(Old information – thank you to all who attended!)
Visit our garden on Saturday, June 9!
Please stop by, walk through the garden and say hello! We’ve spruced the garden up for the Hardy Plant Garden Tour, and would love to share. Our garden is open to any and everyone interested, but the larger tour is for plant group members, by prior reservation.
We hope to see you tomorrow!
Ted and Nancy Dobson’s Asian-inspired garden is getting a lot of attention these days! It is now featured in the May/June issue of Fine Gardening, where you can see some of Buell’s gorgeous photos and get a few ideas for your own small space from Rebecca’s article. Subscribers will receive their issues any day now, and non-subscribers can pick up their copies at Market of Choice, Jerry’s and some of the bigger bookstores on or after April 3.
We are delighted for the Dobsons! While we helped them lay the foundation of their garden, they have made it absolutely their own. The garden reflects not just their eye for detail and hard work, but their joyful and peaceful personalities, as well. Congratulations on a job well and beautifully done, Ted and Nancy!
Much more on the Dobson garden here.
Have you seen the terrific little garden on p. 44 of the latest issue of Sunset? Ted and Nancy’s Asian-inspired space is getting a bit of well-deserved attention!
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!
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.
A pic of some of our spiky, mean plants for "danger garden!" Click for a larger image.
Our new friend, Loree Bohl wrote a lovely, very thorough post about our Open Garden on her blog, danger garden. Judging from some of her other entries, we share a passion for mean plants and cool nurseries, so be sure to keep reading!
Buell took some terrific new photos of our garden last night. What do you think?
Thanks to everyone who joined us for the Open Garden! We had a lovely day and were delighted to meet so many new friends. If you missed the event, stay tuned to the journal and Facebook for future events.
The Ahearn Garden
Hope to see you at our Open Garden this Saturday! More info here.
July is off to a great start! In addition to beautiful weather, we had an Independence Day treat of seeing one of our gardens on Sunset’s Fresh Dirt blog. “Perfect Small Patio” by Jim McCausland features Debbie and Gary Ahearn’s little courtyard. The patio is an inviting, outdoor extension of their kitchen and dining area. Packing a lot of garden into a small space was our first challenge, and the second was providing a cozy, intimate and private space not far from a well-travelled residential street. The redwood fence balances privacy with a flow of light and air, and the custom metal furniture gives the focus and warmth that make the courtyard a well-used outdoor room.
If the Ahearn’s courtyard looks familiar, you may remember it from earlier posts in our journal, like this one about outdoor seating areas.
Questions? Leave a comment, drop us an email at mosaic@mosaic-gardens.com or ask us in person on Saturday!
With the Open Garden just ten days away (July 9, 9-2!), this seems like a great time to share some fun facts about our garden. You may know the basics from our website and journal, but did you know that…
Our very young garden in 2004, photo courtesy of Robin Bachtler Cushman
– We put our first plants in the ground in 2003 and had our first photo shoot for Sunset in 2005. That’s a pretty quick start for a garden! The original plantings were boisterous and brimming with variety, partly because we were using the garden as a testing ground for unusual and new (to us) plants. As the plantings have matured and the garden has grown shadier, we have edited the plantings to masses of our favorites, with room for more than a few highlights and oddballs, of course. We wonder what you’ll think of the changes at the Open Garden….
– The galvanized fence was one of the few elements that we knew would be a part of the garden from the start, and it was the first thing we installed. We had a hunch that the brightness and subtle texture of the fence would be an asset in our narrow, urban lot. While metal fences clearly aren’t for everyone (it’s still the only one we’ve built!), we love how it seems to pull the sky down into the space and sets off the dark foliaged plants in front of it.
Our galvanized metal fence.
– We built almost everything by hand. From removing tons of concrete (be sure check out the “before” pictures in this post), to hauling each rock to its final location, we held true to our belief that people build better gardens than machines do. The one major exception was the driveway, which Buell swore he was going to dig by hand…. About 10 minutes with a pick convinced him that using a bobcat would be a better idea.
We look forward to sharing our garden with you on July 9. In the meantime, remember to follow us on Facebook for updates, photos and more!
Buell's stacked stone sphere sculpture
Saturday, July 9, 9am – 2pm
Please join us on Saturday, July 9 for an Open Garden! The plants are loving the long, cool spring, and the garden is gorgeous this year. It’s a small, diverse space that has been featured in Sunset, Fine Gardening and Garden Design magazines. There’s a little something for everyone – sun, shade, dry stack stone walls, seating areas, mature plantings, new additions and lots of design ideas. Buell and Rebecca will be on hand to answer questions about the garden and Mosaic, but, introverts, never fear, we’re happy to let you wander on your own.
If you don’t know our garden, this photo history is a fun place to learn more, and our press page includes several articles about the garden.
We hope to see you on the 9th! Drop by anytime between 9 and 2, and feel free to bring friends and family. We’ll have limeade and shade if it’s warm (or even if it’s not), and space to explore or just sit and enjoy the day.
Mosaic Gardens Journal 