Showing posts with label Garden Design. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Garden Design. Show all posts

December 13, 2020

7 Tips How to Improve Your Garden Style - DIY

This year you probably will feel like spending more time outside than inside of your home. And even if you haven’t planned too many changes in your garden, let me share with you some easy ideas that will make your garden looking best in your neighbourhood.

# 1 Plan Magnificent Entrance to Your Garden

This is the moment when your guests get first impression. Let them be in awe. Plant two same variety trees on both sides of the entrance. Decide for slow growing conifers to make it attractive all year round.  They will embrace the path to the garden.
Before you decide where to lay the entry path to the garden, have a look from the distance of approx. 10 meters and see what is the view behind between two embracing plants. Why is that important? Two embracing plants will naturally focus yours and your guests view exactly between them, so plan excellence accordingly.
This entrance will say “Hello” before you will make it.

# 2 Make your Fence More Attractive by Adding Flowering Fragrant Vines.

Any fence will be more attractive, especially at the entrance, or wherever you decide if you plan for a living fence. This is also adding purpose to your plants.
Make sure this are not annual vines, because you don’t want add yourself unnecessary work. Pick vines that don’t grow fast – they may easily grow out of control and you will not like it in few years.

# 3 You Don’t Have a Terrace or Patio? I am Sure you Want a Stylish One.

Adding a patio/terrace or styling the existing one makes huge difference to overall impression of the garden. You may do it by yourself, or you may let others do it for you. Cost of laying a patio is less than you might expect, but the difference it makes in the garden and your leisure experience in the garden is outstanding.
Can you imagine more romantic light than string lights hanging above that create the cosy  atmosphere as it gets slowly darker outside.





# 4 Don’t Forget Patio Containers

Few fabulous outdoor containers will style your garden and patio. You may buy them or make them yourself – doesn’t matter, just remember to keep them all in similar style or  when you group them in the garden let them be grouping in similar style.

# 5 Plant Trees and Shrubs in the Containers

When you think about planting in containers, forget annuals or if you can’t live without them, mix them with other kind of plants: shrubs and small trees. Look what they can offer, bright foliage in early spring or subtle textures.  Then tuck in some violas or nasturtiums, that later in the summer you could toss in your salad.

# 6 Grow Fragrant Herbs

On the kitchen window or close to your porch plant some fragrant herbs, so it will be easy to snip and tuck them into your grilled dishes, soups or salads. They will be eye candy as  well as heaven for your taste buds.

# 7 Why Not Inviting Self-seeding Annuals

Amazing red poppies, intricate ferns become easily friends in the scattered sunlight of a meadow. Then poppies will be self-seeding and stay as perennials, but you may add also annuals and get similar natural effect.


October 12, 2018

Colorful Perennials - New Garden Design

I am very happy to show you today the colorful perennials garden located in Poland that I have designed 3 years ago.
You see it in almost autumnal version. The main idea was to make it interesting all year round and make it flowering from early spring till late autumn.


















 Nothing tastes better than organic home grown tomatoes. Thank you Ania!

August 15, 2015

Oriental Patio Garden Before and After



Making a perfect design means making it perfect not only for the people that will spend  there most of their time, but also decrypting ‘genius loci’ – the spirit of the place. Gray and dull Warsaw calls for colors of different kind.

While searching for the divine inspiration, oriental part of my soul whispered to my ears, and not even realising how I knew that the best would be ‘The Oriental Opulence Spiced a bit with Decadence’. Client loved it! The colorful concept found great space in the client’s heart. And we made it!

Have a look at before and after photos.





#orientalgarden #orientalgardens #warsaw #warszawapraga  #chillout #orientalchillout #middleeasternstyle #ottomandesign #londongardendesign #patiodesign #terracedesign #urbangarden

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October 27, 2014

Book Review: Sissinghurst. Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden



If enchantment by English gardens was ever part of your inspiration this book is definitely for you.  Vita Sackville-West, the British poet, together with her husband Harold, created the beauty of iconic British garden – Sissinghurst. Harold created the structure, Vita filled it with plantings. It doesn’t happen often that the garden outlives its creators, but today still Sissinghurst is one of the most visited and inspirational gardens in the world.

Sissinghurst is the garden that inspires many gardeners and garden designers. The book is packed with lots of information about how Sissinghurst was created, what challenges were faced and how they managed to turn weaknesses into strengths. You will find the detailed  descriptions how in the design they successfully camouflaged the exccentricities of the land, that today you can’t spot it. 

This is the book for everyone who was ever enchanted by the English gardens. 

“Sissingurst. Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden” is a selection of original articles published by Vita in gardening column in the Observer From 1946 to 1957 made by Sarah Raven, the co-author of the book, famous British gardener who is married to Vita's grandson Adam Nicolson. 

The book consists of 3 Parts:
- The People and the Place
- Vita’s Garden Themes
- The Smaller Canvas

What's important, this book consists of writings, not photos only. There are not too many colored photos of the garden, which is a plus, because you want to understand what is behind the photos, not just admire eye-candy. The author included enough amount of current photos to see its beauty, layouts and planting composition. There is many black and white historical photos of the palace and the gardens to see the work in progress.  

You could ask yourself if there is anything for you in the writings of a lady from over 50 years ago? I firmly confirm that you will find lots of tips and practical advice. Just to give you a sample of the writing: “Too severe formality is almost as repellant as lack of any” or “Eremurus which looks like a cathedral spire flushed warm in the sunset”.

You may also learn about Vita’s preferences not only about plants, but also about the renovation of Sissinghurst and her own possessions: “Vita allowed her possessions to age, skills to wear, wood to darken, terracotta to chip and fail. (…) Her possessions must grow old with her. She must be surrounded by evidence of time (…)”. 

What I find especially useful is the index of plants, shrubs and trees at the end of the book, very helpful in daily work, if I would like to get back and make sure about certain plants.  

My rating: 10 out of 10 stars

This book is one of the best gardening books ever – and for good reason. It’s a must read for those starting a garden or dreaming about English garden.

Get your copy of Sissinghurst: Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden

Have you read any great gardening books? Give your recommendations with your reasons why in comments below. Looking forward to discovering some great gardening books.

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, New York, 2014
Pages: 382
Available here: Sissinghurst: Vita Sackville-West and the Creation of a Garden
ISBN: 978-1-250-06005-1

October 18, 2014

Pinheiros Altos

Visiting a friend living in Pinheiros Altos (Algarve, Portugal). Some weeks ago.
Utmost simplicity and elegance. 
As vertical structure featuring stone pines (Pinus pinea). Its dynamic shapes contrasted with rounded shapes of pruned shrubs. Harmonious and balanced.
See the shape of the pool? If you need to pay for something  make sure you make it right.

The Grown-Up's Guide to Running Away from Home: Making a New Life Abroad

Have a nice weekend!  

July 8, 2014

17 Photos of Provençal Garden designed by Ewa Maria Schulz

Let me present you today the garden I have made in 2012, this is how it looks today. The owners wanted Provençal style for the garden, which complements beautifully the interior.
Client is still happy :)
Enjoy!
























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Cheers, Xoxo, Ewa

Ewa Szulc is the garden designer, blogger and founder of the page EwaintheGarden.blogspot.com. She offers online garden coaching lessons and garden design to help you to beautify your garden, make it healthier and organic. You can contact her at http://EwaintheGarden.blogspot.com

Recommended further reading Provence, 1970: M.F.K. Fisher, Julia Child, James Beard, and the Reinvention of American Taste

May 30, 2014

Garden design London - here I come!

Travelling and garden design have one great advantage – I can do it wherever in the world I am. It needs some adjustments in plant choice and learning the natural conditions depending on the climate zones, but surprisingly enough it’s easier than one could think of.

In July I will be coming to London, so all possible meetings regarding design inquiries will be possible if you prefer personal vs. online contact.

I have many readers from UK… if you are one of them and if you would like to invite me to beautify your garden or you know somebody who would, just let me know. I would love to do it.
Garden design in London, here I come!

You may have a look at my portfolio here.
On my client's list there are institutions (American Embassy in Warsaw, Poland), companies  (Bridgestone, Comparex) and number of private investors. I hope to see you on this list as well  :) 

If you don’t want to miss my next posts Subscribe to Ewa in the Garden by Email and don’t forget to click the confirmation link you will receive by e-mail.

Xoxo,
Ewa

September 28, 2013

Giant pyramid garden and freemasonry...

Long, long time ago, in the eighteen century she discovered a mysterious link between the pyramids in English landscape gardens and the secret Freemasonry society...

Pyramids or similar to pyramid-like forms in the early English landscape design in gardens like Cirencester, Castle Howard, Stowe, Rousham, Studley Royal, Castle Hill, appeared at very early stage, long before the later eighteenth century archaeological explorations of ancient civilizations, thus is sometimes understood as an expression of freemasonry ideals of the garden's owners.

She found out there is an interesting link between the landscape garden in England 1710 and 1730 and the period of the European Enlightenment and diffusion of Freemasonry in England and Europe. 

In this period many landowners and intellectuals were freemasons. Also many famous figures like Alexander Pope, Arbuthnot, Edward Harley, the Earl of Chesterfield, James Addison, Richard Steele, Jonathan Swift, James Thomson, Lord Burlington, Lord Cobham, William Stuckley, Lord Montague, Voltaire and Montesquieu. 

She also discovered that as Freemasonry develops in this period of time a focus for intellectuals, politicians, the gentry, artists and architects, as natural result there was an exchange of beliefs, aesthetic values and ideas between English and European intellectuals. Those intellectuals who had links with freemasonry secret society or were part of it, were also strongly linked with the development of the arts, including landscape architecture. 
Don't you think it would be interesting to research the connections between Freemasonry and the early English landscape garden?

Below photos were taken during Floriade garden show 2012. This interesting and pretty construction that adds interest to the flat surface of the garden, clearly revokes pyramids. Does it have any other meaning?
What do you think?






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