The garden of 13 Rue Méchain, Paris, France, in the early 1960s. Image by Horst.
This fall and winter you doubtless will be poring over seed catalogues and gazing with lust upon coffee-table books packed with seductive gardens. But why not consider allowing a portion of your landscape go artistically wild?
Tastemaker Pauline de Rothschild (1908-1976) saw no reason to have the lawn outside her apartment in Paris cut to manicured perfection, so why should you? Yes, neighborhood associations get fussy over grass left long and billowing but if you craft such an escape from normality with care and thoughtfulness, surely the naysayers might see its alternative beauty. Especially if you, like the baroness, clip your shrubs (in this case, boxwood) to spherical perfection and keep things it all generally tidy.
Or consider the subversive landscaping of Alice Throckmorton McLean (1886-1968), a New York socialite. In the 1920s at Tulip Hill, her estate in St James, Long Island, she startled her friends by incorporating a garden of weeds. It wasn't planted intentionally, by the way. After coming across a large area overrun with species less-brave individuals would nuke into submission, Mrs McLean blithely installed a path down its center and let the weeds grow, prosper, and be admired.
6 comments:
That is one of the most lovely images. Perhaps knowing it belonged to the complex and divine Pauline deR-makes it so, but beyond that-yes it is in the contradictions that I find things most beautiful.Grass mowing-though I have it done-is an absolute waste of time and dollars. la
Circa 1900 Sir Edwin Lutyens designed the landscape at Great Dixter, England, with meadow flowing to the house, touching it.
In the same meadow, in our generation, owner, the late, Christopher Lloyd created/planted formal evergreen topiary within the meadow.
Across Europe meadows, for centuries, have been mown at different heights for focal points, garden rooms and paths.
Once I saw all of this; epiphany.
I've been designing Tara Turf ever since. A mix of what the wind blows in and mowing heights.
Love, love, love, the picture you chose. And of course the topic!!
Garden & Be Well, XO Tara
How beautiful to combine the manicured with the wild. I love the photograph!
It has taken 20 years, but this year we celebrate no grass. I have terraced our hilly property, put in stone walls, gravel paths, flagstone patios. I planned and planted for the birds with lots of virburnams (you must look into Winterthur viburnam.) particularly at the edges allowed to grow into a natural hedge.The only thing I failed to plan for was a crew to handle all of the leaves! Mixing the manicured in the rough in nature's high-low decorating, don't you think?
One of my favorite quotes:
"A weed is merely a plant whose virtues have not bee discovered."
Pat Wilkinson
I live in Toronto, with a population of 3 million. All green space is greatly cherished and is considered a luxury.
The garden adjacent to ours was owned for many years by an elderly woman who stopped cutting the grass and weeding. It quickly became overgrown; a small wild life and bird sanctuary in the centre of the city. It was wonderful to see the variety of birds going in and out of the thickets, not to mention squirrels, rabbits, and chipmunks. Years later she passed away, new occupants cleared the thicket and paved half of the yard to park their grotesque SUVs. My heart was broken. "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot."
It is the aspect of the wild and natural contrasted with the density and artificial in the city that makes one take note of such small areas, left "sauvage." Wonderful concept to draw our attention to, and if more of us opted for an area left this way we would be doing ourselves and the environment a favour.
Guide us to more...! Please...more about Pauline, and Mona, and Elsie, etc.
Square with Flair
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