Landscape Archives - Landscape Knowledge

Heaven is a Garden

A few years ago I read a paper about how grasses ‘moved’ to music, then I read about the effects of harmonious sounds on plant growth.

Just using white summer bedding is very effective in such a large garden

Why do I mention this, well a few weeks ago we were talking about Tesla and his discoveries, which led us to talking about vibrations, sound waves, force fields etc., then a strange thing happened.

Ann and I interviewed a wonderful lady landscape architect Jan Johnsen, about her new book “Heaven is a Garden” we talked a little about how at a very young age she discovered during a science fair competition – which against all the odds she won – the effects early morning birds singing have on plants. The sound waves, which are similar to a violin stimulate a plant to open its stomata taking in carbon-dioxide to help it grow quicker.

Jan has written a new book called Heaven is a Garden, it’s a really fascinating and informative read. Jan has ‘connected’ the dots so as to speak, between the natural world and our emotions. How the Four Winds are important when laying out a space,the careful use of curves, and my favorite Golden Rectangles and the Divine Proportion. – Phi is the mathematical proportion ( 1 : 1.618) we see in every natural form. Using this proportion ensures a sense of harmony in any outdoor space that contains it. I’ve always tried to use these proportions in my designs.

Jan then talks about Trees – natures rechargers as she puts it… The Celts called it shunnache, the Hindu tree devas, and Greek dryads…the Japanese consider the health giving properties of trees the basis of a medical therapy called ‘ forest bathing’ .

Jan then discusses the magnetic attraction in a Zen garden – rocks in these gardens reflect a deep understanding of the geomagnetic properties of stone and its impact on a place.

Finally the benefits of color in a garden.

Be inspired by Jan Johnsen's Book — Be inspired by Jan Johnsen’s Book

You can listen to our truly fascinating interview with Jan Johnsen at www.growingtrends.org or if you prefer on iTunes at Growing Trends

We would love to hear from you our listeners

A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

A little more adventurous, next to a small pond.

Today as the weather here in the Mid West is again unusually British – it’s ‘Raining Again’ I thought it might be fun to see what happens when you oblige a client and work in the rain..

So the four are indeed ‘Wet’ at first, it’s really counter productive as it takes even longer to clean up the mess created and even longer to return a site to attractive…

and after a little horticultural magic…this project featured in ‘ A Vision of Britain’

Here’s another one :-

This one required weeks to dry out before we could even start to develop the hard play surface inside the stockade.

This next one was really challenging.. how the builder left the site..

How we left the garden sometime later.

Brick edged, bound gravel wearing surface

If you would like to subscribe to this series please just complete a contact form or send us an email to chris@chriscoope.com

We will be producing an ebook that will have many more observations , ideas , examples from the past 30 years of landscaping.

A Growing Trend – is going on a plant safari …

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

A Growing Trend – is coming on a plant safari with us, to find those plants you need for our ideas…. it’s fun, it’s friendly and it’s great exercise….

First another in our series of before and after garden pictures –

Completed project, with garden 'opened up' and pool filled in. — Completed project, with garden ‘opened up’ and pool filled in.

It's amazing what a little planting can do.. — It’s amazing what a little planting can do..

or maybe like this…

Today’s pictures highlight the benefit of having a good designer when it comes to making changes…. You can see the ‘Before’ and then the ‘After’ in the pictures.

First the walls and steps are constructed

then the terrace and walls are constructed, finally the lawn and landscape.

Adding colour to a garden brings it alive !

We’ve started to take a ‘Hands On’ approach and show clients how to buy plants, how to place them and then how to plant them for maximum effect… it’s fun, it’s friendly and it’s good exercise now its time to enjoy …..

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

A fun low maintenance summer garden to enjoy.

You can listen to Ann & Chris’s fascinating interviews with industry experts at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

We would love to hear from you with ideas, comments or suggestions..

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

Ann and I are going to produce a series of short daily articles that highlight

“A rare moment of peace in the perfect haven of a garden brings us renewed harmony with nature”

Today’s is a roof garden.

Some years ago, well alright 30 years ago we were asked to design and create a roof garden for a packaging company,

We had always designed to a module which enables you to replicate easily. In this case we took molds of rock faces and made some fiberglass containers that were deep enough to act as planters. This extra depth enabled the plants to really take root and grow, it also prevented the roots from interfering with the roof’s drainage system

Here’s how we made the planters..

You can listen to Ann & Chris’s fascinating interviews with industry experts at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

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Are we rediscovering a sense of community?

Today’s interview is really fascinating, our friends Bill Sosinsky and Rich Sapienza of Energime University discuss, coming trends, in particular the growing sense of community involvement. Community gardens the modern name for an ‘Allotment’ is a case in point.

The growing popularity of farmers markets, are helping to provide locally grown produce, that is grown in season, rather than having all food always available. There are some real benefits to eating ‘for want of a better word’ the right vegetables for the season.

We talk about water usage and the changes coming. To how we will all have to change some of our habits in these new times. In the meantime we all need to reconnect with nature, spend time to just take a stroll in a garden or park.

You can hear our latest interview at www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

Ann & Chris would love to hear from you with suggestions for shows or just a comment about this show, you can find us on Facebook at Growing Trends

Connecting with your landscape.

Recently Ann and I have been out on safari helping clients design & plant new landscapes.

It’s always nice to ‘keep your hand in’ as they say.

This time we tried a somewhat different approach.

We took the clients to various nurseries helping them choose the plants we were suggesting they would use.

Then we set out the planting on site helping them to plant, by using tried and trusted techniques we had learned over the years it helped to reduce transplant shock , giving the plants a great start. The clients learned a new way to plant.

It was really great fun, everyone enjoyed the experience, even the neighbors popped over to help.

We’ve already started to plan the next event… this time we are thinking of showing school children how, the last time we did this, some twenty years ago, every plant in the school project was planted at least five times.

The garden won a multitude of awards , there was no vandalism, with everything establishing well.

It’s time to teach our children’s children how to enjoy the calmness of a garden, to connect with nature and to learn so much more about our planet.

The benefits of a School Garden are many, does your school have one?

Is this really salad ? it tastes so good like this !

Ann & I were fortunate to talk to three amazing ladies from Tennessee a little while ago. They wanted to start a school garden at their school, here is their story, the school garden is now in its third year.

Some of the main points we heard were:-

It’s essential to have teacher as well as parent support.

Take time to plan carefully

Initially growing from seed is harder , due to the school calendar.

Choose plants that will fit into this schedule.

The children want to take ownership of their plants !

Educating children in the different choices of produce increases the varieties they will eat.

Children really take pride in taking home to their family the produce they have grown.

In a blind radish test, the children could tell which were home grown as opposed to store bought and much preferred home grown !

Listen here to our interview with these ladies.. www.growingtrends.org or on iTunes at Growing Trends

Ann & I would love to hear from you.

If you would like us to put you in touch with these wonderful ladies,or if you would like more information on starting your own school garden just complete the comments box below and we will be in touch. If you would like us to interview you, send us a picture of your garden along with contact details, we will be adding a section to our web site www.grotrends.com specially on School garden projects.

Thank you Penny, Peggy and Emily, this was a fascinating interview.

Ann & Chris

Fracking – is this relatively new method of oil & gas extraction the way of the future ?

Some of you may know that Ann & I have a new podcast as well as this blog.

Many years ago, whilst at school.I learned to write ‘joined up’ or ‘cursive’ style with a quill pen , you can imagine in my ripe old age, it takes me a little time to catch on to new methods of communicating.

That said Ann & I have made a quantum leap forward by using Internet Radio and Podcasting, we call the show Growing Trends.

Our latest podcast is all about Fracking.

This newish method of extracting oil and natural gas has caused quite a stir around the world.

Prices at the pumps have more than halved, there are stories of polluting and even earthquakes caused by this method. Then there are the stories of the huge drop in carbon emissions by countries using this oil production method.

We thought it would make a great interview for Growing Trends so we found, with the help of Bill Sosinsky, an expert, Rich Sapienza to talk to us about this oil extraction method, come and listen to the interview.. Growing Trends Podcast