Patterns Within a Garden

Ryan Gainey, an Atlanta designer, talks about how to arrange and repeat elements to convey a sense of order

It would not be overstatement to say that Ryan Gainey is often considered a legend in the horticultural reality . garden he ’s designed throughout the United States and in France have received much realization , and he has mentored many of Atlanta ’s garden graphic designer . He has also displayed his sensory faculty of style and design by way of the imaginative setting he ’s created for investment firm - raising events in Atlanta as well as in three horticulturally theme shops he has owned over the years .

I capture up with Ryan at his home and garden , in Decatur , Georgia . His lifespan appeared to be a whirlwind of activity , but his garden felt serene and welcoming . As we meandered around the garden , and then during an errand to The Home Depot in hunting of materials for a projection , we talked about his approach to design , especially how he use patterns to create structure within a garden .

FG : Although your garden has an informal air , it has many formal elements . RG : Everything in the public has to be formed for it to be barren . Many people think that they can go out and put a bunch of flowers in the yard and it becomes a cottage garden . Well , that ’s just a mess . There ’s no class ; there ’s no definition .

FG : So there ’s more to it than that?RG : Yes , garden ask to be set . One of the ways I like to create definition is with some sort of pattern . shape can be created with physical structures , like arbors , fence , gates , pathway , and other hardscaping . They can also be work by repeating objects or by manipulating works .

FG : What functions do these pattern serve?RG : A garden require practice to view as it together . Some type of patterns rely on set up together little routine of something . For object lesson , mosaics are one of the oldest art shape on dry land . It ’s the same as patchwork , stonework , or a fretsaw puzzle . We can also do this by pull together various aspects of our life , of our heritage and experiences , and weave them into our gardens .

FG : Did you approach the making of your garden as a type of hodgepodge ?

RG : Yes , in the sense that the goal was to take many facet of something and blend them together as a whole , so that no one single element stand up out . My garden is a full evolution of all my aliveness experiences — where I ’ve been , what I ’ve seen and learned about plants , people , gardening , account , and all the quixotic nuances that you could ever conjure up . The only reasonableness I can give you a design of my garden is that it ’s now done . I ’ve also used thing that were on this property , like concrete pavers and terra - cotta heap go away over from the former owner , who had make several glasshouse . I ’ve used both the pots and the pavers to make form within this garden . They have a visual outcome , and they also are like old material being recycle into a quilt .

FG : When did you first depart playing with patterns?RG : As a child , I used to baby-sit and see my neighbor make patchwork quilts with recycled fabric , and I would also put together puzzles with her . later on , I receive to help my female parent decorate cake with an aluminum pressure . I think that all these activities had a profound influence on my interest in piecing things together to make something beautiful .

FG : You also use severalgeometric form in the layout of your garden .

RG : Everything in the humanity is indite of basically the same shapes — spheres , cylinder , diamonds , and square . One of the elbow room of my garden is pose out in quarter-circle , which reflects an old tradition in garden making . These quadrant represent the four chambers of the human heart . The circular figure in the center of one of my garden room is reinforced by cast - iron abut stones that have a rounded scallop shape . Concrete pavers beam from the dress circle layer to complete the rotary design . I ’ve also reprize the anatomy of a diamond as the underlying complex body part in another garden room .

FG : How does manipulating the shapes of plants help to limit a garden?RG : you may take plant and clip them into geometric forms to make the outcome of a pattern or a form , then repeat that material body . you could produce a Turkish boxwood ball or you could make flat - top squares out of boxwood . If you like impulsive topiaries , you may create a poodle dog , or a hare , or a chicken on a pin . Do whatever you desire to do , but it ’s all clipping . That ’s the part of horticulture that people misunderstand : handling is what gives us structure . You shape , you clip , you nail , you bend , whatever . I try the great unwashed say , “ I do n’t like that ; that ’s horrifying . ” Well , you know what you get when you take the formal structure out of your body ? You get a jellyfish , and who wants to be a jellyfish ?

FG : Is it difficult to bring many unlike elements into a garden?RG : It ’s all about withdraw as much as you’re able to and getting it in one billet , but keep it simple and making it beautiful . you’re able to adopt all those nuances of the retiring — pattern , fake plants , stonework , temples , foolishness , ruin , vistas , views , nature , and water . I think a complete garden is composed of all these elements , and you could have that on a bench . you may develop plants in batch , you may have pattern stonework , you may have a clipped hedge , you may make out holes in the hedgerow , you may produce a wall for natural enclosure , then edit out a jam in it to have a view . The key is to realize the complexness of restraint .

FG : How do you do that?RG : By saying “ No , no , no , no , no , no , no . You ca n’t have that , you ca n’t have that , but this you’re able to have . ” You have to make hard decision . Sit down and figure out what you require . Train yourself to really see things , to feel , to become internal with the whole experience of something . In other row , I wait at a flowering plant and I think , “ I want one of those , ” then I look at it more profoundly . I regain out how it develop , how big it gets , whether I can shape it or whatever , and then I think about whether I can truly make a home for it in my garden .

FG : How would you encourage masses to expand their sense of possibility?RG : I think traveling to different places is essential . Go wait at botanical garden , arboretums , private garden , public gardens . And when you ’re there , look , look , calculate , and then go back and look again . attempt to see out what you require that you would be unforced to implement and maintain . hear to see what really stirs the cacoethes that is essential to making and tending a garden .

Patterns within a pattern

Ryan Gainey reinforces the encroachment of patterns by repeating them , with variation , throughout his garden . In this section , a gate and a serial publication of archways are good example of two similar patterns that mimic the shape of a roofline in the distance . These three elements together form a big design .

Fine Gardening Recommended Cartesian product

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo

Fine horticulture find a commission for point purchased through links on this site , including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertizement programs .

Get our latest tip , how - to articles , and instructional videos sent to your inbox .

Signing you up …

Key Concepts for Designing a Garden Within the Woods

A Space Within a Space

Making a Garden a Home

Gardening Within a Small Space

Join Fine Gardening for a costless pursue hot webinar boast Dr. Janna Beckerman , a celebrated flora pathologist as well as professor emerita at Purdue University and the ornamentals technical director …

When I fleck a particular Amandine Aurore Lucie Dupin dollar bill cactus ( Astrophytum asterias ) at the Philadelphia Flower Show a few month ago , I make out I was in trouble . With a delightful color pattern …

When we only prioritise works we want over plants our landscape needs , each season is fill up with a never - ending list of chores : pruning , pinching , tearing , treating , amend , and fertilizing , with …

Three diamond-shaped boxwood hedges provide year-round structure in a long, narrow garden and serve as a backdrop for the colorful plants within them.

Video

Touring an Eco-friendly, Shady Backyard Retreat

You must be careful when you enter the backyard of garden couturier Jeff Epping — not because you ’re likely to trigger off on something , but because you might be dive - bombed by a pair …

4 Midsummer Favorites From a Plant Breeder’s Garden

Episode 181: Plants You Can’t Kill

Episode 180: Plants with Big, Bold Foliage

4 Steps to Remove Invasive Plants in Your Yard

All Access members get more

ratify up for afree trialand get admittance to ALL our regional subject , plus the relaxation of the penis - only content library .

Start Free Trial

Three diamond-shaped boxwood hedges provide year-round structure in a long, narrow garden and serve as a backdrop for the colorful plants within them.

Get complete site admission to expert advice , regional content , and more , plus the print mag .

depart your FREE trial

Already a member?enter