I'm also in love with the Calder Gardens and look forward to seeing that develop - all natives. I'll need to revisit (saw it last in September when it opened) to determine whether/where rain gardens are. Even though it was brand new and exists alongside busy major thoroughfares, it succeeds in slowing down time and space for me.
(And across the street there's the Rodin Museum Garden: formal gardens, very European with so much seating around grassy section.)
I love the Morris Arboretum for how it intertwines formal spaces with meadows, woods, and wet areas. My visits there always start at the bottom, so I can walk through the meadows and pond areas, into the woods to emerge by the greenhouse onto the path that takes one around the entire space. From marvelous shady areas with ferns to sunny spaces, fairy gardens, log cabins, swans, ducks, and a Japanese rock garden, to very formal rose plantings and perennial gardens.
The space morphs through the seasons. There's drama, mystery, beauty, comfort, surprise, and magic. I love the sculptures and the water features.
I discovered Lenten Roses at the Morris and now have one in my garden. I've tried to create a fern garden on the deep shady side of my house, and added hostas and wild ginger. (Those plantings have significantly improved the erosion issue on that side of…
Greetings gardeners!
For this week's forum post, choose a greenspace*, give a brief overview , and answer these questions:
What do you like about the physical layout/built environment of the space? What do you like about the plants present?
Is this greenspace a good example of GSI, why or why not?
*Some examples of greenspaces are botanical gardens, cemeteries, local parks, etc. This can be a place you've been to, or one you learn about online!
Here's my example: The greenspace I chose is the University City Garden Club space in West Philadelphia on 44th St. I like the stones that they use to mark the flower beds, the benches and garden statues, and the winding path through the middle, which makes the space feel organic even though its in a rectangle plot on a busier street. There's a mix of native and non native plants in this garden space--my…
Here's the link to the quiz you are assigned this week! Be sure to use the same email you are using for the rain garden course so we can keep track of responses. Also, feel free to look back at the slides for help. Good luck!
Hi everyone and welcome to the first ever GGC Rain Garden Course! For one of your first assignments, we'd like you to comment on this post and tell us a little bit about yourself, where you're joining from, and why you decided to take the course. This only has to be a sentence or two, but please leave a reply on someone else's comment if you find you have something in common!
Hello everyone! I’m Sarah and I’ve lived in Aldan for ~3 years. I’ve reduced the lawn, and also built a rain garden with much digging and moving of dirt before I knew much and its has worked decently well, but is undersized. This course has been great!
I love the rain garden outside of the Media Free Library, designed by Refugia. Its a fairly small space and has a great mix of water-loving trees like bald cypress, woodies and perennials. I love the way the path is laid out and the use of wood planks over the drainage area, and also that’s the whole area is not super wide so maintenance & access for weeding etc. doesn’t look too bad.
I also love the rain gardens outside the Haverford Environmental & Rec Center as well as the parking lot near the Media Courthouse. We need more parking lots like those!
Also a fan of Stoneleigh (love the mixed hedge too! And I am fascinated by the bog gardens near the bathrooms), and the Mt. Cuba Center (spring ephemerals! So magical).