Landscape Designer Mary Reynolds

Mary's Gold winning Garden at Chelsea 2002, Tearmann sí – A celtic sanctuary

So this post is a first for Stone Art's Blog: throughout the past two years or so that I have been writing this blog I have highlighted many artisans and stonemasons. However this post is the first time I have highlighted a landscape designer. And who better to begin with than one of my favourite Irish designers, award winning landscape designer Mary Reynolds.

Landscape Designer Mary Reynolds

Mary Reynolds, the first Irish winner of a Chelsea Flower Show Gold Medal for garden design, started her landscape design company in 1997, where she began her professional career designing gardens in and around  Dublin city. However over time she began to feel that city life was suppressing her creativity so she moved out of the city to the “wild west “of the Wicklow Mountains. As soon as she got back into the wilderness, not only did she feel inspired for the first time, but she aslo knew where it was that she wanted to bring her skills.

Mary felt the gardens she had been designing in the city were lacking, because they did not have that depth of soul that exists everywhere in wild places. Being once again surrounded by wilderness, Mary realized that this beautiful natural wilderness that is of such great inspiration to her as well as others was disappearing fast because people had become disconnected from it and had forgotten the importance of that connection, so she took it upon herself to create gardens that would bring this connection back into peoples lives.

Tearmann sí – A celtic sanctuary

In 2002 at just 28 years of age, Mary entered the RHS Chelsea Flower Show with her garden ‘Tearmann sí – A Celtic Sanctuary’. Inspired by the Wicklow countryside and her love for Irish mythology, Mary’s garden consisted of a circular stone moon gate lead over a stone path to the inner circle, where the elements of earth, air, fire and water combine. Surrounding the central circle was a grass mound carpeted with bluebell, inspired by Tara Hill in County Meath. Hawthorn and elder, two trees that feature in Celtic lore, formed a protective circle around the very edge of the garden. Enclosing the garden was a traditional dry stone wall, planted with native Irish plants, such as yarrow, thrift, hart's tongue, maidenhair and spleenwort.

Mary's Garden at Kew Gardens

As a result of her Chelsea victory in 2002, the British Government commissioned Mary to design a garden for the world-famous Botanical Gardens at Kew in London.
The garden is based on the imagery and atmosphere of the poem "The Stolen Child" by Irish poet W.B. Yeats.

Mary's Garden at Kew Gardens

Mary was also commissioned to design Brigit’s Gardens in Galway. Brigit’s gardens consists of four interlinked gardens, based on the Celtic festivals of Samhain, Imbolc, Bealtaine and Lughnasa that provide beautiful and tranquil reflective places and are a celebration of nature and the cycle of life.

Imbolc Spring Garden at Brigit's Garden

She had started on the project before her Chelsea win and completed the design later in 2002.

Samhain Winter Garden at Brigit's Gardens

I visited these wonderful gardens a few months ago, but there is so much going on at these gardens I am going to write a separate post about them at a later stage, so that I can write about this magical place in more detail now.

Bealtaine Summer Garden at Brigit's Garden

Lughnasa Autumn Garden at Brigit's Garden 

Some Mary’s favourite materials and structures to incorporate in her designs include stone, sculpted earth shapes, mosaic, living willow structures and cob structures. She also likes to incorporate native planting and Irish mythology.  It is all these qualities that make her one of my favourite Irish designers. I also love that she often includes stone seats. As well as being one of my favourite things to build from stone I have also written about stone seats and their importance in Irish folklore on a number of occasions. 

Here are a few other gardens by Mary that I find inspiering.

The Glenstal garden

Stone seating in The Glenstal garden

Cornwall seaside garden

Cornwall seaside garden

 

Cornwall seaside garden

Photographs courtesy of Mary’s website with her kind permission. Be sure to check out her website for more information and photos of her work on  http://www.maryreynoldsdesigns.com/

Stargazing in the garden

photo © 2011 Nigel Howe | more info (via: Wylio)

I have always been fascinated by the night sky, and can happily sit in the garden staring into the vastness of space till the crick in my neck becomes unbearable. I am also a sucker for all those National Geographic specials on all the amazing things happening around us in space. The expansion of space, the exploration of planets, the inevitable extinction of our own planet, all these things float around in my head as I stare up into the night sky.

Garden Telescope by Telescopes of Vermont

So you can image that when I came across these beautifully hand crafted garden telescopes by Telescopes of Vermont , I have been dreaming about having one ever since. What a wonderful addition this would make to a garden!

I also really like the story behind these amazing telescopes and the little family business that reproduces them.

Russell W Porter and his telescope

The garden telescope was the brainchild of a man called Russell W. Porter, also known as the father of amateur astronomy in America, and founder of the Springfield Telescope Makers and instructor at MIT. He designed the garden telescope in the 1920s. Little did he realise that his innovations in design would later also apply to the 200 inch Hale Telescope at the Palomar Mountain Observatory, an observatory he helped to design.

The Porter Garden Telescope was conceived as both a superb optical instrument and a beautiful example of Art Nouveau Design.  It is the clever and artistic reconfiguration of a reflecting telescope more familiarly housed in a tube with an eyepiece projecting from the top.

In the case of the Porter Garden Telescope, the tube has become a bronze ginger leaf which holds the exposed optics in place. The optics lift out in seconds, leaving a graceful installation which can reside outdoors permanently as a distinctive centrepiece to a garden.

With the optics removed, it is also a clever and unusual sundial. When the blade is pointed at the sun, the correct time is indicated on the hour ring. It is also a wonderful educational tool for demonstrating the relationship of time and solar position.

This masterpiece of design may easily have been forgotten about, as its designs sat for almost eighty years collecting dust in the attic of The Smithsonian Museum, only to be rediscovered by fellow Vermonter Fred Schleipman.

Fred Schleipman

Thirty-five years ago Fred Schleipman, engineer and avid amateur astronomer, photographed a solar eclipse in Mauritania with an expedition of like minded individuals. There he befriended Bert Willard, an optical engineer, fellow stargazing enthusiast and member of the venerable Springfield Telescope Makers of Springfield, Vermont. Prior to joining the club, Schleipman visited their museum where he saw their collection of antique telescopes and rare documents. Among the treasures was an original Porter Garden Telescope. Schleipman was instantly smitten, and so began the dream to reintroduce, from obscurity, a historic and beautiful instrument.


His crusade held many hurdles, the first of which was to find an original, from less than twenty, which he could borrow for patterning. The Springfield Telescope Makers had been approached in that regard many times, but staunchly non commercial, and covetous of Porter’s reputation and their own, had many times declined the request. They finally reversed that stance, convinced that with Schleipman came the assurance that an instrument worthy of their endorsement would result. An original procured; the more daunting technological hurdles loomed: engineering, patterning, casting and machining.

Schleipman commented that working with the castings, though they are new, is a bit like restoring a Rembrandt. He is reverential of the craftsmanship reflected in the bronze pieces, and is thankful to have found skilled artisans capable of such delicate work in an age when this calibre of artistry is disappearing.


The Porter Garden Telescope - featured on CBS

Currently there are twenty five of these telescopes in the world. An original resides in the Smithsonian Institution.
For now I will continue dreaming about having number twenty six.

In the meantime while I wait for my lottery winnings, I may take a leaf from Dan Snows book and build myself something like this little project he made for a client recently. He was asked to build a place where his clients could take their sheep skins and lie out and stargaze in their garden. Check out Dan’s post about this little project here.

"Copyright Dan Snow, In the Company of Stone, All Rights Reserved"

"Copyright Dan Snow, In the Company of Stone, All Rights Reserved"

Thanks to Russ Schleipman for sending me on the information and photographs for this post (may your business thrive, so you can continue to produce these masterpieces for generations to come.) Thanks also to Dan Snow for giving me permission to use the photos of his ‘sky watch’ bench.

Garden Designers Roundtable: Stone

I have kindly been invited to participate as a guest writer at the Garden Designers Roundtable to discuss the topic of stone. Being both a landscaper and a stonemason I think it is a fair assessment to say I have a passion for this subject.
So here is my contribution to the decision.

STONE

Neolithic stone circle close to my family home in West Cork

 Throughout the ages stone has been utilised by man for a variety of uses, ranging from the spiritual to the practical. It is one of mans oldest building materials, and yet its methods of construction have changed very little over time.
Here in Ireland, as in many countries, we have a rich history with stone. Even as far back as Neolithic times (4,000-2,300 BC) there is evidence that man was creating amazing stone structures that were not only built for practicality and strength, but also to be something of beauty. Newgrange (just a mere 45min drive from where I am living) is a fantastic example of this.

The entrance to Newgrange.

Newgrange was constructed over 5,000 years ago, around 3,200 B.C. (That’s over 500 years older than the Great Pyramids of Egypt.)

This is one of the things I love about stone, it is permanent. A stone structure, whether it is an ancient building or your little garden wall, has the potential to be there to be admired for generations to come.
For archaeologists the great stone structures have been a great aid in mapping out our history, and although more modern stonework is of less importance (historically speaking) it still has a certain ancient presence to it, and defiantly sparks the imagination when encountered along a garden path.

One of the many old stone features I came across in St Ann’s Park in Dublin

Stone plays a role in most gardens in some form, whether it is a winding stepping stone path, inviting you to a tucked away part of the garden, a paved patio, or a simple rock lovingly dragged from your morning walk and placed in your garden bed (I’m sure most people who have a garden know what I am talking about).

Garden bed feature stone surrounded by Geranium lucidum (Shining Crane's-bill)

Here are a few of my favourite stone features to include in garden designs.

Stone paths


Stepping stones in a lawn

Curving cobblestone path in a driveway

Stone paths are a great way to lead the eye through the garden, and invite you to explore hidden or tucked away parts of the garden.

Stone seats and benches.

Limestone seat

I love including stone seats in gardens for a number of reasons. Firstly I think it is very important to have a spot in your garden where you can sit and take in all your gardening achievements, a place to just get lost in thought. Stone seats are great for this as besides looking like they have been there forever, they are also an inviting place to rest. I also love the folklore associated with stone seats here in Ireland (I have written about this in the past here)

A sneak peek at a stone seating area I am working on at the moment

Stone Archways

Stone Arch

Stone archways make a great focal point in a garden. They can create a sense of mystery, inviting you to explore what is beyond. They are also an exciting structure to build. One of the most fascinating things about stone arches is the physics behind them, and the fact that the procedure to build them has hardly changed since Roman times back in the 10th century, a procedure so primitive and simple in fact, that you sometimes feel you could be back in Roman times while you are building them.

The exciting part, of course, is when it comes time to remove the arch support.

The first large arch I built. It was an exciting moment when this arch was finished, as it came to pulling out the support. In your mind you know it is not going anywhere, but it doesn't seem to make you any more relaxed when it comes to taking it out!

Another thing you may not have considered about introducing stone into your garden is that you are also providing an additional habitat for rock lovers like moss and lichens.

Crustose lichens on limestone

I find lichens to be fascinating, they are in fact dual organisms, a fungus and one or more algae in a stable, mutually beneficial (symbiotic) partnership. The fungus provides structural form and protects the algae from extremes of light and temperature. Algae are capable of photosynthesis and some of the sugars produced provide the fungus with energy for growth and reproduction. Some lichens can live for many hundreds of years, and being sensitive to pollution levels they are important environmental indicators.

So that’s my lot, To see what see what fellow guest blogger Deborah Silver and esteemed members of the Garden Designers Roundtable have to say on this topic, please follow the links to their posts below.
(Please note this discussion begins on Tuesday 24th of May. I have posted a little early due to time restrictions so other links may not yet be updated if you are reading this before that time)

Deborah Silver of Deborah Silver and Co.

Debbie Roberts : A Garden of Possibilities : Stamford, CT

Douglas Owens-Pike : Energyscapes : Minneapolis, MN

Ivette Soler, Los Angeles, CA 

Jenny Petersen : J Petersen Garden Design : Austin TX

Rochelle Greayer : Studio “G” : Boston, MA

Scott Hokunson : Blue Heron Landscapes : Granby, CT

Susan Cohan : Miss Rumphius’ Rules : Chatham, NJ

Tara Dillard : Vanishing Threshold : Atlanta, GA

More on Stone Benches

So I have talked about stone benches on a number of occasions, and now I am going to talk about them some more.
I just had a lady asking me for more information on some of my stone benches, and while compiling the information for her I thought, why not kill two birds with one stone and write a blog post about it.
So here it is!

Stone Benches.
Enrich your garden with one of Stone Arts trademark stone benches.  Each one of these immensely popular benches is completely unique and can create a completely new feel to any area of your garden. As they are built to look natural, the design of each bench is largely dictated by the style and shape of the stone used, as well as the location of the seat.
Each bench has been carefully constructed so that they are not only pleasing to look at, but are also comfortable to sit in.
Stone benches not only make great garden features, but they can also make beautifully unique memorials that can be appreciated for generations. They can also be engraved with any text or symbols on request.
Ireland has a rich history of stone seats throughout its history, click here if you would like to know more about Ireland's ancient stone chairs.
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Here is some more information on a few of the benches I have made to-date.

The Weedle Bench, Co. Kildare.

This stone seating area was built using quarried sandstone. It roughly measures 2.8 meters deep by 2.4 meters wide. It will comfortably seat 8+ people. Both the risers and the fill between the back rests are dry stacked stone.

The Weedle Bench

The Weedle Bench

Back Rest Detail, The Weedle Bench

The Weedle Bench

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  O' Donovans Seat, Co. Cork

This seat was built as part of a adults chill-out area. A place for the adults to escape the family and quietly sit in their own space, taking in the spectacular views over Bantry Bay, to the sound of the water feature beside them.
This seat was built from Kerry Limestone, rich in quartz. It comfortably seats two persons, complete with rustic arm-rests to rest your glass of wine on.

O' Donovans Seat

O' Donovans Seat

As the planting matures, the seating area will become hidden from the house, to become a little hidden treasure to be discovered.

O' Donovans Seat

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Hagal's Bench, Co. Cork

This bench also seats two people. It was built from local field stone. The bench is on a slight gradient and snakes along the garden, bringing shape into the garden. It has been positioned to get full benefit of the sun as well as the stunning views over the valley and distant sea.

Hagal's Bench

Hagal's Bench

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O' Sullivans Bench (Salmons Rest) Co. Cork

This seating area was built along a salmon fishing river over looking Carriganass Castle. The owner wanted a quite spot to sit and have his morning cup of coffee. It was also a spot where he could fish from, the quiet pool of water where the benches are located sits just above a waterfall, the salmon come and rest in the pool after climbing the waterfall (giving it its other name 'Salmon's rest seating area')

O' Sullivans Bench

 This seating area is made up of two stone benches opposite each other. They are about 2.4 meters in length and will seat three people each. Being built from stone these benches can also withstand the fury of the river during the winter rains (and summer rains)

O' Sullivans Bench

O' Sullivans Bench

O' Sullivans Bench

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The Butterfly Bench, Co. Cork

This bench was built into an old garden ditch where the ditch had partially come away, rather than simply rebuilding the ditch, I recycled some of the stones to build this bench. The back was build from a piece of local quarried stone I butterflied to make a symmetrical back. This is also a two seater bench.

To see these and more of our stone benches on our website click here