Revisions

It’s that time when the first stage of design is completed and feedback has been gathered - it’s revision time. Currently I’m at the drawing board tweaking the design presented with the received feedback, as well as determining whether the choices made earlier still work, or whether something wants to change? It’s a detailed focused process, and it’s important to remember to take one’s time doing this and not rushing. The end result will benefit so much from a well thought through and considered approach, rather than a rushed scramble.

The particular focus area now is how to get from the front garden close to the house, to the back part of the garden. The path has been designed to go on the right hand side and not centrally as originally planned. The right hand side option still remains, but now the question is the shape of the path. What does it want to be? And what would make the house happy, and the people in it?

At the drawing board

Draft after draft of the Brooklyn back garden have found their way to the drawing board, initially as a quickly sketched pages of ideas of what the garden could become. Rough sketches then become more neat drawings, coloured in even, first general layouts and then more and more detailed drawings akin to plans. It’s a process that’s initially quite free, to then become more and more specific and narrowed down, ultimately stimulating all aspects of the creative process.

At the moment a lot of the details of the layout plan are being explored and worked out, while visits to the garden itself is generating new ideas and perspectives, ultimately creating changes on the drawn plan again.

The tension between the real, lived site and what lives in your imagination is always interesting, often slightly at odds with each other but ultimately always a generator of new and fresh solutions. It’s an exciting process, and as the seasons are changing, the time is coming nearer to when the plans on the page will become a real garden - imagine that.

A Brooklyn garden takes shape

The time has finally come for this South Brooklyn garden, this backyard*, to undergo a much awaited transformation. The weeds are standing tall and show no signs of slowing their growth, nor making room for any humans to enjoy the space. The ‘removed’ tree is sprouting vigorously again, and the neighbors’ patience is starting to wear thin. It’s time.

So what is there to be done? The ‘before’ might give a clue: A concrete covered expanse consisting of a massive flower bed (?) occupying most of the central, useable space; at this point it’s a rectangle of concrete and metal, home to mainly tall weeds and old garden roses (these are being saved in containers for now). Narrow paths of yet more poured concrete and original bluestone pavers from the 1870’s that have been repurposed as stepping stones. Old marble mantle pieces stacked at the back of the garden. A rusty metal shed in the far corner now removed, giving room to more weeds. A rusty metal tin roof to protect former garden dwellers from the rain or the sun. A falling apart bamboo fence. An intense overhead tangle of electric wiring spanning from the house across to the back of the garden and onwards beyond, as well as sideways - the electrical functionality is unknown. Masses of underground rat corridors in the soil (it’s New York, after all).

The vision? A native plant focused haven. A Secret Garden, a serene sanctuary away from the city. A sustainable, water wise, urban paradise for humans and wildlife alike. A vision of beauty, enveloped in bird song. A place to bring people together, with each other and with nature. A place for birds to thrive in. A place of comfort. A place of calm. A place of beauty.

Next: the very real journey to get there…

*Someone famously said ‘if you call it a ‘backyard’ it’ll never be a garden. True? Time will tell.