Showing posts with label garden design magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label garden design magazine. Show all posts

Saturday, February 16, 2013

Garden Design Magazine Will Cease Publication

Garden Design Magazine to cease publishing




After the April 2013 issue, Garden Design Magazine will cease to exist as a magazine.

The publication was established in 1982 and written for those interested in garden and landscape design for the home. 

I may not have the first-year copies of the magazine – I have to check my garden book and periodical library – (which is still in box storage until our home renovation is completed) but I’m sure I have copies of Garden Design magazine from those early years.

Whatever the magazine archive, I can say with certainty; I was smitten from the get-go. 

The magazine spoke to me.  It was all about a garden lifestyle.
It was sophisticated. It was glamorous. It was transporting. 
And there was never another magazine that came close to Garden Design.
Sure there were many horticultural magazines but all of them were focused on the hort community and the professional.
The hort “gotcha” community can be really tough on those that really don’t care to know the botanical nomenclature and all things plants.
Does that diminish the love of the garden?

To my knowledge, there is no other artistic genre that belittles its enthusiasts while professing to court them.
Well, maybe fine art painting- but not sure…

Garden Design magazine offered true romance about the art of the garden.   From the plants to the hardscape to the edibles and fine dining…

Garden Art is not dissimilar from other ephemeral art forms and Garden Design magazine celebrated the gardens’ provenance and exuberance and its designers—present and past.
Don’t get me started on the need to celebrate and understand Garden History.
How can one build on a body of art if there is no ready hub to stimulate and celebrate?
I contributed to the book, "The Pioneers of Landscape Design," because I had so much research material given my passion and my landscape design academic study that I wanted to share.

Garden Design magazine was aspirational. It was inspiring.
Coming home from pounding corporate travel and bruising meetings and joyful international garden visits as part of all that business, I luxuriated in perusing the garden glamour in Garden Design magazine.

Every page told a garden story.
Even the ads were powerful testament to an elevated garden lifestyle.

Heck, I even read those teeny, tiny, personal-looking ads in the back of the magazine.
It’s how I learned about a week-long garden design course taught at Filoli in San Francisco, hosted by the English father and son garden design team, Robin Williams. (Not the American comedian).
I even flew my sister to join me and we stayed in Sonoma and then Half Moon Bay while taking the course.

Good garden memories ignited by Garden Design Magazine.

Later, after I stepped out of the world of technology public relations and worked at The New York Botanical Garden and then Brooklyn Botanic Garden, I was giddy and privileged to not only work with the editors of Garden Design magazine on news stories but was able to count them as friends. To this day.

The loss of Garden Design magazine is not just a business environment loss.
The loss of Garden Design magazine is not just an “old media” loss.
The loss of Garden Design magazine is not just the loss of a gardening or horticulture media outlet as some of my hort associates have lamented.

The business decision to cease publication can be justified. 
It’s ad pages that aren’t there.
I tried a few times to post in landscape designer Susan Cohen’s postings (but due to tech issues could not…)
In response I tried to explain that one of the key inventory elements of garden design is plants – and outside of perhaps Monrovia, those growers and developers have zero history of advertising.
Why can’t the landscape designer’s hue and cry that Architectural Digest succeeds brilliantly see that without the limitless creative, design “stuff” support, the landscape sister to AD can’t cut it?

As noted by a previous Garden Design editor on Cohen’s Linked In page wrote:

A note about corporate publishing: circulation is controlled by the publishing company. Garden Design’s circulation was not reflective of national interest (or lack thereof) in exquisitely designed gardens. Circulation is decided upon based on formulas related to profitability (the printing and mailing of the magazines is the most expensive part of the business).


I had long suggested to my Garden Design friends that the magazine should position itself as the Vogue of garden design. 
It wasn’t competing with Fine Gardening, Horticulture or blogs. 
No. It was the arbitrator of the best of garden design.
It was the curator of garden design and the experts who gave us a garden design lifestyle.

Just like the fact that not many of us can afford or want to pick up on the Vogue or Harpers’ fashion of the moment -- are we really going to purchase the Alexander McQueen or the Marc Jacobs or Oscar de la Renta?
Those of us who read and loved Garden Design magazine sensed we’d never have that rill or orchard. 
But maybe some day we would.
Or maybe we could reinterpret it just like those fashion designs that are re-crafted at Target..

I also believe that the business model for Garden Design magazine was flawed,
Especially in a time of digital and social media. 

Why couldn’t Bonnier, the parent company, create a hub for landscape, design professionals to come together and meet the homeowner – the garden design enthusiast?
Garden Design Magazine are the curators.  
They are the experts.
They can create a compelling, viral, hub of garden art enthusiasts who will pay for the app.
There is downstream revenue to be explored for those that can marry the vision with the funding to make it happen. Seriously. With home gardening: edible and ornamental continuing to ahem, grow, there is an opportunity waiting to be cultivated…

Here’s to hoping Bonnier or someone with garden vision can make this work.
Maybe, just maybe – it could be us and our garden glamour community.
What do you think?


Here is the full Garden Design Magazine story as it appeared in Adweek:


Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Sunbrella and Garden Design Magazine Host Design Event

As if garden designers needed another reason to spec out Sunbrella® designs. 

We love their quality, craftsmanship.
We adore their inspiring colors and stripes and patterns.
We respect their durability, easy maintenance and protection from the elements. 

That’s a lot to love.

But then…Garden Design Magazine and Sunbrella hosted an informative and stylish fashion show-type event, complete with front row seats at the season’s sneak preview for what’s new.  



Appropriately, the event was held in New York City’s premiere design center, The Decoration and Design Building http://ddbuilding.com/

There was a panel discussion and a slide show that was more like a designers portfolio of successful projects an intimate look at in-home designs that ignited the creative sparks for house and garden. If you don't have their brochure, visit the website.

The panel experts were: Norman Vanamee, editor in chief, Garden Design Magazine, http://www.gardendesign.com/
Lindsey Taylor, Style Director, Garden Design Magazine, and
Gina Wicker, Design and Creative Director, Sunbrella Fabrics. http://www.sunbrella.com/

Panel Experts: Lindsey Taylor (L), Norman Vanamee, Gina Wicker


The introduction of Sunbrella rugs was good news to hear about.  The first collection, The Renaissance, comes in a variety of sizes: runners as small as 2x5’ to squares and octagons up to 11’ and the colors and patterns with sexy, glamorous names such as Mink, Garnet and Ebony are destined to fulfill a spectrum of good garden room designs. 
Wicker pointed out the importance of maintaining floors using Sunbrella rugs. “The gorgeous rugs also serve to reduce heat gain in the house and create a cozy room such as a special breakfast nook.”  The rungs are made with 100% Sunbrella acrylic yarn and contain 50% recycled content from Sunbrella fabric and fiber “waste.”

Wow.  This is one responsible and sustainable, green company.  It’s like learning the prom queen is also the valedictorian AND she volunteers for charity. 

In fact, Sunbrella fabrics are certified by the GREENGUARD Institute’s Children and Schools standard as contributing to healthy indoor air by being a very low-emitting interior product. 
Parent’s can breathe a sigh of relief with this news.
Plus, think about how much the Sunbrella awnings reduce energy consumption. And protect from the sun’s mean aging rays. I tell my garden team and clients, “Remember, the sun is not our friend.”  I learned here that The Skin Cancer Foundation recommends Sunbrella as an aid in the prevention of sun-induced damage to the skin.
This is great news for all you glamour-pusses out there. 

My husband and I are in the middle of a home renovation at our country house in the Garden State and I can promise you, I will be using yard and yards of Sunbrella fabric, draping and billowing around our new outdoor terrace and patio where I will be doing yoga, enjoying a soak in a Japanese tub and repairing the body from all that garden work with healing massages.  Ahhhhh…

Images of a Georgia home using Sunbrella on every surface throughout the house flashed across the screen.  There were a variety of textures and patterns accessorizing window treatments, floors and the patio. A very coordinated ensemble.               






I could see the European design influence Wicker told the audience about -- Sunbrella has a design facility in France -- especially in the grey duppioini pattern.  It truly looked as a created artwork for the space…

A Q&A followed the presentation.  Questions ranged from “How big was the garden property Vanamee showed and could she submit a garden design for a small garden.  The Garden Design Editor said the magazine tries to do all size gardens.
In turn, he asked the audience if they’d read the Garden Design magazine feature design on the renovation the team did for the small backyard townhouse garden at the James Beard House, as an ideal example of a small, er, postage sized, garden.

Here is the slide show in case you misplaced your online bookmark of Garden Design’s delicious, urban landscape work: http://www.gardendesign.com/find/james%20beard%20garden


Vanamee encouraged submissions with just five pictures max and a short description – less than a paragraph – more a little story about what happened in terms of the garden design. How the design solved a problem of some sort…

Sunbrella’s Wicker addressed the issue of fabric and textiles.
What type of materials used depends on what part of the country the space is located in, advised Wicker.  She cited flow-through firm foam as example. “It’s perfect for Miami. The South West, not so much.”  “Ultimately, it’s all about how much maintenance your client wants to support,” Wicker added.  

Wicker urged attendees to consider the practical side of the design as well -- Slipcovers can be taken off and put in the washer with bleach. This makes it easier to keep clean and mold free.

Wicker also noted the benefit of Sunbrella’s reversible cushion cover designs.
“Red wine cleans up.  No problem. And the design and use of hydrophobic fiber was created to dry quickly, standing on end.”

Goody bags and snacks and design community chat followed the presentation.  Garden Design Magazine's editor, Norman, was gracious and introduced me to Gina Wicker.  As part of our conversation, I got the chance to tell her how I love using the company’s fabrics as part of my garden designs: on porches and gazebos.  
But also, I got to tell her about one use she said she’d never heard of.  Using a green, black, tan and white striped Sunbrella fabric, I fashioned a box-kite like design around tall, cut birch tree “rods” positioned at four corners of the two bins that make up our compost area.  A white fence backed by landscape fabric surrounds the compost bins, fronted by pretty plants, and topped off with the fabric design “valance” for a look I call a Compost Cabana.  Who says compost is not fashionable. It’s all the rage.

How glamorous!

And thank you, Garden Design Magazine and Sunbrella.  It was a great garden design event. 

Friday, February 4, 2011

Snow to Seeds

Maybe I’m the ever-happy garden sprite, but when everyone else seems to be complaining and kvetching about the winter and its snowstorms (hello: it’s the season) I view it all as almost a perfect mash up. 

The winter weather forces us gardeners inside where we more or less do our winter gardening.
What’s that?  Attending lectures about gardens; reading about gardens; dreaming and drawing up new garden designs; taking care of the garden tools: cleaning, sharpening, oiling, all in preparation for the spring.

And as any dedicated, hard driving gardener will tell you – or perhaps sheepishly admit, nothing short of a blizzard will keep us out of the garden. 
So look at it like this:  we NEED the snowstorms and winter crazies to force us to sit down and take the time to choose the seeds, fruit tree varieties that will fulfill the next season’s garden desires.

So relax, enjoy the winter seasonal respite to flip through the print catalogs or the online ones – complete with colorful thumbnail images of the plants we dream will be part of our gardens.
It’s not unlike online dating.
Perhaps seduced by the too handsome or pretty image, we find our love.  Once there, we peruse the bio or stats and only then feel the chemistry. “This one’s for me!” the bubble in your head can be heard to exclaim.  Or maybe you shout out loud.

Better than Vogue’s fall issue, we love the cover shots of the boutique offerings from the smaller breeders and organic artisans.



For part of my Christmas wish list, I couldn’t resist the cherry trees from One Green World  - 1-877-353-4028 / www.onegreenworld.com
I am designing a home orchard: a double row cherry allee of compact trees near the kitchen garden or potager, located on the “back forty” as we say. That would be the backyard garden…
Last season, it was sad and curious when I asked one of the many nurseries I work with about securing fruit trees for my garden design clients; I was told they haven’t stocked them in forever. What? Why?  “Because no one grows fruit anymore.”
Pardon me, but isn’t this crazy?  Why do we have to buy imported fruit?  Most of suburban America can grow edible fruits. Most of urban residents can too.
Sigh. This is just the most recent example of lost food opportunities.

Not to be deterred. I moved on.  I would appeal to a higher resource: Santa Claus.

I needed dwarf varieties that would provide sweet, delicious, edible cherries.  My husband loves cherries – we buy Red Jacket Cherry Stomp from the Greenmarket in Union Square and my mother always makes him cherry pie for family holidays.

I wanted trees that are relatively carefree, with various blooming time that would yield fruit within the first year or so.  Some trees can take several years for cherries to bear fruit, so be mindful. 
   
I asked Santa for the Prunus cerasus  Montmorency.  This tree promises pie cherries.  They will rarely exceed 12 feet and are hardy to Zone 3.  The catalog says it produces abundant crops of firm, bright red, richly tart fruit with clear juice (yeah!)  Montmorency makes the best cherry pies!  (can’t wait to test this out!) A self-fertile and naturally dwarf tree.

I also hoped Santa would see clear to bring a sweet cherry, Prunus avium. That fat red man doesn’t wear red for nothing!  He’ll be sending two Compact Stella.  Stella – (which means ‘star’ in Italian. I know because the name of one of my most favorite garden client’s mother is Stella!)  I am hoping my sweet Stella cherry is indeed a star of our soon-to-be cherry orchard. 
The catalog describes Stella as “unique, self-fertile, dwarf cherry that will grow to only about 8-10 feet ad begins bearing fruit within a year or two and bears large, tasty, almost black fruit.” Good to zone 5

My mother remembers she and her sisters were picking their cherry fruit form the trees for what seemed forever – but that did not deter us from
We will add more trees to the mini orchard, but not before test-driving this year’s babies.
Santa was great.  He did it.

Seeds.

We order seeds from the Kitazawa Seed Co.,  www.kitazawaseed.com
 (LOVE, love, love their seed packet design!); 
Maine Potato Lady www.mainepotatolady.com;
Burpee’s www.burpee.com;
John Scheepers, kitchen garden: www.kitchengardenseeds.com
Seed Savers Exchange: www.seedsavers.org
and Comstock native Seeds www.comstockseed.com/ (and what about those cover-boy melons?) 






Just recently, I received the Renee’s Garden spring seed offerings and am very to say they have some very exciting new Gourmet Vegetables and Flowers.  I am very excited to try their new introductions, including, Sugar Pearl White Corm, Zinger Hibiscus herbal tea, ‘Beauty Heart” Heirloom Radish Watermelon, Wine Country Mesclun and Tricolor carrots.   I’ll keep you posted on the growing of the Renee’s Garden seed growing.







Today, Garden Design Magazine featured their secret and heirloom seed picks from England, Italy and Vermont. 
http://tiny.cc/yeqoq               













Take the time to indulge the season’s “snow to seed” research and selection.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Every Tree Tells a Story


From East Hampton Elms to The Garden State's 4,000 Flowering Cherry Trees in Branch Brook Park in Essex County/Newark to the Boxed Pines in North Carolina, the Cultural Landscape Foundation honors America's extraordinary trees - many under threat. 
http://tiny.cc/iu289

An photographic exhibit will premier at  Aljira, A Center for Contemporary Art. http://www.aljira.org/exhibitions/
It is an homage -- and a reminder -- to respect our trees.
The Cultural Landscape provides an online exhibit of the photographic art along with a schedule of where to view the exhibit in your area:
http://tiny.cc/and9a

What is very cool is that the Cultural Landscape Foundation has partnered with "American Photo" magazine to "create a traveling exhibition of original photography about these seminal trees, according to CLF. 
So far, it looks like the show is booked at the Philadelphia International Flower Show, March 6-14, 2011 and at LongHouse Reserve on Long Island April 4th. (Great place to visit any time!)
In addition, the images will be featured in the November/December 2010 issue of "American Photo" magazine. Get this at your news stand!

At the same time, sponsors Garden Design Magazine feature a news item about this important work:
and sponsors Davey Tree Expert Company  http://www.davey.com/

I think we all know and romanticize how important -- and glamorous -- trees are.  
In movies from "Lord of the Rings" to "Avatar" -- not to mention the extraordinary poetry and songs that try to say how much we love our trees, these icons of our culture and the lungs - if not the heart- of our world, deserve no less than our total, unconditional love and support....
What is your favorite tree story or memory?