Planting evergreens in the garden provides year-round lush foliage of color and texture.
Here at my farm, I have an area I call my pinetum, an arboretum of evergreens and other conifers located behind my giant Equipment shed. Earlier this year, I expanded the pinetum under my grove of weeping willows and planted a number of interesting pines, junipers, and Oriental spruce. As the garden develops, I check to see what areas need more filling and plant accordingly. It takes lots of patience and time to create a garden. This one is looking better and better every season.
Enjoy these photos.
Early last spring, I decided to expand my pinetum. The bed was cleared, cleaned, and prepared for planting.
Over several weeks, I planted a variety of different evergreens with interesting growth habits, foliage, and texture.
After the area was recently groomed, I noticed more plants were needed to fill in various empty spaces.
I worked with my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, to plan what specimens would make nice additions. These are potted Eastern red cedars.
Here’s Ryan also positioning some potted pines – the varying colors of the trees and shrubs will look so beautiful together.
More plant were placed strategically around the giant garden bed. As gardens develop, it’s important to watch what does well, note where plants are still needed, and then thoughtfully decide what should be added next.
I always encourage my team to use the right tools for the right jobs. Do you know the difference between a shovel and a spade? A shovel is longer, angled, and its blade is curved into more of a scoop with a pointed tip. Shovels are better for digging up, breaking apart, and lifting soil as well as for scooping and moving loose materials. A spade has a relatively flat blade with straight edges and the blade tends to be in line with the shaft, rather than angled forward. Spades are good for edging and cutting.
Norman uses the spade to cut through the soil and outline the hole which should be at least twice the size of the plant.
Then he uses the shovel to lift the soil out.
Now this hole and its surrounding soil are ready for a sprinkling of fertilizer.
I use the appropriate Scotts fertilizer for evergreens and flowering trees and shrubs.
Norman removes the plant from its pot and teases the roots on the bottom. The root ball is in good condition, so this can easily be done with one’s hand. Scarifying the roots helps with nutrient absorption by loosening them and allowing them to expand into the new soil.
Norman places it in the hole and checks to be sure that it is planted at the right depth. It should be at the same level as it was in the pot.
Finally, he backfills and tamps down lightly to create a good connection between the root ball and the existing soil.
These weeping willow trees, which I planted here years ago, have done so well. Weeping willows are wide and tall with curtains of drooping branches that sweep the ground.
It takes a full day to get all the plants in, but they fill the areas nicely. When adding plants to any garden, always consider the planting environment, the plant’s growth habit and space needs, and its light requirements.
Norman plants a cypress nearby.
I always look for interesting and hardy specimens to add to the gardens. Many are slow growing, but in time these will fill the spaces nicely.
Everything thrives here in part because of the excellent soil which I amend often with nutrient rich compost and organic fertilizer. I am very proud of how it is developing. I’ll be sure to share more photos of the pinetum as the newest trees and shrubs grow.
If summer travels take you to Paris this year, I encourage you to make some time to see David Hockney 25, a special art exhibition at the Fondation Louis Vuitton that runs until August 31st.
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is dedicating five months and 11 galleries to the renowned British painter, graphic artist, and photographer, David Hockney, who is considered one of the most influential artists of the 20th and 21st centuries. The display includes more than 400 of his works from 1955 to now and is the biggest exhibition he's ever done. His pieces include oil and acrylic paintings, ink drawings, pencil and charcoal sketches, as well as digital works created on a cellphone or computer. David wanted the presentation to emphasize not only earlier forms of expression, but also his more recent works and interpretations. Not long ago during a short business trip abroad, I made sure to view David Hockney 25 - it is an exceptional and inspiring collection of art.
Here are some photos.
David’s exhibit fills the entire building in what is his biggest presentation to date. The display includes works borrowed from institutions all over the world, including London, Oslo, Düsseldorf, Milan, Dallas and Melbourne, as well as works from David’s own collection.
The two story Fondation Louis Vuitton structure has 11 galleries of different sizes. It also houses a 350 seat auditorium and a multi-level roof for events and art installations.
The building opened in 2014. It was designed by the well-known architect Frank O. Gehry. The facade is made of 3,600 glass panels and 19,000 concrete panels.
David’s works in this display span several decades. This is called David Hockney, “Adhesiveness,” 1960. David is one of the leading figures of the pop art movement of this time.
This is David Hockney “A Bigger Splash,” 1967 which shows how David captured specific moments in time. It is a famous work included in a series of paintings Hockney created featuring the California lifestyle.
Here is David Hockney, “A Bigger Grand Canyon,” 1998. David uses vibrant colors, varying techniques, and themes inspired by his own personal observations, surroundings, and experiences.
David hockney, “Bigger Trees near Warter,” Winter, 2008. The entire work is a landscape painting and depicts trees near Warter, a small village in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England.
The oil painting is done on nine canvases each measuring 36-inches by 48-inches.
And this is David Hockney “Bigger Trees Nearer Warter,” Summer 2008.
The exhibit separated sections dedicated to David’s works on various landscapes and the changing of the seasons.
It also featured David’s pieces showing light variations – both night and day.
David also devotes time to making digital creations on his iPad. These flowers are part of a series of 20 made in 2021.
The arrangements represent floral still life, and his observations of the changing seasons in what is included in the bouquets.
Various elements in each work change including the type of flowers, the vase, and the color and shadows in the tablecloth.
In the larger display of this large-scale photographic drawing, “Looking at the Flowers,” 2022, it shows David sitting at both left and right sides, sitting in a chair, looking at the wall of smaller framed works.
This is David Hockney, “27 March 2020, No. 1” 2020.
And here is David Hockney, “After Munch: Less is Known than People Think,” 2023.
This work is David Hockney, “After Blake: Less is Known than People think,” 2024
This is called David Hockney, Giverny by DH, 2023.
If you have the chance, do visit David Hockney 25 at the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. I know you’ll enjoy this exhibit.
It's still berry season and the blueberries at my farm are plentiful and ripe for the picking!
Plump, juicy, and sweet, blueberries are one of nature’s finest treasures. I love to use them for jams, jellies, and pies, but they’re also wonderful with cereal, in pancakes and cobblers, and of course, in handfuls on their own. Low in fat, yet packed with vitamin-C and antioxidants, it’s not surprising they’re one of America’s favorite fruits. I also grow raspberries, blackberries, gooseberries, strawberries, and currants.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
My blueberry bushes are laden with delicious fruits – they’ve never been so full. My blueberries are all from these bushes located between my flower garden and large Equipment Barn, next to a stand of quince trees.
The posts are the same 18th-century Chinese granite uprights I use for the clematis pergola, my apple espaliers, and my raspberry bushes.
Standard blueberry bushes grow about six to 10-feet tall. New shoots grow from the crown under the soil.
At the base, blueberry shrubs have multiple canes growing directly out of the earth in clumps. The canes or branches are smooth and thornless. These bushes have done so well here at the farm. I am always so pleased with how prolific they are every year.
Blueberry bushes have glossy leaves that are green or bluish-green from spring through summer. The leaves are ovate, in an irregular oval or slightly egg shape that is wider at the bottom than the top. Blueberry leaves can also be harvested and dried for teas.
And do you know… blueberries are among the most popular berries for eating? Here in the United States, they are second only to strawberries. There are two types of blueberries, highbush and lowbush. Highbush blueberries are the types you commonly find at grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Lowbush blueberries are smaller, sweeter blueberries often used for making juices, jams, and baked goods.
Blueberries are pale greenish at first, and then reddish-purple and finally dark purple-blue when ripe for picking.
Here, one can see the colors of the berries as they develop – green, then red, then blue.
And blueberries don’t actually reach their full flavor until a few days after they turn blue, so a tip to know which ones are the best – tickle the bunches lightly, and only the truly ripe ones will fall into your hand.
Each of these fruits is about five to 16 millimeters large with a flared crown at the end. They were once called “star fruits” by North American indigenous peoples because of the five-pointed star shaped crown.
Blueberries are covered in a protective powdery epicuticular wax known as the “bloom”. Blueberries are high in fiber, high in vitamin-C, and contain one of the highest amounts of antioxidants among all fruits and vegetables.
Many blueberries also fall to the ground. All those picked are carefully inspected – only the best are saved. The rest are enjoyed by the birds.
Here’s Enma with a full box of berries – picked in just a few minutes. I grow many blueberry varieties, including ‘Bluegold’, ‘Chandler’, ‘Darrow’, ‘Jersey’, and ‘Patriot’.
These boxes were all picked in under an hour. Blueberries produce from early summer through late fall – we will pick lots and lots of berries before the end of the season.
Not far from the blueberries is my raspberry patch. I have several rows of raspberry bushes. Summer-bearing raspberry bushes produce one crop each season that lasts about one month.
One plant can produce several hundred berries in a season. Raspberries are vigorous growers and will produce runners that fill up a bed.
Once raspberries are picked, they stop ripening, so under-ripe berries that are harvested will never mature to the maximum sweetness. Only ripe raspberries will come right off the stem. The black raspberry plant is a high producing early variety whose upright growth makes it easy for picking.
These are red raspberries. These must be picked and handled very carefully as they are very delicate.
I also have blackberry bushes. This is one of the fruits. The blackberry is packed with vitamins C, K, and E, rich in dietary fiber, and low in sugar. Blackberries are juicy and delicious eaten raw.
I always grow strawberries. Strawberries are among the easiest berries to grow. They are cold-hardy and adaptable, and can be planted in both garden beds and containers.
Gooseberries are native to Europe, northwest Africa, and all regions of Asia except for the north. Gooseberries grow best in areas with cold, freezing winters and humid summers.
And of course, currants. I grow red, white, pink, and black currant varieties. Currants are still largely unknown here in the United States. They are well-loved in many other countries, and here in the US, they are slowly gaining popularity, especially because of the high antioxidant content. They are now more prevalent at local farms and home gardens. What berries do you grow?
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