(MORAVIAN GARDEN)
TANGENTS - Discursus 1 / Discursus 2
Johannes Kepler’s Ellipse and Carpinus betulus arbor, two new elements to a Moravian country garden ...The serpentine stone walk is merely an alteration to the earlier straight stone walk, but with the addition of alpine plants along the edge. A Tsuga canadensis hedge is planned for the lower edge of the terraced garden (the very young plants have been added and will take 10 years to close in). The top edge of the stone retaining wall, re-pointed in 1995 and dropping 5-feet to the grass path along the river, was planted with Parthenocissus quinquefolia (the seed gathered from a railroad siding in Brno in 1995). It now cascades the full distance to the ground below. Clematis, Euonymous and Hydrangea anomala petiolaris have been added below the wall to further veil the stone expanse. The southwest corner of the wall is being built up around the well (above the wall) with perennials and woodland shrubs (Sambucus pubens and Corylus avellana). - UPDATE: The Tsuga hedge is now two years old and about 12 inches tall (06/01).
Image (above left) - Carpinus arbor
In the upper garden, Kepler’s Ellipse is edged with transplanted clumps of wild Festuca and wild Asarum, tufts of Armeria alpina, splotches of Sedum and reddish granite stones from the river. A single Acer palmatum dessicatum has been added on a small 'mountain' of red stones from the river with white-veined black stones as a 'peak'. This two-stone palette was used in the re-paving of the town square in nearby Tisnov.
Three Cupressus leylandii have been added to the edge of the serpentine walk for scale and to provide a figurative 'descent' toward the river from the house. The Hindu Vastushastra has vetted all locations. This Hindu 'atom bomb' has also justified the obliteration of Forsythia near the house and English Ivy on the barn.
The base of the Carpinus arbor has been planted at the four corners with English Ivy and Clematis. The arbor was fabricated out of four 3” thick Carpinus trees cut from a copse above the village and bent into an arch. The side branches were retained to weave into the tracery of the arbor. It will, in time, again be green. The bent Carpinus tracery is fixed in place with steel wire and concrete footings. The Ivy will attempt to pull it to the ground. Its height is about 10 feet to allow for hanging vines at the top of the arch. Its footprint is irregular, the frame displaced by shifting the second set of uprights to face the garden. The first set is aligned with the corner of the adjacent building. The resultant footprint is a pattern similar to the body of the constellation Orion. - UPDATE: The arbor fell apart ... The four uprights remain (06/01). Live Carpinus will be added when these poles collapse.
Grass has been altered from 'running' status to 'carpet' status with concise, curving edges. White clover seed has been sprinkled about and dolomitic lime added. The grass carpets will be pampered beyond belief – they will be magic carpets. The grass ellipse is exactly the size required to set up a small tent. Beds have been cut out of the former lawn and 'sculpted' to rise above the pristine grass carpets. Local cut grasses (hay), compost, sand (imported) and leaf mould from the coniferous woods has been used to raise the profile of the beds and 'seal' them. The cut sod was inverted and buried below the top layers of amendments and mulch. Water is brought from the river by hand. - UPDATE: More grass has been removed and the hour approaches when there will be only two very pristine ovals of green amid the riotous vegetation (06/01).
The outer face of the old stone terrace wall contains 'weeps', the point where underground terracotta drain tiles from the rainwater collection system daylight. During showers the rainwater runs off the terracotta roof into rain gutters and into the underground pipes. The weeps will be covered with masks in the future. The spouting water will be captured in gardens along the base of the wall. The rain and gray water systems in the garden are to be integrated into a collection and storage continuum for recycling and conservation. Overflow will spill out through the masked weeps. - UPDATE: No masks have been unearthed yet (06/01).
Very small boxwood plants are being trained and shaped to stand in for planets in the Kepler Ellipse. Plants all are purchased from local sources or raised from seed. Most are introduced to the garden when very small. The future growth of the larger species will eventually displace surrounding plantings and the garden will evolve from child’s play to serious mischief.
NOTES & POST-RATIONALIZATIONS:
Toy snakes and lizards have been placed on sunning stones in the upper garden (Ellipse). - UPDATE: They have vanished (06/01).A particular type of crumbling stone (that reminds me of my teeth) has been chosen as occasional accent (it is a type of decomposing quartz or feldspar).
White quartz stones have been added to the mix of edging stones along the serpentine walk to reflect moonlight (to aid night vision).
The quartz stones appear occasionally in the river, washing downstream from the deep gorges upstream.
Image (above left) - Kepler's 'Map of the Heavens'
Flat stones have been stacked loosely in a curving wall along the lower grass carpet marking a bed of cinnamon-scented red roses.
The flat stone wall attracts crickets and the shelves formed by the layers are a basking place and terrace for the same.
The walls are watered (irrigated) by hand to benefit the crickets.
CD-ROM disks have been suspended from the fruit trees and currant bushes with light fishing mono-filament to warn off birds. - UPDATE: They have been discontinued by the keeper (06/01).
Turning in the breezes they resemble the moon and wandering stars (planets).
There are plans to break open the wall of one of the buildings for use as a sala terrena. - UPDATE: This has been done and built-in furniture fashioned from ancient planks of sycamore have been installed (06/01).
At 7 PM long shadows cross the garden as the sun sets behind the western hills. - UPDATE: See the essay Moravian Shadows ...
Smoke from evening fires swirls around the river basin invading the garden with its acrid perfume and its sensuous gauze (see image above for traces of this ambient element).
Swallows perform aerial acrobatics mimicking the over flights of the Czech Army fighters. - UPDATE: The Czechs are still flying Soviet-era MIGs but have recently tendered requests for modern 'Western' jets.
An evening procession of ducks from the neighboring farm signals nightfall.
The slender profile of the upright duck has been secretly incorporated into the plan of the garden.
TANGENTS - Discursus 1 (2002) / Discursus 2 (2004)
MISCELLANEOUS AFFECTS - Things Czech (1994-2004)
Image (above) - The near and far landscape (c.2001)