SAUGUS — The Garden Club had the opportunity to learn about landscape design and specialized styles of gardening from member Laura Eisener, a professional landscape design consultant.
“We’re going to be looking at rock gardens, water gardens, wildflower meadows, butterfly gardens, a little bit at greenhouse gardening, and cold frames, which many people have never tried, but in our climate, there’s some good reasons for doing it,” Eisener said.
She said that as you’re selecting pieces for your garden, it can be helpful to think about a theme for it.
“There’s a number of different ways that you might come up with your ideas for the garden,” she said.
The ideas can come from how the ground is, the sun’s conditions, or the rocks in the area.
Her main focus during the discussion was perennial borders. These are gardens that typically feature long-lasting herbaceous perennial plants that return every year.
“I often love to defy the rules as soon as I read ‘you have to do this’ in a book. … Some of it, like short plants in the front, taller in the back, makes sense because how are you going to see the shorter plant in the back, but if they’re all very low, you can easily see over the taller ones,” she said.
Eisener continued that often the garden will have its own idea of how it wants to grow.
One thing she explained was that at the Saugus Iron Works, what you’ll find is an herb garden, which has some historical context.
“This was legally required in Massachusetts in the 17th century because how were you going to get treated for illnesses if you didn’t have all these herbs growing around your house?” she said. Eisener noted that they’re an old style of gardening, and many choose it to fit the look of their house or to use for cooking.
She also showed photos of dooryard hedges, which grow tightly around your house, and can be more ornamental. The example she showed could also be considered a modified rock garden.
“Part of the reason for the plant selection is that the soil was shallow; it’s raised up on walls to cover the foundations, and the plants growing there all have to be able to take drought and not to reach their roots down too deep,” she said.
Eisener also explained that there was a time when glass was expensive, so people couldn’t afford greenhouses, and during the 19th century, it was considered a sign of status and wealth.
“And then there are gardens that go under arbors or tunnels or pergolas. … And these are popular for a lot of different reasons. Maybe you wanted to grow climbing plants. …Vertical gardening has a lot of good reasons to do it,” she said.
When it comes to shade gardens, Eisener said there’s more to think about than the amount of light a plant needs.
“Consider whether the shade comes from buildings as it would in downtown Boston. … You also need to have a lot of light and bright colors,” she said.
One plant she used as an example was hosta, which can grow in the shade. A lot of the leaves have a white coloring that can contrast with the shadow.
“Pastels and whites, that’s what stands out the most. Dappled sunlight doesn’t really show much of anything else,” she said.
During her presentation, Eisener showed off many different gardens, some she visited herself and spoke of the different flowers growing in the setting, why those flowers were thriving in that area, and some historical purpose to them.
