Drawing your eye in.
The National Cathedral in Washington D.C. recently added new, mostly native garden plantings on either side of the Virginia Mae building as part of a stormwater management project. The design of the dry stream bed garden in full sun is naturally informal yet organized. Seeing that balance struck so perfectly is a treat.
The dry stream bed garden is featured in this summertime post and if you love purple, you will really want to check it out. I knew this new garden planting was well done. Seeing it in the depths of winter shows just how well done it is.
It is as interesting in January as it is in August. Amazing. Strolling through, I tried to study what techniques were at work to make this garden feel so captivating and welcoming, even in late January. Here is what I came up with.
Repetition
Evergreen bayberry (Myrica pennsylvanica) shrubs and perennial asters are repeated on both sides of the stream at regular intervals. In winter, this leads your eye down the stream. I do not know exactly which aster this is but it does have a nice mounded shape much as Raydon's Favorite Aromatic Aster (Symphyotrichum oblongifolium 'Raydon's Favorite') might.
Balance
The bayberries and asters are not opposite one another but intermittently placed which creates a pleasingly informal balance between the two sides and, again, helps your eye move down the dry stream. One side has several bayberries and a a couple of asters while the other side has several asters and a couple of bayberries.
Structure
Both the evergreen wax myrtle and the perennial asters have good winter structure and essentially carry the garden through the colder season and snow. In the summer garden, the purple flowers of the alliums and asters and the maroon color of the penstemons seem to carry the garden.
You may see more design techniques. If you do, please let us know in the comments so we call all learn. I still do not know who designed this garden but will make sure to share the information if I find out!
Happy Gardening.
This garden was designed by Sandy Flowers, the former Director of Horticulture and Grounds at the National Cathedral. Ashley Coates, Head Gardener of the Bishop's Garden and the former Head Gardener, Addie, helped with plant placement and swale design and the Horticulture and Grounds staff did the planting. Great team work with fantastic results! Thanks to Thomas Schneider of Native Roots Landscaping for helping to figure this out!
Wow, I love that! I've been thinking of adding a dry stream bed here, and we kind of have one accidentally...long story. In addition to serving a valuable purpose, dry stream beds are visually pleasing, in my opinion. Very nice.
Great observations. I stumbled upon that garden in December a year ago and was awe-struck. So well done! --Lolly