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Landscape Design Tips

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.

Blending Design & Shapes Into Outdoor Seating Areas

Blending Design & Shapes Into Outdoor Seating Areas
Source: Dargan Landscape Architects

As a career landscape architect and gardener, I’m very aware of the positive effects a landscape has on its owners. Your beautifully landscaped outdoor areas may be the only space to escape the trials and tribulations of daily life, as you breathe oxygen-rich air, surrounded by beautiful growing, living things.

Enhance the Holistic Benefits of Your Landscape by Blending Design and Shape into Outdoor Seating Areas

One of the best ways to reap the holistic benefits of your landscape is to add seating areas where you and guests can take a moment to comfortably soak up Mother Nature’s splendor.

Rather than plopping a few chairs or lounges down, I recommend integrating your seating areas by blending both their design and the shape into your existing landscape. Here are some examples of how to do so.

Use boundaries. Timeless cottage gardens have always used boundaries, both hardscape and natural, in order to define different landscape areas, whether they be winding walkways, raised kitchen gardens, or – yes – various seating areas. Larger spaces may be bordered using existing architectural walls or fences. If you are planning on creating a smaller or more intimate seating area, use a trellis, shrubs, or a small section of fencing to create a bit of privacy.

Consider circular or rounded additions. A rounded or circular shape can facilitate the flow of conversation in a particular seating area, as well as its aesthetics. Your rounded or curved seating area will also make a nice change if the majority of your landscape is portioned out in square or rectangular patterns. The addition of an arch or a trellis can also add the curved juxtaposition you’re looking for while serving as a focalization tool, guiding the eye to carefully proportioned and positioned table and chairs.

Use attractive flooring materials. Enhance your seating area’s design by using attractive flooring materials, like natural stone squares or pavers, that can be used in different colors and patterns, augmenting their visual appeal.

Blending design and shape into outdoor seating areas will make them as pleasant to the eye as they are to the soul.

Contact Dargan Landscape Architects to help you enhance your outdoor areas.

Transform Your Landscape into a Recreational Space for Kids

Transform Your Landscape into a Recreational Space for Kids
Source: Dargan Landscape Architects

There’s no reason for families to sacrifice beautiful landscape designs in an effort to house their children’s play equipment. In fact, the best outdoor areas should include a mix of hardscaping and landscaping elements that are consciously chosen to engage both adults and children.

Your landscape should be thought of as a whole comprised of complementary parts. Hardscape elements and plants should flow into one another to create boundaries and defined spaces used to direct the eye or feet in a specific direction. When done well, your children will be able to experience an outdoor wonderland that encourages movement, engagement with Mother Nature, and plenty of opportunities to use your imagination.

Here are some suggestions for creating landscapes that children and adults alike will thoroughly enjoy together.

Include a space for a vegetable garden. There’s no need to dedicate a large amount of space for a vegetable garden unless you want to. Even small kitchen or container gardens will provide hours of entertainment, delight, activity, learning and — most importantly — abundant harvests. Planting, watering and picking vegetables is an enjoyable activity for everyone.

Use hardscape features for an interactive design. From water features to pathways and raised garden beds, the right hardscape elements will delight your children. Additionally, koi and water plants can live year-round in the right pond. Winding pathways with a blend of plants that block the view around corners add a sense of mystery and wonder. When used safely, fire pits are wonderful places for families to gather, tell stories, and enjoy the soothing nighttime chorus.

Plant flowers for year-round interest. Engage your children when purchasing seeds and flowers to create year-round interest. For example, you can create magical spaces with tall sunflowers planted next to blooming climbers, like morning glories. Then, make sure to include some winter berry-bearing plants to attract winter birds and animals during the colder months.

There’s no yard too large or too small when it comes to creating recreational spaces for children. Larger spaces can accommodate swimming pools or an expanse of lawn sized for croquet, lawn tennis, or badminton. You can read more about detailed plans for multi-purpose landscapes in my book, Lifelong Landscape Design. Contact Dargan Landscape Architects to make your landscape design ideas a reality.

What Does a Lifelong Landscape Design Offer You?

Source: Dargan Landscape Architects
Source: Dargan Landscape Architects

When Mary Palmer and Hugh Dargan sit down with clients, the first item of business is to establish how the client sees their landscape in relationship to their lifestyle. This helps us to design outdoor spaces that meet present needs and also look to the future, so we hold a vision of “The Whole” in mind, even as we work feature-by-feature and part-by-part. This is Lifelong Landscape Design for the individual family.

When it comes to your personal landscape, you want to create a design that contours, adorns, and facilitates your current lifestyle as well as your households’ future evolution. But, we can take that one step – or several steps – further and evaluate how lifelong landscape design principles can be incorporated on a larger scale.

Lifelong Landscape Design Creates Well-Rooted Environments for the Community

Imagine what your community would look like if everyone was on the Lifelong Landscape Design train. We imagine it would look a little like this:

  • Every home would have some form of a kitchen, herb or vegetable garden, and neighbors might even collaborate to organize who grows what so everyone benefits.

  • Composting, chemical-free gardening, and water recycling, or water harvesting, would be the norm.

  • Landscape designs – and urban design, for that matter – would encompass hardscape and landscape features that appeal to people of all ages and encourage pedestrian- and bike-friendly transit.

You can hear Mary Palmer Dargan speak in greater detail about lifelong landscape design and community by watching her presentation at the 2014 MidSouth Regional Master Gardener’s Conference. Some of the highlights include:

Creating a more tranquil existence. When you garden from a healing perspective, you will create a more tranquil existence for yourself and those around you, free of stress, negative energy, and even illness.

Conserving resources. Your landscape design can optimize both shade and sun exposure, as well as water-conservative and native plants that are more suited to the climate, to help your community conserve its precious resources.

Using a Four-Part Master Plan. Whether you’re designing a home landscape or a larger community’s, honoring the Four-Part Master Plan will always serve you well.

Are you looking for landscape architects in Metro Atlanta who use lifelong landscape design principles? Contact Dargan Landscape Architects, and create nourishing landscapes that will continue to sustain you and the community at large for years to come.