Color in Design

Greetings from my Gardening Couch! It is Sunday morning and Mark and I went to new church. Part of what of the offering was to ask yourself what can I do to serve. Earlier in the morning I was thinking about the blogging series that has been taking shape. And I thought maybe I should just write, you can just pick plants out and put them in the ground. But, I do not do this when designing, I do not feel it is that casual. I feel it is a personal experience that can inspire, uplift and connect one with the Divine:) Trees and plants offer us oxygen, ( this just being one of the offerings)  we in turn can offer them direct attention and gratitude! Part of my service  is to share my experience with nature, to let others know a beautiful landscape is awesome, and yet direct intent and the desire to be more fully who we truly are and connect to the Divine and our own Divinity through gardening in Possible!!!
Now Color~ I hope you found a few colors that you are highly attracted too and perhaps even took notice of colors you prefer to avoid~ This is great information to have, it will help shape your garden design and give you some insights into your soul.
Eastern philosophy has so much information on color and its potential to affect our consciousness. From Hindu to Chinese to Japanese culture color has significant meaning and purpose. I am going to pull from several philosophies to give you a general view! Very Briefly Chakra's are energy centers  or wheels within the body, there are seven major chakras~ I have been working the Chakra system for several years as means of self awareness with a highly gifted lady,  and they are also a part of Yoga, Hinduism and Eastern Philosophy.
RED~associated with the 1st/Root chakra (Hindu), is grounding, stabilizing, promotes trust and balance and harmony, a warming color, increases ones connection to the earth, stimulates the sensory system, liver stimulant, increases red-blood-cell production
ORANGE~ creativity, play, freedom, abundance,joy, creation, sexuality, connected with the 2nd/Sacral chakra, can assist with healing reproductive organs
YELLOW~Stimulates higher intellectual functioning, clear thinking, balanced personal power, 3rd/Solar Plexus chakra, 3rd charka about your identity and who you truly are,
GREEN~ love, purity, soothes the central nervous system, calming, balances mind, body and spirit, 4th/Heart Chakra, unconditional love,
BLUE~ Cooling effect, increase sensitivity, associated with the throat chakra, speaking one's truth, finding your voice, can help with healing issues with throat, neck, mouth,
INDIGO~ connected with the 6th chakra/third eye chakra, stimulates parathyroid glands, color of devotion, intuition, transcendent vision, purposefulness, seeking after truth.
VIOLET~ Stimulates spleen, helps lift anxiety and depression,7th Chakra/Crown
*some color information came from the book Vibrational Medicine by Richard Gerber, M.D.

Garden Design Beginnings Part II

So the rain did arrive since the last posting! I think I will now clarify my desire for rain as the following: Rain fall in reasonable amounts a few times per week would be lovely.
The questions we asked ourselves to begin our Garden Design Process were:
What Do I like? Why? What am I attracted to in this landscape? Why?
Hopefully you have had a chance to apply these questions in your travels, reading, HGT viewings and have discovered some answers:) How exciting! I still find things I like and want to incorporate, this beginning stage may never end. I believe we uncover parts of ourselves in the process, and our appreciation and gratitude for beauty and nature expands. You  may also meet new people and discover they have something to share or offer. Last year I noticed a neighbor had some bulbs that were growing in the middle of her lawn. I stopped and knocked on her door. I met a lovely lady and she shared some info about her life and her bulbs with me!
Step two: let's consider five senses~ sight, smell, touch, taste and sound.
Starting with Sight we are going to focus on color~ our eyes are constantly taking in images and words, the brain always processing this information and feelings and emotions arise from this stimulus. Color has an enormous impact on our psyche. Certain colors can elicit particular feelings and state of being; however, we are each unique so our personal perception is at play here too. Can you see how gardening can be a means of self discovery?
So let's take the colors of the rainbow this week to see what colors your attracted to, what does it feel like in your body when you see Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet? What thoughts? Memories? Associations arise for each color?
Next blog will include some feeling states of the Rainbow colors and what adding the particular colors to your garden could bring about for you!


Rachel Griffith has a degree in Landscape Design, is a Certified 500 hour Yoga instructor and is a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads
www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Garden Design Beginnings

Hampton Roads is experiencing a small break from intense heat. Rain would be so lovely as landscapes are showing signs of stress. I am at a great space at last in my pregnancy and I am so excited about sharing some ideas that have been dancing around in my head and heart.
When I started my gardening career in 1997, I was a seasonal gardener at the Norfolk Botanical Garden. "Seasonals", as we were called, were farmed out to the permanent gardeners. One day I was put with Holly, she was stand offish and an enthusiastic gardener. She offered me so much, friendship and gardening wisdom. The beginning of garden design starts with a question she asked me, "What do I like?  why?"  Look again, what do you like?    
So ask yourself those questions. Notice what you are attracted to most. Then ask yourself , "Why am I attracted to this yard, landscape, garden, container.....".  I was attracted to a large garden under the canopy of mature trees~a shade garden. Open your eyes and look again. I loved the curve of the beds and the deep green grassy path inviting you into the garden to explore and to wrap its green arms around you. Look from a place deep inside of you. Start gathering ideas and images during these hot months so you can make them into a reality during the fall.
 Rachel Griffith has a degree in landscape design and is a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Be water-wise and Beat the heat

Hello friends! I apologize for the delay in our next installment. Lots going on this summer as we get busier, and Rachel is closer to bringing our son into the world on November 8th.

In order to help your plants beat the heat, I wanted to share some wise irrigation advice. Now this doesn't mean you need an irrigation "system" installed. You can manually irrigate your gardens. My step dad would run manifolds and multiple hoses around the yard and even had a sprinkler mounted to a telephone pole to get it to spray farther. ( I don't recommend this.)

Being water-wise should start at the design phase of your garden. Proper placement of drought resistant plants, when given the opportunity to get established, are the best way to save water. Another thing you can do to preserve water is proper mulching techniques. 2-4 inches of shredded hardwood mulch properly installed will hold water, shade the soil to keep it cooler, and suppress weed growth. Thick ground cover plants can also shade the soil lowering root zone temperatures reducing water loss. Rock is NOT recommended as a mulch as is reflects heat onto the plants, does not retain water, and is harder to keep weeds out of.

Water in the early morning hours while your plants are taking up water to make it through the day. watering later in the day has little benefit as the plants have closed their stoma to preserve water, therefore greatly reducing transpiration.
Water less frequently for longer periods of time, i.e. 3 days a week for 1 hour, as opposed to everyday for 15 minutes. The longer period gets the water deeper which encourages root growth, and therefore drought resistance.
Rain Barrels used to catch storm water attached to a soaker hose is the most efficient as you have a free water source (rain) and the low pressure soaker hose releases the water into your garden at a slow rate, encouraging that root growth.

Good Luck, and keep your garden GREEN!!

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Shade Gardening

I am nearly six months pregnant and this time around I am not handling the heat so well. My days are being spent mostly indoors, something I have not experienced in over thirteen years of working in horticulture! I truly never understood the ones that could not handle Hampton Roads Summers, until Now:) This brings me to Shade Gardens, something that brings me joy and gratitude beyond anything I could describe. I am amazed at the huge selections of plants, shrubs and trees that are available. I fall in love with their detail and growth patterns. When I meet a client I try to draw information that helps me create a garden or space that they fall in love with over and over again.
We are all individuals with unique ways of expressing ourselves and our gardens can reflect back to us all we are and all we are meant to be.
Shade gardening offers more joy then I could have ever imagined. Shady spaces on summer days are such a treat. I recommend adding trees or a tree to your property to not only cool your space but to add the beauty of a shade garden preferably with a sitting area. The garden edges should curve and wrap around the patio or tree, inviting you in to relax. A few of my favorite plants are: Ligularia senecio tussilanginea 'Aureo-Maculata'~ 6" glossy leaves with large yellow spots
Ferns~ there are so many that do well in our area but I am currently loving
Athyrium Felix Fermina~ Lady Fern~ soft feathery lime green fronds
Athyrium Felix Forma~ Lady in Red~ vibrant red stripes among light green fronds
Polystichum acrostichoides~ Christmas Fern~ rich evergreen fronds, Native
This is only a few plants, there are so many more....
I encourage you to walk, sit or stand on your head in your garden and find the shade garden that is waiting to emerge!

Green Roofs and the Navy

I was recently at a local restaurant having lunch, alone, so I had to read something while I ate. The only thing available was The Flagship, a local Naval publication. I never served in the military but have a deep respect for those who do. I flipped the pages to find something I could at least understand, since most of this newspaper has to do with base news and command information. On the front page of section "B" of the Flagship, called "Front & Center" was an article about Naval Station Norfolk's Green roof project.

A green roof is a roof of a building that is partially or completely covered with vegetation and a growing medium, planted over a waterproofing membrane.
Modern green roofs, which are made of a system of manufactured layers deliberately placed over roofs to support growing medium and vegetation, are a relatively new phenomenon. However, green roofs or sod roofs in Northern Scandinavia have been around for hundreds of years. Modern green roofs were developed in Germany in the 1960s, and have since spread to many countries. Today, it is estimated that about 10% of all German roofs have been “greened”.
Modern green roofs use succulents, or relatives of cacti as their main vegetation. Many sedums are used as they are drought and heat tolerant.
Benefits include longer roof lifespans, reduced storm water run-off, and energy savings as the building is better insulated. The Regional Legal service office at Naval Station Norfolk is scheduled to be completed this December.
It is awesome to see the government is focusing on things like this on our military installations. The day is coming that these will be commonplace, at least I hope so.....

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com

Using stone mulch in your garden

Phew,
It sure was a hot one today. The crew was out at a clients house working hard to remove stone "mulch" that had been installed by the previous homeowner. This can be quite an undertaking, especially when the installer didn't use a suitable landscape fabric to keep the stones from "pumping" into the soil. A sturdy landscape fabric will keep the gravel from working its way down into the soil during the annual freeze-thaw cycles and block most weeds. Black plastic is not recommended because it does not allow air or water to pass through it to the soil.
Let me be clear, stone has a place in the landscape, and can even look great as a change of texture and color, however, I urge caution when considering rock as mulch. The rock will heat up in the sun and reflect heat back at your plants, creating a micro-climate. The extra heat can cause your shrubs stress, both in summer and bright winter days. Boxwoods and Azaleas in particular are sensitive to this. Another reason is that stone has no nutritive value and thus does nothing to enrich the soil. If weeds do get into your stone, it is much more difficult to remove.
I always prefer non-dyed hardwood mulch, as it conserves moisture, keeps down weeds, keeps the soil cool and makes your yard more attractive, among other benefits. Dyed mulches can contain chemicals that can chase away your beneficial microbes. Mulch simplifies mowing and it keeps string trimmers and lawn mowers away from unprotected tree trunks. Mulch can be the visual “glue” that knits a landscape together. A natural mulch such as shredded bark will feed the soil as it breaks down slowly over time.
It’s important to remember that mulch is not permanent. You can’t just freshen the color up every spring. All of the organic mulches decompose wherever they touch the soil. Weed seed will sprout in this layer. The region of decomposed material eventually becomes slimy or hard and it can repel rainfall completely. All mulched areas should be renewed every couple of years by raking out the old material, re-spreading it thinly in place and then covering it with fresh mulch.

Mark Griffith is a Virginia Certified Horticulturist and a lead designer with Nautilus Garden Designs in Hampton Roads www.nautilusgardendesigns.com