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November. 10, 2004

Creativity in Harvest Time Landscaping

By Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein

Arriving home from work on a chilly fall evening, it's hard not to long for the evening sun of summer and the colorful beauty of the summer landscape. This is particularly true when you know that winter's palette of brown, more brown and -if we're lucky - a little white, is just around the corner. Lament no more, says Pennsylvania Certified Horticulturist Brad Baker, owner of Baker Creative, a Wyncote-based landscape design firm. According to Baker, a little creativity and the strategic use of winter-sturdy plants and lighting is all you need to keep your home looking cheerful, colorful and bright throughout the cold months ahead. Best of all, creating your cold-weather landscape doesn't have to be expensive.

It's a cruel trick of nature that the cold weather ushers in the season of entertaining and family gatherings. Just when people want their homes to look most inviting, their gardens are winding down. At this time of year, many people would like to make the outside of their home more welcoming to guests, but don't know how to do it. "From the Jewish New Year through Christmas, people are thinking about ways to warm up the outside of their homes," says Baker. "Sometimes that means hanging traditional holiday lights and wreaths. More and more often it includes the use of new varieties of cold-weather plants and more ornate lighting.

"While you used to see more neighbors outside doing this work themselves, many families now hire a landscaper for these tasks.

Explains Baker, "As homes have gotten larger, it takes more to make them look special and it's dangerous to try to hang lights higher without the proper equipment" Says Baker "People are also busier than they've ever been, and they recognize the value of hiring a professional to provide innovative ideas to help them reach their goals and stay on budget."

Baker often helps clients highlight key areas, such as the path up a driveway or a special section of garden. How does he handle the path/driveway? Edge it in lighting. Garden, with colorful plantings, interspersed with ornamental gourds, and illuminated with floodlights. Plant seasonal ornamental kale and cabbage. Intersperse with arrangements of gourds. He also advises clients to utilize those large pots used to house summer plants. They can be filled with dried flower arrangements, evergreens, dried grasses, and winter cuttings, such as holly and pine roping, which will last throughout the season. Since most of the garden will go unused throughout the colder weather, the trick is to determine the places that will be most seen or used to concentrate your energy.

The most beautiful new additions to cold weather decorating are the bigger, more colorful gourds, the new varieties of ornamental cabbage and kale, the interesting types of corn, and the giant pumpkins. Unlike mums, which have a short life span, ornamental cabbage and kale can be planted anytime and will last until the ground hardens, typically not until January or later in our climate. Many of these plants can he combined to create a porch vignette or a colorful in-ground design."

"When you come home from work after 5 p.m. in the winter months, it's dark, so lighting and color are important," says Baker. "We often draw attention to a section of a garden by installing colorful plants and highlighting them with a floodlight or silhouetting one special tree to add brightness. This gives the home a focal point, extends the interest out from the house and adds light and cheer on a dark, winter night. You can make your guests' and your own walk from the car to the house so much more welcoming by planting ornamental cabbage and kale along the path from the curb to the door, and then arranging brightly colored pumpkins and gourds by the door."

Turning your cold-weather home into your haven can cost as little or as much as you desire. These seasonal treasures offer another bonus: While hanging multiple lights atop a large home is going be time-consuming and more costly, installing colorful cold-weather plants can be surprisingly affordable and provide great value.

To contact Brad Baker at Baker Creative, call 215-884-4978 or go to www.BakerCreative.com.Article courtesy Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein, 215-635-1045; makingheadlinesl@comcast.net
Photos courtesy of Kim Sokoloff Photography