Category Archives: Landscape Photography

More Winter Garden Ideas

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“Yellow & Red Twig Dogwoods & Grasses”
Heatherwood Late Fall

In addition to color contrasts, structure, form, and texture are important elements to create interest in a winter garden. In the above image, the red and yellow color of the dogwood shrubs provide initial interest. In addition, the hard line texture of the dogwoods contrast with the softer grass stems. The upright forms of the grasses and dogwoods complement each other and tie this vignette together. I am starting to visualize the beginnings of the new Yakima Arboretum Winter Garden already.

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Winter Garden Planning

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“Winter Garden Color”
Heatherwood Rock Garden

We received a little dusting of snow last night, so I thought I would venture out and try to take some images that would show examples of what could be done to create winter color in the garden. In our Heatherwood rock garden, we have yellows, oranges, reds, greens, blues, and browns. Ground covers, perennials, deciduous shrubs, and evergreen shrubs provide the varying color contrasts.

We are in the process of designing a small “Winter Garden” section for the Yakima Area Arboretum. We hope to create an example that can be shared with the area community.

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Abstract Thinking

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“Ornamental Grass Abstract”
Heatherwood Late Fall

How many ways can I look at something? They are infinite. This image is a 9-layer multiple-exposure, vertical pan of a clump of ornamental grasses in our garden. I enjoy looking at the world around us from multiple, sometimes abstract, perspectives. It helps me develop a balanced view of life that I would have never considered if I would have approached it from only one conventional angle. It also helps me come up with some creative images.

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Fourth Layer

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“Lavender and Grasses”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

We have designed the stream and waterfall section of our Heatherwood Japanese garden in five distinct layers. Starting at the bottom of the hillside looking up at the bluff above, the foreground layer transitions from a sitting area with a bed of spring Siberian iris covered with kinnikinnick. This layer flows into the pond and two waterfalls which comprises the second layer. The third layer is the wandering stream and Kotoji Japanese lantern. The fourth layer is a buffer of lavender and grasses shown in the image above. This buffer layer separates the Japanese garden from the final background layer of the sagebrush covered bluff above.

We frequently sit and relax gazing up through the pond, stream, and hillside on sunny afternoons throughout the year. It is a nice place to catch the late afternoon sun even in late fall.

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Winter is Coming

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“Japanese Maple and Yukimi”
Heatherwood Japanese Garden

Winter is coming. We have just a week more until the first day of winter arrives. I’ve delayed getting the pond ready for its winter hibernation. The waterfalls need to be turned off and the pond aerators need to be put in place for the fish. The pond filters need to be cleaned out. Ice will form around the edges of the pond. The sound of the falling water will be silenced until we start the pond up again next spring. We will miss the energy that the stream and waterfalls bring to Heatherwood’s Japanese garden

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Soft

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“Late Fall Softness”
Heatherwood Meadow

At this time of the year, there is a warm softness through our Heatherwood meadow. The warm colors blend together into soft yellow-brown hues. The spent flowers and grasses merge together into a homogenous mass to the eye. The autumn plumes of the ornamental grasses are soft to touch. Gentle breezes blur the grasses and flowers together on a warm sunny late fall afternoon.

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Looking to the Future

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“Future Garden Room View”
Heatherwood Late Fall

We have designed locations for ten different viewing areas within our Heatherwood garden. Some look inward to the garden, some look outward, and some do both. Six are currently in place. We are planning on implementing two more this coming year. The one illustrated in the above image is in the southwest corner. We will create a little garden room around this spot. It will be designed to enclose the foreground lawn area and provide privacy to the sitting area. From this spot we will be able to enjoy the plants surrounding the lawn up close and still maintain the view of the north and western hills above Heatherwood. It will take several years to achieve this goal. We will patiently enjoy watching it mature.

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It Is Still Fall After All

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“Rock Garden Path”
Heatherwood Fall

Last Friday morning, I went out for what I planned as a short stroll through our garden. Three hours later I came in for lunch. Late fall sunlight is beautiful across the Heatherwood landscape. I just kept wandering through the garden waiting for the next image to appear.

Heatherwood is still full of color, even after all the leaves have fallen from the trees. As winter approaches (snow is predicted this coming week), the colors still decorate our rock garden hillside. They will remain until next spring when the ground covers will transition back to their rich greens and the conifers loose their yellowish tinge.

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