Manage or Maintain? Thinking Differently about landscapes

by Heather Prince

As clients increasingly discover and demand new styles or aesthetics in their landscapes, contractors, designers, and architects are having to adapt. Be it the New Perennial Movement, meadow gardens, or prairie-style yards, these plant-dense styles of landscape design are increasing in popularity in public and private spaces. We talked to Kelly Norris, Director of Horticulture at the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, about these new directions and what it might mean for our clients and the companies that create and work with these sites.

“I think we need a semantic shift. We’re still engaging with land, we’re just changing the rules of the game. Instead of the agronomic point of view where the goal at the end of a season is to win and harvest something, landscaping and gardening is now a game without an end, it just keeps going forward,” commented Norris. Gardening as an offshoot of farming in many ways has underlying roots in the production of something tangible. However, as we learn about and employ plants’ complex relationships, there aren’t necessarily literal fruits of our labor. Instead, we build communities for ourselves and our sites where the ebb and flow of life brings pleasure and perhaps contentment.

Plant communities like a meadow with a mix of perennials and grasses

require management. Weeds are managed, but plants are allowed to intermingle and reseed or spread to their best situations. In essence, you plant or seed it, weed it, and see what happens. This is a very different approach than a more traditional design where plants are treated as static forms to be kept to a particular aesthetic that often involves a high degree of care or maintenance. Examples of maintenance might be shearing, deadheading, heading back, or cleaning up. “The mindset becomes different. It’s management, not maintenance. When we manage we contribute to growth. When we maintain, it’s a static achievement, we’re keeping something at a fixed point (continued on page 50)

(continued from page 48) in time,” observed Norris. The idea of management “is a fundamentally different way to approach the work we do.”

What if it could be different? “Plants must be controlled is the prevalent way of thinking. What if we encouraged plants to take control and we adapt to where they thrive?” asked Norris. “I dislike ‘right plant, right place’ as a dictate. If we delve into the site and really get to know the place, we’ll also discover which plants will thrive and adapt there. The place dictates the plants. If you think about architecture, if you walk into an architect for plans for a new house, they don’t start with the color of the walls. We think about plants as pieces of furniture that have a specific color or texture. We tend to go directly to the smallest detail and then force life to conform to the smallest context .”

As we talk to clients and walk spaces, “We quickly get into colors, but what if that’s not the starting line? We should start with place,” suggested Norris. “Placelessness is so abundant in our culture, from architecture to landscape design. We’ve lost a sense of place, or terroir, that could influence landscaping profoundly.” Think about the demand you receive for a site to resemble the neighbors or a TV show or a foreign destination. What if we create a landscape that responds to client needs and also to the site history? “I recognize the challenge. We must meet people where they are, but you can coax them off their comfortable bench of cookiecutter design. Try to find some kind of shared cultural language between the homeowner and their space. The rules can be different, if not broken,” commented Norris. “Having a context for the neighborhood and community will inform your design. Find the place’s cultural language. My home is bordered by woods and backs up to a natural area, so I can be more ‘wild’ in my plantings and have them respond to the semi-rural feel of the neighborhood. It would be different if I were in an urban location in a small lot within a built environment. A prairie as precedent might not read well in that situation.” It will require more engagement with your client. “Try to get an understanding of place and the mechanisms of place. What is the history of the land use in that area? How does it relate to the whole?” asks Norris. As designers and installers, we know that almost every site requires flexibility. “The designer’s dot on the paper is not the end of the conversation. Any landscape design is in motion and moving forward even when installed. A lot of good design can happen in the field when you are faced with and adapt to what the site dishes out.”

If we know the history of the land use, be it farm, factory, or open field, that informs how this piece of property responds when new plant life is introduced or why existing plants thrive or fail. Investigation at the beginning of

the process can save time and money for everyone involved. “We have to start doing more in-depth site analysis beyond slope and sun. We should dig deeper. You’ve got a perfect square of manicured turf to change into garden spaces. Go below the sheen of that lawn. What’s underneath? If we start to investigate and understand soils, delve into how water moves in the site, it becomes alive. This land is living,” observed Norris. “Get excited about place! It doesn’t have to be just about humans. Go beyond plants as furniture. They are alive and constantly changing.”

Another challenge to the naturalistic design movement is legibility. “Legibility is readability. Can I see the idea and understand it? Can I figure out what the designer or creator intended?” commented Norris. “Cohesiveness is related to legibility. Cohesiveness is what ties the whole thing. There can be legibility at a small scale, but it might not relate to what surrounds it. You can plant the hellstrip between the sidewalk and the street with a lush meadow garden, but it will stand apart if yours is the only one on the block.” We all have our favorites in our bags of tricks, but if people don’t understand them, the effect is lost. “To paraphrase one of my photography editors during my experience at Better Homes & Gardens, if no one understands the result, it doesn’t matter. You can use all the fancy tricks, but if it doesn’t make sense to the viewer or the client, it doesn’t work. The challenge is to not keep it all in our heads, but to engage the client.” When we actively communicate the process to clients, it can connect them to their site more deeply and invest in our expertise as horticulture craftsmen. “Plants shouldn’t be the decoration of the hardscape. A patio is wonderful, but you won’t enjoy it as much without plants. Plants are the landscape. Plants should be the stars,” said Norris. (continued on page 52)

(continued from page 51)

With the naturalistic garden style also comes an emphasis on creating habitat and welcoming wildlife. Those grasses and perennials not only cover the ground in romantic sweeps of color and motion, they also feed and shelter a myriad of insects, animals and birds. As you consider this aesthetic, also ask what do the plants do? How are they functioning in the landscape? Are the roots holding soil in place? Do they absorb excess water or pollutants? How can plants be part of the solution instead of merely decoration? “Plants aren’t static. They support other things. We need to build gardens from native foundations to support the greatest level of life. In some ways, we’re headed to a post-native world where we should begin to think about what plants do beyond simply an assessment of their origins,” commented Norris. “What do plants do for other creatures? We should stop thinking superficially. If a highly competitive plant features important nectar resources and blooms beautifully, why not create a garden that leverages its colonial tendencies instead of curse it for spreading? How do we shift plant descriptions to feature the working side of plants? What does that species need to thrive? What work does it do in the landscape? What niche does it occupy?”

As we welcome a new generation of homeowners to the rewards of gardening and cultivating their spaces, we also have to adapt to their needs. “I find Millennial consumers are not moved by superficiality. They want to know what else does it do? What is the nature of that plant that makes it a good choice? It’s understanding the lives of plants,” observed Norris.

This is not to say we must rigidly adhere to a single style of gardening. “Absolutely include plants the client

knows and relates to,” agreed Norris. However, it may be beneficial to think about and talk to clients about what drives their desire to garden or have a beautiful landscape. With a naturalistic aesthetic, “the perception of the loss of control is arresting. Why do people garden? How to they come to the land?” asked Norris. “Gardening is something we do for satisfaction, to fill an inward need. Changing the game is intimidating. It’s like new math. We knew how it worked before, but now it’s a new language. It can be a sense of loss of command. For many people gardening is a therapy to give them control over their lives.” Perhaps one of the biggest hurdles to client appreciation of a wilder style of gardening is that feeling that plants are escaping their boundaries.

(continued on page 55)

(continued from page 52)

“What happens when the competitive plant pushes our boundaries? Can you leverage that competition? I hear ‘the plant takes over’ a lot. OK. Why? Why is that a bad thing? Some plants fill gaps and voids as opportunists. And that can be a good thing,” commented Norris.

As client demands and expectations evolve, “our industry should train for and develop new skills. We need to change the education as well. We need trained horticulturists who are plant craftsmen. We should observe, define, and study a site, not just apply ready-made solutions. We have a very equipment-based approach. People have such an instinct to cut or shear. Stop and ask why. Is there a reason?” observed Norris. Sometimes ‘why’ is the most powerful question you can ask both a client and your team. We are in many cases very solution-focused with landscapes. We make changes to solve what are perceived to be problems. What if it becomes a conversation? “What’s the goal? A static finish line or a game in motion?”

Although naturalistic gardens are gaining popularity, “There’s not an abundance of examples that show what’s possible. As much as I love Oudolf, it is one person’s work. He does a lot to support other artists and designers, because he believes in creating opportunity for the work to flourish,” commented Norris. “If you’re going to step into it, change approach. Train crews. Create capacity for perpetuation. Engage clients. Challenge them to get more out of their investments. Talk about management versus maintenance.”

Norris urges careful consideration and open dialogue. “Relate plants to place and each other. Don’t rearrange the furniture. People’s hearts and intentions are big. If we make a bigger table, maybe people can start to loosen up a bit. Start to see the features of plants we may not readily see. They are so much more than pretty flowers.”

Enhance your fall container designs and increase retail bunched sales with seasonal berries, branches & accents.