Garden Diary: Trees for my small garden

Michael of The Gardener's Eye suggested I take a look at Luciano Giubbilei's use of limbed up Parrotia perscica in his 2011 Chelsea Flower Show garden, which won a Gold award. These twisting trunks (the image is from Giubbilei's web site) read like a masterful calligraphy, and lend a sense of repose, like motion caught out of time. Giubbilei talks about the garden in this BBC interview.

I really love these, but I can't wait 40 years at my age, and I certainly can't afford such carefully grown, old trees for my Brooklyn garden.

I've considered alternatives to the now final choice of Sunburst honey locust (Gleditsia triacanthos 'Sunburst'). The native grey birch (Betula populifolia), used extensively on the High Line, was an early contender.

It's a small native tree, and its white bark would look good with a high trimmed canopy. Here it is in winter.

As used on the High Line, it's very effective in creating secluded spaces and a naturalistic feeling in an otherwise very exposed and open environment.

It's trunk is attractive and the white color would provide a dramatic contrast in a shady garden (and mine will become more shady year by year).

Even if I trim the trunks high, the clumping form of the birch may take far too much space. And the birches can't match the locusts for stunning color.

Ultimately it's a matter of personal choice, and some chance, I suppose.

Talking Gardens

Tim Richardson and Noel Kingsbury lead a talk with Dan Pearson, Cleve West, and Andy Sturgeon on the latest Gardens Illustrated podcast. This is GI's annual lecture held at the end of last spring's Chelsea Flower Show (where Cleve West's garden won Best in Show).

I find this discussion fascinating because I've become quite comfortable "translating" the British garden world into the world I know here in America. The conversation ranges from the application of the New Perennials style to small gardens (and whether that can even work ... Dan Pearson makes a case for it), how availability of plants has changed (the selection of shrubs is much more limited and they are harder to find; perennials are far more available), to Cleve West's interest in the so-called Sheffield School of gardening (scientifically selected seed mixes for randomized planting), and Dan Pearson's clear description of the benefits of layered planting (an imitation of natural layering of plants ... starting with trees and shrubs, down to the understory of sun loving and shade tolerant perennials).

We have little offering this richness of subject matter and intellectual stimulation available on our side of the Atlantic. Perhaps, because our country is so large and diverse, it's just not possible for such ideas to make it into the American media, which isn't friendly to garden-related subjects, except in "life style" or "how to" formats. Listen and see what you think.

Chelsea Flower Show

Yes, it's over. The 2010 Chelsea Flower Show in London is over (well, almost; the winners have been chosen). I'm posting a couple of links since the American gardening blogs I read seem to ignore this event. First, Tom Stuart-Smith's Laurent-Perrier Garden, in a 360 degree view, which won a Gold Medal. Andy Sturgeon's Mediterranean-inspired garden was judged Best in Show. My preference is definitely Stuart-Smith's tranquil, understated design. What's yours? Here is a link to more on the Guardian website.

And then there is "Do Chelsea gardens benefit from having 'themes'?" by Anne Wareham on the thinkinGardens website. This one may fly over your head if you're not familiar with Chelsea.

(The photo has nothing to do with the show.)

Gardens Illustrated: Chelsea Flower Show Podcast

Gardens Illustrated editor Juliet Roberts interviews Dan Pearson, Andrew Duff, and Andrew Wilson to get their impressions of the 2009 Chelsea Flower Show in London. This year's show was comparatively low key. Many gardens couldn't get funding because of the economic malaise. Probably just as well. You can listen to the podcast here or download it here.

The Daily Telegraph, which sponsored the Best in Show garden designed by Ulf Nordfjell, reports on the highlights of the show here.

Another take on Chelsea: Thinkingardens

For a more iconoclastic take on the Chelsea Flower Show, I recommend you go to the Thinkingardens website. Stephen Anderton, Anne Wareham, and Corrine Julius (l to r) comment on their picks of the show, and offer insightful commentary on the gardens. Their "Best in Show" is not the judges' pick. You will also find a Thinkingardens link to a Royal Horticultural Society video of the three discussing the gardens, along with written commentary. Explore the RHS site for other information such as plant lists for many of the gardens. Just don't try to play any of the BBC videos; they don't work if you live outside the UK.

Germaine Greer also has an article on the 2007 Chelsea Flower Show posted on Thinkingardens. The Chelsea gardens are really exhibits, show gardens put together from plants grown for the most part, in highly artificial environments. They are in no respect real gardens, and Ms. Greer has had it with the artificiality of it all.

Thinkingardens is a website devoted to those who care about gardening and garden design as a serious endeavor - a concern rarely voiced in the U.S. and, from what I read there, not in the UK either.

(Photo: Charles Hawes from Thinkingardens website)

Chelsea links

I don't usually follow the Chelsea Flower Show but this year I stumbled on Cleve West's blog reporting the day by day building of his show garden. To get a feel for what it's like to be a part of this manic event, go to Tilth & Tillage and read about how it all comes together. To see the best of the gardens, and get an amazing 360 degree tour of each one, click this Telegraph link. You'll also find an interview with Tom Stuart-Smith, who got Best in Show, I think for the 6th time. Regardless of how you feel about Chelsea, you'll find some beautiful gardens here.

Gardens Illustrated has a podcast interview with noted garden critic Tim Richardson, garden designer Dan Pearson, and Chelsea judge Andrew Wilson.

(The photo is of a frog in my pond.)