Garden Design Pattern Languages

Posted on 2021-12-15 by admin

In a guest post on the ASLA’s “Dirt” column, Alden E. Stone, CEO of Nature Sacred, writes:

[Our new report] is part research and part practical guide, and shares key insights gained through having co-created more than 100 Sacred Places across the country in communities, many under-resourced; in prisons, at universities, and in hospitals. A handful of these sites were also implemented as part of an expansive, decade-long design, build, and research project. …

For the research portion of this paper, we focused our attention on four domains: nature’s impact on individual, community, economic and ecological health. …

for many of the individual and community health benefits to kick in, people must engage with nature. Spend time in the green space. And this is where Nature Sacred has spent a lot of energy over the past two decades — looking at how to best engage the community and how to best design so that the community embraces, and spends time in, their green space.

She describes four “design elements”:

Portal
Path
Destination
Surround

These design patterns recur in many different types of gardens, whether intentionally healing/sacred or not.

My backyard embodies all four elements. What follows is an exploration of the history of my backyard, from inception to its current state, viewed through the frame of those four design elements.

2005

My first sketch of the backyard, just after we bought our house. You can see portals/transitions, paths, seating as destinations, and the surround of enveloping plants. (Even though we had just moved in, I was also fantasizing about changing out the whole back of the house and adding a rear porch to better connect it with the backyard. That never happened.)

2006

By our second Spring, I better understood how light and shade shifts over the garden throughout the year. The plan is refined and made more specific, less conceptual. The Gardener’s Nook is now defined. The driveway-backyard portal shows up: the garage and house both connected and separated by a fence and trellis through which one would pass to enter the backyard from the driveway.

Using the sketch as a guide, the loose circle shown in the opening photo gets tightened up, better defined. Bringing the sketch to life, the desination Gardener’s Nook – the upper left of the sketch directly above – makes it first appearance with a pair of Adirondack chairs and some decor. Plants in containers begin to define the surround. An umbrella substitutes for the missing tree canopy.

2007

A year after that, things are really coming together. A trellis establishes the portal entrance from the driveway into the backyard. This filters the line of sight into the backyard, which beckons one to venture through, and past.

The center of the circle gets filled in. A table both provides central desination, and defines a circular path around itself, echoing the initial concept sketch. Logs double as seating and a layer of surround. The plants are now getting large enough to provide a second layer. My rear neighbor thankfully provided a fence, closing off the backyard and completing the surround.

2009

Winter 2009: My Garden Design class final project is my backyard, striking a balance to maximize planting area – a deep surround – while retaining space for people. Curved borders echo the original spiral.

Although the built environment of that design is never realized, the plan and its rough dimensions inform all later changes. Later that year, I transplant a large shrub. This gives the backyard a sense of enclosure, the “surround”.

2010

I plant an “understory” tree which will provide overhead enclosure, a vertical surround. As I had specified in my garden design, I selected an Amelanchier, which goes by many wonderful phenologically evocative common names. It serves as a replacement for the old apple tree my north-side neighbors had in their backyard, adjacent to our shared fence. Eventually, it brings back the cedar waxwings I enjoyed seeing amongst its flowers.

2011

The portal/entrance to the backyard gets a major makeover. I register with the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) as a Backyard Wildlife Habitat. My garden itself becomes a destination, and welcomes its first public visitors.

2014

The garden hosts a wedding, its first use as an intentionally sacred space.

2016

Five years later, the shrubs and other plantings have matured, and the surround of enveloping greenery and flowers has been realized. The Gardener’s Nook is now a fully-sheltered spot, a desination tucked into the larger embrace of the garden.

2018

This garden continues to be a sacred/healing space for many over the years. It was sanctuary for our dear friend David. After he entered home hospice, he would call a car service to deliver him to the garden. Here he is in the Gardener’s Nook two weeks before he died.

2021

Today, 16 years after that first sketch, the backyard has realized its final form. Visitors say they feel like they’ve walked into the woods, the highest praise.

Portal, path, destination, surround – all embodied, and felt, in the garden.

What’s a tree worth?

Posted on 2011-08-05 by admin

You can quantify the relative benefits of an individual tree, and project its future benefits as it grows through the years, with i-Tree Design:

i-Tree Design (beta) allows anyone to make a simple estimation of the benefits individual trees provide. With inputs of location, species, tree size and condition, users will get an understanding of the benefits that trees provide related to greenhouse gas mitigation, air quality improvements and storm water interception. With the added step of drawing a house or building footprint—and virtually “planting” a tree—trees’ effects on building energy use can be evaluated.

This tool is intended to be a simple and accessible starting point for understanding individual trees’ value to the homeowner and their community.

Using it is straightforward:

Enter a street address.
Select the common name of the tree species or genus.
Enter the size, indicated by DBH: diameter at breast height (5′ off the ground).
Select the general health or condition of the tree, from “Excellent” to “Dead or Dying.”

The results are returned quickly. Details are available from the different tabs.

The application requires Flash to be supported and enabled in your browser, so it won’t work behind many corporate firewalls.

[goo.gl]

Links

i-Tree Design benefit Calculator

Brooklyn Dirt #2, 3/16, Sycamore Bar and Flower Shop

Posted on 2011-03-15 by admin

The second night of the speaker event series Brooklyn Dirt: Monthly Talks on Urban Garden and Farming is this Wednesday, March 16. The topic is Garden Design.

Prospect Farm and Sustainable Flatbush are proud to present Brooklyn Dirt: Monthly Talks on Urban Farming and Gardening.

Sycamore Bar and Flowershop
1118 Cortelyou Road
Brooklyn, NY, 11218

21 and over only

Directions: Q train to Cortelyou Road

Talk Two: Garden Design
With Speakers Tom Angotti with Jesse Alter (Hunter ) and Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener)
Talk One: Dirt and Soil
Wednesday, February 16, 2011, 7-9:30pm
With Speakers Jay Smith and Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener)

$5 suggested donation. Proceeds benefit Prospect Farm and the Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative of Sustainable Flatbush.

Tom Angotti and Jesse Alter led a group to Cuba in January that studied urban agriculture and organic farming. Tom teaches urban planning at Hunter College and helped start Prospect Farm in Brooklyn. Jesse is a graduate student at Hunter and works at the Center for Cuban Studies in New York.

Chris Kreussling (AKA Flatbush Gardener) is a garden coach with more than 30 years gardening experience in NYC. Chris is also the Director of the Urban Gardens and Farms initiative of Sustainable Flatbush and a community member of the Healthy Soils, Healthy Communities advisory board, a project of the Cornell Waste Management Institute, and earned a BBG Certificate in Horticulture, 2009.

Sustainable Flatbush brings neighbors together to mobilize, educate, and advocate for sustainable living in their Brooklyn neighborhood and beyond.

Prospect Farm is a community group in Windsor Terrace, Brooklyn that is working together to grow food in a formerly vacant lot, with the mission toward creating a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Farm that can serve our community. Prospect Farm is the community leader for the Kensington/Windsor Terrace neighborhood group for the Brooklyn Food Coalition.

The ground-breaking at Prospect Farm, initially called Windsor Farm, on March 31, 2010.

The facade of the newly opened Sycamore Bar and Flowershop on September 13, 2008.

[goo.gl]

Links

Event on Facebook

Prospect Farm
Urban Gardens and Farms Initiative, Sustainable Flatbush
Sycamore Bar and Flowershop

Design Drafts for the Parsonage at the Flatbush Reformed Church

Posted on 2010-08-01 by admin

This afternoon at 3pm I’ll be presenting to the community drafts of two alternative designs for a new communal garden on the grounds of the Parsonage, a landmarked historic building, on the grounds of the Flatbush Reformed Church.

Neither of these is a final design. They’re intended simply to present key features requested by community members at the Visioning Workshops and show how they might integrate into a cohesive design. The two designs weight these features differently, giving more or less space to different areas, and supporting different activities. I’m hoping this afternoon’s meeting will highlight the most popular features of each design, which can be recombined into a final design for this garden.

Dimensions

Here’s the base plan, drawn to scale at 3/16″ = 1 foot, of the site. Kenmore Terrace is at the bottom of the plan, East 21st Street on the left, the parking lot on the right. North is roughly up.

The front porch is nearly 53′ long! It’s just over 25′ from the fence along Kenmore Terrace to the front of the porch, and 27′ from the East 21st Street fence to the side. It’s nearly 85′ from the parking lot to East 21st. The sidewalk bed along Kenmore Terrace is 3’6″ deep. The bed between the fence and the parking lot is 8’3″ deep.

Existing Conditions

The space is dominated by large, mature oak trees which provide high shade over the entire property. Three large Taxus, Yew, shrubs exist as foundation plantings in front of the porch. There probably was at one time fourth shrub, at the far left of the porch, to complete the symmetry.

Everything else is lawn. Between the parking lot and the center walk, the lawn is sparse and the ground is compacted. To the left of the center walk, the ground is less compacted, and the grass transitions to a mix of clover and moss closer to East 21st Street.

There are planting beds between the fence along the property line and the sidewalk. Existing plantings of perennials in these beds are scattered and sparse.

Design A: “The Commons”

This design maximizes space to meet, sit and play. A paved patio area is created between the center walk and the parking lot. Benches provide seating for over 20 people. A large expanse of lawn provides space for running around or lawn games, such as badminton, horseshoes, etc.

Raised beds – 4×4 or 2×4 – provide over 200 square feet to grow food, herbs, and medicinal plants.

The existing large Taxus, Yew, shrubs are preserved. A buffer of perennials is created around the trunk of each Quercus, Oak, tree.

Rainwater is collected from the downspout near the western end of the porch (left in this rendering).

Design B: “Sanctuary”

This design provides for both shared and intimate experiences in the garden. Three gardens are created here: a common area, a wildlife habitat garden, and a rain garden.

The existing Yews are removed to make more room, especially for the common area between the center walk and the parking lot.

A few raised beds are specified in this design in the common area. More space is available for raised beds to the right of this plan, between the parking lot and the fence along the property line.

The common area has both a paved patio area and a small lawn for picnicking. A wide entrance and semi-circular bench around the base of one of the Oaks provides a generous invitation to enter and linger. No other seating is specified, but could be added, for example, on the ends of the raised beds.

The wildlife habitat garden is contained with a meandering path. Two small understory trees provide focal points. These would be underplanted with small shrubs, and shade-loving perennials. The path is designed to both cutoff and provide access to this garden. You can’t see everything without walking the path. Two benches provide intimate seating, out of sight of each other and other areas of the garden.

Rainwater is collected from the downspout near the western end of the porch (left in this rendering). Here, a “stream” is designed to direct overflow to the rain garden. This would be planted with native shrubs, ferns, and wildflowers.

[goog.gl]

Links

Community Garden Potluck August 1st!, Sustainable Flatbush, 2010-07-24

Flatbush Reformed Church
CAMBA
Flatbush Farm Share CSA

Designing a New Communal Garden

Posted on 2010-07-17 by admin

2010-07-31: Added base plan, drawn to scale, of the site.
2010-07-26: Added transcribed notes from the workshop materials.

On June 6 and June 16, Sustainable Flatbush and the Flatbush Reformed Church held two Community Visioning Workshops for a new communal garden to be created on the grounds of the Church. On Sunday, August 1, 3pm, we invite community review of proposed designs.

Participants of the second community visioning workshop introduce themselves on the grounds of the future garden.

We invite design proposals from the community. This post has basic information about the site, including measurements and general conditions, as well as the notes from the workshop sessions, to inform your designs.

Location

The main area available for the new garden is the front lawn of the Parsonage of the Flatbush Reformed Church. This building is at the corner of a dead-end court, Kenmore Terrace, and lightly-traveled through-street, East 21st Street.

View Larger Map

Here’s how the site looks from the corner. Kenmore Terrace is in the foreground, East 21st Street is on the left. The view is looking slightly east of north.

Dimensions

Here’s the base plan, drawn to scale at 3/16″ = 1 foot, of the site. Kenmore Terrace is at the bottom of the plan, East 21st Street on the left, the parking lot on the right. North is roughly up.

Here is my sketched, unscaled, plan of the site, drawn from the perspective of the front porch of the Parsonage. Kenmore Terrace is at the top of the plan, the parking lot is on the left, East 21st on the right.

Conditions

The plan notes the approximate locations of three of the large oak trees around the perimeter of site, just inside the fence. They provide high shade over the entire property. The sidewalk beds along Kenmore get some sun during the middle of the day, enough, at least, for some Hemerocallis to bloom there.

Soil tests revealed high levels of metals in the soil, too high to grow food directly in the soil. There are ample opportunities for raised beds across the site. A second area, with full sun next to the parking lot, will be used for raised beds.

Transcription

These notes were transcribed from the Workshop collages.

EDUCATION PROGRAMS:
produce, herbs and food
– children-run MINI-CSA for neighbors (like a lemonade but w/ produce)
– COOKING CLASSES/demos *** (on nutrition *)
– medicinal HERB WORKSHOPS

art and culture
– ART WORKSHOPS
– art & CULTURE CURRICULUMS

biking
– BIKE riding LESSONS in parking lot
– BIKE MAINTENANCE workshops

youth-oriented programming
– EDUCATION PROGRAMS – interface w/ local charter school & public schools
– summer/ weekend educational for kids
– GARDEN VISITS- kids visiting garden from schools

gardening programming
– GARDENING 101 info sessions/workshops **
– HAITIAN COMMUNITY SHARING of traditional farming knowledge
– HOW-TOs to encourage others to use their BACKYARD
– SUSTAINABILITY EDucation
– SOLAR installation – demo/workshop when it’s installed
– VERMICOMPOST – how to workshops

methods for running these programs:
– programs out of parsonage
– adaquate documentation of each step taken online
– how to guide for those in other communities looking to start their own gardens and/or gardening tips for those who want to start backyard gardens in the area (similar weather and growing conditions)

EVENTS
theater
– Small THEATER performance on the porch – with a garden or food theme (w/ and for kids) ie. Little Red Hen, Peter Rabbit
– showcase edible plants – “PLANT OF THE WEEK” idea, educate community members about plants they can eat, recipes for preparation, fun facts, etc

food and drink
– monthly POTLUCKS ***
– BBQs w/ veggie foods
– TEA PARTIES! (mint & ginger) **
– mint LEMONADE STAND (5 cents)

for the garden
– LEAF COLLECTION in the fall
– PLANT SWAP
– collective SIGN DESIGN

fun
– non-amplified MUSIC (jazz, blue-grass, brazilian, steel drums)
– ACUPUNCTURE
– BOOK CLUB (w/ environmental social justice focus)

trips
– FARM TRIP

seasonal programming
– spring/easter HAT PARADE
– campfire style GHOST STORIES (smores, etc)
– PUMPKIN carving in the fall

– halloween party (compost halloween pumpkins)

getting to know you
– porch party
– MEET my neighbors

methods
– intergenerational gardening
– gatherings

GARDEN AREAS:
by plants
– Fragrant garden
– butterfly garden ***
– kids garden ** (and education programs)
– discovery gardens ** (tactile plants **)
– meditation bench in quiet leafy spot
– cactus/low water garden
– polinator garden in front of parsonage

for programming
– area for potluck/picnics
– long table for potlucks
– benches & tables for gathering **

art
– murals
– sculptures

for garden techniques
– corner of garden for pumpkin patch (also it’s right next to a cemetery so that’s cool!)
– vertical gardening for the fenced in areas **
– maze path lined w/ flowers
– path (curvy, etc) **
– tree beds – protect trees we are working around

GARDEN INFRASTRUCTURE:
garden-based infrastructure and decor
– beehive **
– birdhouse *****
– greenhouse ***
– sundial
– solar lighting/lanterns **
– water fountain *** (solar powered ones *)

gardening method infrastructure
– rain water catchment ***
– composting

for fun
– treehouse*
– swing **
– hammock

for transport
– bike parking **** (bike racks)

for entryway
– beautiful welcoming gate **
– sign on gate w/ info on how to join
– arbor over entrance

etc
– recycling on church grounds
– wind power
– solar power **
– human power
– whimsy

walls
– living wall

– a living structure – like a small yurt from woven willows that are still growing and changing – the kids can play in it
– sound barrier

GARDEN TECHNIQUES:
methods

– lasagna gardening
– 3 sister type planting (corn, beans, root veggies)
– companion planting as a model for small space gardening – how to have a garden grow food for your family in a small space
– permaculture

– heal the soil

– container gardening
– recycled containers as planters (ie. pickle barrel) – drill holes for drainage
– raised beds for food
– cold frames (windows work! “or so i’ve heard”)

fertilizing
– organic fertilizers (garden plenty, liquid kelp spray, sea rich)
– organic **

keep
– seed library – seed saving

THINGS TO GROW:

herbs *

– food herbs ***
– basil *
– medicinal herbs ** (ie. comfrey, hyssop, lavender)
– parsley **
– rosemary **
– cilantro
– thyme

fruits

– grapes*
– berries
– fruit trees **
– avocados
– strawberries
– pink lady apples
– peaches
– cherries
– watermelon
– apples
– grapes
– blueberries

vegetables
– pumpkins
– squash*
– brussel srpouts
– eggplant
– artichoke
– salad greens*
-radishes
– beans
– chickpeas
– root veggies (onions ***, carrots ***, potatoes ***, radishes)
– tomatoes **
– peppers
– garlic
– scallion
_ ginger **
– any green leafed vegetables
– kale
– legumes
– swiss chard
– zuchini
– bell pepers
– leeks
– green beens
– tomatoes
– hot pepers
– lettuce
– cucumbers

– wine harvesting

flowers

[goo.gl]

Links

Garden Visioning Session report, Jeremy Teperman, Sustainable Flatbush, 2010-07-01

Flatbush Reformed Church
CAMBA
Flatbush Farm Share CSA

35 North Pearl Street

Posted on 2010-07-15 by admin

Part of Garden Bloggers Buffa10, Buffalo, NY, July 2010

Red Monarda, Beebalm, against a turquoise blue door in the backyard of 35 North Pearl Street in Buffalo’s Allentown neighborhood.

This is one of the first gardens I saw in the Allentown neighborhood of Buffalo the afternoon of Thursday, July 8. Perhaps because it was first, it got extra attention. Nevertheless, I think you’ll agree it was worthy of it.

A simple design made practical use of a small, urban backyard. The hub and spoke design creates multiple focal points: a fountain, a chair, and the blue door. This is an important design strategy for making a small space seem bigger, part of our conversation on the “short bus” one afternoon. At the same time, it grants reliable access to most of the flowers beds for maintenance. A strong design like this works even – especially – when flowers are past and leaves are gone. And Buffalo’s notorious snows would highlight it further, when it’s not completely buried.

Slideshow

Native Plant Profile: Amelanchier x grandiflora

Posted on 2010-05-09 by admin

Jump to How to Plant a Tree.

Today I planted Amelanchier x grandiflora ‘Autumn Brilliance’, Apple Serviceberry, in my backyard native plant garden.

I chose my backyard as my final class project for Urban Garden Design at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden last year. Serviceberry is one of the two key plants I specified for my planting scheme. Serviceberries are multi-season plants. They bloom in early Spring, before the flowering cherries. The berries ripen in mid-summer; they are edible and tasty, and attractive to birds. Fall color is excellent. Branching structure and bark provide winter interest.

Here are the initial sketch and final design for the project. The Amelanchier is the second smallest circle on the left (north) of the plan. In this design for an urban woodland garden, the Serviceberry plays the role of an understory tree. The larger circle on the right is Sassafras albidum, the canopy tree, which is proving even more difficult to source than the Amelanchier.

Here’s how the north bed looked this afternoon, before planting the tree. The large shrub is Viburnum dentatum ‘Blue Muffin’, Arrowwood, which I transplanted here last Spring.

The Serviceberries hybridize readily in the wild. Although I specified A. arborea, A. canadensis, or A. laevis in my plant list, the species have proven difficult to locate. A. x grandiflora is a horticultural hybrid of my preferred species – sources disagree on whether it’s between A. arborea or A. canadensis and A. laevis – so this is a good alternative. Serviceberries are in the Rosaceae, the Rose Family, and so are subject to the same diseases as more conventional fruit trees such as apples. ‘Autumn Brilliance’ is a cultivar selected for its fall foliage and disease resistance.

Serviceberries sucker readily. Their growth is usually shrubby. even the larger species typically grow as trees with multiple trunks, but they can be trained to a single trunk. I went looking for such specimens on Thursday. I found two at Chelsea Garden Center in Red Hook. One was already tagged as sold. I bought this one.

It’s deceptively small-looking in the photo. That’s a 15-gallon container. Once I got it into the backyard, I had some appreciation for the task I’d set for myself. Here it is set on the wagon I used to wheel it into the backyard.

How to plant a tree

When planting a tree, it’s important not to plant it deeper than it was grown. I measured the depth of the container, and used that as a guide; since the soil level in the container is two inches down from the edge, I took two inches off the height of the container. You can also just take marks against your planting tools. I made final adjustments of depth with the tree in the hole: starting high, then gently tipping the tree and taking out just one shovelful at a time until the top of the roots were just above their original depth.

I also measured the width of the container. Normally, the width is not important: you can dig two or three times wider than the width of the roots, the wider the better. But I was planting into tight quarters – an already planted bed – and didn’t want to have to remove more soil than I needed to. Also, I worked this soil last Spring, when I built out the bed, so I didn’t need to dig a wider hole this time around.

Before I tucked the tree in, I took the opportunity to prune out any broken or crossing branches. It doesn’t affect the look of the tree, and reduces later problems. This is easier to do with the tree on its side than upright. I have a pole pruner to use as the tree gets bigger.

Before

After. See? It doesn’t look any different.

The final challenge: getting the tree to and into the hole without destroying the other plantings. For this, I setup a wide board as a ramp to slide the root ball over the other plants.

Fortunately, just at this moment, Blog Widow returned home, and a neighbor stopped by. We made quick work of getting the tree in, with little damage to the other plants.

Mature size is 15-25′ high and wide. This will provide critical late day shade for the wildflowers and ferns planted in this bed. I could already see the difference today. Birds will be attracted to the fruit, which ripen before those of the existing Viburnum and Ilex verticillata. With early bloom and excellent fall color, this tree will anchor the garden in all seasons, and help define the space. This is the single most costly plant I’ve ever purchased. It’s one of the best investments I’ve made in the garden.

[http://goo.gl/fb/Y9Gjn]

Woodland Garden Design Plant List

Posted on 2009-02-18 by admin

Over the weekend, my Twitter stream reflected the progress I was making on my final class project for the Urban Garden Design class with Nigel Rollings at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. Despite battling a wicked head hold and racking cough, I put the finishing touches on my design late Monday night.

A cultivar of Lonicera sempervirens, the native Trumpet Honeysuckle, growing on a metal arbor at the entrance to my backyard. The specific epithet “sempervirens” refers to the evergreen, or nearly so in my Zone 7a/6b garden, foliage.

In last night’s class we each presented our designs. There was a lot of warmth, humor, and enthusiasm among the class. Not to mention wine (though not for me). The night ran late, so there wasn’t time for close inspection of all the designs.

Some of my fellow students wanted more information about my plant selections. Here is the plant list, without further explanation for now, that I used in my design. Most of these are shrubs. Many of these I’ve collected over the past several years, and some are now several feet high and wide. Many, but not all, are species native to New York City. The most precious to me are those that have been propagated from NYC-local ecotypes.

This is just a candidate list, not a final one. As I mentioned in last night’s class, I’m not satisfied with the planting plan. I would like a couple more evergreen plants; I’d really like an Ilex opaca, but the native form gets too large for my site. There are many plants in this list that provide winter interest, in bark, form, berries, and so on, including some that are semi-evergreen. I want to place more vines in the design, and I already have some ideas for where to do that. And I didn’t spend much time specifying perennials. There’s still plenty of room for them in this design; there are at least a hundred to select from, and I just ran out of time to specify and draw them all.

Trees

Sassafras albidum, Sassafras. This would become the focal point of the garden; the design “rotates” around it. This will be a canopy tree, providing primary shade to the house and garden.
Amelanchier arborea, Common or Downy Serviceberry. This is an understory tree from the Rosaceae, the Rose Family, tolerant of the shade the Sassafras will provide. In my design, its placement will also grant it direct afternoon sun from the West during the summer months, which should help in fruit-set. It’s a “replacement” for the old apple tree that grew on the other side of the fence on my neighbor’s property, which they had to take down last winter. I miss that tree; it was a bird magnet. This tree is a better selection, better placed, and with fewer maintenance issues.
All Amelanchier species, commonly known as Serviceberries, are desireable landscape trees and shrubs and provide food for wildlife, especially birds. Alternatives to A. arborea are A. canadensis, Canada or Shadblow Serviceberry, or Shadbush, or A. laevis, Allegheny or Smooth Serviceberry, which is recommended for its human-edible fruit.
Prunus variety. This is an existing tree, the only one remaining from the eight trees that were in the backyard when we bought the property four years ago. It’s healthy, and adds some interest to every season, so I’m happy to keep it as long as it does well. But my design doesn’t depend on it, so when the time comes and it needs to go, the design will remain whole.

Geothlypis trichas, Common Yellowthroat, one of the avian visitors to my neighbor’s apple tree which I hope will be enticed to return by the Serviceberry.

Vines

Lonicera sempervirens cultivar (existing), Trumpet Honeysuckle. Semi-evergreen, twining vine. Flowers best and grows densest with full sun. Grows well, just less vigorously, in partial shade. Mine is visited by hummingbirds every year, but they always seem disappointed by it; it’s not the Hummingbird magnet I hoped it would be. I suspect I would need a local ecotype, one adapted to the phenology of hummingbird migration through this area, to attract hummingbirds well.
Parthenocissus quinquefolia, Virgina Creeper. deciduous vine, climbs by holdfasts to any vertical surface; can also grow as a groundcover. A native alternative to P. tricuspidata, Boston Ivy. Deciduous. Brilliant red color in the fall. Fruit are an important food source for birds.
Vitis labrusca, Fox Grape. Deciduous vine, climbs by tendrils. One of several native grape species, this is the source of the Concord Grape.

I also have an existing small-leaved Aristolochia, Pipevine, but I couldn’t place it yet in the new design. I want to add more vines, including the big-leaved Pipevine; I just need to think more about their placement and function.

Shrubs

Aronia arbutifolia ‘Brilliantissimum’ (existing)
Clethra alnifolia ‘September Beauty’ (existing)
Cornus sericea ‘Cardinal’ (existing)
Ilex verticillata cultivars, male and female (existing)
Juniperus horizontalis
Kalmia latifolia ‘Minuet’ (existing)
Lindera benzoin
Myrica pensylvanica
Prunus maritima
Rhododendron viscosum NYC-local ecotype (existing)
Rosa carolina (or R. virginiana)

Several shrubs I already have did not make it into this design. I’ve collected them over the years without a plan, based more on their availability and opportunity to acquire them than anything else. Unless I leave no space for people, there simply isn’t enough room for all of them in my 30’x30′ backyard, which is already quite expansive by NYC, even Brooklyn, standards. That gives me some flexibility in the planting plan, as my first choice is to go with plants I already have, but some will eventually have to live on somewhere else.

[TinyURL]

2005

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2021

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Dimensions

Existing Conditions

Design A: “The Commons”

Design B: “Sanctuary”

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Location

Dimensions

Conditions

Transcription

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Slideshow

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How to plant a tree

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Trees

Vines

Shrubs

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