DAN'S PAPERS, July 18, 2008 Page 102 www.danshamptons.com
Design & Décor
Garden
Earthly
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using garden ornamentation, especially when it’ is made from higher-end products, to further expand the sensibility and importance of a garden space. Ceramic pots and, containers, fountains, and sculptures – – when used to create a focal point or unique garden perspective – – provide an added sense of depth and space. Be careful with these elements, however. Many people overdo the use of these ingredients, or use artificial materials. Remember, quality over quantity! Garden containers and pots can create a unique effect, especially when they are large. Stacked terracotta and colored pots add depth and a sense of privacy to a garden. The use of larger pots and containers merged together works much better and looks less cluttered than numerous smaller pots. Ceramic pots and containers in blue, purple, and earth tones are best in smaller gardens because they don’t dominate a landscape as do reds, yellows and oranges do. These latter colors tend to advance towards a visitor, so they tend to make a garden seem smaller. Marders, Bayberry, and Spielberg nursery centers in Bridgehampton, East Hampton, and Amagansett seem to have the best choices on the East End, and specialize in larger-scale ceramic containers. Garden sculptures are a good way to build attraction in a garden. Garden sculptures They
tend to add a sense of formality to the garden, especially if they depict humans or animals. Large-scale, metal sculptures also add a sense of interest in the garden – if there’ is enough space, but can be overpowering and seem out of place. One sculpture is more than enough in most gardens. Sculpture is a very personal thing, so it’ is very hard to find the right piece for a garden. There are a number of Internet sites that can be helpful in exploring garden sculptures. On the East End, James Demartis, who works in metal and produces wonderful, modern sculptures that can transform a garden, and Phyllis Hammond, who works in multiple media, are two local artists on the East End whose work is useful in garden landscapes. EBay actually provides auctions on larger bronzes that can be successfully integrated into a garden, as do a number of the local nurseries. Remember, that when it comes to sculpture, stone cast works and lower-end sculptures are better avoided. When it comes to fountains, there’ is really one source for higher-end, aesthetic fountains: marblefountains.com. This company provides a variety of higher-end water fountains in both classical and contemporary designs – in marble or bronze. As with garden sculpture, a single water feature is more than sufficient in the garden.
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vermillion, take your pick and plant with a lavender border to cool things down. Perhaps the most bodacious of all orange flowers is the climbing nasturtium “Spit fire.” This can be a virtual ground cover. The leaves are up to six inches across, 18” high and they grow off long grasping tendrils that can reach out or up. We have seeded these in, in front of a planting of Buddleia “Royal Red,” Vitex “Adonis,” Lagerstromea Tuscarora, Perovskia and Caryopteris for bold contrast. The size combination seems incongruous at first, but the nasturtiums will not only cover any empty space, but they will also use the shrubs as a trellis, eventually creating a bank of color. It’s, perhaps, only rivaled by Calabricoa “Terra cotta,” which is like a tiny, brilliant petunia that cascades down from planters and hanging baskets or creates a billowy mound in the garden. It’s difficult for retailers to keep this one stocked. For a more toned down, but still warm, palette, venture into corals and salmons with some peaches thrown in. There’s a fantastic peach verbena that goes well with the soft yellow of cascading petunias, which can underplant the topiary form of coral carpet roses for an elegant display in an urn. Peach non-stop begonias and salvia coral nymph go with just about any color that you have in the garden and are great fillers for the edges and the mid border. Salmon-colored rose bud imps are a great single statement in a planter and there are a number of salmon colored
What to do now Everything is looking great right? So start deadheading and cutting back to keep it that way. The best way to maintain garden annuals like verbenas and petunias, which need some pinching to branch out and continue flowering, is to cut them back by one third over a period of three weeks. It seems a shame to lose a little color when they are so robust, but this keeps them going strong in the long run.
We g i v e y o u p e a c e o f m i n d . TurnKey Property Services is a residential property management company that oversees the critical details of maintaining your home. We manage properties throughout The Hamptons. Call Ron Simon for a consultation at (646) 345-8105. Visit our website at www.TurnKeyServices.net
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For more than 20 years, April Gonzales has been involved in garden design, installation and maintenance on the East End, as well as specimen plant scouting and site supervision for landscape architects.
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