Page 21 - Brandon Sun - Your Home your Way (2019)

THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2019 • YOUR HOME YOUR WAY • THE BRANDON SUN 21

Wild-looking and sustainable is the trend in garden design

Whether it’s on an enor- designed in the 1980s by pio-
mous estate or outside a little neering landscaper James van
house, the modern garden aims Sweden, co-founder with Wolf-
for wild-looking landscapes, gang Oehme of the Oehme van
native species and seamless Sweden firm. In a departure
transitions to natural surround- from the staid hedges, box-
ings, according to a new book woods and perennial borders
featuring the work of promi- that dominated the East End
nent contemporary garden de- of Long Island at the time, von
signers. Sweden planted low-mainte-
In “Garden Wild: Wild- nance grasses and other native
flower Meadows, Prairie-Style plants, and plants appropriate
Plantings, Rockeries, Ferneries, for the seascape like lavender,
and Other Sustainable Designs sedums, willows and magnolias.
Inspired by Nature,” photog- Bringing native grasses right
rapher Andre Baranowski ex- gle garden, explaining the de- beautiful. They can be stun- up to the pool’s edge was con-
plores a dozen very different signer’s approach, the challeng- ning. Gardens can be gorgeous sidered revolutionary at the
gardens — all of them mostly es posed and garden highlights, and sustain wildlife, and at the time, Baranowski says.
devoid of manicured lawns and with an eye to inspiring home same time be easier to main- In a garden in East Hamp-
fussy pruning. gardeners to try their hand at tain,” says Baranowski, who ton, New York, Eric Groft, of
The focus, instead, is on this more natural-looking ap- visited the 12 gardens hundreds the firm Oehme van Sweden,
sustainability and plant diver- proach. of times, looking for the most screened out traffic using orna-
sity. Featured garden designers “Tons of money still goes evocative images. mental grasses, which have the
include Oehme van Sweden, into fertilizers and weed killers “This wilder look is abso- added benefit of deterring deer,
Fernando Caruncho, Jorge for traditional-style manicured lutely catching on,” he says. the book says.
Sanchez and Piet Oudolf. lawns, but I’m trying to show The book begins with a gar-
Each chapter explores a sin- people that weeds can be quite den in Water Mill, New York, » The Associated Press