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Flint Street Garden Design Notes | 
Michael Weishan |
Garden Design Notes
New garden and foundation plantings designed by Michael Weishan,
host of PBS' The Victory Garden, author of The New Traditional Garden, and
owner of Michael Weishan & Associates.
| Constructed
and planted in the summer and fall of 2000, the garden at 19 Flint Street
was designed to capture the whimsical nature of the Victorian landscape.
While not a recreation of the previous gardens on this site, the landscape
does incorporate many of the elements commonly found in designs of this
period: curved, ample walkways with intricate brick patterning for leisurely
strolls; generous seating areas for enjoying time out of doors (a critical
element in the days before air conditioning); even a secluded garden in
the rear, ideal or stealing a few private moments with the latest gothic
novel.
The keen observer will also note certain differences in the way horticultural materials are used here: unlike modern landscapes where trees and shrubs are often massed for effect, in the Victorian garden, plants were considered "specimens" to be admired individually for their interesting figure, form or flower, especially if, like many of the examples in this garden, they had uniquely shaped or colored leaves. (Most of the plants used here are authentic to the period.) Flowers, especially scented ones, occur everywhere, and perhaps the most noticeable of all, large areas of grass, that common denominator of the modern landscape, are conspicuously absent, here limited to a delicate "turf panel" surrounded by boxwood. While less than a year old, it is already clear that this garden will mature into a flower-filled, fragrant outdoor room, full of interesting surprises the year round, much in keeping with ornate interior of the meticulously restored home it adjoins.
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