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Create a Cozy Courtyard with Bistro Tables

Who hasn’t envisioned bringing the romance of a sidewalk cafe in Paris to their own backyard? All you need is a bistro table, chairs and a courtyard, terrace or side garden to recreate the scene. Add a cup of coffee, springtime breezes and blooming flowers, and you have the makings of the perfect little retreat within your landscape.

We like placing little retreats such as these in our landscape design projects because they expand our client’s outdoor living spaces and offer a perch for admiring the yard and perhaps enjoying a quick breakfast or drinks with friends. Bistro sets are great for this purpose because they are smaller, making them easy to incorporate into an otherwise empty corner, creating a cozy, intimate spot for conversations. 

Take a look at a few of the ways we have incorporated bistro sets into past projects: 

A large courtyard is broken up into smaller seating areas, including bistro tables and chairs to suit any occasion, from a quick coffee break to happy hour with friends. The simplicity of the furniture keeps the focus on the surrounding landscape and highlights the beautiful paver patio underfoot.

Atlanta landscape architects
Dargan Landscape Architects

What could have been a forgotten outdoor space is now a destination in the landscape thanks to the seating area created in this side garden using a chaise lounge and a bistro table and chairs. The pathway leading to the seating area emphasizes the seating arrangement, as does the paver patio that serves as a foundation. What’s more, the table is right outside an entrance into the home, giving owners easy access to the lush hideaway.

landscape architects in Western North Carolina
Dargan Landscape Architects

If you don’t have a courtyard on your property, you can still incorporate a bistro-style setting into a smaller space. Notice that this small terrace, measuring six feet by six feet, is all that’s needed for creating a cozy outdoor dining area for two. The terrace is floored with crab orchard stone in pink hues and a black wrought iron fence is complemented by a black wrought iron bistro set topped with pink cushions, offering a stunning seating for two.

Cashiers landscape architects
Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Timeless Landscape Design

A gorgeous brick patio and side garden are the perfect location in this cozy courtyard for a bistro table and chairs in high-contrast white. The seating provides a place for visitors to enjoy the greenery, as well as an afternoon tea and chat.

Charleston landscape architects
Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Lifelong Landscape Design

Are you ready to update your landscape with a beautiful courtyard, terrace or patio? Contact Dargan Landscape Architects to schedule a consultation. We would love to help you achieve the outdoor environment you’ve always wanted. We can help you find the look that best suits your property, right down to the furniture! For many years we’ve been designing custom seating elements. These custom solutions ensure you get the perfect piece, created with your space, style and other considerations in mind. In addition, our Talbot and Walden line of outdoor furniture is available from Kenneth Lynch & Sons in Connecticut.

More Spring Garden and Landscape Maintenance Tips from Mary Palmer Dargan

Are you itching to get out and do some work in your garden? So are we! We’ve recently been discussing early spring garden and landscape maintenance tips from our resident gardening expert, Mary Palmer Dargan. Here are some more of her tips to give your green thumb some more exercise this week:

I love gardening in a raised bed as it improves drainage. Raised beds improve drainage because they raise the level of soil above the surrounding ground. Other benefits of raised beds include less soil compaction, easier weed control, warmer soil temperature in spring, ease of access, reduced soil erosion and beauty.  

Atlanta landscape architecture and design
These raised beds at the Chicago Botanic Garden are featured in the “Gardening is Therapy” chapter of my book Lifelong Landscape Design.

I’m potting up my dahlias I pulled last winter and am rather appalled at how shriveled up the roots are… You walk a fine line on saving tubers and lots of unnecessary work if they are not viable. I’ll report on this later!   

Plant asparagus crowns and radishes and transplant cold-season plants such as broccoli, cabbage and kale indoors. I have way too many baby plants, so I am juicing my leftovers and making microgreen salads. It is most nutritious!  

Wait until six weeks before planting time for most vegetables to start them indoors… Otherwise they get very leggy and transplant poorly unless grown with bottom heat like forcing lights. Christmas tree lights are an excellent option for bottom heat! Just remember to be patient throughout the process – Your patience will be rewarded with a thriving garden this summer. 

Lawns need fertilization if they are cool-season grasses. I am an organic gardener, so I highly recommend taking a soil sample and finding what your soil actually needs instead of just putting on the gas with fertilizer. You can obtain a soil sample for free from most local cooperative extension offices.

Western NC landscape architects
Dargan Landscape Architects

Also, think twice about enjoying a mixed lawn and turn a blind eye to “weeds.” I think once mown, a green lawn is a green lawn no matter its tapestry makeup! Plus, you’ll save on buying weed killer.

What else are you doing in your garden now that we’re experiencing a few warmer days? Let us know by leaving a comment.

If you’re ready to discuss a master plan or tune up for your landscape, contact Dargan Landscape Architects. We can help you formulate a plan that will bring your dreams to life as we heal the Earth one garden at a time!

It’s Time to Get Your Gardens and Landscapes Ready for Spring

After months of bitter cold and snow this winter, spring is finally here and it’s time to show your garden some love. However, be sure you’re ready for a roller coaster of a season. One day the sap is rising and the next it falls for a quick drop below the freeze line, but you can still crank up your gardening chores.

Atlanta landscape architecture and design
Dargan Landscape Architects

So, get out your mud boots, put on your gardening gloves and head outdoors to get to work. Bring with you these early spring garden and landscape maintenance tips straight from Mary Palmer Dargan, our resident gardening expert:

I like to cut back my hydrangeas, both the tardiva and limelight varieties, waiting until after the last frost to cut the blue macrocarpa varieties and grape vines. You’ll have beautiful blooms later this season!

Now is the time to plant nuts and berries, such as blueberries, strawberries and berries on canes. Just the thought of fresh picked berries from the garden is enough to keep you warm until summer! For established vines and fruit trees, it’s best to wait until the worst weather has passed before pruning. Fertilize fruit trees as soon as possible after the ground thaws.  

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Dargan Landscape Architects
Lifelong Landscape Design

Watch for seed starting opportunities and send off your orders. Spring planting will result in a bountiful harvest to enjoy this summer. Plan to grow at least one new vegetable this year! I am growing leafy Chinese types. What do you have in mind?  

Western North Carolina landscape architects
Hugh and I plant our vegetables in whiskey barrels at our Highcote home, as shown in this photo from Lifelong Landscape Design. We rotate what we plant in each barrel from year to year.

Break up garden beds and turn the cover crop. Be careful not to double dig as this disrupts the delicate mycorrhizae system that makes a healthy soil. Mycorrhizal fungi are valuable natural allies that assist with the biological processes of gardens, such as helping plants take up more phosphorous, as well as accumulating carbon in the soil and improving its clumping ability. 

That should be enough to keep you busy this week, but be sure to watch for more of Mary Palmer’s early spring garden and landscape maintenance tips on our blog in the near future.

For help designing a master plan or tune-up for your garden or landscape, contact Dargan Landscape Architects.

Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan to Speak at the Spring Garden Festival in Murrells Inlet on March 22

Atlanta-Charleston landscape architect
Mary Palmer Dargan, ASLA, APLD

Spring is going to be a busy season of speaking events for Dargan Landscape Architects’ Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan! This Saturday, March 22, they will kick things off at the Spring Garden Festival at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina.

If you’re looking for expert gardening advice, this is the place to find it! Hugh and Mary Palmer will give a lecture in Brookgreen Gardens’ Lowcountry Center, Learning Lab 1, beginning at 11:15 am. During their lecture titled “Lifelong Landscape Design: Gardens for Health and Longevity,” Hugh and Mary Palmer will discuss how to design a lifelong landscape that will allow you to produce food, enjoy healthy activity and reduce stress! A book signing will also be included in the event, so bring your copies of Timeless Landscape Design and Lifelong Landscape Design with you.

South Carolina landscape architect
Hugh Dargan, RLA, ASLA

Other highlights of the Spring Garden Festival include:

  • Lectures on topics ranging from photographing spring flowers and increasing efficiency and decreasing garden maintenance to best garden practices for all Southeastern gardens, etc.
  • A photography workshop in the Gardens.
  • Demonstrations on beekeeping; techniques for installing, cleaning and maintaining water features in your garden; easy, natural ways to decrease the use of harmful chemicals in our environment; a pruning workshop and more.
  • A silent auction featuring unique container designs from Brookgreen’s horticultural staff.

We hope you’ll make plans to join Hugh and Mary Palmer for the exciting Spring Garden Festival at Brookgreen Gardens in Murrells Inlet this Saturday. The festival is free with garden admission. Visit the Spring Garden Festival site for more information and a schedule of events, and keep an eye on Coastal Observer for an upcoming interview. We look forward to seeing you Saturday!

gardening festival in Murrells Inlet/Pawley's Island SC
The Spring Garden Festival at Brookgreen Gardens is a “must” for anyone in need of expert gardening and landscape design advice.
Source: Facebook.com/BrookgreenGardens

If you can’t make it out this weekend, below is a list of our upcoming events. Mark your calendars now – we’ll share more information on these events in the near future!

  • Memphis to Milano Flower Show, Dixon Gardens, Memphis, TN; April 4-6
  • Nashville, TN Book signing; April 5 and 7 – Location TBA
  • Little Garden Club of Birmingham, AL, Ribbons of Green Zone VIII Meeting and Flower Show (Private Club Function); April 7-9
  • Book signing at the Historic Charleston Foundation, Charleston, SC; April 11 – Time TBA
  • Charleston Garden Club Tours of Homes & Gardens – Hugh and Mary Palmer will hold book signings and several of their gardens will be featured on the tour; April 11 and 12
  • Southeastern Flower Show “Showing & Growing” in Atlanta, GA, April 25-27 – Hugh and Mary Palmer will have a display, sign books and hold a drawing.

Plus more events to come through May, June and July! We’ve also got events on the calendar for fall. Stay tuned for more information!

Using Your Home as a Powerful Hub

The hub is not only an important part of your landscape’s master plan, but it’s  also instrumental in creating a visual connection between your home and your surrounding property. As mentioned in the previous post, the hub is where activity originates on your land. This focal point is typically the home in most cases.

Dargan Landscape Architects
Dargan Landscape Architects

With the home as the hub, you’ll want to be intentional about the design of your landscape on and around it. The first way to establish the home as the hub is to invest in the design of your approach and arrival sequence, which is where guests get the first glimpse of your home. Next, you’ll want to focus on hub identity and architectural composure, vistas and captured views.

Making a home appear, well, at home in the landscape can be difficult given challenges that are often present with the topography, as well as environmental issues. However, landscaping solutions can make the most of these problems by creating balance and restoring order. Adding retaining walls to level out a sloped site, for example, is just one of the many tactics that can be used to create a more balanced look.

Here are some additional considerations for understanding the anatomy of the hub:

  • When it comes to hub identity, is the hub approached from the side or straight on? While straight-on is a more formal layout, it can present challenges on an uneven site.
  • Is the ground level across the front of the building or does it slope to the side? Sloping land requires retaining walls to make a flat area at the base of the house so that plantings don’t angle downhill.
  • Does high or low ground around the house cause drainage problems? Solutions for drainage problems are not always attractive, so if you have them, you may want to consult a landscape designer for a more aesthetically pleasing fix.

An example of using your home as a powerful hub can be seen in this house, designed by Norman Askins of Atlanta. It sits firmly on flat land and is enhanced by the simple curve of the drive and cherry trees. Foundation plantings are minimized to emphasize the sweep of house and lawn.

Atlanta landscape architect
Home Designed by Norman Askins of Atlanta
Photo via Timeless Landscape Design

Check out our previous post on the Dargan Landscape Architects’ four-part master plan for designing timeless landscapes to learn more about establishing a timeless landscape. You can also order a copy of Mary Palmer’s book “Timeless Landscape Design” to read more  in-depth information about using your home as a powerful hub in your landscape.