Focusing on sightlines

I've touched on the idea of sightlines in past posts, but this element of landscape design is so important that I'm revisiting the topic. So what are sightlines? As the word sight suggests, it's all about what you see when you sit in your outdoor spaces.

Wikipedia defines sightlines as follows: "A visual axis...a normally unobstructed line of sight between an intended observer and a stage, arena or monument. Sightlines are a particularly important consideration in...road junction layout and urban planning. In cities such as London, construction within sightlines is restricted to protect the key views of famous landmarks."

This last part is key because poor planning can lead to obstruction of plantings and other attractive outdoor features in your garden. That's why it's vital to know how tall and wide particular plants will grow; whether your cultivars and varieties will behave themselves or spread wildly, blocking paths, arbors and views; and where to place hard-scaping features--such as planters, benches, sheds and fountains--so they enhance rather than detract from your painstakingly planned landscape.

The photo, above, illustrates how thinking about sightlines and planning carefully can yield an effect that's easy on the eyes. A screened porch, right, has an iris-lined walkway which leads around a perennial bed onto a stone patio. Placed just beyond the patio--and cleverly framed by an arbor--is a little greenhouse which echoes the shape and color of the main house. The effect is a balance of lush greenery and hard-scaped features.

In my opinion, no one historically understands sightlines like those in Asian cultures. More than 3,000 years ago, the Chinese developed lattice patterns on their windows to "frame" nature. The idea was to capture individual aspects of it in their indoor and outdoor areas, via clever wooden lattice panels that strictly prohibited views when a person stood in one spot. In order to switch up the scene, the observer had to take a step in a different direction--forcing a slightly altered view.

In this subtle way, perceptions are changed; nature is looked upon uniquely, depending on where you stand. It's a wonderful study in nuance amid the natural world, and a great way to learn about the importance of focusing on small, often-overlooked areas of the garden that add intrinsic value.

Check out sites exploring Asian landscaping. I like: www.diynetwork.com/how-to/topics/asian  The information provided will spur you to look at your own yard a little differently.

Don't dredge your pond of algae!

One of the reasons I started this blog a few years back was to educate myself, as well as share my gleaned knowledge with others. Like so many gardening enthusiasts, I came into this game with a bevy of preconceived notions. Among my most notoriously bad ones: colored mulch enhances new garden plantings (it doesn't--it simply adds an ugly, fake-looking layer around otherwise lovely plants); grass must look like a perfect green carpet (only if you like the idea of your kids and pets running barefoot in ankle-deep chemicals); and a pond looks awful when there's algae in it. I'm not gonna lie, I still struggle with this last one.

Just like it took me a while to appreciate the clover in my lawn (seeing all the bees buzzing in the delicate white flowers was what finally convinced me), I have to "train" myself to look into my pond proudly producing green algae blooms and not see red. Here's why it's good for your pond to go green:

1. Algae produces oxygen in the water, which keeps the pond from becoming smelly with harmful bacteria. In fact, like other plants, it absorbs the harmful C02 we expel and releases oxygen.

2. The filamentous version (green string algae) feeds fish and tadpoles, and provides a home for beneficial bacteria.

3. It tastes great. Just ask my dog, who tries to eat it every chance she gets!

Of course too much of a good thing can be problematic. Excessive algae on the pond's surface can block sunlight, counteracting all the good I've just mentioned. A balanced pond--like most things in life--requires moderation. Carefully removing a portion of pond algae is the best solution for good pond health and appearance.

There's a right way to do this and a wrong way. The wrong way is the easiest: dumping chemicals into the water. This, of course, can drastically improve the clarity of the pond, but at the cost of wildlife who inhabit and drink from it. It's also detrimental to the expensive plantings that have been cultivated in and around the water's edge. A far better, less expensive approach is to "old school" it: Purchase a $10 skimmer from a pool store, and manually scoop out the algae. Since it's floating, it's super easy to snatch up, and dump into a bucket. Just be careful to check the skimmer's netting to ensure you haven't snagged a tadpole or tiny fish.

Take ten or fifteen minutes each day to maintain the pond, and you'll have a beautiful landscape feature that you'll be able to enjoy for years to come. I hit up mine each morning with a cup of coffee in one hand, and the skimmer in the other. The frogs have gotten so used to the routine that they don't even bother to hide in the rocks as I'm cleaning their pad (corny, I know, but I couldn't resist the pun). The little critters pay me for my services in dead bugs--the ones they eat before the insects gets a chance to feast on me. If that isn't friendship, I don't know what is. I mean, really, would you swallow flies and mosquitos for your bestie?

Don't dredge your pond of algae!

One of the reasons I started this blog a few years back was to educate myself, as well as share my gleaned knowledge with others. Like so many gardening enthusiasts, I came into this game with a bevy of preconceived notions. Among my most notoriously bad ones: colored mulch enhances new garden plantings (it doesn't--it simply adds an ugly, fake-looking layer around otherwise lovely plants); grass must look like a perfect green carpet (only if you like the idea of your kids and pets running barefoot in ankle-deep chemicals); and a pond looks awful when there's algae in it. I'm not gonna lie, I still struggle with this last one.

Just like it took me a while to appreciate the clover in my lawn (seeing all the bees buzzing in the delicate white flowers was what finally convinced me), I have to "train" myself to look into my pond proudly producing green algae blooms and not see red. Here's why it's good for your pond to go green:

1. Algae produces oxygen in the water, which keeps the pond from becoming smelly with harmful bacteria. In fact, like other plants, it absorbs the harmful C02 we expel and releases oxygen.

2. The filamentous version (green string algae) feeds fish and tadpoles, and provides a home for beneficial bacteria.

3. It tastes great. Just ask my dog, who tries to eat it every chance she gets!

Of course too much of a good thing can be problematic. Excessive algae on the pond's surface can block sunlight, counteracting all the good I've just mentioned. A balanced pond--like most things in life--requires moderation. Carefully removing a portion of pond algae is the best solution for good pond health and appearance.

There's a right way to do this and a wrong way. The wrong way is the easiest: dumping chemicals into the water. This, of course, can drastically improve the clarity of the pond, but at the cost of wildlife who inhabit and drink from it. It's also detrimental to the expensive plantings that have been cultivated in and around the water's edge. A far better, less expensive approach is to "old school" it: Purchase a $10 skimmer from a pool store, and manually scoop out the algae. Since it's floating, it's super easy to snatch up, and dump into a bucket. Just be careful to check the skimmer's netting to ensure you haven't snagged a tadpole or tiny fish.

Take ten or fifteen minutes each day to maintain the pond, and you'll have a beautiful landscape feature that you'll be able to enjoy for years to come. I hit up mine each morning with a cup of coffee in one hand, and the skimmer in the other. The frogs have gotten so used to the routine that they don't even bother to hide in the rocks as I'm cleaning their pad (corny, I know, but I couldn't resist the pun). The little critters pay me for my services in dead bugs--the ones they eat before the insects gets a chance to feast on me. If that isn't friendship, I don't know what is. I mean, really, would you swallow flies and mosquitos for your bestie?

Have a better landscape with less work

The other day I happened upon a  bumblebee making a racket inside a newly opened rose blossom. I bent down for a closer look...only to discover that the little bugger was in great distress! The rose petals had opened, but not wide enough for the bumble, anxious to get at the sweet nectar in the bud's center. As a result, his round, fuzzy body became trapped in the lush flower, imprisoning him in the very place he most desired to be!

As I gently pulled back a few petals with my index fingers, and watched him buzz away from his plush prison, I thought about his predicament--a universal one, to be sure. I realized that, at one time or another, we're all caught up in situations of our own making, but not necessarily of our choosing. This is a common conundrum for garden lovers. We yearn for outdoor spaces worthy of the glossy magazine covers--and often spend tremendous amounts of money and effort to achieve the effect--only to discover that we need to hire full-time gardening help or carve out an extra forty hours a week to devote to flowerbed upkeep. We made those landscaping decisions, but miscalculated a bit. We sure didn't choose to spend all our free time working in the yard.

Fortunately, you can have a lovely landscape and a life outside the garden gate. How to achieve this? With groundcovers. These subtle layers of greenery act like a canvas to a great painting, outlining garden beds, highlighting hard-scaped areas, and providing the cohesion needed to pull together other plantings for a pleasing, unified look.

Groundcovers define the different "rooms" in your outdoor living space--and they do it effortlessly. Below, I've listed my favorite groundcovers--and the reasons I think they are so good. Read through this list and try to find some that might work in your garden:

* Pachysandra: Whether you choose to go with the traditional shiny-leafed Pachysandra terminalis  (Japanese Spurge), the creamy tipped Pachysandra variegata or the native Pachysandra procumbens (whose leaves have a more matte finish), this plant is perfect in areas of part- or even deep shade. All forms grow rapidly in average soil and spread quickly through rhizomes; a perfect plant for covering large areas.

*Wild ginger: technically called Asarum canadense, is indigenous to the northeast United States, so is pretty much guaranteed to thrive in my little area of paradise. The heart-shaped leaves add interest to shady spaces. It doesn't spread as quickly as other groundcovers (each clump grows about 6-8 inches in all directions per year), so incorporate a few extra plants into flowerbeds at their inception and in just a few years you'll have a healthy, heart-shaped crop of bright green underfoot.

*Artemisia: this large and diverse genus of 200-400 species spreads very much like the wild daisies of the fields. The results are just as delightful. The most common form, called Artemisia absinthium (common name: wormwood) makes an excellent groundcover in sunny and shady spots (see photo, above). It rapidly coats the ground in delightful spikes of grayish green--a perfect complement to just about any flower color planted near it. Although it grows 2-3 feet, I cut mine back before it hits a foot high, which helps spread the seed heads (this plant is usually wind-pollinated) and keeps it looking like a groundcover. Another plus: it's highly aromatic, which discourages wildlife foraging on and around it.

*Phlox subulata: this divine plant--one of my favorites--spends 90% of its time as a thick, highly textured groundcover, but come Spring, it has a surprise for anyone who grows it: masses of long-lasting flowers of lavender, magenta, and even white. It thrives in sunny spots, but will get along in shadier spaces (just don't expect as much flowering). Here's a well-kept secret: if you mow the plant after flowers fade (just like you'd mow grass), you just may spur the plant into flowering again!

Any one of these groundcovers can replace your lawn. Over the years I've given mine permission to grow and expand. Each year I have a bit more groundcover and a little less grass and, let me tell you, it makes for a much more interesting effect in the yard!

Everything's coming up roses

There's a reason so many females long to be "June Brides." June is that magical month when the roses bloom. Who doesn't want to surround themselves in that aura? The intricate layers of delicate petals, the magnificent scent that triggers a thousand happy summer memories?

Like nearly everyone on the planet, I've always been fascinated by the rose. Even if you're not a fan of Mother Nature, you can't deny her creative charms, exemplified in the complex design of this floral phenomenon.  My attempts throughout the years to grow roses have always been thwarted due to one key factor: I don't get full sun--six consecutive hours per day--in any part of my yard.

If you're a rose aficionado, it's a good time to be alive and gardening. Advances in "rose technology" have kept pace with every other aspect of modern life, and today there are a number of rose hybrids and cultivars that require less sunlight in order to flourish--with the added benefit of supreme disease resistance and less need to water!

Many of the latest, greatest rose offerings requiring partial sun (4-5 hours per day) can be found in shrub form, which are most closely related to species native to forest or thicket habitats. Once-blooming varieties (many old garden roses) require less light. Unlike most hybrid tea roses, which require more sun, many roses of the shrub variety add delicious scent to the garden. Some shady showstoppers include David Austin and Griffith Buck roses, which produce spectacular flushes in partial shade. Particularly good: Sophy's Rose, a bright magenta repeat bloomer, resistant to disease and Molineux, with gold center and creamy outer petals and semi-glossy foliage.

These rose varieties are less prolific than their sun-drenched cousins, the floribundas, grandifloras and hybrid teas, but are less likely to develop rose spot in shade, are often more fragrant, and have longer-lasting blooming times. Follow the tips below to keep your partially shaded roses looking their best:

• Choose pale or pastel blooms that “pop” in shady areas.
• Supply adequate water with good drainage.
• Apply sufficient fertilizer.
• Prune periodically, as shaded roses tend to grow taller.
• Plant away from tree trunks to avoid root competition

The armchair gardener

I think the most devoted gardeners tend to be daydreamers: those who like to let their minds wander, and gladly follow the meanderings. Daydreamers don't generally appreciate the instant-gratification, had-to-be-done-yesterday world, where most people proclaim (proudly) that their cell phones are like appendages. Dreamers tend to tune into a broader range of signals, prompted by the distant call of the mourning dove or the gentle buzz of a passing bumble bee.

In the early-morning birdsong, I seek out my armchair, coffee in hand, and take in nature's symphony. The babbling stream provides the bass to a harmony of nature's wonders--from the whisper of hummingbird wings to the lusty stirring of leaves in the breeze overhead, my greatest gardening feats--those in my mind--are accomplished right in my sturdy wicker chair. In my head I create visions of floral loveliness from my front curb to the woods far behind the house. I can usually retain the remnants of these mental imaginings long enough to scribble a few notes in my gardening journal. These are often the thoughts, scribbled hastily between the lines, that provide the inspiration for my favorite plant pairings.

Let's face it, we're a society of goal-oriented overachievers. We want to do what we do, quickly, and then be on to the next task. That's how we assure ourselves that we matter. Each day I challenge myself to take a few moments to just be me, in all my unremarkable glory. The garden setting soothes me, the sounds settling around me like a lullaby. In the serenity I realize that the things humans value are often skewed. Pride, prestige, power, wealth. Not evil values in and of themselves, but not important to the tiny tufted titmouse balancing on my birdfeeder. Even the most vital things in our world--love and life itself--don't hold sway with the chickadee swishing her tail feathers in the birdbath on my patio. She'll sing to her heart's content, then take flight, flapping her tiny wings ever upward, and soaring through the sky--oblivious to my human struggles.

I glance at the glorious peony blooming beside my bearded iris and crimson poppy. In a few days the blossoms will have faded away, but that doesn't diminish the immeasurable pleasure the blooms give me right now. Nature teaches us about patience and purpose., and that all things in this world are of utmost importance at some point in time--even if just for the 24-hour lifespan of a daylily blossom.

Today, be a dreamer. And dream big.