Gardens
A Garden’s Roots
Author and speaker at Powell Gardens’ 2010 Symposium Claire Sawyers gives a glimpse inside her beautiful world before her presentation in February.
BY
Kimberly Stern
PHOTOGRAPHY
Courtesy of Powell Gardens

What the world needs now in this Twitter-mad and Facebook-frantic world is a personal place to go and practice deep meditation and celebrate natural beauty. Consider the absolute power of a well-executed planted space like your own backyard, driveway or front-yard garden.
 
A garden authentic to its surroundings offers a visual respite, a magical bit of inspiration and an organic connection to the earth that heals and nurtures. Kansas City has a wonderful example in Powell Gardens, with its 970 acres of stunning botanical gardens. Alan Branhagen, director of horticulture, says its spacious design without walls makes the garden a striking visage in the rolling countryside. “Powell Gardens allows visitors to see the wide-open sky because we have low horizontal lines utilizing limestone,” he says.

Embracing the inherent beauty of a specific area will be a topic covered at the 2010 Garden Symposium, February 19-20, cosponsored by Friends of Powell Gardens and the Garden Center Association of Greater Kansas City. Claire Sawyers, author of “The Authentic Garden: Five Principles for Celebrating a Sense of Place” and one of four speakers at the event, will discuss how to create a garden that is true to a precise time, place and culture, and encourage gardeners to work with their own particular landscapes rather than struggle against them.

Too often, she notes, Americans get caught up in trying to mimic the appearance of their neighbor’s garden or landscape without listening to their heart and getting in touch with what gives them an innate sense of satisfaction. “We’re afraid of being judged by our suburban neighbors,” she remarks. “While we value individuality and creative expression, there’s a lot of conformity to a certain standard, and that applies to how our yards look. There’s a notion that a homeowner plants their property to please the person walking or driving by. Instead, look inward for self-gratification and have the confidence to do what makes sense, including plantings native to an area.”

Claire uses her soothing and tranquil bungalow in Pennsylvania as an example of doing the opposite of what’s expected. She regards the front yard in America as a sterile place, so she got rid of hers and planted trees and shrubs to help soften the concrete palette and traffic outside her home. She left curtains off her windows, except one, so each pane of glass looking on the outside becomes living art and an expression of nature, an essential integration between exterior and interior.

Her five principles on designing a garden that celebrates surroundings include capturing a sense of place; deriving beauty from function; utilizing humble or indigenous materials; marrying architecture to a garden; and creating audience participation.

To capture a sense of place, Claire suggests recognizing opportunities that exist in a space and work to enhance them, whether a lot is shady or sunny or in a meadow, woodland or prairie setting. “Frank Lloyd Wright was the master of interpreting the landscape,” she notes. “Put things into context.”

It’s easy to derive beauty from function, and Claire urges people designing a garden to dismiss the notion that a lot of stuff should be purchased to make it interesting.

Humble and indigenous materials, however, can take star turns in a garden. “Use materials close at hand to create a spectacular garden,” she says. When it comes to marrying the architecture of a house or the area to a garden, Claire simply states, “Let porches be porches.”

And finally, the fifth principle she writes about in her book is the idea of audience participation. “Involve the visitor, whether it’s you or a friend,” she says. “Stimulate the different senses, become engaged with elements of the garden and allow a sense of mystery to capture your imagination.”

Balancing Beauty with Practicality: A Sneak Peek at the 2010 Garden Symposium

The 2010 Garden Symposium: "Beauty Woven with Practicality" features four nationally known garden experts. Symposium events begin with a demonstration and a dinner on Friday, Feb. 19, and continue with the day-long symposium on Saturday, Feb. 20. The biennial event is co-produced by the Garden Center Association of Greater Kansas City and the Friends of Powell Gardens.

Who: Suzy Bales, Stephanie Cohen, Rosalind Creasy and Claire Sawyers

What: A day full of entertaining gardening inspiration with practical tips, techniques and hands-on information, plus a pre-symposium demonstration and dinner lecture featuring a program by Claire Sawyers titled “Capture the Spirit: A Dazzling American Garden Tour.” She will share her philosophy about why authentic gardens that are deeply rooted in their surroundings are so aesthetically pleasing, giving the audience a photo tour of authentic gardens across the United States. 

When/Where: 
             Pre-symposium events, Friday, Feb. 19, 2010
             Anita B. Gorman Conservation Discovery Center, 4750 Troost
             Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 4801 Rockhill Road
       
            Symposium, Saturday, Feb. 20, 2010 
            The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art, 4525 Oak Street

This year, attendees are invited to help support the symposium by becoming a Patron or Supporter. Patrons ($300) will receive tickets to the Friday workshop, reserved seating with the authors at the Friday night dinner, reserved seating and lunch for the Saturday symposium, plus access to the exclusive after-party Saturday night at the Kauffman Memorial Garden Orangery. Supporters ($200) will receive tickets to the Friday evening dinner, reserved seating and lunch at the Saturday symposium.

Price per person:

* Friday workshop, $39
* Friday evening dinner with Claire Sawyers, $49
* Early Bird Symposium (order by Jan. 21), $79
* Symposium (after Jan. 21), $89

For more information and to reserve tickets visit shop.powellgardens.org or call 816.697.2600 x 307.

This article originally appeared in the January/February 2010 issue of Kansas City Homes & Gardens.