Garden Design
Local Profile

For many, spring fever means an irresistible urge to rush down to the local garden supply shop, buy everything that's blooming, and spend hours happily mucking about in the dirt planting a spectacular garden, which for some reason doesn't thrive as it ought to.

"Don't get caught up in a moment of spring fever and overwhelm yourself by going out and buying all these plants," recommends Chuck Simpson of Simpson's Landscaping in Dublin. "You want to have fun in the spring, but you need to think of your garden year round."

Gardening books are like diet books in that they're full of things we don't want to hear. In the same way diet books tell us to skip sweets and eat lots of fresh vegetables, gardening books suggest things like thinking in terms of years instead of a single afternoon, or only planting those lilies in a spot with full sunlight and good drainage, when any fool can see that you need the color to brighten up that dark, damp shady spot. So if you're the sort who expects to lose weight eating a pint of ice cream every night before bed, you might want to consider buying a condo.

For everyone else, we consulted Simpson as he was supervising the installation of the Breath of Spring Flower Show, which ought to indicate he knows a thing or two about plants. 

Talking to Simpson is a lot like eating vegetables. But if you listen long enough, you'll lose that spring fever craving for ice cream. Simpson has a quiet demeanor and a self-effacing manner. He doesn't threaten that your garden will blow up if you forget to turn your compost. He merely smiles at the lunacy of a new homeowner and amateur gardener who expects to duplicate the 300-year-old gardens at Monticello, Virginia, in a single weekend. 

Instead of pointing out the sheer folly of all your dreams and schemes, Simpson gently nudges the novice towards sanity by describing how he goes about a project after 20 years of experience. Before you know it, you find yourself actually wanting to slow down and do something ridiculous, like planning what you want your garden to look like before shoving seeds, seedlings, bulbs, shrubs and trees randomly into the ground like some crazed Johnny Appleseed.

Before he sits down with a homeowner to listen to their dreams of turning their back yard swamp into Garden of Eden overnight, Simpson walks around getting a feel for the site. 

"I listen to their wants, then I listen to their needs," he says. "Dollars always determine wants versus needs." That means the waterfall and gazebo may have to wait until next year so that the patio and lawn can be installed this year.

Next he assesses the urgencies. These are the potential roadblocks, site problems or design considerations that novice gardeners like to pretend don't exist -- boring things -- like drainage, existing walkways and driveways, traffic patterns, and how the house looks from the street.

"A lot of people will look at their house from their homeowners eyes versus how it's presented to the general public as they drive by," says Simpson. "That isn't the most important thing, but it's something that needs to be considered."

Simpson also looks at the architectural style of the house and tries to incorporate the style into the landscaping, whether modern or Colonial, a rambling ranch or three-story Victorian. Thus he's likely to eliminate the owner's dreams of a boxwood maze in the back yard of a tiny cottage on a tenth of an acre of land.

"The finishing touch on a landscape should be that when you're done, it doesn't look like you just landscaped," he says of more realistic gardening goals. "The plants should not all be the same height. It shouldn't look like you just went to a garden center, loaded up the pickup truck, and planted all these plants everywhere."

After he's got a good idea of the outdoor elements he must factor into his design, Simpson appraises many of the same considerations from inside the house. What are the traffic patterns? Where are the interior vantage points? 

"Is there a kitchen window?" he says. "Do they like sitting there having a cup of coffee? Is there nice view, or do I need to create something? Is there a doorway opening off a bedroom? If so, I might suggest a patio or shade garden where the homeowners can retreat for a private happy hour or an appetizer before dinner." Perhaps even a secluded hot tub garden where they can eat their pint of ice cream before bed.

Simpson works from large scale down to small. The first elements of construction are the hardscape: patios, decks, driveway. 

"Ideally I like to finish all the hardscapes in the fall and prep all the soil," he says, "then come in and do the planting in the springtime."

This is another of those concepts that so disagree with novice gardeners: Preparation.

"Over the long term you'd be much better off. There are changes in that soil that take place, and that gives the soil a chance to settle and cure. For example, your compost could be too hot, so that you actually cook the roots." One strong recommendation: start with a soil test from UNH extension.

"I think it's between $5 and $10," he says. "A bag of fertilizer costs more than that."

Now there's a strange concept: Know what your soil needs before you buy the fertilizer. Or make it.

"As long as you do it," he says of do-it-yourself composters. "Most people have the best intentions when they start a compost pile, and it just turns into a big dump."

Okay, the bridge over the goldfish pond is finally in place. Can we plant something now?

Simpson works from large to small, from slow growing to fast. Thus trees and shrubs are the first things in the ground, planted to the scale of the home. He uses them to divide or accentuate, but always with consideration for how they will grow.

"You don't need to shrub up the front of your house," he says. "Move them away. Let the house breathe."

Simpson favors plants that blend into the landscape over exotic imports that might not do as well in our climate. He believes it's better to go with native plants simply because they'll blend aesthetically and have already proven themselves in terms of survival. His preference for native plants and trees goes beyond aesthetics. 

"If you can grow trees that are from New Hampshire or the northeast, it's good for the wildlife, and it's good for the aesthetics because they don't stick out like a sore thumb," he says. "I stay away from plants that are termed invasive exotics. Burning Bush or Norway maples are two of the big no-nos. They're plants that give off a lot of seeds that birds transmit, and they take over all the native species."

Simpson recommends blueberry bushes as a substitute for Burning Bush and sugar maples for Norway maples. "Blueberry bushes have the exact same look as Burning Bush. They've got great fall color, nice green leaf in the summer, and with the benefit of berries, and they grow anywhere -- sun, shade."

Though he prefers native plants, he's not a complete purist, citing pin oaks and several varieties of azaleas developed in Minnesota. Another favorite is dwarf conifers. 

"Any kind of conifer or evergreen tree, there's a dwarf form. They're nice because they're self-pruning. You plant it, and instead of needing a major pruning in five to ten years, that tree is just coming into its own. It looks great for the next 10 to 15 years, and you don't need to do a thing to it. They're a little more expensive in the beginning, but in the long run they don't need as much work."

The shrubs are flowering, the hammock is swinging between the shade trees. Can we plant some flowers now please? 

"The annuals go in when there's no more chance of frost," he says, "anywhere from May 1 to Memorial Day." Because they survive year-round, technically perennials can be planted anytime as long as the ground is workable, or "friable," meaning wait awhile if it's still mud season in your back yard. 

With flowers, in addition to eventual height you have to take in considerations like how long they take to grow and when they're going to bloom. 

"It's always right there on the plant tag," he says, implying that novice gardeners should not only read those labels but pay attention to them.
He suggests avoiding growing annuals from seed, including self-seeding plants. Unless you can start them indoors by mid-March, they won't be ready to bloom until August given New Hampshire's three-month growing season. 

Simpson's personal favorite among perennials is geranium maccrozia. "It has a range of colors from white to pink to dark pink and great, clean-looking foliage. It's got a nice fragrance like ginger ale. It takes full sun, dry conditions, and it spreads. It stays about a foot high or less and will take some shade. It's a good catch-all plant and not very expensive."

He suggests using the basic color wheel to determine color combinations. Opposite colors -- known as complimentary colors -- intensify each other: blue and orange, purple and yellow, red and green. For a more restful effect, chose adjacent colors.

Once plants are in, says Simpson, water, water, water. And fertilize initially using a balanced fertilizer like a 10-10-10 or 15-15-15. 

"As plants mature, cut back on the phosphorus," says Simpson. "That's one of the number one pollutants of streams and lakes. People should be careful with the amount of phosphorus they use and know where their runoff is going."

Simpson is more evasive when it comes to frequency of fertilizing.

"How often do you feed a baby?" he says. 

In other words, appetites change rapidly with growth. Although he can't give a simple formula, he can recommend a couple warning signs. If the plant looks purple, it needs phosphorus. If it gets long and leggy, it's getting too much nitrogen. 

"Gardening is pretty simple," says Simpson. 

Is he kidding? Timing, soil type and condition, color combinations, sunlight, drainage, plant heights, seeds, annuals, perennials, invasives, natives -- heads are spinning. No wonder gardening continues to have something of a mystique, no wonder that impatient homeowners call in professionals like Simpson. 

But he's right. For those willing to view gardening as an ongoing work instead of an overnight phenomenon, Simpson's advice is quite simple.
"You start out with a couple combinations," he says, "and you add to it and you add to it and you add to it."

In other words, don't try to duplicate a House & Garden centerfold in the first summer, much less the first sunny spring weekend. 

But most of all, he says, have fun. Experiment. "Just because something fails, keep going," he says. "You don't stop cooking just because you ruined one dish. Start simple, buy some more next year. In three or four years you'll have a garden." He smiles, remembering a quote he particularly likes. "Gardening," he says, "is the slowest of the performing arts."

Tips from a pro -- chuck Simpson, owner of Simpson's Landscaping, brings 20 years of experience to the job.  His advice is to prepare and plan before implementing any gardening ideas.

Don't try this at home -- This waterfall was built by landscaper Chuck Simpson and on display at the annual Breath of Spring Flower Show held at the Cheshire Ice Arena in Swanzey.  Simpson recommends that amateur gardeners -- all gardeners for that matter -- start out by planning and preparing the soil.

Local Resources

Visit our local resource center for links to Home & Garden services in your area.

To advertise your business here, contact the SentinelSource Design Team by email or phone 603-352-1234, ext. 290