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Garden Visit

duncan brine’s tips laforr gargdeneing

PLANTS ARE POSITIONED to remain distinct even once they grow into one another. Yellow Ligularia dentata ‘Desdemona’, shrubby Syringa meyeri ‘Palabiniana’, and low Stachys byzantina ‘Helene von Stein’ make up the foreground trio. On the opposite side of the path, purple smokebush stands with two grasses, Panicum virgatum and ×Miscanthus giganteus.

DESIGN FOR THE WHOLE PROPERT Y at once. Include a network of paths to access every corner of the property, even if you’re not prepared to start planting all at once.

For a more natural look, eliminate lines and hard edges. Obscure edges by allowing a variety of mixed plantings to grow up around them. Avoid lining up evergreens on the edge of your property; plant evergreen screening strategically, only where it’s needed.

Only take over as much new ground as you can reasonably manage. This includes strategically eliminating invasive plants by starting with less-effected areas first and working slowly into more-effected areas.

Mass large-leaved perennials and shrubs as groundcover to establish an identity for the landscape and to set up easier care.

Even on a small property, set aside a nursery area to accommodate impulse purchases and other plants whose place in the larger garden is not yet ready.—CMP

television. Some visitors liken the Brine garden to a set. The comparison may be accurate; he does set the scene in a dramatic, large-scale way. But rather than garish collections of overbred plants that compete for the spotlight, Duncan’s landscapes are enigmatic and subtle, more Out of Africa than Days of Our Lives.

Part of the wonder of the Brine garden is the journey it takes you on. Duncan wants to surprise you, to make you feel lost, so that you can look up, find yourself surrounded by sophisticated plantings, and wonder if they were planted by human hands or if they made their own way to that spot.

The journey begins at the Brines’ office, a 1920s-era farmhouse accented by a tall, rustic board fence of oak and locust, which offers enclosure for less deer-resistant plantings without creating a claustrophobic feel. Both the office and their similar home sit on the high point of the property and look west to distant hills. A path turns downhill,