The Cloister Style Pergola, Part Two

You may not have read in November of last year a post about a landscape renovation that we have had underway since June of 2018. A part of this project in process involves the design and fabrication of a large scale cloister style pergola. The story behind the design and fabrication? Click here for the [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/the-cloister-style-pergola-part-two/

A Spring Mix

We plant loads of containers in April in celebration of the spring season. The length, depth, and breadth of that planting is informed and driven by those materials available that can tolerate the chill. Farmed twigs are shipped to us in early spring and late fall. They provide mass, volume and height to our container [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/a-spring-mix/

April 2, 2019

What was noteworthy about this past Tuesday, the second of April? We planted containers and flower beds at 5095 for spring, 3 weeks earlier than last year. Our first spring planting. The morning was decidedly chilly, but the afternoon was sunny and warm. I could not have been more pleased or content to be outside [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/april-2-2019/

Planting Spring Pots

My penchant for planting containers for spring is based on several factors. At 30 years old, it seemed like an infinite number of springs were ahead. If I skipped planting fall bulbs, or spring pots, or a rose or a tree, there would always be next year. Or the year after that. In a blink [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/planting-spring-pots/

Spring At Detroit Garden Works: An Addendum

As I was writing about the spring opening of Detroit Garden Works, it occurred to me that what the shop does best is reflect the taste and sensibilities of a wide range of gardeners. I have Rob to thank for that. Many years ago I made a landscape design call to a client whose house [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/spring-at-detroit-garden-works-an-addendum/

The Cotehele Holiday Garland

Courtesy of an article in the holiday issue of the British edition of Country Living, I became acquainted with a National Trust property in England known as Cotehele. The property features a rambling stone manor house built in the 14th and 15th centuries, on 1300 acres of property.  It is one of the oldest and [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/the-cotehele-holiday-garland/

Spring, Detroit Garden Works Style

Rob decides when we will have spring. Ha. He knows just like every other gardener that the arrival of spring is attended by many false starts and deceptive signs. And at just that moment when you feel you might black out from the last of the miserable weather, nature switches on the light. But when [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/spring-detroit-garden-works-style/

At A Glance: The Library

My last post about the restoration of the paper mache cherubs included the above picture.  The cherubs aside, I had a number of comments about my library, and requests for more information about it.  As the last time I wrote about it was in 2009, I think it is fine to address it again. I [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/at-a-glance-the-library-2/

A Belated Valentine

I suspect it has been better than 10 years ago that Rob bought a small collection of oversized kraft paper mache cherubs that had been used for display at a holiday vendor showroom, and had them shipped to the shop. He asked me if I was interested. Yes I was. The purchase cost was nothing. [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/a-belated-valentine-2/

Survival

Several weeks ago my neighborhood in Michigan featured a weather extravaganza of substantially below zero temperatures with wind chills approaching -30 degrees, followed promptly by several days in the fifties. Astonishing, this. Nature is as extraordinary as it is unpredictable. Though I have observed and taken note of natural phenomena over a lifetime of seasons, [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/survival/

The Light Rings

If my memory serves me correctly, it was 7 years ago that Rob wound strand lighting around a few vintage wagon wheels, and suspended them from the ceiling of the shop for the holidays. I doubt they were on display for a week before the lot of them was purchased by an enthusiastic client. Over [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/the-light-rings/

Cinderella

A client asked of we would be able to light a pair of London Plane trees that we planted on either side of her driveway near the road – for the winter season. Of course I said yes. But I should back up. To say that we planted them warrants further explanation. I asked Ralph [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/cinderella/

The Winter Ahead

We finished the last of our winter container work this past Friday, January 4. The pots on my driveway were the very last of the late work. I do not mind that dead last slot. We have a long winter ahead of us. If I am ready for what Michigan winter weather has to dish [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/the-winter-ahead/

New Year’s Day, 2019

Dear friends of mine dress their home and table for the Christmas holidays in a way that never fails to astonish and delight me. I have written about their holiday at least three times before, but I knew this year would be special. They spent the last two Christmas holidays visiting family in the US [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/new-years-day-2019/

Winter Window Boxes

A good many posts ago, I described a window box as a hybrid vehicle. It is generally more expansive than a pot, but smaller than an in ground garden bed. A window box is an above ground defined space which is large enough to thoroughly explore an idea, and small enough to finish every square [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/winter-window-boxes/

From Start To Finish

Once in a blue moon we have a client who decides to buy new pots in December. The process from purchase to finish involves a series of steps, the first of which is the placement. Installing pots in a bed, rather than on a hard surface, is not all that usual. But in this case, [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/from-start-to-finish/

The Recent Work

All of my group has been fabricating and installing at a breakneck pace since early November. That intensity has its ups and downs. By the end of a six day week, we are all tired. But the best part of an intense season are those great ideas that emerge. Design and fabrication is a big [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/the-recent-work/

At A Glance: The Installation

Those flame willow forms set in mountain hemlock from my previous post proved to be too tall to transport in our box truck. Of course they were. The destination pots are 42″ in diameter. There is only one chance to get the scale and proportion right, as none of these materials will gain in size [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/at-a-glance-the-installation/

A Construction Plan

A pair of simply wrought steel cone forms can provide a sturdy armature for no end of garden projects. That precise form is orderly and pleasing set in a garden where chaos usually reigns. Any lax growing perennial or annual vine would appreciate its stability and strong shoulders. Another summer version features planting at the [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/a-construction-plan/

Flip The Switch

  Designing and installing containers for the winter season is very different than planting containers in any other season. Notably, nothing grows in a winter container. Though most of our materials are naturally growing materials, they are rootless. Cut branches, greens, berries and seed pods will be the same size, and occupy the same space [...]

from Dirt Simple http://deborahsilver.com/blog/flip-the-switch/