Spirit of Stone by Jan Johnsen

  • Post published:03/03/2017
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The Spirit of Stone by Jan Johnsen
The Spirit of Stone by Jan Johnsen

Stone came into my garden last year. And I have to say it lifted my spirits considerably. There is nothing like a stone wall that you didn’t have to build yourself.

In her new book The Spirit of Stone (St. Lynn’s Press $21.95)Jan Johnsen shows us the many ways that many types of stone can be used in the garden, from practical porous driveway paving to rustic or elegant stone walls, walkway paving, dry gardens, as sculpture and much more. The subtitle is 101 Practical & Creative Stonescaping Ideas for Your Garden, and she delivers a full measure.

Johnsen’s aesthetic early experiences with stone began during her college years in Kyoto, Japan. She became aware of the significance the Japanese placed on stone in the garden. Later, she studied landscape architecture in Hawaii where she saw stone being made as fiery lava from volcanoes cooled.

She had personal experience with stone when she became a rock climber in New York State. She also spent time living near Barre, Vermont, where there are famous granite quarries. Over the years she has use rough fieldstones, flat stones, smooth river stones and large sculptural stones, all bringing a beauty and stability to the gardens she designs. She has clearly taken her experiences with varied types of stone and turned them into ideas for utilitarian, decorative and accent elements in the garden with instructions for making dry stream beds, stone steps, walkways and rock gardens.

Dry Stream Bed
Dry Stream Bed with various sized stone

Most of us probably don’t think about all the types of stone that can be used in the garden or the various forms it comes in from gravels to large flat stones for patios, but the beautiful illustrations in Johnsen’s book show a full range of stones and their uses.

One of the concerns even non-gardeners have had recently is the implications of recent droughts. This has brought about acceptance of the idea that it is very important to create pervious surfaces on our grounds, and to avoid using impervious paving when possible. I know in Cambridge, where my son lives, there are city regulations about how much of a property can be covered with paving.

Johnsen describes a new system for porous gravel driveways that I saw on display at a conference in Boston last fall. There are now polypropylene grids with small cells that can be attached to each other to create the size needed. These grids are then topped with gravel. The advantage over using gravel alone is that it is easier for people with strollers, bicycles or wheelchairs. It also “prevents weed growth and provides structural support without sacrificing drainage.”

Silent Spring at Bridge of Flowers
Silent Spring at Bridge of Flowers, stone fountain, bench and paving, designed by Paul Forth and John Sendelbach

Some stone may have purely decorative characteristics created by the pressure of ancient glaciers, or the large odd looking ‘scholar stones’ that are so essential to Chinese gardens.

During our years in Beijing I came to a great appreciation for stone in the garden in ways that had never occurred to me before. In The Spirit of Stone Jan Johnsen may open up new worlds for you.

Johnsen has taught at ColumbiaUniversity and currently is an instructor at the New YorkBotanical Garden. She is the author of Heaven is a Garden and renowned for her landscape design. She has a blog titled Serenity in the Garden.

Stone Steps at Vera's Garden
Stone steps at Vera’s Garden in Minneapolis

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Icy snow is still deep on the ground but spring is in the air. Next Saturday, March 4, the Spring Flower Show opens at Talcott Greenhouse at Mt.HolyokeCollege. This year’s theme is Spring Pools and I have been told that the approach is much more naturalistic than in the past. Visitors will walk into a woodland tableau with a pool surrounded by those early spring flowers.  Hours are 10 am to 4 pm every day from March 4 to Sunday, March 29.

SmithCollege will also open its Spring Bulb Show at Lyman Conservatory on March 4 and will be open from 10 am to 4 pm until Sunday March 29. Fields of Flowers is the theme, inspired by the work by the Irish artist Mima Nixon who travelled to the Netherlands to paint the flowers in 1909. The bulbs in the show are from the very fields that she painted 100 years ago. Suggested donation is $5.

Finally, I want to remind area school teachers that there is still a week before the Greenfield Garden Club School Grant deadline. In the past grants have been given to classes or school for tools, raised bed materials, and many kinds of projects like pollinator gardens that will help children understand scientific processes and feel a kinship with the natural world. Full information about the grants is on the Greenfield Garden Club website  http://www.thegreenfieldgardenclub.org/grants.html. ###

Between the Rows  February 25, 2017 

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