Some gardeners think of the ecological landscape – for the integration of environmental science and art – as an agreement or a concession to limit creativity. Landscape architect Darrell Morrison, who has been practicing and teaching this philosophy for five decades, asks for a breakthrough.
“There are implications for vegan diets,” says the Johnson Flower Center in Oriente County, New York, Brooklyn Botanical Garden and Austin. Texas. “When people hear a phrase like ‘ecologically healthy landscape’, they seem to have left something out. But they are not – they only improve the experience.
From his point of view, the real bargain is focused only on the decorative aspect of our large and large designs. It is in the box-and-vinka world that we run the risk of suffering from emotional deprivation — not when we use native plants in designs inspired by wildlife communities.
What happens when each plant is selected only for the show, regardless of other potential characteristics? “It looks good,” he said. “It’s gone.”
At the age of 84, Mr. Morrison is a self-employed businessman. An honorary faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he holds a bachelor’s degree in landscape design from 1969 to 1983, a professor and former dean at the University of Georgia where he worked from 1983 to. 2005. Mr. Morrison describes that profession, and his life, in the book “Wild Beauty – Naturally Designed Landscapes.”
Integrating ecology with design
Indigenous communities “provide a logical starting point for designing beautiful, functional landscapes,” Mr. Morrison wrote in 1929 by Edith A. Roberts and Elsa Rehman, “American Plants for American Gardens,” introduced by his co-worker in the 1960s.
One chapter in his book entitled Mantra Briefs: “Integrating Ecology with Design.”
Of all the American scenes, the plain is Mr. Morrison’s “Pet Face.” He grew up on Iowa Plains and moved to a farm where two orchards continue to grow – the entrance to the premier plant.
The English gestaltalt and gallery of Wisconsin arborretim’s garden, ranging from design in Madison, to cedar boxes on the steps of the apartment, are often seen in what he calls a “compressed field.” ”-“ My old friends on the side of Iowa Road ”where it can feel like a home in the middle of a little blue grass and a series of forbes.
Any home that inspires a unique design – the East Plains in the iconic Ron House, a historic stone mill at the Wilton, Con, or New York Botanical Gardens – would like to know more. , Before the designer starts, first.
He At the Brooklyn Botanical Garden, which began in 2013, part of the project was requested by the Pinnacle ecosystem in New Jersey. Mr. Morrison’s inspiration came from field trips, including gardening and, in other words, the pine barren with Ulrich Laurel, a botanical gardener at the time. Mr. Lawmer said he was impressed by Morrison’s “excitement and enthusiasm for projects, plants and places.”
“My mother was just as happy as a 12-year-old, trying to see what my mother’s nature was doing there and then working on a design,” said Mr. Lormer, now director of Indigenous Plant Trust in Massachusetts. “Science is kind of divorced from spirituality and emotion, but Darrell develops that aspect of practice that they reflect within us.
Four principles in design
In his teaching, according to his own experience, Mr. Morrison has four goals in mind – the four characteristics of successful landscape design.
First, it must be ecologically or ecologically healthy, meaning it has a level of natural diversity that is resilient to climate change.
Landscaping species should be adapted to the location and region, so they do not need much support, such as irrigation or the application of toxins on the ground, he said. “It also means we are not introducing unusual invaders to reduce differences.
The landscape should also be rich in experience beyond viewing. That, he said, takes into account the “invisible aspects of the wind, the smell of the grass that floats in the air.” And so do other species of life – bees and butterflies.
A design must also be in place – an integrated destiny in a favorite quote. With the same plants, when you all have standardized landscapes with irrigation and artificial support, “not there,” borrowed from Gertrude Stein. “The landscape gives you a clue as to where you are. You need to know that you are in De Moines or Connecticut.
Finally, the landscape must be dynamic, changing over time. “We will make every effort to make our landscapes uniform, fragmented and fragmented and unchanged,” said Mr. Morrison. By doing so, you have missed out on the transition from one development to another and over time.
Our gardens are a combination of improvements, not something we can stop. “Picture is two-dimensional; Architecture and sculpture, three-dimensional. ” But the landscapes are four-dimensional, time is the fourth dimension.
“I left things in the lurch,” he added.
However, there are a few exceptions. Some key shortcuts may be needed to keep the key Vita open, and some editors have “or lost the composition of the site” to control invasive plants. He is not completely indifferent.
Landscape brightness
Others – including more than 1,000 university students who have studied landscape design with him, and thousands who have done it in informal settings such as symposiums – may cite or praise Mr. Morrison as an inspiration. But he continued to crucify the learned who laid the foundations.
They include attorney Aldo Leopold – as Mr. Morrison, an Iowa native, and the University of Wisconsin. In his 1949 book, Sand County Almanac, Mr. Leopold states: “Our ability to see quality in nature begins with the beauty of art.”
“A beautiful body in a composition can be an entry point,” said Mr. Morrison. But then you start to see patterns. And then you start to understand the processes that you can integrate into your designs.
Another indelible impression is that in the 1967 essay of landscape architect Arthur Edwin Bay, entitled “What You See – Landscape Brightness” – the idea of placing plants in reflective foliage in areas where the plants are a daily light. Mr. Morrison urges us to do this, for example.
As Mr. Lauremer observes, “Darrell is not afraid to talk about the characteristics of grass heads or their brilliance.”
The design process taught by the students is also evocative and of high quality. Creative flashes for landscape design can come from a painting – the 1914 Kandinsky Wine Power or the “Van Gog Whirlpool” that resembles movement – or from a piece of music.
“Music is great for keeping you from getting lost,” said Mr. Morrison. What I want to do is to get students to do it, to have overlapping maps on their site and to carry streaming music, especially in the early stages of design – to free one’s mind.
A few tips – pianist George Duke “Muer Woods Suite”; Uc china arya “Nesus dorma”, from opera “tarantont”; And Bedrick Sense and “The Molda”, a flowing river.
But when the two did not meet, Mr. Morrison called Jensen Jensen, a Danish landscape architect, “the most influential person as a teacher and designer.”
When his co-worker, Mr. Morrison, taught in Madison, he asked why he was more in demand than straightforward woods or field designs. On a twisted road. ”
‘You are lying on the ground’
For Morrison, always a volunteer student, every place has something to learn, especially from nature.
A.D. In 1992, while working at Lady Bird’s Wildlife Center, nine miles from the city of Austin, she borrowed sleeping bags and tents and settled on 42 acres[42 ha]the first night.
“It is good to see the sunset, to smell the pine, to listen to the song of the morning birds,” he said. I think they know the place better.
That seems to have attracted the attention of the former First Lady. Years later, Mrs. Johnson was receiving guests at a reception. She suffered a stroke and lost her eyesight, so when Mr. Morrison reached the head of the line, he introduced himself again: “Mrs. Johnson, you may remember me. I am Darrell Morrison. ”
“of course, I remember, Darrell, ”she replied. I tell all my friends how they slept on the floor.
Margaret is the creator of the website and podcast Garden Road, And a book of the same name.
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