naturalistic landscape designer

Legendary Norman McGrath Documents the Brine Garden

July 2, 2015 by Julia Brine 1 Comment

© Norman McGrath

Photographer Norman McGrath is shooting the Brine Garden in its 25th year.

Norman and his wife, Molly, had lunch at Duncan and Julia Brine’s home and toured the Brine Garden in the fall of 2014. Not long afterwards, Norman emailed,

“Very much enjoyed our recent luncheon and visit to your beautiful garden. The fruits of all your care and planning have produced a unique environment. Would you consider embarking on a year long study which would examine closely the seasonal changes which make it so special?”

The Brines were thrilled at the prospect of collaborating with such an exceptional professional.

Norman is best known as an architectural photographer and author of the definitive book, Photographing Buildings Inside and Out, which has sold over 47,000 copies. But, for the past decade Norman has been observing and creating images of the Great Swamp, part of which is just across Route 22 from the Brine Garden.

Born in London, Norman was educated in Ireland where he earned an engineering degree at Trinity College, Dublin. His father was the Australian-born architect and author, Raymond McGrath. Norman has lived in the US since 1956.

Norman has photographed the work of a wide variety of influential and well-known architects and designers, including Mies van der Rohe, Hugh Stubbins, Charles Gwathmey, Frank Gehry, and Philip Johnson. His work has been featured in every major architectural publication and a collection of his photographs has been acquired by the Library of Congress. www.normanmcgrath.com

Northwest Flower & Garden Show – Duncan Brine judge and speaker, along with Julie Moir Messervy and Douglas Justice

January 29, 2014 by Julia Brine

Duncan Brine joins Julie Moir Messervy and Douglas Justice as a judge and lecturer for the 2014 Northwest Flower & Garden Show, in Seattle, Washington. Former judges include James van Sweden, Wolfgang Oehme, Piet Oudolf, Laurie Olin, Panyoti Kelaidis, and Michael Pollan.

On Wednesday, February 2 at 1:30 pm Duncan Brine will present “Naturalistic Landscape Design: Breaking Rules on Principle”.

Julie Moir Messervy is the principal of Julie Moir Messervy Design Studio in Saxtons River, VT. In 1999 she completed the award-winning Toronto Music Garden, collaborating with renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma and the City of Toronto, to create a three-acre public park based on music by J.S. Bach. Messervy’s award-winning books include Home Outside, Outside the Not So Big House, and Contemplative Gardens. Messervy is the recipient of many awards, including the APLD 2006 Award of Distinction.

Seattle, Washington skyline

Along with duties as the Associate Director and Curator of Collections at UBC Botanical Garden, Douglas Justice teaches in both the Applied Biology and Masters of Landscape Architecture programs at UBC and is involved with public and industry extension. A former nursery manager, gardener and horticulture instructor, Douglas holds a Bachelor’s degree in horticulture and a Master’s in botany. He is an active member of a number of local, national and international plant and garden organizations and is currently writing a book on trees for the Vancouver area.

Since 1989 gardening enthusiasts have been flocking to this annual celebration which includes an acre of Show Gardens created by the most respected garden designers and landscapers of the region and a marketplace with over 300 exhibitors. The show is also renowned for offering the largest roster of free horticulture seminars of any garden show in the world.

February 5-9, 2014

For more information

Subscribe to GardenLarge

Kindred Manitoga

October 10, 2013 by Duncan Brine Leave a Comment

Manitoga: Force of Nature | Garden Design
- Named Manitoga by Wright after the Algonquin word for “place of great spirit,” his property consisted of a modernist house and studio set amid miles of landscape elements he coaxed out of existing vegetation. Altogether, Manitoga was the product of his lifelong commitment to the integration of art and nature. “He wanted to live in harmony with nature rather than dominate it or erase it. This is common practice now, but in the 1940s and ’50s it was rather radical,” says Carol Franklin, a principal of Philadelphia landscape design firm Andropogon Associates and a frequent visitor to Manitoga from the ’50s through the ’70s as Wright’s cousin and friend.
- While the loss of many of Wright’s artful passages may seem tragic, Franklin points out that Wright embraced the dynamism and surprises of nature. “Russel knew nature was never finished,” she says. “One of the last great events of his life was a hurricane that downed tremendous trees. He rerouted paths and brought attention to the fallen pines. He loved it — scraping away without bulldozing.” One has to wonder what he, as both an artist and ecologist, would have done about the landscape now. To Franklin, it’s clear: “He would have accepted it, and used his imagination to turn the hemlock disaster into a theatrical event.”

Piet Oudolf: Where Ecology Meets Design

December 1, 2011 by Duncan Brine Leave a Comment

Piet Oudolf Where Ecology Meets Design | Ecology Global Network
by Fran Sorin
- Over the last decade, Piet Oudolf has become a ‘superstar’ in the gardening world. But few people have knowledge of the man who creates magnificent works of art. I was compelled to set up an interview with him exactly for that reason. I wanted to better understand his process, priorities, vision, response to his completed designs….in other words, Piet’s ‘gestalt’.
- Piet might like this autumnal detail in the Brine Garden.

The American Gardener to feature Duncan Brine’s naturalistic garden

August 11, 2010 by Julia Brine Leave a Comment

American Horticultural Society’s

The American Gardener Magazine

This fall, the American Horticultural Society’s The American Gardener magazine is slated to feature Duncan Brine’s article and photographs about “a naturalistic garden”.

The article and the Brine Garden’s 20th Anniversary both honor Doug Tallamy’s groundbreaking book, Bringing Nature Home: How You Can Sustain Wildlife with Native Plants (2009 Timber Press).

Twenty years ago, Duncan Brine found direction in moving away from the status quo of traditional gardens and toward a naturalistic garden’s engaging creative process and philosophy. A naturalistic garden combines a gardener’s needs and desires with nature’s dictates; its inherent beauty follows the suggestion of landscape conditions. It’s not a pre-meditated design forced upon the landscape; rather, a naturalistic garden is itself, and looks like itself, without affect. In his article, Brine discusses naturalistic techniques and pragmatic approaches that help you create your own naturalistic garden.

Among other notable achievements, photographer Rob Cardillo has received a Gold award for best photography from the Garden Writers of America .

The American Gardener is now available both digitally and in print to members of the American Horticultural Society.

Subscribe to GARDEN LARGE

Add to Technorati Favorites