You can learn more about the Dobson Garden in these journal entries, *and* in the next issue of Fine Gardening, which will feature lots of beautiful, new photos by Buell!

Much, much more to come!

The Dobson garden this fall

Even fall rains can’t get Ted and Nancy Dobson’s garden down.  This tiny, magical space only gets better with age and the careful attention of its inhabitants.  Readers familiar with the space through garden tours or the journal may note the beautiful new water feature at right, one of the Dobson’s summer projects.  Stunning, isn’t it?  It seems that we’re not the only ones who love this intricate and collaborative space, and you may get to see this fabulous garden in print soon (more details to come, of course)!

While photos may be worth a 1,000 words, a visit to this garden speaks volumes.  The Dobsons’ garden (and several of our other gardens) will be on the tour for the Hardy Plant Study Weekend next June 7-10, 2012.  Save the date and stay tuned for more information!

While we’ve been working away in Salem, of all places, two more of our gardens have put in an appearance on Sunset’s Fresh Dirt!  These shady gardens are just a short hop apart in the Fairmount neighborhood, but they have dramatically different styles.

A post featuring the entry of the Hoyman Garden includes some of Buell’s terrific photos.  You may remember that space from our earlier post here.  It’s an evolving space that will be open for the first time on next spring’s Hardy Plant Study Weekend tour.

Another fabulous post about a garden shared by neighboring families, the Englishes and the Bascoms, highlights a young and very successful space in the Fairmount neighborhood.

There’s more to share in each of these gardens, so you can expect to see and learn more in future posts!  For now, we’re back to stonework in Salem and creating a wonderful new garden that we hope to show you when it’s finished and a little filled in.

The Tersigni Garden

Have you seen the wonderful post about the coast garden on Sunset’s Fresh Dirt?  I spent a lovely morning there with Jim McCausland, while he shot the photos you’ll see in the article (there must be 2000 more!).  The Tersignis’ garden has been a delight to develop, and we couldn’t be more grateful to have such terrific clients and wonderful backdrop.  More photos and notes on that garden can be found in some of our earlier posts, many of which are here (be sure to scroll down).  And, of course, there are more photos and notes to come!

The Dobson Garden

Have you seen the Dobson garden on Sunset’s garden blog, Fresh Dirt?  Jim McCausland’s terrific article and photos offer a great view of the peaceful courtyard garden.  If you would like to know more, check out our earlier post on the space here.  Careful observers will note changes between our photos and Jim’s.  Like any great garden, Ted and Nancy are always refining their space, and we think it’s better than ever right now!

The Dobson garden will be on the Hardy Plant Study Weekend Tour next June.  More information on the Study Weekend to come.

While other areas of the garden feature diverse plantings and bold foliage, this garden focuses on the essentials.  Although, this garden is largely a passageway, as opposed to an area to entertain, it seems to have a profound effect on visitors.  Rather than rushing through the garden, the simple design encourages people to pause for a moment and enjoy a quiet moment, appreciating the view.

This is another garden that will be included on next June’s Study Weekend tour.  For more information, stay tuned here or contact the WVHPG.

It’s a busy week in Mosaic central, but we’re thinking about you!  Just wanted to give you a little taste of a great garden we’re going to share here soon….  Stay tuned for more photos and information!

The galvanized stock tank planters on our deck got the attention of Sunset’s Jim McCausland during his recent visit.  The bamboo screen provides a soft, textural screen for the seating area and a lovely backdrop to the view of the deck from the house.  On clear nights, moonlight through the bamboo casts beautiful shadows on our walls.  Read about the screen and see some of Jim’s terrific photos on Sunset’s Fresh Dirt….

Basalt paths frame a Vietnamese urn in Joy's front garden

The side garden is shadier, but still produces sweeps of soft color

Our artist client, Joy, wanted a romantic, flowery, soft planting, in cool and pastel shades.  Her original planting  - largely thuggish ornamental grasses and traditional landscape shrubs - had never been quite what she wanted, and when she called us, she was hoping for something more in keeping with her craftsman house and painterly aesthetic.

We’ve built the garden in stages, learning the site and its voracious deer as we work our way around.  A large Vietnamese urn and basalt pathway in front are two of our rare hardscape additions, as Joy and her husband were happy with the existing patios.  As we’ve moved to different areas of the property, we’ve adjusted our planting style to accommodate lessons learned and changing preferences.  Where spring color was her first priority in the beginning, Joy came to love plantings that provide year-round impact.   In addition to our construction work, we develop the garden over monthly visits, through which we’ve gradually amended our original plantings, creating a garden that looks fabulous in every season, while still reflecting our original aesthetic, and that accommodates the unusual and ever-changing tastes of the local deer.

Another view of the side garden

This garden owes a debt to trial-and-error, and we could not be more grateful for Joy’s trust in allowing us to bring the garden to its current successful state.  We think we’ve found an elegant balance point between floral color, year-round impact, and, of course, deer resistance.  Our highest compliment is that we often find that many of our monthly chores are complete when we arrive, and Joy, who had never been a gardener before, eager to talk about the latest developments and future opportunities.

Joy’s garden is one of four or five of our gardens that will be included in next year’s Study Weekend tour, June 1-3.  The Study Weekend is a gathering of gardeners that rotates between Vancouver, BC, Seattle, Portland and Eugene, features talks from some of the planet’s best plantspeople and designers, and a tour with the areas’ best gardens. We’ll post more here, as we learn more, but if you’d like to know more soon, please contact the WVHPG.

As the small trees we planted in the courtyard have grown, we've amended the plantings to tolerate more shade.

The hillside along the driveway was our most recent planting (Can you tell Joy loves Alliums?).