Dargan Landscape Architects

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Design Lifelong Landscapes: A Home Environment Workshop with Mary Palmer Dargan

Source: Mary Palmer Dargan
Source: Mary Palmer Dargan

Join Hugh & Mary Palmer Dargan, RLA, APLD for the Seattle, Washington Association of Professional Landscape Designers ( NOT landscap”ers”)  workshop being held on January 26, 2015 from 9 a.m.- 3p.m. The workshop is scheduled at the Center for Urban Horticulture, UW. An advanced course tailored to students with pending licenses, “Design Lifelong Landscapes: A Home Environment Workshop with Mary Palmer Dargan” will be an excellent addition to your portfolio. Homeowners with landscape designing interests are welcome!

As a landscape architect, author, professor, lecturer, and entrepreneur, Mary Palmer Dargan promises to inspire new horizons for your clients’ landscape designs. We will learn  Learn to merge the principles of fine art and landscape design with the functional beauty of permaculture techniques to create nourishing environments where your clients’ lifestyles can flourish.

Based on the relationship between humans and nature, permaculture is a form of ecological design meant to create sustainable architecture and self-sustaining, regenerative environments. Founded in the late 1970s, permaculture has grown into a thriving world-wide movement over the past 30 years. Through lectures and practical exercises, we will learn to design lifelong landscapes with Mary Palmer Dargan as she shares some of her vast wealth of knowledge with us.

Time to Take your Garden to School? Landscape Design Workshop Intensive in Seattle Association of Professional Landscape Designers (APLD) Presents Landscape Architect, Mary Palmer Dargan at the Center for Urban Horticulture

Source: Mary Palmer Dargan
Source: Mary Palmer Dargan

Does your garden need a tune-up? Would you like to learn landscape design tips from a master with 40 years in the landscape design trenches? When the APLD contacted me about offering this workshop, it presented the perfect opportunity to share how to  avoid the common landscape design mistakes and pitfalls. We’ll be taking our experiences with us on the road for a presentation at the APLDWA Annual Design Symposium.

Join Dargan Landscape Architectects at the APLDWA Annual Design Symposium in Seattle ( open to both homeowners and landscape designers)

On January 26th, Mary Palmer Dargan and her life/ business partner, Hugh Dargan, will host a presentation, lecture, and  a landscape design workshop intensive at the Center for Urban Horticulture in Seattle, Washington. The event is designed to help landscape professionals ( and landscape designing homeowners) avoid the common pitfalls that lead to “embarrassingly dysfunctional, over-budget & unsustainable client projects.”

The three secrets they’ll share are designed to help attendees design landscapes that are, in the words of ancient Roman author, architect, and civil engineer, Vitruvius, “firmitas, utilitas, venustas.” That’s, “solid, useful, beautiful,” for those of you who aren’t up on your Latin. These three secrets involve:

  1. Applying the tenets of a four-part master plan, so the project is not only aesthetically pleasing but is functional such that its purpose will be realized year after year.

  2. Implementing an innovative system of “layers,” which will help you organize and utilize site improvements.

  3. Using lifelong landscape design principles to create and guide a sustainable philosophy.

Registrants will receive a workbook (register early as we can’t guarantee workbooks for late-registrants) and are encouraged to bring paper copies of a survey at 1/8-inch of front or rear of project, an aerial photograph (Google Earth is great for those) and three photographs at letter size.

The cost is $150 for members, $200 for non-members, and $100 for students. The cost includes the workbook and an on-site lunch. Late registration (after 1/12/2015) is $250. Online registration will open soon at www.apldwa.org/events-and-news. You can also contact us here at Dargan for more information.

Catch Mary Palmer Dargan’s Lecture at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens in Charleston

Have you wanted to plant or design a romantic garden for your home? If so, mark your calendar for Friday, November 14th, so you do not miss Hugh and Mary Palmer Dargan’s lecture at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, located at 3550 Ashley River Road in Charleston. For the general admission adult price of only $15.00, you can attend the lecture in Magnolia’s Orientation Theatre and enjoy the gardens afterwards with a new perspective.

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Source: Dargan Landscape Architects via Facebook

The lecture will explore romantic-style gardening and its influence. Magnolia Plantation and Gardens provides a perfect location for such an event as it is the last large-scale romantic garden in America. As a licensed and vastly experienced landscape architect, Mary Palmer will share the knowledge she has gained from extensive travels both home and abroad, and how they played a part in her romantic garden designs. 

Having designed many beautiful romantic gardens in Charleston and other areas in North Carolina and Georgia, Mary Palmer will discuss how a romantic garden differs from a formal garden. She will also share tips on how to create a romantic garden within your own landscape. Mary Palmer believes, “A romantic garden provides the perfect canvas for creative thought and inspiration to solace your soul.” Not only will you learn the fundamental elements to this style of gardening, you are guaranteed to find some inspiration in Mary Palmer’s words.

Steeped in history, Magnolia Plantation has been family-owned for more than 300 years. In the late 17th century the gardens were started and during the 18th century their beauty and size expanded exponentially, however, it was not until the 19th century that they took on the grand scale that they maintain today. 

Join Mary Palmer of Dargan Landscape Architects as she details this beautiful, romantic style of gardening and bask in the beauty of the Magnolia Plantation and Gardens.

How Should I Prepare My Landscape for Winter Weather?

landscape
Source: Dargan via houzz

Winter will soon be upon us, but that doesn’t mean your garden duties can be placed on the back burner. There are several important landscape maintenance procedures to perform before the cold snap arrives. By preparing your landscape for winter weather, you’ll ensure grass, trees and perennials survive the winter and that beds will be ready for new plants in the spring.

While leaves can provide valuable nutrients to grass and soil, thick layers of wet leaves can smother your lawn when they compact. If you have a large amount of leaves on your lawn, it’s best to rake them into a big pile that can compost over the winter, or to use a mulching mower to shred them so they’re not as heavy.

To best prepare your trees for the cold weather, you should protect smaller, new plantings with chicken wire or specialty cages to keep animals that feed on tender bark. Remember to fertilize young trees, and if you live in a fairly dry climate, water them until they’re well-saturated before the ground freezes. For large trees, trim off any unhealthy branches that may crack or break under the weight of snow. Lastly, spread a good layer of mulch around your trees to help regulate the temperature.

Contrary to the notion that perennials need lots of care in the winter, a gardener has the opportunity to be part of the web of life, and do nothing. If you like order and structure in a perennial garden, simply break or bend down the stems and place them on the ground so they become natural mulch.

To help pollinators overwinter, a messy perennial garden is not all bad! By leaving seed heads and stems standing and intact over winter, native bees, eggs from butterflies and other pollinators are allowed to complete a natural cycle. As the plant matter decays, organic bits nourish the ground and the eggs fall with it. Pupae who hatch therefore remain in situ, ready to help your garden, and other gardens nearby, be pollinated and to set seed in the future.

Leaving 6-8″ of stems cut back or bent also provides places for birds to perch and peck thru the leaf litter looking for insect larvae…and essential food to nourish them through the winter.

Performing landscape maintenance will ensure your vegetation not only survives the winter, but thrives in the spring. Visit Dargan Landscape Architects for beautiful landscape inspiration in the autumn months, or contact us today about your landscape design.

Enhance Your Landscape with an Outdoor Fireplace or Fire Pit

An outdoor fireplace or fire pit is one of the most attractive, useful and special hardscape design features you can install in your backyard landscape. Why? Because they can be used year-round, become a part of your outdoor kitchen and be a spot where your family, friends and guests will make memories that last a lifetime.

There are so many different styles of outdoor fireplaces and fire pits, so we thought we we’d share some of them with you and discuss the best applications of each for your backyard.

Extend your outdoor living space
Oftentimes, we see outdoor fireplaces added directly to the perimeter landscape, which instantly increases the square footage of your home. Your fireplace can be built directly on the outside of your house, tying into an existing chimney system on the inside. Additional seating alongside the fireplace will enhance its function. You can also build a fireplace niche on a wall that extends adjacent to your home. This is ideal if you live in an area that’s windy or with close neighbors, in order to create a more private and sheltered courtyard area.

Atlanta landscape architects
Source: Pedersen Associates via Houzz

 

Atlanta GA landscape architects
Source: Cornerstone Architects via Houzz

Extend or link the perimeter
If you like the idea of having a fireplace or fire pit further away from your home, we recommend placing it on the extended perimeter of your patio or backyard border. This can be a wonderful way to use the perimeter to link one area of your yard to another.

Charleston landscape architects
Source: Mary Price via Houzz


landscape architects in Atlanta
Source: Simpson Design Group Architects via Houzz

A remote focal feature
Because outdoor fire pits tend to be late night congregation areas, many homeowners choose to keep the space removed from the main house. This helps buffer indoor occupants from late-night conversation and laughter. It also protects those around the fire from the glow of exterior house lights, creating a sense of privacy and a better view of the stars.

Cashiers landscape architects
Dargan Landscape Architects


Western NC landscape architects
Dargan Landscape Architects
Photo Featured in Lifelong Landscape Design

Adding a fireplace or fire pit to your outdoor landscape will provide enjoyable evenings for a lifetime and will also enhance the resale value of your home. If you’re ready to discuss adding a fireplace to your hardscape or a fire pit in your landscape master plan, contact Dargan Landscape Architects.