Hello Lisa.

Welcome back to yet another edition of THE PENCIL CASE! Each issue focuses on a theme to encourage a fresh look at garden design and graphics. This week let's explore how HISTORIC STYLES can inspire our designs today. ♥︎

Two Santa Fe gardens. One inspired by Chinese gardens (left) and the other by local history.

HISTORIC STYLE AS INSPIRATION 

Design inspiration comes from many sources...books, tours, museums, conversations and so many unexpected places. One beautiful way to gain inspiration is exploring historic styles. This is a fabulous opportunity to rethink color, pattern, and materials from the past, then reimagine them through current trends to create something new and innovative. Many of these historic styles still work well in today's landscape designs.

The two images to the right are a lovely midcentury modern-inspired garden in Toronto, Canada.

HOW CAN WE APPLY HISTORICAL STYLES?

Many features come together to create a lovely garden. Choosing a historical style like Arts and Crafts, Chinese, or even Baroque helps unify garden features into a cohesive design. It's important to note that you don't have to recreate a past style perfectly, but instead be inspired by it, while folding in local plants and materials. 

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Use a historic style to guide choices for the features below:

• plants (are there plants associated with that style?)
• overall layout (should the garden be formal, informal or both?)
• architecture + structures (are there pergola, arbor, and fence details that showcase that style?)
• colors (what was popular at that time?)
• materials (what and how were materials used for paving, structures and furniture?)

This garden at the World Food Prize Headquarters in Des Moines, Iowa reminds me of a Victorian Garden.

SOME HISTORIC STYLE FEATURES

Below are some fun examples of features that could be used as inspiration from three historic styles. Click on the links to learn a bit more about each of them.

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MidCentury Modern: clean, geometric lines, open, minimalist layouts, natural materials like stone, wood, and concrete, large windows or glass doors to blend indoor and outdoor spaces, outdoor living spaces such as patios and fire pits

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Cottage Gardens: dense and colorful flower beds, a mix of flowers, herbs, and vegetables, climbing plants, rustic fences, arbors and trellises, wildflowers and self-seeding plants, small fruit trees or shrubs

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Victorian Gardens: formal, elaborate flower beds in geometric patterns, cast-iron garden furniture, ornamental statues and urns, clipped hedges and topiary, fountains and birdbaths, wrought-iron fences, bright flowers and exotic plants, mowed lawns

These images show features in a cottage garden, including a picket fence, overflowing plants and repurposed brick paving.

LET'S DO THIS!

Is your garden inspired by a historic style? Please share with me on Instagram by tagging @paper.garden.workshop. I'd love to see it!

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GARDEN DESIGN COLLECTIVE

I love covering historic styles in our monthly membership, The Garden Design Collective...then exploring ways to apply it in our own designs. It's a magical process. This month we're learning about Cottage Gardens...a fabulously, personal historic garden style. Fall enrollment is open through the end of today September 26, 2024. We'd love to have you join us! 

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All of our classes are located HERE if you'd like to keep up year round.

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If you know someone that would benefit from this newsletter, please feel free to share. They can subscribe right here. I also keep a VAULT of past issues in this secret location.

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Happy fall!

Lisa

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PAPER GARDEN WORKSHOP

Thanks to Mandy Orgler for preparing the images in this newsletter.