The Grande Dame Of Louisiana Gardening Gen Trimble joins Eric and GardenSMART. Many consider Mrs. Trimble THE GRANDE DAME OF LOUISIANA GARDENING. Mrs. Trimble provides background information on gardening in New Orleans. New Orleans residents consider this a very unique city, there is nothing quite like it in the United States and they feel a little like that about their gardens. New Orleans is bounded by water - the Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other, with swamps and low lands in other areas.
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Ruthie
Ruthie is the owner and GARDENER AT THE 1ST HOME. Ruthie welcomes Eric to her yard and garden. She has had a lifelong passion for gardening. Her passion for gardening and cut flowers really started with her grandmother. When Ruthie would go to visit her grandmother she would hand Ruthie the clippers and tell her to cut some roses, then come in the house and arrange them. Every time Ruthie would go out and cut every rose. The love of a grandmother. Her father also had a big gardening impact.
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The Side Garden They start the tour in THE SIDE GARDEN. When they 1st moved in the boys were very young and they wanted green lawn for them to play, this space was purposely left open for that purpose. Then through travels to San Miguel, to France and England and around the United States certain things struck their fancy and they've incorporated them into their garden. It has taken on a more formal look and to Eric's mind a more old European look. Eric thinks it an intricate garden design with a tremendous amount of plant material.
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Every Room Looks Out Onto The Garden The garden is very personal. They wanted to have every room look out into the garden and that was one of the wonderful things about this property - EVERY ROOM LOOKS OUT ONTO THE GARDEN. In addition, they wanted to have a very private, a very serene garden, thus created the brick and iron walls and selected plant material to provide that privacy.
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Layers
One of the foundational features of this garden are THE WONDERFUL LAYERS THEY'VE CREATED. It gives the garden a great sense of depth and texture. Ruthie believes that framing the garden is important and it provides privacy.
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Year Round Interest And, they've added a lot of evergreen material. Often gardeners don't think about the fact that if you want a year round garden, things go dormant in the winter, if you plant a garden that's primarily deciduous plants it will look bleak during the winter. Here they have built the bones, the skeleton to provide that YEAR ROUND INTEREST.
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Patio Garden The next area is obviously designed for entertaining. They added the guest house in the back and the garden room on the side. This PATIO GARDEN was designed to become an extension of the back of the house and become an outside room. The paladin fountain creates a backdrop and has egleston hollys framing it. The legustrum and cleara and azaleas and the flowering plants all add interest. There are 4 flowering beds that enclose the area.
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The Secret Garden The next garden is a SECRET GARDEN. It's important when building a secret garden or garden room to surround it on all sides with living vegetation. It acts as the wall of the garden. The creeping fig on the fence adds interest too. The dark green provides a sense of depth. And when coming down the path to enter it's like going down a hall and it opening into a great room. When entering, one first notices the sasanqua which are very mature. They limbed them up allowing one to see into the garden.
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Sybil
Eric meets SYBIL, the owner. She and her husband have throughly enjoyed the 12 years they've been here. They have made many changes over the years. Sybil is an involved gardener, she walks the garden in the morning and in the afternoon. Both of Sybil's parents liked to garden, both liked seasonal plants. Her father had a victory garden but was also interested in camellias and was involved with grafting camellias.
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The Front Yard In the FRONT YARD they've incorporated a lot of different layers, making this area one of the more impressive parts of the garden. There a quite a few formal elements. The boxwoods are planted in nice, clean, neat, sheared rows. But in the area closest to the street they've taken a little more playful approach. The intermediate areas include azaleas which instead of being sheared are nice little mounds. The sasanquas, hollys and yew are fairly old, most put in 1932.
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Rose Garden Sybil has a beautiful ROSE GARDEN. No garden would be complete without roses. Although they can often be challenging, roses are one of Eric's favorites in a garden. This garden has about 75 hybrid teas, some floribunda and some cascading roses. Sybil just returned from a Garden Club of America garden tour in Santa Barbara and her favorite rose, Just Joey, was featured in many of the gardens there. So, she's very excited to have that in her garden as well. The big gorgeous burnt orange rose is fantastic.
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The Back Yard They walk into the BACK YARD. It definitely is more manicured and more formal. The screened porch looks very inviting, Eric can just imagine spending the evening there, taking in the sites with the scent of the sweet olives and gardenias. It looks heavenly. This is a terraced area so all the different paths end up stepping down into the garden, then the nice little walkways lead one through the area.
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Today's Lessons The gardens we've seen today have taught us some valuable lessons about good garden design. Garden design is, after all, just using space to its maximum. Eric thinks that 1st we need to start with a plan. If you don't have an idea as to what you want to accomplish, talk with others who have built great gardens or get an architect involved as these gardeners did. Think about layers in the garden. Layers create a great sense of depth, they are also effective at screening outside things that you may not want to be seen.
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When most think of New Orleans they think of the bright lights of Bourbon Street and the recent hurricanes. But there is much more to this city and it is home to some amazing gardens.
Gen Trimble joins Eric and GardenSMART. Many consider Mrs. Trimble THE GRANDE DAME OF LOUISIANA GARDENING. Mrs. Trimble provides background information on gardening in New Orleans. New Orleans residents consider this a very unique city, there is nothing quite like it in the United States and they feel a little like that about their gardens. New Orleans is bounded by water - the Mississippi River on one side, Lake Pontchartrain on the other, with swamps and low lands in other areas. So, land here is at a premium, you'll not see vast sprawling estate gardens that one would see in other cities. The 2 gardens Eric will visit today are representative of New Orleans gardens. One is a smaller garden, in the uptown area and an extension of the house, beautifully kept. The other is a larger garden, large by New Orleans standards. Each of these gardens are representative of gardens here and show the hands-on care and attention to detail as well as the intense love of gardening by their owners.
Eric thanks Mrs. Trimble for the introduction and is off to start the garden tour.
Ruthie is the owner and GARDENER AT THE 1ST HOME. Ruthie welcomes Eric to her yard and garden. She has had a lifelong passion for gardening. Her passion for gardening and cut flowers really started with her grandmother. When Ruthie would go to visit her grandmother she would hand Ruthie the clippers and tell her to cut some roses, then come in the house and arrange them. Every time Ruthie would go out and cut every rose. The love of a grandmother. Her father also had a big gardening impact. He was interested in everything they were interested in, as was her mother, but her father with her sisters and brother would plant a vegetable garden, plant roses, he would really encourage them to garden and to have interests outdoors.
Ruthie's interest in gardening has lasted through the years. She remains very interested in horticulture and especially in flower arranging and is a member of the New Orleans Town Gardeners which is a member club of the Garden Club of America. Ruthie and her husband Lou have both shared in creating this garden. Lou has installed and maintains the watering system which makes things as pretty as they are and he maintains the ponds and fountains.
Ruthie provides some background info on the house and garden. This house and garden were purchased over 40 years ago, at that time it was an open palette, there was nothing here; which allowed them to create a garden, something they had very much wanted to do for some time. 40 years is a long time to be working in a garden and it has evolved over time.
They start the tour in THE SIDE GARDEN. When they 1st moved in the boys were very young and they wanted green lawn for them to play, this space was purposely left open for that purpose. Then through travels to San Miguel, to France and England and around the United States certain things struck their fancy and they've incorporated them into their garden. It has taken on a more formal look and to Eric's mind a more old European look. Eric thinks it an intricate garden design with a tremendous amount of plant material. It could be a little intimidating for someone just getting started. How did they approach the design issue? They started with a plan. Ruthie thinks everyone should start with a plan, that's very important. Plans can change and evolve but starting with a plan provides the needed structure and the bones essential for a garden.
The garden is very personal. They wanted to have every room look out into the garden and that was one of the wonderful things about this property - EVERY ROOM LOOKS OUT ONTO THE GARDEN. In addition, they wanted to have a very private, a very serene garden, thus created the brick and iron walls and selected plant material to provide that privacy. Plus they love fragrances, it's important to have year round fragrance and year round color. The urns and statuary and driftwood are influences from their travels.
One of the foundational features of this garden are THE WONDERFUL LAYERS THEY'VE CREATED. It gives the garden a great sense of depth and texture. Ruthie believes that framing the garden is important and it provides privacy. Looking at one garden area, one first sees the raised garden bed created with brick, then the very small boxwoods, the white azaleas, then the wonderful hedge row of sweet olives, which are unique. All provide interesting layers.
The front garden is framed by 2 wonderful white crepe myrtles which have a very pretty red bark. Again, the boxwood, the white azaleas, the camellia, the cleyera, a hedge with wonderful white blossoms in the winter, provide the layering effect.
Eric likes the way they've incorporated the bones or skeleton of the garden in such a dynamic way. And, they've added a lot of evergreen material. Often gardeners don't think about the fact that if you want a year round garden, things go dormant in the winter, if you plant a garden that's primarily deciduous plants it will look bleak during the winter. Here they have built the bones, the skeleton to provide that YEAR ROUND INTEREST. Combined with the layers, it makes a stunning statement.
The next area is obviously designed for entertaining. They added the guest house in the back and the garden room on the side. This PATIO GARDEN was designed to become an extension of the back of the house and become an outside room. The paladin fountain creates a backdrop and has egleston hollys framing it. The legustrum and cleara and azaleas and the flowering plants all add interest. There are 4 flowering beds that enclose the area. The Japanese Maples change color with the seasons which is enjoyable. They are deciduous in the winter which is acceptable. There are columns of Confederate Jasmine both on the main house and back garden house with an Evergreen Wisteria at the top. They have over 20 window boxes and hanging baskets throughout the property. This influence came from San Miguel, Mexico. Off the master bedroom they have a wonderful upstairs terrace where they utilize seasonal plants like sweet peas which they cut and bring downstairs. Currently the blue plumbago is just getting reestablished after the freeze. It's cascading blue throughout the summer corresponds very much to the french blue shutters which give a Mediterranean feel.
The beautiful fountain is stunning and the sound of running water adds to the overall feel. It has a specimen plant in the middle; the loropetalum chinense is beautiful as a focal point and does a great job of connecting the main home to the guest home, The patio does a wonderful job of providing a place to rest in between. The brick pathways with the inlaid flagstone importantly provide a European feel.
The next garden is a SECRET GARDEN. It's important when building a secret garden or garden room to surround it on all sides with living vegetation. It acts as the wall of the garden. The creeping fig on the fence adds interest too. The dark green provides a sense of depth. And when coming down the path to enter it's like going down a hall and it opening into a great room. When entering, one first notices the sasanqua which are very mature. They limbed them up allowing one to see into the garden. The border is Eagleston Holly and, at 12 feet tall and green, creates a very private feel. The sound of water is very tranquil. The pond has an antique urn plus is filled with water plants - water lily and pickerel plant. The White Caladiums provide a cool feel, particularly in the summer. The holly ferns along the fence add a nice touch, too.
The greenhouse and potting shed are visible and add a nice touch. Ruthie and Lou spend a lot of time here - breakfast, reading the paper, etc. As an added bonus Ruthie has tied in little kitchen gardens which are 2 paces off the kitchen, thus very convenient when cooking. She has a wonderful array of herbs so when preparing food she can take just a couple of steps out, pick out fresh Thyme, and bring it back inside. They like to keep the door open and she will often water the herbs and the scent will come into the kitchen. It's a real treat.
Eric thanks Ruthie for the tour. This really is a charming garden. Ruthie and Lou have done an exceptional job.
And, Eric is off to the next garden. He explains - The garden we just visited is a wonderful example of formal design and shows the ingenuity and creativity of New Orleans gardeners who often are working with very constrained spaces. The next garden is right in the middle of one of the busiest districts in New Orleans and ranks as one of the largest gardens with sprawling and expansive views. It's hard to believe a paradise like this exists on one of the busiest thoroughfares in New Orleans. Yet, the principles used in both places are very similar.
Eric meets SYBIL, the owner. She and her husband have throughly enjoyed the 12 years they've been here. They have made many changes over the years. Sybil is an involved gardener, she walks the garden in the morning and in the afternoon. Both of Sybil's parents liked to garden, both liked seasonal plants. Her father had a victory garden but was also interested in camellias and was involved with grafting camellias. Some say she was born with a green thumb, although Sybil often feels it's a brown thumb.
Sybil provides some background on the house. The home was built in 1932 by Richard Koch, a very well respected architect at the time. They have 16 or 17 french doors that open out, so the interior rooms and outside rooms become one. It appears there is a beautiful view from every window, they've done a great job of marrying the inside with the outside.
The previous owners had done a magnificent job renovating the home and the bones of the gardens were here, but a great deal of what's in the garden today, they added. They moved the terrace garden back considerably and they've added quite a few plants. Over time the plants have grown, of course, and that has made the garden more formal and more plush. Sybil has strived to soften the edges in the front but kept a hardline in the back.
In the FRONT YARD they've incorporated a lot of different layers, making this area one of the more impressive parts of the garden. There a quite a few formal elements. The boxwoods are planted in nice, clean, neat, sheared rows. But in the area closest to the street they've taken a little more playful approach. The intermediate areas include azaleas which instead of being sheared are nice little mounds. The sasanquas, hollys and yew are fairly old, most put in 1932. The layering effect has created depth, in many ways it feels like one is surrounded or hugged by a big forest. This provides a sense of intimacy. It's a very southern garden.
Sybil has a beautiful ROSE GARDEN. No garden would be complete without roses. Although they can often be challenging, roses are one of Eric's favorites in a garden. This garden has about 75 hybrid teas, some floribunda and some cascading roses. Sybil just returned from a Garden Club of America garden tour in Santa Barbara and her favorite rose, Just Joey, was featured in many of the gardens there. So, she's very excited to have that in her garden as well. The big gorgeous burnt orange rose is fantastic. She has always liked Peace and John Kennedy and Playfulness, there are so many favorites. She likes the rose that does the best, whatever that might be. Sybil feels one should play hard with your rose garden, believe in miracles but don't count on them. Just enjoy your roses when in bloom.
They walk into the BACK YARD. It definitely is more manicured and more formal. The screened porch looks very inviting, Eric can just imagine spending the evening there, taking in the sites with the scent of the sweet olives and gardenias. It looks heavenly. This is a terraced area so all the different paths end up stepping down into the garden, then the nice little walkways lead one through the area. The garage with jasmine planted on the sides is stunning. It's in bloom now, so particularly inviting. Again, there are different dimensions and layers. And many of the plants have fragrance. The beautiful expansive lawn is wonderful for entertaining. Sybil enjoys having friends over and they will frequently host community functions. Their GCA garden club had a Great Gatsby event here. Everyone was in costume, they had a big roadster in the garage and it was a lot of fun. The property does lend itself to formal or informal entertaining. They have enjoyed entertaining here with their friends and loaning it to the community.
Eric feels it's wonderful to see how they've built a garden that truly is an extension of the home. He imagines that guests would feel as comfortable in the gardens as inside the home. Sybil thinks they might actually prefer to be outside. Understandable.
Eric thanks Sybil for inviting us behind the gates and into this wonderful garden. She has done a great job of creating an oasis right in the middle of this urban environment. It's hard to believe that just a few feet away street cars are running by and all the other noise from the city is just outside the gates. Sybil has utilized her interior design sensibilities and applied those to the outside rooms. Eric is glad he got to see this little touch of heaven.
The gardens we've seen today have taught us some valuable lessons about good garden design. Garden design is, after all, just using space to its maximum. Eric thinks that 1st we need to start with a plan. If you don't have an idea as to what you want to accomplish, talk with others who have built great gardens or get an architect involved as these gardeners did. Think about layers in the garden. Layers create a great sense of depth, they are also effective at screening outside things that you may not want to be seen. Fragrant plants, as we've seen in both gardens, are a wonderful way of adding another very tactile dimension to the garden. So as you're looking at how to make the most of your space start with a plan, look at using layers and use fragrant plants. Remember to think about the kind of space you need and how it integrates with you living space. If you can follow these simple steps you too can have an enjoyable yard and garden. Top
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