of the plants in the garden were.  They looked at me oddly, but obligingly went to get their original plans.  How could I have stopped using something as ordinary as Salvia chamaedryoides?  Long blooming, sweet smelling, lovely silver foliage, and doesn’t get too big (unlike the Salvia clevelandii behind it – beautiful but a bit of a thug).  I guess my well-documented love affair with catmint drove this worthy alternative out of my mind.

 

Calamagrostis Karl Forester - photo courtesy of Gardensoft

Finally, how, how HOW could I have stopped using Calamagrostis Karl Forester?  This tall, dramatic grass doesn’t get too wide and is am amazing backdrop for just about any flower color.

Amber carpet rose                 Salvia Wendy's Wish

So while I continue to spend time with my newest friends, like Amber Carpet Rose and Salvia ‘Wendy’s Wish’, now that I’ve rediscovered my past loves, they’re suddenly appearing in my garden designs again.  In fact, I recently introduced Karl Foerster to Wendy, and have every expectation they will be a match made in heaven.

 

Girlfriend, do yourself a favor and add rosemary to your garden

And other solid herbal advice, courtesy of Morningsun Herb Farm.

Tuesday night was my master gardener association meeting and the topic was herbs.  Not to dis our association meetings which always feature knowledgeable speakers, but let’s just say if not for the cookies and the fact that someone is always giving away some plant or other for free, I wouldn’t necessarily be a regular attendee. This past Tuesday there weren’t even any cookies, but thanks to the excellent presentation provided by  Rose Loveall of Morningsun Herb Farm in Vacaville, CA, the hour flew by.  A few of the highlights:

I had always thought that herbs became bitter once they flowered, but this is true of annual herbs only, such as basil or cilantro.  Perennial herbs like oregano, sage and thyme do not lose flavor or potency after flowering.

As anyone who has grown herbs knows, one of the frustrations of growing basil is its tendency to flower quickly, and it turns out that just pinching off the flower bud is not enough.  To keep basil from turning bitter, pinch back not only the bud but a few sets of leaves as well.  An even better option:  Rose introduced us to a new basil cultivar called Pesto Perpetuo, which acts almost like a perennial and does not flower.  Not only that, but it is slightly more slug and snail resistant, more cold tolerant and even more drought tolerant than Genovese basil. If  Daffodil Planter's pick an herb  contest wasn’t already over, I’d take back my disdainful words about basil coasting by on the coattails of summer tomatoes and vote for this.

 

Pesto Perpetuo Basil

If like me you are somewhat careless in looking after your herb garden, consider planting chives.  Chives behave like the canary in a coal mine, and are usually first to show stress due to lack of water or inadequately amended soil (nitrogen being the key nutrient for most herbs).  

 

Chives

And now for the fun stuff.

Poor circulation?  Try adding rosemary to your bath.  And if you are curious as to whether the prostrate forms of rosemary often used in drought tolerant landscapes work well as culinary herbs, turns out it’s better to stick to upright forms, as they have a higher oil content.

Looking for an excuse to indulge in an extra glass of wine?  Consider growing stinging nettles (carefully of course).  Distilled into a tea, they work to cleanse the liver.

Interested in upping your chef cred?  While thyme is a fairly mild herb, it can be a good alternative to salt if you are following a low sodium diet and also is effective at melding other herbs together.

And finally, the answer to the title of this post.  Herbal folklore states that if a home has rosemary growing in front of it, then the woman of the house is in charge. 

So what are you waiting for ladies?  Let’s get planting!

Photos courtesy of Morningsun Herb Farm