Hello, After the holidays are over, January-March is when Maple fever and Cabin fever really starts to set in for most of us. I use to spend this time anxiously awaiting Spring. Now, I find this to be the perfect time for research and planning. It makes getting through the next few months easier. It also makes us more prepared and productive come spring. It's a perfect time to begin researching and sourcing plants for your garden. As your garden grows and space becomes a premium, this research becomes even more important, so that you find the perfect plant for that limited empty space in the garden. Once the perfect plant is identified, the next step is sourcing that special plant either locally or online. In addition to research and sourcing, this is also the perfect time to plan your garden. As the deciduous trees lose their leaves, our gardens begin to open up new opportunities, that would otherwise be covered up by foliage. This is a great time to make sure things appear in balance. It's also a great time to plan placement of evergreen trees and shrubs. I feel it's important to have a four season garden and sometimes the winter helps us identify deficiencies in our garden. Keep in mind deciduous trees with interesting form or bark can add impact to an area of the garden, in place of an evergreen. Also, an interesting specimen rock can add that four season interest while giving our garden a very natural appearance. Another benefit to a beautiful specimen rock is that they never out-grow the space, they work in any lighting, and they don't need any watering. Before I get too long winded, I wanted to start this thread to share ideas and links to inspiration for planning your Japanese Maple Garden. I thought it would be a great way to help pass the next few months, until our gardens become alive with activity next spring. Here is my first addition to this post. It's a link to an article I wrote titled "Creating Your Garden Paradise": http://www.maplestoneornamentals.com/blog/article.cfm/id/11/Creating_Your_Garden_Paradise I hope you enjoy!
With the idea that this is a great time for planning, I wanted to share a new gallery I put together on Flickr of the Cleveland Botanical Garden. The photos focus on winter interest, with the four season garden in mind. There are also some beautiful Japanese Maples with great branching and form that adds great winter appeal. I hope you enjoy! http://www.flickr.com/photos/japanesemaplegarden/sets/72157632410038281/
The other day I came across someone on Flickr, because they added a couple of my photos to their favorites. When someone does this, I always click on their user name to check out their photos too. This is how I came across "Four Seasons Garden's" photo stream. This is one landscape you need to check out if you are interested in Japanese maples, conifers, flowers, bamboo, perennials...this garden has it all. They focus on the concept of the four season garden and great contrasts in color. Anyone who feels I'm crazy with plant placement and concerns of mature size, well you have to check this garden out. They have me beat by a long shot! http://www.flickr.com/photos/fourseasonsgarden/sets There are plenty of beautiful photo sets to help chase the winter blues away. I hope you are inspired by their beautiful collection of plants.
All I can say is WOW! Absolutely amazing garden, they seem to have balanced everything - texture, color, size, etc - perfectly. I can't even imagine all the work that has gone into the garden, let alone the upkeep. Kudos to them, and something to (try) to aspire to! Thanks for sharing John :)
I am glad you like it. I think it’s cool how you can see the English garden influences, but it does not strike me in any way as a traditional English garden. But it does come through in the sense of balance (or reflection) when you see the shots of the overall garden. I remind myself that they are about 20 years ahead of me. But something becomes very apparent... Through proper pruning, you can keep things your desired size. With my small lot, it gives me piece of mind that I chose to go in the right direction with my choice to use Japanese maples and dwarf conifers as the foundation for my garden. No offense to anyone, but I never was into the English garden style. But this garden has really opened my eyes to how an English garden can be very diverse and exciting while still keeping that English garden sense of balance. I hope more people check it out, because it really is extraordinary!
